Woohoo! CD’s here! Go listen, daddio. Vocals are a little strong on one or two tracks, but everything else sounds great.

If you don’t have the Live Rust DVD, shame on you. It’s one of those once in a lifetime concerts.

Here’s another example of why I think he’s one of the best songwriters of the 20th century, and an amazing performer.

I collected everybody’s photos from the studio session and put them up for a while. There’s one that shows how much Kim’s eyed react to flashes. It’s weird. Here eyes can even be at nearly a 90° angle to the camera and they’ll still shine like Cujo.

I was a bit surprised by his choice of mics for the hi–hat and snare. He was holding an SM–57 and one of these tiny AKG clip–on condensors made just for drums. I thought snare, hi–hat respectively. Nope. The AKG clipped onto my snare rim and the 57 was face down over the hats. I liked how each sounded, especially that little AKG—really brought out the crack and ring that I like in my snare.

I’ll get the tracks up after we get the CD on Saturday.

We went back to the studio last night to record a couple more songs and finish the others. We threw the Zep song out because it was sucking. The studio guy suggested we do I Saw Her Standing There because he thinks Kim kicks ass on that. We also did I Can’t Explain by The Who, which sounded fucking incredible once Emily & I added the backups, which we’ve never done before because it would sound like shit with only 1 person doing it live. He should have the songs cleaned up and the CD done by Friday. Can’t wait to hear it.

Man, we met there in St. Paul at 5. To get there from here, I had to go through some of the worst freeways in the metro. There are places where multiple major highways merge together for a short span. Then there’s the area they refer to as Spaghetti Junction. Just look at that mess. People, it really is time to give telecommuting a try. This is goddamned ridiculous. 4 lanes of traffic should not come to a stop. My wildly uneducated guess is that 50% of the people cramming themselves into fancy offices in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul don’t need to be there. Stay home. Get a cheaper office in the burbs. And stop tracking mud across my nice clean kitchen floors.

Shit. The iTunes stutter is back.

Well this is pretty cool. There are a bunch of things you can do with the column dividers in Finder windows and Nav Services dlogs (Open, Save, etc) in column view.

I’ve been bitching about my Mac Pro pretty much since I got it, because any audio or video would have a terrible stutter if the CPUs were more than a little busy. As a result, I had to stop listening to iTunes while I worked, because doing a build in Xcode would make it unlistenable. Couldn’t even watch YouTube videos unless I stopped the build. Recently I’ve been having video glitches show up in the form of a horizontal line of garbage across a window, something 2 pixels high instead of 1. It also seemed to lock up often if it was doing something fairly graphic intensive (like flipping a Dashboard widget to get to its Info panel), playing a game, etc, but this only seemed to happen if it was a hot day and I had the windows open instead of the air on (I use AC as a last resort).

Every once in a while I’d wonder if the extra 2G of 3rd party RAM that I put in it shortly after it arrived was the culprit, even though it said it was certified. I ran a hardware test and the RAM checked out. Finally today after a crash I decided to put out the 3rd party RAM and see if that would help. Yes, it did. While I had that out I looked for things to clean. The intake on the video card was caked with lint. Inside the intake are the edges of some copper heat sink fins, packed tightly together. I had a feeling my video card had been overheating.And sometimes the fan on the card would spin up to full speed—felt like a blow dryer on high out the backside. That would explain the screen garbage and crash–proneness when it’s hot in the house. I sucked out the link and put the 3rd party RAM back in, started some music in iTunes, started a build, and played a YouTube video at the same time. No stutters at all! Maybe the RAM didn’t get totally seated when I initially installed it, but you’d think that would cause more problems than what I was getting.

Anyway, I’m happy and my Mac Pro is not acting like a Mac Amateur. Wah wah wah waaaaaaaahhh. I might try putting a piece of thin filter material over the front of the case and see if that helps keep lint out of the video card.

This years Goodwood Festival of Speed featured the appearance of the Wacky Racers. No shit. Under the more normal, non–cartoon category, there was lots of cool shit, like the Blue Flame (!!! always my favorite rocket car—I didn’t know it was still around), gorgeous old GP cars like this one, the amazing Lancia Stratos, an old Norton with sidecar, screaming Porsche 917, the crazy but lovable Tyrrell–Cosworth 6–wheel GP car, the Chaparral sucker car (Jim Hall got pissed that they disallowed the giant wing he invented earlier, and since he couldn’t use aerodynamic to push the car against the pavement, he went the other direction and used vacuum to suck the car to the track. Pity the driver behind this car as those 2 fans hurtled track debris into their face. Lots of good info about it here.).

