Yup. We had practice yesterday. WEEE!!! Ian surprised me by asking me to put on Bloody Red Steak which was a super-slow metal dirgy thingy (which is slated for my solo album) when the guys were around. Then they made me figure out how to play it again. After tuning the guitar back down to C, I was able to figure out the whole 3 chords. Then we went downstairs and played it a few times.

I have such a hard time playing s-l-o-w. I usually have a tendency to speed up every song we play. And that drives Ian nuts. And it drives Todd nuts. And, actually, it drives me nuts.

So, after we played Bloody a few times, I requested that we do the set list again. I hadn't played most of the songs since the last show at the end of the July, so that makes it 2 months. Weinermobile went fine. Then we got to the first train-wreck of the evening, Marshmallow. I couldn't even hear it in my head... it was a bit weird. But once Ian played the bass line for me again, I remembered and we continued. I played it a bit on the slow side, inspired (?) by the super-slow speed of Steak. Then came Sac Leg. That went fine. Actually, the rest of the set went fine. We skipped Oreos and Chick Nugs because they require the guitars to be downtuned. Chuck Bill said he needed to leave at 8:30, so we skipped... well the rest of the set. So really we only played half the set list.

Then we played a new Todd-penned, Darrin-orchestrated tune called Flesh Feast that we've been working on (and have down). And we finished up with the 5/4 song. And at 8:30pm, da boyz were out da door.

It was a good practice I think. We told Gourley to get a gig set. AND IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN OPENING BAND, EMAIL US!!! Shit yeah!

Um... I am at a loss of words right now. To set the record straight: No, I did not see the new Star Trek and have no intentions of doing so. I always get people asking me that kinda shit. Do I look like I fucking watch Star Trek??? Well... maybe a little... but don't fucking insult me like that. Shit. And I don't get off on Star Wars either. I may program fucking computers, but JHC, does that mean I have to fucking worship Star Trek and Star Wars??? I don't know why that bugs me so frickin' much. The funny thing, I am still a total geek. I mean, I still try to catch the new Junkyard Wars shows. I've gotten away from BattleBots a little bit, but if I'm surfing and everything else sucks, then I'll watch it. Whatcha gonna do?

Well, I'm gonna split. Catch ya later!

Peace outside.

So I walk into work on Thursday and check my email and what do I find? "Saturday is going to be a working day" DOH!!! Needless to say, I was pissed off and extremely sad at the same time. I don't ask for much in life. I only ask that at least twice a year I can go to a record show and procure some cool ass CDs, 45s or LPs (depending on my mood that month). Later it was determined that all folks would only have to work 9am to 1pm. This game me some solice since I knew I could still go. I normally am one of the dorks that is in the line before they even open the doors. That's just the way it should be.

So, I left work one second after 1pm and headed off to pick up Ian. By 1:30, I was in the door and looking for the dollar bins. I love my vinyl. I really do. But do I think I should have to pay more than a dollar for a frickin' K-tel album? I think not.

I really didn't have anything in mind as to what I was looking for, other than the small wish list I got from Todd. About the only thing that I knew is if it was K-tel, it was mine. I really don't know why I am so infatuated with K-tel nowadays. I think it's part of this grand scheme to somehow reconnect with a childhood that I only really remember based on what records I was listening to. I remember hearing about one of my neighbors friends who got pulled over for blasting the Foreigner 4 album too loudly (this was back when the album first came out. I was like 10 or something). I remember my sister and all her older, cuter girlfriends coming over for a sleep over and they were listening to REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity. I remember going to the basement and blaring my Kiss Alive II album and running around like I was singing on stage. And I remember the K-tel albums. High Voltage, Disco Nights. Like I said before, Todd actually found one for me that was the first album I had... a K-tel album called Stars. Disco Nights followed soon after that (I think... or maybe I have them reversed). There's another one that I thought was High Voltage... but now that I have that one, I'm pretty certain that's not it... so I will just have to keep my eyes open. I usually remember the cover more than the name. I think it might have been High Energy... not High Voltage. Oh well.

