| Tuesday, November 22, 2005 |
| nerd |
So I'm eating some nerds while I type this out. There is another nerd that the Title of this blog could refer to, but we don't talk about meg's brother-by-blood-relation-only-dickbag-nerd-dating-dingus here on THIS blog (no offense Megs). Rather, I'd like to say that nerds are funny little candies - almost messy when put in the wrong hands (aka, those under 12 and/or pre-puberty). They're hard candies, but they seem like they should be like little gumballs. I'm remembering a candy similar to them that WAS gumballs, but can't think of the name. Ah well, no big deal.
You guys - I'm making a pumpkin pie that came from a real pumpkin... THAT'S RIGHT! Oh will it be glorious... I have the pumpkin pulp ready, I have most of the ingredients. I'll be making it tomorrow night before bed, and hopefully it will be a fantastically delicious treat. In case it isn't, I told my sister to have a store-bought backup - you know, just in case.
So... Get this...
I recorded a song over the weekend. It has no lyrics. It has no remnant of quality. It has no ability to be in tune with each instrument. Yet it is a glorious work of mastery by myself... Why? because I only recorded it to get an idea of how my current distortion sounds and to play with GarageBand until I liked it. I used a drum loop (so the beat never changes) of some rock kit, then recorded the guitar twice (one for the left and one for the right), then added a bass guitar to the mix. The sound is actually good, so this is a very good thing. Here are the bad things...
1) The guitar is a Fender Squier neck-through redwood heavy-metal looking guitar with DiMarzio pickups and (the thing that's fucking up) a floating tremolo. This causes the guitar to not only be impossible to tune, but it also falls OUT of tune fairly quickly. There has to be some benefit to this system, but I just can't figure out what it is...
2) The bass needs the neck adjusted. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but the tension from the strings causes the bass neck to bowl, and then you have to tighten it back up again - we'll see if I can get that done anywhere.
The song I recorded is terrible - you could almost call it abysmal and/or a musical chortle. I might just post it for you guys, tho - just for kicks :-D. We'll see how I feel with the other stuff I recorded to prepare for this weekends recording activities. Good times to follow here, people.
Oh, hey... work still sucks. Why the hell do I work here? ugh... |
posted by grey as mike @ 12:41 PM  |
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| Friday, November 18, 2005 |
| coffee |
So, typically in the mornings I have a decaf chai latte that I make at home in a pot on the stove. I then pour this delicious treat into a tumbler, and off I go to work. Well, this morning it tastes like I'm licking the underside of a lid of a sewer, so I went to Starbucks... AND THEY WERE OUT OF GINGERBREAD... not just OUT, but they had JUST ran out like 2 minutes before I got there. I watched people in line getting their gingerbread this and that, and I was angry - ANGRY!
Now I'm just pondering how I'm going to raise the $4,000-$5,000 I will need to replace/add to my roster of music equipment. Why is this stuff so expensive? I guess the companies need to make money, and they probably don't sell a whole lot of amps and stuff, but still...
1 new Zildjian Z-custom 17" crash cymbal, a new boom cymbal stand, a new hi-hat stand, a new drum seat, repair my current bass amp, purchase a new guitar head with a cabinet, purchase a new guitar... UGH! that is SO MUCH MONEY!!! I guess this is what I get for basically being my own band - I have to bear the expense of every instrument.
The good thing is that I can at least record with what I have now for demo work - it's just the fear that what I might record is good enough to want to bring it to a studio... Then I'll need the good stuff. *sigh* Perhaps I'll figure out a way to borrow stuff through some connections I have with a couple girls that know some bands *AHEMEGSAGHJENNYSTAH* ;-).
Hey - work blows my ass. Can I leave already? |
| posted by grey as mike @ 10:44 AM |
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| Thursday, November 17, 2005 |
| stupid |
So - I don't know when the switch was made...
Typically, my friends know that when I'm getting screwed or whatever for no understandable reason, I get a little testy. However, lately some new friends of mine aren't understanding this. They don't let me vent like I used to be able to - Either they don't want to hear about it at all, or they think I'm yelling at them. In the past, my friends just either laughed, or just agreed with me, saying simply - "yea... fuck that!" and then life was good. I guess not anymore...
