I insulted steve
it was very traumatic
the tale is too long
Thursday, December 20, 2007
People Show Failing Respect For Creatives
Recently I came across a story through Digg about Creative Commons and photographers.
http://rising.blackstar.com/why-photographers-hate-creative-commons.html
The posts in the comment thread were somewhat brutal and many people seemed to be adamant that photography and creativity no longer had value because it was so commonly available for free. One person even insinuated that if people expected to be paid for creativity then they should be paid for bodily functions... nice.
This was my response that immediately started getting buried by negative ratings one would assume because I dare to want something in-between "only pros get paid" and "all information should be free".
***snip***
I am not sure that CC is really working to foster and protect creativity. Actually, I have not seen much work done as it relates to the web to promote a photographers ability to earn fair compensation for what they do. Honestly, I think we have a deeper problem here, as reflected in these comments. Creativity is losing value in the minds of people.
The line between pro and amateur is the real outdated concept here... We had a great opportunity to bring in hordes of new contributers and content generators and allow them to be good at what they do while earning a modest income from...*shock* art! There is no reason people shouldn't make some portion of their income from creativity even if it never becomes their main source of income. Saying a work has no value depending on who the creator is and what title they have is ridiculous.
Talented people should be informed that their work has value. Often I think they just assume it doesn't and others take advantage of that. Maybe thats the real issue. Even if you take one great image in your whole life... its still a great image.
***snip***
I understand why people would want to share and I certainly don't mean to imply that they are wrong to do so, But I think there are also a lot of talented non-pro people that are not being given an opportunity or encouragement to use their skill to help pay their bills because the current vibe seems to be "set it free or you are being antisocial"
We are spending lots of effort on sharing content and not enough effort on creating a system/attitude that supports creatives throughout the range of skill, equipment, and creativity. All I am wishing for is something in between "no value" and traditional "over priced pro". A range of "creative middle class artist" supported by licensing system that allows much of the freedom of CC but also encourages modest compensation when it makes sense. I have spent quite a bit of time at Creative Commons trying to figure out if it would fit that goal and honestly I just haven't found a way that I think it could. Someone here mentioned dual licensing and I need to put some thought into that before closing the book on CC though.
If we are going to tear down the status quo, maybe we should consider finding ways to include the talented people that have traditionally been left out. Do I want to continue to pay Getty $500 for a rights managed image? Hell no! But I would be glad to pay $10-$50 to a struggling person who is studying photography at night and managed to get a great shot that was similar to the $500 one.
***snip***
This person had some good points... but still he was sort of an "all or nothing" advocate... summed up by this statement. "You seem to be suggesting that 'creative output' deserves some form of income. It does. It deserves the income that their customers are willing to pay for it. No more, no less. "
Yes, and I am trying to encourage people to be honest with themselves about the value of that output... lets say someone makes a decent living and also has a popular blog on the side that promotes them and therefore indirectly increases their income. One day you see an image on flicker that you think would be perfect to communicate the "feel" of a post. Instead of just taking it because the person has put it up under a CC license and you are in the "gray area" perhaps they should offer to pay a small fee for it. I would like to change peoples minds in a broad way about what that value for creativity IS. (crazy I know) We don't seem to be talking about a scale of worth... either its free, nearly free, or it is prohibitively expensive. There could be a huge range of value and affordability.
Content creators and content users could ultimately benefit from a system that made it simple and convenient to freely share, or pay on a sliding scale depending on the quality and the usage. I see this as one of the largest wasted online opportunities of the last decade. Call it "having a micro job" or "The Creative Middle Class" but the trading and exchange of digital content for (very small) payments never evolved the way I had hoped it would and it seems to me that just people that use the content or want to make money distributing / organizing of that content are getting most of the advantage, while people that are good at making images, music, etc... have not. You mentioned that the worth of "creative output" is set by the market and competition – I would say that the worth is set by the market and competition and modified by the tools available to deliver and license it. Its easy to leave a tip for a waitperson because the system and the social standard is in place. It is a huge pain to try to pay a small fair fee to a web based creative.
I am not advocating things returning to the way they were... I was just hoping for something different and perhaps better than what has happened.
*****Snip*****
I don't know why I still fight it... Its not new, people have always had a low opinion of "artists". The idea that you should be able to make a living doing art is still foreign and confusing to most people. Its just that now the web has uncovered so many people with artistic leanings and since we all are so convinced of our own worthlessness by all the lack of respect... we are just giving away all we create even if it does have modest commercial worth. Nothings going to stop the landslide... Soon the dream of the web allowing for an "creative middle class" will be fully crushed and only the very rich or people willing to live in poverty or off the kindness of others will have the time to develop artistic skill... much like its always been.
http://rising.blackstar.com/why-photographers-hate-creative-commons.html
The posts in the comment thread were somewhat brutal and many people seemed to be adamant that photography and creativity no longer had value because it was so commonly available for free. One person even insinuated that if people expected to be paid for creativity then they should be paid for bodily functions... nice.
This was my response that immediately started getting buried by negative ratings one would assume because I dare to want something in-between "only pros get paid" and "all information should be free".
***snip***
I am not sure that CC is really working to foster and protect creativity. Actually, I have not seen much work done as it relates to the web to promote a photographers ability to earn fair compensation for what they do. Honestly, I think we have a deeper problem here, as reflected in these comments. Creativity is losing value in the minds of people.
The line between pro and amateur is the real outdated concept here... We had a great opportunity to bring in hordes of new contributers and content generators and allow them to be good at what they do while earning a modest income from...*shock* art! There is no reason people shouldn't make some portion of their income from creativity even if it never becomes their main source of income. Saying a work has no value depending on who the creator is and what title they have is ridiculous.
Talented people should be informed that their work has value. Often I think they just assume it doesn't and others take advantage of that. Maybe thats the real issue. Even if you take one great image in your whole life... its still a great image.
***snip***
I understand why people would want to share and I certainly don't mean to imply that they are wrong to do so, But I think there are also a lot of talented non-pro people that are not being given an opportunity or encouragement to use their skill to help pay their bills because the current vibe seems to be "set it free or you are being antisocial"
We are spending lots of effort on sharing content and not enough effort on creating a system/attitude that supports creatives throughout the range of skill, equipment, and creativity. All I am wishing for is something in between "no value" and traditional "over priced pro". A range of "creative middle class artist" supported by licensing system that allows much of the freedom of CC but also encourages modest compensation when it makes sense. I have spent quite a bit of time at Creative Commons trying to figure out if it would fit that goal and honestly I just haven't found a way that I think it could. Someone here mentioned dual licensing and I need to put some thought into that before closing the book on CC though.
