What's to say about me...Im a musician, first and foremost. I play guitar, i compose, i sing, i listen...i do it all. Im also a writter and taking up photography. I am a nerd, through and through. I like Star Wars and can probably take anyone on trivia. I read a lot of books, mainly sci-fi/fantasy. I like vampires...
My Guitar Idols



Eternal Lament This is an ongoing project for me. It started as an idea to make a musical concept album. The premace was of a musician who fell in love with a vampire, an affair deemed illegal by her peers. (sounds like a Romeo and Juliet, right?) After they confess their love for eachother, he asks her to bite him. He becomes a vampire, and then he has to deal with the differences of being one. Then the idea progressed. After hearing the soundtracks to the 2nd and 3rd Matrix i decided i wanted to make orchestral/electronic music. The I started listening to Trans Siberian Orchestra, and started wanting to make orchestral/rock music. Then i said, Hell, lets do it all. The project then became a rock/orchestral/electronic concept album on vampires. The i was thinking the story was very Bruckheimer-esque, and that it would be awesome as a movie. But musical hardly make it these days. But a musical play...that could work. So Eternal Lament finally became what it is now, a musical of a man who loves music, but loves a vampire more, and the betrayal of his situation, and his eternal love for music. Any music that i have finished and deemed ready for the public will be posted on music site.
The Mainstay of my Net-Life (aka: Cool Pages)
My Audioscrobbler (a page that tells you what kind of music I listen to...rather informative actually)
Ctrl+Alt+Del...a great web comic
The Nerd Test...See how L33T you are! (I got a 85%! W00T!)
L33T 5p3ak F04 N00bs! Or...for those who need this article...How to comunicate with the elite intelligent people (you call them nerds) on a higher plane of comunication. PS. Get used to the lingo...W3 Will Rul3 7h3 W0rld!
Red Vs. Blue...Funny Ass Nerd Humor in the form of Halo
T-Shirt Hell...Great shirts
The People In My Life...Those Cool Enough To Have Blogs...And the Lesser with Some Other Web Journal...BAH!
My First Journal...Where My Neurotic Behavior was First Documented
My LiveJournal...I know...how lame and blog elitist...I had to submit
My MySpace...what a weird thing to say...and yet so pathetic that I have one
Brooke...My partner vampire in taking this world over so us Sanguinarious will rule over our human crops
ElleBell...My West Coast Best Friend
My Music and Photos
My photos
Eternal Lament Music Music
AND...The Devils' Personal Web Site
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Friday, September 09, 2005
Phone Fun, Firefly and Finger Workouts
So...the new Motorolla ROKR has come out. I have known about this phone for about a couple weeks but I have had to keep my mouth shut about it because I signed a non-disclosure agreement and this directly fell under the agreement. The phone is a hubrid of a phone and iPod. It can hold something like 100 songs on it. It's an okay phone. Kind of pointless for me because I already have an iPod and I prefer to have a lot more than just 100 songs on it...so I will stay with my Sony Ericsson that stomps all over the ROKR. So, for kicks, my Mum and I went into a Cingular store today and played stupid and asked all about the phone and then said 'Thanks...we have to go see a movie' and walked out. After knowing what they have to say for a secret shopper, the guy did not do all that good. Then we went into Best Buy where I (finally) got the Firefly DVD set. I realize that so many of my friends haven't seen anything of Firefly and Serenity is comming out at the end of the month. I watched the first episode with my Mom and I forgot how good it was. I remembered all the good lines. I know I have to sit down Elle and make her watch some of the episodes. There are some amazing ones. I also practiced today for the first time in a week or so. Yeah...that was interesting. I sucked ass really. I think some of it may have been that my house was a bit cold this morning and my hands weren't all the way warmed up, despite me doing my exercises. But I really know that it was mostly from me not practicing. Very bad. I have been watching some random music video's on Launch right now and 'Love?' from Strapping Young Lad came up. First thing that caught me about this video, aside from the fact that I had heard about this band, was the fact that the video is a mass cameo of the Evil Dead movies. Very cool. Then I started listening to the music. Really good stuff. Devin Townsend can really sing. He screams a lot, but the choruses are awesome. I will need to check out some of this stuff. It was interesting playing today. Despite me not playing well, I still felt okay about it. I of course was practicing on Carmilla becuase she is my main guitar. After I played all of my exercises and scales and all of that other stuff, I immediatly picked up my Explorer (Helga) and started playing on that. It was so weird. The guitars have a different body shape, yes, but the Explorer just didn't feel right. I played for maybe a minute or two, then hung up Helga and went back to Carmilla. I have no idea what it is, but I prefer the looks even more. I don't know...what do you guys think?  I have found their uses though. Helga is really only for rhythm. It really isnt even good to play her live becuase of the way she hangs on your body...very neck heavy. Carmilla is amazing for solo's. Her rhythm sound could be tweaked a bit. I want to put a EMG 60A pickup in her, which will fatten up the rhythm sound. I am hungry...I want some corndogs. I think I will go and warm some up.
Posted at 08:31 pm by Winder13
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Wednesday, September 07, 2005
It has been quite some time...
