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Inspired and Impatient.
(9.01.2008: 6:03 PM) << It's labor day, and I'm watching the "I Have A Dream" speech, on PeaceTakesCourage.com. Ava, who runs the site invited me to Alabama to perform at her Sweet Sixteen birthday peace vigil on the Capitol steps in Birmingham Alabama. I sang the National Anthem at sunset and quoted his Riverside Church anti-war speech from the top of the steps looking at his church. An awe-filled moment for me. I've also been watching a lot of what's happening on the political stage right now. One of my roommates is very active in getting Ralph Nader into the debates (he's a third party candidate in 45-or-something states). Lots going on in the world! Times they are a-changing, right before our eyes! So I'm hauling ass on some new music and videos. I'd been working on the Missing project for a loooong time, and deferred working on more social-change kinds of projects. But I've written a bunch of stuff and I'm so inspired by the conversation happening in the world and feel like I need to offer my contribution now. I'm working on three other projects right now: updating the Unamerican video, A video for "What Kind Of Amazing Grace", and recording "Things Have Got To Change." I'm working with Tie Die Keith who is kind of an "old salt" in the local music scene and has turned his peninsula garden home into a full-on multi-room recording studio. He's producing, helping arrange, engineer and generally get this project done quickly. And I'm learning a ton along the way. The man is wise as he is colorful. I hired a couple of really awesome session players to lock in the rhythm section. It's coming out a little faster than the demo, but I'm eager to hear how this process ends up. I've been really enjoying getting to work with different people over the last couple years on projects. "What Kind Of Amazing Grace" is a result of a recording project I did at the Black Cat studios in Santa Cruz. Anyway, I've been working all Labor Day Weekend and feeling good about it. AND I'm feeling impatient. Anxious. Gotta get goin. |
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I got hate mail from Bono today.
(: 1:09 AM) << Something totally bizarre is happening. I got bood by CodePink when I performed the National Anthem at a MoveOn Rally last year. Tonight I get hate male from Bono. Or so it said. Came in from my contact form from one "Bono Vox", and it said:
Maybe "hate" mail is a bit strong for this one but I think it generally falls into the "someone's being a jackass" category. The irony of being snidely accused of being a poser by someone posing to be someone s/he also accuses of being a poser is a little mind-bending, almost to the point of ridiculousness. Should I take this as a kind of doubled-then-halved-twice-negative complement? Is the obvious idiocy of it actually some kind of joke? Does this mean that I actually DO have a public life? I just deleted a couple paragraphs of angry blogging aimed at the anonymous author, figuring that it wouldn't be a very "Generate Kindness" thing to post. The irony of ironies is that I really can't say some of the things I'd really like to say to this person. |
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www.missingproject.org
(8.25.2008: 2:01 AM) << The MissingProject.org website is now live and more or less functional! Check it out: http://www.missingproject.org. Leave a comment on the blog (over there) so the place doesn't look so empty! |
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The miraculous interweb
(7.31.2008: 1:05 AM) << Check it - I got played on KHEN, a community radio station in Salida, Colorado. Cuh-razy as I've never sent this out. Just got played. THANKS KHEN! http://khen.org/2008/07/30/chickenlips17/ |
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Back from NC
(7.01.2008: 6:29 PM) << Spent the last week in balmy Eastern North Carolina visiting friends and family, although the line was pretty blurry between friends and family. I got to see my friend Will's ad business Evolve Advertising continue to grow, and, evolve. He and his son dragged me down the Tar river, literally. Managed to stay on the kneeboard for more than a minute before yet another spectularly funny (apparently) Ian Rhett wipeout. Maybe I should look into auditioning for that show. Thing is, I could easily see myself breaking a finger or something on that show. Cal Ripkin said that the key to his success was minimizing risk. Something about being a piano player and guitarist make me think it'd be a drag to have my hands messed up from being on Television. F that. I also got to spend 4 days in a more-or-less constant state of love and appreciation for my sister and her daughter. I don't get to see family enough, and I'm in love with both of them. She says I should't be worried, but I still dread her getting deployed. San Francisco has changed since I left it a week ago. It's definitely colder than the southeast. Seems a little clearer, but things definitely feel different. The Missing Project is taking great shape. Eager to share it soon. Heard these guys on the interwebs radio: |
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Nomadic Performances
(6.15.2008: 1:18 AM) << Just got back from playing a gig at the Nomad Cafe in Berkeley. It was great to see a bunch of friends turn out and to even have someone travel to see me (Thanks Gwen!) I thought it was pretty good. I'm watching the video right of it right now. I'm going to upload some of the song performances into the video section. I'd do the whole show, but there are a couple of songs where the soundguy has a conversation. And honestly, there were a couple moments I wasn't too proud of. Let's just say I definitely see room for improvement, and places to really focus my rehearsal. Some of my song starts were pretty weak right off the bat. Once I got into them, things seemed to get into a groove of one form or another. Also more than one "pitch" moment. There were no monitors tonight, and I was behind the speakers. It's very hard to stay on pitch when you can't hear yourself. You'd think with all that amplification, that it'd be easy, but the fact is, sound SOUNDS very different when you're behind a speaker than it does when you're in front of it. Anyway, there are only a couple of tunes I'm gonna excise from the record. I also have a video I'm getting ready to upload that shows CodePink booing me during a performance of the National Anthem at a MoveOn rally in San Francisco's Union Square. I was psyched to start the rally with my rendition of the Anthem... well, I'll say more in the blog post that contains the video |
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A Billion Dollar Business:
(6.10.2008: 7:38 PM) << Here's a business someone should do: Software/service that integrates to add video to an email. The email contains everything it needs to play back in an email browser/client. User case - Grandpa wants to send a video email to his granddaughter in college. In Yahoo Mail or Google or anywhere, "Send a Video Greeting" or something. Make it supersimple to send v/e-email. User case - a resume consultant wants to charge a fee for reviewing someone's resume. They do a split User case - musicians selling online videos User case - churches doing remote ministry Make it easy to send and receive v/e-mail, someone, please. If you know of someone already doing this, please let me know - I'd like to start using something like this. Labels: Billion Dollar Business |
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Rough week...
