A Sip of Brandi

Have meant to write about Brandi Carlile, my favorite musician who is still alive, since the inception of this blog.

Before anyone writes her off by the spelling of the first name, rest assured that Ms. Carlile is nothing like a teenage fad singer. She has made a name for herself through authenticity --- something that fully 93 percent of all musical acts these days lack. There are no dance moves. No bling. No sultry, oversexed music videos. No stutter-like drawing out of lyrics ala Whitney Houston that only draws attention away from the lyrics and to the singer. (E.g. One of the most egregious times to do this is the National anthem, which, if you're singing it properly, should take about 45 seconds. Instead, these days we get, "♪ O'er the laaa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-AAA-n-d of the free-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-aaaa----eeeee and the Hoo-oo-o-o-o-o-o-o-me of the braaa-a-a-a-a-a-a--aa-a-a-aaaaaaaeeeeeaaaaaveeeeee ♪♫"). They record live-to-tape; no digital splicing and dicing. Beyond fabulous hair and some make-up, there is little frill from Ms. Carlile. All the frill required is contained in the words and the voice.

The link directly below leads to a YouTube video of a song from the upcoming album "Give Up the Ghost" titled, "Before It Breaks."

Brandi is helped along by the songwriting, guitar and background vocals of the Hanseroth twins, Tim and Phil, and Josh Neumann on the cello. Some of the strongest songs to this point have been written by one or other of the twins, including the breakout hit "The Story." A few of her solo-written tracks on the first two albums regularly make me push the fast-forward button, most notably, "Happy." But Brandi herself is becoming a stronger writer, especially on "Again Today" and road titles "How These Days Grow Long / Dying Day" and "Love Songs."

I hate to pigeonhole any artist by saying, "their songs are ___" because there is eclecticism even on records where every song produces more or less the same vibe. To me, acts like Nickelback and Dave Matthews Band sound the same, song in and song out --- the words do change, but you get basically the same feeling and an album is 45 minutes of the same moan. Brandi's music has been described as trending toward the somewhat dark with a hint of rebellion. But mixed in along the way are some spiritual tracks like "Have You Ever," some anthem songs like "The Story" and "My Song," some great covers (both on CD albums and in live performance repertoire) including Elton John's "Madman Across the Water," and a few great on-the-road songs. Even the major categories provide a little difficulty. Is it Rock? Pop? Folk? Country? In truth, it's a pure blend that shouldn't be categorized.

Two years ago, a paperwork jaunt up to Maine was timed to coincide with a free outdoor concert where the Brandi Carlile band was an opening act/co-headliner, sponsored by L.L. Bean and held just outside their flagship store in Freeport. Of several photos I tried to take with my then-new digital camera, only one had a clear image of the stage --- and even then, there were hands and heads in the way and the lighting at that dusk hour was terrible for photography. The set mostly consisted of tracks from "The Story" album. The audio is included at the LL Bean site (click on the 'Listen to our Concert Series' link and from there, click on the Brandi Carlile entry for audio of the full shows. Very cool of LL Bean to do all of this). I thoroughly enjoyed that trip and am looking forward to her band's new album.

Zelda In Real Life

Recently, I discovered a web site that has some old Super Nintendo games available for download as freeware to be played on a PC. I suppose when a game is almost 20 years old, the makers assume they've milked just about all they're going to get. First, checked it out vis-a-vis malware and found that it was reputable. Looked around and found that they had Zelda: A Link to the Past available. That sure brought back memories.... Spent summers in WNY helping load hay at my uncle's farm and firewood at another uncle's.

At this other uncle's, the television was rigged with a metal box on the side of the television stand containing the power cords and a contraption to regulate television usage with a key. Now, my cousin always seemed like a master at getting the original or a spare copy of that key, despite the best efforts of my uncle to keep it turned off during the day, at least. My cousin would find a spare in a pair of pants or on a dresser and one time had several copies of the key made at a hardware store.

One by one, he would get caught with the television on at a time when it was supposed to be locked and the contraband key was confiscated. But not too often while I was there. I admit it, I aided and abetted. And so, taking a break from splitting logs when everyone else was out and about, we would go inside and play Zelda.

