Of Paradigms

[Music] New Synths

2009-05-09T20:59:00.001-04:00

Just got some new synth products installed today. Took over 12 hours to install, update, etc. I dialed up some patches and laid this down in about 10 minutes.

Orient Docks

Let the movie soundtracks begin!

[Health] Muscle Activation Technique

2008-09-02T04:21:00.002-04:00

So I've had this slight back/neck injury that comes and goes. I say "injury" because that's precisely what it is, although there is no one event or accident that caused it. Basically there's a specific muscle in the lower neck/upper back that gets pulled every so many years. When it happens, I can't turn my head more than 30 degrees or so and everything in the process hurts. Most of my upper back is super tense and locked up when this happens. Fortunately I'm not in the "ow, my disc has herniated and I'm seeing double" kind of pain, and I can usually avoid most pain by not moving much. Allows me to work, etc, without having to lie around in bed all day.

The source of all this, it seems in my brain, is from several knots I've developed in muscles in my back. Mostly in my right side. I constantly rub at one above my shoulder blade. I attribute this to my poor posture in guitar playing over 25 years, possibly paper route for 8 years, and definitely to computers and using a mouse, perhaps incorrectly for 15+ years.

So two weeks ago I was reminded of this problem when I woke up one morning and couldn't move much. It had been 8 years or so since my last episode, and I had seen a chiropractor back then to align my spine back up. Basically my spine is curving to the right, so the theory is that it's pulling some muscle so tight that they're vulnerable and can pull easily. After a few weeks of chiro, I worked out in the gym and basically strengthened the area on my own (so I thought and still believe).

For the past year+ I've forgone most of my upper body workouts and been focused on core workouts. My abs and lower back feel solid, but I forgot about the knots and tension that were building in my upper back and neck. I think that negligence in that area caused the injury to reoccur.

Well, getting to the current day, I knew a guy that is a good Chiropractor in the Polaris area named Dr. Moore and went to him three times last week. Got X-Rays, did the hydrobed massage and electostim, got adjusted... but the pain got a bit worse, not better. Nothing wrong with Dr. Moore, on the contrary, I'd recommend him to anyone. He and his staff really know what they're doing in their field, and are excellent with patient relations.

Down deep, I just felt that the symptoms were not the problem. Going for correction wasn't necessarily going to address the root cause. I feel that my problems lie in the muscles, number 1, and in my posture through my longterm lifestyle, number 2. I wanted someone to work with those in mind, not just the immediate signs (yes I have a curvature to my spine, I forwarded on my X-rays to my brother-in-law who is a spinal surgeon in Seattle -- he says I'm not a spring chicken anymore, but the spine looked clean and good for my age).

So my friend Geoff refers me to a buddy of his in the PT/rehab realm. I think this is perfect. I saw him on Saturday and it was interesting. He is trained and a proponent of a very new technique called "Muscle Activation Technique." I'd never heard of it, but listened to him explain the theory. You can read it on the website, but it basically says that when there's an injury and the muscles are tight, the body is focusing on protecting the injury. The problem isn't so much in the tight muscles, but more in the "weaker" muscles opposite from them. Therefore stretching is counter-productive, as we are taking the body's natural defense away without addressing the true issue of weaker muscles not taking up their end of the deal.

So anyways, it was an excellent session. Felt like he was really "listening" to my body and the current state of affairs. Went through all sorts of very controlled range of motion exercises, pain identification, etc. He even commented on where my shoulders "cracked" through a particular set of motion exercises. Then he surprised me by addressing and "correcting" a muscle or two on my LEFT side. No one had ever bothered about the left, it was perfectly fine. My right side is the one all tight and bothering me.

He recommended I quit going to the chiropractor, because the overlap between the two procedural styles may conflict. I felt pretty good about the whole thing because I felt like for once I was addressing the true issues by going to a PT/rehab specialist. Note: at this point, I still thought I was going to a traditional physical therapist and was going to get weight training specifically. That night I was sore on my left side (I thought "oh no... that's the side that's never bothered me") but knew that all adjustments and work causes a bit of inflammation (even a sign that something is being done!), so iced it and went to bed.

Well, Sunday and today I've felt great. Immediately most of my tension has gone out of my right side. Rick (PT guy) warned me I shouldn't swing my neck around even if I felt good, so I still moved fairly carefully through both days. But this is even through playing bass standing up all morning Sunday and sitting for a few times with the kids at the computer. So I'm thinking this is great, I've made my decision, I'll cut with the Chiro and booked 2 sessions with Rick this week.

Here it is, Tuesday morning, 4:30am (or later at this point). Can't sleep. The Chiro is a friend of mine, and I'm not sure how to break it to him. I have three appointments scheduled this week, including this morning at 8am (3 hours from now). I don't want him to treat me, because I have an appointment with Rick at 10am. So how do I inform my friend not to treat me anymore?

I figured I'd at least research Muscle Activation Technique (M.A.T.) and see the science behind it, find the news and good word about it. Unfortunately, that's why I'm still up. After an hour of Googling those terms and Greg Roskopf, the founder of the technique, I'm left almost as clueless as when I began. There is just about ZERO information on it, other than his personal website, and the websites of all the trainers who have adopted it. I found one or two news websites with a story or two on it, but more from a "here is a new technique on the radar..." type stories, nothing of any scientific or research-oriented study. Nothing official. I say "almost" clueless, because I know from the lack of websites and posts about it that this technique is VERY new and under the radar, as well as not being validated by universities or scientific studies.

Well, I still feel good about Rick. Results are results. I'm not saying that Dr. Moore and the chiro work he did on me didn't help, because it did. I just know that after a session with Rick, not only did I feel remarkably better, but I also feel that I'm addressing the muscular cause now, and Rick is making a point to take time and really understand where the issues are and getting a good idea on what's really going on with my back. I think I'm ready to take a step into a new and untested field on this issue. A) My back and muscles aren't fundamentally messed up, so the likelyhood of screwing them up is very neglible. B) My pain level is not very bad at all (compared to say, degenerative spine and ruptured discs). C) Everything I have read about M.A.T. has been positive, and the founder (Greg Roskopf) is not uneducated in his field. He's working with members of the Denver Broncos, Utah Jazz and golf professionals seem to have taken to this new technique in fad fashion.

Hopefully I'll have great results to share. I'll try to keep this thread up to date so that anyone who may have tripped across this somehow would see one person's story on it. Maybe this new technique will be a real breakthrough on rehabilitation and healthy active lifestyles. Maybe it'll be a bust.

I'll let you know this person's results at least.

[Culture] Japan care-package

2008-08-19T15:22:00.002-04:00

My step-brother is over in Japan currently learning the language and studying to be a teacher. He's also DJ'ing a club from time to time and writing about his travels. We exchanged care packages and his just arrived. I got two shirts and 4 CDs. Shirts first:

Genuine articles :)

The CDs are:

Happy End - Kazemachi Roman: Wow, truly classic. 1971 release which even features a yodeling Japanese guy. Very CSN&Y. Great production. Sounds a lot like the production of everything great going on in early 70's folk rock (Harvest, etc).

Cornelius - Sensuous: New approach to standard instruments and synths. As my step-brother describes it, it's like he took all sorts of musical bits and threw them up in the air and saw how they interacted. It's very fresh and a great listen.

Denki Groove - J-POP: 80's new wave meet the late 2000's. Everything we loved and remembered from Human League, Flock of Seagulls, etc, but in Japanese and updated slightly for 2008. Great songs, good new sound to an old genre. In all fairness it's more modern than I let on, but I'm reminded strongly of new wave.

Perfume - GAME: I have to admit, I thought I was going to listen to this once and forget about it. It is the latest rage (and when I say rage, I mean you can't escape them anywhere in Japan -- much like a Brittney or Paris... but for much better reasons). The production on this album is pretty much incredible. It avoids all the overbearing hip-hop motifs of today's US pop, and keeps it's vocals fairly pure and synths straight up. Heavy on the vocoder, but in a innocent and fun way -- nothing like Madonna or Cher. I may even listen to this more than once.

Anyways, my step-brother rocks (or breaks, more accurately genre-typed).

[Personal] Anime-me

2008-07-31T17:56:00.003-04:00

Good friend of mine got a job opportunity in Arkansas. I liked the way his stylist did his hair so I decided to take my friend's place in the barber chair. First of all, the studio is in the Short North. Secondly, all the guys were prettier than me. Thirdly, I fit right in. So when I told them to cut it with style, this is what I got:

What the freak is that?? I might as well put on an Anime T-shirt and go to a ComiCon.

[Music] Remix gates

2008-07-24T15:00:00.002-04:00

Found a freebie VST Gate filter plugin that I ran into my Ableton Live setup and applied to one of my ambient pieces "Moonrise." I created a rhythmical dub piece that isn't really complex, but still fun. I just wish I had more time to do stuff like this!

Moonrise (Dance Remix)

The original piece was posted here a while ago, you can compare and contrast the two.

[Personal] Updates

2008-07-03T15:56:00.002-04:00

Too many things happening too much this spring and summer. Been in 2 movies, wrote tons of music, climbed mountains in Wyoming, DJ'd a whole youth conference in Michigan, etc. etc.

Maybe more details will be forthcoming, but for now I'll just leave it at that. Lots of music and art and rock climbing in my life. Back for a few weeks to catch my breath, but several music projects loom, so not much of a reprieve.

C'est la vie!

[Music] Film score #1 done!

2008-04-03T16:35:00.004-04:00

Three months worth of effort cumulated in a monstrous mixing/engineering project this past weekend to produce a final product. Charles Mallory wrote a film piece for an ASCAP competition over the past three months and it needed to be a finished CD mix by April 1st. We worked about 12-14 hours each day Saturday and Sunday getting all of it mixed and produced.

Moscow (Film Score)

The final mix ended up being more than 60 tracks to deal with. Mostly EQ and compression were already taken care of, so the biggest problem was dynamics. We spent a good deal of time finding appropriate percussion for the piece, and replacing most of the MIDI brass parts with audio from his Yamaha Motif keyboard. Brass is a PAIN on the computer. There's almost nothing you can do to make it sound realistic, but we tried.

Most of the work of the weekend was getting the mix to properly crescendo to the climax at the end. With all parts working away at the end, it became a thick mix very quickly. I started there, mixed it all together, then worked backwards in the piece. Just about every lead melody part was hand-tooled with dynamics and faders to get a more "realistic" feel. It was fine until the part didn't fit in the mix and everything had to be adjusted. All those velocity curves moved up and down to fit... ugh!

Anyways, I didn't listen to it for a good two days after the contest submission had gone out in the mail. I was pleasantly surprised at the results with a fresh ear. Usually after a long marathon mix-down session, you come back to the piece and hear all sorts of things sticking out that need to be fixed. I certainly hear a few items that could move around in the mix, but none that are glaringly obvious. I am very happy with this work and think it's one of my best efforts to date, given that it was 60-some tracks and was all computer-based MIDI.

... but I'm not sure I'll do it again anytime soon! Talk about effort....

<33

[Personal] Haircut time

2008-03-14T14:49:00.002-04:00

So my hair got to the point that I was really sick of it. So I went from 70's rocker to 2000's metro. Sorry for the crappy quality of the pics. My webcam is horrible at taking pictures. Right now all I can say is that I itch. Little hairs getting in everything...

*itch*

[Music] Metal is a sickness

2008-03-03T02:08:00.002-05:00

Yes, I do believe that metal is a sickness -- and it's spreading. I played around with a friend's MT-2 (Boss Metal Zone) pedal. Been wanting to try it out for a while now. It's got some great tones in it, but I really like just the full-out crunch it has. Absolutely rips doors off and blows windows out. I wrote this with a balance of the MT-2 and the Rat Pro Co. at 100% drive. Mmmmm yummy.

Sickmetal.mp3

Careful when you listen to this one. It's pretty hot.

\m\ 0u0 /m/

[Music] Punk punk punk punk...

2008-02-29T21:24:00.002-05:00

Went to a show last night with a great friend from high school. We saw Fireflight, Esterlyn and Stellar Kart. Of all of them, Stellar Kart was probably the best, but it was their show and they've just released their third album, so they've done this for a while. Stellar Kart is also the punk band, and worked the crowd so well. Punk is addicting -- but so then again is all music. So I've written this little punk fragment to use someday.

