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Life On The Dole Mixed Down!
Fate
Back On Track
Carpentry
Nearly There!
9 Done - 3 To Go
Microsoft Lose One!!!
And Mars Made A Mount
Life On The Dole Album Progress
Web Site Maintenance
Full Time Work For The Dole
Hello Blog
Life On The Dole Mixed Down!
11:03am, Friday, October 19, 2007
Current mood: happy 
Final mix of my album is done!!!
Sure it's taken most of this year from go to woe, (although I have managed to fit in some other projects as well), but that's what it takes to produce an hour of original music of this standard.
I'm very happy with the result and I'm sure that everyone else that likes the way I sing will be happy with it too. Musically no one can argue with it. The guitar work is excellent and the arrangements are perfect. The computer generated drums, bass and keyboards are all a step up in realism and quality on the first Martian Way album and the electric guitars have a much truer rock sound thanks to the new mixer.
Rock On The Martian Way!!!
The material is all straight from the heart and provides a comprehensive and deep insight into the life of the long-term unemployed. Lyrically the album is solid, varying in quality from acceptable with flashes of brilliance for the material I wrote in the 80's up to the full flowering of mature literacy evident in the later songs. In particular I am most proud of "The Dole Bludgers Waltz" which sums the entire experience up in 3 verses, utilising a unique and complex rhyming scheme a rich vocabulary and a quasi-archaic command of grammar.
The Dole Bludgers Waltz
-----------------------
Warren Mars, December 2005
Life on the dole is tough,
I never have cash for stuff,
but there is just enough,
just to survive.
I can't afford a car,
that's just the way things are,
but I am fitter by far,
'cause I don't drive.
Hardship!
Stops the materialist,
fosters the true humanist,
far from the business payroll.
Humble!
Here I have all that I need,
here there is no place for greed;
ascetic is life on the dole.
Life on the dole's a fight,
they'll call you a parasite,
but you can serve them right,
by taking their tax.
It's hard to attract a femme,
'cause you can't support them,
but where they would else condemn,
you can relax.
Conscience!
How can I take what they pay,
unless I give back in some way,
all that some think that I stole.
Worthy!
I know the work done by me,
merits this strait subsidy,
otherwise known as the dole.
Life on the dole is grand,
time is at my command,
I wield with artful hand,
talent unwalled.
He that for rich man's pelf,
slaves like some mindless elf,
cannot fulfill himself,
if he is called.
Freedom!
Not all fit in the mainstream,
some of us follow a dream,
outside the set protocol.
Accept!
We are a part of the whole,
and since we can't pay the toll,
ours is the life on the dole.
I've sent off copies to the usual record companies, hoping against the odds that they might see value in it and give it the commercial backing it needs to go to the next level. As if...
If there is no interest from the commercial world I will release the album on the band site at themartianway.com. This will take some months to resolve. In the meantime you will just have to wait.
Currently reading:
The Heart of Midlothian by Walter Scott
Fate
11:05am, Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Current mood: defiant 
The damn "powers that be" are doing their best to stop, or at least delay my finishing "Life On The Dole". Sunday I sliced my 3rd finger on my left hand in a bizarre accident with secateurs. Owww! . Worse than the pain though, was the knowledge that I wouldn't able to play guitar until it healed.
Then yesterday, with the finger well secured in a Band-Aid I was ready to lay down some tracks, but I got terrible distortion in the cans and couldn't record. While I was investigating the source of this problem, the system slowed down and down and then I suffered a full scale hard disk crash! Whoa! The first one I've had for years.
So then I go to do a clean repartition and format on a spare hard disk, and the partitioning software boot floppy won't work. No worries, I'll use the automatic partition and format capability in the XP setup. Apparently worked, but when setup went to reboot, drive read failure!
I was pretty upset with my fate, but I went for a walk and resolved that I wasn't going to let it beat me, so I came back and made a new Seagate boot floppy from another computer, repartitioned and formatted the original disk and reinstalled XP.
