Bill Simmons is an ESPN.com writer who, I think, coined a phrase years ago to refer to actors who aren't big enough stars for you to remember their name, but you certainly remember their faces. (For the sake of not sounding sexist, I'm sure there's a "That Gal" category too. :)) For example, you may not remember the name of the "evil" coach in The Mighty Ducks, but if you saw him in another movie you would say, "Oh! It's that guy!" For the record, he was also: the prosecutor in My Cousin Vinny, corrupt senator Dick Dodge in The Distinguished Gentleman, the father in Son in Law, in Red Dawn, and has appeared in over 100 movies. (ps his name is Lane Smith and why did I use him as an example? I have no idea).
Anyway, yesterday over lunch, I think I saw the best "That Guy" episode of Law & Order ever. The suspect was the sonar operator from Hunt for Red October (Courtney B. Vance), who's lawyer was Chevy Chase's boss in Fletch (Richard Libertini) and a second defense attorney was Bunk from The Wire (Wendell Pierce). I don't see how that could be topped!
I think I should stop going home for lunch and watching Law & Order... :)
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Straussiepalooza Recap
First of all, I don't agree with it, but I am using the apparently more popular "Straussiepalooza" spelling despite my objection. You don't call me Timmie, so I don't call it Straussiepalooza. It's with a Y bitches. Sigh...
Second, if you didn't notice, there's a new link on the left to my flickr pictures. The only ones that are up right now are about 130 from the day of the concert. My friend Dustin and his wife took all but the first few pre-show shots and I must say that they look fantastic. It shows that you get what you pay for when it comes to cameras and fancy lenses and it also helps to know what you're doing. Thanks you two!
Third, get to the recap! Ok! My brother and I arrived at our friend Greg's place around 1:00. We did a final gear check to make sure we had all the needed cables and such. We loaded some stuff into our cars and then headed over to Punch Pizza around 2:00 for some punches...er pizzas and then headed back to Greg's. With the bleak prospect of sitting around for over an hour with very little to do looming, the three of us instead went for a walk to get a lil' exercise. Well, I got exercise shuffling behind the two of them while they walked. We got back, jammed for a little bit, then did the final packing of the cars and headed to the theater around 4:15.
We arrived a little before 5:00 and took a couple pictures in front of the theater and marquee (no, we weren't listed otherwise there would have been 100 pictures of it). We brought our stuff inside and started to set up. The sound guy (Zach) showed up and helped us through a relatively painless soundcheck and we only had a little time to kill before the show.
The show started around 7:20 in front of around 100 people (we didn't get a definitive count, although Ben says 93). Without going through a song-by-song recap, it basically went very well. Being a perfectionist, I know what things I screwed up on and they still bug me since we practiced so much, but overall the three of us played well.
Oh, I almost forgot a little behind-the-scenes tidbit: The second song featured all three of us playing the first song we wrote and played at the first Straussiepalooza. Due to equipment restrictions, the third guitar was not going directly into the soundboard like the other two but instead picked up by a mic next to the acoustic amp it was plugged into. (Got all that?) So I came out to join the two of them and picked up the Yamaha. I wanted to get rolling on the song and stop the butterflies so I was focused and forgot to turn on the amp. I didn't realize it was off until about 30 seconds into the song...and there's not much I could do at that point. So for that song, only the three of us heard what I was playing. Kind of a bummer because it was a nice high part over what Greg and Ben were playing, but what can you do? :)
I'll take a quick moment to talk about our gear, or should I say Greg's gear. Basically everything you see in the pictures is Greg's except for the clothes Ben and I are wearing. He plays a Taylor, Ben and I shared his new Gibson (not sure of the model) and on the one song with all three of us, I played a Yamaha. Greg played a song on his blue Fender Strat and then one on his Matin without the help of the PA system. Apparently both of those worked pretty well, but I didn't hear either because I was "backstage" tuning. I say "backstage" because there was no area behind us. There were dressing rooms underneath/behind the seating and the best thing I can compare them to is a fashion show/dance hall-type dressing room: lots of mirrors surrounded by lights.
