On professors

I've had all of my classes already (save for one lab and another one credit class), so I have a pretty good idea of how this semester will work out.

First I have Digital Logic, taught by an awesome lecturer who just has a BS from MTU but has also worked in industry. He's really cool, and we figure if any of our teachers would come play Texas Hold 'Em with us, it would be him. On top of this it should be both a usefull and easy class.
Next is Intro to Signal Processing, which will be my challenging class this semester. Basically it's equations for things like EQs, band-passes, filters, etc.
Then is Physics II. Boring. I'm planning on sleeping through this class most days, there will be little I need to learn. All the labs I've already done in high-school physics (we learned about staic electricity today).
In the afternoons I have Revisions (second-year english, aka rhetoric). It's taught by a Chinese grad-student, so I'm learning english from a foreigner. To be fair though, she probably knows more about english than me, since her degree is Teaching English as a Second Language. She's quite understandable, and as she said "if I can teach this class, you can all ace it".
For german I have language and culture. This isn't the participation-only class, but it should still be good. I'll have several essays and lots of work, but this way I can actually learn to understand and speak german.
For my Electrical Engineering lab, we got a tool kit. It's pretty cheap for the most part, but we get to keep it. Should be a fun lab, and all about how to use the lab equipment.

We'll see how ther rest of the week goes. Tomorrow a large group of us are going to watch Hitch, which has been on my "must watch" list for quite a while.

Enjoy your week!

I'm going to buy my books 30 minutes before my first class

Went to another demolition derby today. It was quite different from the one in Midland, since it was a dirt area and a much larger arena. There was a station wagon that was getting to about 30mph before making contact, which is unassailably cool. We even managed to almost run out of gas in Dan's car. Church was good as well, although I'll have to get used to it again. I don't like the one style of worship, since it's just the traditional service with failed modernizations. Basically, all the hymns and songs are the same, just in 3/4 or otherwise just don't flow. If you're going to do a contemporary service, just redo the service as contemporary instead of trying to force the old one. Fortunately I will be playing for the contemporary folk service which is just that second option. This year I'll actually be playing bass instead of faking the guitar part. I felt like a poser, that someday they would realize that I didn't really sound that good, it was just the added tones that made them think it was good.

So here's the part of Ladder Theory that really bugs me: it's almost impossible for a guy like me to date a girl that I'd be attracted to me. Imagine this: before I'm dating a girl I'm only seen as her friend or as an attractive guy. The second possibility requires both that the girl is attracted to me and that I realize this quickly and ask her out. The former (and I believe the more likely) is that I become good friends with her, meaning she doesn't want to date me for fear of ruining our relationship and I just want to date her more because I'm now assured she's someone I'd like to date. What a horrible catch-22. Add to this that I'm generally pretty shy, especially when meeting new people, and you can see my dilemma.

Not that I'm horribly depressed or desperate or anything, I've just analyzed the situation and am calling it like it is. Why do I want a girlfriend? Two reasons. First of all, I got so used to having lots of good female friends it's been a very different experience. I feel much more balanced with a little estrogen, it helps to keep me from letting myself get out of hand. Secondly, I've learned so much from my previous relationships that even though I may not find my soul mate, I'll learn how to treat her (and all women) the way I really should. Besides, companionship and friendship are always good things.

Well, what happens happens.

Here and Now

One more day before classes begin. I don't know how busy I'll be this year, nor how things will be, but I do think I will enjoy myself much more here than in Midland. I seem to fit in much better here. I have something in common with everyone up here. I've found that I have to do without something for a long time to realise how much it means to me. I had forgotten how much fun I actually do have with the people up here, and how good of friends they are. My Midland friends are great too, but I could never spend enough time or never quite felt like a valued member of the group. In Midland I'm a drifter between social circles, in Houghton I am part of a group. I have yet to meet many people this year, but it's only been a week with no classes. Some of my expectations for the year have already been abandoned, but I still expect an enjoyable time.

I'm thinking about working as a ground keeper at the Dow Gardens next summer. It would be hard manual labor every day, but this is doable. A large paycheck and added physical strength are enough of a benefit to make a job like this worth my while. A group of us here are going to be working out together, so hopefully I'll be in shape come next summer.

