Fair Warning: I am the opposite of Fernley and probably the world's least interesting man. This might be the most boring AMA in the history of AMAs.
I was born in Bristol, Tennessee and most of my family are Vols fans. Luckily, my great aunt and uncle showed me the greatness that is Blacksburg and VT. My great uncle got his Bachelors and PhD from VT in Dairy Science, and taught there for umpteen years and eventually became the department head. I knew I wanted to go to Virginia Tech since I was 5. My first Kindergarten photo is in a Virginia Tech rugby shirt. My maternal grandparents are from Radford, so the NRV was always a second home to me.
I got to Tech in 2003 (early decision, no doubts) and started as a Materials Science engineer because metallurgy was interesting, especially in percussion instrument application. Math is not my strong suit and I knew that going in, so the whole engineering thing was an attempt to either get through it and successfully obtain a diploma somehow, or flame out. I decided to switch to Geography and Geospatial Analysis before I completely tanked my GPA.
I haven't quit playing and learning percussion since I picked it up seriously in 5th grade. Before that, I could hack out a beat since I was probably 2 or 3, when my uncle taught me to play "Rocky Top". Drumming has been the one constant my entire life. In high school I played in all of the bands (marching, concert, pep, jazz, percussion ensemble). I played snare all 4 years in marching band, and was the 9th ranked percussionist in Tennessee my junior year. When I moved to Florida, I joined the Central Florida Community Arts orchestra and eventually became the principal percussionist, and helped grow that group from 22 people into a 160 member orchestra and big band. These days I play in a dad-punk/power pop band called NeptuneFlyer. We sound like a mix of The Posies, Sugar, and Teenage Fanclub with heavy tinges of Blink 182 and The Offspring mixed in. We're currently on live show paternity leave while our front man adjusts to having two kids. But we're laying the groundwork for a full length. It's so much fun, especially now that I've picked up recording, engineering, and mixing drums as a new hobby.
While in college all of my extra-curriculars revolved around music. I was a DJ at WUVT, and the AM (training station) Program Director. I also worked at my uncle's music store in Radford. I learned a lot about sales, running a business, and customer service skills. Every summer I taught drumlines. I did 2 years at my alma mater, Tennessee High School, and 2 years at Radford High School, my grandparents' alma mater. That's where I met my future wife, who was teaching the color guard. She's a Hokie, too. The whole thing started out as me wanting to carpool to Radford because I was getting tired of using so much gas going to two jobs in Radford. Before classes even started we were already in a relationship and her class schedule didn't allow for her to have time to go get her car, pick me up, and get to Radford in time. So I drove every single time. It all worked out in my favor anyway.
I graduated in December 2007 and soon after started my career as a GIS professional. In 2011, my wife and I got married and moved to Florida when I got a job with a small bedroom community outside Orlando. Spent four years there until my wife got tired of it and I got a job outside of Charlotte as a GIS Manager for a mid size city.
In 2015 we had our first and only child. I tell people I have one daughter and that's 3 too many.
We have a 10 year old Boston Terrier named Jibby and a 2 year old pit mix rescue named Allis. They keep my blood pressure down.
I like tasting new and exotic foods, and drinking anything that's brewed or distilled, especially bourbon.
I think my best attribute is that I have an appreciation for just about anything, even if I don't find it interesting or it isn't my cup of tea.
Comments
Have you read the book One and Only by Laura Sandler? What is your experience as a parent to an only child? Do you or have you ever felt any pressure to have another child?
Never read that book. Is it an audio book?
I think the only thing I've experienced so far that is definitely attributed to her being the only kid, is her demands for attention and companionship. She's pretty needy, and has never had the ability to self soothe, but she's getting better about entertaining herself and playing by herself. I think it's a practiced skill for her. I was also an only child, but I preferred playing by myself if I was inside. Outdoors was different.
Everybody asks when we're going to have another one. Well, they did for about 5 years until they gave up. Our answer was always, "Have you met her?" She's either the most well behaved, funny, laid back kid you've ever met, or she's full throttle annoying, misbehaving, demon child. No in between.
As the 6th of seven kids, I can't even fathom being an only child(Mom also had 5 miscarriages too so could have been almost double-especially if there were another set of twins).My mom said my oldest brother looked like the Gerber baby on the baby food jars-perfect and angelic looking. Then the next kid was born and looked like an 80 yr old man dipped in motor oil! Then he turned to be ok/decent looking after a few months-so when the third was born "ugly" they knew it'd be ok in a few months. If the first kid had looked like the 2nd, she said they'd have thought twice about having more, lol.
My mid life crisis cover band drummer soul mate!! That's awesome man- had no idea! Rock on until you get arthritis.
I'd always shied away at doing the whole rock band thing and preferred the orchestra or jazz combo route. But this was mainly because I watched my dad and uncle and all their friends be in rock bands when I was a little kid, and it all seemed like a hassle to me. Load in, tear down and load out, and getting home at 3am was not my idea of fun, even when I was young. But what I didn't realize was that what they did was way different than it is now for original rock bands. They had their own PA and lights, their own sound man, the drummer played a 9 piece double bass kit, and my dad played guitar, banjo, and fiddle. All this to go play the Moose Lodge or VFW.