For anyone who's never played it, Zelda is a one-player game where the character, Link, must search for various and sundry items and tools to help him navigate the way toward beating Ganon, an evil wizard. All the while, Link must maintain his magic level and 'heart' power rating (you earned more hearts by destroying a boss at each castle, and by finding hidden pieces hither and yon in the game --- inside caves, through portals, in the oddest of places that required using whatever tool would get the job done). Often, you have to backtrack and go over the same ground 100 times. Many people might get frustrated by this, but we were 12, we drank highly-sugared iced tea mix (I would bring this as a masking agent for the high sulfur content of WNY water --- it helped minimally), and by using a secret television key, it had the lure of the forbidden.

But now that I'm seeing it again, Zelda does seem to have some parallels with real life, doesn't it? All the times when you had to go through the same door six times because you forgot something, you needed to complete some other steps first or just because that's how many trips it took to bring everything where you needed it. So many times we cross paths with people who hold some tiny clue in our greater quest, but without that smidgen of information or bit of help, we would be unprepared or entirely lost as what to do next. And sometimes, we simply need to look around, explore what's out there and hope we get lucky.

Adios, Facebook

Decided to terminate my Facebook account of about 6 months tonight "with extreme prejudice" (as a judicial term, that means that a case will not be heard again by a lower court). It's been heading that way for some time now because that site is very narcissistic, negative, and a time-drainer. That does not include everyone on that site, mind you. But in a better world, it would be used as many of my 'friends' did to write about something good that happened, post pictures, etc. Too many people seem to use it to vent their anger. There's a time to evaluate things and ask "Do I need this in my life?"

The feather that broke the camel's back was just a slight run-in with someone whom I like less and less each time I meet her in real life... and her little dog too! In all other respects, I wish her very happy. But I don't have much time for irrational, self-centered people who think they know it all, and like an old T-shirt of mine read, "I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person." This kind of situation does not happen often in my life. I do not have a problem interacting with the vast majority of people. It's a very select percent that deserve what my uncle calls "Dufresne Diplomacy." And even then, I remain civil.

"Tell the truth, then run like hell!" --- George Seldes

21 August 2009

The bathroom has been pretty much done for about a week now. Nice to have running water back, that's for sure. Haven't had the wherewithal (or recharged batteries in the camera) to take some pictures yet, but I will.

Have been a little under the weather with what I believe may have been a slight case of food poisoning. This was along with several other people sitting at the same table with similar symptoms. Those people who didn't eat the suspected food didn't get ill. The reasons for my suspicions are logical and numerous (and like so many other events in this world not 100% certainty), as are my reasons for not typing out all of the details. A little achy in the joints but am starting to feel better. Unlike several others, I did not get a fever or have the degree of symptoms, probably attributable to a good immune system and a diet including lots of garlic. That's the nature of these things --- with seven people there can be slightly different sets of symptoms. It is a bit of the control freak in me that, for this reason, I like to prepare the food I'm eating, or know the person who prepared the food. Any restaurant --- from the Waldorf-Astoria to Hell's Kitchen to Joe's hot dog stand carries the potential for these kinds of problems. I really do not intend to offend anyone who may be reading this and I will not be going into specific details in a public forum. I am not looking to blame anyone, am not holding grudges, nor accusing any party of being bad hosts just because a virus showed up uninvited. It happens. It flushes out of the system. We move on.

The power company changed the transformer at the top of the telephone pole in the front lawn. I had noticed several weeks ago that a red light appeared on the transformer and noted that I'd never seen that before. The power went out last week at about 11 p.m., and I woke up at 5 a.m. to yellow flashing lights and the engines of three big power company trucks --- two equipped with cherry-picker hydraulic lift systems. A spiffy new light gray transformer was up on the pole. One of the guys in the cherry picker took out a long pole, turned up a switch and the electronics in the house came back to life with a chorus of beeps along with a loud whir of the central vacuum system. It had been one of those hot, humid nights, but we made it through all right by trapping in the remnants of the air conditioned... air, but if it had taken much longer the windows would've been opened. I cannot wait for this most recent humid spell to end, as the weather personalities say it will early next week. Heat can be tolerated. The worst thing about this weather is that layer of sweaty, grimy buildup from the humidity (caused by sweat not evaporating) that doesn't go away until rinsed in a shower.

