Doug's Sounding Board

On October 12 we saw Weird Al at the Golden State Theater in Monterey. Now that he’s become somewhat popular he plays bigger venues and they also tend to be seated which allows for better control of the stage production but it’s not quite as fun as being in a free-form audience. Highlights for me: […]

Oppenheimer opened and had a lot of fun songs, and really how can you go wrong when you have a song with an air-horn solo. They Might Be Giants were tight, moving from one song to another with few breaks in between. There were a few mistakes which probably wouldn’t have been noticed had they not apologized for them. It’s still the beginning of their tour so I guess they’re still working out the kinks. One thing is for sure and that is […]

Starting on Thursday I’ve had various Mötley Crüe songs in my head. Not continuously, but they keep returning. So now here I am constructing paper recycling bins and listening to Dr. Feelgood. Tangentially related, when did Yngwie Malmsteen get fat, and how does that not interfere with his playing?

Yay! Nicole got me the new Weird Al album! Those reading might think it’s strange that I didn’t have it before yesterday but from September through the end of the year I don’t buy anything. That way when people ask what I might like as a gift I don’t have to say “I dunno” because […]

I saw in teh Friday Sentinel that the Santa Cruz Band Review would be happening on Saturday. I haven’t had enough marching band in my life lately so Nicole and I went to check it out. After seeing about 50 bands and getting a little sunburned there is now satisfaction. Some were very good, some […]

I was archiving things off my hard drive on to dvd and I was reaching for the disc folder so I didn’t just leave it laying around to collect dust, but that made the top of the tower of of jewel cases fall down, some with discs in them. As I was picking up the […]

The last of the biggies from the big-band era passed away yesterday from kidney & liver failure resulting from an abdominal infection. His last and final album that he just finished recording will be coming out this fall. I was hoping to see him again next year when his tour hit Salinas.

It’s the new Weird Al song, but it’s not going to be on the next album (which will appear some time this year). You can get it at this mirror or just go to weirdal.com.

Do you like drum & bugle corps music? Do you wish you had a CD of music performed by a very good one? After watching the summer DCI competition in Santa Clara I went looking on-line for more about drum & bugle corps and I stumbled across “The Commandant’s Own” – The U.S. Marine Drum […]

I finally watch this DVD that came with the CD soundtrack for “Revenge of the Sith.” This is a cool video! It leads you through all 6 movies by musical themes with video and bits of dialog showing each part. Each video can draw from the 6 movies and aren’t necessarily shown in the order […]