(5.15.2008: 10:13 PM) << It's been a rough week. A breakup, work pressure is huge, a misunderstanding with a key partner for the Missing Project, realizing I've pretty much entirely cut myself off from connection with community and I found out tonight that The Missing Song didn't even place for the FindGINA Missing singer/songwriter contest. I felt/feel really proud of it and I guess there is part of me that wants my music to be recognized and acknowledged. It's kinda like feedback from the Universe/God that I'm on the right track, doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Otherwise, why would "the right path" seem to be so challenging and slow? That's how it's felt lately. Of course, I also haven't taken a vacation or really more than a day or two off in probly the last... um... Could be something there. Thing is I find it hard to not be either thinking about or doing something towards making my dream real, living my purpose and having some positive impact in the world. Since choosing music and committing to making a difference, I kinda can't turn it off. Pretty much every news story is like pouring gasoline on the fire under my ass. And I should also shut the hell up. There are a lot of people who are actually doing the fighting of an insipid, seemingly endless war who aren't getting the benefit of pursuing their dream right now, and won't for at least another 5 years. Thousands will never. At the same time, I feel patriotic - i love my country, I love the people in it and fighting for it, and I feel like the freedoms it embodies are being restricted and I feel I have a duty to say and do something about it. But how does one do that in today's world? Indeed, we live in different a new time calling for a new way. I chose songwriting. I hope someone chooses speechwriting, and I hope someone chooses producing films and that lots of people choose to run for first-time office in their communities. I hope lots of people start or volunteer for non-profits. There are so many great organizations doing great things in the world and they all need help in one way or another. I hope someone chooses to write poetry only a few people see, but who are then inspired to write songs and make movies and enjoy freedom in all its forms. I hope someone chooses to write a blog only a few people read. I hope someone chooses to create a website that totally revolutionizes the way we connect to one another, socially. I think the possibilities to make a difference are endless, and that what it's going to REALLY take is everyone doing something. So do something! Tell me what are you up to? /ian |
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Haunted by Music
(5.14.2008: 11:43 AM) << My upstairs neighbor has been blasting his/her stereo a lot lately. The other day, Chris Isaak was on repeat for like 2 hours. I like Chris - I've even played music with him (granted it was at a private party and we were the backup band for an 8 year old lead singer - I played the pots and pans. Chris was on guitar, natch). But two hours of the same music was a bit... unnerving. Today it's the theme song for Friends. Over and Over... I like the Rembrandts, too - I interviewed them for a TV show I hosted back in the day. But I think they've got a lot better music than the overplayed Friends theme. So I'm blasting SomaFM to drown out the muffled "I'll be there for youuuuu, nuh nuh nah nah nah..." Curious that I've had some personal interaction with the artists that are now occupying my space rather uninvited. |
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Be The Change
(4.24.2008: 12:23 AM) << I got the National Center for Missing Adults' latest newsletter and was struck by a number of things. The fact there was a newsletter at all was like getting a jolt of oxygen. The Center has been threatened with closure as they wait for the government to pay the promised staffing costs to respond to Katrina. In one of the disaster's brighter moments - the National Center for Missing Adults helped resolve 99.8% of the missing persons cases it responded to. They've been waiting for $4 million from congress for I don't know how long. I think that's about 12 seconds in Iraq. Maybe if everyone could just take an couple of deep breaths... The Executive Director, an abduction survivor, had mortgaged her home and the Center was working on an all volunteer basis. All the news about the Center was from October/November last year, when it seemed like they were going to have to shut down their doors. Anyway, that's why it was so refreshing to see a well-produced 4 page newsletter. Not to mention, the content was moving and inspiring. The other thing I was struck by was the choice to include a quote from Mahatma Ghandi, "Be The Change Ypu Want To See In The World" I'm 100% down for that, but for some reason a National Center of anything quoting Ghandi, caught me a little off guard. On the other hand, it was just perfect (except for the typo), totally spot on. Yes. Be The Change. I got all inspired (again) by that. Gets me every time, actually, thinking about Ghandi. Or Dr. King, or Jesus or John Lennon, for that matter. There was another quote on the back that also struck me: "Working together, incredible things can be achieved" down with that, too. |
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'Nother Fillmore Gig in the bag and lessons learned
(4.11.2008: 1:55 AM) << I dunno - there's a way that feels really good to write. I just played my 4th Fillmore gig, this time at Poster Room at the Ani DiFranco show. It was, like most of my music stuff lately, kind of intense and wonderful. I played a decent first set, but was in a totally whacked headspace. First, I'd eaten very little all day. I was sorta frantic getting a CD of The Missing Song printed. I burned the song onto CD and the label was a recent studio shot with a few sentences about the project. I felt it was pretty alright for a rush job. But my cheap-ass printer couldn't manage to correctly or consistently print a single one of 20 sheets of high-gloss cd-labels. Frustrating to say the least, when you're packing your gear for a gig you've been looking forward to for a long time, and you can't get a single decent CD printed. Over and Over.... OMG. I really, really wanted to give one to Ani - who I've long admired for her musical activism, her truth-speaking and her independence as an artist. And I'm eager to share the project with anyone I can. Especially other cause-related musician types. Especially well-connected ones. I'm clearly not as deep into her has the fans who were at the Fillmore, though. It was inspiring and really kind of heart-rending, too, to see her totally owning that room. It was insane. Girl power, indeed. I had a "Golden Opportunity" to give my CD of the song, too. I'd just put all my stuff down on the stage in the Poster Room, which is where the Fillmore feeds the band, the crew, the roadies, the drivers and the cleanup crew. (But not the Lounge Act, which made my low blood sugar even more depressed.) Anyway, Ani was there with her family and band, and I totally did not want to intrude. But she was like 10 feet from me and my CD. I heard her say she was going to warm up, she stood and left the table to go back to her dressing room. My golden moment shined for a few seconds and then disappeared into the shadows of the Fillmore balcony. I honestly don't know what happened. On the one hand, I was there to do a job, literally - play my best set ever. I had 20 minutes to set up and sound check, and the guy who ran the room was sitting right next to the stage. I also felt apprehensive about being an opportunistic self-promoter. I definitely did not want to "barge into her space." I froze and that was that. I tried a few other trajectories throughout the night to cross paths with her, but it didn't happen and I left the Fillmore with the CD I'd signed for Ani DiFranco. I was bummed. Anyway, the first set itself was OK. I was already exhausted from an insane month at work, on an empty stomach, and having just failed to act decisively at a moment I'd actually manifested/imagined prior coming to the Fillmore. Oh, and I forgot my set list. This all does not add up so well for a rockin show. But my friends were there to support me (paying $54 for tickets!), I wolfed a very tasty burger between sets and kicked ass for all three songs of the second set, if I don't say so myself. I was one line away from finishing Unamerican when a tattooed dude walks in from the hallway crossing his throat with his hand and hyper enunciating something I couldn't quite make out, but it was clear enough between his gesture and the rising sounds of a roaring crowd in the main room. I didn't finish the song. (Mustn't upset the authorities!!!) I had one of those after-the-fact epiphanies today that I should have just stood up and sung the rest of it a Capella. But I didn't... Guess what I'm gonna do next time someone cuts my mic in the middle of "Unamerican?" All respect to not bleeding into Ani's set, which had already started, but I could've finished the song. I don't really feel guilty about that (anymore). Instead, I feel optimistic and grateful for the learning/growing experience as a musician. Like I said, it was intense and wonderful. Lessons Learned: - eat before a show/bring food - don't work so hard at work to the exclusion of music - have a songlist of all the songs I know ready. Ideally a fakebook or something. - checklist of "everything Ian needs for a gig" - when the moment comes, stand up and say something, even if you feel stuck, scared, or unworthy. - everything is continually perfect. |
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New Content
(4.06.2008: 2:52 PM) << I just uploaded some photographs from a portrait session I had with my roommate, Michael Rauner. I'm also doing an editing pass on a video I just saw for the first time - me getting boo'd for singing the National Anthem at a MoveOn Anti-war rally. I'll have an introduction to the video posted shortly and the video itself as well. Total trip. I just got a new MiniDV video camera, so I'll conceivably be able start uploading performance bits and home movies and such. |
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The One Two Punch, Divine-style
