Oh, you've changed

Maybe all i Need is a shot in the arm...

So I'm thinking (semi-seriously) of becoming a Musician. With a capital 'm' even! Either by taking one aspect and going at it fully: a cover/working band that plays at least a couple times a week or being in a couple different projects and always have gigs lined up... starting a music empire/business with either advertising & marketing of bands & events or just managing bands and getting gigs, etc. OR I could just do a little bit of everything, recording, writing, playing music and gigging, getting gigs and advertising my bands... it seems like it would be a lot of work, but may add up to a full time job that can support some people. Hopefully. I would think, though, that to make any kind of money doing the marketing/pr/management stuff I would have to do bands other than my own. Of course, I would pretty much have to do that stuff anyway for my bands to be successful, but I guess that's obvious. Right?


the 'Band' thing
As long as I'm playing in a band consistently and we keep getting gigs and people always seem to be impressed (or at least a little bit interested), then I think if I pushed it and just practiced like it's a job... and got some buzz/press/good exposure, we could keep getting gigs and moving up (bigger and better shows, etc.). This is kind of what happened with my last band MEGATRON... we went from $60 for a three-hour shlock-fest at 'Whoknowswhatit'scallednow' bar to playing bigtime original shows with some other up-and-coming bands. Our debut album was getting close to being done, and we seemed to be attracting more and more attention from important people. Of course, I think we could have done a lot more, especially in terms of promotion and getting a leg up on the local scene... It would have been a lot easier once the album was out, but still, too late now!
Anyway, there are plenty of bars and venues and there are plenty of bands out there that have gigs every weekend, even monday-thursday, and a lot of people that actually do it for a living. You just basically have to put in work and play your way to the big gigs where the real money is. And if we can get exposure and keep getting gigs and writing material, we can branch out and get into the big original venues and shows.


Ok, I know what you're thinking!
I know there's a major difference between playing cover shows (being a 'bar band') and doing the original thing, especially in Tulsa. Of course MEGATRON seemed to go back and forth pretty easily - playing all our originals in between the covers at bar gigs, as well as playing all-original shows - so maybe it's not so bad. It's especially useful (or necessary?) when trying to make a living playing music, at least until you get fairly big.
It's kind of sad, but it's a reality. And playing music is fun; getting paid to play is even better. So I think a good compromise (kind of what I'm doing now) is to play whatever gigs I can get, keep pursuing the better-paying venues, and branch out into a few projects so I'm constantly out doing something. Right now I have the cover band that might soon be an either/or (www.myspace.com/TulsaRivals) that gets good gigs and makes some dough; the jammy, creative, who knows where it will go all-original thing (www.myspace.com/themoveband) that lets me throw back and get crazy; and an in-the-works original rock/punk/progressive/who-knows band that will hopefully take off soon so I can bring out the Rockstar side.

So, I would have to say things are looking up. The business side of things will have to wait a while... or just be on the side since I'll have to do this silly 'day job' thing for at least a while. It's not that I wouldn't mind having a job I enjoyed and still playing music (I would love a good job!), but until I graduate I'll probably have to take what I can get. Being a working musician while going to school isn't that bad of a job if you can keep steady gigs so you're not stone-broke, so that might work for a while longer until I graduate.
I just really hope that when I do finally get my degree, I can do something useful with it. I know there will be some pretty good jobs that I could get with my degree, but I really want it to be something that fits just right. Somewhere I'm happy, doing things I enjoy, and something that's suited to my talents. No more of this 'well, i could do that... they might give me a job and i could probably tolerate that for a while' stuff. It doesn't have to be exactly what I want, just as long as I feel useful and that I'm not wasting my God-given talents.
Maybe there are a million people better than me, but I feel like if I could just prove myself, doing stuff I'm good at but don't necessarily have much professional experience in - writing, blogging, turning doodles and sentences into advertising or pretty good stories and ideas, being creative - then I can really be happy and get into something good that will become a career.

And so, I guess, if that 'career' happens to be something of the music persuasion, I will have truly made it. Or something like that. So, look for me in Rolling Stone: on the cover and in the bylines!



Wow, big words... lots of words. I think it's time to go!
Thanks for lookin.

Hi I love this book, my name is Tyler

Just thought I'd post some good writing / existential wisdom from your friend and mine, Jean-Paul Sartre. I've been reading this book (Nausea)again and it's good. Maybe I'll put some more quotes later, seems fun. Leave me a message thanx

For the moment, the jazz is playing; there is no melody, only notes, a myriad of tiny jolts. They know no rest, an infelxible order gives birth to them and destroys them without even giving them time to recuperate and exist for themselves. They race, they press forward, they strike me a sharp blow in passing and are obliterated. I would like to hold them back, but I know if I succeeded in stopping one it would remain between my fingers only as a raffish languishing sound. I must accept their death; I must even Will it. I know few impressions stronger or more harsh.

I grow warm, I begin to feel happy. There is nothing extraordinary in this, it is a small happiness of Nausea: it spreads at the bottom of the viscous puddle, at the bottom of our time-the time of purple suspenders and broken chair seats; it is made of wide, soft instants, spreading at the edge, like an oil stain. No sooner than born, it is already old, it seems as though I have known it for twenty years.

