Midsummer Whatnot, Tall Grass 1 & 2

Hmm?

Oh! Didn’t know you were around today. No, no, it’s fine. I was just… well, no matter. It’s good to see you. It’s been a bit, yes?

Summer is very slow in my office. So slow as to drop below the threshold of interest, as in it’s difficult for me to stay interested in much, especially creative activities. I need at least a little pressure to keep moving. I’ve felt that more than usual this summer as yesterday I finally gave up on a piece I’ve been trying to write for two months. Just can’t find the way in. So it goes.

The Tour de France has come and gone. Watching the stages is the key to my sanity in July. Yes, I stream it on my work computer. No, no one cares. Yes, everyone knows. It’s a bit like listening to hockey r baseball on the radio. You only really need to pay attention when the announcers change pitch. Then I really watch it. Otherwise its on in the background. And the last 5 km. That matters too. This year’s edition of the tour was generally not that exciting other than stage 9 over the cobblestones.

I had another essay published! I was lucky enough to make the cut over at Memoir Mixtape again. You can read my piece on “Why Worry” by Dire Straits here.

I’ve also had a mixed playlist/poem accepted at Moonchild Magazine. Not sure when that one will be published, but I’ll let you know when it is out in the world.

As promised in the previous post, I have put together a series of mixes that highlight some of the strange stuff in my collection. The first two editions of the “Tall Grass” series are below. I’ve changed the way I post the track lists so that you can see how long each song is. That way, with a little simple math, you can skip around if you like and still know what is up.

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.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… Tall Grass, Kinda Classical originally mixed the week of 8-2-18..

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… Tall Grass, Electronics originally mixed the week of 8-2-18..

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Break, Ride, and the mix for 5-25-18

This is it. The last post before the summer hiatus. Since I won’t be in the office on Fridays through the summer, I can’t post on Fridays. These things take about a week to build and trying to move that schedule up to Thursdays is a good way for me to miss my self-imposed deadline and then feel bad about the whole endeavor. Besides, it’s good to have time to recharge. That being said…

Do not despair! A series I call “Tall Grass” will randomly show up over the summer. These will be comprised of the good weird stuff that I’ve collected over the years. If you are interested in hearing the strange stuff I own, these will be for you. Everyone else, you may want to avert your ears.

If you get desperate for a mix over the summer, reach out. I’m sure I can accommodate.

The 2018 MS Ride was this last weekend. It was a chilly start (48F during check in) but the weather was mainly clear (rain predicted all the way up to the previous evening). I rode the 26 mile loop owed to a fussy knee and hip. I don’t have anything to prove to anyone anymore on the bike so rode the loop I would enjoy the most. Finished at a 13.9 mph average. Not too shabby for an old fat guy. Thank you again to everyone who so generously donated to my efforts!!

Ready to roll for the 2018 MS Ride.

I love the Midtown Greenway and I love that skyline.

Post MS Ride, 2018. 26 miles in under two hours.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 5.25.18.

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.

Song – Artist – Album
Goodnite – Walt Mink – Colossus.
Car in Reverse – The Grassy Knoll – Electric Verdeland, Vol.1.
Anything – The Golden Palominos – Pure.
Dark Doo Wop – Ms Mr – Secondhand Rapture.
Here Alive – The Sevateem – The Caves.
Moon – Beth Orton – Kidsticks.
No Light, No Light – Florence + The Machine – Ceremonials.
Gas Stations And Restaurants – Letherette – Letherette.
Gold – Chet Faker – Built On Glass.
Gold Dust Woman – Fleetwood Mac – Rumours.
The Black Tent – Errors – Come Down With Me.
Parasol – Jonquil – Low Whistle EP.
My Old Friends – Emot – Make You Electric.
It All Comes Clear – My Federation – Don’t Wanna Die.
Center Stage – Capital Cities – In A Tidal Wave Of Mystery.

Muting, Parking, and the mix for 5-18-18

This week I reached a point where I had enough of twitter. On one hand, I have fun and lively conversation with a dozen or more folks there every day. Real people who are clever and interesting. On the other hand, it is like having a toilet in your house that is broken and possessed at the same time so it just shoots diarrhea into the air ALL THE TIME.

So, I undertook what I call The Great Muting. I muted every account that isn’t a person that I have good conversations with. This has had two outcomes. First, I noticed that there are actually only about twenty people who post regularly and that I really chat with, and as a corollary, that I might follow too many political news accounts for my own good.

The second outcome was more subtle and sad. I came across a couple names of folks who have dropped out. People who I emailed with and even sent regular post to. I reached out to one such person via email about a month ago and haven’t heard anything back. It’s a strange feature of modern life how quickly and completely people can vanish. I hope these folks are ok and I miss them.

