December 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Top 10 of 2011
The following are my top 10 albums of 2011. While this year has featured some great reissues and live albums, I’m only including CD’s of new music. So, here goes…
Riverside, Memories In My Head A mini-album clocking in at just over a half hour that is simply brilliant!
Steven Wilson, Grace For Drowning While I really like this and find more that I like on repeated listens, I...
2 tags
December playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to the past month…
Steven Wilson, Grace For Drowning Gazpacho, London Yes, In the Present Adrian Belew, Dust Aimee Mann, @#%&! Smilers David Gilmour, Live in Gdansk Phil Manzanera, Diamond Head Pendragon, Pure Australian Pink Floyd, Live at the Hammersmith Apollo 2011 Resonance Association, Waving Not Drowning Porcupine Tree,...
November 2011
1 post
2 tags
November playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to the past month…
The Kinks, Give the People What They Want The Kinks, State of Confusion The Kinks, Come Dancing With the Kinks Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd, A Foot in the Door Queen, Innuendo Queen, A Kind of Magic Queen, Made in Heaven Queen, The Miracle The Beach Boys, Smile Sessions Gazpacho, London Bass Communion,...
October 2011
1 post
2 tags
October playlist
It’s been awhile since I posted a playlist, so…
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to the past month…
Steven Wilson, Grace For Drowning King Crimson, Starless and Bible Black King Crimson, Discipline Gazpacho, A Night at Loreley Gazpacho, Tick Tock Gazpacho, Night Airbag, All Rights Removed Airbag, Identity Yes, Close to the Edge Yes, 9012Live: The Solos Red...
August 2011
1 post
2 tags
August playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to the past month…
Anathema, A Natural Disaster Anathema, We’re Here Because We’re Here Porcupine Tree, The Incident Porcupine Tree, Stars Die Crack The Sky, Crack The Sky Crack The Sky, White Music Crack The Sky, Ghost Solstice Coil, Natural Causes
July 2011
4 posts
3 tags
Album ratings: Radiohead
Radiohead is one of those bands that’s all over the place for me. I liked their earlier, more-or-less straight-on alternative rock. I liked the darkness of O.K. Computer and the total weirdness of Kid A. But then the band lost me. Amnesiac, which was recorded at the same time as Kid A, lacks that album’s inventiveness. Hail to the Thief, while having some good songs (namely...
3 tags
Album ratings: Marillion
Marillion will always hold a place in my heart as it’s the first band that Jessica and I discovered together. I had heard positive things about Marillion from some Pink Floyd usergroup that I was on at the time, so I thought I’d check them out. One day in the spring of 1996 while we were at some record store in the North Hills that doesn’t even exist anymore (there’s a...
3 tags
Album ratings: Pink Floyd
I was reading a magazine that reviewed all of Pink Floyd’s albums, and while it was an interesting read, I didn’t agree with everything. So I thought I’d rate albums on my own.
While Pink Floyd is no longer my favorite band (Porcupine Tree holds that distinction for over the past decade), I thought I’d start with the favorite band of my teen/college years. More rankings of...
2 tags
July playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to the past month…
Yes, Fly From Here (my favorite Yes CD in quite some time) Porcupine Tree, Deadwing The Buggles, Adventures in Modern Recording Anathema, A Natural Disaster Zombi, Cosmos It Bites, Eat Me in St. Louis It Bites, It Happened One Night Jakszyk, Fripp & Collins, A Scarcity of Miracles Yes, 90125 Yes, Drama Flower Kings,...
June 2011
1 post
2 tags
June playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to the past month…
Riverside, Memories in My Head Anathema, We’re Here Because We’re Here Anathema, A Natural Disaster Caravan, In the Land of Grey and Pink The Cars, Move Like This Richard Butler, Richard Butler It Bites, This is Japan It Bites, It Happened One Night It Bites, The Tall Ships Zombi, Cosmos Spock’s Beard,...
May 2011
1 post
2 tags
May playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Pendragon, Passion Pendragon, Pure Pendragon, Believe The Urbane, Glitter Queen, A Night at the Opera Queen, Sheer Heart Attack Marillion, Afraid of Sunlight Live 2003 Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine Yes, Union Live Roxy Music, The Thrill of it All David Gilmour, Live in Gdansk 801, 801 Live Porcupine Tree, The Incident...
April 2011
1 post
2 tags
April playlist
After a break from putting anything on the blog, here’s my playlist for the month of April…
The Clarks, Between Now & Then Blackfield, Welcome to My DNA Bruford, One of a Kind Knight Area, Realm of Shadows Eureka, Shackleton’s Voyage Gazpacho, Night UK, Live in America Steven Wilson, Insurgentes Miles Davis, Bitches Brew Live PFM, Live in USA Arena, Live & Life...
