Weighing in on politics again
I have been reading some good articles, and I have to say, the Republicans are showing signs that I would not have expected four years ago. Like all of you, I am sick of the polarization of this country. If I can't have a civil conversation with my neighbor simply because we do not share a political affiliation, this country has more problems than anyone wants to admit.
I do like the fact that Mitt Romney made a pretty eloquent speech about how religion should not intrude into a presidential race. I also like the fact that McCain is out there trailing severely in the polls, and still saying what he believes (which in all reality is what probably the majority of Americans believe if you don't react to the rhetoric). As my someone near and dear to me just said, "if someone put a gun to my head and told me to vote republican, I'd choose McCain". Unfortunately, his patriotism and support for the war have crucified him in the polls.
Here is the kicker, McCain is right. Though we got into the war for the wrong reasons, we need to do the whole thing right and remake the country, or we have to slink out with our tails between our legs and let the radicals have their sand pit back. Two shitty choices, and to add to it, if we want a stable middle east, neither choice may be the best. If we "win", we have a mid-east peace that everyone can bitch about because it was engineered by "the great satan", and if we walk away, there might actually be peace, but a peace imposed by dictators and religious extremists. In the second case, how long will it be before we are back in there trying to put down a (at worst case) nuclear armed extremist uprising???
So sorry McCain, you are in the losing seat, even though you seem to be a just and honorable person...
I'm not sure if I can get started on the democrats? The republicans are just waiting to rev up the extremists in America. Either having a female candidate, or a black candidate, gives them all the leverage they need to rev up the redneck misogynistic bigots on the far right. Yup let's return to the days. Before all this equal rights stuff happened, when a white man could be a white man and nobody got to tell him what to do. (I had a different line there, but somehow it would have been found and taken out of context on me when I run for president in 2020.) C'mon people let's move forward. People are people, someone smart should be in charge, and it DOES NOT MATTER if it is a he or she or if they have a great tan. Of course, having said all that I do really wish Edwards had a better shot at this election. (yes I know the only southern white man on the ticket, read the lines above)...
I'm just tired people, stop acting like ignorant children. Let's all agree that the world is difficult and that we should all try and help each other out if needed... Peace
PS, just so you all know, I feel foolish after writing this little rant, but I am a little more at peace. Happy Holidays, I expect to write next week, but as you all know, it could be six months again at any time!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
The soundguy is sick (.com)
I have been sick all fall. Not Kidding. I started out with an ear infection in November. Had a course of antibiotics, but never felt the ear pressure completely go away. A Couple of Days later my throat was swelling up and I saw the doctor for an unrelated ailment. he told me that he did not want me to do another course of antibiotics, and he did not see any redness in the ear. I went home and by Friday night my throat hurt like hell. This was Friday a week ago. I went back into the doctor on Monday, he put me on a prescription decongestant, and sent me on my way after taking a chunk of my skin for biopsy (more on that later). The decongestant has been opening my sinus for a week now, but since Thursday, I have had no voice as my throat continues to drain and I get to spit green monsters. Last night as I coughed out a bunch of grossness, IO did not sleep, and also kept my wife up with my hacking. I guess with all the technology, sometimes ya just gotta be sick and let it happen. Hope you all have a illness free holiday season and get to kiss many germ-free relatives!
OK the skin thing, Amy has always hated this little bump on my head above my ear. It gets scratched and bleeds occasionally. I always thought it was a birthmark. After having her repeatedly ask me to get it checked out, and once having a doctor tell me it was nothing, my doctor took a look at it and said, "OK it looks a little weird". He told me it was not a birthmark, but could be either a little pre-melanoma, or a small collection of blood vessels. He decided to do what is called a shave biopsy. Basically he numbed it up and sliced it off my head quickly, painlessly, with little blood. Now I have a little scab, and a collection of small blood vessels in a jar on a shelf in some lab. Glad to be cancer free, and Amy is glad to be able to run her nails across my scalp sans bump. Thanks Doc, I alway seem to be having little odd procedures which he cheerfully does for me without complaint. Here is my shout out for the day. If you can get in to see Dr Durfee at advantage health, he is a great doctor, who goes above and beyond to know a patient, and understand lifestyle, and how it affects health. Go see Dr Durfee if he is still taking new patients...