I'm having school registration issues - and I am NOT happy today. I guess there's nothing I can do about them until someone there contacts me, so I'm a little more calm than I was earlier, but I'm still fuming about this. I'm getting screwed out of classes as we speak cause of Columbia College's inept ability to make my life a living hell. For those of you thinking of going there - I say only this... Be ready to go through hell trying to register and talk to anyone about a plan of action.
So, I wrote a new song of sorts last night - it's a rocker! I'm excited when i write those, because I do everything on an acoustic guitar, and it's hard to hear it in its electric sense... But I have faith in this one, and when I have faith, I get excited.
I also wrote to the Smoking Popes to find out what equipment pedals and stuff they use. After doing much searching on the Duvall site, I found out that he uses a 100W Marshall Super Lead head... It's only about $1600 on sale, so... I'll get right on that.
They're the ones that have always had the best distortion to me - it's gritty and hard, but clean and crisp - LOVE IT! Believe it or not, I used to have a similar sound come from a Celestian amp by Crate that I somehow lost in my teens... Funny that the ultimate death metal sounding amp could sound so much like the Smoking Popes distortion - funny!
Class tonight, then a nice busy weekend coming up - man, it's gonna be nuts here people! Sunday I have given myself an ultimatum - I can either record 2 acoustic songs for lyrics to be done Thanksgiving weekend, OR I will have to record 4 songs over the same weekend complete with music and lyrics. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I will damnit... I don't care how crappy it is...
I gotta get outta here. But thanks for letting me vent (albeit my usual venting is much more R-rated for explicit language than anything you've read on THIS blog ;-P). Later! |
| posted by grey as mike @ 2:55 PM |
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| Tuesday, November 15, 2005 |
| bored |
So what's up with stuff? I hate stuff, and I hate it quite a bit.
I'm EXTREMELY bored at work today - I went to home depot for some materials for the light that I'm making in my 3-D design class - only to find that they had like - none. What is that all about? I'll have to get them from "the cage" at school, which will no doubt run me about $25,000 and possibly a collateral as well. I'm not happy about this, but I think my last couple of projects will be kinda cool - we'll see.
I have a lot of work to do these days - What's up with that? I'm so SO tired of having all this work all the time - and none of it being any fun whatsoever. Blah... BLAH, I SAY!!!
I don't want to go to class tonight - It stays late and then I never get where I need to be on time. Stupid.
Anyway, hope you all have fun... |
| posted by grey as mike @ 2:40 PM |
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| Monday, November 14, 2005 |
| finish |
So, to complete my weekends activities here at the blog, Dinner was great with Bruno - although we didn't actually go to see the movie, we ended up just going out for a little bit, then calling it a night. Sunday I did hang out with Ric, but we opted to NOT see the Pompeii exhibit since there was a Bears game, and parking would have been horrible (I suggested we take the L, but Ric wouldn't want to walk from the L to the Field Museum, and he refuses to step foot on a bus, so...).
Anyway, back to work today - I have a test tonight in Art History 1 - I tell you, too many tests are gonna make me wanna SCREAM - ugh.
Alright, I'm gonna get to that. So, y'all have a good day now! |
| posted by grey as mike @ 8:34 AM |
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| Saturday, November 12, 2005 |
| show |
Dude - Saturday mornings suck after being out all night.
Last night I went to see Jimmy Eat World at the Metro - it was alright. I saw them last year before the release of Futures, and thought that setlist was better, but I thought they were more active and put on a better show last night.
I then left and went BACK to the Metro for the Smoking Popes reunion show. As expected, Fatty (aka, their new drummer/former drummer of Tuesday and current drummer of Duvall) fucked up all the really cool drum parts for EVERY SONG! I don't understand why people think that guy is good? HE SUCKS! Either way, despite that and a tiff with some girl in front of us that could've turned ugly, the show was alright. I last saw the Smoking Popes WAY back in the day - like 94, and was too busy being a 14 year old idiot to really remember anything about it other than moshing. I guess it's cool that they're doing the whole reunion tour and new album - but I'm just not having fatty - the other members will need to step it up quite a bit if I'm to like an album with that guy on the drums...
