How Applying Basic Knowledge and Actions Generate Progress And Profits

 

Great acts are made up of small deeds - Lao Tzu.

Perhaps it is the influence of action movies or 30-minute crime shows or just how stark differences allow us to comprehend change, but subtle movements tend to be ignored or disregarded. There is a long-standing rule in technology called the KISS standard; while I would love for this acronym to involve kabuki-style grease paint, fire breathing, and overwrought power chords, it simply stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. 

The most complicated live events start with a basic concept or goal; the pathway to the final product is a series of micro steps. I recently re-entered the live events industry with a role on the back end of things. My past experiences in the field, most recently traveling around the US and parts of Asia/ Oceania for Broadway tours, allow me to see the big picture. Yet, with all the drama and adrenaline from working live shows, it was a service guy who taught me patience and the value of quiet observation. 

Like A Swiss Timepiece

Mike, though we called him Alex, his middle name because there were too many folks named Michael (4) at the time, is a Swiss engineer who fell into the world of event staging. Mike was brought in to develop home-grown solutions for the expanding installation and special projects part of the company; by default, he also ran the in-house maintenance department. 

Taking me under his wing, Mike shaped my ADD tendencies and helped hone them into something I could act on, granted this was presented in his pragmatically austere Nordic engineer manner. Now in his defense, he had a very casual side, not quite footloose American, but as we were neighbors in Park Slope Brooklyn, there were ample opportunities to share a drink or three.

  

Alex, when we were not drinking, impressed upon me that While attempting to replace an IC or soldered components was not to be considered lightly, there is usually a much simpler, often glaringly easy fix. It is a life lesson I try to impress on the young and inexperienced techs under my management.  

Fast, Furious, Methodical

Keeping things moving and ensuring the equipment a company uses is in running order is essential in any audio-visual shop; this is doubly critical when working at a mom-and-pop company. Without the resources of larger shops, we need to pay close attention to the condition of the equipment used for shows; with a limited inventory, we cannot afford to have gear go down, especially during busy seasons. 

The reality is that sometimes this means we identify a problem and, like a NASCAR pit crew, get the unit running with a spot of glue and some gaffers tape because the truck is leaving now for a 6 am load in. Fast and furious is the order of the day at these times; sometimes, taking a step back and relying on experience provides a longer-term solution. 

Looking for the Obvious

A co-worker recently brought me one of our workhorse projectors with a thermal overload error on the LCD control screen. After reviewing the maintenance manual and consulting the manufacturer support via email, we were given several possible causes, including a faulty PCB board, failed thermal sensor, or damaged fan controller. The support agent gave us options for sending the unit in, all expensive propositions, and a timeline for return that did not fit our immediate needs. 

Once we removed the unit's top, it was clear that the fans were working, and the software tools did not indicate any deeper issues. I recalled a valuable lesson Mike had often repeated to me, the weakest link in electronics is the connections. If one pin is slightly misaligned or an edge connector has slipped, ghosts in the machine can appear and disappear at random moments. 

Well, Would You Look At That

After turning off the projector and letting it cool down (no need to get burnt or blinded by the light engine), we looked more closely at the numerous circuit boards that make up a modern piece of AV gear. Using a mix of habit and trained intuition, I gently pressed down on board connections; in return, we were greeted with the satisfying crunch of connectors nesting again.

Et Voila! Reapplying power brought the projector to life in a healthy state, with the previous warning messages nowhere to be seen. After letting the unit run for an hour and a couple of re-starts, it was determined we had a solid fix. 

Because our equipment is moved from shop to show and back to shop again, pieces jiggle, shake, and ultimately work themselves loose. Rather than being afraid of the devices our livelihood depends on, careful observation and gentle prodding lead to better understanding and lower maintenance costs. 

Small Steps for Giant Leaps

I once had a therapist/life coach explain that if all you look for is the end goal, the job may seem unattainable and prevent you from taking the first step. Honestly, it is advice that I do not always follow but inevitably come back to. Working with fear holds a person back, restricting movement and advancement; if one can find simple solutions, getting back on track becomes an obtainable task.  

Do you have trouble completing a large task or cannot get started at all? How do you break it down, and whose voice lives rent-free in your head, guiding you to success?

Is Threads A Viable Option For You?

 A Quick Overview of Threads by Instagram for the Curious, Weary, and Reluctant 

If you want to destroy my sweater, just pull this thread as I walk away. 

- Undone,Weezer

If you are like me, the search for an alternative to the mess ole’ Musky has created at twitter is hot and heavy. Politics and personality conflicts aside, the billionaire space cadet has managed to ostracize all but the most pie-eyed users. Whether it is destroying trust, imposing fatuous limits, or blocking tools like tweetdeck, and technical failings at every turn the frustrations have continued to mount. 