We were able to record the show (audio) but it's in the useless .mov format so I have to somehow rip the audio from it and then tinker with it. The quality on a few songs is decent, but on others it is downright rotten...and I have no idea what could have changed during the show. Also, for some reason only the right channel works and not the left. Why? I have nooooo idea. Hopefully I can figure out a way to fix it soon.
After the show, we cleaned up, packed up the gear, and went to a few nearby bars. Since I hadn't eaten in about 8 hours at that point, I had a tasty burger and beer with friends. After playing guitar so much in the last few weeks, it was honestly a relief to be done but it was a good show and everyone I talked to seemed to have a good time. Mission accomplished!
Second, if you didn't notice, there's a new link on the left to my flickr pictures. The only ones that are up right now are about 130 from the day of the concert. My friend Dustin and his wife took all but the first few pre-show shots and I must say that they look fantastic. It shows that you get what you pay for when it comes to cameras and fancy lenses and it also helps to know what you're doing. Thanks you two!
Third, get to the recap! Ok! My brother and I arrived at our friend Greg's place around 1:00. We did a final gear check to make sure we had all the needed cables and such. We loaded some stuff into our cars and then headed over to Punch Pizza around 2:00 for some punches...er pizzas and then headed back to Greg's. With the bleak prospect of sitting around for over an hour with very little to do looming, the three of us instead went for a walk to get a lil' exercise. Well, I got exercise shuffling behind the two of them while they walked. We got back, jammed for a little bit, then did the final packing of the cars and headed to the theater around 4:15.
We arrived a little before 5:00 and took a couple pictures in front of the theater and marquee (no, we weren't listed otherwise there would have been 100 pictures of it). We brought our stuff inside and started to set up. The sound guy (Zach) showed up and helped us through a relatively painless soundcheck and we only had a little time to kill before the show.
The show started around 7:20 in front of around 100 people (we didn't get a definitive count, although Ben says 93). Without going through a song-by-song recap, it basically went very well. Being a perfectionist, I know what things I screwed up on and they still bug me since we practiced so much, but overall the three of us played well.
Oh, I almost forgot a little behind-the-scenes tidbit: The second song featured all three of us playing the first song we wrote and played at the first Straussiepalooza. Due to equipment restrictions, the third guitar was not going directly into the soundboard like the other two but instead picked up by a mic next to the acoustic amp it was plugged into. (Got all that?) So I came out to join the two of them and picked up the Yamaha. I wanted to get rolling on the song and stop the butterflies so I was focused and forgot to turn on the amp. I didn't realize it was off until about 30 seconds into the song...and there's not much I could do at that point. So for that song, only the three of us heard what I was playing. Kind of a bummer because it was a nice high part over what Greg and Ben were playing, but what can you do? :)
I'll take a quick moment to talk about our gear, or should I say Greg's gear. Basically everything you see in the pictures is Greg's except for the clothes Ben and I are wearing. He plays a Taylor, Ben and I shared his new Gibson (not sure of the model) and on the one song with all three of us, I played a Yamaha. Greg played a song on his blue Fender Strat and then one on his Matin without the help of the PA system. Apparently both of those worked pretty well, but I didn't hear either because I was "backstage" tuning. I say "backstage" because there was no area behind us. There were dressing rooms underneath/behind the seating and the best thing I can compare them to is a fashion show/dance hall-type dressing room: lots of mirrors surrounded by lights.
We were able to record the show (audio) but it's in the useless .mov format so I have to somehow rip the audio from it and then tinker with it. The quality on a few songs is decent, but on others it is downright rotten...and I have no idea what could have changed during the show. Also, for some reason only the right channel works and not the left. Why? I have nooooo idea. Hopefully I can figure out a way to fix it soon.
After the show, we cleaned up, packed up the gear, and went to a few nearby bars. Since I hadn't eaten in about 8 hours at that point, I had a tasty burger and beer with friends. After playing guitar so much in the last few weeks, it was honestly a relief to be done but it was a good show and everyone I talked to seemed to have a good time. Mission accomplished!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Coming soon: Concert recap
I have a bunch of pictures from Saturday to look through and then I'll write a full recap of the day/night in the next few days. The last two weeks were pretty dang busy and I'm enjoying some free/non-guitar time for a change. I will return to my regularly scheduled blogging shortly.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Straussypalooza!
What the hell is a Straussypalooza, you ask? Well I'll tell you.
