It’s always there, the ringing.

Drown out the ringing. Ignore the ringing. Mute the ringing.

I can hear the ringing around the corners. Under the cracks, the ringing.

I can see it in the dark.

Droning. Drowning. Ringing.

Sometimes it’s way down the hallway. Distant. Tiny.

Somedays it rattles the teeth in my head, the ringing.

A giant, 5 alarm ring.

Giant.

Kiers Marketing where I work sponsored the Classic Albums Live show at The Fredericton Playhouse tonight so I got to go for free. For the uninitiated, this is a group of guys who travel around performing classic rock records in their entirety, note for note. Tonight’s platter du jour was a classic for sure, Led Zeppelin III.

I wasn’t sure what to expect going in. I knew they weren’t ‘impersonators’ per se, I knew the lead singer wouldn’t be a shirtless, bellbottomed goldilocks that Robert Plant was, but I was also unsure of exactly what it would sound like.

Well, I tell you right now it was fucking awesome.

These guys came out and nailed it. It was unreal. Every note, every nuance, even the fuckups and false starts and ambient recording noise from the recording. All there. And talk about consumate musicians. Holy. Shit.

It sounds strange to gush so much about what is essentially a cover band, but I feel like it’s insulting to call these guys that. I have heard these tunes for years both on record and in many cases with various levels of proficiency by other musicians and cover bands, but to go there and hear and feel it live, and perfect totally blew me away.

They came out and proceeded to rip through the album Led Zeppelin III like they’d written it. All the power. All the emotion. All the skills. Right. Effin. THERE. It was nuts. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite, but ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ was absolutely transcendent and gave me the chills.

I didn’t realize going in that there would be an intermission and then they were gonna come back and do a greatest hits set. Holy bonus.

Somehow, it was even better. Every lick I’d heard over the years was captured. I ended up laughing out loud and giddy in amazement of the display of guitar prowess. The guitar player nailed every Jimmy Page lick. The bow work, the Theremin. EVERYTHING. Did I mention that it was unreal?

So in closing, if you have the chance to check ‘em out, I’d, uh, say, do so at whatever cost. WHATEVER COST. And thanks fellas, for the amazing show.

The lead singer closed by thanking the audience ‘for loving rock music’. Man, when you guys play it like that, how could you not.

Set list:

Set 1: Led Zeppelin III
Immigrant Song
Friends
Celebration Day
Since I’ve Been Loving You
Out on the Tiles
Gallows Pole
Tangerine
That’s the Way
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Hats Off to (Roy) Harper

Set 2: (I think this was all of ‘em, not 100% sure of the sequencing)
Whole Lotta Love
Dazed and Confused – yep with the full blown bow/theramin solo
The Song Remains the Same
Lemon Song - KILLER.
Moby Dick – yep, with the monster drum solo
Heartbreaker/Livin’ Lovin’ Maid
Communication Breakdown

Encore:
Rock and Roll
How Many More Times – probably my fave of the whole night.

I’ve decided to take up this challenge myself, for better or worse and have set a tentative date of May 1st as the point of no return. As such I’ll be spending the winter ‘clearing the baffles’ so to speak and whittling down my possessions to my 100 (or dare I say sub-100?) list. I’ll be trying to document some of the process here and in future blog entires if you wanna read along. So a heads up: Don’t buy me anything.

Coming up with the list does pose some unique conundrums – some of which Dave provides his own solutions for in the book. One of the tenements of the Challenge is that it is and will be different for everyone, there are no steadfast rules. As such I’ve a few issues to work out myself.

Clothes

In his  book, Dave talks about limiting your clothes and counts each item of clothing as one item on the list. While I’d like to say I could do that, I don’t know if it’s as simple. For one, I live in an area of the world with a much different climate than him (San Diego vs, Fredericton, New Brunswick) and bottom line, I have seasonal requirements for more clothing items. Think LAYERS people, among other things. I’m not sure how I’m going to address this for the list yet. Currently I’m leaning towards counting categories or groups of clothes as one thing, i.e. ‘t-shirts’, ‘pants’, ‘hats and gloves’, etc. I do want to try and get rid of some of my clothes. I mean I have stuff in my closet that I never wear or I’m saving for one day, which I know will never come.

