Mouse

Jen sent me this mouse hunting video a few hours ago. The mouse got away. It is still in the house somewhere but it is currently avoiding the kaiju-esque cats.

Now… do videos from Flickr work on WordPress.com? Let’s find out. (note: the embedded video player from Flickr for some reason includes about 10 miles of white space in the actual post. Scroll down… WAY down to see the clip)

Mickey

I am in the office today. That’s a shame because Jen is sending me play by play updates of the cats playing with a (terrified beyond measure) mouse in the kitchen.

The poor thing doesn’t realize that the cats are trying to play with it. I don’t think the cats are smart enough to know they are supposed to be mouse hunters who eliminate the home invaders. They just see it as a super fun toy.

Jen sent video. I might have to share it. The cats are adorable. The mouse is also adorable, though scared out of its wits by the two gigantic, furry, monsters that are chasing it around.

The last time the cats had a mouse cornered and I wasn’t home Jen was able to drop a bowl over the mouse and the cats lost interest quickly. When I got home I took it outside and set it free. Here’s hoping we can do the same today.

Goal Within Goal Within Goal

So I am doing this 50 songs in 90 days challenge thing. If you have spent more than two seconds on this little pagey page you might have seen me post something about it.

July 4 through October 1. 90 days. Three calendar months. I also have a personal sub-goal along with the 50 songs thing. It’s to do an RPM Challenge style album in each of the three months. That’s either 10 songs written entirely within the calendar month, or 35 minutes of music. In July I somehow, magically, ended up with 20 songs. In August I only managed 14. Those combined with a few songs that were started in one month and finished in another had me at 42 songs on September 1st. That means that in order to finish the album in a month for September I have to get to 52 songs. Okay. I can do that.

I have a third goal now. It’s a mini-goal based on the three times in the past that I have completed the 50 songs in 90 days challenge. The first time was 2014. I ended the 90 days with exactly 50 songs finished. There was a 51st song but I never finished it. I still haven’t. The next time I completed the challenge was in 2020. I finished with 51 songs. Suck it, 2014! I beat you by one! The next time I pulled it off was 2021. I finished with 52 songs. Victory is mine, once again! 2021 rules, 2020 drools!

That leads me to this year’s goal within a goal within a goal. This year I want to get to 53. 50 songs completes the main challenge. 52 will give me the secondary challenge. 53 will give me the third challenge. I have 40 songs complete right now and nine more in progress. I have to finish those nine and then add four more.

I can do it. I think. Yeah, I can do it.

But first… it’s bed time.

PS: Still not watching the debate, but social media (which I know is an echo chamber based on my personal political beliefs and all) is hinting that Vice President Harris is effectively mopping the floor with the fascist fucker’s Nixon-esque flop sweat. Sounds epic.

Debate

Tonight is Presidential Debate night here in the USA. I am not watching.

Any time I see that fascist piece of dog shit I want to punch something as hard as I can and I really don’t want to cause any damage around the house tonight.

Fuck that fascist asshole. I hope Vice President Harris verbally kicks his ass all the way back to the stone age from whence he came. Prick.

Finally Finished Listening

To my tiny little music obsessed brain, new music from David Gilmour is practically a religious experience. It had been almost exactly nine years since last he gave us an album of new material (2015’s Rattle that Lock) and the expectations for last Friday’s (four days ago) release of Luck and Strange were exceptionally high.

I started listening to it on Friday morning but it wasn’t until just a few minutes ago (on Tuesday afternoon) that I managed to listen to the whole record in one sitting. Mr. Gilmour* claims that it’s the best record he’s made since Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. I mean… I love you, David but no one is going to mistake this for Dark Side. Having said that though, it is really fantastic.

There isn’t a whole hell of a lot of variety here, but that’s okay. Basically it’s a collection of moody, groovy, mid-tempo, mezzo piano songs with excellent vocals and stupendous melodic guitar playing. Basically what you expect from David Gilmour: an excellent singer and a phenomenal guitar soloist. There is also a bit of a family band vibe here. Normally when my aging rock heroes start hiring their kids to play in their bands it sort of rubs me the wrong way. Guys like Steve Howe and Jack Bruce had their kids in their bands and while they were all incredibly talented people I just didn’t want that. There were exceptions, of course, Teddy Thompson singing duets with Richard Thompson sounds incredible but might that be because his mother, Linda, was in Richard’s band at the beginning and he was just filling the gap that was left when she exited? Who knows.

In this case though, I am actually digging it. His wife has been co-writing songs with him for decades, going all the way back to Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell, so maybe that’s why the vibe is different here. One of his kids sings lead on one song and I guess also plays the harp. Like… a real harp, not a harmonica. I think a couple of kids sing backups on another song, and one kid also contributed some lyrics. Like I said, a bit of a family band thing. I am not put off by it at all this time. Maybe it’s because I have a family of my own now? I don’t know.

What I will say about this album though is that Gilmour hasn’t lost a speck of magic in the guitar soloing category. He was never the technical guy. He’s basically just a blues guitarist playing in a very non-blues setting. All pentatonics and bend notes and things like that. He’s not going to shred like Steve Howe. He’s not going to redefine technique like Robert Fripp. He’s not going to invent entirely new styles of playing like Steve Hackett. Nope, he’s just Dave Gilmour improvising perfect melodic passages and nailing them to staggering, passionate, perfection. This album is flooded with such playing. It’s everywhere. From the first note of the record to the last. It is littered with signature moments. Allow me to give particular notice to the song Scattered which literally gave me chills the first time I heard it. I was in the car driving home from the grocery store yesterday and I thought I was going to have to pull over and wait for the feeling to pass.

So there you have it. My fanboy review of one of my all time favorite musician’s new album. Go give it a spin. Luck and Strange by David Gilmour. Enjoy.

Hey, King Charles. Don’t you think it’s time Mr. Gilmour became Sir David? Let’s get on that, pretty please.