Monday, June 14, 2010
Bounce around the room
So, I'm chilling here in North Carolina at the moment, sick of my job, missing home a bit, into music tremendously and on the verge, the precipice, the edge. There's the option of staying here and doing the same. Staying here and getting a new and more exciting job. Going back home to the place and people I love. Or picking it up and making a reactionary move to pick up and go to San Diego in 3 weeks. And either to stay or pick up and head over to Denver. And maybe just bounce around the room a bit. Eventually I want to settle down, not neccessarily to a place, though, but to people, to family. I could just up and bump around a bit though. Money I make here be damned, b/c it's not enough. Money I make there, we'll see. I'm not ever going to starve. I will never lack a roof over my head. If I pick up and go I will live a new life again. And this time there's no hesitation. I will live a new type of life. Bouncin round to world Bouncin round the US, at least.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Got ta do.
I want it all in life. I want fishing, I want family. I want music, I want sports. I want risk and I want stability. I want laid back without worry, I want action without injury.
I tend to glorify the lives of others, the folks I see on tv announcing the games, the musicians on stage traveling from town to town, the life my parents gave me growing up on the water...fishing, crabbing, sailing, clamming.
Oh boy, they were DOers! Just like I wanna be.
I have a decent job - no great shakes, but I enjoy it - but it's mediocre at best. I've always strived for more in life, more in daily life, and I typically haven't been afraid of making a change, but I have found that when a change is needed...and when it's most difficult to pull the trigger, it's the right time to pull it.
I'm a loyal sonuvabitch, no questions asked, and that can be a great attribute, but there are hundreds of times throughout life when it's just time to cut the cords and to take a risk, and that's the only way to get to the next level in life. Whether it's socially, spiritually, creatively, financially, physically, etc.
Sometimes, and definately, SOMETIME, a man has got ta do what a man has got ta do.
I tend to glorify the lives of others, the folks I see on tv announcing the games, the musicians on stage traveling from town to town, the life my parents gave me growing up on the water...fishing, crabbing, sailing, clamming.
Oh boy, they were DOers! Just like I wanna be.
I have a decent job - no great shakes, but I enjoy it - but it's mediocre at best. I've always strived for more in life, more in daily life, and I typically haven't been afraid of making a change, but I have found that when a change is needed...and when it's most difficult to pull the trigger, it's the right time to pull it.
I'm a loyal sonuvabitch, no questions asked, and that can be a great attribute, but there are hundreds of times throughout life when it's just time to cut the cords and to take a risk, and that's the only way to get to the next level in life. Whether it's socially, spiritually, creatively, financially, physically, etc.
Sometimes, and definately, SOMETIME, a man has got ta do what a man has got ta do.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival
I had the best trip/vacation just a week ago to Gettysburg, PA. Toured the Gettysburg Battlefield and the museum and learned a ton about the famous Civil War battle, but also had a great musical experience at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival at Granite Hill. Saw performances from Mountain Heart, Blue Highway, The Seldom Scene, Infamous Stringdusters, Dehlia Low, Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, and Alison Kraus and Union Station, among many other great performers.
My dad recently purchased and has started playing/practicing w/the mandolin and I toyed w/it, as well, and have decided I could actually play a string instrument. Debating b/t the mando and the guitar. Leaning twd acoustic guitar. Opening my mind to all the possibilities.
My dad recently purchased and has started playing/practicing w/the mandolin and I toyed w/it, as well, and have decided I could actually play a string instrument. Debating b/t the mando and the guitar. Leaning twd acoustic guitar. Opening my mind to all the possibilities.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Crystal Bowersox - An American Idol for the ages
How did a blonde haired, dreadlocked cross between Jewel and Allison Kraus sneak into the American Idol competition?
I mean, how did a talent like hers go unsigned to a major record label before her audition on the show?
Granted, there are other talented performers on the show like Lee DeWise, Tim Urban and "Big Mike" Lynch, but Crystal Bowersox is in a class all her own.
I'm not a music producer, manager or critic, but I will tell you what my own ears hear. This girl is something special.