Bike Stuff

I have a lot of bike stuff. Both bikes and accessories. I’ve never had much guilt about it as I ride my bikes to work at least 50% of the time each year, even in lousy weather. My bikes aren’t super top of the line, but I have made some decent upgrades and especially when it comes to bike specific clothing/gear, I have in some cases bought quality stuff as it makes commuting in rain/sleet/snow that much more possible. I always have justified the expense of gear with the fact that it enables me to do more of something that is good for myself, the planet, and the pocketbook. That said I do plan to cull some stuff from the bike herd. I have a pretty good stockpile of ‘spare parts’ which I probably will never need and even if I do need replacements these are outdated. I hope to find some way to get rid of these without just trashing them.

This leaves me with my question of how this stuff relates to my 100 Things list. I feel that it’s important that I include it somehow and not exclude it offhand. For the clothes/gear, I’m leaning towards using the same method I mentioned above with regular clothes. That seems reasonable. With the bikes, well I’m thinking, realistically, I should count each bike as one ‘thing’. I mean, really I can only ride one at a time so any more than that are superfluous. If I’m going to keep more than one, I think I have to be willing to suck it up and count each one towards my 100 Thing list. I will probably include spare parts I do end up keeping for each bike as part of the bike, so essentially one ‘thing’ = bike and spare parts. We’ll see how it goes.

Books

Dave talks about this in his book and his final solution to the problem was to simply say he had one ‘library’ that encompassed his books. The ‘library’ counted as one ‘thing’. I’m ok with that. I don’t have a lot of books, but I have some that I’m fond of, and some I’ve even worked on or designed, so I’ll be keeping them. I still think there’s some that could go, and will, but I’ll be sticking with his idea of one ‘library’ counting as a thing.

CDs

I’ve got at least 900 CDs. Up until about a month ago, they’d been in boxes in the basement for the better part of 2 years. By example that would mean that really, according to the 100 Thing Challenge, I don’t really need ‘em and they should go. Part of the reason they were in boxes is simply because I had no logical place to store them while I refinished my basement. But as time passed, I’d kinda forgotten about them. I would think about them sometimes, on several occasions even digging into boxes to pull out specific ones to burn to my iTunes library, but the simple fact is that the bulk of my music (all 140GB of it) now resides on my computer and I don’t see any going back. I’ve talked from time to time with Lyn about taking the CDs to the used CD joint and just making a few bucks (prolly far few than I think they’re emotionally worth, sniff, sniff) but then I’d be done with it.

As a designer, I’ve got a huge attachment to the album art, sleeves, liner notes, and packaging that these represent. The physical object is hard to let go of, even I really have no need of them anymore. Several times I’ve said to myself that I’d get rid of them once I’d burned them all to my computer but the reality is that not only would that take forever, it would eat up huge volumes of hard drive space I don’t have. I’d have to buy an external drive to hold it all and it seems I’d be just setting myself up for a huge heartbreak when that drive eventually takes a huge shit like they all eventually do. (One thing working on computers all my life has taught me is that no information stored anywhere is permanent, it can go away in the blink of an eye and we should all accept this fact, it makes things easier.)

Right now, my current frame of mind is to go through them, cull the really meaningful and/or out-of-print ones and either keep those or burn ‘em to the Mac and sell/dump the rest. We’ll see what happens. I’ve thought about applying the ‘book library’ idea here, and calling this ‘one music library’, but the difference is, I can easily convert these physical CDs to digital files and save the space/clutter. To do that with books I’d have to actually re-buy the books. I’m not sure I’m down with the ‘audio library’ idea. Like I said, we’ll see.