(4.04.2008: 11:00 AM) << I guess I broke a promise to myself about not getting on the computer tonight, but I've got to share a couple of experiences that happened to me tonight. I've been spending a LOT of time online, for work, and I've really been needing to prepare for the Ani DiFranco show on Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to it, and work has had incredible demands on my time, energy and focus. As a partner in a company doing great work in the world, I feel like my time, energy and focus are still pointed in the same general direction as my music, and consequently, I'm feeling like I'm doing the best I can to make a difference in the world, one way or another. Anyway, tonight I had two incredible, mind-blowing experiences I'm still trying to wrap my head around. #1 In the park near my home, they were having "Movie in the Park" (Big Lubowski) and there were about a hundred people. I was actually walking home and happened to walk by the park, curious to see what the hubbub was all about. So anyway, as I walked up to the alfresco theater, I sorta walked up to this short, stocky black girl, probably in her 20's. She was really sweet, had on some delightful perfume and at the same time she seemed really lost. There was something both attractive and tragic about her. Our conversation was clear and direct and deep and connected, an atypical meet-a-stranger-for-the-first-time encounter. She was new in town, homeless, had been abandoned by some travelling partners who'd taken her blanket - she had no idea where she was going and wanted to go walk on the beach, which way was it? We talked a bit more, and she mentioned she was lonely and wanted to know if we could go for a walk and hold hands. I told her I had a girlfriend and that I'd just dropped her off at the airport (which is true) and that I was going to walk home. She asked if she could walk with me and be romantic, just for the night? I told her no and rubbed her back and generally loved on her. My mind started cataloging all the things I could do for her, posessions of mine I could give up. She asked for a backrub, which I gave her. I happen to give really good backrubs being a trained (but not yet certified) accupressure therapist. She didn't seem to care about my credentials. She was muscular in a feminine way, but with lots of tension I helped dissolve a little. She asked for a bear hug to crack her back, and I gave her a good Ian Hug. She said "I'm just going to walk away from all this negativity". I said "yeah, walk into the positive" and I just hugged her and stroked her back and loved this total stranger for a minute. By now I totally smell like some kind of magnolia perfume and she pulls away and looks up at me with this beautiful almond eyes and says "I was thinking about going out there and killing myself, but you saved my life." I had no idea what to say. As I was thinking and trying to feel what was the right thing to do, her attention shifted and she started talking to a more punkish looking kid about something, sort of like the fragments of conversation I hear from streetpunks on Haight Street. Disjointed, kind of rambunctious and tough. It was clear they were familiar with one another, but I didn't turn to engage in their conversation. I had to decide in that moment if I were going to get pulled further into something I ultimately couldn't do more to help with. The decisive moment was feeling like I'd done what there was for me to do, anyway, and i quickly left and walked home. #2 Meanwhile, before leaving for the airport, I'd had an IM exchange with a guy I'd interviewed for a job at CivicActions. The big push lately has been to find web developers for change-the-world projects and it's absorbed an incredible talent search that's had me working 75-85 hr weeks. The interview guy was pinging me to say hi and follow up on the referral. The conversation quickly turned to music, and I shared Unamerican with him. He liked it, gave me some feedback that made me feel like "yeah, actually, I AM on purpose with this stuff." It felt great. I asked him if he'd seen my next trick: The Missing Song. He was stunned. This guy he'd referred had told him a very similar story about his friend who'd passed away in this totally tragic way and thought for sure his friend and my song were talking about the same person. Neither of us could believe this was possible, so he left a message for his friend. Fast forward a couple hours - I come home to an IM from this friend of "Robert John" - the subject of the song, the "boy who died, becoming a man". In fact, they were very close friends. In fact, he'd played the guitar I wrote the song on. He used to jam with the former owner of this exquisite instrument I play at performances and has known the current owner, "Robert John's" sister, for years. We had a mind-blowing IM exchange. I had my breath taken away as we had convulsion after convulsion of divine enormity about talking to someone I'd randomly met through the course of doing what I'm on the planet to do about a person who's become very much a part of my life even though I'd never met "Robert John" in person. I hear him playing guitar once in a while, though. |
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Confirmed AniDiFranco show at the Fillmore April 8
(2.15.2008: 10:36 PM) << I just booked the Ani DiFranco show at the Fillmore in San Francisco on April 8. I'm the "lounge act" for the Ani DiFranco show. How 'bout that. Very excited. If you're in town, get your tickets right now. Ani shows sell out fast. It's gonna be a great night if you're into having great nights of music, that is. |
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Wow.
(: 9:53 PM) << Wow is Mom spelled upside down. I had a pretty intense week last week with my mom going into the hospital. Although I've often lamented in a kind of self-pity how sad I'd be if she were to ever go. I've done that since I was a kid. Gets me all worked up and sad and full of love for my mom, I'll say that. It's also been an intense week or two with work and life in general. Not bad, necessarily. Just surreal and intense. Life's kicking my butt. Work is rocking. I'm being challenged in ways I've not been challenged in a long time. The Missing Project is moving forward apace. Very nice. I definitely have a lot to do, though, so I'm gonna get to it. Oh, here's a portrait by my friend and housemate, Michael Rauner. He's a brilliant artist and a deep, eloquent man. I'm really pleased with the overall quality, but I look like I'd been up all night (I was, actually - doing budgets for my day job). Michael says that definitely expresses part of who i am right now - the tired warrior. Don Quixote after a few windmills, maybe. Anyway, here's the photo:    Gracious courtesy of Michael Rauner |
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It's 3:33 on 2/1 = 333 days left in the year!
(2.01.2008: 3:34 AM) << I just had to say that. |
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So many things to do!
(1.31.2008: 3:57 PM) << I feel such urgency to get everything done at once! Obviously I can't do that. I have been really productive, though, updating this website, upgrading another (Generate Kindness.org) and launched a third (The Missing Song), not to mention a fulltime job at CivicActions. And there's still a ton to do! I'm focusing on completing the music bundle for The Missing Suite, which looks like is going to require more recording and production ahead. I also am going to spec out some phase II functionality and budget for empowering this project to the next order of magnitude. |
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January is a ramp
(1.27.2008: 1:12 PM) << Things have really picked up this month. I've taken a few steps back from mainstream media consumption, instead focusing my time and energy on creating and connecting bits. This month I've launched the Generate Kindness Blog, as well as re-enabling an online request form for free stickers, which right now sends me an email when anyone requests stickers (I've been having database problems, so I get an email instead of the intended storing in a db). Anyway, about a hundred a day now. Woo! I've set up digital distribution through e-junkie. It's an online shopping cart and digital delivery management thing. I'll be revamping my music store next. The Missing Song project is rolling ahead. Expecting final, final mix in the mail from Will in LA. I've finalized the track listing for the bundle: _ The Missing Suite _ I. The Missing Song II. The Ballad of Robert John III. Unexpected Turns (bonus preview track: "What Kind of Amazing Grace?" from upcoming July release.) I've got a short list of big production tasks on each of these, and am shooting to have the Missing Suite bundle wrapped by March 4, my birthday. I'll be in Boston for the Drupal Community Conference. I'm proposing a panel called "Using Drupal to Save the World," featuring people in the Drupal community who are using the platform for sites like Amnesty International and The Witness Project and The Missing Song. Business has picked up quite a bit. January was like this big gust of wind that picked up the kite and let it soar after a rather languid holiday season. It's been lot of fun being a business guy again for a group I really believe in. That's it for now. Tons to do. |
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Intense and excited
