u/neptune_bay

Code Name: MAINFRAME

COMPUTER SPECIALIST

File Name: Parker, Blaine L.

SN: RA 818-50-1673

Primary Military Specialty: Computer Technology

Secondary Military Specialty: Infantry

Birthplace: Phoenix, Arizona

Grade: E-5

Mainframe enlisted in the Army Airborne at the age of seventeen and made it over to South-East Asia for the last year of hostilities, just in time to get his Combat Infantryman’s Badge. He left the Army to get his degree from MIT on the G.I. Bill and did a stint toiling in the antiseptic corridors of Silicon Valley making big bucks and fighting off boredom with a stick. Luckily, the Marines were looking for a few good men with just his qualifications. The proper papers were signed, and Mainframe was back in uniform.

“Too much of the modern battlefield is computer coordinated not to have a computer specialist right out there in the field with you. Problem is, most hackers don’t exactly fit the combat profile. Mainframe is the exception. He was ten years older than the next oldest trainee at Parris Island and he still finished at the top of the class. He’s got brains---but he’s hard.”

Code Name: SCI-FI

LASER TROOPER

File Name: Fine, Seymour P.

SN: RA 793-29-1929

Primary Military Specialty: Infantry

Secondary Military Specialty: Electronics

Birthplace: Geraldine, Mondana

Grade: E4

Sci-Fi lives in a slow-motion world. He takes everything real easy, and he’s never in a hurry to get anywhere or do anything. But that’s what it takes to be a laser-rifleman. At a range of 2 1/2 miles, the impact spot of a laser light will jump one hundred feet for every one thousandth of an inch movement at the source. That spot has to be held on target long enough to burn through that source, otherwise it’s no more harmful than a warm breeze.

“When Sci-Fi braces his weapon and sights in on a target, he becomes a rock --- no discernable movement of any kind Birds perch on top of his helmet. He transcends mere stillness to another plane of immobility. You don’t even see the trigger finger move. It’s like he wills that beam of light to stab the darkness...”

Our Collection comes to a close with the return of Collecting CD's, thanks to new music from an unexpected source. Prior to 2024, we hadn't gotten a CD since The Raconteurs 2019 release "Help Us Stranger" & that was handed out at the Live show and it had already been a few years since we'd bought a CD, probably Wu-Tang's "Better Tomorrow" in 2014.

That all changed in 2024 when we discovered The Warning (now seen them Live 3 times, soon to be 4), which lead to BAND-MAID (and a trip to Japan to see them Live), which lead to NEMOPHILA (saw them Live, seeing them again in 2 weeks), HANABIE (seen them Live twice), HAGANE (seen them Live), BABYMETAL (seen them Live, traveling to see them open for MCR in a few months), TRIDENT, and more recently, NEK! and EMNW with more imports on the way from CDJapan.

It feels good to collect physical media again, having a subscription to every song in the world is great, but actually holding something real in your hands and flipping through the photos and reading lyrics and liner notes just can't be replicated online.

Rounding out the old collection, we finish with the Women of Rock (and Pop). As a married man, I must admit some of this is her part of the collection, but I actually picked out most of these...I was a Heart fan and a Fleetwood Mac fan before we met and I'm not in the least bit ashamed of the fact I own a copy of "Vixen" on vinyl, lol. Hair Metal. Look it up.

Heart, saw them Live as "The Lovemongers" in Seattle back in the 90's. Courtney, never blamed her for Kurt. Stevie, never thought she sounded, or looked, like a goat, thanks South Park. Joss Stone had an amazing run, forgot how good those albums were.

Evenescence, never a huge fan but liked the songs and it's cool that Amy is still going strong. Garbage, saw Shirley Manson and Co Live last year, great show. No Doubt...well, we don't really talk about No Doubt anymore b/c now Gwen really is "just a girl".

Amy Winehouse, lot to be said but we'll just remember her at her best, Lily Allen, everyone seems to hate Lily, lol, but I loved that album. Norah Jones I can't really remember much, Dido must have been the Columbia House artist of the month or something, Alicia Keys is great, Lauren captured magic for that one album and then, anyway. Janis, classic, Pat, classic, Annie, classic.

Sheryl, Madonna, Melissa, Christina, all great voices of their time but not really my thing, although early Madonna videos definitely made an impression on me growing up and Pop music had a huge influence on what I listen to in addition to Heavy Metal and why I like dance music so much even though I can't dance.