Posted at 11:32 am by Winder13
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Monday, August 22, 2005
A day off...and damn dreams of sex
...And it never felt this good.
I started the day off in quite a weird way. Being woken up twice by dreams of having sex with ex-girlfriends. And we are talking vivid dreams here...one that you expect to wake up and roll over in bed and find the girl next to you. The first one was just weird in general because it wasn't just me and the girl having sex. There was a whole back story to it and everything. The story was unimportant...it was one of those that only happens in a dream...completely illogical and never going to happen situations. Even the sex wasn't the type of sex that me and this girl would havc had, had we had sex. The first dream was about Lauren. it was completely weird. I must have been in some weird self-deprocating mood and in need of some comfort because the whole situatuon of the dream was her comforting me. It was completely un-real. The second dream was about Cherish, and the it was similar, when it comes to the comfort part, becuause she knows how to comfort me and would do it if we were hanging out. As for the sex...well...I guess if she and I were to have sex, my dream was pretty acurate. I am not going to go into details...there is a reason I woke up in a cold sweat from the first one and I don't want to relive. I woke from the one of Cherish, rolling over, hoping that she would be there. Damn harsh reality. *shrug*
I finished the 4th ALIAS, Season 2 disc. I like where the show is going. Now I have to wait a while to get the next one from Netflix. I actually think that the next DVD that is going to come is some music dvd. Well..now that I have adjusted my list, the next two that are comming are the last two ALIAS, Season 2 discs, then the 'New England Metal Hardcore Festival 2003' concert.
I watched the Black Label Society dvd today. Zakk blows me away as a song writter. I have been listening to all of the BLS songs that I have on my computer today and songs like 'Just killing Time' and 'Blessed Hellride', the slower stuff where he has these amazing melodic solo's, are just killing me. I love them. Don't get me wrong...the heavy songs are awesome in their own right, but it is good to hear someone who can rip on one song and then cool down and still play amazingly well. Lynch Mob was dominating my Audioscrobbler, but now it looks like BLS is the new heavywieght champion.
I got 3 activations yesterday. I was psyched. It was pure luck of the draw on customers. Drew and I just go back and forth on helping customers and I got the ones who wanted activations. I am only 2 away from my bonus now. I am psyched. I really want to pay off my debt and get out from under its burden. Then I can be a free man. It is nice to think that I have a whole week to get 2 more activations, as opposed to being 10 away or something. The first week that Mike was gone both Drew and I went crazy and did a lot of bussiness, but Drew had a bad last week and I just kept going like a freight train. I can feel the effects of it though...I am really exhausted.
I am going to play my guitar. I am enjoying it and I am happy with how I am progressing. I am not stiffening up. After I got done posting yesterday I played along with 'All Along the Watchtower' which tired out my right arm because there is a lot of strumming in that song and I was playing really energetically...as should be done when playng live. The only problem that I have been running into lately is that my right hand has been sweating so much that my pick gets slippery and keeps sliding out of place. And I use Gator Grips, which are supposed to help...but it may because they are older and dont have all the powder on them anymore.
Well...off to the woodshed. Maybe really working on the guitar will clear the thoughts I have of calling up a certain someone and ripping them apart for being a bitch. Maybe...just maybe...
Current Mood: mischievous Current Music: Black Label Society
Posted at 03:48 pm by Winder13
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Sunday, August 21, 2005
Weird downloading habits I was given a coupon for 10 free downloads from some Sony site by a friend. It took me quite some time to decide what it was that I was going to download. Here is the list that I ended up downloading;
Batalla De Los Tambores (live) - Godsmack (a drum duet between Sulley Erna and Shannon Larkin of Godsmack, off of their dvd 'Changes') The Clansman - Iron Maiden (I had the live cut from 'Rock in Rio', but I wanted to get the album version) Too Young to Fall In Love - Motley Crue (One of my favorite Crue songs that I didn't have) Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benetar (I have always loved the cadence and what this song was saying) Heartbreaker - Pat Benetar (Ths song has such a great groove to it) Duality - Slipknot (I don't care what anyone wants to say about Slipknot, they can write some amazing shit and this is one of those songs that just grabs me by the balls) Superstition - Stevie Ray Vaughn (I love the funk blues fusion that Stevie Ray Vaughn makes on this song) Superstition - Stevie Wonder (I am a funk fan and I love the groove of this song) Blue Collar Man (Long Nights) - Styx (I heard this one on the radio and saw that I didn't have it so I decided it would be a good addititon) B.Y.O.B. - System of a Down (When I first heard this song I was impressed with some parts of it but overall put off by it, but I got more and more attached everytime that I listened to it, so I decided just to get it.)
I have been in a weird mood musically. I think that they downloading was really only the beginning of it. For the past few weeks, I have been listening to a lot of metal, yes, but also I have been just listening to a lot of other stuff that is not metal. Right now I am listening to 'Where Have All the Cowboys Gone' by Paula Cole. Maybe I like the message of this song. I just think it is beautiful. I have just been scanning through my iTunes and grabbing random songs to listen to and just listen to it. I like the diversity of what I have in my collection.
