I Forgot I had This Blog

But, I still do. I'm not sure what I will use it for, but It's pretty fun.

I'm reading A Song of Ice and Fire- and it's incredible. I'm currently on A Feast For Crows. Fucking fantastic read, best in a long time, maybe ever. Better than Lord of the Rings.

Yeah, I don't know what I want out of this. Maybe I'll just write about adventures like Mike does. Perhaps I can review beer, or post about dogs in Maine. Maybe I'll even write a custom song. I just don't know.

I'm sad that the end of summer is here. I really was hoping for some more swimming time. Only went to the ocean once. Only went to lakes twice, although once was for a week, so that's okay. I just want to swim more. I am not sure New England agrees with me anymore. I don't think Maine does anyway. hmmm. Maybe it's because I'm not drinking. Maine turns awesome with a lake and a beer.

February 7th - 11th 2011

Monday 2/7/2011 - 916am 26 degrees major back pain again. 6/10
Tuesday 2/8/2011 - 8:20am 32 degrees sneezy 7/10
Wednesday 2/9/2011 - 8:40am 10 degrees brrrrrr tired 7/10
Thursday 2/10/2011 - 7:47am 17 degrees sore from lifting, feel good, 7/10
Friday 2/11/2011 - 8:14am 11 degrees feel good, a little sore, QP, lily in music room all night. Whoops. Sorry lily. 7/10

Gear/Business Update

New Hard Drive arrived this week. 1 tb internal. what a pain in the ass it is installing it into an iMac. They really don't want you in there. Whatever, I'm all set up and ready to go! Should be a great time. Ordered a weight bar too, need to lay off the hootch for a while. Getting too fat. Made Quimby a little snow palace, but it does not contain him, he can jump out of it, as he demonstrated last night when the kids were outside. It still looks awesome though. I'll turn it into an ice bar if I have to. Today would be a good day to shape it better, as at 2:22 pm it is 33 degrees (it was 3 degrees this morning). Planning on snow shoeing and making a fire in the woods somewhere on Saturday. Not sure where that will be yet. Maybe Cumberland. We will have to see.

I am going to start playing music as a DJ for people this summer. It pays well, and I would be good at it. I discovered this week that I need to upgrade- a lot .I need to upgrade my speakers at least, and then probably the mixer, and possibly buy some sort of interface that works with an external hard drive. funny how three hours of music isn't that many songs but if you don't have 10,000 to choose from, you are a sub par DJ. I may have a gig lined up already. I can't wait. If I could do that once a weekend, I would make more doing that than I make now working 40 hours a week, which blows my mind. I really need new speakers, probably powered ones. I need a nice mixer for everything, which is important. speaker stands, wireless micas, and probably a small but heavy duty tent for shade in the heat and of course to waterproof everything. The tent will probably be the most expensive part of it all. As it is right now, as long as the room wasn't huge, I do have enough equipment to do the job well.

The business is going well, except that I've been waiting for payment on the second half of a jingle package for over a month now. I have definitely learned what I need to do as far as payment goes next time. I also need some upgrades for the business as well. In order of importance:
higher quality vocal/guitar mic- I would love the AT4040, but I think it's too expensive, so I'm looking at the Rode NT1 which should do the trick. I've used them before and they do sound good. The other options the AT 2020, and I'm not sure about it, it looks cheap.
USB or Firewire audio interface. In a perfect world I would buy a Saffire Pro 24 DSP, or a M-Audio Profire 610, or even a 2626, but the cheapest of those options is around $300. If I could ever get paid for my last jingle I would buy it. In the meantime, I'm researching other interfaces, but I really don't want to spend money on something that I'm just going to replace in a few months anyway.
I need a new bass guitar, since I had my last one signed by Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman. It looks awesome, and it didn't even sound that good anyway. I found some good bass guitars that will do the trick for around $100, so that's nice.
I need a new desk as well. Mine is falling apart. It is 10 years old and was made of particle board.
I might as well get some new speaker stands, since I will need them anyway, those only run around $70. Come to think of it, I have a friend who would probably sell me most of what I've just mentioned. I'm gonna have to email him. The only other thing I will eventually need is padding for the walls once I get a house, but that's not even on the radar. I'll need a car, and a motorcycle first;)

