Townshend!

If you have albums, tapes, CD's, mp3's, or whatever you listen to music on nowadays (8 track, anyone?), there are albums that you can return to over and over again, without getting tired of them at all. I recently revisited one of my favorite albums, Pete Townshend's "All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes," issued in 1983, and recently remastered with 3 bonus tracks.

I will admit first off, that I am a sucker for remastered versions of albums, and especially bonus tracks. So when I heard that Townshend's entire solo catalogue was going to be re-released, it was quite a delight. And this is the album I was looking forward to the most. Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed in the result.

With "Chinese Eyes," as it's often shortened to in conversation or in writing, it's not that every song on the album is a hit, or just destroys me when I listen to it, but it is truly the total package of how the album builds, never hitting a wrong beat, always keeping the mood right where it should be.

The first four songs on the album, "Stop Hurting People," "The Sea Refuses No River," "Prelude," and "Face Dances Part Two," really do well in introducing and setting the tone for the rest of the album. It's almost like these four songs make a mini-ep all of their own, putting the listener in the right place for what follows.

I've always thought of the next 5 songs as part of a piece that fit together for the body of the album. "Exquisitely Bored," "Communication," "Stardom in Acton," "Uniforms (Corp d'esprit)," and "North Country Girl" all fit together to create a reflective, wistful mood. Even the "up" songs like "Communication" have a thread of melancholy running through them that make the music match the content of the lyrics well.

The final two songs, "Somebody Saved Me" and "Slit Skirts" round out the album with the perfect conclusion, perhaps the best ending of an album that I've heard. "Somebody Saved Me" reflects on friendship and loss, while "Slit Skirts" focuses on the ennui of love faded to the point of not feeling even the shadow of love. Not the most happy of songs, but it works. And music doesn't have to be happy to be uplifting. I finish listening to this album always feeling reflective, and like I've heard a true masterpiece of art. As an album, a complete whole, I don't have many albums that beat this one.

NP: Ten Seconds - Nightwebs

Photo...

I took this looking out our living room window, looking east on the evening of September 11th.

Access!

Ah, the joys of computing in the modern age. I'm having massive slowdowns on the speed of internet access here in our apartment, I think because some people may be engaging in activities that take up massive amounts of bandwidth. I leave it to the brilliance of the reader to deduce what I am talking about.

I actually have a lot to write about, but I fear that it may get lost in the ether, if I try to post it during this slow internet period. But, I try, because that's what humans do.

Perhaps I will put a list of upcoming blog topics here. Yes, that sounds good...

• The brilliance that is the Pete Townshend album "All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes"
• Continued genealogical updates
• Items of New Jersey interest
• Brisco County Jr.
• Some photos
• Musings on friendships (good stuff, don't worry, friends)
• Old work stuff
• New work stuff

Seems like a full plate. More to come as I can write about this...

NP: Eric Idle - Paranoid Jails

Slow!

The internet connection here right now, since about Sunday, is VERY slow... I'll post some more stuff once the problem gets resolved...

Rest!

A night with no duty obligations. Wonderful.

Of course, I'll be on duty again tomorrow, but one night away is good for now. I believe next week, I'm on for the full week, but then it'll be about 5 weeks until my next duty, so that's really not bad.

I'm watching the 2 hour "Dirty Jobs" special on Discovery right now, so not much more to say...

Labor!

Happy Labor Day everyone! I can't wait to see what I got this year!

I have been "on duty" yesterday and today, so I haven't really been able to enjoy the long weekend, although I have been sleeping late, which is always a good thing. Duty is about as much work as I feel I should have to do on Labor Day.

Back when I worked at Dartmouth, we often had to start our UGA Training on Labor Day. I was often one of the sole voices against starting on Labor Day, as working on this day seemed anti-thetical to the whole idea of the day. That's why I don't like the whole Labor Day sale idea. Some poor worker is getting screwed and has to work, so that people with the day off can shop and save money.

Personally, I'd like EVERYONE to have off on Labor Day, but I understand that some jobs, like Police, Firefighters, etc, probably have to work today. So, I hope they get mondo amounts of overtime. They deserve it, for working on Labor Day.

