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I forgot to mention that we went to see the True Colors tour with Cyndi Lauper, The B-52’s, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Andy Bell of Erasure (who sang a bunch of Erasure songs alone on stage). What a great show!

First out was a girl who I don’t remember. She played violin and did a nice job. Decent voice, nice songs, but we were getting our drinks, etc while she was singing. Then Wanda Sykes came out and did some comedy for a while before Andy Bell of Erasure came out. That was a bit of a surprise, as he wasn’t on the bill. It was really cool, and hearing him and seeing him sing a bunch of songs I loved over the years was really cool.

Then came Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Holy shit, they were good! Talk about energy! They really rocked, and it was a lot better than I ever could have imagined. Next up were The B-52’s who played a few old songs but mostly songs from their new CD “Funplex.” Good thing that they don’t have songs that suck, because it was a good set. I would have preferred a few more of their classics, but I understand that they’re trying to sell CD’s. Mesopotamia live was way better than any version I’ve ever heard before. It was hypnotizing.

Cyndi Lauper’s performance was far greater than any of my expectations. Stevie and I joked about leaving the concert after The B-52’s played, but I was glad we stuck around. Wow! Cyndi really is an amazing performer, and the show was nothing short of awesome.

As for who rocked the hardest, Joan Jett takes the title. Cyndi Lauper, on the other hand, was just amazing, and there were more times than I can remember where the hairs were standing up on my arms because I couldn’t believe I was hearing these songs from my teen years live… and she was just as good as she was back then (if not better!).

Great show. If the True Colors tour is coming to you, go. Seriously.

I just got the studio CD, and it’s awesome. Some reviewers said that their live show is better than the recorded stuff, but I see them as two completely different things. The CD versions of the song, to me, are pretty dang awesome. I know that the purists miss the live presentation, the timing and humor, but the songs stand on their own as pretty dang funny, catchy, and at the end of the day, a pleasure to listen to. I love their live show, and I love the new CD. You can’t go wrong with some ‘Conchords.

Even though I’ve been playing since I was 13, I only just started playing with the same fervor as I have when I was a teenager. I went for quite a long time without playing, so it’s not like I’ve been playing every day since I was 13. If that were the case, I’d be super-awesome and in a band or something touring the world and being all rockstar awesome and stuff. But… I’m not.

I have been playing nearly every day for about 45 minutes to an hour, and I can’t believe how much I’ve improved my control, sound, and ability to play new songs by ear. It’s been a blast, and I have to admit that the new Jazz Bass has a lot to do with it. It just sounds so nice, the neck is so smooth and perfect for my hands, the action is just right, the pickups are just right… hell, I just love everything about it.

I find myself sitting here listening to Silversun Pickup wishing I could go upstairs and play the bass right now, but at 2:19 AM, I think I’d get shot by Sherry or a neighbor.

Hot diggity dog.

In the past, I’ve written about my correspondence with people like Tammy Bruce, the band The Lovely Feathers, the band Freezepop, Martyn from Silverman, and even RuPaul, but my latest correspondence, while quite innocent and really not a big deal, is kind of a big deal to me.

I HEART Giant Drag. Very muchly. Well, Annie Hardy has an ebay store that she sells stuff related to the band at, and I sent a message asking if they’d be having any signed photos up so that I could get one for the wall of fame in our music room. Much to my surprise, she replied herself! YAY! I know, I’m making far too much out of it, but it’s cool to me. No, not because famous people make me moist or anything, but because I dig her music a lot, and it’s nice to connect with someone like her, even if it’s for something not really important. Kind of like standing in line for the bathroom and realizing you’re in line with one of your favorite singers or songwriters. Just neat.

Think back to your childhood, teen years, etc. There must have been something you liked to eat, or a band you used to love to listen to. Search it out and rediscover your old love.

I just listened to “Cowboy Song” by Thin Lizzy. That song brings back lots of memories of high school and playing in garage bands. I used to play that song in two of the bands I was in, “The Swims” and “The Breast Strokes.” Yeah, the members of the bands were all members of the swim team at school. lol. Anyway, find something old and rediscover it. Then thank me.

This is the new Fender Jazz Bass I bought yesterday. It was made in 1996, and while it shows it’s age a bit, I cleaned it up today and she looks mighty fine! I played it quite a bit yesterday and today before changing the strings, and now it’s exhibiting that post-string change raspiness that will go away in a few days as the neck gets its tension back and gets straight again. If not, a truss-rod adjustment will fix that.

Although I have a G&L SB-2 (a collector’s piece, actually) and a less-known but nice playing Samick Greg Bennet Corsair MCR1, there’s always been a hole in my heart for the Fender Jazz bass that was stolen from me years ago when a friend borrowed it for a few gigs and his house was burglarized (I lost my amp in that burglary as well, a great old Crate amp). Also, while the SB-2 is a great piece, there’s just something about it that hasn’t been right for me. I think the setup wasn’t quite right for me, and the A string pops the pickups (which look to be too close to the strings for my playing style). I may mess with the setup myself later, but for now, I just leave it in its case as it’s the second SB-2 ever manufactured, and is the earliest known SB-2 in existence.

This Fender Jazz Bass is a Mexican-made model in black (while my original was a Sunburst American-made), but for the price and the condition, I couldn’t pass it up. I love playing it, and the sound is exactly what I’ve been looking for.

