Park Place Milwaukee WI..... Find the Benches Around the Pond

So I've been walking around this pond that's at a business park near where I work. It's called Park Place. It's in Milwaukee, WI. I'm not talking about the "Urban Ecology Center".

Here's a map:

The pond is the big blue thing in the middle.

Well today I decided to find out how many of the wooden benches they put around this man made pond. It's pretty great how nature is just taking them over. Some of the benches are still pretty accessible and they are used by the folks who fish the pond, but a lot of them are overgrown or beginning to fall into the pond as the bank erodes. There are currently 12 of them. According to a guy I met tonight named Greg there were originally 13. One was crushed by a fallen willow tree.

They have a nice paved path (a .7 mile loop) around the pond and I've walked it hundreds of times over the years. This time of year there is a bunch of nature to observe which is just wonderfully at odds with the man made stuff. I45 is always roaring nearby (except on a couple of occasions when it was snowing hard). Just this year I've seen deer multiple times, tons of frogs, bunches of flowers (natural and planted), and hundreds of birds.

So here's a pic of the towers at park place (the pond is hard to see but it is in the foreground):



And here's the pics for you to do a bench treasure hunt (or maybe just look at the pics if you like):

Bench 1 - Near broken tree (yep, that won't last, I know)


View from Bench 1


The broken tree... more like fallen over...


Bench 2 - Rock climb


View from Bench 2


Bench 3 - Patio view


View from Bench 3


Bench 4 - Tower view


View from Bench 4


Bench 5 and 6 - Path benches


Bench 7 - Fountain view 1


Bench 8 - Fountain view 2


View from Bench 8


Bench 9 - Hidden One pic 1 - hardest one to find


Bench 9 - Hidden One pic 2



View from Bench 9


Bench 8 and 9 - at either corner of the pic - that dude Greg is also in the pic - he's walking his dog Reggie


Bench 10 and 11 - Cow companions


These patio benches don't count in the count of 12 benches


Bench 12 - Falling in



Here's a couple of nice flowers I found today...







Yep, they're just lovely weeds, but then aren't we all?

Some perspective.... we're all phantoms

http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/atom/#electron

I think you'll like that one M2.

Fingernail finally came off...Photo of smashed fingernail being pulled off the finger - gruesome photo of smashed finger

Click here for the latest update on the smashed finger.

The smashed finger saga of the Soul Amp keyboardist continues. Finally my fingernail has come off. At the base of it, the new nail that was growing and started to push the dead nail up. Here's the pic of it hours before the nail came off (taken on 7/3/2007 at 2:18 pm):




I got it caught just a bit on my shirt a few hours later (7/3/2007 at 11:39 pm) and that loosened it up enough for it to start peeling away from the finger:






Finally, I just yankeed it off:



And here's the end result (the little bit of blood at the top right is where it was still attached some):

I'll post pics as the nail begins to grow back. I definitely need to write a song about this (this hasn't really affected my playing).... until I do please check out a bunch of our free mp3s to download here:

Free Soul Amp Music

.........
1 year and 4 months later:

Here's all the posts documenting the smashed finger saga (in reverse order):

• finger and fingernail fully recovered!!!...1 year and 4 months later....
• fingernail recovering...5.5 month update....
• fingernail recovering...4 month update....
• fingernail recovering...3rd month update....
• fingernail starting to grow back - about 2.5 months after the smashing.
• fingernail coming off - about 2 months after the smashing.
• update 1.5 months.
• update 2.5 weeks.
• stabbed the finger to release the pressure.
• smashed a finger.

Anyone with a story of a smashed finger, I'll be happy to post it. Just drop an email or feel free to comment on this post or any of the others.

Here's one from a reader named Gordon:
http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/11/photos-of-finger-that-was-sliced-by.html

And in the meantime, feel free to distract yourself with some delightful music from my band, Soul Amp:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Miller Park in Sunset

I just liked these pics... so I thought I'd share....

Snape evil? Dumbledore dead?

A friend and I were trying to find the odds on these two Harry Potter scenarios that will be answered in the upcoming book... we were hoping for some Vegas odds, but couldn't find any... We are trying to get bets going between on those two items and were hoping for some "official" odds... If someone finds some, please comment or email....