Fun Punk

I actually put some work into getting drums sounding halfway decent. Nice and fast and punk punk punk.

<3

[Art] My Banner

2008-02-26T17:26:00.002-05:00

I figured that being as popular as I am, I should create my own banner people can put on their sites. So here is the beginnings. Yes, I'm quite aware that leaving it blank like this gives people like Geoff license to mutilate, but oh well.

Here it is, I've made it appropriately emo:

[Music] Frustrated part 2

2008-02-21T00:19:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I whip this piece out. Loosely based on a Nevermore riff. This thing should kick donkey's sack. It doesn't really.

Maybe I put too little credit on the singer's ability to create a mood. Maybe it IS the crappy drums. Help!!!

Death Metal Thing 2

I need to figure this crap out. I want to rock, and it's just not happening.

:( :(

[Music] It's just not happening...

2008-02-20T23:32:00.001-05:00

I try to get some aggression out on the guitar. I record it. When I listen to it, it's just wimpy and not good. Can you all please give me feedback on this thing? What am I missing? I want balls-in-your-face raw and nasty. I know the drums suck... but is the whole idea and riff bad?

Too Polished

Just frustrated, and it didn't help get my aggression out, just mounted it up more.

:(

[Personal] Scruff Dog!

2008-02-05T15:29:00.001-05:00

Boy, comparing what I look like now to my profile picture makes me laugh. What a difference a lack of haircut makes.

LOL.

[Personal] Nice gig! (not)

2008-01-27T00:27:00.001-05:00

I had to post this. One of my "friends" did a photoshop job on me. Flippin' hilarious. If only he could play drums as well as he can manipulate images.

Now go and make a frickin quesadilla or something.

(click on the image to make it bigger, ya know, eh?)

[Music] Something to dance to

2008-01-26T19:50:00.000-05:00

Latest idea. Taken a bit of a down-tempo dance groove. Simple little riff and idea playing around with Reason.

Dancy.mp3

<33

[Music] Even gots lyricses!

2008-01-23T21:50:00.000-05:00

Latest idea hit me today. I'm really feeling the creative energies. Was talking with some musician friends of mine over lunch and discussing Smashing Pumpkins, Muse, and other such bands.

What's Going On

I got lyrics for this one. It needs refined big time, but WOWsers, I'm actually thinking of singing this one.

<33

[Music] Bill and Ted's

2008-01-19T13:35:00.000-05:00

I don't know where these ideas come from. I just turn on the recorder and go. Sometimes fun stuff like this comes out.

I wish I was a more disciplined player, and the time to develop speed and accuracy. The lead lines on this would have come out much cleaner and much more listenable. Oh well, I still enjoyed putting this together. Again, MIDI drums are TEH SUX, but what else can I do?

Maul Scene

Get it? Sounds like something that would play for the mall scene in Bill and Ted's, but I mauled it... so... get it? Eh. Nevermind :P

[Music] ZOMG Another!

2008-01-10T21:11:00.000-05:00

Testing out Reason 4.0, came up with this electronic ditty. Sounds like it should belong in a movie. We need some chill-out music at church, so I wrote this to see what Reason does. I only sampled a very very tiny bit of all that Reason is capable of doing.

Expression

Again, have fun listening. Hope you enjoy, maybe for nighttime sleeping pleasure or whatever.

[Music] Mmmm.. crunchy!

2008-01-10T13:10:00.000-05:00

Getting into the "Insane" amps of the Toneport, I started learning "The Grand Conjuration" from the death metal group "Opeth". I love the tone so much that I started fooling around with riffs on a drum beat, and lo and behold! This came out. Sort of sounds Ozzy-ish with Zakk. But I'm not nearly as good so I just called it:

Oz Thing

Grind grind grind. I love the chunk chunk chunk.

<33

[Music] Forgotten Electronica!!

2008-01-06T00:46:00.000-05:00

OMG! How could I forget? Going through my hard drive, found a rough mix I'd put together of a tune called "Moonrise." It's my first all-electronic piece. Very ambient. Man! How could I forget it and not post it?

Moonrise

I really hope you all enjoy. Sorry for leaving that one out!

<33

[Music] Latest inspiration

2008-01-05T21:01:00.000-05:00

Playing guitar a lot. A lot. Tried a new program called "RiffTracker" (or the full version is called "RiffWorks") and it lays it down really well. Put this one together in about 2 hours. Best thing is the drums that come premade, ready to go. I'd love to do this kind of thing with a real drummer, but the logistics of getting drums recorded haven't resolved themselves yet. Not sure I want to pay the price for it yet, I'd love to know how many more drum patches come with it and what styles they cover. They do support REX format though!

Anyways, was watching an SNL early skit where Chevy Chase was interviewing Richard Pryor for a job. It turned racially ugly quick. So in honor, I call this thing:

Cracka

I haven't written lyrics for it yet. Don't even know how they'd go. Sounds kinda Rage-ish, but I don't think I can do rapcore. Who knows. Voice is still the one boundary I have yet to cross...

(By the way, found out that Chevy Chase not only has Absolute Pitch, but was the drummer with college buddies Walter Becker and Donald Fagen for "The Leather Canary" before they switched their name to Steely Dan.)

Peace and lovables

[Personal] How you doin'?

2007-11-30T14:00:00.000-05:00

Been gone for a while. Had a chance to visit Seattle and I *love* it. Visited the first Starbucks' shop and had one of the best mochas. Anyways, growing my hair long these days. It started off by wanting my hair a bit longer for a hair show I was going to do. Haven't trimmed it since.

I was hoping it was going to look more Morrissey-ish, but I think it ended up more Stray-catish. Oh well. I'll let you be the judge.

[Music] Ride

2007-08-25T18:32:00.000-04:00

Are you kidding? Two posts in a day? 3 posts in as many days? What am I thinking?

Anyways, amazing what happens when you have a proper bass at your disposal. This one I call "Ride." The Toneport amp I have set up for it is my Geddy Lee/Chris Squire patch. Of course I have the bass dialed into both pickups in a "humbucker" configuration. Squire/Lee would have the neck pickup single coil for that "woody" tone, but this one ain't. It's balls out.

Ride

Anyways, I'm sure this bass line was copied from somewhere. Who knows these days.

<33

[Music] Punk punk punk

2007-08-25T16:03:00.000-04:00

Had a chance to play with a Fender jazz bass and played with the Toneport. They have a few punk settings for the bass and guitar. Created this basic drum loop and had at it. Punk is so easy and catchy. This has more of a feeling of Red Hot Chili Peppers though. Good times.

American Punk

Oh and by the way... the bass lick I created yesterday for "White Trash" seems to be something from Napoleon Dynomite ("Here's Rico" to be exact). Oh well. That's what happens when you create something. I'm sure tomorrow I'll wake up and find that American Punk above was some Green Day song. Although it's hard to play punk and not sound like Green Day.

[Music] Shouldn't post this but...

2007-08-24T20:11:00.000-04:00

Playing around with the new Toneport and came up with some tones I like. Of late I've been listening to Steely Dan and really digging Walter Becker's sound.

I don't know why I'm posting this, because this sucks worse than suck. I found my old fretless bass (well, it was fretted until I Jaco'd the fretboard, put in epoxy and now ... ) and laid down this bass line. I'm getting used to the latency of the Toneport ... or could it be that I'm that bad at finding the pocket?

Anyways, all this just came out of my head in one take or less, so I ended up with a Sanford & Sons bass line meeting something not even close to Steely Dan leads (more like trailer park) ... so the result is:

White Trash

Yes, I'm just about that fond of it too.

<33

[Personal] Police life

2007-07-13T10:39:00.000-04:00

Spent two weeks on vacation. Ran sound for about 500 kids in an auditorium. That was a blast and it thumped.

Went up to Lake Michigan to chill for a day or so on the gorgeous sands of Grand Haven, where my grandparents spent a good part of their lives, and as a result, so did I.

Got sick travelling up to my brother's. Felt like dying in a dark hotel room for about 36 hours. Illness is no fun. Glad I only get sick once every 5 years. Now it's out of my system.

Got to Minneapolis in time to see the Police show with my brother. He scored sound check/backstage passes. The Police came out and invited a few of the 60 people there to come up and help sing with the band. Yes, I got to harmonize with Sting on his mic on "I Can't Stand Losing You." Pictures will be forthcoming (I think). Got to ask one of the hosts about Sting's routine. He does Yoga in his Morrocan dressing room (yes, with silks draped and silk cushions), has his own personal acupuncturist, massuse and chef. The chef cooks is trained in Macrobiotics and fixes only the fresh local vegetables for Sting. Of all three of the band, Sting looked fantastic. Mid-50s, tanned, slender and totally built and defined. Not a line on his face. I'd say the routine works.

Got a modelling gig coming up where I play a reserved CFO. What a test of my acting skills. I couldn't be more different...

Oh yea, got a literary journal, been reading several analytical writing style books and been writing down some literary ideas as they come to me. Fun to practice.

All for now, Ciao.

[Personal] Catch up

2007-06-22T09:52:00.001-04:00

Ok, what's been up?

Last Saturday played my first two weddings. The one in the morning was outside, and VERY hot. Luckily we were in the shade the whole time.

Sunday played for LifePoint church. Always a fun time. Good songs, good players, good times all around.

Yesterday, ran into an old friend from High School days. She knows and still hangs out with Cliff, although he's in Colorado now. He still comes back for the Ekoostik shows. Lots of playing, if you ask me.

Today I head up to Michindo for our church camp Impact. I'll be running sound for a concert stage and about 700 kids. It'll be a blast. The week after I'm driving up to Minneapolis to visit my brother. We're seeing the Police on July 3rd. What a fun time that's going to be.

[Music] Basso Electro

2007-06-11T23:12:00.000-04:00

I have been wrongly accused of stepping off the face of the Earth. I have not, it's just flat and I had a heck of a time getting back over the edge.

Anyways, parents-in-law are visiting, and creativity struck. I know dissing the relatives isn't the best thing for marital relations, but I accidentally tripped across this riff and synth pad... and ... welllllll.... you know what has to happen. I wish I had a real synth, but this does nicely for what it is. I'm still not happy with the electric over top, but at this point I'd been 4 hours at the computer and anti-social. Besides, it's getting late and I need sleep.

I have been playing the coffee shop regularly now, every Tuesday. The flute player and I have been playing the greatest of the great tunes... and I get to see how chords are *supposed* to go together for a hit song. While this has a LONG way to go before ever seeing the light of day, the chord riff is somewhat pop-ish and I'm rather proud -- for not playing keyboards at ALL.

Here it is:

Basso Electro

Bon appetit! (oh wait... I used that one already... how about... STICK THIS DOWN YOUR THROAT I HOPE YOU CHOKE. Hmm... maybe a bit strong....) <33

[Modeling] Oh My! I'm Rob Lowe!!!

2007-05-11T09:55:00.000-04:00

Ok, I had to laugh, my pictures came back and I can't help noticing a similarity here. Of course, I am not nearly as talented or guapo as Mr. Lowe here... but I keep noticing similarities... do you see it?

Of course, I figured it'd be easier to facilitate this similarity with a little visualization, as it were. Below is a wardrobe change. There, don't you see it now? Clearly Mr. Lowe and I were Seperated At Birth.

[Modeling] Pics are in!

2007-05-09T22:10:00.000-04:00

Pictures are here, I pick them up tomorrow! Mom came into town. Just in time :)

Oh yea, here's the last in my shirt spendthrift. I like stuff like this.

[Modeling] Photos about ready!

2007-05-08T17:29:00.000-04:00

Woot! So excited!!! My photos are going to be ready in 2 days.

Mmmmm.... finally... I'm ready for the catwalk. LOL.

Oh yea, here's another quick shot of another Hollister shirt. <33 Hollister.

[Personal] Life as of late

2007-05-07T19:11:00.000-04:00

Stress.

More stress.

Goodness, how much can one man stand. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one.

Even weird stuff like getting cops called on me at our church last Sat. morning for cranking my amp up to 3 and blasting it inside (neighbors who live 500 yards away must have REALLY sensitive ears).