Threads, Now Open To All

Yesterday, Meta opened up Threads by Instagram to the masses (racking up 10 million subscribers in less that 48 hours), I am member # 368852 - (thank you very much).  If your curious or wary from trying alternatives like Mastadon or waiting for access to the Jack Dorsey backed BlueSky- getting going on to threads is really simple. 

Simple and Streamlined

If you already have an Instagram account, head over to the App Store and download ‘Threads, an Instagram app. Note that if you search for just ‘Threads’ you may get another social app,(the poor bastards), by the same name. ( the company has now added ‘not related to Meta’ disclaimer to their description). 

Once downloaded you can sign in with your insta credentials and off you go! The platform does ask if you want to automatically follow the same accounts you already do on instagram. In seconds you are brought to the main thread screen, free to scroll through it all. 

A Few Knots and Tangles

The ease of use does belie some issues percolating underneath it all.  There are a number  necessary features that must be implemented sooner than later for the platform to be viable and a true ‘Twitter Killer’. 

First, and most annoying for me, is that there is no way to have direct messages or filter who you see. Currently, you view one continuous stream of folks you follow and what the algorithm thinks you should see ( yes advertising cannot  be far behind). While it is possible to search for an account and have a threaded dialog there, it is a bit unruly (who remembers all of the account names you follow?)

While Threads allows 500 characters, you cannot edit after the fact (twitter allows this) and you cannot edit images in the app (again twitter allows this). 

Some Old Bugaboos 

This IS a Meta, née Facebook product, so many of the privacy concerns around your data and actions are the same here. It has to be said though, Zuckerberg has been active answering questions, hinting that more features will roll out shortly and promoting safe and healthy dialogs. 

In addition, Threads is inexorably tied to Insta, so if you want to delete a Threads profile, you must delete your Instagram account as well.  Thankfully it is possible to suspend a thread profile without interfering with insta. The settings page does provide a growing list of tools to manage, control, and track how your data is used. 

Ready to Take the Leap?

Is Threads for you? Right now the platform is a welcome relief with a familiar feel, if but limiting. I do not particularly like the scrolling (yes, this is identical to how your Instagram home page works) and I desperately want a ThreadDeck. 

If you are looking for a simple and streamlined app that will get you going and engaging in mere moments, the app is Certainly worth a go.

Questions? Happy to tell you what I know, or can find out from peeps with much deeper knowledge than me. 

Bang On Musical Brutalism and the Fallacy of Noble Savages

 

I am re-reading Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung - The collected essays of Lester Bangs, the literary master of rock music criticism. About a thousand words into 'The Clash, Part 1' I came across this masterful description of Punk. 

While skill and craft are essential, brutal conviction is not something that can be overlayed onto a musician, nor should there be a need to. Whether you find expression in classic rock, covers, or experimental lo-fi,  either your art is from the heart or you have accepted the role of snake-oil salesman.  

 The Dystopian Songs of A Player Piano

On the eighth day machine just got upset

A problem man had never seen as yet

No time for flight, a blinding light

And nothing but a void, forever night - Eighth Day, Hazel O' Connor 

Humanity's prevalence is ending; AI threatens our collective lives and livelihoods and has taken aim at our very souls. While automation and industrialization have provided many benefits, raising living conditions and improving comfort- Now, it wants to take control of our most human activities- creativity- and 'collaborate- or more insidiously do it for us—the demon seed already in our veins. 

Six String Prophecies

The rage of Punk at the architecture and artifice of modern control is so prevalent as to approach tropism. Whether it is the structural insecurity of Siouxsie Sioux's Cities in Dust, the social ramifications in Bad Religion's 21st Century Digital Boy, or Hazel O'Connor's Doomsday scenario of 8th day- the danger looms just around the corner. Even the verbose and ever-present provocateur Henry Rollins could not resist reminding us that we should not panic; this is what Punk prepared us for.' It may not be enough.

The Cake Is A Lie 

Technology inhabits every aspect of our daily lives; we are closer to the beautiful mech horrors of Crkshnk's art than our organic origins. We are all too willing to accept virtual worlds, inhuman influencers, and algorithms that guide our cultural discovery and growth paths. Regardless of its ability to cater to us, the question that looms is when machines will direct with bias rather than to our desires.

I worked in the 'smart technology' industry, from running cable and programming code to managing teams and sitting in on new product development. In this world, the infamous Steve Jobs reality distortion field is very real. Over ten years of industry involvement, my perspective shifted from wide-eyed Utopianism to out-right confusion and simmering dismay. There is a joke that automation engineers have the lowest tech homes, not because of a cobbler's children syndrome, but because they are all too aware of its faults and perils. 

