Friday, April 30, 2010
steve billens
Steve Billens
Lotsa crazy things afoot. I can’t complain. If I did, no one would care. Well…I guess I jumped the gun stating I was out of Bleach Battalion. Basically the next day Natassja from BB e-mailed me to see if I could play 4 dates in the next month. Hrm. Sounds like I’m in, and the band is back on. That is awesome news! BB has a few new tunes and I really dig em, they range from straight up Punk to a sorta Reggae Ska thing. I gotta practice the drums for sure. I think I can play them, but practice makes perfect. Yeah, as soon as I got the e-mail I was like, Oh crap, I better start practicing. So I went down and practiced. We have shows booked at The Box Social, which is some joint up by the Congress Theater. The dates are May 29 and June 12. I dunno what the deal is for June 12, but there are like 5 shows that day that I want to see. Bleach Battalion of course. Does that count? I won’t be seeing BB, I will be part of BB. That’s the ultimate concert experience. “Feel like you’re one with the band!” What else? I just saw that Concrete Blonde is doing a reunion tour where shockingly they will be playing Bloodletting in its entirety. I would’ve considered that if I wasn’t already occupied. On a side note, The Church, who I guess have some kind of awesome catalog of material (Under the Milky way and Reptile?) are messing with the format of playing your seminal album. They are playing one song off of each of their albums. I didn’t get it really, but I think UTMW and Reptile are on the same album. I’m not gonna chance that. The only Church song I like is Reptile. Back to June 12. Did I mention Bleach Battalion is playing at the Box Social? Must see for sure. Thrice is playing w/ Kevin Devine at HOB. I hate HOB. I’m not too bummed about missing that, although KD is playing with a band which prolly means he’ll be busting some classic Miracle of 86 stuff. Off With Their Heads is also playing at Subterranean. Then we’ve got Bottle Rockets at Ribfest, Bamboozle roadshow with a bunch of bands I’ve never heard of, and that’s basically it. I might try to catch OWTH after the BB show if I can, although I’ll be driving around w/ drums in my car that will be screaming to be stolen.
On a not so side note, do you guys know what a Box Social is? I just found this out. I feel enlightened. A Box Social is the opposite of a sausage fest: a place that is packed with women. I dunno if women ever say, “Let’s not go there, it’s a total Box Social.” I’m thinking not. I’m thinking it’s more guys saying, “Yeah bro, total Box Social, wink wink nudge nudge.” Still, important information for you urban slang challenged folks out there. Lotsa throwback shows coming that I have more than a passing interest to check out. Pink Floyd’s The Wall will be unbelievable. I think. It is being performed by Roger Waters and Ringo Starr and friends. I think Johnny Winters is playing guitar, Donald duck Dunn is playing bass, and Joe Satriani is helping out w/ lead guitar. I just made all that up in a sort of half-assed slam at the fact that Roger Waters is not Pink Floyd. But I’m sure it will sound as good or better than Pink Floyd ever did. RW should just change his name to Pink Floyd. That would totally mess up the song Have a cigar…or would it? The ultimate irony? Pointless questions? Other bands that are coming? Rush? Reo Speedwagon? Styx? Kansas? The Buzzcocks? I totally want to see The Buzzcocks. They are coming to double door. I gotta make that happen. I think it’s on a Sunday or something. I need more information. I have the information. That’s why the internet rules. Sunday, May 23 at Double Door. Then Monday, the Ponys are playing at the Pritzker Stage at Millenium park. Lots to do fo sho.
I really have a ton to say. I am drawing a blank. We are losing people at work left and right. It’s a bummer. I’m glad that they are moving on to greener pastures (hopefully), and it obviously solidifies the jobs of those that stay (read me), so that’s good too. The bummer is that I lost my buddy. His name is Dave. He’s from China. He is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met and I was trying to learn from him or hang with him so some of his intelligence would rub off. I don’t think it did. I was fascinated by the way he thinks in math. I think in words, that’s why I’m a bad writer and flailed through college and somehow came out with an English degree. Dave and I were in the options class together. When people had questions, I would try to answer them in common terms that all should be able to grasp. Well all didn’t always grasp them, so Dave would step in. He would go up to the blackboard and write down the equations, then he would explain the concept by how different variables affected the outcome of the equation. So for example, when time is in the denominator, and it increases, it makes the overall number smaller, so an increase in time causes a decrease in delta, or whatever. He would say, “Dis guy affects dis guy, and we can forget about dis guy.” Each piece was a “guy” I thought that was trippy. I didn’t know math was a bunch of little “guys” hanging around together. That’s what math is though, you can book it. Well I wish Dave well. He’s a smart mother. Before he came to our company he was working at Carnegie Mellon writing code to teach computers how to see. I shit you not. He’ll be ok. His real name is not Dave either. He just goes by that. His real name is Xuhui. I have no idea how to pronounce that. Dave is easier. Or maybe in China Xuhui sounds like Dave. I doubt it, but it’s fun to think about.
