I became aware of a group to join on a social network site that is named something along the lines of:
"Being from New York, I get a special feeling hearing Empire State Of Mind"
Having no idea what song that is -- I assumed it was a song -- I went lookin'...
Jay-Z - Alicia Keys
If I was not from the NYC area, I certainly wouldn't have as much interest in this that I do.
I'm pretty tolerant of a lot of different music and after a few times watching that, the song's kind of grown on me. The video really makes me miss where I'm from. There's nowhere as special as New York.
mayhaps one o' these days i'll be in the mood for posting some actual downloadable music... right now (and for quite awhile, i guess) i'm just not feelin' it.
Bob Weir Ratdog Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia this is one of only 2 or 3 songs on the album where Bobby (Weir) doesn't handle lead vocals... Bobby Cochran sings. from the 1984 Bobby & The Midnites album Where The Beat Meets The Street
So this Deadhead listens to a lot of freakin' music. Quite simply, if I did not run then I wouldn't listen to albums like the one I ran to this morning. See, I HATE running but my health is too important not to and when I run I need a steady beat, sometimes I need beat progression, sometimes beat regression. Dead and Jerry studio stuff could do it but not a lot of it has a fast enough beat which is also an important factor. Man, if I limited myself to what I ran to, I'd get bored real fast. So I stay open-minded (better than being close-minded, right?) and listen to whatever. Sometimes whatever is just perfect. Sometimes it kicks bloody ass all over the place and is the most outstanding bunch of loudness to wake your ass up and really get your blood flowing. I'm sorry but as much as I love listening to Jerry, Sugaree or A Simple Twist Of Fate ain't gonna do that at 6 in the morning.
Van Hagar will!
An Album I've Been Listening To. . . (and the Music I Ran To This Thursday Morning)
Avenida Revolution Soap On A Rope Sexy Little Thing Oh Yeah Runnin' Out Get It Up Down The Drain My Kinda Girl Learning To Fall Turnin' Left Future In The Past Bitten By The Wolf
Sammy Hagar - vocals Joe Satriani - guitar Michael Anthony - bass Chad Smith - drums
Holy bunch of rockin' out aging rockers, Ghost of Jimi Hendrix. Holy crap, I can't get sick of this, at least not after about five listens to far. What a great album from a great band. It would be a rock and roll travesty if these guys don't sell out everywhere they go this summer. Recently they wrapped up a short like 9-show club tour, a warm-up for lots of shows this summer in Europe and then back in North America. What a frickin' whiz on guitar Joe Satriani is. Long, long time ago I had one of his CD's -- Surfing With The Alien, I think? I haven't heard Satriani since then (circa 1992-ish.) Hagar's Hagar and I just listened to him the other day. Sammy's great. Former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith really help drive this album. They're fuckin' animals, man. Holy crap! And then when Satriani dives in... holy crap!!! (That about sums it up -- Holy Crap!) Soap On a Rope, for instance, while oddly named, it goes along la di da di da and then at the end it completely blows out the windows and blows the roof off the house. FUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!! This just screams at you -- "PLAY IT LOUD. LOUDER, DUMBASS!!!!!!!!!!!!" I might worship just about every note of Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia music but sometimes this is exactly what I want! A great Shakedown Street is a fun way to wake up but when they move into Althea or later on play Looks Like Rain, the life out of being LOUDLY woken up can just be sucked away. Something like this -- oh holy crap hell yeah, THIS is the (musical) way to wake up!!!!
And I just read the following which is blowin' me away -- Sammy's 61 years old?!?!?! Get the FUCK out of here!!!!! Noooo wayyyyy. Holy crap, I don't believe it. At times Satriani sounds as good as and no better than Eddie Van Halen and perhaps at times this is a continuation of Van Hagar... but maaaaaan, it simply fucking rocks. There's just one ballad here -- Learning To Fall -- which is the slow spot on the whole album, and one song -- Future In The Past -- that slows things down somewhat, at least until it picks up a ton of steam as it goes along, and the last song -- Bitten By The Wolf -- is the only to feature acoustic guitar (and harmonica.) Even though it's a total anticlimactic finish to the album, since it's about New Orleans I'll give it a pass. So there are some places where the music isn't completely balls to the wall and alright, not every song is perfection, a few have moments of lame harmonies or lame lyrics, or a spot where Satriani is this totally solo dude not fitting perfectly into a band... but every bad instance is made up for fifty times over. In just a few months, in October, the Red Rocker's gonna be 62?! Jayy-zuzz, you've GOT to be kidding me!
