Archive for June, 2009

Scarves Up, Sounders!

June 29, 2009 by john 1 Comment »

Yesterday I attended my first Seattle Sounders FC match, and I’m hooked! It was a great game and I’m impressed by both the team and the fans. It’s amazing that Seattle has such a huge soccer fan base, and the level of support is very high. It helped that we had tickets to a great match in which (1) we won and (2) my seats were out of the sun! I’m excited about seeing more matches this season and may purchase a ticket package for 2010. Go Sounders!

 

Paradoxical Wireless Bill

June 27, 2009 by john No Comments »

The final step in porting my cell number away from my previous cellular carrier was to get a final bill and close my account. Apparently they decided to do this in reverse order. So I received an email from them (which is how they have always notified me) indicating my current bill is now ready for review and payment online, and they include a link to their web site where I log in and complete the payment. Except… I can’t log in any more. I called customer support and they explained “You can’t log in because you closed your account with us”. I countered with “But if I can’t log in, how can I pay you? Can I just pay right now over the phone?” Their answer: “No. We no longer have an active account for you so it’s not possible for us to accept credit card payment over the phone. You need to go to one of our dealers to make payment.”
So today I need to go and find a local dealer. Hopefully they won’t send me back to the web site… You’d think there might be a more efficient way to do this.

 

Number Garage : Awesome

June 25, 2009 by john No Comments »

number_garageToday I completed the process of porting my cell number to Number Garage. Throughout this effort I’ve been receiving excellent communication from Number Garage, and they succeeded in making the transition very smooth for me. My previous cellular carrier was a little slow in releasing my number, and I spent a long time on hold with them waiting to verify my account had been closed. Telecommunications companies seem to have mastered the art of preventing customer satisfaction, and this was a classic example of last-minute customer retention tactics… if they “valued my business as a customer of good standing for over 8 years” perhaps they shouldn’t wait until I close my account before offering any flexibility. Their cellular service is very good but with success comes the peril of becoming too large to manage customers as individuals. The good news is that I’ve successfully freed myself from an unneccessary monthly bill. And I’ve found a valuable service with Number Garage. If you haven’t checked them out, I’d recommend them. My previous cellular carrier could learn a lot from them: excellent value, great communications, solid customer support. SCORECARD : Number Garage = awesome. Previous cellular carrier = buh-bye.

 

Practicing For July

by john No Comments »

In July I’ll be sitting in for some shows with the Dudley Manlove Quartet. They’ve been playing together for 13+ years, performing hits of the 70’s and 80’s, and they have a high degree of musicianship. Their set consists of around 30 songs, most with fairly tight arrangements. So I’m doing a lot of practicing to ensure I’m prepared. This has meant listening to their live recordings and the original artists’ recordings, and making notes on my copies of the charts. I’m always up for a challenge musically and this definitely fits that description. Since the band is an established group, my responsibilities are

  1. Be prepared – this means practicing the songs, programming my patches, and learning any cues that are part of the live performance.
  2. Be a good fit – the band is accustomed to working as a unit and has an internal culture. My job is to be a part of that unit with minimal disruption.
  3. Be alert – the absolute guarantee in live music is that something unexpected will occur. Being present in the moment is crucial.
  4. Be the Walrus – if given the choice, always go with the Walrus. I mean, who even remembers the other three characters?

It’s interesting to note that this is the same approach I’d recommend to aspiring Project Managers. It’s a slightly different profession, but the same rules apply.

I attended college in Bellingham with Steve Okimoto – the band’s bassist – but this is the first setting in which we’ve played together. All the members of the band are talented, easy-going, funny guys. I’m looking forward to these shows and will be spending the next week continuing my preparation for the gigs. If you happen to attend any of these shows, give a shout or a wave.

 

Liquidating Some Music Gear

June 24, 2009 by john No Comments »

shopping-cartI’m not in the habit of using my blog for commercial posts. The main reason I’m posting this information is that many of my friends and readers are musicians, and I’m always happy to pass along some gear as part of the great circle of groove. As part of my ongoing effort to consolidate my equipment setup and free up some space, I’ve decided to sell a few pieces of equipment. I’ve got gear just sitting around rather than fulfilling its rightful rockin’ destiny on a stage somewhere. The process of thinning worldly possessions is actually quite freeing, and it makes me happy to know that the new owner is so pleased with the item. For example, last year I sold my Jackson guitar to a co-worker. It was a perfect shred machine and was fun to play. But lately it had spent a lot of time hanging on the wall. I happened to mention I intended to sell it and found out my friend was VERY interested in that guitar. So it was a perfect deal for both of us; I had purchased the guitar used at a great price and passed the savings along.

So for any friends shopping for music gizmos, my list of excess gear includes

  • Digital Music Ground Control MIDI Pedal. 90s model. Mounted with 2 Ernie Ball volume pedals, configured as continuous controllers. I also have a flight case that fits this unit.
  • 2 Mesa Boogie 1×12 guitar cabinets, each loaded with an EVM 12L speaker. Includes covers.  
  • THD 2×12 speaker cabinet loaded with “Cotswold” speakers. Convertible, with open and closed back panels.
  • Stewart Reference Series power amp. 60w Stereo. Chrome faceplate. Rack mountable.
  • Crown D45 power amp. Studio reference series monitor amp. Rack mountable.
  • Audio Technica guitar wireless. True diversity, 100+ channels. 2 transmitters.
  • 6-space ATA case.
  • 2-space SKB “Roto Rack”.
  • 4-space rack bag with shoulder strap.
  • Roland GR-1 Guitar Synth with GK2A Pickup. Expanded voice card.
  • Ibanez Artist electric guitar. Double cutaway. Cherry sunburst. 80s model. EMG 85A pickups. With case.
  • Fender “Roland Ready” Stratocaster. White. 90s model. Has factory-installed synthesizer driver / pickup with both 13-pin output and standard 1/4″ output. This model has superior synth tracking and is becoming difficult to obtain. With case.