Oh well the work stories are flowing so why hassle it? When I started here, Compliance and Operational Risk shared an office. There were 6 people in there. We were a motley crew for sure. Well one woman, who was way talented was a contractor. Her contract expired and she left. Then Opererational risk moved out. That left 3. Then Compliance moved out. Then one of the guys from Compliance left. He was my bud from Michigan and he was an outdoorsman (still is I believe.) He left. Now one of the operational risk guys is leaving too. So there were six in the office, now there are 3 out of the office. Old times. Old spaces. Old disgraces (well not really). They are all moving on to greener pastures and the rest of us will pick up the pieces. Life goes on. It’s good to see that the economy is picking up, and that there are opportunities. 1 year ago, it was hold on to your job with a death grip. I guess the job market is loosening up.
There’s more, but I can’t think of anything. We’re all meeting for drinks tonight to say goodbye. That will be good. It was supposed to be drinks for 1 guy, but I think it will basically be for 3 now. Weird. Oh well. Keep on keepin on
Lotsa crazy things afoot. I can’t complain. If I did, no one would care. Well…I guess I jumped the gun stating I was out of Bleach Battalion. Basically the next day Natassja from BB e-mailed me to see if I could play 4 dates in the next month. Hrm. Sounds like I’m in, and the band is back on. That is awesome news! BB has a few new tunes and I really dig em, they range from straight up Punk to a sorta Reggae Ska thing. I gotta practice the drums for sure. I think I can play them, but practice makes perfect. Yeah, as soon as I got the e-mail I was like, Oh crap, I better start practicing. So I went down and practiced. We have shows booked at The Box Social, which is some joint up by the Congress Theater. The dates are May 29 and June 12. I dunno what the deal is for June 12, but there are like 5 shows that day that I want to see. Bleach Battalion of course. Does that count? I won’t be seeing BB, I will be part of BB. That’s the ultimate concert experience. “Feel like you’re one with the band!” What else? I just saw that Concrete Blonde is doing a reunion tour where shockingly they will be playing Bloodletting in its entirety. I would’ve considered that if I wasn’t already occupied. On a side note, The Church, who I guess have some kind of awesome catalog of material (Under the Milky way and Reptile?) are messing with the format of playing your seminal album. They are playing one song off of each of their albums. I didn’t get it really, but I think UTMW and Reptile are on the same album. I’m not gonna chance that. The only Church song I like is Reptile. Back to June 12. Did I mention Bleach Battalion is playing at the Box Social? Must see for sure. Thrice is playing w/ Kevin Devine at HOB. I hate HOB. I’m not too bummed about missing that, although KD is playing with a band which prolly means he’ll be busting some classic Miracle of 86 stuff. Off With Their Heads is also playing at Subterranean. Then we’ve got Bottle Rockets at Ribfest, Bamboozle roadshow with a bunch of bands I’ve never heard of, and that’s basically it. I might try to catch OWTH after the BB show if I can, although I’ll be driving around w/ drums in my car that will be screaming to be stolen.
On a not so side note, do you guys know what a Box Social is? I just found this out. I feel enlightened. A Box Social is the opposite of a sausage fest: a place that is packed with women. I dunno if women ever say, “Let’s not go there, it’s a total Box Social.” I’m thinking not. I’m thinking it’s more guys saying, “Yeah bro, total Box Social, wink wink nudge nudge.” Still, important information for you urban slang challenged folks out there. Lotsa throwback shows coming that I have more than a passing interest to check out. Pink Floyd’s The Wall will be unbelievable. I think. It is being performed by Roger Waters and Ringo Starr and friends. I think Johnny Winters is playing guitar, Donald duck Dunn is playing bass, and Joe Satriani is helping out w/ lead guitar. I just made all that up in a sort of half-assed slam at the fact that Roger Waters is not Pink Floyd. But I’m sure it will sound as good or better than Pink Floyd ever did. RW should just change his name to Pink Floyd. That would totally mess up the song Have a cigar…or would it? The ultimate irony? Pointless questions? Other bands that are coming? Rush? Reo Speedwagon? Styx? Kansas? The Buzzcocks? I totally want to see The Buzzcocks. They are coming to double door. I gotta make that happen. I think it’s on a Sunday or something. I need more information. I have the information. That’s why the internet rules. Sunday, May 23 at Double Door. Then Monday, the Ponys are playing at the Pritzker Stage at Millenium park. Lots to do fo sho.
