A couple of months ago, I started to mess around with a Jerry Rafferty song. Then he died. Last week-end, while fiddling with the guitar, I stumbled upon the chords to the beginning of “Sister Golden Hair”. I think I’d better put the guitar down before someone else gets hurt!!!!
Band Stuff, Life | Sonicfrog July 27, 2011 | 
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That’s what White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says Obama is doing to help resolve the debt limit crisis. Judging from where we are today, and the nasty press conference he had to endure today, I’m thinking their strategy for bringing about “the optimum circumstances for a compromise” needs to be scrapped… And quick!
The clock is ticking!
BTW – There are a lot of juicy bits in here, but, my favorite moment? At 44 seconds in, Carney insults everyone in the room by basically accusing them of cutting class!!!! The pres corpS didn’t take it too well.
Since I’ve been learning to play guitar, I have been promising everyone and their mothers dog that I was going to drag out my old lyric books and start recording some songs.
I’ve been promising that for well over a year to my band-mates in both Acoustic Highway and Jim in Taylor Martin.. And to myself.
Well, last night, I finally took a step toward making that happen. For the first time ever, I went through my old lyrics – we’re talking some 33 years worth (wrote my first song when I was 13) – and marked the ones that have good lyric and at least a song structure to lay down as songs!
I’ve been promising I was going to do this for a very long time, but never committed myself to actually do it. I think I now know why. There are hundreds of pages of total crap, stuff I would be totally embarrassed to show the world… That this…. drivel… actually came out of my brain. Reading some of that, it’s discouraging and makes it hard to think about myself as a song writer. I exposed a little bit of wretched stuff in this post. Most of the scribblings are just bad. I think I have have long avoided going through my collection of lyrics because I was avoiding those failures. And their are so many of them, it’s overwhelming. Who wants to stare their ineptness in the face!
But then, I come across a gem, a diamond in the rough, and think, hey, maybe I’ve done some good stuff… And, as it turns out, I have! The ratio of bad vs good isn’t great… Hell, it’s pretty atrocious! Still, now that I’ve marked the good stuff, it turns out I have more in there than I ever realized, at least 32 potential songs that, if someone else were to record them, I would be proud to say “Hey! I wrote that!”
A second thing that has held me back is my recording equipment. When I record this stuff, I have “a sound” that I want it to sound like… Uber-Professional! Well, between the limitations of budget – the equipment is good, but not professional grade – and my Black Cap Lotikeet squawking in the background…. That just ain’t gonna happen!
Third concern is my own musicianship and lack of competence / confidence. After 25 year, I pretty much have the bass thing down alright and that’s not a problem. I’m getting better on guitar, but I have a long way to go before I’m a guitarist. And again, I hear things in my head that I just don’t know how to physically produce on the six stringed instrument. Oh… And I pretty much hate the sound of my own voice! This is where my brothers will chime in and say they hate the sound of my voice too!!!
But I need to forge ahead anyway. I owe it to myself to do this. Plus, like everything else, the more songs I record and lay down, the better I’m going to get at all that.
In the mean time… Have to go work so I can pay the electric bill so I’ll have juice to run my computer and electronic music recording gadgets!
Band Stuff, Honesty, Music / Video | Sonicfrog July 26, 2011 |
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Jennifer Ruben writes:
A Republican aide e-mails me: “The Speaker, Sen. Reid and Sen. McConnell all agreed on the general framework of a two-part plan. A short-term increase (with cuts greater than the increase), combined with a committee to find long-term savings before the rest of the increase would be considered. Sen. Reid took the bipartisan plan to the White House and the President said no.”
If this is accurate the president is playing with fire. By halting a bipartisan deal he imperils the country’s finances and can rightly be accused of putting partisanship above all else. The ONLY reason to reject a short-term, two-step deal embraced by both the House and Senate is to avoid another approval-killing face-off for President Obama before the election. Next to pulling troops out of Afghanistan to fit the election calendar, this is the most irresponsible and shameful move of his presidency.
If this is true, I dare Sullivan to declare this is one of those “Meep Meep” moment, where this President has outwitted the Republicans much like the iconic Roadrunner vs the Coyote. But, I suspect he will anyway. The “Man Crush” is just that strong with this one!!!!
PS. When news came around yesterday that there was a Democrat penned / Obama approved deal in the works for $2.7 billion in cut, and no tax increases, I was set to write that, since that seems like a reasonable deal yet the Republicans had brushed it aside, the Dems had indeed scored a MAJOR public relations coo and had made the Republicans look like idiots. But the story has changed radically and the original MSNBC article has seemed to have gone down the memory whole… Well… Now we are here.
Politics / Law Stuff, Stupidity / Satire | Sonicfrog July 25, 2011 |
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A Facebook friend, perplexed over saying the wrong thing, reminded me of this one.
One time in San Diego, my friends were getting together on the beach for a Bar-B-Q. One friend walked up with a girl friend who i didn’t know.
First words out of my mouth were “Hey Mike, where’s Wendy?” his girlfriend.
Only at that moment, as a result of the “Oh Shit No” looks Mike and a number of my friends gave me, was I privy to the reality that the new “girl friend” who I had never seen before was actually his long-time GIRLFRIEND / FIANCÉE he brought out from New Jersey and Wendy, who as far as I knew was THE girlfriend, was in reality the San Diego girl on the side!!!!….
