BASS

Happy Thursday! Today is the second day of my having a bass guitar in the house. One step closer to the edge being in a band! and I'm about to break

Sorry, Linkin Park, you may not be my favorite band anymore. :<

Today revealed that the casualty of yesterday's initial practice session was my left shoulder and neck, those bits being all jammed up. The cause of this, it seems, was looking over at the fret board. I didn't expect that aspect to be that taxing. Tomorrow, certainly, I will be feeling it in my fingers. If I will be feeling anything at all.

I can accompany "Girl" in a mediocre fashion! I probably should be sitting down and learning technique first, but it was too tempting to try and jump right into McCartney's shoes and see what I could do. Don't worry, Paul, your job is safe...for now.

I have super confidence in learning to play, since there's actually practical knowledge I have stored away from the cello and the general music theory that went along with it. What would make it easier at this point would be to actually have my own (I'm borrowing one from a guy at church) and get to know it -- and have a amp instead of hot wiring it into the living room stereo system. But having any ol' one is of course better than having none at all, so it's sunshine and butterflies all around.

And I'm getting paid tomorrow and I'm getting so much back from taxes and soon hopefully I'll be offloading that cello, so my very own mine all mine bass is deffo in the works.

Work's been dead all week, even on my 7-hour day it was quite relaxing. So no stress there; bass practice in the afternoons; evenings chatting and writing nonsense screenplays for practice; it's not raining anymore -- I'm happy.

-Steph

Oh and I also made fishcakes for dinner. ty for the idea, Restaurant City!

Rainstorm

Happy Thursday! For the first time in maybe ever, we've had like a different rain storm every day this week. It's insane. And damp. Our door leaks, and I stood around in it for a really long time just now. More on that later.

There was rain so loud it woke me up, thunder so loud it rocked the house, lightning so close I saw the flash from under the curtain. Reports of hail, but I never saw any. Any day now, California is just going to float away. Bye, continental US!

When I'm not at work or sleeping (which are two things I do often) I'm probably listening to the Beatles. Sometimes one or more of these things overlap. I have some leads on selling my cello, followed by some leads on picking up a bass, and then I'll be all set to be the next McCartney. This is something I'm looking forward to greatly.

Finally saw HELP! and unfortunately followed it with MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR and so to make up for the mild disappointment/shocking disappointment of that experience, I went back to A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, and the world was right again. I still have YELLOW SUBMARINE waiting (on VHS! From the library!) but that's a different category altogether.

Just now, whilst standing in a damp carpet, I jammed out with my pops to the Beatles. The piano is next to the door, you see. It's an electric piano, which means he can record a drum track and then a bass track and then we can jam along to that (and also means that we could probably get electrocuted). Once I have my bass he won't need that bass track! But for now I just sing, which is suddenly a hobby of mine. TY, rockband.

After reading that George Harrison biography, and now that I'm in the middle of a general Beatles' history, one of the strongest things that stands out to me about their success is their single-minded passion to succeed.

Cleaned my room a bit today, which is to me always the first step in getting things done. Because if I was to go out and get an apartment, I couldn't just leave all this junk here OR take it with me, so I really need to get rid of most of this stuff so's to have piece of mind about materialistic freedom. Getting rid of the cello is also a part of this junk-dump; second stage in success-achieving is continuing to write and look for internships. Then I'm pretty sure 2010 will become the year it promises to be.

Avatar: Eh. Great graphics but truly average storytelling.
Gamer: Great visual style. Spent a lot of time on that, surely. Didn't spend any time on anything else.
The Invention of Lying: Much much much less funny than I had thought it would be.
Sherlock Holmes (the one on DVD where he fights dinosaurs): Some of the most unapologetic nonsense I've ever experienced.
I'm Not There: Didn't make sense to the non-Dylan-initiate.

Whu-oh. Blogger is having some sort of red ERROR bar up there, so I'm going to figure that out and/or put this up on Facebook. Be safe in this murderous weather!

-Steph
(Sorry this didn't make it out last night. Crazy the Internet.)

Early Thursday

Happy Thursday! I hope it's happier for you than it is for me, or at least that mine will only get better. Cupcakes are in the works, so I think there's a chance.

A couple lovely emails greeted me this morning, the first being "ty 4 teh monies" and the second being "o hai we noticed somfin suspishus ur welcom - Paypal."

