We Are the Music Makers.......

George Carlin once said that we all (children and adults) could use some daydreaming. He was talking about our daily quest for meaningless "structure". Maybe we could all benefit from staring out the window and watching the clouds. BTW, I'm not a fan of the Tim Burton incarnation of this movie. I always felt that he should have made the sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Anyway, the sound isn't anywhere to be found on the web except one place. (Like I'd tell you!). Here it is, with some words of wisdom cut in by me. Also is the Smoking Popes doing an acoustic version of the song:

Gene Wilder, Pure Imagination:
http://www.mediafire.com/?cxyxb2a66oc

Smoking Popes, Pure Imagination:
http://www.mediafire.com/?0kf0smf0ozg

Oh Horse Shit!!

I rode the Cherokee re-route yesterday. It starts around the hard left turn after Hogan's Fountain. It rolls up to the Cherokee tennis courts and down to what was know as "No net" alley. Cherokee is now a loop again! The new stuff needs to be packed in but it will take time. What was on the trail was hoof prints and horse turds. I rode to Seneca and found more at the Golf Coarse Loop. Oh well. Cherokee's Back!!!

Larry Williams and Johnny Watson with the Kaleidoscope, Nobody:
http://www.mediafire.com/?2mjdts2mimo

90's Nostalgia

I did a night ride with G-Man and MEK at Cherokee Park. (That's not us in the pic, I just wanted to show what it looks like). Of coarse I lagged behind the both of them. They go faster at night that I do during the day!. I was a bit uncomfortable going that fast at night. No problems as we did 15 miles. We even did Bryan's pass, a hazardous little trail where the trail rides alongside a 15 ft high wall. We were fine. I'm about to go up there again to check the progress of the recent re-route. It was to be completed today. I couldn't be there because I was working.

There was a boom of experimental music around the time of Tortoise and Brise-Glase. I picked up the Village of Savoonga record at the orignal Ground Zero. I think it used to be an old dentist office. I play experimental music when I'm doing something else. Fortunately this record has two songs that have some structure/beat to it. Here are my favorites.

Village of Savoonga: Snails:
http://www.mediafire.com/?0g0ti4ckmxn

The other is Toddle:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fuwzklmnyzd

The Equals!

I rode with Koolaid yesterday at Younger's Creek. Koolaid got his moniker from the Jonestown massacre. It was a great wide with perfect weather. There was about two inches of leave cover on the ground. If I didn't know my way around, I would have gotten lost. I had a hard time with the switchbacks in the beginning. My nerves got the best of me as well with the log crossing. I had a great time though. Koolaid and I rode a perfect pace. We rarely stopped and kept pushing it. As we neared the end, some advanced riders invited us to join them. I could tell that we wouldn't be able to keep up with them so we passed. The jokingly called us "chicken" and went on their way. I had a better time with the logs and switchbacks on the ride back. Younger's is great and I need to go out there more often.

I don't know much about the Equals at all. They kinda remind me of the Dirtbombs. Anyway, this song Diversion absolutely jams!

http://www.mediafire.com/?9etutizmkdx

Compton and Long Beach Together

My friend Ben and I did a VERY BAD Karaoke version of this song. But here's the club mix of this song put out so long ago:

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg: Ain't Nuthin But a G Thang:

http://www.mediafire.com/?cxgackw3no0

The deleting of old files begins today. Old ones first.......hurry

No Music Today Either

No Music Today

If you have never heard Bill Hicks, this is a bit that encompasses everything that he's about. And if you have heard him, you've probably never heard this before.

Bill Hicks from Comedy's Dirtiest Dozen:


http://www.mediafire.com/?3zx7jbztz9y

Otter Anew!

Sorry, I took a week off because of my birthday. Rode Otter yesterday. The have done a lot of work on the trail lately. They took out the big switchback at the end of the big downhill. On the north side, they put in a nice reroute. I cranked it out for three hours. It kicked my ass.

Here's a killer to make up for the break:

Sam Cooke, Bring on Home to Me (Live):
http://www.mediafire.com/?aduogmkdhy1

Libras of the World Unite!!!!

Yeah, it's that time of year again bitches!!!
This is what John Lennon did on his own 31st birthday! (note the recently acquitted murderer in the backround):

90's Nostalgia, UL Basketball Starts Today!!!!!!!!!

Official UL practice begins today! Here's some King Kong to get us in the mood.

King Kong, Basketball:
http://www.mediafire.com/?0n0tywssn2m

King Kong, Movie Star:
http://www.mediafire.com/?79asijg25n5

King Kong, Red Hot Lovin:
http://www.mediafire.com/?bonyxymrylm

The Sal Hallow Weekend!

I'm still sore and tired from last weekend. I joined the Kymba group to ride the Sal Hallow trail in Mammoth Cave National Park. I got early Saturday morning with Big Country (BC) and headed down to Park City. We had to get there before the noon ride. Once you get to the park you have to cross a ferry. The Green River at that point is only five car lengths wide. The ferry only holds two cars. We took the ferry across and got a little lost. We went in a circle but eventually found our way to the campsite. We camped at Maple Springs, right next to the Sal Hallow trail head. BC and I met up with Mark and Dave. They got there the night before and rode. The organizers Rico and Wolfie arrived next. We set up camp and waited for everyone to arrive. We had 16 people in all with various ages, bikes and skill levels.