After this worked my mood lifted and things began to go right.
And this is my answer to fate. It can get in my way, and stop me achieving some goals but I won't let it beat me!
Currently watching:
Wallace & Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures by Nick Park
Back On Track
1:19pm, Friday, August 10, 2007
Current mood: calm 
Yes, I have been sidetracked for a few months, exploring the world of home multimedia entertainment systems, including video & audio standards, cabling and hardware, so the mixer has lain idle and the guitars locked away, but now I'm BACK ON TRACK!
I've now recorded and mixed down 4 of the tracks from "Life On The Dole" and am about to start on number 5.
Make no mistake, this is a much rockier/heavier work than "A Young Man's Love". If this album doesn't kick arse I'll bite my arse!
Currently listening to:
A Rock and Roll Alternative by Atlanta Rhythm Section
Carpentry
9:36pm, Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Current mood: calm 
Since I finished my arrangements I've recorded "My Sister Is A Teenybopper" and then rerecorded it using my new mixer, which has certainly improved the sound of the electric guitars.
I've begun recording the new album, done "Action", but have been sidetracked by some carpentry.
Still, I should get going again with the recording soon.
Soon...
BTW You can read my review of "Wrecking Ball" and other works here
Currently listening to:
Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris
Nearly There!
11:26pm, Sunday, May 06, 2007
Current mood: tired 
I'm halfway through the arrangements for the final song on my new album so I'm nearly there.
This song's called "Gonna Fly" and it is definitely the most optimistic song that I have written. Coming at the end of an album of songs about the rather depressing topic of "Life on the Dole" it provides a lovely touch to go out on, (I hope).
Anyway I'm looking forward to finishing these arrangement so that I can get on with the recording!
Currently reading:
Scarlet and Black by Stendhal (Henri Beyle)
9 Done - 3 To Go
8:39pm, Saturday, April 21, 2007
Current mood: tired
Just finished the arrangements for the 9th song on the new album leaving 3 to go.
The 9th song is called "A Home Of My Own" and was written in Laharum.
It's a ballad, but I think it's distinctively Australian, which is good!
Just about time to start on #10: "Handout", my hit from all those years ago. This time it will be given the treatment...
Currently listening to:
Little River Band - Greatest Hits by The Little River Band
Microsoft Lose One!!!
9:16pm, Friday, April 13, 2007
Current mood: Schadenfreudlich 
Any of you that have had any deep involvement in the world of computers would be well aware that Microsoft is the Monopoly Monster, the Competition Crusher, the Rule Maker and the Standards Breaker. If a rival comes up with a good idea, they copy it. But that's not enough, they need to get an unfair advantage so they invent their own standard to confuse and lock out the opposition.
When I was preparing to create my web sites some years back, I looked around at the various web site designer tools, like Dream Weaver, Notepad and Front Page. I chose Front Page because it offered Themes, Active Controls, Automatic Navigation Controls, Photo galleries and a host of other bells and whistles that were not offered by the opposition.
These features were not offered by the rivals because they were not standard HTML. They relied on Front Page Server Extensions which had to be supplied by the host. This was Microsoft playing their own game; only they had the muscle to force hosts all over the world to do their bidding. It should have been a lay-down-misere. Web designers should have flocked to the feature rich proprietary new standard and Macromedia and the others should have been out of business.
But a strange thing happened...
Web designers the world over refused to use the product (except for me of course). It is true that Frontpage 2003 is riddled with terrible bugs, (such as the one where if you ever upload your changes with FTP all your active controls will disappear, or the one where it sometimes can't detect which files have been changed so your website doesn't update, or the one where it doesn't recognise your website as having the Front Page Extensions installed, (even though they are), forcing you to reinstall them, destroying the fragile links in the process and then forcing you to upload the ENTIRE website again), but this may not even be the true reason for its failure.