(12.19.2007: 12:56 AM) << Lots of heavin' up going on in the world. I've landed in a huge room in a new pad in San Francisco. Rumor has it the landlord's getting ready to sell the building so I don't think it's a permanent place, but I hope it'll at least last me 6 months, enough time to get my next two recording projects out. Putting the finishing touches on the final mix of The Missing Song, which I recorded last weekend and had such a brilliant, incredible, awe-inducing and productive weekend recording and mixing it. I'm incredibly pleased with the result. I had no idea it would turn out like this, and I'm amazed, and moved to have the project start to gain some real momentum. I'll share more about it later, and the song, too, when I get the final mix back from the Magic Gadget Studios (what a great name for a recording studio, huh?). In the meantime, I've gotten a commitment from CivicActions to build the technical infrastructure for this viral project designed to find missing children and adults around the world. Over 200,000 children and 80,000 adults are reported missing each year. Most of the time, they find granny wandering in the backyard or Saralyn asleep in a big linen drawer, but often times, the reasons a loved one goes missing is more tragic. More tragic still is the possibility that lost loved ones might be near you right now and you wouldn't know it without happening to go to the post office or getting a half-gallon of milk. Anyway, I've got to get back to making the final notes for the mix, and then work on the trailer for the project, a 1 minute video explanation of how it all works. I don't know if this is realistic or not, but I'm going to release the project on Christmas Eve in some form or fashion. |
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Empower the Artist
(11.17.2007: 4:47 PM) << I was at a friend's house last night, hanging out with a bunch of people connected to the music industry and I heard this guy John, whose irish surname I don't quite remember. He's apparently a heavy 'cause he listed off some of his clients and they're all top of the entertainment industry. Anyway, he said something that catalyzed something for me. He's got a commitment to giving artists total freedom - as a producer, he knows that in that space, artists radiate. Anyway, what he said was that he's about empowering the artist, and the words were exactly the phrase that's been banging around in my head for the last several weeks. I've been composing a blog entry about empowering the artist, because I think that's where the future of the music industry lies, not to mention a total transformation of the way music is created, shared and consumed. And that really turns ME on. Artists have more access to audience than ever, and audiences have more choices for delightful sensory experiences than ever. The Music Industry Establishment (The Endustry) needs to control access to their content. But content is simply information, and as we well know Information wants to be free.. The winners of music 3.0 (which is about to emerge) are going to be the people who empower the artist. Intermediation is increasingly irrelevant - the network routes around inefficiencies and breakdowns. The internet is an inversive force - and by that I mean, it's not just disruptive, but it completely alters the ratio of control from centralized, tightly controlled (and profit-driven) entities to the single thriving entity of the Network, the sum of all its parts, which now numbers in the billions. From content providers to content producers, which are anyone with a computer, camera and connection to the net. Google sees the immensity of the opportunity. the tendency of information is to be networked and "free" (or I should say, "accessible"). How do you find things in an infinite information universe? Google. The industry is trying to figure out how to mold it's model of limiting supply and increasing demand into a world of decreased (relatively) demand and infinite supply. By decreased relative demand, I mean, the demand for Industry product (CD's from major label acts) has fallen, as record sales numbers show. But people are still listening to more music than ever. They're just not paying for it, currently, and because they don't really have to - it's pervasively available. Wrong or right, it's a fact that if you can hear it in real life, you can hear it on the net. So the Music Endustry is trying to figure out how to stop something that is inevitable and unstoppable. Kinda like the war on drugs, or the war on terror. Except that record companies don't have the bank the US government has, so this one will be relatively short-lived. The Music Industry Establishment, a Music 1.0 legacy operating system, is about to be made obsolete in a networked world. The Industry is right to be in panic - it's not that the money is going to go away - it's just going to be dispersed. That principle of inversion. The music 1.0 nightsky had a few thousand stars. the music 3.0 nightsky will have millions, selling directly to their fans. The economic question isn't how to capture the revenue by exploiting intellectual property. I believe the economic question is how to empower the artist to more effectively reach their audience. And the companies that develop models that empower artists to deliver directly to their audiences could, I believe, usher in the era of music 3.0. We used to say that the winners of the 90's dot com phenomenon were the people selling picks and shovels to the Gold Rushers. The principle still applies - empower the artist, recoup a reasonable commission on each sale. What if a record company had a million street team members who were REALLY motivated to poster, flyer, promote their record? There are something like 1.8 million band pages on myspace and every one of those 1.8 million accounts are connected to hundreds of millions of people. Add facebook, band websites, and all the other things bands do to promote themselves, and a few million musicians have access to the discretionary income of a hundreds of millions of people. That's the music 3.0 marketplace in a nutshell. Empower the artist. |
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What happens when you have a great idea but don't act on it...
(11.14.2007: 10:46 AM) << Someone else does: http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2209957,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=technology |
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No way...
(11.12.2007: 4:10 AM) << I can't believe it's been almost SIX MONTHS since I blogged. Well, fact is, I'm not a blogger. Maybe that'll change in the new year. Big changes afoot. I quit one of my part-time jobs to make my other part-time job a full-time gig. I'm now a professional do-gooder. Woot. Also, I'm moving. I've been in a sweet rental situation for the last couple of years which has been a nice dose of stability after a harrowing 2005. And it's time to move on. I'd found a perfect place, and at the last minute, a friend called with an even perfecter place for half the cost. I'm moving this week. The video project for "Missing" is picking up momentum and I couldn't be happier and more excited. This project has been waiting to happen for a year now, and the pieces are finally coming together. I think it's going to be huge. I plan to take *this* blog private, keeping the details of my personal life to my friends and family and early-adopters. In addition, I plan to have a kind of "backstage" area that will have live video performances, demo Mp3's, discounted recordings and such like that. For the time being, it'll be free for the asking, but as I add content and value, I'll be considering offering access via subscription. So let me know if you're reading this and want to be "in" and not, y'know... out. Speaking of out... |
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snocapped my cdbaby
(5.30.2007: 1:06 PM) << I uploaded my new tracks to snocap intending to offer them for sale. A few weeks ago, I got an email from cdbaby saying "One click adds your snocap store to myspace". I clicked the link and presto - my cdbaby catalogue on myspace. Magic. Except that the snocap account I had prior to the cdbaby email is/was different than the one they "magically" added to myspace. Worse, snocap is saying that cdbaby owns the rights to the music I put out for digital distribution through cdbaby and consequently I can't sell it on my non-cdbaby snocap account. I'm in customer "service" email hell between snocap, cdbaby and myspace. Yeah... |
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Demo's almost done
(5.25.2007: 3:39 AM) << So the demo's almost done. pretty stoked, 'cause it's been a longtime coming. Way more time and money consuming than I thought it would be. Actually, if you want to hire professional musicians and have a set of sharp, creative ears behind the board, y'know... artists deserve to get paid, if ya know what I'm sayin. I think the plan's gonna look like this: a) 3 song demo for booking b) 5 song EP for sales at shows and online Then start working on a 7 song topical (peace, justice and the American Way?) disc I'd like to release by Nov 7 (Veteran's Day), which is actually 107 days away. At first, i thought - man, there's no way I'm gonna record, mix, master and press 7 songs and get them out to publications who need a 3 month lead time. I had a moment of being upset at myself for not thinking ahead further and taking more action sooner. If only I'd... Then it kind of occurred to me, that is so not the way of the new world. So I've decided I'm gonna just go for it. Have the record pressed and ready for online release (meaning physical discs in hand ready to ship) by Veteran's Day blog/vlog and post all along the way. Learn some more stuff. I've already learned a TON from producing these 3 songs. Seeing the process through once from start to finish sure makes it a lot easier to do it again more efficiently. I started the sessions for this demo on March 22, I think? So it's been 2 months for 3 songs. Hm. 3 months for 8 songs? I do have a few aces up my sleeve... a new recording strategy (which I'll talk about later). I also just bought a copy of the music creation software that gets used where I've been recording, so now I can do a lot of the time-consuming work myself. No more driving to Santa Cruz to do what I could be doing at home. I also have a bit of a headstart recording, I definitely like releasing the record on Veteran's Day. I've been working on a version of the National Anthem, too, which I'll be posting as soon as I get around to recording it. I got some really great feedback at the Montgomery, Alabama vigil. I'll tell ya! So much music to make! The album won't be ALL anti-war, but that sure is what is up for me right now. 'Nother 120 billion dollars and more human life thrown into that gaping hole. When will it end? I'll post a tentative track listing and some lyrics later on. |
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The Song Doesn't, Actually, Remain the Same