end of Jan, begining of Feb

Monday, January 31st 8:31am 9 degrees - Major serious back pain. 5/10.
Tuesday, February 1st 8:26am 11 degrees - ow ow ow back pain. 5/10.
Wednesday, February 2nd 8:40am 12 degrees - SNOW. No back pain. 7/10.
Thursday, February 3rd 8:56am 10 degrees - feeling good 7/10
Friday, February 4th 8:10am 3 degrees - BRRR COLD. Tired but awesome. 7/10.

Jan 24th-28th 2011

Monday Jan.24th 8:39AM 11 degrees. Tired. 6/10
Tuesday Jan 25th 9:45am 9 degrees. Tired, meh, flurries, no QP 6/10
Wednesday Jan 26th 9:17am 7 degrees. Chilly. 6/10
Thursday Jan 27th 9:12am 25 degrees 7/10
Friday Jan28th 8:11am 11 degrees FRIDAY! 8/10

January 19th-21st 2011

January 21st 8:04 am 18 degrees- SNOW! I feel good, must be the lack of sleep due to the full moon. New TV arrives for the upstairs bedroom today! SWEET.

January 20th 8:39am 23 degrees- Good, Quimby pooped. He's a good dog. Best. Dog. Ever.7/10

January 19th 9:31am 37 degrees- wet outside, feels like spring. 6/10.

January 14th-18th 2011

Tuesday January 18th 8:30am 15 degrees- flurries, wheezy, backpain, but well rested. 7/10
Monday, January 17th 10:17am 10 degrees- blkjfbhjaklhdfusalkfn 1/10
Friday, January 14th 7:04am 16 degrees- cold and tired 6/10
Thursday, January 13th 6:45am 29 degrees- feel surprisingly good for this early in the morning. no back pain- 7/10

January 10, 11, 12

Jan 10- 8:30am 25 degrees. Back hurt this morning, up early. Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast. Quimby pooped. 7/10

Jan 11- 9:30am 20 degrees. Very cold. Back pain this morning. Quimby pooped. 6/10

Jan 12- 8:30am 23 degrees, lots of snow, woke up with a very sore back at 6am. 5/10

January 6 & 7, 2011

January 6- 8:30am 15 degrees today. No Quimby Poop. very meh at 4/10. My neighbors must think I'm crazy.

January 7- 8:30am 17 degrees. Back hurts, I miss snowboarding. 6/10

January 3rd, 4th & 5th 2011

3rd - 10:52 Nice day out, clear 31 degrees. I feel meh. 5/10
4th - 8:30 clear, cold at 19 degrees, feeling better than yesterday at 7/10 no poop from Quimby.
5th - 8:35 cold 21 degrees, tired, clear day, feel like a nap, 6/10. Poop.

Old Port Jingles

Oh man, I heard about the coolest business. It's called Old Port Jingles, and they offer all kinds of cool services. They do Business Jingles, Custom Songs, some sort of archive services that sound cool. You should totally use them if you need a Business Jingle in Maine, or anywhere else for that matter. Since it's an internet company, they can work for anyone!

Woah, Updates

Wow it's been a long time since I've written anything. It's freezing in the morning, my asthma is poopy, and I don't have a car. I'm not making quite as much music as I would like but it's all good. I released a video for the hit single Megabytes. I've been doing video stuff for my work, which is awesome, although it's pretty intense. I've had to learn how to use Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 for Mac, which is unfortunate, because the program does not have as many features as it does for PC, although Mac's still rule. I'm working on a Delaney's Hole in the Wall theme song in hopes for some kind of trade. I'm thinking dinner and drinks. We will have to see how good it comes out. There is potential. I watched HBP again, I stand by my first review. It was good, but like the previous movie, it strayed too far from the book.

