Dexter - Season 4

I just finished Season 4 of Dexter last night. Awesome stuff, and the best season yet. I'm almost tempted to get Showtime to watch the new episodes.

John Lithgow absolutely lived up to what I've heard as the most frightening serial killer on the show yet, and a true match for Dexter. I love the way he rattled Dexter enough that the implications of Dexter's resulting errors will bleed over into the new season. Great writing, and great acting performances all around. Very highly recommended!

I really wonder how much longer they can keep this show running, especially after a season as powerful as this one. Almost anything afterward has to feel anticlimactic. I'd like to see the show end with Season 5 or 6 with Dexter being caught or killed, with some kind of twist involved. If I were writing it, I'd probably end it with his being killed in the midst of his serial killer activities in such a way that his actions are misinterpreted in the end in a heroic way, preserving his nice guy reputation while he actually and deservedly pays the ultimate price.

Three Person Splunge - Refocus

It was just Jason, Sal, and myself this time, with Nick out of the picture due to work, Jared out due to other activities, and the singer situation still unresolved.

We managed to get through almost all of the songs, sounding relatively good, but actually did as much talking as playing. We've identified at least one element of our rhythm problem and tried playing a little differently to correct it. I don't think it's 100% of the problem, but the change certainly seemed to help, so I'm willing to follow it through and try it on the other songs. Sal recorded several songs for this session again, and I want to give those recordings a good listen to see how much difference it made.

We're giving up on the flexible line-up idea, since most of the group simply doesn't have the skills to pull it off and it hasn't been working out the way I'd hoped in any case. We're going to try some other changes as well, though I'm less certain of how much impact those will have.

There won't be another September session, but we should have Nick back on board and a new singer to audition for the October session. I'm looking forward to it.

Meditation and Refocus

I was slacking for a while on meditation and yoga, and started to feel the difference, so I got back on top of both over the last week or so. The really positive aspect to that is I'm feeling much better, much more aware of what to do and how to do it from here.

Re: music. Sal (one of our guitar players) taped parts of the last session. Listening to the recordings showed me that, in spite of a lot of practice over the last year and a half, my singing hasn't improved very much. I've gained a little skill, but I'm still limited by the voice nature gave me, and that's a fair voice at best. Nick (another one of the guitar players) sounds better on the recording in some respects, even with his lack of experience. I'm better at knowing what to do; he sounds better doing it. Not that I ever claimed to be lead singer material, but I was hoping I'd improved more than I did.

This reminds me that I'd be best off getting back to my customary role focusing on bass and backing vocals. I'm a good instrumentalist and only a workable (if experienced) singer, so I'm going to have to operate accordingly. And unfortunately that's not what the group I have needs from me. Sal, Jason and I are getting together to play tomorrow, and all concerned have some issues to discuss, so we'll see what comes out of that.

Re: roleplaying. The urge to write roleplaying material is creeping back, specifically to write the Lovecraftian GURPS Cabal convention scenario I've been meaning to get back to. I'll make some notes. The home GURPS Cabal campaign is going well, and I think that helps.

I'm still having something of a creative identity crisis, but if it's about getting my proportions right, I'm working my way through it.

Magic: The Obsession

We recently had a Magic: The Gathering session, which was the first in a long time. The occasion was that some of our younger generation of players are heading off to college or the military, and this was going to be the last time we'd have them around for quite a while.

I went a very unfortunate 2-6 for the occasion, in spite of bringing some of my better decks. Only one of the games was a blowout (most came down to the last four life points or so on both sides), but damn, I haven't done that badly in years. There are a couple of reasons for this. I think the main reason is that the level of competition has changed. The more casual (and therefore less formidable) players have largely dropped away, leaving the hardcore. No easy wins anymore.

So, I'll work the last cards I purchased a year or two ago into my decks and hope for better next time.

GURPS Cabal Home Campaign Session

Things finally seem to be moving again. We had a really good session of my GURPS Cabal home campaign. I'd dropped a major clue at the climax of the previous session, and after moving a few subplots along, the players had the chance to follow up on that clue, pertaining to who killed the ghost character.

