Tuesday, November 24, 2009

So I didn't get a shirt

So I went to a show earlier at the House of Blues – All Time Low, We The Kings, Hey Monday, and Friday Night Boys – and I didn’t buy a shirt. I fully intended to buy a shirt, I really did. But ultimately, I didn’t. I took the Daughter and her friend. I bought the Daughter three shirts – All Time Low, We The Kings, and Hey Monday. The Daughter’s Friend got two. Each band had their own merch table, so I shepherded them from line to line, making sure they got shirts. Then I carried them for the duration of the show.

There may be some questions about why I was at the show at all, since I’m a little older than the target audience for these bands. Probably, most of the kids there thought I was chaperoning. That wasn’t how it went down, though - my buddy Toph found We The Kings and put me on to them early, then I asked for the CD and received it for Father’s Day. The Daughter immediately put it on her ipod and played it 3 times a day, adopting them – whether or not I introduced the band into the house, they became hers. I guess music kind of works like dogs or cats in that way.

So yeah, I guess ultimately I was more there for her than for me, and getting a shirt for her just pushed the thoughts of my getting one out of the way. It still doesn’t mean I was chaperoning.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

So it seems I'm German - what do I do now?

I’ve always had an affinity for things Scottish. Bagpipes? Check. Whiskey? Check. Haggis? Well, maybe not so much. This works out well – I am Clan Comyn, MacNiven sept. I am related to the clan chief, fist-pump at the sight of a lion rampant with a dagger in his paw proper, and am entitled to wear the strap and buckle. I even have red hair. Yeah!!!

Except it turns out I’m German. Crap.

How did this happen? Well, my mother was Googling my recently deceased uncle’s name, and it came up. As did my father’s name, and my name, on somebody’s genealogy site. Whoa. So my mother emails the guy and he kindly sends several hundred pages of a Family Tree Maker export. After reading this, I can trace my lineage through my father, and his father, back nine generations to Johann Abt Walrath, who emigrated to New York from Germany in the late 17th century. Hmmm…



So what happened? Well, my father’s father’s lineage had always been described as English. This description had come courtesy of my father’s mother, who apparently decided that English was better than German, and, since she was generally not to be contradicted – Presto! English. Seems that the Germans were out of fashion from about 1939-1945. Go figure.



So, no problem, right? After all, you get your heritage from a number of ancestors. Except that I look like my father. A lot. And, if you look at the photo of his father from the early part of the 20th century, it turns out we both look a lot like him. Which means we’re German.



So far, this has only evidenced itself in a love of beer and an occasional affinity for BMW’s. In fact, I have several Jewish friends. I have no idea how this is going to play out…

Monday, September 28, 2009

Wish You Were Here

Pink Floyd is not one of my favorite bands, and I pretty much don't listen to their stuff of my own volition. I did see them on tour and it was a great show. Regardless of how much or little I like them, they were a great band.

In contrast, Rockstar: Supernova was not a great show. There was one moment, though - one of the contestants sing Wish You Were Here, by Pink Floyd. It wasn't the rendition that made it great, though - they cut over to Jason Newsted at one point, and he was wiping away tears. 99% percent of the audience probably thought it was a little odd.

This is the thing - every musician who has ever played that song, even if it was just in rehearsal, had someone they were thinking of when they played it. Gilmour and Waters wrote the song about  Syd Barrett, lost to drugs and madness.

I don't know who Jason Newsted lost, but when my band plays the song, I play it for my father.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

New Blog

This my new blog. It lacks a theme, focus, or content. Hopefully, that will change, but I can be less than motivated sometimes.