Hey, Do You Play Drums?

Live in the Baltimore Metro area? We sure could use a drummer.

I wish I were kidding.

Gotta Go Back In Time...

Title's just for you, Ben.

So, anyone ever ask you "if you could go back in time and change something about yourself or something that happened to you, would you? And what would you do?" Sure you have. I used to think I wouldn't do a damn thing. Leave well enough alone. Who knows what I'd screw up.

Lately, though, I've come to realize that I would do one thing. One thing only. And it might only effect a few things in my life, but it probably would have made things much easier for me as a teenager, especially in my latter days of high school.

I'd go back and tell my younger self what I've come to realize about my nature: I'm creative. Or, more specifically, I have a desire to be creative.

Seems kind of odd, right? Well, let me elaborate a bit. From like, third grade (maybe fourth) on, I was a musician. I started playing the trombone. Got relatively good at it. Didn't hurt that there was a significant lack of trombone players in my area so I was usually the only one, or one of two.

By the time I hit high school, though, other creative bugs hit me. I didn't really start exploring them until later, specifically my senior year. But they caused all kinds of headaches. But I wanted to try acting out...which caused friction with my music teacher.

Now, I can look back and see that he saw massive potential in me musically that was being wasted because I split my time. But back then, I was a head strong kid who wanted to do what he wanted to do.

So, I'd go back and tell that kid, "there's nothing wrong with being creative in multiple media...but you should express that to others." Like my music teacher. Maybe come to a better understanding with him...maybe find a way to do both in equal time. At least help him realize that I wasn't trying to be an unmotivated piece of crap, I simply couldn't be held to one medium of creativity. I could have avoided what turned in to a real emotional tug of war that year.

So, whenever Doc Brown finishes up that Delorean, I'll know what I'll be doing.

Flashback Friday: In the Meantime

Let's see if I can keep this feature running longer than a few weeks, eh?

I give you all Spacehog's In The Meantime, my vote for one of the most underrated songs of the 90s (and not simply because my band used to cover it and it was fun to play). I never did get around to getting this album, but I've always heard good things.

My New Endevour:

I've decided to try my hand at a little side business.

What business is that, you ask? Killing. Killing is my business, and business is good. Just kidding, I had a random moment where I felt like quoting a Megadeth album title.

No, this is my new project:
http://www.myspace.com/bart_rs_setups


Basically, minor guitar work. For those that don't play, guitars need to be periodically "set up" and if you have the know how and equipment, you can do it yourself. Most guitarists don't bother and go to a guy, or usually, a music store, and have it done. I've decided to try to become "the guy" for people in the area. I've already had a few clients, and they seemed pretty pleased. I'm hoping something comes of this, because I enjoy doing this stuff, and you really meet some interesting people doing this sort of thing. Like this cat: www.allen-jones.com Helluva nice guy, and he's one of those "done it, seen it all" kind of guys that you could talk to for hours.

So, wish me luck with this foray in to uncharted territory, and for my local friends...talk me up, man!

Also, are you enjoying the Twitter updates? I think I may move it down one slot because it looks like it sits high and weird to me.

Update: We Still Have No *bleepin* Clue Where This Guy Is:

Sorry, I couldn't resist. That's one of my favorite parts from the movie Baseketball, when they have an "Unsolved Mysteries" about the main character disappearing. When he shows back up and wins the big game the interject with one of those Unsolved Mysteries Update things they used to do (I loved that show, even if the theme music creeped me out) to have Robert Stack deliver this awesome line. Gets me every time.

Anyway, once again, sorry for the lack of updates. I've been basically on a down cycle lately, and even when I was up, I couldn't figure out things to update about. Yeah, I suck. Go cry somewhere else about it.

Anyway, I'm playing music again. I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm feeling it's giving me some rejuvenation. I was really feeling crappy the past couple of days, but after a practice last night (and the whole group wasn't even there at that) I felt much better. We don't have a name yet, but I like our sound. It's way different than anything I've really done in the past, and maybe that's why it invigorates me the way it does.

I've also taken the psuedo plunge and signed up for Twitter. See it over there on the right? Yeah, now I can give you semi regular updates on the mundane crap. But I also figure it might push me to do better posts here so people might actually check out the mundane Twitter crap. Well, it makes sense in my head anyway.

I'll also be posting again in a short while, on a very personal subject. So, I guess look forward to that.

It's a Dead Man's Party...

...who could ask for more? Everybody's coming, leave your body at the door...leave your body and soul at the door.

I don't want to get in to a huge thing about this, but why doesn't Oingo Boingo get more respect? It seems nowadays people like to point at Devo as the predominant "way ahead of their time" band of that era, but what about Oingo Boingo? What a distinct and diverse band. Interesting drum beats coupled with electronica and horns, with good lyrics with a distinctly strong voice, backed by complex harmonies. I listen to my remaster hits CD at least once a week start to finish.

But it seems like they're destined to either be "the band Danny Elfman was in" or "that band from Back to School."

What makes it even weirder is that Elfman is so widely respected as a film/TV score composer. He's given us gobs of distinctive and memorable themes (a short list: Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Burton's Batman, Nightmare Before Christmas [which he also supplies his voice to Jack's singing], The Simpsons, Tales from the Crypt and many many more). For a guy who gets so much respect now, his roots are almost overlooked. Quite weird to me.

Incidentally, in that particular band photo, Elfman is the man front and center with the pistols. He's the epitome of "cleans up good," isn't he?

If you've heard of them, check out more of their stuff beyond Weird Science and Dead Man's Party. If you've never heard of them, give them a try.