Karaoke and Politics

Maybe I should start blogging again.

2011-06-28T05:23:00.003-04:00

Wow. It's been over two years since my return to Savannah. About time I started writing again. But it will have to wait until later. I need to be up soon - which means I need to get some sleep ASAP.

Last Week In Boston

2009-03-08T13:08:00.000-04:00

Exactly one week from now, I'll be somewhere on I-95 heading south (hopefully sneaking past NYC before traffic gets brutal) . Back to the city I left in 2005, after a year in NYC, and two and a half in Boston.

Three and a half years of doing things other than what I spent my undergrad preparing for.

I've enjoyed it to a point. My jobs have been rewarding. I've met amazing people. Reconnected with old friends. But there has always been that empty space that acting and music filled, and nothing seemed to be able to take its place.

It's hard to put into words how excited I am. I've been 85% packed since February. I slowly built up equipment for a little home studio for recording music, which I'll be completely putting together for the first time in Savannah. I'll be waving goodbye to an hour and a half commute that had me leaving for work at 7am and getting back at 7pm: in Savannah, I can walk everywhere I need to be in 15 minutes. I have great friends who are living there or planning on being there soon (plus a get together in May that will be a blast).

It's also a little saddening. I'll be saying goodbye to family and friends, who I really have had much time to hang out with these past couple of years. If I can, I'd like to meet up with people this week, but it's tough for folks to come to the city on a weekday, and tough for me to get out of it. Next weekend will be super busy with finishing my packing and family goodbyes. On the bright side - this is a chance for friends to visit Savannah if you didn't have the chance to during my undergrad!

Savannah would be better for you. You'll just get in trouble in Atlanta.
- Gone with the Wind (Mammy to Scarlett O'Hara)

Some Childhood Films Not As Good As I Once Thought

2009-02-17T12:14:00.006-05:00

I've been renting some films lately that I haven't seen in a long time. While some of them are just as fantastic as I remember (Clash of the Titans), others aren't so much.

One such film was Krull. While I enjoyed the nostalgia, I realized that a major element was missing from a great deal of science fiction and fantasy films of the 70's and 80's: depth.

The film plays out like a video game - action point to action point, with large portions of the storyline left unexplained. Had this been based on a novel, I would be O.K. with it; a lot of film adaptations are written for fans of the book and leave out known back story to edit the film down to a respectable run time. But this was a film from the ground up, yet provided little information regarding the world, it's characters, or their relationship with one another.

Even the awful films of the 90's and today have some emotional growth of the main character (albeit cheesy and overdone). Which gives me hope in terms of writing; it seems the general public's attention span has grown to appreciate good storytelling.

Krull was still fun to watch (especially seeing Robbie Coltrane and Liam Neeson in their early years), and it's a friggin masterpiece compared to the 1984 film Dune. While that film was based on one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, it somehow managed to place itself if the category of worst science fiction film of all time.

I'm addicted to blogs

2009-02-05T11:43:00.002-05:00

In addition to this blog (personal posts), as well my contributions to The Daily Otaku (posts related to technology and politics), I'm starting yet another blog called Songs That Suck, which is inspired by an earlier post on this blog.

Basically, there are some songs out there that, while catchy and popular, are an abomination of the English language, and I intend to point them out. James Blunt and Miley Cyrus are two examples of musicians who are guilty of adding contradicting cliches to lyrics just to make a quick buck (or million).

If anyone is interested, I'd love to get some additional contributors to the blog. Send me a message if you share a similar frustration.

And yes, I know that this could all come crashing down on me. I'm walking a fine line of hypocrisy considering I aspire to become a musician myself, and critics of an art aren't supposed to be contributors of that art. I've written some awful lyrics - but they end up in trash cans, and not on multi-platinum albums. And if I do release songs with awful lyrics, I fully expect (and even hope) that another contributor will submit it to the site!

B.B. King & My Dad

2009-01-25T20:04:00.001-05:00

The other day, the subject of B.B. King came up, and I dad casually mentioned that he was in a photo with him on the cover of the New York Times 'Week In Review' section back in the 1970's. After getting over the fact that he had never mentioned this before, I managed to track down the image on NYT's archive section of their website:

In 1971, B.B. King made a stop to Lawrenceville Academy (where my dad attended high school), and did a Q&A with the students. My dad's the kid holding the 1968 Gibson ES-335 (which on a side note, would be worth about $8,500 if he still had it today).

The best I can come up with for myself is a picture with Ben Folds:

I a huge fan of Mr. Folds, so I'm proud of it. But I have to admit I'm a little jealous of my Dad. Next time I'm in New York, I need to stop by Iridium Jazz Club and get a picture with Les Paul.

The Daily Otaku

2009-01-15T22:03:00.002-05:00

Otaku: In modern Japanese slang, the term otaku refers to a fan of any particular theme, topic, or hobby - Wikipedia

My friend Scott and his wife Ginny have invited me to post some material on their new blog, The Daily Otaku (which will have its own domain soon). I think it's a great opportunity for my posts on politics and consumer technology (mostly Apple rants) to find a fitting home, and for this blog to transition into more of a day to day journal on my life. I'm working on my first post for the new blog, and will hopefully have it up this weekend. So bookmark it, and check back often! Scott's posts on science and health are pretty fascinating - part of his otaku is science and technology, and how it relates to improving the human species (he's stated on Facebook posts that the first person who will live to be 200 years old is alive today).

So now, to my personal life:

My move to Savannah is only two months away. I'm excited, nervous, and a little disappointed. The M.A. in performing arts is no longer available, so I'm having to apply for the M.F.A, which is a two year instead of a one year program. Not only does it cut into my 12 - 18 month plan to get out to L.A., but as of now, I really don't think I can afford tuition for the additional year, and I'd rather not have to take out a $30,000 loan to cover it (I'm horrible when it comes to debt). I'll let you know whether I'll be finishing that degree in a post about 9 - 12 months from now. But I'll at least be acting and performing music again, so I'm still very happy about the future.

My mini studio is almost complete. I've got some decent Behringer condenser mics (a matched pair of C2's and a C3), so I can finally start adding some decent vocal tracks to some of my recordings and post them! But probably not until I get to Savannah...

Thoughts on today's Apple announcements

2009-01-06T14:29:00.002-05:00

Apple made some recent software and hardware announcements which, once again, have both excited and angered me:

1. New MacBook pro 17 inch model

This is a great move that people were expecting, since the MacBook 13 inch and MacBook Pro 15 inch received upgrades, it was just a matter of time. While I think a removable battery is a priority for some, if the battery really has an 8 hour life on a full charge, I think people will make an exception.

2. iLife and iWork

Love, love, love that iWeb now supports true FTP publishing (at least, that seems to be the case). I have multiple sites, and it's been a hassle to publish them to a folder, then publish them seperately using another program. This is an excellent feature.

The lessons for Garageband are neat, but more geared towards beginners, so I probably won't use it. I am curious to see what new software instruments and effect are built into the new version. With the launch of iwork.com, I'm hoping they one day incorporate something similar for Garageband, that allows users to collaborate on songs.

iPhoto's face recognition and tagging features are great, and the fact that it will sync to and pull info from Facebook is just outstanding. It will take some work to get into the habit of using it though (I still haven't quite caught on to organizing my photos into events).

3. iTunes Music Store - Layered Pricing & DRM Free Music

At first, I was absolutely ecstatic about a completely DRM free (no proprietary security that only lets songs be played on iTunes/iPods) iTunes store. I could not wait to upgrade my songs to DRM free. Then I found out there was a 30 cent price tag to upgrade - per song.

I've been purchasing from the iTunes store since 2005, and have accumulated over 4,200 tracks since then. That means I would be paying about $1,300 to "free" my tracks. I already paid my dollar for each song, and the DRM free songs are a dollar. I understand charging something to recover the cost of providing bandwidth for users to download the new versions of the tracks, but charging 30% of the cost a song just to upgrade is mean. It a decision that is made 100% in the interest of making money, and 0% in the interest of making customers happy. For, I feel like I'm being punished for having supported iTunes for so long, while new users are reaping the benefits.

To be fair, Apple probably isn't solely to blame; I'm sure the record companies are pocketing most of that money. Their greed is only going to backfire when users revert to stealing music instead of upgrading the stuff they have. I might accept 5, maybe even 10 cents per track, but this is just unacceptable to me. Apple made the right decision when they gave a credit to the first iPhone buyers after dropping the price after 2 months. I certainly hope they consider making a similar choice in this case - they should be rewarding the loyal customers who helped turn iTunes into the #1 music retailer in the United States.

Rough Start to 2009

2009-01-01T14:00:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, I've carried some neck/back pain over from 2008 into 2009, but this Saturday's chiropractor appointment should straighten that out (pun intended).