Dragonfly

Brad's favorite of my old instrumental pieces. (Yes, Brad, I'm trying to relearn it so we can play it). I think it maybe was once called "Many Things".... I'll have to look that up sometime....Just found this dragonfly the other day and got a snap of it.... enjoy...

Dragonfly

Smashed Finger Images after one and half months...

Click here for the latest update on the smashed finger.

OK, time for an update on the smashed finger. This is 1.5 months after it got smooshed in a car door of a Toyato Highlander and about 1 month 1 week since I did the hot-needle pressure-relieve trick in an attempt to save the nail. I'm pretty sure I'm going to still lose the nail. There's hardly any pain now, but surprisingly it still has some slight swelling... strange.


Anyhow, here's a pic of it:



Click it, if you like. for a close up. The little white spot is where I burned one of the holes with the needle and it has filled in with something like soap (my best guess on that). The hole's very small there, but somehow something got in there.


If you want to compare, here's the update from 2.5 weeks after the smashing --> update 2.5 weeks.


Here's the original post --> Smashed a finger.


And here's the needle stab post --> stab the finger to release the pressure.

Here's all the posts documenting the smashed finger saga (in reverse order):

• finger and fingernail fully recovered!!!...1 year and 4 months later....
• fingernail recovering...5.5 month update....
• fingernail recovering...4 month update....
• fingernail recovering...3rd month update....
• fingernail starting to grow back - about 2.5 months after the smashing.
• fingernail coming off - about 2 months after the smashing.
• update 1.5 months.
• update 2.5 weeks.
• stabbed the finger to release the pressure.
• smashed a finger.

Anyone with a story of a smashed finger, I'll be happy to post it. Just drop an email or feel free to comment on this post or any of the others.

Here's one from a reader named Gordon:
http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/11/photos-of-finger-that-was-sliced-by.html

And in the meantime, feel free to distract yourself with some delightful music from my band, Soul Amp:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Covenigma

Checked out the party at Times Cinema for the 10 year anniversary of the release of the independent film, "Coven". It was put on by M2's brother, Patrick Nettesheim. The making of the film "Coven" was the subject of the movie "American Movie". Patrick Nettesheim wrote and performed the soundtrack to Coven and you should buy a copy from here --> Coven soundtrack (if you like =) )

Anyhow, M2 is not only in our band but in a band with Patrick called, Square Wave Trio, and they performed a bunch of stuff from the Coven soundtrack and some new music written for Mark Borchardt's new movie Scare Me to be released at some future date.

So here's another pic of our M2 rocking out with Square Wave Trio :

Here's a video of them performing one of Patrick's songs --> Square Wave Trio at Covenigma video

Don to Earth

I don't normally read blogs, but this blog is very interesting. It's from a 94 year old man, Donald Crowdis who has a wealth of stuff to tell us. He may be the oldest blogger. He hasn't made an entry since March and a lot of people are worried about him. Please wish him well and if you like check out what he has written.

Whole Life

Here's another Brad song. I think he had some of the lyrics written down for this one maybe (Brad correct me if I'm wrong). So maybe not completely made up. The music was though and was recorded on the same day as Love on a Spindle and On the Wall. From what Brad said it was about his leaving home in South Dakota and moving to the big city, this case the Twin Cities.

We thought it sounded a bit like these boys:

... at least you can catch the influence...but I'm no Ian Stewart =)....

I took the pic for this song as I was going downtown to pick up my girlfriend from work.... it started out a pretty clear evening but then the fog rolled in... so I've added a second pic from that day. Both seem pretty fitting for the song. Stab at the lyrics is here. Enjoy.

Whole Life

On the Wall

Here's another one. This one was recorded on the same day as "Love on a Spindle". This is another one made up on the spot and again, on this one, I'm pretty sure Brad made up the lyrics as we recorded. It features a bit of a clavinet groove played on a Kurzweil PC2. It's not as good a sample as on my Nord Electro (of course), but I didn't have the Nord back then.

There are some seriously rough spots (it's a bit rushed in places especially in the beginning where we're finding our groove and it cracks me up when Brad cries out "chorus"). But there are also some very cool and tasty bits (included a healthy amount of Hammond organ). It was recorded on the Pioneer reel to reel... and it's wonderfully warm, but there are some tape glitches here and there.