Tonight is dinner and a movie with my friend Bruno. I'll post you on that later. Tomorrow is the Pompeii exhibit at the Field Museum with my friend Ric. I'll ALSO post you on that...
For now, I don't know - I have a lot of crocheting to do, but I also have new drum sequencing to go over - ugh, it's so easy, but still such a pain in the ass to do. We'll see what I end up doing.
I'm just so tired of having all this stuff over my head - I really need to decompress - blah. |
| posted by grey as mike @ 12:26 PM |
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| Friday, November 11, 2005 |
| clap |
Okay, so most of you know that I work in the West Loop of Chicago - well, technically the loop, but the west side of it - by the Sears Tower. And I have to take a bus to get from my neighborhood to loop. Well...
I get off the bus and have to walk down an alley to get here. Well, I don't have to walk down the alley, but the alley is like a shortcut of sorts that leads right up to my work building. For some strange and odd reason, a new song always seems to start up when I'm getting off of the bus - as if I were in a movie scene setting up some kind of plot. Either way, this always gets me thinking about music videos for the songs that I'm listening to...
So Broken Social Scene comes on the iPod, and I'm walking down the alley. The song is "Stars and Sons," which for those of you that don't know, has this eerie aura about it, a mean bass hook, and at about 1 minute starts to clap along with the drum beat. The clapping is what got me... For when they started clapping, I imagined all the workers doing the behind the scene's corporate building crap (unloading shipments, cleaning windows, getting supplies, throwing out trash, etc.) stop whatever they were doing to look at me and clap along with the song.
Pretty weird, huh?
I guess I'm just F-ed up. Ah well. No big deal.
For some reason, I remembered yesterday about when I was a Senior in High School, and I dropped a Pringle on the floor in my Work Studies class. I picked it up and put it on the desk so I could manage to get my book off my lap and throw it away. But before I could do this, the teacher came by, and must have thought I put it there for her. She takes the chip and very slowly puts it in her mouth - as if it were slow motion in a film, and I had purposely given her a floor chip... She also oddly stared at me the whole time she was eating this one chip - it was very odd, and I had a nice laugh about it when she finally walked away.
Tonight is the Jimmy Eat World Show, and the Duvall show... I refuse to call it the Smoking Popes show since Fatty is on drums and he sucks - it's basically Duvall covering their songs now. I see it kind of like how seeing Guns and Roses in 2000 was kind of like seeing a really good cover band of Guns and Roses - But I guess they just had Axl Rose, whereas this latest amalgem of "Smoking Popes" has 3 of the 4 original members... Nevertheless - Smoking Popes without Felumlee is like Guns and Roses without Slash - it's not the same, and doesn't deserve the same title.
Hey - work sucks. Guess I'll just have to get used to that shit... |
| posted by grey as mike @ 8:03 AM |
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| Tuesday, November 08, 2005 |
| fix |
Hi everyone!
Just a quick deal today. Had some drama yesterday via online conversations. Had to really go back and think about why I get in so many fights with people online, and it's always over the same sensitive topics with me. Basically, I had to devise a plan of action where I avoid talking about these things online. I think I'm okay now, but who knows... we'll see if I can keep it up.
I can't believe it's November right now. That idea is just really hard to wrap around my head. There's only like 2 more weeks until Thanksgiving (and Megan's birthday), and then it's time for Christmas junk. What?! Christmas? Screw that junk...
I finally got these spreadsheets that everyone's been promising I'll be getting to work on. So that's kinda cool - but it also means more work during the day - which will be less desirable during these times of mid-terms and such.
I'm getting really exciting about music these days - which is good. Once I get my instruments fixed, I can record again and get this crap done. YAY! Can't wait for that...
Anyway, I'm outta here. Talk to you guys later! |
| posted by grey as mike @ 10:47 AM |
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| Monday, November 07, 2005 |
| work |
So here I am at work. My weekend was good for the most part. My friend Ryan turned me on to Matt Pond PA. Overall, I'm a mediocre fan at best. I don't hate or dislike it, and a few songs went onto my iPod, but overall, I don't think I would buy an album. Not that YOU shouldn't, as they are worthy of listening, but I feel the need for more intense things these days. Perhaps cause pressure is building up inside me from school and the upcoming holidays, I just need to hear all-out rock music. Either way, for now, this is fairly mellow stuff, so I'll just have these 3 songs and then listen to the CD given to me after the holidays, or when I'm in the mood for more mellow stuff.
