Twentieth anniversary of Nevermind

Last night I was gonna spend an hour or two recording. Unfortunately, it had been so long since I'd last recorded that I couldn't find the cable that connects my mini-mixer to my laptop (two RCA males to a 1/8" stereo male, FWIW). The annoying thing is that I know I have at least three of them... somewhere. But danged if I could find them.

So today I bought another one. Three bucks at a cheapy store; fair enough. I'll do a little recording tonight.


Also: It's apparently the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind album. On Thursday there was an interview in the entertainment section with Krist Novoselic (sorry; poorly spelled). Today (Saturday) I picked up the Australian edition of Rolling Stone just because the guys were Nirvana were on the cover.

Nirvana's not my #1 favorite band -- but, they're pretty good. And they evoke a certain period of my life -- when I lived in Seattle, and my roommate, my cousin, and myself were in a band together.

A bit of trivia: not only were we in the same birth order as the guys from Nirvana (bassist = oldest; then guitarist; then drummer), but we were also the same age-spacing. Just not as famous.

It was always on my "To Do" list to go catch Nirvana in concert. Then Kurt Cobain went and shot himself -- so **that** wasn't gonna happen.

Some generations have their Buddy Holly. I guess I have Kurt Cobain.


--GG

Recalling my youth

Stopped by a 7-11 for a Slushie today, and there were two guys in front of me -- looked about 20 or 22. There was some sort of "various things for a dollar" sale (ice cream treats, candy bars, bags of chips...) going on at the 7-11, so these guys had filled up two bags with junk food, for eighteen dollars.

I commented to them -- with my graying hair and receding hairline: "Enjoy your high metabolism while you can..."


It very much reminded me of myself during an earlier period of my life -- about 20-22 years old -- when I worked one and a half jobs (picking up and crating art and antiques; movie theatre), plus was in a band with my Guitar Cousin and Captain Crash (co-worker at the movie theatre, and eventual roommate).

I didn't get a lot of sleep during that period: every night I either worked at the movie theatre (and got home around 11:30pm), or else had band practice (and then stayed up late watching rented movies on videotape with Guitar Cousin and Crash). And on weekends we'd often go out to catch a local band.

But, good times. None of us had a girlfriend; all of us would've **liked** to have had a girlfriend.


It was also the first time that I didn't live with a family member (e.g. parents, grandparent), nor in a college dorm room. Independence!!!

I had a pretty garbagey diet, though: this was my fronut period. I was working 1.5 jobs (i.e., about 60 hours a week) to save up to go back to college (I'd done two and a half years, then ran out of money) -- so I had money in the bank, but was spending very little. Employees at the movie theatre had free popcorn -- so I ate a lot of that. I'd also visit the Safeway behind the movie theatre and buy a loaf of bread and a can of Spaghetti-O's, and make Spaghetti-O sandwiches for dinner. With a head of lettuce on the side.

And because I'd get home most nights around 11:30am, and had to be at work around 8:30 (? - it's been a while...) the next morning, I didn't have much time to make dinner. So dinner was usually one-fourth of a half-gallon of cookies 'n' cream ice cream. And a multivitamin. Sometimes another head of lettuce.

I'd eat better at Guitar Cousin's house, though, after band practice: as I recall, it often included actual veggies and such.


Anyhow: a happy, simpler time. As opposed to my happy but complex time right now. ;)


Oh: and that photos isn't of us. It's just something I got off the web, when I Googled "guys in garage band".


--GG

Fun and frosty summertime treat

When I was in my early 20s and low on money, I worked across the alley from a bakery surplus outlet: I could get a box of a dozen day-old donuts for two bucks.

I'd eat about half of them for lunch, then take the rest home and put them in the freezer for dinner for the next night.

From this came the fun and frosty summertime treat of frozen donuts. Love 'em.

Hmm -- let's call them ''Fronuts'', shall we? :)


Just had one a few hours ago: hence, this blog post.


--GG

Music musings

A few music musings.

Still going thru my cassettes (I guesstimate I have around 350; I go though about four a night, and maybe eight per day on weekends; and I'm pretty much listening to each one).

Listened to the Peter Schilling album Error in the System. Good, catchy tunes if you like '80s synth-type stuff: if you like Thomas Dolby, you'll probably like this. It has his remake of Bowie's "Major Tom" -- which, IMO is better than the original one (catchier, and less mopey).

I **really** like the song ''Only Dreams'' -- but realized that there's no point in my covering it, because I don't know how I'd change the arrangement to make it my own: it would just end up being a karaoke version of the original: a 95% identical backing track, with my vocs.


The cassette has my dub of my Peter Schilling LP on one side, and my dub of my Yaz Upstairs at Eric's LP on the other. If you like Erasure (I think the instrumentalist guy is the same, just a different vocalist), you'll like Yaz. Again, catchy stuff.


I had a brief e-mail exchange with a friend from college, who doesn't listen to albums any more -- regardless of the format (LPs, cassettes, CDs) -- and doesn't like any of the new music. I've heard it said that people's musical tastes ossify at about the time the leave college -- so I'm desperately fighting against that.

Although, technically, I haven't yet left college... (Lingering Ph.D. Dissertation...)


--GG