I have these feelings that there are certain things I'm going to be called upon to do at some point in my life. First, to save somebodies life. I'm trained to handle most small emergencies, and I doubt God will let me go without utilizing that. Secondly, to take another man's life in a war. It's an odd feeling, but I can't shake this feeling that I will be needed in the military. Assuming it ever got to the point that I felt the U.S. needed me I would enlist to help the cause. This is the more unlikely of the two, but I'm still preparing myself just in case.

Until then, I'll be honing my musical skills, becoming the man I need to be, and looking for my place.

Rock with you...

The new music count has reached 3,500 songs and continues to rise.

The magical thing is that I've been able to listen to a large number of songs that I've been wanting to learn the bass lines for. I have 9 back-issues of Bass Player magazine with complete transcriptions of some classic bass lines and I'm going to start working my way through them. Some of these include "For the Love of Money" (The Apprentice theme song), "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (Crosby, Stills and Nash), "Barbary Coast" (Weather Report), "I Can't Get Next to You" (Temptations), and "The Thrill is Gone" (B.B. King). If you get the chance to listen to the bass in any of these songs you'll see why I'm looking forward to learning from these masters of the low end. As well, my new band (Bandwidth) will be starting up shortly. The rest of the people who are interested are coming up today, so we can finally start organising.

Watched Undergrads with a bunch of people from the hall and other places. It feels good to teach the freshmen the tricks we've learned the hard way. We also did this at our fire at the breakers when we educated them about Ladder Theory. Sure, it's Sophomoric, but that's part of being a sophomore.

I still need to get my lab manuals, weight club pass, and some more spending cash tomorrow. Then it's the F'all Nighter, where all the student orgs (in my case, fencing) have recruiting booths. This means I get to start fencing again and hopefully will meet new people and get some new recruits.

Deep philosophy

Lee: "Andrew, why don't you have a girlfriend? You're too cute."

Very excellent question, and one worth considering.

Breaker breaker, what's your 20?

A large group of us (about 13) went out to the breakwater on the portage canal. Basically it's a long jetti, just a line of large rocks. We had a fire, smoked some cigars, and joked around for a few hours. There were supposed to be northern lights tonight, but it was overcast so we didn't see anything.

So far college has been enjoyable. I haven't done too much yet, aside from socializing. I've caught up with most of my friends who are already up here, but there a few I still have to hunt down. Fencing seems like it will be fun this year. We already have 3 people who are looking to join, and we'll probably meet more this weekend when we have a booth set up for everyone. A large group of us are also going to get weight hall passes so we can pump iron together all this year.

Well, sleep sounds like a viable option.

Raise a Ruckus

So I'm back where I (think) I belong. I've been enjoying myself so far, spending most of my time either setting up the room or spending time with everyone else. We got two cushioned chairs at the Salvation Army for $35 today, and the room arrangement is working alright. The only thing we need to decide is how we're going to get our alarm clocks seeable, settable, and (most importantly) able to be turned off in the morning. Both of our beds are really high up and have no shelving near us. We need to make shelves AND get power up there.

The best thing I've been doing is downloading free and legal music. With Ruckus I get unlimited downloads for $15 a month. I've already downloaded over 500 songs today. Hooray!

Next Year

I'm in the sky tonight,
There I can keep by your side
Watching the wide world riot and hiding out
I'll be coming home next year

Into the sun we climb
Climbing our wings will burn white
Everyone strapped in tight
We'll ride it out
I'll be coming home next year

Come on get on get on
Take it till life runs out
No one can find us now,
Living with our heads underground

Into the night we shine
Lighting the way we glide by
Catch me if I get too high
When I come down
I'll be coming home next year

I'm in the sky tonight
There I can keep by your side
Watching the whole world wind around and round
I'll be coming home next year

I'll be coming home next year
Everything's alright up here
When I come down
I'll be coming home next year
Say good-bye

The final countdown...

Well, I'll probably only post shortly for the next few days until I get moved in at school. Today was filled with packing and shopping, and tomorrow I'll be finishing that up. Did some DDR, went with Dan and Jill to the demolition derby (hurray for carnage), then met up with Matt and Ryan for a chat about life, women, music, and.... well mostly women.

So little time, and so little to do.

"For Great Justice!"

I stumbled back across the Ladder Theory website yesterday (clean explanation / profane version). I wasn't even thinking about it at the time, working on a completely unrelated Wikipedia entry, and was reminded of Ladder Theory. THEN, not an hour later, several things happened that were applicable to LT. I almost choked on the dramatic irony.

