Vacation Debriefing
Posted on | June 8, 2008 at 10:37 pm | Comments Off
Things I learned on my Pennsylvania trip last week, that I didn’t learn from my trip last year:
Pennsylvania has strange beer laws. You can’t buy beer in grocery stores or liquor stores (!), but you can buy it at convenience stores and “beer distributors”. Also, I think you can buy six packs in bars to take home.
Buses to Atlantic City show schmaltzy movies. On the way down, we saw Martian Child. I didn’t know it was based on a book by David Gerrold, he of “The Trouble With Tribbles” fame. I didn’t totally buy John Cusack as the science fiction writer/widower who had a hankering to be a single parent and adopt a difficult child, but at least it was somewhat entertaining if predictable. Amanda Peet’s role should’ve been bigger. On the way back, we saw August Rush, which would make an especially good flick for the MST3K people to mock. N and I had our own little two-person Greek chorus commenting upon the escalating preposterousness of the plot, but we couldn’t get anyone else to join in. I realize it’s supposed to be a contemporary fantasy or something, but there’s only so much I can take. It almost has to be seen just to take in the spectacle that is Robin Williams-as-Bono-as-Fagan. And how did an 11-year old prodigy with no family and no money get into Julliard? Thankfully they didn’t even try to explain it. And there are so many coincidences in this movie, it makes your head spin.
They have some good BBQ in PA. It ain’t just in the South!
I like assigned seating on planes. I don’t want to have to try to find my own seat once I get on the plane. This was my first trip on Southwest Airlines (N’s also), and we weren’t sure how the seating worked. Because of a driving miscalculation, we got to DIA later than we would’ve liked, and ended up getting put into the final boarding group for the plane. So of course we didn’t get to sit together. But on the flight back, I got to the airport really early and got a pretty high boarding number again. The only thing I can figure is that most people did online check-in and printed out their boarding passes from home. I didn’t have that luxury, not being near the Internet (or at least the Internet and a printer). What’s the whole point of the choose-your-own-seat thing anyway? How does it save Southwest money?
I like flying into Philadelphia a whole lot better than flying into Newark. The drive to the Land of Dundler-Mifflin is a bit longer, but it’s a lot easier. The Philadelphia airport had some oddities (especially the cramped security lines), but I liked it better than Newark.
I like getting a foreign rental car. This year I got a Toyota Corolla, which was a nice change from the omnipresent Chevy Aveo. It felt more like driving my Prius.
Part of me still prefers normal books to ebooks. I took A Feast For Crows with me to read on the trip, in both paperback and ebook form. I almost exclusively read the paperback instead of the ebook, even though it’s huge (almost 1000 pages, of which I read a third on the trip). The only time I used the ebook was in low-light situations.
Gambling would be a lot more fun if there wasn’t all that money-losing involved. Atlantic City was a lot less crowded than last year – I think the economy has hit the gamblers pretty hard. Or at least the ones who go to Atlantic City.
People still don’t know how to set widescreen TVs properly. The hotel in A.C. had a huge widescreen LCD HDTV. It was not actually setup to show HDTV content (as far as I could tell), even though it was definitely receiving HD channels. The display mode was set to “stretch” for everything. There was no way to change it – the TV controls were disabled. At one point, there was 4:3 content showing on one of the network stations that had the proper bars on the side, but the rest of the time everything was off. It was very cool having that big, wide TV, but it would’ve been cooler if it had been setup properly.
Cabbies outside the A.C. casino/hotel like to loudly argue with each other all night and all day. Or maybe they were just having very spirited discussions, which also involved a lot of bodily contact that I was interpreting as “friendly shoving”.
I take a lot of things on trips that I never actually end up using. For example, I took both my Nintendo DS and my Sony PSP, but only played the PSP. And that was just for a little while. I also brought one of my iPods and didn’t use it at all. At least I did go through most of my clothes.
I don’t like heat and humidity and could never live out there. Oh wait, I already knew that one. I do like all the greenery though – I miss that in the west.
Latre.
Double Your Blogging Fun
Posted on | June 7, 2008 at 10:54 pm | 2 Comments
Yoo hoo, I’m back!
You may or may not have figured it out, but I’ve been on vacation for the last week. The last seven entries were composed in advance and posted via my iPhone. The iPhone is great for hitting the “Publish” button but not so great at actually composing entries (I can’t wait for Apple to add copy/paste to it). It was kind of dicey, because I was mostly in an area with bad cell phone reception and no WiFi. Having to depend on AT&T’s EDGE network is a risky proposition, and oh so very very slow, especially with bad reception. And in one out-of-the-way area, I had no reception at all. Luckily I wasn’t there for too long. So, I managed. It’s better than the days of the Palm PDA, when I had Internet access only via WiFi.