In other news, I updated some genealogy stuff on my Mom's side of the family tonight. I got some info from Poland recently that gave me the names of two sets of G3-grandparents. They're Wojciech and Agata (Obuch) Drozd, and Wojciech and Marianna (Dziki) Stachura. That information was in a little note I got with some birth records from Poland. I wish the clerk had written where he had gotten the info, but I'm happy to have it, whatever the source.

I have a bit of a headache tonight, so it's time to sign off...

NP: George Harrison - Dark Horse (Dec 1991)

Compare!

Below, you will find a photo of a sharply dressed gentleman, who is Robert Lord, my Great-great-grandfather.
Now, below this text, is a photo of Elizabeth Lang, and her husband Matthew Cook. Elizabeth Lang is Robert's aunt, but is only 7 years his senior. She was born in about 1846, and Robert was born in 1853.

I think there's quite a resemblance in their facial structure. I guess Robert took after his mother's side, the Lang's, more than the Lord's. I have no photos of John Lord (Robert's father)to compare him to, unfortunately...

NP: Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 4 in G, Op. 58, Rondo: Vivace

89!

This Saturday, my grandmother is turning 89 years old. That means she was born in 1917, for all you math oriented folks out there.

Sue and I should be heading down to the NJ Shore area, to go to lunch with her and other members of my family, so it should be a good time.

In other news, I've been in contact with a 4th cousin once removed on the Lang side. My G3-grandmother, Jane Lang, had a sister named Elizabeth Lang. Elizabeth married a Matthew Cook, and they had a daughter together named Sarah. This woman I'm in contact with is descended from Elizabeth and Sarah. She sent me a photo she has of Elizabeth, who died in 1875. Elizabeth was an aunt to my G2-grandfather, who I do have a photo of, and there is a real family resemblance there. I'll post the photos here soon, for your own review...

NP: Pink Floyd - Hey You

Cale!

Tonight, in my own little celebration for getting through RA Training this week, I listened to my new copy of John Cale's "Paris 1919," his album from 1973. This is a new release of his old album, with many bonus tracks and freshly remastered.

The album has never sounded better, with songs such as "Antartica Starts Here," "A Child's Christmas in Wales," and the title track being revealed in all of their glacial splendour. Cale has said of this album that it's all about ugly things, said in the prettiest possible way, which is a fairly accurate assessment of the music. It is a very "pretty" album, but the lyrics have an undertone of darkness, but with a wistful, longing turn in places. I love the album, and it was good to just sit and listen to it, letting it wash over me.

Too much, I'm listening to music as background, while I'm doing something else. It's good to be able to take some time and really focus on the music. Not to let the musical journey be in the background, but put it to the foreground, to have it be the experience itself. It's rare when we have the time to do it, but I try to make time to listen to music I find worthwhile.

I have to thank Joe McGlinchey for my John Cale fixation, as he introduced me to his music back during my senior year of college, with the album "Fragments of a Rainy Season," which I recommend to EVERYONE.

Of course, I was listening to this, as I mentioned, because of the end of RA Training, and I finally had some time to just sit and relax. Between the 18th and today, I presented a total of about 21 sessions, with each one lasting at least 30 minutes, and with most being an hour. One of my co-workers asked me today if I had ever thought about being a teacher, as he thought I was very natural in front of the group.

I think that if I hadn't gone into Higher Education, I would have enjoyed being a teacher, perhaps in History. That would have been fun, but I like what I'm doing now, so it's all good.

Back to the present job, it's going to become very busy this week, with new students arriving on Monday, and upperclass students coming back on Tuesday. It'll be fun, but hectic. I also need to start thinking about more longer term issues with the work, now that I've got RA Training under my belt.

NP: Steve Hackett - The Silk Road

Brisco!

So, I started watching the DVD set of the Complete Brisco County Jr. series I picked up a few weeks ago. For those of you not in the know, Brisco County was a show on Fox that started back in 1993, starring the talents of one Bruce Campbell, one of my acting heroes.

