The Babe Ruth Post...

I have this often reoccurring dream that hit me again last night. It comes in various forms and sometimes it is quite terrifying.

I am in college. I know this because the dream has the setting of my college in various forms... in the Music School... the Business School or some nasty ass dorm food dispenser.

Anyhow... I have this dream where I have this really really tough schedule. I am taking the max units and I have trouble running back and forth from the classes. One of which is this math class, which quite frankly I never had to take in college because I took Calculus in high school and I took some math class to get out of it. Or it was masked somewhere with one of my music theory classes or that worthless inferential statistics class. I don't know... Whatever.

Well I have this math class in my schedule in the dream. And anything could be happening in this dream and suddenly I have to go to math. In this math class, it is all way fucking hard math that I just do not want to donate my time too. And not only in these dreams, do I "blow off" the rest of math because it is so damn hard... I freaking forget to go and I have this big fat "F" on my report card because I forget to drop the class.

I noticed that today, in the real world, I woke up stressed to the fucking max today. And I had the dream last night. Am I forgetting to "drop something" before I fail?

I have to be in the SLC and So Cal this week... With a rapidly approaching baby.

714... and counting...

New Day, Different Song

I probably spend at least 2-3 hours a day playing music, practicing guitar or whatever instrument I feel like putting my hands on. (Wait! That last one does not sound so... um, like it was supposed to) What I mean, not only is there a bunch of guitars laying around, there is a harmonica, a trumpet.... and a few other brass instruments laying around (missing mouth pieces for the moment) so I always have something to make a tone out of.

Everyday though when I wake up there is a different song in my head. And it ain't just a snippet it is the full version in stereo in my head.

Sunday for example, the Beatles "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" was in my head and I hummed it all day long.

Monday was an odd one... George Michael's "Faith". Why this song, which I probably hadn't heard in years is beyond me.

Tuesday... The Killers "Sam's Town"

Yesterday... "Life is a Highway" by Tom Cochrane... which is really weird because I barely know what the verses sound like and those were in my head in full vivid detail.

This morning, "Well All Right" by Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly being one of my all time favorites isn't such a shock.

It's weird because lately I am compelled to pick up my guitar and start playing along. I learned the song Surrender by Elvis this way being able to hear it in my head and just know, it was in the key of G. This is something now I am concentrating on more and more. I wish I had this when I was say 20 and not, gulp! 35 when it could have been a more useful skill when I was getting my degree in music while nearly being tone deaf. I remember the teachers playing a chord on a piano and hearing a harmonic echoing in the room with them going, "Can you hear that?" and the rest of the class going, "Yeah.." and I would have a stupid look on my face. But it is weird, 12 years from the end of college, with a degree and music and I can finally hear it and pull the notes right out of it like they were colors as easily definable like red or blue.

Invincible...

Eddie sings the blues

So I got my shiny new iPod Touch 32 gb all loaded and ready. Been playing with it off and on all day. Such a trip when you drive because you can see the name of the song and album over so clearly. One of the things I enjoy on my iPod is watching the move Invincible with Mark Wahlberg. I have seen the movie like 20-30 times on my iPod. If I am on a long plane ride with nothing to do or if I can't sleep or if I am feeling down in the dumps over something. If you haven't seen it, it is based on the true story of a guy who got a shot at trying out for the Philadelphia Eagles at 30 years old and he makes the time. Some of the facts are bent in the story (like the way he tried out) but it went down the way the movie portrays what this guy Vince Papale did. He got a shot... A once in a million shot, took it and succeeded. Yeah it's a Disney flick reminiscent of movies like Rocky or Rudy. These are great because you know how it is going to end so you don't have to pay attention to details to enjoy these movies. But I always look for the tricks and hooks that make them so great, even if down right cheesy. Rocky stands out in my mind though because he lost in the end of a couple of those movies. I digress.

What gets me about Invincible is the way they surrounded the character was real, likable people. Most of it is in a pub and how friends interact. They also laid the movie out in sense that during that time in the late 70's, times were tough. (It was the Carter years!) Every character has a struggle to survive. That wasn't the case in Rocky (except for maybe Paulie) or Rudy. In Glory Road, another sports movie about the first All Black starting 5 in NCAA championship history it was a team of people and then a school that had it bad. But in Invincible it was a town, a city. a team... all in a struggle. So why did it take all that for a Vince Papale character to rise to the occasion, at that time and that place?

