Feb
29
2012

Indie Rock

(Add / View Comments) (0)Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - 07:58:43 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music, Instagram Instagram)
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There was something in the mail from Melbourne today. Have been enjoying the MP3's for quite some time, but it's pretty cool to now have the physical product.
Feb
25
2012

Mexican Fiesta

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, February 25, 2012 - 08:16:54 am
(Posted Under: This Desert Life This Desert Life, Instagram Instagram)
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Tonight was comprised of an awesome Mexican Fiesta dinner, drinks and great conversation.
Feb
20
2012

Blonde Moments In Music

(Add / View Comments) (0)Monday, February 20, 2012 - 02:23:38 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music)
This rates as a blonde moment...

My favorite Glass Heroes song by far is Turn It Off. About a month of so it was driving me nuts that I couldn't listen to it. To the extent that one night I spent about 2 hours trying to find a download for it. Not because I didn't want to pay for it, it's just not overly available, and I wanted to hear it right then. Anyways, I was completely unsuccessful.

About 2 weeks later, I was happy to find and purchase a copy of the Glass Heroes record at Zia. Ironically, when trying to find CD artwork for it that night, I came across a now unneeded download of the whole album without even trying.

But that's not the blonde moment. I was just now listening to Exile On Cameron Harper Street, which I've owned for years. Of course, track #19 is, yes, Turn It Off. Fuck me. Nice job completely forgetting that you had the song on CD dumbass! (I guess in my defense, it is mis-titled on Exile).

The upside is that I would have brought the CD either way.
Now Playing: Glass Heroes - Turn It Off
Feb
18
2012

I Am AZ Music

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, February 18, 2012 - 07:28:47 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Instagram Instagram)
No, that's not a big self important statement. It's the name of the current exhibit at the Phoenix Music Instrument Museum, in conjunction with the state's centennial, which opened today. You had me at...err..."I Am AZ Music". I've been looking forward to it for weeks.

As excited as we both were to see the entire exhibit, let's not bullshit here - there was one item on display we were most excited to see, and headed straight for it. Doug Hopkins white 1986 Studio Les Paul. I've seen many Les Pauls, some famous, some worth obscene amounts of money. But I don't think seeing any other guitar, Les Paul or otherwise, will compare to this one. Actually, I know it won't. You just can't top seeing your guitar hereo's infamous axe. You just can't.

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If how beat up your main instrument is an measure of what a rock n' roll musician you are, and in my experience it is, there is no mistaking that this was Hopkins guitar. Volume knob missing, cigarette burns, beer and sweat stains and no shortage of chips and misuse. That's rock n' roll.

Bill's displayed basses were also cool items. Particularly of interest to me was that they were noted as used on Dusted, Up and Crumbling, New Miserable Experience and Congratulations I'm Sorry respectively. That and the older P-Bass was sporting a Guns N' Roses sticker. Which funnily enough harked back to a conversation from earlier this morning. I don't think either of use were expecting that. A pretty cool display all around. How can you not be impressed by a massive background of the art work of your favorite album of all time?

The rest of the I Am Arizona exhibit was well done. It was just after 10 when we originally went up there, are returned for the tour later on in the day. Lot's of stuff donated by John Dixon, who was also there in person. Kind wished we'd gone up and thanked him on that recent vinyl purchase of ours that came from his collection.

And the rest of the museum it's self - wow. We've known about the museum for a couple of years, and while we wanted to check it out, we had thought that the $15 admission seemed a little steep. And this morning, I expected to spend only a few hours there. Well, I take it all back. The museum is fantastic, and well worth the money. Having the I Am AZ Music exhibit made it a no brainer for us this weekend, but after seeing the museum I think that $15 is completely reasonable, even without a special event. And we struggled to see everything by 5pm when it closed.

My only complaint was that they didn't have I Am AZ Music t-shirts. A big disappointment to both of us. Which meant we had to buy this... I've never been as quick to purchase something without even knowing the price. (Okay, I would have had to buy this, even if they did have t-shirts).

Now Playing: Gin Blossoms - Found Out About You
Feb
12
2012

Tombstone

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosSunday, February 12, 2012 - 11:20:38 pm
(Posted Under: Travel, Valentines Weekend 2012)
Photobox ImageAfter Boot Hill, it was on to the main attraction - downtown Tombstone. A lot of fun. It was more touristy than I had expected. Which might sound like an odd thing. But I guess that comes from the fact that I've been to a lot of South Western towns that are just towns. Wilcox yesterday is a prime example of that. A really small, quiet town that doesn't seem like it's changed much. One where you feel like any crazy south west shit could happen. Tombstone was more of an attraction, and while on a much more subtle scale than your typical theme parks, still noticeable. I guess you get that from living here, and seeing a lot of towns that just are. I'm not saying it was a bad thing, I mean, what the hell did I want, but still not exactly what I was expecting.