DON'T WORRY. Paypal has it UNDER CONTROL. Or in any case "UNDER INVESTIGATION."

:< My monies....


And now for something completely different.


My favorite Beatles album right now is Revolver. Before that it was Rubber Soul and before that, Help! But right now it's Revolver, and I'll tell you why.

The first thing that strikes me is how just plain musical it is. It's heavier and more stylized than the early 50's influenced stuff, but not yet too heavy like the later Abbey Road stuff. You've got that intense string backing in "Eleanor Rigby" going into the backwards guitar solos in "I'm Only Sleeping" going into the sitar and accompanying Indian influence in "Love You To" and so on.

And even that opening selection showcases the diverse musical ability of each individual, yet the seemingly disparate themes and styles only tie it all together in an album that is so distinctively The Beatles. And you've got Ringo's mad skillz in "She Said She Said;" his sweet and simple vocals in the classic "Yellow Submarine," where he cracks one note (the last "sub"marine in the last verse) that makes my heart go to pudding every time.

And George's burgeoning love for Indian music of course in the song previously mentioned, continuing to dash a little color onto his band's legacy. But I can't get over his lead guitar, the sound of which is, to me at least, just as iconic as the vocal blend.

John's got his psychedelic on, in "Tomorrow Never Knows" and, more to the point, "She Said She Said," the lyrics of which come from a conversation they had with Peter Fonda whilst congregating in a bathtub whilst trippin' pretty heavily on acid.

And even McCartney busts out all the stops, "Eleanor Rigby" probably among the top tier of best Beatles' songs. "Good Day Sunshine" is also a delightful pick-me-up, but the high point for me in his case is "For No One" where he slings his voice around in such a way that always makes me wonder why I don't love him more.

Cons on the album are: "Taxman." Sorry, George, I know you don't get a lot of credit, but this song is not quite up to par with the rest of the pack. I feel like it would be a lot more comfortable on the previous album, Rubber Soul, only in terms of musical accomplishment.

Similarly, John's "Doctor Robert" is a half step down from the rest, too. And content-wise, it makes me do a big IDK.

Least favorite is McCartney's "Here, There, and Everywhere," which oddly was his contemporaries' favorite track on the album. It's just a little too...too. It's soul-sequel is undoubtedly "Martha My Dear," a song about the McCartney sheepdog, Martha.

So it's a good, solid album, and you should check it out!

On a related note (and pun), I'm looking into getting a bass guitar. You may be surprised to know that I used to have one! But, sadly, I was a fool and maybe played it four times ever. But now I want one again, and I will learn it and be in a band! The biggest fool to ever hit the big time.

Okay, that's my review, I'm going to go to Target and get stuff to make cupcakes with. And later I'mma go shoot zombies with Carolyn! The day is already looking up.

-Steph

Korma

Happy Thursday! I'm writing this super late so I'm going to rush it!

Today was unofficial George Harrison day. Mostly because the first Beatle biography I came across at the library was his, so that's what I've been reading. And Beth came over and we went and had Indian food! And then we went to a closing antique shop and she found me the Ringo album that has the song "Photograph" that was co-written by the two. $4.33!

Then we went home where Carolyn was waiting, and we watched most of the Concert For George, which was this big affair they put on on the first anniversary of his death. His adorable look-alike son stood around with a giant guitar, and Eric Clapton played and sang a lot, and they had an Indian orchestra, and Ringo sang "Photograph" and something else, and McCartney was in every one's way. Oh, and Tom Petty is the most frightening man on earth.

So of course after that we played Rock Band, and it was the best Thursday ever.

Beth was also over last...must have been Friday. We played Rock Band and HSM singing game, which was full of lols.

What else this week? Mostly Beatlemania and moving on into people's solo work. And by people I mean Harrison, since Ringo's isn't spectacular and I need to set aside some time to understand Lennon. McCartney isn't high on my list in any respect.

Me and my mom went on some walks, like around downtown because that's where the only open library is now. Makes me wish I lived somewhere nearer a downtown, so you could just hang out in the library then go see a movie next door, and then to the Indian place across the street, and maybe stop at some thrift stores on the way. That'd be cool.

Three days off this week! Super relaxing, since the holidays schedules were so hectic. But the moneys were so delicious.

Have a gear week!

-Steph