the earth gets louder

this album, it has been long awaited. a few years ago there was a blip and some drama.. but they came and went and were soon forgotten.

no idea what i'm talking about?

The Day That Never Comes:

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did any of that sound remotely familiar? maybe a voice, a riff, a baseline or some frenzied drum thrashing? yes indeed, Metallica are back. the day that never comes has come indeed. the new album will be out Sep 12th.. but a couple of tracks have already been released online for your listening pleasure.

i am reserving all judgment until i hear the full albums, but i do like what i've heard so far. i think there is more weight of anticipation for this album than there was for the previous album St. Anger, only because that album came at a time of tumult for the band while this has been one they have been working on for some time now.

My Apocalypse:

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there's a pretty good article in the New York Times that details the making of this album and the happy place the band members are in now.. and if it's the history of the band you're looking for, then here's Wiki

who we are

there's lots of factors that determine who we are, and what we turn out to be like. for the purposes of this piece i'm only going to refer to personality as the focal point when i ask 'who are you?'

the environment we grow up in.. parent(s), siblings, other relatives and friends.. economic situations determine the way you turn out as well. role models you look up to and try to model your life upon. things you see, things you read.. and sometimes you just do things because it looks so damn cool! yes don't deny it, we've all been there.

then there's a whole different aspect of relationships and how they effect/affect you, and often i've wondered what the age of reason has to do with that. some people get into romantic (sort of) relationships as soon as they hit their teens - whether they bounce in and out of those dalliances or they find their one mate and hang on for dear life, these formative years definitely mold your future adult personality. in the same vein there are folks who have not even dated before they can legally drive, and they come into relationships eventually, with a whole set of expectations.

Age of Reason - The name given to that period of human life at which persons are deemed to begin to be morally responsible. This, as a rule, happens at the age of seven, or thereabouts, though the use of reason requisite for moral discernment may come before, or may be delayed until notably after, that time.

i have always believed in this concept of age of reason, and that the final person who we turn out to be is heavily determined by how and when we come upon the age of reason.

then recently, i got thinking about another concept too. do we give ourselves enough credit for the people we choose to fall in love with and (happily!) live ever after with? how much of a personality change are we willing to accept so as to be with someone? people say that there has to be equal amounts of sacrifice for a relationship to be healthy - that means sometimes one of the pair has to step up and take the lead, and other times it's the other person. but how often do we see life falling into a rut where it's one person doing all the legwork, so to speak.

this post does not have any answers for you.. but it might have a few questions you have not asked yourself for a while. ruminate on them awhile as you enjoy your weekend.. let's hear what you think.

Reference -
Delany, J. (1907). Age of Reason. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 30, 2008 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01209a.htm

memorabilia

i've been to quite a few concerts over the years.. for the last couple of them i had decided i wouldn't try to take pictures or record snippets of the shows. it was a conscious decision. for most bands that i want to go watch, i'd like to absolutely immerse myself in the music and focus on the music and the music alone. the distraction of "hey, this might make for a great photo op" or "wow, this is the part he goes into that guitar solo, must record!" has gotten to me in the past.

this was rammed home pretty brutally for me after the Maiden show when listening to the recording i had of "Wasted Years" on my cellphone. the recording sounded like crap, and i didn't remember really enjoying the moment at the show itself! so the new motto is that i am going to totally enjoy any shows that i go to, and focus on relishing the music which i can always relive in my head where it will always be better than any version i can reproduce on a dig-cam or cellphone.

of course, Pearl Jam are smart.. they sell live bootlegs of shows that you've been to so that the 'Jamily' (as PJ fans are called) don't bother trying to smuggle recording equipment into the concerts anyways!

PJ PJ PJ!!

went to not one but two Pearl Jam concerts over the span of one weekend.. not the craziest thing we've ever done but definitely one of the most fun ones!

this wasn't the first time i'd watched PJ live.. and that previous time i'd said that was one of the best shows i'd been to. well, the first show on the 28th was the best concert i've ever been at. great seats, great weather, great company, great band, great set, great show.. what else can i say?! we'd gone early, tailgated and barbecued for a few hours.. it's been a while since we'd last done that for a show. it was a hot sweltering night and if the rain that the flashes of lightning portended had actually poured down during the show, then PJ's cover of The Who's classic "Love Reign O'er Me" would have been fulfilled..


June 28th, 2008 - Mansfield, MA
Pre-Opener:
Throw Your Arms Around Me
Set 1:
Hard To Imagine, Why Go, Hail Hail, Comatose, Low Light, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Corduroy, Faithfull, Off He Goes, Given To Fly, Down, I'm Open, I Got Id, Even Flow, Do The Evolution, Once, Rearviewmirror
Encore 1:
Love Reign O'er Me, Come Back, Insignificance, Black, Better Man(Save it for Later)
Encore 2:
No More, State Of Love And Trust, Alive

the second show was on a Monday, so between the pain of getting out of work and making that damned commute all the way down to Mansfield and being at a show where it seemed the entire cast of High School Musical had accidentally landed up at.. the show wasn't as awesome as the previous one. i wasn't too sure of the set list either, but the band still sounded great so it was all good


June 30th, 2008 - Mansfield, MA
Set 1:
Wash, Last Exit, Save You, Severed Hand, Animal, MFC, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, 1/2 Full, Corduroy, Given To Fly, Even Flow, Education, Satan's Bed, Whipping, Glorified G, Do The Evolution
Encore 1:
Bee Girl, Who You Are, Better Man(Save it for Later), Garden, Why Go
Encore 2:
No More, Once, Footsteps, Alive, Rockin' In The Free World

links to pictures here

playing ketch-up

i know i haven't written in ages, basically i have a bunch of incomplete posts saved as drafts only cos things have been hectic and i haven't had a chance to finish them. lots to talk about though.. two Pearl Jam concerts, structural changes at work, the annual trip to New Orleans.. see you back here soonish!!