Phish is coming to Portland! I can't wait. It's going to be a crazy weekend, backstage VIP Pixies passes on Friday nov. 27th, and Phish in Portland on Nov. 29th. Needless to say, I'm taking the following Monday after off.

I still want to release an album soon, but it's mad expensive, and SO much work. Poganddog.org is doing quite well, although one dog was a real bitch. Ha. Get it? DonCreeper.com is also doing well, but I need to add a little more content to make that site worth anything. ErichRyan.com is a waste thus far, that needs serious workage.

Ugh, Na Na Na Na

Yesterday was 9-9-9. I tried to drink 9 magic hat number 9's. I only had 7. I am a hangover, however it was still a success, because I got this cap, which I rarely get. (maybe 4 times in my life)

Sweet Phish Gif

Phish, Toyota Park, Chicago, August 11th, 2009

We arrived to the lot at around 5:30 on Tuesday evening. The sun was shining bright, and our spirits were high. The lot scene was one of the best I have ever experienced. There was no fighting, everyone was very cool to each other, and the lanes were filled with all kinds of goodness, and by goodness I mean awesome t-shirts, beer, ganja treats, and dogs. Cops were only looking for gas, which was great.

We chatted around for 90 minutes or so, drank some beers and were in to the show.

The venue is a large outdoor soccer stadium located just south of Chicago. I was a little unsure as to how our seats would be, if we would be able to see the lights, if the sound would be good. It turns out we were okay. The sound was crisp and clear and most importantly LOUD! We could hear every note individually, which is important.

Set One:
Opening with Kill Devil Falls was interesting. It had good energy, but I'm not sure how I feel about the song. It's decent. Crowd was loving it. We were then bombarded by the one two punch of Sample in a Jar and Ocelot. These two songs had some terrific energy behind them, so they weren't bad at all. If I'm going to be outside in the sunshine, dancing lightheartedly to some Phish tunes, these are the kind I'm looking for. Paul and Silas was next, quite a rarity not having been played since 1998. Pretty sweet. Another song filled with great energy. Short, but very fun. I love it when Trey says "Play it Mike." Next came a new song, Windy City. I love hearing new songs that haven't been played live. Something about it that is just fun and cool and interesting. It's a decent song, I liked it. The Curtain With was an old song I haven't heard since Coventry. I have mixed feelings about it, but they nailed it. It was perfect. Train Song was standard, but well placed. Gumbo- AWESOME! I love Gumbo, the entire crowd was dancing and having some fun with this. Then along came Heavy Things, so I went to the bathroom. I got out and asked what was playing and someone in a beer line told me "Time Burns Craptastic," so I joined him in line for a beer. Got back for the final 5 minutes of it, which is the best part anyway.

All in all a good set. Energy made it what it was. Set break saw this happen...



Second set started off with a very rocking version of Backwards Down the Number Line. I wasn't sure about this song until seeing it live - it was totally killer. Really good way to keep that energy up. Rocked and jammed out version of this, nice and dark and spacey at the end. clocking in at just under 14 minutes. I highly recommend listening to it. Somehow the jam ended up becoming...

Carini!!! HOLY FUCK BOYS! By far one of my favorite songs. I was on cloud fucking 9 when I heard those notes. I love this song, and this version was amazing. So perfect. Just awesome on every level. Great kind of jammed out ending which ended up as...

Gotta Jibbo- Wow sweet! I love this song too. Very well done, great lights, nice and spacey. I was still high off Carini... It seemed to rock hard. Kind of the theme of the night. Speaking of themes...

Theme From the Bottom was placed perfectly. It rocked as well.

Wilson- Did I mention that this set ROCKED? The crowd was louder than I have ever heard during the chants. It was stellar. The soccer stadium really helped that out I'm sure. This was very, very well placed. I was fearing a sleeper song in this place, but no, just some sweet Wilson rock action.

2001- WHAT??? really??? Oh my god. I don't see how this could get any better. So funky, I was just dancing the whole time. We had room for it. Good thing. This was goooooooood.

Chalkdust Torture- it was clear my face would be gone by the end of the night. This was rocked out in a very, very good way. The crowd freaked out. I freaked out. What was next?