Anyways, today I did something for me. Haven't spent $70 on clothes in a long time. But went to Hollister and did some shopping at the mall. I've not been able to, though I've always wanted to, because I feel too "old" sometimes for the style. Nah. Not this time. I used to love shopping with my mom. So bought 3 t-shirts for myself. Wore one today. Man does it feel great and look great. I dunno if I look great, but I feel like it wearing this shirt. I'll post the other two soon.

[Modeling] New category

2007-04-30T18:52:00.000-04:00

So yea, not that categories matter, but I've been doing enough posting about modeling that I thought I'd make it it's own classification. That way you all can skip it every time you see it :)

Anyways, I had my photo shoot Saturday morning, and it was fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Did a few different looks, including an atheletic one, business suit, rugged and medical tech.

Both the photographer and his assistant were excellent. They coached me all the way, made wardrobe suggestions, etc etc etc. They worked with me through the whole session, drew out emotion, helped with positioning... made me look good (ha! That's a joke! But it's their job to get over my looks and help me look non-ugly).

Now I gotta wait a week for photos to come back before we can pick out the shots and turn them into a "comp card" for marketing me. *tap tap tap tap* hurry up. I'm not usually impatient, but I'm looking forward to getting GOING on this thing.

Saw Pirates of the Carribean (again) and Moulin Rouge this past week. Man... both those make me yearn for Hollywood so badly. I want to be there. I want to be a part of it all. My chances of making it? I try not to think about it, but plow blithely on, thinking happy happy thoughts.

[Music] The band...

2007-04-24T10:59:00.000-04:00

I just got forwarded this photo from one of my old bandmates.

The band: Our Flesh Party
The year: 1992

We were 19. How I miss those days. At least I got to experience it. Oh, by the way, I'm the one on the far left with the bad grin. Even back then I didn't fit in *sigh*

:/

[Personal] When it rains it pours

2007-04-23T11:30:00.000-04:00

Ok, so in the past two weeks, I've gone from little activity to more than I can handle.

A) Got modeling photos this coming Saturday. Don't know how much time it'll take, or how often the jobs will come.
B) Been working out 2-3 times per week (LL Cool J is coming April 25 now.. from 1-3pm. Going to take a long lunch).
C) Been playing the coffee house often and running sound for it (Friday night was fun, though none of my "friends" in town showed up.)
D) I have a wedding musician who plays flute that wants to have me join with her. She's looking at putting together a jazz group, with bass and drums and play corporate events. She has a lot lined up.
E) Just played last night at a church in town. They're looking for a guitarist every-other week. They're a great group that I used to play a bunch for.

Oh yea... other than the working out, everything else is creating money for me. None of it has really started, but I have to pick out what I want to do.

I heard from someone that you can do anything you want to in life, you just can't do everything you want to.

Oh yea and Geoff? Up yours, here's the update. :)

[Personal] First model lessons

2007-04-13T13:49:00.000-04:00

Alright, last night was my first modeling lesson! Talk about a LOT to learn.

It's surprising, what seems to come natural and look good is so UN-natural to learn. I did everything from learning how to walk a catwalk, to photo shoots and angles, to reading commercial scripts into a video camera for auditions.

It was very encouraging. Everything I learned had some relevance to my hobbies in the past. Acting, marching band, playing guitar... even my sales experience. I was surprised that models get interviewed for a job. Not just look good, but they want to know a bit about the person, etc. That really surprised me. I had to laugh and try not to answer any of the questions with, "Well, I want to act because I want to make a difference in the world, build orphanages for all the lost children, and work towards world peace."

Haha, what a riot. At least I'm having fun!

Pictures come, April 28! Then watch out <33

[Personal] More modeling

2007-04-10T20:13:00.000-04:00

Well, last week I met with a slew of agencies. Last Tuesday I went to an open house here locally. Met a really great lady and her husband who runs a nice agency here in town. There's definitely chemistry there, so I think they'll be who I go with.

Then, Saturday morning, I headed up to Cleveland. Turns out that the agency was a Baribizon school, and they were more interested in selling their 13 week program than representing models. They're primary work was hosting events. I chatted with my agent here in town and turns out she's been there, done that. Gave me good advice, and I think I'll steer clear for now, at least until I get my feet wet.

Then this morning I went down to Cincinnati for yet another agency. They're not a school of any sort. This guy's attitude was most refreshing. Very choleric, commanding, bottom-line. No-nonsense business. I could see myself working with them for their print shots, as their market is largely commercial product. (Hint, there's a major headquarters for a large product company with the letters P & G...) He's an exclusive agent, however, but said he'd be willing to cutting out Columbus from his contract. Dunno, we'll see how that pans out after I get shots.

So Thursday night I'm meeting with my agent here in town. We're going through some camera angles, poses, information about shoots and what to expect. We'll figure out when the best time will be for getting a set of shots for me. They say that the midwest is more about "real" people, and less about fashion and runways. Largely commercial products and catalogs will be the focus.

It'll be fun to see how it pans out, more later.

<33

[Personal] New (old) earring

2007-04-02T17:39:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I did it... I bought an earring and put it in my ear. It's never grown over so I thought Hey, why not?

I did it originally in college, haven't really worn one since. I worked at a coffee house this weekend and thought it'd be a perfect time to sprout the headpiece.

Then last night, went to Wrestlemania at a friends'. Ok.. earrings don't look cool with macho wrestlers :) Though I did get to see Donald Trump get a Stone Cold Stunner slapped on him. That was quality entertainment.

Haven't heard much from the modelling world. Meh. Maybe I'll just submit to another agency. That, and I updated my audio drivers on my compy. Maybe I'll be able to record without all the annoying glitches. -- oh... got an e-mail from a wedding floutist... perhaps I'll go back to playing some weddings.

Anyways. Fun to be had this Spring.

[Personal] Brighter whiter...

2007-03-21T10:59:00.000-04:00

Ok, so in doing the modelling pics, I realize just how yellow my teeth have gotten. Mom got me some Crest Whitestrips to wear. I've done three treatments already and I think they've lightened a bit. 'course now I'm all paranoid about drinking coffee and staining my teeth again...

[Personal] Headshot Time! Vote!

2007-03-15T01:26:00.000-04:00

And so I finally paid a photographer to take a picture of my ugly mug.

Now it's up to you to tell me which you like. Who am I kidding. No one's reading this but me. All is vanity :)

Anyways, if you do happen to stumble across this webpage, please comment on which you think should be my headshot.

[Personal] Fun with headshots

2007-03-15T01:17:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I'm posting this one first, so it's not at the top of my page. These are the fun shots that we took when getting a headshot. Kinda artsy, probably gonna put Tribal over the second to last one and make it my pic for my blog. Dunno, but they were fun to take. Very little done to retouch these, and not cropped at all. Pretty much straight from the camera.

I think the 3rd and 4th shots look a little too Latino for me. Something about the haircut, the open shirt... I dunno.

[Personal] Yo! Vinny!

2007-03-10T20:59:00.000-05:00

I play a character named "Vinny" for our church's kid productions once a month. I love getting in this outfit. I have a horrid downstate Brooklyn accent. Only gotten from TV shows. You know how fake that is.

Anyways, I like the jacket. Original from my band days :)

[Personal] 'nother pic

2007-03-07T16:24:00.000-05:00

I had to laugh. A friend described my previous pic as looking something akin to their father.

So what makes "sexy?" Not saying I've "got it" or anything... but there's certainly something to the way pics are cropped, the angle of the head, the eyes.... I took this one, and it does show a different sort of mood. I wonder what the essence of "sexy" is, and how one reproduces it.

Oh well. I guess I'm just me. Oh, and FYI? The modelling company doesn't take e-mail photos, only hard copies snailmailed. Looks like I'm finding a friend to take some shots.

Later.

[Personal] Modelling app

2007-03-06T17:39:00.000-05:00

Finally, I submitted a head shot to the agency. CamTalent is the place I'm looking at. There are two high-school friends of mine there, one girl, one guy. They both had good things to say about the agency. Hopefully I'll get an interview.

One of my friends was concerned for me saying they didn't want me disappointed if I didn't get an interview. I guess it'd be a little bit of an ego hit... but maybe I need one. Not that I think I'm that attractive to begin with, but I'd love to see if I could.

Oh well, live and take chances. Live with rejection, if only for hope of making it one day.

<33

[Personal] Matrix pose

2007-03-01T12:14:00.000-05:00

So... could I be in a Matrix film? Hrm... I dunno. I have fun taking shots like this though. I hate the limited focal length of my camera. Why is it focused on the ceiling???

Oh well :P

[Music] Eyesis jam

2007-02-17T20:28:00.000-05:00

A friend through our online game is a drummer and has a forum where musicians trade musical bits and use them in songs. People post their creations back to the forum, and it becomes fun to see how different people view different bits.

This bit was a drum track that Mike (Eyesis) recorded. It's a fantastic groove and lends itself to all sorts of interpretations. The first one I heard was a very Allman Brothers sound. The second was a Hendrix Third Stone From the Sun type jam. I have both roots in my background, so figured I wouldn't go there, but instead introduce some of my other influences.

There's a bit of Satch, Vai, Lifeson, DiMeola, Malmsteen, etc in this minute and a half. Some verbatim licks, some just in the style. I took a few passes through getting the rhythm tracks fairly tight, but the solo tracks were all one-shot.

This is rough folks, but that's what Mike's forum calls for. Here's a bit, play the first thing off the top of your head. That being said, be kind: the digital recorder shows it's ugly nature on this one as I was rushed trying to mix it all down before taking the in-laws out for pizza. There's a lot of digital clipping and distortion, but hey... at least I had the balls to do it. Here it is:

Influences

Enjoy! I'm currently going back to a film score that me and a composer are currently working on. Not sure you'll hear it here in the near future, but maybe after we've submitted it, you'll get to hear a sample.

<33

[Personal] New pic

2007-02-11T12:21:00.000-05:00

Hey, don't have many pics of myself, and that seems important to me somehow.

This is as long as my hair has been in a long time. I need it cut bad. Oh well, I'll get it styled then hire a photographer to take some real headshots of me for the modelling gig. I really need to do that soon.

[Personal] What's up?

2007-01-24T11:25:00.000-05:00

Hello world!

Got chastised for not keeping up in life, so here's a message.

What's new?

Met with a composer last weekend, and we're setting up space to start co-scoring some movies. We've discussed how to branch out from lil' ol' Columbus into the big bad world of Hollywood... but not sure how :)

Contacted the modelling agency. They need some head shots. I either need to find someone to take these things, or engineer some creative self-timer shots. Needs to get done, though.

Been debating on types of shots they want. Currently my hair is about as long as it ever gets anymore, with a slight curl in front. I figured it'd be a good "conservative" shot. They want a color body shot, actually. But I can still wear a black ribbed turtle neck and pretend it's B&W.
Then I was thinking of cutting my hair high and tight, spikey spikey mussy up top and wear something a bit more adventurous... dress shirt and my ripped up favorite comfy jeans with black dress shoes...
Then I was thinking of getting in a bathing suit and dousing myself in water, get that whole "beach" effect and show off my upper body a bit. ... Except that it's 30 degrees here and 3" of snow on the ground.

Hmmm.... I could do it at the gym... wonder what all those around me would think. ... maybe those shots will wait until spring.

Anyways, that's the quick news :)

{Personal] Goatee Boy

2006-12-17T20:20:00.000-05:00

Well, got to play Christmas photographer again today. I love playing with pictures, and ended up doing some work.

I'm also pursuing modelling. It's something I've always wanted to do, and well, I think I might have a shot.

Of course, I think the goatee has to go... what do you think?

Later!

[Music] A little heavier

2006-11-06T18:58:00.000-05:00

This ain't as heavy as I get... you'd have to check out some stuff from college to know how heavy it got. But this is a bit more in the "rock" variety in case you all were wondering:

Funky Modus + V

[Media] ... that's a wrap!

2006-10-27T10:33:00.000-04:00

Ok, for those of you wondering, our creative director did a fantastic job with the footage I'd given him. He has more talent in his pinky than I think I do...

Thanks to all who made "One Night" another spectacular event. Those Wednesdays are the creative highlight for the month for me.

[Media] ... and Action!