And as an adult, I now know that they were getting in so late, not because it took that long to tear down (they'd usually do that on Sunday or Monday evening), but they'd have to go out to Waffle House or wherever and socialize afterwards. Make the scene, if you will. Soak up the glory.
But they played in a country-rock cover band. We're an all original material rock band. We play 40 minute sets with 3 or 4 other bands on the bill. The venue has the PA and the sound man. My guys can play with small amps, or ditch the amps and play direct off their pedal boards. And while I love a big drum kit, I've only seen one drummer play with more than a 5 piece kit. And this guy played a 7 piece yellow Vistalite kit that he had custom made because he works for Ludwig in Monroe.
So yeah, it's a heck of a lot less hassle to do what we do. I wish I had started doing it sooner, especially when I lived in Florida with no kids.
This had been my exact experience as I have done both gigs. The primary reason you buy PA as a cover band is because - based on my experience- 100% of affordable/commensurate "sound men" suck ass. I learned and studied sound engineering seriously the moment I went to in ear monitors and the mouth breathing "sound guys" had no clue how to deal with it- as in- just give me an aux send asshole and don't forget which one so I'm not deaf when you turn up the wrong aux. I use a Shure module, which has a limiter on it - thank god. From that moment- I run my own sound if I am playing covers. Now, a 1K for 3 hours sound guy is -probably- a professional and pretty good, but no unsigned band has that budget. I won't even mention that sound guys are just as prone to - being late, being drunk, not showing up- as any other band member. The juice is never worth the squeeze.
The worst experience I've had during this whole ride was our first gig with IEMs. We show up and tell the guy how to plug in the transmitter and he's like, "What? No, I'm not doing that. We have wedges." 2 of the 3 bands had IEMs that night and had to scrap em.
The sound guys my dad's groups had were just hangers on that they taught to run sound. Dudes that couldn't play instruments but wanted to hang around a band and make the scene.
Yep- IEMs have been around 20 years now- in terms of affordable for local bands, etc. This isn't something new. With digital mixers, there is absolutely no excuse for a sound guy to be confounded in the least by IEMs. Worse case, simply unplug the XLR or 1/4 inch cable going to the wedges and send it to the IEM module- done. Best case, use your digital boards 6-8-12 aux sends and give each band member a separate one to their IEM and - are you sitting down- they can mix them from their iphones- there are apps that connect to Midas, Mackie, Allen and Heath, etc. This is 2024 afterall. My other favorite is sound guys that lose their shit over IEM pass through rigs- lol "you are affecting the signal" - nonsense. If you know how to use gain structure, moron- its a non issue. Like I said, if you have the luxury of playing a professional club or a big budget, there are in fact sound guys that are good and can handle any IEM scenario. I love when I play such gigs... I simply tell the pro sound guy- here is my IEM module, can you please give me an aux send. done.
Terk errr jerb!
We started using IEMs a bit last year with the guys I play with. Must say I really enjoyed them more than I thought I would. It's nice being able to hear the mix really well and isolate out ambient noise if you're playing in a noisy spot. I also like not having ringing ears all night and the next day too. Had to experiment with where to clip the transmitter on my belt thought - my shirt yanked the volume knob and cranked it a couple times which was alarming.
I'm in the Lake Norman area and love some 90s punk rock, so I definitely need to come see y'all play!
For sure! We mostly play at the Milestone and Skylark. It'll be early fall before we get going again, I think. The new baby was a big new chapter for my guy.
We're on Spotify and Apple Music. We're not great, but if you come out to a show, best case scenario is you get to hear and discover other bands that are really good. CLT has a really good indie punk scene but you have to seek it out. I never knew it existed until I started playing in NF.
But we're definitely older than most of our peers and are much more popular with the parents of the 18-21 year old kids that attend their kids' shows that we share bills with. Our unofficial slogan is, "Your mom's favorite band."
Congratulations on helping building that. They are still going strong:
https://cfcarts.com/perform/symphony-orchestra/
Yeah, they have been putting on some big productions. My last show with them was my favorite. We did a program of pieces written by British composers, and the 2nd half was rock songs by British bands. We formed a rock band and were backed by the orchestra which was about 90 people at the time.
I gotta add that playing Kashmir with a live orchestra is a rush that I've never had playing in any other situation.
I'm sure you're plenty interesting my friend.....
What's the oddest thing you've ever witnessed where you were just gobsmacked?
Best vacation you've ever had?
Stupidest thing you've ever done?
Nicest thing you've ever done for someone?
Oddest thing: I was driving on I-Drive in Orlando on a Saturday night and sitting at a red light. All of a sudden, the driver of the car in front of me throws the door open, gets out, throws her leg up on the open door and starts twerking. After about 10 seconds she gets back in the car and we continue to wait for the light to turn green. Keep in mind this was in 2012ish. Pre Tiktok, Reels, etc. Nobody was making dumb little videos yet.
Best vacation was probably my first trip to Cancun. First time at an all inclusive, child free resort. Ate and drank so much. Had one of those liquor carousels right in the room and a jacuzzi on the balcony.