We headed out to ride about 1:30PM . It was already pretty hot. The Sal Hallow trail is an out-and-back. The first half is rolling singletrack that's rocky and rooty here and there. Rico, Mark and Kiersta took off at a feverish pace. I need a few minutes to warm up. I always get nervous taking turns when its dusty. If you keep your momentum, you really don't have to do too much pedaling in the first part. But I was cranking it to keep up with the leaders. I watch them as I ride. They make it look easy right off the bat. We had to stop a few times before we got to the halfway point for flats.


The second section was technical. Lots of rocky descents. I had someone nipping at my heals, so I was going way faster than I was comfortable with. Being on my hardtail didn't help either. My ass and teeth felt the shakes. My brakes were screeching all over the place. I was anticipating a crash any moment. The group already had two. BC and Dave were behind me most of the time. When we got to a steep downhill, I let them pass. But what was just ahead was a long rocky climb with a steep switchback in the middle. I ended up catching them and passing them before the switchback. When we all stopped at the top, we all felt dead. And we weren't even halfway through! The rest was rolling singletrack with a long climb. We got to the end which connected to the Buffalo trail. We refueled and hydrated as some horseback riders came by. Then we got ready for the return back.


We had no big problems on the way back. The rocky climbs really kicked my ass. I ended up hiking the bike on the last rocky climb. I made it up most of that climb but ran out of gas. I followed ricdix's bad line and stalled out. That began my energy drain. BC ran out of tubes so we had to patch a snake bike he had on his tube. Right at the end of this I was dying. I was trying to keep up with Kiersta and pushed myself too hard. I relented and started following Nick. I continued to drain. Luckily we stopped at a cave near the entrance. It had a waterfall. We all lined up to drench our heads. It felt gooooooooooooood! It was refreshing and cold but I didn't dare drink it. Be got back to the site and fired up the grills. We cooked some burgers and brats (I dropped 2 on the ground). It was good eats. I limited myself to two beers (we had another ride soon!). I went to my tent and took a 20 minute nap. Then it was time to get ready to go again.


The night ride was the best. There were ten of us for the 8 mile ride. I had a hard time strapping the light to my helmet. They all took off and I was still in the parking lot trying to put it on. Luckily someone came back to get me. We took off on the trail and I was last. The bikes kick up a lot of dust. Our lights illuminate it so it looks like there is fog out. I ended up in the last group of three. Chris ended up hitting his knee on a tree. I passed him and Big Tommy C and took off into the darkness. All of a sudden it was darkness (not Charlie Murphy). Darkness in front of me and behind me. No lights to be seen but my own. I pressed on and began whistling Smurf's theme to relieve my anxiety. Yeah, I knew there were people in front and back somewhere. But I was alone. Next I began singing Eric Carmen's "All By Myself". After I got through two verses, I heard behind me "Don't wanna be...."It was Chris. He had caught up to me. I erupted with laughter. Finally I saw a train of lights in front of me. Rico needed some batteries for his light. (His light took AAA batteries!?!). I gave him one and we pressed on. When we got to mile 3 out, we caught to another group. It was Nick, Kiersta, Steve and BC. BC broke the bottom tube of his bike! The only thing left for him was to turn back. We wanted to go by himself but Nick and Kiersta volunteered to go with him. Now there were only 7 little night-riding Indians. We got to the halfway point and took a rest. We rocketed back to the entrance. I ended up alone again, occasionally seeing a train of lights ahead of me. I reached my Zen moment anyway. I was flowing down the train without a care in the world. It was nice and cool and I was carving this trail. I soaked in the moment because it hasn't come around lately. I loved it. Riding without thinking. A mile away from the trailhead we came up to Kiersta, Nick and BC. He had his bike in each hand. It split in two pieces. He was pissed. He tried to ride the bike out and broke the top tube as well. We carried on back to the campsite to eagerly awaiting beers.


We got back to the campsite and it was time to party. The beers were hit hard. Chris, Wolfie, and I went over and partied with some Purdue students at the next campsite. We heard them singing and dancing to Bob Seager! They were nice and set us up with some drinks. I had enough around 3AM and headed for my tent. I woke up around 730 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I began to get breakfast ready and cleaned my bike. Around 10:30 AM we did another ride. There were only 10 of us. This time it was a bit slower. I think I flowed better in the trail. I wasn't sure how tired I was going to be after the last 12 hours activities. I felt great! A few people bailed but I stuck it out till the end. I conserved my energy but I was going to take a shortcut back. We took some fire roads home instead of going back through the trail. BC was waiting and I didn't want to make him wait for too long. We got to the cars and packed up.

We left Mammoth Cave National Park happily. BC wanted to make one stop. We went to Alpine slide next. It was a giant slide where you had to ride a long board with wheels. We took a ski lift to the top of a hill and bombed down the slide. I raced BC and he kicked my ass. Here's to the perfect weekend!:

(Pics by Rico and BC)

Son Volt, Windfall:
http://www.mediafire.com/?3ojxmzkm2x3

90's Nostalgia (Late)

Sorry I'm late, I was at Sal Hollow all weekend. I'll write about it Monday

Okay, Wednesday's show. We showed up at precisely 7:30PM. I hate going to show that early. No drinking time at all. The show was at the riverfront's Great Lawn. I was anticipating to see hipsters crawling over the place. There were a few, but not many. This is the hipster outfit for a girl: Big homeless woman sunglasses, a black and white vertically striped shirt, tight blue jeans, and a giant purse. The guy also wears the tight and a plaid button down shirt. They have greasy mop top hair. When they watch a band, they only feign slight interest in the band but usually act too cool to be in the room. I people watch when I'm out there people!