Ambition, desire and persistence are things I would say I do not lack. I may despise the fact that I turned out the way I did some days and really free lucky and blessed on others. I open myself up for new challenges, new projects and things... sometimes whether I like it or not. I struggle and crawl my way out or succeed with the greatest of ease. Lately though, I think I do it find my center... To find my inner peace. It's a continuous slap across the face, reality is... All that you want to have... with what you should have. When you are low, it's tough to beat yourself. When you are high, no one can beat you. But I think, if I truly found the center, found what ground me to earth... the middle. I'd be invincible. And I wouldn't trade it for anything knowing everything I know now.

There is a scene in the movie, Invincible... where Vince is driving through the neighborhood. He had already accomplished his goal. He made the team. He defied all odds. He was a hero to his friends, his coach and his father. But something was still missing (at least in the movie). Whether it is movie magic or not.... life does really work this way. Vince still was incomplete with what he had. He's driving through this neighborhood contemplating everything... And drives by a playground and kids are playing football. And a kid runs to the street to get a ball and on his green t-shirt, he had painted number 83: Vince's number. For me, the movie ends right there. Nothing would do me finer than to see a pile of people look up to me for something. Especially making a good impression on someone I didn't know.

Life is diabolical. Life is a sport. Life is like standing in a batter's box. To me I hope it's like the 4 inning in a meaningless game when you get up to swing and not always the bottom of the 9th, base loaded...even as ambitious as I am. We all want that chance to take that next big swing. Better off in the 4th inning when no one is looking and you swung at a bad pitch. But in the big game... you chase a bad pitch your done... as easily as not swinging at all. Wow! How screwed up we are? I thought I could hide this week, being home and not on a plane. Sometimes it is always the 9th inning. We chase our tails or we embrace it. It's a powerful game.

But there is the center, the middle... I want to get there everyday. I was there before. I'd like to be back... To come back. And hope someone looks up to me while doing so.

Steve Blogs Another Blog Entry

Awesome Video

It is all about redundancy and airports. Airports are redundant in their processes. It's all the same. You go in one door... drag bags to a counter to get your ticket or if you are smart you have already purchased your ticket and have headed right to the gate. The gate where you wait. Wait to wait to get checked off with a legit ID. Then choose a line to pile your stuff onto a conveyor. 311. Three oz of liquid in one container in one, one gallon sized bag... Too much to remember for some I guess. There is always an old lady with too much. The scanner, you separate your laptop from your bags and your bags from your hands and shoes from your feet into separate tubs. The tubs go through the xray machine as you go through the metal detector. Don't forget your boarding pass as you pass through the detector. Shoes back on your feet, laptop back into the bag and the bag back into your hands as you go to your gate and wait. Redundancy never ends when you begin your next flight.

Back Home...

Finally... a grueling week almost ends. I started on Tuesday with a flight out to Colorado and once I landed I never stopped. Late nights and early rises. I won't delve into what I did the whole time because I won't. I'll just say I stood in front of people and talked a lot about what I know.

The flight was easy coming back. A lady sat next to me and she was nice. The flight attendant talked me into buying her a drink. I tried to say no but other passengers started rooting for me as the lady looked for her credit card. I sat back and silently said, "Fuck it! Get me a Scotch too..."

In Colorado, it was really cold and this white sort of icy stuff fell from the sky. I didn't know what to do so I ran and hid from it. Scary shit. I wonder what it was. It covered my rental car and froze to it. The ice scraper that the rental car company gives didn't work so I used my hotel key. Hotel keys have a lot of purposes.

I haven't seen Elijah or DW since Monday night... They were not awake when I got home.

I thought of more ideas for some songs. Still thinking it through. The hard part is matching lyrics to melodies. The music side is actually easy if I choose the right key.

Anyways... "Hi, what's up?"

Random Thoughts, Take Two...

