Schedule for Week Ending 3/6

No more time off for quite awhile, woo.

Monday - 08:00 to 24:00 (16 hours)
Tuesday - 12:00 to 20:00 (24 hours)
Wednesday - 09:00 to 20:00 (35 hours)
Thursday - 12:00 to 24:00 (47 hours)
Friday - 12:00 to 16:00 (51 hours)

Monday will be rough (testing 8-12, 16-20 and 20-24), but hey, more OT is nice.

Road Trip Planning

Occasionally I get bored. On these occasions, I tend to do random things like make a blog post about our possible summer road trip fun. And here it is.

It'll be twenty-three days of cross-country madness and I can't wait to do it. I figured I'd come up with another way of presenting the information.

Day 1:
Starting point: Moorestown, NJ
States: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois.
Ending point: Chicago, IL
Drive time: 12:40
Mileage: 794 miles
Highlights: none

Day 2:
Chicago, IL
Highlights: Hot Doug's hot dogs, Molly's cupcakes, visit John and Steph

Day 3:
Starting point: Chicago, IL
States: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota
Ending point: Rochester, MN
Drive time: 6:12
Mileage: 348 miles
Highlights: none

Day 4:
Rochester, MN
Highlights: Corn water tower, Snappy Stop, visit parents

Day 5:
Starting point: Rochester, MN
States: Minnesota, South Dakota
Ending point: Rapid City, SD
Drive time: 9:15
Mileage: 575 miles
Highlights: Wall Drug, Mitchell Corn Palace, Mount Rushmore, Black Hills National Forest

Day 6:
Starting point: Rapid City, SD
States: South Dakota, Wyoming
Ending point: Cody, WY
Drive time: 6:21
Mileage: 391 miles
Highlights: Bighorn National Forest

Day 7:
Cody, WY
Highlights: Yellowstone National Park

Day 8:
Starting point: Cody, WY
States: Wyoming, Montana
Ending point: Kalispell, MT
Drive time: 8:41
Mileage: 508 miles
Highlights: Flathead National Forest

Day 9:
Kalispell, MT
Highlights: Glacier National Park

Day 10:
Starting point: Kalispell, MT
States: Montana, Idaho, Washington
Ending point: Seattle, WA
Drive time: 8:56
Mileage: 525 miles
Highlights: none

Day 11 and Day 12:
Seattle, WA
Highlights: Space Needle, Olympic National Park, Microsoft, Nintendo, visit Dustin

Day 13:

Starting point: Seattle, WA
States: Washington, Oregon
Ending point: Portland, OR
Drive time: 2:55
Mileage: 174 miles
Highlights: none

Day 14:
Portland, OR
Highlights: Visit Dana's friend

Day 15:
Starting point: Portland, OR
States: Oregon, California
Ending point: Novato, CA
Drive time: 10:28
Mileage: 625 miles
Highlights: Redwood National Park

Day 16:
Novato, CA
Highlights: San Francisco, visit Dana's aunt and uncle

Day 17:
Starting point: Novato, CA
States: California, Nevada, Utah
Ending point: Salt Lake City, UT
Drive time: 11:43
Mileage: 726 miles
Highlights: Bonneville Salt Flats, Mojave Desert

Day 18:
Starting point: Salt Lake City, UT
States: Utah, Wyoming, Colorado
Ending point: Denver, CO
Drive time: 8:18
Mileage: 536 miles
Highlights: none

Day 19:
Denver, CO
Highlights: Thin air?