I did some shopping and some packing today. Not much, but a little. Mostly frivolous stuff, no real appreciable progress. I guess that's what tomorrow is for, before lackey gets in town. Most of today was spent doing what I always do: troll the internet and get my game on.

But...

Yesterday night I could tell God was telling me things. Reading Proverbs, it's hard to not hear God speaking about something specific in your life, because that's exactly what the book is about. One thing was Laziness:

A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest-
And poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.

Proverbs 6:10-11

Ooops, guilty as charged. I ended up waking up 2 hours before my alarm today, so that reinforces things. Then there's purity, and if a guy tells you he's completely pure, he's lying. I'm no different:

Do not lust in your heart after he beauty
or let her captivate you with her eyes,
for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, (!)
and the adultress preys upon your very life.

Proverbs 6:25-26

I guess this is more of a call to remember and keep my endurance. It's so easy to lose sight of that goal, it has to be on your mind 24/7 until it becomes so ingrained in your life that the thought of it is repulsive. It's tough, and I still stumble, but I'm glad God is faithfull to help me back up.

'Til the end, let it ride.

Funk, exergaming, and the Katamari...

The new song I'm learning to play is Aeroplane by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Watch the video and listen to the bass and you should quickly see why I'm learning it. I have to take it piece by small piece, since Flea never really plays the same thing twice. Lots of slides, fills, and leading notes. Add some slap and lots of stuff high on the neck and you have a winning song to learn. I'll put my mind to it for another month or two and I should have it decently under control.

My sister got a PS2 for her birthday today so I challenged her to a DDR throwdown. I did better than I remember being able to do, of course we were also playing on the easier setting. We went back and forth on a lot of the songs. She did better on the J-Pop, I did better on the funk. We now have a weekend activity before I leave for college.

Speaking of PS2, if you get the chance, play Katamari Damacy. It's a japanese game you can buy for $20 and it's hours of goofy fun. It's played with just the joysticks and you basicaly just roll stuff into a ball. The dialog is wonderfully random and the simple gameplay does wonders. Check it out, it's certainly worth it.

Float on...

I've been drifting through life now for about a week. After the Greybyrds show, I haven't done much of anything. Aside from work and a movie (Wedding Crashers) I haven't left my house aside from for a few small errands. Very little has happened that I would consider important. Basically I'm floating from inconsequential event to inconsequential event. I still need to start actually packing. I've got some of my stuff, but it's basically the stuff I never unpacked. I'm expecting this to change once I get back to MTU where there are available friends to spend time with, places to go (sauna, SDC, outside), and things to do (classes, fencing).

Maybe I'm being too optimistic about the future, or too pessimistic about the present. I guess part of it has to do with everyone being gone since I got back from vacation. I've only spent appreciable time with one person since I've been back and a short time with another friend. Everyone else has either been out of town or so busy they couldn't spare any time. Well, all that should change around Saturday evening, when Lackey gets in town. We'll hang out, pack the van, then head out early Monday. Then I won't have to worry about anything here in Midland anymore, I'll just have to worry about things in Houghton, and that seems like an attractive alternative right now.

Boring music post

Anyone want to lend me about $5,000? I want to buy a 1966 Fender Jazz Bass. This is my dream instrument. Any 60's or 70's Fender Jazz will do. The sound they have is just phenomenal, something to do with the age of the wood. One of the players at Alive had a vintage Fender PJ bass, and I got to chat with him about it. No doubt about it, these are some sweet machines. Jaco Pastorius (self-proclamed "world's greatest bassisit") played a '72 Fender Jazz called "The Bass of Doom". He pulled all the frets out himself, filled in the holes, and covered the neck in marine epoxy to transform it into a fretless. The man was a genius, and his bass was part of that wonderful sound. Once I have the money to drop on an instrument (after I have amplification), this is it. I won't need another bass as long as I live (well, I might get a modern active/passive Fender PJ, but all in the name of tone and versitility).

Now, the basses that I actually own. On the left is Herr Henker (Mr. Executioner/Hangman in German). My main bass, Herr Henker has a wonderful fingerstyle tone that is suprisingly full in drop-D tuning with the tone knob on 5. It took me about 30 seconds of playing this bass in Mid-Michigan Music to know I had to have it. The best $300 I've ever spent, most of the money came from trading in my old used Fender Precision which I got for $100. What a difference that made. I love this bass and wouldn't trade it for the world.