...A few seconds more and she will sing. It seems inevitable, so strong is the necessity of this music: nothing can interrupt it, nothing which comes from this time in which the world has fallen; it will stop of itself, as if by order. If I love this beautiful voice it is especially because of that: it is neither for its fullness nor its sadness, rather because it is the event for which so many notes have been preparing, from so far away, dying that it might be born. And yet I am troubled; it would take so little to make the record stop: a broken spring, the whim of cousin Adolphe. How strange it is, how moving, that the hardness should be so fragile. Nothing can interrupt it yet all can break it.

The last chord has died away. In the brief silence which follows I feel strongly that there it is, that something has happened.

Silence.
"Some of these days
You'll miss me honey"

What has just happened is that the nausea has dissappeared. When the voice was heard in the silence, I felt my body harden and the Nausea vanish. Suddenly: it was almost unbearable to become so hard, so brilliant. At the same time the music was drawn out, dilated, swelled like a waterspout. It filled the room with its metallic transparenc, crushing our miserable time against the walls. I am in the music.
Globes of fire turn in the mirrors; encircled by rings of smoke, veiling and unveiling the hard smile of light. My glass of beer has shrunk, it seems heaped up on the table, it looks dense and indispensable. I want to pick it up and feel the weight of it, I stretch out my hand ... God! That is what has changed, my gestures. This movement of my arm has developed like a majestic theme, it has glided along the song of the Negress; I seemed to be dancing.

... I am touched, I feel my body at rest like a precision machine. I have had real adventures. I can recapture no detail but I perceive the rigorous succession of circumstances. I have crossed seas, left cities behind me, followed the course of rivers or plunged into forests, always making my way towards other cities. I have had women, I have fought with men; and never was I able to turn back, any more than a record can be reversed. And all that led me - where?

At this very instant, on this bench, in this translucent bubble all humming with music.

"And when you leave me..." the record stops.

Hey O ho ho

I've finally figured out a real and Good reason for saying goodbye to the ancient xanga. Blogger is now -from what I understand- a part of the Google family, and as you all should know, Google kicks everyone's ass. Even mine, and I'm gonna be the next Contender.
But seriously, Google is on top of some seriously game-changing stuff (Gmail!) and I'll be glad to give the ol' xanga the boot. My google account can do stuff that I don't even know about... weird, freaky stuff like file hosting and cross gmail chatting... what? I don't know, but if I had some money to invest I'd put it into a company like google. It's the way of the future.
the way of the future
it's the way of the future


...the way of the future.

Anyways, I wish there was a better networking system for blogger, but I'm sure it will come. That is if it's not already there and I just don't know about it... But how do you like the site? Is the music too loud?
how about you leave me a comment and tell me something nice. Also tell me which song on this playlist you think is more 'me'. Do it or I'll kills you.
BYE

Taints-giving

Last night I went to sleep around 2:45, and woke up after two hours! it was awesome. then I got to go to the airport and wait for another 2 hours or so. THAT PART was my favorite.
Now I'm in Houston watching a HUGE hdtv and it's the highlight of my break, possibly of the semester? yeah it's sad, but hey! It's a nice toob, and my luck hasn't been hitting very well lately. Oh well.

I don't know what it is, maybe the lack of sleep or just being in Texas... but I just feel terrible. I'm cold, hot, happy to be in nice weather, sad to be inside where I get 0 phone reception, bark, meow... just weird waves of bad vibes coming from somewhere. I can't pin it down, but I don't like it and i think something's gotta give.

Change. Just ask Jeremy Skinner of www.jeremyskinner.com He's the master of disaster and he's my friend. And he knows about some change. Quarters and dimes and heavy, heavy stuff.

Yeah. This post seems incoherrent enough i guess...
Anybody seen the racist kramer thing? What a terrible person... kramer will never work again.

Hurricane Rolls Over UNT 28-3 !

(photo courtesey Jessie Finch / Collegian)

OR go here! theCollegian

GOTU!

The Golden Hurricane football team rallied last Saturday night against the University of North Texas Mean Green Eagles to win big in front of a Homecoming crowd of 22,045.

Coming off of a tough loss to Brigham Young University last week, Tulsa came back to hold the North Texas offense to only 84 total offensive yards. Quarterback Paul Smith, who had a shaky start, settled in and completed 21 of 33 passes for 266 passing yards and 25 yards rushing.

Tulsa’s defense did their job and tackled well, unlike the week before where they allowed 49 points and 467 yards against BYU. Tulsa was able to stop the running game and neutralize the quarterback, pretty much dominating the game.

The Tulsa offense started off slowly, struggling in the first few drives. The Mean Green kept Tulsa at bay by getting their hands on the ball and forcing turnovers. Smith, who threw only six interceptions throughout last season, got picked off twice in his first four passing attempts.

The second North Texas interception resulted in the Eagles’ only points of the game; a 23-yard field goal by Denis Hopavac in the second quarter.