My Dad was a little less fortunate. Yesterday, while getting a check up on his retinal detachment surgery from a couple of months back, they discovered, and immediately operated, on a newly discovered retinal detachment... on his other eye. So he went into 2009 painfully recovering from surgery, with little visibility (his right eye is much more near sighted from the last surgery, and his left eye has a gas bubble in it, which distorts the vision).

He's recovering well, and I think his two immediate worries are:

He'll have a hard time reading piano music while he recovers.
He'll potentially have to miss more work (his previous surgery was the first time he missed work in about 15 years)

He's found a happy rhythm in life, and hates when something disturbs that rhythm and slows him down.

I'm amending my last post, and my primary resolution now is to help my Dad as best I can until I leave for Savannah in March. This will mostly involve helping him be patient and optimistic while he recovers.

I think 2009 will be a wonderful year, albeit a challenging one. It's going to require work, collaboration, and compassion, but it will pay off in the end.

If you just set people in motion, they'll heal themselves. - Gabrielle Roth

New Year's Resolutions

2008-12-31T09:07:00.001-05:00

2009 is just around the corner, and I have a few New Year's resolutions I would like to try and achieve (although chances are they won't go in effect until March). To start, let's see where I am right now:

Social Life = Craptasticly Crappy due to lack of decent transportation in big city.
Thinking about music, but not writing / recording it.
Piano / Guitar skills not improving due to lack of practice.
Lazy. Can't find time or motivation to get a little exercise.
Have not acted/performed since 2006.

Here's how I would like to rephrase those statements by March:

Social Life = Better - more socially energizing job, and convenience to friends and venues.
Finding time to write, record AND perform original music.
Setting aside 30 - 45 minutes or more 4 days a week to practicing piano/guitar.
Running 2 miles each morning. Getting in shape and continuing to eat healthy.
Be consistently performing or in rehearsal for a performance.

Right now, the 12 hour work day (out the door at 7:10am, and home at around 7:00pm) is killing me. Monday through Friday, I'm too exhausted to do anything once I get home from work. And by the time I'm onto the weekend, all I want to do is veg out. Relying on the commuter rail means my options of going to and from the city are limited, unless I want to walk 30 minutes to Newton Highlands. The fact that I'm not getting much exercise is probably contributing to my back problems (although the fact that I've been using a futon mattress as my bed for the last 2 years could be part of the issue). I'm still in my 20's - I'm not quite ready to start feeling like an old man yet.

There's nothing worse than being an aging young person. - Richard Pryor

Morality, Religion, and Why I Am Agnostic

2008-12-26T09:55:00.000-05:00

Whenever there is a conflict between human rights and property rights, human rights must prevail. - Abraham Lincoln

Saudi court tells girl aged EIGHT she cannot divorce husband who is 50 years her senior

I'm not sure where to start on how much this sickens me, no matter how you word the event.

An 8 year old girl was married off to a 58 year old man. A father sold his 8 year old daughter to a man as a bride because he was strapped for cash. The mother is powerless to stop it.

The judge has dismissed the plea, filed by the mother, because she does not have the right to file such a case, and ordered that the plea should be filed by the girl herself when she reaches puberty

It is unfortunate that there are still parts of the world where women are treated as property. At this point, I've come to the conclusion that the father did not have one shred of compassion or love for his daughter. The only reaction from the father other than being adamantly in favor of the marriage is:

They said that the father had set a verbal condition by which the marriage is not consummated for another 10 years, when the girl turns 18.

It makes me cringe. I wish this was just some story from the Bible - something from thousands of years ago that doesn't happen anymore. It reminds me of the story of Lot, who was willing to give his daughters away to a group of men to be raped as long as they left a few angels alone.

Most people are aware that I am agnostic. I don't believe in organized religion. One of the reasons is that the text associated with most religions don't change. They don't adapt or update to reflect progress and raising of moral standards.

While, luckily, virtually all countries have outlawed slavery, cruel and unusual punishment, genocide, and many other despicable acts, passages that seem to condone them remain in many major religious texts, including the Qur'an and the Bible. In countries where religion and government are intertwined, we see these ancient and ignorant ideas of treating other people alive and thriving. We see countries condoning fathers selling their 8 year old daughters to 58 year old men.

Even in countries where church and state are supposedly separated, we see these ideals. Within the last century, women did not have the right to vote in this country. It was less than 50 years ago that African Americans were given true equality. And today, we still see people using passages from the Bible as reasoning to ban same sex couples from having the same rights as other couples - all the while eating shellfish (insert irony here) and wearing clothing made from more than one material. I don't have a strong belief of whether or not there is a God. I prefer Clarence Darrow's explanation of agnosticism:

I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure -- that is all that agnosticism means.

I do not believe that religion or a belief in God is required for a person to be good. I think people have done some terribly evil things in the name of religion (1, 2, 3). Morality is secular, defined by society (and at times influenced by religion when it dominates a society). I also believe that a universal current in morality is that it naturally pushes toward the protection of a human being's free will. That is the key of morality; allowing people to practice their free will, as long as it does not encroach on another person's free will.

When we apply this idea to a father selling his 8 year old daughter to a 58 year old man, we see that this is not moral. While the father and the 58 year old man are able to practice their free will, the will of the daughter is ignored by the men, and denied by law.

In the United States, if we apply this to gay marriage, we see that it is moral. We have two adults that both wish to practice their free will and form a bond together. What is not moral, are people who would wish to suppress that free will, even though the bond between the couple in no way affects the opponent's own free will.

It seems so simple. The idea of protecting a person's free will is the same as the golden rule: do onto others as you would have them do to you. Would you want your father to sell you to an old man as a bride? Would you want people to prevent you from getting married just because they didn't agree with who you loved?

The more I look at the world from the viewpoint of this idea, the more I realize that our society is still very much in a stange of infancy.

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children. - Nelson Mandela

Various Holiday Recordings

2008-12-19T15:58:00.000-05:00

I wanted to post these, as some people may have lost their copies of these recordings, or have never heard them! Each concert or song set is compressed as a ZIP file. Enjoy!

Christmas Concert 1 (20.6Mb)

This SCAD performance ensemble concert was performed in November 2004 for the MPRA department before winter break. I believe it was at Mondanaro Theater.

Track Listing

Christmas Concert 2 (31.4Mb)

This SCAD performance ensemble concert was performed on December 5th, 2003 at the Unitarian Universalist Church.

Track Listing

Church Recording EP (6.3Mb)

These three recordings were done at the Unitarian Universalist Church prior to the December 5th concert.

Track Listing

Chris & Jeff Recordings (9.8Mb)

Jeff and I recorded these in December 2004 at my apartment on State Street.

Track Listing

Preparation for the Holidays (and Beyond)

2008-12-16T10:33:00.000-05:00

I am extremely proud of myself for getting my holiday shopping done early for the second year in a row, with only one trip to a physical store (thank you, Amazon.com). This is also great, because I need to start focusing my income on the future; specifically, March.

When I was first looking at rental trucks for my move to Savannah, the estimates were around $670. When I finally ended up booking one, the cost was $980. Not sure where the justification for the price surge is. I would kick myself for not booking earlier, but the websites do say "rates subject to change", so think I'll be paying whatever the rates are in March regardless of when I book the truck. I'm also considering working a couple of weeks longer than originally planned, heading from Boston after the 15th, and arrive right around the St. Patty's Day insanity. I'd rather avoid the crowd, but working the extra two weeks would pretty much cover my moving expenses (and give me time to make sure new hires taking my place are fully trained). We'll see - there's still a little wiggle room regarding my departure date.

A little surprise for me while writing this entry is that I found out my friend Jamie B. is also heading back to Savannah a month before me. I'm glad he'll be there to liven up the city.

I'm on a bit of a science fiction kick right now in terms of reading material. I'm currently reading "Stranger In A Strange Land" and loving it. I've set up a little mini reading list for the winter, which will probably extend into the spring:

Robert Heinlein - Stranger In A Strange Land (currently reading)
Tad Williams - Otherland: City of Golden Shadow
Tad Williams - Otherland: River of Blue Fire
Tad Williams - Otherland: Mountain of Black Glass
Tad Williams - Otherland: Sea of Silver Light
Isaac Asimov - Prelude to Foundation
Isaac Asimov - Forward the Foundation
Isaac Asimov - Foundation's Edge
Robert Heinlein - Revolt in 2100
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Douglas Adams - Life, the Universe and Everything
Douglas Adams - So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Douglas Adams - Mostly Harmless

Let me know if you have any suggestions. I'll also eventually get to Asimov's Robot series, and explore some more classic Sci-Fi novels. I'm not to familiar with contemporary ones, so let me know what the gems are. I'm hoping to switch gears over summer to try and read a few Dickens novels.

“The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.” - Isaac Asimov

Christmas Songs... Recycled?