Give me a peep if you’re interested in any of these thingies, and I’ll bring this stuff home from the rehearsal space so you can check it out.  I’ll list these items on CL or eBay next month.

 

Thoughts On The 6/20 80s Invasion Gig

June 21, 2009 by john No Comments »

Line6X2XDSPLUSYesterday’s gig at the High Dive in Fremont took place on the same day as the Fremont Solstice Parade, which involves all manner of fun and big crowds. I enjoy the atmosphere of these events because everyone is always in such joyous spirits. Our show was earlier than the usual bar gig; we played from 6:00 PM until 8:15 PM for a pretty solid and enthusiastic crowd. It’s clear that Mona and Paul are becoming more confident in their roles as lead singers. Both of them are developing some faithful fans in the audience who know them by name and chant for more when songs are finished. Good stuff. I’m finding myself more “present” during our set, with a stronger connection to music and bandmates.

read more…

 

Plumb Wild

June 17, 2009 by john No Comments »

Well, it’s official: I’m going to re-pipe the house this weekend. My intention is to begin the project Friday and hopefully will have it done by the end of the weekend. I’ll have a relative help with the project, and I think between us we’ll be able to get it done successfully. We’re planning to use a flexible pipe called “Pex” which is becoming the solution of choice for retrofitting existing pipes. We’ll still need to do some surgery to put the supply lines into the walls, but at this point I am something of a drywall wiz. We’re going to spend the next couple of days planning our project and collecting supplies. I predict this is going to be an interesting and fun project!

 

A Project Loometh

June 16, 2009 by john No Comments »

pipesEver since we purchased our house in 2001 we’ve known we would eventually need to repipe. Our plumbing is old galvanized pipe, which is prone to corrosion and clogging. Our water pressure has been generally acceptable but in the past few weeks we’ve noticed some problems, particularly with hot water pressure in the shower. We had a quick inspection of our pipes and were given the wonderful news that it is now time to undertake that joyous project. We’ll need some professional guidance with this one. I’m already thinking this is a project that will require me to take a day off work in order to help with, and even then it’s likely to consume an unfortunate amount of time and money. I think we’ve decided to use a flexible plastic water pipe rather than copper; it will make the process of pulling the supply lines much easier, and will allow us to avoid the need for elbows / joints in the lines. It’s going to be a few days of messy work, but a good result.

 

Updated WordPress Install

June 15, 2009 by john No Comments »

wordpressThis evening I completed the update for WordPress, moving to the newly released 2.8 version. It was a slow and tedious process, but at this point I believe it’s all working correctly. For some reason my FTP client was only able to get a 2 kb connection to the server, and I had to manually restart the process more than once. The good news is that this update should be the last time I need to do a manual process for file management. As of this build, the update process is now automated. Hooray for progress! Clearly this is a major update for the code base and I’m pleased that the WordPress development community has continued to extend the platform.

 

Thoughts On The 6/12 and 6/13 80s Invasion Gigs

by john No Comments »

This weekend was a great run of activity:

  • 2 gigs – Both with 80s Invasion, one in a bar and one at a private party
  • 2 ferry rides
  • 1 evening rehearsal – For another band that I’m sitting in with for a few shows
  • 1 UW graduation party – For one of my best friends who has recently joined the ranks of officially papered college grads
  • 2 instances of equipment entropy – Fortunately limited to cases

Friday night at the High Dive we had a great show. The band seems to be attracting a regular following and this particular venue is a great place for us. It was fun to see so many familiar faces and to chat with some of them. One table full of 20-somethings were very interested in the music, having an apparently encyclopedic knowledge of 80s pop hits. Lots of great dancing and crazy sing-along activity.

At our previous show in this bar, my guitar rig exhibited some strange behavior and I wondered if the power might be to blame. For this show I used a fairly sophisticated power conditioner and it seems to have resolved the issues. Chalk one up for technology. So from the perspective of equipment performance, this was a perfect gig. I was very happy with the band’s playing at this show. Zach and Shane are consummate professionals and always do their parts well. Our vocalists are coming along nicely too. Mona and Paul are both becoming more confident in their roles.

On Saturday we got up early and headed over to Bainbridge Island for a private show. It was a birthday party with plenty of great food, awesome friends, kids and dogs running everywhere, and of course some fun music. We were playing outdoors with a fabulous view of the water. The band played a similar set to the one from Friday night, with a few minor changes. Again, a great time.

During the course of the weekend I noticed that two of my equipment cases are beginning to fall apart. One is a plastic box that I’ve been using for cords and mics, and it’s at least 15 years old (maybe 20!). It’s beginning to crack and split, and I think I may need to finally admit it’s time to recycle it. The other case that’s wearing out is my pedalboard case. This one is also 20 years old and has seen tens of thousands of miles of road use in Jumbalassy, and I purchased it used 20 years ago so who knows what its previous life might have been like. Technically it’s a keyboard case for a 3-octave synth, but it happened to be a perfect fit for my pedalboard. The hinges, latches and corners are all falling to pieces and I don’t believe this one is fixable. Might be time for a replacement. A long time ago I knew someone who worked for a flight case manufacturer but he’s long since retired. I need to find a new contact in that industry.

80s Invasion will be playing next weekend on Saturday June 20, at the High Dive. Come on out and get your 80s groove on!