Severely over-populated Mexico City's got like 18 million people but they can't even fill the 5th largest stadium in the world for a soccer game... excuse me, I mean a futbol match? There's a match going on in the picture! 105,000 capacity, 0 fans. Actually, it's because of something we're all going to die of within a few days, some Pig Flu or something. Beats me. I'm immune. I'm God.
Hmmm... if I was God, I suppose I wouldn't have to exercise...
Monday late Morning Run: 25 minutes 03 sec
+42 sec
. 3 Days Since My Last Run
11:15 a.m. - 76° - mostly sunny
Warm. But I wasn't tired. I was sick and tired of waiting around for fucking ever for a phone call so that didn't help. Other than that, I guess I had an okay run. No pains. No fatigue. Seems I always have thoughts of quitting my run but they weren't too bad. The worst thing was the warmth of the near mid-day sun overhead. I hate when sweat drips onto my sunglasses. Worse is that, while I had no significant fatigue, the heat did drain me of extra energy. I finished okay but twasn't very pleasant at the end and as I began my walk home from the trail. After a shower I'm feelin' drained but not bad. The fact that I added a bunch of time onto my last Run Time, that's good. I'm back up (finally) to over 25 minutes. On my way to 30. Now if Sugarmag would only join me in my running this much, or at least separately exercising this much, that would be sweet!
One more run in April. I'm not going to match February but at least I have passed March (which sucked.) New goal for May.... hmmm..... well, to beat April, that's the primary goal. Hopefully, though, I can get to 4 hours again. April :: +37 sec· X
7 runs in APRIL:
3 hours 03 min
6 runs in March:
2 hours 28 min
*** FEBRUARY ***
3 hours 41 min
January 2009
2 hours 54 min
December
2 hours 42 min
November:
2 hours 31 min
October 2008:
2 hours 10 min
Monday's Running Playlist included most of this album...
Big Star I See Rim Shak Wasted Get On With It Here & Now From Under The Dust Mellie's Comin' Over Come Around Step Back
Twas a few years ago, 1994 to be exact, summer of, when I spent some time in the 'burbs of Chicago, one 'burb to be exact, Fox Lake to be exact, northwest of Chicago. The tiny little town, nestled amongst the Chain Of Lakes, is one of the last two or three stops on the commuter rail line than runs up to Genoa, Wisconsin (if I'm not mistaken.) (I was mistaken, it's Genoa City.)
Any-frickin'-way, that (part of) Spring & Summer I listened to a bunch of radio. It started out not by choice but because it was always on at the golf course where I was working. Well, I dug the tunes on Chicago's Q101 and found myself tuning in away from work, too. Q101 was playing all that was new and great within alternative music at the time. I actually used to tape the radio and then make a mix that I used when I went mountain biking. One of the songs on that mix: Here & Now from this debut album by Boston band Letters To Cleo. Such a kick-ass song that was, great for riding. I never could understand half of what Kay Hanley was singing but it's a great, fast, loud song. That tape that I had it on got lost or eaten or whatever and it has been a good dozen years since I've heard that tune or any other by this band. I've always remembered them, not that song specifically, but the band name; maybe someday I'd get to check out their tunes. Well, someday's recently and these guys are pretty good. The rest of the album is something like an amalgamation of The Breeders, Sonic Youth, Belly and a good handful or two of others.
Apparently they'll be playing some more shows this spring. I guess they got back together last Fall/Winter but maybe now they'll be back for awhile. Not that I'm gonna see 'em or anything... cool none-the-less. I've always had an affinity for Boston bands, bein' a native New Englander and all.
Hey how are ya'? Dare I say it? It is starting to feel a little bit like spring this morning. Nice. I am doing much better since my last post. For one thing, I now understand binary! I am not so sure about adding and subtracting in binary, but I understand counting, so that's a start. My instructor is wonderful and I can go to her office hours and ask her. Also, the binary thing is not that important in the big picture of this class. I'm learning to program in Python and that part is challenging and actually kind of fun. So I've been thinking about loops and it occurs to me that sometimes when people just won't stop exchanging insults with people they don't know on the internet it is like an indefinite loop. Rinse and repeat.
