Yay! (or: Yay!)

So tonight I laid out the song I wrote for the rest of the guys in the band.  I was a bit nervous about it.  So after we warmed up they wanted to hear it, so I explained what I kind of had in mind for the guitar parts and the setup of it then played it.  They actually dug it quite a bit.  I worked with the guitarist first, taught him the riffs and then let him start working on what to put over it.  Then the drummer and I played so he could do his thing.  Once he had his part down we recorded me playing just the bassline, then just the bass and a rough beat with the drums.

What was really cool is the comment was made that it was pretty clear Steve Harris was an influence for me because it had a Maiden feel to it.  Well, to me thats a big compliment anyway.    So all the parts of the song so far remained intact, they liked the whole thing.  The only thing we need is an intro for it and we kicked around some ideas, including a few I had.  We should have something by next time we get together I'm sure.  We spent a good couple hours on that song, then we went ahead and played through the songs we had down so far, then they taught me another of theirs.  So I have that to work on this week, that should be fun.  I have the notes down for the most part and the beat, I just need to come up with something suitable for a bassline overall.

My Netflix addiction continues.  We've been watching the first 3 seasons of The Office all weekend.  Well, I started last week and my son and I started watching this weekend around the end of season 2.  Now we're a little more than halfway through season 3 and getting some good laughs out of it.  I also queued up about 15 more items, so I have like 110 things in my queue now.  Easily the best $9/month I've spent in some time, and I'm still on my free trial. 

Some grocery shopping tomorrow, maybe a little housework just to tidy up after the holiday, then maybe we'll dig out the Christmas tree.  'Tis the season, right?

When things don't go as planned (Or :Just another day for me)

So we went out this morning to Meijer and picked up our "pre-cooked" holiday meal.  I've never gone this route before, and I don't believe I ever will again.

To begin with, or as a refresher to those of you who already know this, the meal consisted of a pre-cooked 10-12lb bird, 4lbs of mashed potatoes, 2lbs of stuffing, gravy, cranberry salad, and a dozen rolls.  Actually not bad for $30.  What they tell you at the store is that you will need to put the bird in the oven for about an hour or so to reheat it.  Ok, fair enough.  What they didn't tell me was that the mashed potatoes were in packages and in need of a large microwavable bowl, which I do not own.  I discovered this after I got home of course, but managed to use smaller bowls to get by.

Another problem was that the turkey was partially frozen.  Yes, it was pre-cooked.  But since it was partially frozen, that means reheating it evenly is impossible.  It was too big for the microwave and I wasn't going to let it soak in water for several hours.  So I put it in the oven for just under 90 minutes, and fortunately I didn't dry out the non-frozen parts but there were still some parts of the bird that were cool.  So those had to be nuked before eating.  It was a bit of a hassle with some unexpected moments, but in the end we had a good meal and a good time stuffing ourselves while watching Netflix.

Next time though?  Restaurant. 

Confessions of a Netflix Junkie (or: It plays games, too?)

For years now I've resisted the temptation to subscribe to mail-order rental services, be they movie or games, because I didn't think it was worth the potential trouble.  I really don't even rent dvds.  I have a source for some movies (YARRR!) and the rest I just buy outright on dvd.  With games I have the Blockbuster gamepass or again, I just buy outright.

But then this dashboard update went live, and suddenly I find myself addicted to Netflix.  I know its not the mail-order service, but I find myself browsing titles daily and dumping all kinds of oddball crap into my queue for streaming at my convenience.  I guess I could physically order the dvds to rent, but I still think it could be problematic so I won't.  But man, I barely use my 360 for gaming anymore.

Granted they don't let you stream a lot of newer movies, but by digging through the available selections I have found a veritable treasure trove of (mostly) older tv shows.  How about all the episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker?  Yes please!  The first 4 seasons of The Office?  The complete collections of Quincy, Emergency, Adam-12, Dragnet, The Incredible Hulk, and Kojak?  Columbo, The Rockford Files...even The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew mystery series.  This is the goods.

I got the 1 out at a time package that runs $9/month, and I couldn't be happier.  I can even watch this stuff on my computer when my son is playing on the 360.  I come home from work now, and once I get a few odds and ends out of the way I find myself turning on the 360 so I can watch more Netflix.  Its amazing what a simple convenience like this can do to an addictive personality.