I have been sick all fall. Not Kidding. I started out with an ear infection in November. Had a course of antibiotics, but never felt the ear pressure completely go away. A Couple of Days later my throat was swelling up and I saw the doctor for an unrelated ailment. he told me that he did not want me to do another course of antibiotics, and he did not see any redness in the ear. I went home and by Friday night my throat hurt like hell. This was Friday a week ago. I went back into the doctor on Monday, he put me on a prescription decongestant, and sent me on my way after taking a chunk of my skin for biopsy (more on that later). The decongestant has been opening my sinus for a week now, but since Thursday, I have had no voice as my throat continues to drain and I get to spit green monsters. Last night as I coughed out a bunch of grossness, IO did not sleep, and also kept my wife up with my hacking. I guess with all the technology, sometimes ya just gotta be sick and let it happen. Hope you all have a illness free holiday season and get to kiss many germ-free relatives!
OK the skin thing, Amy has always hated this little bump on my head above my ear. It gets scratched and bleeds occasionally. I always thought it was a birthmark. After having her repeatedly ask me to get it checked out, and once having a doctor tell me it was nothing, my doctor took a look at it and said, "OK it looks a little weird". He told me it was not a birthmark, but could be either a little pre-melanoma, or a small collection of blood vessels. He decided to do what is called a shave biopsy. Basically he numbed it up and sliced it off my head quickly, painlessly, with little blood. Now I have a little scab, and a collection of small blood vessels in a jar on a shelf in some lab. Glad to be cancer free, and Amy is glad to be able to run her nails across my scalp sans bump. Thanks Doc, I alway seem to be having little odd procedures which he cheerfully does for me without complaint. Here is my shout out for the day. If you can get in to see Dr Durfee at advantage health, he is a great doctor, who goes above and beyond to know a patient, and understand lifestyle, and how it affects health. Go see Dr Durfee if he is still taking new patients...
Thursday, December 06, 2007
OK I take it back...
As is mostly the case, after bad mouthing the music industry, my friendly postal carrier shows up with a package from ripoff music service last night. And in the normal twisting of irony I received a CD which I had ordered on a whim without much thought, AND IT IS GREAT.
Here is my recommendation: Stephen Marley: Mind Control.
Go get it now, you can read the rest of my silly blog later...
On this album, Stephen Marley is channelling the spirit of Bob Marley. I seriously thought that I had missed a Bob Marley track somewhere when the opening track came on my speakers. With the exception of an updated bass sound, the first track, Mind Control, sounds like a lost Bob Marley song. From the stabbing horns, to the Hammond Organ and wah guitars, this song calls out 1973, not 2008. It's mind control, destruction of your soul- lyrics channeled by a son who was 9 years old when his legendary father passed away.
While many of the current crop of reggae musicians draw much from the dancehall and rap traditions, Stephen keeps to a more classic reggae tradition on this album. The songs vary from soul dripping balladry, to fun silly rapping and goofing off that characterised Bob Marley's recording aesthetic. When I listen to this album, I feel like things are a little simpler, and if we all slow down a little, we might all benefit from taking a breath and saying I love ya girl. -Peace.
As is mostly the case, after bad mouthing the music industry, my friendly postal carrier shows up with a package from ripoff music service last night. And in the normal twisting of irony I received a CD which I had ordered on a whim without much thought, AND IT IS GREAT.
Here is my recommendation: Stephen Marley: Mind Control.
Go get it now, you can read the rest of my silly blog later...
On this album, Stephen Marley is channelling the spirit of Bob Marley. I seriously thought that I had missed a Bob Marley track somewhere when the opening track came on my speakers. With the exception of an updated bass sound, the first track, Mind Control, sounds like a lost Bob Marley song. From the stabbing horns, to the Hammond Organ and wah guitars, this song calls out 1973, not 2008. It's mind control, destruction of your soul- lyrics channeled by a son who was 9 years old when his legendary father passed away.