I took the picture for the song at the wharf (or whatever it's called) between the Milwaukee Art Museum and McKinley Marina where Brad has his sailboat. I haven't been on the sailboat yet this year. I wanted to take my mom, but her balance was too far off so we decided it wasn't a good idea.

Anyhow, I tried to interpret Brad's lyrics and posted them here.

So here's the pic and then the song....

On the Wall

Love on a Spindle

Here's a live one we did in 2005 (sort of made up on the spot). We recorded this to the reel to reel. The tape gives out at a couple of points and we had to fade it out at the end because something got messed up on the tape, but it's a rocking little song and we hope you dig it:

Love on a Spindle

I tried to decipher Brad's lyrics (which I believe he made up on the spot) and I posted them here

A photo of my smashed finger after 2.5 weeks as I take walk around a pond by work

Click here for the latest update on the smashed finger.

Well I was able to play the gig on May 11th all right. If you listen to the recordings (look for the one's with HOG in the name), you can hear I'm a bit off but not too much more horrible than normal. I think playing on it caused it to re-injure or something. It got infected right after that. Mom and my girlfriend wanted me to go to the doc, but I fought that and now the infection is all gone and it's just starting to feel a bit better... still have some pain with it, but I'm using it to type this. One strange thing is that it got numb, but that's diminishing now too. So here's a pic of it:



Here's all the posts documenting the smashed finger saga (in reverse order):

• finger and fingernail fully recovered!!!...1 year and 4 months later....
• fingernail recovering...5.5 month update....
• fingernail recovering...4 month update....
• fingernail recovering...3rd month update....
• fingernail starting to grow back - about 2.5 months after the smashing.
• fingernail coming off - about 2 months after the smashing.
• update 1.5 months.
• update 2.5 weeks.
• stabbed the finger to release the pressure.
• smashed a finger.

Anyone with a story of a smashed finger, I'll be happy to post it. Just drop an email or feel free to comment on this post or any of the others.

Here's one from a reader named Gordon:
http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/11/photos-of-finger-that-was-sliced-by.html

And in the meantime, feel free to distract yourself with some delightful music from my band, Soul Amp:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

A thought in support of we Procrastinators

if you wait long enough to do something, it no longer needs doing


well....at least sometimes... actually often

but to rebut that thought I did just come across this quote (which Al Gore has been using to encourage us to get our collective act together about global warming):

"The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place, we are entering a period of consequences." -Winston Churchill

but my quote still applies... if we wait long enough to work on fix global warming.. then we won't have to work on it because it will be unstoppable...sorry for the sarcasm there.....

so... I guess we need to be careful to choose to work on the important stuff and choose to not waste time on the unimportant stuff...


which reminds me I have some more tunes I want to post.... I should get to those soon

Thank You!

Just wanted to thank all who attended the House of Guinness gig on May 11th (including my mom..."Hi Mom!"). It was a treat to play for you all and we thank you for your support of our band!

We were able to make a tape of three of the tunes during the second set using Brad's Pioneer - Auto Reverse, Direct Drive RT-707 quarter inch (1/4") reel to reel. Something was wrong with one of the cables or with the mixer or with the reel to reel. We were only able to get a mono recording. The mic was pointed at Brad and his guitar amp... so the keys are kind of muted (not the worst thing since my busted pinky was starting to really bug me).

The tunes are really long and meandering (between 15 and 20 mins each) and include some of our inane chatter... So these tunes are mostly for hardcore fans or for people who were there and what to hear themselves talking in the audience. There are some very tasty bits especially Brad's guitar playing... and M2 was just a monster on the drums (truely amazing stuff). There was a bit of hum in the recording which I eq'd out to no great ill effect to the overall recording. There's also a couple of minor tape glitches, but not too noticeable. So without further ado:

Flowing On

She Walks On Up Ahead

HOG Funker

All these tunes (except HOG Funker) are on our album, Strip Mall Heaven.

May 11 Gig - Reminder!

Just wanted to remind all of you that we are playing tomorrow night
at the HOG (House of Guinness).

We going to break out some Amp Oldies and some new Jams.

Hope you dig it! Hope to see you there!

psst... if you show up, you might get a free CD.

