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The World According to Scott
This is the section of my site that is strictly reserved for my opinions, my beliefs, and whatever I feel like talking about at the moment. It's updated generally on a fairly regular basis, so check back to see what the most recent things on my mind are.
The views and opinions expressed on this page do not reflect that of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department or Cornell University.
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Am outta here on vacation for the last week of July, no new postings for a bit. See you in August!
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Okay, color me thoroughly impressed. We managed to find our way to Valentine's in Albany, NY to see Chemystry Set last weekend. It was such an amazing experience, that it prompted me to create the following page: How We Became Setheads. There were two opening bands - first was a guy named Tim Segreto. He was pretty cool. It was just him & his acoustic guitar, & a sequencer (I think anyway) that had backing tracks on it that he controlled by foot pedals. Lots of effects, pretty interesting. Second, was Pump for Dumplin. Seeing this band, I was not sure what to make of them. At first, I was somewhat convinced that they were talented, but were making an outright effort to suck. I'm guessing anyway, that this was a one-off gig done for a goof. And if that's the case, then I give them credit for what they did. I've come to this conclusion based on the fact that when I did search on their band name, the site that came up was for Katie Haverly, one of the guitarists in the band. She's got her own solo thing going on & had something posted about the gig on her site, saying it was "the only date this year," or something like that. They did this sort of vaguely punked out music, mixed with a sort of performance art (if you consider some guy running around dressed as Pan handing out dumplings "art"). Not really my thing, but if this really was just something they put together to do once, they deserve an "A" for effort.
We'd gotten there fairly early, because we'd thought that Chemystry Set was going to be playing early, with other bands to follow. As it turned out, the whole band was just finishing the arduous process of loading in all their equipment when we got to the bar & were standing out front. We'd thought maybe we'd just be able to say hello & hear them play, & what happened was we got to just hang out them all for about an hour or so. How cool is that?? Since we already knew Dickie & Patty, we got to meet Sven (guitar), Joel (bass) & Baba (mandolin/ukele) (actually Kathryn had meet them the year before in SF, but that's part of another story). What genuinely nice & extremely cool people. I'm one of those kinds of geeks that when I'm interested in something, I'm INTERESTED IN IT. So, getting the chance to talk with a band that I love & be able to ask them questions, & then have them ask us questions about ourselves, was really a special & unexpected treat. This was a cool gig, & because they were playing on the east coast, members of both Dickie's & Patty's families came, & we also got to meet them as well. Since I'm subscribed to the Chemystry Set list-serv, I get their email announcements regarding upcoming gigs & various other things, which is sent by Sven. If you're on this list, you know what I'm referring to when I say that Sven comes off as a very spiritual, positive kind of guy. Talking to him in person, you get this impression ten fold. Listening to the lyrics & music that he writes, it's just such a vehicle for the positive reinforcement of good living & genuine compassion & sincerity. It's the same hanging out with him. In all honesty, I could say the same things about every single one of the five members of the band - genuine, ultra-cool people.
Anyway, about 9:00pm, we went inside & found a spot near the stage to park ourselves. We patiently endured both opening bands, while waiting for the main event, which was what we came for. While waiting, I wandered over to a table they had set up to sell their merchandising gear, & was extremely excited to see that they were selling their new CD, "Live at the Sweatlodge." I couldn't wait to walk back over & show Kathryn - a new Chemystry Set CD to obsess over! Woo hoo!! I noticed that it was loaded with new material that we hadn't heard, so I knew it was going to be great. Finally, after Pump for Dumplin left the stage, the band set up their equipment & played one tune ("The Last Real Experience") as a soundcheck & then proceeded to play their entire set. The first song they played, was a new one, "Cobblestone Beneath My Feet," which was written during & about their tour of Europe last year. From the opening eight counts of Dickie's cowbell & the ascending "Woooooooo!!" of the whole band, we just knew it was going to be a night to remember. And it absolutely was. All the new songs sounded great, & the ones we recognized off the first album were awesome as well. What a truly amazing band. Each one of the five of them is a master at their instrument & the combination of them all together is, well, inspirational. Their music makes me want to be a better musician, & without sounding too corny, a better person as well. There are just those times when you experience live music & it's just so special, that it provides you with a catalyst that you're able to take with you afterwards & apply it to your everyday life. Seeing them play live was like that, only more so. And to top it all off, the last song they did was a personal favorite of mine called "Think," & Sven dedicated it to Kathryn & I. Now tell me, just how cool is that??? Pretty freakin' cool, I'll tell you. Standing there, holding Kathryn's hand, hearing a song that has helped me get through some extremely hard times over the course of the past year, was nothing short of amazing.
This had been their first show on their east coast tour, & talking to them afterwards, they seemed almost relieved to have "broken the seal," as Joel put it & could now relax more & just play. If this gig was any indication of how other subsequent shows were going to be on this tour, all I can say is that I'm really bummed we weren't able to see them anywhere else, because they just absolutely ROCKED, no questions about it. This is a very special band, playing music that should be heard by millions of people. I'd like to think that if that were to happen, there would be other people who feel like I do about them & how their music makes me feel. In fact, I'm certain that's how it would be. The world we live in today could stand to be influenced by such a positive musical message.