We did the studio thang today. That was a hoot and a half. I got 1 or 2 of the 4 songs in 1 take. Overdubbed only 1 cymbal at the end of Paint It Black. He had a 20” China Boy Low. Mine’s a 20” High. Having heard that, I wish mine was a Low. It’s more Oriental and washy instead of sharp and glass–breaking. I just wanted to add it to the very last note of the song. We ran out of time, so we need to go back and finish up the Zep song, and maybe do a 5th song because we realized we didn’t have any real danceable tunes, and it is a demo for bars and such.

The rest of the band did incredibly well on their first studio experience. Playing along with the rest of the band only in your headphones and not being able to see them play can really throw off many people. It helped that the guy is friendly and really laid back. I was happy when I first walked into the control room and saw a G5 and 2 big monitors’ full of Pro Tools instead of some big ass board and 1” tape. I mean really, why would anyone use analog these days when digital sounds every bit as good (some would disagree), plus it adds heaps and heaps of options and makes everything easier. John missed one chord; copy & paste. Emily’s breaths; select them and take their volume way down. Kim ended up better liking the track that she just recorded over; command–z and all is good again. Which guitar sound to use; record everything clean and try a bunch later by choosing them from a menu.

He had one effect in Pro Tools that’s fucking hilarious. Most fx editors have custom windows that mimmic the look of an actual piece of hardware, like amp modelers look like amps, etc. This one had chipped paint and some words in Russian, 2 big black plastic knobs, and one big toggle switch. What it did was make vocals sound like you were aboard an old space capsule or giving a speech about Communism through a bullhorn… perfectly. The switch let you choose between a squawk like you hear at Mission Control when they release the “talk” button, or a “kkkhhrrk” noise, and it’s smart enough to look ahead and know where the end of each line is. Brilliant.

Watching Steve the studio guy work his magic. Dig the huge white Kustom amp in the background.

Kim & John redo a track. Another Kustom on the right.

Every time I was playing, so was everybody else. So Kim had me fake play so there’d be a picture of me. Sure loved the feel of the V–Drums. And he let me keep my snare pretty open—I only taped a small hunk of thin cloth at the edge of the head.

Jack adds something. Note the keyboard in the bottom–right corner; the oval window with a spec of blue LED is a tube. Yes, now digital keyboards have tubes in them. Uhhhhhkay. It's odd that almost every electronic device these days that uses tubes for the classic old school look/sound also has blue LEDs to make them look purdy.

This hawk was also on my camera from the other day when I heard some rustling right outside my window while working. Musta been after a mouse or something.

Jalopnik has a link to some incredibly cool panoramas taken on the moon. I was looking through the panoramas in the popup and saw one named Golf in Space. I thought it might’ve been another one from the moon, but nope. It’s taken at a golf trade show. I point it out because the featured company has either hired sextuplets or they’ve cloned a woman.

Fark had this link to video of thieves stealing ATMs with a big ass loader with a fork. Speaking of Fark, when did they change their look? Ain’t been there in a while.

Brent noticed that Google is building a $600M data center in Iowa. Great! Maybe they will attract more technology to the midwest (and by midwest, I don’t mean fucking Chicago), and then Apple will build something in Iowa and then they’ll start holding the WWDCs there instead of way out on the left side of the country. Then I’d go to them. That’s my plan, now get to it!

Built a 20” cymbal case tonight. Need to pick up a new 6” bolt—the old one was bent and I couldn’t get it out of the old one because the threads were shot, so the nut that held it in wouldn’t come off.

We like to work up new songs often. Since it was my first chance to suggest stuff, I had a fairly good list of possibilities.

So far the Yoakam, Jason, and Zombies tunes have been well received by the rest of the band.

We’ve been noticing a dead animal smell today. Kim narrowed it down to the laundry room. It was a little mouse stuffed under the drier. Somebody had some fun the other night—I’m guessing Zappa, although Squiggy has chased critters before at the old house, but it was always Gordo that made the kill, being the great beige hunter that he was.

Kim & I discussed it a few times and we decided to buy a stereo cabinet instead of me building one. I wanted to match the look of the coffee table and mantle, came up with some ideas for back–panel access, had drawn up some basic measurements, etc. What made us lean more to buying one was the fact that I could start my desk sooner. Moving the computers into the den excited me more than the stereo cabinet, so in the end, we made a good choice. What also made it a good choice is that we found a product that isn’t a piece of shit… at Best Fuckin’ Buy, of all places. Some of the stores have a section called Magnolia, which does more home theater than a regular BFB. Here’s what we got, and the finish on the cherry wood matches the cherry table and mantle very well. The clean lines are also a good match.