First up was LCD Soundsystem. They started out with Us vs. Them (not the Pink Floyd song). They were great. They were energetic and interesting. The guitar player really rocked out! They were just a fun band. The sang their harmonies well and engaged the crowd. The weirdest connect was that I thought that they had a bit of the Genesis/Lamb Lies Down-era sound to them. Go check them out.

Okay, lets get to Arcade Fire. I got the impression that most of the people there were there to see them. First of all, that's an aweful band name. Next, I think that the public gets seduced (suckered in) by a band with more than 5 members. All those people on stage........they must be good (See Polyphonic Spree)!?! I just don't get it. The guy can't sing. Even with all those people singing along, he had no voice. They had NO hooks to their song. I judge a band if I can remember a lyric or melody afterwards. None. Next, every song had the same beat/tempo. I turned to someone and asked , "Didn't they just play that song?" They weren't that impressive. I pissed everyone around me by voicing my distaste. BUT WE HAD TO LIKE THEM BECAUSE WE PAID $40 APIECE TO SEE THEM! They were done a great disservice by letting LCD Soundsystem open for them. And what's with the Children of the Corn outfits? They blow. They'll be forgotten in 2 years. The girl singer has talent though. Maybe she needs to go solo.

LCD Soundsystem, Us vs. Them (clip):
http://www.mediafire.com/?0cbxjjmnvma

And a band from the 90's, who could rawk with more than 5 members; The Web, Handcuff Hoax:

http://www.mediafire.com/?akmz12mebnz

Bat for Lashes "What's a Girl To Do?"

I swore that I wouldn't put "new" music on here. You can get it anywhere. There are a thousand blogs you can find this stuff. Like every blog is talking about Radiohead's new album. Do I need to? I just like this song and like it even more because of the video. It's E.T. meets Donnie Darko. I like the fact that you can see the steam from her breath and it's seemingly one shot. (I heard it took four days to light that shot!)

Today I purchased a Niteride Solmate. It's a halogen light for the night ride. I know its no HID, but I can't afford it. I just talked myself out of the HID. The Solmate should come today. I want to test it Thursday night at Wilderness loop. Anyone care to join me?

Tonight I'm going to see LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire. I'm not a huge fan of either, but I'll check it out. I saw the dude from LCD Soundsystem years ago at the Cardinal Inn. His band Speedkings played outside with Litmus. Damn I'm gettin old. I'll have a report Friday on the show.

Bat For Lashes, What's a Girl to Do?:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5cixfvig1n9

Beck

Some lost gems. These were on a 7 Inch (Ben wants more inches) that came with the Mutations record. Gettin ready for a camping trip this weekend. Goin to Mammoth Cave to do the Sal Hallow trail. I've ridden it once before. You can really break out in some big ring and hit some speed. I can't wait. Fall break is near and school is almost halfway done? It's annoying.

Beck, Diamond:
http://www.mediafire.com/?2mkh1jn9t13

Beck, Bullocks:
http://www.mediafire.com/?2mkh1jn9t13

90's Nostalgia!!!!! Rain

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^(That's going to be me in 40 years!)^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It's been a while we missed you. Where have you gone? It's been a long time since I've not gone out to ride because of the rain. I could just bore you with some tunes that you've heard before that are about rain (Buckets of rain and....RAIN by the Beatles) No lets go back east and visit a group from D.C. I never got to see Unrest but I saw a later Mark Robinson incarnation. My senior year in high school I drove a silver Jetta. The car's horn was in the same key as Cath Carol. I would drive around town and hold the horn down during the song.

GUYS IF YOU DON"T PUT ANY COMMENTS EVERY ONCE AND A WHILE, I START TO THINK THAT NO ONE IS VISITING THE SITE AND I'LL JUST SHUT IT DOWN. REQUESTS OR COMPLAINTS WELCOME.

Unrest, Cath Carol:
http://www.mediafire.com/?89km4xd5bdy

Unrest, So Sick :
http://www.mediafire.com/?1mkzvwbzm5c

Fabulous!

This one's dedicated to Melissa who can ride with clipless petals now!

The Decemberists, Ask (the Smiths)
http://www.mediafire.com/?14mhbixdnzo

On to Utica!

Yesterday i did a road ride to Utica, Indiana. Greg called me up and said the route was about 20 miles. I met up at Greg's (in the Highlands) and picked up Mark. It's a pretty flat ride except for crossing the Second Street Bridge. A truck zoomed by my and it felt like it was going about 65 mph. There were some bad mesh grading all along the bridge as well, I get to that later. We went along the river road past Jeffboat. There was a nice breeze coming off the river and not too much traffic. It's been a long time since I've do a road ride with outer people. It's refreshing to shoot the shit. Mark and I even started talking about biochemistry! We saw lots of other riders along the way, doing the same route. I ended up blowing a tube on a grading on the bridge. Luckily I had all the tools and it didn't take me long to fix it. I blew ANOTHER tube about half a mile from Greg's. Greg picked up my car and drove it to me. My day was DONE!. All in all it was actually a total of 30 miles from Greg's to Utica and back. I'm going to try it from my house soon, if and when it cools down.

The Penetrators, Shopping Bag
http://www.mediafire.com/?9bdjyxxy4ye

Late Addition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Method Man!!!!!!!