As you may or may not know, I play the guitar. What you most likely don't know is that over the past seven years, my brother Ben and I have written music with a friend of ours named Greg, for whom the palooza is named. Every few years we've put on a concert for friends, each larger than the last. It all started back the summer of '99 with Straussypalooza 1. Wait, back then it was actually called "Babypalooza" but the name didn't stick. Anyway, it was a small affair held in Greg's parent's basement for about 20 friends. My brother, Greg, myself and one other friend played... maybe 10 songs total? I can't remember. The most notable event from that evening was the fact that our last-minute attempt to record the concert on a boombox was thwarted by the dreaded "taping the music on the radio instead of the music in the room" mishap. It would be really cool to go back and listen to that...but alas...
Number 2 was in the summer of 2000 in the backyard of another friend of ours for about 40 people. It marked the first time we had a PA system and played plugged in. Very cool.
Number 3 was held in the same backyard in the summer of 2001 for about 70 people. I actually sat this year out for some reason. I remember not feeling like there was enough time for me to get ready after having just graduated from college. Maybe I'm wrong.
Anyway, number 4 was in the fall of 2003 and a few more milestones were reached. Our friend rented the Lakeshore Player's Theater in White Bear Lake and we packed around 100 friends, family and coworkers into the 150-seat theater. One of Greg's coworkers worked the sound system for us and recorded the concert! (I still listen to the tracks from that show lol) We had a few sound issues due to a lack of sufficient sound-check time, but for the most part everything went very, very well. We collectively played about 17 songs (all but two were original tunes) in different configurations: Ben and Greg played two or three songs, Greg played about 5 solo, Greg and I played 8, and Greg and another friend of ours did two cover songs.
Last, but certainly not least: Concert number five! Hopefully the ever-increasing attendance streak will continue. Greg booked the Southern Theater for this Saturday! You can check out some photos here. It seats up to 290 people and we could have up to 150, but that's a guess. We're not quite sure on the numbers yet lol. The show will feature another 17-song set: three solo ones for Greg, two for Ben and Greg, 11 for Greg and I and one for all three of us.
I must say that the final weeks of preparation have been rough. After playing every weekend for a while, Greg and I stepped it up to twice a week, and recently it's been every night. Tonight marks the sixth straight night we've run through the setlist. By the time the show comes around, we will have practiced eight of the previous 9 days. Yikes! On one hand, that's good because as a friend told me today, "it's better to be over-rehearsed than under-rehearsed"...and I can't argue with that. But at the same time, I'm a little burned out and stressed. I've had to put off several things I really, really need to do until after the concert because there just isn't enough time in the day. But the practices have gone very well and I'm really excited. I think we're more prepared for this show than the last one and that can't be bad!
I'll definitely write a review of the show sometime next week, so keep an eye out for that!
(Edit: Apparently I've made a few factual errors. I'll find out what they are and correct this.)
As you may or may not know, I play the guitar. What you most likely don't know is that over the past seven years, my brother Ben and I have written music with a friend of ours named Greg, for whom the palooza is named. Every few years we've put on a concert for friends, each larger than the last. It all started back the summer of '99 with Straussypalooza 1. Wait, back then it was actually called "Babypalooza" but the name didn't stick. Anyway, it was a small affair held in Greg's parent's basement for about 20 friends. My brother, Greg, myself and one other friend played... maybe 10 songs total? I can't remember. The most notable event from that evening was the fact that our last-minute attempt to record the concert on a boombox was thwarted by the dreaded "taping the music on the radio instead of the music in the room" mishap. It would be really cool to go back and listen to that...but alas...
Number 2 was in the summer of 2000 in the backyard of another friend of ours for about 40 people. It marked the first time we had a PA system and played plugged in. Very cool.
Number 3 was held in the same backyard in the summer of 2001 for about 70 people. I actually sat this year out for some reason. I remember not feeling like there was enough time for me to get ready after having just graduated from college. Maybe I'm wrong.