Skipping most of the details, the characters were able to figure out the location of the werewolf who actually struck the killing blow, and nothing was going to stop the ghost from leading the attack. And naturally, there was a pack of werewolves that went along with that particular werewolf. The heroes came out on top, but not without cost. Three werewolves, including the one who killed Lauren, were dead by the end of the fight. The vampire cop was covered in blood, having needed to drain the werewolves to keep from dying himself, the newest member of the team was unconscious and in the form of a dove, and two of the others were seriously wounded and barely standing. Only the ghost herself was left in her usual state, and she is furious because she can't ask a dead werewolf who gave the order to kill her and why. The police will arrive in minutes, most of the player characters can barely move, and those PCs will have a lot of explaining to do if they can't get out of there fast.

Good session, giving us a lot to do at the beginning of the next. It was one of those times that remind me why I love to run games.

Still In Neutral

I had a wonderful idea for my local GURPS Cabal campaign yesterday. It's one of those ideas that shapes everything else around it, so I'm happy about that. It's even good enough that I'd like to find a way to bring it into the convention continuity if I can.

Other than that, though, I'm still feeling creatively uninspired. The good thing about that is that I've gotten a lot of yard work done this past week because I haven't felt much like doing anything else. I'm still maintaining all of the things I usually do (if not with any particular enthusiasm), but I'm not doing anything new with any of them.

I wouldn't call it a depression; it's just a blah feeling. So I'll just keep an eye out for something new to fire me up, and try to be patient until that happens. Maybe tonight's GURPS Cabal session will help.

General Restlessness

I seem to be stuck on a number of fronts at the moment. My recent staycation found me extremely restless partway through, and I realized that one of the reasons was that I hadn't gone to DexCon and missed the brief change of scenery/pace that usually provides.

My band's search for a new lead singer has stalled, with the usual resources seemingly exhausted without result. We're functional with me singing lead, but I'm not happy in the role. I'd rather focus on playing bass, locking in with the drummer, and the occasional vocal harmony part. It's good practice and I'm trying to think of it that way, but it's hard when I'm unhappy doing it and there is no end in sight.

And of course there are the usual work frustrations, which anyone has to some extent. I loved a comment I saw on Facebook that stated that there's a support group for that called "Everybody", and they meet at the bar.

The last month or so just seemed to be one of those times when everything I do seems to get jammed up by people or things beyond my control. I could cope well enough with some of that (after all, it happens to everyone to some degree), but lately it just seems as though it's happening with virtually everything in my life. I'll just have to try to be patient and bear in mind that something will have to change, sooner or later. Maybe I'm trying to force change more than I realize.

Four Person Splunge - Comings and Goings

Participants this time included Jason, Sal, Nick, and myself. Jared was a casualty of a scheduling issue and Steph is gone for good, as I'd mentioned in a previous entry.

I'd expected morale to be down a bit with Steph's departure, but Sal's return seemed to more than offset that, and on the whole, things were rather tighter than they've been for most sessions. Vocals obviously lost a lot of zing without that other voice. My own vocal quality was up and down, since I've been battling congestion again recently, though by the end of the session I seemed to be clear enough.

Musical highlights were the exuberant opening "Hotel Yorba" and a blistering version of "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World" with solos from both Nick and Sal. You could tell Sal was really glad to be back.

We had a couple of firsts as well. We finally did our first group jam, which turned out well enough. And Sal requested that I perform one of my own songs at the very end of the session, which I did, though very nervously, since I was caught entirely by surprise. The guys seemed to like it, though, and we'll probably try it as a group at one of the upcoming sessions.

We talked over what we're going to do in terms of a lead singer. The main point of agreement seemed to be that we'd like to find a female singer if possible to give us a better range of options, since Nick and I can cover the male vocals well enough when we need them. An interesting point of conflict came out of this discussion. Basically, I'm the only one in the band who'd like to eventually play out, and even I'm not in a hurry to do it, which means that any prospective singer shouldn't be someone who is in a hurry to get in front of an audience, and limits our options severely. I'll be trying to get Nick to pick up more lead vocals, but it looks as though I'm back to carrying the bulk of the load again for the foreseeable future, and we won't be doing much with harmony.

