timothompson's blog

Stop breaking down

nobody@vox.com(timothompson) — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:55:15 -0400

I'm not sure if it's because we're in the tail end of a Mercury Retrograde cycle, but I spent the day today trying to fix all the technological objects that have broken down this past week or so:

My TiVo started buzzing yesterday at the same time the air conditioner of the building next door began making a loud clanking. Not the best thing when you're trying to catch up on sleep during the day. Thinking it was a bad audio cable, I started switching them around until I found out the right speaker buzzed like a kazoo no matter what cable I used. I thought I'd have to return my TiVo until I found this page on line that said to reboot. One problem solved.
After Firefox installed a new version (1.5.0.5), the Google Toolbar said it wasn't compatible. I cannot live without Google Toolbar. I posted it as a question on the MozillaZine support forum. Alteredcarbon167 said to either "Sacrifice google toolbar for FF v.1.5.0.5, Wait for Google toolbar extension update or revert to the previous FF version." I tried downgrading to 1.5.0.4 and upgrading to the 2.0 beta, but I still got the same message. Finally, I found the answer: Start in safe mode and reset toolbars.
McAfee VirusScan downloaded a new update. I tried to install it, and the first message I got was that there was a conflict with LavaSoft AdAware. WtF? To me, it seemed like a bullshit excuse for McAfee to wipe the system of its competitors. Then, when I just installed the security center, it became a big nag. It said I was missing a firewall program (so I'd update to McAfee presumably?) and turned on Windows Firewall even though I already am using Kerio. A search turned up this result: "When tuning up a new PC, (one I've not seen before) the first thing I do is remove McAfee or Norton or both. They are both 'Bloatware' and will slow down almost any system." McAfee's aggressive marketing just lost them my business. I installed AVG, and things are a lot smoother now.
My Linksys wireless router has been intermittently disconnecting me. After I plugged in direct to the cable modem, my pc was many times faster. But my TiVo needs to update so I tried using it again to see what happens. No problems yet, but we shall see. It could be a Time Warner problem, according to this forum message.

Still, if all these companies hadn't written buggy software, I would have a few hours of my life back to waste time in other ways.

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An apt description of my cat

nobody@vox.com(timothompson) — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 18:13:19 -0400

My friend called my cat "a pillow that shits." For some reason, I've started thinking of him as Zoidberg.

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Ray Davies @ Austin City Limits

nobody@vox.com(timothompson) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 16:52:30 -0400

I went into this show with low expectations, knowing from other reviews and accounts on this tour that Mr. Davies would probably be playing a set laced heavily with tracks from his new album, "Other People's Lives." I also knew that he would be bypassing any music from his productive and introspective late 60s period, sticking to the old chestnuts from his greatest hits and a couple picks from "Muswell Hillbillies."

We arrived in the "space available" line at the UT Communications courtyard on Dean Keeton next to the building where KLRU tapes the show. I had told my friends I wanted to be there early because I knew there would be a large line and I didn't want to be left near the back and miss my chance to get into the show. Luckily, we were at the point in the line that had a bench, so we got to sit down the entire time we were waiting to get our number for the next line we'd have to wait in at 7 p.m. As Davies says, "Even at the gates of Heaven, I'll be waiting in a queue."

We sat around joking about other people in line. There was a somewhat wizened redneck guy in his early 40s who had a face exactly like George W. Bush who we had a tough time not looking at. A gust of wind brought a wilted smell that reminded me of walking through the library. I sniffed my shirt to make sure it wasn't me, and Tara laughed at me. "Did you think your cat pissed on your shirt when you weren't looking?"

After getting our numbers and eating dinner at Trudy's, we returned to the Communications building at 7 p.m. to get in the second line before we would get in to the show. I noticed quite a few familiar faces, including ubiquitous local celebrities like Jody Denberg from KLRU, Alejandro Escovedo and the guy from Waterloo Records. It was quite a diverse crowd--a testament to the length of Davies' career and his wide appeal. Soccer moms, sorority expatriates, black-haired hipsters, high tech professionals and greybeard hippies all waited to see him.

Around 7:45, we entered the 6th floor studio. Ray came out alone shortly with a guitar line playing behind him, and the audience welcomed him raucously. "Wait," he said, "I have a band," seeming pleased that after 10 years of being on the stage playing a solo acoustic for his "Storytellers" tours that he'd be able to rock out again. Just as I had read in recent tour reports, he opened the show with a couple Kinks' crowd pleasers ("I'm Not Like Everybody Else" and "Where Have All the Good Times Gone?") to warm up the audience. The band was tight and precise—a little too precise for my taste, and Ray himself seemed to be doing the Kinks-by-numbers treatment to the songs. While he was a consummate professional, I had a feeling that these were breadcrumbs thrown out there to sate our jonesing for Kinks' tunes. Passion lacked, and I don't blame him for it. As he said later, "there are some things in life a man can't escape, and one of those things is his back catalog."

