Another day with no real instruments being played, but decent progress none the less.
I added three new song ideas. All three have a song form worked out. They are just MIDI bass and drums though two of them also have MIDI guitar guide tracks.
The pipeline now has five songs. All with song form and just MIDI instruments.
On to day three.
My wife just made an astounding observation.
Question: Has anyone ever seen actor John C McGinley and musical genius Weird Al Yankovic in the same room at the same time?
Mr McGinley:
Mr Yankovic:
Seriously… they could be twins. Are they the same guy?
The 1980’s live forever ’round these parts.
Not really, but also kind of really.
Back then we used to go to see most of the big concerts at the Worcester Centum in Worcester, MA. Most bands avoided Boston itself and went about 60 miles to the west to put on their shows at the Centrum. Partly because Boston is tough to get around in a big tractor trailer truck, but also because the only real place to play in the city at that time was the old Boston Garden and Billy Joel said it best when he said even hockey games sound terrible at the Garden.
The Centrum was smaller but easier to get around. Almost all of the big arena bands played there. The stadium bands played the old Foxborough Stadium, but the arena acts went to Worcester.
My first show ever, Triumph was at the Centrum. My first four Rush shows were there. I saw Boston there when they played six sell outs on six consecutive days. I saw the eight man version of Yes there on the Union tour. Absolutely stunning show touring an awful album. I saw a ton of great shows there.
My friends Larry and Mike saw Iron Maiden there in 1988 (I think) when they were touring the Seventh Son album. They asked me if I wanted to go, but I hadn’t caught on to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal thing yet. By the time Maiden returned in 1990 I was fully on board and we all went back to Worcester to see them.
The Worcester Centrum is now called the DCU Center but it’s still the same building. The last thing I saw there was an AHL hockey game back in… 2001? Maybe? I don’t think I’ve been back since.
That changes in November. I just bought tickets for me, Mike, and Larry to go see Iron Maiden once again. It’s going to be freakin’ epic. I saw them that time in 1990, then again on the first tour after Bruce and Adrien rejoined in (I think) 2000, though that show was in Portland, ME. I saw them again at the venue formerly known as Great Woods shortly before the pandemic hit. Was it August 2019? It might have been 2018, but I think it was 2019. And now, come November, I am going to see them yet again at the venue formerly known as the Worcester Centrum, yet again.
Bring on that New Wave of British Heavy Metal one more time, people.
Do you think they’ll play Die With Your Boots On?
I hope they play Die With Your Boots On.
The cats were hanging out with me a little while ago, but then the landscapers came along and they ran for the hills.
The annual goofiness is underway.
Yesterday I worked on two new ideas. I ended up with a full song form for both of them. The MIDI bass and drums are done, and they both have a MIDI guitar guide track.
That’s all. Not as much as I had hoped, but still a good start.
One of our neighbors is shooting off so many fireworks that I can’t tell if it’s the 4th of July or the artillery barrage the Federal troops fired at General Pickett’s division during Pickett’s charge (which was 161 years ago, yesterday).
So much noise. The cats are handling it well, but we had to close the windows out of fear that the booms would freak them out.
It is not homemade. It is sugar free though. We found a few brands during our sugar free ice cream research trip to the supermarket last weekend and this is my first taste.
It’s not bad. It’s probably not as good as the real thing, but it is good enough.
The weather held long enough for me to cook dinner on the grill. Jen marinated some chicken and I cooked it. I consulted The Google to know how long to cook it and the suggestion I went with was much too short a time, but I rolled with it and it looks good now.
The whole time I was outside, I had this cat up at the top of a tree eyeing me.
He or she was sitting in that spot when I first went out to turn on the grill, and he or she was still there when I packed up and went back inside about half an hour later.
You could say that he or she was watching me… watching me like a hawk.
I just want to follow the feline example and just nap all day long.
