The Bandname Prefix

This blog entry is more "PG-13" than I usually do...


Yesterday at Christmas lunch I was seated at the "kids' table" (a long story), next two my high school-aged nephews (my in-laws, I suppose).  One of them said something about prawns (we were having shrimp cocktails), and I noted that "Sex" could be added to a lot of words to make a good band name:  e.g. "The Sex Prawns".

I got to thinking about this, and came up with a pretty decent list.  I've tried to retain only the ludicrous ones, and omit the ones that could actually be "a thing" -- e.g. Sex Psychologist.

However, I have retained a few that are in that in-between-realm of "initially ludicrous -- but actually plausible" (e.g. "The Sex Pyjamas").

I was pretty stream-of-consciousness over this.  I've tried to group them by theme.

I also realized that if I use the word "sox" a bazillion times in a single blog entry, I'd get put on the wrong sort of search engine results.  So, I'm using the word "Sox", instead.


Grouped approximately by theme, here are some potential band names:



-The Sox Curtains





-The Sox Bagels



-The Sox Waffles




-The Sox Lightbulbs


-The Sox Tacos
-The Sox Eggplants

-The Sox Coasters
-The Sox Mushrooms
-The Sox Tractors
-The Sox Forklifts
-The Sox Pavement
-The Sox Gravel

-The Sox Painters
-The Sox Carpenters
-The Sox Historians
-The Sox Boxers
-The Sox Boxes

The Sox Trumpets
-The Sox Tubas
-The Sox Fiddles
-The Sox Cowbells
-The Sox Tunas
-The Sox Flounders
-The Sox Squids
-The Sox Flounders
-The Sox Eagles
-The Sox Guppies
-The Sox Bottles
-Sox Cargo
-Sox Suitcase
-Sox Trolley
-The Sox Mountains
-The Sox Rivers
-Sox Clouds
-Sox Handles
-Sox Suitcase
-Sox Suitcase
-Sox Luggage
-Sox Lumber
-The Sox Lumberjacks
-The Sox Loggers
-The Sox Collectors
-The Sox Farmers
-The Sox Ranchers
-The Sox Cowboys
-The Sox Hashtags
-The Sox Hankies
-The Sox Ankles
-Sox Flamingo
-The Sox Penguins
-The Sox Pandas
-The Sox Pianos
-Sox Mongoose
-The Sox Weasels
-The Sox Ferrets
-The Sox Kettles
-The Sox Cookers
-The Sox Blenders
-The Sox Tomatoes
-The Sox Potatoes


-The Sox Riddles


-The Sox Routers

-The Sox Modems

-The Sox Mainframe

-The Sox Protocols

-The Sox Computers



-The Sox Puzzles

-The Sox Crosswords


-Sox Centrifuge
-Sox Walrus
-Sox Cockroach


-The Sox Archers
-The Sox Clowns


-The Sox Chisels

-The Sox Hammers

-Sox Hammer

-Sox Micrometer

-Sox Gauge

-Sox Vice


-Sox Bandsaw

-The Sox Spiders
-The Sox Beetles
-The Sox Cobwebs
-The Sox Horses
-The Sox Walrus

-Sox Banshee

-The Sox Ghosts


-Sox Pickaxe

-The Sox Shovels


-The Sox Parrots

-The Sox Budgies


-Sox Budget

-Sox Accountant

-The Sox Archeologists

-Sox Debit


-The Sox Pencils


You can actually do this "adjective + noun" thing with a lot of semi-random word pairings.  I suspect a lot of bands actually do this -- e.g.

-The Velvet Underground
-Smashing Pumpkins
-Velvet Revolver


--GG

The world is my oyster

So:  today is the first day of two weeks' vacation:  I return to work after New Year's Day.  The horizon stretches before me...


I have two weeks -- and no particular commitments.  So, one way or another, I'll get "creative things" done.  It's just a matter of in which realm:  woodworking, or recording some songs.


My brother in law fixed my woodworking lathe for me, so I can now make cylindrical things.  So I might make my first, simple footstool:  just a plank plus four cylindrical legs, which I'll turn from some of my "found"/"rescued" wood.

Or, I could try to finish my "micro drumkit" that I've been working on during weekends for the last month or so:  a fully-functional drumkit that fits into a small "flight attendant"-sized rolling suitcase.

Or, maybe turn some other things on the lathe -- like some drumsticks made out of exotic wood.

If I make a bunch of drumsticks, or a bunch of stools, it's likely that I'll start to give them away.  My paternal grandfather used to enjoy making things out of wood -- but then would end up giving away most of the items, because the interesting bit is the designing and executing (the making).  Once you've made them -- well, how many cutting boards, footstools, and etc. do you really need...?   ;)  So I suspect I'll be the same way.


I've been meaning to record a song that I wrote a few weeks ago, about people going back to college, taking up exercising, and etc., in an effort to make their lives better.  Plus, a few nights ago I finally sat down and noodled around on the electric guitar -- and came up with a chord sequence that would make a good song (energetic, but slightly loose and sloppy).