Following the Kinks' numbers, he played a set of about five songs from his new album. Most of the songs were great, and I got a sense that here was where his heart really was. I was hoping that the audience, most of whom probably hadn't heard the new album, would give these new songs the same reception that had greeted the Kinks' ones. Of course, I shouldn't have worried about Austinites getting excited. Each new track received whoops and hollers. His band, while a little too clean at times, also contained a ferocious power anchored by the powerful drummer, who was more of a Dave Grohl-like 4/4 basher than a jazz-based guy like Mick Avory.

I found myself actually listening to the words more now that he was in front of us. What I sensed is that despite the fact Davies was recording before he got shot, the shooting itself had precipitated a new joie de vivre in him and had caused him to appreciate life. He hasn't lost any of his irony or pointed lyrical observations—he still skewers with the best of them—in fact, I think he's found his mission in life again. He knows that his songs work best when he observes what's going on around him and points out the hypocrisies.

His song the "The Tourist" took on a ferocious new life on the "Austin City Limits" stage. While it starts out a quite acousticy travelogue seeming to prick the endless masses vacationing in famous spots, Davies employs a Kurt Cobain like change of guitar dynamics to depict his brutal attack after visiting a shady bar on the outskirts of pre-flood New Orleans:

I'm just another tourist checking out the slums
With my plastic Visa drinking with my chums
I dance and swing while ABBA sing
And I flash my Platinum
To the sound of Livin' La Vida Loca
Yes, Livin' La Vida Loca
While in the heat of the street
The native beats his drum
Take the money 'cause it's just another tourist
Having lots of fun

Just like that, he's taken from joyful boozing to harsh reality, all in the pursuit of "money, money, money."

In between songs, he seemed addled at times, flubbing guitar intros to songs like "Celluloid Heroes" (which he tried to play over twice before abandoning it) and taking acute notice of out-of-tune strings and bad guitar tones. However, he charmed the pants off of everyone with humorous quips, despite saying earlier he "promised (himself) he wasn't going to tell any stories—(he was) just going to play the tunes." At one point he ventured in the audience to congratulate a couple who were going to be married in the fall.

But what you really realize seeing him there on stage is that Davies is at his heart is an entertainer harking back to the old vaudeville tradition. At one point, he referred back to of his two greatest influences, English performer George Formby and blues man Big Bill Broonzy. Somewhere in between those points lies Davies.

One of the high points for me was seeing him do one of my favorite Kinks' songs, "20th Century Man." Starting out by playing the bridge ("I was born in a welfare state..."), you realize that the more things change, the more they stay the same. We're still living in the age of "20th Century Man," I thought to myself:

This is the age of machinery,
A mechanical nightmare,
The wonderful world of technology,
Napalm, hydrogen bombs, biological warfare,
This is the twentieth century,
But too much aggravation
It's the age of insanity,
What has become of the green pleasant fields of Jerusalem.

The "Jerusalem" line brought to mind the current Israeli conflict. Why do we keep reliving this?

The other high points were when he invited the audience to sing along on songs like "Sunny Afternoon" and "Low Budget." "You have beautiful voices, Austin," he told us at the end of "Sunny Afternoon." "I'd just like to hear that again, and I don't care if they tape it or not."

Davies ended his performance with another crowd pleaser, "All Day and All of the Night," and finally I heard the distorted guitar that had been missing the whole show. And that's when I realized that a 62-year-old man rocks harder than just about any current touring act today. Take that, Stones.

The Austin American-Statesman has a report from someone else who attended.

Update: Another review at the Kinks site.

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My Favorite T

nobody@vox.com(timothompson) — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 21:17:20 -0400

The past two months, I've taken to wearing white Old Navy t-shirts. As boring as it is, it's one of the only things I can wear in the excruciating heat of this Texas summer. Even in the winter, I've grown not to like the heavyweight t-shirts that are popular in the North. Even American Apparel t's are too hot for me. The only other t I love to wear is this Calvin Klein khaki green t-shirt that I've had for years. This astrophysicist says "thin and loose" is the best. Perhaps I should buy these $1.78 ts in different colors.