If we are going to tear down the status quo, maybe we should consider finding ways to include the talented people that have traditionally been left out. Do I want to continue to pay Getty $500 for a rights managed image? Hell no! But I would be glad to pay $10-$50 to a struggling person who is studying photography at night and managed to get a great shot that was similar to the $500 one.
***snip***
This person had some good points... but still he was sort of an "all or nothing" advocate... summed up by this statement. "You seem to be suggesting that 'creative output' deserves some form of income. It does. It deserves the income that their customers are willing to pay for it. No more, no less. "
Yes, and I am trying to encourage people to be honest with themselves about the value of that output... lets say someone makes a decent living and also has a popular blog on the side that promotes them and therefore indirectly increases their income. One day you see an image on flicker that you think would be perfect to communicate the "feel" of a post. Instead of just taking it because the person has put it up under a CC license and you are in the "gray area" perhaps they should offer to pay a small fee for it. I would like to change peoples minds in a broad way about what that value for creativity IS. (crazy I know) We don't seem to be talking about a scale of worth... either its free, nearly free, or it is prohibitively expensive. There could be a huge range of value and affordability.
Content creators and content users could ultimately benefit from a system that made it simple and convenient to freely share, or pay on a sliding scale depending on the quality and the usage. I see this as one of the largest wasted online opportunities of the last decade. Call it "having a micro job" or "The Creative Middle Class" but the trading and exchange of digital content for (very small) payments never evolved the way I had hoped it would and it seems to me that just people that use the content or want to make money distributing / organizing of that content are getting most of the advantage, while people that are good at making images, music, etc... have not. You mentioned that the worth of "creative output" is set by the market and competition – I would say that the worth is set by the market and competition and modified by the tools available to deliver and license it. Its easy to leave a tip for a waitperson because the system and the social standard is in place. It is a huge pain to try to pay a small fair fee to a web based creative.
I am not advocating things returning to the way they were... I was just hoping for something different and perhaps better than what has happened.
*****Snip*****
I don't know why I still fight it... Its not new, people have always had a low opinion of "artists". The idea that you should be able to make a living doing art is still foreign and confusing to most people. Its just that now the web has uncovered so many people with artistic leanings and since we all are so convinced of our own worthlessness by all the lack of respect... we are just giving away all we create even if it does have modest commercial worth. Nothings going to stop the landslide... Soon the dream of the web allowing for an "creative middle class" will be fully crushed and only the very rich or people willing to live in poverty or off the kindness of others will have the time to develop artistic skill... much like its always been.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The "Incident”
The time frame of this story is around the mid-1990s, and this is how I remember it, although I’m sure that some of the details are getting a bit fuzzy...
So, one of the many things that I’ve done to support myself while making art and music all these years was selling high-end recording systems and synthesizers at a shop here in Dallas that catered to studios and professional musicians.
One day, a local producer came in with two guys I’d never seen before, and they were trying to find a really good piano sound for a project they were working on. We had just gotten in the Kurzweil Micropiano, and at the time it was a hell of a deal for such a cool little box. I think we had them on sale for like $279, which was a great price.
I hooked one up for them, and let them play with it for a while, and they really seemed to enjoy it. The guy who was sitting at the keyboard kept saying “Yeah, this is it, this is the sex!” All the while, they kept hassling me about the price, trying to get it for cheaper than the $279 that we had it on sale for.
I explained to them that it was an excellent price, and that was as low as we were going on those because they were selling so fast. But they wouldn’t shut up about getting a little extra off. They kept asking for the “Portuguese discount,” saying things like “Hey, what’s the Portuguese price on this?” I had NO IDEA what they were talking about.
So, to try to get their attention away from the price, I casually asked, “So, what kind of music do you guys do?” The guy at the keyboard responded, “Oh, pop rock.” I said, “Oh, yeah, really, like what? Does it sound like something I may have heard?” He responded, “Well, do you know Journey?” and I said to him, “Oh, yeah, sure,” with a less-than-enthusiastic tone in my voice. I guess as he picked up on this and said, “What, didn’t you like them?”
Being a very diplomatic guy, I simply said, “No, not really, it just wasn’t my thing,” to which one of them responded, “Well, they were more of a chick band.” I said, “Well, not any ‘chicks’ I hang out with.” They kind of smirked at that. Then he said, “So, you really didn’t like Journey?”
At this point, they’d been hassling me for so long about the price, and they seemed really oddly intent on just giving me a hard time, so I decided to give them a hard time back. I responded, “What are you, some kind of Journey freaks?” They all had a great laugh about that, and the guy at the piano looked at the other guys and said, “Well, yeah, we kind of liked them!”
Then he turned to me and said, “No, I’m really curious: what didn’t you like about them?” At this point, I was in full Smartass Mode, and didn’t see any reason to hold back. So I said, “What, you mean you like that guy’s voice?” And in my most shrill Steve-Perry impersonation I sang “Ooh, he’s lovin’, ooh he’s touchin’, anothaaaaaaaaah!” For some reason they found this incredibly amusing. They were slapping each other on the back, laughing, and I thought that the guy at the keyboard was about to fall off the stool.
When he had calmed down enough, he said, “So, you didn’t like his voice?” And I said, “Well no, I like men that sing like MEN,” which brought on another round of thunderous laughter and backslapping.
I couldn’t figure out why they kept asking me about Journey. Before I could figure it out, he asked me, “You didn’t like ANYTHING that they did?” So I said, “Well, there was that solo stuff that he had,” and sang a few notes of my mock-version of “Oh Sherrie,” to which he replied, “Oh, so you liked that?” I said, “No, that pretty much sucked too.”
It was about this time that I noticed that the local producer was turning beet-red and quivering with anger. I made a lame excuse and excused myself to go check on something in the back room, knowing that I had said something terribly terribly wrong, but not able to figure out what it was. One of the other salesmen came into the back room and I asked him, “Hey, do you know what I might have said to make John [not his real name] so pissed off?”
And it was at that point that he said, “Well, that’s Steve Perry you’ve been saying all those things to.”