Anyway, number 4 was in the fall of 2003 and a few more milestones were reached. Our friend rented the Lakeshore Player's Theater in White Bear Lake and we packed around 100 friends, family and coworkers into the 150-seat theater. One of Greg's coworkers worked the sound system for us and recorded the concert! (I still listen to the tracks from that show lol) We had a few sound issues due to a lack of sufficient sound-check time, but for the most part everything went very, very well. We collectively played about 17 songs (all but two were original tunes) in different configurations: Ben and Greg played two or three songs, Greg played about 5 solo, Greg and I played 8, and Greg and another friend of ours did two cover songs.
Last, but certainly not least: Concert number five! Hopefully the ever-increasing attendance streak will continue. Greg booked the Southern Theater for this Saturday! You can check out some photos here. It seats up to 290 people and we could have up to 150, but that's a guess. We're not quite sure on the numbers yet lol. The show will feature another 17-song set: three solo ones for Greg, two for Ben and Greg, 11 for Greg and I and one for all three of us.
I must say that the final weeks of preparation have been rough. After playing every weekend for a while, Greg and I stepped it up to twice a week, and recently it's been every night. Tonight marks the sixth straight night we've run through the setlist. By the time the show comes around, we will have practiced eight of the previous 9 days. Yikes! On one hand, that's good because as a friend told me today, "it's better to be over-rehearsed than under-rehearsed"...and I can't argue with that. But at the same time, I'm a little burned out and stressed. I've had to put off several things I really, really need to do until after the concert because there just isn't enough time in the day. But the practices have gone very well and I'm really excited. I think we're more prepared for this show than the last one and that can't be bad!
I'll definitely write a review of the show sometime next week, so keep an eye out for that!
(Edit: Apparently I've made a few factual errors.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Soccer!
What would my blog be without some soccer posts? Pretty bare, actually. Well the first sessions of indoor soccer started back in September and we won the men's league I was in and took third in the coed league. Session two is under way but it has been cut short for your truly. I injured my right knee pretty badly two Monday's ago and I went to see a knee specialist at Tria Orthopedic Center. I had a little fluid in my knee and grade 1-1+ (out of 3) MCL sprain and no, not my LCL like Adrian Peterson.
Supposedly the recovery time is 2-3 weeks for a grade 1, 3-4 for a grade 2 so ballpark of 3 weeks is a good bet. I have a brace to wear which gets uncomfortable by the end of the work day, but hopefully helps it heal. Unfortunately, considering how my knee feels after 11 days, there's no way I'll be ready in even 4 weeks. It's still painful to get around and stairs are my arch nemesis. I can now walk up them normally, albeit slowly, but walking down sucks. I have to do the old man "two feet on each step" kind of walk. Good times.
Naturally, this reminds me of a Simpsons episode (what doesn't?). Watch about 2 minutes into this clip when Homer is playing basketball. Solid.
As an FYI, if any of you loyal readers has a sports-related injury, I highly recommend Tria. They were very, very good and I didn't need a referral (score!). Despite them appearing very busy, I was in a room before I finished the paperwork, got xrayed within 5 minutes, and had a doctor in my room within 10 after that. The whole thing took about 45 minutes, which can be just the "wait" time for some doctor visits.
Supposedly the recovery time is 2-3 weeks for a grade 1, 3-4 for a grade 2 so ballpark of 3 weeks is a good bet. I have a brace to wear which gets uncomfortable by the end of the work day, but hopefully helps it heal. Unfortunately, considering how my knee feels after 11 days, there's no way I'll be ready in even 4 weeks. It's still painful to get around and stairs are my arch nemesis. I can now walk up them normally, albeit slowly, but walking down sucks. I have to do the old man "two feet on each step" kind of walk. Good times.
Naturally, this reminds me of a Simpsons episode (what doesn't?). Watch about 2 minutes into this clip when Homer is playing basketball. Solid.
As an FYI, if any of you loyal readers has a sports-related injury, I highly recommend Tria. They were very, very good and I didn't need a referral (score!). Despite them appearing very busy, I was in a room before I finished the paperwork, got xrayed within 5 minutes, and had a doctor in my room within 10 after that. The whole thing took about 45 minutes, which can be just the "wait" time for some doctor visits.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The easiest and most random job in the world
I live about 4 miles from work, which has it's pluses and minuses. One plus is that I'm able to go home over lunch if I choose. Today, I had the pleasure of catching Law & Order while I was eating. Seriously. I'm not lying. I was shocked when I found that it was on. It's never on...
