Archives - January 2004

Friday, January 2nd, 2004

Welcome to a new year!

Rang it in with Lisa, Tom and Jane! Jane got a dirty gift for her birthday!

I finished off the week by finishing off the Tamiya Zero for SD. YEAH!!

Had lunch with Lisa today, too!

Here's the shoes I got her for Xmas :)

Song on iTunes? "Extraordinary" by Liz Phair. Love, Jason

Wednesday, January 7th, 2004

I know a guy
he's got a pair of slacks.
Ooooooh Fred's got slacks
...on the boulevard .

Thursday, January 8th, 2004

Sleepy. Spent yesterday with Lisa. We ate stew and watched the 2 headed bitch-hydra that is Paris and Nicole. I couldn't turn my head. Good times. Starbucks was closed today for renovations related to the damage sustained by Hurricane Isabel. Fawk. I wanted coffee. I tried eating some lowcarb bar that I usually don't get... it was disgusting. Myoplex Lemon Cheesecake sucks monkey ass. The aftertaste has forced me into eating a delicious Ferrara Pan FireBall.

I am gearing up for the prop party on Saturday in PA. Heeeee!

This is the second Studio Scale X-Wing I've crammed full of lights... this one goes to a friend in Australia.

Song on iTunes? "Second Guessing" by R.E.M.

Sunday, January 11th, 2004

Pics from the prop party!

Tom, Mookie, and me. The 9 to 5 IM buddies!

Steve and John!

Steve's Rocketeer stuff... GASP! The Rocketpack is coming together!!

Scott, John, and John catching up!

Tom and John, having a good time.

Mookie, being serious for a moment.

"John, is everything proceeding exactly as you have forseen?"

Steve and the heads with Tom.

The most awesomest prop that ever lived. D00d that is sweat.

Friday, January 16th, 2004

Who's happy they got new Software? I Ammmmmmmm!!

Wednesday, January 21st, 2004

Hey gang! Yesterday was a great day... Had Chick-Fil-A with Lisa, and got the Belle and Sebastian dvd! Really made me feel like an excited teenager while I was watching it. Now begins the long week wait until the Cure B-Sides Box Set is released. It's four cds containing the B-Sides from 1979 to now, and even has a few of the rarer tracks like La Ment (Flexipop) and To The Sky.

Those of you that know me probably know that I already have all the meterial, released or unreleased, from my 17 years of Cure collecting. However, most of my stuff comes from vinyl (for the singles) and bootlegs (for the demos)... And even my copy of To The Sky, while from cd, was mastered in 1989. So to get these songs in a 2004 pressing, directly mastered from source material, is like a dream come true. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have been waiting for this since 1987.

Descent. The Exploding Boy. A Few Hours After This. Classic tracks... Everyone had that "Standing on a Beach" cassette with the b-sides on the flip side... But jesus, it was a cassette! I'm just soooo psyched.

Lisa likes to eat her chocolate in a systematic way...

It's sunny!

Song on iPod? "Farmer Chords" by Benjamin Gibbard.

Thursday, January 22nd, 2004

HOLY CRAP! Guess what shipped early from Rhino Records?!?!?!

Update:

Here's my thoughts, now that I've listened to it (for about 10 hours straight, hehe!)

10:15 Saturday Night - With every track on this boxset, you can really tell the differece, sonically. It's the same feeling I got when I first heard XTC's remastered Skylarking cd. "wow! Listen to the bass! The clarity of the mix!"... 10.15 really benefits.
Plastic Passion - Again, the same as 10.15 Saturday Night - The "space" between instruments is a treat.
Pillbox Tales - You know, I still wonder about this one, and Do The Hansa. It always sounded to me like the vocals were redone. This always struck me as 1986 Robert Smith, in timbre and inflection. The difference between 12" and cd is freaking insane.
Do The Hansa - This was the first track when it struck me that I was hearing elements (backing vocals) I had never noticed before... is it a reflection of the remaster or just that they were obscured by the vinyl?
I'm Cold - oooo! There's a little second or so of extra beginning before the guitar starts. Always been a fave song :)
Another Journey By Train - With most of this 1st cd, my source was "Standing on a Beach" cassette. Long ago, I transferred a new copy of that cassette to DAT, and paid $45 to have a cdr made (lol - it was 1993, give me a break!). Again - the difference between cassette and this is indescribable.
Descent - I was pretty curious about this track. It seemed like the cassette used a vinyl source... I could swear I heard an occasion pop or crack. On this box set, Descent has a bit of hiss - I guess the source tapes are less than ideal. Still, it whets my appetite for Carnage Visors. Will it be on the 2nd cd when Faith gets rereleased?
Splintered In Her Head - The drums seem to be more dramatically Stereo-ified. Wheee.
Lament (flexipop version) - I have the green vinyl version of this, Fuck that. This remaster kicks its ASS. I still have no idea what the hell Robert is babbling about. Put down the shrooms and back away from Severin.
Just One Kiss - Makes the US and UK Japanese Whispers cd sound like a murky underwater recording. Majorly impressed. Here's hoping the 12" mix sees release!
The Dream - One of my least favorites... I think I played it out in high school. But again, cleaner, crisper, etc.
The Upstairs Room - One of my FAVORITES... "Your sister started talking..." sooo singable. It's light years ahead of the old cd, but seems slightly flat - a reflection of the gear used in thsi session? Shoddy tapes? Who knows.
Lament - Gorgeous, but also a little flat.
Speak My Language - WOW! Where did all thsi space come from? CLEAN!
Mr. Pink Eyes - Super stereo. Was Robert "fishpanning" here, too?
Happy The Man - Not too shabby.
Throw Your Foot - And now we get to the block of GENIUS... CLEAN,CRIPS sounds... thank you god.
New Day - Apparently from the Tim Pope sessions - NO clue this came from the I Want To Be A Tree sessions! Seems "out of order"... only because I'm used to the cassette tracklisting, I guess.
The Exploding Boy - HO! HO! Not as "big" as I wanted it to be... but I think I'm too hyper listening to this song... that's how much I love it.
A Few Hours After This - Same here... but I'm just grateful for a copy of this song devoid of hiss, and what not... Don't remember the vocals being so crammed into the left channel though...
A Man Inside My Mouth - Dirty! Or is it? lol.. who cares. Those "uuuuuhh" noises Robert makes in the background have a delightful swirl from right to left - so cool to hear them RIGHT THERE!
Stop Dead - And thus ends the Classic Era™ of B-sides.

