2022 in review

 I've been missing the outlet of just laying down thoughts, and JimVentions is still here!   So here's what 2022 looked like for me:

WORK:   My work for Allina continues to be rewarding, though it sure feels like a lot of the time it's all about wrangling vendors to do things I (as a former developer) think their software SHOULD do, versus what it ACTUALLY does:   It's entirely possible that I'm the problem here - being far enough out from development that I don't understand the underlying complexity...  but I really don't think I am.  It's been over 5 years since I started there, and there are fresh challenges and discoveries every week:  One of my best gigs ever.

My friends at the Chartis group keep finding me little bits of work to keep me busy:   Some highlights from 2021-2022 included swooping in to design an architecture for a south side of Chicago care management network, finally handing the reins of an Indiana healthcare system Data Warehouse team to an FTE, and parachuting in to interim lead a biomedical (read:  medical technology repair team) group in Philly.   I also consulted on three analytics strategies for other hospital systems.   OH MAN I almost forgot I got to do two Radiology system selection projects too!  Ok wow that's a lot of stuff.   Note that for most of these, it was 80-100 hours total, with me being the "greybeard" subject matter expert, supported by a larger team, so it's not like I had 12 full time jobs.   Excited to see what 2023 brings.

While I did do some business travel, it wasn't enough to preserve my Platinum status, and I'll be demoted to Gold status now.   Oh, the indignity.

I did travel for fun this year, though - a couple of trips out to see Bella at college in Lansing (two involved moving stuff, one was just a "hello").   She's let us know she plans to stay out that direction, so 2023 will likely have FEWER cross country minivan trips with overloaded cargo spaces.   She seems to be doing really well out there, and I'm so proud of her!

I also got to see my good friend Caesar twice this year - once a flyby while I was out doing work in Corvallis OR, and then a 5 day visit to see Heaven 17 and celebrate his 50th birthday (he's just a BABY).

I learned about the existence of the Bartesian cocktail machine - a dangerous tool in the wrong hands.   Caesar's got a workout at his 50th birthday bash.  At the party, Caesar and I played a 10 song set for his friends, which was a true pleasure to do:  I arranged "sparse" versions of our songs using an MPC Live sequencer, Caesar played guitar and sang, and I played drums live.   

It reminded me of my Senior Project at Macalester, where I used my Death Star synths to arrange a full backing track, while I played drums.   It was me reading "Tales of Houdini" by Rudy Rucker to a big band arrangement.

Speaking of music - LOTS OF MUSIC this year:   Caesar and I have been finishing up our second album which should release in January.  This one is very different - we've been referring to it as our "Prog Rock" album - and we've both stretched our skills a lot - his singing just keeps getting better, and my arrangements took a more organic feel...  really excited to hear what people think about this.  We also released 2 EPs earlier in the year - one with our take on covers (including what if Depeche Mode sang Broken Wings, and what if Duran Duran sang Pure Energy), one a more spare synthpop feel (Basic).  Also released a single with a newer friend, John Ghadimi, as Other2. 

And work continues on Radiant, the musical I'm writing with Liz Heinecke about Loie Fuller and Marie Curie.  I have written 5 songs so far, and have learned a LOT in the process - including what reasonable singing ranges are - I've had to do some radical reworking of keys and melody lines to be actually performable.   We've set a target of June 2023 for our first rehearsals with local groups, so I need to keep cracking on this!

Add to this the Teardowns had one of our more busy summers with 8 gigs and a lot of new songs added to the repertoire.  Playing drums with the Teardowns is just wonderfully therapeutic.  We have over 70 songs in our "ready to go" list, which makes our sets a lot more varied, and keeps me on my toes.   

Family wise, Pamela and I have really been dedicating ourselves to being there for each other and building up our relationship - it's hard work sometimes, but it's wonderful to have a best friend, especially as we're looking down the road at an empty nest (with Bella already flying the coop, and just 2 more years before Isaac heads to college!). Also focusing on developing our non-kid related adult friendships so that we have a support network going forward.