I felt like somebody had punched me in the stomach. I mean, I was being honest, I don’t really care for his voice and wasn’t ever really into Journey, but just the idea of insulting anyone so badly made me feel ill. It’s not the sort of thing I go around doing. I have a lot of respect for talent in general, and he’s obviously a talented man… just not my cup of tea.
So I steeled myself and came out of hiding in the back room, and walked up to him and said something completely lame like “I’m sorry, Mr. Perry, I didn’t realize it was you.” And he said, “That’s OK, [XYZ] Record Company has the same opinion of my voice that you do. Maybe you could go work for them.”
He ended up buying the Micropiano… for the $279. And I was thankful that he was very gracious about the whole thing. I only hope that he didn’t take it too personally, and thought it was funny, and gets a kick out of telling the story about the goofy guy in Dallas who was mocking him right to his face.
I’ve NEVER been able to live this down with the people I used to work with, and it came to be known as “The Steve Perry Incident.”
So, one of the many things that I’ve done to support myself while making art and music all these years was selling high-end recording systems and synthesizers at a shop here in Dallas that catered to studios and professional musicians.
One day, a local producer came in with two guys I’d never seen before, and they were trying to find a really good piano sound for a project they were working on. We had just gotten in the Kurzweil Micropiano, and at the time it was a hell of a deal for such a cool little box. I think we had them on sale for like $279, which was a great price.
I hooked one up for them, and let them play with it for a while, and they really seemed to enjoy it. The guy who was sitting at the keyboard kept saying “Yeah, this is it, this is the sex!” All the while, they kept hassling me about the price, trying to get it for cheaper than the $279 that we had it on sale for.
I explained to them that it was an excellent price, and that was as low as we were going on those because they were selling so fast. But they wouldn’t shut up about getting a little extra off. They kept asking for the “Portuguese discount,” saying things like “Hey, what’s the Portuguese price on this?” I had NO IDEA what they were talking about.
So, to try to get their attention away from the price, I casually asked, “So, what kind of music do you guys do?” The guy at the keyboard responded, “Oh, pop rock.” I said, “Oh, yeah, really, like what? Does it sound like something I may have heard?” He responded, “Well, do you know Journey?” and I said to him, “Oh, yeah, sure,” with a less-than-enthusiastic tone in my voice. I guess as he picked up on this and said, “What, didn’t you like them?”
Being a very diplomatic guy, I simply said, “No, not really, it just wasn’t my thing,” to which one of them responded, “Well, they were more of a chick band.” I said, “Well, not any ‘chicks’ I hang out with.” They kind of smirked at that. Then he said, “So, you really didn’t like Journey?”
At this point, they’d been hassling me for so long about the price, and they seemed really oddly intent on just giving me a hard time, so I decided to give them a hard time back. I responded, “What are you, some kind of Journey freaks?” They all had a great laugh about that, and the guy at the piano looked at the other guys and said, “Well, yeah, we kind of liked them!”
Then he turned to me and said, “No, I’m really curious: what didn’t you like about them?” At this point, I was in full Smartass Mode, and didn’t see any reason to hold back. So I said, “What, you mean you like that guy’s voice?” And in my most shrill Steve-Perry impersonation I sang “Ooh, he’s lovin’, ooh he’s touchin’, anothaaaaaaaaah!” For some reason they found this incredibly amusing. They were slapping each other on the back, laughing, and I thought that the guy at the keyboard was about to fall off the stool.
When he had calmed down enough, he said, “So, you didn’t like his voice?” And I said, “Well no, I like men that sing like MEN,” which brought on another round of thunderous laughter and backslapping.
I couldn’t figure out why they kept asking me about Journey. Before I could figure it out, he asked me, “You didn’t like ANYTHING that they did?” So I said, “Well, there was that solo stuff that he had,” and sang a few notes of my mock-version of “Oh Sherrie,” to which he replied, “Oh, so you liked that?” I said, “No, that pretty much sucked too.”
It was about this time that I noticed that the local producer was turning beet-red and quivering with anger. I made a lame excuse and excused myself to go check on something in the back room, knowing that I had said something terribly terribly wrong, but not able to figure out what it was. One of the other salesmen came into the back room and I asked him, “Hey, do you know what I might have said to make John [not his real name] so pissed off?”
And it was at that point that he said, “Well, that’s Steve Perry you’ve been saying all those things to.”
I felt like somebody had punched me in the stomach. I mean, I was being honest, I don’t really care for his voice and wasn’t ever really into Journey, but just the idea of insulting anyone so badly made me feel ill. It’s not the sort of thing I go around doing. I have a lot of respect for talent in general, and he’s obviously a talented man… just not my cup of tea.
So I steeled myself and came out of hiding in the back room, and walked up to him and said something completely lame like “I’m sorry, Mr. Perry, I didn’t realize it was you.” And he said, “That’s OK, [XYZ] Record Company has the same opinion of my voice that you do. Maybe you could go work for them.”
He ended up buying the Micropiano… for the $279. And I was thankful that he was very gracious about the whole thing. I only hope that he didn’t take it too personally, and thought it was funny, and gets a kick out of telling the story about the goofy guy in Dallas who was mocking him right to his face.
I’ve NEVER been able to live this down with the people I used to work with, and it came to be known as “The Steve Perry Incident.”
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Creative Middle Class, Part 1
I have been reading online arguments regarding DRM/copyright and it has me thinking about this touchy subject again.
I wish that in these arguments people would consider all content creators, not just big studios/record companies. As a self published photographer, musician, and short film maker, it seems like no people don't stop to think about the new "creative middle class". People just want digital content to be free even if it means hobbling someone who relies on a modest income from digital works.
I know that the model is to "set it free" and hope for a return... but I only see that working on a very large scale. For example, if I made a well produced instructional video for a rarely used art technique and the 5000 people in the world who where interested in using it could either pay me a modest $10 or download a hijacked version of it... I hate to say it but the number of people that would choose to just snag it for free would most likely make the project not worth doing and thus a valuable bit of fairly priced content would never be made. If you are a well established and famous band with a very devoted fan base you may be able to get a minority portion of them to pay a modest price for your works and that would be OK because of the scale. The rest of us... good luck with that.
I wish that in these arguments people would consider all content creators, not just big studios/record companies. As a self published photographer, musician, and short film maker, it seems like no people don't stop to think about the new "creative middle class". People just want digital content to be free even if it means hobbling someone who relies on a modest income from digital works.
