Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

Friday / memories / music / video — Comments Off
07
Mar 25

Re-Listening: One of these has a notorious Star Trek reference

Apropos of nothing, I just sneezed. Some sneezes you can feel coming from a long way away. Sometimes you can sense that a sneeze will be arrive tomorrow, at about 1:30. The lining of your nose gets that first tinge. “There’s something in here!” signals are sent to the brain. The brain fires off memos in triplicate to the body. “We’re going to do it!” Your eyes shut, the tongue moves to the roof of the mouth, and the muscles brace. Sometimes it happens in just a few seconds, or 25 minutes.

That’s not the sneeze I just experienced. This sneeze was a bit closer to the seeing-your-life-flash-before-your-eyes tinged with a bit of “What am I going to do after this, if my nose stays on my face and my organs stay in place?”

There’s no metaphor here. Just the one sneeze, come and gone. Sometimes the nose needs a reboot. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a low-brain reaction to a sternutation.

I’m about 14 CDs behind in the Re-Listening project, so let’s make a small dent in that deficit. If anyone can remember back that far, the Re-Listening project is something I’m doing in the car. I’m playing all of my old CDs in more or less the order in which I acquired them all. I say more or less because this book is out of order. I had hit the 21st century, but right now I’m back in the 1990s. It doesn’t matter.

I decided, since I was listening to all of these again I could write about them here. “What a great regular feature,” I thought, back when I did that sort of thing. “I can pad this space, pull up an old memory or two, and then play some good music.” And I did that, until I kept forgetting to do it, at least, which is how I’m so far behind right now.

So it’s … let’s say 1997, maybe 1998. This was a record that wasn’t meant to be a success, but a 1996 single got a lot of airplay and a Grammy nomination. And then the record was certified gold the next summer. And that happened to Duncan Sheik who was used to playing small venues, and suddenly he was on much bigger stages, which was a surprise for everyone, especially the singer, who saw that one song stay on the charts for a year, after peaking at #16. It spent 55 weeks as a radio hit, which was one of the longer stays on the chart at the time.

But there was more to the debut record than just the one single. There were two other singles! And a lot of deep cuts. Probably I picked this up after the second single, “She Runs Away,” but I don’t recall for sure. It was almost 30 years ago … a sentence I find I am now saying a little too often.

Anyway, when I popped this into player, I was hooked by the second track. (It sounded great on big wooden speakers.)

Why did we ever move away from those large speakers, anyway? Everything sounded better. And nothing was re-compressed by an additional layer of digitization.

And, look, that first Sheik record was pure singer-songwriter pop. Except for the parts that weren’t. But he did like to incorporate his vocal range all over the place.

At various times, when I had to do such things, Sheik’s music was a good vocal warmup. Sing along on the way to the studio and all that.

There are 11 tracks on the record, I liked 10 of them, and eight of them still hold up. Sheik has released eight other studio albums and a live record, but none more commercially successful than his debut, which did hit number 80 on the Billboard 200. He’s probably OK with that. I got the impression from interviews that the unexpected success was a little overwhelming.

These days, he’s performing as a writer and composer on Broadway, where he’s won two Tony awards.

I’m sitting here looking at the next disc trying to decide how I have this false memory. The record was released in 1998, just another power pop, post-grunge alt record. And the overriding memory doesn’t fit that timeline. I went to high school, and once worked with a guy who was in a local band. I saw them play, just another group of kids who were inspired and he’d sing the big hit, but he did a cool vocal trick in one spot where he’d sing on top of the note in a key spot. It was just enough different that now, when I think of or hear the song, I hear it his way.

Only, I didn’t work at that place when the single was a single. I hadn’t worked there in probably two years. So how does that memory even work?

Beware of memories, I guess.

A few years later I got an out-of-the-blue email from a mutual friend and it turns out that that guy was going to go to jail for a while. He’d gotten drunk and climbed into his house through his bedroom window, only it wasn’t his window and it wasn’t his house. Extremely common name. No idea what became of him.

Anyway the band was Semisonic — and I mean that made the record, not the band of the guy I knew. “Closing Time” was the single everyone knew, of course, and it was a big hit, climbing to 11 on the US Radio Songs chart, four on the Pop chart, topped the Alternative Airplay chart, 13 on the Mainstream Airplay chart and so on.

But, and I realize I used this above, there was a lot more to “Feeling Strangely Fine” than the one single. The second single, from August of 1998, is a terrific little pop number which found its way into two top 40 charts. I always liked that it was a song about listening to a cassette. It was charming even to me, a slow music format adopter.

Then, as now, there was no way this piano — a keyboard, really — should pair up with that bass sound.

Whenever I picked this up, I don’t recall that either, I listened to it for a good long while. It got heavy rotation during the year of driving back and forth from Little Rock to Birmingham. This was a good late night, empty highway song.

I don’t know your feelings about this, obviously, but I think we all need a New Year’s Eve song. Here’s one now.