Stupidest thing: We had people coming over one day for game night. The dirty dishes were plentiful so I loaded the dishwasher. It was at capacity and I still had some ceramic bowls and cookie sheets leftover, so I did the next best thing and threw them in the oven to hide them. In typical me fashion, I forgot about them until it was time to cook something. After I had preheated the oven I went to put the food in and the oven was full of dirty dishes and a red goo was melted all over one side with stalagtites hanging down from the rack to the bottom. Along with all of the metal and ceramic things, there was 1 red plastic colander in there. Luckily once it cooled it was brittle and didn't stick to anything.
Had to ask my wife about the nicest thing I've ever done. I'm not a grand gesture type of person. I guess I try to consistently do small things frequently. I have a relationship with the local Family Crisis Council/women's shelter and we donate things and buy items of need for them whenever they do a donation drive. There's been some co-workers who have had specific needs that we have helped out in various ways. Sometimes people just need their kids to be watched while they go do some administrative BS at some govt office where a kid(s) would be bored to tears and disruptive. I think the urge to help people like that comes from the times when people have helped us out when we've been in Florida or North Carolina without any family around to depend on.
My wife says the nicest thing I've ever done for her was changing my plan to stay in NETN/SWVA after we got married and move somewhere out of that "bubble." It was hard because I am a mountain lover at heart, but I am a million times better person for it.
Is the username a band reference too?
What drew you to GIS?
What's the most almost-arrested you've ever been?
What new/exotic food is at the top of your list? Like you just had XYZ for the first time and you can't wait to have it again
Username is a reference to Blinded by the Light by Mannfred Mann's Earth Band.
GIS has always made sense to me. My brain works the same way GIS works so it was always intuitive. And you can apply it to anything that has a location. It's a cool blend of technology and art.
Haha, the almost arrested question. This is where it gets boring. There was the time I got nailed for 90mph in a 65 coming down Afton Mountain at 3am. When I got my first job at the 911 office the head dispatcher told me about sharing her thoughts on my background check with our director. She said he's a good boy but he's got a lead foot!
I think my favorite food that qualifies as exotic is Jamaican jerk goat with rice the way our Jamaican friend makes it. As an adult, I've learned the fastest way to make friends with people from different cultures is to show genuine appreciation and curiosity for their food.
Fyi there is a band on spotify with the name gokart mozart!
That's awesome. I had never thought to check.
Coming down Afton Mountain is the fastest I've ever driven. I had a Saab 900s in high school and pegged the speedometer at something past 125 coming down the west side of the mountain on 64. Had to weave a little but traffic was mostly light. Incredibly stupid but i was, as previously mentioned, a high schooler. I think it took me 12 minutes from the Crozet on ramp (exit 107)to the 81 exit (88, I think?).
I was in my first vehicle, a 1996 Chevy S-10. Funny thing is, when you hit 90, the engine would drop RPM and you'd slow down to 85.
The fastest I've ever driven was 100 in Atlanta at like 1030am. Very little traffic and the cars that were around me were all doing 85-95. I was in my 2nd vehicle, a 2007 Toyota Tacoma.
When I got out of the Army in '72, I had a buddy who also got out then and he always had a hot car of one sort or another. He had a Mercury Capri at the time, and we took it out to Albequerque to visit friends of his and see one of my Army friends as well. We'd take turns driving, drove straight through from Virginia, and a couple of times I got up to 100 or so before I really even realized it. That Capri was a really cool little car and it would run like the wind.
But, to take the cake, I did 100 mph three times on the Eggleston bridge over the New River...at night...in a Ford van that shouldn't have been able to do that. Coming from Newport towards Staffordsville. Hit a hundie in the middle of the bridge coming down off a hill, then let off the gas and the uphill took the speed out and was back to reasonable at the curve at the top. Stupid? You betcha. No other cars around or I wouldn't have done it, but oh, to be young and stupid, right?
Wait wait... wait just a goddamned minute here!!! You hit triple digits going from Sinking Creek into Eggleston? ...and didn't hit 100 mph until the middle of the bridge? You either should not be able to walk with the size of your balls or you should not function for lack of brain cells. Either way, my hat's off to you. I've done some crazy ass driving on Giles County backroads, but GODDAMN!!!
Yep. It took that long to get that big-assed van to reach the hundie, and I didn't back off until it did. My balls were definitely enhanced by a bit of alcohol, and yes, I was flat out nuts. If things had gone awry, I was toast, and it was a long way down to the river, as you know. The real credit should go to the van, though. That pig should never have been able to hit triple digits, but that is a steep run down. The uphill on the other side was steep enough that the van's weight and size slowed 'er down enough that I didn't need much braking at all to take the curve after the bridge. Only done at night, so I'd see any headlights to cause me to abort the run. The real mystery to me, however, is why in the freakin' world I did it in the first place, then did it twice more. Needless to say, since I'm still around, I don't drive like that anymore now that I'm just another Q-tip in a mini SUV clogging the road at the posted speed limit and pissing off the youngsters.
I mean, I get that it's much easier to hit that speed in that direction. There just isn't nearly as much room for error once you get off the bridge in Eggleston. That hill is no joke. I came down it crossing the bridge a million times on my bike as a kid. Don't think I ever hit 100 mph, but it damned sure felt like it. I didn't even think about it at the time, but looking back... what the hell was I thinking? Oh, the invincibility of youth!
