Motorcade

For the first time in my post-college career, my cubicle is next to a window. The main freeway next to my office is right outside my window, so I often look out the window to see what the traffic situation is before I leave for the day. When I looked out the window last night, I discovered that the freeway had been closed in the direction I needed to go. President Bush came to town yesterday to do a fundraiser for Sen. Norm Coleman, so the freeway had been closed to allow the president's motorcade to get through. Nice of the two politicians to schedule this fundraiser right during rush hour.

Since my usual route home was closed, I decided to wait until the freeway was open again to leave the office. I waited by the window and watched, and after about 10 minutes, the motorcade passed by. It must have been at least 15-20 vehicles: white vans, black suburbans, motorcycles, police cars, etc. I kept wondering when the train of official-looking vehicles (except for the vans; they seemed oddly out of place) was going to stop. It may have been inconvenient, but it was pretty interesting to watch.

Living vicariously

Currently listening to: Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison

I subscribe to many different publications, including Maxim and Esquire. Both magazines are fairly entertaining, and although I enjoy being entertained, that's not the only reason I subscribe to them.

My job requires that I interact with lots of different people, and different kinds of people. Most of these people are not intellectual in any way, which often makes it very difficult for me to talk to them, because that's typically the way I would like to engage with people. I wasn't in a fraternity, I've never gambled or passed out in the street in Vegas, and I've never been to Mexico for spring break. I don't watch Survivor or American Idol, I don't typically go to happy hour and never drink when I do. I'm not from the Midwest, and am not familiar with many of the places people here talk about or go to. I don't have a boat, don't go out on the lake and don't go ice fishing. I don't golf, don't follow the Vikings, Timberwolves, Twins or Wild. These are the kinds of things people around me typically talk about, and as such, finding a way to connect with people can be difficult.

That's where Maxim and Esquire come in. Not only do they have fairly entertaining articles and commentary, but they also give me a chance to better understand popular culture and events without actually being a part of them. And reading magazines is quite a bit cheaper anyway.

You paved the taxis with beer on the shore

Currently listening to: Gato Barbieri - Under Fire

After a period of a few years in which I listened predominantly to jazz and classical music, I'm once again listening predominantly to rock. That doesn't mean, of course, that I don't still listen to music from other genres, like right now. In any case, most rock music has lyrics, and I always entertain myself by trying to figure out what the lyrics are, or by making up my own based on what I think I'm hearing.

A case in point would be the title of this entry, which is my guess at a line in The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky." I never knew what the lyrics actually were until a minute ago, when I looked them up:

"Newspaper taxis appear on the shore"

Oops. At least I got the "on the shore" part correct.

One of my favorite albums of the last couple of years is The Dillinger Escape Plan's "Miss Machine," which is a heavy, chaotic album that is often classified as "math rock" or "mathcore" music due to the unusual time signatures employed by the band in its music. In any case, very few of the lyrics on this album are coherent, and that coupled with the hardcore screaming delivery makes this album a goldmine for the lyric guessing game. A couple of examples:

My guess: "Cry your eyes both times while there's still time"
Actual lyric: "Cry your eyes bloodshot while there's still time"

My guess: "Savory words, again the gnats just speak"
Actual lyric: "Say three words like the last you'll speak"

Maybe even more fun than trying to guess what the lyrics on this album are is trying to figure out what the actual lyrics mean. From my favorite song on the album, "Baby's First Coffin":

Dear god protect us come on blackest heart she stares forever and then some never again polished barb wire smile tricks And treats she's done so cut her again gut her again silence tells us we're damned jesus we've gone and done it again Jimmy's got a new gun in his hand you're being a liar I'm stealing the show you're being a liar I'm ready to go how could You doubt we would ever find out the emperor is dead goodbye to god dead so long embrace defeat you know we both agreed to It stick the diamond to it gust of wind to the face never returning favors take the prison to the man I could promise the World if we could travel through time don't back out on me now relax and remember the promise of the sign I wish you could See yourself now you look at me like a child the way you glide across the room instrument of seduction let go of it Rapunzel let it down wait for the signal then bring it down with a smile now become the conductor the way you slide across The room how wonderful the connection did the last kiss still taste as good as the first or is this just the opening scene of a new play I look At you like a child but not at all like you looked at me but grace is already dead now is the time to come and face the Master you should never say yes when you really mean no

No idea what that all means, but the song is great.