March 2011
1 post
2 tags
Mid-March playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Bryan Ferry, Let’s Stick Together Bryan Ferry, Olympia Bryan Ferry, In Your Mind The Clarks, Between Now & Then Porcupine Tree, In Absentia Porcupine Tree, Signify Elegant Simplicity, Crying to the Future Pallas, XXV Cody Carpenter, Cody Carpenter Credo, This Is What We Do
February 2011
1 post
2 tags
Mid-February playlists
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Porcupine Tree, In Absentia Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Manning, Anser’s Tree Roxy Music, Flesh + Blood Roxy Music, Country Life Brian Eno, Small Craft On A Milk Sea Dec Burke, Destroy All Monsters
January 2011
2 posts
2 tags
End-of-January playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Porcupine Tree, Signify Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Crack The Sky, White Music Crack The Sky, Crack Addict Radiohead, Best Of Talk Talk, The Colour Of Spring IQ, The Wake - Live At De Boerderij Marillion, Deep Purple Tour, 11/14/10 download Roxy Music, The Thrill Of It All
2 tags
Mid-January playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Porcupine Tree, Stars Die Porcupine Tree, In Absentia Yogi Lang, No Decoder Crack The Sky, Alive And Kickin’ Ass Crack The Sky, Live Rechler Theatre Eddie Jobson, Ultimate Zero Tour Live Elegant Simplicity, Purity And Despair Elegant Simplicity, Story Of Our Lives
December 2010
5 posts
2 tags
2010 - Good Riddance!!!!!!
So 2010 is winding down and I only have one thing to say… Good riddance!!!!! 2010 has been one of the worst years that I can remember, if not the worst. So many things sucked in 2010 that I won’t even bother to list them. Let’s just say, it sucked. Bad. Very bad. I can never remember thinking “I can’t wait until this year is over and for the next one to start because...
2 tags
End-of-December playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Gazpacho, Night Gazpacho, Tick Tock Gazpacho, Missa Atropos Porcupine Tree, Lightbulb Sun Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Crack The Sky, Crack The Sky Crack The Sky, The Best Of The Rest BunChakeze, Whose Dream? Ukab Maerd, The Waiting Room Elegant Simplicity, Aquatorium
3 tags
A return to painting - a Festivus miracle
After debating whether or not I should resume my teenage hobby of painting, Santa (aka Jessica) got me a painting set this Christmas, making my decision much easier. Since I made my first painting on Christmas Day, 1987, I thought I’d keep with tradition and start repainting 23 years later. Here is the result…
I feel the results are mixed. I don’t think it’s that good of...
3 tags
Best CD's of 2010
Here it is, my annual top 10 CD’s of the year. I do want to preface this with this is how my top 10 stands now, December 15, 2010. I’ve discovered that after doing these lists for a few years now, I’ll discover music next year that was released in 2010 that would easily make this list. Two examples are Airbag’s Identity, which was released in 2009 but I didn’t hear...
2 tags
Mid-December playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Pineapple Thief, Someone Here Is Live Pineapple Thief, 3000 Days Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Gazpacho, Night Crack The Sky, From The Greenhouse Pat Mastelotto, Tunisia
November 2010
3 posts
2 tags
End-of-November playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Crack The Sky, Machine Gazpacho, Night Gazpacho, A Night at Loreley Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Porcupine Tree, Atlanta Porcupine Tree, Voyage 34 King Crimson, Islands King Crimson, In the Wake of Poseidon Clearlight, Clearlight Symphony Izz, Live at Nearfest Smashing Pumpkins, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, v. 2 downloads
2 tags
Mid-November playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Porcupine Tree, The Incident Depeche Mode, Tour of the Universe Crack the Sky, Machine K2, Book of the Dead K2, Black Garden Paul McCartney, Band on the Run Izz, Live at Nearfest Shadow Circus, Welcome to the Freakroom Galahad, Year Zero Steven Wilson, Insurgentes Eloy, Ocean Trey Gunn & Marco...
2 tags
Week nine roundups
The unedited roundups I wrote for last Friday’s high school football games, in the order that I wrote them. As we’re now into the playoffs and more games will be covered, these will be my last roundups of the season…
Trinity 35, McGuffey 7 – Brad Martin hit Tyler Billie with a 99-yard scoring pass, as playoff-bound Trinity (6-3, 5-2) defeated McGuffey (2-7, 1-6) in the Southern...
October 2010
10 posts
2 tags
End-of-October playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Airbag, Identity Porcupine Tree, Acoustic Session, January 2010 download Porcupine Tree, The Incident Pineapple Thief, What We Have Sown Pineapple Thief, Show A Little Love Lunatic Soul, Lunatic Soul II Bryan Ferry, Olympia Pure Reason Revolution, Hammer and Anvil Marillion, High Voltage Steven Wilson, Insurgentes...
