Not That I Endorse That Sort of Behavior

A couple tidbits from Google Analytics that I meant to mention in the last post. Don't worry, I'm not going to be talking about numbers since that's about equivilent on the rudeness scale as talking about money. (Although Blogger's cannibalization of Feedburner has doubled my subscriber rate. Yatta!)

More literate and awexome sections of the audience probably recognize where I got the name of this blog, but many more of you are likely aware of the other implications of the word "torrent" on the Intarwebs. While the BitTorrent medium is used to legitimately distribute massive amounts of open-source and Creative Commons stuff, it is less often the case than a virus labeled as the new Lil Jon single. (worst case scenario)

I didn't realize what sort of implications this had for me until I once checked the Keywords section of my Analytics. (For those you don't obsess over your Analytics or *gasp!* don't blog, this shows what phrases people have punched into The Google Machine to get here.) After the usual suspects I was surprised to find "the bad plus torrent". For the records I've actually purchased all the Bad Plus records, even Suspicious Activity?. So I began to wonder what else people were hoping to illicit acquire from my little knowledge shack.

Other selections include Pippi Longstocking, Point Black, Boston Beatdown, Kenny Garrett, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Pit Fighter, the Amen break, Black Lab's remix of the Transformers theme, and Samuel Adler. Which I guess, really sums up what this whole operation is about. Most unusual, one of the more popular phrases was the terrifyingly specific "torrent sibelius complete symphonies 2 bso colin davis". Good luck with that.

POSTA HUNN DREAD!!!111

Milestones are just a reason for celebration when there's no other reason, and since I clearly need quite the reason nowadays to actually get around to posting these days. *le sigh* In past weeks I've traveled to Tennessee and am currently working for a hotel kind enough to employ me for a single week of 12-hour shifts. (Which will at the moment remain nameless, lest they have some sort of blogging clause.) So it's not like a haven't been doing anything.

I realize that my significantly downgraded posting schedule probably has less to do with me summering in Wisconsin and more with the incongruous decision of musicians to take the summer off. This will be tested in a little less than a month when I'm back in Boston before the "season" starts up. Originally I was hoping to have my hundredth post about a month ago when I would have turned one (how metal is it that started on 6/6/06?) but that didn't work out and I lost interest. Much like the lolcomposers problem once I decided that I was going to do some sort of retrospective post I couldn't actually write about anything else until I got around to doing it.

So far I'd put this site in the Double-A level (to use a baseball metaphor), capable of a few decent hits but lacking consistency. This is mainly the fault of my ass-backwards method of reading not just the music blogs I subscribe to, but all the blogs I subscribe to before I even start writing. See also the previously alluded to lolcomposers writer's block. I could also stand to try and tailor things so that they are more unique to my perspective, say classical guitar for example. I blame this on the fact that I read infinitely more musicology blogs than classical guitar blogs. Are there classical guitar blogs? Anyway, now that I've gotten to triple digit posts I feel like I've ejected a decent amount of thoughts onto teh Intarwebs. Nothing quite like On an Overgrown Path, but I'm carving out my share.

Back to work!

Happy Freedom Explosion Day

Am I the only person in the America not way pumped about Joey Chestnut defeating Tageru Kobayashi in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest? I know that today is supposed to be all about Freedom and 'Merica, but ESPN commentators were about to make me have a reversal. "The belt will return to America on this Independence Day, not far from where George Washington clashed with British forces!" Seriously, I didn't make that up.

Now I am all for the socially acceptable jingoism that is the motivator behind international sport, throughout my stay in Ellsworth I was furiously texting to find the results to the CONCACAF Gold Cup. (Which we won.) But these are hot dogs, guys. Sure it's just a different set of arbitrary conditions, but it's not like every country (that can afford to have competitive eating, whoops!) sent an digestive representative.

Besides, Kobayashi is 29 and has arthritis in his jaw. That's like saying you beat Jordan when he was on the Wizards.

We're Not Professional Apologizers, We're....Musicians

I've dropped the ball before, but this was a month. Holy crap. So here I go explaining myself.

Luckily I can begin by blaming another people. Apparently just like bowling, musicology is not a summer sport. So Dial M decide they are going to be agitators and start themselves a meme. Now lolcomposers should be right up my alley, since I'm a big advocate of both lolcats and lolbots. Unfortunately I had the WORST WRITER'S BLOCK I'VE HAD IN MY LIFE. I was going to post an attempt, but I can't even get it to work in GIMP. I am teh sUke. I could have really used that built in iPhoto support.

About the time I decide to let that go I spent three days entertaining and wandering around Illinois, including a visit to Northwestern. Any of you guys in the program there? I'm vaguely interested in the musicology/library sciences combo platter, but don't really need to have three masters degrees.

However, this all culminated in my grandfather passing away last Tuesday. I've spend the balance of the past two weeks at the ancestral farm, which lacks access to the Global Interweb Machine but to its credit has housed five generations of Hansons. (Seven, if you count intermittent vistors.) I did jack into the world briefly, but I had to go wardriving around the nearby town of Ellsworth just like those creepy guys they tell you about on the television. I'll have some stories from the countryside and maybe about my grandpa too, but we all know how I am about promising posts.

But now I am back in my rightful place, sitting with my laptop in front of the television alternating between SportsCenter and Headline News. Except now I'm watching Fist of Fury (Bruce Lee!). Let's go July.