A friend and I were talking about that bit the other day and I found it on youtube. The first time I saw that on TV I nearly spit out my food. And for those who don't know what it is (Shame on a ..........!):

Wu-Tang Clan, Method Man:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5y3mr9nohlm

90's Nostalgia!!!!!!!! Hey Ladies!!!!!!!!!

I liked chick rock 15 years ago. Not that riot grl/grl power shit. Tsunami, The Breeders, Helium. You Know! I couldn't stand that cutsie Juliana Hatfield stuff. It all sounded the same: soulless. These chicks rawked with precision, purpose, depth. Drew, Craig, Nick, and myself went to see Helium at Sudsy Malone's during the Dirt of Luck tour. Craig shot an interesting vid of Mary Timony. Very youtube-worthy. I tried to find Helium's XXX video from Beavis and Butthead. No avail. But here's Superball though. Butthead said that she needs some sleep. Tsunami is another great band from D.C. with one of the best voices from that era: Jenny Toomey.

Tsunami, Be Like That:
http://www.mediafire.com/?8pzaptgn2y5

Helium, Skeleton:
http://www.mediafire.com/?7jowmappicq

90's.................... I mean 60's Nostalgia

Yeah, lets go back. No mountain bikes. Carrying those m'fers over obstacles, little tires? I wasn't even born so fuck it. These are my two 60s favess outside of the usual faves (the Who, Beatles, Beach Boys...etc)

The Tages, I Read You Like An Open Book:
http://www.mediafire.com/?em1lmyjddmn

The Loved Ones (Not the 90s punk band), Surprise,Surprise (For You) :
http://www.mediafire.com/?5jmfi3ibymq

90's Nostalgia

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Just a little helpful vid for the newbies. Wednesday I skipped the kymba ride to go to Waverly. I met up with Rico, Breezer, and Jeff. Waverly was in perfect shape! I think the short travel of my bike makes the back end of an obstacle a perilous task. When I crossed the XXX log, I almost endoed. Other than that I didn't have to get off the bike for anything. We went both directions of the trail and it was great. I'm gonna have to do that each time!

Here's a song by Ice Cube about the trials and tribulations of your average dice game. He's wearing new shoes and a sweat shirt. He's making his opponents broke. (They make the best crooks) You get the idea. It took me 10 years to decipher this song!!!!

Ice Cube, What They Hittin Foe?:
http://www.mediafire.com/?8c9ffzhwd22

Here's a band that I only got to appreciate lately. Many of the Louisvillians remember Wino. At the beginning of Wino's inception, they were heavily influenced by Unsane.

Unsane, Release:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4mjxxh1ptzf

What are you doing in front of the Computer? GET OUT THERE!

I wish I could ride like that ^^^^^^^^^^^^. Damn! The weather is great and it's time to ride. These two songs should put some juice on the pedals. The first is Helmet covering a Bjork song. The next is by the Professionals, Paul and Steve from the Sex Pistols. Enjoy!

Helmet: Army of Me
http://www.mediafire.com/?3yemlwxi9fi

The Professionals: 1-2-3
http://www.mediafire.com/?c8b2bwm2jzd

Eyeache in My Ear

I drank a lot this weekend. After a Friday evening road ride, I went to Cumberland Brew. Started off with the Meade. Knocked me on my ass. I went home to recoup and went back out to Bearno's for Round 2. Saturday was my Dad's birthday. Lot's of beer, bourbon, and bloody marys. After that, I went to a club and had two more drinks. So all day Sunday I felt like shit. To celebrate here's one from Cheech and Chong!:

http://www.mediafire.com/?7jsztwybm1l

Friday's 90's Nostalgia! RODAN

We had an injury Wednesday night. hermit1 fell on his HEAD. I think he's okay though. Evidently cracked his helmet. I was able to keep up with the leaders. I had to pull back in the end because I was running out of energy. After the ride though, I felt great!

Here's some from Rodan. They were a three headed attack that really put on a great live show. I think I saw them every time they played in Louisville. I was thinking that my friend Drew needs to put all his videos on youtube. It seemed at the time that Drew wasn't able to enjoy shows because he was too busy behind the camera. The first one is from the Working Holiday weekend CD. The other song is a live show in Athens

Big Things, Small things
http://www.mediafire.com/?e15jkvjvcj1

Before the Train (Picture of a Girl)
http://www.mediafire.com/?0bcppj5myzi

Mayor's Ride, Fall 2007

The crew and I woke up early to attend the Mayor's Hike and Bike. It was a hot afternoon but a great turnout. The ride started out at the Waterfront and progressed to the Second Street bridge. The racers and "people with egos" were encouraged to progress to the front of the pack. How right they were. I won't digress into negativism (yet) by talking about those individuals. Let me just say that those people need to get a grip.....IT"S LABOR DAY! I also met up with Yellow Y and Fasterdulin and we trotted along across the bridge. My cousin was the slow one in our pack. At 28 years old, she still doesn't know how to shift gears on her bike. We had to continually wait up for her, but hey, SHE"S GOT LITTLE LEGS!!

As we progressed on, I was getting a little fidgity on the road. I would ride up on the sidewalk and pop off the curb. A roadie came up to me and told me to stay off the sidewalk. He then began ordering everyone else on the road to the right. As Rodney Dangerfield said, "Who made you Pope of this dump?" I won't tell you guys what I said back to him....... My brother and I began discussing that every social group has their nazis. It was pretty aggravating. At Lexington Road and Grinstead drive, an old lady went down on her bike. She landed right on her chin. People had her hold pressure on the bloody wound. I gave her a large bandaid I had in my pack. Luckily the 1st responders were quick to the scene. The light at that intersection was so short, that you had to go on a full on sprint to make it across when it turned green. The rest of the ride was fun despite the heat.