Ice crystal photos in Steamboat Colorado - New tune... "Quizzical Ice" or "Quizzical Tree Knot"? - photos by Mike Fisk

Brad and I, sans M2, created this crazy instrumental last week (bfs - before finger slam). It's a trance, electonica, new wave, punk thing... so this may be the first and only time you will hear Brad on synths and myself on drums. In fact, this is the very first time I've been recorded on drums ....and in fact (again), the only time I've ever been recorded on drums... so this just rocks.... here ya go....

Quizzical Ice

haha...lucky you... you get two pics for this tune....

ok I have a confession... I originally called the tune "Quizical Tree Knot"... but couldn't find the pic I wanted for it... well I just found it... so you can call it what you like and here's that pic.....

Check out some other Free Soul Amp music here.

Pics of using a hot needle on a smashed finger to release the pressure... Photos of smashed finger and fingernail fluid release using a heated needle

Click here for the latest update on the smashed finger.

A number of friends recommended I poke my nail with a hot needle to relieve the pressure and save the nail.... so I tried it.... learned that you can't let the needle cool off... it sizzled on the nail when it worked and I realized you need to remove it quickly after you hear the sizzle...here's the pics of the operation....seemed to work ok...blackness is already diminished... bleeds a long time though... still bleeding as I type this... didn't hurt.

I'm not a doctor (though I have a friend whose father was a doctor)... so unlike me, consult one if you find yourself in the same situation.... =)










Here's all the posts documenting the smashed finger saga (in reverse order):

• finger and fingernail fully recovered!!!...1 year and 4 months later....
• fingernail recovering...5.5 month update....
• fingernail recovering...4 month update....
• fingernail recovering...3rd month update....
• fingernail starting to grow back - about 2.5 months after the smashing.
• fingernail coming off - about 2 months after the smashing.
• update 1.5 months.
• update 2.5 weeks.
• stabbed the finger to release the pressure.
• smashed a finger.

Anyone with a story of a smashed finger, I'll be happy to post it. Just drop an email or feel free to comment on this post or any of the others.

Here's one from a reader named Gordon:
http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/11/photos-of-finger-that-was-sliced-by.html

And in the meantime, feel free to distract yourself with some delightful music from my band, Soul Amp:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Smashed a finger...Photo of a smashed finger and fingernail on a Nord Electro 2 keyboard... Will the smashed fingernail ruin the gig?

Click here for the latest update on the smashed finger.

Over the weekend I got my finger slammed in a car door. My girlfriend I were looking at Toyato highlanders and I had closed the front door and my hand was on the edge of the door. The sales guy then closed the rear door and somehow my pinky got caught. It's blackened, swollen, and painful. I tried playing last night with 4 fingers and it seemed to work all right. I'll keep practicing with 4 fingers and I've been soaking it in ice and hot water with Epson salt. I've also been taking ibuprofen to cut down on inflammation. I hope I can use it on Fri, but if not I can do the 4 finger thing. So here's a pic of it from this morning (it looked worse on Saturday, so that's a good thing that it's improving... sorry I didn't get a pic of it on Saturday for all you ghouls out there...)




click on the pic for a bigger version... if you are so inclined...

Here's all the posts documenting the smashed finger saga (in reverse order):

• finger and fingernail fully recovered!!!...1 year and 4 months later....
• fingernail recovering...5.5 month update....
• fingernail recovering...4 month update....
• fingernail recovering...3rd month update....
• fingernail starting to grow back - about 2.5 months after the smashing.
• fingernail coming off - about 2 months after the smashing.
• update 1.5 months.
• update 2.5 weeks.
• stabbed the finger to release the pressure.
• smashed a finger.

Anyone with a story of a smashed finger, I'll be happy to post it. Just drop an email or feel free to comment on this post or any of the others.

Here's one from a reader named Gordon:
http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2008/11/photos-of-finger-that-was-sliced-by.html

And in the meantime, feel free to distract yourself with some delightful music from my band, Soul Amp:

http://www.soul-amp.com/Top_Ten_Songs.html

Mascara Death.... an old song...

This one is off Strip Mall Heaven. ... it's a "hidden" track at the end of the CD... no you don't have to wait for it (we hate when artists do that on CDs... big silent wait and then the song plays... and maybe you hate when a track it not listed... touche')....

