The Dark Side of the Pumpkin

One of my good friends (and the drummer for the Pink Noise band I'm in) is a fantastic "pumpkin artist." Each year he has been making cool pumpkins for my daughter and besides doing one for her this year, he also made this... sweet!

Viral Friday

Well, as you already know, I'm a sucker for viral videos... sharing everything on this blog from "Chocolate Rain" to "Dramatic Chipmunk" and beyond. Some smarty-pants with too much time on his hands put the following viral video compilation together. Pretty fun. I'd say I recognized about 75% of the stuff in there. Here is "We Didn't Start the Viral."


We Didnt Start The Viral - Watch more free videos

LINK: The 10 Most Terrifyingly Inspirational '80s Songs

"Great music can inspire us to do anything: love one another, protest an unjust war, make sweet, sweet love to a large black man in the 1970s. But in the '80s there were a series of songs that inspired us to kick ass in every way possible. None inspired more ass kicking than these." (Robert Brockway at Cracked.com)

One of the funniest articles I've read in a while. Click over here to reminisce about songs like "Holding Out for a Hero" and "The Final Countdown."

My favorite paragraph explains the only way Foreigner could've made "Juke Box Hero" any better: "Ramp it up. If hearing "just one guitar" while standing outside a venue in the pouring rain can cause an innocent farm boy to mutate into a vulgar, screeching, musical demi-god, imagine hearing 17 guitars on top of a mountain in a thunderstorm! You could instantaneously transform altar boys all across the heartland into 80-foot tall rock ogres, shredding on nuclear guitars and ejaculating fiery magma into the horrified faces of America’s enemies. Serve your country, Foreigner. Give a little back for once."

Don't stop believin'...

Frankenstein

In honor of the upcoming Halloween, here's one of the funkiest jams of the past 35 years performed by the saxophone-wielding, strapped-on-keyboard playing Edgar Winter and company: - Frankenstein!

Living Life or Being Lived By Life

THEY SAY: let life live you, go with the flow, surrender, relax and let be, don't push.

THEY SAY: imagine your intentions and then bring them to be, set your mind to something and it will happen, persevere, make things happen.

Although it certainly seems so, I don't think these lifestyles are mutually exclusive.

I've just spent a little too MUCH time in the first camp.

I've begun dabbling in the second and it feels pretty damn good to grow up and get my life in order.

Creativity MASH-UP

"Creativity is a way of living life,
no matter what our vocation,
or how we earn our living."
(Madeleine L'Engle)
___*___#___*___


Chris Seay - "Art and Beauty"
___*___#___*___

"Each time I begin a creative endeavor, I discover that creativity is a mystery. I am reminded that though I am the creator, I have little control over the final outcome of my creation. The creation itself determines its form, and it will emerge on its own terms."
(Janice K. Stanton)

iTunes Help?

Anyone know the answer to this question?

Until recently, I have been able to open my Music folder in iTunes, set the Preference to SHUFFLE, and it would cycle through my entire catalog.

For some reason, now there is a tiny checkbox just to the left of each song title (which wasn't there before) and in order to play any group of songs (or all my songs), I have to individually check each checkbox.

What the...?

The Elms

We opened for these cats - The Elms (Universal) - at the VOGUE in Broad Ripple (Indianapolis) last night.

The Elms - Nothing To Do With Love



The Elms on the Logan Show

TREV PLAYS: Great Is Thy Faithfulness

The Sacred Heart of Kalli

Something about her hands, stance and gaze in this picture made me think of an Orthodox Icon of Jesus.

I forgot to mention...

...last Sunday my family and I went to see Dan Zanes live in concert. Though they had some sound issues, it was an afternoon of great folky music that was kid-friendly and yet enjoyable by adults (my daughter did fall asleep, however, due to lack of napping). Plus they cleared out rows in the theater so there could be a dance party. Oh, ya.





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Now playing on iTunes: Al Green - Let's Stay Together
via FoxyTunes

Quote: "Press On"

"Press on: Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

[Calvin Coolidge]

Live Recording

Here's a LIVE recording of Pink Noise (my Pink Floyd Tribute Band) playing "Shine On You Crazy Diamond." While it's not without a cringe-moment here and there (and some of the mix could be changed), it turned out pretty dern good for a recording of a live performance. Enjoy.



The song is rather long (14 min) so if you'd rather download it and listen to it later (instead of being parked on my blog), right-click and "Save As..." or "Save Target As..." on the link below.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Snap, Crackle, Pop (Kinky)

I can still very much recall when it happened.

About three years ago I had taken up a yoga practice and was getting pretty regular at it. Up until that time I would say I had a fairly bad (but common) posture of rounding my back all the time.

Well one day while in downward-dog, my shoulders rolled back a bit and my back straightened in a way that - quite frankly I'm not sure ever had - and there was a very intense *POP* in my spine right between my shoulder blades. It wasn't a bad pop, in fact it was one of the most insanely pleasurable things in my entire life.

I remember going to a friend's house that evening with my wife and feeling like my body was floating on air - like some sort of kink that I had carried for years was finally blasted open. In fact to this day, I still like to stretch against a wall and recreate that "pop" (though it is now a fraction of the intensity it was that first day).

It's amazing what happens when we butt up against resistances, knots and tough situations and - instead of recoiling in fear - find what it takes to blast through. We've all got quirks and kinks and while some must be accepted as limitations, others are ready to be blown through to find release and freedom on the other side.

TV for Toddlers who take Acid

Holy crap.

Nickelodeon has introduced a new show called Yo! Gabba Gabba and I must say again: "holy crap."

Take 80's rap beats and video game references, a bunch of colorful and creepy puppet-people, celebrity cameos (see the 2nd clip), an emcee named DJ Lance and put it all at an ADD-inducing editing speed and you've got Yo! Gabba Gabba.

I can only imagine how absolutely hilarious this show would be under the influence of any number of substances. Actually, I'm glad my kid likes it because I get a chance to watch it guilt-free... and it's totally cracking me up.

There's a Party in my Tummy"


Elijah Wood does the Puppet Master


The show's intro