They've Got a Name for the Winners in the World, I Want a Name When I Lose...

they call Alabama The Crimson Tide, call me Deacon Blues...

Thursday. Today is website upload day. When things go smoothly this is my best day of the week. When things go poorly, things can turn ugly fairly quickly. So far I have had a couple of minor setbacks, but nothing to cause any major problems. However, I haven't run the database macro yet to compile all of my data. I have a strong feeling that I am going to get a numeric overflow error today due to the addition of about 4,000 line items we discovered never released because of a system glitch. Now some of you more computer-savvy types out there might say that this is an easy fix and that all I have to do is "compact and repair." You are correct, however I am running this macro off a corporate server 800 miles away and when I try to do a compact and repair my computer usually goes blank for about an hour and then times out. So, when I get a numeric overflow error that means I have to call my IT liaison at corporate to do it for me. If she's out, then I am S.O.L. because we are the only two people in a company of about 8,000 people who have access to this database. Of course, everything may run well and all go just peachy. Here's hoping.

Today I listened to Steely Dan on the way into work. Now here's a band with all kinds of fun trivia. First, the name Steely Dan comes from a scene in this book(which I own and have read several times). To keep this a work-friendly site I cannot detail this scene for you so you will just have to read it yourself to find out. While the founding members of the band were in college, fellow student Chevy Chase often joined them onstage while performing. A former guitarist for Steely Dan, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, now serves as a a top advisor for the Department of Defense's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. And the list goes on.

There are several things that make listening to Steely Dan enjoyable to me. First, I love the jazz/rock fusion. Sure, everyone and their optometrist have heard Reeling in the Years, but that doesn't truly showcase what makes them great. Listen to Hey Nineteen or one of my Dan faves Deacon Blues and you'll see what I mean. I also like the song My Old School, because Ellendale sounds like the song's Annandale, and I, too, have no desire to go back to my old school (which used to go up to junior high back when I went there). The lyrics are what really seal the deal for me, though. I have stated before on this site that well-written lyrics are what push a band into the upper echelons of darthjohn42's musical fandom, and Steely Dan delivers. They are intelligent and often ironically comical, sometimes bordering on campy to great effect. I won't say something as pretentious as "you either get them or you don't," but I will acknowledge that there is definitely a higher level there to be appreciated if you give them a chance. Kind of like listening to these guys.