2008-12-09T08:52:00.003-05:00

A few years ago, Jeff Washburn and I recorded three songs for the holidays to give to family and friends. It was a great project that we were able to complete in a day.

I had planned to try and record a new song with him through the power of the internet, but it looks like it's a no-go for now. Not because of the internet, but because I don't have the recording equipment I once had. Neither Jeff of I have any decent recording mics, so while electric guitar and digital piano are fairly easy to record, vocals and acoustic guitar tracks just lack substantial quality, so the song get lost to a low fidelity sound, and poor levels.

I have plans to one day reclaim a studio setup that can be portable (I have my eyes set on this neat little contraption), but now is not the time. I've got less than three months until I'm back to Savannah, and I need to save money for moving expenses, furniture, etc. The one luxury I'll be affording myself is a trip to New York after the new year to see friends.

So, unfortunately, I'm not able to give you any new material at this time, but hopefully one day soon! In the interim, I'll try and post the old songs somewhere to download soon.

Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice. -- Dave Barry

My Favorite Covers

2008-12-03T11:28:00.000-05:00

"I Want to Hold Your Hand"
All Green (originally by The Beatles)

I'm a huge fan of Beatles covers, and this one really sticks out as superb. I discovered this version on an imported CD my Dad bought a while ago called "Rubber Souled", which featured Motown artists singing Beatles songs. It's hard to come by, but you can find the CD used on Amazon. I just love Al Green's energy, and he did a fantastic job covering the song in an original way. I'm surprised this didn't get as much attention as his version of 'Get Back' (in fairness, 'Get Back' did get more exposure, being included on his first major album's track listing).

"Fields of Gold"
Eva Cassidy (originally by Sting)

This is probably the only cover that I would argue is better than the original. I love Sting, and I love the original version of the song, but Eva had a way of putting levels of intensity and passion into a song that I never knew were possible. She has complete control over her voice, and when she belts out those highs, she is somehow able to hit that certain frequency that gives you chills of excitement and amazement.

"Wanting Memories"
Keali'i Reichel (originally by Sweet Honey In The Rock)

This song has a lot of sentimental value, having sung it with an amazing group during my undergrad at SCAD. I love Reichel's version, as it bring me back, yet it's a different approach to the song. It doesn't grow the way our version did, but still retains that same focus, and in my opinion, that same meaning. The song was arranged to be sung a capella, but his instrumentation works - it's simple and supporting, and allows the ribbon like vocal harmonies to drive the song.

"Cry"
Angie Aparo (made popular by Faith Hill)

This is actually the original, but most folks are familiar with the Faith Hill version (it sat at #1 for 11 weeks on the Adult Contemporary charts in 2002), so this could be considered a "cover" of the version they are familiar with. Often times the case - have you heard the original versions of "Respect" and "Satisfaction"? Instead of Aretha or the Stones, search Otis Redding. Angie Aparo had some fame with the song "Spaceship" in the 90's, but "Cry" gave him substantial street cred as a songwriter as well as performer. He's got a distinct vocal timbre that perfectly suits his hybrid pop (with a hint of country) style. And his falsetto kicks ass.

"The Joker"
Fatboy Slim featuring Bootsy Collins (originally by The Steve Miller Band)

This is a really fun version of this song. Fatboy Slim seems to be one of the few artists from the Techno era to survive and thrive. I love songs where the vocalist sounds like they're having a blast recording it, and Bootsy adds a lot of great variations on the lyrics.

"Canon in D"
Thanks to Gravity (originally by Johann Pachelbel)

Great version of this song by what is unfortunatley a now defunct band (they disbanded around 2001). It's not often that you hear a classical song covered by a rock band. I actually edited this song for my mom when she was remarried. It begins rather traditionally, but then explodes with a great drum rhythm, and even tosses an original verse of lyrics in the middle of the song. I also recommend checking out their version of Madonna's "Justify My Love".

"Paranoid Android"
Brad Mehldau (originally by Radiohead)

Mehldau draws people into jazz music who might otherwise completely ignore the genre. He has an appealing sound, and through covers of contemporary artists, a familiar sound. He's actually done a few Radiohead covers, but I this particular one sticks out. Clean, yet has a great sense of chaos. I especially love the percussion track sections that seem to be all 'found instruments'.

Other Notable Mentions:

"Boxing" - Bette Midler (originally by Ben Folds Five)
"Yesterday" - Marvin Gaye (originally by The Beatles)
"Frontin" - Jamie Cullum (originally by Pharrell)
"Get Your Hands off of My Woman" - Ben Folds (originally by The Darkness)
"Tempted" - Rockapella (originally by Squeeze)

My First Pundit Kitchen Caption

2008-11-30T19:03:00.001-05:00

moar funny pictures

A Picture Is Worth...

2008-11-22T20:39:00.001-05:00

“Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.”

- W. Eugene Smith

Once in a while, one of my college friends will post a photo from a SCAD show on their Facebook profile, and it will start great conversation. The problem is, there are so many great photos from shows at SCAD, but some of us don't have any good copies, and there's not a centralized and organized place to get them. So I started to do something about it...

I'm having tons of fun putting together a repository for SCAD productions. The best part about it is that anyone can upload their photos of the various shows throughout the years. I've got most of 1999 to 2005 listed on the site, but there's a few missing, and I hope to expand it beyond the years that I was (and hopefully will be) there. I've even set up a place to host photos from student shows.

I think if I could go back to 2000 and had the chance to pursue an additional focus in school, I might have at least done a minor in graphic design. With the burst of Web 2.0, and the social-centric focus of websites today, I'm bursting with ideas, but don't really have the proper knowledge of putting together a real interactive site (all of my sites are created WYSIWYG through iWeb, although I've dabbled with RapidWeaver and DreamWeaver). If iWeb would allow true FTP publishing, my life would be a whole lot easier.

Almost Like I Never Left

2008-11-17T13:09:00.003-05:00

So, when I first moved out of the dorms in college, I moved into an apartment on East Huntingdon Street. It was an amazing place, and a lot of my friends said it was their favorite apartment in Savannah.

Jump a few years later - I am heading back to Savannah in March, and I've been looking for place to live. I'm 99.99% set with a place... the apartment right below the one I lived in for three years.

“I have just returned from Boston. It is the only sane thing to do if you find yourself up there.”

-Fred Allen

It won't exactly be like I never left. I mean, most of my college friends from undergrad have moved out. But some remain, and I'm excited about working with them on their current artistic projects if possible. I'll also have a new set of roommates, whom I haven't formally met, but seem pretty cool from their Facebook profiles and the brief communication I've had with some of them. I'll be the lone graduate student in the house, so I'll try my best not to feel old when I tell them stories about friends climbing the cell phone tower (completely sober), and almost buring down Keys Hall.

And one of the best parts about moving back to Savannah: paying 1/2 of what I would pay for an apartment in Boston. Which is good, because one of my goals is to save up money for my eventual move to Los Angeles.

The prospect of getting back to doing what I love leaves me overflowing with excitement, to the point that I need to keep reminding myself that it's still about 4 months away, and I need to keep focused on things I have to do now. I want to make sure that whoever takes my position at work doesn't inherit my workload. I need to make sure I'm obtainging my short term goals of finishing some scripts and song recordings I've started. I've also been wanting to get in shape, but that may have to wait until Savannah - I have no physical motivation when it's freezing outside.

On a somewhat seperate note, I feel like distance tends to throw off the possibility of collaborating with friends on certain projects. You think "How can I write songs or plays or create something with my friend who lives on the other side of the country?".

There's an awesome thing called "The Internet". You're currently on it, and apparently, it's all thanks to Al Gore.

The Postal Service is a band that even managed to collaboration using old fashioned techniques, hence the name of the band.

I like to write in solitude, but eventually, I need feedback, input, and collaboration if my writing is going to be any good. And I have a lot of talented friends who have the same passions as I do, and like me, most of us are "working on stuff". I've been "working on stuff" for about 2 years now. I think once I actually send that stuff to people and get feedback, that I'll actually be able to go from "working on stuff" to "finishing stuff". You can check out my website here:

http://www.christoball.com/

There's a link to my public online storage. I'll start posting my music and writing on here, and feel free to let me know if any of them interest you. Also, there's a dropbox if you want to send stuff to me to check out or collaborate on.

I've also started using Skype again, as they have a great video chat service (it always a bonus to see and visually interact with your collaborators. If you have it as well, feel free to add me. My username is topherstanley.

With today's technology, we really can't use distance as an excuse. So let's start creating things!

“In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed”

-Charles Darwin

Everything is Coming Together

2008-11-11T20:13:00.004-05:00

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.

-Marcus Aurelius

What started out as an idea to get back on the journey of pursuing a life in the arts has developed into a plan, and will soon be a reality.

I'm really excited about heading back to Savannah in March, reconnecting with friends, and having time to really focus on the two crafts that I would love to do for a living; acting and music. The journey has already helped me reconnect with people that I kick myself for not keeping in touch with, plus it's great motivation to hear about the fantastic projects they've been working on.