Here are some tunes from Gang of Four. They are some live tracks that I have picked up here and there. The first track, We Live, As We Dream Alone, came from a live album that I got on ebay. I think that it was some sort of farewell concert in the 80's.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4m29dc2vsez

This next one sounds like something from their early period. I LOVE the sound quality of this track. I prefer the sound of sloppy 4-track sounds to polished tracks any day. This is live at a place called Mother's. One of my favorite tracks, Not Great Men:

http://www.mediafire.com/?bdx12m5zbx1

No Laboring!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Labor Day. Crank this one up mid-volume, spread the speakers far apart, lay back and chill to this one. Put it on repeat. Smoke, drink, ingest whatever it is you do on Labor day. Enjoy! (That's our Lamont)

Stereolab - Avant Garde M.O.D. : http://www.mediafire.com/?6yowlbyytdg

90's Nostalgia: UNWOUND!

Wednesday I had a great ride. No wrecks, no mechanical problems. I rode the Tass with the 2.1 Nevegal in the front. The bike carved up Cherokee park. No movement in the front. I sucked it up and re-rode the last place I crashed. I stopped, turned back and rode it again. I actually rode "stripped down", no Camelbak, no baggies. I WAS NUDE!!! I think I prefer it without all the excess weight. The bike seems to accelerate on its own power. I'd hate to get rid of it, but I think I'm going to get something with short travel in the back.

This is the one I couldn't wait to put up. Unwound (or as Jason would say, "un-wound", as in undoing a cut) is still one of my favorite bands. I never got to see them when they were around. I think they played here once at the Rocket House. This band has it all. Power, noise, and style. Check them out.

This one was from a live show in London. The song originally appears on Fake Train part of a weird medley. Here's Kantina : http://www.mediafire.com/?3akovxbqgpi

Nothing to Say: http://www.mediafire.com/?2dt2ghlymis

Go Cards!!!!

Dial-up IS Dead!!!!!!!!!

To paraphrase a Seinfeld quote, everyone around me has been lighting matches while I've been rubbing two sticks together. Today we got rid of dial-up. I may never leave my computer seat again. Saddle time in danger? No.

(BREAK OUT THE DUST PANS, NAME DROP ALERT!). My old friends Mark and Craig have an album that "drops" today. Go check it out or their web site http://www.myspace.com/vhsorbeta . Bring on the Comets is the name of the album.

Years ago I was in band with them called, the Foriegn Film Stars. We were drunk on sonic noise at the time. We were a mix of Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Blonde Redhead, Unwound, etc.....

In honor of the release, here are some songs we recorded on a 4-Track with no vocals. We recorded them in an old grocery store on College Street. It was a large open space that gave a distinctive sound. There was another band called The Loved that shared the space at the time. Their EP on Temporary Residence (http://www.temporaryresidence.com/ ) was recorded at the same space and has the same sound. Only a few of the songs had names and the others I just named after things we joked about at the time. Here's just a taste of what we were up to at the time. (BTW Jason A. played drums on the recording )

Making Faces: http://www.mediafire.com/?czbnyxb5z5w

I Love Sports : http://www.mediafire.com/?dtjbmxbgbuk

The Monkey House : http://www.mediafire.com/?6unj3j02luh

Long Weekend

Saturday night I was at the Paurhous to see Vrktm. The other bands were The Final Run Ins, Boxmaker, and Rude Weirdo. I didn't know who was who besides Vrktm. It was old-school night evidently. There were lots of people I hadn't seen together in 15 years. My brothers old friend John, affectionately nicknamed "Atskoo" was playing drums in the first band that I saw. They played some old school punk, heavy on the thumpty-thump w/ chanting. I liked their energy. I knew the guys second band, Ben and Matt. They tried to do some driving speed-punk. 12 years ago those guys were "too cool" for the punk they embracing now. I like Ben, but those guys always struck me as which-way-is-the-wind-blowing-? type of guys. Lets just leave it at that. Vrktm was great as usual. Their new stuff is really tight. They have yet another guy in the band.................

I had a good ride on Sunday at Otter. I met up with Scopes Monkey, Randy, Yellow Y (framed bike) and Brian T. Brian and YY had bike problems off the bat. YY had a rear triangle crack and Brian had shifting problems. Brian bailed out first when we couldn't fix it the shifting problems. Yellow Y's crack (on the bike) a gotten larger during the coarse of the top loop so he bailed as well. During our run to the creek I got a flat. We had a hard time getting the tire off the rim. After it was on, the tube wouldn't inflate because we punctured the new as well. My ride was over and walked the bike back to my car. A guy passed me in his car (carrying a MTB). I was a bit pissed because he didn't stop to see if I needed help. I know people have the right to not help but COME ON, common courtesy!?! He came up to me later and tried to apologize for not picking me up because his car was full. I told him that he could have at least let me borrow his pump. He walked by as if he didn't even hear me! I don't know, I don't think I was wrong. But it really pissed me off.

I had been a bit burned out about riding lately. Maybe because I had been having bad luck on each ride lately. I was having a good ride until the flat really bummed me out. Here's to turning this around:

Queen: Bicycle Race
http://www.mediafire.com/?fxmdcwnoy0u

Pink Floyd: Bike
http://www.mediafire.com/?1bosykn3nxo

90's Single Nostalgia

The car is back. But something else is wrong with it. I don't want to get into it.

