The mid-90s were sort of a golden era of music for me. It all began with Nirvana's "Nevermind," and stretched through The Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey, Beck, Garbage, Radiohead, Sleater-Kinney, and the like. Many of the bands who were so influential then have gone on to produce great albums well into the new millenium, but the work that was done in the 90s will always be nostalgic for me.
One of the more overlooked band of the mid-90s was The Rentals. Don't feel bad if you're not familiar with them. Most people aren't. However, most people have heard of Weezer, which is where our story begins. After the success of Weezer's first album, their bassist, Matt Sharp, formed a side project with a sort of rotating cast that, at any given time, has included Rachel and Petra Haden (of that dog.), Patrick Wilson, and even Maya Rudolph, of SNL fame. (It turns out she's as talented a keyboardist as she is at impersonating Donatella Versace.) They recorded their debut, the ironically titled "The Return of the Rentals." Sharp then returned to Weezer to record "Pinkerton," split from Weezer, and recorded "Seven More Minutes" back with the Rentals. Since then, he's done various solo projects and helped out with other recordings, most recently on Tegan and Sara's "So Jealous" album. Earlier this year, he announced the new lineup for the Rentals, including Rachel Haden. They're going on a short tour before going into the studio to record a new album, and I'm hella excited.
They played SLC last night. The opening band was Ozma, and they were a great choice. Similar to The Rentals, but a little more punk-ish. The Rentals play the fuzzy-pre-emo-pop of Weezer with the New-Wave synth of the Cars, plus strong female harmonies, violins, and moog synthesizers. It's fun and infectious, and you can't help but enjoy it and smile.
The show itself was nothing but fun. I found it impressive that nearly all the band members switched from instrument to instrument. Guitar one minute, keyboard the next, then violin or synthesizer. They really had their stuff together.
They played for a little over an hour, and wanted to play longer, but had to quit because the venue turns into a club at 10:30. The last song they played was a wonderful cover of Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" that segued nicely into "Friends of P." After the show, I was walking outside and saw Matt Sharp next to their tour bus. I walked up, shook his hand, and told him how much I enjoyed the show. He was really cool and thanked me for coming. I wish I would have had my camera.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Fare Thee Well
I had a comp day from my TDY last week, so I used it today. However, I still ended up going in to my shop this afternoon for a going away party for a couple guys. One was TSgt. Billy Tramel, my supervisor, who was also chosen as one of the 12 Outstanding Airmen this year; and if you know anything about the Air Force, then you know that's a big deal. The other was SRA Mykhaylo Bulyk, one of my troops. He's originally from The Ukraine, but received his citizenship about a year ago, and was just accepted to the Airman Education and Commissioning Program. He's basically separating from the Air Force to finish school, and then coming back in as an officer. It's a pretty big deal, too.
Whenever people in our shop leave, we try to make sure they know how much we appreciated their service and how much we love them. And when that doesn't work, we duct tape them to a chair and spray them down with the water truck. Cases in point:
Do you feel the love?
It's all in good fun, and everybody has a good laugh. And then we sit around the shop the rest of the afternoon playing cards and drinking beer. I bet you're all going to run to your local Air Force recruiter as soon as you finish reading this, right?
Whenever people in our shop leave, we try to make sure they know how much we appreciated their service and how much we love them. And when that doesn't work, we duct tape them to a chair and spray them down with the water truck. Cases in point:
Do you feel the love?
It's all in good fun, and everybody has a good laugh. And then we sit around the shop the rest of the afternoon playing cards and drinking beer. I bet you're all going to run to your local Air Force recruiter as soon as you finish reading this, right?
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Rockin' the Ball Park
Last night, Kyle, Drew, John, Nick, and I went to a Raptors game up in Ogden. I'm now constantly on the lookout for when they have home games on Wednesdays because it's half-price beer night. Woo-hoo!
A little girl who couldn't have been more than eight sang the National Anthem. She sounded great, but when she got to the "Whose broad stripes..." part, she forgot the words, and everyone in the crowd started helping her out. It was so cool. Almost as cool as the beer.