2006-10-24T10:52:00.000-04:00

Saturday I got to play director/cameraman. Forgot how much I missed being behind the camera. I stood in for our creative director to shoot/direct some of the shorts we use for our "One Night."

Being a creative director for someone else's ideas is challenging. You don't quite have the picture of what they're seeing, or how they envision the scenes unfolding. The footage I took was from my perspective and conveyed my mood at the time. What makes this all the more interesting is that our creative director will be editing and producing what I shot.

I wonder if he'll be able to make any sense of it all, or if he'll strangle me...

[Music] Something electric

2006-10-23T22:31:00.000-04:00

I had just gotten my Boss BR532 recorder the Christmas before my first son was born. I had lost my job and had quite a bit of time on my hands. I usually ended up heading over to the youth building and playing my guitars through the massive sound system we have set up there. I had also just recieved my Paul Reed Smith for Christmas as well.

This was a pre-built guitar patch and drum patch on the unit fresh out of the box. I did this all one-take, straight into the recorder and just saw whatever came out. I was so surprised that it actually came out that I went back and laid in a bass track really quick. Bamm-o... 7 minutes later, I had this. Kinda whimsical and fun. Nothing serious here, just me, raw, into the recorder.

74.5

Oh yea the title? 74.5 beats per minute is the tempo :)

Bon Appetit.

[Music] Another piece from my hands

2006-10-23T21:49:00.000-04:00

Wrote another piece today. Just came today as I was fooling around with my capo. It's kinda a relaxed, introspective piece. I did this straight through, no breaks, and it's pretty rough (what's new?).

This one is probably good for reflection or falling asleep to... hence I call it:

The Dream

Speaks of love. Enjoy!

[Personal] Endorphins

2006-10-19T13:30:00.000-04:00

MMmm.... workouts! Last night ripped into my chest and shoulders again. Did some ab work too. Lately I've noticed that although I have little body fat on my stomach, I also have little in the way of definition. Not sure I ever had ripped abs, but it's worth a shot.

I really need a personal trainer. Not sure if I'm doing anything right :)

Bah, money. Too bad I don't know any personal trainer friends that would be willing to volunteer services :)

[Music] A taste...

2006-10-17T01:31:00.000-04:00

Ok, I probably shouldn't do this in this day of copyrights, etc. but I'm going to anyways. I felt like posting a few melodies, very rough, of the first tracks coming out of my head. I have lots more, but these are neat.

A Step

This is the track that started it all. Just a simple melody running through my head. I set up my recorders and office just to capture it. It will soon be a part of a very special song, I believe. I made a promise, and this is what started it all...

Happiness

This track came out of my head tonight. Raw, straight to recording, this is first-blush at what my mood was tonight. Very happy and wanting to share. Again, rough... but it's a start.

[Music] Writing again

2006-10-16T11:32:00.000-04:00

During this past hiatus, I promised a dear friend that I would get back to writing music. I guess "get back to" would be a bit of a misnomer, because the only time I've ever seriously written was in high school and college with my old band, Our Flesh Party.

So I've started with a simple studio setup in my basement with my guitars, an SM-58 and my Boss BR532 recorder. As ideas come to my head, I head down and throw them on the recorder. Nothing very elaborate, but just the basics. I need to refurbish my bass so I can lay down some bass tracks.

2 observations:

1) It is really difficult to write without drums. The BR532 has a nice rhythm section in it, but to sift through it to find the right "beat" for the tune would kill the momentum. Plus, the beats I hear in my head will just have to wait for a real drummer (Geoff) to lay them down.
2) My voice is a total unknown. How do I sing? I was raised in a church choir and have sang with the Columbus Symphony Orchesta and Chorus. Not the type of sound for any sort of current format. Do I add dirt, grunge, rasp, breath to my voice? Do I sing high or low? My voice scares me. What if I choose the wrong voicing. Guess that's a part of this whole process and something I choose to go through to make good on my promise.

Also have started with lyrics. They're tough, because I've never been able to put two words together. Everytime I've tried in the past, they've been too cheesy, or forced rhymes, or bad meter.... Someone like Sting makes it seem so easy. Well, that's because he's Sting.

Which style to choose? I let lyrics color my view, because I hear a particular line and think "oh that's so country," but that kills the possibilities for something more creative. I mean, look at the Smiths. Depressing depressing lyrics, happy happy music. It worked for them, so I need to kill preconceptions.

Finally... am I writing this music for me, or am I writing this to actually try and get published? There is a difference. I've written lots of melodies and chord progressions for myself, but not sure they're commercial. They're fun to play and uniquely me. On the flip side, I wrote the graduation song for my high school class and competed against 20+ others to win it. I wrote it totally cheesy and predictable, and it worked. To this day, I hate that song. The problem is, is that I really treasure that feeling of doing it and making it.

I think I'm leaning towards commercial. I would like to know if I could actually make it. Who knows... maybe I would and could live a different type of life. I've always dreamed of being invited to Hollywood premier showings of movies, in a tuxedo, hob-knobbing with the stars, getting my picture taken, giving autographs. Being invited because one of my tunes was the title cut of the movie. I know, that sounds egotistical, but why not? Why not me? Happens to plenty of others :)

[Personal] I'm BACK!

2006-10-16T11:11:00.000-04:00

Wow. Hello world, nice to see ya!

Too too many things have been going on in my life right now to address all in one post, but since my hard drive last winter, I've been focusing on my new son (who was born in this timeframe) and addicted to World of Warcraft (main = "Wix" alt = "Wixrin" on Argent Dawn - Alliance). If you know what's good for you -- don't start.

Slowly I'm in recovery (well ok, not really), and have started branching back out to real life. My eyes are slowly adjusting, and I think I'll be ok.

Worked out last Monday night for the first time in months. Wow, endorphins are AWESOME. I felt so great afterwards, and the next day wanted more. Two days later, however, I'm glad I listened to common sense, because the pain came :) I'm going to try to work out again tonight, although it's my mom's birthday today and she's in town. I love working out to Monday Night Football.

I'm also one of those ones who makes people sick. I lost weight by not going to the gym for the past 6 months. Went from 143lbs. back down to 137lbs. Time to build that chest, and arms once again.

Anyways... more to come.

[Technology] Yes, I love...

2005-12-09T13:18:00.000-05:00

Hard drive crashed at the end of last week.

You don't realize how much you need to backup until it's all gone.

Fortunately the important stuff was backed up, but sometimes you don't think about all the things on your system that you use. All the programs I had on there I can reinstall, but the settings for all of them will not be recoverable. I spent a LOT of time on my dock bar setting up apps and finding custom icons at www.wincustomize.com. Another thing I forgot was all my URL favorites. Do you know how many you accumilate during the years? I used a lot of them frequently.

Anyone feelin me?

I also lost all my Blog subscriptions and settings. Off to find all those Blogs I read every day.

Yes, I love technology...

[Politics] New Mayor in Hillsdale

2005-11-10T14:50:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, isn't this one of the lifeguards at our summer camp? Wonder what his platform was:

18-year-old write-in candidate elected Hillsdale mayor

HILLSDALE, Mich. (AP) — An 18-year-old high school student has been elected mayor after mounting a write-in campaign to oust the 51-year-old incumbent. With all the votes counted, Michael Sessions had 732 votes to 668 for Mayor Doug Ingles, according to unofficial figures posted on the city's Web site.

Full story here.

[Personal] Hair Do

2005-11-06T10:14:00.000-05:00

I tried the messy bed-head look this week. You know what's messed up? Finding yourself trying to take care of stray hairs. Weird.

Or how about trying to arrange the messy parts so that your grey hairs don't show?

[Leadership] Leadershipitis

2005-10-18T15:06:00.000-04:00

Nobody does John Maxwell more discredit than corporate managers and executives.

I was attending a personal development conference two weeks ago, and several of the speakers were on John Maxwell's close group for personal mentorship. One of these speakers talked about a recent round-table with John, in which John lamented a growing trend that the speaker dubbed as "Leadershipitis." John noticed that a lot of the people who followed his books and teaching were becoming too one-dimensional. They used the "John Maxwell" name as a branding, and were turning his books and seminars into buzzwords for professional status. The distressing thing about this, according to John, was that people were reading his material to the exclusion of the classics that he built a lot of his material upon. In fact, he believed that one of the biggest pieces of leadership, that were largely missing in these groups, were basic interpersonal skills (aka "People Skills"). He noted that foundational books such as "How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie and "How To Have Confidence and Power in Dealing With People" by Les Giblin should be used as regular texts for any aspiring leader.

How many times have you been in corporate executive office and seen "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" or "Failing Forward" on their desk and immediately realized that the words coming out the exec's mouth were about as cheap as the paper those books were printed on? See leadership doesn't mean a thing if your goal is to learn techniques to manipulate or always getting people to do what you want. People are smarter than that, and can see right through the "tricks" people use in the name of leadership. True leaders are excellent in interpersonal communication and making others valued first, and they read books and study this topic in detail.

I get reminded of this everyday at my corporate job.

[Personal] Areswear

2005-10-12T17:03:00.000-04:00

Amazing how we all change.

I have a friend from my college band/party days that started his own t-shirt printing company. They started going hotel room to room during Spring Breaks down in Daytona Beach, FL, selling their shirts out of duffel bags.

Today I noticed his company's sign by I-270, close to my house. I decided to stop in.

He took me on a tour of Ares Sportswear (www.areswear.com), and Dye-No-Mite (www.dyenomite.com), his two custom apparel shops. From their operations in Mike's apartment so many years ago, until today, they have grown to a 27,000 sq. ft. warehouse facility that employs over 50 people. Everything I saw was top-notch, from the art department, customer service facilities, to the screen printing floor, the tie-dye facilities, the embroidery department, the warehousing and shipping departments.

I found out that they (Dye-No-Mite) are the 2nd largest tie-dye manufacturer in the world. Their Areswear company does more high-school basketball T's than just about anyone else as well. His staff were all in tie-dyes, ripped-up jeans, you name it. Looked like a fun place to be and work. My friend was dressed in sandals, ripped jean cut-offs, logo T, and polo T over it. Looked like a comfy place to work.

It's amazing to see how people grow and change, and how small ideas become really large ideas with enough persistence. Areswear and Dye-No-Mite are examples of how two kid's efforts pay off big.

[Media] Hip?

2005-10-05T15:51:00.000-04:00

Why can't the church culture access talent used in "Fallen Art" for services, promotions, or fun?

The show reel for Pi Studios is incredible. I know churches don't usually do commercials, but why not? Some of the animation/CGI clips in their show reel are amazing. I wish there was a Christian outlet for this stuff.

[Music] Who Says Recording is Fun?

2005-10-04T16:31:00.000-04:00

I used to love recording in a studio. This is back in the day when I would be up until 4am laying down parts for a CD with a group of guys doing the same thing. There is so much creativity that gets unleashed when you bring finished, polished songs into the studio. Just about everything you thought was in concrete gets reworked, and you come away with something so much more than what you imagined going in.

This past weekend, I spent from 12 noon until 11pm laying down guitars for pretty much just one song. The song wasn't written, composed or arranged by me, I was just doing studio work. Now I've done plenty of studio work before, but this was different.

We recorded everything into his setup at his house with Pro Tools and an M-Audio interface (gotta love modern technology). We were up in a loft, and his son was downstairs making some noise playing video games. Again, since we were using virtual amp modelers, I went direct into the computer with my gear, and the extraneous noise didn't bother us one bit.

Everything should've been easy and comfortable, right? Wrong. The song, while it had merit, was arranged in a manner that would please my grandma. There were sweeping lyrical piano parts heavy throughout the entire song. Don't get me wrong, pianos can sound cool, but the style of today is definitely "less is more." We spent so much time writing and re-writing the parts that were there with the keyboards, that I had no time to really work up parts that I wanted to use on a song like that. I recorded a bunch of "snippets" on the guitar for him to layer in around the keys. I dumped a bunch of "cliche" pieces down for him, and really felt that a good guitar sample library would've been better for him at that point. Not to mention all the technical difficulties we had with all the gear, computer, Pro Tools, etc.

Goes to show that recording your own music is much different than recording someone else's. How I long for the days when we had tube amps, 2" master tapes, thick-paned engineering room glass, iso booths, music blaring out of nearfield studio monitors, spaghetti patch bays, stale pizza, a smokey reception area... (not that I miss smoking)...

