Category Archives: Music

“Whole Lotta Things”

Just me dinking around with “Whole Lotta Things” by Southern Culture on the Skids (SCOTS). When I need to learn a song in a hurry I always appreciate folks who post bass isolation videos like this, so I’m hoping to kinda pass the knowledge along a bit…

This song is off SCOTS 1995 album “Dirt Track Date,” which is wondrous indeed. I’ve enjoyed their stuff ever since I tripped over it a few years ago… The bassist, Mary Huff, has a great tone and style!

Awk!

The Asian Beetles are swarming! And I’m not talking about Korean folks driving VWs – I’m talking about hundreds, if not thousands, of little red bugs all all swarming our happy little home, all trying to find their way in for the winter. And the swarm is just beginning – I imagine it will be much worse in a few hours…

We do have a pest control company that comes out a couple times a year to spray our house. The little buggy bugs will soon perish – hopefully outside!

When we first moved here, just three winters ago, we had Asian Beetles way, way bad. Without exaggeration, I’d go through the house two or three times a day with our “handi-vac” thingy, vacuuming bugs up. There were specific spots where they’d congregate – around the windows, on the ceiling in our laundry room, by the tub upstairs. I’d quit often empty the vacuum bag in the toilet three or four times a day and flush thousands of beetles to their watery little graves.

In other news…

WordPress sucks because I’m stupid. And, this rules:

Saw Los Lonely Boys (as well as several other bands, notably the three-trombone funky rock group Bonerama and Ben Harper) this weekend.

I liked this song.

If you’re reading this on Facebook, you can see the original blog at www.radloffs.net, click on “Blog.”

Saturday Morning, Quickly

For the Guv…

Actually, Dagmar’s not a dragon at all. She’s a dragling. If you get time, check out Randal Spangler’s artwork — he has a whole series of Dagmar and Dewey Dragling art. Fun stuff!


Unexpected Gig

Got called last night to go play at the Farmers’ Market again. It’s 8:45 a.m. and raining. They want us to play from 9:30 to noon… I hope it quits raining. Of course, rain goes well with folk rock and blues, I guess. Especially while people are wandering past fondling their melons…

If you’re reading this on Facebook, you can see the original blog at www.radloffs.net, click on “Blog.”

What’s New? A fine question…

Lots of stuff has happened since I last updated this site. I joined two bands, The Wombats! and the Smokin’ Clams. A few weeks ago I quit the fine Wombats! due to scheduling conflicts, so now I’m down to playing in one band at a time again (though there have been rumors and rumblings about a Hippie Go Lucky reunion gig or three when the Clams take a break – time will tell).

It’s been a goofy summer this year – when it was warm and nice, both Dagmar and I have been busy. When it was cold and nasty and rainy, we had nothing to do. Hence, the bike has languished in the garage, staring forlornly at the wall, dreaming of twisty roads. I’ve promised it that I’ll do better next year. “Keep a stiff front fender,” I said. “We’ve got lots of miles left…” I hope it’s not an empty promise.

Not much is new with Dagmar at the moment. She’s been happily working, and going to see the occasional Clam show on weekends.

Anywhoo, I’m off to update the rest of this site. With any luck, I’ll be able to update it regularly from now on, just in case anyone’s bored enough to read it…

Have a happy day!
Chris & Dagmar

A Random Tidbit

I’m not sure what this is, but I found it amongst my random scribblings… I thought it was entertaining enough to post.

“Yeah, once I was a boogie singer,” sang my buddy Bill, who, while a singer is pretty definitely not boogie. “Playin’ in a rock and roll band…” I quit listening at that point, satisfied that Bill was indeed singing the right song, and concentrated on my bass for a bit. It’s one of my favorite songs to play, but it always takes me a few seconds past the intro to synchronize with the drummer enough to put my fingers on auto-pilot. I ignore the flashing lights for a moment and stare at my fingers, watching them skitter across the fretboard. “Yep,” my mind said to me, “you’re in the right key.” I listen for the kick drum to make sure I’m in the right groove, which is surprisingly hard to do on a small stage – with no room for monitors the drums had to compete acoustically with two guitar amps and my monster bass rig. After a few beats, though, my mind sorted through the mush of noise on stage and found the rhythmic thud of the kick drum. “Yep,” my mind told me. “You’re playing it right. Now quit staring at your fingers and dance around or something.”

So I danced around a bit. I never argue with myself in public. It’s unsettling for others.