Oops!
PS. Wendy found that out that week-end too! Wasn’t pretty!
The Palins, titled “Another Palin Pregnancy”:
And in classic Palin fashion. Track’s bride looks more pregnant two months after her marriage than Sarah looked at allegedly eight months with Trig. But the family-for-abstinence keeps the show on the road. But when will Track join the crusade?
Really… That’s what you got? The one member of the family who has done his level best not to insert himself in the limelight, the one who seems to be doing things the right way… And then Sullivan links to this snarky Gawker tripe!
…The picture above of “Britta Pie,” which was posted on a Wasilla friend’s Facebook wall, confirms the news she’s expecting. Britta looks to be several months along—perhaps more than two months?…
Britta’s friends responded to the Facebook pictures with elation. But given the timing of Britta’s pregnancy, the happy couple may want to tell Sarah Palin to shut up the next time she champions abstinence-only education or Bristol sermonizes against extramarital sex, lest the conception of another Palin grandchild and the rationale behind another well-publicized Palin marriage fall into question.
The Palins did not respond to our request for comment.
Gee, you wonder why? I’m not a Palin fan, but jeez, this is just ridiculous!
Next on the plate is this bit of fun:
My view is that Obama has essentially won the argument but not yet the fight…
Gee, now there’s a surprise!
But the GOP believe they can destroy the US and global economy and from the wreckage ensure Obama is not re-elected. That is their sole true guiding principle. They terrify me.
Now, you may absolutely disagree with the supposed solutions that the Grand Ol’ Party puts on the plate, that you think / know their offered solutions won’t work, but there is no evidence to support the charge they don’t believe that what they advocate wouldn’t work! Do you really think the believe no one would notice that, after they get their way, then the economy tanks, and no one would blame them???? They believe their policies are the best way to start a strong recovery in this wretched economy, just as Democrats believe theirs is the best. To say the GOP are PURPOSELY AND KNOWINGLY destroy the US and global economy, well, that’s just partisan hackery at its worst. I’m pretty sure this would win his Michael Moore Award if he considered give his own awards to himself.
Politics / Law Stuff, Stupidity / Satire, Tortured Logic | Sonicfrog July 21, 2011 |
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On the unwatchable video from the almost certainly short liked Al Sharpton Show – Great YouTube comment left by sksheild3:
Perhaps, not the best venue to sort out a solution to their topic. And Mo’s educational background is impressive. He has a broad view of the elements that interact to form an economy. BUT, being better educated does not mean that Mo’s conclusions are correct. If that were true, we wouldn’t need more than 1 economist.?
And I thought former CNN’er Elliot Spitzer was bad!
@ 4:11 – Rev Al, yelling: “We’re not crazy here”
Rep Mo Brooks, doing his worst Ben Stein deadpan responds – “Well, I don’t want to get into your mental state…”
Sharpton, yelling – “Don’t bring up my mental state…”
Brooks, doing his worst Ben Stein deadpan responds – “Well, you said you were crazy…”
Sharpton yelling – “I didn’t say I, I said we, the people of the United States…”
This is a FAIL on so many levels. The term “We” includes the person using that word. Rep Mo Brooks should stick to economics and try not to be funny. Who’s brilliant idea was it to give Al Sharpton his own show????? He’s like Sean Hannity turned up to 11… Then cranked around one more time just for good measure! And they just keep dancing around the one obvious conclusion…. The policy choices cemented in stone by both parties are flawed and have failed!
Hey, it could be worse… Spitzer? No, tried and flailed, and that’s not worse…. Carville??? No, I like Carville, but he’s on CNN… Robert Kennedy Jr… OK. Now THAT’S worse!!!!!
This is completely unwatchable! Almost makes me miss Keith Olbermann…… Almost!!!
As Europe continues to go to hell in a handbasket, we get THIS bit of disturbing news. If the incidences where people are having to buy staple like food and gas with their credit card are going up, then we are that much closer to those people defaulting on those cards, because, well, if they can’t afford to pay for food and gas out of pocket, then where the hell do we think they are going to get the money to pay the credit card bill when it’s due at the end of the month?????
Many years ago, I was in this situation, and know what happens first hand. You only pay the minimum due, if that, because that’s all you’ve got. Then, at some point, you will find you can’t even do that. I got lucky and landed on my feet. But that was during an economy on the rise, where job creation was increasing and I eventually landed on my feet.
And then there is this amazing quote from Fed chair Ben Burnake:
“The anticipated pickups in economic activity and job creation, together with the expected easing of price pressures, should bolster real household income, confidence, and spending,”
Why is he still there?
Yep… We’re in the best of hands!
Europe: 1920’s – After the extremely expensive World War 1, Europe’s financial system was in tatters. Germany was expected to pay reparations to cover the costs of restoring economies in neighboring countries, due to a war they helped create and perpetuate.
Fast Forward some 90 years.
Europe: 2011 – After the meltdown of worldwide financial markets, Europe’s financial system is in tatters. Germany is expected to finance and pay the bill to cover the cost of failed socialistic governments in neighboring countries, a problem not of their making.
The last time this happened, where the rest of Europe attempted to leach off of Germany to try and rebuild itself, it created a nationalistic backlash within Germany, and resulted in the rise of the NAZI movement, Hitler, and World War II.
Here’s hoping that history does not repeat.