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What Next Musicwise?

All of the music for the RPM Challenge is complete. I need to burn a cd. Do I have a cd? I need to find a cd, then burn a cd, and then print out the cover (front and back! Fancy!). This year my beloved wife, the love of my life and woman of my dreams (I will never get tired of calling her those things. Swooooon) and I are going to drive to headquarters in Portsmouth, NH and hand deliver.

That leads to the inevitable post February musical question: What next?

Well for starters, I’m not going to do an RPM a month for the rest of the year, like I did last year. I’m also probably not going to take part in 50/90 again, though the jury is still out on that. What I was thinking of doing next is a little more complicated. First and foremost, the band takes precedence from this point on. No more recording when I’m supposed to be practicing. That doesn’t mean I’m done recording, it just means I’ll do it after practicing is done.

Second, I think it’s time to upgrade from GarageBand to Logic Pro X. It’s expensive, but it just seems time for something new, and being a total Apple nerd, that’s where I want to go next.

Finally, is it time to collect the highlights from 8+ years of home recording and make a best of album? Maybe, but it has to be something different. I figure 15–20 songs. I’ll record them the way I normally do, with midi bass, drums, and keys, and simulated amplifiers, but those will be scratch tracks. After everything is arranged correctly I’d bring my Marshal amp home after practices and replace the guitars with actual amplified noise. Next, maybe it’s time to bring Mike the Bass Player into the fold and let him replace the midi bass parts with the real thing. Maybe I could do the same with Greg the Lizardfish Singer. That would leave drums. I’d like to have Kevin the Lizardfish drummer replace the midi parts, but recording real drums is an absolute bitch of a process, not to mention the overwhelming majority of drummers puke at the thought of overdubbing drums onto an existing track. Neil Peart does it all the time, but he’s part genius, part human metronome, and part god on Earth. He’s the exception to say the least. I’m not sure that I’m up to the challenge of live drums. Technologically I know I’m not right now because I don’t have enough microphones, and I’d probably need a bigger USB audio interface.

Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking about.

Originally published at robj2112.wordpress.com on February 28, 2015.

Promotaversary

One year ago today I was promoted to supervisor. Nothing is more amazing to me than the simple fact that my promotion did not somehow result in the economic collapse of the free market economy, followed by the destruction of the Earth’s core.

How am I celebrating my Promotaversary? By taking the day off, of course. There are deer in the yard celebrating with me, and this afternoon the kids will be here too. I was thinking of a popcorn binge fest at the movies, but are there any decent movies playing?

Before that though…. I have lyrics to write and vocals to record for four songs. Today is the day that RPM gets its major vocal push! Bring it on!

ATM Blues

So I don’t have an ATM card anymore. Allow me to explain.

I got a message from Mike the Bass Player saying that the Girl Scout cookies were in. I owe his daughter $16. I took out my wallet and there was only $14. Well, on my way over to band practice I’ll just stop at an ATM and get a 20. Easy enough, right?

There’s a Bank of America kiosk thingie near us with two ATMs. I went there. There was a woman using the machine on the right, so I went to the machine on the left. It didn’t work. Sigh in frustration. When the woman next to me finished I tried that machine. I put my card in. It went half way in and got stuck. I grabbed it and tried to pull it back out. It wouldn’t budge. After a second or two of trying it got sucked into the machine. It paused for a second… and then… did nothing. The machine ate my card.

I called the 800 number to ask how I should get my card back. It asked for my account number. Are you. Friggin’. Kidding me? I spent 10 minutes getting run around their god damned voice mail system before being told… you’re gonna love this one… that they were closed.

You. Sonofa…

I had to call my bank and cancel my card. They’ll mail me a new one. In a week. Sonofa!!!

So Far So Good… Still

Got out of bed a little while ago and checked the window. Nice and dry. It’s been 24 hours since anyone witnessed a drip. That’s very good. Unfortunately we’re in line to get another small snow storm. They are saying 3-5 inches, which given this month is little more than a flurry. Hell, it’s practically a summer day! That being said, it still adds weight and moisture to the roof. Two things we don’t want. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to get a little warmer and we might get rain. That’s concerning. While the warm and rain will wash away what’s left of the snow, and hopefully some of the ice dam, it won’t get it all. The amount of weight and water up there will increase quite a bit. I’m not quite ready to call this a win yet. Let’s see how things look on Monday.

Fingers Crossed for Continued Good Luck

It’s 10:42pm. There hasn’t been a drop of water through our picture window since about 9:00am. Not being a carpenter, I don’t know if it’s due to the cold outside or the lack of snow on the roof (thanks to the two guys who shoveled) or some other factor. I really don’t care. I’m just thankful as all hell that the leak has stopped at least for now.

Fingers crossed for continued good luck.

I am So Sick of Winter

This started at about 8:30 this morning. On Monday I hired a contractor to shovel my roof. Today is Thursday and he hasn’t arrived yet. He probably won’t get here until next week. So much for that. I started calling around to every other contractor under the sun. I spoke to a few people early in the process who all but laughed when I asked if they could get here today. One guy said he could do it tomorrow. Another said he might be able to do it tomorrow. I kept calling around. Eventually I stopped getting answers and just got voice mails. I booked an appointment with the guy who said he could do it tomorrow.

This sucks. I am so seriously sick of this friggin’ winter.