I realized that most of this stuff I post on here you could get yourself. iTunes probably has most of this stuff on there. Why come on here then? So from now on, I'll try to put non-iTunes stuff on here for Nostalgia Day. I forgot that I have a pretty good 7-inch collection, bootlegs, and practice tapes that should last me for a while. Here's Nothing Special by Louisville's own Bastro. It was on a split with My Dad is Dead. Each covered the other's song. (Try to find this one on the web!)

http://www.mediafire.com/?bgt0qzmn5pz

The next is a 45 by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Train#3 was on a 45 series and this track was the best one. I think this is their best song and really documents their transition form the Pussy Galore days.....

http://www.mediafire.com/?4krvutkj8qd

Cars Suck

Here's a quick hit. Wasn't able to attend the kymba ride today due to car trouble. Almost made it but my car may be dead. I had to get my car towed to the shop, but I had my bike with me. I was getting ready to shove off when I noticed the end of my quick release skewer was off the front tire. What else could go wrong? Looks like i'll be a cyclist for a couple a days. Here's to misery of car trouble (no time for Adam and the Ants)!
In the end of the 90s Blonde Redhead was one of my favorite bands. I even went to see them open up for the Foo Fighters and the Red hHot Chili Peppers at Freedom Hall. I went to the bathroom after their set and the rednecks were talking about how they were the worst band they have ever seen. Funny....


Bipolar : http://www.mediafire.com/?efyd20nroje
Distilled: http://www.mediafire.com/?02l0yf24nnz

WERE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about the abscence folks. Last week I had lost high-speed access so I was unable to load songs. I figured out the problem and we're back.......And I was a bit lazy last week.

Last Wednesday's Kymba ride was a better experience. I think the racers thought we were too slow and the newbies thought we were too fast. So this week was a new group, apart from myself and Dulin. I got there early and hooked up with Rico and Marv. Marv ducked out and Rico and I did the golf coarse loop. At the bottom of the loop I endoed. It was super slow-mo. I'm lucky that I wasn't knocked out. Then on the way back, a crackarm came off the bike, still attached to my foot. Rico jokingly thought that I should have called it a day after that. I decided to press on. Even with the heat, I still had fun. I think that I need to to a road ride next...for the hell of it.

Friday night I played a song with Sarden Wells, a band featuring Drew Sellars. Drew weaved many musicians in and out, me playing on Fugazi's Repeater. The set featured Neil Young's Cortez the Killer to the closer: Oh La La by the Faces. Drew's style seems still in development. His originals went from country to Flaming Lips to Nick Drake. Not bad styles at all. I have always said that every artist needs two albums-worth of material till they start finding their own voice. (BTW, that's us in the pic if you didn't already guess)

Heres some hip-hop to get the gears turnin!:

Eric B and Rakim, Microphone Fiend :

http://www.mediafire.com/?7lz9zfpht2x

Divine Styler, Before Mecca :

http://www.mediafire.com/?330y2vzhcwp

90's Nostalgia Friday

Time for your next installment of 90s nostalgia. If you have request please add to the comments. Today we have a mix of east coast, west coast and the local in-between. First up is a ball cracking lead off by the indie legends Drive Like Jehu. How many bands put DLJ as an influence? I know that we tried to do the fucked-up-changes-from-nowhere in some of our tunes. Drive Like Jehu were the San Diego sound. I never got to see them because they never toured in our area. Matt said that this song , Caress, (http://www.mediafire.com/?5eimmemwv4h ) makes him want to run through a wall.
Moving west I'm giving you Liquid (Live) ( http://www.mediafire.com/?1ardyzq3max) by the original lineup of Evergreen. Here in Louisville, when this band played, it was an event. I remember that they once had a pimp contest at the Machine. This is from the tape-only release Go Cart Ride. This incarnation was more Minutemen/reggae/funk influence. Listen for the rubber band bass!
Lastly we have my favorite song off of one of my favorite albums: The Breeders' Pod . The album sucks you in with the Albini production. The guitars, drums, and vocals are prefectly engineered. I like the buildup of Iris ( http://www.mediafire.com/?b3nxz1uxbmd ) . I starts out like a bad hangover. Then it explodes with drum thunder. I love it.

CAN!!!

Yesterday was the first Kymba Wednsday group ride in a long time. I hadn't ridden in a week and I was dreading the heat once again. We met at the Seneca tennis courts and realized the ride organizer was MIA. A guy showed up without his helmet. Luckily I have three in the car. I thought I was hydrated and warmed up, but ten minutes into the ride I was dying. I just can't ride in the 90 degree heat. I don't think I will race this Saturday in this heat. It's just not fun in this heat. None at all. I think that I had too much weight and a heavy bike to boot. (Excuses Excuses)

I hope that this isn't your introduction to Can. But if it is, it will be a wonderful suprise. This band is the shit. If you are looking for a pop band with 4 minute songs then this is not your band. Supposedly most of the recordings are jams that when the tape happened to be running.
These are short tastes for what this band is about. I encourage everyone to at least buy one of the first 5 albums and take a listen. Ege Bamyasi is the one that everyone has on their must list. I'm partial to Future days. Enjoy!