I spent quite a bit of time tonight cleaning it up and re-stringing it. It looks a whole lot better now, and I can’t wait to play it at next week’s band practice. Now, the old Samick will be the backup guitar while the SB-2 will remain in its case until I fix the setup and decide to start playing it more. I’ve thought of selling it, but that decision hasn’t finalized in my head yet. I still have this nagging doubt, and I don’t want to regret selling the only piece of musical history I actually own.

I came across something I’d read about in the past but was too “wuss” to try it out. Well, I guess I’m a brave soul now, because I went ahead and downloaded the latest RockBox and installed it onto my 5th Generation 60GB iPod Video. Making sure I read the entire installation section of the user guide twice, I found myself holding in my meat-hooks an iPod that became more functional and a lot prettier!

What is RockBox? It’s an open-source firmware/software replacement for popular digital audio players (DAPs) like iPods, iRiver DAPs, Toshiba DAPs, Sansa DAPs, etc (but no Zune support?). The idea is that the OS for the DAPs should be independent from the hardware like it is on computers.

There’s a bit of a learning curve, but it works like a champ! There are dozens of now playing screens that can be downloaded, and you can even play DOOM! on the iPod! There are lots of other interesting add-ons, features, etc that are included in the default build of RocketBox from games like PacMan, Tetris, Asteroids, and even the aforementioned DOOM!

If you’ve got an iPod (all generations except Classic and Touch are supported) or any of the other supported DAPs, you should check this out ASAP. It’s pretty fool-proof (obviously, if I got it to work on the first try!), and adds so much that you’ll wonder why you didn’t do this sooner!

I never did make a post-op report on how the 3G original EdgePod fared after open-case surgery to replace its battery.

All is well.

No scratches or body damage, the device plays well, does everything it should, but only the battery lasts HELLA long now. I’ve been using it a lot more now that it’s been rejuvenated.  My poor 5G iPod and my Zune both sit ceremoniously awaiting use while the old 3G gets all the attention. Afterall, it’s the 3G that’s undergone the scariest of procedures; of course it gets all the attention!

I was so set on writing at least one post a day, yet I didn’t count on life getting busy. Oh well. I’ve done the cliche “I’ve been bad, I’ll post more” so I’ll spare you the pixels.

BUT… BUT… BUT…

Tomorrow is going to be a hella busy day for me. I’ve got to get my user guide (work project) out for a production review by the editors, go get my car into the shop for it’s first 5k service (yay!), take Gelli’s camera in for LCD replacement (she dropped it and broke it), go get some money back from Best Buy due to the 30 day money-back price guarantee, and then pay my car note. While I’m at it, I may take a look at a Fender Jazz Bass I’ve had my eye on for a few days since finding one at a GREAT price, but that’ll depend on how much I spend getting the car serviced and how the budget holds up. Oh yeah… I’m supposed to pick up some Monster Mats for the car tomorrow, too. I may not get that Jazz Bass just yet afterall.

Oh, I went and saw Southern Culture on the Skids with Sherry, Stevie, Anita, and Lawrence at The Continental Club on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun, but I had a stomach ache and some nausea from something I ate at The Spaghetti Warehouse. Coupled with the tall asshat who thought nothing of standing right in front of us (while he could have moved three feet to the right and blocked no-one’s view), it made for not the best evening. The band was great… music was great… but the stomach and the inconsiderate asswipes kind of made it not as awesome as it otherwise would have been. So how did I take care of my stomach? By agreeing to go to Waffle House with the crew. Eggs, hash browns, and sausage. Does the stomach good.

My stomach hurt almost the entire next day while I watched the NASCAR race, but was better by the time we went over to Stevie and Anita’s for beans and corn bread.

I got a Zune for Christmas, and from the day I got it, I was most excited about wireless sync. Sure, the larger screen (than an iPod) is really nice, and the GUI is pretty sweet too (with customizable background), but wireless is what it’s all about. Well, I had problems getting it to work, so I put it down for a few weeks to allow my brain to get around the problem. It’s been connected to the XBox where it served as the music for me while I played games with my son.

Today, I picked up the Zune, tried to wirelessly sync, and again, it didn’t work. I kept getting a “connecting to pc” message, but then it would say that I wasn’t logged in and couldn’t complete the connection. So I thought about it, and I remembered that I had installed Zune software on my eeePC. I wondered if perhaps it kept trying to connect to it instead of my desktop PC (where my medial lives) and sure enough, that was the problem. Once I shut down the Zune Wireless Enumerator service on the eeePC, the Zune synced up on it’s very first attempt!

This is a big deal because I plan on using the Zune mainly in my car as the car’s media server. The Passat has an aux-in for mp3 players. This is super-handy since if I had the iPod kit, I wouldn’t be able to use the Zune in there. The big benefit is that I can leave the Zune in the car and select which files I want to go into the Zune from my desktop and have it sync out to the car. The caveat is that the Zune has to be on and has to be charging, but I’m working on that part of the equation. The solution may lie in a car charger and a longer aux cable than I have right now. That way, it’ll charge every time I drive, and when I get home, I can tell it to sync as I exit the car. Once it’s done syncing, it’ll shut itself down and be ready for the next time I drive.

This is all kinds of cool in my world. YAY ZUNE!!!