Dude...we're gettin' the band back together!

Every now and then an opportunity comes along that doesn’t require much thought regarding whether or not to seize it. I got a call yesterday from a friend of mine from when I lived in Plattsburgh NY. He is one half of a set of twins a year younger than I. I was 13 when I left there, so I obviously didn’t get to witness or take part in their adolescence and young adulthood. Their history from then until now has always been a mystery. I knew they were into music, because they both had guitars. I never heard them play a note, but it was obvious these guys were into music in a profound way. They always seemed ahead of the curve somehow, and I credit them with turning me onto music that I would have probably otherwise overlooked. Around that time, radio was sodden with the likes of Huey Lewis, Corey Hart, Cindy Lauper, Hall & Oates, Lionel Richie, et al. At the time, that was okay because when you’re twelve, you can listen to that kind of stuff and not get too much flak for it; your peers were listening to it as well.

Then came the day when they let me borrow a videotape that, without the risk of exaggeration, changed my life.

I don’t know from where they recorded it, but it was a compilation of videos by what was soon to be referred to as hair bands. The first video was Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” (with the first ten seconds cut off), and from then until the end of the tape, I was completely riveted. “Hair bands”, as I’ve covered in other posts, have become a tragically comical chapter in the history of music. I will wholeheartedly admit that there were as many bad ones as good; bad in that the technical prowess was there, but it was buried in painfully trite lyrics and an image that was pure caricature. The good ones, who have actual craft to their songs, unfortunately get lumped in with the bad and get written off as greasy kid stuff.

After watching that tape, there was no turning back for me; no more B100 with its pre-recorded DJ spinning “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” at precisely 6:15 every morning; no more listening to WIRY AM radio, hoping to make an on-air request for Air Supply, sent out to your sweetheart. Nope, I was officially reprogrammed musically. All I cared about were Mötley Crüe, RATT, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Twisted Sister. Laughable to most now, sure, but…what were YOU doing when you were twelve?

I digress.

Right after my “rebirth”, I found out we were moving from Plattsburgh. My communication with the twins ceased for good. However, due to the internet making the world smaller and smaller, they found me a couple years ago. Communication with them has been sporadic, as they live on the left coast and I on the right. I’ve gotten a tiny glimpse of that they were up to after I moved, but there are still tremendous gaps. All I know is that they were in a band together for awhile with a modicum of success.

The call I got yesterday was to tell me that their band is reforming for a two-show stint in Plattsburgh late July, and would I be interested in playing bass. I pretty much had my mind made up before I even hung up, but didn’t give an answer until I gave it even more thought. My answer was yes. I’ll keep you all posted when I find out the details.

Forest for the Trees

Here are pictures of the floor, at long last. We still have a lot of detail work to do, but it’s reeeally nice to have the place back to a livable condition (that I actually am not compelled to run from all the time). I refrained from detailed bedroom shots because I still have to replace all the closet doors, and it looks rather unattractive as-is. Those are coming later.

It's interesting...because I was so intent on just getting this done, I wasn't able to appreciate the incredible metamorphosis that transpired. I had to get away from it for a day and come back with fresh eyes to really take it in. I love it.

Click to enlarge.

Been There.

(click to enlarge)

While loading up a borrowed truck to haul away yet more unwanted stuff this weekend, I kept getting hit by the all-too-distinct scent of barbeque. Now that it's above thirty degrees out, people are burning off last year's grease form their grills and getting down to, well, grilling. As a vegetarian, one would think that I would be put off by such a smell.

Nope.

Just as I'm a former smoker who still has cravings several times a day, I remember all to well the allure of meat. Most of all, I miss pork and prosciutto. The flavor of steak, not even a little. But man, the aroma of a grilling steak is almost too much too bear. Instant salivation. That smell is second only to the bouquet of KFC. Even when I was still eating meat, there was no way in hell I'd eat at a KFC. I had too many bad experiences with just feeling ashen and gross afterwards. But the smell of that place is practically irresistible. It's just spices, flour, and grease I'm smelling…but what a heavenly perfume it is.

Getting There

Just a quick update on the renovation. The wood floor is down, closets and trim are painted, and the trim is back up. The floor installation started on Sunday and finished exactly a week later, working about eight hours per day. Judging by how many nails I had left over (there were 1,000 per box), it took 2900 swings of the hammer to get the job done. I'll be taking some pictures this weekend once we get the place in a better state (read: organized) and will post them next week.

The kitchen originally had some super-cheap, bottom shelf vinyl, and we were going to replace it with a nicer-colored, thicker vinyl. At the last minute, we decided to skip the vinyl and go with wood. Because there was carpet originally, there was 1/4" underlayment to match the height of the carpet. So, in order for the wood pattern to remain consistent and not have some awkward-looking transition, I had to remove the underlayment and lay down a 3/4" section of plywood under the stove. These pictures are of me ripping up the underlayment and vinyl. That was a job-and-a-half. Click to enlarge.

More pictures are coming up next week. They'll be in focus, too. This particular digital camera can't seem to handle anything other than sunlight, so the shutter speed is too slow. Tripod time.