Turtles Have Short Legs

http://www.mediafire.com/?9gkdqieulvr

Connection

http://www.mediafire.com/?brd1kuzo4jm

Moonshake

http://www.mediafire.com/?7xbkodim2vy

I'm Just Eatin Some Rocks and Listnin to Some Jazz

Jazz? On the trail? I'm sure you have Chuck Mangione and the melody of Feels So Good in your head. Listen, I'm not the biggest fan of standard jazz unless you are one of the greats. I guess my problem is that I love drums. Elvin Jones has got to be playing if it's one of the standards.
I encountered a jazz teacher from either UL or Bellarmine once at a party. I remarked to him that I liked the jazz-funk fusion type of stuff. You'd think that I pissed on John Lennon's grave with the look he gave me. I wanted to shove an alto-sax up his pretentious ass. What a dick.
My friend Ben and I were in a band together. (SARCASM ALERT) We thought that you always let the interviewer or the audience know that you've been listening to jazz to get your indie merit badges (SARCASM OVER).
So back to the jazz that I do like. I like the crooner stuff like Chet Baker. As stated earlier I like the early jazz-funk fusion, latin/bossanova-jazz fusion (Getz), and rhythmic jazz. The following song is what really got me on a jazz tear. It is Let The Music Take Your Mind by Grant Green on Alive!.

http://www.mediafire.com/?0yic2udyhgk


The other song offering is Orientation by the Don Ellis Orchestra. I don't know much about the group at all. I heard this on NPR one night and sat in the car until is was over. I just had to hear the title and the artist. This song moves with a great groove until it gets to the 9:27 mark with the big pay off. The whole group coaleses into a heathing mass of rhythms and horn shrieks. Unbelieveable!

http://www.mediafire.com/?ajmffwm9eli

Track 1 Rockers

It's all about the first track. The first song on a great album sucks you in on the opening bar. The song will never get old for you even though you hear it the most. If you can't open an album well, than why am I listening? Here are two great openers from two great albums.
Most people know Genesis as the band that brought you I Can't Dance and Land of Confusion. Few know that they were an avant garde prog rock band in their inseption. Who knew that years later we'd be punished in the 80's by Rutherford's In the Living Years ? Even fewer people know that Peter Gabriel was their singer at the time. Gabriel made a name for himself on MTV and songs in movies (Project X and Say Anything).

This highpoint of this line-up was the album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The title track kicks you in the arse right away and pulls you in. The themes and melodies in this track are revisted again and again throughout the album. Track 1 (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway):

http://www.mediafire.com/?dfuz32jgvmm

And if you haven't already heard this one, you haven't lived. (Iggy and) The Stooges album Funhouse eventually made its way to the CD player at every party I went to from '95-*97. For some reason the next album, Raw Power got more press. For the money the production on this album is on my top 10.

The album starts out with Down On the Street. The song isn't particularly hard or fast. It carves out a groove that lets you know right away that these guys are badasses.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2tmmxdmyncm

All Is Right With The World

Dinosaur Jr. reunited a year ago and recorded a new album Beyond. The
album shows that those guys could come back t form right away, picking up
where they left off. If these guys reunite, anything is possible. Mid-east
peace perhaps? Just goes to show that band chemistry may be more important
than the talent of each musician. In the book This Band Could Be Your Life,
Barlow describes the incident when band tensions came to a had. Barlow was
sitting on the stage making noise on his bass rather than following everyone
else playing a song. Mascis, frustrated went over and punched him. A clip of '
can been seen in the Sonic Youth video, Teenage Riot (at the 2:37 mark,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rgBPMMJtIg )

Here is DSJ in live in Boston performing the hit, Feel the Pain:

http://www.mediafire.com/?4yja2hqerx9

90's Nostalgia Friday

I'm going to make this a Friday thing. "Nostalgia" doesn't really rhyme with the other days of the week. My formitive musical years were 91-99, when I think most of the great music was created ( in my lifetime). I think that a third of my music collection came from this period.

The Archers of Loaf came to my attention after my brother went to the Working Holiday festival in '92 (?). To me they have that anthem rock vibe mixed up with a Polvoish-Sonic Youth dissonance.Vs. The Greatest Hits of All Time burned up my Sony CD player. Audiowhore basically describes my friends at the time. We were name-dropping, indie rock, art-f*g, music-snob, a-holes.

http://www.mediafire.com/?65rsdvnmwoe

Songs For the Trail

To an old school punk rocker, listening to the Bad Brains is like standing on hallowed ground for a soldier. This band was the pinnacle of hardcore and they injected groove into a speed driven sound. H.R., Daryl Jennifer, Earl Hudson, and Dr. Know comprised the legendary D.C. band. If Pay to Cum doesn't get your juices flowing you might have to start doubting you own existance. This song will get you to spin a cadence not thought possible.

http://www.mediafire.com/?b7yzb2vnv2y

This a cool song by the Jellydots called Bicycle. Nice little indie tune to rock you through the trees. It probably would have made me feel better yesterday at Youngers.

http://www.mediafire.com/?5z2ma2nytxz

IT"S FRIGGIN HOT AT YOUNGERS!!!!!

Went out to Younger's Creek today at 5PM. I figured it would be empty because everyone was training for Waverly. I did not make it up any of the switchbacks. I maybe tried one. I couldn't even give it the old college try. It was just too hot and it just drains me. I had some ice cold water in the pack but I tried to conserve it for the long ride.
The terrain at Youngers was a bit more gravelly then I remember (is that a word?). I had a hard time pushing my speed (and confidence) on the turns. I tried to enjoy myself but I kept imaging my girlfriend and a search party finding my dried up corpse after a few days. Around the creek crossing the sensor of my computer snapped off and I have no clue where it went. Anyway, I rode all the trails and went back out the front. All and all I had fun, it was just I had to leave by 6:45 to make a dinner date in Louisville.