...and working on my own music.

[Faith] Satan

2005-09-15T10:59:00.000-04:00

There's a saying in the sales field to "know your competition." For the most part, my family and I live in a bubble, but every once in a while I venture over to the dark side and see what's new. The answer is: nothing.

Last month I attended a concert at a local club with a good-hearted pagan friend to see a "satanic jug band." They were, by all counts, very creative and full of energy. They were obviously a parody on all serious satanic bands, but their message was still evil. The crowd was having fun, the band was amusing, and it was all very black-and-white.

I wish it was always easy to tell sides apart.

My experiences in life vs. the life the band portrayed are complete opposites. The true evil of the night wasn't the lyrics and stage antics, but rather manifested itself in the broken relationships I heard all over the room, in the parking lot and in cars we passed in the lot. It was evident in all the health challenges, the drugs, the smoking, the drinking, the tempers at passing strangers. What's ironic is that the people who were there celebrated something that wasn't real, and didn't realize that the reality was that their lives were miserable and empty.

The evil I see in life often goes unnoticed and subtle. I think that's where the real danger lies. Not in some band or person who advertises things of satan, but in the division that works it's way into church, into our personal lives, into our family relationships. Satan is a master at deception, and just when you think you've seen him coming, he's really been there all along playing some other angle.

I guess that's why the apostles admonish us to be ever vigilant until the day Christ comes.

I live in a fantastic and affluent community. We have great neighbors, and for the most part, have not a bit of trouble to worry about.

- What a lie that is -

Last night I learned that there is a child abducter that has been working our neighborhood, and has been reported 3 times to the police since the beginning of school. The last of these reports came three houses down at the end of our street 2 days ago.

Last night I also tried to diffuse a domestic violence scene next door before the cops and ambulance could arrive.

Satan isn't about black makeup and wearing pentagrams. He's about being the accuser of the bretheren, being the father of lies, and he's here to steal, kill and destroy.

Good news: we've already won. Pray without ceasing until our time is done.

[Media] Animated drummer

2005-09-06T15:56:00.000-04:00

There was a two-year effort by an individual to animate Neil Peart playing YYZ on his drumset. The results are, well, have a look for yourself. I cannot imagine hand-keyframing this whole project, as the author did:

http://www.neilpeart.net/movies/yyz_vid.html

P.S. If the audio and video are out of sync (which they were on my computer), I'd suggest downloading the 23MB Quicktime movie and watching it standalone. It is completely accurate on timing.

[Faith] Too Cool to Go to Hell

2005-08-09T12:39:00.000-04:00

Ok, time for a really long post. I spent some time on it, however, and feel it's worth posting on my blog. I identify with what this guy is saying. He's a funny, creative guy, but has some depth to him as well. His original post is here, but I'm including it in my blog in case he ever decides to delete my comments (heh, I don't think he would... :) ). My comment is in response to his post as follows:

Too Cool to Go to Hell (by Danny Daughtridge)
I’ve been so frustrated at times with the pop-culture mega-churches, the mandatory coffee bars and video screens in every multi-purpose building, the horn-rimmed glasses and diesel jeans pastors named Todd. It seems Christianity has become cool. Despite many warnings from theologians like Stanley Hauerwas and sociologists like Alan Wolfe, American Christianity wants to consume its culture and condemn it too.

What good is a cutting edge if it doesn’t cut something? The churches that I’m referring to above are frustrating to me, because they really think they are hip, and they are really BAD at it. I imagine the guy that came up with the Christian t-shirt design that looked like a Pepsi logo thought he was a pretty cool cat. He was wrong. And we’ve been copying him ever since.

Take church music for instance. The impetus in contemporary church music is to have comparability with popular secular music. We play the same acoustic guitars, have the same “look,” and we even have the guy who ran sound for Mariah Carey’s 1995 tour running the audio-tech department. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had over the years with fellow church musicians who assured me that their praise band was awesome. No, really awesome. The fact is that the church will never compete with the secular entertainment industry. Whenever we make an attempt, we look stupid in the eyes of everyone else.

comments: 1 (by Parker Wiksell):

Speaking as someone who is trying to find cultural relevance in church, I would ask, in light of your commentary, "what is the church of 2005 supposed to look like then?"

I have a background in a traditional non-denominational church, replete with pipe organs and choirs (which I sang in for over 10 years). Then I switched over to a charismatic church (boy, talk about culture shock). Every Sunday, banners were waving, people were dancing shaking, shouting and falling out in the Spirit. After several years, new leadership came in, and now our church has pastors who ride motorcycles, have Diesel jeans (though none of the pastors are named Todd) and we just built a new children's theater/multipurpose room, complete with coffee/espresso bar outside (with flat panel TVs so we can watch NFL Sunday Ticket this fall with the other men whilst sipping on our favorite latte beverages).

I'm not saying your observation is wrong, or even harsh. I've had the same feelings as we've gone through these changes. I've been an active member in several different styles of churches. I've seen them work and not, but here's a few observations and questions to ponder:

1) Traditional churches work. People 'expect' church to be like that. It's a paradigm that has worked for generations. The only prerequisite is that you need to learn to worship God through symbolism, classical music, thickly veiled words (as we talk to the Infinite Creator Who Doth Make the Creation For Thine Holy Purpose) and procedure (stand up for the reading of the Old Testament, sit for the Liturgy -- what's a Liturgy again??).

2) Charismatic (or Spirit-lead) churches work. It totally blows away all paradigms and takes a person out of their comfort zone. It allows someone to fully and freely worship God through an external manifestation of His Spirit. The only condition to worship God in a church like this is to shut off rational thought (I'm not being cheeky about that) and allow yourself to be open to the possibilities that God has to offer through alternative worship, such as shaking like a seizure, collapsing wherever you stand (don't worry, someone will catch you, they always do somehow), speaking in tongues, weeping like a baby, laughing hysterically, or other behaviours that Acts describes as:

Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine." -- Acts 2:13

3) "Contemporary churches" (or as you put it, "pop-culture mega-churches") work. They assume no paradigms about church at all, and try to fit the world's mold of expression. These churches leverage the talents of their members to "express what is timeless in a manner which is timely (or relevant)." They do a good job of making a brand new member or guest feel as welcome as they can, without imposing "religious" symbols, verbage, or other unknowns. The only requirement to worship God in an atmosphere such as these is to be yourself, have a tolerance for others' worldly attitude, turn a blind-eye to trendy-turned-spiritual logos, attire, music, popular sayings, or other worldly devices that are used.

One word about all three environments that makes them genuine or not: Heart. God wants our heart, no matter what. Our focus can only be Him, or else we fail. If religion and tradition, external manifestations, or culture-relevance ever take the focus off of Him, then we fail. It doesn't matter what the expression, God just wants US.

So I guess the question would be which do you pick? I've got plenty of pros and cons about each of the three styles I've been involved with, and they've all been perfect for my life, right where I was in that particular time in my life.

Aaron Weise (guitarist for Spoken) and I have been talking for some time now about redefining church. Is the church of 2010 going to be largely electronic (cyber-churches)? Will they push some limits in ways we never thought? Will there be corporate churches at all, or will cell-groups take over? I think the answer to all of these, in more or less terms will be "yes." The church of the 20th and 21st centuries has been changing, "evolving" and experimenting. As a result, I believe church will be a pleasant amalgamation of diverse styles and cultures, as diverse as the people who call them their spiritual homes. There will be enough representation so that people can worship where they feel, how they feel, and to Whom they feel (most importantly) with other of like preference.

So if you had to design a church from ground-up, with no limit on budget, time or resources, what would it look like to YOU? What things are important in your life and your expression to God? What would it be like? Focus on those answers, and then DO something about it. Bring it to your home church and influence in your unique way. Find another church where people are already doing what you envision. Or, if there exists nothing that fits what you imagine, then perhaps God has called YOU to start it. Step out, be bold, leave your mark on this world so that others may identify and ultimately worship the Living, Awesome, Diverse and Loving God...

[Humor] Voice-overs

2005-08-09T10:37:00.000-04:00

Every year at camp, the media guys dig up some movie trailer or comic bit that gets quoted all week -- often into the ground, usually by 2 or 3am Weds. night. There has been a clip or two revolving around the voice-over sound of Hal Douglas or Don LaFontaine. I found a clip from Don in which he spoofs himself and the industry, with the help of 4 other top voice-over talents.

http://www.donlafontaineonline.com/video/5men.mov

Previous clips from camp include the trailer to Jerry Seinfeld's movie, The Comedian, featuring Hal Douglas:

http://movies.apple.com/movies/miramax/comedian/comedian-sref.mov

And this year, it was the standup bit from off-color comedian Pablo Francisco. His routine is from the Tonight Show and is brilliant. Too bad he has to resort to crude and sexual humor for his regular bits, but this one is clean:

http://www.pablofrancisco.com/video/tonight_show_standup.wmv (Windows Media)
http://www.pablofrancisco.com/video/tonight_show_standup.rm (Real Player)

[Leadership] Re-evaluate

2005-06-22T10:55:00.000-04:00

It still amazes me that "The Magic of Thinking Big" is not required reading for every high-school student in this country. How many problems would be solved by interjecting this one book into their curriculum.

I checked out the CD audio-book version of this classic the other day from the library. I've read and re-read this book many times, but it has been a while since the last. I've been listening to it at work now over and over. I should buy it, rip it down to mp3 and keep it on my player for the gym. It is a must-have.

It's fun to re-read or listen to a book a year or two later, and re-evaluate yourself. I find myself constantly thinking "that's where I got that from..." or "yea, I do that..." when listening. It's cool to know that the principles in a book get integrated into your personality and that you've truely taken something of value from reading it. Also, it's fascinating to read an impactual point in a book and think "I never realized that was in there." Books speak to us at all levels. I get encouraged whenever that happens because I know I've grown from the first reading, and I'm ready for more.

Are there any books that you go back to over and over and still learn from?

[Tech] Apple and Intel

2005-06-08T14:11:00.000-04:00

Wow. Apple announced it's seperation from IBM in favor of Intel.

Wonder if this means we'll see OS X available for the PC platform in the next few years? Talk about the best of both worlds....

[Leadership] David and Goliath

2005-06-07T13:25:00.000-04:00

Over and over we read and experience "Leaders must lead by example." Last night I sat with a leadership group at Easton and one of the topics covered was this very phrase. What does it mean to lead by example, and why is it so important?

David went across the field, slew Goliath, then the rest of the Israelites opened up a can of Whoop A. If David hadn't gone out to face Goliath, could the Israelites still have won? Sure. The physical characteristic was there in potential. David, by going forth and leading by example, showed all the others that it was possible, and lay within themselves (though God, obviously).

We, as leaders, need to make sure we face the Goliaths in our lives every day. We always need to confront the tough issues and be the right example, not because the people around us can't, but because they need to be proven that it can be done. Too many "leaders" think they're leading by telling people what to do. They're not really leaders until they do the very thing they teach.

[Style] New mag

2005-05-26T23:05:00.000-04:00

Cruising the supermarket magazine isle yielded a new, impressive magazine.

City magazine has plenty of style, and plenty of creativity. Each page has unique elements, but yet all fits within the context of the magazine. It's a new twist on "Design, Food and Fashion," with topics ranging from architecture to technology to fashion. The magazine itself reminds me of some sort of architectual masterpiece.

Definitely check out the City-TV section. Their creative shorts are entertaining and well produced. Also, their Extras section gives you a glimpse into the magazine articles online. Their In Focus section lists all their contributing photographers, and reference websites. These guys bring some creative muscle to the table.

Oh yea, don't be offended by the ladies... there is much less skin showing in the magazine than any men's fashion magazine. Not sure if it's totally 3-year-old approved, but definitely not anything that I'd be ashamed to show my mother.

