The Power of Reruns and the mix for 4-26-24

The trees are just starting to unfurl their leaves. It is the sweetest time of year!

This week’s mix was spawned by a rerun. The opening track used to be the theme song to the Tom Hanks / Peter Scolari vehicle “Bosom Buddies”. The rights got too expensive so in reruns the song has been replaced by a Stephanie Mills tracks. Anyway, I caught part of a rerun of the show and the song bopped around in my head for a couple of days. It also reminded me of how funny Wendie Jo Sperber was in everything she did. There is a 4 song run in this set that is a perfect re-creation of the song order off a tape I made on my first boombox whereby I picked the songs off the radio. This set feels like I was listening to KQ then switched the dial to KDWB.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents 4-26-24

NOTE: New “The Funkomaticjamatron Presents…” podcasts are generally posted on Fridays. The show archives are around ten shows deep. Beyond that, if the link isn’t active, the mix has been deleted to make way for new material.  Playlist in “Song – Artist” order. Every song in this mix is from a compilation so I have omitted the album listing this week.

1. My Life – Billy Joel.
2. Ride Like The Wind – Christopher Cross.
3. Never Been Any Reason -Head East.
4. Jet Airliner – Steve Miller Band.
5. Message In A Bottle – The Police.
6. Take Me Home – Phil Collins.
7. Let’s Dance – David Bowie.
8. Totally Nude – The Wallets.
9. Holiday – The Other Ones.
10. True Faith – New Order.
11. To Live and Die in L.A. – Wang Chung.
12. Give Me The Night – George Benson.
13. Greatest American Hero – Joey Scarbury.

Life Skills On Display and the mix for 4-19-24

If you read the post from last week you’ll know that this week was a test of endurance, fortitude, cunning, and life skills. Good thing I have all that survival knowledge squirreled away from my days in Scouts. I mean, yeah, sure, that was like, (pauses, thinks, winces) a few years ago. But at least some reasonable percentage of those times came back. Like the time Aaron got poison ivy on his… well, ok, that wasn’t helpful. Funny, yes, helpful, no. Or that time Cory J. woke us up at 5 am because a black bear was in our camp and Cory J. had a full pound of gummi worms in his tent even though we all told him that was dumb and shouldn’t keep them in his tent. He survived. Anyway, all you need to know is that there were no actual fires in the house and pants were worn where/when appropriate as to keep the authorities from getting involved, no one was eaten by a bear, and no one starved.

Mary gets home tomorrow. Everyone will be ecstatic to bask in her radiant presence.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents 4-19-24

NOTE: New “The Funkomaticjamatron Presents…” podcasts are generally posted on Fridays. The show archives are around ten shows deep. Beyond that, if the link isn’t active, the mix has been deleted to make way for new material.  Playlist in “Song – Artist – Album” order.

1. Pressure – Sunscreem – O3.
2. Electric Guitar (Vibrochamp) – Fluke – Electric Guitar.
3. KDX 125 – Pet Shop Boys – Relentless.
4. Miracle – System 7 – Wasted (The Best Of Volume Part 1) [Disc 1].
5. Move Any Mountain (Progen ’91) – The Shamen – CMJ Presents Certain Damage! Vol 37.
6. Can’t Get Enough – Sonique – Hear My Cry.
7. Colour Of Love (Massive Version) – Snap! – The Madman’s Return.
8. C’mon and Get My Love (7″ Mix) – D Mob featuring Cathy Dennis – C’mon and Get My Love 12″ Single.
9. The Ways Of The Wind (UK 7″ Remix) – P.M. Dawn – The Ways Of The Wind (Single PRCD 6778-2).
10. Back To Life – Soul II Soul And Caron Wheeler – Club Classics, Vol. 1.
11. Blue (Album Mix) – LaTour – Big Hard Disk Vol 1.

Feral State, Humbled, and the mix for 4-11-24

Surprise! That was an unintended break of not being in the office on successive Fridays. But not only is there a mix this week, it’s a day early just because I like you so much!

Next week might be interesting, in the Minnesotan sense. Mary will be on a business trip in India. I expect that by her return there will be no food left in the house in any format, all the dishes will be broken, all clothing will have degenerated to tatters, both the cats and remaining household members will be feral, and there will need to be a lot of explaining about why there is that giant hold in the sheet rock.

I am once again humbled by the generosity of my friends and family. I have exceeded my lofty fundraising goal for this year’s MS Ride. The event is on May 10th, so if you have considered donating, there is still time. Everyone who donates will get a hand made postcard from me. https://events.nationalmssociety.org/participant/Cory-Funk

This week’s mix is inspired by the change in the clouds from winter to spring shapes.

Sky beeps! Thanks Buck Rogers!

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents 4-11-24

NOTE: New “The Funkomaticjamatron Presents…” podcasts are generally posted on Fridays. The show archives are around ten shows deep. Beyond that, if the link isn’t active, the mix has been deleted to make way for new material.  Playlist in “Song – Artist – Album” order.

1. Is There Anyone On The Air? – Mindphaseone – A Wavelength Away.
2. Cloud Generator Tycho Past Is Prologue.
3. At Least The Sky Is Blue (Ft. Ariel Pink) – Ssion – O.
4. Amber Sky – Samantha James – Subconscious.
5. Hold The Sky – Babble – Ether.
6. Muted Whispers From the Broken Sky – Carmen Rizzo – Romancia EP.
7. Clear Skys – Amon Tobin – SSX.
8. Blood, Milk And Sky (Miss September Mix) – White Zombie – Supersexy Swingin’ Sounds.
9. Flying On The Wings Of Steam – Chris Vrenna – American McGee’s Alice.
10. Thundercloud – Laurie Mayer – Black Lining.
11. Behind The Sky In – The Branches & Bluetech – Zero Gravity (Disc 1).
12. Return to Air – Bonobo – Flashlight (single).