Isaac has been loving life at PIM arts high school - he asks me to take him early every day so he can hang out with friends before class.  He's also had a great year with the Morningside Theater - a "starring" role as Patrick Star in Spongebob, and lots of volunteer time with younger kids, being a role model for the next generation of performers in the neighborhood.   

As noted above, Bella is really happy studying Entomology, and has some really good friends at school, and a really sweet partner in Liza.  We're so happy for her in her new world, but it's bittersweet to see her out there continuing her life outside of our zone.   The empty nest is REAL.

Health:   We've all been hit with a variety of illnesses as the masks are coming off and we're sharing viruses in public places again:  Pamela and Bella both got Covid, but having been mega-vaxed had relatively mild cases (though Pamela had positive tests for 3 weeks in there, which was super frustrating... but I took good care of her).  Isaac and I both had respiratory viruses that had us coughing a bit, but were able to make it through.  Both dogs had time "in the cone" - Gesso had a bunch of "schnauzer bumps" removed:  Not malignant, but itchy and so he was chewing them and they were getting infected.   Zinsser decided to chase a squirrel and leap off our new back steps onto our new concrete patio and tore his knee ligaments.   So he had surgery and we're doing physical therapy.  The things we do.

Writing all this down, man, 2022 was busy.  Maybe I'll update more as I think of it.   Happy new year - anyone who still has an alert for when I post.   With Twitter going down, and Facebook being sort of lame, I'm happy to have this outlet where I can post my thoughts - it's been fun going back and reading my old posts too.

Arcade Dream

I'm at an old 1980s video arcade with a friend who eagerly tells me about the new Bill and Ted video game.  "I know a trick to get extra lives - you just need to hold down buttons while restarting the machine" I'm sent around back to flick the switch, but when I look up, I can't restart the machine because Keanu Reeves himself is playing the game surrounded by cheering fans, and he's serious - he really wants to win it.  It wouldn't be fair to reboot the machine now.

I look over and there's an educational kiosk with a touch screen.  It is playing an interactive CD Rom documentary about "The US Mail Camel Service" - something in the 1920s where every state had an honorary mail camel, with mail bags slung across its back, and a jaunty cap.

Touch on a state on a map, and a grainy photo appears of that state's mail camel with a brief biography and an 8 bit rendering of that state's unique "Mail Camel Song" that kids learned in school.

Later, I've tracked down what appears to be the "Retirement home" for the last surviving Mail Camels.  It's in the back yard of a house in Duluth.  It's a cold day with snow on the ground,  I can see the camels in a pen around the back and head back to see them.  As I approach, I realize that the camels are actually just cut outs - FAKES - and I look down to see I've walked into a field of poisonous snakes.  I'm know I'm doomed as they coil around my feet, and I wake up.

Surgery Dream

I am in the mountains, going to an elite surgery center.  I'm driving up the road to the clinic, and a bald eagle flies up along side my car.  I look over at him and we make eye contact, and he nods, then veers off.

The surgery center mingles the waiting area with the surgery area, so there are alternately people sitting and reading magazines, and others on tables being operated on.  I'm sitting in a beanbag chain watching an old style console television when my surgeon comes over to talk:

"We're going to make your teeth so much better" she says, and holds a hand mirror in front of my mouth to show me, then realizes that she's only showing me my regular teeth, so she grabs a small hammer and pliers and starts moving things around in there - then shows me my mouth and says "see, it's going to be SO much better".

I'm on the operating table, and they've cut my chest open:  Inside is all clockwork and gears, and where my heart should be, there's a small round "tooth factory" where a new set of teeth is being assembled.  It looks a little like an old birth control holder - concentric circles.

They're going to be doing more stuff in there, and are getting their instruments ready, when I smell onion rings.  I reach over and grab a hot crunchy onion ring and munch on it.  The surgeon assistant (who is a co-worker in real life, Ben) says "did you just eat an onion ring?"  I look guiltily over at the basket of rings, and the surgeon pulls down her mask (revealing herself to be another old co-worker, Cindy), and says "well now we need to delay the surgery for 3 hours to let that onion ring work its way through your system" (she's making air quotes when she says "your system").