[Leadership] Maxwell's Dream stages

2005-05-24T16:57:00.000-04:00

Heard a speaker last night talk about John Maxwell's stages of a dream. I've read it myself, but it's always nice to hear someone teach about it as well:

1) "I fought it" - This first stage is characterized by skepticism mixed with hope. Questions asked at this stage are "what if it works?" "what if it's possible?" "what could go wrong?" "what if I fail?"
*** people who fall out here become dream stealers of anyone else attempting a similar task

2) "I caught it" - The next stage is when people catch the vision and get caught up in the emotion. It is typically when a person tells everyone who will listen about their dream, even if the details are unclear. General feeling is that they can not fail, even though they have yet to really engage in the work that it takes to get the job done.
*** most people will stop here and go no further

3) "I bought it" - People at this stage realize the price that their dream will cost. They will be willing to pay it and will typically engage head-down into the task. Some of the glamour of the task wears of, and often they will ask themselves if it's really worth it. Analogies to this stage are: Water will burn your finger at 211 degrees, but won't produce steam to move engines until it is at 212 degrees; airplanes can run down the runway at great speeds, but if they don't hit escape velocity and go fast enough to get lift, they will never reach the air; When you go to a vending machine and it says $1.00 for a pop, you can't put in $0.75 and expect anything to come out.
*** most people who are left will die out here

4) "I sought it" - This stage is where a person becomes consumed with their dream. They actively pursue it with all they have and move forward with whatever it takes. Others will often call people in this stage "fanatics" and will be generally concerned with false notions such as "being out of balance." People who translate their dreams into burning desires will succeed at them given enough time if they do not listen to the naysayers. This is where dreams come to fruition, and anything worth pursuing will have to get to this phase before it is achieved.

5) "I got it!" - The final stage of a dream is realizing it. At this point in life, looking back, they will wonder why they ever quibbled with the price or thought about taking the advice of dream stealers. It will always be better than what they could've imagined. This is rare air for those who are willing to see their dreams to completion.

Which stage are you at in life? Do you have something defined that you've fought, caught, bought, sought and got?

[Faith] Church culture

2005-05-23T12:03:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, had a chance to meet and spend about 20 minutes with Aaron Wiese, one of the guitarists for Spoken. What a great conversation we had because 1) he's a great guitar player, and I respect his skills, and 2) We didn't talk much about music, but more about the (ir)relevant church culture.

We got into a long discussion about how the church's culture is getting passed-by by the current climate of today's youth. We talked about how unreal the traditions and paradigms of the traditional church have become, and about how the realities of new expressions of faith and community that should be in the church are not.

He described to me an experiment that he and his friends did on "meditate on the Word." They met in a theater-style room, each got in his or her own space, then they turned off all light, so it was pitch black and silent. Then they projected up scriptures on the screen, white words on black, and someone read them aloud. The verse stayed up for a few minutes before it switched and read aloud, allowing for people to just think and meditate on that scripture, however they wanted to do it. He said they came out of there thinking that was a great way to spend 15 minutes, when in fact, they'd been in there for over an hour.

The church is full of creative artists, musicians, creators who are looking for an outlet of the gifts God has given them. In turn, their form of worship may help us connect with God in ways that no other could. So what's the hangup? Why is there so much resistance to expression and exploration? How do we redefine church with relevant methods, while still keeping it genuine and within God's will?

Our youth pastor, Chad, and I sat after the concert talking about these things until about 1am. There's a huge market for a band like Creed, because they denounce the "Christian" label, and yet are spiritually focused and asking real questions. I think there is a huge hunger in this generation for people who aren't afraid to be real, and yet are going the right way. Look at the number of TV shows that have spiritual themes. People are looking... why shouldn't they be able to find what they need in the church?

[Music] Spoken concert and Sunday worship

2005-05-23T11:34:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a nicely filled weekend. Bought in a worship leader from another church for our Sunday service. He had his drummer with him and his acoustic drums! I've waited so long to get a real live set in that room. Since available people were a bit lacking, I ended up running all the sound and setting up the kit, then playing electric guitar for them for the service. The drums sounded a bit heinous in that room until we put a drum shield in front of the kit. I had a talented carpenter in our congregation put together the shield the week before, and it worked like a charm. Easily cut 40-50% of the direct output of that kit. The drummer was super talented, but like Neil Peart, he believes in splitting the heads (meaning that he's very agressive with his sticks).

That worship came off really well, and because of the drastically different styles, I ended up breaking out of some of my regular patterns, and was able to go back to some of my roots. A lot of licks and chord forms I was playing with came out of the Grateful Dead and Hendrix styles. I had some "Wind Cries Mary" licks in the last song that I just loved. Always wanted to incorporate that "waterfall" of notes that Hendrix created. Since the worship leader was very "folky" with his acoustic playing, I did a lot of backing chords and voicing from Grateful Dead. Amazing how those styles can be adapted into modern worship.

Then Sunday night, I helped run sound for Spoken over at our Evo building. That was a highlight for me, as I borrowed the compressor from the main church to use for that concert. Usually, the bass in that small room is trapped and can be really boomy. But throwing a compressor on the kick, snare and bass guitar made that sound so tight -- am I'm not just talking about cool. I remember seeing King's X at the Alrosa Villa and thinking it was the loudest, but most clear show I'd ever been to. I'm proud to say that our mix of Spoken was close to rivalling that. They kicked, they pumped, and you could understand every word Matt sang. What an awesome group of musicians -- lots of energy and great interaction with the crowd.

Before and after, I was able to hang with the band. What a great group of guys. They are the real deal. Very friendly, approachable, engaging. I liked everything about them, and would definitely say they are a "class act." Remember the blog entry I had earlier about meeting Steve Vai after his show? These guys were so not that. These guys would be great as friends and in a Bible study group.

[Faith] Cyber-members

2005-05-21T01:01:00.000-04:00

I read tonight in Frank Feather's "Future Living: The Coming Web Lifestyle" about teens, the web and religion. Frank is a futurist who researches, projects and writes about lifestyle and habits on the web of the future. In chapter 7, entitled "Cyber Worship: Congregate Online," current studies indicate that 1 out of 6 teens said they will use the Web in place of Church-based activities.

They said there's even a new term that they are using to define online church-members: "Cyber-members." I know that for over the past year, I've been listening to and watching some of my favorite preachers online, because they have rebroadcasts of their services, or even Web-targeted newsletters. Go out to www.ipodder.org and look at the number of Podcasts in the Religion category.

I don't think we have to ask *if* the web will play a prominent part of the church of the 21st-century, I think we have to ask *what* will we be doing to make sure our church is a part of it. I certainly don't think that the Web will replace the gathering together, but maybe a greater part of the classes/teaching/content that normally takes place Sunday mornings, Wednesday nights, etc. may lessen in importance to other forms of delivery. Of course we have quite a number of years (perhaps) before the next generation's tech habits catch up, but this current generation is adapting fast.

What do you think the cyber-church of tomorrow (today!) will look like, and how will technology be used?

[Technology] Bye bye Firefox

2005-05-20T13:54:00.000-04:00

My company and their auto-inventory spyware on my computer discoved a rogue install of Mozilla's Firefox. Uh oh, call out the cops, I'm busted.

In their words, Firefox "may expose your device and the [company] network to security risk, and recent high risk code defects in FIREFOX have increased the overall risk to [company] in a significant manner"

Ok, please check CERT and tell me how many vulnerabilities Firefox has vs. M$ Internet Explorer. Or try one of these, these, these or these sites.

Saying Microsoft is the preferred browser because it's the safest is like saying Washington D.C. is a much safer place to live than Columbus, OH -- if you don't count violent crime in the rating.

Since it's the company computer, I guess it's bye, bye Firefox :( It's amazing that they haven't said anything about my SQL database running, my FTP server, my HTTP server(s) and dozens of other "non-standard" softwares I use...

[Music] Space-feel

2005-05-20T11:34:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine wrote in his blog about atmosphere of a church (or more generically, any social environment) and called it "Space-Feel."

I'd like to take a minute to explore "Space-Feel" musically. Within the first 4-16 bars of any song, a person usually can gauge the "flavor , temperature, and tenor" of the piece, and usually about the artist as a whole. Why do you think they made "Scan" functions on radios and MP3 players? So many factors come into play as someone creates music. Instrumentation choice, arrangement, lyrics, tonal qualities, performance style, recording techniques, and in recorded music, mastering all play into the overall "feel" of an artist.

The first thing that came to mind when I thought of "Space-Feel" as it relates to music is in the Arrangement category above: breath. I'm not talking about voices, I'm talking about how a piece "breathes." There was a book written by one of my former pastors called "The Space Between The Notes." His analogy was that in life, it's not necessarily the big events that define our existence as it is the little "space between the notes" that really impact who we are. He filled the book with little pastorial anecdotes from his personal experience. I believe that the literal "space between the notes" are more important than the notes themselves in music. Too many people today fill every second of songtime with something. Songwriters have lost the art of space -- letting a little silence into the music.

This space can be expressed in many ways, from literally stopping all sound and creating an audible pause, or by stripping out elements and letting others shine. There are so many ways this can happen, and so many different levels of interaction. I'd like to point out what doesn't create space.

Space can be ruined by unchecked egos who need to hear themselves all the time; lack of direction from a musical arranger can cause people to overplay; general lack of experience in playing in a band environment can be a huge wreck; Too many "similar" instruments or styles in musicians; Too many musicians period. All factors can ruin space.

Things to think about when creating musical space (also referred to by a long-forgotten word, "dynamics" -- and no, not just meaning louder or softer):

Plan ahead - if you can, take time to do some simple arrangements. I just played on a previous weekend with a worship band. In 3 hours we were able to put a whole setlist together with some nice arrangements. The more time you have, the better polish you can put on the pieces.
Establish a musical leader - to have effective arrangements or style, you have to have a musical leader who is not afraid to address other bandmates with constructive suggestions. Too often people assume the lead vocal/instrument is the musical leader, when in fact, most lead voices/instruments don't have the experience or the gifting to create musical space.
"Woodshed" with different styles - many times, people (especially guitarists) listen to, and play along with music that they like. They end up picking out the same parts and playing to them. If it's always a solo line, then their style in a band will always be a soloist. If you make a concious effort to hear and play all the support roles around it, and listen to different styles of music, you get a better feel for how and when a person plays. Also, if you're playing along with a part, and it stops, stop with it. People also have a tendency to switch to the next instrument's line and start playing it, or make up their own lines. If you practise resting when an instrument actually rests in professional music, it'll give you a good feel of how much the instrument does NOT play during the piece as well. That's almost more important than what they do play.
Listen to other bandmates - sounds strange, since that's what you assume people do on stage, but 90% of the time, people are in their own musical box. Goes back to woodshedding - you assume the music around you is tailored for you and your playing/singing, when actually, you are the tailor around everyone else's playing. Pay careful attention to roles. If you have a keyboardist, for example, filling up space with a simple B3 line, don't be strumming guitar chords all over it. The keyboard is already got the space, you just need to accent it here and there with one-hits, or some sporatic arpeggiation.
Use sounds sparingly - this is one of the 'hidden' secrets of producing music. Bands in the studio are afforded the luxury of layering in almost unlimited amount of sounds. As a result, they may throw a distorted wah guitar in at the beginning of one verse, and you never hear it for the rest of the song. If you have control over your sounds and effects (keyboardists, electric guitars, etc), be VERY aware of the sound you use. I love the B3 sound, but after hearing it all morning on 3 out of 5 pieces, it starts to get grating and old. With my electric guitar, I like creating runs, using echo, flanges, arpeggiation, and all sorts of variations on the way I play chords or solos. I'll throw in one idea, such as a volume-swell echo-y lead in a part, and you won't hear it again for the rest of the song, or the rest of the gig. Sometimes you're limited in how many sounds/ideas you can come up with, but use motifs and sounds sparingly. The way they sound fresh and exciting is to leave your audience wanting more. There are infinite number of ways to play G-C-D. Trust me.
Sit out - Probably the best way to create space is to stop playing/singing. Too many people are afraid of the gap. They think the song will lose something if they're not contributing, when in all reality, you stopping is EXACTLY what the piece needs. If more people would sit out longer, then I'm convinced that pieces would be more unique sounding and would help arrange themselves. Every time I've ran sound, played in the band or simply listened in the audience, I've seen a different set of musicians and vocalists. You almost never miss the people who aren't there, because, well, they simply aren't there. The mix has it's own feel. Therefore if you're up on stage and silent, there's no difference - except for the chance to make it unique with some sparce, thought-out parts.

