I love it when a favorite band releases a new album and it’s even better than I hoped. Pinback’s new album Autumn of the Seraphs is now available and its fantastic… I’ve been listening to it off and on all day!

Pinback is a hard band to describe to the uninitiated. Their sound is somewhat unique. Technically they’re an “indie rock band” but that label really fails to adequately capture them. Over the course of four full-length albums they’ve developed a smooth and silky sound that combines elements of rock, pop and jazz into a blend all their own.

Whatever it is, it works for me! The album was good enough I immediately bought tickets to their October concert in Seattle. Can’t wait to see them live!

“Devil You Know” by Pinback

I *meant* to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Failure in this goal should be obvious as I’m writing this at nearly 3am… *sigh*

It all started around 11pm Monday when I *did* actually go to bed. And decided to listen to music. My Zune is normally by my bed when I’m not using it in the car. I plugged in the earphones, set it to shuffle and started listening while hoping to drift off to sleep. Nothing really satisfied though, but an Eve 6 tune finally popped up and it hit the spot. So I switched over to shuffling just Eve 6 songs. And noticed I only had one Eve 6 album on the Zune. I knew I had another one in iTunes (Yeah I’m bi… iPod and Zune living together under one roof) so I decided to go ahead and throw it on the Zune too. But then I got to thinking that they had a third album that I didn’t have. Mind you, we’re closing in on 1am by this time.

One of the great things about the Internet and the advent of digital music is that you can get your music fix at any time of the day. I found a place I could purchase the one Eve 6 album I didn’t have and loaded everything on the Zune and went back to bed. Then a specific Eve 6 track came on and something clicked that had been bugging me for a while.

Let me backtrack for a second. I’ve been unhappy with my blog for a while. I think I’m mixing too many things here and it’s been bothering me a little. I enjoy posting about motorcycles and riding, but there are a lot of other topics I’d like to write about that don’t really fit here. And I already post a lot of things (like this) that have nothing to do with riding. I was thinking about categorizing things different but honestly, it’d be easier just to start a second blog.

Back to Eve 6. A particular song came on that contained a phrase I really liked and it planted an idea for a new blog name. Of course, I had to get up *again* and see if it was available as a domain name. It was, so I registered it and setup the domain with my current blog host. I still need to setup Wordpress and come up with a template so it will be a few days before it’s all truly up and running.

I don’t plan to link directly to the new blog from here, though it won’t be private or anything like that. I just don’t want to have the two related in any way. I’ll be posting under my nickname on the new blog. If you’re one of my small group of regular readers and would like the new address, just leave me a comment and be sure to fill out your e-mail address so I can send it to you.

So now you see why I tend to get so little sleep… *sigh*

“Bring The Night On” by Eve 6

Which isn’t the song that inspired the new blog…

I haven’t had the energy or interest to post much lately, sorry! Things have just been, I dunno, “blah” lately. I spent the first part of the week sick, dealing with several days of throbbing headache. That was followed by several days (nights?) of insomnia. I get that way sometimes. I lay in bed but my mind refuses to turn off. Normally it’s not that I’m worried about anything, I just can’t get my thoughts to slow down, whatever they are. I often wind up plugging in head phones and drowning out the thoughts with music. Most of the time that works.

On the plus side, my sister is coming to town next week! We haven’t seen each other for many, many years. It’s just two days and she’s here on business, but we’ll have most of a day to hang out. I plan to show her a few sights and then we’re getting together with my aunt and uncle and cousin for dinner. That should be fun. It will be nice catching up. We really haven’t been very close as we more or less grew up apart. I lived with dad, she lived with mom for a lot of years. It’s hard rebuilding a relationship when you live on opposite coasts, but we try to keep in touch. The ‘net helps. This is her first trip outside of Georgia I think. It will either expand her horizons or scare her to death. Hopefully the former!

And now, I gotta get it in gear to go help Marianna the “Microchickie” move into her new place. I think John and Deb are going to be there too, wish us luck… that girl has a bunch of stuff to move and rumor has it that stair are involved. Oh boy… I need high energy music I think… queue the “Na na na’s” maestro!