This show started the same year as the X-Files, and was in fact the lead in for the X-Files, starting at 8pm on Friday nights, while X-Files came on at 9pm. It was a great night of television for nerds, as Brisco County was a western with a twist. It incorporated elements of science fiction into the plot line, with futuristic orbs, odd happenings, and glimpses of the "future," from a world set in 1893.

The show, as Bruce Campbell says in the liner notes, was just "one notch below over the top." The second episode of the series has one of my favorite moments in it from television ever. One of the bad guys on the show has appropriated a futuristic scuba device, and is diving in a lake to retrieve some sunken booty. The female guest star of the show, hiding in the bushes with Brisco watching all this, says to him, "Aren't you going to do something?" Brisco replies, "What, you want me to dive in the water, engage in a life or death struggle while gasping for air, while he's safe in a pure oyxgen environment, smiling safely behind his glass helmet? No thanks, I'll wait here on dry land for them to come back."

Of course, through some plot devices, Brisco finds himself wrestling with the baddy underwater, while the baddy laughs at Brisco, airless and drowning. Brilliant stuff...

I'm glad the show is as fun as I remember it.

In other news, we're about 3 days into the RA Training here at Saint Peter's. I was concerned about today, because I was presenting 3 hour long sessions in a row, and I might get sick of hearing myself for that long, let alone a room full of 25 college students on a nice day. However, we got through it, and it appears to be a productive day. The staff is responding well to the presentations by myself and the other staff here.

Tomorrow (Monday), I have another 3 presentations to do, but they're not in a row, so I'm not as worried about the staff getting bored with me as I was for today. I believe I was doing 18 hour long sessions/presentations during this training, and by the end of the day tomorrow, I will be done with 10 of them. Thursday will be busy again, but after the day tomorrow, I think I'll only have 2 presentations per day, instead of 3. What a country!

I'll give more updates about Training as we get deeper into it. Overall, I have to say it's going well...

NP: Frank Zappa - A Pound for a Brown (1982 Summer)

Duh!

It took me two days to realize that Brian's comment to this blog of mine referenced Futurama...

I knew I *should* know where the line was from, but was just too stupid to actually recall it in the moment.

Now, I feel much better...

NP: Yes - Give Love Each Day

Music!

Last night, I fired up my Digital Audio Workstation (fancy name for a computer hard drive home studio) for the first time down here in NJ. I had wanted to record a percussion piece that I would just improvise as I go along, but I ended up recording a piece that's basically a keyboard solo on top of some jangly chime like sounds.

Not bad, but I need to work on it some more. Perhaps I'll do something with it tonight...

My website still exists over on the Dartmouth site, but I'm a bit worried about trying to update it, as it may signal something to the server that it shouldn't be operational anymore, if my passwords are deleted... At some point I'll try it out, but not yet. I do want to find somewhere to post my music. We'll see how the future pans out...

This was my last three day weekend, and this week, I'm basically going into my month or so of heavy duty work. RA training begins this coming Friday, and ends on the 28th. Working every day in that time frame, and lots of work into September. It'll be busy, but fun, I'm sure...

On Friday, Sue and I visited some cemeteries in the area, looking for plots of old family relatives, part of my ongoing genealogy search. Here's a photo of a headstone...

This is the stone for Lizzie Cook, whose maiden name was "Lang." Lizzie was the sister to my G3-Grandmother, Jane Lang. Jane married John Lord. This was in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Newark, NJ, a very well kept place.

We visited some other cemeteries that weren't as well kept up, and didn't have a lot of success, but it was a good day to be outside. And, I'm a lot closer now to visit some of these places, so I can make more casual trips to them.

NP: Ben Folds - Brick (13 June 2003)

Go to this site for more inspirational goodness...

NP: Brian Setzer Orchestra - Gloria

Liberty!

A photo journal of Sue and my trip to Liberty State Park last Saturday...

Sue in the old train station at the Park, where immigrants from Ellis Island, and Castle Gardens before Ellis Island was used, moved on to other parts of NJ and the rest of the US.

The inside of the station... Neat!

The inside of the station, with me!