(5.07.2007: 3:18 AM) << Well, it's been a long time smooshing around in the chrysalis. I've been churning and recording and writing and stewing and planning and getting excited and feeling frustrated and working my ass off and I think I have a plan. First of all, this is going to become a private blog, available by invitation only. I should say, this is eventually going to become a private blog! Fact is, the point of doing that would mean having a private area on ianrhett.com, which I plan on having for the i-Team and friends and family. I've been sharing a lot of private stuff in a rather public forum, and I've learned already how easy it is to misunderstand/misinterpret things, and I think I'd prefer to know who was getting to see an inside glimpse into my life. I've always been attracted to living a life online - but in point of fact, i've learned that I actually DO value my privacy. The second reason for doing this is to provide some focus to the blogging. I'm really interested in taking people along for the journey of becoming an artist, a writer and a performer. So the blog's going to focused more on the process of planning, writing, recording, performing, inspirations and pointers to my latest work. One of the things that's really been hammered home for me is "get it out there". I'm often reminded, sometimes painfully, that it's not about me (Ian Rhett), either. I keep wanting to be impressive with my voice ('cause I'm excited about being able to actually sing, I'm eager to keep pushing the limits of my range and control) - I have this aspiration that I want to be a soul singer. But really, what's underneath all of it is the desire to plant a seed in the new terrain that is this connected consciousness - to get a message out, to promote positive change, to do everything I can do to make a difference in the world. 'Cause my point of view suggests that things aren't as rosy as they seem to be on TV. So the new blog is going to have new, rough hewn music, which I'll be releasing with increasing frequency this year. I'll be honest, I'm really reluctant to put out work that isn't 100% finished and perfect. I want my art to be exemplary and perfected. I want to master the process of writing and producing music. And... I have a LONG way to go. I keep forgetting that I just started. (Actually, I'm reminded every time I listen to a recording of my voice) But I'm also interested in trying something different. The web has become our marketplace - our commons. And the old rules of commerce, especially with respect to music are in flux, to put it lightly. On the one hand, I don't have a choice. I'm clear this is my path and an inalienable part of my being. I will be writing music until I can't breathe anymore. So in that sense, the "economics' of all this don't really matter. I have a deal with the Deity that I'll just concentrate on doing my job, and let the rest happen as it is meant to. I've never starved or found myself on the streets yet, so I'm just gonna keep on truckin, so to speak. On the other, I want to do this (make music) all the time. I just can't afford to, yet. I think the new market for music is going to continue to have its megastars and its smash hits - any company (like Viacom, Fox, etc) that has reach across television, film, radio, print, outdoor, etc... will be manufacturing stars like Brittney Spears and N'Sync forever. But I also believe that there is a whole new music reality emerging online. More people are connected, able to share their discoveries with social networks, direct distribution to fans gives any artist an unprecedented opportunity to make a living making music. Or so I believe. This might be like a speech before one of those old-time movies of people strapping on their flying contraptions and plummeting into obscurity. And, maybe it's the start of something big. Time will tell. |
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Suddenly Sullen
(4.18.2007: 12:43 AM) << I started writing a blogpost about my crazy weeks and how frustrated I am with the slogged pace of production on my record, and feeling like I'm so far from where I want to be in so many ways. Feeling resentment for paying my taxes (a duty I dread performing). Then I had this moment where i started thinking (again) about the shootings in Virginia and I instantly felt both a heavy sadness and a stinging shame for feeling so much about something so relatively insignificant. And, y'know? I'm upset and scared. And I'm intermittently hopeful and frequently inspired by what others are doing in the world. And then again the cycle repeats. This time they called him the Question Mark Kid. |
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March in Review
(4.16.2007: 2:37 AM) << Cause half way through April, that's really all I CAN do - review. So, March... Well, I turned 40 in March. that was Kind of a big deal, 'cause, y'know.. it's 40. I definitely buy the "40 is the new 30" thing everyone tells me when I'm tell 'em I just knocked the 4-oh. I've never felt healthier and I'm excited about where things are going. March has seen quite a few trips to Santa Cruz, where I've been recording my first real record. I'm pretty excited about the plan to complete it. I've got 6 songs recorded and a few more sessions of editing and mixing before I've got something to send out. I'm also re-recording the Bedroom Sessions, the originals of which were lost in a hard drive crash. Just as well, these'll be a lot better. Sadly, that's all I have time for. |
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Thank you, Sarah.
(2.23.2007: 11:29 PM) << Played the Fillmore poster room again last night. I played with Alex, who has been rocking my world with sweet bass lines, sage advice and endless patience with my noobness. He brought his standup bass and we did a set of mostly ballads (most of the piano based songs seem to be slower and less rock than the guitar stuff, and the Fillmore specifically requested I play a loungey-piano thing. They were over the singer-songwriter guitar schtuff, so's I's told) Anyway, things went alright. I choked a few lines and never really felt "dropped in". It was a drinking crowd (Big Head Todd & the Monsters were the headliner, and it was a 70% full night) and I was having a hard time reading/reaching the crowd. Of course, in the poster room, it's a cafe and people generally talk a lot in there. But during the second set, for the entire set, not one person applauded. It really felt like I was up there going through the paces for the sake of going through the paces. Literally, 30 minutes, not one acknowledgement from the 60-70 people who were there. As a performer, I feel like I want to interact with or touch or move the people I'm playing for. So it was disheartening to go an entire set and feel ignored. But a minute or so after our last tune, a woman named Sarah came up and asked what our name was and what the last song was. And then she asked about the third to last song. I was totally blown away - someone was not only listening, but paying attention. And her coming up to me (in the context of my experience of the last set) was yet another reminder of the lesson I keep learning and forgetting, learning and forgetting- I'm not doing this to be popular or liked. I'm not really sold on the idea of being an "entertainer" - I'm more interested in being an "inspirer" and/or a "mover" who can also make you shake it. I'm doing this to reach people, and if it's only one person that I speak to, then job done. I keep getting caught up in the idea that the only way my message/music is validated is through the rapt attention of an audience. I have to learn to remember that I'm playing for the Sarah's, the open ears and hearts hidden in the sea of people and not for the crowd as a whole. Someday, the Sarah ratio of my audiences will invert, and I'll be playing to people who expect me and want me to be performing for them. Until then, I have to always remember Sarah - to look for her or to know that she's out there in the room somewhere, listening. |
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Been down to New Orleans
(2.09.2007: 6:48 PM) << And I saw that yellow-black line it stretched flat out over miles and stretches long across time. Marked every standing structure like a level-headed angel of death, sucking the life out of a city draining its dollars into dark swirls of corrupt bureaucracy and deep pockets lined with the Big, Easy Money. miles away from bourbon street, everyone leaves at dusk. when night falls, bullets fly and the national guard is standing by 168 murders, no convictions last year 20-some so far this one. Half as much in population. Raise the rent by half again. Insurance now four times as much If you can get it at all. Which is worse? The New Orleans Before or the New Orleans Now? But the bon temps roule en plus, oui, they do. The city's pride is solidified by those who survived When you hear a waiter say "Thank you", You know they mean it. I've seen it in their eyes Welling up with pride and desperation. The restoration, as it's so-called Is going slowly if at all, from what I've seen Down in New Orleans |
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Updates
(1.25.2007: 11:33 PM) << Just posted pictures and video of the Fillmore gig. Next step is to send out an email to my list peeps. I think the last one I did was in August or something. I'm rehearsing for the next Fillmore gig, Feb 23. Looking for a gig in New Orleans on Monday, February 5. Got gig? Also hiring some session musicians to record a few tunes for a band demo. And writing new tunes. My New Year's sabbatical was fruitful. I may have mentioned already that I wrote and produced a couple of songs. I'll be doing a couple more "produced" songs and put them out as an EP. And, the Bedroom Sessions are coming. I've been disheartened by the data loss of the original sessions that it's been hard to get things going again, not to mention the demands of two jobs, a writing addiction, and the last shreds of a social life. But, Doc from Tower of Power really zapped me with some inspiration (not to mention some floor-slammin T.O.P. funk) with his complements on my songwriting and his encouragement to record. So... comin up! |
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Did I Mention I'm YouTubed?