“The City’s Summer” by The Honorary Title

We spotted the ocean, At the head of the trail
Where are we goin’, So far away
And somebody told me, That this is the place
Where everything’s better, And everything’s safe

CHORUS:
Walk on the ocean, Step on the stones
Flesh becomes water, Wood becomes bone

Half an hour later, We packed up our things
Said we’d send letters, And all of those little things
And they knew we were lyin’, But they smiled just the same
It seemed they’d already, Forgotten we came

(CHORUS X 2)

Now back at the homestead, Where the air makes you choke
And people don’t know you, And trust is a joke
We don’t even have pictures, Just memories to hold
It grows sweeter each season, As we slowly grow old

A summer sunset seen from Me-Kwa-Mooks Park in West Seattle

This is rapidly becoming the “Year of the Concert” for me.  On kind of a spur of the moment, I caught a live show of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts tonight. Fantastic concert! They played all of their old classics and new material off their recent “Sinner” album. All of it was wonderful. Joan Jett has a great stage presence and comes across as very humble and down-to-earth. I’m very happy I decided to go!

I’m even happier that the pre-show announcer mentioned that Cheap Trick is coming to the same venue in November. I’ll will absolutely be in the audience!

This has become my favorite cover song, I can’t stop listening to it! It helps that the original song by New Order was a personal favorite also.

True Faith by A New Revolution

I feel so extraordinary
Something’s got a hold of me
I get this feeling I’m in motion
A sudden sense of liberty
I don’t care ’cause I’m not there
And I don’t care if I’m here tomorrow
Again and again I’ve taken too much
Of the things that cost you too much

I used to think that the day would never come
I’d see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To a childhood lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun.

Tonight was The Police concert in Seattle’s Key Arena! I can’t tell you how much fun it was… what a great evening to fulfill a desire from my high school days that has been impossible since the mid-80’s. I’ve always wanted to see them play live, they were my favorite band during key years of my life and I still enjoy them to this day. And now, I’ve seen them in concert!

I met John and his lovely wife, and Deb and my friend Terry before the show and we grabbed a bite to eat at Ozzie’s just a few blocks from Key Arena. I’d met John before but it was a pleasure meeting his wife and Deb. We chatted for a good while… there was some kind of conversation about cheese, I think I dozed off during that part. Then we talked about LOTR Online, so I perked back up.

About that time we figured we should probably mosey over to the arena for the show. Our timing was just about perfect, we got there just as the opening act, Fiction Plane, was finishing up. They might be a decent band, but personally, I was there to hear The Police!

The concert was everything I hoped for. They played all of the hits that fans know and love. Most of them have been tweaked with new arrangements, so while they were familiar they were also new in a sense. There was a little bit of banter between numbers, but for the most part the night was about the music. Counting the two encores, they played a total of 22 songs I think, the same play list as they played in Vancouver.

I did snap a few photos with my phone cam. The tickets were marked “No photography or video” so I didn’t want to chance trying to take a decent camera in. The photos are blurry and the exposure is awful but they do still capture the sense of what it looked like. The stage and especially the lighting was simple but excellent. There are a few more photos on Flickr.

And now, I’m exhausted… good night!

Update: Seattlest asked for permission to use one of my photos to accompany their review of the concert… I was happy to oblige.

I attended a screening of the new Eric Bana/Drew Berrymore film “Lucky You” tonight. It’s a sort of love story set against a background of competitive poker in Las Vegas.  Interesting combination. There were things I liked about it, and I enjoyed it, but honestly it’s a little too long and drags in spots.

The most interesting thing to me about it was Eric Bana’s character Huck. His father tells him at one point that his life is topsy-turvy. That he takes risks at the poker table when he should be conservative and plays it safe in his personal life when he should take risks. I can relate.

In reality I’m a real wall flower. I play it safe in my career, in finances, in relationships. It’s only in the safe anonymity of my helmet, behind my dark face shield that I let things hang out. I’ve blogged before that the person I am inside doesn’t match who I am outside.  I think I’m fated to go through life that way, as I really don’t know how to reconcile the multiple facets of my personality.

Has anyone else dealt with this and figured it out?  I’d sure like to find the answer…

Yeah I don’t have much to discuss at the moment. I’ve mostly been working on various projects this week, none of them particularly fun but they pay the bills. I haven’t had much time to do anything fun or interesting.

I’ve been wanting to photograph sunsets but the weather hasn’t been cooperating on evenings that I’ve been free. That may change tomorrow, the weather is looking halfway decent and I don’t have any plans Thursday evening.  Wish me luck!

The kids are over this weekend, maybe we’ll find something fun to do? I’ll be happy if Matt manages to get the grass cut.  My yard is becoming a bit of a jungle!

In the meantime, I’m listening to “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn & John.  That’s right, no commas. They didn’t like the way it looked on their first album cover. The female singer is Victoria Bergsman. She’s not in the band. Swedish pop… dig it people! Drums, check. Bongos, check. Whistling, check. What’s not to like?