The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I'm still awake from the 21st. I'm up this late because I'm working on arranging my crap to make it easier on the movers who are coming early on the 23rd. Also I had to pack up my desktop computer and clear off my desk and disassemble my desk because a friend of a friend is taking said desk.

Later today I will also be donating my futon to Goodwill (actually I should have donated the desk to Goodwill too since then I'd get a tax writeoff but that's a pain to transport everything) and disposing of my sofa, or at least its frame, because I had a going-away pseudoparty at my place last night (with my karaoke friends, where we talked about books and music and watched random YouTube videos on my TV) and the cheap piece of crap broke. I've only had that couch for a little over a year, too. Very annoying. So I'm back to not buying cheap furniture from Ikea anymore (and now I'm worried that my Ikea entertainment center might suffer a similar fate).

QotD: What question would you really like to ask everyone?

I want to ask everyone what question they would really like to ask everyone.

I am also pretty much still awake from last night! I played in Hampton Beach, and the show went pretty late, and I stopped to snooze a bit at a rest area on the way home, but I got back just in time to pick up a co-worker and go to the day job. Whee!

QotD: I'd like to ask this: when I book the cross-country coffeehouse tour, who's got a couch I can crash on?

fluffy wrote:QotD: What question would you really like to ask everyone?

Does anyone know where my sunglasses are? I haven't seen them since Sunday.

QotD: I've thought about asking where everybody stands in regard to God / religion. I'm sure we have a bunch of strongly against, but I also know there are some people here besides me who have been known to write church worship songs...

So, lesse, today I am probably going to go by the school where the Mrs. teaches and pick up 25 or so computers, to hopefully be turned into machines that can be used by the ESL students at Wesley Center. They'll most likely wind up being W98 boxes (that's what they have now), but that's sufficient. If I can go through all the machines by the end of the day and just figure out what's working, processor speed, memory and HD size, that'll be a good start. Other than that, haircuts for mom and for me, and I really gotta get started on that Lou Reed cover song...

After a couple weeks of life being relatively quiet, I think it's about to shift into "very busy" again, and I think I like "very busy" better. At least I get more done when I've got a long to-do list and I can fill every day with stuff that's actually important...

Charles (KA)

king_arthur wrote:QotD: I've thought about asking where everybody stands in regard to God / religion. I'm sure we have a bunch of strongly against, but I also know there are some people here besides me who have been known to write church worship songs...

I have posted (at least) 2 'gospel' songs here (Waiting Takes Time and Adonai) , both of which reflect my strong agnosticism. Basically, in a nutshell, while I have no imaginary friends of my own - I have no problem with the imaginary friends of others so long as they don't steal my beer. I am also fully aware the imaginary friends of others may not actually be imaginary at all, but I am in fact just too stupid to see them. I am 100% sure that anyone who thinks they have all the answers is an idiot.

QotD: What ways can I find to help my wife market her incredibly great artistic abilities (hand drawn psuedo-anime)?

Caravan Ray wrote:I am 100% sure that anyone who thinks they have all the answers is an idiot.

You are correct, sir. And I should know, because I have all the answers.

QOTD - Who's got the nudie pics?

Jim Tyrrell: There's a pull out couch in Highland Park if ya need it.

Caravan Ray: No clue where your glasses are. But I can probably help you score the nudies. Not of me of course. I have friends in low places.

King Arthur: I guess you can say I'm agnostic. I have no belief in organized religion. I believe you can have faith and keep it in your own heart and be fine. Plus I'm a bit solipistic. Everyone in the world is in my snowglobe.

EoA: I'm not sure. But there are probably tons of ways to get her art out there. There are writers who would give up their eye teeth to find a good arrtist. Have her make a myspace page with her art like Jo Chen and start networking. (Jo Chen is baddass!!!)

QotD: How do you get your gigs set-up? Do you approach clubs and say I wanna play here and they say sure? Or is there more to it?

fluffy wrote:QotD: What question would you really like to ask everyone?