Kudos to Drew and John for totally singing their hearts out on "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
Thanks to John and Nick for driving, because the rest of us were certainly in no condition.
After the game, we went back to Drew and Becky's place for some general socialisation. Becky must have the patience of Job to put up with all our drunk asses all the time.
You know what cardinal rule I always seem to forget? Never discuss relationships or religion when you're drunk. It's just to hard to express yourself adequately. Perhaps one day, I'll learn.
A little girl who couldn't have been more than eight sang the National Anthem. She sounded great, but when she got to the "Whose broad stripes..." part, she forgot the words, and everyone in the crowd started helping her out. It was so cool. Almost as cool as the beer.
Kudos to Drew and John for totally singing their hearts out on "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."
Thanks to John and Nick for driving, because the rest of us were certainly in no condition.
After the game, we went back to Drew and Becky's place for some general socialisation. Becky must have the patience of Job to put up with all our drunk asses all the time.
You know what cardinal rule I always seem to forget? Never discuss relationships or religion when you're drunk. It's just to hard to express yourself adequately. Perhaps one day, I'll learn.
Pushover
On the way to New Jersey, we had a two hour layover in Atlanta. While waiting for our second flight, I was talking to a buddy in my squadron. He asked where I was sitting. 21-A. I asked him the same question. 21-B. Cool, right?
Wrong.
We were walking on the plane, and he was right in front of me. He threw his bag in the window seat (my seat) and sat down. Did I say anything? No. I quietly sat in the middle seat (ugh!) and didn't mention a word about it.
So am I just being nice, or am I spineless? I'm beginning to lean toward the latter.
Wrong.
We were walking on the plane, and he was right in front of me. He threw his bag in the window seat (my seat) and sat down. Did I say anything? No. I quietly sat in the middle seat (ugh!) and didn't mention a word about it.
So am I just being nice, or am I spineless? I'm beginning to lean toward the latter.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Capped
I returned from New Jersey to find the last few spots of snow on the nearby mountaintops had completely melted. I won't be seeing any again until mid-January when I get back from the desert. (sigh...)
By the way, I didn't make it up to Yellowstone last weekend to visit my parents, unfortunately. After all the traveling and lack of sleep, I wasn't really prepared to make the six hour trek by myself. Mom and Dad were disappointed, but understanding and didn't try to lay a guilt trip on me or anything. I was disappointed, too, since I haven't seen my Mom in over a year or my Dad since September. Plus, Dad has a new motorcycle that's totally bad-ass. I have such cool parents.
By the way, I didn't make it up to Yellowstone last weekend to visit my parents, unfortunately. After all the traveling and lack of sleep, I wasn't really prepared to make the six hour trek by myself. Mom and Dad were disappointed, but understanding and didn't try to lay a guilt trip on me or anything. I was disappointed, too, since I haven't seen my Mom in over a year or my Dad since September. Plus, Dad has a new motorcycle that's totally bad-ass. I have such cool parents.
How Bill Gates Made His Millions
This week, I'm in a Microsoft class from 7-11 AM, Monday through Thursday. My boss wants all the Staff Sergeants in our shop to become more computer savvy. I signed up for the "Intermediate Excel" class, but somehow ended up getting stuck in the "Basic Word" class. And when I say "basic," I mean "BA-SIC." We had a fifteen minute discussion yesterday about the many uses of the "Enter" key. You'd think the people in this class have never seen a computer before. I should have said something the first day, but I'm kinda enjoying being the smartest guy in class. Plus, it's time away from work, and I can surf the internet all morning long.
Swear to Shake It Up If You Swear to Listen
Panic! At the Disco is one of my guilty pleasures. They're a Las Vegas band that plays retro-80s-synth-infused dance-emo-punk-pop. Imagine Fall Out Boy doing the Killers doing Bloc Party doing My Chemical Romance. I shouldn't like them, but I do. They played SLC last night.