I also realize that I haven't posted anything since that ever so interesting post in which I discussed me maturing. Although I am growing up and moving on with my life, I want everyone to know that the Steve that they love and adore (or hate and abhore, depending on who is reading this) will always be here inside me. It is me, after all. I don't think that the child in me will ever die out. I don;t think that a lot of parts of me will ever die out. I am still the musician and fun-loving guy who was before this decided change. I will still be the jaded rocker with love advice for the young punks in love and life advice for the young faint of hearts. Thats just who I am. My growing up is just an expansion of my life and a change that was bound to happen. I don't see anything wrong with me becoming more of an adult. I will say, though, that you can expect less cynical comments about love out of me in the near future. It is not that I have found anyone right now...I am still the single, reclusive and vampiric musician that I have been for the past 2, almost 3, years, but I have gained some insight recently through many long and deep conversations with a good friend and I am feeling good about my life and I feel that for once that love may not be the horror that I been making it. There has always been a hopeless romantic in me, and every once and a while, he jumps out and suprises even me, but lately, he has been a bit reclusive himself, unless I am lamenting about love and then all he would do is remind me of when I had it good. But I am seeing that although I do not have a love of my life right now, there is always potential and that potential has made me very happy. Anxious...very anxious at times to the point where it kept me up last night for a bit, but overall I think it is a good feeling.
I had a great practice session...for the 30 minutes that it lasted today. I just took it slow and relaxed my arms and made sure that I was not tensing up and I had a good time. I am going to go back and play along with a few songs and then play some more scales and some other exercises. I wanted to just get the basics down since the past two days I have only played my warm-up exercises and I know that I am not going to become a virtuoso byt playing those exercises. I enjoy playing along with 'All Along the Watchtower' and 'N.I.B.' right now, and I want to expand my catalog of songs that I can play. I realize that there is no point to all this practice if I can't play songs. Who wants to hear me run through scales and arpeggios all day long.
I think Prince is an amazing song writter. I love 'When Doves Cry'...especially the remix that ended up being used in 'Romeo + Juliet'. Now, that is a movie that I haven't watched in a while. I love that movie so much. Baz Luhrman is a god of film. He made that movie a visual orgasm...as does he with all of his movies.
Well...back to practicing. I'll be back some time.
Posted at 10:08 pm by Winder13
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Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Lyrical Inspiration and A Good Start To the Day
I got up today, tired, which was weird because I got into bed at around 10:30 and I got up at 8:10 or so...and I thought that I slept pretty well. I drug myself into the shower, shaed, washed, brushed teeth and all that cleanliness stuff that I do, and then got out, wrapped a towel around me and went and fired up my computer. Cherish was on and we talked until I was almost late for work because I still had to get dressed and make a lunch. She absolutley made my day. I told her that I needed help with my hair cut because I had no idea what I was going to do with it. When we were going out I cut it pretty short once and she absolutley loved it and she told me that I should cut it that long. Then she said she hadnt seen what I look like since in was in MI a year ago, and at time I had hair down to around my neck and it was all curly and I weighed something like 125 lbs. I had a few of the pictures that Drew took when we were working one day and I don't like them at all, mainly because I look a bit heavier than I am in them, but they served the purpose of showing her what I look like. She said she thought my hair was crazy and needed to be cut, but she liked the way I look and that I look a lot more mature and she couldnt figure out why I am not getting any dates or anything. I felt so good after her telling me that. I am ini a good mood...becuase of my ex. As she put it...'I should be cursing your lineage and the very ground you walk on for the shit you pulled'. She and i agree that we are way better as friends than we are as a couple. I actually think it would possibly work between she and I now, but since she is 3000 miles away, she is GU (geographically undesierable), and therefore there is no point on thinking of the matter. She cracks me up though. She called my short hair cut the 'Padawan cut' and used to call me her 'little padawan' and it used to drive me up the fucking walls at the time. But she told me I was 'freakin hot' back then. I called her up on the phone to say thank you for making my day and she laughed and said I was easy to please. I told her that there havent been too many girls giving me those kind of compliments. Just her and Elle telling me that I look good in my bellbottoms...but that is a given...Im Yodhan...Savvy?
