One year ago today: October 4, 2020, a unique DVD tale.
Five years ago today: October 4, 2016, clam right now.
Nine years ago today: October 4, 2012, where not to be.
Random years ago today: October 4, 2006, Jay Lo who?
Top story today is the result of a surprise. Long ago, this blog covered the diamond-hunting park in Arkansas. The draw is that you could find a diamond and some lady did. A four carat yellow. The shock is all the news reports that she is “allowed” to keep it. What? The premise of the park is finders-keepers so what Joe Biden is this? Some people never learn, if you find any treasure, shut up about it. The far left is not content with stealing your money and hard labor, they are also after any luck you get.
I’m shopping for a replacement radiator. The model is fairly common but I’ll still need a little luck. The keyboard player in the band is a mechanic and says he can help with the install. I’m striving for time to set up the new birdfeeder. The cardinals are getting on and I just know they are stressed when they get too near the window. I found that thin metal rod that squirrels can’t climb but it isn’t long enough. I’m looking for something I can drill into to hold it high enough off the ground the squirrels can’t jump up. That means more than five feet. Let’s see what I come up with.
Today will be dominated by band practice, which begins in four hours. I do not know what’s happened behind the scenes, but I do know I’ve had considerable impact just standing there playing bass, nothing fancy. I’ll report back after rehearsal, but here’s some things already concluded. The drummer is the hot-head who likes to play the same as he did sixty years ago in his teens. I can work with that. The shakiest member is the lead guitar, who not only chords poorly, he won’t even try to improve. The drummer is hung up on a beat, and it’s a mix-up between a two-step and a super fast polka beat. By the middle of every song, he’s reverted to that.
The keyboardist is the most solid. If anybody quits, it will be that lead player. First gig seems to be a Halloween costume party in three weeks. We’ve covered 47 or 48 songs, more than enough even at the warp speed the drummer causes. Oh, that’s one thing important, on stage. Unless the song goes that way, I start, play, and end with the same tempo. The drummer is already aware he cannot drag me to his speed and that may be part of his cantankerousness. I’d best point out that the other guys in the band have spotted they can follow me for the tempo, which I did not plan, but there you go.
Chesapeake Bay Tunnel.
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Time for a cleanup of the military. Too much fat at the top of a system already plagued by favoritism and needless ritual. Seems some wise-ass kicked refugees off a plane to fly home a souvenir. Insert refugee joke here. Biden’s poll numbers have really tanked, he’s history. Three hours at practice and the band is getting tighter, but. It’s achieving this by brute force. I go along with this but it is dreadfully inefficient and I can see now why the last several bass players have quit. The drummer. He’s not open-minded and wants everything his own way. Tell you what, I’ll give you an example, you decide for yourself. This photo shows the basic setup, my spot is just to the right of the drum kit.
We’ve now played enough tunes to carry a gig, though I hope we don’t go near any place where I’m known. They are able to smash through around 10 super-old tunes at twice the speed they should be. I’m okay with that because it makes me look better on stage. And you may have deduced by now that I will again be the stage darling. Not loud, not ostentatious, just standing there playing bass. I have every intention of carrying through with this band but not of lowering any personal standards. These guys lack the supreme solid stage time I’d expect from performers with a fraction of my stage time. I suspect they don’t even know or care how to pose when on stage or even when getting their pictures taken.
How did the session go? Pretty well, that is if you are 16 again. It was another plow-through. It is tighter as mentioned, but for half the band that means they are learning to make the same mistakes. The drummer begins many of the tunes with a proper matching beat but quickly changes as described. This time I have the video in case. If it ever becomes an issue, that would be his doing. In many of the tunes, we are a good as they are ever going to get. The guitar player is still dropping chords and the overall effect is like dating a fat girl Nice, but sloppy.
There is another “teen band” factor I haven’t seen in years. I once again appear to be the only member who puts in any hours between rehearsals. They often draw blanks when their songs comes up, unable to remember how it goes at all. This time, one of them forgot a tune he said he’s played for 30 years (“Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”). The drummer especially but also the lead player try to fake whole passages and it gets embarrassing. They miss cues, drop measures, and seem to love it when they can blast the band into a wailing three-chord smash-fest where they apparently suppose they are showing off. It’s foolish and sounds bad. But again, to get on stage, I’m party to it.
Where does this put me? Off the record, that’s where. I completely outclass these guys in every area that counts, except vocals. And they are pushing me to do that, which will just give me yet another edge. Oh, and I can no longer play keyboards, so they got me on that, except to say I did have fifth grade piano in my day. I’ll be accused of bragging here by some garbage can IQ people, but this band, if they behave the same on stage, are basically handing me the spotlight. I don’t mind at all. If I do a lousy job of the vocals, I will always know there is somebody nearby making an even worse mess of his job.
This is a working band and that puts them a cut above the rest in Polk County. There are some mighty fine professional groups around but I don’t think we’ll ever have to compete with them. I go along with anything to get on stage for that is the payoff in this industry. Stage is also the one scenario that a band cannot rehearse in full, so until we get there I can’t predict the audience reaction. But they are going to love my style. I know Polk. It may be a case of any band is better than no band. Mark your calendar. Halloween this year is a Sunday.
ADDENDUM
My latest Rx has arrived with a new set of instructions, mainly to always take with food and to take at the same time every day. Not a problem with me but a signal of something. While I react very quickly to medications, a don’t have the majority of the side effects. So I listed what I have and over half my pills are related to diabetes, which I do not have. Makes me wonder what is really going on out there in the medical community. They know something we don’t.
Yes, I’m following the Royal Navy and its activity in the South China Sea. The Chinese are exerting wild territorial claims over most of the area. The significance is that if they get sovereignty, they can exclude other vessels from sailing there, severely restricting the sea lanes of other nearby nations. Beyond that there is nothing of much value to anybody in the area. The Spratly Islands entire land area is less than 500 acres and the inhabitants are temporary fisherman and military.
And lastly today, the private data of 1.5 billion with a “b” Facebook users has been sold to cryptocriminals and unscrupulous advertisers. This surprised me. Because I never knew there was such a thing as an Internet advertiser who was scrupulous to begin with. My information was not included. Because Facebook doesn’t have it.