My I can't believe I was doing that involved skiing. I took it up in my 40's. I was enjoying myself on greens and blues and starting to edge into black diamonds on my fourth trip when a friend recommended an app for the phone to track runs, speed, mileage, etc. So I downloaded and used it. Then realized I was hitting 60 mph on skis. On the way home from that trip I bought a helmet.
I've always wanted to ask: Your username comes from a Springsteen song, right?
It comes from Blinded by the Light by Mannfred Mann, which is making fun of how no one can understand Springsteen's lyrics. I was sitting in my dorm in West AJ trying to think of a new AIM screen name that was better than Drummboy85. It came down to GoKartMozart or a handful that referenced Thursday song titles or lyrics. I think I made the right choice.
Just an Fyi, The Manfred Mann version is a cover of Bruce Spingsteen's Blinded by the Light fom his 1973 debut album. Bruce wrote the Go-cart Mozart lyric.
I did not know that! I'm not a huge Springsteen fan. I appreciate his contributions to rock and roll, and his version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town is my favorite. I'll have to start giving him credit for that.
Its all good bro, I'm not really a Springsteen fan either.
Saw him in LA in April. Fantastic "show". He plays 2.5- 3 hours and never leaves the stage. His band is great - When Nils Lofgren is your 3rd/aux guitarist, you have a great band. If you like an authentic, rock and roll/americana energy live show- it's worth it. Bruce's voice is not for everyone, but at least he is not like AXL and Vince Neil who have 50 minutes max of stage time put into their contracts.
His band has always been top notch. Much respect there. My experience with Bruce is similar to my experience with Aerosmith. I don't dislike their music, I'm just not into it. Songs are mostly good, some great.
The Big Man, Clarence Clemons, grew up three houses down the road from me on Butts Station Rd. in Chesapeake. He was older, but I saw him occasionally when he and his brother would help my dad with something. Great family, great story. Never got to see him perform, but always got a charge out of the connection when I saw him on tv.
they put on a great show! i saw them last year in greensboro. they come out and play 45 mins straight...no breaks, no talking, just one song to the next. i grew up in the 80's, and knew Born in the USA really well...started getting familiar with his earlier work a few years ago...Darkness on the Edge of Town, Prove it All Night, Adam Raised a Cain...he became a bucketlist concert for me.
the last half hour, they turned on all the lights, and everyone just danced and sang along to Badlands, Dancing in the Dark, etc...really fun concert!
What's your Mount Rushmore of bands/musicians? First four you think of or listen to most often.
Would love to hear more about your sound engineering/recording. Do you have a home studio or using a professional studio? I have gotten into home recording some and the software is pretty dang cool these days. EZDrummer for instance pretty cool for getting the rhythm to a track without having a drummer (man they are so hard to find).
Also sounds like you work for local govt. What's the most rewarding thing and most discouraging thing about local govt work for you? For me, I felt great about the feeling of serving my community and being a good steward of public resources, but trying to do different things and always find the best way of doing things. But local politicians killed it for me in the end, their small time agendas and lack of appreciation and understanding of what we do just felt crushing.
Top 4 favorite bands? Thursday, Rush, Pink Floyd, Nickel Creek.
Runners up/honorable mention: Beatles, Jimmy Eat World, Superdrag, Dawes
As for recording, I wish I had gotten into it sooner. I've always had an interest in recording techniques and mixing. But I'd also heard from people about how miking drums is a hard skill to learn and such an art form and the slightest change makes the biggest difference. So I never even attempted doing any of that myself. Well, that was BS. Covid hit and my wife used her stimulus to buy a MacBook Pro. She's a choir teacher so her school bought her the educational software package with Logic Pro. I didn't know Reaper was a thing and I just knew ProTools, Ableton, and Logic were expensive softwares. But with Logic in hand I figured let's do this. Started researching everything from audio interfaces, microphones, miking techniques, preamps, compression, EQ, room treatment, etc. The other fun part was deciding on the best equipment for my purpose within my budget and trying to find the best deals on eBay and Reverb.
My first job was for a county E-911 office so I dove head first into that world and carved out a niche for myself in public safety and local government. I like it because I get to work on so many different things. From crime analysis to sewer systems. I also like maps. They're just neat. Where I'm at now, I can actually help citizens have a better place to live. It has a wide ranging population in every aspect. So the goal with many projects is to improve people's situation or quality of life with better facilities, infrastructure, opportunities, and affordable housing.
I do my best to steer clear of politics and politicians in my professional career. If any of my projects get to that level I try to back everything up with data and be very assertive about why the input produced the end result. My bane has always been HR. For local government, I think HR should be outsourced. I always tell young people that HR is not your friend. They're coworkers and you want to have a friendly cordial relationship with them, but you have to watch what you say and do around them at all times. When it comes down to brass tacks, you can't trust them to keep their word, especially if money is involved.
Love to see Pink Floyd in your top. I love the pink myself (my dad is a 74 VT grad and I have so many stories from him about that album.) Im a guitar nut and so I have searched endlessly for David's tone which I have now. He used a Big Muff believe it or not! That pedal is the sound of the 70s. If any aspiring guitarist gets a Muff, they will instantly be transported to the 70s.