While many of the current crop of reggae musicians draw much from the dancehall and rap traditions, Stephen keeps to a more classic reggae tradition on this album. The songs vary from soul dripping balladry, to fun silly rapping and goofing off that characterised Bob Marley's recording aesthetic. When I listen to this album, I feel like things are a little simpler, and if we all slow down a little, we might all benefit from taking a breath and saying I love ya girl. -Peace.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Striking while the iron is hot...
In the above interest I will get away from the big project of history and talk about the daily moments today. I feel like writing today and who knows how long that can last. Interested readers of this space (yes I delude myself), will note that sometimes I write more than others. As my days get filled up, I guess there is less urge to take time and reflect. Is that not the case for us all?
Anyway, even thought the days are extremely full right now, I want to try and document the little things that go through my head, so that perhaps in time, I can go back and tell my daughter and others, why I made the choices I did.
Most of my choices come from a pretty reasonable set of human goodwill choices given to me by my mostly good intending catholic parents. I learned early to not quit, be good, treat each other the way you would want to be treated. I might be idealistic. but this is how I view the world, and try to view others actions in this framework. That being said, people do dumb things, and my overinflated sense of justice comes flaming out and I try to help, even when not entirely prudent. In a flash of insight, I just realized that I would enjoy being a judge, or an official at a game. Though I am not at all an administrator, I don't enjoy bringing rules violations to authorities attention. With all of that now on the screen, woe to you if you cut me off on the highway. For some reason I just want to get in front of you and slam on my brakes, sorry world, many of you drive in an entirely unacceptable way.
Anyhow, except for that diversion into road rage, things are truly quiet this week. I have been home with the loves of my life, and trying to get the usual shopping for the holidays and birthdays done. I don't know where my evenings have been going, but it feels like I get home, eat, and then suddenly I am nodding off next to my wife in bed. The days fly past, and when i come out of my fog, I see my daughter growing up, learnig new words and songs, and I wonder how so much time has past since standing next to my wife and saying "I do". I love me life, and look forward to our family growing again, and getting the kitchen remodeled,, and cleaning up my office at home and garage. As I write this I realize that nothing about work enters into this story... HMMM... Considering that i spend hours obsessing about my work, it sure does not figure loudly into my future vision. Note to self, need to win the lotto this week...
In the above interest I will get away from the big project of history and talk about the daily moments today. I feel like writing today and who knows how long that can last. Interested readers of this space (yes I delude myself), will note that sometimes I write more than others. As my days get filled up, I guess there is less urge to take time and reflect. Is that not the case for us all?
Anyway, even thought the days are extremely full right now, I want to try and document the little things that go through my head, so that perhaps in time, I can go back and tell my daughter and others, why I made the choices I did.
Most of my choices come from a pretty reasonable set of human goodwill choices given to me by my mostly good intending catholic parents. I learned early to not quit, be good, treat each other the way you would want to be treated. I might be idealistic. but this is how I view the world, and try to view others actions in this framework. That being said, people do dumb things, and my overinflated sense of justice comes flaming out and I try to help, even when not entirely prudent. In a flash of insight, I just realized that I would enjoy being a judge, or an official at a game. Though I am not at all an administrator, I don't enjoy bringing rules violations to authorities attention. With all of that now on the screen, woe to you if you cut me off on the highway. For some reason I just want to get in front of you and slam on my brakes, sorry world, many of you drive in an entirely unacceptable way.
Anyhow, except for that diversion into road rage, things are truly quiet this week. I have been home with the loves of my life, and trying to get the usual shopping for the holidays and birthdays done. I don't know where my evenings have been going, but it feels like I get home, eat, and then suddenly I am nodding off next to my wife in bed. The days fly past, and when i come out of my fog, I see my daughter growing up, learnig new words and songs, and I wonder how so much time has past since standing next to my wife and saying "I do". I love me life, and look forward to our family growing again, and getting the kitchen remodeled,, and cleaning up my office at home and garage. As I write this I realize that nothing about work enters into this story... HMMM... Considering that i spend hours obsessing about my work, it sure does not figure loudly into my future vision. Note to self, need to win the lotto this week...
