No, Toto, No (Bad Dog)!

Song of the week, 24 November 2002:

No, Toto, No (Bad Dog)! [Get the mp3]
(Music M. Frey, Words D. Biemer (c) 2002)

Years ago, I was in a band called Biohazzard U.K. Before that, I was in a band called Logic. Why am I telling you this? Because this week's song marks a return to collaboration with Screamin' Dan Biemer. Hurrah!

Part of how this came about: I write lyrics very slowly, much more slowly than music. While words flow out of some writers like a mighty river, they are more inclined to dribble slowly from my pen, or to shuffle indistinctly in a vague direction like petulant children being called in from recess. Ahem. Captain Analogy strikes again.

Anyway, a while ago Dan (who, besides being a talented keyboardist and plastic instrumentalist, can write lots of words) offered to take a listen to some of my uncanned chunks of tune and see if he got any ideas. At the time he was prepping his new house for a Halloween party, and so luckily for me he had to do something on the ride to and from work to keep himself from trying to install appliances in the train. This tune is the first of a set of songs which will feature the great little lyrical gems that have been popping into my email lately as a result.

Dan has realized for us here the important point about Oz that so many people miss: it's all about that darn yip dog. Oddly enough, as I was finishing this recording, what should come on TV but The Wizard of Oz itself. Talk about RileyCon-level synchronicity!

frida

Saw the Frida Kahlo movie today. Very nice picture. Someone told me it was depressing as all get-out, but I'm not sure that I agree. Granted the individual events were depressing, but overall the effect was inspiring. Dang. Talk about hanging in there when it all goes to hell.

notinstock

Apparently 'in stock, will ship tomorrow' is code for 'out of stock, will ship later this week' to a certain online purveyor of video game stuff. Rats. Guess I'll have to stick to my schedule this week instead of getting distracted by DDR. Of course, if I need a distraction there's always beer.

I've picked up the equipment and ingredients to start making my own beer, with the aim of producing homemade drinks for RileyCon. Reading through a how-to book tonight, I was struck by how much the procedures remind me of biochemistry benchwork, except they're more complicated. Plus, with the bewildering array of varieties and additives, just trying to try a representative sample of recipes could make this an all-consuming hobby.

Better clean the damn crickets out of the basement, so they don't hop off with my brew. No, wait...if I get rid of the crickets, the spiders will just get the beer. And if I get rid of the spiders, who knows what else will fourish down there. Crap. Maybe I should've gotten interested in home welding instead of brewing. Life is hard. Math is not. Take that, G.I. Joe!

Anyway, under progress with a couple of tunes already this week. We'll see which one wins the race for Sunday completion.

new words

Hey! Good news. I was happy, soundwise, with 'Birthday in Black,' but
felt the lyrics were a bit subpar (I suppose I'm not supposed to admit
that on my own site, but so what). Luckily, a talented Nerky writer has
stepped up to the challenge and is working on a revised set. At some
point, I'll put v2.0 up.

ding

Okay, so we've just identified another use for the Blog- it gives one's
friends something to ding you for when you run out of time to post, ha
ha!

This was kind of a rough week in the studio- other stuff kept
distracting (work, dining room painting, fun stuff on TV, the yard, the
dog, that really interesting bug on the windowsill). I'll never
understand the mechanics of how ideas come and go, and where the
initiative to actually get something done starts. Most of this week's
offering was written on Saturday, after much 'thinking about it' and
numerous false starts (see song description) throughout the week. All of
the recording was in one long day on Sunday. I need to break this stuff
up more.

In other news, we eagerly await the arrival of DDR and our dance pads.
Hope it isn't too distracting.

feedback

I've been reminded that I forgot that basic site feature, the feedback
button. Until I get around to it for real, email me here.

crazygonuts

Whee! First song posted. I've made the decision to put one up every week on Sunday, until I can't keep up.

bass track

Woof! After staying up too late getting the website going, it looks
like all I'll be able to do today is edit guitars and put down a
bass track (your momma's bass track is sooo ugly...) for the Bronto
tune. Vocals and Keys will have to happen tomorrow.

Beginning

Is this thing on? Ahem. Ok, I'll assume it's plugged in. Current news- working on the dinosaur song. Will probably put that up this weekend.