Thursday, August 25, 2022

Latest LIVE Listening Pleasure 40 - ZZ Top

I can't remember the last time I bought a ticket and saw a band play live, but it may have been Alice Cooper in July 2019.  That's over 3 years ago.  Now, I've not gone out to see bands as much the last several years (as I've been getting older), then the pandemic kept me away even when shows still happened during the last few years, until now.  ZZ Top has been around since 1969 so time is running out, for them and many of the great bands that have been the soundtrack to our lives.

I was almost late as I was thinking it started at 9 p.m. but it actually started at 8, so the first band was playing when I got there.  I jumped in line right away to get a t-shirt, and by the time I got to my seat the opening band was pretty much done.  That's okay, I couldn't tell you the name of the band now without looking it up.  The show, at the Sylvee here in Madison, was not sold out, but was a decent size crowd even with much of the standing room upstairs pretty empty.  And the demographics were similar to Alice Cooper, fans from 8 to 80 (or so).  The changeover between bands was pretty quick as ZZ Top has a pretty simple stage setup, and they started playing right about 9 o'clock.

ZZ Top - I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide

Their set was pretty efficient, and the same 16 songs they've been playing for at least the last few shows.  A lot of catchy tunes from the first album through their 80's heyday hits and more.  (My video for Sharp Dressed Man & Legs is here.)  

ZZ Top - Tube Snake Boogie

It was an expensive evening, for sure, but I'm still glad I went to see another band that I haven't seen yet and may not get another chance.  They played for about 80 minutes, whereas I would expect a bit more from a headliner normally, but again, they've been around for quite some time.  The show was tight, efficient, and pretty much no-frills as I would expect from ZZ Top.  I left halfway through their last song, La Grange, so I didn't get to see the confetti (or what ever was in the tubes behind the speakers) go off for the finale.  I had to park on the top floor of the ramp and wanted to beat the rush rather than wait in line to leave.  Also, I did have to work early in the morning, after all.   But overall, a good night and I'm glad I went.  Hopefully more shows will come through town soon that I'll want to see. 

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Posted by Scoakat at 2:12 PM 3 comments
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Saturday, August 13, 2022

Mini-Vacation This-And-Thats

A few weeks ago my counterpart at work took 3 of 4 weeks off, so I took Thursday and Friday off this week as a little reward for myself and to get me to my full week vacation coming up in September.  Only a couple days, but I've been able to get a few things done that I've been wanting to do and now I have several things I'd been wanting to share plus a few new things.  So it's time again to start typing and see if I remember it all.

  • A couple years ago I shared this site as I found it interesting to compare the size of different parts of the world since maps can skew things quite a bit.  I've since found a similar site here that is a bit easier to use but includes water area in the outlines.  Still, I wanted to share as a follow up to this post.
  • I do remember reading something about those butterfly signs pictured last post but I haven't been able to find anything on them online.  I'm thinking they're a promotion for Olbrich Gardens' Blooming Butterflies event in the Bolz Conservatory this summer, just ended.  I've also seen them as photo-ops for kids spreading their arms while standing in front.  I like them, we should keep them around like some of the painted cows around Madison.
  • A year or two ago we got a new grill, and while I have no complaints about the grill itself the wheels were a bother, too small and made it rather difficult and noisy to move the grill around.  I finally bought better wheels online and spent a some time getting it done.  Not a straightforward procedure as I had to use the existing screwholes to fasten a wood base.  I expected a bit more to work with when I turned it over, but where there's a will there's a way.  Once I got wood pieces fastened on I screwed on plywood that I could then screw the new wheels onto.  Not ideal, but more than sturdy, will last at least as long as the grill does, and moving the grill is so much easier and quieter now.  In the picture you can see the wheel size comparison.
  • I'm finally committed, for the first time since 2019, to go out and experience live music.  There was just Atwoodfest with several bands on our visit, but this is a live big rock band in a music venue that I paid (a lot of) money to go see.  Legacy band ZZ Top will be here in a week and a half and I got one of the few seats at the Sylvee to enjoy the experience.  It's been just a matter of time until I broke the seal; I considered The Melvins who were in town a bit ago and Anvil just a couple weeks ago.  I didn't pull the trigger for either of those, but like I felt when I bought Alice Cooper tickets, this may be my last chance to see ZZ Top.  Dusty passed recently and who's to say how long Billy and Frank can continue.  The inevitable happens to us all, rock stars included.  I'm planning on going alone, but it's a weeknight so will have to work in the morning, too.
  • The Packers played their first preseason game last night.  It was sloppy and they lost, but about par for the course for a first preseason game.  Good to watch and know that football is coming, but it also means summer is coming to a close.  It won't be long until autumnal signs will start appearing, and our recent cooler temperature trend is too soon but may also be a sign.  Like in the last bullet point, the passing of time is inevitable.
  • I still have the weekend here then back to work for another month until my fall vacation.  I'm not sure what my main project will be for that time, but if nothing else I have some driveway cracks to seal, windows to wash, and may even do the edging along the walks.  For now, I'm about to go out to lunch with a friend, then hopefully get a good walk in with my wife and then just normal weekend chores left to do.  Should be a relaxing time, overall, hope yours will be, too.
I've been forgetting to put the walnut count at the end of my posts like I wanted.  I thought it might be fun this year as I believe it's going to be a lot.  For perspective, I'll have to get a picture soon of the tree overhang so you can see the section of walnut trees overhanging the back yard.  So far they're just starting to fall still, but as I sat by the fire Thursday night and looked up before the darkness came, I wondered if I should put on my old hard hat.

Walnut count: 205

Here, what appears to be an F-35 turns over the neighborhood to come in to land.  Pictures just don't do justice to how close they are in person.

*Edit later in the afternoon.  I went back and looked at the series of jet pictures, and you can see it get bigger as it got closer to overhead.  Posted after the break!
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Posted by Scoakat at 10:58 AM 4 comments
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Monday, August 1, 2022

Atwoodfest 2022, Dancin' In The Street!

It was a perfect day; warm but not too warm, sunny but not too sunny, and it felt good to have the festival back after 2020 off and a small parking lot version that we skipped last year.  A very good day, but this year I'll let the pictures do the talking (maybe with a few captions).

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Posted by Scoakat at 5:42 PM 5 comments
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