Anyway, hope you guys have a great Thanksgiving.  We'll be headed up to Meijer in the morning to get our pre-cooked dinner, which is sort of a misnomer because I'll still have to reheat the bird for about an hour they say.  So its not a complete no-fuss affair, but it should be good nonetheless.

The Eagle Has Landed (or: Your Goose Is Cooked)

Just got back from patrolling some of the nearby grocery stores for pre-cooked Thanksgiving dinner deals.  The winner:  Meijer.

For $30 I get a 12lb turkey, 4lbs of mashed potatoes, 2lbs of gravy, 1lb of cranberry salad and a dozen rolls.  I think there's some stuffing in there too, I forget but I guess I better look into that.  Anyway, that works for me.  By the time I got done buying roasting pans and everything else I would have needed I would have far exceeded the $30, so as long as its cooked well and tasty its all good.  I'll probably pick up a few other odds and ends, depending on what the kid wants,

I also extended an invite to Ed, our guitarist.  I was talking to Brian and I guess Ed doesn't have plans for Thanksgiving so I left him a message inviting him over for the day.  Its just me and the little guy, so its not like he'd be imposing.  Plus thats an awful lot of food I just ordered there, so someone has to help us eat it.

Brian gave me a call at work yesterday.  He had told us last time we got together that he found some places with open mic nights in our area, and I guess he went and checked the one place out last weekend and it was decent.  Its not far from me, maybe 25 minutes, and I think its Sunday nights.  He said it was pretty low-key, not many musicians (at least when he was there) and everyone else in the bar just doing their own thing.  He said it seemed pretty non-hostile, every song got a polite round of applause and there was no jeering.  So I'm going to call this place in a bit and find out what time it starts and head up there tomorrow night.  It will be my first time ever playing in front of people if I wind up going. 

Bri also said that if I did decide to go to let him know and he might try to get ahold of Ed and head up there and join me.  It would be like us playing out, in a sense.  I think these guys are trying hard to break me in, at least thats what it seems like, so I'm willing to give it a shot.  Well, most likely after downing a few shots. 

So we'll see how that goes.  If these guys meet me up there we can play through our songs just for kicks, and if I go it alone I can try to get in on some songs, hopefully they will play stuff I know.  If not, as long as they tell me the chords I can try to fake it.  I guess there was a lack of bass players there last time too.  I don't know if thats the norm or if it was just that night, but if things go well I might get some decent time in.  If I wind up going I'll blog how it went.

Bas Bleu is really a woman! (and other spoilers)

The title of this blog is dedicated to everyone who's gender cover has been blown by the new avatar setup on XBox Live. 

Almost Friday.  Yay!  Busy week at work, with the end of year coming up and us making the mad dash to meet the projections for 2008.  Makes for a lively day at least, and they tend to go by fast so thats good.

I don't have the boy this weekend, but I do have him for Thanksgiving so I'm looking forward to that.  I am going to take a shortcut with my cooking the dinner, opting instead to scout around the local markets and find places selling pre-cooked (or even smoked) birds to save myself the trouble.  Ah, the chicanery.  Who knows where this will end...I may even buy the whole dinner pre-cooked!  Muahahahahaha.

The riff I came up with that the other guys in the band helped rework has now become a full-fledged song.  I have a little tweaking to do, and its all subject to change once Ed and Brian get involved of course, but I have at least the whole thing structured.  Possibly the only thing I may still tweak is the chord progression under the solo, but we'll see.  Who knows, I may even try to write some lyrics for it too.  I used to be good at that, way back when.  I may give it a shot, we'll see.  I had a really nice compliment paid to me by Brian earlier in the week.  He told me its hard to believe I've only gotten back to playing less than a year ago (its actually been just over 9 months).  Considering what an outstanding musician he is, that means a lot coming from him.  But whats really helped me is playing with guys the caliber of Brian and Ed.  Both these guys have been playing forever and they really are great, great musicians, so it forces me to raise my game.  Plus I learn a lot from both of them when we play together, so its been a great experience so far.  On top of everything there's a good chemistry between us all so that makes a difference too.  I seemed to fit in with them right away, and it helped me get comfortable with them that much sooner.

Ok, gonna cruise Netflix and maybe watch an episode of The Munsters before bed.  Ta.