The MS Ride is on Sunday. Due to the overwhelmingly generous nature of my friends and family, I raised quite a bit of money for the ride (over $1000!) and as such, got an email from the ride organizers. They sent me a special parking pass for the event! I’m very excited about this because if there is one thing that the anxiety tied to my depression latches on to concerns about going places due to possible parking issues. No, this isn’t a reasonable concern but it is one that can quickly overtake me and I find almost impossible to beat when it does. There have been a couple occasions where I didn’t go to events I know I would have enjoyed because this anxiety cowed me in to inaction. The current weather prediction is cool (high of 62F) with a potential for some rain.

My summer schedule officially starts in June but it is customary for me to take the last Friday in May off. I may or may not do that this year. The up side is that there will be at least one more mix before I take my summer hiatus.

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This comes up under a stock photo search for “back half”. Serious.

The theme this week is that all these songs are on the back half of the albums they are on.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 5.18.18.

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.

Song – Artist – Album
Terminal Frost – Pink Floyd – A Momentary Lapse Of Reason.
The Movie – Aerosmith – Permanent Vacation.
This City Never Sleeps – Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).
Consider Me Gone – Sting – The Dream Of The Blue Turtles.
Lions – Dire Straits – Dire Straits.
Night Flight – Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti [Disc 2].
Used To Bad News – Boston – Don’t Look Back.
Scarecrow – Beck – Guero.
Let Me Do It To You – J.J. Cale – Troubadour.
One Rainy Wish – The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Axis: Bold As Love.
Drive In Drive Out – Dave Matthews Band – Crash.
Everysong – Lloyd Cole – Antidepressant.
Moron – Edwyn Collins – Gorgeous George.
Tiny Daggers – INXS – Kick.

A Brown Skyhawk Drives Through The Misty Prairie Spring, and the mix for 5-11-18

Two things about this week’s mix-

First, it was about this time of year, and about this kind of weather (overcast, rainy, almost warm, never really daylight and the night comes on all of a sudden) when my now-wife-then-girlfriend and I set off from our college town to a different, slightly bigger, college town to attend the high school graduation of a friend of her family. This reception was held in the family house, which at one time had been a funeral home. There was a tour of the home late in the affair. During that tour, I horrified the crowd by explaining why there was a very strange tiled lined room in the basement. She drove her brown Buick Skyhawk through the gloom and misting rain. There was no working radio in the dash, so we toted a boom box, which sat in the well by my feet on the passenger side. Second Toughest in the Infants was brand new and I played most of the drive down. “Pearl’s Girl” reminds me of this drive when the season and weather is right. We ducked out a little early from the party and got Chinese food in a very small place nearby. It was the first time I met her folks.

Second, the songs in the mix were picked in live time. I gave myself only until the end of the previous song to pick the next one. So this is instinctual.

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Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 5.11.18.

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.

Song – Artist – Album
Pearls Girl – Underworld – Second Toughest In The Infants.
Magick – Digital Orgasm – Do It.
High Roller – The Crystal Method – Vegas.
Voodoo Fire – 10-AC – Zoo Rave II.
Drifted – Groove Armada – Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub).
Oich Oich – Underworld – Pearl’s Girl [EP].
Divided By Night – The Crystal Method – Divided By Night.
Fly By Night Only – The Glitch Mob – Love Death Immortality.
Tron Legacy (End Titles) – Daft Punk – Tron: Legacy.

Umm, Uhh, and the mix for 5-4-18

Spring has rendered me wistful and distracted.

Usually under the pressure of a deadline ideas spring to mind, but not today. My work day takes me away from the desk for the last hour of the day and it’s just been emails and maintenance all week. So, I’ll let the mix (which I really enjoyed putting together and listening back through) speak for itself. There are a couple songs in here which either rarely come up or are new to the blog.

This picture is unrelated. I just like morning glories.

If we get rain in the next few days, these arrive!

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 5.4.18.

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.

Song – Artist – Album
Mr. Tiddles – Sasha – Airdrawndagger.
Broken Promise – Toonami – Deep Space Bass.
I’ll Carry You – Halou – Loop: The Cut and Paste Groove Collection.
Bermuda – Fluke – Risotto.
Blue Lines – Massive Attack – Blue Lines.
Rino’s Prayer – Leftfield – Rhythm And Stealth.
Dirty Shadows – The Future Sound Of London – ISDN.
Freefloat – Aural Float – A Night In Space: Space Night, Vol. V.
Fires of Ork II – Fires Of Ork – Logic Trance 2 [Disc 2].
Crocodile (Live) – Underworld – London Roundhouse 18.10.2007 [Disc 1].