The openers were The Hush Sound and The Dresden Dolls, both of which I missed. I really would liked to have seen the Dresden Dolls, but I ended up walking in about five minutes before P!ATD took the stage. The venue was sold out and about 110 degrees inside. It was mostly a bunch of teenagers, and part of me was ready to go before the show even started, but I'm glad I stayed.
They opened up with "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage." (Yes, all their song titles are like this.) The crowd went crazy, singing along with every word. I was kinda expecting them to be one of those bands that sounds good on the record, but sounds horrible live, but they weren't bad at all. It was a very theatrical show, blending twisted circus and goth cabaret. They even had a few dancers in garb reminiscent of a roaring 20s jazz club.
They worked their way through their album for about thirty minutes, then left the stage for a brief intermission, wherein the dancers came out to introduce the band members. The band then returned to finish the remaining songs. Whenever a band tours behind their debut album, they usually don't have a huge repitoire, so you can't really expect things to last too long. To elongate things, P!ATD included two covers: the first was a jazzed up version of Radiohead's "Karma Police," which kinda made me ill. The second was the Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight." I think they would have fared better sticking to their own material, but it's rare that I can appreciate anyone covering Radiohead. The song I wanted to hear most was "Camisado," which has to be the most upbeat yet heartbreaking song ever written about euthanasia. When they played it, I didn't want to stop dancing.
Overall, it was a pretty fun show, despite the heat and the couple grinding next to me. I'm really interested to see how this band's second album will sound. I hope it's as fun as their first.
The openers were The Hush Sound and The Dresden Dolls, both of which I missed. I really would liked to have seen the Dresden Dolls, but I ended up walking in about five minutes before P!ATD took the stage. The venue was sold out and about 110 degrees inside. It was mostly a bunch of teenagers, and part of me was ready to go before the show even started, but I'm glad I stayed.
They opened up with "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage." (Yes, all their song titles are like this.) The crowd went crazy, singing along with every word. I was kinda expecting them to be one of those bands that sounds good on the record, but sounds horrible live, but they weren't bad at all. It was a very theatrical show, blending twisted circus and goth cabaret. They even had a few dancers in garb reminiscent of a roaring 20s jazz club.
They worked their way through their album for about thirty minutes, then left the stage for a brief intermission, wherein the dancers came out to introduce the band members. The band then returned to finish the remaining songs. Whenever a band tours behind their debut album, they usually don't have a huge repitoire, so you can't really expect things to last too long. To elongate things, P!ATD included two covers: the first was a jazzed up version of Radiohead's "Karma Police," which kinda made me ill. The second was the Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight." I think they would have fared better sticking to their own material, but it's rare that I can appreciate anyone covering Radiohead. The song I wanted to hear most was "Camisado," which has to be the most upbeat yet heartbreaking song ever written about euthanasia. When they played it, I didn't want to stop dancing.
Overall, it was a pretty fun show, despite the heat and the couple grinding next to me. I'm really interested to see how this band's second album will sound. I hope it's as fun as their first.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Handcarts and All
Today is Pioneer Day in Utah. It's a state holiday commemorating when the first Mormons came into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. I celebrated by cutting out of work thirty minutes early and meeting John and Ryan at Rooster's for a couple beers. It's what Brigham Young and his 52 wives (including one that was his first cousin) would have wanted.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Adventures in Sleep Deprivation
I'm back from New Jersey. Was it everything I hoped it would be? Only if I were hoping for a hellish week full of senseless military BS, crippling heat, and a filthy, stinky body. But did I still kinda enjoy it? Maybe a little bit.
It all began last Saturday when we flew from SLC to Philadelphia. We had to wait in the USO in the Philly airport for a ride to Fort Dix, and by the time we got there, it was pretty late. We checked into billeting for the night and tried to get some sleep, because we knew the next week would be hella busy.
