Summer Stuff, TdF, and the mix for 7-31-17

Oh! Hello. I didn’t think anybody would be around. Just popping in… can’t stay long (checks watch, looks towards door)…

My world in July is dominated by the Tour de France. I built a mix on the topic and I figured I had better post it in July or else… well, I don’t know. But I’m sure it’s bad, like getting a visit from The Flat Tire Fairy or something equally as miserable.

Other thoughts:
-Summers as an adult are disappointing.
-Having a stereo in a work space (in my case, the garage) is great.
-My ratio of being a groomsman to being a pallbearer is getting uncomfortably close to 1:1. I prefer the former to the later but will gladly serve in any way I can if asked. That is what friendship and family are about.
-Does anyone else not see someone post on Social Media for a couple weeks and start to get worried that something bad has happened? I mean, how would you know, right?
-It is more fun to take pictures than to do the work to create a working archive of those pictures.
-For my money, the picture below (taken at the 2017 Back to the Fifties at the MN State Fairgrounds) is the absolute peak of things I want in terms of automobile wishes.

1959 Cadillac in sea foam green (swoon)

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 7.31.17

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
Theme for Velodrome – The Chemical Brothers – Theme for Velodrome single.
III/4 – Phantom Heart Brother – Pete Namlook & Klaus Schulze featuring Bill Laswell – The Evolution of the Dark Side of the Moog.
Bad Radio (ft Tunde Adebimpe) – Leftfield – Alternative Light Source.
Mind Of A Beast – The Glitch Mob – Love Death Immortality.
Ren 2 – Photek – Animatrix: The Album.
Accelerate (Rat Race Mix) – Skin Up – Big Hard Disk Vol 1.
Full Throttle – The Prodigy – A Life Less Ordinary.
Red Zone – Robert Miles – Dreamland.
Hypnomania (Head Trip Mix) – LaTour – Hypnomania 12” single.
On The Road (Vocal Mix) – Alex Armes, Sam Stizer & Thomas Penton – Mixtape: Future Funk.
This Race (Moscow 061027) – Underworld – Collected Live & B-Sides.
Tour de France – Kraftwerk – Tour de France.

Hiatus, (confused shrug), and the mix for 5-19-17

Well folks, first things first. This is the last regular Friday of work for me until September. There will be a couple random posts over the summer I am sure, but the hiatus starts tomorrow.

Other news: The MS Ride went well. Had perfect weather. Starting temp was 62F with clear skies and no wind to speak of. I rode with my friend Kate. She was better prepared to ride than I was and hauled me along for the 45 mile route (I was really only prepared for 30 miles but with good weather and good company, much is possible). Here we are at about the 36 mile mark. Locals will know exactly where we are.

Kate and I at about the 36 mile mark of the 2017 MS Ride.

Love it or hate it: No idea how I got to this mix. I had three playlists that wouldn’t gel and so I mashed them together and started cutting. I think I got hung up on “Good Beat” but I don’t really know. Anyway, it’s 90s dance radio time! Yes, I know, there is no album info. That’s an error on my part but I’m not going back to fix it now.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 5.12.17

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
Something About Us – Daft Punk.
All Around The World – Lisa Stansfield.
Slave To The Vibe – Aftershock.
Colour Of Love [Smoove Version] – Snap!
Back To Life – Soul II Soul featuring Caron Wheeler.
Move Your Body – Amber.
Be My Lover – La Bouche.
Say You’ll Be There – Spice Girls.
Good Beat – Deee-Lite.
Dreams (Our Tribe House Mix) – Gabrielle.
The Rhythm Of The Night (R.B.X. Euro Mix) – Corona.
Fascinated – Company B.
Tribal Dance – 2 Unlimited.
Get the Party Started – Pink.

Tomorrow, Yesterday, and the mix for 5-12-17

Tomorrow I am taking part in the MS Ride again. Currently I am the #33 fundraiser overall for the event. If you enjoy the weekly mixes, why not help bump me up in the rankings and donate? Some of you loyal readers/listeners have already and I do vastly appreciate it! Here is the donation page.

My back has been bothering me and it has made me a bit cranky. Is there more to say? No. I’m getting old and am aware of it. Next week I’ll talk about my forest of ear hair.

I’m glad the week is over. Everyone (including me) has the spring crazies and needs to get outside.

Had a very nice visit today from a former employee of mine. She was on the campus for an event and came up to the office. There are few things that lighten the load or cheer the day so much as an unexpected visit from a friendly face.

Yesterday (May 11th) Minnesota celebrated its 159th statehood anniversary. Happy birthday to my favorite state!

The Minnesota State Flower, the Pink Lady Slipper as seen at the Como Conservatory.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 5.12.17

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
Far Cry – Marvin Gaye – In Our Lifetime.
To Live and Die in L.A. – Wang Chung – To Live and Die in L.A.
Lonely Tonight – The Power Station -The Power Station.
Champagne? – Joe Satriani – Engines Of Creation.
Fly Like An Eagle – Les Paul & Steve Miller – Les Paul & Friend: American Made World Played.
Freeway Jam – Jeff Beck – Blow By Blow.
Slow Ride – Kenny Wayne Sheperd – Trouble Is…
Brave Beyond The Call – Walt Mink – Colossus.
All Messed Up – The Donnas – Spend The Night.
Daft Punk is Playing at My House – LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem.
Mysterious Ways – U2 – Achtung Baby.
From Your Mouth – God Lives Underwater – Life in the So-Called Space Age.
Welcome Back Victoria – Jesus Jones – Doubt.
Judas – The Verve – Forth.

