The Reverend Al Green's album

While some performers age gracefully, Al Green, now a preacher as well as a singer has lost some of his polish but can still shine with the right song. I enjoyed this disk and tried real hard to love it but it was just missing something. I listened to it several times before I concluded that it was the songwriting. The songs themselves were just not as good as some of his past efforts. His voice is still great, some of his deliveries were a bit slower but with the right song he could still have a hit.

Like Stevie Wonder's 'A Time To Love', this disk also has a reissue; in fact it has two! Now you have twice the incentive to buy this disk of new songs.

I've skipped the first seven tracks as the disk didn't seem to come alive until the eighth track. I also skipped a few other tracks for the same reasons.

Track 8: 'I Want to be Your Man' – Good tune, could be a little faster.

Track 9: 'Magic Road' – This could be a movie theme song. Best new example of songwriting on this disk.

Track 10: 'I'd Like to Hold You' – A good old fashioned Isley Brothers sounding tune.

Track 13: 'Let's Stay Together' – A great one reissued.

Track 14: 'I'm So Tired of Being Alone' – The other reissue, still great after so long.

Track 16: 'Raining in my Heart' – Worth a listen.

Track 18: 'My Biggest Problem is You' – Sounds like my wife and I.

I picked out the best tracks I could find. If you already have the two reissues I wouldn't recommend getting this disk unless you are die hard fan like I am (plus the fact that it was in the discount bin). Al who was once known as 'The Green Machine' for the string of hits he had can still sing, he just needs a new song that is well written if he wants us to sit up and hear him again. The lack of great songwriting shows when the best songs on the disk are the reissues. It's nice to see him still performing but not as nice as it would be if he had something worthy of his talent. I'd go see him just for those older songs but not for these newer songs.

The Origin of DullKit by DullKit

A few people are interested in me enough to ask me how I came up with the name DullKit. It started in 2005. I was working in a dull job and thought I would try writing and other activiiteis.

I thought about what name I would use sing my name is very common. I knew that Kit was a nickname for Chris so I decided to use that. And since my life was very dull I thought I would incorporate that somehow.

I first thought of Kit the Dullared or even The Dull Family. But when I searched online I found that there were people whose last name was Dull!

Then I went from Kit Dull to DullKit - all one word. Since then I have created email accounts and a YouTube channel. After ten years of procrastination I've decided to start my blog.

So now that I have that out of the way; what should I write about?

A few topics I have considered are:

(a.) How to topics

(b.) Product reviews

(c.) Travel

(d.) Places/jobs I've worked

I know it might be a bit early to ask this since you don't know me but after reading a few entries could you: Let me know if you have any particular topics you'd like to have me write about.

Thanks,

DullKit

©  Copyright 2016 by Christopher Carson

Gary Wright's CD "Human Love" shows the 'Dream Weaver' is human.

Gary Wright's CD "Human Love" is not a bad CD just not his best.  This review is my opinion of what are the best songs on this CD.  The rest of the songs I noted as just OK meaning they are not bad but not all that great either; they would be ok as background music but you wouldn't buy the CD for them.
On the plus side, I didn't find any songs that I would say are bad; this CD just seems to lack in the songwriting area. 
I would NOT recommend buying this CD unless you are a Gary Wright collector as the best tracks have appeared on his various hit packages.  I thought I was a big fan based on what he did in the '70s but to hedge my bets I bought this one used.
Artists like Gary Wright might benefit from collaborations or having guests on his CDs but he has chosen to go it alone for so long it might be hard if not impossible for him to change.
I will say I downloaded a free track from his latest CD and it was quite good, very much in the old '70s style Gary Wright.  I have nothing against artists trying something new but sometimes they can't write it in a way that conveys it as well in a new format.

Track 1:  'Human Love' - The title track is ok but preachy.  The best part of it is the intro.
Track 2:  'Spirit of Darkness' - I rate this song Good.  Best line "like a flame in the snow"
Track 3:  'You Lit the Fire' - Hard rocking number, quite Good
Track 4:  'We All Want to Come Back' - Wow, bad karma, dude!  Some of us might be unsure about reincarnation but I'm sure this is a good song.
Track 5:  Just OK
Track 6:  'Key to Your Freedom' - This song has an African influence that makes it stand out from the rest of the tracks.  Refrain: "Love is the Key to YOur Freedom."
Track 7:  'Wild Fire' - Here is a Blues/Rocker style of song that has a catchy melody.
Track 8:  OK but not outstanding.
Track 9:  OK - Has a Funk sound.
Track 10: OK
An interesting side note is that the Fall Out Boy song "Immortal" from the movie "Big Hero 6", sounds like a Gary Wright song.