When I commented a few weeks ago that I was getting burned out and would probably take some time off from blogging (since Steve finally missed a day on his blog), I was anticipating doing very little (or no) blogging while on the week-long vacation. But then I got a burst of writing energy the week before I left. If you think that composing an entry a day is hard, try composing two week’s worth of entries in one week! That was a busy week. Those Kayak entries are especially time-consuming, since I have to listen to the album while writing about it. I think everyone should try the two-entries-a-day discipline for a period, just to see how fun it is.
And how was the vacation? Just fine until the end. Got a lot of relaxing in, got some reading done, spent a lot of quality time with the gf, lost some money. But more on all that later, maybe. The bad part was two-fold. I somehow threw out my back today – I think it was when I was loading my suitcase into the rental car for the drive to the airport. A day of driving the rental car (2.5 hours to the airport) and then sitting in a plane for nearly 4 hours didn’t help much. The back muscles are all tight and I can barely stand or walk. I have only myself to blame – if I had actually exercised, or at least stretched, during the vacation, it probably wouldn’t have happened.
And then when I got to my car in Denver (which I had parked at the Stapleton Park ‘n Ride so I could take the SkyRide to and from DIA), the battery was dead. Looks like I left an inside light on. A dead battery on a Prius is a freaky proposition. I was able to use the manual key to get into the car and open the hood, but even with that, you can’t open the back doors or the trunk. You can’t even open those from the inside. Or at least I couldn’t find a way. Oh wait… maybe there’s a manual switch for the trunk? I don’t know. Anyway, I ended up having to call AAA to give me a jump. We actually had to consult the owner’s manual, because neither I or the tow truck driver was actually sure about how to jump start a Prius. Yes, it can be done. Good thing the car didn’t need to be towed, because that would’ve been an iffy proposition inside the covered parking at Stapleton, much of which has too low clearance and/or too narrow a lane for a tow truck to do its stuff. But luckily the jump box worked.
So I got home an hour or so later than I expected I would, in so much pain from my locked-up back that I can barely shuffle around the house. Now I’m catching up on BSG and then I think I’m going to hit the warm, inviting bed without even unpacking for once. I’m just glad the back didn’t go out earlier in the vacation, because there sure was a lot of walking involved.
Thanks to all who commented on my blog posts when I was gone. I would’ve done more replies, but there was that whole iPhone reception thing going on.
Latre.
P.S. This is being posted at almost 11pm in my current timezone (MDT). If I were still on east coast time, it would be 1am and I would’ve missed a day! I guess that’s one good thing about these long 14-hour days that happen when you travel west across two timezones.
An Incomplete Guide To Kayaking: Part 6
Posted on | June 6, 2008 at 8:53 am | Comments Off
This is a continuation of my series of blog entries on the albums of the Dutch progressive rock band Kayak. To see the previous entries, do a blog search (that little box on the top right) for the word “kayaking”.
Phase 3 (continued): Pop Prog (1978-1981)
Periscope Life
Kayak’s seventh album Periscope Life was their big time expensive followup to Phantom of the Night, their biggest hit album. It was recorded in Los Angeles with some big production touches, and featured the same lineup as the previous album. And even though the sound didn’t deviate that much from Phantom, it failed to find the commercial success of that album.
When I re-listened to this album for this review, I didn’t expect to like it as much I did. It holds up better than I thought it would. The songs are short and punchy, mostly fast tempo, and it’s a logical progression from Phantom.
The album opens with the goofy sci-fi tune “Astral Aliens”, which was a strange choice for a lead track. It’s probably my least favorite track on the album, despite the exemplary guitar riffing. “What’s In A Name” is better. Propulsive drumming by Max Werner on this fast-paced tune. “Stop That Song” is another happy little fast song. Lots of horns give it that circus-atmosphere feel. I love the fast acoustic rhythm guitar.
Then we have the first ballad, “If You Really Need Me Now”. It’s a waltz with a catchy but subdued chorus. The rest doesn’t do anything for me.
Next up is the title track, “Periscope Life”. It’s a rocker that opens with the trademark Kayak synth/guitar combo. It’s another song about a dysfunctional romantic relationship:
She’s so extreme, she won’t let me dream
Won’t let me love and caress
I’m always told to look around and conclude this world’s a mess
Side 2 opens with “Beggars Can’t Be Choosers”, which starts with a piano/synth riff. It’s a bit slower than most of the songs on the album, but still has some intensity. The background vocals on the refrain and chorus make this song for me. They’re cheesy but cool. Includes a saxophone solo!