I'll spare you the play-by-play strategy, but the ultimate goal is to be in Los Angeles by December 2010 with an extensive film reel (and hopefully some writing credits), a financial cushion, and some connections (via the 2009 and 2010 Savannah Film Festivals).

In the meantime, I'm just working hard, saving up money, taking care of myself (I'm getting some serious neck realignment in the coming week - I'm going to miss having health insurance), and reading a lot of books varying from acting (I highly recommend Bella Merlin's take on Stanislavki titled "The Complete Stanislavski Toolkit"), to my usually genre of fantasy / science fiction (I've been meaning to read "City of Ember" now that the film was released).

I'm also doing what I can to try and capture what I've lost in my music training. I'm revisiting a lot of basic piano skills. I've been going over the proper fingering for scales, and I've started using a Mac program I haven't used in a decade - Practica Musica. I've actually been practicing guitar scales as well, but need to start learning some songs that incorporate what I've learned. I'm hoping to put together a set and performing some solo or acoustic group gigs when I get to Savannah. And I really need to take some time to develop Phoneboy.

And in the "immediate now", I'm going to play a little Chrono Trigger (greatest RPG game ever), then grab an ice pack for my aching neck, and get some needed rest.

PS - With the exception of a couple of nights here and there, I have been relatively smoke-free for 6 months, and I have to say I'm loving it. I had managed to quit in NYC for a while (most due to the fact that I really couldn't afford it), but I fell back into it when I moved back to Boston and was stressed out about my future. I love my new found vocal comfort zone, or tessitura as Andrew Levine called it. I don't think I'll ever be a true tenor, but I'm slowly gaining a comfortable A-flat that had always plagued me when singing Craig Carnelia's "Flight". I also feel much healthier, which is partially due to eating healthier as well. While I'm sure I'll still find myself falling off the wagon from time to time hanging out with friends who still smoke, I feel very confident that I'll never be a full time smoker again.

My Prediction with the GOP

2008-11-06T12:42:00.005-05:00

I've talked about this in previous posts and discussed it on Facebook, but I really do think that with this crushing defeat of the Republican party, both in the presidential and Senate / House race, we going to see a split in the party in the years to come.

We've seen steady growth from the Christian base that helped launch Bush into office. It's not necessarily a bad thing, until you start to see religion and government getting mixed up. The term 'social conservative' has really come to mean 'putting the Bible in the Constitution' in many cases. You had numerous GOP candidates at the beginning who did not believe in Evolution, and who supported national Constitutional amendments banning gay marriage and abortion. Romney's speech on his religion just wasn't as compelling (or convincing) as JFK's.

But you still had two of the top three candidates who were relatively moderate, Giuliani being an early favorite. But the base began throwing support into the more religious candidates, Huckabee became the dark horse of the GOP. This is where we began seeing McCain change his views on certain issues to align with the base of his party, which was a wise choice politically, because it eventually grabbed him the nomination.

I don't see McCain as the type of GOP who would split to the Evangelical base; he criticized the base in 2000 - and I think he realized it cost him the election. So this time around, he did what he could to please them, which again, was a smart political choice, but not good for the country. The height of his conversion was when he chose a VP candidate for the purpose of energize that base.

A political party should not be influenced by a single religion, but I think that is slowly happening with the GOP, and why I see a split. Moderate Republicans like Colin Powell and Chuck Hagel seem very much turned off by the current path of the GOP (Powell's endorsement of Obama was a pretty obvious sign of that). A great point he made was when he overheard a prominent Republican echoing the rumors of whether or not Obama was a Muslim, to which he replied "What you should be asking is - so what if he is?". You even see prominent members denouncing the party (a lot of people would have liked to see Bloomberg run as an independent).

And it's not just politicians, I think good portion of Republican voters were turned off by his VP pick, and by some of the flyers and pamphlets they were seeing at GOP rallies. The fact that they remind you of the pamphlets that Fred Phelps' church hands out at soldiers' funerals just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Some Republicans are looking to distance themselves from the Hannity's and O'Reilly's, and the politics of fear, and the "if you don't agree with us, you're un-American" attitude, and get back to the way it was when Reagan took office, where undecided centrist voters leaned right instead of left.

It's for these reasons that I eventually see a split in the party. You have Bush, Palin, Romney, Huckabee, and others keeping the drive towards a Christian base. And you have Powell, Hagel, Rice, and even Cheney (as much as I despise him) switching gears and getting back to national issues instead of social values. And even further down the line, I see that Bush/Palin party going the way of the Whig, and slowly fading into obscurity, while the new generation of "Old Republicans" eventually get back some of their former glory.

At this point, I think that's the direction the GOP needs to go in order to save themselves from imploding.

Further reading:

Can Palin resurrect the GOP? Does she want to?
Rove in sights as party seeks a scapegoat
Where do Palin, Republican Party go from here?
Republicans seek road back from ruins
Battered Party Now Faces 'Finger-Pointing And Blame'

I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions, as I tend to make plenty of assumptions and often wrong on the facts of certain issues.

History

2008-11-04T23:09:00.002-05:00

To think that 50 years ago, an African American was not entitled to the same rights as a white man in this country.

I am so proud of a country that is moving forward. The "Bradley Effect" can bite me.

And outside of the historic milestone, I'm also extremely glad we chose the better candidate.

The Final Countdown

2008-11-03T11:56:00.004-05:00

Well, tomorrow is the day where most of us who haven't had the opportunity to vote early will cast our votes, and I wanted to take this time to give my closing arguments, for both the presidential election, and for various other issues on ballots.

President

I don't doubt that McCain has the capability of being an amazing president. The problem is his values have changed. His skills will no longer go towards protecting Row Vs. Wade as we would have expected him to do in 2000. In a desperate attempt to make up for his 2000 loss, he has abandoned the things that most of us liked about him, and embraced the Evangelical base of the party that he was reluctant about 8 years ago. And although Karl Rove won't admit it, McCain did exactly what Rove thought Obama might do; he made a choice for VP base on how he thought it would help his campaign as opposed to how well suited that person would be to step in as president. This only makes it look like he doesn't care about his potential presidency - he justs wants the title to add to his resume.

McCain and Palin are in my opinion, dangerous for our country. McCain is known for his temper, and I am still haunted by the thought of a man who sang "Ba-ba-ba, bomb, bomb Iran" at a rally having access to the launch codes. And Palin is the opposite of progress. She believes Intelligent Design should be taught alongside science, and support a constitutional ban on gay marriage - we need to move forward, not go back to 1950.

Obama offers us policies and stances that will boost our image with the rest of the world, and prevent us from future unessecary wars (and a path out of the current one). He is someone who is willing to talk instead of launching missiles and justifying it later. And most of all, he seems to have a much better grasp on the issue most people are worried about: the economy.

Although Biden sometimes doesn't know when to stop speaking, he still brings more to the table than Palin will be able to offer.

And in the end, I am downright offended by the McCain campaign for dividing our country. To question my patriotism just because I don't support your policies makes the McCain Palin ticket almost as bad as the days of McCarthyism. I'm tired of a party that preys on the fears of Americans, so I naturally gravitate towards a candidate who offers something different: hope.

I may still be accidentally registered as a Republican, but my vote goes whole-heartedly to Barack Obama as the next leader of our country.

Prop 8 (California)

To put it simply, the argument for supporters of Prop 8 is built on sand. They say that marriage is "traditionally" reserved for a man and a woman, and they want to keep it that way.

Well, when our country was founded, freedom and civil rights were "traditionally" reserved for white people. Voting and higher wages were "traditionally" for men. Just because something is tradition does not make it right. And I honestly believe that those who choose to oppose the rights of homosexual couples will go down in history in the same category as those who opposed the abolition of slavery, civil rights, and women's rights. Human rights and civil liberties are not things that should be brought to a vote. Even if the majority of Californians want to ban gay rights, it is unconstitutional and should not be allowed to pass.

Question 2 (Massachusetts)

I know I'm going to get crap from some of my friends, but I don't see any reason to lower possession of marijuana to a civil penalty. The only thing that voting yes will do is act as incentive for more people to use an illegal drug.

If you're going to choose to use an illegal drug, you should be willing to accept the responsibility and punishment that comes with the crime. You're making the choice to put your driver's license and your student loans on the line.

Personally, I don't think drugs should be illegal, but I'm pretty extreme about punishing those who misuse them. I think that if a drunk driver or someone under the influence of drugs hits and kills another person, they should get the death penalty. But that's just the way I see it.

Personally I think laws should made to punish misuse of drugs rather than possession. But as long as there are rules in effect prohibiting possession, I really don't see any reason to soften the punishment.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or arguments.