So next time you're out playing or singing, be mindful of the Force... err, space, I mean. Create some by just sitting and listening. Stop thinking in terms of "what can I play" and start thinking in terms of "what will I add if I play." Everything you play/sing adds something, when in fact, the piece might not need anything more.

[Music] Clearing house

2005-05-20T00:27:00.000-04:00

Spent late last night with the old praise and worship leader of our church partially re-vamping the soundbooth at church. He's moving on to another church, and he's one of few that actually understands our current system. We've got a budget for totally re-doing the whole audio, video and lighting of our sanctuary, but it will probably be months or a year before actually seeing any of it in the audio dept.

I've always wondered at the design of Aux sends, and why there are always so few. We have the typical 6 Aux sends, with 3 & 4 "shared" on the same knobs as "5 & 6." That means, on any given channel, you can either send it to 3 & 4, OR 5 & 6. I know, I know, there will never be a time when you need the lead vocalist's voice in all monitors.... or will there? But now I'm being facietious. I wish boards came with 8 or more sends. Goodness knows you could easily use them all for monitors or effects.

To get around most of these limitations, our veteran house audio engineer has done what all good engineers are forced to do from time to time: improvise. He did the standard trick of inserting a 1/4" into the channel send, halfway down, and ran those over to another aging board that was lying around. Then you can play with the main faders, panning them left/right for two more channels of sends. While the solution works, it introduces so many potential points of error, it's not funny. I happened to be victim of one of those errors, when two Sundays ago I grabbed the lead singer's mic send on the Aux board, gave it more juice for the drummer, who was signalling the universal deafness sign, and I increased the lead singer's own monitor system instead. The cascading feedbacks caused all my amps to defeat, and all the congregation's ears to bleed for the next 3 minutes. Needless to say, I was not going to put anyone in that position again.

I think it's a personal thing with me; organization. Especially when I get into a situation where I'm not in control. Last night, with the worship leader leaving and turning in his keys, I felt the chains of the past fall away. With his help, we totally dismantled the extra Aux board, traced and pulled all stray cables that had accumilated over the years, and reorganized all inputs and monitor mixes on the main board. I didn't like the fact that the 10 inputs we're using at the moment were spread all over the 56 channels we had available. I've consolidated all faders so that a single hand can manipulate them all if needed. True I've sacrificed effects for now, so that we can still have 5 monitor mixes (1-4 Auxes and another on "Mix B" -- don't get me started about that Mix B).

I suppose we could throw effects shifted on 5&6, but it's not like we ever use them. Reverb is out, because we play in a concrete gymnasium. It has all the natural reverb that we never wanted in the first place. Chorus is out because, well, I just don't care for it that much. It can help hide minor intonation problems, or thicken up a voice, but I think the voices we have leading now are quite good on their own. The only effect I like to use, but it's a luxury at the moment, is slapback echo... about 300ms and 25% feedback. I like to grab the end of a singer's line and have the last word echo from time to time. Used too much, it can get gimmicky, but in just a touch, and especially when quieter songs allow for more space, it can be a real sweet sound. I also like it on a solo instrument -- if it doesn't already use echo, that is.

So anyways, I've finished the first step of re-vamping that booth. The eventual outcome will be a total replacement of everything there, and the FOH located on the floor. That will just have to wait on money and timing. In the meantime I can start moving on the second step, of finding out which channels are good and bad in our wiring, and doing something about fixing them. I'm tired of having only 18 channels to work with (13 sends, 5 monitors)... especially since 2 of the monitor channels went bad in the wiring and I've lost 2 sends shoring them up.

But before I start into that, will someone please lend a vacuum cleaner to the project? What was left behind is absolutely filthy.....

[Leadership]

2005-05-02T13:40:00.000-04:00

I have delusions that people actually read my blog, so I'm prepping this week for them.

This weekend I was able to attend a leadership conference in North Carolina. I got to hear from business owners from around the world all weekend long, and now reviewing all their talks on my MP3 player/recorder and pages of notes. This week I will be reflecting on various talks and points from the weekend that particularly hit me.

Hope you enjoy!

[Music] Wedding Singer

2005-04-26T11:44:00.000-04:00

Got to play 'wedding singer' this weekend for a business associate's wedding. I played guitar and sang harmony on a sappy tune. Seems that the sap meter is set to about 8 or 9 for weddings, but that's okay. Sap is a definite part of the whole wedding thing. I remember my wedding and how my wife and I looked at each other. Definite sap there. I almost cause the singer this weekend to crack up and lose it when I looked over at him with sappy loving look while he was singing. I love trying to make singers lose it when they're performing.

2 highlights:

1) The pastor presiding at the ceremony said "why doesn't the guitar player play on that melody for a while, while I preach a bit." Good southern-gospel black preacher. He had class.

2) Our senior pastor, Bennett, ruined the decorations and almost burned down our church when he loosened their overhead banner and it fell on the candles. After yanking the banner away from the flame and stomping them with his cowboy boots, candles were re-lit and things continued. Fortunately this was after the ceremony was done, while they were taking their pictures.

[Personal] Executive headache

2005-04-21T16:09:00.000-04:00

Man, the business world is full of insecure people. When they're at the executive level, their insecurities become your problems.

We had a "town hall" meeting yesterday in our auditorium in which our CIO and executive staff presented a state-of-the-business meeting and had a Q&A session at the end. I had a question about an existing situation for my executive VP, but wanted to wait until afterwards to ask in a more one-on-one situation, so it was less threatening.

My first mistake was asking her questions after another inconsiderate peer had railed her into a corner with pointed questions publicly. My other mistake was asking with my boss's boss next to me. I tried being very discreet about my questioning and interweaving enough complements and sincere gratitude to create a friendly environment, but the exec VP was hot and had enough questions from employees. I didn't really ask anything I wanted to, but hinted enough about the situation that she guessed where I was going and made her own assumptions about my agenda. She then proceeded to read me a company line up and down, then point her finger at the Director next to me (my boss's boss) and told him "This is your problem now. I want an answer no later then next week."

So what should have been a quick, positive discussion, turned bad ugly quick. After writing the apologetic e-mails and trying to positively spin the situation, I still have heard nothing but cascading retribution. I fear I have put a bad thing into motion, and yet have to wonder, if executives encourage these town halls and invite open discussion, why does asking about known situations create hostility? It feels like the executives don't really want to hear from us plebes, and put on these "dog and pony" shows just to hear themselves talk. It's scary what can happen when an insecure person is in charge.

Somedays it just doesn't pay to be on the bottom of the totem pole.

[Leadership] Hoofen Mouth Disease

2005-04-21T00:25:00.000-04:00

Tonight I watched as two artistic groups came together to make something bigger than themselves. Usually I am in a situation where no one has choleric, or type "A" personalities. When you've got a project to put together, it's always nice to have a leader with some choleric tendencies. They tend to be the bottom-line, driver personalities who can orchestrate a group effort and get things to task. Tonight was an unusual gathering.

The two groups that gathered had no real agenda, but a certain deadline. I watched as not one or two cholerics tried to take charge, but several. When volunteers come together and butt heads, secondary personalities really come to the surface. I watched as one withdrew altogether, one took two or three with him and started his own ideas stirring, and another try to pull everyone together. It was a mess, quite frankly. In the end, there were a few fragments and enough of a plan to get by, but given the talent in the room, there should have been more.

Too many times when we're faced with opposition or unclear leadership, we can let our egos do the thinking for us. Some have said that pride is the gravest sin, and I believe them. When we're so "me" focused (or as a good friend of mine illustrated tonight as "me-colored glasses"), we have a tendency to contract the "Hoofen Mouth" disease and say things that are really out of place and callous. Hoofen Mouth also shows up when we look towards the world and circumstances (I believe the other illustration was "life-colored glasses"). When we look at ourselves or the circumstances we can easily lose track of the bottom-line and we lose our ability to effectively lead. We either fight the opposition (instead of harnessing it and redirecting) or we end up turning away our support. Either way we lose when there should have been more.

Instead, if we become others-focused, and look through "God-colored glasses" we can really take advantage of the strengths around us. When we let our barriers cease to be an obstacle, and instead create relational bridges, we get so much more accomplished, and gain all the support and allies we need. When carrying out any project or task, it's best to take ourselves out of the equation and ask "what is really going on here, and what is possible?" and then go and do it. If the two groups tonight would've come in with giving hearts and each person were asking "what can I contribute to the whole?" then I believe the end result would have been so much more. Unfortunately Hoofen Mouth caught and spread until most people abandoned the project for less stressful social ends. It will be enough to get by, but again I say it should have been so much more.

Cure yourself today. Be sensitive to personalities and egos around you. Every man is truely an island unto himself, and hence no two people ever respond the same. Take time to learn other peoples' relational styles, and then use that knowledge to communicate effectively. Don't let Hoofen Mouth get you too.

[Music] Flavor of the day

2005-04-20T12:31:00.000-04:00

My musical tastes are vast and broad (is that redundantly redundant?). Currently listening to:

Pele: Apiary

Been going back into the indy scene lately and listening to Pele, Unwed Sailor, The Roots of Orchis, among others. That whole "wandering" thing is a fresh departure from any other style. Good for programming and writing blogs.

[Music] Mixmaster MC

2005-04-20T10:41:00.000-04:00

I got to play soundman this past weekend at church. I've done plenty of time on both sides of a console. Most of my live mix experience has been in small nightclubs, or our youth auditorium (about the same dynamics, but about 10dB less overall volume). I rarely get to run sound in a properly treated acoustical room. My general observation is that most venues (our youth building as well) are square bass-traps. Hotspots abound, and it is generally hard to get definition for voices and more than one lead instrument.

Our general layout for the main service is:
- worship leader/singer who plays an acoustic guitar,
- two keyboardist (one usually on organs/strings, the other on pianos/electric guitar/analogue lead sounds),
- bass player (6-string player with tone variances from Victor Wooten slap to Jaco lead runs),
- drummer on an old Roland electric kit (*cringe* -- great player, bad set),
- three or four female backup singers.

Our sanctuary doubles as our school's gymnasium, complete with motorized basketball backboards that retract to the ceiling. Carpeted wall-to-wall, thick cloth seats, painted cinderblock walls and the FOH (mixing console, etc) at the back, above the scoreboard, at ceiling level. Not a single sound coming from stage to the floor is adequately represented by anything heard at the FOH. The FOH is totally bass-heavy (bass trap) and dull, which couldn't be any further from what the congregation is hearing. Needless to say, mixing in there can be quite a challenge.

Our regular sound man is a fantastic guy and has been really faithful doing this several years now. He also rarely says a word of complaint, although he'd be justfied in saying his share. He gets all sorts of opinions and comments every week about the sound -- usually not the most uplifting and edifying sort. He's basically shown me all I know about the basics of running sound, and more than enough secrets and tips to rooms. The rest I know is from experience, reading a bit and DOING it lots. I owe a lot to the guy for everything.

So I've volunteered my talents to the sound. For several years I was a part of the regular praise and worship band, first as the bass player when we had none, then as lead guitar. I stepped down mid-last year to refocus on our family and personal goals for a while. Now I'm happy to lend a hand back into the mix (ha ha).

Back to the mix: Our regular guy, mentioned above, is a recording guru, and has helped set up a few studios. His style and strength is in clarity and a more top-heavy mix. In that room, it works well for understanding the singers and hearing one or two instruments really well. Past that, the room just absorbed any clarity due to reflections. It's tough, but fun, being a sound man, because you always have to make decision about who gets heard, when, and what the mix needs at that point. It's a very organic process -- an artist who has paints who decides which to use at each point in the canvas.

My style tends to be more rock/electronic in nature. I favor sub freqs and CLEAN but powerful low-end. My mix ends up being more drum/bass focused as the core, then all other instruments add the color. I started by taking the current settings for the mix, grabbing the sweepable low-mid freq all the way down to 45Hz for the bass drum and the bass guitar and boosting each about 6-9dB. At that frequency, you don't hear as much as you feel what's being played. I like the "pump" sensation. I brought both instrument volumes up, and the overall Main mix volume down. Our speakers are two 15" cabs (worn out and underpowered) and three PA horns (ug). Those horns give me nightmares. The crossover is hard-wired to 250Hz, so those PA carry the bulk of our sound. They give the worst hotspots in that room, and emphasize the 1k-5k range something nasty. Totally designed for voice, totally not for music. Pulling down the mains help keep people's ears from bleeding. To get any sort of volume from that system, you need to use low frequencies way out of control to fill up the room. If you try to get body from the horns, people will leave your church just to protect their hearing -- I don't blame them. Those horns give me nightmares.