I really have a ton to say. I am drawing a blank. We are losing people at work left and right. It’s a bummer. I’m glad that they are moving on to greener pastures (hopefully), and it obviously solidifies the jobs of those that stay (read me), so that’s good too. The bummer is that I lost my buddy. His name is Dave. He’s from China. He is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met and I was trying to learn from him or hang with him so some of his intelligence would rub off. I don’t think it did. I was fascinated by the way he thinks in math. I think in words, that’s why I’m a bad writer and flailed through college and somehow came out with an English degree. Dave and I were in the options class together. When people had questions, I would try to answer them in common terms that all should be able to grasp. Well all didn’t always grasp them, so Dave would step in. He would go up to the blackboard and write down the equations, then he would explain the concept by how different variables affected the outcome of the equation. So for example, when time is in the denominator, and it increases, it makes the overall number smaller, so an increase in time causes a decrease in delta, or whatever. He would say, “Dis guy affects dis guy, and we can forget about dis guy.” Each piece was a “guy” I thought that was trippy. I didn’t know math was a bunch of little “guys” hanging around together. That’s what math is though, you can book it. Well I wish Dave well. He’s a smart mother. Before he came to our company he was working at Carnegie Mellon writing code to teach computers how to see. I shit you not. He’ll be ok. His real name is not Dave either. He just goes by that. His real name is Xuhui. I have no idea how to pronounce that. Dave is easier. Or maybe in China Xuhui sounds like Dave. I doubt it, but it’s fun to think about.
Oh well the work stories are flowing so why hassle it? When I started here, Compliance and Operational Risk shared an office. There were 6 people in there. We were a motley crew for sure. Well one woman, who was way talented was a contractor. Her contract expired and she left. Then Opererational risk moved out. That left 3. Then Compliance moved out. Then one of the guys from Compliance left. He was my bud from Michigan and he was an outdoorsman (still is I believe.) He left. Now one of the operational risk guys is leaving too. So there were six in the office, now there are 3 out of the office. Old times. Old spaces. Old disgraces (well not really). They are all moving on to greener pastures and the rest of us will pick up the pieces. Life goes on. It’s good to see that the economy is picking up, and that there are opportunities. 1 year ago, it was hold on to your job with a death grip. I guess the job market is loosening up.
There’s more, but I can’t think of anything. We’re all meeting for drinks tonight to say goodbye. That will be good. It was supposed to be drinks for 1 guy, but I think it will basically be for 3 now. Weird. Oh well. Keep on keepin on
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The metal
The best thing about being in a band is the drama. Seriously it’s better than a soap opera. Nothing against the people that I had the pleasure of jamming with, but it’s just a fact, it’s hard to get 4 people to play the same song the right way, let alone get 4 personalities to agree on issues outside of the music. So, with that, my tenure as drummer for Bleach Battalion is over. It just sounded like there were a lot of forces outside of the music that we couldn’t get over. Basically the band is one person, and she wrote all the songs, sings, and plays guitar. She can be backed by pretty much anyone, and that jams for her. She’s very talented and I hope she finds the right people, so that the band can move forward. I don’t really get the politics of it all, but it doesn’t matter. I just don’t think I was a good fit for the band. They really need someone who can represent the same way that they represent. I can play the songs, and enjoy playing the songs, but I don’t live the life. They live the life, and that means something special to them. I think they need a drummer who lives that life too and who can fight for the issues that the band espouses. Something like that. Anyway, I’m out of the band, and that’s ok. I’ve got plenty of other things to worry about right now. I still really like BB and the music. They said they’d keep me in mind for some of their other projects, so that’s cool. I’m glad that I was good enough to hang on a musical level, that was big for me. I haven’t played the drums in weeks though. I gotta get on that.