The other thing we noticed was how little we knew about the history of Tombstone. But by the end of the day we'd absorbed a lot. The fact that the town didn't really amount to much until the book, and then the movie was interesting. As to was the fact that Hollywood wasn't particularly good with the details being correct. Go figure.

We spent most of the day walking around, checking things out for the most part. We had intentions to eat at the Mexican restaurant there, which like yesterday, eating took a back seat, and didn't actually happen.

Photobox ImageThe street gun fight was pretty cool. And we were both impressed that every other weekend the have people put it on. Which goes to what I was saying about it being more touristy than I expected. It's not necessarily a bad thing. That was definitely enjoyable. And made

And made for a great opportunity to snap this:

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Photobox ImageThe highlight of the day would definitely be the OK Corral gunfight re-enactment. That, combined with the pre show rundown of the events helped me piece together the story. The on slight annoyance was the fact that most things had a cost associated (see theme park points), but that plus the historama for $10 was well worth it. That's all we put money down for, and definitely felt like we'd made the right choice. And y'know, standing in the spot where it happened was pretty cool.

Just out of Tombstone we hit a border patrol check point. Which we'd actually noticed on the way in. The whole time I'd forgotten just how close we were to Mexico. Memories of the trip back from Nogales in 2005 came rushing back. I want to say good memories. But maybe I should say nostelgic memories. Because that was pretty nerve racking for 15 minutes. This time around I whipped out my PR card proudly and had it at the ready. We were simply waved through. It's funny how that works when you haven't left your ID in Phoenix.
Feb
12
2012

Boot Hill

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosSunday, February 12, 2012 - 10:00:00 pm
(Posted Under: Travel, Valentines Weekend 2012)
Photobox ImageThis morning started out at the Boot Hill Cemetery. I'd definitely looking forward to seeing it. It was larger than I'd expected, and of course, we spent a lot more time there than we'd imagined we would.

Something I learnt from the experience - in 1882 you didn't need much reason to kill somebody.
Feb
11
2012

That Perfect Photographic Moment

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, February 11, 2012 - 04:01:23 pm
(Posted Under: Photography, Travel, Valentines Weekend 2012)
When you're constantly on the lookout for the perfect photographic moment, you're sometimes lucky enough to find it...

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Generally you know you've found it, even before you've looked down the lens. I live for those moments.

For what it's worth, this has had no Photoshop treatment. Aside from some slight post shoot darkening, it is the original photo as shot.
Feb
11
2012

Bisbee

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosSaturday, February 11, 2012 - 03:55:54 pm
(Posted Under: Travel, Instagram Instagram, Valentines Weekend 2012)
After some brief downtown at the hotel, we were back on the road. Now headed to Bisbee. This meant driving through the center of Tombstone, which gave us our first look at the town. Driving past Boot Hill and the OK Corral was a bit too much, and it wasn't long before we had to make a right and take a short trip through the historic part of the town. The desire to be able to get out and look around was high for both of us. But we had to stick with our plan. We could do this tomorrow.

Bisbee was another 25 minutes south, towards the Mexican border. Very glad we included this town in our trip. Not knowing much about Bisbee, my first impression was that it was a lot like Jerome. But bigger. And although I think Jerome is great, I have to say I liked Bisbee a lot more.

Our only plan for Bisbee had been to see the historic Copper Queen Hotel, and check out the After 5 Art Walk. After a quick drive through the town, we parked and started exploring on foot. Thankfully being on the other side of winter, the sunlight held out for longer than I expected, which gave us a good amount of time check out the town despite how late it was.

The Art Walk wasn't as much of something as we'd expected, which was fine, there was no shortage of things to see around town.

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We hadn't eaten much all day, and by the time it was getting dark, that, combined with the long day was starting to take it's toll. Where to eat was a bit of a dilemma, as the Mexican place that we'd discussed didn't look like it fitted the bill for us. But I had a strong feeling about the Copper Queen. Was a fitting choice. We headed over there, and made a reservation for the restaurant. While waiting, we checked out the saloon, and discovered they served food. Although the idea of having a fancy meal would tie in perfect with the Valentine's Day aspect of the trip, however immediately on walking into the saloon we both knew where we should eat. Katie ordered, while I went and canceled our restaurant reservation. There was no doubt that we had just arranged for a perfect night. You've got to love when things come together like that.