A Japanese Dream - I don't know about you, but my vinyl sounded like shit when it came to this song. Turns out, it was partly the vinyl, partly the quality of the recording - still kinda murky. I still prefer the Live NEC version from '87.
Breathe - This song DESERVES to be heard, ESPECIALLY now that it has room to (wait for it).. breathe. Stunning.
A Chain Of Flowers - Still murky, but gorgeous.
Snow In Summer - I had the Just Like Heaven cd single, and this is brighter and louder, as you would expect.
Sugar Girl - Same for Sugar Girl.
Icing Sugar (weird remix) - Finally I can ditch that horrid Orange Vinyl transfer. Great subtle sounds I didn't pick up before - now audible.
Hey You!!! (kevorkian 12" remix) - Bah. I never liked this remix... Had the Hot Hot Hot!!! cd single - sounds slightly better.
How Beautiful You Are (clearmountain 7" remix) - Ahhhh - WAY better than my pirated version taken from the Radio Sampler. I still regret not buying that back when I saw it at a record convention in 1989. Well, not as much now that I have this box.
To The Sky - A direct comparison to the Stranger Than Fiction cd version shows this one to be much nicer. Louder.... Gorgeous track. Glad that it's been made available to everyone.
Babble - Always liked this track. Not much to say - is it remastered?
Out Of Mind - Lemurs, giggle.
2 Late - Sounds nicer - my imagination? I love singing to this song...
Fear Of Ghosts - The fade out is FIXED!!!!
Hello I Love You (psychedelic version) - Wow - I did not have this... it's not bad. Has a slight Snakepit feel to the drums.
Hello I Love You - Sounds unchanged.
Hello I Love You  (Slight Return version) - Ditto.
Harold and Joe - Nice! Seems brighter! Guitars seem much more upfront... remixed?!
Just Like Heaven (Dizzy mix) - I always liked this version.

This Twilight Garden , Play, Halo, Scared As You, The Big Hand, A Foolish Arrangement - Seem good.
Doing The Unstuck  (saunders 12" remix) - Another track I did not have (shame on me!)... I like it! Extended and pretty. Reminds me of the High (trip mix) a little.
Purple Haze (virgin radio version) - YES! Finally a good sounding copy!

Skpping ahead....

Wrong Number (smith remix) - Ugh, this is gross.
Possession - A so-so track.
Out Of This World (oakenfold remix) - 7.5 on the scale, remix-wise.
Maybe Someday (acoustic mix) - Oooh, I like this one a lot!
Coming Up - Eeeeh, so-so track.
Signal To Noise (acoustic version) - Sounds good!
Signal To Noise - Same with this fella.
Just Say Yes (Curve remix) - Not hot about the song to start with, but the remix is nice.
A Forest (2001 Mark Platti - featuring Earl Slick) - I like that other recent version better... can we have less re-imagineering old tracks and have the boys release a box set of nothing but different versions of "Forever" from 1980 to 1984?

Thank you goodnight. You've been the noisiest audience I've ever listened to. Goodnight.

Monday, January 26th, 2004

Anthony grills for us...

Jason & Lisa get drunk....

Simon sulks in the upstairs sink.

...and does his best Baltar impersonation. By Your Command, Señor Fluffypants!

Tom and Jane!

Daydreaming about my future home and sanctuary!

I've been busy the past week making Mythbuster dvds for Mr. Savage, wheeee! I hope he likes them... There's more pressure when the recipient is actually in the show.

I also am over my allotted bandwidth this month... ooops.

Song on iTunes? "Bye Bye Bad Man" by The Stone Roses.

Wednesday, January 28th, 2004

Winter is really really really here.

Do what the picture tells you to, jerkass.

DREARY! Song on iTunes? "Lullaby of London" by The Pogues.