There’s one song another song on here that I’ve always liked, but I can’t listen to it, because the weird way the singer treats the chorus is too catchy. It’s just days and days of this, when you play it. You’ve been warned.

That was Semisonic’s second album. They produced two more studio records and a live album. And they’re still at it, touring the U.S. this summer with Toad the Wet Sprocket.

That’s enough for now. The weekend is here!

cycling / Rowan / Thursday — Comments Off
06
Mar 25

I lost a (slow) race!

Today was the day I was to put my contracting packet behind me. I’ve worked on varying versions of this for weeks, and I reached the finish line, both in what I could do and what I could tolerate, last night. It’s a helpful process in several respects, but it is also time intensive and there are other things I need to be doing.

So I went to campus today because a colleague who is on this particular committee wanted to see what the new CMS the university is using looks like. He’s been frustrated by the rollout of the new process, which is function of where you are standing. Most of my confusion with the process has been of my own doing. There are a few things that they’ll improve on for future versions of this process — you have to go through this every few years — but that will surely improve. My colleague’s perspective shows him some other things. The guy is a rock star, and he’s been incredibly helpful through this whole process. It might not be that every department has a guy like him to help the new people, which would be a shame. He’s definitely been a huge and helpful part of this for me. So I brought him an afternoon coffee and we sat down to look at the new upload system.

I stopped at Dunkin. And then I couldn’t get into the parking deck at work, so I had to drive around while his coffee cooled and looked for a parking space. I wound up parking some ways away, and walked in, while the coffee kept cooling. I assume that’s what it does. I don’t know anything about coffee. And, really I just wanted to get to the office on time and get my packet uploaded and move on to anything else.

The new uploading system we were testing has been perhaps the easiest part of the process. Even still, there were a few unexpected things. Nothing that can’t be overcome. Also, they had my title and department wrong.

So I couldn’t complete the process. Perhaps tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day I will put my contracting packet behind me. It better be tomorrow; the thing is due tomorrow night. It’s complete, and the only thing left to do is upload the files. Most anyone can do that and I am what they call tech savvy.

Not sure why we call people such a thing.

1785, slang, “practical sense, intelligence, knowledge of the world;” also a verb, “to know, to understand;” a West Indies pidgin borrowing of French savez(-vous)? “do you know?” or Spanish sabe (usted) “you know,” the verb in both from Vulgar Latin *sapere, from Latin sapere “be wise, be knowing” (see sapient). The adjective, of persons, is attested by 1905, from the noun. Related: Savvily; savviness.

I guess that’s why.

Anyway, got home, took care of about three weeks worth of email, and then celebrated by doing … not much else today, and enjoying the reflective glow of having this behind me.

And then I went downstairs and basked in the glow of the Zwift screen. I decided to try a race. I think I’ve done three races, now. The first one I don’t even remember. I did one a few weeks ago in a group I had no business being in. The field split up right away and I managed to come in at the front of the second group, with two other people who were pushing me on the last climb.

Today, I chose a flat course, and I followed Zwift’s suggestion. The game will tell you where you should be racing based on your recent performance. And based on my performance I should be in the category that’s one step above physical therapy.

When the time came to begin the group all spun into action together and I found myself right at the front of the ground. I took a photo for proof, because who would believe it?

Second place! I stayed right up front for about seven miles, about 70 percent over my threshold and wondering how long I could stay there. The answer is: about seven miles.

The front of the field left me behind, I faded in the last mile and the next group came up to race me to the line.

And then I rode on for another 10 miles, at a much slower pace because it turns out I was also under-fueled, just to see how long it would take to lower my heart rate. Not too long, it turns out. That’s cardiovascular quality for you. Where it went in the last few minutes of that race we’ll never know.

And the long-range forecast suggests that next week I might be riding outside!

photo / Rowan / Wednesday — Comments Off
05
Mar 25

Just work

Last night, and again earlier today, I finished putting together the last of my notes for the day’s lecture. We talked about journalism in places like Europe, Kazakhstan, China, and Russia. You might think that’s too much to do in 75 minutes, and you’d be right! But we touched on some things. They asked some questions. Shared some thoughts.

The sun was out. The sky is getting warmer. Spring Break is beginning in 10 days. Touching on some things, asking questions and sharing thoughts is a great goal. So mission accomplished, I guess.

Immediately after class was over I sat down in a committee meeting, which ended soon after it began. So I went to a group function and met some new students and had a pretzel.

My primary mission this evening was in finishing this packet I’ve been working on, off-and-on, for weeks and weeks. It’s done. I have written about this stuff all I care to, which is how I know I’m finished with it. All I have to do now is agonize over it some more. And convert the whole thing to PDFs.

Tomorrow I’ll go to campus and submit the thing. I’ll spend the next several days wondering how this managed to take up so much time. It was mostly my fault, which is why I’m glad to have finished the thing, and with a full two days to spare.

photo / Rowan / Tuesday — Comments Off
04
Mar 25

I used the word “zip” six times below

I returned to campus this afternoon to visit with a production class. The professor has asked me to be a client. His students have been making cycling safety videos, and an audio spot, to help raise awareness of the state’s safe passing laws. This is my third visit to the class this term, which isn’t much, but it isn’t nothing. The first visit, I gave them the problem. The second time, they gave me their initial pitches. Today, they presented their works in progress. And now we get to pick which ones we want to go forward.