(1.19.2007: 11:04 PM) << Check it out: youtube.com/profile?user=ianrhett = = and comment, peeps, please. = = |
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Another Dream Gig.
(: 10:17 PM) << Y'know, here's the thing. I don't even plan these things. They just happen. And when they do, I can't help but just sit there kind of stunned/in a swirling happy trance, smiling and shaking my head. In October, I played the National Anthem, a bunch of protest songs and quoted Martin Luther King on the Alabama capital steps, in full view of his church, a block away. At twilight, after a gorgeous sunset. Someone had contacted me by email and asked me if I wanted to play. Uh... yeah. Today the phone rings and it's the manager of the Fillmore, asking me if I was available tomorrow night for a gig. On the main stage. Opening for Tower of Power. Suffice it to say, it's an incredible group of amazing musicians who LAY IT DOWN. I can't believe this is happening. In 24 hours, I will have walked off the stage to a sold out crowd at the Fillmore having played 45 minutes of my music. And then watch Tower of Power rock a full house that I opened. uh.... wtf? The thing is NONE of this was "planned" and yet, it's absolutely perfect. I LOVE TOWER OF POWER. I can hardly wait to hear them play. The irony/perfection of opening for them. Life is one big lucid dream, people. And so I'm getting a fever and my voice is crackling, runny nose and stuff. My voice is thrashed. Y'know that scratchy sounding flu-season kinda voice? I can't hit the higher registers of my voice, which is a shame, 'cause I love it up there. At the same time, it feels like the bottom dropped out of my voice yet another octave. If this is how it's gonna be tomorrow, I'm having to make up new melody lines in baritone. Fun. Whatev. Tower of Power. Fillmore. sold out. Say it with me. |
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Timed Out
(1.07.2007: 9:30 PM) << I took a week around New Year's Eve to take some time off and get outta dodge. I ended up spending the first few days blowing off steam and sleeping. I was so excited to not have anything to do that I think maybe I overdid not doing anything. I spent 3 days at a closed-for-the-winter bed and breakfast place which was quite nice. Then a night at the Harbin Hot Springs, then 3 days at a beach house near Stinson Beach. It was there I was most productive. I managed to catch a bit of a cold which did not help with recording, etc.. Anyway, I managed to record three songs, two of which are new. "Unexpected Turns" is a song inspired by the Kim Family, "Texas Shuffle" is a, well, a shuffle about going down to Texas to see The Man, and "Gotta Be A Better Way" was a heartfelt song. I'm a little worried that some of my music is too cheesy and contrite. And at the same time, whatever. I'm getting shit done. Sort of looking forward to working and stuff tomorrow. Getting back into the swing of things. I'll be sending out a Happy New Year message with links to the new tunes, so make sure you're signed up for my email list! |
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more of the same
(12.20.2006: 1:38 PM) << I'm on the phone with United Airlines (or rather, I'm like a rat in their maze of automated voice "attendants". I have a flight that was supposed to leave for Kansas City at 5pm this evening. Got a call from one of those automated phone calling robots who said that my flight has been cancelled and that I "may" be scheduled on another flight. But I can't get to customer service - once it starts to transfer me to a real human being in a call center in India (I can only imagine what that's like) I get a busy signal. I can't remember my password to my Mileage Plus and I apparently failed to update MP about my many changes of address. I think the guy eventually believed I was who I said I was, but all my guesses were wrong. So now I have to send a letter asking them to update my address, so I can call someone on the other side of the planet to listen to them read a script and click their mouse. So I'm not sure where I'm going to be tonight. Nother example of plans rapidly shifting. gotta jet. I think. |
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Sweet Relief
(: 12:51 PM) << I have a song I've been working on that took a sudden right turn and spawned a song entry in a contest for Alka Seltzer. The top prize is ten grand, and while I'm not endorsing the brand, per se, I do enjoy the good life, and there are times when a little Plop, Plop, Fizz Fizz does the trick. I'll mention that other products I've used with a similar effervescence (Onomatopoeiacly speaking) like Emergen-C and Airborne have also rocked my healthier life. Anyway, check it out: http://music.ianrhett.com/media/alka_seltzer.mp3 |
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Misfires, gear grinds and liquification
(12.19.2006: 1:35 AM) << I've had a bizarre several days. I have a lot to do before I take off for my trip to Kansas City for the Holi/Family Days. I'm looking forward to seeing my mom. I am sort of ashamed to say it, but it's been about a year since I saw her last. I think there's something to be said for finding your way in the world, and I think there's a lot to be said for mom love. (Or as the Gkids would say, "Mumzy love") So the last week has been pretty much a constant stream of broken and missed appointments. By everyone else. I've actually been trying really hard to get places on time. I'm sort of notorious for being late, or as I like to think of it, I'm both ambitious and optimistic as an estimator. And yet, I pretty much managed to be where I said I was going to be when I said I was going to be there. Except pretty much every person I was supposed to meet ended up, one way or another, somewhere totally NOT where I was. I've been sort of perpetually stood up since Thursday. Now, everything's working out alright. I still get to hook up with all the people and do all the things I said I was going to do and it's all been GREAT. Just not at ALL how I planned it. So, OK. Lesson Learned. Again. |
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Three tickets in 9 hours
(11.21.2006: 12:36 AM) << I was going to rant about the election, but instead I'll just miserate that I got 3 parking tickets in 9 hours. I went to a friend's to help dig her out of two years of fiscal denial, impressing myself with my organizational skills (how is it that we can do that for others but it's so hard to do it for oneself?). In some kind of karmic point-proving, I managed to get her affairs in order while ignoring the parking restrictions on the street where I parked. Got home at 4 in the morning and slept through my alarm and found tickets on my car and my boss' truck. $120 bucks out the door. I've been in a funk pretty much all day because of it, too. |
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Free Spin #2 - Haggard Times
(11.06.2006: 12:11 AM) << Pastor Haggard, In many ways, this has been just tragic, and I can't begin to appreciate the difficulty you must be experiencing in your life right now. And I can understand how a lot of people in the world actually hate you. It couldn't have come at a more volatile time. I'm gonna talk straight to you. You're had, Swaggart-style. There will be no redemption for you in anything you say. Only in what you do. Now before you think I'm dogging you, I'd like for you to hear me out. 'Cause I know that people are complex beings. We have dark sides to us (what I believe my churchin taught me is our "sinful nature", or as the Jungian would say our "shadow"). And one of the things I felt was missing from my churchin growing up was acknowledgment that it's always there. It can't be repressed into non-existance. In fact, I believe that simply repressing rather than acknowledging and managing it leads to really big problems. Can I get an Amen from you or maybe some other priest who's had sex and/or addiction issues? I'll tell you, too, I'm pissed. I'm pissed that you pounce on gays while being a "liar and deceiver". I'm pissed that you're yet another example of corrupted institutions. Government. Church. All the things I grew up believing in. The things so many people in my generation believed in. I'm pissed my lefty, atheist friends will see this as just one more example in a long line of fraud draped as religion. I'm pissed that having conversations about Godwith someone now necessarily means having to talk about corruption and illicit deceit. Well, it was like that before you, but now... I had to say all that, 'cause it's true. And, I also feel compassion and am doing my best to feel love for you. Love for your children and your wife, who must be absolutely in hell right now. Understanding temptation and succumbing to it. Understanding owning that. NOT understanding the blatant hypocrisies. Not at all. You need to cash your chips in, post a farewell letter to your website and move to Brazil. Avoid cameras like the plague, and in fact, spend the rest of your life doing what I think Jesus would have you do - go and heal the sick, minister to the poor. Maybe save some actual lives and let someone else save the souls in that 12 million dollar church you built. |