Ben and Cindy both exclaim "Oh B-Reay!" and with a freeze frame, I wake up.

Space Dream

I'm in a movie set in space, and Isaac is there too - there's just been an explosion, and Isaac has been injured, air leaking from his suit - I'm holding him to comfort him.

He looks up at me weakly and says "Dad, sing me a song"

I start to techno beatbox "Doot-sss-doot-sss-doot-sss" quite poorly

Isaac says "no dad, like this:" and starts to sing sadly and sweetly.

"I'm a cucumber
I'm a cucumber
I'm a cucumber
I'm a cucumber
I'm a cucumber
I'm a cucumber
Please don't take me to the pickle farm!"

He closes his eyes and I wake up.

(This song is from a 2000s animation called The Brak Show, and it's ridiculous in its original form)

Aha Moments

A recurring thing in my life is to be napping or zoning out in a meeting or dreaming at night, and a great truth is revealed to me - I get a great revelation that solves some big problem or creates a new opportunity.   I come out of my reverie excited and vow to remember this very very important new information...   only to realize that as it dissolves back into the ether that it makes no sense.

I've been mystified by these false Aha moments, but I think I finally have an answer:  In my everyday life, I solve problems regularly - I have great ideas, insights present themselves.  To get there, I tap into a creative source, the same place I get music from - a creative reservoir - I think of it as "the blue", and when I'm well connected to it, it really helps me every day.

I think that the Blue is not a personal resource, but a shared one.  I think about how often that you hear that "I had a great idea, and it turns out some other guy started a company JUST before I did - dang it!" or how you might have an insight, and then see it as emerging in other posts on Facebook.  It feels like sometimes there's a lot of shared insight - and maybe it's just pattern recognition, or maybe it's insights from a shared place.

I'd like to believe that when I get a new idea from the Blue, it's on me to act on it, or it will pass along to someone else.  The Blue wants ideas out there, and if someone is just taking them but not acting on them, the blue moves them along.

So my working theory is that when I have these False Aha moments, it's actually because I'm idly dipping my mental toes into the Blue in a receptive state, and am overhearing someone else's aha.  But my brain tries to put it into the context of what I'm thinking about, and I get the benefit of Aha, but none of the relevance or meaning.  I'm overhearing an idea without context.

This one has been knocking in my brain for a week, and I just wanted to type it out.

Other Thoughts

Random thoughts from the NAMM floor: 

Some devices looked cool, but I was completely unable to figure out how they worked:  The Dave Smith TEMPEST drum machine, the Korg Electribe, the Elekton AnalogDrums - all tech that I think looks cool, but beyond hitting stop and start, couldn't work out how to change patterns, highlight instruments, change sounds..   it may just be something where the manual MUST be consulted, but I try to fancy myself a knowledgeable techie, and not to have ANY idea how to work these was a bit off putting (naturally it's their problem, not mine…. HA!)

There was a huge renaissance in modular synths, between Moog, Vermona, Buchla, Dave Smith (Again), Oberheim, Doepfer, and so many others.  Mini and maxi racks of modules with cables patched all over the place.  Most of the sounds coming from these areas were very beep-boop-bloop-skssssssshhhhh.  I walked up to one and started to play with it - and spent the better part of a minute trying to figure out how to get the wailing siren sound to stop going.  I took off the headphones and walked away - this is not anything I need to concern myself with.  I saw online that I had only just missed Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, who was apparently quite impressed with the same unit.  I am at peace with not knowing this technology.

Rows and rows of extremely high end microphones - my friend Steve had me put on headphones and insisted I sing a little into one of his favorite mics and hear how amazing it sounded.  It sounded like me singing badly in a noisy tradeshow, but I concede it represented that sound VERY ACCURATELY.

There were a thousand variations of a simple theme - a set of glowing pads you plug into your computer to make the drum sounds with your fingers.  I get it.  And nobody could explain why THEIR version was any better or worse than anyone else's.