The main reason most of the group is opposed to playing out is because they don't feel ready, and I'm fine with that. I wouldn't try to force anyone onto a stage if they don't want to be there. In time, either they'll feel ready, I'll give up on the idea, or I'll decide I have the time a more serious band requires and will have to leave this group. Since it'll be a while before I see myself having that kind of time, I'll enjoy what we've got for now and revisit the situation if my circumstances change.

Steph

Our musical project has lost our lead singer. Steph sent us an e-mail late Sunday night letting us know that she'd gotten a new job in Michigan and would have to quit as a result. She still has family in this area and expressed interest in touching base with us whenever she is in town. She might be able to guest with us at some point, but she's done as a regular.

Damn. And damn again. I finally find a lead singer who has a great voice, is willing to go just about anywhere musically, isn't a pain in the backside personally, and wasn't already in someone else's band, and she has to leave the group for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with music or even the personality conflicts that are so typical of rock bands.

So it's back to search mode for a new lead singer. Bob is good, but unwilling to be a regular. Nick has potential, but isn't ready to handle that many songs on a regular basis. Which leaves me carrying most of the lead vocals again. One thing I've learned from my experience with this group is exactly how much singing lead I want to do, which is roughly a third of the total number of songs. Even half was still too much, and now I'm back up to 85% or so. I'd rather focus on playing bass and singing harmony for the most part, only occasionally taking the spotlight.

We were very lucky in finding Steph, in that she had just the right combination of skills and attitude for what we're doing. I'm enjoying playing music again too much to give up, but this is a tough loss for us as a group. Maybe it's best that we lost her now, though, before we'd built more of what we're doing around her.

Jodi

Somewhere in the late eighties or early nineties, I was part of a band called Mirage. I've often joked about it as the Fleetwood Mac tribute band I was in because we not only did a lot of Fleetwood Mac material (which suited us especially well), we also covered a lot of other groups (Tom Petty, Eagles, CSNY, etc.) with that similar west coast sound from the same time period. It was one of the better bands I've been in, largely on the strength of the group vocals. As happens with most musical groups eventually, issues emerged between us and the band broke up. I remained friendly with Tom and Jodi (the Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks of the group), and played with Tom again in other projects afterward, but hadn't stayed in touch with Jodi, in spite of the fact that we always got along well and she had (and has) a fine voice. I suppose the main reason was that I strongly associated her with that particular kind of music, and when Mirage broke up, I was more than ready to do something different.

Now that I'm playing music again, through the wonders of the internet I searched for some old bandmates, and lo and behold, there was Jodi. Better yet, she was still performing, and scheduled to play with her current band at a place I'd planned to check out anyway. And so tonight I went to see her.

I wasn't sure what sort of reception I'd get. We'd been friends, but it had been fifteen years or so since we'd seen each other. I'm pleased to be able to say I couldn't have asked for a warmer reception. I approached her just as she was turning around from the bar and asked her if her band knew any Britney Spears songs, since that was about as far away from what her band plays as I could think of at that moment. She said no very quickly, but managed to maintain that professional veneer you have to have to deal with some of the lunatics that make ridiculous requests of band members. Then I just smiled and said "Hi, Jodi", and gave her a moment to look at me, since of course my appearance has changed since she'd last seen me. She laughed as she registered who I was and hugged me, saying she'd just been thinking of me, as she'd come across Mirage's drummer on Facebook recently. She was still up on what our other former bandmates had been doing and filled me in.

We didn't have long to talk before she had to go to perform. When you sing in a band with someone, you become extremely familiar with that person's voice, but it had been so long that I'd at least partially forgotten just how good she could be, or maybe she's gotten better over the years. She really stunned me with the quality of her performance on a couple of songs, and even brought out an old personal favorite that their band doesn't usually play.

We were able to talk a little more between sets, but she had other people to talk to and limited time to do it. She said she was really happy to see me. She'd been thinking about how good the old band had been and missing the harmonies we used to do. A reunion isn't viable, since Tom is largely busy with other musical projects, and it wouldn't really be Mirage without him. I definitely wouldn't mind singing with Jodi again sometime, though. She promised to get in touch, and I'm hoping we can make something happen in some form. At the very least, I'll get out to see her band again sometime soon.