Big weekend. I love to break news and destroy a well kept secret, so here goes. I hit Old Town Social for the second time and it was just as jamming as the first time I hit it. If you haven’t been there, you gotta check it out. I really can’t remember a place that packed in the ladies like this. I don’t remember what crobar was like back in the day, or way before many of the people in my office were born, there was a place called Kaboom. Those places packed in the ladies, but not like OTS. The nice thing about OTS other than the ratio, which I have to put at about at least 1 to 1, is the fact that the women who do hang there are also very attractive. Double winner, lotsa women, and very hot women. That works. So my buddy and I are gonna start going there every night. That’s the thing about these places, you can’t go there all the time, you gotta pick your spots. So we prolly will only go there every other night. They have a jamming beer menu there too. Lotsa tasty brews to choose from. Although it’s not cheap, and I did try the food there and it wasn’t very good. I think restaurants can’t serve burgers medium anymore cuz some people got sick. Well my burger from OTS was way too well done. Not tasty. The plethora of babes def made up for it, and I washed the char down with some tasty beers. Not bad.
I did not go to the Dashboard Confessional show on my birthday. I just didn’t want to see the band as much as I just wanted my money back. Well getting my money back proved to be a difficult task. I dunno. I haven’t had to sell tix in a while, so I don’t think I was using common sense, and it didn’t help that the show started at 530. I did put 2 of the tix on CL. They sold for a good price and I made the connection there, which was one of my concerns. That left me with 2 tix. So there was nobody buying, I was trying to get more than the market would bear, and the market was non-existant, so that didn’t help. There were some dudes hanging around that didn’t look like DC fans. They were trying to buy some tickets so they could flip them back out. I was getting to the point where I just wanted to move on so I could meet my buddy for a beer on my Birthday. So I talk to one of the guys and he says he’ll give me 70. I say ok, basically get my money back. So he gives me a 100 dollar bill and I give him the tix and 30 bucks. I look at the 100 and immediately think that not only did I give my tickets away, but I paid somebody 30 to take them. It was phony. I shouldn’t be surprised, it looked weird. Didn’t feel like money, and looked like 2 pieces of paper glued together. My initial reaction was, this is fake, maybe someone else will take it. Then I’m like, no, I’m not gonna give away 100 bucks and hope to pass off a phony 100 on someone else. That’s bull. So I say to the guy. “This isn’t real man, give me my tickets back.” I thought for sure that the dude was gonna put up a fight. He was just like, “What are you talkin about?” I said, “This isn’t real man, it’s two pieces of paper glued together.” He’s like, “Alright let me talk to my guy over here.” He gave me back my tix, my money, and I gave him the phony 100. After that, I was done trying to deal with those guys. After about a half hour I came upon somebody legit looking for tix and sold them for 70. After that a bunch of people came around looking. I prolly could’ve gotten more than face, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to roll on.
I think I was talking about preconceived notions a couple of weeks ago. It’s funny how powerful they are. You look at something and you totally have it summed up for what you think it is, and then your expectations just get blown out of the water. My buddy and I went to another joint after OTS and there were some hot women there. I ended up talking to this girl who was off the charts nutty gorgeous. I mean picture the hottest swimsuit model you can think of. This girl’s body was like a Barbie doll. She was tall, had huge fake hooters, and a really tight bod all around. Why she was talking to me, I have no idea, but I wasn’t going to question it. Anyway, it turned out that she lived in Indiana, an hour east of South Bend. It’s like…ok. Although her body was a picture of feminine perfection, she was a total tomboy. She was nuts about animals. I think I mentioned a while back that I’m not really an animal lover. I like them, and I wish them well. Sometimes I eat them. That’s about it. Well this woman had horses. A few of them. And rented a barn somewhere to keep her animals. I tried to hold my own by saying that I care for my kids’ hamster, but I wasn’t getting very far with that. Especially when she came out and told me that she wanted a camel. Hrm. Ok. I think she said camels are really cool and chill, and that unlike horses, they don’t spook easy or something like that. I was willing to take her word for it. She said she can get a baby camel for like 4k. I was like, righteous bucks. Then she went on to tell me about her hairless pygmy cats. It sounded like she had a bunch of them running through her place. She said they stay like kittens their whole lives and I should look into them. I told her I would. I have it on my things to do list. Yeah, so safe to say this person was about as polar opposite as could be from what my preconceived notions of her were. She also had two kids, which was fine, but she didn’t look like she’d had kids, and she looked young for it. But who’s to say these days, it’s hard for me to judge age anyway, she could’ve been in her late 20s. Anyhoo. Gotta love preconceived notions. They are fun for sure.
I’ve got more stories, but I think that will do for now. I’ll try to be more regular with this thing soon.