There was an alternate keyboard called a "Seaboard" - it looks like a keyboard that has been pooped out - it is black, and squishy:  The idea is that you can change the sound by pressing into the soft key - adding a new layer of pressure sensitivity.  I played it briefly and ran screaming looking for Purell:  The thing belonged in a David Cronenberg movie and was PROFOUNDLY CREEPY.

Booth Babes seem to be on the wane, thankfully - I only saw them at 2 booths - one for a DJ lighting booth company, and one for a second-tier heavy metal guitar company (who proudly had Playboy Bunnies at the booth signing guitars, and a huge throng of iPhone wielding fans).  Mostly, it was guys who looked almost exactly like me, earnestly talking about their cool toys.  That's just nice. 

There was one booth of electric guitars that had a distinctively weathered look - they all looked like they had been buried for 50 years, dug up and just had the dirt blown off.  Post apocalyptic guitars - I actually really liked them. 

That's it for now…    

NAMM 2015 Part 2

Steve was on a plane to Asia, but I hooked up with his friend Jerry:  Jerry was an electrical engineer who designed data centers for hospitals back in the day - we chatted about several Houston-area clients we both knew - as well as an incredible keyboardist:  Steve had told me about him 20 years ago, and it was fun to finally meet him:  He now is a full time musician, playing piano on cruise ships and in lounges near his home - he relies on technology, but is very non-technical in his music - never wants to use a computer, just wants good keyboards that make good sounds with a minimum of fuss.  Steve has pressured him for years to get digital, but he's resisted.  Today at NAMM, his white whale was to scour the floor looking for SOMEONE who will make a specific type of floor pedal set so he can play baselines with his feet….  His specific requirements are actually pretty esoteric, and it was fun to watch him talk to the reps and get them to finally understand what and why….

For me, it was about revisiting my favorite booths and going deeper on a few things:  Here's what I loved today:

Of course I went back to the Prophet booth - and played those beautiful synths for quite a while.  I really connected with them, and if I can be said to have one gearlust thing, it's for the Prophet 12.  It's just amazing. 

Right next door was the Moog booth, and I had a chance to watch a legend:  Suzanne Ciani is a synth pioneer who helped create some of the first electronic product IDs - the singing coke bubbles, the beeping GE dishwasher ads:  She formed an ad agency, made a shedload of money in the 1980s, and then retired to do new age music…. But she's famous for her 1970s and 1980s appearances on Letterman and 321 Contact where she explained the coolness of synths….  She was at the Moog booth and did an impromptu concert on the giant modular synths.  I was thrilled.

Around the corner I found a booth by Modus:  This is a red haired synth freak named Paul Maddox who was a total PPG nut like I was, and built his own "versions" of the PPG in the dark days when Waldorf was not doing very well…. He got funding and has made his own beautiful synths called the Modulus 002 - his backer refers to it as "The Aston Martin of Synths" and it is just beautifully made, with a huge distinctive sound.  While I was there, the guys from Waldorf were there praising him for keeping the dream alive.  If I had a spare $5k, I wouldn't mind having that great synth but alas, priorities.  They were just so friendly and kind, I felt like staying there all afternoon.

Up in the Roland booth, I was paying more attention to their marketing - turns out they're making a BIG play at having their entry level electronic drum kits targeted at KIDS - the videos, and in the demo booths were 9-11 year olds hitting the skins.  It inspired me to make sure my kit at home is set up and ready for Isaac, since he said he wants to play.   I played with their other synths, and was just… meh….

I visited the "basement" which is where the smaller companies are, and chatted up French software makers, custom guitar guys, and appreciated the "fringes" of the music industry - these were guys trying to break in, and had good, boutique products. 

I wandered into the DJ and Lighting area - got my fill of smoke machine fog, but it was fun to see how much these little units can do now with lasers and LEDs - so much more flexible than the lights I used to run at the Rogue nightclub in Minneapolis in 1993…

Bottom line:  It was so much fun to be at the show, and I kept my gear lust in check - literally the only things I would have a hard time resisting were the Modulus and the Prophet.  And neither would ever leave my studio - they're as much art as instrument. 