Really your point on HR resonated with me. HR in my last local govt job let the whole city down (did not even bother scheduling vaccinations during covid because was playing PS4 or something remote). I had to call him out on so many numerous things, and as the finance director people go to you next after the city manager/county admin.
I just got jaded at the whole thing largely because one of my former bosses got whisked away at the office in front of my eyes one day. Taken to jail. And I was given no instruction. It was some petty stuff they got him on like taking equipment home from work, misuse of public property. No mismanagement of money or anything egregious. And they killed his career and gave me his job. Which was really hard because I knew it was a political hit job. He's doing well for himself these days with a very good job and I just feel ashamed I was involved with such bs.
Did I think some discipline should've happened? Yes but the stupid ass board went nuclear. Was the worst single year of my life. My friend and boss gets ousted, my grandmother dies, my aunt dies, and then my mom got really sick.
Good lord, that's a shitty situation. And that sounds like an awful time to go through. You have my sympathy. That takes mental resilience to get through that.
Because of David Gilmour my dad owned 2 original Big Muffs. When I was a teenager he pulled them out and cleaned them up and gave one to my uncle to put in the "Museum of Rarities and Really Expensive Vintage Stuff" he had at the music store.
Can definitely empathize wit this-I had two of them,
2004- bought and moved to a new house, dad dying and ex asking for divorce
2011/12; Mom died April 2011, one brother March 2012; the other brother May 2012; same spring 2012- son almost died putting his arm through plate glass window and cut down to the bone almost bleeding out; same night at MCV waiting for the surgeon, got a call at 5am from daughter that totaled her car going 55mph and colliding with another car-FORTUNATELY she somehow only had airbag and seatbelt bruising and burns; and ex almost died of something that 1st dr missed but got a 2nd opinion that caught and did emergency surgery.
So three deaths in immediate family and three more NEAR deaths in immediate family within nearly 12 month period. My boss said "you need to see the EAP folks (emergency assistance program); I'm not ASKING you-I'm TELLING you"! That's when I started seeing a counselor.(The first session, I just told the whole story to her while she took notes. The 2nd meeting she said " I reviewed my notes; I can't believe you're still STANDING"
When it rains it pours. I don't know how you didn't end up with health problems yourself after enduring that much stress. That kind of stress drives people to addiction and illnesses.
I'll go ahead and push my personal opinion of the importance of having a therapist or a counselor to talk to. Even if it's just once a month. I think it's important for your mental health to have someone that you can vent to, or talk through things with, or to guide you through the process of improving yourself, or dealing with issues. A trained person can ask the right questions to help you process your thoughts and emotions faster, and with a different perspective than your own.
Totally agree about the importance and value! (I didn't even mention the late teenage son with substance abuse and anger anagement issues and the drama over settling my mom's living trust...that took FOUR years for my sister the executor/trustee to complete-who btw I haven't spoken to in the 9 years since!)!
I saw that counselor every two weeks for seven years(til she retired). Just great as you said to have someone you can literally say ANYTHING to without being judged. And a good counselor (which you may have to try a few til you find the "fit" for you) doesn't TELL you what to do; they help YOU figure out what to do. Started seeing a new one this past January to deal with PTSD from being carjacked at gunpoint last year and will continue to see her for the foreseeable future-again every two weeks-for the outlet and advice..
Yes, you definitely have to find one that fits you. Sometimes it takes a few.
But, carjacked at gunpoint? Holy moly, man!
Another local government employee here. HR is the worst, our HR director sent me an email telling me he was changing my scoring on an interview panel we all sat on. Thereby cementing my opinion that he was squirrely and not to be trusted. Nothing he has done in the years since has changed my opinion.
He also commented when I ran into him two weeks before my son was born that "I was a lot bigger than the last time he saw me." My very pregnant self really thought about filing a grievance on that one since he said it in front of the whole Directors office.
They are legit the worst. Learned quickly you cannot trust them at all, and they are just trying to earn the boss' favor in most cases.
I just had an ad for a shirt come across my Instagram stories that said Defund Human Resources.
I lol'd.
You only see these come across social media because someone in HR thinks they should be defended - wonder why?
What is the name of your dairy science PhD great uncle? He might have been a friend of my family.
Mike Akers.
What's the most almost arrested you've been?
Cake or pie?
Cheese or whatever French is?
Arrested: I don't have any good stories where I was pushing my luck with the law. I like to lead a quiet, boring life doing the things that I enjoy doing while trying to be as stress free as possible. I lived with my grandparents from age 5-18 so that's probably where I get that from.
But I have a lead foot and I'm pretty sure the the trooper that pulled me over while doing 90 coming down Afton Mtn at 3am could have taken me to jail for going that fast.
Pie, all the way. Key Lime, Lemon Meringue, Cherry, Apple, and something I call Junior High Pie.
Cheese? All the cheese, all the time. The more cheese the better.
But then there's cheesecake. Which is actually more of a pie. The best cheesecake I've ever had was at a church dinner when I was about 24. It had a thick white chocolate shell on top and a butterscotch swirl. I've never seen another like it or tasted one better.
Junior High Pie, named because my step mom learned the recipe in Junior high home ec.
1 small can of Minute Maid Lime Juice concentrate.