Ghosts In The Machinery 

The author Kurt Vonnegut, channeling his experiences from WWII, envisioned continuing social disruptions presented as progress. In his oft-overlooked first novel, The Player Piano (published 1952), we are thrust into a world in the throes of a 'Second Industrial Revolution.' Rather than relying on inefficient human workers, engineers have learned to record the most talented artisans for their machines to imitate.  

The quest for eliminating human foibles does not stop with manufacturing or logistics. The schism between the ruling engineers and workers is so great that they live in vastly inequitable regions. While exploring this other world, two of the story's protagonists meet Rudy Hertz, a man on who they molded their algorithms. Rudy, proud he was chosen as the model, plays a song on the bar's player piano in honor of his special friends. As the music plays without human intervention, the keys move with the ghostly swing of a musician long lost to everyone. 

Waiting for the tune to finish and not embarrass Rudy, the main character looks out to nowhere, hoping he will not be alive when the Third Industrial Revolution, one that devalues all human thought, arrives. 

 

 

Sonic Soulfulness And The Revelatory Reemergence of SideCar Jones

How The Songs Of A Local Band, Whose Flashbulb Existence Became The Soundtrack Of My Life

Now more than ever, music informs my everyday moments, determines my mood, and regularly holds me in a trance. I do not often write on this, feeling my words and less-than-formal education in the medium will do a disservice to the musicians and melody makers. 

Get me in close quarters, drink in hand, and, if allowed to rant unimpeded, trace out for you musical histories, technological legacies, and a lineage of what band begat another. While the imagery, tenor, and sense of movement of music show up in my professional writing side gig, writing about IT is daunting.

The floodgates for attacking this sort of thing opened up after I wrote a fan letter to  Dylan and Pedro of Lulu Lewis obsessing over their Dyscopia album. Within a few days of pushing away my feelings of awkwardness and hitting send (I am connected to the band via a friend), a blast from my past reemerged, took hold and has not let go since. 

The Sway And The Swing 

Is music a fountain of youth? Take one look at Keith Richards and Willie Nelson; they are not young looking by any means, but either one can play and tour, circles around musicians half their age. In the mythology of bluesmen, one must sell their soul to the devil to play so well for so long. While I love the legends and creation stories behind the performers, I am more inclined to credit the music itself; there is genuine magic in the notes, rhythms, and rhymes. 

We all have our favorites, songs that strike a chord and help us shake off the years, if but for a moment, and revel in the passion and energy emanating from the speakers. The same can be true when confronted with new sounds and lyrical ideas, cognitive connection - pathways, once shuttered, opened anew by a needle running through grooves. 

Brief, Brilliant, Ballsy 

For me, there is a (very) obscure band that has been a connective tissue throughout my adult life, traveling with me and informing every stage. Sidecar Jones released their eponymous album in the late 90s and distributed it at live shows; it is unclear if it ever gained national support or record label attention.

 The CD was produced by the brilliant Peter Denenberg, who had just  previously worked on the Spin Doctors' Pocket Full Of Kryptonite.' Regrettably, the band, mainly consisting of Mavis Jennings, Paul Holditch, and Andrew Hann, dissolved under the dual pressures of life and outside opportunities. Its brief, brilliant, and ballsy existence left behind a few memorably manic live shows and a remarkable gem preserved on disc. 

The Rhythm For Living

While my wife Amy and I collected music over the years, fluctuating between 200 and 350 CDs, I always returned to SCJ. The disc was in constant rotation, joining us on car rides and vacations. We turned to the album when we wanted to relax in our first joint apartment in Park Slope, and it was the first music we played when we moved into our house in 2006. Soon after, when my toddler-aged boys wanted to 'dance with dad,' it was these tunes I put on; with both kids in my arms bopping around the house, laughing and exhausting ourselves by matching the energy emanating from the speakers. 

As streaming became my primary source, Sidecar Jones never fell out of favor; they may have faded into the background, but the songs kept bubbling up in my mind from time to time. Occasionally, I would search for the band online without success. Then a few weeks ago, I happened to catch a post on social - tagging Paul Holditch (we went to an audio engineering trade school together), announcing that the music was now available online. 

Awake, From The Longest Sleep

To say I was enthralled would be an understatement; a stupid, happy rush coursed through my veins. Quickly as I could muster, the music played on my home-office sound system, and a wave of joy washed over me. No mere nostalgia, these songs lifted me up, the words instantly on my tongue, and my brain recalling the album sequence, hearing the first few notes in my head before they came alive in the air. 