I know that the model is to "set it free" and hope for a return... but I only see that working on a very large scale. For example, if I made a well produced instructional video for a rarely used art technique and the 5000 people in the world who where interested in using it could either pay me a modest $10 or download a hijacked version of it... I hate to say it but the number of people that would choose to just snag it for free would most likely make the project not worth doing and thus a valuable bit of fairly priced content would never be made. If you are a well established and famous band with a very devoted fan base you may be able to get a minority portion of them to pay a modest price for your works and that would be OK because of the scale. The rest of us... good luck with that.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Is "A" Jethro Tull's Worst Album? Hell No I Say!
I visited the iTunes music store to check if I had all the tracks for Jethro Tull's "A" and found it was victim of some pretty hateful reviews. Well feeling that the record didn't deserve that much spite, I decided to pen my own review. Here it is saved for all time in case it gets dropped off iTunes for people rating it unhelpful.
*******snip******
Not So Fast...
Take another look folks. People afraid of change have been bashing this record for decades but I think it has a lot to offer in the lexicon of Jethro Tull. Several songs influenced me as a young man. "Uniform" weaves a wonderful dark texture that owes a lot to the fantastic playing of Eddie Jobson; what a wonderful counterpoint to everyone's favorite rock flutist. My main issue with the track is that they fade out the stunning riffing at the end too soon.
"Batteries Not Included", "Crossfire", and "Protect And Survive" touched on something in me as a young person and helped cement my love for JT as I was really too young to have appreciated previous records when they came out. "A" was not my introduction to the band as my father was a rock DJ and brought home records for us all the time. But "A" was the first Tull album that I bought with my own money and it sealed the deal. I often wonder if people that don't like this record have really given it a chance. "And Further On", "The Pine Marten's Jig", and "Fylingdale Flyer" all strike me as tracks that are very much in line with the traditional sound of the more classic version of the band. Is it "Thick As A Brick"? no... But these are talented people. Even if they just pass wind into a mic it would likely sound better than 80% of popular music.
I agree that the record company made a mistake releasing it as a Jethro Tull record; chances are that if they had stuck to the original plan, more people would have been able to accept the record for what it is and there may not have been such a backlash.
Synthesizers don't kill albums... closed-minded people that hate them do. heh.
**********snip*********
Seems I am obsessing on music a lot recently, maybe that means I need to get back to writing some of my own. : )
*******snip******
Not So Fast...
Take another look folks. People afraid of change have been bashing this record for decades but I think it has a lot to offer in the lexicon of Jethro Tull. Several songs influenced me as a young man. "Uniform" weaves a wonderful dark texture that owes a lot to the fantastic playing of Eddie Jobson; what a wonderful counterpoint to everyone's favorite rock flutist. My main issue with the track is that they fade out the stunning riffing at the end too soon.
"Batteries Not Included", "Crossfire", and "Protect And Survive" touched on something in me as a young person and helped cement my love for JT as I was really too young to have appreciated previous records when they came out. "A" was not my introduction to the band as my father was a rock DJ and brought home records for us all the time. But "A" was the first Tull album that I bought with my own money and it sealed the deal. I often wonder if people that don't like this record have really given it a chance. "And Further On", "The Pine Marten's Jig", and "Fylingdale Flyer" all strike me as tracks that are very much in line with the traditional sound of the more classic version of the band. Is it "Thick As A Brick"? no... But these are talented people. Even if they just pass wind into a mic it would likely sound better than 80% of popular music.
I agree that the record company made a mistake releasing it as a Jethro Tull record; chances are that if they had stuck to the original plan, more people would have been able to accept the record for what it is and there may not have been such a backlash.
Synthesizers don't kill albums... closed-minded people that hate them do. heh.
**********snip*********
Seems I am obsessing on music a lot recently, maybe that means I need to get back to writing some of my own. : )
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Doc's Ever Growing List Of Perfect Albums
I have been thinking about music recently as you might have been able to tell from my posts. I was involved in an online discussion about "perfect" records recently. Albums that have no "filler". As fun as this sounds, but also very hard. So few rock albums were created with the intention of every track being great. Thats just not how the economics of the industry has worked usually. I think most record companies would have preferred to spread 11 great tracks over 3 albums. : )
As Katy and I have been playing this game and mentioning it to other friends I find myself wanting to make suggestions and then removing them from my list due to one or two dud songs!
Here is all I have so far...
Filigree In Shadow - This Mortal Coil
UK - Danger Money
The Clash - London Calling
Traffic – Traffic
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
The Police - Synchronicity
Public Image Ltd. - Album (man, I love this record)
The Who - Whos Next
Elton John – Madman Across the Water
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Elvis Costello – My Aim is True
The The - Mind Bomb
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Aim is True - Elvis Costello
Untitled #3 "Melting Face" - Peter Gabriel
The Who - Quadrophenia
If you read this and want to play... just remember to be honest with yourself... don't put "Madman Across The Water" on you list unless you would REALLY be willing to listen to "Tiny Dancer" every time. : )
As Katy and I have been playing this game and mentioning it to other friends I find myself wanting to make suggestions and then removing them from my list due to one or two dud songs!
Here is all I have so far...
Filigree In Shadow - This Mortal Coil
UK - Danger Money
The Clash - London Calling
Traffic – Traffic
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
The Police - Synchronicity
Public Image Ltd. - Album (man, I love this record)
The Who - Whos Next
Elton John – Madman Across the Water
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Elvis Costello – My Aim is True
The The - Mind Bomb
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Aim is True - Elvis Costello
Untitled #3 "Melting Face" - Peter Gabriel
The Who - Quadrophenia
If you read this and want to play... just remember to be honest with yourself... don't put "Madman Across The Water" on you list unless you would REALLY be willing to listen to "Tiny Dancer" every time. : )
Saturday, November 10, 2007
The Greatest Record Ever Made
So many great albums... so many true works of art...
The Clash - London Calling
Traffic – Traffic
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
The Police - Synchronicity
Public Image Ltd. - Album (man, I love this record)
The Who - Whos Next
Elton John – Madman Across the Water
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Elvis Costello – My Aim is True
All frigg'in great... So much great music to choose from. So what is the all time favorite of some freak like me who's musical tastes span across acts like XTC, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel, Jethro Tull, This Mortal Coil, The Damed, Laurie Anderson, UK and Radiohead???
No question.... Its Lamb... Always Lamb, I will never falter in my love for this record or change my mind that it is the greatest rock album ever made. It is pure genius. The stars really had to be aligned for such a perfect thing to have been created.