1 can of Eagle Brand Condensed Sweetened Milk
1 tub of cool whip
Combine and mix well with electric mixer. Pour into a graham cracker crust. Pre-made or homemade if you can do that. Add green food coloring if you want to visually emphasize the lime flavor.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours.
pro tip: lime pie with ginger cookie crust (Stauffer's ginger snaps works great)
That sounds amazing, especially if you can get it pre-made. As you can tell from the recipe, I'm not the most skilled baker, and merely an adequate cook.
just blend and crush the ginger snaps in the food processor as best you can and add some melted butter to help bind it together. it will be a bit coarse (just call it "rustic") but it is delicious.
What do you think of the movie "Drumline" with Nick Cannon?
Drumline is entertaining but not realistic.
Now that I'm older and very much removed from the DCI style of marching band, it's easier and more fun to watch. When it came out we saw it in theaters and had never seen that style of marching band. We very much turned our noses up at it because there weren't any bass line splits and they didn't march corps style. Just a different style, but all of the rudimentary drumming is the same. All of the close up shots of technical drumming were done by DCI teachers.
What are your top three whiskies?
What are you reading?
What is the best drum track, and why is it Dreaming by Blondie?
It's Tom Sawyer by Rush, among many others by Neil.
Weird to say, but Tom Sawyer is one of Rush's most overrated songs. Just staying on Moving Pictures, gimme Witch Hunt and YYZ over Tom Sawyer.
Well there is certainly no end to amazing Neil Peart stuff. Hell yeah on YYZ, Or we could just go all of 2112 or Hemispheres...all of the front side and especially La Villa Strangiato. I still feel like the fills on Tom Sawyer are epic though. I'd like to know what you think GoKart!
Nah, let's derail this thread: what's your favorite Rush song? Its Subdivisions for me
All of them?
I'll knock out 2 birds with one stone on this one. My favorite Rush song is Nobody's Hero. I get chills listening to it.
My favorite Rush song because of the drumming is La Villa Strangiato. It's so well composed and so musical. But YYZ is a close second.
Live or studio? I find the live version great for cruising down the road.
Rush is one of the few bands where I prefer their live stuff. I know it's going to be performed really well, and very true to the album version, but if you listen closely you'll hear little things they do differently.
Top 3 Whiskies, in no particular order:
Woodford Reserve Double Oaked. I like anything oaky.
Wild Turkey Longbranch. I was gifted this for the only recording session I've ever engineered. Haha. My wife's cousin wanted a custom karaoke track to sing at her sister's wedding reception. I was blown away how good this is for something so common and affordable.
Blanton's Straight From the Barrel that I had a dram of at this place: https://www.newberrybroscoffee.com/ It's a coffee shop with a bourbon bar speakeasy in the back. It's only open 2 nights a week and seats about 40. We were in Cincinnati picking up a drum kit at Badges Drum Shop, my favorite drum shop. We found the place via Google and naively texted the owner per the instructions. We had no idea what we were getting into. As luck would have it there was a cancellation and they had 1 table open. One of the coolest experiences I've ever had.
I'll add that my daily drinker used to be Maker's Mark, but I've turned into a Woodford Straight guy. My favorite one to put into my Old Fashioned, or Kentucky Mule is Ancient Ancient Age from Buffalo Trace. The regular Ancient (x1) Age is not great. Stay away from that. But Ancient Ancient tastes way better than its price point. It used to be kind of a secret and now it sells out extremely fast.
Reading: I used to be a big hard copy guy, but now with a kid and other hobbies I do a lot of driving, so I listen to books now. I just finished "Demons and Drums: The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon" on the way to work this morning. Definitely the saddest non-fiction and maybe fiction book I've ever read. Jim was one of the greatest and most in demand studio drummers of the 60s and 70s. He was a member of the Wrecking Crew and is most well known for drumming on the original recording of Layla, and writing the outro section featuring him on piano.
He had paranoia schizophrenia and ended up killing his mother because of the voices in his head.
I'm also in the middle of Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991. I also recently listened to Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994–2007). That was a good listen. Each chapter covers a different band and how they went from independent DIY bands to a major label contract.
I also enjoy reading WWII memoirs, Appalachian fiction, and memoirs of former baseball and hockey players.
Best drum track: Jeff Porcaro on Rosanna. The Purdie Shuffle/Fool In The Rain combined with the Bo Diddley clave rhythm. And it's just so tight. When he died in 1992, music changed forever. Listen to the best pop hits of 1992, and compare them to the pop hits of late 1993 and 1994. That's how influential and prolific he was.
Love Blanton's Love Porcaro... you are my guy!!
Totally agree- check out this book-https://www.amazon.com/Rifle-Stories-Americas-Veterans-Through/dp/168451...
Awesome series of chapters each about a different WW@ serviceperson who carried the M-1 and their personal stories.
Also recommend Max Lamirande's multiple series of alternative war histories including Axis Alternate and Pacific Alternate series. Here is a link to his bio page on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0899BHY9Q/about
Wow. Thanks for those recommendations. I'm a huge M1 Garand nut. I always wanted to buy one, but I want a pre-1945 one in decent shape. They exist but the price is hard to justify for me. I have a 1943 Underwood Typewriter made .30 caliber carbine that my great grandfather brought home from the Pacific. He was a Sea Bee that operated bulldozers and other heavy construction equipment.