This is post 511. Mickey Mantle hit 511 homeruns. If you add 511 together as in 5+1+1, it equals 7 which is the number of no hitters Nolan Ryan pitched. It is also the 7th of January. If you add 1 for January and the 7th for the date it equals 8, which is the time right now.

I sawed up my fence today that blew down... Funny story, my 92 year old neighbor said that she put up the fence to block out the people that lived here 20 some odd years ago. I was fascinated by that. She has offered to pay for half...but I cannot do it. I'd feel bad... I use the fence not her. Besides it would be a great enclosure to keep Elijah safe at play when he is older. I admire her because she lives by herself at 92.

I enjoy tobacco when I gamble. Chew really... I love the "Cope" but Skoal is also good. I get really buzzed because I rarely do it. I do it to hide the shakes I get with a big hand during poker. If I am always shaking it sorta hides the poker face. Cigars are fun too but rare... Cigarettes burn my lungs. I think I have smoked 5 or 6 in my life. The last thing I need are stimulants.

Teeny came over to visit Elijah. She sat in Elijah's chair. She didn't look small in it. Just normal. I am still trippin' over that. Dig the low top boots!!

Elijah can point out different parts of his body. His eyes, nose, mouth, head, ears, hands and feet. We are starting on Elbow now. He discovered the turtle and can say turtle now.

The floor came out good and it is holding solid but the trim pieces are coming loose. I need 1 1/4" nails.


I ate a bowl of Kix cereal every day since New Years and lost 5 lbs. Top that!!!

Nothing rhymes with Orange.

The song I am working on is in the key of D. I borrowed the chord pattern from part of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song Tuesday's Gone. That song is in the Key of A. I had to transpose it a 5th down or a 4th up, depending how you look at things. I like down because I reduced the sharps in the key signature from 4 to 2. I like the sound of the B minor chord too. Bridging it is easy off of E minor. I need a good chorus pattern now... Like you all fucking care!!!

College Football officially ends tonight. LSU is winning 24 to 10. I am not watching as I do not care. Go buckeyes!!!

Are any of you Lutheran?

I can play my iPod in the new car.

Elijah can officially remove one baby gate. I need to do something different there since it is the stairs.

I just got the electric bill. $86. I am not burning enough carbon these days.

Elijah's toys all play different versions of the same nursery rhymes. Most are in the key of C. I don't know why I know that...but I checked a lot of them out on the guitar to be sure.

I have been listening to REM the past few days. I like the song Wake Up Bomb off of New Adventures of Hi Fi. Something about the title jives with me. Do you have a song you jive with?

Elijah is playing with his Mickey Mouse... I am going to convince him that it is Modest Mouse, the band... That would be cool.

I think our cat Jack is gay. I am not sure though because Flea won't let him near him. Probably because Flea isn't gay. I am not sure... Jack is cool though. He sleeps on my side of the bed.

I thought this video below was extremely funny (My guitar hero addicted Sister In Law needs to actually click and watch this):



My favorite at 2:26. The end is classic!

Should We Talk About The Weather?: Steve's Analysis On Song Writing

A line from some REM... that is where I got part of that title from. I think it was Pop Song or something like that... Anyhow... I think it is a good line that you remember from a song mostly...

Or is it?

See... that is an issue I am debating lately as I listen to my iPod on 10 browsing different things on the net that have no apparent correlation to each other.

The first song I think I played on this latest random shuffle was "Think It Over" by Buddy Holly.

Okay, Buddy I have thought it over and you were like the greatest song writer in pop music history. Why you were so good? Well... You did something exciting that countless people knowingly (The Beatles) or unknowingly (Green Day) copied millions of times over intriguing our psyche over and over. Simple songs... simple progressions... music know how... Hook, line... and sinker (the crazy glasses)

But really is that all a good song needs? A simple 3 chord pattern? Tonic, Sub Dominant and Dominant Harmony played over and over...

Well... then my iPod rolls into the Beatles' "And I Love Here" And yeah... you have the simple altered version of that progression... with a bridge of minor chords separating choruses from verses. Minor chords brought color and emphasis to the standard blues patterned chords from early Buddy Holly or even go back, Hank Williams and Chuck Berry songs... It's the color that hangs us on the more modern songs. The sad emotion of a minor chord in an other wise happy tune influences what we remember. If it wasn't for this then bands like U2 or Coldplay would have nothing to exploit to make their songs sound so big, even if over simple progression with some minor chords because it's those minor chords and melodies that draw us into that anthemic rock.

