Month: July 2021

Gibson Records

A few years ago (2018, I think) Gibson Guitars went into chapter 11 bankruptcy. The generally accept reason for the financial difficulties was the acquisition of a bunch of companies that were audio related but not necessarily guitar related. They seemed to see themselves becoming a high end audio dealer and it blew up in their face and they went bankrupt.

Here we are, a few years later, and they have restructured and put their focus back onto guitars and things are said to be going well. Not long ago they announced they were buying Mesa Boogie. Many of us who are fans of the company wondered if maybe it was a bad idea to start acquiring other companies, though if you gotta buy someone Boogie seems like a can’t lose because they are frankly awesome. People who aren’t fans of the company announced the death of a legendary amplifier company. I consider myself a Fender amp guy, but there are a couple of Mesa Boogie amps that have always challenged my loyalty. As long as I’ve been playing, I could always see myself becoming a Mesa Boogie guy. More recently, the California Tweed…… drooool.

Now here we are in the pandemic world and Gibson announces a new venture… a record company… Ummm… I foresee the Gibson hater community tearing them a new one over this and frankly I think they are right. A record company? Three years out from bankruptcy and you’re starting a record company? You’re feeding your money into a dying industry? Why would you do that? That is just… dumb.

On the upside, I’m a Gibson guy. Maybe they’ll release Quarantine Tunes Volumes 1-4 for me. I could be a rock star! Except that there is no such thing as rock stars anymore and the record business is dying an agonizing death.

Oh well.

Lunch Break

I’m in the office today. I need to come in four times this month and today makes three. I have Thursday penciled in as the fourth visit.

Last time I came in everything on my desk had been moved around. I assume it was the cleaning staff. This time everything was where I left it. That’s nice to see. I told myself that I had to get a mouse pad before I came back and then completely forgot. The desk is arranged in such a way that there is a seam right where my mouse wants to be. It’s annoying. A mouse pad will fix it… if I can just not forget to grab a mouse pad. I ordered one on Amazon today. Read the first paragraph and then try to guess what day it’s scheduled for delivery… go on… guess. (Thursday)

I had no traffic this morning. Well, almost no traffic. There was a slow down at the junction between routes 93 and 128. Other than that, and one lady who was tailgating me at 70 miles per hour (asshole), the commute was easy as can be. Here’s hoping the same thing happens on the way home. Fingers crossed.

I didn’t forget my lunch today! Will wonders never cease? I did buy a bag of Peanut M&M’s from the vending machine though. Not my finest hour.

Last week my sister was unable to cover shifts at my parents house, so my brother and I just alternated days. There was a whole week where I slept at my house one day and at theirs the next. Today is the first day since that started that I won’t appear at the house in Tewksbury at all. I love my parents. I really do. I’m also very happy to have a day where I am not there. It’s such a stress relief. I’ll be there tomorrow night and all day Wednesday though, so let’s not get all kumbaya and shit.

This morning, before work, I looked at posts on this page made on July 26ths in past years. Last year there was a post talking about my progress in the 50/90 challenge. I had six songs finished and 17 songs in the pipeline. I am crushing that pace right now. Today I have 13 songs finished and 23 in the pipeline. Winning. I wonder how far along I was in 2014 (the other year I completed the full 50 songs)? Who cares.

This weekend is a Harry weekend. This is a good thing. That is a happy thing.

Okay, back to work.

The Stir Crazy Files – Episode 78: Tone Deaf

I might have snapped… finally.

This morning as we were getting ready for work Jen made an off hand comment about the health of one of the plants in the bedroom. She said it was looking a little dead.

Given that we are still up to our necks in a pandemic, and that all signs are pointing to things getting worse again, my response was incredibly tone deaf.

Upon hearing the word “dead” a song leaped to the front of my brain and lodged itself there. Two hours later it is still insisting that I sing it to myself constantly. At the time, it insisted that I sing it out loud and I did.

A lovely little ditty from the South Park Christmas album called “Dead, Dead, Dead.”

Dead, dead, dead,
Someday we’ll be dead.
Dead, dead, dead,
Someday we’ll all be dead.

Are you effing kidding me Robert? Read the friggin’ room! And by room I mean the entire friggin’ human race!

Asshole.

Tone deaf asshole.

Meaningless Stuff

I know this is completely meaningless given the shit state of everything else happening in my personal hell of a universe but I’m trying to finish season seven of The Flash and I have a question for the Berlantiverse.

Is Flash season seven episode 16 supposed to be a back door pilot for a Green Lantern show? I’d be down with that.

Okay, back to our regularly schedule shit show.

Headphones

Why did I put two pairs of headphones into the bag of stuff I took to my parents house for my nana sitting shift?

On the left we have a pair of AirPods Max that Harry loaned to me. They sound awesome and are great for everything I use headphones for on my computer, iPad, or iPhone… with one glaring exception.

They are bluetooth and bluetooth has one huge drawback. It is slow. Incredibly slow. The lag is ridiculous. Watching video or listening to music is fine but actually recording music… no way. Too much lag. As the track is recording you are hearing and playing as much as a full beat after where the computer is actually playing. When you listen back everything is grotesquely out of time. Bluethooth headphones are absolutely useless for recording purposes. Hence the second pair, which actually plugs in.

So when I watch a video (like the episode of The Flash I just watched… Covid protocols are doing season seven no favors), or when I mix a song (like the one I posted last night) or when I’m listening to music or a podcast, I’m using Harry’s AirPods Max. When I am recording something, like the guide track for the melodies I added to two songs earlier, or the bass and drums I added to a new song idea, I am using the cheap little Sony things that I bought at the Orlando Airport a couple of years ago.

How’s that for a fascinating blog post, huh? You learn so much when you read my brain farts. You’re welcome.

More Memory Fun

On top of the stress of dealing with trying to navigate my mother through her constant aches and pains, which run the spectrum between “it’s annoying” and “oh my god I can’t stand it anymore please god help me”, there are fun little nuggets like this.

Me: Are you okay mum?
Her: Why do you call me mum?
Me: Because you’re my mother.
Her: No I’m not.
Me: Yes you are.
Her: Did I give birth to you?
Me: Yes, 50 years ago.
Her: I don’t remember that. I guess it’s true because you’re named after your father. (she walks into the living room) Are there any pictures of you in here?
Me: Yes. (points to a picture on the living room wall)
Her: Oh yeah, there you are.

Isn’t that fun? Aren’t you jealous? And by jealous I mean aren’t you happy that this isn’t happening to you? And when I say this isn’t happening to you I mean it from both her and my perspectives.

Memory

This morning my mother asked me how I was doing. I said I was really tired. She asked why. I said because I stayed up to make sure you got to sleep and you didn’t fall asleep until 2:00am. I barely got four hours of sleep.

She had no memory of it. She went to bed at 2:00 and got up and made breakfast at about 5:00. She had no idea. She’s already fallen asleep twice since then.

I don’t know how my father did this for the last 10 years. It’s frustrating and infuriating and she has no idea she’s doing it and how can you get mad over something that’s essentially unconscious? Ugh.

Still Awake

1:41am and she’s just getting into bed now.

I told her it was 1:30 and past her bed time. She said 8:00 is her bed time.

Yup. 5.5 hours ago.

She said I should turn off the TV and go to bed. Ya think? That’s when she realized she couldn’t find her TV remote and we spent 10 minutes looking for it.

I really need to scream, but if I do she’ll never go to sleep.