Hard to believe that anyone that played on Lamb could have gone on to suck so very hard as they did a hand full of years later on crap like Invisible Touch. *shudder* I think it just goes to prove just how much PG oozes creativity. But to be fair I really like Trick Of The Tail too, so even after he left I guess they still COULD do good music but eventually choose to cash in. *sob*
If for some reason you have not heard Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, please seek it out. It really should be listened to from start to finish if possible.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lamb_Lies_Down_on_Broadway
It made it into this list of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Nice list... I may need to explore it more.
The Clash - London Calling
Traffic – Traffic
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
The Police - Synchronicity
Public Image Ltd. - Album (man, I love this record)
The Who - Whos Next
Elton John – Madman Across the Water
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Elvis Costello – My Aim is True
All frigg'in great... So much great music to choose from. So what is the all time favorite of some freak like me who's musical tastes span across acts like XTC, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel, Jethro Tull, This Mortal Coil, The Damed, Laurie Anderson, UK and Radiohead???
No question.... Its Lamb... Always Lamb, I will never falter in my love for this record or change my mind that it is the greatest rock album ever made. It is pure genius. The stars really had to be aligned for such a perfect thing to have been created.
Hard to believe that anyone that played on Lamb could have gone on to suck so very hard as they did a hand full of years later on crap like Invisible Touch. *shudder* I think it just goes to prove just how much PG oozes creativity. But to be fair I really like Trick Of The Tail too, so even after he left I guess they still COULD do good music but eventually choose to cash in. *sob*
If for some reason you have not heard Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, please seek it out. It really should be listened to from start to finish if possible.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lamb_Lies_Down_on_Broadway
It made it into this list of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Nice list... I may need to explore it more.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Toss a Coin at the Village Idiot and Feel Better Because Its Not You.
I was recently perusing a message board I frequent and found a post ridiculing a autistic man that had been getting a lot of attention on the web due to his Youtube uploads, online comics he had crudely drawn, and sometimes disturbing rants on his myspace page. Basically he is becoming a viral star because of his online antics. People have even gone as far as scouring the web for mentions of him in the blogs of people that know him personally and staking out places he goes in order to photograph him... wow. He has a page devoted to him on the wiki-style Encyclopedia Dramatica where all this information is consolidated and anyone can basically make fun of him or out right accuse him of anything... true or not.
I didn't know that the teasing of people who are different had gone so digital and global and brutal!
I won't mention details on this guy since that would only be adding fuel to the fire. But I can tell you he is not always the most pleasant fellow. He seems to be a bit intolerant towards minorities and gay people. Not a hate spitting, loud mouth mind you, he just strikes me as someone that was raised by closed minded parents and since he is autistic, he doesn't always know how to filter those ideas, or make his own decisions. He will say things like "Ladies" should only kiss "gentlemen" or other such over simplifications that if they came out of the mouth of a kid we might find them cute but since he is a 25 year old man the words come off as super creepy. Also he tends to get arrested for loitering in his attempts to find a girlfriend. So he does have some bad behaivior, but mostly it seems that he is just a big, socialy inept, creepy guy.
What follows is my response in the thread about why I think using a person that acts "creepy" as a form of web entertainment might be showing us something even more disturbing about ourselves.
*snip*
Assuming we take the information on encyclopedia dramatica at face value, the bottom line for me is that the dude seems to have problems... possibly both physiological and psychological. For that reason, I don't know if I want to participate in mocking him publicly.
He IS putting himself out there to be mocked for sure... but if we choose not to take the bait, then other people will be less likely to seek fame from encouraging ridicule of their shortcomings. And to be honest, I am not so sure he "gets" the underlying tone of his "popularity" he is unable to successfully interact socially after all. I wonder if any attention at all satisfies a need in him, even if it is negative and can only add to his issues down the road. Will making him "famous" stop him from acting badly in public and getting arrested in places he goes to look for girls? Nah.
To me his "star status" just seems like a digital equivalent to an old circus side show. Something we as a culture thought we were beyond but in fact we are still starring at the people who are vastly different from what is considered average because it helps us each individually feel more "normal".
As far as him having psychological issues that go beyond being autistic, who is to say how much being autistic screws with your self esteem and general mental health? Aspects of your brain function may be normal or even superior to average but I think that could be a serious detriment to being otherwise balanced because you may have the ability to comprehend just how your autism effects your life and limits what you can accomplish. I think thats gotta mess with ya.
Brain dysfunction has a wide range of effects on people and we are nowhere near being able to understand it fully. I think at some point in the future we will have a better grasp of just how unique and different each persons "mind" is and we look back on the idea of thinking that people are either "normal" or "abnormal" as naive.
I didn't know that the teasing of people who are different had gone so digital and global and brutal!
I won't mention details on this guy since that would only be adding fuel to the fire. But I can tell you he is not always the most pleasant fellow. He seems to be a bit intolerant towards minorities and gay people. Not a hate spitting, loud mouth mind you, he just strikes me as someone that was raised by closed minded parents and since he is autistic, he doesn't always know how to filter those ideas, or make his own decisions. He will say things like "Ladies" should only kiss "gentlemen" or other such over simplifications that if they came out of the mouth of a kid we might find them cute but since he is a 25 year old man the words come off as super creepy. Also he tends to get arrested for loitering in his attempts to find a girlfriend. So he does have some bad behaivior, but mostly it seems that he is just a big, socialy inept, creepy guy.
What follows is my response in the thread about why I think using a person that acts "creepy" as a form of web entertainment might be showing us something even more disturbing about ourselves.
*snip*
Assuming we take the information on encyclopedia dramatica at face value, the bottom line for me is that the dude seems to have problems... possibly both physiological and psychological. For that reason, I don't know if I want to participate in mocking him publicly.
He IS putting himself out there to be mocked for sure... but if we choose not to take the bait, then other people will be less likely to seek fame from encouraging ridicule of their shortcomings. And to be honest, I am not so sure he "gets" the underlying tone of his "popularity" he is unable to successfully interact socially after all. I wonder if any attention at all satisfies a need in him, even if it is negative and can only add to his issues down the road. Will making him "famous" stop him from acting badly in public and getting arrested in places he goes to look for girls? Nah.
To me his "star status" just seems like a digital equivalent to an old circus side show. Something we as a culture thought we were beyond but in fact we are still starring at the people who are vastly different from what is considered average because it helps us each individually feel more "normal".
