Jonathan Field - Maker of Random Stuff

Went to see Lez Zeppelin tonight with Aki and Lisa. It’s an all-girl Led Zeppelin cover band. They put on a great show — there were a couple rough spots but they nailed most of the tunes right out of the park. Their rendition of “In My Time of Dying” was amazing, as was “Kashmir”, “Rock & Roll”, “Black Dog” and “Whole Lotta Love”.

The drummer was the highlight — totally slammed every song. Got all the nuances right. Looked like she was having a blast. And she has the best rock name of the bunch, too: “Helen Destroy”. But they all put on a good, fun show.

I hear that sometimes they do the first album from beginning to end. I would love to see that. I will check them out again next time they’re in town.

Got my halloween costume all set. Doing another couple costume with Michelle. It also involves her wearing tight fitting clothes and me shaving my head. Like last year, we don’t expect most people to get it. I’ll post pictures and an explanation when I get them.

I’ve already got an idea for next year’s costume, should it come to pass, that again involves her in tight fitting clothes and me shaving my head. I wonder how long we can play that motif out.

All that sounds wonderful. And I’ve been working on a video. But honestly, I feel blah. Hopefully it’ll pass. If not, I’ll have to start sniffing glue.

And now I present the result of an otherwise ordinary Monday evening:

Baba O’Riley

My apologies. It occurred to me today as I was driving around listening to the stereo, and then it had to be done.

Just voice and Garageband effects.

Update:

No, I had no idea that a cappella Who covers were already the latest thing. Late to the game again!

Update 2:

The first version I uploaded had the end cut off, dammit! The full version, including my annoying impression of a fiddle is now available above.

Yesterday, Saturday, I went urban hiking. I badly needed to decompress after this week. I’d felt pretty lousy about things and I’d kept myself cooped up for several days straight. Not good.

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I just realized one of my favorite things about Wikipedia is the occasional misinformation. I read from Wikipedia more than is normal or healthy I think. Probably several times per day.

Occasionally when reading I come across information that for one reason or another seems questionable to me. So I research it elsewhere, then correct the article if necessary. I feel that it helps develop my bullshit detector.

I’m not talking about vandalism and overtly ridiculous additions, which are easy to spot. I’m talking about the seemingly innocuous bits that are nonetheless untrue. I’m actually surprised how often it is possible to pick up on subtle cues. I guess I have no idea how many I miss, but I have sometimes suspected and researched things that turned out to be true. I take those false positives to indicate my suspicion threshold is at least in a reasonable range.

Misinformation seems rare enough in Wikipedia that it’s still a great source, on par with other single sources. I still start all my learning there. But as with most information sources, you really can’t just blindly trust.

So I posit that Wikipedia is good mental exercise as it openly requires you to stay on your toes.

It’s been an amazing time since I last posted. I’ve driven from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and up to Portland. Along the way I visited many good friends and had some wonderful adventures. Sometimes I worry that if I don’t write things down I won’t remember them, but I’ll have to risk it as I’ve been too busy with actual living to document everything.

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My favorite thing about the aptly named Grand Canyon is that it’s so inconspicuous…

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The drive from Austin to Albuquerque was long. I let myself sleep in the morning so I didn’t leave town until 10:30 AM. I didn’t get into my room in Albuquerque until just before midnight. And that included an hour of driving in the dark in the pouring rain near the end of a full day on the road.

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I started the day with some aimless driving around and ended up at the Spiderhouse Cafe where I enjoyed chili and wifi, followed by a brownie and iced latte. Aside from having a great homey atmosphere, they featured an excellent whole-album approach to music selection which went from The Sugarcubes to the hitless Women and Children First by Van Halen, which I love and which happens to be the first respectable rock album I ever got into. Before that I had only listened to Weird Al and Huey Lewis.

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My second night in New Orleans was very different and also very fun. Kris knew an old college friend here, so he gave me her number. She suggested a local’s bar outside the quarter that served tapas, so we hit that spot and chilled out.

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Today New Orleans seems just like a wonderfully quaint Euro/US city. Go figure.

I got a excellent tour of one of the graveyards. I got a mild sunburn. I ate rabbit and smoked sausage jambalaya.

Now it’s raining and I’m hiding out in a garden cafe with a latte and a chocolate chip cookie.

No idea what I’m doing tonight, but I just found out I’ve got a friend of a friend to call.