I practiced for an hour yesterday. It felt pretty good. I talked to my guitar teacher and mentor David and he said that he thinks that it is just like a marathon runner who used to be able to run 30 miles taking a 6 month break and then getting up one morning and thinking he can run a marathon again. He said that I use a heavy string set (.010-.60 for those who know guitar strings...the high three strings are off a set of 10's and that bottom three are heavy mothers...its a Zakk Wylde signature setup and they sound badass but the bass strings are mother heavy) and that I used a mega-heavy pick (1.5 millimeter...thats monsterouts by most standards), which is a good thing because heavier strings and heavy picks are good for the tone I want, but they make it harder on the muscles of my hand. And he reminded me that all of my muscles atraphied (sp?...got weaker and were eatten up) due to my thyroid disease and that since I havent really played that much, I didnt get those muscled back into shape and I jumped right back into pumping those heavy strings around and playing fast for an hour a day and my muscles weren't ready for it. He recomended I take it slow for a week or two and just make sure I keep my pace down to get the stamina back and then start bringing my speed back up. So I took his advice last night (I didn't practice the night before becuase of the emotional problems...but as evident by my good mood and renewed self esteem, I am over all that stupid emotional bullshit) and I only was a little bit sore and that was because I did my exercises a bit too fast in the beginning. I felt quite accomplished. I also started learning how to play 'N.I.B.' but Black Sabbath. Its not a particularly difficult song...the solo will take a bit of work, but the song itself if just a solid Sabbath song. Something good to learn and jam along with. I want to get a good repetoir down because in the end, playing the guitar is about playing songs live, not scales and exercises. I really need to find some people to play with, just to jam. I want to get better at improvisation or just playing with someone. I really want to get better at soloing and the only way that is going to happen is get together with someone and just go back and forth with a jam and alternate soloing. I know I will suck in the beginning, but that's how it goes. I figure that if I can get five or six songs down I could have a decent set for me to just play live with people as a jam and have some fun.
I seem to be getting more energy from my thyroid supplement. ALthough I was in bed at 10...10:30 ish last night, but I was really tired for some reason. I know I will be tired today becuase I am working a 12 hr day, but bussiness has been light. I have had a steady flow of customers, but they have all been questions or me turning them away due to not having phones in stock...but that changed a few minutes ago because we got some in. YAY!!! Also, I was on the phone with Cherish talking about life and all that funky stuff. She is so cool...it may not have worked romantically between us but as a friend I would hate to lose her. I love how we view eachother. She says that she wants to introduce me to all the guys that she meets as 'This is Steve and he is the guy who messed me up for the rest of the world because he was so stupid' and I want to introduce her to all the girls I meet and say 'This is Cherish and she is the one who messed it up for the rest of the world because she was so good to me.' Aren't we a weird combo?
I want to play guitar tommorow.
I need to find someone to take pictures of me!!! Someone, please help me!!! I have a Nikon camera that you can use...I will show you how to use it...I just need someone to take the pictures!!! I want some taken of me and my guitar, although I need to polish it before that happens. She has some serious sweat marks on her from all the practicing that I do. When she is all polished up....god...visual orgasm. I need a cigarette just looking at her. I don't know if any picture will do her justice, but I have a lot of Fuji color film, which is the best stuff, or so I am told, for color. I will get some pictures of me after I get my hair cut. I need something up to date on MySpace and for the profile pictures of my various blogs.
I finished 'The Historian'. Very good book. I was actually getting nightmares from that book about getting attacked by vampires, something that never has scared me. Normally my dreams of getting attacked my vampires are quite kinky and very cool but I was waking up in a cold sweat, groping my neck, looking for puncture wounds and blood. The ending was one of those that kept you turning the pages and it didn't end at all how you expect it to. Scariest part of the book: When the professor is in the middle of talking and then stops suddenly and looks at the two he is talking to and simply asks 'Is the sun setting?' 'Why?' 'He's waking...the sun is setting and he is waking and I am waking with him. You can not be here when he wakes...leave now!' Scared me right out of my skin. I do have to tell you though, they're portrayal of Vlad Tepes, or Dracula, is so damn good. He made me rethink how a vampire would act, especially one like him. I loved it.
Now I am reading a book called 'The Cabinet of Curiosities' which my Mum's friend lent me becuase he said I would like it if I like the darker fiction. I haven't actually began it yet, but it is a science thriller that is about a torture charnel house that is found in New York City that has corpses from a century earlier in it. After it is discovered, similar murders start ocouring and it hints at the killer being immortal. Very compelling.
I have a few new ideas for Eternal Lament. I have a scene comming up that I have to write where Icharus meets the vampire council of Los Angeles and I have been trying to figure out how to portray them. A council of vampires isnt something that normally is covered. There is the one in Blade, but in most movies and stories, vampires are few and far between and rather reclusive. I am having their 'haven house' be a large club that Icharus has played at frequently. Its an old converted theatre that they turned into a club for the main room, but behind the scenes it is where the council runs the vampires of the city. The vampire politics of my story somewhat parallel what goes on in the Vampire: the Masquerade role-playing game, but I am not delving too deep into it, or getting into creating clans and all the masquerade bullshit. I am going to brush on the rules that make it so they remain hidden, but there wont be too much else.
This whole renewed interest in vampires had made me think a lot about all the vampire stories I have read. Although, after reading 'The Historian', I don't think that I will be researching vampires anytime soon....bad shit starts happened when you do that...like 'Dracula comes to take you to his tomb so you can be his slave forever' kinda bad shit.
Only 22 minutes before I can go on my break...YAY!!!
I have this idea lyrically for a song in my head...I just havent quite fleshed it out and I really need to write it down and I dont have a notepad and pen...grr...well I have the pen, but I didnt bring my satchel to work which has all my song writting stuff in it. Unless...*gets up to check the back to see if I left it there* YES...I left a notbaook here. Ha...now I can write the lyrics down on my break. I keep getting interupted when I am working on the lyrics here in the store, this way i can just sit down and hash it out on my break and not worry about dumbass customers.