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
A finishing of a story:
I August I started a history, and then events got in the way, and I did not finish. There is new post in between this on and that one, but I thought since I was moved to write today, I had better get it together and finish a coherent thought that I was having in August.
The problem that I have is that I can't remember the motivation which got me going on the story. I know that Amy and I were having a discussion about fulfillment and I was not feeling fulfilled at the time, probable because I had not done anything with music in a very long time. As mentioned in my last post, I did a show with the band Sugarland which was one of the highlights of my career, but right afterwards I put music in a box and wrapped it with a bow and put it on the shelf.
Ok, now I am in the mindset of this history again... As we left off in the prior post, I had sold my gear and gotten away from doing sound for a short while. At the time I was working at Lowe's home improvement as a store manager (having realized that I could not make a full time salary working in the music industry). For fun in the summer I was going down and helping out at Michigan International Speedway. My friend Keith had taken a position there after honing his marketing chops in Grand Rapids. Keith was the guy who hired me for the block parties with the sports team...
As I wandered around at the large speedway, I began helping out wherever needed which included a new concert concept which one of their large sponsors had implemented. The concert was huge expense for the Speedway, and Keith asked me my opinion on it. After we looked over what he paid for production and the band, I made a fateful statement: "I could do a show like this and save you half your money"...
Having seen me doing production on a small scale, Keith thought that I must know what I was doing and promptly turned the show over to me for 2004. I took a chance and booked comedian Cledus T Judd for the big show. Some people at the Speedway thought I was crazy, but the artist had just put out a CD with a song called I love NASCAR, and it hit the charts right before the race. We ended up with a crowd of 25,000 people, and I pulled the whole thing together by myself. It was a crazy success, and amazing fun.
A couple of months after the concert my buddy had an opening in his staff and asked me to come down and live in Jackson. This led me to a couple of years working for the NASCAR and ISC companies. I was in charge of concerts as well as the display area at the Speedway. I also negotiated contracts with national and regional companies as a corporate partnerships exec. This was pretty fun work and allowed me to travel and have a pass into the biggest and best NASCAR events of the year. I traveled to Daytona for the 500, as well as Phoenix and Taladega. Not a bad deal to be able to walk into almost any suite and watch the race with somebody that you knew. Clients tend to be at several races each year, so it was easy to get a free lunch and a place to watch, as well as access to the pits while the race was going on.
The finale and turning point of this history was me booking Sugarland right before they took off in 2005. We got then to play the post race concert, and their Cd went number one that week. The little band that we got a $15,000 quote on had become a headliner, and drew a crowd of 35,000 people that day. As all stories go, change was in the air... My wife and I were planning to get married that fall, and neither of us saw NASCAR or Jackson MI as the place to be for the long term. So I was once again looking for the right place to be...
That fall my wife (Blanco De Sinki) and I were married. The right position did not appear until that spring, but right before the birth of our daughter, I found myself working in the non profit sector, in Grand Rapids MI. My concert days were over for a bit due to my boss not being too pleased at my leaving the Speedway just as thing were getting settled into a routine. (He was just about to see much change as well, but that is not my story.)
As I got into my new role of husband/father/non profit community leader, I found that the lack of a musical outlet was getting to me. Change is never easy, and this was the biggest year of change in my life.
At this time, I have decided that I need to put musical production back in my life. As I find time I will let you into the process that I am going through. I have been studying up, as the last couple of years have brought amazing change to the live production industry. Digital technology has taken over the industry like no one could predict event three years ago. This old school engineer, is learning some new tricks every day. But a good microphone is still a good mic, this technology has not changed, and I still have a few good old microphone up my sleeve!
I August I started a history, and then events got in the way, and I did not finish. There is new post in between this on and that one, but I thought since I was moved to write today, I had better get it together and finish a coherent thought that I was having in August.