2 tags
Week eight roundups
The roundups I wrote for last night’s high school football games, in the order that I wrote them. Was a pain as the calls only started coming in later, and some big AAAA/AAA fames were never called in. Anyhow, not necessarily what appeared in the paper or online…
Beaver Falls 10, Ellwood City 3 – Trey Collier’s interception return for a touchdown with 2:42 left in the fourth quarter lifted...
3 tags
The films of John Carpenter
Since it’s Halloween time, I thought I’d take a look at the films of one of my favorite directors - John Carpenter. When I was a kid, Carpenter’s films left a very big impression on me (especially the films Halloween, Escape From New York, The Fog and The Thing). He also scored most of his own films, and his moody, synthesized soundtracks also left a lasting mark on my musical...
2 tags
Week seven roundups
The roundups I wrote for last night’s high school football games, in the order that I wrote them (didn’t seem to be quite as many as previous weeks). Not necessarily what appeared in the paper or online…
No. 6 Monessen 55, West Greene 7 – Monessen (6-1, 6-0) gained 361 total yards while limiting West Greene (1-6, 1-6) to only 74 yards in its Tri-County South victory. Trae Cook rushed six...
2 tags
Mid-October playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Airbag, Identity Airbag, Live in Oslo 2008 download Airbag, Live in Oslo 2009 download Airbag, Come On In download Elegant Simplicity, Palindrome Elegant Simplicity, Anhedonia Shadow Circus, Whispers & Screams Porcupine Tree, Nil Recurring Porcupine Tree, Stupid Dream
2 tags
Week six roundups
The roundups I wrote for last night’s high school games, and there were a lot of them, in the order that I wrote them. Not necessarily what appeared in the paper or online…
Trinity 23, Elizabeth Forward 0 –Brad Martin completed 11 of 16 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns, as Trinity (4-2, 3-1) blanked Elizabeth Forward (0-6, 0-4) in the Southern Eight Conference. Pat Frey added 83 rushing...
3 tags
Parking death
Yes, I am still bitter about being harassed by the dickhead parking supervisor when I was trying to get to work Saturday at the Trib.
A little background. Us lowly stringers do not have parking permits. We did for a 3-4 year period, but for whatever reason, they stopped giving them to us about 2-3 years ago. Usually, it is not a problem on Saturday afternoons when I work because nothing is going...
2 tags
20+ year-old art
Thanks to Jessica taking pictures of my paintings while I was at work today. Most of what I did is now up on Facebook (and here). The first three paintings I made are missing - not sure where they are. But, I never liked those three, to be honest, it was the fourth one I made that I finally liked. I would be curious to hear people’s feedback, good or bad, on any of these. I have some...
2 tags
Week five roundups
The roundups I wrote for last night’s high school games (and there were a lot of them), in the order that I wrote them. Not necessarily what appeared in the paper or online…
Trinity 25, West Mifflin 14 – Shamar Green rushed 24 times for 166 yards and a 34-yard touchdown to lead Trinity (3-2, 2-1) to the Southern Eight victory over West Mifflin (2-3, 2-1). Brad Martin completed 7 of 10...
2 tags
Week four roundups
The roundups I wrote for last week’s high school games (I forgot all about them last Saturday), in the order that I wrote them. Not necessarily what appeared in the paper or online…
No. 1 Aliquippa 53, Freedom 6 — Aliquippa (4-0, 4-0) scored 46 first-half points on way to its Midwestern Conference win over Freedom (0-4, 0-4). Dravon Henry rushed six times for 106 yards and two...
September 2010
8 posts
2 tags
End-of-September playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Porcupine Tree, The Incident Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Timothy Pure, Island of the Misfit Toys Oceansize, Self Preserved While the Body Floats Up Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, The Social Network soundtrack Shadow Circus, Whispers and Screams Utopia, Todd Rundgren’s Utopia Opeth, In Live Concert at the Royal Albert...
2 tags
To paint ot not to paint
After a 21-year break, I’m debating whether or not I want to start painting again. When I was in high school, I used to make oil landscape paintings (I did some watercolors, too, but not nearly as many). Even though I really enjoyed it, I only painted for one or two years and then promptly quit. I actually don’t think that I was half bad.
A few weeks ago, I had a set of Bob Ross...
2 tags
Return of the Penguins
The NHL season is nearly upon us as training camps opened up on Friday. With the signings of forwards Arron Asham and Mike Comrie, the team’s roster seems fairly set, meaning that some of the youngsters expected to have kegitimate shot at making the team like Eric Tangradi, Mark Letestu, Nick Johnson or Dustin Jeffrey will likely start the season at Wilkes-Barre (though Jordan Staal’s...