Lazy Weekend

2008-11-02T21:30:00.003-05:00

I managed to accomplish basically nothing this weekend. With the exception of an optometrist appointment and doing laundry, I haven't really ventured outside much. I was never a fan of winter, or the cold weather that precedes it, and my disdain for the season only grew after living in a warmer climate for 5 years.

The other downer about winter approaching is that the days are getting so short. It's dark out when I get on the train to work, and when I get off the train heading home. I was running after work and on the weekends, but I tend to get lazy when it's cold. All I want to do is stuff myself on Thanksgiving and then sleep until May, but I'll try and hop on the exercise bike from time to time so I don't find myself pushing 190lbs come Spring.

At least things will change in March. Warm weather and I shall meet again! Until then, it's going to be a cold ass winter...

A sad tale's best for winter

- William Shakespeare

MySpace = Worst Customer Support Ever

2008-10-31T11:00:00.003-04:00

As someone who works in customer support, I have a collection of draft e-mails that I use for general requests; username and password, unsubscribe, student requests, etc. But when someone actually has a problem, I almost always respond to the individual request.

My music page on MySpace (www.myspace.com/phoneboy) has a few bugs. When I try and update information, it seems to save, but the information doesn't change when I view my profile. I've contacted MySpace technical support at least 3 times over the past few months, and when I finally received a reply, it was a draft e-mail about how to edit my profile.

WTF?

I know how to edit my friggin profile. The problem is the profile editing mechanism doesn't know how to work. This is really annoying, since unless MySpace can fix it, I would have to delete this profile and start fresh. If I do that, I would lose my nifty URL.

This isn't the first time this has happened. When my personal profile was bugging out on me (the calendar wouldn't work), they just kept sending me a draft e-mail about resetting my password, which leads me to believe the majority of the customer support reps at MySpace (or whatever customer support company they outsource to) cannot read.

The problem with huge companies like this is that they don't care about customer support. You've got a profile, and all your friends are on the site. If they choose not to help you, what you going to do? You're essentially stuck with crappy service - the curse of the monopoly (as many folks have experienced with Comcast).

Of course, MySpace does have competition. And I'm seeing more and more people (including myself) migrating to Facebook for personal social networking. If Facebook can come up with a better experience for musicians, you'll probably see a lot of bands flocking over there as well.

My Favorite New Apps

2008-10-27T10:14:00.000-04:00

So I'm a proud owner of an Apple MacBook Pro, previous generation. For $1000 less than new, I have 2.5Ghz Core 2 Duo processor with a 6MB L2 Cache, 4Gb Ram, 512Mb VRAM, and a 250Gb hard drive. My new activity is to find some fun new applications to load up on my Mac, and I've come across a few gems that I think people will enjoy:

RapidWeaver ($79) - Once I tried the demo of this, I coughed up the cash to buy and haven't touched iWeb since. This has so much more capability, and still manages to have the ease of use and WYSIWYG interface. 3rd party add-ons allow you to sync your blog with a Blogger.com account, create PayPal checkout options for an online store, and more. Plus the big advantage over iWeb is direct FTP publishing.

Pixelmator ($59) - This is great for folks who want to have a nice photo editor like Photoshop, but don't want to cough up hundreds of dollars. For sixty bucks, you get all the features a basic consumer needs from the high-end Adobe app for about 1/10th the cost. Of course, if you're a professional graphic designer or photographer, you'll probably want to cough up for the real thing. Best feature; it uses the GPU for image processing, which frees up the CPU for other tasks.

LockDown (Free) - Based of the original app, iAlertU, LockDown essentially puts a sweet remote alarm on your laptop. Using your Apple laptop's built in motion sensors, as well as other general triggers, this app deters theft by emitting a piercing alarm if someone tries to pick up you computer, open or close it, press a key on the keyboard, etc. And the coolest part - you arm and disarm it with your Apple Remote. It even makes a car alarm sound.

Delicious Library ($40) - For the avid book reader with a lot of books, this is a great way to keep track of them all. It's your own personal media database (it also keeps track of movies, CDs, and games). You can add books by entering the ISBN, or just scan it in using your iSight camera! You can also keep track of people who have borrowed books, so you won't try and figure out who you lent that 1st edition copy of 'The Sorcerer's Stone' to 6 months ago.

AppFresh (Free) - This is a great tool for keeping ALL of your apps up to date, not just your Apple ones (as Software Update does). This is much easier than checking each individual app or waiting for the app to prompt you, although there are a few apps that aren't supported.

AppZapper (Free) - The opposite of AppFresh, this help you completely uninstall those pesky apps you don't want anymore that didn't include uninstallers. It tracks down all of the files associated with the app, so you don't have leftover preference and library files taking up disk space.

OpenOffice (Free) - It's strange and unfortunate that Apple includes apps for making music (Garageband) and designing websites (iWeb), but you still have to buy iWork or Microsoft Office. OpenOffice helps you save a few bucks by giving you a fully featured all-in-one app for free. It includes word processing, presentations, and spreadsheet creation. It's user interface is much better than most clunky looking open-source programs and, did I mention it's free? You can also try a similar program, NeoOffice, but I don't really like it's layout (or it's icon).

Enoy! If you have any apps you'd like to recommend to me, please let me know!

UPDATE: The New MacBooks... Mixed Response

2008-10-15T16:31:00.000-04:00

Apple unveiled the new line of MacBooks and MacBook Pros. I love the new design, the aluminum casing, and the glass multi-gesture track pad.

But...

I was hoping to pick up the $1299 model MacBook, and there are two big setbacks that stick out:

It sports a 2.0Ghz processor, as opposed to the 2.4Ghz the previous $1299 model had.
It now lacks any FireWire ports

My old 2006 model had a 2.0Ghz processor. Fast-forward two years later, and I'm getting the same processor speed? The $999 model has a 2.1Ghz processor! Not cool in my opinion.

Dropping FireWire is just silly in my opinion. I can understand it for the MacBook Air, but the MacBook isn't being advertised as an ultra-portable computer. I bought a FireWire only external hard drive to go with my old MacBook. Now, I would have to spend at least $1999 for an Apple laptop that will connect to it, or settle for the old $999 MacBook with the plastic casing and a combo drive. I would have been willing to compromise a FireWire 400 port in exchange for one of the USB ports (considering you can daisy change both, why do you really need two?).

I was ready to buy one today, but now I'm going to really consider my options. As much as I hate being pushed into it by Apple, I'm considering saving a little more and going for a MacBook Pro. Of course, I'm trying to save up money for March, so I may just have to settle for a refurbished older model (currently at $1349).

Apple: I love it, and I hate it. Today, I'm leaning more on the hate side.

---------------------------------------

Update - 10/15/08

The lack of a FireWire port has really got me frustrated. Apple was one of the developers of the technology. iPods originally required it, and every laptop since the iBook incorporated it up until the MacBook Air.

My biggest frustration is that many students (or poor saps like me), just can't afford to spend $2000 on a computer. But for the last 7+ years, we've come to rely on FireWire. Music and Film students rely on it to connect their recording interface or DV camera to their computer. Companies like Apogee and Digidesign create recording setups like the Duet and the Digi003 that only have firewire (catering to the Mac). Many new hard drives for the Mac only come with FireWire ports (including mine).

The iBook/MacBook offered an affordable alternative for those who wanted to create art on a budget. Now, many of those looking to upgrade will either have to buy the MacBook Pro, or buy a new hard drive, camera, recording interface, or all of the above. Either way, a lot of people are going to have to spend more than the $1299 they were expecting to pay, which is really a slap in the face to consumers considering the state of our economy right now.

They originally dropped FireWire 800 from the MacBook Pros, but realized that it was a mistake from the masses of negative feedback about that choice. How did they let history repeat itself?

Apple has always been famous for thinking different, but this time around, I truly believe they were thinking green (as in money, not the environment). They are compensating the cost of research and development by putting a slower, less compatible computer in a shiny new packaging, and charging the same price.

And yet, I, like the rest of us, love the design, and will probably buy one anyway whether or not we realize the emperor has no clothes.

Right Wing Hatred

2008-10-15T08:51:00.000-04:00

If you haven't watched this, you should:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5mdIPNB8t8

The fact that McCain hasn't spoken out about this scares me. These are some pretty hateful and racist statements coming from his supporters. The Republican politics of fear has crossed the line, and McCain doesn't really give a shit. A "Maverick" would speak out against this. Unfortunately, he'll do anything at this point to win the White House, including giving up his decency.

For Sarah Palin, however, this is her kind of crowd.

Vote.

2008-10-07T09:07:00.000-04:00

If you are living in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Dist. of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, , Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, or Virginia, and forgot to register...

... you are dead to me.

For everyone else: please register. Here's the information by state:

Voting Deadlines By State (PDF)

If there was every a time in your life that you wanted to be a part of something truly important, this is it. We have two candidates, who are offering us very different versions of America's future.