Rant, directions, and the mix for 5-5-17

I’m going to start with a rant so skip to the next paragraph if that isn’t your style. First off I’m in a foul mood because of the vote yesterday in Congress to move ahead with 45s disastrous “health care” bill. You see those pictures from after the vote? All old white people celebrating. The greed, hatefulness, and vast hypocrisy of it is staggering. I would shout more about it but I have a strong suspicion that if you are reading this you are in the choir already. Second, there is a process my place of work does once every few months and yet my coworkers can’t figure the fucking thing out. They literally have a 9” x 13” piece of paper covered in wonderfully precise instructions and act surprised EVERY TIME when I point out they are doing it wrong. Plus side: This is the very last time this process happens on paper. Next time there will be a whole new set of questions but at least 1500 less papers to shuffle.

I like media studies so here is a thing that occurred to me just a few days ago. The marketing juggernaut that is Disney/Star Wars has new fodder these days. As such there are a lot more images and merch from the franchise around. One interesting side effect of merchandising the Star Wars movies is that on balance there are more images of evil than of good. My guess is that since the bad guys all wear masks, it is easier to license a mask than someone’s actual image (you know, a real human being’s face). I find it at least a little dark amusement that the push to make the most cash by a giant company normalizes images of evil as commonplace. Thought experiment: How much more often do you see Darth Vader or a storm trooper instead of Luke, Leia, Finn, Poe, Han, or Rey?

In a scant eight days I am taking part in the MS Ride again. If you enjoy the weekly mixes a good way to show it is to donate to my fundraising efforts. Some of you loyal readers/listeners have already and I do vastly appreciate it! My fund raising page is here. I am very pleased to say I have raised $878 so far.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 5.5.17

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
Mrs. Cold – Kings of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence.
Mrs. Jack’s Last Stand – Adrian Legg – Guitar For Mortals.
Miss Gradenko – The Police – Synchronicity.
Look At The Lady – Trip Shakespeare – Are You Shakespearienced?
Mr. Soul – Buffalo Springfield – Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield.
Mr. Bellows – John Mellencamp – Mr. Happy Go Lucky.
Mr. Nichols – Coldcut with Saul Williams – Sound Mirrors.
Mr. Jones – Elvin Jones – Poly-Currents.
The Gentleman Is a Dope – Count Basie & Sarah Vaughan – Count Basie/Sarah Vaughan.
Sophisticated Lady – Billie Holliday – Compact Jazz Billy Holiday.
Oh Lady Be Good – Benny Goodman – Rare Recordings: 1935-1936 [Live].
Tally-Ho, Mr. Basie! – Count Basie & The Kansas City 7 – Count Basie & The Kansas City 7.
Lady Day And John Coltrane – Gil Scott-Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
Little Miss Lover – The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Axis: Bold As Love.
Lady Cab Driver – Prince – 1999.
Blood, Milk And Sky (Miss September Mix) – White Zombie – Supersexy Swingin’ Sounds.

Eagles, Worries, and the mix for 4-21-17

In no particular order:

Went to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN, and the Owl Center in Houston, MN, last week. The bluffs area of southeastern Minnesota is worth visiting. It offers vistas no otherwise available in the state. The Root River valley is beautiful.

Not from this trip, but still and eagle picture I took.

Also visited the SPAM Museum in Austin, MN. It’s as much a gift shop as a museum.

I’m 21 cans of SPAM tall, I guess.

Spring has arrived. I’m glad to get back outside again on a regular basis.

Speaking of getting outside, I am taking part in the MS Ride again this year. If you enjoy the weekly mixes a good way to show it is to donate to my fundraising efforts. Some of you loyal readers/listeners have already and I do vastly appreciate it!

Sometimes I worry that people who I know online may die or otherwise vanish and I would never know and that makes me sad.

Prince died one year ago today.

Listen to and/or download this podcast! The Funkomaticjamatron Presents… originally mixed the week of 4.21.17

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
Spark – Lawrence – Ghostly Classics Ghostly Records Sampler.
Nara – E.S. Posthumus – Unearthed.
Well Balanced – Aural Float – Free Float.
The Cooling Tower – Twilight Archive – Ritual Fiction.
Free Senses – Saafi Brothers – Space Night, Vol. V [Disc 2].
Degenerates – Moby – Last Night.
1-800-288-Slam – Meanderthals – Desire Lines.
Autumn Leaves – Coldcut – Last Cool Blue.
Dreams – Modulate – Chill Out! The Techno Evolution Continues [Disc 2].
In Mind – Amorphous Androgynous – Tales of Ephidrina.
Influx – Higher Intelligence Agency – Colourform.