Miscellaneous Musing by Judy @ 7:14 PM
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😀 If you google persistent illusion, this site comes up on top. Not bad.

Actually, if you google mommymonster, Persistent Illusion comes up second. Which is kinda weird, considering that you have to google mommymonster.com to actually find the real mommymonster site.

I know I need to update here more often. Long work hours. 🙁

edit 07/30/04 6:58 PM: Ah… but if you search for mommymonster in Yahoo, it comes up 2nd, 3rd and 4th, and Persistent Illusion comes up 6th. Maybe that’s where all of the mommymonster visitors from places like Australia, Turkey, The Seychelles, Hungary, Latvia, etc., are finding it. I think it’s cool there are a lot of countries represented. But why the US Military? Do they like my Disney World pics? 🙄

Miscellaneous Musing by Judy @ 3:01 PM
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I hate heat. I’ve never tolerated it well. I like temperatures between 70 F and 75 F, mostly sunny with a few fleecy white clouds floating by on a nice breeze. Oh yeah! That’s my idea of a good time.

I do not like heat. 101. Blech. Take it away. NOW!

I know we only have to suffer through a few days of this a year. But, still, I don’t think we should have to suffer through any. I guess it makes us appreciate the great climate here the rest of the year.

There’s been a coon in the grapes a couple of nights. I’ve chased him away with a broom. I have no idea what he’s nibbling on up there. The grapes won’t be ripe for another month. Right now they are hard, sour little marbles. With my luck, the coon will be back while I’m away on vacation, the grapes will be ripe, and I’ll come home to stripped vines. It’s going to be war between those coons and I. 👿

Miscellaneous Musing by Judy @ 6:46 AM
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Came home last night to a voice message from my right-coast cousin, Marg. She and her son Jeff are out west on a visit. Yesterday she was visiting relatives up in Seattle, where they watched Boston cream the Mariners in front of a sell-out crowd. Today they and my cousins Jay and Marsha are driving down to Portland. They’ll be staying at Jack’s house, because he has room and I don’t. #1 Son and I are going over there for dinner tonight. I’m looking forward to seeing all of them. Thursday they leave for Boise, where there’s a family reunion on their father’s side of their family (i.e. not my relatives — their mother was my mother’s sister).

The weather, for once, is cooperating. It’s still too humid for my hair. But at least it’s down to the lower 80’s, cool at night, and a breeze. I have the house cooled down to about 74 now. I’m hoping to get it cooled off the rest of the way tonight, because tomorrow we head back to the 90’s for several days. Blech. But maybe the humidity will go down a bit and my hair will calm down.

Miscellaneous Musing |Reviews by Judy @ 5:53 PM

Below are some pictures from the Guitar Center Battle of the Bands at Summerfest.

The bands who competed were Autistic Youth, representing Southridge; Not That Ugly, from Aloha; and Of God, from Westview.

The bands were judged on stuff like look, showmanship, passion and music, with each being worth a total of 15 points (5 points/judge). After all of the bands had played, the audience also voted for their favorite via loudest applause. This was also worth 15 points.

Alas, Autistic Youth came in third. I think they were hurt by the fact that the other two bands had larger followings present in the audience. Of God placed second only because they had the loudest cheering section — I think they brought their whole church along, but nobody else was too impressed. A lot of the general crowd actually left during Of God. Autistic Youth pulled them back in towards the end of their set, which meant Not That Ugly had a larger audience to cheer for them. If it hadn’t been for those two things, Autistic Youth would have placed second, and maybe first.

Mom’s reviews:

Summerfest in general: one starone starone star
Lots of good food — but expensive. Lots of stuff for kids to do — but expensive. More exhibitors than I remember in the past, and lots of freebies. Plenty of tables with chairs available for eating and listening to the music. I miss Nightglow, but the evening concert line-up was better. What with the weather semi-cooperating (muggy, but overcast and around 80 instead of 93), a fun time was had by all.