One idea I am toying with is if I do ditch all the CDs, trying to do something with the artwork from inside them, some sort of mural or something. I dunno. Haven’t fully flushed it out yet. I have some that are autographed as well and thought those would be kinda cool if framed nice.

Tools/Lawn and Garden

Although Dave talks about ditching his fine woodworking tools and streamlining his toolkit down to a few essential tools, I’m not gonna go that route. I don’t harbor any fantasies of ever being a fine woodworker, but what I do have is an hyperactive DIY drive. Being that we live in a pretty rural area and in addition to getting extreme satisfaction from doing stuff on/around the property myself, it saves money, I try to do as much home maintenance/renovation as possible myself. (I’m currently in the midst of an – ahem – 2 year basement refinish that is about 50% done. Hey, I work on it when I can.) I’ve accrued a pretty good arsenal of tools, but I’m also adamant about maintaining them properly so hopefully they will last indefinitely. Self-sustainablity and resourcefulness, I think Dave would agree, are both 100 Thing Challenge compliant. And even if he doesn’t, as he says so many times in the book, this is my list, not his.

For the above reasons, as well as the fact that all of the stuff is used for the benefit of everyone who lives here not just me, I’ve decided to not count tools, hardware and lawn and garden stuff (snowblower, lawnmower, etc) in my 100 Things list. I consider that stuff ‘household’ goods.

So the whittling down will commence. I’ll post up my list and revisions of it leading up to my May 1st date once I have it going. Stay tuned.

Well, really, I probably couldn’t have gotten a sitter either anyway, and it was a weeknight and I had to be up for work the next day and the headliners weren’t going on until 10:30 and that’s pretty late for me, and….

I have an acoustic guitar and have been teaching myself some chords. Isn’t that a Bryan Adams lyric? Shit.

Anyway, I can sometimes string 3 or 4 chords together into some sort of ‘song fragment’ and I’m beginning to get it now.

I understand why kids everywhere sit on their beds, banging out 3 chords thinking they’re going to take over the world. Thinking, even for a moment, that you might have created something moving and original is ridiculously empowering. Many of these kids give up or move on. Some become Joe Strummer.

I catch myself planning my world takeover tour and quitting my day job. Then I hear stuff like this. Then I remember why I’m a graphic designer.

I have a six-string. I didn’t buy it at the five-and-dime, cause they don’t exist anymore. I don’t play till my fingers bleed – but, sometimes, they do get tender at the fingertips and I have really dry skin, so I have to moisturize with some lotion and – dammit – that’s not very rock and roll. Moisturizer is not rock and roll. There wasn’t any in Spinal Tap. I’m pretty sure.

Sometimes, after I’ve spent a lot of time playing one evening, my fingers tingle the next day at the tips when I touch stuff and it dawns on me that, maybe, almost, I can almost, maybe start telling people I ‘play guitar’. And that’s pretty badass, especially for middle-aged dudes with dry skin. I’m even starting to build up calluses.

I can’t do anything with my pinky finger though. It’s fucking useless.

New Brunswick graphic designer, 40, quits rock and roll game due to inadequate pinky finger articulation. “It just stuck out there. When I tried to use it, it would just quiver, or shake. Ugh (shivers) it was embarassing. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m going to stick to drums as the pinky isn’t as crucial and I can hide the hideous quivering behind the kit.”

Don’t cry for me. Save your tears. There may still be a chance for me in adult contemporary, or children’s music. Maybe it’s more ‘Coffee Shop Hero.’