Elsewhere, the garden is progressing pretty well. I banked a few quart-sized freezer bags of kale for the winter. The cucumbers are now hitting their stride, leaving me eating about two per day (not complaining!) and we still have enough to give away to neighbors. The yellow squash is rolling along, but the zucchini isn't doing very well. Only two plants have survived thus far (even with trying to stagger-plant some more from seeds "guaranteed to grow!") and they aren't showing much sign of fruit. One root that came apart had been penetrated by the squash borers. Very disappointing. Tomatoes, though, are starting to come around. We'll be seeing more of them ripen in the coming weeks. Have started thinking about putting up some concrete-anchored posts or poles for next year's cucumbers to climb up a mesh work and to try some upside-down tomato plants. It's always such a chore to keep them upright in the cages; perhaps it's time to try out this fad and use gravity to our advantage. We shall see.

11 August 2009

The bathroom painting took a little longer than expected because it required a second coat, and especially in the bathroom it's good to put that extra layer there. We went with Supreme Green at Sherwin-Williams. That's really the only place to go for paint in my experience. Have used Behr, Glidden, Dutch Boy, etc. and none of them were as easy to work with as S-W. Well, I lied, actually. The Rustoleum brand (both spray and roller/brush paints) gets a high rating as well... but they're not for interior walls.

Did get the toilet in, a day behind the mental schedule of Thursday last. Just wanted to give that paint extra drying time for a full cure before placing things against it. The toilet install was relatively easy, though. The hardest part was caulking along the bottom rim, what with the lack of good angles with the caulking gun and having to clean the excess away. The toilet was christened that night.

Speaking of christening, we attended my niece's baptism down in Southington on Sunday at St. Aloysius. We ourselves are not Catholic (and personally speaking, I try to steer clear of organized religion), so it is somewhat amusing to watch the ritual of Sunday Mass. It was also somewhat amusing to see "FUCI" carved into the left rearmost pew --- there were the beginnings of the K diagonals, though faint. We pointed it out to an usher. Otherwise, my cousin down from western NY was denied communion because she is not Catholic. That policy just... seems very un-Christ-like. And again, this is but one of a million examples why organized religion isn't my bag. The more people brought into any group, collective intelligence, efficiency and dedication to the original purpose suffers --- rules are adopted to suit the particular whims of a majority or passionate vocal minority of members, core beliefs are staked out a la carte, intra-church cliques appear, the Us vs.Them mentality forms between different church branches (as much as Christians will usually deny, deny, deny the extent of this simple fact) and before you know it, the church is more of a social organization than anything else. As for me, I know what I know, I know what I believe, I can conceive the immensity of what humanity cannot possibly know, and I try to reconcile a little sense from it. Anyway, after the baptism was a lunch at a local restaurant and it was nice to see some family members we don't get a chance to meet up with very often.

Sunday night, I saw my Buffalo Bills get faked out of their shoes early in the NFL's Hall of Fame game, the first game of the preseason. But there were some positive showings, including Terrell Owens getting two nice catches in the starting offense's brief appearance. The pair of rookie offensive linemen projected to start were raw at times but showed promise. Especially on the play where Andy Levitre was shoved backward into the Edwards's face... and yet, to his credit, he stayed upright and bought his QB an extra second when many veterans the team has had in the past 10 years would've fallen down or morphed into a turnstile. You've got to appreciate a lineman who has the mentality that even if something goes badly, he won't let a defense have a free shot on the QB. Too many times, from players making enough money to make you think they'd actually care ($7M +), they stood and watched as their QB got pummeled.