Sunday was full of deployment briefings and equipment issue. We received M-16s and MILES gear. That afternoon, we were bussed to Lakehurst Air Engineering Station, where the whole exercise was being held. Unfortunately, when we got on base, they weren't ready for us, so we sat on the tarmac and waited...
...and waited...
...and waited. The heat was amplified by the asphalt, and I was losing my patience. It was already dark by the time we finally got to the play area. And as soon as we got there, I was placed on guard duty. Guard duty is amazingly boring, and pulling it at night is even worse. I sat on post from 1 AM to 8 AM.
After getting relieved, I found a random cot and tried to get some sleep, but by 10 AM, it was already sweltering, and sleep was just not going to happen. So I found the rest of the Utilities guys, and helped them set up our shower/shave tent.
I know it looks like we're just sitting around, but honestly, we worked really hard. Doing all that physical labour while wearing all our gear in such heat and humidity was gruelling, and if we didn't take regular breaks, someone was going to fall out.
The rest of the day consisted of putting up tents.
And more tents.
And more tents.
And still more tents. The Commander wanted to get everyone bedded down that night. And even after we had enough tents for everyone, we continued to put up tents. I was working on a crew with my friend Nick, who is a structures guy, and therefore, in charge of putting up tents. He asked for help putting up a California Shelter, which is just like all the other tents, except much bigger. Our deadline was to have it up by 5 AM so Services could use it to serve breakfast the next morning. We made it, but just barely.
After working from 10 AM Monday until 5 AM Tuesday, I was pretty wasted. I grabbed all my bags and went to my tent, but still ended up sleeping outside. I was woken up at 8 AM and told I had to pull security duty again.
As I mentioned, security duty is amazingly boring, but it's not exactly physically demanding. You just sit and watch. And sit. And watch. They always post two people, so at least I had someone to keep me awake. I was relieved at 6 PM, so I went back to the Utilities guys to see what was up.
Here's Stephanie looking all bad-ass, which is misleading because she's a total sweetie. She's one of my favourite people to work with. I was a little disappointed to hear she won't be going with us to the desert this fall.
Again, I promise you we worked really hard. Really.
Probably the most exciting thing that happened all week was Tuesday night when a big thunderstorm blew in surprisingly fast. It was all lightning and rainy and windy and everyone started freaking out.
We were loaded into the back of dueces and transported to a big aircraft hangar until things blew over.
We weren't sure how long the storm would last, so we all grabbed cots and started laying down. We only ended up staying for about two hours. We returned to camp expecting to see tents laying all over the place, but it wasn't that bad. We stayed up until about 3 AM tightening ropes and tugging on canvas, but overall, things were in pretty good shape. After that, I decided it was time for me to finally take a shower. Field showers are pretty useless, but it felt nice to wash away at least the outter layer of filth.
After getting a nice four hours of sleep, I had to pull security yet again.
I got bored, so I started experimenting different angles with my camera.
I can't decide which one I like better.
I ended up staying on post until midnight. Since we don't have them in Utah, I'd forgotten how annoying mosquitoes are.
We got up at 6 AM, and were told the exercise had ENDEXed. You can't imagine how happy we all were. All day Thursday consisted of tearing down camp and reconstituting all our equipment.
Tear down took most of the day. After that, we all just chilled out. We had to stay in camp Thursday night. Most people were leaving on Friday, but a select few of us were stuck there until Saturday. We got shipped back to Fort Dix and stayed in billeting.
Some of us that were stuck overnight wandered out the main gate of Fort Dix to a nice little place called Kelly's Pub. After such a long week, I can't begin to describe how good a cold beer tastes. Plus, there's a local brew in the area called Yuengling, which is one of the best lagers I've ever had.
There was a group of about twenty of us, and we had a great time drinking and playing pool.
Did I mention we had a lot to drink?
I'm not sure how late we stayed, but we walked back to billeting in time to get about an hour of sleep, shower, and meet the airport bus at 2:30 AM. I arrived home early yesterday afternoon, and it was great to be back in a nice, dry environment. I just hope I never have to go that long without a shower ever again.