The next track is another waltz, “The Sight”, and it’s more uptempo than “If You Really Need Me Now”. It’s a song about a fortune teller. The rhythm track makes the song sound kind of samey and it has one of the lamest breaks ever in a Kayak song.
“Lost Blue of Chartres” is another instrumental in the vein of “Irene” or “Relics From A Distant Age”. Starts out with piano only and adds more instruments as it goes along (strings, bass, percussion, electric guitar). It builds up well and I like it when the guitar comes in. Would not sound out of place on a Tangerine Dream album. The central melody is repetitive but good.
Then we have another waltz! “Anne” is another historical/mythological epic like “Daphne” from Phantom – this one about Anne Boleyn:
Why did he push aside the one we adore?
Caught in the web of that vain Boleyn whore
For that vixen drives him wild
Harsh! But pretty much spot-on, as I learned from watching The Tudors. I love the flute/harpischord/synth riff. It should be played at Renaissance Fairs.
“One Way Or Another” is not the Blondie song, but it’s almost as poppy. This is the most Abba-esque song on the album. Very catchy chorus.
The last song is “Sad To Say Farewell”, a typical album-closing emotional power ballad. Big overlapping vocals at the end, which makes the fact that it goes on too long easier to digest.
The CD includes two bonus tracks. The first, “Total Loss” is one of the rockingest numbers Kayak has ever done, especially with this lineup. The lower-fi production is jarring and you can tell it wasn’t from the same sessions as the rest of the disc. But I like it a lot. The second, “What’s Done Is Done” is a bit more subdued but is also pretty good. It’s more ominous sounding than most of the tunes on the record proper. I’m sad to say this, but it kind of reminds me of Journey. If Journey were… you know… good.
Favorite Songs: One Way Or Another, Stop That Song, Total Loss, Periscope Life, What’s In A Name, Anne, Beggars Can’t Be Choosers
Next in the series: A return to the proggy roots, plus my all-time favorite Kayak song!
Latre.
Trojan Lore
Posted on | June 5, 2008 at 6:54 am | 2 Comments
Back when I was on the Cancun vacation, I finally finished reading the novel Olympos by Dan Simmons, after a few false starts and a couple of years. Since I read very few books at all these day, that was a major accomplishment. It’s a large book. Olympos is the sequel (actually the second half) to the science fiction epic Ilium. I read Ilium a few years ago precisely because I saw a review of Olympos when it first came out. Even though the review was somewhat negative, it made me interested in the series. Ilium was a really good read; Olympos not so much, unfortunately.
Ilium follows three major plotlines that seem separate but start to mingle towards the end. The first is about these pesudo-Greek gods on the planet Mars recreating the Trojan War, which is monitored by an old human scholar that they’ve resurrected for that purpose. His job is to note where the war re-creation diverges from Homer’s Iliad. The second plotline is about a group of lazy, decadent humans on Earth who have forgotten how to use their technology and are waited on hand and foot. Predictably, the life they know is shattered and they have to learn to be independent and fight for their lives. The third plotline follows a group of robots out in the moons of Jupiter who detect something weird going on back on Earth which they decide to investigate. The narrative for that plotline is mostly through two very different robot friends who spend their time arguing about the merits of Shakespeare vs Proust. Also predictably, the robots are the most human characters in the book, at least in the beginning.
Ilium is rousing high adventure with plot twists galore. It starts off a little slow but becomes a page-turner after a short time. There comes a point where the scholar tasked with observing the neo-Trojan War decides to take matters into his own hands and change the outcome. That’s where the story really starts to get interesting. There are some great character arcs and it’s fun seeing how all the various plotlines eventually touch upon each other. The only problem I had with it is the constant literary references, which is a Simmons trademark (I also read Hyperion and its sequel). I could do with a little less of the robots discussing their literary heroes and a little more action. And though I enjoyed reading the Iliad when I was in college, there’s only so much I can take of the endless lists of soldiers and who they’re fighting and how they died. There’s enough characters in the book without trying to remember who Greek soldier #64 was and what he did to Trojan #213. But luckily, that doesn’t take up too much of the book either.