I can only offer many thanks to Sven, Baba, Joel, Patty & Dickie for bringing their beautiful music east, so that we were able to experience it live. See this band. Buy their music. Hear their message. It'll change your life, like it did ours.
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Here's something interesting that my friend & bandmate Bryan sent to me - it's a link that somehow makes the connection between the Dodge truck emblem, & the female reproductive system. Really.
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The garage sale went off pretty well. It was one big pain in the a**, but it was well worth the effort. After paying for the newspaper ad, renting a van to take stuff to both the dump & the Salvation Army, we still ended up making a halfway decent profit. In all honesty, the whole experience was really positive. Everyone who bought something from us seemed to leave really pleased with what they'd gotten. It's kind of nice to think about the ripple effect sort of thing, with the idea that everyone who came to our sale, left with something of ours it hopefully had some sort of positive impact on them because of it. I know that's a bit nonsensical to look at it that way, but it's a nicer way to look at it, I think.
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Got some additional new music. Latest releases by: Beastie Boys, The Killers, Killing Joke, Los Lonely Boys, Black-Eyed Peas & Tortoise. All good stuff.
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Okay, it's official now: John Kerry's running mate is going to be John Edwards. I liked Edwards during the primaries. I hope this combination of these two is going to be enough to do the job in four months.
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We are gearing up for our next garage sale coming up on 7/10/04. I am so glad that we're going to be getting rid of all the stuff we are. I'll be interested to see how much of a profit we may turn on this venture. I'm mainly just glad to have the stuff gone, period.
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Spent part of the July 4th weekend with the Coldren clan & associated friends at Green Lakes. It was great seeing everyone as always. One of the cool things was, on the drive home, we passed probably six or more different places that were shooting off fireworks between the park & our house.
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Finally saw "Fahrenheit 9/11." What a great, great movie. Very well done & extremely powerful movie. I would urge anyone to go see this film, regardless of your political beliefs. Granted, I'm not sure very many Republicans are going to have something like this change their minds, but just the same, this should be required viewing for anyone who's a registered voter in the upcoming presidential election this coming fall. Michael Moore is obviously biased in his opinions, & one of the things that I've been somewhat critical of him in the past is that sometimes he goes just a little too far & can lose people because of that. In all honesty, in this movie, he shies away from a lot of his usual type of stuff, & just lets the facts & the film footage speak for themselves. People can say what they want about Moore, but this movie & more like it should be playing everywhere this year. I find it ironic that people say he "hates America," when the reality of it is that he's a patriot who loves his country & is fighting against the people that are trying to turn the United States into a "for profit" business for them & their friends. Go see the movie, decide for yourself what you think. You'll be glad that you did.
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There's a current ad campaign being run by PleaseVote.com that's raised a bit of a stir. See two of the images below.
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It appears that Michael Angley has chosen to change the name of his show from Pirate TV to Angley Live now. If you go to the link, you can actually see streaming video versions of his show. I love this show.
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The vast majority of new music purchased was done so on last month's vacation, courtesy of Amoeba Music for the most part. Included & in no particular order: Velvet Revolver (not a bad album, but not as good as I'd hoped for), The Kicks (very well produced power pop with loads of hooks, good stuff), The Pixies greatest hits (great stuff, a must-have in anyone's collection) The Kings (this was a great find, their first two albums on 1 CD!!!), Melissa Auf der Maur (good first solo effort from former bassist of both Hole & Smashing Pumpkins), Yeah Yeah Yeahs (another bass-less band, but good just the same, check out their single "Maps"), Octavius (odd electronic music, but very beautiful, came highly recommended from a number of folks at Amoeba Music), The Exploding Hearts (great pop punk played in with an old school vibe), Alanis Morissette (another good album from her, can't help but love the song "Everything"), Kill Bill soundtracks Vol.1 & Vol.2 (if you liked the movies, you'll love the soundtracks), The Von Bondies (the whole album "Pawn Shoppe Heart" is great from start to finish), Franz Ferdinand (good power pop with an 80s slant to it), & the compilation Rock Against Bush Vol.1 (not only a worthwhile album to pick up if only for political reasons, but also an excellent mix of great songs by great bands). If I've forgotten anything, I'll re-post later. (Turns out I did forget two more - The Wildhearts (good 80s style metal with a power pop feel)& Laughingstock (interesting acoustic type stuff).
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Chemstry Set has set up an brief tour of the east coast this month. The closest date they're playing near us is at a club in Albany, NY called Valentine's. We're looking forward to it.
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Got our tickets to see the Yes - Dream Theater double bill at the State Fair on 9/2/04. Should be a fairly amazing show & am very much looking forward to it. Kat & I are taking her younger brother Nate to see them for the first time & he's pretty psyched about it. Word is this may be Yes' last tour - it's being billed as their 35th Anniversary Tour anyway, so that would make sense. Was glad to hear that Rick Wakeman is back in the fold for this go-around. If you've never seen him live, you've never really seen someone play keyboards, seriously.
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Col. Walter E. Kurtz is dead at 80. He will be missed.
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We have a family of groundhogs that lives right near us. They come in our backyard to feed. They're really cool.
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