THE ROAD TO NOWHERE

Ok, so I was in bed, but then I started to feel crook and couldn’t sleep, so here I am to blog.

A little while ago, I decided to get back into playing the drums. I always wanted to play them, but after my sister decided one guitar lesson was enough, and she no longer wanted to do it, well that put an end to any lessons for me in my youth. But it didn’t put a stop to my musical desires.

Mainly through my teen years, any chance I had to play, I would play. Mainly I played guitar, and occasionally the drums. I had a friend with his own kit, and he taught me what he could. But over the years, other things happened, and music was put aside. But over the last couple of years, I have started to dabble again, but any chance of being a rock star are no where in sight.

So I thought I would blog about my favourite drummers. This is an issue that will divide people far and wide. So in no particular order, here they are:

Ringo Starr: Ok, so this wasn’t going to be in a particular order, but Ringo is with out doubt my favourite drummer of all time. Now I know a lot of people will scoff at me for putting Ringo at the top of the list, but here are my reasons. Try listening to any Beatles track, with everything missing, except the drums. You will be able to pick the track. Try doing that with many other songs out there. Ringo also kept perfect time, and didn’t break down. In the history of the Beatles recordings, he only stopped a recording twice, not bad for the thousands of hours he spent drumming. He was the first drummer to put his drums on a rise, so he was at the same height as all the other musicians in the band, he also tuned his drums lower, improving the mix for the music.

Paul Hester: Paul was a fantastic person (I have blogged about him before) and a great drummer. He had energy, not only in life, but in the way he played. He used is charisma to really bring a show alive, regardless of which band he was playing in. I also have a thing for drummers who also play other instruments, and write their own music. Paul did it all.

Meg White: Ok, when you all finish laughing, I’ll explain why. Meg, while not a great drummer, has a distinct style. It really works for the music that the White Stripes do, her drumming fills out the driving melody that Jack produces.

Carl Palmer: Carl learnt from one of the best drummers Buddy Rich, but in my opinion is better. Sure Buddy could drum faster than anything on earth, but Carl has class. Regardless of if he is just keeping time, or doing the solo from Tank, you just want to listen. He has that glint in his eye, a glint you can hear on an album, that even though he is blowing you away with what he is doing, he could at any moment step it up another ten gears.

Stewart Copeland: Most notably known as the drummer from the Police. Stewart is another of those drummers who plays multiple instruments. He can take you into another world with his style, but he also knows the importance of a drummer not trying to take all the focus of a song for themselves. A famous quote about him is: “He once drove this point home at a drum clinic: Copeland announced that he would show the audience something “that very few modern drummers can do,” and proceeded to play a simple rock beat for two minutes.” And it is a comment that rings true.

I’ll round out this list with a relatively new drummer on the scene.

Tim Commandeur: Tim is the drummer from Operator Please. Now when you all stop throwing things at me, I’ll explain why. First of all, get over your tall poppy hatred of Operator Please. Sure I am well and truly way too old for their demographic, but I like their music. With Tim’s drumming he has a great style, amazing speed, and excellent timing. His energy really drives the band, and I think he will do very well over the years to come.

Now I know there are a lot of other drummers out there, and I am sure I am going to hear about them from you. I’m not going to debate the talents of people like Charlie Watts, Phil Collins, Keith Moon, Dave Grohl, and Madonna. But I am interested to hear who makes your list.

In “All Saints star commits suicide”

1. Andy B Says:
   September 1st, 2008 at 4:39 am editThen again, I can understand if he had to appear on a Channel 7 drama.

Yeah I agree. In fact, if I ever hear that bloody song for that Packed full of Shit show they have, I will reject having ever worked at 7.

In “It’s not even conceptual”

1. Ando Says:
   September 19th, 2008 at 4:56 am editNo way! NO WAY! Just shows what pot does to your memory…
2. Mike Says:
   September 19th, 2008 at 10:25 am editGo to any primary school class room and you can see better examples of art. FFS – at least what the kids are producing is Art in some form. That is not even worthy of being described as a daub.

   “I’m interested in collecting stories and rescued moments, threading them together to form visual narratives,”

   Anyone able to translate that into something less pretentious? I wonder if that is a product of random buzz phrase generator? FFS I hate art students.

3. Andy B Says:
   September 22nd, 2008 at 2:52 pm editI could wipe my arse and produce something better looking than.

Ando: “But it’s only a soft drug”, yeah, it softens your brain to the point that it wont work anymore.

Mike: Translation “I have no original ideas, so I take the bits of other peoples work I like, and mash it all together, and think it looks good.

Andy B: And knowing your diet, it would be just as colourful too.

Now for my comments that I made about this “art” when I first saw it:

In her write up, she says that it is a childhood memory, but it certainly isn’t award winning art.
Art by definition is something that makes you think, and causes discussion in the community. Ok, so that is happening, but let’s look at the picture itself. There is an inconstancy in the colour palette used, if it had been done just using primary and secondary colours, then it would work, but there is a definite use of various pigments, and all they do is cause confusion in defining the focal point of the picture.
While the artist has made an attempt at randomness, it instead clutters the image, and just makes the piece look messy and with out thought. Use of dabbing, scrapping, sketching, and brush strokes are nothing more than an excuse to use each of these styles, and not a defining nor thought proving message.
All in all, I have seen better art from kindergarten children, who at least attempt to tell a story with each piece of artwork they do.

In “On this day.”

1. Mike Says:
   October 13th, 2008 at 7:13 am editHappy shit happens day!
2. Dale Says:
   October 13th, 2008 at 9:08 am editWell Happy Birthday anyhow.

   >Ok, I’ll blog something tomorrow, promise.

   Something bike related???

Mike: Yeah, shit does happen, and I had one on the day too.

Dale: I am thinking of doing something bike related, but not sure if I should, because people might think I spend too much time/effort/money on my bike, instead of having a life.

In “Told you I would blog.”

1. Mike Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 10:12 am editPumice does float, but that is not a pre-requisite for making ships – after all they are made from steel and other non floating materials. But pumice dies cause its own hazards to navigation:

   On 28 August 1986, floating pumice at 16.47°N, 110.40°E blocked the water inlet filters of the Dutch M. V. Nedlloyd Colombo, causing severe engine trouble. Samples were collected.

   Also, the US Navy use Pumice.. but not to make ships out of, unfortunately. But it does go to sea. They use it to address the issue of sympathetic explosion when transporting explosive weapons, because of its ability to absorb large amount of explosive shock energy. So.. umm there you go.

2. Dale Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 11:43 am edit“I was going to do that this arvo, but I ended up falling asleep on the couch, so you will all have to wait until tomorrow.”

   At least you weren’t washing your hair.

Mike: Thank you for the great information. I know floating has to do with the displacement of water, and it really is amazing when you look at some of the very old water craft designs. It makes you wonder just how they worked things out.

Dale: I washed my hair on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A day off is good once in a while.

Ok, so this isn’t the entry I was going to make. I was going to do that this arvo, but I ended up falling asleep on the couch, so you will all have to wait until tomorrow.

In the mean time, I’m wondering why they never made ships out of pumice. After all, it’s a stone, so better defence than a wooden ship, and as an added bonus, the sailors wouldn’t have had calluses on the bottom of their feet.

It was 34 years ago, shit happens. I’m over it.

Ok, I’ll blog something tomorrow, promise.