Playing a gig at Milly’s Tavern tonight…

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Ok, day two of me trying to actually use this blog thing and I’m already wondering what the hell I can talk about…

The only real item of interest today is that my band (Building James) is playing tonight at Milly’s Tavern in Manchester, NH. I’m actually really pumped about this show. We play around pretty regularly, but Milly’s is sort of our original “stomping grounds”. Every month or so we go back and tear the roof off that place. For those that are Building James “Milly’s Regulars”, you won’t want to miss this one – we have a little something special planned you all. ;)

Speaking of gigs, our last one was freaking hilarious. We played at a little hole in the woods in Londonderry called “The 1st Players Club” with the bluesy Joe Mazzari Band last Saturday. We’ve played with these guys before, and I really dig their vibe. The funny thing was that our band is a “power-pop” rock band – we didn’t exactly “fit the bill” sort of speak.

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First day in the new office. Going to try and post every day… at least something

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Ok… I reckon I’ve had this blog thing for ages, yet never really consistently used it. When I do use it, it seems like I have to really think about every post I make and make sure it has some value to anyone that happens to be reading it. But, in reality, a blog is just a “web log” and doesn’t really need every post to be intricate, thought provoking and drawn out. So, to that end I’m going to see how long I can go posting at least “something” everyday.

Today..

My company just moved offices, and today is the first day in the new location. We’re not big (60 employees or so) but this office feels a little more cramped than the last. I’m still building an opinion on whether or not I like it, but one hugely influential factor is that now we are in walking distance to my favorite lunch joint (Paddy’s). I felt I had to celebrate the move today, or more accurately the new close proximity to Paddy’s and walk over for some chicken tenders and a Summer Ale on the deck. I swear, working in an office lit by overhead lights is tough – but sitting in the sun with wings and a pint, then coming back to said office is a lot tougher. I want to take the rest of the day off and head home to sit on my deck.

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“Hopelessly Lost” added to Radio Paradise listener review channel

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Radio Paradise (internet radio station I really like) allows people to upload songs for consideration. If they get approved, they get added to the rotation. There are three steps in this process:

1 – The DJs give each submission a quick listen and decide if it’s even a possible match for their station. Most (they get hundreds a month) get a “sorry” at this step – meaning they declined the song.

2 – If the DJ approves the song, it gets added to list and played on a “listener review channel (LRC)” radio stream. Users rate the songs on this channel as either good or bad.

3 – Over a bit of time, if there are enough “good” ratings, the song gets added to rotation on the main Radio Paradise stream. Radio Paradise has a massive audience around the world.

The other day, after receiving a few compliments regarding some of my recordings, I said screw it and uploaded “Hopelessly Lost” for consideration.

Well…

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Amazing Nascar Finish at Talladega – Carl Edwards last lap wreck

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Any race fan will tell you – Talladega is known for its white-knuckle, bumper grinding, bump-drafting, giant pileup, last-lap-pass racing.

This week’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega was no exception.

Nascar drivers generally don’t like restrictor plate racing because the plate limits the amount of horsepower these cars have, thus making it near impossible to pull away. The cars drive around in a huge pack, wide open, using the “draft” to find the speed needed to get around the other cars. This means that any mistake by a driver who is drafting in the big pack of cars, creates a chain-reaction – collecting all the cars around them. Wrecks like this can gather up half the field and are referred to as the “big one”.

The fans love restrictor plate races for precisely the same reason drivers don’t. We love watching the cars race around at over 200mph, like three inches apart. They bump each other, race four wide at times, and put on an “edge of your seat” show for us sitting at home.

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Coyote in Maudslay State Park, Newburyport Ma

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Twice this week I have been walking in Maudslay after work, and twice I’ve seen Coyote while on the trail. The first time was at a bit of a distance, but tonight I came head-to-head with two animals not 50 feet away. I was walking down a trail deep in the park that runs along the farm, near Castle Hill. I glanced down a side trail as I past and there they were – two Coyote were standing in the path, motionless and watching me.

I stopped, and slowly pulled my camera phone out of my pocket. After fumbling a bit I was able to get one shot, but the animals were running away. I know, it’s not a great shot. I’m going back tomorrow with a better camera. I’ve seen them twice and want to get a few decent shots, the camera phone just isn’t cutting it…

coyote-maudslay-newburyport

Caribbean cruise on the ship "Freedom of the Seas"

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My wife and I recently took a Caribbean cruise for our honeymoon. Neither of us had ever been on a cruise before, and figured now was as good a time as any to do it.

Shopping for a cruise line was actually way more difficult than I had expected. There was Princess, Norwegian, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Disney – they all look really nice. After doing a lot of research, and asking as many people as we knew who had taken cruises, we settled on Royal Caribbean. Our friends had great experiences with them, and the reviews were generally very favorable.

Picking the cruise line was only the beginning; then we needed to pick the ship and where we wanted to go. I liked this part of the planning very much. In fact, it was way easier than settling on the cruise line. Clearly I wanted the biggest, most lavish ship available. Royal Caribbean has some pretty awesome ships, including: “Adventure Of The Seas”, “Liberty Of The Seas”, “Jewel Of The Seas” and more. All of these looked spectacular, but I wanted the biggest and the best – it had to be the “Freedom of the Seas”.

The Freedom was available to board the day after our wedding! We booked an eight-day, seven-night western Caribbean tour aboard “the worlds biggest cruise ship.” I was incredible exited, yet reserved. I mean, I didn’t want to seem “too” excited. After all, I was getting married – the cruise was just a bonus. But, I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t pretty much occupy my mind in the weeks and days leading up to our wedding.

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The Band Ra releases their long-awaited (studio) follow up to Duality – Black Sun.

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I have been a big fan of the band Ra since I first heard of them in the fall of 2000. Their first major release “From One” was a constant in my car stereo for at least a year. The guitar work is tight and heavy, and the riffs have those “hooks” that seem to get stuck in your head for a week. Some highlights off From One are “Do you call my name”, “Rectifier”, “Parole” and “Sky”. I highly recommend this record.

After From One came “Duality”. While not as fundamentally heavy as From One, Duality offered a more refined, produced sound that seemed to blend more into mainstream rock. Personally, I think Duality is outstanding and every song on that record is a hit. The guitars are not as “hooky” as From One, but the vocals make up for it. I find my self singing songs off Dually all the time. Tracks like “Take me away”, “I lost everything”, “Got me going”, “Undertaken” and “Tell me” have lyrics that I can relate to. It confuses me as to why this record was not an enormous hit, it’s clearly better than 80% of the crap out there. Needless to say, once again I highly recommend this record.

Now.. enter the latest “Black Sun”

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