I found this video on a music site today as just released, a song called 'F***ed Up,' and now I can't get it out of my head since I first watched it earlier this evening. It describes my feelings at work recently, yes, this is where I'm going with this. I can't adequately describe the position I'm in at work without going into too much detail to explain. And it certainly is not the end of the world, for my position, anyway, but other heads should roll and I expect they will eventually. This is what happens when, um, never mind. Anyway, ever forward. This song itself is therapeutic in it's aggression and expression, but right now I'm in a good position to relate to it, also.
Happy Fourth of July weekend, everyone - or Brexit 1776, as I've heard it referred. I hope you had time off and spent it wisely, or not so wisely, however you prefer. I managed to get a lot done around the house and yard and still see friends and family. Some of the big things I managed to get done are power wash the whole house and garage and install a pulley system to store our bikes in the garage. Plus many, many more little projects and I still had plenty of time to relax, stay up late and listen to music - though I have several new things to listen to yet. That's one thing about music, there's always more that I haven't heard yet.
Another highlight of this holiday weekend is that I got to visit with my old pal, Mike. He was in Wisconsin for the weekend from Michigan visiting a former, and now current again, girlfriend. We drove up to Wisconsin Dells, about the halfway point, to meet them for dinner Sunday night and then hung out by the Wisconsin River and talked over drinks. She seems to be nice and they seem to be happy together so I hope it goes well for them. It has been over 20 years since they last dated, and I do remember meeting her back then. We had a very nice time, I only wish we could do it more often. We also texted Gary, another old friend, to let him know we were thinking of him. The three of us did a lot together in our youth.
But as all long weekends go, the end comes and it is back to the work week. We will be seeing other friends tonight but can't stay very late because we have to get up early.
I first heard of the East German band Rammstein long ago when I heard the song Sehnsucht on the radio. I had no idea who did it or what the name of the song was. I even tried looking in a database in the music area of a local big box bookstore to no avail. Eventually I figured it out and got their cassette tape. After that they kind of disappeared from America for many years after two of the members were arrested for indecency for performing a part of their stage show. Look up a live video for Buck Dich and you'll see what the prissy Americans were offended by. Europeans are much more open-minded.
A few years ago there was a lot of hype for their new DVD filmed in Madison Square Garden called Amerika. I did not order it then, but I did have other music releases of theirs and, of course, there's always my go-to site, YouTube. Recently there was more hype for another live DVD, Paris. All right, I'm in. I pre-ordered Paris and ordered Amerika at the same time. What the hell, they have a great live show and feature pyro, staging and props unlike any other bands, even Kiss.
Now, I've always loved the live stuff, CD, DVD or YouTube. The live sound and feeling brings across an energy that studio albums don't have. Amerika is like this and I enjoyed it greatly. This band does put on a very good stage show. Paris is also taken from a couple live shows (filmed in Paris, of course) but is highly doctored with all sorts of effects. Not that it's bad, just different. I've seen interviews when they and the director talk about all the work that went into it. It was filmed in 2012 and released just recently, over 5 years after it was filmed, and you can tell it took a lot of work but I think they overdid it. Camera angles jump around too much and too many special effects have been added for it to feel like a true 'live' show to me, the opposite effect of what they wanted. But that's my opinion, I just love the live stuff, even the one camera concerts on YouTube. In fact, I just finished watching a full Ratt concert before writing this. (I saw most of it last night before dozing off.)
Another thing that came out recently was one of those 'Elders React' videos featuring Rammstein. I like these videos, they're quite funny at times.
I've been trying to make the print above smaller, and I can, but the line height stays the same. I may have to redo the links or put the list in the right column. I'll have to play with it some more and maybe have this resolved by the next LLP post.
I'm over 50, married and child-free. My wife and I have a home not far from downtown Madison, Wisconsin, since 2009. I like music, taking pictures and good humor - plus writing about it all here. I am still not on farcebook or other social media, only Blogger and YouTube. Email me at scoakatsblog@gmail.com. I check it every so often.