Of course, I can go on my break a little early and no one would know better...unless they read this journal. HAHAHA...I live on the edge baby! I am so out of here in a few minutes. I already have my sign for the door printed up and everything.
The song is a retrospective about a relationship. I am not sure if it is going to be in Eternal Lament...it is just something that came to my head after watching 'High Fidelity' and thinking about the infamous 'List'. Maybe it was from watching 'Rock Star' too... I love that movie. I love the ending. It almost makes me want to cry.
EDIT:
Here's the lyrics. I think that they're may be a bridge somewhere in the middle, but maybe I'll just insert some face-melting, virtuostic solo there instead.
*verse 1*
I take a look around
May darkness surround me
How did I get here
How'd I end up next to you?
*verse 2*
Yes I'll admit that I am lonely
Trapped in this hermit world
But if I want to think of pain
All I need is to think of you
*chorus*
Don't try your tears on me
I am not the man
That I used to be
And I hope you understand
I won't bleed again
When you ask it of me
*verse 3*
I see your accusing eyes
Asking me how'd I get so strong
You want to know what happened?
I overdosed on your lies
*verse 4*
You can't make me do
What I am sure you want me to do
And I know that your last kiss
Will leave me wanting more from you
Chorus
*insert bridge or face melting solo*
Chorus
It is weird. I am sure that most people who read the lyrics see the line 'I won't bleed again, when you ask it of me' and think of this song as a song for Eternal Lament. Yes, this song could very well end up in the play, seeing that Eternal Lament is a twisted biography of me, at least for a part of it, but this song is actually directly written for/about someone in particular. I have no idea if the song will ever get to her, unless she by some fluke happens to be at a show of mine that I play the song at, and even then, I am not sure if she would realize in that situation that the song was about her. She knows a lot about my past relationships and will undoubtably think that the song is about one of the other girls. I am so very tempted to send her an email with the lyrics and tell her that I finally finished the song about her. She knew that I was writting one about her and she was quite pleased that I was becuase when we originally started our relationship, I told her that I was not going to write a song about her and she said that she knew I would...and I ended up starting one, but it ended before I could finish it. The lyrics are still on my computer...on my desktop actually, the file titled 'Sappy Love Song'. I havent worked on them because I haven't felt the urge. Now I think I can, without a problem, finish the song. It will no longer be about her, but that isn't a problem. I have a couple songs about girls that I have never met/who dont exist. 'Sunset Angel', one of my favorite songs lyrically, that I have ever written, is about a girl who doesn't exist. Maybe this one will be the same.
But, nonetheless...for all of those who were waiting for the lyrics...which I don't think were too many people becuase the post was only up for an hour before I came in with the edit and added the lyrics, here they are.
For those of you who weren't waiting on the edge of your chair, refreshing your screen every five seconds, hoping I was back from my break with a finished piece of work...
...Pfft...I so don't blame you.
I am gone...I started that book and it is already interesting me.
Posted at 03:39 pm by Winder13
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Tuesday, August 16, 2005
I realize that there was a lot that was left out last night
I completely forgot about a few things that should have been said last night.
First off...I am going to see Queen in concert! Yes, I know...most people are probably going 'Uhm...Freddie Mercury is dead bro...wtf?' Yes, Freddies is dead, and that is a tragedy, but Queen have reunited, choosing Paul Rodgers, ex frontman of Bad Company, to be the lead singer for this, what it looks like, short tour. I say that it appears to be short because there are only two shows in the States, one in New Jersey and one in Hollywood. My Mum woke me up at something like 7 in the morning, asking 'Do you want to go see Queen?', something she frequently does if there is a good show comming through town. My first response, since I wasn't quite awake, was 'Fuck off...Freddie's dead' then I remembred all of the stuff I have been hearing about the tour and the live version of 'Fat Bottomed Girls' that they have been playng that has Paul Rodgers singing. I sat up in bed so fast it was crazy. The seats aren't that good...but I am not expecting my Mum to drop 500 bucks a piece for good tickets. I am okay with the nosebleeds that I had for the Who at the same venue...trust me...they are loud enough at the Hollywood Bowl. I am so psyched to be going to this show.
The second cool thing that happened was that I played live, well...kind of...for the first time in a long while. It was one song for one person show. When Elle was at my house we were talking about music and she said she had never heard the Dave Matthews Band cover of 'All Along the Watchtower', which I love playing along with. So I put the song on and then about 10 seconds into the intro I just grabbed Carmilla off the wall, grabbed the pick and just started playing. Yeah, I messes up a few parts and couldnt make it to the end of the song becuase it is something like 7 minutes long, but it was hillariously fun. I even sang along with a few parts of it. She applauded for me at the end and said she was mentally throwing bras at me. So...I guess I have played live recently, although there wasn't a stage and I was just sitting in the office chair in my room and the audience was a girl sitting on the edge of my unmade bed...but still..it was badass.
Work is boring as usual...and it will maintain it's borring pace until we get more phones in stock, which won't be till Friday. Oh, joy.
