God <sett inn foretrukken tid på dagen her>, godtfolk! 
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Som noen av dere vet, spiller jeg i et rimelig superbt band som heter The Getaways (se www.nrk.no/urort/Artist/TheGetaways/default.aspx for bevis). Sist helg kastet vi oss utpå dypt vann med liv og lyst og entret Robber Studio (www.robberstudio.com/index.html) på Odderøya for å spille inn plate. Dessverre for oss og våre utallige fans (vi vet ikke hvor mange det er, det er ikke dermed sagt at de er mange...) er det ikke snakk om en langspiller, men det er et skritt i rett retning. Foreløbig nøyer vi oss med fire spor og kommer til å gi den ut som en EP, distribuert for hånd og promotert gjennom jungeltelegrafen. Hensikten er, mer enn noe annet, å skaffe spillejobber på litt større og flottere steder enn Østsia. Men om vi skulle slumpe borti å vinne noen flere fans og selge noen kopier på veien, er ikke det å forakte. Resultatet blir nok ikke til å holde i hånden før et stykke ut på nyåret, men den som venter...

Det hele gikk egentlig nesten provoserende sivilisert for seg. Ingen forsterkere ble satt fyr på, ingen vokalister fikk akkutt anfall av LSD (Lead Singer Disease, www.urbandictionary.com/define.php) og ingen "min gitar er ikke høyt nok, dessuten spiller jeg ikke nok noter i sekundet" fra noen av gitaristene. Vi er tross alt alle voksne mennesker med familie (av og til på besøk, til og med). I tillegg er Robert Strandberg en hyggelig og omgjengelig kar med mange gode ideer (sånn, det var dagens reklame). Jeg burde selvsagt også i samme slengen nevne at han er dyktig og har svært mye deilig analogt utstyr (etter den burde vi nesten få studiotiden gratis):











Stiftemaskinen på toppen gjør også sitt til at godlyden virkelig finner storformen når det virkelig gjelder og den røde lampen lyser!



Lørdag morgen ble brukt til å spille inn trommer på to låter. Men for at ikke alt ansvar skulle legges på Johannes skuldre, var Elise, Rune og jeg med og guidet (spilte med). Slikt er viktig for å få litt følelse inn i spillet, slik at det ikke bare blir "følg klikket, nå, 1 2 3 4 neste del 1 2 3 4 hva kom nå, mon tro? 1 2 3 4". Det er rett og slett for å hjelpe trommisen til å komme seg lettere gjennom låten på en minst mulig klinisk måte. 







Etterpå var det bassist Jan sin tur til å legge sine dype, fete og groovy grooves (hmmm...) oppå. 




Og det er føtst nå man begynner å ane konturene av hva man driver med. Plutselig trer sangen frem fra mørket og viser sitt sanne jeg. Det er også først nå man virkelig setter pris på hvor kule og gjennomtenkte basslinjene i en sang er, og det var ikke få ganger vi som var tilstede tenkte "ah, så det er sånn han spiller der! Så kult!". Noe som egentlig er litt trist, i og med at vi tross alt har spilt disse låtene sammen noen hundre ganger nå. Kanskje vi burde ta det som et hint? Skru det gitarene litt? Hør bedre på hva de andre spiller og synger? Sannlig min hatt tror jeg ikke det ligger en moral begravet der inne et sted! Følg med, godtfolk! Her kommer visdomsordene som perler på en snor.

Men før dette blir for vidløftig, tror jeg at vi tar et par bilder:



Vi tar en pause....



... og Rune inntar litt føde for å holde ut de mange timene (som det etterhvert ble) innestengt i det lille studiorommet.

Legg også merke til det lekre, runde vinduet over miksepulten på forrige bilde. Man kan ikke se det så godt på dette bildet, men rundt, på begge sider av veggen, går det en rad av lysdioder, og inni er kantene kledd med lilla flanell. Utrolig lekkert! Hensikten med dette vinduet er at teknikeren skal kunne ha blikkkontakt med hvem som helst som måtte befinne seg inne i innspillingsrommet vegg i vegg. Der inne står trommesett, forsterkere og en mikrofon til vokal når det er nødvendig. Her ser vi vår alles kjære Elise gjennom dette vinduet mens hun synger av sine lungers fulle kraft med armene opp i været for mest mulig lungekapasitet:




Til slutt i denne billedserien kommer et par bilder av meg og mitt:



Her ser dere meg og min etter hvert mer og mer kjære, hjemmebyggede Telecaster...



... og her er mitt evig permutable pedalbrett, litt ute av fokus. 

Det eneste som nå gjenstår av innspilling er undertegnedes koring og eventuelt litt flikking på Elise sin vokal. Det er spennende tider vi lever i! Sannelig jeg sier dere! Og da snakker jeg ikke om at jula står for dør! Nei, da heller om min ukritiske omgang med utropstegn! 

Nye oppdateringer vil komme etterhvert som ting skjer.