But then there is the riff. Anyone of us can hum the main riff to "Satisfaction" Riffs make all that I discuss even bigger. As "Today" pops up from the Smashing Pumpkins on my iPod, I can think of thing through the whole song: That riff off of the 11th fret. The one riff that sounds like, unconsciously, like another big riff: Slash's from Sweet Child of Mine. Riffs draw us into a song with familiarity. As a pause and listen again to U2's With or Without You... it's the bass riff you carry away from the song after the melody. Think about all the songs you like? Is it a riff that moves you or the melody?

So you have your major progression, splashed with a minor chord progression bridge and embellishment of a catchy riff.

So what's next?

Well... prog rock screwed all that up because we yearn for themes in our music. Pink Floyd, Led Zepellin and The Who screwed all that up first. They made all that stuff I mentioned above bigger... but really to disguise what they were doing with extra sounds and themes. They still did all the above, but they hid it with different instruments, multiple guitar and piano tracks and finally splash in a little drugs. With all that... you don't get influence for better music... you get the cock rock of the 80's with the big hair, loud guitars and everyone thinking they were the next big thing, manufactured by producers who probably lugged Jimmy Page's guitar cases around the studio.

The rebellion of all this sappy crap brought us the Ramones who had the sense to go back to the beginning with Buddy Holly and start over. Bringing us the punk rock style we all know and love. Catchy melodies and riffs, played faster and faster with some lyrics now resembling some broken home political scam. Three chords, one speed... 2 minutes or less. With out punk... rock and roll would have died. We needed it. Punk brought honesty back from the fakers trying to be Zeppelin. It was new... It was neat. We gotta thank Buddy Holly for it too.


After all that... Add some Elvis Costello and his changes to that punk rock and prog rock and you get alternative rock. A true genuine musician... Elvis took valid Buddy Holly style and punk angst, mixed in his own musical know how to get an awesome song "Accidents Will Happen" just happens to be playing now... More mutations... more chords, add some jazz... And that amazing voice and you get hundreds of copycats throughout the 80's... grabbing onto his sound and adding some dance beats and blow drying their hair out. Without this Elvis, there is no Depeche Mode, Cure or Flock of Seagulls.

The fallout of all this crap brought us REM, Nirvana and the Pixies. The antithesis of all the above. Particularly the Pixies first than Nirvana... They didn't value any rules or stay in any key really... but what they did worked... Kurt Cobain broke every rule with the guitar and if anyone else tries to copy it, they fail miserably. The punk energy mixed with a new kind of rock and lots of screaming. So far from Buddy Holly and yet so close you can feel it. After the Pixies or Nirvana has anything else existed as real in the rock music world? Ever great band after Nirvana runs merely a distant second place.

So what does one do attempting to push love of music into this daily blog of telling you my feelings, generating a song or two out of it? Songwriting is a incredibly hard endeavor to take on. Everything I have written here is at the forefront of my mind when picking up a guitar... even though it's just a hobby... the weight is heavy. Maybe I shouldn't care so much and just do it.... The Dave Matthews song "You Never Know" song blares out my iPod with the line:

I find it hard to explain how I got here
I think I can, I think I can
And then again, I will falter

Uhhhh....?

What was I thinking? DW will laugh all night long... I was bored and I finished work early. I recorded this on my iPod mic which really limits quality. I enhanced it as best I could... I have a whole digital set up but that takes hours... Plus I wanted to play with iMovie.

Two Pounds, Forty-Five: The Evolution of a Record Buying Experience

OK...

I seem to remember it went like this. It was 1997. I see this crazy video for "Paranoid Android" on MTV. I go, "Holy Shit!!! That was freaking Radiohead? When does it come out!!"

I wait a month or so for the release date. Drive to some Tower Records and pick up a copy of OK Computer the day of the release. Then I struggle relentlessly to peel the plastic wrapping off the jewel case and pop the CD into my stereo.

I continue to listen to OK Computer for years, thinking that it has some secret meaning to life that I could not find out on my own.