For the next few hours, I played the whole thing on repeat. Will I tire of it? Will I start to find irritating flaws to put me off (professional hazard)? Will others tell me I am delusional in my appreciation? I put the album aside for a day or two, then played it much too loud with the windows down while driving to work, and finally, up on the sound system at work

Yup, I was still digging it, and better yet, the folks around me (many of them active musicians and engineers) were positively curious about who was making such a beautiful racket.

 I played the album while waiting to pick up my wife from the train that evening. As she stepped down from the platform, her ears perked up, "SideCar Jones? Wow! This was the soundtrack of our dating years, so good!"

These Tunes Turn Me On

Why do I love this music so much? The sound stands up as fresh now as it did all those years ago. 

Firstly, the recording is fantastic, with no home-brew over modulated tones or buried vocals; the engineering is crystal clear and punchy as all get out. Ask anyone who has recorded bands, in particular rock bands, and they will tell you that a good drum sound is an elusive beast. On this album, the drums sing, the snares are sharp, and the toms irresistibly bounce you along. 

Secondly, the lyrics have depth, breadth, and poetic emotion. Postulating the meaning and background of songs is always an awkward proposition. While all art is open to personal interpretation, there is also the danger of choosing 'Better Man' by Pearl Jam as your first wedding dance. Nonetheless, a few songs on the album have always stood out. 

Insanity

 is a breakup song mixing messy anger of romantic troubles with chagrin and a tinge of gallows humor. The lyrics capture the feelings of losing not just love but a partnership. The piece opens with a terrific melodically buzzy guitar, and the lines 

What do you want from me cause I'm not there just to cheer you on cause you were not honest/ From the start, I said get out/

If I am to steal anything from the house that you say is yours, You know we built this house together/

 (spoken) You can keep all that Tupperware anyway. 

At the two live shows, I attended (all those years ago), this was the crowd favorite, singing along to the chorus of “Hey, hey, hey, it's all insanity” and providing knowing commentary along with numerous Woo's and 'hell yeah!"

Turn On! 

The song that became the digital version's title is a raucous statement of the band's then ethos, bringing a mix of 70's funkiness and personality with an underbelly of peppy alternative 90s pop. It swings with a heart of gold. 

The declarations start with

 

Today I swear/ There's magic everywhere/ People awakening from the longest sleep, I thought they'd never care/ Don't choose this fashion now and pout, just move this action, you can move with sound and end your deadly drought/ 

Turn on your mind tonight

Punctuated with whoops, shouts, and party infused, "Yeah! , Yeah, Yeahs, I find myself singing along with the Tra La Las and breaking out in little dance moves ( note- I nearly never dance, ever). I am left with a smile that is a mix of embarrassment and expressing irrepressible fun. 

Little Soul

Regardless of the subject (thoughts of suicide, a friend's anguish?), the song has become somewhat of an anthem for my wife and me. As many know, Amy fought through Chemo and over eight operations to beat four cancers over two years.

The process involves facing the prospect of death, losing contact, and the sorrow of those to be left behind. The whole process is agonizing, where the individual questions if they should give up, saving others from seeing them disappear in such a tragic manner. There were many dark nights when I talked my wife through the despair, answering her questions about giving up with the fact that we would be less without her.   

At the lowest point, Amy, hearing me play songs by Nick Cave, decided that I should play 'Into My Arms' at her funeral. 

When we had a listening party of the album in my home office, she wanted to hear 'Little Soul' repeatedly, singing out the refrain of I'll say I've got to live/ I'd RATHER LIVE. I now listen to this every day. 

March 

Depeche Mode asked, 'What makes a man hate another man/ help me understand'; sadly, we are still dealing with hatred, especially against the LGBTQ community. Why anyone should have outrage about who consenting adults love is beyond me. So much energy is expelled on condemning essential human connections. 

March is a rollicking protest song of affirmation. It starts with a simple declaration driven by pounding drums:

 Bobby, where can we go/ To the city, where everybody knows but no one cares

Sister, I'll take you there/ We'll have a party, we're gonna make them stare/

March it on down the road/ 

Shortly thereafter, the singer vehemently cries, backed by raucous power guitars chords:

Father, how can you be so mean/

Even Jesus would understand/

If he could see us walking hand in hand/

Marchin on down the road

THIS! Is a rallying cry with a massive backbeat and should be mosh pit material. I would love to hear this tune rattling windows on Christopher Street during gay pride; I envision folks of every persuasion dancing and gyrating with abandon in the streets. 

Share the Soul

The sheer joy and ecstasy I get from SCJ’s music are as close to spirituality as I will ever come; the blending of the primal and life examined instills a sense of rapture within me.

Do you have a local band that has become anthemic? 

Sidecar Jones will forever hold an exalted place in my heart- frankly, I am better for it. I urge you to look them up and eagerly await a rumored set of live gigs along with me.