Friday Random 10

It’s that time again…

1. “Scratch & Sniff” – Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Outbound
2. “Spanish Gold” – Icehouse, Measure for Measure
3. “The Ely Diamond” – Roger Eno, Music of Neglected English Composers
4. “Audio Verite” – Echolyn, As the World
5. “Tide Me Over Warm ’em Ups” – Age of Empires soundtrack
6. “Flanagan’s People” – National Health, Complete
7. “White Car” – Yes, Drama
8. “Talking Through Pictures” – Marc Jordan, Talking Through Pictures
9. “Flying Start” – Mike Oldfield, Islands
10. “Die Bunge” – Cluster & Eno, Cluster & Eno

Enjoy your weekend!

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The Nest, She’s-a Empty

Mo and I have had sufficient time to recover from last week’s tactical victory to sit back and reflect on K’s move to Mizzou.

We got to Mizzou just before the 9AM start time, and sure enough, as soon as we got everything emptied onto the sidewalk and the car parked, the rain began to fall.   We managed to schlep everything up the stairs, towel off the wetter stuff, put a few things into place, meet her roommate Devon, pick up a few needed items, rearrange the furniture (again), and eventually (sniff) say goodbye…

K, early on in the move-in process

In our periodic contacts with K since, it sounds like college life is to her liking, and will be even moreso once a couple weeks have gone by and some of the kinks are straightened out.  Mizzou-RAH!

An Empty Nest Random Friday 10

The first “empty nest” Friday requires a special soundtrack — let’s see what ten comes up on the shuffle first:

1. “Wanderlust” – Delays, Faded Seaside Glamour
2. “The Storyteller” – Wakeman with Wakeman, Tapestries
3. “Redrap” – Geoff Downes, The Light Program
4. “Gills” – James Newton Howard, Waterworld soundtrack
5. “Fantasia” – Klaus Doldinger & Giorgio Moroder, The Never Ending Story soundtrack
6. “Earth Dance” – Brand X, Masques
7. “I Robot” – Alan Parsons Project, I Robot
8. “Blurry” – Puddle of Mudd, ACE COMBAT 5: The Unsung War soundtrack
9. “Sever” – Porcupine Tree, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1994-1997
10. “Masked Ball” – Jocelyn Pook, Eyes Wide Shut soundtrack

What a super list:  several soundtrack numbers, one of the greatest instrumental tracks (#7)…TGIF!

MN Flashback – “The Ranch”

Throughout my school years, I grew up on a 560 acre farm 5 miles WNW of Beltrami, MN.  The homestead was called “The Ranch,” although it’s been close to a century since there was any cattle there.

We had everything we could want growing up:  great neighbors, enough trees and road ditches to house interesting wildlife and hold tree houses of all kinds, lots of lawn for any type of sport, dark night skies, and great farming soil.
 

“The Ranch”

Many a 2-on-2 baseball game was played between the quonset and the barn.  Many an evening was spent in the bedroom (in the top left window in the photo) listening to Herb Carneal call the Twins ballgame while the train whistle blew four miles to the east.  Many hours were spent tag-team mowing the yard with my siblings, and just as many hours snowmobiling in the winter.  Army men battles raged in the sandbox.

We speared carp in the ditch just to the south, trapped many $$ worth of pocket gophers, shot skunks that the dog had cornered (always in the middle of the night), and even had a moose wander through the yard.  After coming off the combines in August, we’d head outside after supper to track satellites and meteors or look through the telescope, with “Mystery Theater” playing on NPR.  We rode at least the distance to the moon and back on the school bus over the years.  Pulled many a weed (and thrown them at the pigs) but harvested vegetables of all sorts (and rhubarb!!), and had many a crabapple fight.

Yeah, I’d do it all over again.

1987 Flashback Friday Random 10

The year was 1987 — the Twins won their first World Series, I was in my 3^rd year of working for Hughes Aircraft Company, and I was dating Mo.  This Friday’s random 10 were all released in 1987:

1. “Girl in the Moon” – Icehouse, Man of Colours
2. “Oro Blanco (White Gold) – Rubaja & Hernandez, High Plateaux
3. “Curryclub” – Geoff Downes, The Light Program
4. “Distant Village” (Michael Brook) – Various Artists, Angels in the Architecture
5. “Airy Area” – Ozric Tentacles, There is Nothing
6. “Jethro” – Geoff Downes, The Light Program
7. “Spirit of Summer” – Deodato, Prelude
8. “Kleine Blume Irgendwo” (Hans-Joachim Roedelius) – Various Artists, Angels in the Architecture
9. “Too Late” – Alan Parsons Project, Gaudi
10. “Midnight Blue” – Lou Gramm, Ready or Not

Geoff Downes’ The Light Program has to be my favorite instrumental keyboard CD; found it used at a shop on Ventura Boulevard.  I am still noticing new layers of sound on some of the tracks that I hadn’t noticed on previous listenings.

“Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beetles”

Time to unveil some more photos newly added to my insect website — this time, Coleoptera: the beetles…

An Alternate Random Friday 10

This Friday I set the shuffle to “Alternate” (whether they were correctly categorized or not, who knows?) – let ‘er rip:

1. “Electricity” – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, The Best of OMD
2. “Everywhere That I’m Not” – Translator, Everywhere That We Were: The Best of Translator
3. “A Poor Man’s Memory” – Explosions in the Sky, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever
4. “I Love You (Miss Robot)” – The Buggles, The Age of Plastic
5. “ABC Auto Industry” – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Dazzle Ships
6. “Doctor Worm” – They Might Be Giants, Severe Tire Damage
7. “Hope for Us” – The Jealous Sound, Kill Them with Kindness
8. “Experimental Film” – They Might Be Giants, The Spine
9. “Just Another Day” – Oingo Boingo, 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Oingo Boingo
10. “O Lazarus” – Translator, Everywhere That We Were: The Best of Translator

A few duplicates, but some great tracks.  Enjoy your weekend!

Lunatic Fringe (An X-Files Comparison)

Last year the new TV series Fringe appeared, and many people were quick to call it “The X-Files for the new century,” and rightly so.  While the show has its flaws (don’t they all?), the characters are interesting, and although Mo dropped out, K and I watched it through season one and look forward to the upcoming season.

But back to the X-Files comparison — this was a fun little mental exercise one morning when I woke up too early and couldn’t get back to sleep; let’s see if it makes any sense in the light of day.  The characters, and their equivalent:

Agent Fox Muldur Agent Dana Scully	Special Agent Olivia Dunham Peter Bishop
Assistent Director Walter Skinner	Homeland Security Agent Phillip Broyles
Melvin Frohike Richard “Ringo” Langly John Byers	Walter Bishop Astrid Farnsworth
CGB Spender “Cigarette Smoking Man” (CSM)	Nina Sharp

No X-Files equivalent has come to mind for Fringe‘s Agent Charlie Francis, and until more is known about Fringe characters Mitchell Loeb (Alex Krycek?), William Bell (Well-Manicured Man?), Agent John Scott, or even The Observer (Alien Bounty Hunter?), making any comparison is just conjecture.

The comparisons can go a lot deeper than just the characters (alien activity vs. “The Pattern”, the Syndicate vs. Massive Dynamics, etc.) but again, Fringe needs to flesh things out more before conclusions can be drawn.

In the meantime, can’t wait until season two!  Now, back to sleep…