Sue!!!!

Outside the train station, on the Hudson, with the most phallic building in Jersey City standing in the background...

Looking across at NYC...

Part of the view across the Hudson. Some old docks in the foreground, where ferries from NYC or Ellis Island would tie up.

Ellis Island, at a distance...

Idea!

Brian had a great idea about some edited Battlestar Galactica, with Seinfeld bass music cues in it. I'd enjoy seeing that, and am smiling just thinking about it. Quite funny...

Everyone Loves Baltar would be a good show also, although perhaps not as much as Everyone Loves Hypnotoad.

Had a good chat on the phone tonight with Don Lord, who's a cousin of my grandfather. He's in his early 70's, and is really interested in the genealogy work I've been doing. Don's a real talker, so it's fun to just listen to him go on about a variety of things with the family, his early memories and all that. He's on e-mail now, so I may be able to just shoot him some questions to get him to think about old relatives, see if anything jogs his memory.

In other news, I got an e-mail from Ancestry.com's "Connection Service," from someone who is descended from a G3-Great Aunt of mine. Elizabeth Lang, this person's G2-grandmother, was the sister to Jane Lang, my G3-grandmother. I wrote back through the Ancestry interface on Thursday, but have heard nothing back yet. It makes me nervous, that perhaps the person didn't get my e-mail. I'll have to try again, and hopefully the person will write back soon. I don't like sitting on these things...

NP: Frank Zappa - Fine Girl (6 July 1982)

Adventures!

Today, Sue and I had a multitude of adventures. I'm still off of work on Friday's, so it's continually nice to have these three day weekends.

Around 11ish, we left to go into NYC on the PATH trains. Sue is going to start looking for work soon, and she wanted to see how it would be commuting into the city. From leaving the apartment, to setting foot in NYC at the 9th Street Path stop was 45 minutes. Walking in a roundabout way to Washington Square Park made the total travel time about 1 hour.

So, very doable as a morning commute. We headed back to Jersey City the way we came, and were back at the apartment slightly less than 2 hours after we left. It's nice to be able to just drop into the city like that, with no real commitment to do anything real. It was a good test run, with no pressure to do anything else.

Taking the PATH train back, it's always interesting to see little things in the underground tunnels as we're traveling. I remember in Boston, Brian and I always would see some sort of stuffed animal (perhaps a tiger) between the Harvard and Central Square Red Line stops, with a sign on it saying "Privatization! It's a Weld scam!" This was back in the 90's, but besides William Weld being the governor of Massachusetts at the time, we could never really figure out what the whole privatization issue was about. Something with the T? Eh, who knows...

Our second adventure of the day was going to the Palisades Mall, off of 87/287, the road that runs from the Garden State Parkway to the Tappan Zee Bridge. I know that Sue and I had talked about stopping there, but I never really wanted to when we were in the middle of a 6 hour drive to New Hampshire. Now, it was about a 45 minute drive away. I think Brian and I had talked about stopping there also, on drives to and from Boston, but of course, we never did.

The mall certainly wasn't bad. It's 4 levels, but not as long as Monmouth Mall is. I guess there's just as much commerce in Monmouth Mall as the Palisades Mall, but just shaped differently. It's also newer, so there's more mall amenities there, like a decent food court, and a big movie theater. Both things that Monmouth Mall has only sprouted in the past 5-10 years...

One thing I did not like at all about this mall is that the escalators going up the levels are all in the same areas, so as you're going from level 3 to 4, you could look all the way down. Generally, I don't mind heights. Planes don't bother me, and enclosed spaces in tall buildings are fine, but those big open spaces in malls, taking escalators where you can look down 3 or 4 levels just freak me out. But, I was a trooper, and took the escalators. It doesn't lessen my anxiety at all, but I try to not let it rule me either.

There are times I don't even like standing by those open middle areas in malls, where you can look down. I used to joke that I thought someone might run up behind me and throw me over, but I don't think it's as logical as that. I simply don't like open space heights. Ferris Wheels have bothered me in the past, and maybe that's another reason I don't like roller coasters.