The historic hotel was, not surprisingly, very reminiscent of the Congress. Very cool looking. And interestingly, has never closed since 1902, making it the longest running continually operating Hotel in Arizona. It was, for many reasons, the obvious choice for dinner, and made for a great end for a long and tiring, but awesome day.
Feb
11
2012

Lookout Lodge

(Add / View Comments) (0)PhotosSaturday, February 11, 2012 - 03:05:40 pm
(Posted Under: Travel, Valentines Weekend 2012)
Amazingly we've made it to Tombstone. Numerous diversions later and hours later. 3pm to be exact. So much for that planned 11:30am arrival. But it's all good.

We hit our hotel right after pulling into town, just pass the Holiday Inn Express. On passing that and pulling into ours, I had a moment where I thought we'd made the wrong call, going for the cheaper one. My mind was put to rest once we actually got to our room. The room is really cool, with saloon doors on the bathroom, and Spanish tile. Sweet.

But the really amazing part of it is the view. There's a reason why it's called Lookout Lodge. [wink]

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Feb
11
2012

Milos

Dos Diversions On The Way To Tombstone

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, February 11, 2012 - 02:17:04 pm
(Posted Under: Travel, Instagram Instagram, Valentines Weekend 2012)
The great thing about taking time out the night before to etch out a plan, is the ability to completely go off the script the following day. It's how we roll. If we'd stuck with out plan, we would have been in Tombstone between 11 and 11:30 this morning. By 1pm, we were still out on the other side on Benson at the The Thing?

A quick Google searched informed us that we were only 18 minutes out of Wilcox. When we'd put this trip together, I wanted to go through Wilcox, particularly to see Milos, however it was quickly determined that it wasn't really a feasible option. It was just a little too far out of the way, and would have to wait for the next Southern Arizona road trip. However, although now that we were almost 2 hours behind our original schedule, being 18 minutes away made it tempting. I made the executive decision to do it.

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Sometimes you've just got to go that extra mile (or 20) to pick up a 6 pack. Absolutely worth it.
Feb
11
2012

That's Where We'll Meet

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, February 11, 2012 - 11:51:23 am
(Posted Under: Travel, Music Music, This Desert Life This Desert Life, Instagram Instagram, Valentines Weekend 2012)
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Our second diversion for the weekend, after a jaunt around Tucson for gas. Santa Maria Street in Tucson. We're already behind schedule, but this had to be done, even if it was out of the way somewhat.

Now, on to Tombstone...
Feb
11
2012

And So Begins The Valentines Day / Arizona Centenial Weekend

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, February 11, 2012 - 11:30:09 am
(Posted Under: Travel, Valentines Weekend 2012)
It's going to be a hell of a weekend. Up at 6, out of the door at 7:30.

Nice drive down south this morning. Our first diversion was the obligatory stop at the Picasco Peak travel plaza. Our planned hour there blew out to .... Not a surprise to either of us.

Onward to Tucson!
Feb
09
2012

We Don't Have Flying Deloreans Or Hoverboards, But...

(Add / View Comments) (16)Thursday, February 9, 2012 - 08:25:01 pm
(Posted Under: Music Music, Technology)
At work today, I was flicking my iPhone screen, scrolling through artists for what I was going to listen to next. It's an occurrence that happens every day while spewing out PHP or Rails code. Every 40 minutes to an hour, when an album finishes playing. It's second nature.

But today, while scrolling to the Foo Fighters, then tapping the screen to start playing Wasting Light, the literal process stood out. A process that I take for granted daily. Just not in that moment. How freakin' sci-fi is this? That we flick a glass screen to find an album, tap on it, and music starts playing into your ears.

Evolution of technology numbs you to the amazement of it. Sure, when I got my iPhone last year, I was impressed with how it worked, compared to other mobile devices I've used. There were certain bells and whistles that excited me. But overall, with the proliferation of all the technologies that make up the iPhone in daily life over my entire lifetime (touch screens, mobile phones, digital audio, the internet), the cumulative progression makes for some of the amazement to be lost. Maybe most of it.

But y'know, in 1984, at age 7, fascinated with a mono radio cassette recorder, if you'd have told me I would be listening to music on this small wallet sized thing and flicking and tapping a screen to have any song from my vast music collection play on demand*, I would have laughed at such a concept. It would have blown my 7 year old mind. And sure, it would have sounded like a super sweet concept to that 7 year old. Just not one that was based in any sort of reality. But all these years later, here we are, and a reality it is.

Tomorrow I'll go right back to taking all of this for granted, as something that I'm completely used to and something I just expect and demand, living in 2012. But it doesn't change the fact - this shit is pretty amazing.

* Well, far from my entire music collection is on my piddly 16GB iPhone, which is a constant frustration when you have a 80GB iPod that does have it all. But that's something for another day.
Now Playing: Foo Fighters - Back & Forth

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