The political season is well underway and it's time to read the news, listen to the debates, and read the political blogs. I was thinking about if the country is more political or I do I just notice it more? I think I have narrowed my choice to two candidates. Now if they don't do or say anything stupid for a year, they may have my vote. So maybe I'll reveal my choices at a later time. Who knows?

There has been a big change that happened to kymba maybe almost a year ago. Call me naive but I think it was for the best. Locally we have reopened Cherokee and added more trail to Waverly. I think all that has happened just a few months is remarkable.


All that said, Melissa and I were in the car and the James Brown song, Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved came on the ipod. After a few minutes we both remarked how "on another level" that tune is to everything else. There were some serious musicians in that group that knew how to groove. The song musically to me is a cross between James Brown's Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine, Pt. 1 and The Grunt pt 1, by the JBs. MAN CAN THOSE GUYS JAM!!!!!

http://www.mediafire.com/?d2n0nhj2vqh

Wild On Waverly and Two for You

Wild on Waverly is this weekend. I will not be racing because I am working. I rode out there yesterday and did some trail work. The Fisher blew a tire after one lap. I had trouble trying to get the tube out so I just gave up. The new reroutes are still soft. I hope that we people will be riding it this week to stamp it down. Anyway, I hope to help get the trails ready for this weekend.

Here are a couple songs written and recorded around 1999. The band featured me on bass/vocals, Will Wishon on guitar and vocals, and Jason Anderson on drums. I hate all the names we had, so I won't share them with you. We had a brief reunion a few years later but Will had some personal issues to deal with and bowed out. Jason got married and moved away. As for me, I got addicted to the dirt cycling

The first one is Young Ones. I think this has to do with Will's proclivity to younger girls rather than older girls( that would outsmart him):

http://www.mediafire.com/?cudm9tdwmyy

This next song, Test Prosedure was written my me. It was based on a riff by Fugazi. Lyrically, it like something off of their album Red Medicine. Anyway, it's about how you put up more barriers for each new relationship. I always feel reluctant starting something new after how bad the last one went.

http://www.mediafire.com/?0iua30xlmxw

PJ Harvey

Now that I've learned how to post videos, I'll post another. This a live version of the song "Dress" by PJ Harvey (from Dry). I think I first heard about her from Drew Wilson in the early 90s, Drew is a maniac and I think he used to tape hours of MTV. This lady can rawk, groove, and quiet it down. I have always thought of her as particularly unique because she wasn't girl-power or I'm-a-slut-listen-to-me type rocker chic. Her voice has a sexual quality to it and her song lyrics can go from deeply personal to textured ambiguity. After high school, my girlfriend at the time broke up with me and I'd list to her album Rid of Me over and over. It was a bad idea because it brought Check her out

Cold Slither

My friend Jason S. used to joke about starting a rock band called Cold Slither after the forementioned Zartan and the Vipers of G.I. Joe fame. Pretty funny stuff.

This is a test. Here's Lo Yo Yo Stuff by Captain Beefheart:

http://www.mediafire.com/?149djh9p9gh

Please respond if the link isn't working.

Detroit at the Nachbar

Matt and I went to go see a band from Detroit called I Crime. They were playing at the Nachbar in Germantown . I Crime is a power trio featuring a guy and gal on giters with a drummer. Is there a shortage of bassists in Detroit. The two sang with great harmonies. The drummer was talented and I stared at him as I often do a great drummers. Watching him made me thing of my kit rotting away in various pieces all over the city. Matt was more focused on the chick's guitar. It was some type of hallowbody pawn-shop type guitar.

Matt and I were hammerin down the Newcastles and my energy was directed at shooting the shit. I was getting loaded and so we started people watching. The next band had already come on and I only saw them during trips to the bathroom. Sorry guys.

BANG! the alarm went of at 8AM today. I had forgotten why I had set it. I had to do trail work today at Waverly Chris, Eric, Mike (mostly Mike) and I put in two bridges in the new section of the park. I hope to go out there tomorrow and post some pics. The race is a week away and we hope to have this section of the park finished by then. The Metro Parks guys: Eric and Larry were very helpful and did most of the cutting and digging. The used the dingo to carve most of the sections. Go check it out!!

From a hanger to a glass bottle

Today I picked up my Fisher from Scheller's. I had an issue that stemed from putting on a new rear derailler hanger. When I was on the middle chainring, every gear would slip when some serious torque was applied to it. Since I asked every armchair mechanic I could find, the problem was never solved til I took it to my friend at Scheller's. Thanks.



Recently I downloaded a song from another music blog but didn't really get around to "listening" to it till now. The track was from Ethiopiques Vol 3, Temeles by Alemayehu Eshete/Hirut Beqele. To me it sounds like some down home funk with someone singing in (Asian) Indian. Anywise, I downloaded all the tracks on that album by Alemayehu Eshete and they kick ass. Ethiopian music sounds nothing like the click-clacking of the bushmen from The Gods Must Be Crazy!

Time to kick it off!!!

I'm not sure what this blog is going to be about. It'll bitch and moan about things I think are stupid. I'll also talk tunes and bikes but I'm a piker at both. When I learn more about this, I'll try to make something really cool out of this. Give it some time.....

If you can guess what movie this pic is from, you are allowed to read this blog