Mattias

Daughter is not allowed to play with the grown-up-CDs. She has her own shelf in the lower left hand corner of the CD wall. But every now and again she defies this prohibition and picks one CD and carries it over to the stereo. "Put this one on," is the very clear message. And her taste in music seems impeccable. Among the records she has deemed worthy of playing are these:

AC/DC: Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap


John Scofield: A GoGo


Neil Young: Harvest


Tom Waits: The Heart of Saturday Night (which is definately one of my favourite Waits albums, by the way)


You see, Daughter is rather picky. I have caught her a couple of times pulling out a CD and considering the cover before carefully and deliberately putting it back between the others. It obviously did not fulfill her demanding criteria. The next selection is usually more satisfactory, and is promptly carried to the stereo. Unni Wilhelmsen is one of the artists thus thoroughly rejected. I am so proud of the little toddler!
 

It appears that winter has arrived. Or at the very least, autumn has. This was the sight that met my tired eyes this morning:

A sad sight indeed. It is not that I do not like snow. It is more that the rain that drizzled down, turned the nice white ground into a lake. Not a good thing when the plans for the day include a rather brisk walk to University and back. I would much rather stay at home, covered in a woollen blanket with a hot cup of tea in one hand and a good book in the other. Daughter, on the other hand, wanted it otherwise, and the journey to Uni went as planned. Some fresh air does wonders, however, and I even got to whip out my rather fetching duffel coat that I bought in York. Which really takes me back a while! Two years, to be precise! Man, how time flies! In the time since York I have, in consecutive order, gotten a job, made a beautiful daughter, bought an apartment, gotten married and gone on paternity leave. How´s that for growing up?
 

Oh, well. Such is life, I guess. And a marvellous thing, too!!! 

As I wrote in a previous post, our concert at Østsia was a really positive experience, both for us and the audience, so I can warmly recommend everyone who has the oportunity to come and see us when we, yet again, enter the stage at Østsia Friday 7th November!

Tally ho!

So, The Getaways played Østsia on Friday! And a bloody good job we did of it! The very few people who were actually there had a really good time. You see, the whole thing was disastrously badly organized. We were hired (yes, we got payed) to play at a party for about a hundred international students at eight o´clock this lovely Friday evening. At nine o´clock, only one international student had arrived, and he worked in the bar. At half past nine, the nice German guy was still the only i.s. there. Time was getting short for those in the band with baby sitters at home... So we went on stage at a quarter to ten and gave a fabulous performance for the good people of Østsia and a handfull of guests. 

I shall post some pictures a nice amateur photographer took when I get my grubby hands on them. Meanwhile, enjoy these pre-show photos:






If you are really lucky, I will even post one or two songs recorded that night.

It has been a while, and much has happened. We have had a visit from Wife´s sister and her daughter, I have finished a rather long and at times frustratingly difficult transaltion of "Investment Policy Statement" for my brother-in-law´s company and the days have beed quite packed with the usual stuff. 

I have also changed pickups in my most beloved guitar, a 2002 Gibson Les Paul: 

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Please notice the crome pickup covers. Now it looks like this:



Nerdy babble alert!
So, tucked neatly into my Lester, the new set of Seymour Duncan ´59s went with me to band practice on wednesday. If I said that the difference in tone totally blew me away and opened up a completely new world, I would be lying. This might be explained in two ways: 1) My ears are not finely tuned instruments capable of picking up the differences or, 2) the difference really was not that great. The real reason probably lies somewhere in between.

What I did notice, however, was that the ´59s are a bit more trebly and has lower output. They also seem what can only be described as more polite and mellow. Perhaps a tad clearer than the old Burstbuckers also.They sound good, though, and will remain in the guitar for now.

Nerdy babble ends


Speaking of guitars and such: Two weeks ago the band I´m in, The Getaways, were supposed to give a concert at Østsia. But, alas, our singer came down with a cold and lost her voice. I was utterly dissapointed. Getting up on a stage and delivering the goods is what it is all about. I take some comfort in that there will be another chance 7th November. So if you are in the vicinity of Kristiansand, do yourself (and us, of course) and be there!

In other news, I just finished the first book in the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. It was, as the first time I read it, utterly brilliant! This time I had a whole lot of baggage in the form of experience with literary analysis and life experience, so a whole different level opened up. Brilliant stuff! The only thing that bothered me were the many spelling errors. This was probably not the author´s fault, but still it takes a bit away from the experience.

That was all for now. I hope it will not be long until next time.

Cheers!

I am a part of a viciouslydiscriminated minority. I did not in fact realize this until quite recently, but it does not make it any less earth shattering. For years I, and more with me, have actually been cruelly discriminated against by large corporations without me even knowing about it. I am of course talking about my preferences in coffee. Ever since York I have been a sworn fan of and at times addicted to coffee made in a coffee plunger. This wonderful device is a true space saver, lets the coffee breathe freely, enhances aroma and helps your sex life in addition to provide you with your daily dose of brain juice.