I found that one about the Rifle randomly but wow what powerful stories1 I like the other series I've mentioned cause it's historical fiction but blends the true life famous people with fictional characters at the individual unit level so you see both the strategic and tactical views of the wars.; It's why I always liked all W.E.B Griffin's series too (The Corp, Brotherhood of War and several others).
I have kindle unlimited so I can try books that I might not have checked out if I had to pay $15-30 for it, $11.99 a month and access to millions of titles. Thar's how I found the Max Lamirande series I mentioned above.
Have you read Phil Ward's Raiding Forces series? I found them through Kindle Unlimited and liked them enough to purchase hard copies.
I hadn't but that's now likely the next series I start because you mentioned it and I read the synopsis!
Another great series is "Fighting Tomcats" by M.L. Maki. Similar to the movie "Final Countdown" but not just a single carrier goes back to WW2 but a fair number of military folks and equipment and they STAY there. Great storytelling and how the history both sometimes changes and sometimes stays the same. Extremely well-written and engaging.! Highly recommend it!
I enjoy that one as well. I think the series has gotten better with additional books. The editing was a little rough on the first one.
Agree on WRDO, so much better than standard Woodford. You might be the only person I've seen say something positive about Longbranch, much less have it top three. Love pretty much all Turkey though. SFTB is one I feel like gets a lot of love. I've had good and bad pours of it. Hazards of single barrels. Will say, I'm not as keen on Buffalo Trace juice as it seems most people are. I think it might be the yeast strain they use, but I find cherry cough syrup notes in a lot of their stuff.
For books, seems like you're into music history. Just picked up Charlie's Good Tonight, about Charlie Watts. Heard good things. Also, highly recommend Burning Down the Haus by Tim Mohr. It's about the punk scene in East Berlin/East Germany defeating the Soviets.
Maybe the Longbranch hit me at good time, or something. It's heavy on the vanilla, which I like, but not straight up vanilla ice cream like the Blanton's SFTB I had that one time.
I could sip the AAA if I was desperate, but I think regular Buffalo Trace is mediocre. It's too peaty and way too hot for my preference. If I want peaty, I've got family members that drink scotch.
Those sound like 2 great book recs. I'll add them to the queue.
"best drum track" is a tough one. I end up not really identifying some random epic and think more about what the drumming did for the song.
Since you mentioned Blondie: Heart of Glass is all about that cymbal. And i love that drum track. There are also a few pauses in that song that are just killer moments.
In a world where a lot of drummers (and bass players) are just along for the time-keeping ride, anything good tends to stick out. I like whent he drum actually contributes to the melody and phrasing of a song. Some non-Rush (i don't like rush...) thoughts:
When the Levee Breaks is all about Bonham's drums.
Psychotic Reaction by the County Five. Parts of it the drummer is just in the pocket. Other times, the drummer is driving.
Goodbye by Army of Anyone. Similar to Psychotic Reaction, but there is actually a sort of drum lead that takes the song out. It's not a Moby Dick/In a Gadda da Vida-esque drum solo where everything else drops out. It's actually a section where everyone else holds the line and the drums take off.
Some settings just require that the drummer be a major part of the lead. Left Lane Cruiser is a duo that has some killer stuff going on with the drums. It's not all complicated, but it's so tied into the melody. The albums Bring Yo Ass to the Table and All You Can Eat have some great stuff on them.
I'm not saying any of these are the "best drum track". I'm just saying I get excited when I hear the rhythm section doing anything more than just holding the line.
I am a drummer. and a Rush fanatic- full disclosure. In terms of drum tracks- Tom Sawyer has everything and it's played flawlessly. It has changing time signatures, the beginning is 16th hi hat notes and then blends into a classic rock beat with great kick pattern. Tight cymbal chokes, epic fills, double bass, double floor tom flams, dynamics throughout- every thing. It has to be up there as one of the best drum tracks of all time. Peart stated many times how "hard" it was to play live- and he is a top 3 drummer of all time. I'll give some other nods- Funky Drummer played by Clyde Stubblefield, a number of DMB songs - Grey Street, Tripping Billies- fantastic amazing drum parts. In terms of Levee- I love Bonham- my second fav drummer. The thing about that song is the openness of the drums- and it made the "black beauty" arguably the most famous and recorded snare of all time. But to me, the brilliant minimal engineering on the drums is what makes the song. no muting in the kick drum, a couple overhead mics, and a snare mic- Bonham knew how to get that brass sound open but with some crack- unlike Lars's St. Anger disaster.
Bonham used the Glyn Johns technique for recording because it created that openness. But also he recorded in some really great rooms. That's a huge part of it. But it's just 3 mics. OH large diaphragm condenser, kick mic, and a 3rd mic (LDC) that is placed off to the floor tom side, 6 inches above the floor tom and the same distance that the OH mic is from the snare drum.
There's another one I like to steal from called Recorderman. It uses the same OH mic and another over the shoulder on the hi hat side that points to the ride cymbal, picking up the hats, snare, and some kick on its way. I like to use a mono overhead mic and the over the shoulder mic along with the usual suspects, so I can reduce it down to those two if I want, or combine it with other room mics and close mics.