I brought a guitar magazine and 'The Historian' for reading material. I am going to go and hit the book...I cam close to finishing it and it is getting quite good.
Posted at 10:54 am by Winder13
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Monday, August 15, 2005
Music elitism at it's finest
Elle and I watched 'High Fidelity' today. It was fun and she enjoyed it...as I knew she would becuase it is one of the most amazing films ever. I realize how much of my life paralels that movie...it is quite disturbing. I love it though.
I have 'found' some bands that I love now. The first is Lynch Mob. The band is 'fronted' by George Lynch, ex-guitar player of Dokken. They have an amazing lead singer who hits some great notes. I am in love with their song 'Rleax', which is a very cool power ballad-ish song.
The second and third go hand in hand. I got Ozzy Osbourne's 'Prince of Darkness' boxed set. They have been playing a lot of Black Sabbath and Ozzy on the radio since Ozzfest is comming to town next week and I was listening to the songs and remembering how good they are, so I dug out Sabbath's first album and 'We Sold Our Soul For Rock N Roll' and got the box set and just started listening to the songs. I love the groove that Sabbath had. Groove is something that I have been really focusing on lately. Lynch Mob has a lot of it too. For being a metal band, they have a lot of the groove in their riffs. Pantera is another band that has the groove, yet they aren't on this list of discovery...they will forever be on my favorite list.
I don't know if I am going to practice tonight. I am talking to Cherish and we are talking about our lacking in relationships and it hurts. We aren't saying anything attacking towards eachother or anything, but it just isnt one of those uplifting conversations. We both are lonely and it hurts a lot for us to both have been in a good relationship and now find that we are really wary of the opposite sex. I have literally listened to 'Relax' from Lynch Mob 3 or 4 times now in a row becuase I like it and it reminds me of she and I.
Wow...Ozzy did a version of 'N.I.B.' with Primus that is amazing. This box set has some amazing stuff on it. Ozzy doing a bunch of covers and some of his songs with other bands. The cover of 'Purple Haze' that he and Zakk Wylde do is fucking great. And Ozzy Fuckin' Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness, covering 'Sympathy for the Devil' is so perfect. Whoa...okay...for those who are going to read my Audioscrobbler , yes that is the same 'Stayin Alive' from the John Travolta movies....scary... yet.... really ....good.
im out of here...I am tired and hungry...as always...and I am almost done with 'The Historian' and I want to finish it.
Current Mood: depressed Current Music: Various Ozzy/Black Sabbath songs with Lynch Mob as well
Posted at 11:22 pm by Winder13
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Rocking the thyroid supplement...and it is kind of scary
I took my pill today, as I should be now, and it had the weirdest effect on me. Well...not really. It had the effect that is to be expected. My doc said that once I started taking them every day, something that I started earlier this week, that I would notice a boost in energy. I felt like a speed freak today. Could have also been from the combination of the triple shot vanilla latte and the large Mountain Dew...but the buzz is still rolling strong and it had been hours since I have ingested caffine. Very interesting.
Whilst driving home today I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that that sun was setting behind some clouds. Man...I jammed that throttle and ran in the door, up the stairs, by my Mum, telling her that the sun was doing crazy shit behind the clouds and that I needed to use her tripod, and into my room to change into something other than the work clothes that I was in. I changed into a pair of jeans, my coffin belt with the barbed wired wrapped heart belt buckle (of course), a button up shirt, and my battle worn boots, threw a roll of 200 ISO and 400 ISO color film and a roll of black and white film into my bag, grabbed the tripod from my Mum's outstretched hand (God I love that she understands the rush) and dove back into my car and flew up the canyon to the closest high area to take the pictures. I ran like a mad man up the trail, bounded up a rock, and set up and shot the 200 ISO roll of Fujo color. By the time I got up there the sun had mostly dissapeared but the clouds started doing some crazy stuff and I think that in the thirty six pictures I shot that I should have gotten something worth working with. I am going to take it to Costco and drop it in the one day development so I can get the pics the day after. I actually have four rolls I need developed. Maybe I should just take all of them. I would like to do the one hour development, but it just isnt worth the money. Especially if I am developing four rolls. When I got home, Mum said simply 'You need to go digital'. Easy for her to say with her Nikon D70...a badass digital. But you can get one for just under a thousand now and I am thinking about it. But it really comes down to what I would use more...that or music gear. A thousand bucks would get me an 8 channel recording box and a few different mics to record with. I think that is the better investment.
I have to call my guitar teacher. Well..my ex-guitar teacher...I plan to go back to lessons once I can play more than I do...although I have practiced solidly for a week now. My Mum and he were talking and she mentioned the pain that I am feeling when I play and he said he has some recomendations. Yesterday was a lot of fun for me when it came to playing. I started off playing 'All Along the Watchtower', Dave Matthews Band style. I forgot how much fun it was to play that song. I would love to play that song live with a band.