The problem that I have is that I can't remember the motivation which got me going on the story. I know that Amy and I were having a discussion about fulfillment and I was not feeling fulfilled at the time, probable because I had not done anything with music in a very long time. As mentioned in my last post, I did a show with the band Sugarland which was one of the highlights of my career, but right afterwards I put music in a box and wrapped it with a bow and put it on the shelf.
Ok, now I am in the mindset of this history again... As we left off in the prior post, I had sold my gear and gotten away from doing sound for a short while. At the time I was working at Lowe's home improvement as a store manager (having realized that I could not make a full time salary working in the music industry). For fun in the summer I was going down and helping out at Michigan International Speedway. My friend Keith had taken a position there after honing his marketing chops in Grand Rapids. Keith was the guy who hired me for the block parties with the sports team...
As I wandered around at the large speedway, I began helping out wherever needed which included a new concert concept which one of their large sponsors had implemented. The concert was huge expense for the Speedway, and Keith asked me my opinion on it. After we looked over what he paid for production and the band, I made a fateful statement: "I could do a show like this and save you half your money"...
Having seen me doing production on a small scale, Keith thought that I must know what I was doing and promptly turned the show over to me for 2004. I took a chance and booked comedian Cledus T Judd for the big show. Some people at the Speedway thought I was crazy, but the artist had just put out a CD with a song called I love NASCAR, and it hit the charts right before the race. We ended up with a crowd of 25,000 people, and I pulled the whole thing together by myself. It was a crazy success, and amazing fun.
A couple of months after the concert my buddy had an opening in his staff and asked me to come down and live in Jackson. This led me to a couple of years working for the NASCAR and ISC companies. I was in charge of concerts as well as the display area at the Speedway. I also negotiated contracts with national and regional companies as a corporate partnerships exec. This was pretty fun work and allowed me to travel and have a pass into the biggest and best NASCAR events of the year. I traveled to Daytona for the 500, as well as Phoenix and Taladega. Not a bad deal to be able to walk into almost any suite and watch the race with somebody that you knew. Clients tend to be at several races each year, so it was easy to get a free lunch and a place to watch, as well as access to the pits while the race was going on.
The finale and turning point of this history was me booking Sugarland right before they took off in 2005. We got then to play the post race concert, and their Cd went number one that week. The little band that we got a $15,000 quote on had become a headliner, and drew a crowd of 35,000 people that day. As all stories go, change was in the air... My wife and I were planning to get married that fall, and neither of us saw NASCAR or Jackson MI as the place to be for the long term. So I was once again looking for the right place to be...
That fall my wife (Blanco De Sinki) and I were married. The right position did not appear until that spring, but right before the birth of our daughter, I found myself working in the non profit sector, in Grand Rapids MI. My concert days were over for a bit due to my boss not being too pleased at my leaving the Speedway just as thing were getting settled into a routine. (He was just about to see much change as well, but that is not my story.)
As I got into my new role of husband/father/non profit community leader, I found that the lack of a musical outlet was getting to me. Change is never easy, and this was the biggest year of change in my life.
At this time, I have decided that I need to put musical production back in my life. As I find time I will let you into the process that I am going through. I have been studying up, as the last couple of years have brought amazing change to the live production industry. Digital technology has taken over the industry like no one could predict event three years ago. This old school engineer, is learning some new tricks every day. But a good microphone is still a good mic, this technology has not changed, and I still have a few good old microphone up my sleeve!
Welcome to my cobwebby and dustcovered blog!
