I discovered one of the things that was bogging down my machine. The newer version of Spotify, my Steaming Music Service automatically updates itself, if you choose that feature. In this case, to a version that loads the LP/CD Artwork alongside of the Artist's offerings. It takes FOREVER to load the rather large litany of Song Lists I have stored in their cloud. (Hundreds of hours of music) Their servers began to "not like me" and would stop loading the lists somewhere around Van Halen and Steve Vai. There was a block of performers, about 50 Artists long, that I couldn't listen to anymore and would get "error messages" during the load about. I deleted the newer version, reloaded a simpler one and it works just fine now, sans Artwork again. It even sounds better, because it isn't wasting all that bandwidth on Album Art. It could be my imagination.
Started the day with coffee and listening to Tackhead. Wonderfully Bass-y stuff with lots of multi-cultural tones. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tackhead I really like both Adrian Sherwood and Doug Wimbish. I was introduced to their music by an Artist Roommate in Hawai'i, back in the 90's. His Brother used to send him mix tapes and some of them included these guys' work. I was infected by their magic. In or out of the box. Their version of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" is great! Think Red Hot Chili Peppers' cover of the song on powerful mescaline (or something else). A cover of James brown's "Funky President" is way hip as well. The Sherwood remix, especially. I hear too many influences to start naming names. Wimbish has been on so many other people's recordings that it's crazy how he even found the time to be there, recording with them and have any sort of Personal Life. If you've never listened to these guys, do it.
I have more than a couple Friends who's Art has taken over their personal Lives. All a matter of priorities, I suppose. I get caught up in my own "addictions" once in awhile too. So, I "get" how that happens. I spent weeks recording and mixing, re-recording and adding and subtracting "blips" of this and that to a song. That went on for months, here and there. I ended up calling a halt to any further modifications/additions/subtractions at some point. I had to decide upon a Final Cut. Otherwise, I was going to starve to death or develop a bad Studio Rash, Vitamin D deficiency, have a guitar pick become an actual part of my hand, headphones graft themselves to my head, or whatever...My two Housemates were "understanding" about the process and amazed at my tenacity and patience.
I still have problems with my Landline Phone. (I WILL NOT own a cell phone) I am going to have to call the Repair Guy out to the pole again. I don't know what the eventual "fix" is going to be but, at least the internet connection is better. My Friends can just send me emails in the meantime. We just "ramble" on the telephone anyway.
PG&E gave me a nice, biannual gift, this month's billing cycle. A $28.00 cut in the total bill. Yay! I can always use an extra $28.00.
It's supposed to"maybe" rain today. So says the barometer on my desk and the National Weather Service. Cloudy with a chance of Drama, is more like it. The Neighborhood Drama Factor has been Number 1, with a bullet, lately. I have headphones. Nice ones. Poof! The Neighborhood is silent and invisible.
I have Spring Organization to do. Some milk crates full of stuff I never use to move to storage. Storage space to organize. Organizations to Organize...
Coffee. Tackhead. Cigarettes. Maybe a bagel and cream cheese.
-Doc
"Higher Ground," Tackhead Style:
An Older Gem:
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