And though she may be among the best in the nation, I will tell you there are countless local and regional bands that will knock your socks off with more talent, charisma, live performance ability and chutzpah than 95% of the signed, recorded and played artists out there.
Crystal Bowersox is American music. She is soulful, genuine, edgy, herself, bluesey and even bluegrassy. She is that rare talent that makes your hair stand on end and your eyes go moist when you hear her voice.
I mean, how did a talent like hers go unsigned to a major record label before her audition on the show?
Granted, there are other talented performers on the show like Lee DeWise, Tim Urban and "Big Mike" Lynch, but Crystal Bowersox is in a class all her own.
I'm not a music producer, manager or critic, but I will tell you what my own ears hear. This girl is something special.
And though she may be among the best in the nation, I will tell you there are countless local and regional bands that will knock your socks off with more talent, charisma, live performance ability and chutzpah than 95% of the signed, recorded and played artists out there.
Crystal Bowersox is American music. She is soulful, genuine, edgy, herself, bluesey and even bluegrassy. She is that rare talent that makes your hair stand on end and your eyes go moist when you hear her voice.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Is the Tea Party Destined to Inspire That Which it Most Fears: A more European American Political System?
A few days ago, I read the April 16, 2010, USA Today article covering the Tea Party's 2010 Tax Day protests in DC (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-04-15-tea-party_N.htm), and I cannot comprehend the fervor based on factless misinformation propagated by this group.
I personally received the largest tax return I've ever gotten this year, as I'm sure many Tea Partiers also did, and I'm told 98% of Americans actually paid less taxes this year than last. Also, there are more tax credits and deductions for small business, middle-class citizens, and home and car buyers than I can remember.
I am all for the reemergence of the eroding Middle Class, reforming an antiquated Federal Income Tax first established in the 19th Century to support the war cause and since expanded with nearly every conflict, and SEVERELY lessening the power and influence of corporate lobbyists in DC.
However, the Tea Party seems, to me, to be a hoodwinked digital militia based on vitriol and coded language fueled by FOXy sound bite propaganda and fear-mongering rhetoric with a baseless agenda.
Do the TPs have a plan? Have they proposed a bill or a solution? Do they have a firm grasp on the Constitution which is also, quite possibly, a bit outdated? Do they care that Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave? And where were they from 2001-2008?
All that said, I'm not sure the Tea Partiers come without some benefit to American politics. The greatest contribution to the American politcal system I envision coming from the sanguinary voice of the TP's/Tea Baggers, is the inevitable emergence of other non-Dem/non-GOP/non-centrist groups, and hopefully parties, to extend the political discussion beyond the dominant two-party system traditionally, but now less so, battling from just over either side of middle.
Then, the Tea Partiers may find they have sparked the creation of that which they fear the most: a more European style of American governance.
I personally received the largest tax return I've ever gotten this year, as I'm sure many Tea Partiers also did, and I'm told 98% of Americans actually paid less taxes this year than last. Also, there are more tax credits and deductions for small business, middle-class citizens, and home and car buyers than I can remember.
I am all for the reemergence of the eroding Middle Class, reforming an antiquated Federal Income Tax first established in the 19th Century to support the war cause and since expanded with nearly every conflict, and SEVERELY lessening the power and influence of corporate lobbyists in DC.
However, the Tea Party seems, to me, to be a hoodwinked digital militia based on vitriol and coded language fueled by FOXy sound bite propaganda and fear-mongering rhetoric with a baseless agenda.
Do the TPs have a plan? Have they proposed a bill or a solution? Do they have a firm grasp on the Constitution which is also, quite possibly, a bit outdated? Do they care that Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave? And where were they from 2001-2008?
All that said, I'm not sure the Tea Partiers come without some benefit to American politics. The greatest contribution to the American politcal system I envision coming from the sanguinary voice of the TP's/Tea Baggers, is the inevitable emergence of other non-Dem/non-GOP/non-centrist groups, and hopefully parties, to extend the political discussion beyond the dominant two-party system traditionally, but now less so, battling from just over either side of middle.
Then, the Tea Partiers may find they have sparked the creation of that which they fear the most: a more European style of American governance.
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