Anyways, I picked up about 10 or so albums, them being:
1) Kenny Rogers - Greatest Hits *** I've always liked this album. I don't know why. Ruby, don't take your love to town.
2) The Association - Greatest Hits *** C'mon, who doesn't like that sorta folky, sorta psychedelic sound. Ok. Alot of people. But everyone knows it's windy.
3) Hit After Hit *** Good ol' Ronco (famous makers of the pocker fisherman), knew a gold mine when they saw it, so they followed in the steps of K-tel and put out albums with various artists. I almost cherish these a little more just cause they seem to be a little more rare. But their packaging sucked and it holds less sentimental value.
4) John Denver & The Muppets - A Christmas Together *** Why the hell not???
5) Disco Nights *** One of the K-tel albums from my past. This is one of the better ones made right in the middle of the disco era. There were lots of K-tel albums with the word 'disco' in them, but that really didn't mean shit. However, this one was true to the genre with tunes like "Boogie Oogie Oogie", "Macho Man", "I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" and "Shame"
6) Xanadu Soundtrack *** Todd had this one and I got jealous, so I had to get it. I have a thing for Oliva Newton-John. It's another one of those guilty pleasure things from my past. Around the house we had lots of Elivs, Olivia and Barry. Of Oliva and Barry, I think I have almost all the ones I had when I was younger. I think there's one Olivia album that I still need... I think I saw it in Todd's collection. Hmm... it just might come up missing.
7) Saturday Night Fever *** Another hit from the household I grew up in. I got the 2 LP set for, of course, a dollar. I just told the dealer I had 5 at a dollar each, handed him my money and walked away. Alot of times, the dealer will try to make you pay 2 dollars because, well, it's 2 LPs. I think that's a crock of shit. If the sign says a dollar each, then it's a dollar EACH. If you want to charge 2 dollars for a double disc set, then dammit, your sign should say so.
8) Styx - Paradise Theater *** This is from the 8-Track days. Ian showed me his copy of the LP and it has this kick-ass designed actually etched into the vinyl. It's pretty freaking sweet. I've never seen any other album like it. You'll just have to see it to know what the hell I am talking about.
9) Olvia Newton-John - Greatest Hits *** This is not one from the past but sometimes you just wanna hear the good stuff only, so this collection from 1978 is da bomb.
10) Olivia Newton-John - Let Me Be There *** This also is not one from the past, but I know the title track. I think this might have been her debut album.
11) Three different Bobby Sherman albums *** It's bad enough that I am admitting that I bought these. Honest to goodness, I don't know why I keep buying these god-awful albums. I think it's more of an inside joke that's only funny to me or something. I remember one song that I used to play alot when I was over at my aunt's house called "Julie, Do Ya Love Me?" And that's where it started. Then came the Bobby Sherman Christmas CD that I found at Odd Lots for $2.99. Then Todd gave me a Bobby Sherman album that he found at the thrift store for 49 cents. Now I have three more. By the way, they are all Theresa's. I don't know who she is or was, but she felt the need to mark, in pen, on the front of them all.

After the show, Ian and I grabbed some killer Greek carryout from down the street and watched Kiss videos until I wanted to vomit. Actually, it was the combination of Greek Salad and 4 Dr. Peppers that was almost making me throw up. There were definitely some nasty "vurps" happening, one bad enough that I actually needed to swallow it back down. Eeeewwww!!!

And if I have to hear "I Love It Loud" one more time, I am going to get a hatchet and chop off some heads.

And today, I washed the car and mowed the lawn. Yeah.

Ok, I'm tired now. Buh bye lady.