It all began last Saturday when we flew from SLC to Philadelphia. We had to wait in the USO in the Philly airport for a ride to Fort Dix, and by the time we got there, it was pretty late. We checked into billeting for the night and tried to get some sleep, because we knew the next week would be hella busy.
Sunday was full of deployment briefings and equipment issue. We received M-16s and MILES gear. That afternoon, we were bussed to Lakehurst Air Engineering Station, where the whole exercise was being held. Unfortunately, when we got on base, they weren't ready for us, so we sat on the tarmac and waited...
...and waited...
...and waited. The heat was amplified by the asphalt, and I was losing my patience. It was already dark by the time we finally got to the play area. And as soon as we got there, I was placed on guard duty. Guard duty is amazingly boring, and pulling it at night is even worse. I sat on post from 1 AM to 8 AM.
After getting relieved, I found a random cot and tried to get some sleep, but by 10 AM, it was already sweltering, and sleep was just not going to happen. So I found the rest of the Utilities guys, and helped them set up our shower/shave tent.
I know it looks like we're just sitting around, but honestly, we worked really hard. Doing all that physical labour while wearing all our gear in such heat and humidity was gruelling, and if we didn't take regular breaks, someone was going to fall out.
The rest of the day consisted of putting up tents.
And more tents.
And more tents.
And still more tents. The Commander wanted to get everyone bedded down that night. And even after we had enough tents for everyone, we continued to put up tents. I was working on a crew with my friend Nick, who is a structures guy, and therefore, in charge of putting up tents. He asked for help putting up a California Shelter, which is just like all the other tents, except much bigger. Our deadline was to have it up by 5 AM so Services could use it to serve breakfast the next morning. We made it, but just barely.
After working from 10 AM Monday until 5 AM Tuesday, I was pretty wasted. I grabbed all my bags and went to my tent, but still ended up sleeping outside. I was woken up at 8 AM and told I had to pull security duty again.
As I mentioned, security duty is amazingly boring, but it's not exactly physically demanding. You just sit and watch. And sit. And watch. They always post two people, so at least I had someone to keep me awake. I was relieved at 6 PM, so I went back to the Utilities guys to see what was up.
Here's Stephanie looking all bad-ass, which is misleading because she's a total sweetie. She's one of my favourite people to work with. I was a little disappointed to hear she won't be going with us to the desert this fall.
Again, I promise you we worked really hard. Really.
Probably the most exciting thing that happened all week was Tuesday night when a big thunderstorm blew in surprisingly fast. It was all lightning and rainy and windy and everyone started freaking out.
We were loaded into the back of dueces and transported to a big aircraft hangar until things blew over.
We weren't sure how long the storm would last, so we all grabbed cots and started laying down. We only ended up staying for about two hours. We returned to camp expecting to see tents laying all over the place, but it wasn't that bad. We stayed up until about 3 AM tightening ropes and tugging on canvas, but overall, things were in pretty good shape. After that, I decided it was time for me to finally take a shower. Field showers are pretty useless, but it felt nice to wash away at least the outter layer of filth.
After getting a nice four hours of sleep, I had to pull security yet again.
I got bored, so I started experimenting different angles with my camera.
I can't decide which one I like better.
I ended up staying on post until midnight. Since we don't have them in Utah, I'd forgotten how annoying mosquitoes are.
We got up at 6 AM, and were told the exercise had ENDEXed. You can't imagine how happy we all were. All day Thursday consisted of tearing down camp and reconstituting all our equipment.
Tear down took most of the day. After that, we all just chilled out. We had to stay in camp Thursday night. Most people were leaving on Friday, but a select few of us were stuck there until Saturday. We got shipped back to Fort Dix and stayed in billeting.
Some of us that were stuck overnight wandered out the main gate of Fort Dix to a nice little place called Kelly's Pub. After such a long week, I can't begin to describe how good a cold beer tastes. Plus, there's a local brew in the area called Yuengling, which is one of the best lagers I've ever had.
