Conrad Blog:

Overheard in the Vicinity of My Cubicle

Overheard in the Vicinity of My Cubicle, this 30th of January, 2007 the year of our Lord:

"Hi, do you work on the Internets?"

The speaker of said atrocity noted that she, in fact, worked on the IntrAnets. And needed a copy machine. And apparently needed one of us Internets gurus to help her with it. Funny.

Song-A-Week 5: Nostalgia

The fifth song! Woot! Firefox dictionary doesn't know the word woot???? ADD ADD ADD!!! That's just ridiculous.

Anyway.... This song is called "Nostalgia." Its more or less about how at any given point in your life, you do not have enough information to make reliable decisions about what is best for you... You're lucky if you can beat pure luck half the time. Oh and I borrowed from Soren Kierkegaard. He had the whole "Life is lived forward but understood in reverse" thing, as far as I can tell. Anyway, more production than usual on this one. Don't get used to it, it probably won't happen again.

Couple notes: Pretend there's something cool going on in the intro. Like a solo or something. Also pretend the midi drums didn't suck. There's just there to give you an idea of what I'm thinking might be going on. Mix is, of course, rough. Sorry if it blows.

Nostalgia
(C) 2007 Matthew C Goo

I would never lie to you willingly
Nostalgia just aint what you used to be
Every tone turns yellow in my memory
Nostalgia just aint what you used to be

What it is
is a mirror, oh
What we are
outa control

I would like to see you in that dress
I would like to be somebody else
If we knew then what we know now
Maybe we wouldn't have to guess

Looking back
we played the fool
yeah this time
We'd know the rules
and they wouldn't keep changing
in the middle of the game.

Life seems easier looking backward
Taking time to understand what occurred
Life must be lived looking forward
But it is understood in reverse

So what i means
we don't know a thing
History
Is all turned around
Its the blind ahead of the sighted
leading them god knows where.
leading them god knows where.

Tech notes: drums and piano are from reason. Bass direct, Acoustic is a modded 57, Vocals is that modded sm57 too, I like that way that sounds. 12 string electric is through my pedals and the "ech 2" (tech 21) amp direct out. Nothing too tricky here. That piano patter I play I pretty much ripped directly from Paul McCartney on "Too Much Rain" from his new cd.

I'm going to get an RSS feed going for the song a week project, so you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or your feed aggregator of choice. Look for bulletins.

Eat Communism, it tastes like chicken and... Pasta.

So the app that I'm working on at work has a random wierd image pop up every time you refresh the login screen. Two of my current favorites are these:

and.....

wait... i thought the Italians were fascists...?

Song-A-Week 4: I Know How This Ends

Hello All - sorry its sorta late.
Didn't have time to get guitars in. You'll just have to imagine it huge and building I guess.

I Know How This Ends
(C) 2007 Matthew Good

And every story
has an end
this is it.
You're gonna get around this.
I've already read this novel.

And every chapter
upsets the others
before.
You're gonna get beyond this.
I know how it has to end.

Every sentence
another step,
Just walk.
You're gonna get through this.
I already know the ending.

Every word
weighs a ton
trips you up
You're gonna get around this.
I already read the last few lines.

Hey
I skipped ahead
I know how this one ends.
Hey
Its not so bad
I know how this ends.

Every heartache
has it's beauty
You're gonna make it through this.
I've already read this one.

Hey
I skipped ahead
I know how this one ends.
Hey
Its not so bad
I know how this ends.

Let me know what you think. I know what I think, I think, but I don't want it to tamper with what you think. You jive?

A few random pics

Here's a few random pics that I got off my phone the same time I got the ones from "breakfast" - but they didn't quite fit with the "work" motif. So here they are.

cuties. can I say that? I think i can.

I seem to be making that face a lot in pictures...

Whoah, eh, easy there. Lets keep this PG.

Breakfast at Work - Edit, read it again.

So at work we usually have a quick dev meeting on Fridays to talk about what we've been working on, what's coming up, etc. We usually have donuts and/or bagels. Its nice.

Today, my sorta-boss dude Tom brought in... an electric griddle. And bacon. And pancake mix. And sausages. And cooked all of us breakfast during the meeting. It was fantastic. And surreal.

