Sunday, February 1, 2009
Liveblogging Superbowl XLIII: Part 2
Liveblogging Superbowl XLIII: Part 1
Saturday, January 3, 2009
what do you call a live blog when it's not live?
And what if, in addition to lacking "liveness," it's also 2 weeks too late?
I don't know... But in any case, below you can read some notes Chris and I made while we were in the studio working with Danny Casentini and Johnny Snapp and Willie Samuels on what turned into our "A Place of Our Own" EP.
We would have totally liveblogged this, in true "Get Stoked... Or Pumped!" spirit, but there's no wi-fi at Nu Tone.
So is this a deadblog then?...
*****
Place: NuTone Studios, Pittsburg, CA
Time: 3:25 PM
By: Frank Cruz
The hi-hats we’re using to record “We Have the Technology” were used on Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers” record. No shit.
Danny is in the main room right now, going through a second take... er, I mean a third take of drums for this song.
Tom-Fucking-Petty.
*****
Time: 3:28
By: Chris Dixon
Hi-hits closed or no? That is the question.
The answer? Closed. Sounds cleaner.
4th take. Shit, just as I typed that... 5th take. Sounds fucking great though.
*****
Time: 3:30
By: CD
Tom fills are siiiiiiiiiiick.
*****
Time: 3:35
By: FC
I just sent Joel a text message telling him about Tom Petty’s hi-hats. Hey, can that be the title of the record?
*****
Time: 3:36
By: FC
Danny had been kicking our asses in practice about these breaks at the end of “Technology.” We just got through a really good take. But then we asked him, “Hey Danny, were you going to do those breaks there at the end.” His response: “SHIT!”
*****
Time: 3:37
By: FC
Chris just asked Willie, the owner and engineer at NuTone, if he could take pictures in the main tracking room. Willie said yes. I can see the flash going off through the control room window. And that’s a good take.
*****
Time: 3:56
By: FC
Tambourine overdubs are about to begin on “Technology.” It smells like smoke in this place. It kind of hurts my eyes and my throat but I’m not going to complain. It reminds me of spending time at my grandpa’s house. I’m sure all my clothes will smell like smoke when I get home.
*****
Time: 4:37
By: CD
Danny is done for the day. John is up. But first Panda Express. The quiet of dudes eating Chinese food is deafening. While at Panda Express the cashier asked us what we were doing and Frank let her know we were recording down the street. She handed him the receipt and said, “Well, I hope your studio has a window.” Frank asked why and she then went on to explain that after you eat at The Panda you get gassy. Everyone agreed that it was pretty inappropriate. We are thinking of writing a letter.
I also witnessed a dude about to hit his wife. They were with their kid and shit looked tense. She just kept whispering, “I dare you. I dare you to fucking hit me.” He was leaning over to her side of the table and had his hand back. I turned around and next thing I knew he was walking out to his car to chill for a minute. She kept feeding the kid. It was awkward!
So I would like to think he takes off when he gets that mad at home. I hope he does. But if you happen to be reading this, dude, don’t hit your wife. Or anyone. Pussy.
*****
Time: 4:46
By: CD
John’s in the live room. Shit is about to get wild.
*****
Time: 4:57
By: CD
Danny farted first... That we know of.
Still looking for a bass head to go through. Thinking about going DI.
*****
Time: 6:18
By: FC
Danny was snoring on the couch. Party-ed too hard last night?... I opened my fortune cookie and there was no fortune inside. That has to be a bad sign. Now
Chris is looping and making laser beam noises with his guitar. And we’re almost ready to lay down guitars on “Furniture & Photographs.”
*****
Time:6:20
By: FC
Only forty minutes left in the session. We’re trying to figure out how many bars are needed for the intro. My stomach is making weird noises, but so far it’s all staying in. Even with the carnitas and menudo for breakfast and the Panda Express for lunch, I’m still doing a good job at maintaining.
We think it’s 6 bars for the intro. Take 1: Chris’s electric guitars.
*****
Time: 6:25
By: FC
I decided there was too much flange on the electric guitar. And I told Chris so. Take 2: Chris’s electric guitars.
*****
Time: 6:27
By: FC
Take 3: Chris’s electric guitars. Sound hella sick.
*****
Time: 6:34
By: FC
Chris got a good take. Going back to punch on the heavy party.
*****
Time: 6:37
By: FC
We turn our attention to “We Have the Technology.” I have to fart pretty bad. But I’m going to hold it until we’re outside.
*****
EDIT: And then we were done. Chris took the least amount of time and his parts were sick. Willie helped us transfer the tracks, and we said goodnight. A week or so later I went back and we mixed. Willie kept calling it a "Rough Mix" and I suppose it is. But it's alright with me.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Final Reflections: Two Shitty Days in Phillie, or We Love LA!
So the Dodgers leave Philadelphia down 0-2 in the NLCS. We kind of knew this might happen: both teams were undefeated at home in head-to-head match-ups in their regular season meetings. The problem for LA is that even with a 3 game sweep of Philadelphia at Dodger Stadium, we still need to go back east and win one more. And that scenario is by no means guaranteed. Our World Series dreams could be over on Monday night.
So what happened? How do we go from a 3 game sweep of Chicago, including two blowout wins at Wrigley, to this?
Well, maybe Phillie is just a better club than Chicago. I don't think their records would support that theory, but it's at least worth a thought.
More importantly, though, are the differences in how the Dodgers performed in this series verses the NLDS.
We played error free baseball against Chicago. That certainly hasn't been the case against the Phillies. The big mistake in Game 1 came in the 6th inning, when Rafael Furcal threw high and wide to first baseman James Loney, and a near-routine groundout turned into a double for Victorino on Furcal's throwing error. A huge error because on the next pitch, Chase Utley homered to tie the game 2-2. If Furcal had made the out, and all else had stayed the same, LA would have been looking at extra innings instead of a Game 1 heartbreaker. That error was the difference in the game.
We also hit the long ball against Chicago, something that's been painfully absent against Philadelphia. How many home runs did LA hit in Phillie? Answer: 1 (thank you, Manny!). How many homeruns did we have in 2 games at Chicago? Answer: 5 (including a James Loney grand slam).
Another big problem this afternoon against the Phillies is runners LOB. You can't leave 11 men on base and expect to win close games... Players like Kent, Garciaparra, and the entire bottom half of the line-up need to remember how to swing the bat if we want to make a series of it.
I'm also a bit disappointed that Saint Joe Torre let starting pitcher Chad Billingsley give up 4 runs in the second inning without even going to the mound to talk with him. Billingsley is only 24 years old! Can you imagine the pressure. A visit from Grandpa Joe would have done anyone good, but you could see that Billingsley needed something...
But, like I said earlier, we can never forget what happened in 1988! Miracles happen at Dodger Stadium. A 3-game sweep of the Phillies would be a great addition to Dodgers lore.
Let's Go Dodgers! We love LA!
3 pitches?
"That creepy bird-monster-thing can suck a cock..."
Frank re: that creepy bird-moster-thing from Phillie.