Musical Interlude

Today’s Music: See Below

This is what the inside of my office looks like.

Haven’t posted in several days. Because I’ve been getting the tar kicked out of me.
The pic of my work area doesn’t begin to convey the mayhem…

3 servers. One of those had a bad disk controller that took a few to replace.
1 KVM. That I put in multiple service calls for. Because it didn’t work.
Ah, but it did. Thanks Belkin, for the worst instruction manual ever.

This is what the inside of my head looks like...

This was all done in a hurry, for a new data center we are setting up. So it all needed to be done in a hurry.
As you can see, there are boxes and hardware everywhere.
On the bright side, since it was a rush job, I was able to ignore all the normal requests so I could focus on this.
And except for some small odds and ends, we finished on or a bit ahead of schedule, and everything will be shipped out tomorrow.

Here’s part of the soundtrack that’s been playing in my head and on my pc through the project.
These are all songs that get my adrenaline up and energize me. Gossip and RAM have great or thoughtful lyrics, Dire Straits makes no sense at all, but I love all of them.
And I strongly recommend against listening to any of them while sitting in traffic…
Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control

Dire Straits – Solid Rock

Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name Of
***This is in no way shape or form a child appropriate song – lots of F**k You in it, and a very strong message
that being said, I love this one, and think you should play it as loud as you can

So the boxes are packed, and tomorrow should see a slow return to office order, and I’ll be able to get back to you guys, especially reading, commenting on and enjoying your blogs.
And the Friday Foolishness poll is already taking shape in the unfiltered recesses of my mind, so there’s that to look forward to.

Until then, don’t forget to vote on last week’s poll before it closes.

You’ve got to hear this – Volume one

Today’s Music: Derek And The Dominoes – Layla (for comparison with the below)

Sometimes I hear a song from a genre I wouldn’t normally listen to, like Aloe Blacc’s single, I Need a Dollar

Sometimes, it’s from a band I like, and it’s exactly what I expect, Like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s album, Edge of Forever

And sometimes, an act I like puts something out that takes my expectations and sends them running for cover.
In a good way.
That was the case with Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton’s Play The Blues (Live From Jazz at Lincoln Center).
It’s all here – New Orleans blues, Chicago blues, Delta, some Ragtime, and a few dirges.
Eric Clapton has a growl in his voice on some of the tracks that I haven’t heard before.
Wynton Marsalis defies reality with a plunger at the end of his horn.

But it isn’t just the Wynton & Eric show. There’s plenty of room for some spectacular keys from Chris Stainton and Dan Nimmer. Fantastic rhythm from Ali Jackson on drums, Great upright bass by Carlos Henriquez. Victor Goines (clarinet), Marcus Printup (trumpet) Chris Crenslaw (trombone) round out a phenomenal horn section.
Taj Mahal even shows up at the end with his banjo for a couple of tracks.

From the opening rollicking track, led off by a playful ragtime riff and Eric Clapton shouting about ice cream, the album grabs and doesn’t let go.
Wynton and Eric trade vocals for most of the album, and their two instruments blend and play off each other incredibly well.

To give you an idea, here’s a song most people know, reworked for this show. As a dirge.

If you have any interest in either of these performers, or the blues with aNew Orleans tinge, you can do a lot worse than pick this up.
Two world class performers working with each other to create a level of music I don’t think either of them could have created on their own.

How could I not have expected that?

Friday Foolishness – With a bit of Serious too

Today’s Music: Gossip (A great band that never caught fire. Check ’em out!)

First off – the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a great idea, with a terrible execution. It protects media producers, but goes way overboard – if a kid posts a YouTube video of themselves singing a Justin Bieber song, they can be sued for piracy and infringement.
While they are guilty of many things for singing Justin Bieber, piracy probably isn’t one of them. Congress should write a law that is more specific to the problem, instead of this, which is very general and can be applied almost anywhere.

If you agree, please click the black bar over the logo, or here if the bar isn’t above and sign the petition.
If not, hey, that’s cool too.

And on to the silliness…

Last week, we asked about jellybeans!
And The winner is “STEAK! (Because jellybeans suck)”. I couldn’t agree more.

Although, kudos to Brian the Kwyjibo, who actually used logic for this (really?!?) to not choose Black Licorice so that he wouldn’t be eaten, or as he says…
“I voted for black licorice after a little internal debate, because I also like pina colada. But then I thought, Wait, what does he mean when he asks “What flavor of jelly bean would you be?” If I wanted someone to eat me, I’d pick black licorice (or pina colada) since those are the best. But if I wanted to survive, I’d definitely NOT choose one of those.”

And now what you’ve been waiting for, This weeks Friday Foolishness Poll:

Again, voting ends Thanksgiving night at 23:59.

While you wait for the results, please enjoy some Cat Juggling.
Roll the ugliness…

Friday Foolishness, and Check. Your. Calendar.

Today’s Music: GWAR
The video is slightly disturbing, the music isn’t bad. Think KISS on a really bad high. Their guitarist passed away last night, so they are Today’s Music as a tribute.

Next, to the old business –
The hands down category winner to last weeks Friday Foolishness poll is Other.
The Written In answers are as follows:

– Are you suggesting that only bloggers should be responding to this poll?
– I ain’t admitting to nuthun.

In reference to the first answer, you know, it didn’t even occur to me to add a non-blogger answer. How silly of me…

And now, on to the new silliness!!! (even though there is rarely anything but silliness around here…)

I was going to go with a rant today, since there was Christmas music playing when I bought my coffee this morning. When I paid, I asked the girl if it was a one-off, but no, apparently that’s all they are playing now. And for the next. 8. weeks.
But I think I’ll save that for a more detailed diatribe, maybe this weekend.

So, in keeping with the theme of Friday Foolishness, another question.
This was going to be part of another entry, but I would like your thoughts on the matter.

And non-bloggers should be able to get in on this one too!
(If you write in an answer, please include contact info if you like)

‘Cause folks, it don’t get no foolisher than that.
Have a good weekend!

A conversation with IrishPaul

Today’s Music: Sammy Hagar

IrishPaul Instant Messaged me on my way to the train this morning.
Here is the conversation…

IrishPaul –
Happy 50th birthday to moody bastard Larry Mullins junior

El Guapo –
That’s why you’re up at 7 am?

IrishPaul –
Going to bed now. Was watching a movie.
Why are you up?

El Guapo –
You. Suck. I’m going to work.

IrishPaul –
What kind of a****le goes to work before 6pm? Don’t forget, we’re going to The Drums next Monday.

El Gupao –
Real world a****les. Haven’t yet found a surfing sponsor, so off I go.
Yeah, I’ll be there.

IrishPaul –
Right. I’m off to bed alone – bonus.
You going to Chickenfoot.

El Guapo –
Bah, not a big enough fan. Thought you hated Hagar.

IrishPaul –
I do but want to see Michael Anthony Hall and Joe Satriani. So I’ll bear with it.

El Guapo –
Have a good time.

And since I know he hates that crap, today’s music is Sammy Hagar. Because I had to be on my to work at 7 am. And he was finishing his day bartending form last night.

So there it is, a tiny snippet of my real life.

Bah.