The book ends on some cliffhangers, so I was really anxious to start the sequel right after it. I even bought the hardback of Olympos, which was the only edition out at the time (followed shortly by the ebook). But sadly, the conclusion didn’t live up to the build-up. I’m not even sure exactly why, as it wasn’t that different from the first book. There was still a lot of high adventure and action. People were put in jeopardy all the time, only to be rescued at the last minute. There were still a lot of literary references (chiefly, characters from Shakespeare’s The Tempest take center stage for much of the book), but that didn’t get too out of hand. I didn’t particularly like the explanation for everything that was going on, as I felt it was a bit of a copout, and it was something I’d seen too often in other SF books (Xenocide by Orson Scott Card comes to mind, as does Heinlein’s Number of the Beast and the last book or two in Farmer’s Riverworld series). Plus, it got to be very confusing with who was doing what where and the multiple realities and timelines and everything. In fact, I’m pretty sure there was one plot point involving those multiple realities/times that didn’t make any sense at all. When you have such a high concept story like this, it probably doesn’t make much sense to say that some of it was too preposterous, but that’s still what I felt at times. A narrative still has to be consistent within itself, but I felt it violated its own rules at times. The story ended pretty definitely, but still left some unanswered questions and some foreshadowing for another possible sequel.
I don’t want to tell people to not read Ilium just because Olympos isn’t nearly as good, because I think everyone should read Ilium. But if you read Ilium, you pretty much have to read Olympos to see how it all plays out. Just prepare to be disappointed.
Latre.
You Betta You Betta You Bet
Posted on | June 4, 2008 at 8:01 am | 2 Comments
Hello. Flasshe can’t come to the blog right now, so I’m doing a little guest blogging for him. Let me introduce myself. My name is Spike and I’m a Siamese Fighting Fish. (BTW, InfK and Fahey named their progeny after me.) I’m dead and in Pet Heaven, along with Flasshe’s dog Watney. Flasshe was my master back when I was alive on the earthly plane. I passed away a couple of years ago after a long and fruitful life. I lived to be over four years old, which Flasshe thought was pretty rare for one of my breed. Flasshe was so broken up over my passing that he still hasn’t replaced me.
I just wanted to talk about what a great pet owner Flasshe was. He never once raised his voice to me or beat me with a newspaper. He always fed me on time and frequently gave me a bloodworm snack as well as the typical betta-food pellets. He cleaned out my tank once a week, including washing out the rocks. I always had clean water and a full tank. He only spilled me on the floor once or twice. He didn’t let Watney eat me. Sometimes when he was gone for awhile, he would leave the TV on the HD Demo channel, which was always showing aquarium scenes. That was a nice break from all the pornography and science fiction shows.
Sure, sometimes he would play cruel tricks on me, like holding up a mirror to my tank so that I would think another betta was invading my turf, making me go into a frenzy. But you know, I did need the exercise and that let me get some testosterone out. And I did get a little tired of him throwing the controller around in frustration when playing video games, but I realize he needed to get his testosterone out too.
And he never introduced me to any female betta’s, which was kind of a bummer.
Looking down here from heaven, it’s good to see that Flasshe has gotten his life together. Having a steady girlfriend has changed him in ways I never imagined. He seems more happy and relaxed. He’s actually learning to be better at conservation (something us fish are big on). Why, now he hardly ever uses a paper towel when a cloth one will do. And he eats a lot more spinach and fried eggs than he used to. I think he’s even drinking less beer. But he still needs to do something about getting rid of that huge comic book collection in the basement. At least he’s actively working on getting it all organized.
So, I suppose you all want to know what it’s like up here in Pet Heaven? Sorry, but I can’t reveal that. One thing I can say is that the high speed Internet access up here is awesome! I’m not sure about the exact connection speed, but I do know that it’s several times faster than anything you have down there on Earth. And that includes upload as well as download speeds! I have to say that the parties are a little dull though – the Talking Heads were right.
Ulp, gotta go! Lassie and Tin Tin are about to get into another dogfight, and I don’t want to miss that!
Later.
Pet Peeve of the Day: When people tap on the side of the tank to get your attention. Don’t think I don’t already know you’re there!
An Incomplete Guide To Kayaking: Part 5
Posted on | June 3, 2008 at 5:58 am | Comments Off
I know you’ve all been waiting for this with breathless anticipation. This is a continuation of my series of blog entries on the albums of the Dutch progressive rock band Kayak. To see the previous entries, do a blog search (that little box on the top right) for the word “kayaking”. The last entry was here.
Phase 3: Pop Prog (1978-1981)
Phantom Of The Night
Kayak’s sixth album was also arguably their most popular. It contained the song “Ruthless Queen”, which was a hit all over the world except for the US. It was also the album where longtime Kayak fan Edward Reekers took over on lead vocals for Kayak frontman Max Werner. At the same time, Werner took up the vacant drum chair. Just think about that for a minute: Do you know of any other band where the lead vocalist, who was not also the drummer, got tired of the job and retreated to the drums? It just don’t happen, ladies and gentleman. For my part, I slightly prefer Werner’s vocals to Reekers’ – even though Werner’s voice is thinner and less accomplished, there’s something more immediate and winning about it. Reekers tended to sound a tad too smooth and he overdid the tremolo a bit, especially in the beginning. Nevertheless, he was a good choice to replace Werner, as the two do sound pretty similar.