On the right is Orion, my new Arbor Stingray-style bass. Assuming I had the money (I don't) I would have bought a real Music Man Stingray, but for $1,000 I could have just kept saving for my vintage (or some nice amplification). As it stands, this baby's got a humbucker pickup which completely removes all the extra noise from amplification (a minor problem with Herr Henker). The picked and slapped tones on this thing are what I got this bass for, and it performs. I can get some heavy rock and funk sounds out of it and for that sometimes replaces my Jazz bass as the instrument of choice.

Well, story time's over. I guess I know what my first luxury purchase is going to be after I get an engineering job. I figure with $56k as an average starting salary I shouldn't have too long to wait. Then all I need to do is find a gig so I can utilize my sonic weaponry...

Prepare for Bandwidth. Let it ride.

The Low End

I've been training myself recently for bass playing. Not just practicing, but hardening my body so I can rock with more stamina. This mostly consists of playing fast and heavy songs constantly. This not only makes me a better player, it's been increasing the calluses on my picking fingers. I'm enjoying it. My routine generally includes Tank!, Maxwell Murder, Monkey Wrench, Jenny Was a Friend of Mine, The Theme Fiasco, and any other songs I'm learning. I can't wait to get back to school and start practicing with Bandwidth. Me, Lackey, Sean, and Bejcek rocking with all the rest of our musical acquaintences.

I'm hoping to record with the Greybyrds sometime in the next year. We wanted to this year, but things didn't work out. I really want our full-band versions of Falling/Ascending, Lunita, Satan in a Highrise, and Nightengale on tape. It's going to be kinda lo-fi, but I think that's now our expectation. Speaking of lo-fi recordings, I'm going to get those TFNM recordings in releasable form and distribute them sometime this year. They'll be a year late, but I'd like to call it fashionably late.

Holy crap...

To quote Nitz from Undergrads:
"Holy crap."

I kinda feel like Nitz in that same situation. What's done is done.

Top 5...

Top 5 best things about playing in the Greybyrds:

1) Being one of four burgeoning musical geniuses.
2) Free melodic rein.
3) Extended jam sessions.
4) Making money..... kinda (although $15 isn't bad for a summer's worth of rocking, I guess).
5) Being indescribable (maybe we're folk-core/rock?).

Now, to steal something from RK:

What song....
-Reminds you of an ex-lover: "If You Don't, Don't" - Jimmy Eat World.
-Reminds you of your childhood: "Peaches" - Presidents of the United States of America. Off the first album I ever bought.
-Makes you cry: "Take Me Away" by Lifehouse, "Continental Drift (Flight Of The Bootymadmoiselle)" or "Baseball" by Ozma are probably the closest, that or "Amazing Grace" when done well.

-Makes you laugh: "Double Team" - Tenacious D.
-Makes you wanna dance: "Wonderful Tonight" by Clapton makes me want to dance with a lady friend, or "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai for something more funky.
-Reminds you of the one you want: "Want Ad" - MxPx
-Makes you very, very sleepy: I don't fall asleep to any music.
-You wish you wrote: "Shooting Stars" - Ozma.
-Fills you with complete and utter joy: "Stomping Grounds" - Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. When I first heard that song it was almost orgasmic, it was that good.
-You never want to hear again: "Amazed" - Lonestar
-You want to get married to: "Wonderful Tonight" - Clapton, or "Sunrise" - Norah Jones.
-You want played at your funeral: "Amazing Grace", preferrably as performed by Victor Wooten.
-Makes you want to mosh/slam dance: "Rawk Fist" and "bounce" - Thousand Foot Krutch.
-Sums up your teenage years: "Learn to Fly" - Foo Fighters.
-You used to hate but now love: "somewhere Only we Know" - Keane. I didn't quite hate it, but I certainly didn't like it.
-You like out of your parents record collection: Weather Report, Firesine Theater
-Your parents like out of your collection: Ozma, Bela Fleck
-You love the video more than the tune:
-Reminds you of your first crush: "Amazed" - Lonestar. I didn't like that song before and I effing hate it now (see above).
-You love which is from one of your favorite movies: "Let's Get it On" as performed by Jack Black in High Fidelity.
-Makes you think of sex: "Sir Psycho Sexy", and just about anything else by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, come to think of it.
-Makes you think of being alone: "Moving Out West" - Yes, Virginia