The rest of the mix, then is about who has the focus. Mostly the worship leader's voice took the prominent spot, but I was always looking for who was going to take the lead. Sometimes it'd be the keyboardists, sometimes backup vocals. The band's style isn't very dynamic or orchestrated right now, so variance really comes from the mix, not the playing. It was challenging and fun. After it was all done, I just hope someone could worship. In the end, that's what it's about. I try to always weigh art with the Spirit, because no matter how it sounds, if the Spirit ain't there, it was just another concert.

[Personal] Obstacles

2005-04-18T12:36:00.000-04:00

Curious how just when you're on a roll, something comes to knock you down.

Friday I was out with a nasty little stomach bug. Took me through the weekend. Like I said, funny how you get some momentum building on a project, and obstacles come to stop your progress. Oh well, time to lean my shoulder down and get the rock moving one more time.

While I was down, though, I did happen to watch Napolean Dynamite. Just had to see if it was all that everyone was talking about.

A) It's completely unbelievable, except for the fact that I knew someone in high school exactly like Napolean. No joke. It's as if they told his story and placed it out in the West somewhere.

B) Good blend between Hollywood and independent feel. Had all the quirks of an indy, but had the polish of a professional. Bravo.

[Food] Grilling Technique

2005-04-13T16:16:00.000-04:00

I have the privilege of having personal contact with one of the executive chefs to Disney and Mr. Eisner. The gentleman is very engaging and is a wonderful teacher.

Last night I had a class with him on grilling technique. General gist is this: start with your grill as hot as it gets. Let the grill and grating get burning hot. Once the grill is to proper temperature, then grilling is a no-brainer. Gone is the guesswork that plagues most men (and women) on cooking time. Simply sear each side for 3-4 minutes, then turn the flame down to the lowest setting (or close your vents for charcoal grills) and replace lid. Let roast as long as you'd like.

The other "secret" to a tasty piece of meat is to let the meat sit for 5 minutes or more after removing from the grill. This allows the juices to flow back into the meat. Searing traps in the juices, but using a knife to check on it allows them to escape. Just trust your grill and your technique. Also the fewer times you flip your meat, the better. Every flip means more juice lost. For larger meat, you need to let it sit longer, such as 45 minutes to one hour for a whole turkey.

Of course, there's a bunch of other tips that came from the class; everything from Thanksgiving turkey to veggies were talked about in length. Anyone who lives close to me is welcome for dinner so I can test my newfound knowledge. Already I have cooked a steak to beat all steaks. Let's see if the technique holds true for everything.

[Quote] Come Alive

2005-04-11T11:29:00.000-04:00

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that, because the world needs people who have come alive." -- Harold Whitman

[Faith] Treadmill Religion

2005-04-10T23:36:00.000-04:00

Bennett had a great word picture today to describe those who believe that righteousness is earned by good deeds and works. He called this practise "Treadmill Religion." The description goes as follows:

Those who try to attain righteousness by doing good deeds, by reading their Bible so many times a day, praying repetitively, being nice to others, etc. etc. are on a path to righteousness called "Treadmill Religion." They climb up, run run run, and still get no closer to the goal. But those who take the path to righteousness through the cross are but a step away. Merely accepting the payment for what was done on Calvary entitles one to and bestows upon them righteousness.

I took this shot tonight of the back of my treadmill. It came with the big print:

WARNING: Protect yourself and others from risk of serious injury.

I've thought for years that too many Christians are living in the land of "serious injury." They get their dose of church on a Sunday, then blow it during the week. Each week we have a spiritual bicycle pump to breathe life back into deflated lives. If people would just realize that right now, where they stand, they are good enough for a perfect and loving God, we'd have a lot less casualties on the road to the Kingdom, and we'd probably be bringing others with us more effectively.

This would've made a great illustration graphic.

[Leadership] On why I read

2005-04-08T23:47:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite books to read over and over (won't tell you where, though) is "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen. Written over 100 years ago, this "little volume" as the author describes it has more influence on the nature of thought than others 5 times it's length. It is very compact and has very little in the sense of small talk.

I am currently reading "Day By Day With James Allen" -- a commentary on "As A Man Thinketh," broken down into daily readings. Day 5 caught my eye, because I've heard it over and over:

One of my grandparents' closest friends was Charlie Shedd, christian author. He's written such books as "Letters To Philip" and "How To Make People Really Feel Loved," and is well-known in more "traditional" church circuits. I had the opportunity to meet him face-to-face at my cousin's wedding. We only had about 15 minutes to share, and while others were making small talk, I was making the most of the opportunity.

"Charlie," I asked, "what is the most important bit of advice you could give me as a young man growing up, if you could only tell me one thing." His answer was, "Parker, I'll tell you: it's all about association; the people you choose as your mentors, to spend the most time with, and the books that you read will more than any other factor determine your future and thought process." I had heard very similar sentiments from other leadership courses I took.

Day 5 that I read this week had the following quotes about the power of association:

"You are today the same you'll be in five years from now, except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read. The people you meet can't always be with you, but what you read in books can remain with you a lifetime." -- Charlie "Tremendous" Jones.

"Every person who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant, and interesting" -- Aldous Huxley

I turned off the TV in my house over 10 years ago. Surprising for a media guy to not watch TV. It's true, I haven't caught an entire show of anything in my house for 10 years (unless you count football 2-3 times a year). It's amazing how fresh and shocking TV is to me today when I go over to friends' house and see what's on. I guess it also helps keep a fresh mind for creativity and my own thoughts.

I always wondered what it was like, 100 years ago. With no TV, people just sat around their front porches, watching the sun going down and thinking about things that really mattered. They were terribly ignorant, of course, since they had no input, but what a great chance that would be to actually think for yourself once in a while, and not be force-fed by some liberal garbage coming out of the 'box. I don't think I'm bitter :) I am concerned about the power of the media sometimes, though.

So anyways, READ! That's the solution. Instead of watching TV, I play with my son and wife, I serve the church, I go out and meet new friends. I have symphonies (literally) to write and novels (again, literally) to write. There's simply not enough time to waste any of it. There's more in one paragraph from a good book (or THE Good Book) than in any 1/2 hour TV program.

Thank you, Charlie.

[Music] Rockstars

2005-04-08T12:15:00.000-04:00

So I went to see one of my all-time guitar heroes last night, Steve Vai. Ok, put aside the amazing talent and showmanship that went on up there on the stage, just the energy level alone was worth the money.

I ran into my neighbor who was working the spotlights for the show. He said to find him after the show. Well, I did, and ended up in the backstage fan line. Very cool -- I've played Steve Vai's stuff for the past 15-20 years, I've read his guitar columns, bought his albums... I figure this is meant to be.

Steve came back, black leather gloves on, hiding behind some fancy shades. He was really distant, and was seeming to just being "going through the motions." When he came to me, I thought the same thing that I always do when meeting famous guitarists (Joe Satriani, Stanley Jordan, Neil Young, just to name a few): "This person gets the 'I worship you' line all the time from fans. I wonder if they'd want to hear something different?" Well, I got the same reaction from him that I've gotten from the other guitarists ... He gave me a look like "How'd you get backstage, and why am I talking to you?" Entire conversation posted here for laughs:

me: "So Steve, do you have someone on your bus devoted to buying your Sharpie supply and making sure you never run out?"

Steve: "Uhh.... no man. I have a few more here in my pocket. And you know, if I run out, I can always like, go buy more."

me (mumbling): "Uhh... yea, guess so. Thanks for the show."

Steve: "A'ight."

So that was it. Face-to-face with someone who I've admired for years, and I totally blow it. Oh well. It does remind me, though, of all the genuine leaders I've met. Time and time again I've met some of the best in the country and found that they're just as engaging one-on-one as they are on stage, in books, on tape or in boardrooms. Also reminds me that when I'm up on stage, for whatever reason, I need to make sure not to forget the little people. Guess next time I go to a concert I should bring a copy of Dale Carnegie's "How To Win Friends And Influence People" just in case I get the opportunity to give it to the musicians backstage :) Wonder if they'd appreciate it if I threw the book up on stage at them when they're playing? Nah, that's a bit blunt.

I did get one of his picks that he threw out though, and got an autographed ticket stub. They'll end up on display prominently in my studio soon.

(P.S. Steve -- if you ever read this, I really do worship your playing skills. You are the single-most amazing musician living today, and I pray for the best for you -- and that ain't just the typical fan line...)

[Leadership] World-class pain

2005-04-05T13:25:00.000-04:00

Every Monday, I attend a leadership seminar with some of the top business leaders in Columbus. I have the chance to glean many nuggets of quality information. Too many to completely grasp fully, so maybe reflecting here will give me a chance to retain a portion of the information. After all, information is simply information; it's what you do with it that counts.

So last night, one of the topics of conversation was World-Class athletes and champions, and their thought process about pain. I believe the actual quote was:

World-class performers realize that when you take away the pain, you take away the victory.

Huge statement. Obviously life can be lived in a pain-free bubble, but that means that risks aren't being taken, personal change is not taking place, and therefore, there is no victory of which to speak. I guess that means I go around hunting pain -- masochist. Seriously though, it is a revelation that when the heat is turned up and you're starting to burn around the edges, as long as you've got the end in mind and working with integrity, you're growing, changing, improving and ultimately LIVING. The victory will be yours.

Another nugget came from the concept of seedtime and harvest. So many people believe that there is a certain amount of sowing that they have to do personally before reaping a crop. The point is that while we are personally sowing, we should also be reaping right now. God makes it clear that the fields are white with the harvest, and that sowing is done with one hand, while another actually reaps. Therefore all the effort of men and women before us and around us to sow into other's lives is now up for the taking. We should walk in expectancy and belief that we are worthy of the harvest, and that we are bringing it in everyday. Go out and shake a hand today, meet someone new. They might be your next opportunity to prove seedtime and harvest are working in the present.

Categorization

2005-04-05T13:20:00.000-04:00

I wonder if I should start organizing my posts into subject matter. Perhaps a bracketed notation:

[Dreams] - thoughts about wishes/wants/desires (not the nocturnal type)
[Leadership] - lessons from the various books, CDs and lectures I ingest
[Personal] - reflections on personal insights/moods/emotions/events
... - ... ?

I dunno. Maybe it'll work, maybe not. One thing of lack in the blogspace is a coherent way to organize and group subject matter. Let's see what happens.

We've landed

2005-04-04T14:53:00.000-04:00

How original. Jumping off into blogspace is such a trauma; what style should I pick? Everyone I know has the Minimal Black theme going on, and why not? It's the best one going. Oh well, this one wasn't even a close second, so I figured I was safe. Besides, earth tones are suppose to be hip and cool, right? Just look at a Starbucks, Chipotle or the EVO building... have a mocha frap and chill before throwing stones. What are you, the fashion police?

What's in a name?

2005-04-04T13:42:00.000-04:00

Another original, eh? Creating a blogspace name is yet another daunting task. Should it be serious? No, life isn't serious (or rather, it's too serious). Flippant? Bah. I thought myself to be terribly creative and invented a word to use for my blog: Perspectivity. Taken. What?! Yep, sure enough, there are a plethora of creative people in nerdland. How about: Perspicuity. Taken. Crud. Ok, I'm resigned to a multi-word title. This is about as bad as naming a band. "Paradigm" and all related variants are so over-used (i.e. "Paradigm Shift"), but it really conveys the essence of what I'm about here. My world. My thoughts. Mine mine mine. How about "Of Paradigms?" Stick that landing and I'm done.

Speaking of...

par·a·digm n.

One that serves as a pattern or model.
A set or list of all the inflectional forms of a word or of one of its grammatical categories: the paradigm of an irregular verb.
A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline.

I like that last bit... "intellectual discipline." I've never considered myself intellectual, nor disciplined (other than being consistently inconsistent). It will be interesting to see how this blog evolves.