While at the mall, I bought a few books:

• The latest Harry Potter in paperback (Book 6)
• Star Wars on Trial - Edited by David Brin and some other dude. Brin is a fairly vocal critic of the Star Wars movie, so this book is a series of pro/con essays about different aspects of the Star Wars mythos. Should be a fun read.
• The Pirate Coast - A book about the battle against the Barbary pirates during Jefferson's administration. Should be a good history read.

Speaking of pirates, we also saw the second Pirates of the Carribean movie while at the mall today. It was a lot of quick action fun, but did feel a bit like a 3 hour preview for the next movie, especially with the ending. My friend Lou thought the ending was a bit abrupt, but that didn't really bother me that much. The Pirates movies are fun, I don't look for too much from them.

In other viewing news, we finished watching disc 2 of the 2nd season of Battlestar Galactica tonight. It's a really good show, although I do have some critical issues with it. Here are my issues, I'll talk about the good stuff too...

• For a separate society, albeit a human one, everything in the culture (clothing, written language, cars on Caprica, guns) looks a bit too "Earth-y" for me. It's not the end of the world, it's just something that bothers me a bit.
• For a smart guy, Baltar certainly does act pretty stupid at times. Just in the middle of the 2nd season, he finally figures out he can do a brain scan with the doctor to see if the Cylons have planted a chip in his brain. Of course, his personality is so self involved that he could have just avoided thinking of it, but it's still a bit annoying, because he thinks of it when it's convenient for plot, not as something that might occur naturally.
• It appears that a fleet of 48,000 some humans has about 20 reporters in it, but only one doctor. Galactica itself, a ship of what, about 2000 crew, has ONE doctor? Granted, it was going to be decommissioned, but still, they had a full compliment of Viper pilots, maintenance crew, and others. And it's been heavily implied that the doctor on Galactica may be the only doctor in the fleet.
• Actually, it's the reporter issue that gets to me more than the doctor issue. I can rationalize it, saying that it's more likely that there's going to be more "professional" workers caught in transit during the Cylon attack than some more blue collar types, but it still seems a bit off.
• I do think it's funny that the civilian population isn't more thankful for Galactica. Granted, early in the 2nd seasion there's issues with Tigh causing civilians to be shot, but even before that, there's kind of a mentality that the fleet doesn't really *get* that their civilization is decimated.
• The zoomy camerawork still annoys me, although I do understand it's very hip to do that type of stuff now. That's my worry, that the style is going to *really* date the show. Subtlety is usually better for the longer term than being stylish. But, that's just me.

On the positive side:

• The plot, continuity, acting, and just about everything is miles ahead of the original story/series. But, there's enough nods to the original series to see that the writers took the good aspects of the original, and have incorporated better storytelling methods into the mix.
• Baltar cracks me up. Great characterization by the actor, and great writing. I actually don't think there's a weak link in the cast, although I do think the Tigh character is a bit too much like Garibaldi from Babylon 5 for my taste. Not a big issue though.
• I'm fascinated as to what the Cylons are really trying to do. It seems pretty obvious that they know where the human fleet is at pretty much all times, but are allowing them the freedom to travel on their own for awhile. Interesting...
• I remember Brian saying in his blog awhile back that he was hypothisizing that Baltar may be a Cylon. I think it's possible, but doubtful...
• I noticed on the season 1 discs that most of Boxey's scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. What a shame...

Overall, a good show, and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of season 2.

NP: The Who - Christmas (27 June 1989)

Insurance!

My car insurance is up for renewal at the end of this month, and with the move down to NJ, we're looking at new rates. NJ is also known for having VERY high rates of insurance. We've received quotes from Geico and Met Life so far, along with our present company of State Farm, and Geico is in the lead by a little over $300 per year.

We're waiting for one more quote, from NJ Manufacturers, which may actually be lower than Geico, so we'll see what happens with that. Fortunately, the cost for two cars is not as much as I thought it would be, although it is higher than the rates in NH were. But, that's to be expected, with more people in NJ.