I think that tommorow [info]charmedelle and I are going to watch 'High Fidelity'. I am still amazed that she hasn't seen that movie. Such an amazing film. It says volumes about life and music. I actually love how they dont lobby with any band in particular. Well...kinda...they really pimp the music of Marvin Gaye...but that is to be expected. he wrote some amazing stuff. 'Lets Get It On' is so cool...and hearing Jack Black sing it is one of the highlights of the movie.
My LJ is acting weird. If I am in rich text mode, it doesnt go to the next line when I am writting unless I hit enter...so there are just a whole bunch of long lines that are hard to read, although it come out alright when previewed. Craziness.
I want to have a music studio!
Wow...sorry for the outburst....although I think that my whole day has been that day. I have felt so ADD today. I was just yelling random things at work today. It was actually really fun. Lauren drove by and I yelled 'Damn skanky ho!' and Drew was just like 'What the fuck bro...who were you saying that too?' becuase there wasn't anyone in the store. I had to explain it to him...cracked him up. Then I started saying random things from Bash.org that were really fucked up and he was just laughing so hard.
Okay...I need to practice some guitar.
On a note of music, check out the song 'Relax' by Lynch Mob. It is a power ballad that is really fucking good. I love Party Shuffle...it introduces me to a lot of music I didn't know I had.
Only four days until my hair cut. And there goes all of my superpowers!!! Ha...only if I get it all cut off. And I think that was just God telling all of us musicians that if you let a woman cut off all of your hair becuase you are a whipped little bitch, you deserve to lose your powers. And wow...that is an example of my inner-monologue being bypassed. Interesting. Hey...in vinum veritas...of course, there has been no wine today...or any alcohol for that matter. But I am more truthful when being spontaneous.
I am hungry...I need to eat something before I practice or else I will probably flip out and have a bad session.
Off I am to raid the fridge....Arrr....may I return with booty...and some food...
Posted at 09:33 pm by Winder13
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Friday, August 12, 2005
Music and the soul...and a little bit of vampirism for some darkness
'If your soul is pure, the music will flow.'
'And if your soul isn't pure?'
'Then you must practice like a motherfucker.'
That is the best damn line about practicing music that I have ever heard. I have heard all of those ones about 'practice makes perfect' and 'How do you get to Carnegie Hall'...but that is the best one in the world.
Speaking of practice, I picked up the guitar last night around 9:30 or 10 to log another hour of practice. I think that I may have overdone it in the morning. My hands just were not working together. So I put the guitar down and said 'I'll be back tommorow'. I felt no remorse...I wasn't skipping out...I had already logged my time that day.
My check went into my bank account today (direct deposit is pretty cool). but my commission for last month. I really was looking forward to the extra few hundred dollars. Well...I'll be able to survive on the $450 I got for 2 weeks...although it will quickly turn into only 50 bucks after I pay my bills and all that fun stuff.
The tri-tip was good last night. I enjoyed it. The green beans were kinda gross though. Bummer...good thing we had baked potatos.
I brought 'The Historian' to work today. I intend to read at least a hundred pages of it today. I did about 50 yesterday and am now about half way done with it...maybe a bit less. I am loving the book, but by the time I get aound to reading it at night, I am just so exhausted.
I was listening to Rush's 'YYZ' today and realized that that song would have been so perfect for jazz band. All it would have taken to turn it into a good jazz song was just a bit of arrangement to get all of the instruments playing, but all the solo's were there (its an instrumental). I would have loved playing that song.
Speaking of music, if anyone would like to see the general music that I listen to, go to the link for my Audioscrobbler. On MySpace, and Blogdrive, the link is on the side section of the main page, and on LiveJournal the link is at the bottom under where the 'My Web Page' should be. It doesnt list the music I listen to at work or what I listen to when I am listening to my iPod, but anything I listen to on my computer gets logged. There isn't much right now, becuase I just got it working yesterday afternoon, but soon it should be pretty full of music. You'll even be able to listen to a radio station of music that I like. Very cool...if not eclecticly disturbing. So far I believe that the list is really just a lot of random rock/metal music.
I have a haircut appointment on Thursday of next week. Don't worry...I am not cutting it all off, just getting a trim. Here is a bit of a convo I had with Elle about it andwell...it develops into something kind of crazy.
WinderHunter: im getting my hair cut next thursday
ElleBelleCharms: ahh!
ElleBelleCharms: the horror!
ElleBelleCharms: whhhyy?
WinderHunter: i know...sampson and delilah
ElleBelleCharms: noo
WinderHunter: its just a trim
ElleBelleCharms: "I like it when girls run their fingers through my hair" <--- The best reason to keep it
ElleBelleCharms: !
ElleBelleCharms: oh ok
ElleBelleCharms: thats bette
ElleBelleCharms: better*
WinderHunter: i would never let it get too short for a girl to run their hands through it
WinderHunter: i miss it when they do that
ElleBelleCharms: :-D
ElleBelleCharms: good!
ElleBelleCharms: good good, i like it long
WinderHunter: im a musician....i must be keeping it long
WinderHunter: its part of the code
ElleBelleCharms: ;-)
ElleBelleCharms: long hair is good
ElleBelleCharms: short is ok
ElleBelleCharms: but long is....
