August 14, 2008 • 2:06 pm 0
Grooveshark
May 28, 2008 • 1:35 pm 0
Flowers on the Wall
This song is one of my few memories of early childhood. I can distinctly remember listening to this song, singing this song, and thinking that it was a naughty song because it mentioned smoking cigarettes. Ah, youth.
I still like the song despite it’s silly bizareness. Anyhoo, enjoy.
Filed under: entertainment, fun, music
December 8, 2006 • 3:55 pm 1
Just a little applause…
I was eating lunch with my wife a little while ago in a mall food-court. Now, we didn’t choose a food-court for the cuisine or atmosphere. We were both on lunch breaks from work, we needed to shop for a couple of presents, and the mall is very close. Hence, food-court lunch was served. While we were eating, there was a live musical performance going on. I don’t know the gentleman’s name; however, he was a blind pianist with a really great voice performing some covers and original material. After the first song, Elton John’s Bennie and the Jets, my wife and I applauded wholeheartedly. We were just about the only ones, although the food-court was packed with folks.
Now, just a couple of things to talk about. I know that people don’t go to food-courts to hear people performing music. I know that not everyone feels the need to clap when they hear a song finish. I know that not all artists care about the percentage of people in an area that applaud when they finish performing a song. However, I think most of you would be surprised just how far a little applause can go.
I’ve been in a few bands in my time, and I know, all too well, how it feels to finish playing a song and be rewarded with the quietest smattering of applause audible by the human ear. I also know how it feels to finish a song to an eruption of applause and shouts, although the frequency of such times were admittedly rare. It is incredibly rewarding to have your efforts and talents appreciated in such ways. If you play and get nothing but silence afterwards, it doesn’t matter how many people come up to you at the end and say, “I liked your music.” Your night, along with some dignity, is just about shot.
Now, the artists that say they don’t care about such things have made some concessions, either knowingly or unconsciously. They’ve either decided that they are playing out and paying their dues, playing for a pay check, playing to hear themselves, and/or playing to practice. There are, of course, exceptions. But I don’t think any of them would deny feeling a rush of adrenaline, pride, and accomplishment whenever a crowd boisterously acknowledges their music, or whatever else it is they are doing.
Why am I writing all this? I’m writing to audiences all over the world. Get off your hands when you go to a performance, or even if you find yourself at an impromptu performance. It’s not going to hurt you to acknowledge someone’s efforts and talents. Even if their talents are in question, give them a little applause. Again, it’s not going to hurt you, and it just may make their day. Besides, they are making an effort to do something they want to do, and they are making an effort to entertain you and provide you with something you might enjoy.
Unless, of course, they are handing out dynamite sticks with lit fuses. Don’t clap then.
Filed under: entertainment, music
September 20, 2006 • 4:34 pm 2
The Rhyming Song
I’ve been looking for this for a very long time, and I have finally found it. A famed Sesame Street song made hilarious by how far the lead “singer” runs in as he bursts forth with rhyming madness. I hope you enjoy it as much as I.
Filed under: fun, music, television
September 6, 2006 • 10:47 pm 3
Marching snares rock
…and solos on them are okay, too.
I ran across this amazing snare drum solo recorded at a DCI event. At one point, when I was young and in college, I practiced snare all the time with my friend, Nate. I had thought at one time I had gotten to where I could play fairly well, and I thought that I had built up some chops. Now I know that I was a freaking idiot to have ever believed such foolishness. So, take my word for it, as good as I thought I may have been, it wasn’t in the same universe as guys like this.
August 29, 2006 • 4:05 pm 0
More stuff for watching
June 28, 2006 • 4:48 pm 1
Ahh… nostalgia.
When thinking back on television shows, music, or movies that I liked as a child, I tend to remember them quite fondly. I have, however, been deeply injured by watching or listening to many of those in more recent years – cartoons of those older days tend to be the worst of the bunch. For those keeping score please never, never watch the Thundercats again. In any case, I bring all this up because I ran across a music video that entertained me greatly way back when. It is an exception to the previous, as it is still brilliant and still very entertaining.