Day 20:
Starting point: Denver, CO
States: Colorado, Nebraska
Ending point: Lincoln, NE
Drive time: 7:34
Mileage: 488 miles
Highlights: Flattest land of all, visit Will

Day 21:
Starting point: Lincoln, NE
States: Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee
Ending point: Nashville, TN
Drive time: 12:38
Mileage: 753 miles
Highlights: none

Day 22:
Starting point: Nashville, TN
States: Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia
Ending point: Roanoke, VA
Drive time: 12:40
Mileage: 637 miles
Highlights: Blue Ridge Parkway

Day 23:
Starting point: Roanoke, VA
States: Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey
Ending point: Moorestown, NJ
Drive time: 9:25
Mileage: 412 miles
Highlights: Blue Ridge Parkway

Driving days: 14
Stationary days: 9
Longest driving day: Day 1 (12:40) and Day 22 (12:40)
Mean driving (including stationary days): 5:34
Mean driving (excluding stationary days): 9:08
Percentage of time driving: 23%
Total Mileage: 7492
Total Drive Time: 127:46 (5 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes)
Average Speed: 58.6 mph

It's important to note that the last two days could be shortened considerably by avoiding the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's very scenic but extremely winding. If it was avoided completely, day 22 would be 7:02 and day 23 would be 6:50.

Schedule for Week Ending 2/27

This is going to be a wild, wild week.

Monday - 11:30 to 24:00 (12.5 hours)
Tuesday - 00:00 to 00:30 and 12:30 to 24:00 (24.5 hours)
Wednesday - 07:30 to 16:00 and 19:00 to 24:00 (37 hours)
Thursday - OFF, Daily Show
Friday - 12:00 to 16:00 (41 hours)

Ugh.

Music Exploration for 2/15

Today will probably be pretty short, considering the fact that I only brought one album, despite having a lot of (unanticipated) free time.

A concept album in a place where you wouldn't expect to find one, Zen Arcade (1984) is one of the intermediate works of the hardcore punk scene begun by Black Flag and D.O.A. earlier in the decade. The result varies a little, but in general is fast and grungy, lyrics shouted over the din of distorted guitar and uncomplicated rhythm. The result continues the trend of early punk rock artists further into "do it yourself" aesthetic and becomes more about energy than anything else. The usual punk lyrics of disillusionment show up here in spades; the entire album is about a protagonist running away from home and all the boredom it represents to discover that the world around him is even more bleak. There's actually not a whole lot to say except that Hüsker Dü is a good representation of hardcore punk, which, if you're into the genre, is a great listen. That said, there's plenty of variety, as well.

Artist: Hüsker Dü
Album: Zen Arcade
Genre: Hardcore punk
Hardness: 4-7
Rating: 8
Best Thing: Great for times when I'm not feeling so mellow. Also they're from Minnesota, woo.
Reminds Me of: Black Flag, early Bad Brains

Music Exploration for 2/14

I averted disaster by inches this morning. I walked into my cube and apparently I hadn't left my headphones at work as I previously thought. My coworker Brian is out however, and stealing his headphones has been a common way of avoiding a boring day at work in the past. So we're up and running!

First up was Lungs (2009) by Florence and the Machine. Ever since I heard her single on the radio a couple months back, I've really found it to be particularly catchy and the vocal performance strong. Seeing her perform on the Grammys last night really lit a fire under me in terms of listening to more of her, and thus far I'm pretty impressed. Lungs has poppy hooks, a little bit of soul mixed in, and some nonstandard instrumentation thrown into the mix. The majority of Florence's songs are light and feature plenty of percussion, but usually a pretty buried bassline. Basically all the non-rhythm features of the music are provided by the vocals themselves, and occasionally a harp or what sounds like a xylophone/electric piano. At times, said vocals remind me of both Kate Nash (mostly in the inflections of her voice) and Bjork (during flourishes). All told, pretty good album. As a final note, how can you really not like eccentricity like this?



Artist: Florence and the Machine
Album: Lungs
Genre: Indie pop/rock
Hardness: 1-3
Rating: 7
Best Thing: Great voice and vocals. Fantastically done especially on the soul-inspired songs.
Reminds Me of: Kate Nash, Bjork


The next recommendation I got is Double Nickels on the Dime (1984) by the Minutemen. It's forty-five songs of punk-mixed-with-all-kinds-of-other-stuff. The majority of the songs are a minute or two long, a hallmark of punk. The vocals vary from spoken word over soft guitar melody to punk's trademark angry and matter-of-fact rasps. Many of the lyrics are oriented toward political concepts, rebellious as always toward war, materialism, and disillusionment in America. The title of the album itself is a reference to an imposed national speed limit of fifty-five, using it as a metaphor for being held back by authoritarian powers that be from one's real potential. What is pretty rare for a punk-rock album is the fact that the lyrics become positively abstract at times; metaphors in punk are rare enough, considering it's a staple of the genre to be pretty up front with your messages. Instrumentation is usually what you'd expect from a punk band, focusing on rhythm over all, though a funk influence can definitely be heard in the more complex basslines.