Anyway, I realized that the easiest and most random job in the world would have to be writing the opening scene for Law & Order episodes. Today's episode, and I can call it "today's" since I'm sure Law & Order won't be on again until tomorrow, started with two women walking in the city. They were gossiping about a friend and blah blah blah - insert dialogue that had nothing to do with the plot of the episode. Suddenly, a gunshot is heard, startling the women. The camera pans and we see a woman lying in the street; killed by an apparent carjacking.
Now, the beauty of the scene is that the women could have been doing anything and saying anything and the same cut to the woman lying in the street could have been made. It's the TV version of a Mad Lib! Try it the next time you catch an episode. For example:
(number) (gender) and (number) (gender) are (verb ending in -ing) in a (geographical location). It is (time of day). They are discussing the latest (noun) when suddenly they hear a (sound), exclaim (exclamation) and discover a deceased (gender) lying in a (geographical location).
Cut! Print! Actually, wait a second. The first line could really be twisted into something sick. Hmm. Maybe the whole Mad Lib idea needs a little work...just like the Law & Order opening scenes! Snap!
(number) (gender) and (number) (gender) are (verb ending in -ing) in a (geographical location). It is (time of day). They are discussing the latest (noun) when suddenly they hear a (sound), exclaim (exclamation) and discover a deceased (gender) lying in a (geographical location).
Cut! Print! Actually, wait a second. The first line could really be twisted into something sick. Hmm. Maybe the whole Mad Lib idea needs a little work...just like the Law & Order opening scenes! Snap!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
What the crap? I have a blog?!?
Um yeah...so I found this blog thingy I haven't used in a while. Can we just move past the fact that I haven't posted in 3 months? We can? Awesome. (Phew, that was easy!)
So what's been up with me, you ask? Well, work has been very busy the last few months and has drained my will to blog (and live!). There were a few changes and, long story short, I end up staying late almost every day now. Yuck! I used to do the majority of my blogging from work (another reason for the long absence) so it's kinda weak sauce if you ask me. :) The nice thing is that I'm becoming really good friends with a few people at work and that really helps me get through the day.
Last weekend, I went to a Halloween party as a MySpace page. It was a great party and some of the costumes were really cool. To further prove that I'm still alive, here's a shot of said costume and my friend Miranda. (Thanks for the pic, M!)
It took waaaay too long for me to make the costume (apparently I'm more "fartsy" than "artsy") but what the hell. It was a fun night. :)
Hmm...what else? I went to a Nickel Creek concert with my brother a few weeks ago and it was most excellent. We had second row seats (I must say I've become quite the concert ticket getter) and it was a lot of fun. I knew probably half to three quarters of the songs, but it wasn't a problem. They are amazing musicians and even for someone who isn't a huge fan of bluegrass. It was only after the show that I read that it was most likely their final tour, so it was very cool that we got to see them.
There are a few other "blog worthy" items but I will save those for additional posts to be posted at a later...posting...uh...date.
So what's been up with me, you ask? Well, work has been very busy the last few months and has drained my will to blog (and live!). There were a few changes and, long story short, I end up staying late almost every day now. Yuck! I used to do the majority of my blogging from work (another reason for the long absence) so it's kinda weak sauce if you ask me. :) The nice thing is that I'm becoming really good friends with a few people at work and that really helps me get through the day.
Last weekend, I went to a Halloween party as a MySpace page. It was a great party and some of the costumes were really cool. To further prove that I'm still alive, here's a shot of said costume and my friend Miranda. (Thanks for the pic, M!)
It took waaaay too long for me to make the costume (apparently I'm more "fartsy" than "artsy") but what the hell. It was a fun night. :)Hmm...what else? I went to a Nickel Creek concert with my brother a few weeks ago and it was most excellent. We had second row seats (I must say I've become quite the concert ticket getter) and it was a lot of fun. I knew probably half to three quarters of the songs, but it wasn't a problem. They are amazing musicians and even for someone who isn't a huge fan of bluegrass. It was only after the show that I read that it was most likely their final tour, so it was very cool that we got to see them.
There are a few other "blog worthy" items but I will save those for additional posts to be posted at a later...posting...uh...date.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)