4 years and 776 posts..

missed this blog's fourth anniversary a couple of weeks ago.. much has changed, and yet not much has changed. good times still abound, while growing up has happened alongside. i still don't believe i wake up and go to work six days a week, considering the rockstar lifestyle we led back in college. oh well, life goes on. this blog goes on too.

6 6 6.. still the number of the beast

got to watch Iron Maiden again last night.. they haven't changed since the last time a couple of years ago, which is definitely a good thing. Maiden always put on an excellent live act, and prefer to play open arenas.. mostly because of the pyrotechnics and the huge robotic mummy-like Eddie that skulks about on stage while Maiden are shredding.. while we tailgated, it was awesome to see a lot of younger generation fans as well, considering Maiden have been around since the late 70's!


at times the sound got crappy, and the intermittent rain got heavy, but Maiden were not to be dissuaded on the last stop of their 2008 'Somewhere Back In Time' World Tour.. opening with Winston Churchill's momentous speech leading into "Aces High", playing the full thirteen minutes of the epic "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner", the extended howling in the classic "Run To The Hills", the frenzied triple-threat guitar attack of "The Trooper" and many many more


now no ode to Maiden is ever complete without a few special mentions - Steve Harris' driving bass, Nicko McBrain going wild on the drums with the Pharaoh leering over his shoulder, Maiden's famed triple-threat guitar attack (which i repeat only cos of the sheer intensity with which it hits you!) and finally lead singer (and accomplished pilot) Bruce Dickinson's amazing vocal abilities.. up with the Irons!!


here's some links if you want to catch more action from the show:
reviews - Boston Globe; Boston Herald.
videos - Asttha; mdilios; HowellKenny; skippah99.

this is living

it's two years to the day that the gf and i met and she moved in. forget the cliches of 'time flying by' and 'two hearts beating as one' yada yada yada. if only it were that remotely easy, or simple.

two people living together as a couple is different. different from what? it's just different. as an only kid, the concepts of time and space were very well defined for me. it was very easy to just phase out and be in my own world for long parts of the day and night. it's no wonder growing up i talked to myself all the time. i still have long, relevant and pertinent discussions with my mind - very refreshing i find them.

still, having enjoyed this phase for the last two years of cohabitation/living-in-sin/whatever you wanna call it, i wouldn't have it any other way..

it's like living with your best buds, but better. all the fun of great conversation and crazy partying, with the added bonus of a quick romp or three in any room of the apartment, and no one's the wiser.. heh!

it's like living at home with your folks, but better. you actually eat square meals on proper plates, wear clothes that get more than annually laundered and live in a house that doesn't require you turning it upside down every time you can't find your favorite Metallica tshirt.

it's like living alone at your own place, but better. romantic dinners for two; cosying up on the couch for a funny movie; getting blazed and making out; sharing a great bottle of wine; smart conversation not involving politics, Playmates and getting plastered; going to concerts together; cooking new stuff out of a recipe book; going shopping for potted plants for the living room windowsill; putting away yet another shitload of groceries; not having to watch Sabres' games alone; actually discovering new music by listening to what she listens to; laughing together hysterically at 'Family Guy' reruns..

this is a long incomplete list, but an awesome one nevertheless.. happy anniversary babe!!

grunge is still around

"Nirvana may have been the band that put an entire generation in flannel, and Pearl Jam and Soundgarden both sold a lot more records, but Mudhoney was truly the band who made the '90s grunge rock movement possible."

yeah, that's who Mudhoney are. The core of Mudhoney came from two legendary bands that defined the grunge sound as we came to know it later - Green River & The Melvins. If you don't listen to grunge then this might as well be a HTTP 404 - Page Not Found for you.

amazingly enough, i have always found wiki to be an excellent reference for music and entertainment in general. i guess the sheer numbers of people who contribute helps regulate bigoted and self-righteous lack of objectivity that sorely afflicts youtube and other popular media forms.

we caught Mudhoney on tour in a small club somewhere in Cambridge, which is exactly how a grunge act should be watched. what really got us was that they have kept exactly the same grunge sound they always had, even into all their newer stuff. it was like a grunge history lesson and made for an awesome show!

there goes another manager

can someone say deja vu all over again.. at least this current boss of mine lasted into the summer, the previous one didn't even make it out of winter! but yes, that's the news.. my boss will be quitting soon. that just tells you how hard a man his boss is to work with! personally i have no issues with his boss, let's see how i feel after working directly for him this summer.

if you hadn't heard yet, the economy is in recession. as a direct result sales volumes are down for soda and other soft drinks, though bottled water is holding its own. this means that this summer might not be the busiest time of the year for the plant. let me take that back, all it means is that we'll probably not be running production seven days a week, but my maintenance dept. as always will be in fix and repair machines, and try to get some preventive maintenance in as well..

what i'd really like to see is if the people upstairs actually offer me his job straight up this time, instead of wasting everyone's time with trying to hire another underling manager!