I want to ask everyone what question they would really like to ask everyone.

Everyone on SF? Or everyone we encounter irl? Or everybody alive?

Yes.

Niveous wrote:Jim Tyrrell: There's a pull out couch in Highland Park if ya need it.

QotD: How do you get your gigs set-up? Do you approach clubs and say I wanna play here and they say sure? Or is there more to it?

Thanks! I may take you up on that someday.

As for booking shows: In the beginning, I didn't have any demos or anything, so I went to places that held open mic nights and made an audition out of it. As time went on, I began to be able to book shows with little more than a song list and a business card. People up here will hire you if you sound like you know what you're doing, and you don't look like you're going to scare off the bar patrons.
More recently, I've gotten a few gigs on the NH Craigslist page. The Boardwalk Cafe in Hampton Beach, for instance. I've played there three or four times now, thanks to answering a CL ad.
The show at Meadowbrook was the first time I sent out a demo CD of original material. I probably won't do that for most clubs though, since I'm more likely to get hired to play Bad Moon Risin' and Move It On Over and stuff like that. A song list is probably a better thing to send in these cases.

Jim: You can use our spare room with bed, even, I am sure. 49 West in Annapolis would be all over your one-man show, I think. Small room, though.

KA: you already know my answer.

Uhh, my question... what computer specs would you get on a new computer recording/playing live laptop? Today, I mean.
-bill

<b>Jim</b> , my tiny apartment does have a futon in the living room. Feel free to put Tampa on the southeastern leg of the tour. You could hit St. Petersburg while you're here too. I hear they have a professional baseball team and everything.

<b>KA</b> while I haven't written any gospel I think we have the same boss.

<b>Caravan</b> very cool attitude and I in turn respect other people's platform on the subject.

Long day. Slightly hungover..not bad..just enough to make me incredibly lazy.

qotd: How much?

QOTD: Are you fundamentally happy?


Alternative: Will I ever write another piece of music or will I remain trapped in 10 hour work days and 2 hours of commute?


Answers:

1. See above.
2. If you cross the border, you're more than welcome...as long as we get to jam.
3. Yes. And I'm not telling where, or how I know. I will narrow it down for ya though...somewhere in Queensland.
4. Started out unknowing, became "United" when I was 7, which lasted until I was 13. Visited a variety of services in that time ranging from Catholic to Lutheran to Temple Baptist. Took what I liked, and have no interest in organized religion of any kind.
5. Many. for a quick fix, try pr0n. For a more interesting avenue, try hanging out at fairs or bus stops doing portraits or caricatures.
6. They call me. I rarely have to book gigs now...when I do, it's rare I need a promo pack. If I was starting cold, I'd do up a top-notch promo pack, be polite and professional at all times (especially during the gig) and deliver what I promise... that means alot to bar owners because then they know you're a reliable booking. Usually, I'm turning down gigs, but this is a small market for cover bands (not much play for original stuff) and I've been playing it for over ten years...so... that's it.
7. yes, yes, yes.
8. I would spend way too much time asking EVERYONE, and comparing chips and googling stuff and I'd go crazy and then give up and stick with what I got cause I'm barely using it right now anyway... oh wait...that's what I DID... ummm. lots of speed, lots of space.
9. THIS MUCH.

QOTD: What's the worst band you've ever heard?

My answers -
Jim Tyrell - Where are you planning on going for your coffeehouse tour?
Caravan Ray - Haven't seen 'em. Sorry.
King Arthur - I've been a Nazarene since I was born. I don't care much for church politics, but I'm definitely a devout believer.
Embers of Autumn - I know very little about art, but I know there are some pretty legitimate websites out there that can help artists get there art out in the open.
Paco - Not me.
Niveous - Another thing I know nothing about. I'll tell you when I've played a gig.
Heuristicsinc - I hate computers, and I will never understand what all those 'specs' mean. They're just words on the side of the box that I don't understand.
Hoblit - What?
Leaf - I think I am. More content than happy.