If you choose not to vote, fine. But please don't complain about the economy, or civil rights, or the environment, or anything for that matter over the next 4 to 8 years, because you had the opportunity to be a part of the process that decides what direction the country would go in, and chose to pass it up.

The economy is crippled. In July, a woman in Taunton, Massachusetts killed herself, hoping that the insurance money would help her husband and son prevent their house from foreclosure. Finance giants are falling, and we've been asked to foot the $700 billion dollar bill so that, these banks can stay afloat and continue to foreclose homes.

We're knee deep in a war on terror that most Americans feel is focused in the wrong country, yet we continue to occupy it and pour billions into it as its government continues to build a huge surplus. And we have a current president who believes that we should be able to invade a country just because we think they pose a threat (with our oh-so-accurate counter-intelligence), which is what got us into this mess in the first place.

Unemployment is at a 5 year high in terms of jobs lost. Schools are facing lowering their standards to meet the standards of No Child Left Behind. There are so many major issues in our country, it's hard to count them all. But every one of those issues are a reason to vote, and at least a few of them directly affect you and your well being.

So don't just register to vote and say "Mission Accomplished". Get your ass to the ballots on November 4th. If you can't be in your state then, place an absentee ballot (the deadlines are listed above). Some states even allow you to cast your vote now if you're sure about your choice. Make sure your friends are registered as well, and have them make sure their friends are registered.

In 2004, 125 million people out of 142 million registered voters actually voted. That's 88 percent. Not bad. The problem is, there were 197 million people who were eligible to vote in the US, so only 63 percent of them voted. That's a failing grade. And it's times like this that we really need the American people to step up to the challenge and pass this test.

Not to belabor the point, but please: educate yourself about the candidates, register to vote, and choose wisely.

Sarah Palin VS. Miss South Carolina

2008-09-26T12:18:00.000-04:00

Sarah Palin, Vice Presidential nominee, on the $700 billion bailout:

That’s why I say I, like every American I’m speaking with, we’re ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. Helping the—it’s got to be all about job creation too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans and trade—we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as competitive, scary thing, but one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today—we’ve got to look at that as more opportunity.

Caitlin Upton, Miss South Carolina, on why some Americans can locate the U.S. on a map:

I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because uh some people out there in our nation don't have maps and uh I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and the Iraq everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for.

Is there a difference? Let's watch the remix:

Fame versus Success

2008-09-11T13:41:00.000-04:00

So Kanye West is probably going to make the entertainment headlines over his recent incident at the airport:

http://www.tmz.com/tmz_main_video?titleid=1788889337

My beef with Kanye is that he wants fame and money and power, but no oversight. He wants the cameras on when he wants them on, and off when he wants them off. But after over 6 years in the spotlight, shouldn't he have learned by now that it doesn't work that way? He's in a public place, so he's fair game when it comes to paparazzi.

I hate being someone who has such a passion for acting and music, but never having the time or money to pursue it, and watching this schmuck with all of this money, and opportunities to work with amazing musicians and producers - and it's obvious he cares more about being famous than making meaningful music.

He's like the Republican party; he wants to be able to do whatever the f--- he wants, without any repercussions, and without the public seeing him for what he really is.

Yeah, I brought politics into the mix. What can I say? It's near election time.

I'm just so tired of the search for FAME rather than the search for SUCCESS. You see people making careers out being regulars on TMZ, or trying to revitalize their failing careers by doing a reality TV show and dragging their family into it. All in the name of fame and money.

I would love to be a successful musician or actor. I don't need riches and fame. I wouldn't even mind living paycheck to paycheck just as long as I'm able to pay my rent, and do what I love to do; communicate stories through performance and/or music. But storytelling is no longer the business of entertainment. Now, it's stay in the spotlight for as long as it takes, whether the attention is good or bad, so you can make as much money as possible to buy a mansion and fly first class and attack some photographer on your way out of the airport for having the gall to snap pictures of someone as important as them.

The mainstream entertainment industry sucks.

My Frustration With Republicans

2008-09-09T09:04:00.001-04:00

I don't understand how the Republican party gets away with certain things:

McCain invests a good portion of his attacks on Obama trying to convince voters that he doesn't have enough experience on the national stage.

QUESTION: Can you think of anyone else who had a small amount of "experience" on a national level, but made a big difference?

ANSWER: Abe Lincoln (prior to president, he was Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 7th district for two years)

McCain then picks the governor of Alaska (state population - about 650,000: population of city of Boston - about 590,000), who has no national experience whatsoever. But she supposedly has "executive experience". Hell, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura are governors as well - does that mean they're better qualified to lead than McCain, Obama, or Biden?

Note: I'd actually consider voting for the Governator if he was eligible.

McCain's latest tactic is to plagiarize Obama's platform and try to pass himself off as the "candidate of change" (I guess "Maverick" wasn't working so well). He say's he going to shake up Washington. How? Eh, he's kind of vague on that... something about cutting pork barrel spending and sticking it to lobbyists (even though former lobbyists run his campaign). Other than that, he's going to give you the same crap Bush has been feeding you for the past 8 years. Plus, his rendition of "Barbara Ann" from back in the day leads me to believe he'll probably lead us into another unnecessary war.

Along the same lines, Karl Rove applauds Palin's experience as mayor of the 2nd largest city in Alaska (population: 9,000), but attacked potential Obama VP pick Tim Kaine's experience, saying Richmond Virginia (population: 200,000) wasn't that big of a city. By the way, if you haven't seen the Daily Show bit exposing this hypocrisy and more, check it out:

Now Palin, well, I'm not going to bother arguing whether or not she has the necessary experience. We can learn enough about her through quotes.

On the War in Iraq, speaking about the troops:

Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God.

I'd like to believe she means it in a way other than America is on a Christian crusade, but I'd probably be wrong. How about her views on Global Warming?

A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location... I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.

By the way, if you're not aware, she also supports drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and is part of a lawsuit against the US Government to get polar bears off the endangered species list.

And I wish she wouldn't be so proud about her opposition to the "Bridge to Nowhere", considering she was originally in full support of it:

The last straw for me was the 9/11 tribute video shown at the Republican National Convention. I am tired of hearing the whole "vote for us or the terrorists will win" from these creeps. You can point out a failed party when they need scare the American people into continuing to support them. They used 9/11 to get Bush another four years, and they're using it again - and it sickens me. It's also unfortunate that Keith Olbermann was reprimanded for pointing that out. What's even more unfortunate, is that this shameful tactic is probably working.

So the Republicans will gain support at the expense of 3000 dead Americans, so that they can continue to put troops in harm's way in an unnecessary war, which has given us more than 4000 more dead Americans, and then be slow to react to disasters on our home soil, like Katrina, which gave us 1800 more dead Americans. And those who are living are still suffering a failing economy, outrageous gas prices, and high unemployment rates (which is the opposite of what usually happens in times of war). So next time Republicans try and use 9/11 to scare you into giving them your vote, remember that it was their decisions (or lack thereof) that have brought us continued tragedy for nearly a decade.

A Happy / Unhappy Birthday

2008-08-20T22:53:00.000-04:00

My day started off great. A cruise courtesy of my job, then dinner with family, and a James Brown tribute concert at the MFA.

But a recent change now leaves my living situation in jeopardy. I don't know what's going to come of it, but in hindsight, I think I could have avoided it, and it's frustrating. And finding myself in this situation, in a city I don't necessary long to live in, in a job I enjoy, but isn't the job I spent 4 years in college for, depresses me. Why after 3 years since I left Savannah, am I nowhere near a career in the arts, caught in a crappy situation in a city with awfully cold winters?

I need a change for the positive, and I need it to happen soon. I realize it's me that probably has to make it happen, but I honestly have no good answer for myself. It's times like this that the real world feels blinding, and you just want to close your eyes and pretend your somewhere else where the clouds block out that glaring reality.

Help me perform with Ben Folds?

2008-08-17T20:57:00.000-04:00

Watch this video:

This is my rendition of Ben Folds "Zak & Sara", performed in the style of The Beatles "Dear Prudence". Ben has a very character based songwriting style, much like the Fab Four, so I thought it would be fitting (the two songs also share a similar chord progression). I had a lot of fun making this, even if it took 30 takes, so I'll start trying to post something once or twice a month if I can think of things to play.

Now, embed it in your MySpace profile, share it on Facebook, put it in your blog - just share it in any way you can. The more views this gets, the better chance it has to go on Ben Folds' website. And he's even going to invite some of the winners to perform with him. I have tickets to his show on September 26th in Boston, but I would much rather be sitting on stage (wouldn't you?).

Help me out here. I'm not sure how it works but there's also money for recording somewhere in the prizes, which would be another dream come true for me.

