What did you say?

I often get overwhelmed by things in my daily life. My job, my car, the normal shit we all deal with. When these things start to crowd me, I feel uninspired and unable to create. So I have been working hard to change the things that cause me pain.

1. Change Job

I changed my job title and with this change comes uninterrupted days off and the end to a nasty game of scapegoat.

2. Get a New Car

As much as I wanted to purchase (get a loan for) a new vehicle it is not the right time to do so. In lieu of buying a "new" car we are going to purchase (no loan) a used car. This will be the vehicle we use for touring with Essential Machine.

Craigslist is a great place to look for used cars. We bought our last car through the site and will buy the next.

Instead of waiting for things to change or resolve themselves I have decided to make the changes proactively. I no longer have to feel creatively clogged while I wait for some magical event to come along and fix everything.

I don't need sleep.

Late night rehearsal sessions and watching episodes of Arrested Development on Hulu have convinced me that I don't need sleep. Winter can be hard when you wake up and it's still dark outside. Time seems different now. It's as if day ceases to exist and night has become all I know. This will all catch up with me soon and I will be in bed early resetting myself, but until then carpe noctem.

Please Help!

Paste Magazine is helping the relief effort in Haiti by giving music away to any one who donates using the link below or has already donated elsewhere. That's right even if you gave money through another organization you can still download the songs free. Check it out and pass it on!

Growing old with Kare

This is for you Kare.

WHO is in charge?

As soon as I heard about the swine flu I looked up the stats on the seasonal flu. I found that the swine flu wasn't killing more people than the seasonal flu nor was it spreading faster. I then proceeded to ignore most of the nonsense hype the media circus created.

It now appears that the WHO had a hand in creating the hype. This issue is about to be investigated in Europe. It seems that the pharmaceutical industry may have had something to do with the WHO changing the definition of pandemic. If you are interested in this topic here is the article.

Hey mainstream media! Get your heads out of your asses and start looking out for the citizens of this country!

A busker I want to be!

A busker is one who performs on the street. I have been a busker in the past. I used to play on the streets Ybor City on weekend nights. All of the drunk people would come over and sing along. It was so much fun. I made enough money for a pack of smokes and a meal the next day for me and a friend.

I have been watching people busk on youtube.com now for the past hour. There are so many cool things. I wanted to share this video with you.



I hope Kare and I can find a place and some time in the near future to go busking. Well after the weather warms up anyway.

New music and snow driving.

With both hands tightly gripping the steering wheel, I kept my vehicle from sliding off of the road. It took me twice as long to get home as it would have any other night, but I'm safe and sound. The snow just keeps coming and I keep driving very slowly.

A friend shared this site with me, it's called daytrotter. I have been enjoying the free music. Check out Damien Jurado if you haven't already.

I'm a selfish asshole!

Kare has an awesome voice. I love listening to her sing. Since the new album we are writing is 100% collaborative I have had the privilege of hearing her lovely voice a lot these past few weeks. Now that I have shared my feelings about Kare's singing I can tell you all why I'm a selfish asshole.

We recently wrote a song that Kare is going to sing lead on. It is a wonderfully emotional tune. I have been really enjoying writing it with her. Now that we have it finished I want to sing lead on it. Yes that's right I love it so much I want to sing lead. I know that it sounds better with Kare singing lead and that we wrote it for her so that's how it will be recorded and performed, but I'm a selfish asshole.

The songs that are coming out of these sessions are so much fun to play. I know that this will come through on our performances and our recordings.

No more selfish asshole.

It's all yours Kare.

I Love Paste

If you love music and want a place that will keep new music pumping through your speakers, then check out Paste Magazine. It's cheap to get a subscription. Only $.99 a month gets you a free mp3 sampler and the magazine. I'm promoting this not just because I want to share it with you all, but because I don't want it to go away. I know that sounds selfish, and it is. So please if you like music and want to read about it and listen to it all the time, get a subscription. They are also doing a promo right now to save the magazine. You get a bunch of rare recordings if you make a donation to the magazine. The banner below will take you where you need to go. Thanks for checking it out.

Please Smoke Lettuce!

This is great!

Muffins and Music

I can't imagine a better way to start the week. Apple streusel muffins from the local bakery and coffee, followed by a writing session with Kare.

I'm very excited about the new music we are creating for the record. Can't wait to share them with everyone. We are going to be trying some of the new stuff out at our next show. See Essential Machines website for details.

Now back to recording.

Maybe Not

So I guess I'm not going to be posting a picture of my beard everyday (see previous post or click here). After careful consideration and consultation I decided that once a day is a bit much. So I have revised my plan from once a day to once a week. I think this will be a bit more manageable for everyone involved (especially me).

I once saw this guy who made a really cool stop action movie of himself aging over seventeen years. Check it out!

My first... sort of.

Yes I moved my blog. Kare has been telling me to do it for a long time. I finally decided to give it a whirl.

Here are the top reasons I moved.

1. Blogger looks better( I used to use VOX).
2. I can use Google Analytics(Find out if anyone is reading).
3. I can follow my friends who have blogger blogs.
4. I can really customize the background.

I have started something new on the Essential Machine website. I've decided not to shave my beard until the new Essential Machine Album has been completed. To be more specific I won't shave until the recording part of the album has been completed. To help document this madness I will be taking a picture of my beard everyday and posting it to the Essential Machine website.

I'm enjoying my new blog already!