There he is. Cooking breakfast.

There he is. Locking Shawn in his office. With duct tape.
Speaking of the office, here's a picture of me smiling at my new cube. Sorry its exposed so terribly, its a cell-phone camera.

And here's one of shawn - with a big check:

Yeah, that's about the size of a typical Christmas bonus at my company... Yeah right.

Song-A-Week 3: Worlds Unknown

So I am kinda liking the space theme from last week. Maybe its that I just can't get over how good Aimee Mann's Lost in Space album is. Or my fascination with Soviet Russia. Who knows?

On a side note, I'm thinking about running a side story with these song-a-week entries about a fictitious animal not unlike a zebra that I am calling a Greebops. There are many different kinds of Greebops, and they all make the sound "Twee!! Twee!!" Think of it as a short feature.

Anyway here's a new song about space.

"Worlds Unknown"
(C) 2007 Matt Good, don't steal it.

Worlds Unknown
Matt Good
Song-A-Week Project, Week 3
1-15-07

Lets take a walk on the moon
Just you and me and the stars
Impossible it may be
Nevertheless here we are

Just had to leave everyone
Cuz I was feeling alone
And crowded worlds don't help
As much as worlds unknown

Come on get lost with me
We could lose control
Maroon ourselves on a beautiful wasteland
Teach ourselves to let go

I'll rub my eyes like a child
You'll have to pinch me again
I've never felt quite this way
so how could I be dreaming?

Eliminate all the messy complications
Float away from the careless implications

Hold on
Hold on
I was feeling alone
take me to worlds unknown

Don't even pack a bag
cuz we will never come back
I was feeling alone
take me to worlds unknown

Eliminate all the messy complications
Float away from the careless implications
the catty fights and taken lives
and sticky situations
We're surrounded by dark

Hold on
Hold on
I was feeling alone
take me to worlds unknown

Don't even pack a bag
cuz we will never come back
I was feeling alone
take me to worlds unknown

There you have it. I like the really BASSSSY sustainy guitar. Sorry some of the vocals suck. Its a demo, whaddaya do? This song reallllllly needs drums. I couldn't get drums in my apartment, soo it has no drums. Too bad.

Thank you all for the honest good feedback I've been getting so far. I'm realllly learning a lot here. So with that in mind, dig into it!

Song-A-Week: The Way Off The Ground

I think I'm about 45 minutes late on this one. Sorry everyone. (As if anyone was sitting on the computer, refreshing my blog every 30 seconds exactly at midnight anyway)

Here is song #2. It is copyright Matthew C Good, which is me. Don't steal it. You are of course free to pass the mp3 along to friends. The copyright is in place so Celine Dion doesn't make MEGA MILLIONS by recording my oh-so-incredibly good songs... Don't claim it as yours anyway.

The Way Off The Ground
(C) 2006 Matthew Good

I am not afraid
to tear the skies apart
to fly out into space
fly out to the dark
to find out where you are

I will be alright
only in your arms
Ticker tape parade
Catch a ride on a shooting star
Tell me where you are

And the first words I'll say
The way off the ground
comes from being let down.
As I'm floating away
The way off the ground
comes from being let down

And the first words I'll speak
The way off the ground
comes from being let down
Are mired in irony
The way off the ground
comes from being let down

Worlds and men and things
of which I tire quickly
only do so much
soothing only fickly
who will even miss me?

So I am not ashamed
to be so devestated
Chart a course for me
Continue unabated
my soul will be placated

There you have song #2. Please let me know what you think, what I should do with it, and which song is better, #1 or #2. For recording geeks, I used a beat up Shure MC41 and my cb mic for the background vocals. Everything else is a modded 57 i think. For music geeks, there's a slide guitar in there somewhere. Oh, and a diminished arpeggio. Comments, commence!

Time > People

According to the OED, the most commonly used noun in the English language is "time." "Person" came in at #2. The method for figuring this out was for OED people to look on the internet at newspapers, blogs, fictions, and journals... Which doesn't seem very scientific or accurate. Failing to take into account spoken language seems like it would be a big deal. Anyway, here's a bbc article on it.