I need to blog more

Sometimes getting thoughts out helps the creative process of one's mind. I need to get back to writing on here again. Many musical ideas are going through my mind these days, getting back to recording, back to the basics of enjoying what I'm doing with my music. I see now why ex-bandmates of mine thought of playing in cover bands as a sort of disease that would suck the uniqueness and originality out of a musician. I'm still determined not to let that happen. I've been working to set up some weekly sessions to write and keep my writing on track. Hopefully I'll have some links to post soon.

(in)somnia

Something about being up, totally alone, in the middle of the night watching TV, netflix, or whatever - makes me happy and somewhat anxious at the same time. I don't really know where either emotion comes from - but they both seem to be necessary. Sleep doesn't seem to be possible. It's one thing to take something to make you sleep - but when you sleep, and wake up feeling like you didn't - I find that the time is better spent awake. I work things out in my head - and makes plans to make my life better. Then, eventually I go back to sleep - I wake up - I go about my day and utterly fail at all my attempts to control my environment, and my reactions to it. This occurs to me in the middle of the night. It seems sometime like the only difference between the insane and the rest of us is our ability to remember to feed, bathe, and clean up after ourselves.

Up all night...

I've been up all night with a stomach ache, watching movies on Netflix. I'm truly digging the service. I've read articles on the internet with people complaining about there not being enough "new" movies for instant download - but I find something good every time I turn the thing on. What I've been most impressed with is a large selection of indie movies that normally I wouldn't even see in the old days of renting at the video store. I've saved hundreds of dollars using Netflix instead of renting for 4 bucks a pop.

Anyways...this is sort of a wasted blog. I just felt like writing something on here to pass the time while I sit here.

iPhone 4 - Perspective from a former fan-boy

It was 5:45 in the morning. My nephew typed in "apple store the summit" into my iPhone 3G with a cracked screen so we could see if people were tweeting about how long the lines already were. They were tweeting. Apparently people had been waiting in line since about 2:00am. We found a place in line just where the line wrapped around the summit - 4 stores or so from the Apple store at The Summit - where I would receive my shiny new Apple iPhone 4 three and a half hours later.
It seems that experience amplified the entire experience for me. Things seem more awesome the more you have to endure to get them...and thus my phone is...awesome. The graphics are better than any phone I've messed with. The camera is better than both our digital cameras. The video, do I really need to say it? Yes. It's awesome. The phone is fast. The apps are great. It performs, and out-performs so many other phones.
I've been tempted by Android. I can't not admit that I have been tempted. Why? Well for the obvious reasons many others are: to answer the question, "Is Verizon's network really better?" and "is Android really that open of an OS?". Lately the blogs I've been reading suggest that Motorolla is throwing code into their devices that will "brick" your phone making it completely useless if you attempt to jailbreak it and fail. Only thought that came to mind was, "Geez. That's worse than Apple" - and as far as censorship, "worse than Apple" is pretty bad. None-the-less, that's not the point of this blog.
The point of this blog is to talk about the antenna of the iPhone and other smart-phones on the market today. Apple's Steve Jobs had a press conference today to respond to all the media's response to the iPhone signal issues. Apple's response can be summed up to this: Yes. There is a signal issue. Actual all smart-phones have weak spots. Yes. We attempted to cover it up with an algorithm that lied about signal strength making it seem stronger. We sent a fix for that today. Yes. If you don't like our phone you can return it. Yes. Since the bumper case fixes the issues - current owners can have the bumper for FREE. Those who have already bought the case will be 100% reimbursed.
How much better could they have addressed the issue? It IS a problem with every other phone. It ISN'T a big deal with any other phone. But, Apple being the big cheese that they are, should have known this. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew this was going to happen all along. Instead of tech blogs comparing the new Droid X to the iPhone 4, we've been reading nothing but bullshit about the iPhone 4's "design flaw" - which Apple just quite thoroughly proved to be a design flaw for every other phone on the market. They kept my attention, and if you're reading this - they kept yours too.
Fact is: the phone is made of glass. If you don't put a case on it, you're an idiot. And if you put a case on it, you will NOT have signal problems. Now back to the facts that matter. The iPhone 4 is the best smart-phone IN THE WORLD right now. Go get one. And before you leave the store, get your free bumper for cryin-out-loud.