ElleBelleCharms: more floozy-like!
ElleBelleCharms: lol
ElleBelleCharms: kidding.
WinderHunter: yeah....it gets all in your face when your playing guitar and drives you crazy
ElleBelleCharms: its much sexier! thats what i was looking for!
ElleBelleCharms: lol
WinderHunter: i know
ElleBelleCharms: but thats sexy? lol cause girls love the long hair
ElleBelleCharms: so i guess it works
WinderHunter: true
WinderHunter: i guess ill have to be playing live more
ElleBelleCharms: :-)
WinderHunter: would you come see me if i played live?
ElleBelleCharms: heck yes!
WinderHunter: lol
WinderHunter: my friend Kristi said she would come and throw panties at me
ElleBelleCharms: lol!
ElleBelleCharms: ill throw bras then!
ElleBelleCharms: :-D
WinderHunter: oh jesus...thats just what i need
ElleBelleCharms: ;-)
WinderHunter: im deathly afraid of people throwing things at me on stage
WinderHunter: ill be diving around like a crazy person to avoid the flying lingere
ElleBelleCharms: then! oh then! ill pay some UBER hot chick to come up and just plant one on ya when you are done! But shhh, you arent supposed to know! lol
ElleBelleCharms: ;-)
ElleBelleCharms: or she will just willingly do it
ElleBelleCharms: and i will convince her!
ElleBelleCharms: ha ha!
WinderHunter: great...my friend getting my hopes up through quasi-prostitution
ElleBelleCharms: :-P
ElleBelleCharms: did ya read the second part? she will probably willingly do it! so then i just shove her up on stage and all is well! ;-)
WinderHunter: youre just saying that to cover yourself from getting charged with soliciting...and getting your friends heart broken
ElleBelleCharms: :-(
ElleBelleCharms: noooo
ElleBelleCharms: its true
ElleBelleCharms: girls have a thing for sweaty rockers
ElleBelleCharms: :-D
WinderHunter: but come on babe....I dont need any help getting girls....Im Yodhan...savvy?
ElleBelleCharms: savvy
ElleBelleCharms: ;-)
ElleBelleCharms: i knew that, just helpin a bit
ElleBelleCharms: where was Han without Chewbacca?
ElleBelleCharms: :-D
ElleBelleCharms: where was Yoda without
ElleBelleCharms: ..... his clarvoyant mind?
ElleBelleCharms: lol
WinderHunter: Mace Windu?
ElleBelleCharms: Maybe!
I have some seriously fucked up conversations with friend. Although...I do love my 'Come on...I dont need any help...I'm Yodhan...saavy.' I was in a very Johnny Depp mood after watching 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico' yesterday. I love the soundtrack for that movie. It is absolutly amazing. It has the song Maleguena, which we used to play in jazz band....but Brian Setzer plays it way better than we used to. I really wouldn't mind learning some mariachi music. I love the way that it gets played in that movie with the electric guitar. It sounds so beautiful and pure.
I am 17 days short of my 30 days of unrepeated music goal. I realize that it took me years to get all of this music. I think I will have the 30 days of music when I am about 25. Thats a good goal. Although, when looking at my cd collection, you can tell which cds I bought before I moved out here from MI and which I bought after, becuase I left all of the normal jewel cases in MI and took only the cds and booklets when I moved. There are a lot of normal sized cd cases on my cd racks...a throwback to my more youthful days of spending a couple hundred bucks at Amoeba music every few months...I havent spent that much at a time on music in a long time, although it would be like. I think I would rather spend the money on music gear though.
I have been open for an hour and no one has come in. That could be a sign of a slow bussiness day...or that it is going to be fucking busy later. I actually would prefer the 'fucking busy'...gives me bigger numbers and makes me look good and gets me more money.
I am hungry...and I think I am taking my break at some point around 1:30 or 2:00....the agony. I forgot to grab a protein bar on the way out of the house today....very sad. I had a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast...I had to lay off the cereal because I have become lactose intollerant lately and its been bad. The cream cheese doesnt cause and problems...which is fine with me.
Okay...I am officially bored out of my skull...time to get my book out.
Posted at 11:16 am by Winder13
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Thursday, August 11, 2005
I had my second 12 hr day at work today. My mind feels like soup...and not even a good soup at that. I figured that I would come home and pass out becuase I was quite busy at work. 'The often laid plans of mice and men...' I came home, tired, and made some potstickers for dinner. I thought that I would go right to be after that becuase I felt tired. I ended up staying up to watch two episodes of ALIAS Season 2. I liked them quite a bit. It felt good to unwind. The last two hours of work were borinig monotony, and I only got smart and whipped out 'The Historian' for the last half hour. After I finished the episodes I figured that I would be tired and go to bed. Hell no...I feel like I need to play guitar. It is amazing to need to play guitar. So amazing in fact that I am getting off of this damn computer and doing it. I think that this could be the turning over of a new leaf and my shirt that says 'Sell yuor computer, Buy a guitar' may become something more than a shirt of irony for me. I like this.
Posted at 12:05 pm by Winder13
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