Guarded, ice cream, and the mix for 3-21-24

Remember how last week I hedged and said that Spring was getting close but stopped short of saying it was here because that’s how a Minnesotan gets their heart broken? Well, there is currently a prediction for about 10 inches of snow to arrive between Thursday midnight and Monday morning (sources vary, but you get the idea). This is why Minnesotans are guarded. We synthesize this experience each ‘spring’ into the core of our selves.

I’ve been playing some Star Wars Battlefront II. It is as delightfully flawed as it was the first time. The muscle memory of galactic conquest still remains. I still want an inverted Y axis.

Our favorite local ice cream shop opened for the season yesterday. As is our long-standing family tradition we went on opening day with our friend Grace. While I am not a man of many traditions, this one is high on my list of fixed points in the year that brings joy. Yes, it was 29F, but that just means your ice cream doesn’t melt while you eat it.

I continue to train for the MS Ride on May 10th. My knees continue to remind me that I am firmly middle aged. Re-wrapped my handlebars last week. Wonder how many times I’ve done that. Dozens of times by now. Pro tip: you can use two layers of bar wrap to get some real serious hand padding. Many pros do this for Paris-Roubaix, which famously passes over multiple sections of cobblestones during its grueling path. The race is nicknamed “The Hell of the North”.

The happiest happening of the week is that there is a mural being painted on campus, at the entrance to the library. The artist asked for volunteer painters and I did a couple shifts helping with that. Best use of my work time in ages.

This week, 45 minutes of beeps and boops.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents 3-21-24

NOTE: New “The Funkomaticjamatron Presents…” podcasts are generally posted on Fridays. The show archives are around ten shows deep. Beyond that, if the link isn’t active, the mix has been deleted to make way for new material.  Playlist in “Song – Artist – Album” order.

1. Toxygene (7″ Edit) – The Orb – U.F.Off: The Best Of The Orb [Disc 1].
2. Tunnel Vision – Orbital – Blue Album.
3. Masters of the Universe (Neon Remix) – Juno Reactor – Masters of the Universe EP.
4. Phoebus Apollo – Carl Cox – Hackers (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
5. Addicted To Bass (Hyper & Rhymes Remix) – Puretone – Bedrock Breaks: Heads Down (Disc 1).
6. Subway Rhythm – Two Fingers – Two Fingers (Instrumentals).
7. Beauty Of The Unhidden Heart – The Glitch Mob – Love Death Immortality.
8. Empires (Big Gigantic Remix) – STS9 – Peaceblaster (The New Orleans Make It Right Remixes).
9. After Dawn – Letherette – Letherette.
10. Alice – Moby – Last Night.

Onward, Invert the Y, and the mix for 3-15-24

The most important update this week is that my mother-in-law is continuing her recovery from heart surgery. She is motivated and in good spirits. This is good news and deserves to be shared up top.

The next news, which is a distant second, is this week saw the reissue of Star Wars Battlefront I and II. I spent hundreds of hours playing these on PS2. I’m always a little suspect of retro gaming. I’ve had the Atari 2600 and Sega Genesis hooked up in the last five years. These things are better as memories. Times move on. But for $30, I figured it might be worth it to go barging through the Galactic Conquest modes again. What I can say after giving both games a try last night is that they hold up alright. EXCEPT… There is one awful flaw. There is no option to invert the Y axis controls. Given that the modern standard in games is to offer an invert feature or even invert the Y (pull back on the stick to look up, so flight controls) as a default, this control issue makes the games VERY difficult to play. It’s fighting against twenty years of muscle memory. To be fair, this is how the original games were built and these games are unfailingly original. My hope is that the studio that did the port will add an inversion option. Time will tell. You can never go home again.

It would be the acme of foolishness to assume, despite the months of mild weather we’ve had, that winter is done. That is a good way to have your heart broken. Instead I will say that there is a very real note of Spring in the air, that the trees and tulips are waking up, and the birds have a lot of verses of “Hey baby!” to sing.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents 3-15-24

NOTE: New “The Funkomaticjamatron Presents…” podcasts are generally posted on Fridays. The show archives are around ten shows deep. Beyond that, if the link isn’t active, the mix has been deleted to make way for new material.  Playlist in “Song – Artist – Album” order.

1. Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry – Wild Cherry.
2. Let The Music Play – Shannon – Let the Music Play.
3. Music Takes Me – School Of Seven Bells – SVIIB.
4. It’s the Music – Meat Beat Manifesto – Original Fire
5. Music Makers – Ils – Paranoid Prophets.
6. Music: Response – The Chemical Brothers – Music: Response single.
7. Music – Madonna – Music.  
8. What Is Music (Original Mix with Notes) – Eon – What Is Music / Spice single.
9. Music Sounds Better With You – Stardust – 15 Years [Disc 2].
10. Music Selector is the Soul Reflector (Remix) – Deee Lite – Sampladelic Relics & Dancefloor Oddities.
11. Music – Jamez Presents Tatoine – Perfecto Presents Another World [Disc 2].
12. Music Is My Mistress – Snail – Snail.