I've often commented to my wife that I missed my calling as a lounge singer. Singing like Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett can be a lot of fun, and unless I'm a lot more tone deaf than I think, I think I do it fairly well considering my lack of training/experience. On the other hand, singing hardcore music a la Dillinger Escape Plan or Minor Threat would be great too. Maybe I could alternate nights in Vegas.

sound quality

Currently listening to: The Rolling Stones - Hot Rocks 1964-1971

I was listening to The Pixies' Surfer Rosa this morning and decided to read up on Steve Albini, producer of this apparently very influential punk album (I say "apparently" because I'd only heard one song from it before I bought it, and partially bought it because it was offered in the SACD format). The album has a fairly dry, homemade feel to it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, considering the fact that much of what comes out these days is overproduced and spliced together with computer programs like Pro Tools.

I found this interesting article about Steve Albini, the equipment he uses, and his recording/record-making philosophy. If I was in a band and was going to cut a record, Steve Albini is the kind of person I would want to record/produce the record. He favors analog equipment and recording methods, gives the band as much creative control as possible, and refuses to charge exorbitant fees just because he's well known and has worked with many famous artists, including Nirvana (In Utero). It seems like the guy really cares about music and artistic integrity, and would rather record a band the way it really sounds lives than play games with sounds and use computer tricks in order to manufacture music.

Other than Surfer Rosa and In Utero, I don't know if I own any other albums produced by Steve Albini. I can say, however, that both albums have a very natural, if underproduced, feeling to them. There was a time in my life when that was a bad thing (In Utero's sound was certainly a departure from Nevermind), but over the last few years I've learned a lot about sound quality and sound reproduction as I've researched these subjects and invested in higher-end equipment and new audio formats that are more capable of faithfully reproducing original recordings than CDs, and as I've learned and listened, I've learned to tell the difference, and the difference is not a bad thing--it just takes some getting used to. Attending more concerts, especially classical concerts in acoustically superior venues, has also helped me to learn what instruments really do sound like versus what I usually hear on CDs. Understanding this difference can be frustrating, as it has left me hungry for more expensive equipment and better recordings, but I'd rather be informed than in the dark.

Interestingly enough, many audiophiles claim that the best sound quality is to be found with records and turntables, not CD, SACD or DVD-Audio. While this has certainly piqued my curiosity, the idea of dealing with turntables, needles and something I can't control with a remote isn't all that appealing to me, so I've avoided going the vinyl route.

Better movie sound quality is also being made possible with the advent of HD DVD and Blu-ray, the competing next-generation movie formats. Huge increases in disc storage capacity (currently 30GB for HD DVD and 50GB for Blu-ray) versus what DVD is capable of (8.5GB on a double-layer disc) not only allow for higher quality video, but higher quality audio as well. I'm eagerly awaiting the development of receivers capable of decoding the new lossless compression codecs, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio, that are being used on many of the next-gen movie releases. Actually, I should clarify my comment: I'm eagerly awaiting the development of such a receiver by a manufacturer that will be sold in one of my employer's stores. Onkyo has released two such receivers, but since my employer doesn't do business with Onkyo, I can't take advantage of my employee discount. In any case, even without such a receiver, I've been impressed by the sound quality I've experienced from HD DVD and Blu-ray, despite the fact that I haven't experienced the full potential of either.

I love you

Although I should stop drinking soda altogether, I bought a couple different flavors of Stewart's Fountain Classics soda the other day. I really love this stuff. Key Lime flavor is surprisingly good, but Strawberries 'n' Cream is the flavor I usually buy. I also bought a six-pack of IBC black cherry soda. Also very good, but Stewart's is better. Whatever the case, either brand makes most other sodas taste like crap by comparison.

Number 1

I've already spent three hours on the phone with Sony customer service today. Perhaps it would have been less if I hadn't hung up the phone twice. It's a national holiday, so I can't help but wonder if there's anyone even there. And then, of course, there's the paranoid side of me that tells me that they're purposely understaffing their call center so that other nameless victims and I can't get return merchandise authorization numbers to return the junky products we have the misfortune of having purchased directly from Sony. Lesson learned.

In any case, what to do when you're bored and on hold? Start a blog, of course.