PS- this was typed on a PC, not a mac. LoL.

Men VS Women

Yeah, I know...interesting title right? I was watching a show today on VH1 called "undatable" - basically a show where women talk about things that men do to make themselves more unappealing. It's kinda funny in that many of the things they mention are things I've heard of guys doing, and getting dumped over, etc. But there was one little phase of the show that really hit me in a weird way.

This one phase of the show the women were talking about men that don't pay for the dates. My life, growing up, I was taught that there was a specific way that guys were supposed to treat women no matter what: women are to be treated like ladies, you never hit them, open doors, pay for their food, get ready to pay for everything else they need/want one day in the near future. But that set of rules "generally" (<----look up the definition for "generally" before commenting, ladies) came with another set of rules that said that for one respect given, there was to be respect received. For instance, some guys expect that because they make money, and they work, and they're the "head of the household", they do the outside chores, actually remember oil changes, carry heavy stuff, unload way more groceries than ever needed...I could keep going for a few days...but they sometimes feel that in exchange for having that responsibility the house should be kept clean, the clothes done, and the dinner cooked.

But then we had to have that little movement in the 20's and now women can make as much, and more money than men. And now there's not as much time for "household" chores to get done. Men are expected to help with all those once considered "womanly" chores because after all, we ARE equals - and if they work for the same bills the men do - it's only fair. BUT! I can count on probably two fingers the number of times I've driven past a yard being cut by a woman. And don't get me wrong, when I do drive past - I say, "hell, yeah - that's what I'm talking about". If you want to be equal - BE EQUAL. Take that hard earned cash and pay for a damn date yourself! Go see how it feels to be the one that pays, the one that opens the door, the one that gets asked to move every damn heavy box, and every other "manly" feat. - and then tell me you wouldn't rather cook and clean.

It's the "having your cake, and eating it too" syndrome. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a woman being either way: either just being traditional, or being modern and doing more - being your own woman - or whatever. Be either way - just don't complain about your man not wanting to spend all his cash on you, and expecting you to spend some of your cash - when your excuse for not cleaning his house is the time you spend contributing to the cash flow.

bwahahaha - you guys are gonna have fun commenting on this one I know!

To reach deeper...

I've played music as long as I can remember. Ever since the first time my parents allowed me to sit in front of a piano and I discovered where those sounds came from, I've been obsessed with music. A very wise man once told me that bands come and go - but the music lasts forever. I have learned that the hard way. I have learned more about people from playing music with other people than I have from any other walk of life; probably because that's what 90% of my social life consists of. None-the-less it is true.
So what of the title? To reach deeper than before. To find meaning in things. These are good ideas, but what's the real focus? Truth is, there isn't one. Music, like any other art form will mean certain things to certain people, and to others it will mean nothing. Thus it's meaning is totally relative to the listener. But what I want to talk about, it what it means to the writer.
This is where I feel that much of modern music falls short. So many people out to make money, or become famous, or whatever - but they're not really musicians...and the musicians that are putting the stuff out there - rich as hell they may be - they're expressionless. The "point" of the music is to make money, not to inspire - not to convey a feeling across to others. I've fallen victim to this ideology of writing in some aspects. I've let "what's good" get confused with "what might sell" - etc.
The honest truth with me is that I get a sense of accomplishment just from completing a song when it has true meaning to me. An even bigger sense of accomplishment comes when someone else appreciates the work - whether or not they understand it or not. Maybe by reaching deeper into the unknown so that I can write solely from inspiration may mean a different reaction than hoped for...maybe it will take me further than ever before...the point is, it's not about where I'm going when I write a song - it's about the inspiration from the song itself...it's about where I've been.

Harder than anticipated...

I'm finding that when I truly take the time to try and develop new ideas for music - and really get into depth with it, it becomes twice as hard to come up with something that works. I wanted to have jam sessions in which all the new material came out of...but I'm seeing more and more that this method isn't working. Honestly, it's been probably ten years since that method has worked for me. This means getting the pro-tools back out and laying down my ideas bit by bit again...which I was trying to avoid for time-sake - and to try and obtain a product more inspired by the entire band. Either way - things are slow. I can that should be expected with as much time as we've taken off. Bah. I just felt like complaining. Done now.