I was driving to work this morning when the urge to listen to something new hit me. I must admit a certain immature fascination with the Free Beer and Hotwings Radio show which happens in Grand Rapids in the mornings on 97.9 WGRD. They were picking on Brian Wilson and during the snippets of music they played I realized that I was ready for my AARP card. The music of The Beach Boys was by far better than any of the actual music that has played on WGRD this year. After they played a snippet of the Sloop John B I decided to change the channel and after hitting the search button I came upon an oldies station which I had never previously settled on in Grand Rapids. After three absolutely well produced sixties pop songs in a row, I have decided to give up trying to be current and just be OLD... Sorry Linkin Park Red Hot Chili peppers, but the Beach Boys stuff just sounds full and awesome. I don't know if it is digital recording or what, but no body is doing complex beautiful and well received popular music today. Some would argue that Jessica Simpson or Avril Lavigne are the Beach Boys of Today. But the Beach Boys were really controversial and out there when they were popular. Everything that I have heard in the last five years is disposible, and does not seem to have the ability to stand the test of time. Even the underground seems dry. Every artist that has been recommended to me lately has not had the ability to hold me ear when I go out and get the CD. A friend of mine recommended Amy Winehouse to me; fun record, but not truly an artistic stretch. I think that is why country music has help peoples interest lately. Artists like Kenny Chesney seem to be able to write a hook, and the music is pleasing to the ear if not completely able to survive the years and become classic. Lest you think I am a complete curmudgeon, I really enjoy the records from Sugarland, I did a show with them a few years ago (see next post), and they are really good song writers. I also liked Kristian Bush, who before Sugarland had a great band (which as I write I can't remember, I may edit this later). The songwriting is good with lots of friendly music to go with it. They could be great if they did not come off as so damn calculated, and kinda manufactured.... So go buy Sugarland if you like fun pop than leans country. And Buy Kenny Chesney if you love Jimmy Buffet and drinking Cruzan and Cokes or if your fridge is full of Corona. It is not even Christmas and I am getting that "need to see a reggae show" mid winter feeling.
As I am finishing this post (and listening to the radio) I gotta wonder what happened to the New Radicals, they had one great song which WGRD plays occassionally. At the time three years ago, I thought that they were heirs to the cool jazzy, well produced, pop kingdom...
I was driving to work this morning when the urge to listen to something new hit me. I must admit a certain immature fascination with the Free Beer and Hotwings Radio show which happens in Grand Rapids in the mornings on 97.9 WGRD. They were picking on Brian Wilson and during the snippets of music they played I realized that I was ready for my AARP card. The music of The Beach Boys was by far better than any of the actual music that has played on WGRD this year. After they played a snippet of the Sloop John B I decided to change the channel and after hitting the search button I came upon an oldies station which I had never previously settled on in Grand Rapids. After three absolutely well produced sixties pop songs in a row, I have decided to give up trying to be current and just be OLD... Sorry Linkin Park Red Hot Chili peppers, but the Beach Boys stuff just sounds full and awesome. I don't know if it is digital recording or what, but no body is doing complex beautiful and well received popular music today. Some would argue that Jessica Simpson or Avril Lavigne are the Beach Boys of Today. But the Beach Boys were really controversial and out there when they were popular. Everything that I have heard in the last five years is disposible, and does not seem to have the ability to stand the test of time. Even the underground seems dry. Every artist that has been recommended to me lately has not had the ability to hold me ear when I go out and get the CD. A friend of mine recommended Amy Winehouse to me; fun record, but not truly an artistic stretch. I think that is why country music has help peoples interest lately. Artists like Kenny Chesney seem to be able to write a hook, and the music is pleasing to the ear if not completely able to survive the years and become classic. Lest you think I am a complete curmudgeon, I really enjoy the records from Sugarland, I did a show with them a few years ago (see next post), and they are really good song writers. I also liked Kristian Bush, who before Sugarland had a great band (which as I write I can't remember, I may edit this later). The songwriting is good with lots of friendly music to go with it. They could be great if they did not come off as so damn calculated, and kinda manufactured.... So go buy Sugarland if you like fun pop than leans country. And Buy Kenny Chesney if you love Jimmy Buffet and drinking Cruzan and Cokes or if your fridge is full of Corona. It is not even Christmas and I am getting that "need to see a reggae show" mid winter feeling.
As I am finishing this post (and listening to the radio) I gotta wonder what happened to the New Radicals, they had one great song which WGRD plays occassionally. At the time three years ago, I thought that they were heirs to the cool jazzy, well produced, pop kingdom...
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