Frustration with iPhone and MobileMe

2008-07-31T14:21:00.001-04:00

I hate to talk trash about Apple, but there were many things that were not thought through before the launch of iPhone apps and MobileMe.

The initial downloading and installing of Applications and transition of MobileMe was actually seamless for me; I wasn't one of the "lucky ones" who experienced iPhones re-blocking or MobileMe service outages.

But now with the applications, my iPhone takes over 20 minutes to sync with my computer (the backup step taking up the majority of the time). Every time it syncs, my applications are in a different order than when I last set them. Updates to apps don't sync correctly, causing the iPhone to think it was deleted instead of updated. Recently MobileMe push keeps syncing my MobileMe mail account twice to my iPhone, so it causes issues sending messages.

I've tried restoring my iPhone (about a 45 minute process at the moment) twice, but the issues keep on returning.

MobileMe adds frustration not only to my phone, but my computer as well. The MobileMe sync that happens in the background eats up bandwidth, as does the web based MobileMe on my work compter (and that's behind T3's!). Today, my MobileMe sync to my iPhone had an error, and all of my contacts were deleted! I have to wait to get home to try and restore them (hopefully MobileMe didn't delete them from my computer as well).

All in all, this has been a horrible experience, and a 60 day extension of service doesn't make up for the continuing problems. I don't want more of a crappy service. I wan't a better service.

Make it happen fast, Steve Jobs. Bugs and failed product launches are supposed to be a Microsoft thing.

The State of the Music Industry 2008

2008-07-22T08:39:00.000-04:00

What's wrong with these James Blunt lyrics:

She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

If he's got a plan, how does he not know what to do? Ok, how about this Miley Cyrus gem:

I've got my sight set on you, and I'm ready to aim.

If you set your sights on someone, aren''t you already aiming?

These are prime examples of what frustrate me with the music industry today. Artists seem to think as long as they have a decent chorus and catchy beat or lick, the the lyrics don't have to make any sense (Miley can at least blame her lyricist - Blunt has no excuse). Toss a few one-liners and clichés, and you've got a #1 hit. The point of writing a song should be the same as writing a book, or making a movie, or performing a play, or painting a picture - you have a story to tell.

If a car looked really neat, but had a crappy, run down engine, would you buy it? Then why do we buy music with crappy lyrics?

I don't think we pay much attention anymore. Music has become a background entertainment. We listen to it in our car or on our iPod to pass the time during our commute to work. We even hear a song enough that we mouth the lyrics as we listen, but if asked what a song was about, we couldn't tell you. Yet certain songs would give you the same reaction if you were paying attention to them.

Most pop and rock songs on the charts are embarrassing. They sound like poorly recycled versions of what might have been original music (please, stop rhyming love with above, it's kicking a dead horse at this point). Mainstream rap and hip-hop are mostly songs about how awesome and rich the artist is (maybe the genre is the main inspiration behind today's reality television shows).

If JK Rowling's next book was about how rich she was and how she bets you wish you were her, could you relate to that? Would you buy the book?

There are still great artists hitting the top of the charts, but they are few and far between. As much as you love to hate him, John Mayer's music is original yet catchy, and his lyrics constitute a complete thought or story. And Alicia Keys last album was oustanding ("No One" was very much worthy of the two Grammys it aquired).

The world of popular music is not dead. But, like the economy, it's definitely in a recession. I'd love the opportunity one of these days to pull it out of that recession. I'm not saying I haven't written some crappy lyrics in my life, or that the songs I'm proud of couldn't still use a little tweaking, but I'm pretty sure I could write something with a little more depth than what James Blunt or Miley Cyrus are providing you.

I Hate You Facebook

2008-07-14T19:54:00.000-04:00

Really... do you have to rub it in? There was a time when I was a rock star at karaoke bars, dating a cute southern belle. Now I read books and blog. But that will all change come September. Christoball shall return... but he'll still read books and blog.

Various Small Updates

2008-06-23T12:00:00.001-04:00

So it's official that I'm moving into the city at the end of the summer. I'll miss having a big room and a pool, but I want to be closer to work, and closer to friends.

I'm currently set to move in with my friend Sean from high school, so I've been looking at two bedrooms. But I'm noticing that when you add a third roommate with the same rent budget, the three bedroom apartments look much better. Point and case:

Two Bedroom

vs.

Three Bedroom

So, if anyone is interested in moving into the cambridge area, is out of the college boozing on weekdays phase, and has a rent budget of $750 or less (we're hoping at $700+, the apartment will include heat and hot water), let me know. Since I rely on public transportation, being near a subway stop is a plus (I'm willing to be up to 15 minutes walking distance). It would also be great if you had a 42" or larger flat screen TV and a Wii, but it's not required.

On the music side, I'm still working on Phoneboy stuff (still on the electronic side since I don't have access to an acoustic drum set or studio to record it). I'm hoping to get Sean to pick up his bass or guitar and put together some acoustic sets in the fall, and as always, I'm very interested in writing for other people (I have a mess of songs I like, but don't fit the style I'm eventually looking for).

I'm also still planning on making a trip to California in the fall, and shooting specifically for September, but don't hate me if I have to push it back to October or November after spending all of my money on first, last, security deposit, and broker's fee for my future apartment. I need to visit some friends I haven't seen in a while. Once that's settled, I'll begin planning Savannah Reunion 2 for next May (hopefully more of you can come next year).

I'll end this with a quote:

I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death. - George Carlin (1937 - 2008)

My Father Is Awesome.

2008-06-09T23:05:00.000-04:00

I got a call from my father this weekend. He bought me a Yamaha CP-300 (the digital piano I've been trying to save up for for the last few months). Sometimes, I feel like his support of my dreams and aspirations is in overdrive, but I'm not complaining. Look at it:

It's a good thing his super generosity kicked in just now. I sold my old digital piano on Firday. I will be really getting to work on writing some new songs soon. I just need to figure out how to make room for this thing in my air conditioned room so I'm not practicing / writing in the humid dining room. Writing will get better this fall, since it looks like Sean Lewis is finally moving into the city, and I've been looking to get closer to (or in) Cambridge. I've been bugging him for years to pick up his guitar, and come September, I'll be able to bug him constantly (regardless of whether he picks up the guitar or not). I don't necessarily need to be playing live shows, but I could really use a jam buddy. Also, if anyone is interested in moving into the city, three roomates means dividing the bills by three instead of two!

I'm still looking towards Cali in the next couple of years, but in the short term, I need to be closer to social venues. I've become a hermit, and need to get out more. Anyone down for the following free concerts at the Hatchshell?

Saturday June 14th, 7:00 - 9:30 pm -- America with Marty Balin

Saturday June 21st, 7:00 - 9:30 pm -- David Cassidy with The 5th Dimension

Summer's here. Chris is going to be more productive.

Here's an idea for a show...

2008-06-02T10:17:00.001-04:00

So, I'm thinking of this great idea for a show. It would basically follow me around throughout my daily life. It's a "reality show". Kind of like a documentary, except we might add in some drama and pseudo-acting - maybe retake some "scenes". It has to have some drama to work. Essentially, I'd like to get paid a boat-load of money for doing pretty much nothing except basking in how much money I'm making by doing pretty much nothing at all. I'm not technically famous, and haven't really accomplished much in recent years, but I think the same can be said for Hulk Hogan, Dina Lohan, Denise Richards, and everyone on The Hills.

Stanislavsky is probably rolling over in his grave right now. He stated that there are two kinds of actors - those with a passion for the art of acting (the telling of a story, the creation of a character, the education of an audience, etc), and those with a passion for the career of acting (the money, the fame, the privileges). The first deserves great respect, while the second is an abomination to the profession.

I think this goes for any profession, especially in the entertainment industry. As soon as you make it about yourself, and the only story your telling is "look at me!", you making a mockery of the profession that I spent five years and thousands of dollars training to do, and want so badly to be doing now. I lay a good portion of the blame on the actor, but there does seem to be an obsession by the general public with the personal lives of stars.

"The product of the artist has become less important than the fact of the artist. We wish to absorb this person. We wish to devour someone who has experienced the tragic. In our society this person is much more important than anything he might create." - David Mamet

Of course, in this case, the shows aren't even focused around celebrities; it's relatives of celebrities, or once-famous entertainers who've done nothing to further their career in years.

When there's nothing going on with an entertainer's performing life, the media looks to their personal life to fill the void. In Denise Richards' case, they began covering her bitter divorce with Charlie Sheen. But instead of focusing on her acting career, she chose to seize the opportunity to make a buck off of this negative attention by switching paparazzi cameras for T.V. cameras. So, in actuality, the blame lies solely on the B-list celebrity who stars in the show. When I first read about "It's Complicated", I threw up in my mouth and punched the nearest semi-attractive 40 year old brunette in a fit of rage*.

