Homework as a Blog Post

Am Ende der Neunzigerjahre, nach meinen zwei Jahren in Boston, war ich wieder in Dallas.    Ich fühlte mich frustriert, enttäuscht, und ratlos.  Ich hatte gerade ein Stellenangebot in England wegen meines Fehlers verloren.  Statt ein neues Abenteuer im Ausland anzufangen, musste ich noch in Texas bleiben.  

Ich war keine 30 Jahre alt aber bereit für etwas neues.  Ich brauchte Motivation.  Ich brauchte Inspiration.  

Wie immer hat mir Musik sehr geholfen.  Ich erinnere mich an den schönen Tag als ich die Band “The Bouncing Souls” entdeckt habe.  Bei dem ersten Lied das ich hörte, war ich total begeistert.  Obwohl The Bouncing Souls schon seit 10 Jahren aktiv waren, waren sie für mich brand neu.  Ihre Musik ist genau zu mir zur rechten Zeit gekommen.  

The Bouncing Souls ist eine Band von meiner Altersgruppe.  Ich merkte sehr schnell, dass wir viel gemeinsam hatten; nicht nur einen musikalischen Geschmack sondern auch eine ähnliche Mentalität.  Einfach gesagt, wir sind Punks in der Gegenwart. 

Sie sind fast über Nacht meine Lieblingsband geworden.  Bei mir zu Hause oder in meinem Auto, hat man nur Bouncing Souls CDs gehört.  Ich hatte Bouncing Souls T-Shirts regelmäßig getragen, obwohl ich normalerweise keine Band T-Shirts mehr tragen wollte.  

In den nächsten 6 Jahren haben sie vier Schallplatten herausgebracht, jede besser als die vorherige Veröffentlichung.  How I Spent My Summer Vacation fand ich besonders gut, aber mir gefällt The Gold Record auch sehr.  

Es war und ist mir klar wie viel Spaß The Bouncing Souls mit ihrer Musik haben.  Die Jungs sind positiv, nehmen nicht viel ernst und vor allem, bleiben sich treu.  

Jahre später, bliebe Ich immer ein Bouncing Souls fan.  Trotzdem, in den letzten Jahren höre ich ein bisschen weniger Musik.  Dann, letzten Monat aus heiterem Himmel habe ich meinen alten iPod gefunden.  

Erstes Lied gespielt?  Natürlich, eins von The Bouncing Souls. 

Sie klingen genauso gut wie früher.  Ich habe mich gefragt, ob sie neuen Schallplatten veröffentlicht hatten.  Klar!  Seit 2016 haben sie 2 Studioalben und 1 EP gemacht.   Ich habe alle 3 bestellt und auf meinem PC runtergeladen.  Sie sind absolut fantastisch. 

Gestern habe ich den ganzen Tag The Bouncing Souls angehört.  Ein Lied “Up To Us” berührt mich.  Der Liedtext ist typisch Bouncing Souls:  100% von Herzen kommend.  

The Bouncing Souls sind älter geworden, genauso wie ich.  Laut Wikipedia, "die Gruppe wandelte ihren Stil im Laufe der Jahre.

Vielleicht ist das Wahr, aber ich würde sagen, es geht mehr um eine super positive Entwicklung.

The Bouncing Souls schaffen das ohne Problem.

see you out there

Bryan

The Wall of Muffle

 Well, during my little home project during Easter weekend, I literally caught the bug.  No sooner had I finished putting up the foam panels, I decided I wanted more, so placed a second order for an additional 24 panels.  I also ordered a floor mat, which effectively is really a piece of carpet that is designed to dampen some of the vibrations that come from my piano.  As I could not find a local German distributor, I elected to purchase direct from the manufacturer. 

I was a little surprised to get a text message alert the following Wednesday telling me that my package was going to be delivered that very day.  When the delivery man arrived, he handed me a package that seemed much too small for the complete contents of my order.  As I previously described, the foam panels come vacuum-packed.  Thus, they really don't take up much space, until you open the bag and let them poof up. 

The contents of the package, which had shipped from HK, were actually 36 foam panels, instead of the 24 that I had ordered.  The mat was not included, which was very obvious when I opened the box.  However, I had to unseal the foam, so did not realize I had 36 pieces until I had them all spread out. 

With the foam, you do have to have some patience while waiting for the foam to perk up to it's full size.  The manufacturer suggests soaking the panels in water to help accelerate the process.  With the initial order, that was not necessary; the panels quickly (within 24 hours) and impressively came to life.  This second batch, however, was a little more sluggish.  I was not in a huge hurry, but was not so keen to drag things out for too long.  

I sat down and wrote a quick mail to the company, asking about the whereabouts of the piano mat.  I quickly received a response that indicated that this article would come separately, and I noted the tracking information.  I decided to wait until I receive the mat before following up with the other discrepancy in the order.  I was already sure I would keep the additional foam. 

Then, the bug that I caught really kicked in, and I found myself approaching last weekend feeling like a bad cold was coming on.  By Saturday morning, I was on a sneezing frenzy, and continued to endure constant sneezing and runny nose through Sunday.  Meanwhile, I kept looking at my little panels, all pathetically trying not to poof up.  

I have been fortunate to have avoided (so far) catching Covid, and during the past two years, I really have not been sick.  Thus, I consider that I was kind of overdue.  

The workweek started, and I was feeling only marginally better, thankfully only congested as opposed to constant sneezing, etc.  I limited all activity, managed to get through a few days of work, and by Wednesday, was feeling a whole lot better.  I decided it might be prudent to get myself Covid tested, for whatever that would be worth.  

As I filled out the online check-in form to go my test, the doorbell rang.  It was the delivery guy bringing me my piano mat.  It, too, came somewhat sealed, but I quickly opened it, then spread it out so that it could flatten itself to the floor. 

I then went to the local Testzentrum down the street, let the lady shove all the stuff up my nose, then returned home to continue the workday.  I figured that if my result was negative, I would allow myself the treat of going to the pub that evening as part of my usual routine. 

Sure enough, the result was negative, I felt even better, and enjoyed a nice evening sitting outside with a few friends. 

As the week continued, some of the panels were playing nice, and perking up as expected.  Some of the more sluggish ones clearly needed a poke, so I did soak them in water.  

And that did the trick. 

I planned how I would put up the remainder of the panels, and muscled the mat into the corner where I have my gear set up.  

This morning, I put up the last of the panels, then did some audio checks, comparing them to those that I did a couple of weeks ago.  

It is still a work in progress, but for now, I think I have more than enough material to help dampen the acoustics in the living room.  

That makes for a decent start to the month. 

Happy May Day to everyone

see you out there

Bryan