Zombie Apocalypse Scenarios Don’t Make Sense To Me

Zombie Apocalypse Scenarios Don’t Make Sense To Me

Posted inRandom Musings, Rants
Despite the misgivings I expressed a few years ago, The Walking Dead has turned into a good watch that gets me to the TV each Sunday, or at the very least one that gets me to binge watch once a year or so. It may not be AMC's best show, but it's still pretty darn good. I can't really claim to be a zombie fan, though. I am a fan of post-apocalyptic stories. A HUGE fan of them, actually. Stories about survival after society has collapsed have always drawn me in, always will. Earth Abides, The Road, Lucifer's Hammer, Alas,…

The power of music is astonishing

Posted inMusic, Random Musings
I love the power of music. Sometimes I'm astonished by it. For a few years now, my son's favorite song has been Against Me!'s cover of "Here Comes A Regular" by The Replacements. It is, admittedly, a fantastic rendition. Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7UjxvNIhC0 Thing is, it's a sad dirge about aging alone in a small, shitty town and finding your only solace in a small, shitty bar. My son is a teenager. He does not live in a small shitty town. He does not drink (and yes, smart guy, I'm sure of it). He is not a weary middle-aged man…
Saving Private Ryan on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day

Saving Private Ryan on the 70th Anniversary of D-Day

Posted inFilms, Random Musings
Watched Saving Private Ryan in honor of the 70th anniversary of D-Day yesterday. I still remember when I first saw this in the theater. I live in a retirement area with a huge senior population.When we went to see this the theater was full, and it was a sea of white heads in every aisle. My wife and I were some of the only young people there. It was harrowing. That opening sequence, no one had ever done anything like it before. For 20 minutes you're assaulted with graphic violence and noise and fury that relentlessly pounded your senses. By the end of the sequence, you were out…

Why Nirvana Was Important (To Me)

Posted inMusic, Random Musings
There is a segment of music fandom that say Nirvana is overrated. They're probably not wrong. The band got catapulted into sainthood on the strength of a small catalog, albeit a pretty great one, and a metric ton of media hype. Their status as deities is perhaps overblown, even if they were briefly great. Still, some among the naysayers also say they don't get why people connected with Cobain. They say his lyrics were mostly strung together nonsense (true) and his songs were simple rips on Pixies and Beatles melodies (also true). So why the hell did anyone connect with…
I have recorded 15 years of noisy, droning, m2 music

I have recorded 15 years of noisy, droning, m2 music

Posted inMusic, Random Musings
For 15 years, I have recorded noisy, droning music under the name m2. Okay, it's actually been longer than that. Recording music of this sort long pre-dated the m2 project. It even pre-dated owning a four-track recorder. I used to own one of those old twin-deck cassette stereos with a turntable on top. One day I discovered that if you plugged headphones into the mic jack and dubbed a tape from one deck to the other, you could kinda sorta play with the tape and have it record layers on top of one another. It was messy and ugly, but…