As far as him having psychological issues that go beyond being autistic, who is to say how much being autistic screws with your self esteem and general mental health? Aspects of your brain function may be normal or even superior to average but I think that could be a serious detriment to being otherwise balanced because you may have the ability to comprehend just how your autism effects your life and limits what you can accomplish. I think thats gotta mess with ya.
Brain dysfunction has a wide range of effects on people and we are nowhere near being able to understand it fully. I think at some point in the future we will have a better grasp of just how unique and different each persons "mind" is and we look back on the idea of thinking that people are either "normal" or "abnormal" as naive.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
More Early MTV Nonsense
That first critical year...
According to something I read attributed to Nina Blackwood, in the early days of MTV they only had around 300 clips to choose from total (125 at the time of launch). Even though some videos were already a few years old, they wound up in major rotation because there was just not a lot to choose from and little or no competition for airtime amongst the artists.
1982 seemed to be the year that it began to change and the music industry started seeing MTV as a promotion tool mainly due to the success of J. Geils Band's "Centerfold". The song went to number one after being in heavy rotation on MTV in early 1982. Also notable was the Go-Go's "We Got the Beat". The song was a year old but due to the popularity of the video started climbing the charts and got to number 2 in early 1982... I can visualize the record industry "sharks" starting to gather around the sent of money in preparation of the frenzy that would soon devour my beloved eclectic video music channel.
So it seems that the slide into what quickly became a 24hr ad campaign for easily consumable top 40 pop music started a lot sooner than I remembered or was aware of at the time. I was a smart kid, but I doubt I could have perceived the underlying forces that where redirecting the course of the creek I was floating down as it became a rushing river of commercialism.
Its no wonder that when I talk about early MTV to people that they don't remember bands like The Buggles. By the time most kids had done a month of chores and raised their grades enough to finally convince their parents to get cable, the tide had most likely already turned. People only remember Talking Heads because by that time they where firmly entrenched and I suspect MTV picked a hand full of unique acts from the early days to carry forward in order to not be seen as selling out.
I never really realized how small MTVs audience was in that first year... In hindsight I feel very lucky to have been exposed to it before it became corrupted. Elvis Costello, Kate Bush, Talking Heads, Pretenders... Man I shudder to think what my musical tastes would be like had I been listening to the RADIO during that time. It was like having a (somewhat) cool late night DJ at a college station you could barely pick up playing weird and wonderful stuff you would never have heard otherwise. I am still searching for a list of everything that was played during that first year. I know there are so many gems I have forgotten from that hazy magic time...
A few years later I would be deeply engrossed in playing in avant-garde bands, re-discovering progressive rock and uncovering the punk music from the late 70's that I had missed being somewhat musically isolated in Wichita KS at the time. Its hard to say how much of my musically vocabulary came from that first year of MTV but I would say it had a substantial effect on the direction of the music I make and enjoy.
According to something I read attributed to Nina Blackwood, in the early days of MTV they only had around 300 clips to choose from total (125 at the time of launch). Even though some videos were already a few years old, they wound up in major rotation because there was just not a lot to choose from and little or no competition for airtime amongst the artists.
1982 seemed to be the year that it began to change and the music industry started seeing MTV as a promotion tool mainly due to the success of J. Geils Band's "Centerfold". The song went to number one after being in heavy rotation on MTV in early 1982. Also notable was the Go-Go's "We Got the Beat". The song was a year old but due to the popularity of the video started climbing the charts and got to number 2 in early 1982... I can visualize the record industry "sharks" starting to gather around the sent of money in preparation of the frenzy that would soon devour my beloved eclectic video music channel.
So it seems that the slide into what quickly became a 24hr ad campaign for easily consumable top 40 pop music started a lot sooner than I remembered or was aware of at the time. I was a smart kid, but I doubt I could have perceived the underlying forces that where redirecting the course of the creek I was floating down as it became a rushing river of commercialism.
Its no wonder that when I talk about early MTV to people that they don't remember bands like The Buggles. By the time most kids had done a month of chores and raised their grades enough to finally convince their parents to get cable, the tide had most likely already turned. People only remember Talking Heads because by that time they where firmly entrenched and I suspect MTV picked a hand full of unique acts from the early days to carry forward in order to not be seen as selling out.
I never really realized how small MTVs audience was in that first year... In hindsight I feel very lucky to have been exposed to it before it became corrupted. Elvis Costello, Kate Bush, Talking Heads, Pretenders... Man I shudder to think what my musical tastes would be like had I been listening to the RADIO during that time. It was like having a (somewhat) cool late night DJ at a college station you could barely pick up playing weird and wonderful stuff you would never have heard otherwise. I am still searching for a list of everything that was played during that first year. I know there are so many gems I have forgotten from that hazy magic time...
A few years later I would be deeply engrossed in playing in avant-garde bands, re-discovering progressive rock and uncovering the punk music from the late 70's that I had missed being somewhat musically isolated in Wichita KS at the time. Its hard to say how much of my musically vocabulary came from that first year of MTV but I would say it had a substantial effect on the direction of the music I make and enjoy.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
My favorite videos aired on the first day of MTV
On the day MTV went live I was really just a kid, I was actually very poor but I was fortunate enough to be living in the basement of a house that was wired for cable and I was glued to the set. The music was necessarily eclectic as the idea of making videos was still new. What I saw changed my musical tastes forever and broadened my horizons in a way that I don't think is possible now, I mean you HAD to sit through the April Wine video to see Elvis Costello and along the way you got a dose of Kate Bush, Iron Maiden and The Specials! Oh how the times have changed...
August 1, 1981:
"Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles
"You Better You Bet" by The Whol
"Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders
"Time Heals" by Todd Rundgren
"Message of Love" by The Pretenders
"Double Life" by The Cars
"In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins
"Looking For Clues" by Robert Palmer
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"One Step Ahead" by Split Enz
"I Wanna Be a Lifeguard" by Blotto (So bad its good?)
"Oliver's Army" by Elvis Costello
"Is it You?" by Lee Ritenour
"Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac
"Rapture" by Blondie
"Don't Let Go the Coat" by The Who
"Talk of the Town" by The Pretenders
"Can't Happen Here" by Rainbow
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" by Kate Bush
"Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie
"Rat Race" by The Specials
"Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads
I am still looking for a list of everything that was played the first year or two... MTV was struggling to fill up the playlist and it forced some odd and wonderful choices. Once more and more commercial music started to "clue in" and infiltrate the programing, it started to loose its luster for me... hard to think of the Talking Heads as being "unknown" but if other bands that where popular on the radio at the time had also produced visual content so early, then I doubt most people would have never heard of them as they would have just never made it on the air. Those first 12-24 months of MTV was a rare moment in the history of popular music.