I had a food truck lunch of SAUSAGES, and in the line chatted with two Taiwanese ladies who really wanted to work on their English - we had a fun talk about running, half marathons (proudly told them about Pamela's run), how cold MN can be, how Tokyo is so cool, but how Taiwan is cooler….  It was a fun way to pass the time in a very long line.

We left after 6 hours, and I got a short nap in - to recover from a horrible night where my neighbors literally did not go to sleep the entire night, and boy were they chatting and laughing.  I called the front desk 4 times on them - and was not very well rested.  But now I'm caught up, and need to consider what to do with my evening.  I might just go find an in-n-out burger and a movie theater, or just chill out - no big ambitions. 

And that's the update - I need to get to the airport by noon tomorrow, so I'm thinking of what I can do between now and then.  I may not have big plans. 

NAMM 2015

Sometime long long ago (maybe 2001 or 2002) I was invited to a tradeshow for musical instrument manufacturers called NAMM.  This is a twice-a-year event, but the January show is well known as the time when every manufacturer shows off the newest coolest stuff.  And even in cases where the gear isn't particularly NEW, it's a place to see EVERYTHING that is out there. 

I was invited by my friend Steve.  I had met Steve back in 1992 when I was doing midi backing tracks for a living - Steve was a personal client who liked music by Phil Collins, Kenny Rogers, La Cage aux Follies, and John Denver.  I arranged 5 or 6 tracks for his live show (he sang and played guitar, my tracks did the drums, strings, bass, and everything else).  Steve and I decided we liked each other, and as we both moved forward in our lives (me moving into IT consulting, he moving into music tour management), we kept in touch with an annual call.

So in 2001 (or 2002) Steve called and said "hey, let's go to NAMM - I got us some badges".  The show's not open to the public, so you need to be sponsored - back then it was Taylor Guitars that had us as guests (Steve's a huge guitar nut, and had bought a dozen guitars from them over the years).  We only went for one day, but it was one of the most magical days of my geek life - I shot a hundred pictures, played with every single synch, chatted up the manufacturers, and generally had a wonderful time.  

Fast forward to 2015, and Steve called up last month - "I got passes, let's go to NAMM".  In the intervening years, I got higher up in consulting, and he moved into strangely stratospheric levels of the music business.  He had something to do with the Hologram Tupac Shakur (he claims he didn't do any of the design or creative, but he was brought in to land the project and get it working in time for the show at Coachella).  He got the passes, but could only spend one day - he's flying out in the evening to go to Kuala Lumpur to meet a new K-Pop sensation to prepare for their tour of the US.  This is how he rolls.

SO, Pamela and I talked it over, and I said YES, HELL YES I will go to gear Disneyland.  And it is Disneyland - it's in the Anaheim convention center right next to Disneyland.  I got a flight, a hotel, a car, and time off from building the new business....

I flew in late last night, got about 6 hours of sleep, and Steve picked me up bright and early (he was worried about parking, thought getting there 90 min before doors opened would be the smart move). We had a leisurely breakfast and hit the show floor.

It was just as crazy as I remembered it:  If anything it felt a little more hectic, but that may be 14 more years of age on my bones not tolerating the muss and fuss.  That said, Steve and I actually look almost identical to how we did back then - a little more gray, but we are essentially the exact same.  Same can't be said for some of the very strange and creepy big-hair rockers with conspicuous baldspots and obvious plastic surgery.  There was one guy who I swear looked exactly like my dad, but with a leather skull cap and floor length leather duster, trying out acoustic guitars.  (Dad, was that you?)

Steve loves gear even more than I do - with the added lust for very expensive acoustic guitars - he is clearly planning to buy a $12,000 Martin guitar sometime in the next month.  The way he was looking at that thing was flat out INDECENT.  But Steve is also a king schmoozed - he was making connections with the "artist relations" people at all of the manufacturers - the artists he work with will publically use gear, but we only ask for a discount - not freebies.  And of course he was whispering to me the whole time "Do you want one of those?  I could get you that for half off - just say the word".