So I walked into the class and said to the professor, “What would you like from me today?” And so we settled on feedback. I’m good at feedback. I was, for many years, a professional feedback giver, after all. I tried to let my colleague give the production feedback, but, I did that for 15 years, and that’s a habit that’s hard to break. Hopefully I didn’t step on his toes.

But let me tell you, these projects are all interesting. There are eight or nine, and they all came from different starting points, which is always fascinating as a demonstration of creativity. They all had the same briefing and Q&A with me, but they’re all trying to tell the story and carry the message in different ways. Some of them have reasonable potential. I think we’ll probably try to continue on with three or four of them, if the students are interested in completing the work.

The last time I visited with that group the class ended early so as to get the commuters on the road before a snow system came through. Today, I walked the long way around the building before, and after, because it was just so perfectly pleasant out today. I’d spent the morning and early afternoon working inside and had no idea how spectacular the day was.

It was windy in the late afternoon. I had to stop by the hardware store to pick up some zip ties. We use some on a fence cover and those little ties won’t do fr the wind we get. But you can purchase a bigger version. The package says it is certified to 150 pounds. I don’t know what the wind’s PSI is here, but other weathering effects will come into play eventually. These ties, too, will fail after some time. But they’ll work for now.

And the good news is, I now have a stockpile. The hardware store only seems them in bags of 50. This evening, while I was outside fixing the problem, I realized I only needed four.

Also, these thick heavy duty zip ties only come in lengths of 24 inches. I only need about an 1/8th of that. That’s a lot of zip tie to snip off at the end. Why doesn’t the zip tie maker offer individual locking heads that can somehow be used on all of those off cuts?

I wonder what people are securing that requires the better part of that full length zip tie. And, also, where they store them. It took me a while to find a cabinet large enough to hold them in. (I’ll never remember they’re under the restroom sink when I need to use another one two years from now.)

If I have time to wonder about that, I should spend that time on work instead. So back to that. The grading is done for the week. I have one more class prep and two committees to prepare for, but, otherwise, it’s just that great big work packet. The plan is to get the bulk of it done tonight, finish it off tomorrow and pass it on on Thursday, in advance of Friday’s deadline. And then to not think about it, much like those zip ties, until this time next year when I must do it again.

Monday / photo / Rowan — Comments Off
03
Mar 25

I have a Post-it note full of details for the week

It is all written in a very small print. And I will be scratching off items until Thursday.

It started with a meeting that was over in 8 minutes. For some reason, it ran for another 23. The second worst part was that it was in my office. You can’t just leave your own desk, right?

We talked journalism in class today. This is the week o’ journalism, which I’ve managed to include in a class that is not about journalism. This is useful because, next week, we’re talking about misinformation and disinformation. So that’s three things very much integral to our time, and all of them certainly useful in a class titled International Media Communication. So today it was mostly American journalism, my justification being that’s where we are. Wednesday we’ll talk about journalism practices in Europe and some parts of the Middle East and Asia.

Also that packet. Tonight, I have taken seven pages down to two. Tomorrow and Wednesday I’ll finish it up, restructuring a few things, moving parts around and doing a necessary edit and killing a bunch of my babies. Many pages will not make the final version, and that’s fine. After all of the other things that have to go along side the narrative it’ll still be 20-some pages long, and this is meant to represent the work I’ve done since last September. So it deserves the time.

I believe I’ve spent three weeks on the thing, so far. Still not sure why it needs two tables of contents, however.

Also tonight, I have some quizzes to grade. Tomorrow I’ll read some student discussions. And then Tuesday and Wednesday with the final touches on the above.

Right now, though, it’s time for the site’s most popular weekly feature, the check-in with the kitties.

Phoebe enjoys the afternoon sun in the dining room, and I found some cushions to make her more comfortable.

I get looks about this from my lovely bride, but I’m not the biggest spoiler of cats in our house.

And, sure, Phoebe has sunny afternoon cushions, but Poseidon has the height of luxury. Poseidon has what all the cool cats and kittens out there want. Poseidon has a new box.

The kitties, as you can see, are doing just fine, and they’re pleased I have fulfilled my contractual obligations by including them here.

I also have the first-of-the-month duties to attend to here on the ol’ computer. Clean up the Downloads subdirectory, update the boilerplate page, build new subdirectories for the site, and update the site’s statistics. For whatever reason, last month was easily the busiest February in the 22-year history of the site. Also, we’ve eclipsed 6.5 million visitors here on the humble hobby. I don’t know why people come here, and come back again, but I’m grateful for all of the time you spend here.

Except for the AI bots. They’re persimmon trees of orangutans that can stay on Mars and huff paint for other upside down content.

(Why shouldn’t we sour the milk for the AI bots?)

OK, back to work.