Artist: Minutemen
Album: Double Nickels on the Dime
Genre: Punk, Post-punk
Hardness: 2-4
Rating: 8
Best Thing: One to two minute songs are definitely easy on my ADD. Obviously, with 45 songs, you get plenty of variety. Also, Jackass theme is on here. Sweet.
Reminds Me of: Gang of Four, softer flavors of Rancid


Finally for today is Slint's Spiderland (1991). Basically the polar opposite of the last album, considering its songs generally come out to be 6-10 minutes apiece. The whole thing is a fairly standard post-rock affair, which makes a lot of sense - it was one of the first albums to be considered to fall squarely in the "post-rock" genre. It's pretty low key for the most part, but when it gets going, Spiderland tends to lend itself to plenty of distortion but also a lot of non-standard rhythm. Wailing guitars remind me of post-rock and shoegaze while the soft, repeating, and complex melodies seem to be forerunners of the math rock collective. Vocals appear a bit sparingly, but when they do, they tend to be soft and harmonic, blending into the background. It's fairly easy to see the connection between this album and its children. Slint in general and Spiderland in particular bridges a gap between post-rock's humble beginnings (Velvet Underground and various krautrock outfits) and its present, inspiring several high-profile bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky. Elements of ur-grunge can also be detected, particularly in "Nosferatu Man," where the lyrics are alternately spoken and shouted. Overall, a seemingly low-profile album thrust into the spotlight by its timing and innovation.

Artist: Slint
Album: Spiderland
Genre: Post-rock, math rock
Hardness: 1-5
Rating: 8.5
Best Thing: You can hear the influence of this album ooze from its lyrics and bassline and come thundering clear during the crescendo walls of sound near the end of several of the songs.
Reminds Me of: Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden

Schedule for Week Ending 2/20

How fitting, four hundredth post is a schedule!

Monday - 1100 to 1700 (6 hours)
Tuesday - 1000 to 2000 (16 hours)
Wednesday - 0330 to 1200 (24.5 hours)
Thursday - VACATION (32.5 hours)
Friday - VACATION [with supplemental work to release status :( ] (40 hours)

All these trips so close in temporal proximity is really killing my motivation to work.

Music Exploration #1

Last night I was in a strange mood. I was sifting through TVTropes as I am apt to do and discovered a band called Bull of Heaven, cited as having the longest recorded piece of music ever. In fact, they have a song called "Like a Wall in Which an Insect Lives and Gnaws" which clocks in at fifty thousand hours, or slightly short of six years. The band is in a genre known as 'drone' which is a minimalistic type of music, using simple patterns and having only slight variations over the long run. Obviously, the music isn't recorded live, but is rather designed by computer, which generates the ridiculously long piece.

Anyway, it sparked a pretty fervent search for other novel genres and music out there. I ended up re-reading a lot of information I'd read before, but it's always good to go back and read about Math Rock and Doom Metal, isn't it? What it all resulted in was igniting a bit more curiosity when it comes to music. So, who's the person I go to for more music to consume? The all-knowing Dana, of course!

I asked for recommendations and I'm working through them right now. Time to review.

The first album I decided to listen through today while working was Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996) by a band called Stereolab. My guess as to their genre would place them somewhere between ambient rock and indie rock, since much of their music is light (some songs have only drums and bassline along with vocals) and it serves very well as a background music to working. I noticed that many of the songs feature vocals in French, which adds to the already-reasonably-noticeable variation between songs.