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Anti-Seditive
(11.05.2006: 11:39 PM) << Sedition, as defined by Dictionary.com is inciting discontent or rebellion against government. What's the line between sedition and protest, then? Clearly the framers intended with the Bill of Rights to ensure that government must not constrain basis, "inalienable" rights, which vested in the people the right to engage in debate and compromise to allow an orderly, functional society in which people could pursue their happiness. Ahh... Watched "V for Vendetta". I definitely got the "A for Agenda" in the film, and also got the intent to provoke thought, and doing so by basically telling what amounted to a true story, fictitiously modernized. Remember, remember the Fifth of November... It's a story about a guy (literally, his name was Guy Fawkes, and his story is actually connected to how we got the word "guy" in English) who tried to kill the king and blow up Parliament in 1605, exactly 401 years ago. Caught with matches in his pocket near 1800 pounds of gunpowder (enough to level parliament and blow out windows in a 1k radius). Brought to the king's chamber, and by Executive Order was tortured for relevant torture, confessed, and was then executed. His conspirators were waiting in the countryside to insight riots and foment revolution. Had they been successful, there probly would have been massive retaliation against Catholics (the King was protestant, Fawkes, Catholic) and a protestant absolute monarch would have been installed and Britain's history would have been recharted. Gotta love Wikipedia. Anyway, what struck me about the story was a) the parallels between massive discontent about the president, b) the parallels between executive orders for torture, and c) the whole monarch thing... Anyway, got thoughts about that? Is protest = sedition? Where's the line? |
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Back from Alabama
(10.24.2006: 1:08 AM) << Got back last night from performing at a candlelight vigil on the Capitol steps in Montgomery, Alabama. I can't even begin to put into words how amazing the experience was from landing Friday night to wheels up on Sunday. I was invited to perform at 16 Candles For Soldiers, a demonstration of support for our troops and calling for their return organized (almost entirely) by a 16 year old Alabama girl ("Pint-sized Peace Activist Stages Protest In Montgomery"). I got to support a really amazing kid with vision and passion who took action. At the vigil, I invited the people attending to light candles in silence, remembering the lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. I read passages from Dr. Martin Luther King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech (which contained one of my favorite MLK quotes: "the arch of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice"). And... I got to do this just a block from his Dexter Avenue church, (where the bus boycott and civil rights movement was launched), just after sunset, with a rich blue starry Southern sky and hundreds of candles flickering while a group of loving men, women and children hold silent vigil for the heroes who've died in this travesty of a war... to sing the national anthem on those steps and to sing Semper Fi to the guy who stopped in his pickup truck to listen... and all of it possible because of the passion and commitment of a 16 year old girl from Alabama. I saw a sign in the Atlanta Airport next to one of the many insanely-overpriced restaurants. Said "Proud To Be An American". 'Bout sums it up, though mine'd say: "Pissed Off But Still Proud To Be An American". That's me, the pissed off peace-and-justice lover. |
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Free Spin #1
(10.18.2006: 5:27 PM) << To: Steve Wynn Date: 10/18, 5:22 PM Re: Putting your foot down Mr. Wynn, I'll bet your heart's a bit crushed right now, having forever altared a priceless work of art. I'm certain you're summoning your best poker-face for the onslaught of scorn and derision. But keep the painting. Hire the best of the best to preserve it as much as possible, and put it on display for people to come see at your hotel. None of the pictures on the web have a photo of the rip, by the way. I suggest that you, Mr. Las Vegas, turn this into an opportunity to cement your place in history as one of the world's greatest collectors, not to mention increase inbound cash traffic to your empire. The fact is, Mr. Wynn, that painting is timeless, and will be regarded as one of the best works of our era's most important artist. Picasso changed our perspective. You are now anchored in the story of this piece of work, which will last and appreciate long after you and I are gone. The question is, what will your legacy be? That you made a lot of money and owned a lot of paintings? |
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Mah Blahg. Is Nice, You Like?
(10.15.2006: 12:53 PM) << I've been seeing a lot of This guy Sacha lately. Mostly as Borat, the meme/movie that I think is going to be profoundly successful if for no other reason than Cohen's uncanny ability to reveal truths about being human. I won't go into what a genius I think Cohen is, but I'll just say that I can't stop talking like Borat. Is Nice. I Like. I've been an Ali G fan since finding his video's online (prior to HBO, which I don't even get anyway). But Borat keeps showing up- on Yahoo!, in banner advertising, and on the background on soccer games. And everytime I see him, I become using languages of like Borat. Anyway, I've been incredibly busy lately, managing to get all of it done and done well, I think. I'm pleased, anyway, and I haven't gotten any feedback to the contrary. I've started a second gig with CivicActions. I'm returning to business of internet. I like. My last gig in web services was finding shelter from the dot-com blowout managing the interactive department at a lifeless b2b advertising agency in San Francisco in 2000. It was my second or third Omnicom gig. Probably a good job for someone who's passionate about the ad business. I'd say I fall into the "fascinated/disgusted" category more than "passionate" about consumer and b2b advertising. I appreciate a well executed campaign, but it's not something that gets me up in the morning. A few weeks after 9/11, I was laid off a few days after being directed to lay off my entire staff. To be fair, I'd been trying to let them go since I'd arrived in an effort for our interactive offerings to be sophisticated and elegantly designed - characteristics not found my motley and genuinely nice department. But they were hired during the boom days, when the last place on earth anybody with rockstar talent wanted to work was in a b2b advertising agency. They were all really nice people, for sure. I liked them personally, but their skillsets were undeveloped, really. I hope they're all doing well for themselves. Funny, I haven't thought about that gig for a couple years at least. It was painful, really. Being laid off less than a month after 9/11 was... well, it sucked. Anyway, I pretty much decided I didn't want to work in the tech business anymore. Now here I am again. Old habits are hard to break. Specifically, a passion for seeing the internet being used to make a positive difference in the world. Our clients at CivicActions are all non-profits and projects that we believe are important in "the big picture". I'm not selling high-speed routers or data storage solutions. I'm selling community organizing tools and grassroots campaigns to stop genocide, encourage civic participation, save the environment and end corruption. Feels good to be contributing to "The Cause" in yet another way, and in this case, a way that is actually sustaining me. Being a totally virtual organization means that I can do my work anywhere in the world. Which I plan to be doing. I'm definitely still enjoying my work with my employer (I'm a contractor w/ CivicActions), doing leak investigation and construction project management. I love the work, my boss and so far every one of our clients. The new gig complements the first rather well, in my opinion. Although it is making me a little crazy with details and scheduling. I forgot all about meetings, weekly deliverables and such. At the end of the day, though, it's paying my bills and keeping the computer turned on, which means I can make more music. More news later. |
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Still makes me cry every time.