No! It would appear that web designers, being true Internet believers and having witnessed the atrocities perpetrated by the flatulent giant over the years decided they wouldn't tolerate MS thumbing their nose at the open HTML standard and they just refused to go there.
Up the Propeller Heads!!!
Microsoft have since dropped Frontpage completely. Not only that but they have abandoned the Frontpage Server Extensions that make all the bells and whistles possible. They have also abandoned their ridiculed practice of using tables for page formatting. Their new web design product: "Expression" just abandons all the old features. You have to laugh when reading their press release and their white paper
for this new product as they try to put a positive spin on it while shoveling down the humble pie.
Yes, a victory for the people, and for science. Beautiful! Savour it folks...
Unfortunately I am on the wrong side, and although I applaud the victory, I will have to rewrite all my web pages. OMG there are hundreds!!! This is precisely what I didn't want to happen.
Oh the pain, the pain...
Currently listening to: Book/CD/Movie/TVShow
The Essential Pavarotti by Luciano Pavarotti
And Mars Made A Mount
4:26pm, Thursday, April 12, 2007
Current mood: pleased
Just finished making a mount to hook up my compact digicam to my telescope.
I could have bought one that probably wouldn't have worked, due to my cam's tripod mount being off the lens axis, but I couldn't afford it. So I made one out of aluminium strip. There's nothing like making something exactly to your requirements, (so long as you know what you're doing).
I'll try it out tonight and post a pic or two if it works well.
Currently listening to: Book/CD/Movie/TVShow
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow by Rainbow
Life On The Dole Album Progress
1:45pm, Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Current mood: productive 
Finished the arrangements for the 7th song on my new album last night.
The album will be called "Life On The Dole" and will be recorded by The Martian Way. It should be ready for release around the end of June. (if all goes according to plan). It will consist of 12 songs, dealing with, and written during, different stages of my 18 years on the dole.
Arranging this beast has been some of the hardest work I've ever had to do and it's not over yet. Still 5 songs to go. It feels like I am tearing out my insides with every note I write. I hope there will still be something left of me by the end.
"Watching The Cherries Grow" is the one I just finished and is a blues shuffle, very piano based, dealing with life picking fruit. It is the first time I've tried to do piano arrangements in the rock idiom. Very tricky, especially considering the dominant major blues modes that vary from bar to bar. Still, I think it came out well, should be really great live. I gave the song a rockin guitar solo (as usual).
Next song is "The Maze". I'll get cracking on it soon as I've had some lunch...
Currently listening to:
The Roaring Silence by Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Web Site Maintenance
6:40pm, Sunday, April 08, 2007
Current mood: cheerful
Just been doing some updates and maintenance on my forums (check them out).
Also been adding a new version of the Tekrath to my religion (check it out).
Thanks to Melbourne Jazz Sextet "PLANS" for playing one of my songs: "In the Highlands" yesterday at their Portland gig.
I've studied the Social Security Act and circled the loopholes, look out DSS!!
Currently Reading:
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Full Time Work For The Dole
10:00pm, Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Current mood: angry
Today I was referred for "Full Time Work For The Dole" by my jumped-up, gormless, diminutive, two-faced damn-bitch case officer.
This would mean working 4 days per week at some pointless activity for $8 per hour, considerably less than the minimum wage. It amounts to either slavery or the chain gang, all for the horrendous crime of being unemployed. Such is the cruel idiocy of this country: wasting money hand over fist to punish the unemployed at a time when unemployment is at its lowest ebb in 30 years.
Apart from objecting to enslavement, 4 days of useless work would leave me little time to do my REAL work.
I cannot comply with this stricture so it may be that I will be left with no source of income whatsoever. How can a man live on nothing in today's world?
Watch this space to find out...
Hello Blog
8:35pm, Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Current mood: calm 
OK, I have finally got around to creating a MySpace presence (including this blog).
Maddy talked me into it.
So I've just got started today and I'm just feeling my way for the moment.
I'm not totally sure why I'm doing this but no doubt it will become clear in due course.