The Golden Hurricane answered with a 96-yard drive that ended in a four yard touchdown pass to Ted Curtis to end the first half. Tulsa converted three fourth-down plays as it marched down the field, and took some chances but was able to punch in seven points.

The drive gave Tulsa confidence and momentum going into half time, and they were on–point from then on.

“I just wanted to continue to try to stimulate the offense, to jump start it a little bit,” said head coach Steve Kragthorpe, “prime the pump, so to speak.”

By the second half, Tulsa held the lead and the momentum, and appeared to be a completely different team. The Hurricane started the half with the ball and played with a confidence that was lacking in the first few drives. It was as if something had clicked and Tulsa was in the groove.

“We had made some errors early in the game, but I thought Paul [Smith] settled down, did a good job of throwing the ball and took what the defense gave him,” said Kragthorpe.

“We took some shots down field. The big play to Idris Moss in the first series of the second half I thought was a big play to get us jump-started.”

Once the Golden Hurricane gets going offensively, they are dangerous.

Whether it was the sheer momentum, the half-time talk, or simple adjustments, Tulsa began to get get the ball across the field with confidence.

Senior wide receivers Moss and Ryan Bugg both had career-best nights for the Hurricane. The duo made some key plays and combined for 10 catches and 157 receiving yards.

Moss, who helped spark the TU offense on a career-best 49-yard reception from Smith late in the second half, had three catches for a career high of 70 yards. Moss made key contributions in the first half and helped ignite the Tulsa offense, despite leaving the game twice due to a tender right ankle.

Bugg reeled in seven passes for a career-best 87 yards and one touchdown reception. He helped lead the Hurricane down the field in the first drive of the third quarter with four receptions including an amazing 34-yard screen pass from Smith for the score.

The Hurricane didn’t let up, driving 70 yards in its next possession to spread the lead to 21-3. Senior Brandon Diles capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run, and also had key 39 and 16-yard receptions.

Diles scored again in the 4th on an eight-yard run following Kinny Spotwood’s fumble recovery, ending scoring in the game 28-3.

The Tulsa defense smashed all hopes of a North Texas win, coming out especially strong in the second half. The Hurricane defense looked immensely better than they did versus BYU.

Tulsa’s defense pressured UNT, forced three turnovers, and made the Mean Green rely on running the ball, which was shut down by the big Tulsa defensive line.

Tulsa held running back Jamario Thomas (who ran for 1,801 yards in 2004) to only 33 yards.

“Obviously Tulsa’s defense deserves a lot of the credit for shutting us down.,” said Darrell Dickey, UNT’s head coach.

“We’ve got to go back and look at the fact that we got manhandled at the point of attack with blocking.”

This Saturday, Sept. 23, at 12:30 pm, The Golden Hurricane will travel to Annapolis, Md., to play the Navy Midshipmen. Tulsa will battle a tough crowd and an undefeated and talented Navy team.

The Navy Midshipmen pose a serious running threat with a boatful of talented backs, and Tulsa will have to be in top form to stop them.

A win on the road would work wonders for Tulsa’s confidence and momentum, but the Hurricane will have to be flawless on offense, defense and special teams.

YEAH

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH!!!!!

"YEAH!!!!!"

Run the lip off sunshine shore
Betray white water
Delay dark forms
Slap young waves on wooden bones
Don't touch the laughter and away we go

Away we go

CLAP YOUR HANDS!
But I feel so lonely
CLAP YOUR HANDS!
But it won't do nothing
CLAP YOUR HANDS!
But I have no money
CLAP YOUR HANDS!
Are you up to something?
CLAP YOUR HANDS!
Where's my milk and honey?
CLAP YOUR HANDS!
But I just look funny
CLAP YOUR HANDS!
I'll just wait awhile

As time alone stands still for some
Stuffed sailor up with eyeball sun
And if by castle ship should stray
It has like you no chosen fate for
It's tongue-tied caboose that leads
This ragged lad, this finger-flipping
Mom and dad (for what is worth some
Aimless steer?) And should mouth
Confuse my foggy mirror and reveal
What is not there I shall take this
Unbound train away...

-This is the first track off of Clap Your Hands... self-titled album, and it's probably the best song on there, although it does have a very different vibe than the others. I like this song a lot, and I like this band a lot. THey have some pretty cool things to say -the lyrics are fairly abstract, but good- and for some reason every time I get drunk I want to hear this album. It's just THAT good.
If a band can get to that Point; well, it's a good thing. That drunken impulse stems from something very real and very strong inside of me... it's sort of like a reverse lie-detector, showing my real musical lusts when I get some liquor inside me. There's also a simple kind of melodic hook that is present in all of their songs -I would call it an 'aura' or simply, their 'sound'- that just keeps me coming back, constantly singing the wobbly lyrics: in my sleep, in my car, when I'm working out. Scratch that, i haven't worked out in a while... probably since I discovered this band.

SO at that, I'm gonna go find a REAL job with REAL MONEY!!! Yeah.... back to the grinder. Later hombres.
))))))_TTTH