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Napster features Syd

nobody@vox.com(timothompson) — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 15:34:42 -0400

Syd

I really like my Napster. They feature cool music rather than trendy. Well, that's not all true. Cassie and a Korn mash-up are also featured. But Cut Chemist is there. Good choices. Plus, the interface is bone simple. I don't even know what to click on in iTunes—too many choices.

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Ray Davies at Austin City Limits

nobody@vox.com(timothompson) — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 15:08:35 -0400

Save0005

I'm going! Wish us luck (as far as getting in). After going to the Gourds ACL taping, I'm more up to speed on how the current admittance system works. The main pain in the ass is that if you're going with someone else, they can't be late in getting their number for the queue or you won't get in at the same time.

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Inside my mind

nobody@vox.com(timothompson) — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 14:22:56 -0400

Well, this blog is about me—therefore, it's going to be more diaristic, inward looking and personal, as opposed to the outward looking other blog. Don't get me wrong. This is not going to become a LiveJournal or MySpace blog (not to knock those fine pursuits—I just feel like if I'm going to write something, I'd like a little more meat in it than a one sentence "omg! blah blah blah." What a stuck up bastard.).

I'm also not going to answer the Vox questions, however well-formed they may be. So sue me. I'm the typical Aquarian contrarian. But maybe I'll come up with a few of my own questions, like they have on the Actors Studio. Let's get that out of the way right now since I found these questions on another blog.

1. What is your favorite word?
lackadaisical

2. What is your least favorite word?
This is a hard one. Hmmm...flatus (it could be different tomorrow). Just didn't want to say "no" even though that word does suck most of the time.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
curiosity

4. What turns you off?
pomposity

5. What is your favorite curse word?
cooch

6. What sound or noise do you love?
the rush of water (a normal answer!)

7. What sound or noise do you hate?
i guess, flatus. (guffaws ensue in the audience. "farts" may have gotten more reaction though.)

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
musician/songwriter

9. What profession would you not like to do?
anything involving feces

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
though you are flawed and human and fucked up a lot, but you lived a life of service to others. so come on in!

Aside: I learned this week that E.E. CUMMINGS always signed his name in all caps (perhaps from a blog post).

My next question will be: What are some weird things you've eaten? (hold on to your seats, Clevelanders.)

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Opinions R Us

nobody@vox.com(timothompson) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 23:28:21 -0400

Love to post my 'scopes:

We interrupt your zodiac forecast to bring you a message from our sponsors: 'Hi. Got a contentious issue on your agenda this weekend? Don't tackle it alone. Visit "Opinions R Us". Whatever the situation, we've got a set of dogmatic beliefs to match it. Whether you're looking for fresh prejudices or you just need your old ideas reinforcing, come on down. And now we return you to your astrologer.' Er... actually, It's flexibility and open-mindedness that you need now. Nothing else!

Sorry about that dogmatic first post. What an auspicious start to this blog.

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Shove your upscale up your ass

nobody@vox.com(timothompson) — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 22:17:54 -0400

Well, now that Las Manitas is the latest old Austin institution feeling the pinch of the Austin building boom, the Austin Chronicle starts covering it, terming "the threat to Las Manitas...the three-alarm enchilada." After 12 years, it's official--I'm the crochety old Austin type, junior rank. Sue me. I especially love this cartoon by 10-year-old Paige Robbins. In Comic Sans, she types, "I know the condo in the store's place will let the business put one in the downstairs of the lot, but it always ends up being plasticy and not the same." Exactly. Though it's not a condo, it's a hotel.

"We believe that adding 1,000 upscale hotel rooms to the downtown market will help attract additional convention business to Austin, enabling the city to compete more effectively with other convention destinations," Deno Yiankes (of Indiana-based White Lodging Services) said.

Other culture casualties could include the Frisco (though I never really ate there, I loved the 50s quality of the sign). What might we get to look at in its place? Another Walgreen's.

"Walgreens has had their eye on this property for years, but it wasn't available for sale until this spring. This tract of land is the original homestead of two sisters who now live in Seguin. They've finally decided to sell, but the owner of the property on the corner just north of us has not." This means Walgreens currently has one portion of the tract under contract and is negotiating with multiple property owners and business tenants with existing leases. The sale of the property is by no means complete. At the moment, all Baker and the Akins can do is wait to see what happens, but for the time being, the Frisco Shop lives!

Fuck it. I'm moving to anywhere downscale, scummy, scuzzy, etc. I want my grime back, dammit. I did not move to Dallas-lite. I signed on to funkytown, not chi-chi stick-up-your-ass town. Where's my fucking time machine?

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