2 tags
Week three roundups
The roundups I wrote for last night’s high school games, in the order that I wrote them. Not necessarily what appeared in the paper or online…
Chartiers Valley 19, Elizabeth Forward 6 – In the Southern Eight Conference, Sean Lapcevic ran 23 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns to lead Chartiers Valley (1-2, 1-1) over Elizabeth Forward (0-3, 0-2). Chartiers Valley’s Dave Adams added 109 rushing...
2 tags
Mid-September playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
David Gilmour, Live in Gdansk Phil Selway, Familial Steven Wilson, Tape Experiments 1985-86 Steven Wilson, Insurgentes Nosound, Sol29 Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Porcupine Tree, Recordings Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway Miles Davis, Bitches Brew (Legacy Edition) Tiles, Fence the Clear
2 tags
Week two roundups
The roundups I wrote for last night’s high school games, in the order that I wrote them. Not necessarily what appeared in the paper or online…
Trinity 9, Chartiers Valley 6 – Kyle McWreath’s 32-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter lifted Trinity (2-0, 1-0) to the Southern Eight Conference win over No. 6 Chartiers Valley (0-2, 0-1). McWreath finished with 119 rushing yards on 13...
2 tags
Week One roundups
A week late, but here’s the roundups that I wrote for the week one high school games (please note, these are the unedited versions and not necessarily what ran in the paper or online). The only order they’re in is how I wrote them, not on importance of game.
Might do tonight’s and so on, but maybe not. Just thought I’d compile them so I can look back at them to see how bad...
2 tags
High School Football - Week One
Well, week one is over. And, as usual, all of the worrying and complaining was for basically nothing (but then again, what good am I if I’m not worrying or complaining?:).
It was good to see some of the folks that I only see during high school football season. And the annual “week one pizza” was good (and BIG!).
For the most part, everything went smoothly. I did the roundups,...
August 2010
3 posts
2 tags
End-of-August playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Porcupine Tree, Atlanta Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize The Clarks, Between Now & Then Pain of Salvation, Road Salt One David Gilmour, London 1984 Erik Norlander, Gallactive Collective Elegant Simplicity, As It Was Elegant Simplicity, Architect of Light Antidepressive Delivery, The Best of Rodrigo San Martin, 1
3 tags
Asia in Homestead
Jessica and I went to see Asia yesterday at the Carnegie Library of Homestead Music Hall. The venue itself was very nice, but it was extremely hot inside. And the sound sucked - not sure if it was horribly mixed or if the place just sounds bad. The guitar sounded okay, but everything else was sorta muddled together— on the first song, it sounded like John Wetton was singing like the...
2 tags
Mid-August playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Lee Abraham, Black and White Kino, Cutting Room Floor Marillion, Leamington 7/23/10 download Marillion, FRC015 IQ, The Wake (25th anniversary box set) Big Big Train, The Difference Machine Depeche Mode, Tour of the Universe, 2/17/10 download Syzygy, Realms of Eternity Porcupine Tree, The Incident...
July 2010
3 posts
2 tags
End of July playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Porcupine Tree, Atlanta Porcupine Tree, The Incident Porcupine Tree, Futile Porcupine Tree, In Absentia Soft Machine, Third Martin Orford, The Old Road IQ, The Seventh House Dream Academy, Life In A Northern Town digital single Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here Marillion, Leamington 7/23/10 download
4 tags
Nightmare
Last night, I had a nightmare about working Friday nights at the Trib during the upcoming high school football season. I can’t remember any specifics about the dream, other than it wasn’t a good one.
Every year, I tell myself that it will be my last football season, but every year, I come back for more. I’ve actually tried to quit working at the Trib altogether a couple of years...
2 tags
Mid-July playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Anathema, We’re Here Because We’re Here Anathema, A Natural Disaster Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Porcupine Tree, Atlanta Porcupine Tree, The Incident Pineapple Thief, 3000 Days Spock’s Beard, X Frost*, Milliontown Frost*, Experiments In Mass Appeal Frost*, Philadelphia Experiment Resonance Association, CR0...
June 2010
6 posts
2 tags
End of June playlist
Just a sampling of some of the things I’ve been listening to lately…
Porcupine Tree, Anesthetize Porcupine Tree, Atlanta Porcupine Tree, The Incident John Carpenter, Assault On Precinct 13 soundtrack Pineapple Thief, Someone Here Is Missing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Mojo Anathema, We’re Here Because We’re Here Spock’s Beard, X Moraine, Manifest Density Dream Theater,...
6 tags
My Nearfest adventure
In early May, my boss as Studio M, Joe Del Tufo, e-mailed me to see if I wanted to attend Nearfest in Bethlehem, PA. One of my favorite bands, Pineapple Thief, would be playing their second-only show in the U.S. on Sunday at the progressive rock festival. I’ve done various reviews for Pineapple Thief CD’s over the years and have interviewed the band’s frontman, Bruce Soord,...
