Mixology

I've been on a rage recently working on new installments to Volumes of Secret Constellations.  About half of the new ones are actually new mixes, the other half are older that just needed to have a song added here and there and sequenced.  I'm not sure where the recently burst of mixology came from.  When you find yourself still awake at one in the morning on a Thursday night finishing up the third mix of the night, you just kind of go with it.

Here is the updated list:

073-Led Zeppelin

074-Nilsson

075-Neil V

076-Boston Spaceships

077-Pavement

078-Bob Mould

079-Mascis/Barlow

080-Nirvana

081-Blue Oyster Cult

082-Go-Betweens

083-Sleater-Kinney

084-Crooked Fingers

085-The Doors

086-Teenage

087-Winter

088-Taking Heads

089-AC/DC

090-Queen

086 & 087 are also sequenced like rock operas.  Seriously.  Here is the working cover for 087:

Photo credit to my wonderful and talented wife!

Let The Bad Times Roll

This past September the stage was set for a great night out on the town for my wife and I.  Our favorite band Guided By Voices were playing in downtown Dayton at a new festival that featured a bunch of other bands we were excited about seeing.  We waited patiently all summer, very excited about what was sure to be a great night.

The night rolled around and here is how we spent it:

We spent the night in the kitchen eating orzo and listening to long forgotten hits of the 90's on spotify.  Well that, drank a lot.  You see, an incredibly evil insurance company* I won't name saw to it that we couldn't afford to attend.  They required us to do some work on the house that completely wiped out our budget to attend the concert.  Then they dropped us the next month.  Excuse me, I am going to take a break because I need to take a deep breath.

Okay, my blood pressure is returning to normal.  I'll continue.

So we missed perhaps our last chance to see Guided By Voices (note GbV: please tour again).  Pretty horrible story, right?  So why even write about the whole ordeal?  Because it turned out being a great night.  I had a great time singing Everclear songs with my wife in our kitchen.  It was instance where my wife saw I was pretty down and wouldn't allow me to dwell on negative things I can't control.  She took it upon herself to help make the night a good one.  Sure, at the time I was pretty bummed.  But looking back I remember it being a pretty great time.

  *-I will give a hint, it rhymes with the college in Indiana that David Letterman attended.  Fuckers.

Digging For Something

I started using Fitocracy exactly six months ago.  I wasn't sure how much I would use it at first, but I must say I really enjoy tracking my progress every day.  In that time I have collected 122,200 points and have reached level 29.  Not bad!  I celebrated by digging out my favorite workout shirt and listening to AC/DC, Superchunk, and the Bee Gees.

Stairway to the Stars

Blue Oyster Cult has come up in conversation a couple times in the last month or so.  Unfortunately, they've been getting kicked around a little bit.  I find this unacceptable and will use this post to honor BOC.  There is no two ways about it: They rule.  My wife has a joke that their greatest hits album is only one song long.  I offer up this list up in defense:

1. She's As Beautiful As a Foot

2. Stairway to the Stars

3. Astronomy

4. The Red & The Black

5. Flaming Telepaths

6. Career of Evil

7. This Ain't The Summer of Love

8. Harvester of Eyes

9. Fire Of Unknown Origin

10. Before the Kiss, A Recap

A great top ten and I didn't even mention their two biggest hits or  how incredible their album covers are.  The defense rests, and I now consider this case closed.

Watch Me Jumpstart

Right before last New Year I had a sinus infection and had to go to the doctor.  I got on the scale and almost fainted.  My blood pressure was ridiculous.  The doctor even made a crack about me not missing any meals.  I was pretty depressed and promised myself that getting this under control was a my goal for the coming year.

This is me in November 2011.

So I kicked ass this year.  Thanks to my wife who got me a gym membership, I've lost about 50 pounds.  I started in March on the treadmill and soon added walks with Julia when the weather warmed up.  I started the stationary bike in July and added lifting weights in August.  I also listened to a shit ton of music, which is always a great motivation.

Hey same clothes!  December 2012.

My New Year's Resolution this year is even more important than last year's.  I need to keep the weight off.  I've lost weight in the past only to fall out of my exercise habits and slowly watch the weight come back.  Last year was the easy part.  This year will be more difficult, but I have faith I can achieve my goal. 

My theme song this past year was "Keep It In Motion" by Guided By Voices.  I muttered this phrase to myself many times when I didn't feel up to doing the extra ten minutes on the bike or when I didn't feel like spending an hour walking in snow flurries.  It shall be my theme song this year.  Hell, it has become a way of life.

Dig Me Out

For the fourth time in three days I found myself outside shoveling snow.  I would complain but I only had to once all of last winter.  Over the course of these three days, I've found something of great scientific importance.  The enjoyment of the tedious task of shoveling snow improves tenfold when the music of the Brothers Gibb is involved.  I came up with this hypothesis on the first day and tested it over the course of the last two.  I now believe that said hypothesis to be scientifically proved.

Here is proof.

First Twenty-Two

I've wrote before how I am using the Under Pressure list for my workouts on the stationary bike as a list for my favorite albums.  My goal is to figure out my top 500 albums.  As you will see below, I am not even attempting putting them in order.  I had intended to post the albums here fifteen at a time, but I got a little behind this week, so here are the first twenty-two.  These albums can officially drink now.

Guns N Roses-Appetite for Destruction

Cheap Trick-In Color

Neil Young & Crazy Horse-Zuma
Big Star-Radio City

Sugar-Copper Blue

Beatles-Revolver

Beatles-Rubber Soul

Boston Spaceships-Zero to 99

Replacements-Let It Be

Thin Lizzy-Jailbreak

Guided by Voices-Isolation Drills

Minutemen-Double Nickels on the Dime

Husker Du-New Day Rising

Elvis Costello & The Attractions-Get Happy!!
Pixies-Doolittle

David Bowie-The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

Neutral Milk Hotel-In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Go Betweens-16 Lovers Lane
Nirvana-In Utero
Beach Boys-Pet Sounds

Pearl Jam-Vitalogy
Grateful Dead-American Beauty

Quick fact:  One of my favorite Flyers of all time, Marques Bennett, wore number 22.  He is the basketball equivalent of listening to Double Nickels on the Dime.  Here is a picture of Mr. Bennett during the game that he scored five points in five seconds and was named MVP of the Dayton/Xavier game many years back.  Now that was a fun day.