There were other lineup changes as well. Ton Scherpenzeel’s brother Peter took over on bass, and the group added two female background vocalists: Katherine Lapthorn and Irene Linders. The two ladies were also decent eye candy – let’s face it: Kayak weren’t the best looking band around up to that point. I’m not sure if Ton and Irene were married yet at this point or if that came later, but she also became the band’s chief lyricist.
The songs on this album are, in general shorter and poppier than songs from the previous albums, which is why I have designated this the start of their “pop prog” phase. By this time, there’s not a lot of prog left (although that will be rectified a few albums down the line), aside from general instrumentation and arranging. Synthesizers are still somewhat dominant, and since they’re in more of a rock context than a dance context, I declare that a prog element. But there’s also that great Johan Slager guitar work that defines the other half of the Kayak sound to me.
I’m going by the song order on the American release, which is different than the European one, and also different from the CD I have. In fact, the only CD available is a double one with Starlight Dancer, and it doesn’t include the song “First Signs Of Spring”. This is a total shame, as the album deserves a proper CD release.
As I’ve mentioned before, Phantom of the Night was the first Kayak album I’d heard. The opening track, “Keep The Change”, was the first Kayak song I’d heard, and it made such a strong impression on me that hearing it brings me right back to that first time, listening to KFML in my family’s green Pontiac station wagon, sitting at the driver’s wheel outside the garage, waiting for my mom to come out to the car. The sound of the album and that song in particular is definitely of its era, but is also timeless to me. The opening brassy synth bit segueing into the guitar riff playing the chorus vocal melody followed by the melodious verse can still send me into spasms of ecstacy. But is that just because of my memories and associations with it? I don’t know. And then the chorus kicks in with those Abba-esque background vocals and it gets even better. This is Kayak at their poppy best.
Of all the dreams we built on jealousy
Just an empty shell remains
And though there’s still a lot you’re owing me
You can keep the change
“Winning Ways” is a great second track, reinforcing the “new” sound in an upbeat, catchy way with some crunchy guitar and an intro synth riff.
Then we return to the familiar Kayak mythological/historical themes in the form of “Daphne (Laurel Tree)”, which doesn’t do much for me. It starts off as a ballad. Then there’s a proggy instrumental section that leads into a faster tempo vocal section, all of which recalls older Kayak. The proggy, faster parts go a long way toward redeeming the song.
“Journey Through Time” has a minor key guitar riff/chorus melody that feels strange against the more jaunty verse melody and the synth-flute solo. It’s a strange song, not entirely successful. It ends rather abruptly.
The title track, “Phantom of the Night” is pretty bombastic and the most proggy thing on the album. Lots of strings. It shows off Reekers’ vocal range – I’m not sure Werner could’ve pulled this off.
Side two starts with rocker “Crime of Passion”. This one’s a little too rote for me:
What have I done
I recklessly killed someone
Oh judge, it really fills my mind with grief
The only thing I get is disbelief
It’s one of those songs where you’re not quite sure if it’s supposed to be lyrically serious or comical. But it does have some interesting musical touches, including a double-tracked guitar solo.
The seventh song is “The Poet And The One-Man Band”, a poppy rocker that’s heavy on the piano. Nice bass playing and background vocals in this one. But parts of it are too precious and circus-y.
Then there’s the big hit, the ballad “Ruthless Queen”. This has grown on me over the years, and the chorus and break are top notch, but something about it doesn’t totally move me. I think part of the problem is I can’t get over the awkward couplet in the chorus: Oh my ruthless queen/I just can’t accept our love has been. Not only does the forced queen/been (bean) rhyme bug me, but what does it mean: our love has been… what? In the past tense?
Then there’s another rocker, “No Man’s Land”, which is my second favorite song on the album. It opens with that double-tracked electric guitar. The vocals are very fast, not leaving much space for breathing.
The album ends with “First Signs Of Spring”, which I don’t have on the CD. I do have a live acoustic version of it on CD from another album (which I’ll get to later). It’s a ballad with a pretty medieval melody and it’s a good album-closer. I really wish it was on the CD. It fills an emotional void.
Favorite Songs: Keep The Change, No Man’s Land, Winning Ways, First Signs Of Spring
Next in the series: Kayak comes to America!
Latre.