What I currently do is close mic everything, 2 mics on the snare top/bottom, and always higher placed overheads if we need them. Sometime we use them heavily in the mix, sometimes we don't. But I am all for the old school approach too.
I just added a bottom snare mic and wow. I can't believe it makes that much difference. It's wild.
I got some advice early on about trying to create a good stereo image using ribbon mics as far away as possible. Plus there's the whole experimentation of mics in the toilet and down the hall, etc. You can get a set of halfway decent ribbon mics for $250-300 that will do the job and put them as far away as your room will let you without being against a hard wall and pan them accordingly for a good stereo image of the kit without doing spaced pairs and worrying about comb filtering and too much cymbal shimmer, etc.
My next experiment is using those ribbons or two big condensers in a Blumlein configuration for a full room sound. I recently saw somebody using a Vanguard V44 to get that stereo room sound, which is awesome, but way too expensive for my hobby. I'd have to sell a kit to pay for the one mic.
I keep telling myself that I should get rid of my tom mics and use 2 near mics close to the kit, but then when mixing time comes, I really like the close mics.
Love Keith Moon on the Who's Quadrophenia album -especially in "The Real Me" and "Love Reign O'er Me".
Career: How much is AI involved in your GIS work currently? How many years is the horizon where it takes over?
Bburg: One Hot Take about Campus that other ppl might disagree with?
Team: Best live game memory?
This is a good one that I don't think got asked last year.
Not much AI going on currently, but I do my best to keep up with blogs about mapping and AI. Right now, any AI that does mapping is a paid subscription, so that's not happening for me. Even if I would budget for it, it would probably raise some eyebrows and get cut, because it would look like I was trying to get AI to do my job for me.
I don't think AI will take over the analysis part of GIS. Cartography maybe, but I see it more as a productivity tool that will help GIS professionals get more done faster.
Campus Hot Take: Going to have to come back to this. I can't think of a good one at the moment. I know I had some strong opinions when I was a student, but I don't think they held up over time. I'll keep thinking on it.
Best live game memory: Nebraska in Lane. Danny Coale wide open and then Tyrod to Dyrell for the win with Ndamukong Suh coming for his life. Dyrell was my favorite player on that team.
For me it was the win over OSU AT the Shoe! Stunned the home crowd and led to an epic night at the bar nearby...
I will remember that one forever as well. I was visiting Bristol when I lived in Florida and invited my two best friends from high school over to watch. None of us could believe that Tech was hanging in there and that the Tech defense was having their way with anOSU. When Donovan Riley housed the pick I exploded out of my chair into the air and started running around the house yelling BALLGAME! BALLGAME!
I miss Frank Beamer.
BTW I have to agree with the OSU marching band being the "best damn band in the land"; their halftime show was amazing(80s TV theme show including a visually cool rendition of Bart Simpson skateboarding across the field)! AND they play the opposing team's fight song both before AND after the game- even when they (OSU) lose. Classy!
Between Ohio University's band and TBDBITL, it seems like the only thing Ohio does really well is marching band.
Um and Ice cream!
For such a boring man you're are 82 comments, fernley had 124 so you're getting there.
It's mostly me jabber jawing because I have an audience.
Seemed appropriate...
The yutes can look up the reference on the interwebs
This high school band teacher loved reading your story, glad you still love to play!
My high school band teacher was a huge influence on my life and love of music. Still known affectionately as "Uncle Bob" by one and all of his former students, he inspired a lot of musicians to love playing and marching as well, leading to my ill fated time in the Highty Tighties. While I gave up the French horn after the HTs, I continued to play, trying to work the fiddle (fingers just too darned slow) and finally settling on a little bit of fiddling and a whole lot of harmonica in the various bands I was part of.
So thanks to all the high school band teachers out there, and may your pupils love you the way we loved Uncle Bob.
Thanks. I owe a lot to my various teachers and directors. My high school band director is now the Director of Athletic Bands at East Tennessee State. He pushed me individually, and used his network to get me in with some top notch private instructors in the area.
The reason I never auditioned for MVs was because my parents wanted me to focus on academics in high school, and participate in as much music as possible. But with my uncle owning the music store in Radford, it was understood that I would work while I was in college. Didn't leave time for academics and something as time consuming as MVs. But I taught drum lines and got paid for it.
My school music directors and especially HS band and orchestra director was a huge influence as well.
Violinist and percussion, I got some studio time in HS as a violinist and cymbal player in Navy boot camp with the marching band in San Diego.
One of Glen Miller's percussionists retired in my home town and he taught me to be a technical drummer. Endless hours of rudiments payed off very well.
Disease prevented me from continuing playing past 1999 but the knowledge and experience has stayed on.
We all loved my high school band teacher. When he retired, hundreds of his former students, myself included, went to his last concert.
Got someone to nominate for next GoKart?
According to the initial post, the next "Gokart" is about 9 years old right? /s
I nominate ReeseJenks520, HOAT, or MVHokie69.
Got any other nominees? Those three haven't responded a couple of times now...
I can go but I'm currently in Philly for a wedding. I might not have time to write up a post till Monday or Tuesday.
Ok...have at it when you're ready!
Hey...just checking in....should we move on to someone else for now and come back to you?
It'll be up shortly