Note: The dates of the music releases can be a little confusing as a lot of these where shot as promos for the band and the videos got shown before the record was released.
August 1, 1981:
"Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles
"You Better You Bet" by The Whol
"Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders
"Time Heals" by Todd Rundgren
"Message of Love" by The Pretenders
"Double Life" by The Cars
"In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins
"Looking For Clues" by Robert Palmer
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"One Step Ahead" by Split Enz
"I Wanna Be a Lifeguard" by Blotto (So bad its good?)
"Oliver's Army" by Elvis Costello
"Is it You?" by Lee Ritenour
"Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac
"Rapture" by Blondie
"Don't Let Go the Coat" by The Who
"Talk of the Town" by The Pretenders
"Can't Happen Here" by Rainbow
"The Man with the Child in His Eyes" by Kate Bush
"Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie
"Rat Race" by The Specials
"Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads
I am still looking for a list of everything that was played the first year or two... MTV was struggling to fill up the playlist and it forced some odd and wonderful choices. Once more and more commercial music started to "clue in" and infiltrate the programing, it started to loose its luster for me... hard to think of the Talking Heads as being "unknown" but if other bands that where popular on the radio at the time had also produced visual content so early, then I doubt most people would have never heard of them as they would have just never made it on the air. Those first 12-24 months of MTV was a rare moment in the history of popular music.
Note: The dates of the music releases can be a little confusing as a lot of these where shot as promos for the band and the videos got shown before the record was released.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Woman rides mechanical bull, pole dances for an elderly woman, and fakes an orgasm to sell underpants...
Maybe we HAVE gone too far... : )
Sensuality used in advertising is one thing, but somehow I think that this may cross the line, I think its the fake orgasm that gave me pause.
The blatant commercialization of sex is an unfortunate aspect of human nature that we don't seem to be able to get past. Some women don't seem to be willing to stop tying to cash in on their sexuality and many men don't seem to be able to resist it no matter how insincere. Marketers (both male and female) understand this relationship and can't avoid the temptation to exploit it.
I think human sexuality can be beautiful. As one of our most powerful motivations, it is often the source of great works of art, music, and more importantly can be a powerful component in simple human relations. However, the more gratuitously its used as a commodity the more distorted and unattractive it becomes.
Sensuality used in advertising is one thing, but somehow I think that this may cross the line, I think its the fake orgasm that gave me pause.
The blatant commercialization of sex is an unfortunate aspect of human nature that we don't seem to be able to get past. Some women don't seem to be willing to stop tying to cash in on their sexuality and many men don't seem to be able to resist it no matter how insincere. Marketers (both male and female) understand this relationship and can't avoid the temptation to exploit it.
I think human sexuality can be beautiful. As one of our most powerful motivations, it is often the source of great works of art, music, and more importantly can be a powerful component in simple human relations. However, the more gratuitously its used as a commodity the more distorted and unattractive it becomes.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Battling Raccoons
The other night I was in my studio and started hearing these god awful vocalizations coming from somewhere near me. I was trying to pinpoint the direction of the screeches and otherworldly coos when the thumping started.
The thing was on the roof.
I grabbed my biggest flashlight, ( those that know me know that I have a quite extensive flashlight collection... maybe as many as 20) and snuck out the back door onto the deck. I turned the "X-files" strength beam onto the corner of the roof were the commotion was still going on and saw meaty heads bobbing around, there was more than one. More than one big ass pissed off raccoon that is.
Then I saw them looking at me and in their eyes I saw that they no longer wanted to kill each other... but were forming a plan to kill me.
Almost immediately one hopped into the tree and started down, I kept the flashlight on him not wanting to get flanked... but the other was making scraping noises and I needed to see what he was doing so I but the beam back on him. The fucker was trying to find a way to jump down onto me! He was pacing back and fourth at the high edge of the roof looking for a way down to the lower part and then to me. he kept reaching his paws out like he was going to try to jump. I yelled at him but this had no effect what so ever. he was going to jump down and leap on me if I didn't get the hell out of there! The problem was I needed to go under him to get back to the door, It he got bold at the moment I made a break for it, I would end up with a face full of teeth, claws, fur, and bitterness.
I chanced a swing of the beam around to check on raccoon "B" and yes he was in fact making his way along the fence towards me. It was now or never... I made a dash for the door, flailing like a hippy ghost hunter running from a guy in a rubber mask. I fumbled at the knob and once I was more in then out I dared to pause and exact some verbal revenge... "Fuck you! You fucking raccoons!" I am sure they felt the full sting of my harsh words and are even now, several days later astonished that I could have been so cruel.
The thing was on the roof.
I grabbed my biggest flashlight, ( those that know me know that I have a quite extensive flashlight collection... maybe as many as 20) and snuck out the back door onto the deck. I turned the "X-files" strength beam onto the corner of the roof were the commotion was still going on and saw meaty heads bobbing around, there was more than one. More than one big ass pissed off raccoon that is.
Then I saw them looking at me and in their eyes I saw that they no longer wanted to kill each other... but were forming a plan to kill me.
Almost immediately one hopped into the tree and started down, I kept the flashlight on him not wanting to get flanked... but the other was making scraping noises and I needed to see what he was doing so I but the beam back on him. The fucker was trying to find a way to jump down onto me! He was pacing back and fourth at the high edge of the roof looking for a way down to the lower part and then to me. he kept reaching his paws out like he was going to try to jump. I yelled at him but this had no effect what so ever. he was going to jump down and leap on me if I didn't get the hell out of there! The problem was I needed to go under him to get back to the door, It he got bold at the moment I made a break for it, I would end up with a face full of teeth, claws, fur, and bitterness.
I chanced a swing of the beam around to check on raccoon "B" and yes he was in fact making his way along the fence towards me. It was now or never... I made a dash for the door, flailing like a hippy ghost hunter running from a guy in a rubber mask. I fumbled at the knob and once I was more in then out I dared to pause and exact some verbal revenge... "Fuck you! You fucking raccoons!" I am sure they felt the full sting of my harsh words and are even now, several days later astonished that I could have been so cruel.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Soured legacy
Alan Shepard
Yuri Gagarin
Joseph A. Walker
John Glenn
Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin
Neil Armstrong
The work and bravery of these men and many others, freed us. And how have we repaid them? By re-closing the door and cowering in our cage.