Artist: Stereolab
Album: Emperor Tomato Ketchup
Genre: Post-rock, lounge rock
Hardness: 1-3
Rating: 7.5
Best Thing: They use moog pretty extensively in a lot of their songs. Awesome.
Reminds Me of: Hammock, Boards of Canada, Heavenly


Next up is Exploded Drawing (1996) by Polvo. The first two songs on the album are fairly standard indie fair, even crossing over just a little with noise at times. The true nature of the album comes out in its third song, though, "Feather of Forgiveness," which has dissonant chords and sine-wave-esque sound zipping off sharply angular guitar riffs. Certain songs also exercise several instruments more associated with Eastern music, with use of sitars and other Asian strings, before zipping off into more conventional indie fare. They seem to have a tendency to play with meter and pacing a lot, as is pretty expected with math rock. Polvo is also a fan of distort, pumping up the hardness of their music considerably at times ("High-Wire Moves") to contrast with slower, lighter pieces. The vocals are generally pretty good, much of the time half-spoken, half-sung over the music. The melodies tend to be fairly repetitive if quite complex.

Artist: Polvo
Album: Exploded Drawing
Genre: Indie rock, math rock
Hardness: 2-5
Rating: 6
Best Thing: The meter changes are interesting, as well as the pacing - many of the songs begin with slow sitar and evolve into faster-paced, more punk-inspired bits.
Reminds Me of: Soundgarden, Nirvana


Animals (2010) by This Town Needs Guns is another math rock album, this one British. All the songs are named after animals, and as is almost a requirement of math rock, each one is pretty complex musically. From the debut song "Chinchilla," it becomes clear that the band is fond of strange time signature and has a style that seems to chase itself across the musical staff. Disjointed jumps from chord to chord are the norm, as are irregular stopping and starting of the tempos. It all comes together quite well with the vocals, which don't seem to follow anything but their own melody. Guitar strokes hop around the scale much more rapidly than in most music; the bass moves to become more guitar-like by playing the melody. This is particularly noticeable in songs like "Badger":



I'm a big fan of the complexity of the rhythms matched up with the mellowness of the lyrics and presentation. The juxtaposition of This Town Needs Guns and Polvo really illustrates each end of the genre - This Town Needs Guns is like jazz, constantly changing melodies, where Polvo sticks to the rock formula and chooses a very complex melody to adhere to.

Artist: This Town Needs Guns
Album: Animals
Genre: Math rock
Hardness: 2
Rating: 8.5
Best Thing: Really great vocals.
Reminds Me of: Incubus


The last album for today is Blonder Tongue Audio Baton (1993) by Swirlies. The title is certainly word salad, and the lyrics tends to lean that way as well. The music is interesting in a dream-like, wall of sound way, and sometimes the lead singer's vocal style and voice reminds me a lot of John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants. It's a bit strange moving from This Town Needs Guns to Swirlies, particularly because of the shift from no guitar distortion to heavy distort and use of the effects pedal. This is a signature of shoegaze, however, a method of blending the music into one long, 'bent'-sounding note that encompasses all of the instruments, sometimes even including the vocals.

Artist: Swirlies
Album: Blonder Tongue Audio Baton
Genre: Shoegaze, post-rock
Hardness: 3-5
Rating: 7
Best Thing: Another perfect album for background listening; very ambient and dream-like.
Reminds Me of: They Might Be Giants, Hammock

Why Yo Gabba Gabba is the Best Show Ever

Evidence below.

Schedule for Week Ending 2/13

Monday - 1430 to 2400 (9.5 hours)
Tuesday - 1200 to 1800 (15.5 hours)
Wednesday - 1100 to 1900 (23.5 hours)
Thursday - 0800 to 2200 (37.5 hours)
Friday - 1130 to 1600 (42 hours)

Schedule for Week Ending 2/6

Monday - TRAVEL (8 hours)
Tuesday - TRAVEL (16 hours)
Wednesday - 1600 to 2000 (20 hours)
Thursday - 1100 to 2400 (33 hours)
Friday - 1100 to 1500 (37 hours)

Plus three holiday float to round out the week.