Anyway, got the pedestal sink in position last night, and lag-bolted to the floor and wall. Need to do some jury-rigging with the drain pipes (we want to try to hide as much as we can inside the pedestal) and connect the water lines, and it'll be good to go. Opened the mirror I picked up at Lowe's a while back, and there are some dark splotches from where the glue is on the backside. They've faded since it's been out of the box, but still quite noticeable. My fault. I should have opened the box at the store and looked. It was on clearance when we got it, so I don't know what their return policy will be... Will try anyway if the spots don't go away. 'Clearance' shouldn't mean 'Defective.'

"I'm privately convinced that most of the really bad writing
the world's ever seen has been done under the influence
of what's called inspiration. Writing is very hard work
and knowing what you're doing the whole time."
--- Shelby Foote

Cherry Tomatoes

I took this photo a couple of years ago with the idea that the cluster looked similar to those big drag-racing traffic lights: red, yellow, green. The tomatoes (cherry, Roma and Celebrity varieties) this year aren't growing nearly as well as they usually do. Some people are saying that the deluge of rains we've been having since spring has contributed to a tomato blight. The leaf bunches have progressively (from the bottom up) turned yellowish, then brown spotting, and then they are sere. It may be that with the frequent rain, the roots haven't developed as they normally do. Then again, as my grandfather --- who was a farmer --- taught us long ago, I plant tomatoes deep so the roots are pretty much forced to spread.

Now, this is not to say that there's no tomato production. Just, not as many and not as full as they always have been. Connecticut grown tomatoes are some of the best tasting you'll find, with that rich, concentrated classic tomato smell and taste. The ones available in the supermarket from California or Florida have absolutely no taste. It's like eating solidified red water pouches, and essentially that's the science as well. What makes for the smell and taste is the vitamins and minerals from the soil; if these are lacking, the plant will make do with what it can get, but the fruit quality suffers.

I guess I'll be able to make a diagnosis when I pull them up in the fall. The findings are always interesting.

4 August 2009

A couple of nature notes.... Yesterday morning, our resident great blue heron was down by the water in the boat launch next door. It had caught a catfish that was about 10 inches, and was working away at it. Thing was, the fish was just too big for the heron to swallow whole (as herons do). So, the poor fella whose cup ranneth over was left to stabbing at the catfish over and over with its beak, and flexing its throat, trying to swallow again, then repeating this process a few times. You could almost see the frustration on the heron's gestures, not knowing how he'd actually eat this thing that was just too big to fit down his gullet, but not wanting to give up on a kill that he'd already devoted about 45 minutes on. Then, someone came down the boat launch and the heron flew off.

Today, just about an hour ago, I was kayaking out on the lake and saw what looked like a turtle head popping out of the water, so I paddled over to investigate. Most of the time in these encounters the turtle is long gone, but the stealth of the kayak (my second time in it) might not have scared it. I got to within about a foot of the creature and it just floated there, as if in suspended animation. Its head was about the size of my fist and its body/shell was roughly the perimeter of an elongated toilet seat. I've heard stories of larger turtles on this lake, but this is the biggest I've ever seen firsthand.

In bathroom work news, I grouted the tile floor yesterday. Spray painted the radiator with appliance epoxy (you should not use regular paint for baseboard, as it cuts down on the effectiveness of the heat dispersion), which has to dry for about 9 hours to handle (fully dry in 24 hours). Plan on priming the walls with some Kilz tomorrow morning, sealing the grout in the afternoon, then painting the walls tomorrow night.

2 August 2009

Further to my previous entry, today I mapped out and set the tile on the bathroom floor. It went fairly smoothly, though it did take a little longer than I thought it would. A lot of the delay was in cutting some ~3/4" tiles to run along the wall. Baseboard molding was be just shy of reaching the full tile, so if you're going to go part of the way, you may as well keep going and fill the whole space. Had a devil of a time with an old tile cutter / snapper. No accuracy at all with that thing, but it did the job, I suppose. Will now wait for the adhesive to fully dry --- I'll give it 36 hours --- and then start grouting on Monday morning, which is coincidentally, my birthday. Will probably prime and paint the walls on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, if all goes according to schedule, in go the toilet and sink and a couple more items on the punch list.