The thing is made to very high standards. It’s solid, weighs a ton, uses high quality hinges, and the details make me happy. Like the adjustable shelf pins don’t just slide into holes, but the holes have threaded inserts in them and the pegs screw in. The pins also have 2 O rings on them to ensure that the shelf doesn’t sound noisy or feel wobbly. Plenty of places to run cables. They give you half a dozen double–sided Velcro® straps to bundle up cables. The drawer comes with speaker grill clothe installed for the center channel speaker, but they also give you glass if you want to use it for a component instead. The things was even packed like they cared, with 1/4” plywood or MDF sheets on all 6 sides. We’re very pleased. the only caveat I ran into was a support piece of wood at the back of the center section, which prevents me from plugging in the digital audio from the DVD player. The receiver just fits in there. I’ll probably order a 90° RCA cable. If that still doesn’t fit, I’ll have to drill a hole.

My mic got here already. Fast shipping from Musician’s Friend (I always thought was such a gay name). It’s pretty cool and very light. I spent some time getting the wire frame bent just right so it fits my head and sits comfortably on my ears. It even works well with glasses. I haven’t had a chance to go down and plug it in yet. Guess I shoulda done that first, but I’m taking the word of all the reviews I read that it’ll sound great.

The guy that did sound for us a while back (when Denny was in MO) has a studio in St. Paul. He has package deals for recording some songs and burning CDs. I wanted to record us here, but it should be fun to be in a real studio and not be the recording guy for once. We’re booked next Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. I’ll only bring my snare, pedals, and cymbals, as he has acoustic and electronic sets that I can choose from.

Gonna trim some trees tomorrow. The pine out front, I swear that fucker only grows out and not up. Every year I have to shove the mower further underneath the branches. I hate that tree. If it dies from getting cut back, we won’t care. We’ll replace it with a good tree.

I finally decided to try a different headset mic, especially after the sound guy last weekend had to really crank my gate to get the cymbals out of my mic. The best one I could find is the Crown CM–311A, which has 2 elements—at the front and back of the capsule—plus probably some circuitry that takes the 2 signals and rejects everything except what’s coming from right at the “lip” element. I also like that the button on the belt pack can be set to either on/off, momentary off (cough), or momentary on (like a football ref would use). I’ll use it in the momentary off setting. That will make it much easier to just touch the button for counting off songs, then it will come back on. I just hope the damn thing is comfortable. My Audio–Technica was incredibly light, comfortable, and unobtrusive. I hated the way the AKG fit my head (or rather, didn’t) and it sounds sucky (I tried the one Denny bought years back).

Now I’ll look just like Garth or Britney or Janet. Woohoo.

Super groovy copper–wrapped maple Slingerland 10-pc set from the ‘70s! Gorgeous. I can see them being used in Starcastle or even some silk shirt wearing 6–piece prog–rock supper club band, like Cabala!

The gig went well, although it was pretty dead in there after friends/family left after the 2nd set. The guy who runs sound there also books the bands. He was really nice and great to work with. He said some of their regulars were having a big party, and that area is close to many lakes, so I can see why nobody was there. Nice damn system. 4 JBL subs under the stage, 4 mid/highs flying, 4 monitor mixes (which is what we run), a drum monitor bigger than mine, big ass Allen & Heath board (pretty much like the one pictured at the top here), lots of gates, EQs for each monitor, etc.

But it was one of those nights when my voice gave out early. By the 3rd set I couldn’t even hit notes that were nowhere near the top of my range. I just hate that. Some nights just suck. At least my playing felt inspired. Even Kim said she noticed me doing a lot of experimenting and adding little shit here and there. It’s a good thing we play music where that can happen, because we were lying around today watching a live Shelby Lynne performance in HD/5.1 and it occurred to me that I would go insane if I had to just be a laid–back, minimalistic groove drummer. Don’t get me wrong—it’s perfect when it’s called for. The Shelby Lynne concert was amazing and the drummer played exactly what was needed, mostly using Hot Rods or brushes, bass, snare, floor tom, hi–hat with a tambourine, ride with a sizzler, and a crash. Me, I hate repitition, so I need lots of sounds to choose from and to constantly add subtle (or even blatant) changes to songs.

Ah, now to watch some TiVo’d Northern Exposure in HD. It’s one of our favorite shows of the last few decades.

Nice damn day to mow the yard. Kim didn’t do the very top of the hill when she did it last time, so it was about 1’ high. Ran over a big ant hill up there. Little bastards when scurrying around, carrying eggs. Got a gig tonight at Doc Holiday’s Entertainment Center in Delano. From what I’ve heard about the people from Delano, it’s Minnesota’s answer to Delhi, IA. Should be a good time. They have their own PA and lights, so we’ll be packin’ light. They also have a drum riser! Maybe I’ll be able to see the rest of the band tonight.

Hey, I just mentioned Dad’s early ‘60s New Yorker in a Jalopnik comment the other day, and here’s one now! Only his was a year or two newer and more of a slightly hazy sky blue. Typewriter tranny, electric windows, big hairy mill, and a dash that most ‘60s sci–fi movie space ship designers would die for.