Yuri Gagarin
Joseph A. Walker
John Glenn
Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin
Neil Armstrong
The work and bravery of these men and many others, freed us. And how have we repaid them? By re-closing the door and cowering in our cage.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
The Ever Growing List Of Doc's Favorite First Year MTV Videos
Ultravox - Vienna
Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
Elvis Costtello - Oliver's Army
U2 - I Will Follow
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Spellbound
Split Enz - I Got You and One Step Ahead
Gary Newman - Cars
Madness - One Step Beyond
Thomas Dolby - Europa And The Pirate Twins
Devo - Satisfaction
The Clash - This Is Radio Clash
David Bowie - Fashion
Adam and the Ants - Ant Music (guilty pleasure? 2 drummers gotta earn them some points. )
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Spellbound
Split Enz - I Got You and One Step Ahead
Gary Newman - Cars
Madness - One Step Beyond
Thomas Dolby - Europa And The Pirate Twins
Devo - Satisfaction
The Clash - This Is Radio Clash
David Bowie - Fashion
Adam and the Ants - Ant Music (guilty pleasure? 2 drummers gotta earn them some points. )
Squeeze - Tempted
The Fixx - Stand or Fall
Please comment about videos that you think should be on the list keeping in mind that they should have first aired in 1981 or 1982 at the latest.
Friday, June 22, 2007
I started telling stories to her.
The act of dictating has reminded me of something important.
Have always considered myself a storyteller, I wonder if this event in my past helps explain why.
I recall when I was very young someone at the school I attended noticed I had a very large vocabulary for my age so for short time I was given special "one on one" attention with a wonderful young teacher who let me dictate stories to her. She would type the short little tales up in either an effort to teach me to read the words that seemed so over ambitious coming from a young boys mouth or perhaps it was just to document that I a was somehow different. Thinking back, I wish I could recall more about her and why she took the time to do that. But for what ever reason it was done, it was one of the first times I can recall feeling special and feeling smart, I remember her as being full of praise, and that was a very rare commodity in my childhood.
I find myself hoping that she is well and happy and wishing that I could thank her.
But then of course, she probably never existed.
Have always considered myself a storyteller, I wonder if this event in my past helps explain why.
I recall when I was very young someone at the school I attended noticed I had a very large vocabulary for my age so for short time I was given special "one on one" attention with a wonderful young teacher who let me dictate stories to her. She would type the short little tales up in either an effort to teach me to read the words that seemed so over ambitious coming from a young boys mouth or perhaps it was just to document that I a was somehow different. Thinking back, I wish I could recall more about her and why she took the time to do that. But for what ever reason it was done, it was one of the first times I can recall feeling special and feeling smart, I remember her as being full of praise, and that was a very rare commodity in my childhood.
I find myself hoping that she is well and happy and wishing that I could thank her.
But then of course, she probably never existed.
Type what I mean, not what I say.
This blog will also give me a reason to do something have wanted to do for a long time which is learn how to use, and train a voice recognition system.
As much as the spoken word is always been my friend, the written word has always been my enemy. I don't want to reveal too much about myself in such a public forum but I think most people that know me are aware that I have what are known currently as "learning differences". So as smart as I hope I am, I have always had trouble with things like typing. My head has always been filled with wonderful ideas, but my hands were never capable of transcribing them. In some ways it's a very cruel joke, to be given talents in an area and not given the means to express those talents. Like having perfect pitch and a musical mind, but hands to weak to play an instrument or a voice to corse to sing.
I've always gotten by, using tricks and methods that have learned to overcome my deficiencies, but the idea of sitting down and writing even a short story has always been daunting. The mechanics of it are unfortunately beyond me. So I've patiently waited in hopes that at some point like it has so many times before, technology would allow me to do something that I otherwise wouldn't be able to do. Let me just say that up to this point, that wait has been very disappointing. But it is time to try again. I've purchased the current version of the iListen software and have dictated this article so far using that system looking back over the text I find myself thinking that this blog may not get too far... looks like I have a lot of correcting to do.
I leave it to you to decide if any of this post is the truth.
As much as the spoken word is always been my friend, the written word has always been my enemy. I don't want to reveal too much about myself in such a public forum but I think most people that know me are aware that I have what are known currently as "learning differences". So as smart as I hope I am, I have always had trouble with things like typing. My head has always been filled with wonderful ideas, but my hands were never capable of transcribing them. In some ways it's a very cruel joke, to be given talents in an area and not given the means to express those talents. Like having perfect pitch and a musical mind, but hands to weak to play an instrument or a voice to corse to sing.
I've always gotten by, using tricks and methods that have learned to overcome my deficiencies, but the idea of sitting down and writing even a short story has always been daunting. The mechanics of it are unfortunately beyond me. So I've patiently waited in hopes that at some point like it has so many times before, technology would allow me to do something that I otherwise wouldn't be able to do. Let me just say that up to this point, that wait has been very disappointing. But it is time to try again. I've purchased the current version of the iListen software and have dictated this article so far using that system looking back over the text I find myself thinking that this blog may not get too far... looks like I have a lot of correcting to do.
I leave it to you to decide if any of this post is the truth.
The initial lie
Well, it had to happen at some point, I must admit have avoided it for quite some time but at long last.. I have begun a personal blog.
I don't quite remember how the title came about, but I know was discussion with my wife Katy. Somehow the idea came up that I should create a blog that consisted completely of fabrications. I still like that idea quite a bit so I think the concept of this blog will be that I will occasionally tell the truth but just as often, I will make something completely up. Maybe tell fun little stories that have no basis in reality. So in a way it could be condidered a game. You will be left to decide what is true and what is a boondogle.
I could say it will be fun for everyone but mostly it will just be fun to me.
I don't quite remember how the title came about, but I know was discussion with my wife Katy. Somehow the idea came up that I should create a blog that consisted completely of fabrications. I still like that idea quite a bit so I think the concept of this blog will be that I will occasionally tell the truth but just as often, I will make something completely up. Maybe tell fun little stories that have no basis in reality. So in a way it could be condidered a game. You will be left to decide what is true and what is a boondogle.
I could say it will be fun for everyone but mostly it will just be fun to me.
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