Live music experiment.

I haven’t gone out to see a live band in a long time. It’s not really my thing because even when I was young I was old and crotchety and I generally think it’s too loud and crowded. The sound is bad and just distorts in my ears. I wonder if people who really like loud music aren’t deafened by it already.

But my weird travels through old-timey music took me from banjo lessons to youtube to fiddle videos to thinking I should go see Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet. They’re a band I would really look forward to hearing on Prairie Home Companion, back when I listened to Prairie Home Companion a lot. Not sure why I quit, but nevertheless, I started trying to google Beausoleil. My first problem was that I didn’t know how to spell Beausoleil since I never took French and I had a heck of a time. When I finally figured it out and thought, DUH, I found out they’re touring and making a Portland stop. I bought my first ticket for a show in a long, long time. And, sadly, the first live show I’m not seeing with Megan in a long, long time too.

The opening band was the New Iberians from Portland and I’m not a big fan of their Zydeco/Blues music. When I got to the venue, I noticed I was one of the youngest people there. The New Iberians started out OK but went towards the Bluesy-rocky stuff I don’t like. The sound was muddy, and the women next to me talked throughout the entire set. I wondered if I made a mistake.

When the New Iberians finished, they started taking AWAY speaker cabinets and put up a couple of JBLs. Not only did this clear up the sound, but Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet (sans Jimmy Breaux) was exactly what I wanted to hear. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to play Cajun fiddle in Michael Doucet’s style, but it sure was fun to listen to. I thought I’d miss hearing the accordion (I guess Jimmy Breaux ‘retired’ and started his own band) since that’s what drew me to Beausoleil’s sound, but the music was great without it. And late into their set, Michael Doucet played the accordion! So I guess I’m a fan.

I am also a bad son. My mom was admitted to the hospital again last night, and I called but didn’t visit today. She was admitted to the ICU(!) but is well enough that they sent her to a normal room and talked about letting her out tomorrow. It’s her birthday after all! Keep your fingers crossed…

More fun.

Daylight savings time is making me very tired indeed.

Last week, after surviving the tower snookering, I noticed that my forearms seemed sore. The tower was wobbly after we took down the guy wires, so I must have been holding on for dear life and my death grip led to sore forearms. It’s a much better outcome than, say, falling off.

The only other new thing is that I’m realizing how awful my violin playing sounds. It’s actually an improvement that I can hear what I should be playing and know when I’m getting it wrong. It’s also a good thing that we insulated a lot of our house and it’s also a good thing that I don’t play an amplified instrument like the neighbor kid plays. I just keep practicing and tomorrow I should have my first fiddle lesson.

I was kind of upset that the only message I’ve seen on OKStupid lately is one that said, “Sorry, not my type,” but that person certainly isn’t my type either. Who can’t be bothered to write in complete sentences? I bet she can’t spell, either. Plus, most of the time I get NO reply, which at least leaves me with some dignity and the ability to imagine that maybe my email was lost.

So no clear narrative to my life, but at least nothing disastrous at this time, and that’s ok by me.

Getting high.

I suppose I was suckered several times this weekend. My buddy Greg is moving and he needed to take down his 70′ ham radio tower. He suggested cutting it down, which I first thought was a waste since that would mean it would end up as scrap, but the more I thought about it the more I thought it might actually be fun.

By the time I got to his place, other old friends were there and they wanted to take the tower down carefully so they could re-use it. Taking it down carefully is a lot more work requiring lots of ropes and pulleys and one poor sucker who has to climb up the tower risking life and limb. The other guys were a lot older than me (or a lot lazier like my buddy Greg) and somehow I was talked into going up the tower. Saturday I spent two or three hours taking down all the feed lines that used to go to the antennas that I helped take down years ago. Sunday I spent six hours disassembling the tower 10′ at a time, from the top. This also meant we were taking down all the guy wires that helped keep the tower steady and safe. We got it all down and fortunately the worst I can say is that I’m just tired.

I didn’t have time to practice my violin or finish my taxes but I did go to the gym twice. No wonder I’m so very, very tired.