All this before:

• The commercialization of the internet
• The advent of Yahoo! and Google and how mainstream it has become in our lives
• Illegal Downloading and the complete self-destruction of the entire record industry
• The death of Rock N Roll as we know it. (Emo? WTF IS THAT!!!)

Now... roughly 10 years later, this 33 year old crumbling, impotent and feeble storer of inadequate sperm (me)...

Does the following:

• Fires up Foreplay/Longtime by Boston to remember what rock n roll used to sound like
• Sits patiently reloading Radiohead's site to download "In Rainbows" at the lowest price I could honestly pay for it: 2 pounds Site takes forever (3 minutes to load)
• Enter private info for download (1 minute)
  
• Runs full speed up a cold metal spiral staircase into an equally cold metal baby gate, with bare feet to find credit card. (1 minute)..Yells "Fuck!" real loud while grabbing toe. (2 seconds)
  
• Enters credit card and begins downloading ZIP File (30 seconds)
  
• 48 meg download, (2 minutes on my 10mbps)
• Wonders if I can actually open a zip file on a Mac (10 seconds)
• Drags files into iTunes (3 seconds)
• Boston song finishes and I press play on first Radiohead song "15 steps"(Total Time: 7 minutes 48 seconds...exact length of Boston song)

My overall experiences are way different now. Yet... this is the best Radiohead album since OK Computer. Not quite as good as "The Bends" but a really solid album. My personal favorites while writing this are:

• Reckoner
• 15 steps
• Jigsaw Falling Into Place

I loaded it onto my jump drive so I can install it on every computer...

Nothing To Write About... And A Sort Of Homecoming...

Do not... I repeat, do not bank or do anything involving money with Chase. Ruined my day. They lost a customer today and I hope to take a few more with me when it is said and done. Revenge is a bitch. (FYI, the online tool they have does not work and it should not be trusted. Don't try it! I did...)

But tomorrow is a new day... with my beautiful wife and child. Everything will be as it should... again. No one was hurt.

Any of you catch Heroes last night? That show is the shit... If you missed it visit NBC.com.

Yesterday I drove to Redding and back. 350 miles (no airport) Redding is a cool place. It is so un-California yet is in an area that is known for it's "California Beauty". The Cascades start right there from Mount Lassen in the East and Mount Shasta, second tallest in the lower 48, to the north. And then all the forests and farmland. People are just different up there. There is still a whole lot of trust in people. You could leave your bike unlocked at the coffee shop. There is no gang violence and no graffiti. And if you worked for the government or were a teacher you can afford a nice place to live and have a nice car. The city of 100,000 is not ruined by it's recent growth which I think comes from it's placement 200 miles from anywhere. I saw some old customers, people that sort of renewed my ambitions to my current job and how far I have come from where I was. Most of you don't know but I sell chemicals... car wash stuff. I not only get desired results with clean cars but I really analyze businesses and show how people can make more money either by saving labor or increasing revenues. I haven't revolutionized the business in any way but I have been an influence. One of my old customers wanted to treat me to lunch but I wouldn't let him. It was weird how I fell into my old self helping one business at time when I would make trips up there 4-5 years back. I am glad our new guy can come to enjoy these people and what I was able to accomplish back then.

Boy though... My back cannot take a five hour of driving like I used to. My toes on my left foot are killing me. Both arms have gone numb off and on today, If I sit in a chair and put on my shoes, my lower back feels as if someone is trying to pry my soul from my body. I wish I could drive the Porsche for work everyday. It's been chilly the past few mornings and the fronts seats have warmers. They make your ass feel so good when you crank them to 5. You just melt into the seat while you sweat so you open the sun roof and drive fast. Well I drive fast... getting on the freeway is so much fun. And it is so comfortable...

Elijah is amazing... in 5 weeks he has gone from crawling and just sitting around to a rampaging, maniacal toddler with no fear... Totally different person. I made Penne Pasta with meat sauce this evening. I love pasta night and I fear messy babies. So the kitchen gets an extra clean while the wife gets the baby washes and out of the orange clothes. I could never work at a restaurant. I don't like other people's food, even if it's my family's. I cannot eat left overs. I do okay with the dishes.