Sam Roberts Band – Collider
I had hailed Love At the End of the World as Sam’s finest record yet to most of the people I argue about music with (ok, well, ONE person). But I think this record stepped it up a notch and I don’t even know how. My standout tracks: Let it In, Streets of Heaven (Promises, Promises)

Arkells – Michigan Left
I only discovered the brillance of the Arkells first record, Jackson Square about a month before this record came out and then was very impressed with the follow up effort. Jackson Square was a tough record to top. My standout tracks: Michigan Left, On Paper

Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
After a long wait, Dave and Co. return and do not disappoint. The media/blitz/circus that ensued was also something to behold and would have been easy to ridicule had the tunes not stood up to all the hype. Several TV/web appearances playing the record in it’s entirety as well as the timely release of their movie, Back and Forth prompted one reviewer I read to quip, “Thanks Dave Grohl, for making us care about the album again.” I couldn’t agree more. My standout tracks: Rope, Miss the Misery

Chevelle – Hats off to the Bull
A sleeper, I had no idea these guys were working on a record and it barely made it in this year, but since it came out, I’ve listened to pretty much nothing but. My standout tracks: Pinata, Hats off to the Bull

The Black Keys – El Camino
I didn’t want to buy into the pre-hype regarding this new record because, well , I secretly long to be a hipster. Also, I really didn’t think they could top Brothers. Seriously. But once it came out, dammit, they did. And in a record that’s only 38 minutes long. I’m still not a hipster though. My standout tracks: Gold on the Ceiling, Little Black Submarines, Mind Eraser

Rival Sons – Pressure and Time
Bringing the classic rock back, these guys are kicking out some jams. Production that cries of vintage Zeppelin and a singer who screams like Ian Astbury and/or Plant combined. Sprinkle with a touch of Black Crowes and, voila, you’re scissor kicking. Only thing I can possibly fault them on is their pro-vegan stance. Wha? Tré un-rock. My standout tracks: Pressure and Time, Get Mine, Save Me

The Twilight Singers – Dynamite Steps
Greg Dulli sulks out from wherever it is he hides in the ‘off-season’ and wrangles his compatriots to bring us this lush, moody gem of a record. It’s been said before by many people, but it never ceases to amaze me how Dulli seems to create ‘movies’ or ‘soundscapes’ with his records. They’re like concept albums, but the concept is unique to every listener. My standout tracks: Waves, On the Corner, Dynamite Steps

Matthew Good - Lights of Endangered Species
If you follow Matt at all this was an interesting record as he demo’d ,discussed, and chronicled the writing and production of on his website/blog. A very interesting glimpse into the process. Given that, I have to admit it was a bit anti-climatic when the record officially dropped, as I’d already heard most, if not all the tunes in some form or another. That being said, I still think it’s an excellent record. My standout tracks: Zero Orchestra, Non-Populus, Lights of Endangered Species

In 2012 I’m really looking forward to the new Rush and Big Wreck records as well as some others.

Happy New Years, yo.

I finished Country Gentleman Mat’s bike. Had to consult my bike guru Nature on high in the Colorado Rockies for some sage tech advice.

I’ve taken on redesign/maintenance/social media personification for The Nashwaak Watershed Association. I wanted to get involved regarding what’s going on in my neck of the woods.Y’know. ‘Cause I don’t have enough to do. And I’ve sorta ‘meh’d’ that off lately as well.

Research for that did however lead me to some great work/folks/product/codery at Studiopress which has inspired me to want to host my own site again over at kentfackenthall.com – ‘meh’ central.

I’ve got some other freelance in the hopper that I’m ‘meh’ing on as well. Mayhaps because I’m a bit pissed off (and quite strapped coming into the holiday season) as I’m 4months out on some other invoices that a freelance client hasn’t paid. Hard to ‘meh’ that off, but have to try.

Still reading and working on the 100 Thing Challenge. I was going to sell my CDs and got them out of the boxes to catalogue them so I could send a list over to Backstreet and see what they wanted and then I became re-infatuated with them. Dammit.

So this weekend was supposed to be all, or at the very least some of the above. Instead it was baking chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, watching the Habs shit the bed, yet again, even after the axe fell on Martin, and a 4H hike to see a waterfall that almost was only the trail was blocked by high water/ice.

Meh.

In the meantime to steal the MO of Mat himself, enjoy some tunes. I think some ol’ Jimmie’s Chicken Shack could be sufficient un-meh material. Note, the video quality is very, well…’meh’, but the audio is jussssssfine.