It was recorded live using a Pioneer - Auto Reverse, Direct Drive RT-707 quarter inch (1/4") reel to reel in Brad's basement... formally known as Cat Box Studio:

Mascara Death is a punkish song, depicting a true and tragic story... and so without further ado, we give you:

Mascara Death

lyrics

Kick out the jams....

All right, we may never be as cool as these guys (the MC5) or their classic Kick Out the Jams. Yet you can hear the influence of them on us...(like on our tunes "Ten Dollar Bill" and "Mascara Death"... coming as posts soon).

Anyhow, in the meantime, here are three jams that we slapped together at recent practices...

How About Some Hammond

Welcomed Wanderer

Livid Harmonium

plink plink

Here's one that Brad and I did a couple of weeks back.... has a bit of synth and piano and of course, Brad on gitfiddle...

Plink Plink

Daffodil in Snow....

click the daffodil twice

a little rough of a recording

more tunes to come soon

Hold On...

A new song made up on the spot... did the mics a bit differently... a very rough mix today... but interesting.... check it out:

Hold On

Soul Amp-bience.... A New Tune...

Here's an instrumental ambient/rock tune Brad and I came up with last week at rehearsal. M2 couldn't make it, so no percussion this time. We are in our just "make up things" on the spot mode.... we just hit record and this is what we came up with. We have a couple of condenser mics at the other end of the basement.... picked up a lot of stuff including Brad tapping his foot (sounds like a metronome) and me clicking a foot switch to speed up/slow down the rotorary speakers on the motion sound (so yep, there's a bit of Hammon B3 in there.... not just piano). This tune is part of 15 minute jam... I may take something from the second half later.

We also have a 25 minute jam from the same night... I think I'll mine that one for tunes as well... so look for another tune or two in the next few days.

I named this one Silver Lamp cause I was looking at the silver lamp on table that my best friend gave me for Christmas. It also seems appropriate because lots of people think we are "Soul Lamp". So to be confusing here's "Sliver Lamp" by Soul Amp:

Silver Lamp

a thought...

progress is painful
regress more so

Baseball.... and Soul Amp?

so I wrote this lyric last autumn while watching a baseball game....

took all the inspiration from the commentary on the game and kind of turned it into something else....(the chorus came from somewhere else... but seems to fit)...

Until she gets bored, and you get the cooties

With the rain falling
Going to be a delay
Digging in and waithing
When there's nothing you can do
Can't go by the book, all of the time
Forget the book
Try to fill up the bucket

Then you'll pop up, going after people
Love to do the boogie all night long
Until she gets bored, and you get the cooties
Then there's gonna be a down-thing for a while

You don't care about truth or anything
A little bit of this, a little bit of that
You just wants some happy big moments
Drive them all in, when you get the chance

Dealing with the elements and mad at yourself
So gut wrenching but good for your health
Letting it hang, letting them down
Without shoving nobody around

Chorus

Hopelessly
Content
With the dried up words

Futures
All been spent
On the way up

by Soul Amp... copyright 2007

Bernie and Slider...

A couple more pics from the Indians vs Angels at Miller Park in Milwaukee, April 2007:

Bernie and Slider hanging out during "Roll Out the Barrel"....



Hanging out in Bernie's Dugout.....

Indians vs Angels at Miller Park April 2007...Snowed out Jacobs field.... Snow at Miller Park.... Indians Opening Day in Milwaukee.... Soul Amp Fan

I was able to get to Miller Park here in Milwaukee for a couple of the Indians vs Angels games. Cleveland was snowed out for the Indians' home opener, so it got played here in Milwaukee....

And they brought the snow with them....

So going to the baseball game in the snow looks like this:

Pic of Miller Park in the snow while in line to park...



Walking into Miller Park in the snow....



Heading toward the Home Plate entrance....



The sausage race.... I picked Chorizo to win... but Hot Dog won instead....



It's never "root, root, root, for the home team" at Miller Park except this one time....Here in Milwaukee it's "root, root, root, for the Brewers"...

Catch the top ten soul amp songs here.

Make it up as we go (May 11)... And avoiding Train Wrecks =)

We're going to be making up stuff on the spot at the HOG gig on May 11th. You'll be hearing stuff you've never heard before and stuff you'll never hear again (unless we decide to record the gig which we probably won't because we're really lazy).