The realisation of this gruesome abuse of human beings has been a gradual one. Little bits of enlightenment have been gathered here and there, and what I have considered to be coincidences have slowly crystallized into a clear pattern: There is a severe lack of products to choose from. Of course this does not apply to coffee bought in a dedicated coffee shop like the one in Lillemarkens, but this coffee is expensive (and wonderful) and humble teachers like myself cannot afford luxury like this on an everyday basis. I am referring to the assortment found in regular shops. The users of automatic coffeemakers have ample choice in different brands, different roasts, or types of bean. But the different brands typically have one, if any, type ground for plunger. Personally I prefer to the darker varieties of coffee, and so the assortment is further limited. Actually, there is no assortment at all, at least not in the true sense of the word, as the choice is limited to one product. To be fair, though, the Evergood Dark Roast is quite good and suffices to satisfy my daily need, but it would be good to have some room for variety. It would be nice to arrive at the store thinking to myself "hmmm. What sort of coffee would I like today." But perhaps that is a pure luxury, and I should be happy to have found an affordable alternative to the boutique products. However, it does not seem fair that the automatic-coffeemaker-people have a forrest of different products to choose from, and people like me, the plunger people, have only one.



So rise up, you bound slaves. Shed your manacles and rebell against the hegemony of the automatic-coffeemaker-people!

Damn you! Damn you straight to Birmingham!
 

I am about to make a serious mistake. Or, more accurately, I have already begun making a dreadful mistake, delibertaely and conciously. You might at this point think something along the lines of "oh, dear, what has he gotten himself into this time?" Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is: I have started reading Dan Simmons´s Hyperion for the second time. The mistake lies in that I was totally taken aback when I read this one for the first time about eight years ago. I was totally consumed and did not want to put it down. When you reread books like that, you tend to take the magic away and you end up terribly dissapointed and disillutioned. Well, I am prepared to run that risk. For if this book (or these four books) can provide me with as much joy, excitement and terror as the last time, I am in for a treat indeed!

I will not say too much about the book here, in case someone will read it in the future, except that it contains a space travelling tree, seven pilgrims and their stories and a being of barbs and spikes who communicates through death and can manipulate time. When I put it like that, it sounds kind of dubious, but it is a very good book indeed.
 

I really like this time of year. I payed a visit to the beach today with Daughter, and it felt very right. I like the space after the show is over, the lights have come on (or in this case, slightly dimmed) and people are leaving. The orgasm of summer is over and the catharsis of autumn can commence. Finally there is room for me. I am not a beach person! Especially not in summer. It is too hot, too crowded, too many children running around contributing to too much noise, too much pressure to bathe and too far to the nearest piece and quiet. But now the only people there are putting their boats on shore or walking their dogs. And they are, thank gods, dressed. There are several reasons for why this is a good thing, none of which shall be mentioned here. But I love the sea. I could never live somewhere where there was no sea. The salt in the air, the vastness of the open waters and the fresh air. Priceless!  But, alas, the blackberries in Bertesbukta are  not ripe yet.  And I suspect that they will not ripen this year at all. I love blackberries!

In other news, Wife has lost her mobile phone. Or more correctly: it was stolen by cowardly miscreants. She put it on the table in the canteen at university for one minute, and then it was gone. The nerve of some people! But the incident got me thinking of all the things we have lost with the introduction of the mobile phone. A wise man once said something in the vein of "with every extension there comes a limitation". Fine, we have become available as never before, information travels with the speed of John Petrucci, we constantly have entertainment at our fingertips, we are never alone, neither in everyday life or in emergencies. All these things exept for the one about emergencies can be regarded as both positive and negative. We are always available! But on the other hand, we are always available... We have also lost the ability to make plans and keep appointments. Consider the following conversation:

- Let´s meet in town!
- Sure. I´ll give you a call when I get there.

This was not possible 20 years ago, but today it is unthinkable not to be able to do it. We have also lost a lot of privacy. Because we are always available (in many circles it is not socially acceptable to turn of your phone, and at some work places you are expected, informally, to be available 24/7), we never really get any peace. I constantly check my phone: Has anyone sent a text? Or perhaps called without me hearing? How peaceful would it not be without this? This also affects concentration, as you are always wondering whether something has happened on the phone or not. And these are only my main concerns! Perhaps I should just get rid of the retched thing? But I know I cannot do that. I am too addicted.
 

Damn! I promised myself to go to bed more or less directly after band practice. Well, I feel good for having written something anyway. So, offski to bed!

Tally ho!

Today I rediscovered my record player. And with that, my old records! So Daughter and I have been enjoying Muddy Waters - Hard again,

 

Tom Waits - Franks Wild Years,


Pink Floyd - A Monetry Lapse of Reason




and Turbonegro - Party Animals.




Splendid, indeed! Marvellous stuff!


On the downside, it seems like my poor record player is comming down with something. It keeps slowing down. And just when I had rediscovered it! Typical!

I surely am a lousy blogger. After wonderful promises of a new and exciting blog, I reply with a thundering absence. Well this time it is mostly because I have done a lot of work. My mother owns a translation agency, and I help out. Lately there have been quite a bit of work. It is challenging but fun. Bet you do not know what "long-term investment objective" is in Norwegian! Well, come to think of it, neither do I. But I intend to find out! It also brings in some money, a small portion of which goes to my Great Project: A new guitar (surprise)! This one I am assembling myself from parts bought here and there. I´ll post pictures describing the process in minute detail wether you like it or not when it is done.