Well, we had a practice tonight ... sort of. MCB showed up around 6:30ish. We talked about old horror movies and shit. I enjoy that 'cause I like horror movies, but I haven't honestly seen many of them and MCB tells me about all these movies that would be really cool to watch. Maybe I'll see some of them the next time DC has a movie night. Ian showed up around 7ish and said the traffic EVERYWHERE sucked... 315, 270, Riverside, EVERYWHERE. After goofing off for a few minutes we headed to the basement... and continued to goof off. I don't think any of us were really inspired tonight. We just weren't 'on'. We goofed around with some odd time sigs; mostly 7/4. Best part of the practice that yeilded any listenable content was when Ian joked about doing a 7/4 rhythm we were goofing off with in swing time. And we did... and I have to admit it was fun. We then did a slower version of a new song and after not being able to determine what song we wanted to do next, we quit. We went back upstairs and listened to side 1 of Blizzard Of Ozz. By 8:15pm, Ian and MCB were gone. Gourley was nowhere to be found.

I called Todd and by 8:30pm was out the door. I stopped by Fazoli's before getting to Todd's house and picked up 12 breadsticks and a Mr. Pibb. Man, those breadsticks are the shit. At Todd's house I aquired some more sought after K-Tel albums that Todd, king of the thrift stores, has been procuring for me for the past few weeks. I was pleasantly surprised to find he had one of the first K-Tel albums I had about a long time ago "Stars". This wonderful compilation put together such great hits as Al Stewart's "Year Of The Cat", "The Things We Do For Love" by 10cc, "Rich Girl" by Hall and Oates, mary MacGregor's "Torn Between To Lovers", "I'm Your Boogie Man" by KC and the Sunshine Band and (snicker) "Hard Luck Woman" by Kiss. In all I got about 10 K-tel albums from Todd. He's the dude! We sat and listened to crackly ol' vinyl records by Stevie Nicks, Bob Segar and Billy Joel. Oh yeah, and some bluegrass band, but I forget the name of that group. To finish off the night, we watched a little bit of a Bugs Bunny marathon that Todd had taped years ago from local channel 4. It was on from like 2am to 6am. Who the hell (besides Cartoon Network), puts Bugs Bunny on after midnight... a damn marathon even!!! Strange.

The record show is on Saturday!!! The record show is on Saturday!!! The record show is on Saturday!!! The record show is on Saturday!!! The record show is on Saturday!!! The record show is on Saturday!!! The record show is on Saturday!!! The record show is on Saturday!!!

I'm a bit excited. Excuse me.

:D

Hey-o folks out there in internet land. Welcome to my disturbing world. Actually, I'm pretty plain when it comes down to it but let me just believe what I want to believe, ok? Thanks. I appreciate it. So I'm supposed to write something in here... ok. I can do that.

So we've been working on some new material that I think is challenging and that is good. We've already laid down the drum and bass tracks and hope that we can continue to move forward on completing the album, yet to be titled. I think we prolly need a few more songs to fill out the album. I think we have (counting...cnb.slol.ff.w.pp) five complete songs now and are currently working on 2 others. I wrote some lyrics a while back and gave them to MCB, but I'm not sure if he's working on it or lost them or what. As Fifth Angel once said, "Time will tell."

As for the solo album, I thought I was done about two months ago. However, I was back home in Anna, OH (woo hoo!!!) at my parent's house and they have a piano. With a little piece-o-junk GE recorder, I pressed record and all sorts of bizarre songs came out of it. Off the top of my head all these weird songs came out. So, I figure they might make the album. Maybe not. You'll have to buy the boxset to find out sucka!

Well, I'z gotta be going now. I need to flip some discs that I bought the other day. I got them about 3 weeks ago when Todd and I went to the Goodwill store and I just haven't had time to listen to them... mainly because I was listening to the stash that I got from Used Kids the week after that. Used Kids rules by the way. If you're bored some evening, email Ian and ask him about the horde of Bill Nelson cassettes he purchased. It'll keep ya busy and make Ian happy too! :-)

Peas.