Reflections on some good albums

Once in a while I'd come across an album that I really like and would spend some time listening to the same album over and over again. Some of the recent albums that fit this descriptions are (in a rough chronological order, the most recent being first) :
- Krista Detor - Mudshow
A beautiful album! Just saw her at Mucky Duck's in Houston and bought the album there. Some may find it a bit depressing but great music and lyrics nevertheless. The ones that I like best are 'Ghosts of Peach Street'. 'Dancing in a minefield', 'A red bowl' and 'The Hampton sisters'
- Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La
The first album after he recovered from a motorcycle crash. Still has some of the same mellow qualities of the other albums, but without the celtic influences. Found the DVD-Audio version at B&N, and it sounded quite different from the stereo version. Apart from the obvious instrument placements, there're some things that I did not hear on the stereo version. For those with DVD-A players, it's really worth it to try this version.
- Carrie Newcomer - Regulars and Refugees
A follow-up to the 'Betty's Diner' album, it revolves around the characters in Betty's diner. There are some touching moments in the songs. Saw her performed solo at the Mucky Duck's last week. It was better live in such an intimate surrounding.
- Dar Williams - My Better Self
After a few years, finally a new album was out this year. One of the most interesting songs here is the re-made of Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb'. Very interesting duet there. It sounds completely different from the original but a very interesting remake! Some others that I like are 'Tones', 'Miss you till I meet you' and 'Hudson'.
- Capercaillie - Live in Concert
An older album that I got lately. Very interesting showcase of their music. If you like Karen Matheson's vocals, there are some very good vocal showcase like in 'Iain ghlinn cuaich'. Others that I like are 'Crimes of Passion', 'Bonaparte', 'Coisich a ruin', 'Nil si i ngra'.

Carrie Newcomer & Krista Detor concert

Went to see Carrie Newcomer at the Mucky Duck last night. The opening act was by Krista Detor. One of the few times I saw a folk singer with piano as their main instrument. We came in a little late and she already started her songs when we came in. The first song turned out to be called 'Dancing in a mindfield' and I found it very interesting. (If you ask me how I knew the song, .. well, .. I ended up buying her CD!) Another interesting lyrics is from a song called 'Steal me a car'. She didn't sing too many songs, having only her on piano and David Weber on guitar. The last 2 songs were 'A red bowl' and 'Glory', where she had a duet with Carrie Newcomer. As for her voice, she doesn't have the range that Carrie Newcomer has, but definitely quite a nice voice, but her strength lies more in her lyrics, I think. Listening to her songs, there's this sense of listening to some form of poetry.
Carrie Newcomer played solo on guitar last night. Most of the songs were from her last 2 albums, 'Betty's diner' and 'Regulars & refugees'. Her voice is very impressive with a big range from lower notes to the higher notes. I was also quite impressed with her guitar sound. She switches between the slower ballads and the faster songs with ease, and the solo guitar effect in the faster songs was quite good. One of the songs from 'R&R', 'Alice and Roy' was played with Krista on piano and resulted in a very interesting version. Some of the songs that turned quite different from the album version were 'I'll go too' (a faster version, with a more upbeat and funky feel), 'The gathering of spirits' (duet with Krista Detor) and the encore, 'The Yes of Yes'.
A very satisfying concert. She played for almost 2 hours without any break, ending around 10:30. I did buy Krista's second album, 'Mudshow', and it turned out to be quite a gem of an album! Can't say that it's an upbeat album, but the poetic nature of the lyrics along with the piano makes it quite a different style of folk music that I've listened to for a while.

Marble Falls & Limecreek Rd drive

Went to Austin for a drive through the hill country yesterday. Started a bit early around 9 from Houston. Expected to have about 5 cars but turned out to be just 3! A few ppl either canceled or just never showed up. Drove through I-10 and took 71 up to Austin. Weather was quite weird along the way, it stayed foggy around I-10 all the way until around Bastrop on 71. Quite a few drizzle along the way as well. Stopped at Bastrop around 11:15 and since we were making good time (meet time was supposedly 12 in Austin), it was decided to make a detour from Bastrop using FM 969 going through the country roads to Austin. Even with the small detour, still made it to Dave & Busters by 11:30.
There were 4 other cars from Austin by lunchtime. Had lunch at D&B, waited for a couple of guys that never made it, but .. they never did show up. By around 2, it was decided to start the drive. Ended up with only 5 cars going on the drive.
First, (Hope I can remember the route!) we started along FM 2244 then got into FM 962 towards Marble falls. The road was fun but no real hard turns. Had to staop at a small 'ghost town' to avoid being stuck behind a minivan for a while. Looked like a real ghost town with only a post office and an episcopal church there, no other houses in sight. Luckily, no real ghosts around at the time!! :-) ..
From the small town, went through a real country road, .. there was a time when we hit a stretch of dust and there was dust flying everywhere. Almost thought that someone went off the road!! Luckily, nothing bad there! I have to say I hate those cattle guard thingies on the road there. It just created this loud unsettling noises whenever we pass it, and the car felt a bit unsettled there!!
After that, got on 281 towards Marble falls, and after refueling, went north towards Park Road 4 .. that was a fun road! Quite a few times going up and down with quite a lot of elevation changes. Saw this 'castle' in the middle of nowhere, still wondering who owned it! Unfortunately, Ojas lost his side-scoop during the drive there. Tried to look for it but didn't find it.
Back to Austin, I believe through FM 1431. Fun road through the hills, unfortunately we were stuck between a few trucks, so couldn't really enjoy the twisties there. Close to Austin, we had to go through the famous Limecreek Rd. That was a lot of fun!! This was my second time through this road. This time. I was more 'prepared' and not as scared as the last time .. :-) .. Had to admit that I did make a mistake at one of the really sharp hairpins there. Tires were squealing as I tried to recover from the 'overshoot', but .. fortunately .. apart from a little shock, nothing bad happened. I just hate to think of what could have happened if there was another car on the other side at the time!
Driving home to Houston was quite boring and uneventful. Got home around 9:30 .. end of another fun day in the car .. and .. a sigh of relief that we all got home unscathed ..
Just hate the thought that now I'll have to clean the car!!! :-) ...

Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

Searched my collection for something different to listen to at work today, and picked Genesis' Selling England by the Pound CD. IMHO, still one of the best Genesis albums of all. I don't think I need to add to the numerous reviews of it .. Some people would choose The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, but even after listening to both I still pick SEBTP.

My faforite tracks out of this album are Dancing with the Moonlit Knights, Firth of Fifth and Battle of Epping Forest. Somehow the intro to Dancing with the moonlit knights always gives me a 'strange' feeling that draws me to this song, also Steve Hackett's guitar sound there is awesome.

Artwork wise, there is just no comparison between the CD version and the LP cover, that's one other big advantage that LP has over CD-s.

I still could not fathom how their music can do a complete turnaround into the latter songs like Mama, Home by the Sea, etc. How the mighty have fallen!!

Stored procedure

Started using Stored procedure on SQL server today. Much easier than I anticipated.
Still have to deal with returning error codes or error handling, but all in all, have to admit that it's better than having to incorporate SQL commands in the C# code.

A useful link on error handling! Found some other links on 4GuysFromRolla.com site. It's helped quite a bit and even more helpful than the book that I have now!

Porting most of the useful SQL commands in the code into stored procedure will be another thing though! Looks like a separate project on its own!!

X'mas eve snow in Houston

Houston had snow for christmas eve 2004 .. amazing! Got quite a bit of snow in the evening, and even managed to cover the cars ...