A Tale of Two Redmond Companies (1980s – 2000)

A Tale of Two Redmond Companies  (1980s – 2000)

I remember driving on I-405 and seeing the three buildings on both sides of the freeway that had large signs saying MICROSOFT. Of course when they bought farmland for their campus, these buildings went to new tenants.

A visit to this campus was like visiting a college campus. There are hordes of young people hurrying everywhere.

In one building there was The Microsoft Museum. Above it was The Microsoft Store. In the early days anyone could go in the store and buy discounted software. In more recent years the store was only available to employees.

The museum was small but interesting. It had old computers that showed what Microsoft started out writing software for. I remember that Microsoft had created a BASIC cartridge for the Atari Home Computer and had written the BASIC for an early Radio Shack computer that was portable about the size of a present day tablet (but much thicker) and it's small text screen didn't make it into what we would call a notebook or laptop. I don't remember seeing either of these items on display.

One other item I didn't see in their museum was a copy of Bob. Bob was a graphical program that had an animated smiley face with nerdy glasses. It was supposed to help people transition from DOS to Windows. The program itself was good. The marketing of it was not good.

You see, some software will have two requirements listed. There will be the minimal requirements which will list the processor type or speed, the amount of system memory and other items such as graphic power, operating system or other software needed; and the amount of hard drive space needed. A computer that meets this minimum will not necessarily “run” the software, it will more likely make the software crawl, stumble, and lurch as it falls into a coma.

The other listing is the Recommended Requirements. These are the levels of hardware that the software needs to be useful to the consumer.

Microsoft likes to brag about how many computers their new software is installed on. To boost those numbers Microsoft pushed manufacturers to install Bob on computers that didn't meet the Recommended Requirements.

Reviewers and users of Microsoft Bob that had fast computers thought it was great. Those who had lesser computers couldn't uninstall it fast enough to get their computers running again.

Years later, Microsoft pushed Vista onto manufacturer's computers that didn't have enough resources to run it well. Do you see a marketing pattern here?

So, when I noticed that the Microsoft Museum didn't have Bob on display, I asked about it. The employee had never heard of Bob. I told her basically what you just read and suggested that they put Bob on display. After all, failures are a part of history too!

The next time I visited I saw a box on display but no information about it. I praised the addition but suggested they put some placard about what it was.

In the mid-80s I was working for a copier company in a business park in Redmond. This was something new to me, I had seen business parks before but this was the first time I had worked for a company located in one. It took a little getting used to.

Just down the street from the business park was a long narrow building that despite it's new look, also had an abandoned feel to it. There was an old wreck of a pickup that sat out front for seemingly weeks. I guessed that it belonged to the janitor, partly due to it's look and the broom sticking up from the sidewall of the bed like a flag. Your vision tended to focus on this because it was the only vehicle in a large empty parking lot.

The sign said Nintendo of America. At that time the company had arcade machines which were quite popular and some home versions of Donkey Kong for the Atari game systems.

The next year they released the first Nintendo Game System for the home. Soon they had another identical building opposite the first. Also they were competing with Microsoft and everyone else in Redmond for warehouse space.


©  Copyright 2016 by Christopher Carson

My review of Steve Winwood's CD "Junction 7"
This CD is in the style of '70s Urban Soul music, a style that evolved from the Blues.  Steve helped popularize the Blues in 1960s England before bringing it back to America for white audiences.  I'll try and explain this better in another entry but for now, let's look at this CD.
Steve started out performing as a teenager but was past his prime by the time this CD came out.  His voice on these recordings certainly show it.
Track 1:  'Spy in the House of Love' - OK song.  There was a book in the 1960's with the title: "I'm a Spy in the House of Love".  The Doors did a song with that exact title which I think comes off better than Steve's take on the title.
Track 2:  'Angel of Mercy' - again, only OK
Track 3:  A dance number but not that great.
Track 4:  OK
Track 5:  A slow number, not memorable.
Track 6:  OK
Track 7:  OK with a Latin flavor.
Track 8:  OK
Track 9:  'Family Affair' - This remake of the Sly Stone hit is slow and not that great.  I had hoped he might have done a duet with Sly as it would have helped both of them; at least that would have had some novelty.  I'm sure Sly could have used the exposure since he is living in a van on the streets of L.A.
Track 10: 'Plenty Loving' - Best song on the disk.  A duet that works well.  Steve should have done more duets since his voice needs someone to ofset it and to drive him to do better.
Track 11: OK
My review might sound like someone who is not a fan of Steve but nothing could be farther from the truth.  I really wanted to like this CD but again I think the songwriting and performance is weak; not just compared to his earlier works but compared to other artists as well.  I feel Steve's work from the 1960s to the 1980s were some of the best songs of the decades but this is not up to those standards.
I would not recommend buying this CD.  I have heard 'Plenty Loving' on the radio so it might be available for downloading or on another compilation so you would not have to buy this CD just for that track.