(10.03.2006: 2:23 AM) << Ran across this video today: |
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You read it here first
(9.12.2006: 2:49 AM) << Senator Obama and Governor Newsome P/VP 2012. The newly revitalized Democratic Party nominates the first African American presidential candidate in history, bringing to an end the tyrrany of prejudice. They have exactly 11 months to run the country, at which point, the world is totally and utterly destroyed. |
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Actually, I take it back...
(: 2:11 AM) << If you make your way to the next post, you'll read a comment I made a while ago about Bush's speech last night. And actually, I take it back. What I really want to say is that you can't ASK the country to become united. It takes leadership. And that's what's so disappointing about THIS Republican administration. Our nation desperately needs leadership. The White House is occupied by an incredibly media-savvy team of ruthless people who have brilliantly managed to more or less control the media under the guise of thriving capitalism (how would you like your media consolidated today?) This is not whinery. It is statement of fact. We need leadership. Yeah, NEW leadership, but right now, I'd settle for some old-fashioned Eisenhower-style leadership. Someone who's seen the evil effects of war. Someone who's proven his capacity for waging it successfully, perhaps. Someone with vision. What is the Bush (and apparently the Republican) vision for America and for the world? Like I just don't get it. They keep spending all this money and time defending the war, instead of sharing the vision. Y'know, LEADING. IF YOU'RE SO BIG ON LEADERSHIP, WHY DON'T YOU SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT? I live in what I presume to still be a democracy, wherein leaders compete for the support of the people. We each are free to choose how we want the country to go, and are honor-bound as citizens to protect it. And that's what I'm doing. I really, honestly believe that the New American Century vision of the world is bad for our safety, our livelihoods and our future. Rather than using the market forces of a global marketplace, the captains of the NAC force American dominance into the markets. Which is good if you're a capitalist with tons of leverage to leverage. Not so good if you're everyone else. There's no argument that capitalism as an economic construct is fundamentally a GOOD thing. Nor is there plausible that capitalism as we know it today has also proven its fatal flaws. Polar Icee Slush, anyone? And I'll tell you this - cancer is not an affliction in the Bible, as far as I know (Correct me if I'm wrong). |
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Division Vision
(9.11.2006: 11:59 PM) << At least he acknowledges that the country is divided. That's a step, I suppose. Fact is, though, it's a false offer - "Put aside your differences of opinion and do things our way, (which, btw, is completely absent accountability or compromise)". Whatev. |
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Yup. I did it.
(8.31.2006: 3:33 AM) << Demonstrating the revolution that IS the internet... Here's my first ever videoblog. The fact that I've finally got around to working it out so I CAN record and post is kind of a big deal. Now if I only had something to actually SAY... |
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Drive by blogging
(8.30.2006: 11:05 PM) << Alright, I think tonight's the night. A brief videoblog online. But first, a textblog. Things have been really great lately. I've been practicing putting out the positive vibe into the universe, even when things have sucked. And they have. July and August were the bookend spasms of an intense summer. But things have really opened for the fall. To briefly recap, I'm >< close to signing a contracting gig with a company I can't disclose just yet. But I'm very psyched. It's a really good fit and it'll be bringing some abundance into my life. It fits in perfectly with my primary job's needs. They actually complement each other nicely, I think. I'll be busy, but I'll still *technically* be working "part-time" with both jobs weekly requirements. So it looks promising to me. And the perfection with which this job showed up in my life! Man. I'll tell that story sometime. Maybe tonight. Bought a new car, cool guy in distress needing to unload his car in the 72 hours before leaving California for good. I got a really good deal. Mechanic John says it's all good. I'm thinking I can make a profit on the resale, and use that to buy a reliable, outfitted truck for my primary part time job. Got a very satisfactory settlement with my insurance company about my Camry getting smacked in the ass and donked on the nose. Poor thing. Anyway, used that $ to get the new car. Pretty good, huh? What else... studio's looking great. I've been working on rennovating/reorganizing/decluttering. That's why I can't really blog for long. So much to say. Looks like I'm gonna drive up to Burning Man Thursday night. Crazy. Well, I'll just think of it as a very long art-car ride. Going simple, $100 budget, not including gas. *ugh* Yeah... Well, I'm gonna go if I can look at whether or not I can leave in good conscience. I'd started out this week with a solid list of accomplshments to be completed in lieu of going to BM. I kinda feel a karmic responsibility to get my shit done. Or maybe I just like to work. A lot. |
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got my iSight today...
(8.12.2006: 2:27 AM) << Yeah, there's something pretty revolutionary happening. Video on the web. Not talkin Youtube per se. It's more about personal, low cost video being available to and from everyone anytime (so goes the trend). It's also VERY much about live videoconferencing. The eye-chat for the masses. And it's going to change everything. What kind of social impacts did the telephone network have when it was possible to call someone far away? Or wireless two-way radio? Surely the internet will be interpreted by historians as impactful to humanity as alphabets and the printing press. Here's my trend-end scenario: Long after your cable TV is available over IP (as opposed to your IP available over your cable), the wireless, ultraband network is ubiquitous. Massive amounts of data from an infinite number of data generating/networked devices fly through "the tubes" (why is it so wrong to say "tubes"? I've been saying "pipes" for longtime. I digress). Fullmotion "full view" video. Be there. Now. That's what's comin, in my farsighted opinion. In the meantime, be lookin for my videoblog, coming to a screen near you. |
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Steppin
(7.30.2006: 7:59 PM) << Wow. What a week it's been. Intense. Had a day-long mediation to resolve a real estate transaction dispute, I drove by human remains spread along a freeway offramp (a homeless person had wandered onto the ramp and was apparently run over by a series of cars - not mine, thank God), my car was totaled in a 4 car pileup (my boss and I switched cars a few months ago after he had leg surgery and couldn't drive a stick shift). My boss seems to be alright, but I know from the experience of being rear-ended in March that whiplash injuries don't necessarily show up right away. Anyway, he's fine, and the car (while still driveable) is not. Haven't talked to my insurance company yet about it, but the damage to the vehicle is more than it's worth... I've been fighting a sore throat-kinda illness for the last couple weeks. Never quite bad enough to warrant going to the doc, and never quite going away. The last couple of days have been better. I'm feeling kinda worked. In other news, I met Cameron today for a recording session, and finished one song. I didn't sleep very well last night and was just off. But the sound quality's really good, and I like Cameron. Hoping to use the tracks for the long-awaited Bedroom Sessions re-recording as well as a booking demo. Gotta get out there. |
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