So surprises are in store, but we might throw in an old Soul Amp tune or two.

We've been writing stuff on the spot since the inception of this band. We have found that the more we think about what we're doing, the less real things are.

Lately, our jamming has gone beyond stuff we've done before....



Train wrecks are always risk with improvisation...... we haven't had one in a while... on the flip side, amazing things can happen.

There's also a chance to get some free CDs including Strip Mall Heaven if you happen to make it out to the gig....

Hope to see you there!!!

Tulips....

We are getting a lot of hits because of this search:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&resnum=0&q=tulips&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Guess spring time has people looking for Tulips and we happened to link to a pic of tulips for Brad's song:

Pushing Tulips 5.5 mb mp3

in this blog entry (2nd entry):

http://soul-amp.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_soul-amp_archive.html

It was written when we thought the end was nearing for Soul Amp.... but the Amp is alive and well and we'll be playing a mind blowing gig at the HOG on Friday May 11th....

Hope you can check us out if you get a chance......

Dixie Mine Trail...Fountain Hills...Rattlesnake, Gila Monster, cool dips, and Brewers Cactus League...

Just got back from AZ hanging with friends and checking out the Brewers at spring training (Cactus League). It was cold (50s/60s) and raining when we arrived and the first game we attended got hailed out... imagine that in AZ. But it was a very nice trip.

We took a hike on the last day and my friend almost stepped on this rattlesnake:

We were hiking to this spot (the Dixie Mine Trail):

http://www.fountainhillsguide.com/rec_hike_mcdmtn_dix.html

Very interesting....

The AZ trip inspired me to jot down some lyrics that might be a song someday:

you're snoring
you got to leave
I'm going to get some sleep
Going to eat some just desserts

Second in the pool
For the first time this season
Freezing cold in the afternoon
Trickle water splashing on toes

Reptillian stories
On the dusty slopes
Looking for precious metals
To smelt

Trash accumulates
Through the slowth growth forest
You cry out in fear
At the shape on the ground

oh... here's a Gila Monster we saw on the same walk....

Talk at you later.....

Top Ten Soul Amp Songs Here.

An essay entitled,"The Reality of Guerilla Warfare"....from M2

The USA invades Iraq. It is called an invasion because we were not invited. We have heard several "reasons" for this invasion...

1.) To defend ourselves against a terrorist supporting government
2.) To liberate the Iraqi citizens from a tyranical government
3.)To protect American interests on foreign soil (drop the s, and it spells oil)...

Although completely and sickly corrupt, Saddam's Bathist regime did provide a sort of organized chaos to its citizens. They ruled by intimidation/fear. Standing on his flaccid pulpit, he did shake his ugly fist and threaten the world with his Napoleanic dreams. He was isolated, awaiting his inevitable demise by a civil war that broiled under society's surface...trapped in the stranglehold of a dominant allied airforce. The Iraqis couldn't let out a military fart without being precision bombed...Then we erred. We sent thousands of men and women in uniform into a theater of militant guerrillas. Even if we were able to squash the ongoing insurgency...rid the entire nation of "improvised explosive devices"...we would STILL be embroiled in a guerilla war. The ubiquitus AK-47 would be replaced by [original editted here] sabre..masked men leaping from doorways with kitchen knives. NEVER will our troops be safe to roam the streets of Baghdad without fear of a blindsided attack. Have we not learned from history? Here are some fairly recent examples of our forgetfulness: Viet Nam. Providing Iraq with CIA support against Iran. Providing Iran with missles in exchange for hostages. Providing CIA assistance to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban in Afghanistan in a guerilla war against the Soviets...or how about this?...remember how the Nazis rolled into Paris? Not much of a challenge to defeat the French military. BUT...the French Resistance fighters (guerillas) made their stay on French soil a daily hell. It didn't matter that the Resistance wasn't able to chase the Nazis out, they would have fought forever...as WE would if the USA was invaded. This war in Iraq..this whole debacle..was based on half truth's, lies, deceit, and an arrogant misconception of a realistic outcome. When will we learn? When?...When there is no one in uniform left on our home soil to defend the Motherland of America?..When the National Guard is too busy guarding someone else's nation to help out with the next Katrina? When we can't care properly for our Vets?..My cousin Patrick, an Army Ranger stationed in Baghdad, watched two of his buddy's burned alive in a roadside attack. There wasn't a damned thing any of them could have done to prevent this.