Pinched nerve in my back. I can't figure out how to position myself so it won't hurt. Can reach for something on a top shelf but turning to one side even a 1/4 of an inch -- that hurts like I was just hit by a train. Can't take a deep breath -- the pain comes on again in attempting that. Can't this, can't that. This is bad. Worst of all... I can't enjoy a show and put a post up for it like I should be able to, like I was gonna for something today. Always great tunes on the way so stay tuned.
For now I command you, yes, command you, to dig some:
Ethics, for this new administration, had been thrown out the window. Through it all with Geithner and now with Daschle, many Democrats completely stood by their men. "Just a harmless mistake" has been said concerning the tax problems for both men. "Just mistakes." These [insert bad name here] tax cheaters aren't being held to a higher standard than the American citizen. The only reason Daschle isn't going through isn't because he's a crook but because it would be a distraction to the Obama administration. It's all just sick.
Happier stuff: check out this Bernese Mountain Dog...
I didn't spend a whole lot of time out on the trail today -- out and back. Good news: I added on to my chopped down time from my previous run. Bad news: I quite possibly shouldn't have run due to a somewhat nagging sore throat that may turn into me being sick again. But more good news: I ran! Since I keep track of my running time on a monthly basic, at the beginning of each month when I start over at 0 minutes and 0 seconds, it feels like a tremendous climb to an endless mountain to be able to top my previous month's running time. Today I started at 0:00 and I have a long way to go to hit the three hour mark... but it's not just three hours that I want to run in February -- I want four. We'll see. X ·Feb :: 07 sec· X
feb
23 min
JANUARY 2009
2 hours 54 min
December '08
2 hours 42 min
November:
2 hours 31 min
October:
2 hours 10 min
**SEPTEMBER**
3 Hours 25 min
Tuesday's Running Playlist included most of this album...
Make It Somebody Dream On One Way Street Mama Kin Write Me Movin' Out Walkin' The Dog
Old Aerosmith is not exactly my bottle of beer. Using this album for running for 23 minutes -- it worked just fine. But overall, I'm not really loving this.
One song on here -- Dream On -- lasted through the decades but other than that, nothing else had a ton of radio success. Now radio success doesn't an album make, I'm just a-sayin'. Steven Tyler's voice sounds so weird on a bunch of these songs, more like Ian Astbury of The Cult than like himself. Mama Kin is interesting in that I never heard it by Aerosmith before, only the cover version by Guns 'N Roses. I think I prefer circa 1989 GnR but it's not bad here. Judging by a few songs here, it's a wonder that Aerosmith ever made it out of Boston bars and into national limelight.
It took me a couple days but I think finally found my groove for January. I woke up ready to run today and early this afternoon, finally, I got 'er done.
Five since my last run and that, again, is way too long. I've got to pick up the pace, dang it! I've got pounds to shed and I've got a healthy heart to try to maintain (not necessarily in prioritized order.) Every four or five days ain't gonna make for the healthy life I want. Well... it's better than nothing.
Felt good today. Weather is nice, I actually dig overcast for running 'cause I don't need my sunglasses. Temperature is cool but not warm and not so utterly freezing that it's uncomfortable to run. I ran when it was that cold in Alaska and it's not a joy. 50 to 55 Fahrenheit is about ideal and 59's not too bad. This temperature doesn't suck the energy out of me and I can finish strong without having that seemingly never-ending feeling of wanting to quit, quit, quit. None of that today. No strains, chest feels good, breathing good, all's A-okay.
Now if I can just get out there in two or three days and not wait five again.
Saturday's Running Playlist included most of this album...
Cinnamon Girl Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere Round & Round (It Won't Be Long) Down By The River The Losing End (When You're On) Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets) Cowgirl In The Sand
Need more Neil Young in this life! This is such a great album and more consistent than his debut released just six months before. Versus the debut where there are none, there are three pure classics here -- Cinnamon Girl, Down By The River, and Cowgirl In The Sand. The second two of those clock in at over 9 minutes and 10 minutes respectively. Cowgirl In The Sand I can get lost in over and over. One of the coolest things I dig here is the fiddle on Running Dry -- like kinda eerily somber, almost dirge-like and almost psychedelic in a way.
Such a sweet collection of tunes, from first note to last. I really need to listen to this more!
mp3 download mp3 download 256 320Oakland, New JerseyFranklin Lakes, New JerseyWyckoff, New Jersey (NJ)New EnglandNashua, New Hampshire (NH)Lake Carmel, New York (NY)