The Guitar Center Battle Of The Bands: one star
I give them one star for giving to the schools and lending the sound equipment and drum set. The sound guy, however, had no clue what he was doing. The sound board was at the back of the stage and he never put his headphones on, so he only heard the sound via the monitors. The sound from the speakers was horrible. Very heavy bass (I’m surprised I still have the fillings in my teeth and I was not that close), very light everything else. We couldn’t hear the vocals during Autistic Youth and Not That Ugly totally lost their lead guitar. Bad, bad, bad. And the announcer was pretty lame, too, although he did follow Autistic Youth’s direction to introduce them as “leaving shortly for their one-day tour of Newberg.”

Of God: one starone star
What can I say? Christian Rock is not my cup of tea. But, subject matter aside, all of their songs were really long and sounded the same. By the third song I was really bored and just wanted them to be done. I give them two stars, though, because the keyboardist really rocked. Pity we couldn’t hear him half the time. I give their “fan” contingent no stars, because they couldn’t be bothered to listen to the other two bands. They left after Of God played, and came back only to cheer. Boo to them.

Autistic Youth: one starone starone starone starone star
Yeah. So it’s my kid — who said I had to be objective? Some comments, though, in the interest of semi-fairness: There was some dead air between the songs while #1 Son talked to Seve and Alex. It made me think that they didn’t know the set list. #1 Son — awesome guitar as always, but talk to the audience, dude! Nick — bass was great but you do a good statue impression. Move around a little! Autistic Youth was by far the best musicians technically. Seve was the only drummer we could really hear. (It reminded me of the very early Bakwash days. #1 Son kept telling me over and over, “I need a louder amp. Seve drowns me out.”) I wish we could have heard the lyrics. I wish the sound had been better. Truth to tell, punk is not to everyone’s liking. But they didn’t really want to win, so meh. I thought they were awesome.

Not That Ugly: one starone starone star
The winners. I give them three stars because they did a decent job. Their music was more approachable than either of the other two bands, although it did all start to sound the same towards the end. But there wasn’t anything to really hate about it, either. It was a drag that I couldn’t hear the lead guitar at all because it looked like he was a decent player. Good sound might have earned them another star. I also have to give them their props for being the only band to thank the other two bands. That shows some class.

Autistic Youth compete in the Guitar Center Battle Of The Bands at Summerfest.
Seve’s little brother Levi shows his support for the Lost Boys.

Above: Autistic Youth competes in the Guitar Center Battle Of The Bands at Summerfest.
“Enhancing our sense of community through the arts.” (oh yeah!)
L-R: Adam Becker, Seve Sheldon, Alex (Alert) Tryon, Nick (Mayhem) Powell

Right: Seve’s little brother Levi shows his support for the Lost Boys! Alex made the killer vest.

Below: The Autistic Youth fan club.

the Autistic Youth fan club

Miscellaneous Musing by Judy @ 10:27 AM
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Well, it looks like today it going to be overcast — but not cool. The current forecast is for 88 degrees, which is cooler, I guess, than the original prediction of 92. But not by much. Our hightest temperature is usually around 5:00 PM, so hopefully it will be cooler during the afternoon.

The truth is, this is Oregon, and the weather people don’t have a clue what’s going to happen. I’ve heard this is one of the hardest areas to predict. I’m betting they just have a big roulette wheel that they spin every hour or so. One time I heard a guy on TV say, “Highs from 35 to 55. Cloudy with periods of clearing and sunshine. Chance of rain, snow, sleet or hail.” I thought to myself, what kind of forecast is that? “There’s going to be some weather today. Take your own best guess.”

At least he pretty well covered all the bases.

Miscellaneous Musing by Judy @ 6:57 AM
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It’s hot and muggy. Well, it’s not that hot — in the upper 80’s — but the humidity makes it seem worse. And there’s no breeze at all. So my house is really hot and doesn’t cool down at night. The local weather guys and the government weather feeds both say that it’s going to cool down by the weekend. The Weather Channel says that it’s going to be hotter. The Weather Channel is usually right. This time I’m really hoping that they’re wrong. Sitting out in the sun in 90-degree-plus weather to watch #1 Son play in Summerfest doesn’t sound all that appealing. Listening to Autistic Youth is appealing, you understand! But I’m not supposed to sit out in the sun at all, so that will be very interesting. I’m hoping for a cool, overcast day!



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