I am really in a different place right now with gear:  I do acknowledge lustful thoughts, but now that I'm playing with bands, I have a much more realistic view of what I want vs what I need:  I may love that gorgeous keyboard, but I don't want to schlep it out to a gig.  That mixer looks nice, but hey, my band already has one, and if I bought one, I'd be the one responsible for bringing it and setting it up...   So while Steve is a wonderful devil on the shoulder, I've got a lot more realism about gear.  He also has roadies at his beck and call - his gear gets set up for him.  It'll be a few years before Isaac is ready to move my stuff for me. 

THAT all said, there were a few things that I loved, and here they are:

One of the first lust-worthy keyboards from the late 1970s was the Sequential Prophet 5 - Dave Smith designed it, and it was THE keyboard to have.  I never had one, but I respected them.  Well, Dave Smith has a big booth and a lot of very nice instruments - including the Tempest drum machine, the Prophet 12 and Pro-2 Synthesizers, and the new Prophet 6 all-analog.  I spent a LOT of time in that booth playing those things - they would incredible, and they FEEL like well crafted machines - made in the USA with heavy metal fittings and smooth turning knobs...  I am in love with these instruments...  but if I were to get one, it would never leave the house - this is for the studio only.

One of the big manufacturers, KORG, has taken a lot of chances in the past year, and have surpassed old peers Yamaha and Roland in their innovation.  I have a Korg KingKorg synthesizer which sounds great (not as great as a Prophet, truth be told), and I've enjoyed seeing what they're building.  WELL, they just rebuilt a classic synth from the 1970s called the ARP Odyssey - circuit for circuit - and I spent 15 minutes playing with it - it was really cool.

My go-to synths in the 1990s were from Waldorf:  Their founder, Stefan, was there at NAMM in a TINY booth - they've become more of a small boutique group now, but he was showing me his newest IPAD application, which replicates my favorite drum synth they built in 1989 called the Attack.  He took my info and wants me to help test it - so that will be very fun.

I know it sounds like all I like is the Retro, but in truth, it's more about having that immediate access to knobs and sliders and having tools to quickly shape the sound.  The fact that manufacturers are coming back around to that is what makes me so happy. 

There were more than a few "meh" moments:  Steve was talking non-stop about these in-ear molded earphones that people are using for stage monitoring - how the sound is just incredible.  We spent 30 minutes at a booth where he was just chatting them up about the tech, and I was pressured into trying on a pair - they plugged it into this proprietary $2500 iPod (with super duper converters or something) - I listened to a few songs while Steve kept on schmoozing.  The earphones are custom fitted and cost up to $2500 as well.  So I was listening to Steely Dan "Deacon Blues" on $5000 of equipment.  And to tell the truth, it sounded ok... but it did not actually blow my mind. 

I went up to see the Roland booth - I usually like their stuff, but was a bit put off by their new JD-Xi, which as far as I can see is EXACTLY the same thing as two other manufacturers have had out for 4 years (the Novation MiniNova and Korg MicroKorg) with a garish LED job - trailing not leading.  They had a new "flagship" synths on a pedestal (not functioning), and the one other piece of gear that looked promising was hooked up wrong and the keyboard didn't work, so I couldn't even try it. 

The most exciting thing at the Yamaha stand was their "40 years of Synths" museum section - which was basically the same as the "25 years of Synths" section they had last time I was at NAMM.  Their old gear is much cooler than anything they're doing now. 

After 6 hours of padding about, we were both tired, so we headed out and had dinner at Steve's all time favorite restaurant - the Chicken Dinner restaurant at Knott's Berry Farm.  Yep.  I had fried chicken, biscuits, and boysenberry pie.  He dropped me back at the hotel and hightailed it to the airport for 18 hours of flights (14 to Hong Kong, then 4 more to Kuala Lumpur).

I have another full day I can be there, and will be meeting one of Steve's other old friends there, to give him the lay of the land...   It will be another fun gear-filled day, and there are a whole lot more things I can't wait to see...   More as it happens!

There were a few