Work continues to go well. Today was a day to work on RA Training, and I feel like I made good progress. I have to keep plugging away at it, as it's starting in 18 days. Yeech!

Also, it's hotter than balls here. Fortunately, the apartment doesn't retain heat, and the cinder block walls do a good job of keeping the heat out. So, sleeping's been good, and living is easy...

I have to make some calls soon, I've been out of touch a bit since the move, and it's time to return some calls, and make others.

NP: King Crimson - Thela Hun Ginjeet (14 Oct 1981)

Back!

Sorry for the absence of blog posts in recent days. I was down in Monmouth County (I can no longer say, down in NJ, as I'm here all the time now) at my Dad's house for the baby shower for my stepsister. We were gone from Friday to today. I could have written a blog from home, but I was too busy getting sucked into "Spider Solitaire."

I didn't actually attend the shower, but was able to hang out at a pool with some family friends while it was going on. It was more of a female only shower, so about 6-7 guys hung out at this pool. A good time, I got to swim a bit, which is always a positive thing.

That's about it for now. Longer entry tomorrow, I promise

NP: Pink Floyd - Sorrow (Aug 1988)

Music!

I've mentioned on here before that I listen to a lot of music off my computer, with random tunes playing through Windows Media Player. It's always a bit odd when one of my own songs comes on.

Right now, "Never Again" is playing. It's a little instrumental meditative piece I did at the end of last year, in an evening. I really like how it just goes along, with a neat pre-programmed drum pattern that just nicely floats on top of the whole thing. It's not going to change the world, but I like it.

It does make me think that I need to get to recording again, but with the move, I've been a bit busy. Work is keeping my mental energy focused on stuff other than creativity, but maybe one evening this weekend I'll fire up the ol' keyboard and see what comes out...

NP: Mike Lord - Never Again

Movies!

Sue and I made our first foray out to the movies today. We went to a theater in Secaucus, I believe it's at Harmon Meadows, right off of Route 3, about 15 minutes from campus. We saw Clerks II, the new Kevin Smith movie.

I really do have a general infatuation, as many in my generation do, with Kevin Smith movies. I mentioned the other day about Brian and I seeing Clerks for the first time in Boston, at the BU theater. Part of the mystique was that the films were made in New Jersey, and Monmouth County to boot!

I was thrilled a few years ago, going to visit my cousin in Leonardo, that I passed right by the Quick Stop. I was glad I finally found it...

Secondly, Clerks, and the following films, really nailed the attitude of my circle of friends. Did we speak in extended monologues on all subjects related to sex, Star Wars, and other idiots around us? Well, maybe not in monologues, but we did talk about it all...

What I think keeps me coming back to Kevin Smith films is that he really gets male/guy friendships. The heart of so many of his films revolves around two friends dealing with whatever is going on in their lives in the immediate moment. Clerks II continues to mine that vein, and continues to work for me as a viewer on a personal level.

There's a scene in the film where Randall and Dante go to ride the go-carts, perhaps in Keansburg. That was my mental image of where they went, even if it wasn't the actual location. It was a great moment, and what hit me, and probably most people in their 30's watching the movie, was Randall's converation with Dante afterwards, where Randall talked of the go-carts for him representing a more innocent time, when there was hope for the future.

Perhaps a bit overwrought, but it worked for me. I remember, as a kid, my grandmother taking my brother and I to Keansburg one day, and I think we managed to convince her to let us ride the go-carts. What's funny is that I don't remember if we actually rode the carts, but I remember the convincing. I *think* we managed it, but I couldn't bet money on it. We all have moments that we remember fondly, even if we don't remember all the details, and that's one of mine.

Of course, there's a lot of inappropriate humor in the film, and one totally great segment talking about trolls that live in odd places. Fantastic stuff. The Star Wars and LOTR references were actually pretty focused in one scene, much like the original film. A good cameo from Jason Lee, and Jay does a good "Silence of the Lambs" reference... Komedy!

It's something I'd love to see again, but I don't know if I'll get to see it in the theaters in this summer. Of course, it'll be a DVD I get. No doubt.

NP: Mike Keneally - Here Is What I Dreamed