Well…out on the bike today, my brain went off on on a tangent and started thinking about drummers and the differences in their styles and how that fits with the music and the bands that they played with. Okay…you can stop here if you don’t want to hear about it…it is, after all, just opinion and I don’t know what it will mean…but, it’s something I do from time to time. Oh, and none of this is meant to be a value judgment…just observation. So, to start, I’ve thought about the bands that I like and their drummers….Nick Mason from Pink Floyd, John Bonham from Led Zepplin, Manu Katche who plays with Peter Gabriel, and Keith Moon from the Who. Of the group, I think Nick Mason is the simplest….when you listen to Dark Side of the Moon for example, there is nothing fancy or complicated there but it just fits with the style of the music..it’s even better when you see him live…there is just something about it….then, with John Bonham…it’s pure power, not busy at all but more of hypnotic, trance like drumming that goes so well with the mysticism in many of their songs…Kashmir comes to mind or When the levee breaks….Manu Katche seems to be a hybrid with more African type beats but that may be a product of Gabriel’s writing more than anything…seems to be medium busy and complex…then, you have Keith Moon who is one of the busiest drummers I have ever heard….again, though, I think he fits the Who’s style which is more in your face…daring you to like it or not. Okay, my opinions… and I’m not sure why I even wrote this…and I’m not sure I even like it….but, it did get me caught up for the month so that is something…
Category Archives: Misc
Just a little trail weirdness…
Well…haven’t done one of these in a while but just wanted to relay one little part of weird that happened today…on one of the downhills that ends in a sharp corner, I came upon a bunch of turkeys that were walking on the trail and they just took off running right down the trail in front of me…not flying, but running until they could get off into the brush…it was one of the strangest things I’ve seen in a while and they can move quite fast….but, why not fly? I know they can…maybe I’m just not threatening enough…oh, one last thing, a group of turkeys is called a rafter…had to ask the phone….that it could understand what I wanted was pretty cool…
Gonna cheat a little today…
Well…I was going to rail about the police state tactics that have become the norm in local sherriffs and police departments and the unwarranted proliferation of swat tactics for every situation…okay, maybe I will talk about that a little…a few days back, a man went missing from his family and they reported to the police that he may be distraught…not armed or anything like that but just having some mental problems…so, what was the response of the police here? To roll out the local swat team with their full body armor and automatic weapons…yep, a mentally distraught man that is just having some problems and the only response the military blinded police around here could think of is going to defcon 1…not sending a psychiatrist or other mental health professional which is what the situation warranted. It seems to me these folks are just looking for the chance to play army man…and when this nonsense happens, people end up dead by accident…I, for one, have had enough of the militarization of the police in this country and the idea that every citizen can be treated like a terrorist…when the swat teams are the ones propagating terror on the rest of us…they should all be disbanded and the members of these teams retrained to see the people they are terrorizing as their bosses again…geez…
RIP James Gandolfini…
Well…I usually don’t do these…oh, I guess I do…so I think I’ll just keep going…it was sad news when I heard yesterday that James Gandolfini had died of a heart attack with his 13 year son old at his side….I feel just awful for that poor kid….when I was out with G last night she reminded me of the “Sopranos” marathons that we used to have when we first met and that a part of our memories had just died, too….not sure if I believe that but anytime a 51 year old dies, that is just too damn early…and I think of my own mortality….not much else to say right now so I’ll just end with rest in peace….
The supreme court finally got one right…
Well…this morning the supreme court finally ruled on a case that I have been following with some interest, and they even got it right. Yep, burying the lead again…but you know I do that a lot…oh, back to the case…this one had to do with a patent that had been granted to a company that had isolated a human gene to use in breast cancer tests…something I never understood…and that had restricted vital research from any other university or company since this company, Myriad, had sued anyone trying to use this same gene. Today, though, the supremes got it right when they said that you can’t patent naturally occurring things and rescinded the patent…this will mean that much less expensive tests can be developed and Myriad will no longer be able to screw women by charging them up to 10,000 dollars for this test….it’s about time….geez…
Haven’t been doing much thinking lately…
Well…it’s been tough lately to think about anything of any importance and I’m not sure why my brain has shut down….I seem to have lost my sense of outrage or maybe it is that I have finally resigned myself to the crazy state of this country where we have a tiny minority of crazies who are ruining it for everyone…bridges falling down, potholes as big as my Miata, and children going hungry seem to be acceptable now. When the hell did this happen? I think it’s the result of the “I’ve got mine” attitude of the repubs here in the US and the fact that they don’t believe there should be any government..or that the purpose of government is to be subservient to business and do what will make more and more profit for the 1%. Yeah, maybe that’s it…when we have millions of people out of work, millions of college grads flipping burgers, and million of people like me that can’t find work of any kind…and no one seems to give a damn…maybe that’s why I don’t anymore….who knows?
I almost forgot…
Well…just got back from pool and just hanging out and remembered that I do need to do one more for today to make the goal for the month…was thinking I could make it up tomorrow….strange….one of the things I find predictable is the supposedly Christian churches in the south that are abandoning their boy scout troops since the organization has said they will accept gay boys into the program…what the hell is wrong with these people? I find it just so abhorrent that these people hide behind the bible to protect their bigotry…so, I say good riddance to these narrow minded idiots, there will be plenty of other organizations that will step up and sponsor these groups and taking some of the overt Christianity out of the scouts will make it a better organization and more accepting to all faiths. Okay…that’s it for the month….
Teachers are human, too…
Well…have been reading a bunch of the accounts of the bravery of the teachers in Oklahoma who were trying to save their kids and if there is one thing we take away from these horrible events it should be that teachers are humans, too. They are not the socialist, lazy, union thugs that the right and much of the MSM has portrayed them to be. They are friends, and neighbors…they are Americans who, in this crisis, went above and beyond to protect those in their care…using their bodies as shields over the children, organizing getting the kids to safe areas as the buildings were being blown down around them, and then helping to rescue those who were trapped. So, the next time the right tries to villify teachers as being a detriment to society, just point to Oklahoma and ask: who did you save today? Geez….
RIP Ray Manzarek…
Well….I was saddened yesterday when, amid the carnage in Oklahoma, the news came out that Ray Manzerek of the Doors had died….I remember the times when I was a kid in the 60’s listening to AM radio to see whether the version of “Light My Fire” was going to be the three minute short or the 6 minute long version where Ray’s work on the organ would shine and getting goosebumps when the bridge led us to that long version…I just loved the way he played the organ and injected a playful carnival atmosphere into “Whiskey Bar” all the while playing rhythm and bass at the same time on his Vox….but, the thing that still gets me to this day is his piano work on “Riders on the Storm” all at once a great jazz riff but also a fusion of the rock expansion of the time into those different genres and making them seem natural and right. For a band whose lifetime was a scant 5 years, I still see the Doors as pioneers and still have them in many, many of my playlists that I use daily….I’m a sucker for a good organ player from Lee Michaels to Gregg Allman….and Ray was better than good….so, Rest In Peace, Ray…and thanks….
Suicide squirrels return!
Well…just haven’t been able to get outraged enough to do some political ones so I thought I’d just do this…again….out on the bike today early since it was over 60 at 9am and the weirdness was out in full force…just like last year, the squirrels are going crazy again and shooting themselves all over the trails…well..not with guns…although that would be cool to see…but they were blasting out of the underbrush and it looked like they were trying to get run over…I counted 22 of them in the 15 miles I did this morning and it gave me such a laugh that I am still laughing just thinking about it…I just can’t believe that it would be coincidence that so many of them would do that in one day…wonder if it’s a mating thing or something for spring? Whatever it is…it was fun to watch…