I'm going to get out to L.A. sometime in the near future, but if when I get there, the only television acting gigs I can find are for spin-offs of "The Hills" or yet another season of "The Real World", I'm turning back around and heading to Savannah, where I'll try and make a living in local theater and karaoke contests.

* Did not actually occur.

(Just outside of) Chicago

2008-05-27T08:11:00.000-04:00

I went to Chicago to visit family this weekend, which was the shortest trip I've ever taken by plane (flew in Saturday morning, flew out Monday morning).

Chicago might have the potential to be a city I could live in... if it didn't have winters. It's the last of the northern metropolises that are still affordable. My uncle keeps trying to entice me with a sweet apartment right next to Wrigley Field, but as much as I'd love the city, it's a theater city with not much film (and the TV shows that are filmed there are usually cast in L.A.).

I might like the music scene there (Ok Go, Liz Phair, Filter, and Wesley Willis hail from there just to name a few). I've been working on a new song right now, but my music equipment isn't what it used to be.

My Digi002 came and went.

My MBox2 Pro came and went.

I'm working off a TASCAM FireOne right now, and GarageBand and Logic Express instead of ProTools. Somehow, I'm still managing to get a decent sound, even using my acoustic with some filters to compensate for my lack of an electric guitar. Although I would love Jeff Washburn to lay down some guitar tracks, this song won't have any solos, so I should get by. It's tentatively called "The End", based on ideas for lyrics that have not been written. It's style fits with "Singing For You" and "Bringing Me Down", so if I can pump out one or two more, I should have enough to put an EP up on iTunes, tentatively called "Five to Get Me West" (or Four, depending on the number of songs on the EP).

I've officially retired Topher Cronin as a musical alias, although I might hold onto the name as my acting credit since there's already a Chris Stanley and Christopher Stanley on IMDB. Phoneboy will start off as a electro-pop-rock sound, but I'd eventually love to play with a full band, myself switching between piano and keytar.

Once again, I have a blog that is crowded with my dreams and aspirations of making it in the future, but I'm happy that I'm finally working on getting a little bit closer. When I stop writing about where I want to be is when I'll worry, because it would be a sign I've given up.

It's 8:38 AM, and I need to get to work...

Back to Life...

2008-05-20T12:25:00.001-04:00

I had the greatest time in Savannah. Seeing everyone was a blast, especially since I hadn't seen some of them for 4 years (or more). I even had a few surprises, running into some seniors that were freshmen when I left, some old McDonough's regulars, and my roommate from the dorms freshman year!

Savannah is a weird city. I fell for it the moment I got there. I've lived in Massachusetts for 20 years of my life, and tried NYC for a year, but Savannah is the only place I've lived where I felt "at home". That's the catch 22 of my life: I'm a bright lights kind of person who wants to to make it big in entertainment, but I can't stand the big city. Sadly, there some theater in the city, but I always preferred film acting, and I could only do so many SCAD film projects before I went nuts.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of complaining about where my life is, but I've never really been doing anything about it. My biggest regret is that I didn't make a strong decision after college. I went to NYC because Jeff was graduating at the same time and he was headed there. I knew I want to go to L.A. because TV and film was there, but I took the easy road because I was afraid to go it alone. And lately, I haven't done anything musically for the same reason because I've been afraid to go it alone. Jeff's still in NYC, and my friends here are either in a band already or lack the motivation, so as much as I've tried to pull people into a band, I'm on my own whether I like it or not - and I'm ready to make a semi-strong decision.

I've been writing lyrics, and Savannah nostalgia helped me finish a few songs. I'm going to start trying to get them recorded this summer, and I'll put them on iTunes in the fall. They won't be phenomenal recordings, but I did have a knack for getting good sound out of amateur audio equipment. Once they are on iTunes, I'm going to send out bulletins - on Facebook, Myspace, mass e-mails, anything - asking my friends to buy a song or two - put it on their MySpace profiles, and tell their friends to buy a song or two.

I'll also be going "miser" this summer and limiting my spending a lot more than usual. The only thing I tell myself that has kept me from hopping on a plane to LAX right now has been that I don't have the money (another mistake I made when moving to NYC). If I can get rid of this obstacle, maybe I can start looking at giving acting and music another shot in a more realistic way instead of as a pipe dream. Talking with Adam and Emily in Savannah, as much as they've told me how awful Los Angeles is, has peaked my curiosity in what the city has to offer. And seeing Jeff Washburn's invitations on Facebook to come see his shows just make me insanely jealous (for Jeff, NYC was the right choice - although if I do get to moving to LA, I'll most likely try and drag him along).

So there is in a nutshell - Savannah was awesome, I'm a bit bummed about being back in Boston, but I'm finally making a choice to push me in the right direction.

On a side note, I've also made two other important decisions. I'm going to give quitting smoking another try. I lost my voice on the second night in Savannah singing karaoke, and I'm just now starting to get it back. If I'm going to pursue anything musically, I need to have consistency in the quality of my voice, and smoking is ruining that (not to mention making my clothes stink, yellowing my teeth, and slowly killing me).

I'm also going to get in shape. I had almost forgotten how amazingly attractive and in shape my female friends at SCAD were - the three who came with me to Savannah especially. it's probably going to sound pretty dumb, but I feel like I need to meet women half way - if they're going to look all sexy at the beach for me, shouldn't I at least try and do some sit-ups or hop on that exercise bike a few times a week? It will be a nice ego boost, and will compliment my quitting of cigarettes.

I Suck at Blogs

2008-05-01T18:31:00.000-04:00

I bought an iPhone, and I couldn't be happier. I'm trying to figure out a way I can update this blog through my iPhone. We'll see. I also sold my Taylor 910ce and bought a sweet Larrivee parlor with a sunburst finish, but it hasn't arrived yet (I'll update my musical instrument photos when I get it). The cool thing is, it was just getting finished up when I bought it, so it's coming basically direct from the factory to me!

Other than that, I'm looking forward to Savannah. I need a break, and it's back to mild weather in Boston. Still haven't won the lottery yet, but I'm going to plan a trip to L.A. in September once I'm back from Savannah. I also realize I haven't really advertised this website to my friends, so I'm wondering if anyone is even reading this. If you are, send me a message on MySpace or Facebook so I know this is worth it.

Not My Calling

2008-03-11T09:32:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting at work right now, making a good living. But when I watch my friends play a show at a club in Boston, or see a friend in the background of a film or credited on IMDB, I realize that I would much rather have the struggle of trying to succeed in something I love than the security of a job that I enjoy, but I can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. My creative outlet is nonexistent right now. Storytelling is my life, whether through acting or music, and I'm not doing much of either right now.

It's times like these when i regret spending all that money I got when I was 21. Some of it was legit (I was paying for school and rent, and wasn't working at the time), but I when a bit eBay happy during my years in Savannah. That could have been my financial pillow to move out to LA and not get distracted by a part time job (at least for the first year or so). Or, had I diversified my stocks, like say, put them into Apple Inc., I would be worth about $3.2 million today!

But the past is the past. I'm just hoping that my present isn't necessarily my future...

A part of me wants to just up and go and see what comes of it, but I tried that in New York. I went with about $2000 after moving expenses, and was flat broke within the first couple of months. I ended up working at Apple Retail, which became the door that lead me into the 9 - 5 world. At the same time, It torture trying to slowly save up the money to where I would feel comfortable shifting my life out west, and I don't know if I can wait that long.

My unlikely solution is currently playing the lottery twice a week. A few million would be a nice little financial cushion.

Wish me luck.

Website... take 1,453,767

2008-02-29T17:58:00.000-05:00

So, I'm trying once again to get a site, and update it on a semi-frequent basis. We'll see how long this lasts.

Life has not been very exciting. Winter never is. I don't like going outdoors when it's cold out, which makes me miss the good old days of living in the South. The great thing is, I'll be in Savannah in 2 1/2 months! Unfortunately, not all of my SCAD friends will make it out to the reunion, but I'm hopeful that all this talk of a trip to Mexico next year will have a higher attendance.

I'm still slowly working on my music. Nothing new in terms of completed music or lyrics, but I am practicing the guitar, trying to get better at scales and solo guitar. My pops recently gave me a Taylor 910ce, and I managed to aquire a sweet 1970's Yamaha FG350W. Check out who also owned one:

That's right... Rick Springfield, bitches!

My digital piano is kind of on the fritz, but my refund check wasn't as grand as I had hoped it would be, so a new one will have to wait until spring or summer. I'm hoping to get a nice Yamaha CP300 (great sounds, and semi portable if I ever play live again). I did recently get a sweet Hohner prototype ukulele! I wanted something I could travel easily with, and I want to be Adam Sandler's character from "Mixed Nuts" whenever possible.

So, there you have it. It's been a year since I moved into my apartment in Malden, and nothing much has happened at all. I'm hoping to start saving and trying to get out to L.A. in the next year or two. I need to give the acting and/or music scene one last shot before I turn 30.