Harry Hood- oh man. Harry! What can one say. I was floored by this.
Squirming Coil- Beautiful. I was a little welled up during Page's solo at the end, thinking about whatever you think about when you are down and out, overcoming adversity and such.

Encore:
Loving Cup- A completely predictable yet completely perfect way to rock our asses one last time.

Set 2 was one of, if not the best set of live phish I have ever witnessed. It was fantastic. I realized how much I love this band, the true fans, and the experience. Now I just want more!

Eddie Took Over My Side Of The Couch

It's here!

POG AND DOG!!!!!!

Weekend Fun Times

This weekend was very much fun.

Wilco was playing on the end of the Maine State Pier, it was very cool. I saw Moe. there last year, and it was good, so being moderate Wilco fans, we decided if we could get in for cheap, we would!

The lady and I heading over to the Dry Dock for drinks and dinner. The service there is nothing short of terrible. It took no less than 15 minutes to get a drink while we were sitting at the bar. The kid was overwhelmed and had no idea what he was really doing. Whatever, it's all good. We got a spot on the top deck so we could see the show. We ordered our food and it soon got cold out. I ran across the street and bought us a couple of long sleeved shirts. We met up with a couple friends, who had Wilco tickets.

After dinner, we walked up to the gate area. You could see the stage, kind of. We were thinking about leaving and the lady asked the women at the ticket booth if they had any tickets for sale. She said she did, and they were $30. I offered $40 for two, and they took it, which was awesome, as I think we had only missed a couple of songs. Wilco is great live, very tight, very fun. Took this video:



We ended up running into tons of people, and having a blast. After the show, we took some peeps to Amigo's to watch Nippin The Nub. I used to play with them, and it was super cool to see everyone again.



Saturday started off overcast, but I used the opportunity to record a song, that apparently I've been singing in the morning for the past few days. I think it will be called "I Have." Anyway, the sun came out and we decided to ride on the big motorcycle. It actually worked, which was great. We headed up to Yarmouth for the Clam festival, but did not actually get off the bike. We did around 70 miles. It was awesome. The evening was mellow and smooth and relaxing.



Sunday featured yet another sweet motorcycle ride. We went out to Cousin's Island in Freeport. It was pretty cool, nice new paved roads over there. Stopped for an incredible phallic looking chocolate covered banana. Once we got home, we decided to take the scooters out. Everything was going smoothly until "randy" (the silver and black scooter) just stopped working. It's a pain in the ass to access these batteries, and I was sure thats where the problem was. I bounced the rear wheel and the little red light came on. We turned around, and I got to Payson Park. She went home to get the bocce set, and we rocked it under the sun for at least an hour. It was an epic game. The scooter made it home, where I took it apart and found the culprit, a loose battery connection, that had actually melted some of the plastic on the casing. It's all better now though!

Rode the green boy into work today, as the motorcycle won't run in the morning.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Saw it at the Cinemagic (proper name for the film) in Westbrook.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie. It's beautifully shot, and the acting is good enough. The effects are spectacular, but there's something about it that rubbed me the wrong way. - The writing.

Steve Kloves has written so many harry potter scripts that they have become predictable and scripted. I felt as thought I knew what would happen before it did.

MAJOR KEY points were dropped, like oh I don't know- DUMBELDORES FUNERAL! It's the best chapter of the book, and it was completely cut out. what bullshit.

This movie had none of the suspense that was ever so important in the book. Trying to figure out they mysteries came all too easy to these characters. I felt the liberties taken were too much with the changes. I will never get over the fact that they cut Dumbeldore's funeral. This was my favorite book, and I am pretty disappointed about hardly a mention of Harry's loss of Sirius, or the hidden love between Tonks and Lupin. No minister of magic talking to the muggle prime minister.

To be fair they did leave in some good stuff too. the Cave scene was awesome to see Dumbeldore weak and crying. I would have liked to see this expanded upon. I seem to recall harry having a hard time getting Dumbeldore home as he cant Aporate. They showed no mention of this.