Big weekend. I love to break news and destroy a well kept secret, so here goes. I hit Old Town Social for the second time and it was just as jamming as the first time I hit it. If you haven’t been there, you gotta check it out. I really can’t remember a place that packed in the ladies like this. I don’t remember what crobar was like back in the day, or way before many of the people in my office were born, there was a place called Kaboom. Those places packed in the ladies, but not like OTS. The nice thing about OTS other than the ratio, which I have to put at about at least 1 to 1, is the fact that the women who do hang there are also very attractive. Double winner, lotsa women, and very hot women. That works. So my buddy and I are gonna start going there every night. That’s the thing about these places, you can’t go there all the time, you gotta pick your spots. So we prolly will only go there every other night. They have a jamming beer menu there too. Lotsa tasty brews to choose from. Although it’s not cheap, and I did try the food there and it wasn’t very good. I think restaurants can’t serve burgers medium anymore cuz some people got sick. Well my burger from OTS was way too well done. Not tasty. The plethora of babes def made up for it, and I washed the char down with some tasty beers. Not bad.
I did not go to the Dashboard Confessional show on my birthday. I just didn’t want to see the band as much as I just wanted my money back. Well getting my money back proved to be a difficult task. I dunno. I haven’t had to sell tix in a while, so I don’t think I was using common sense, and it didn’t help that the show started at 530. I did put 2 of the tix on CL. They sold for a good price and I made the connection there, which was one of my concerns. That left me with 2 tix. So there was nobody buying, I was trying to get more than the market would bear, and the market was non-existant, so that didn’t help. There were some dudes hanging around that didn’t look like DC fans. They were trying to buy some tickets so they could flip them back out. I was getting to the point where I just wanted to move on so I could meet my buddy for a beer on my Birthday. So I talk to one of the guys and he says he’ll give me 70. I say ok, basically get my money back. So he gives me a 100 dollar bill and I give him the tix and 30 bucks. I look at the 100 and immediately think that not only did I give my tickets away, but I paid somebody 30 to take them. It was phony. I shouldn’t be surprised, it looked weird. Didn’t feel like money, and looked like 2 pieces of paper glued together. My initial reaction was, this is fake, maybe someone else will take it. Then I’m like, no, I’m not gonna give away 100 bucks and hope to pass off a phony 100 on someone else. That’s bull. So I say to the guy. “This isn’t real man, give me my tickets back.” I thought for sure that the dude was gonna put up a fight. He was just like, “What are you talkin about?” I said, “This isn’t real man, it’s two pieces of paper glued together.” He’s like, “Alright let me talk to my guy over here.” He gave me back my tix, my money, and I gave him the phony 100. After that, I was done trying to deal with those guys. After about a half hour I came upon somebody legit looking for tix and sold them for 70. After that a bunch of people came around looking. I prolly could’ve gotten more than face, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to roll on.
I think I was talking about preconceived notions a couple of weeks ago. It’s funny how powerful they are. You look at something and you totally have it summed up for what you think it is, and then your expectations just get blown out of the water. My buddy and I went to another joint after OTS and there were some hot women there. I ended up talking to this girl who was off the charts nutty gorgeous. I mean picture the hottest swimsuit model you can think of. This girl’s body was like a Barbie doll. She was tall, had huge fake hooters, and a really tight bod all around. Why she was talking to me, I have no idea, but I wasn’t going to question it. Anyway, it turned out that she lived in Indiana, an hour east of South Bend. It’s like…ok. Although her body was a picture of feminine perfection, she was a total tomboy. She was nuts about animals. I think I mentioned a while back that I’m not really an animal lover. I like them, and I wish them well. Sometimes I eat them. That’s about it. Well this woman had horses. A few of them. And rented a barn somewhere to keep her animals. I tried to hold my own by saying that I care for my kids’ hamster, but I wasn’t getting very far with that. Especially when she came out and told me that she wanted a camel. Hrm. Ok. I think she said camels are really cool and chill, and that unlike horses, they don’t spook easy or something like that. I was willing to take her word for it. She said she can get a baby camel for like 4k. I was like, righteous bucks. Then she went on to tell me about her hairless pygmy cats. It sounded like she had a bunch of them running through her place. She said they stay like kittens their whole lives and I should look into them. I told her I would. I have it on my things to do list. Yeah, so safe to say this person was about as polar opposite as could be from what my preconceived notions of her were. She also had two kids, which was fine, but she didn’t look like she’d had kids, and she looked young for it. But who’s to say these days, it’s hard for me to judge age anyway, she could’ve been in her late 20s. Anyhoo. Gotta love preconceived notions. They are fun for sure.
I’ve got more stories, but I think that will do for now. I’ll try to be more regular with this thing soon.
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