We do have one last batch of modern CD's left for the dozen or so people paying attention.

Thus concludes my collection from 1989-2016

The Eclectic Collection - QOTSA, White Stripes, Raconteurs, FOB, Killers, Strokes, Black Keys, Flaming Lips, MGMT, Franz Ferdinand, The Fratellis, Arctic Monkeys, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, The Shins, The Kooks, Snow Patrol, Death Cab, LP, LB, Korn, Staind, Godsmack, some Guilty Pleasures that are no longer pleasurable, bunch of random crap that didn't fit into previous pics, MCR, Muse, Audioslave, Incubus, Jet, Wolfmother, Weezer, Green Day, more random stuff, Greatest Hits Compilations, Dad Rock, LIVE Albums.

On to the Hip Hop, in 1986 we learned how to "Fight for Your Right" to party and how to "Walk This Way", which helped in the Rock world, but would also come in handy in the 90's.

Dre, Em, Fugees, Cypress Hill, House of Pain, more Beasties. Later on Outkast, BEP, Mos Def, J5, Red & Meth, Wu-Tang, more Beasties.

And then we get to The Summer of Strange 2012-2014 when we saw T9 twice a year for a great Strange Music run featuring Teach, Krizz Kaliko, Kutt Calhoun, Prozak, Rittz, Stevie Stone, Ces Cru, and my favorite, ¡MAYDAY! w/ Wrek & Bernz, add Murs and we got ¡MURSDAY! Throw in a little Funk Volume from before Hopsin losing his mind and leaving the country.

Continuing the collection, we have Metal, Not-Grunge, Alternative, Alternative & Prog Metal, and some Soundtracks and Compilations.

GEN-X Stoner Rock Collection Part 1 - "The 90's"

Or more appropriately, starting in the 90's, as this is when I started collecting CD's, and this is just some of what I was listening to in the 90's. Obviously Pearl Jam continues to pump out music, and I kept all of their CD's together.

I started collecting Cassette Tapes around 1986, added Vinyl in 1987, but around 1989-90, everything was shifting to CD's, so my collection is missing a lot of my 5th-8th grade collection of hair metal. The last CD I got until recently had been in 2019, but I'd already toned down buying way before then as digital music subscriptions became the norm.

My first "Grunge" album would have been Facelift. I was given a promo copy on cassette, then bought the CD that came with a free VHS tape. I still remember the day I bought BADMOTORFINGER (With bonus SATANOSCILATEMYMETALICSONATAS) as well as the day I bought Uncle Anesthesia simply b/c it had an awesome cover and Chris Cornell was a Producer, had no idea who Screaming Trees was yet. Ended up seeing Screaming Trees open for Soundgarden in '94. Queensryche I'd been a fan since the video for "Eyes of a Stranger" and managed to see them in their prime before they imploded. One Q CD is missing from this and gets tossed into a random photo later in the collection, don't want you to think I didn't buy "Tribe", lol.

Around this time (89-90), I also discovered Classic Rock Radio, and the Columbia House and BMG Music Clubs, so it was easy to amass a good back catalog. For me, I guess the big 3 were Floyd, Zeppelin, and RUSH.

Before all of that though, there was Aerosmith. Thanks to Rick Ruben forcing the band to hook up with RUN/DMC, a bunch of white kids learned how to "Walk This Way". I had "Raising Hell" on cassette, along with "Licensed to Ill" of course, but never would have given Steven Tyler and Joe Perry a chance if it weren't for that collab. A year later when Permanent Vacation came out, I was all over it, even got to see them Live with Skid Row opening. I was also a big KISS fan for about 2 years, putting together a small vinyl collection, and saw them that same year on the Crazy Nights Tour, with ANTHRAX opening, my first exposure to Scott Ian and crew, been a fan ever since. So, that's the Aerosmith to Anthrax connection in Junior High.

A couple other random CD's tossed in this set just to fill them out. GNR was a good bridge between the hair metal bands and what was to come in the 90's. I had Appetite on vinyl so I'm pretty sure that's a much newer copy I bought just to have one. Def Leppard gets left out as I had both Pyromania and Hysteria on vinyl but never did replace them on CD. I feel like they should be in here with these though.

To be continued...