I’m pretty sure that I’m already really screwing things up. Although I did manage to unload a bunch of spare bike parts collecting dust to Mat for his winter project (+1 for purging, +1 for karma), I did it in return for copious fly fishing gear. (-1 for accumulation of material goods, -1 for I don’t know when the when the hell I was thinking I will have time to fish).

Back at evens.

Do stay tuned and read along as I hope to muse about the process here.

Mat would be happy to know that I bought the ebook version.

For me the best part of the game was Don Cherry on Coach’s Corner. Now – hold on – I know some of you can’t stand ‘em, but my comment is not so much about HIM as what he was talking about. He was discussing the recent crackdown of discipline by Brendan Shanahan, the NHL’s new VP of Player Safety and bemoaning the fact that guys were not hitting as much or “missing hits on purpose” out of fear of suspension. I’m only getting to the good part though.

At this point he showed some old video of Scott Stevens – arguably one of the best open ice hitters the game has EVER seen. And was chiding Shanny with comments like “how many games would this hit get” and “what about this one Brendan?”

I’m a little disappointed Don. You should know better. Even a layman could see that the hits Shanny are suspending guys for now are NOTHING like Scotty’s hits. Stevens was a consumate hitter. He didn’t target the head. He didn’t lead with the elbow. Stevens hit you with his WHOLE BODY. You’ll see in these videos, his arms are almost always at his sides. This is indeed why his hits were always so spectacular and indeed, in some cases, more ferocious looking than many illegal hits. That was 6’0′, 200lbs of solid muscle he was throwing at you at considerable speed. Stevens had an uncanny knack for catching guys coming cross ice with their heads down.

Truly, his hits were things of beauty. He was a textbook hitter. I loved watching him play, if nothing for the sheer fact that you didn’t know when he might catch somebody lace-checking. It made my night.

I dare say, if more guys hit like Scotty, and hadn’t resorted to throwing elbows etc, Brendan would have never had to step into this job in the first place.

I don’t know why I get tired of it, or what I get tired of. At some point I just start to find it exhausting. People like my wife always just tells me to lay off some, but for some reason, I seem to be an all in or all out kind of guy, but you probably knew that.

There’s the pending launch of the iPhone 5, which I have no desire to hear people talk about indefinitely. Some of my Facebook friends are complaining that people are posting rather graphic images of child or animal abuse in an attempt to shock people into action or advocacy – a ploy I find all most as heinous as the crimes themselves. I’ve no friends doing this – yet. But I’d rather not deal with it right now. Most of my Facebook friends that aren’t doing that are complaining about Facebook changing, and that, well, that’s just stupid and makes me want to hit myself on the head with a hammer.

Google+ is the elite treehouse of my tech geek friends, and even though open to the public now so you no longer need to know the secret handshake, not a single one of my complaining Facebook friends seems to have considered jumping ship, probably just because of the ever-present human nature fear of change. The status quo sucks, but it’s much safer to sit and complain about it than venture into the unknown. Hence my Google+ feed seems to be predominately tech stories and comics that are over my head. It’s like being the only non-engineer at an all-engineer cocktail party.

I vacillate between wanting all Social Media all the time, to wanting none of it and while I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing me gripe about it, the very nature of Social Media is that I get to sit and gripe about it and if you’re ‘hooked in’ to me, you get to hear it.

Maybe I’m just tired of hearing other people’s material. Good or bad, happy or sad. My headspace, both virtual and real is full. So I’m checkin’ out for a bit to clear the baffles.

Takin’ a month off everything but email and this blog. I’ll probably throw the occasional photo up on flickr too. I’m hoping that may induce me to actually write more here, but I won’t be the least bit surprised if it doesn’t. A month may seem kinda arbitrary to some of you, especially since some of you probably only check in once a month, but to a hard-core junkie like me, a month is a long time. Plus when the idea popped into my head this morning, it just sounded good.

So yeah. Offtober.

See ya in Onvember.