I'm planning to do my first recording with real drums:  all of my existing recordings either use a drum machine, or are drum-less.  So first I need to figure out which is my preferred pair of room mics for drums (my inexpensive USB recording interface only has two inputs), then record both drum tracks for the two songs in parallel (i.e. "in the same session"), and then go back and forth between the other tracks for the pair of songs.

The recording process keeps getting delayed because we've been having nice weather, so on weekends I keep thinking, "Well, I'll do woodworking during the day, with the natural light, and do recording at night."  But by the time of nightfall, then having dinner, and doing things with the kids, and then checking e-mail -- well, it's time for bed!  ;)


Also, I have some yardwork types of tasks that I could do this week:  maybe finish tidying that pile of bricks at the end of the yard, and cut up some fallen branches for firewood.  Maybe pick up the various piles of miscellaneous (e.g. stashes of "found" wood) and consolidating them somewhere.


In the end, it'll be a balance between "going whichever way my mood takes me" and "being careful to NOT start 'yet another project', before finishing the ones I'm already working on".


And:  the family will probably catch a few movies.  For fun, we might try to catch two movies in a single day.


Regardless:  as long as I keep busy doing things that I like to do -- that's a well-spent vacation.  :)


--GG

Electric guitar is like woodworking

Last night I played the electric guitar for the first time in maybe a month.  As always, once I started it was hard to stop -- except for (like always) I started somewhat late at night -- so I had to stop so I could go to bed (had to get up for work the next day).

I noodled around for a bit, but after a few minutes I ended up playing a chord sequence that I'm going to try to turn into a song:  it had good energy, and I could "hear" the drum beat that will accompany it.

As I was playing, I had the same emotion that I do when I'm doing woodworking.  And the process is the same:  whether I writing a song, then recording and mixing it, or sketching out some plans, then preparing the materials and assembling it -- it's still "making 'something' out of 'nothing'."

Love it.  If I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd spend about 80% of my time doing woodworking and doing music -- drifting back and forth depending on my mood that day, but also what I was in the middle of (e.g. if I was partway through recording a song, I'd probably do music that day).


--GG

More neckties

I collect neckties -- so I figure I ought to wear them.  So I wear them to work (hardly any of my co-workers do so).

And I try to push the boundaries of "what goes with what".  So:

Also:  Here's a shirt I decorated myself.  It was a simple white "dress shirt" -- but it got a stain.  So I "Eddie van Halen-ed" it up with some masking tape and spraypaint. 
 


--GG

Outlining the turf

Yesterday (Friday) we were at the grade-school that hosts my kids' Tae Kwon Do classes.

Out on the playfield, I noticed this square of astrotruf among the real grass -- and that the kids (I presume) had outlined it with sticks and rocks and bits of wood.

Neat.


--GG

Humble brag

I heard the term ''humble brag'' on the t.v. show NCIS: LA.  It's when you complain about something, but really it's just a way of showing off:  on the t.v. show, it was something along the lines of "It's so annoying when I go to the gym, and even though I'm all sweaty and wearing ratty clothes, it's hard to finish my workout because people keep hitting on me."


So, here's mine:  I get clever ideas of interesting things to build, faster than I can build them.  And I keep writing songs faster than I can record them.

The implication is that I'm this genius, modern-day Leonardo DaVinci -- both mechanical and artistic (so is Guitar Cousin, BTW).


Many days while commuting to work on public transport, I design various things (in my notebook) I want to build out of wood.  It often takes me a few days to work out the details of the design -- but usually less than a week.

But, I only get two afternoons during the weekend of "shop time".  So I end up falling behind.

Last week, for example, I got an idea for a wooden tool tote (an open-topped toolbox).  So I started to build it over the weekend.  But then this week I came up with an idea for a wooden, stringed folk instrument.  So now I want to build that as well.


Similarly, I come up with a new song idea about once a month.  Usually I knock out the lyrics in a day, and have a pretty good sense of the arrangement and instrumentation as well.  So, all I need to do is record it. 

But at the moment I'm more in the mood to build things out of wood than to record songs.  Which is fine.  But now I have a lovely backlog of songs that I really need to just sit down and record.


The solution, of course, is to win the multi-million-dollar lottery, drop back to 40% time at work, and stay home doing interesting, creatively productive things the other three days.

I'll see what I can do about that.  :)


(Note:  the photo of the workshop isn't mine; nice, though.  It's from the Wikpedia page on "workshops".)


--GG

Hold it

I love a bargain -- and I enjoy re-purposing items.

There's a store downtown called The Reject Shop, where they stock various discontinued items and food that's near its expiration date.

They had a iPhone holder that mounts with a suction cup.  It's supposed to be for your car.

(That's a calculator:  I don't own an iPhone.)


But, I saw it, and realized that it would actually work well as a microphone holder.

The bananas are a counterweight.  I hadn't taken off the protective coating, so the mondo suction cup didn't work as it should -- sticking it to the laptop case.

For five bucks -- totally worth it.


--GG