I did see the City on Film this weekend. It was an interesting show. Bob used his iPod to play these techno-esque back beats instead of using a drummer. I must say I'm impressed that he was able to pull it off, and that he's trying something different, but the show was weird. It just had a weird vibe - maybe it was seeing all these people that I hadn't seen in quite a while - or maybe it was just weird to meet some of these people that Megan and Jenny refer to all the time. Or maybe the lack of a drummer and addition of myself being at a show in the suburbs made it weird. WHO KNOWS?!?!
Today I have to pay my tuition, and that's no fun at all, seeing how I just don't have the money, lol. Then I get to register for classes that I don't even know will help me. It's like pulling teeth at that Giant High School to talk to someone about what you need to do to get your f-ing degree. Bastards.
I still need to workout today, and I also am starting some new spreadsheets or something today at work, but I'm still yet to hear from anyone, so we'll see how this turns out.
So anyway, just thought I would post for the day. Hope yours is well, and I'll talk at ya later! |
| posted by grey as mike @ 8:18 AM |
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| Saturday, November 05, 2005 |
| woo |
So yea... good times. I spent this morning getting breakfast downtown and fixing my friend Robert's computer. We then went to his gym, which is a wonderfully nice gym (and one that costs $125/mo. - WHAT?!?!).
I then spent this afternoon getting yarn for various projects coming up. I can't believe how much $20 will buy... SO INSANE!
So, I think I'm going to put a theme of never putting a heading that's more than one word. I think that would be a good thing to do. For a while, I was doing that with songs, but decided against it. I was even going to name them by release number and track number. So any song would be 1-2, 1-3, 2-4, 2-5... I thought that would be annoying and funny, but then hard to remember which ones are which - of course I could name them and just release them in that annoying way - but I guess that wouldn't be so fun for you guys.
Anyway, I'm supposed to hang out with my friend Mark tonight, but I think he wants to see a movie I don't want to see. We'll have to see what happens with this development...
Alright, I'm getting outta here. Talk to you later! |
| posted by grey as mike @ 4:48 PM |
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| Friday, November 04, 2005 |
| new |
So here it is boys and girls - the new blog. Technically it's an OLD OLD blog since I first made it over a year ago, but now I'm actually going to USE it.
You can post comments on what I write and blah blah blah.
I'm still working on the format. I see these templates all over the place, so I'll probably be changing the template at some point, but it's really not a priority over getting the new grey as sun website done and music up and listenable.
I hope you all have a good weekend. I'm getting my car fixed tonight (storm damages) and then hangin in the burbs for a while, I think. Not sure quite yet, but we'll see. There's a City On Film show tonight in Wheaton that I'm interested in going to, but no one else seems enthused, so... may not happen, and that's okay.
This week I discovered that I can make my own DECAF Chai Latte's at home with the Tazo concentrate and my own lactose free Milk. THIS IS AWESOME!!! I'm so excited that I bought like 3 boxes of the stuff - I mean, it's only $5, and makes like 6 Grande cups - 1 Grande cup at the store is like $3.50-$4.00. Fiscally, it just makes more sense this way, and health-wise - I don't have to drink the caffiene anymore and I'll digest better with the lactose free milk. It's win-win here, people.
I didn't eat breakfast this morning - shame on me! It's okay, tho. I'll have something when I get home, and tonight I will have a glorious eating out at Hog Anus (for those of you that don't know, that's what Megan has re-named Portillo's after an obscure Simpsons reference). I hope they don't give me some crappy rental with no CD player and junk. I'll have to put the throw DOWN in that case!
Anyway, I guess I should get going. Have a good weekend, and post comments if you'd like. It's probably easier to post comments than trying to email, chat, call or hang out these days. Lata! |
| posted by grey as mike @ 11:31 AM |
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