I'm not really planning a coffeehouse tour yet. It's something I'd like to do very much, but it'd have to be next spring at the earliest, I think. So I'm starting to think about beginning to consider getting the ball rolling, if ya know what I mean.

And the worst band I ever heard was pretty awesome*, and I don't even remember their name. They're on an album called The Dark Side Of The Xmas Tree. Horrible renditions of Christmas songs.

*If intentionally bad bands count, that is...

QOTD:
What's your favorite food to eat?
I'm alway curious what people from other states, countries, cultures, really like.
I've heard that Aussies eat mashed peas, the way we eat mashed potatoes.
I saw something on some TV show where they have stands in the city that sell these pot pie looking things that they top off with a big scoop of mashed peas and gravy.

My day is going slow
I need to finish some things I've started
Details, details, details
Having to make personal visits to builders/customers that owe me money
I hate being a dick, but some people really take advantage
They act as though I don't have bills to pay
I think I'm more than patient
Most pay their bill just fine
It's always that same 20% that needs it NOW, and pays like crap
Oh well, life goes on
Can't pet the sweaty things

MIDDAY UPDATE!

My desk is disassembled and I'm still waiting for the guy to call who said he'd call before he came to pick it up. Argh. Maybe I should have just taken it to Goodwill right away. I was hoping to avoid taking two trips there (one for the desk, one for the futon, the sum total of which is just barely too big for my car).

I called around to see what I could do with my broken sofa frame. Since it's just one beam that's broken I decided I'd just disassemble it for now and then after I move I can repair it.

NOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS! Some good ones there so far.

Jim: Presumably I will have couch availability after I'm settled in. Of course there are plenty of other Bay Area 'fighters as well.

Ray: Have you checked on top of your head?

King Arthur: I am a scientific atheist. I do not believe in that which does not have evidence to back it up. I do not discount the possibility that future evidence may appear however. That is how science is supposed to work.

EmbersOfAutumn: Whore her out on DeviantArt

Gemini6Ice: That's still not a very good question.

HeuristicsInc: It depends on the software you want to use. If you want to use Logic or ProTools, I'd go with a MacBook pro. If you want to use... uh, whatever the hell it is you Windows users use, I'd go with a Vaio. I do not particularly recommend desktops anymore.

Hoblit: $12.96 after tax.

Leaf: No :(

JR: Mister Bungle. Its apologists^Wfans claim that they suck on purpose. At the end of the day, though, they still suck.

BLT: BLT! No, just kidding. I am an omnivore, and I love all sorts of food very very much, but I have to say I have a soft spot for a good Reuben.

I think I'm going to get a Lenovo since I can take advantage of the employee discount, actually - and it's the only one I found so far that isn't forcing Vista on you - you can still order XP. The thing I was asking about is processor speed and memory... thinking 2GB, 7200 rpm hard drive as big as it can get, and... not sure yet.
-bill

Billy's Little Trip wrote:QOTD:
I've heard that Aussies eat mashed peas, the way we eat mashed potatoes.
I saw something on some TV show where they have stands in the city that sell these pot pie looking things that they top off with a big scoop of mashed peas and gravy.

You've heard wrong.

You probably saw something that was filmed in Adelaide. They do that there and it is completely disgusting. But South Australians are fucking weirdos. Look at Sausage Boy.

Caravan Ray wrote:

Billy's Little Trip wrote:QOTD:
I've heard that Aussies eat mashed peas, the way we eat mashed potatoes.
I saw something on some TV show where they have stands in the city that sell these pot pie looking things that they top off with a big scoop of mashed peas and gravy.

You've heard wrong.

You probably saw something that was filmed in Adelaide. They do that there and it is completely disgusting. But South Australians are fucking weirdos. Look at Sausage Boy.

See, I'm learning about the world here.
So what is a staple in the North that would seem odd to Americans?

Beer.