Yes, WAR IS HELL. It's to bad that the Cheif Warmongers don't understand..PEACE CANNOT BE FOUND IN HELL.It's time for True Patriots...for us...to stand up for those in uniform and GET THEM THE F*** OUT OF THERE!!!!...M

M2 and Russ Feingold

Hey here's our very own M2 hanging out with Senator Feingold with his other band squarewavetrio :

http://www.squarewavetrio.com/pics.html


M2 (aka Michael Netteshiem) is the one on the far left. They were playing at Russ' birthday party. He was reported as saying that squarewave would get to play at the White House if Russ ever gets to be prez.... Maybe Soul Amp could warm up for them!... =)

Fisking.....

Ran across this today....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisking


yep, I was ego-surfing...

let's see what brad and M2 come up with on that....

working late

So here I am working late again (at work work.... not working on music). I seem to do that a lot now. I have my brain on music much of the time though. I've worked on some new tunes and we got together last week and just made shit up. We have done that for the last couple of practices. And guess what? We have a gig at the HOG http://www.houseofguinness.com/ in Waukesha on Friday, April 27. We'll probably make shit up there as well... =)

It sometimes gets discouraging having so much work stuff hanging over my head... but music is definitely one of the thing that gets me through it all... in fact I'm lucky in that I can listen to music for much of the day (looking at it that way and I'm doing the ol' comparison thing of why should I complain when things are so good for me). Anyhow, some stuff I've been digging (and well listened to today) includes: Midlake "The Trials of Van Occupanther", GrizzlyBear "Yellow House", the Shins "Wincing the Night Away" (of course), Beirut "Gulag Orkestar", Bert Jansch "The Black Swan", My Bloody Valentine, Cat Power and just a bunch of other stuff...

I also listened to some of our scratch tunes we made last year... you know, some have potential like:

http://www.soul-amp.com/freebies/RipplesFromTheStone.mp3
http://www.soul-amp.com/freebies/FineThinLine.mp3
http://www.soul-amp.com/freebies/SettingTraps.mp3
http://www.soul-amp.com/freebies/TrappedInUrClothes.mp3

not sure these tunes will ever amount to anything and they are kind of rough as they were all recorded pretty much right as they were written... but having not listened to them for a long while and now checking them out again... I think there's some stuff there that might be all right to keep...

Anyhow, I would have to say that Soul Amp is still alive and kicking and we're going to get more material out there and hope that people like some of it. By the way, check out M2's been up to:

http://www.squarewavetrio.com

oh and here's a poem that M2 wrote that I though just rocked and fit on the day I read it:

sparkling silver swirls in an eddy of powdery snow_ hiding a dingy salted yesterday beneath it's squeeky crunch_ the evergreens, majestic, with white laden sagging limbs_ wise old men standing strong against the wind_ a squall so thick the earth becomes sky becomes earth becomes sky_ I am enamoured by it's beauty...and at peace with it's challenge

well that's it for now.... if you happen to read this, say hi....

talk at you later
-M1

OktoberFest in Lake Geneva

Yeah SWITZERLAND!

Soul Amp's fall house party tour added a second date. The infamous
Oktoberfest Party in the Lake Geneva Region of Switzerland! Yeah right
off Williams Bay...Lake Geneva...Wisconsin. I am such a huge liar.
Private party...if you were invited see you there.

We're not dead....

well we booked gig in September...so we aren't hanging it all up yet...still on summer break...stop by our homepage and grab our recent tunes

Hannah and The Fray

So Hannah and her buddy Joey got to meet The Fray at Summerfest. Hannah gave them a gift bag with bubbles and one of her CD's "Lets All Get An F in Chemistry"

Hannah is in the studio now laying down tracks for her next demo and EP...

So I have been helping her to learn the ins and outs of MOTU AudioDesk...like any modern techno kid she is picking it up rather fast.

I saw The Fray with Hannah at the Rave and I was quite impressed by them. One of the best shows I have seen in a long time. So many great songs.

Hannah in obvious teen idol heaven.

Here she hands them the gift bag...they said "Wow...no one has ever given us a gift bag before!"