The definition of badass just got redefined with this little tanker type truck. Dig the Schlitz shifter and perf metal drive shaft tunnel. Oh yeah, and it’s hemi–powered. Absolutely gorgeous. I want.

Aaaahahahahaha! In a bind to get some headers on yer rod? Hell, just weld some up outa square tubing. Gotta love that, especially when coupled with that tiny blower. What the hell is that, a 1–71? It’s smaller than the carb! There’s another shot here. Hell, just look at all of them in that gallery. Fuckin’ cool motorcars.

Cripes oh mighty. Check out the size of the front brake rotors on this new Ducati Hypermotard. Twin rotors no less, with what appear to be 2–piston Brembo calipers. That should be about enough to stop a truck, if you weigh enough to keep its ass end beneath your own ass end. And what a name. Hypermotard. Heh.

He doesn’t suck.

Heh. Hot plumber chick explores the world of flushing stuff in a Kohler terlet. Don’t forget to touch her, uh, bodily hot spots.

Hey, another instrumental! Malignant Narcissism. Fuckin’ cool. That makes 3. Whoa, it has an engineering glitch. Right around 1:21 Neil does a little triplet on the 8” tom, and when they hit 1, it comes in a tad early. Somebody wasn’t paying attention when they cut and pasted. Strange for a Rush album.

Half way through Snakes & Arrows so far. Just finished the intstrumental, The Main Monkey Business. The boys got chops.

Jeez, I’m slipping. I finally picked up the new Rush album Sunday, 7 days after its release. Haven’t had time to listen to it until now. (Ooo, nice drums on the intro and outro of track 1, Far Cry.) As always, the album art is pretty cool, especially the images used on each song’s page in the booklet. Again, Hugh Syme was in charge of art direction and many of the images. One song, Hope, was “composed and performed by Lerxst Lifeson, all by his own self.” It’s a 2–minute acoustic 12–string ditty. He also plays mandola, mandolin, and bouzouki on the album. Geddy uses a Mellotron (very interesting history) for something. In fact, that’s the only keyboard listed in the credits. I think Geddy or Neil mentioned before that they were going back to basics for this album, and that’s about as basic as you can get for an analog “sampling” keyboard.

Now I need to go find my headphones and give it a full dedicated listen.

I can’t believe the weather cooperated. It was a great day to play outside. We only got a few sprinkles right after we finished the sound check, so we tarped everything in case it let loose. Then the sun came out and I worked up a good sweat. The last set was much cooler as the clouds were building up. The house was close to a bay off of Lake Minnetonka, so the breeze was rolling in from there. But man, it’s so weird to be getting home now and still have the whole evening free. That ain’t giggin’ hours, fer cryin’ out loud!

Some drunk guy came up when we were done and wanted to sing Man of Constant Sorrow. By himself. Yeah, that was really good.

Heard the Green Day cover of Working Class Hero? Sounds great to me.

This is probably common sense for anyone who has lived on a farm, but us city kids didn’t think about it: Don’t store 5lb of sunflower seeds in a cardboard box in the garage. All Winter long we’d seen mice and voles zipping through the garage, usually entering or exiting through the tiny passage in the framing on either side of both garage doors. I thought they were just gathering the berries that fall off the tree in front, then used the garage as a warmer route to the back yard.

Tonight we were loading up to play an outdoor wedding reception tomorrow afternoon (if it doesn’t rain). Kim got out some tarps that were piled on the box on the floor. That’s when I noticed a pile of shells. Looking behind the box, I could see the pile was quite large, enough to mostly fill the big aluminum dust pan I keep out there. I took the lid off the box to see if anyone was home. Nothing but shells. They’d gnawed a small hole in the back about 8” from the bottom, so the bottom 8” of the box was full of shells.

At our old place, we had a bunch of chipmunks that were pretty tame and a couple of them would sit in our hands and load up their cheeks with seeds or eat dried cranberries. A few times we’d surprise the smartest one when we came out to the garage. He’d be trying to pry/chew the plastic lid off the coffee can we kept the seeds in. And a couple times my cigarettes would go missing. I’d find them scattered through the split logs stacked nearby. I guess they liked the smell of the tobacco or they were deliquent chipmunks. Little teeth marks all over.

We watched Superman Returns tonight. I’d say it’s my favorite Superman movie by far. I just didn’t like the tone of the Chris Reeves films, especially the one with those 3 weirdos in black. Ugh. Kevin Spacey is perfect as Lex Luthor—more so than Gene Hackman. And I’ll take Kate Bosworth (slightly nsfw) over Margot Kidder (yikes) and her gravelly voice any day.

I liked how they paid attention to real life details in the movie, like when he saved the jet liner the nose cone crumpled instead of defying physics and staying perfectly rigid like would happen in most movies, and the way the skin of the fuselage rippled.

Guess I should get to bed. Gotta set up at noon.