It's honestly a shame that they have such a spineless director who has no backbone when it comes to taking chances. He is doing exactly what he is told by the studio, and they don't really care how good or bad it is because they are going to make a billion dollars. I say can all the existing HP7 footage and let peter jackson or del toro, or curon start from scratch and make ONE good movie. The mere fact that they are splitting it up into two only speaks in words at the greed of WB and JK. Fuck that shit.

Ween 2009.07.10 Portland, Maine

The sun was out, the air was cool, and we were going to see Ween. A long time fan, I was more than excited to see them back in the town in which I call home, Portland, Maine. I got out of work at 3pm and went straight home. Simone and I hung out in our yard, and consumed a few cold beers, which were delicious. We cabbed it into town where we got our tickets and ate at the dogfish head, which is a short walk away. We met up with my friend Mike, who drove up from Boston. We kept running into people we knew everywhere we went. It was fun. Upon entering the venue, I ran into two good friends who I don't see enough, at the same time. It was great to kind of talk to them. I have to admit, I was a little drunk at this point. After buying a sweet print of the poster from the show, we found our spot for the night- the VIP section near the front of the stage. Was it worth the extra $15 per ticket charge? 100%. Everyone up there was super cool. I even had one dude tell me not to slouch because he was tall enough to see over us. I had extremely high hopes for this show, and was not disappointed. The band took the stage about 10 minutes after we got up there and with a ferocity I had not been expecting, proceeded to rock the hell out of the joint for the next 2.5 hours.

Piss up a Rope was a perfect opener. Opening with a Dean song got the place pumped and it was clear how into the show everyone was going to be.
The Golden Eel is one of my favorite songs, and was played quite well.
Flutes of Chi was unexpected- in a good way, I love this tune and they don't play it enough.
Johnny on the Spot Captain Fantasy The Grobe - the trifecta of ball busting rock- was overwhelemed by the screaming solos that were truly inspiring. All played to the perfection of rock Ween is known for.
Zoloft was a nice breather, followed by
Sorry Charlie which is so much fun. I love this song. Another Deaner gem.
Learnin to Live was fun, and the first song off La Cucuracha. The crowd loved it.
Little Birdy AWESOME
Laura AWESOMER Can't say too much about this brown mess. other than it was very very sketchy. Gener had some really strange moments.
Even If You Don't was standard, but is a good song, and sounded great.
Wavin My Dick in the Wind pretty good, Claude was KILLING his solos.
Freedom of 76 was perfect. I have never seen this song live before, and was quite suprised how fucking awesome it was. I love it and was wondering what they were going to pull out next.
Woman & Man was possibly the high point of the show for me. I was completely zoned out to Deaner, and he was playing like his life depended on it. Just fucking tearing up the carpet with this one.
I Don't Want It was a welcome song after getting my face melted off.
Pork Roll Egg & Cheese - fun
Your Party also fun.
Roses are Free- crowd loved it, pretty standard version.
El Camino- I was not expecting this, but damn, was it ever awesome... followed by
Buenos Tardes- shit yeah! what double shot! Dos bier bitte.

At this point, i was pretty excited to hear just one more song, but we were treated to 6!

Encore:
HIV Buckingham were tight and sweet.
Honesty was strange and brown as shit. They played it twice, and then teased My Life.
Sketches of Winkle was ROCKING,
The Mollusk had some nice improvised talk from Gener that I would love to hear, cause I couldn't really understand. It was a great way to end on a happy note as we left into the world.

All in all, I don't think the show could have been much better.

I would say it's probably the best they have sounded. The club was perfect for them. This was my third show at the venue and by far the best. The first time I set foot in the place, I said to Simone, "Wow this place would be perfect for Ween to play, too bad they never will cause it's too small." Never have I been so happy to be proven wrong.

After the show, we hung out in the alley next to the venue and met Gene and Glen who both signed our sweet ass poster. Waited till about 130 for more of the band, but no one else came out. The staff could have let us in after an hour of waiting to get a signature, but they wouldn't.
Awesome Show!