There was a group of about twenty of us, and we had a great time drinking and playing pool.
Did I mention we had a lot to drink?
I'm not sure how late we stayed, but we walked back to billeting in time to get about an hour of sleep, shower, and meet the airport bus at 2:30 AM. I arrived home early yesterday afternoon, and it was great to be back in a nice, dry environment. I just hope I never have to go that long without a shower ever again.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Pardon the Interruption
The next ten days are going to be mad crazy. I'm leaving tomorrow at 4 AM and flying to New Jersey for Eagle Flag, a week-long military exercise. True, I'm not exactly looking forward to it, but I've learned the best way to face these ridiculous things is to do my best and learn as much as I can and enjoy it as much as possible. It won't be easy, but it's not like I can skip out of it or anything.
I'll be returning to Utah next Saturday afternoon and hopping in my car to drive up to Yellowstone National Park. My parents are driving through on the motorcycle, and I'm going to meet them. I've never been there before, and I'll only be spending a few hours there; but I don't see my parents very often, and it should be a nice trip.
Anyway, it's doubtful I'll have any kind of internet service while in New Jersey, so unfortunately, I'll be unable to post anything for a week or so. Rest assured I'll have plenty to write about and tons of pictures upon my return. I hope everyone has a great week. Take care. No worries. God Bless.
I'll be returning to Utah next Saturday afternoon and hopping in my car to drive up to Yellowstone National Park. My parents are driving through on the motorcycle, and I'm going to meet them. I've never been there before, and I'll only be spending a few hours there; but I don't see my parents very often, and it should be a nice trip.
Anyway, it's doubtful I'll have any kind of internet service while in New Jersey, so unfortunately, I'll be unable to post anything for a week or so. Rest assured I'll have plenty to write about and tons of pictures upon my return. I hope everyone has a great week. Take care. No worries. God Bless.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Under Pressure
Today was a big day at work. We had to drain and flush the high pressure loop for a bunch of fire suppression systems along the flightline. It's not all that complicated, but it's too technical to try and get into it here; so if you corner me sometime, I'll be happy to explain. Anyway, there was a lot of preparation work involved, so we all went in at 5:30 this morning. As this picture shows, I was a little loopy due to a) lack of sleep, and b) a sugar overdose via Krispy Kreme Donuts.
We divided up into groups and shut down all the fire suppression systems in the affected buildings to avoid any accidental system dumps. Then we congregated at the drainage point in the hopes of seeing a huge tidal wave of foamy white water. Unfortunately, it was a little underwhelming.
Basically, we ended up sitting around for about an hour waiting for it all to drain out. Yes, it takes an entire shop to do this.
See us stand?
Watch us stare. Ooooh!
This is my artsy pic for the day.
Yep. That's your taxpayer money hard at work.
When all was said and done, we'd basically just made a swamp out of the low-lying area at the end of the flightline. Everyone was expecting emergencies and chaos and a super-long work day, but we ended up finishing nearly everything by noon.
After all the draining and flushing was complete, we had to run around and get all the fire systems back in service. I had Brian and Ken on my crew, and we totally kicked ass.
Yeah, this is how we roll.
We divided up into groups and shut down all the fire suppression systems in the affected buildings to avoid any accidental system dumps. Then we congregated at the drainage point in the hopes of seeing a huge tidal wave of foamy white water. Unfortunately, it was a little underwhelming.
Basically, we ended up sitting around for about an hour waiting for it all to drain out. Yes, it takes an entire shop to do this.
See us stand?
Watch us stare. Ooooh!
This is my artsy pic for the day.
Yep. That's your taxpayer money hard at work.
When all was said and done, we'd basically just made a swamp out of the low-lying area at the end of the flightline. Everyone was expecting emergencies and chaos and a super-long work day, but we ended up finishing nearly everything by noon.
After all the draining and flushing was complete, we had to run around and get all the fire systems back in service. I had Brian and Ken on my crew, and we totally kicked ass.
Yeah, this is how we roll.
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