I personally believe that 40 years ago the United States sent astronauts to the moon. I also personally believe that the video footage is authentic. The fact that there is a growing number of people trying to disprove the authenticity of that momentous event in history is personally offensive to me (Corey). I won't speak for anyone but me. It pisses me off.
40 years ago today, we landed two men on the moon and we were the first country to do it. There, I said it. Furthermore, I believe it. In this case, as in many cases, perception IS reality. What this country (and the rest of the planet for that matter) perceived at that point was that the United States was a force to be reckoned with, a World Power and a country at the cutting edge of...well...everything. Afterall, we had two US Citizens WALKING ON THE SURFACE OF ANOTHER PLANET! I realize they were unable to utilize Twitter to relay their every move, nor could they upload mobile pics to their Facebook pages, but you can bet your next paycheck Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin experienced what only 12 human beings have ever experienced!!! Just sit with that notion for a second. I don't know about you, but I feel like waving an American flag while saluting it and singing the National Anthem at the top of my lungs followed shortly thereafter by eating a slice of apple pie and getting the letters U S A tattooed on my forehead. The sense of PRIDE I have in my country when I think of our spacemen walking on the moon is overwhelming. It FEELS good because of how I perceive it. That IS reality to me. People sitting around and trying to poke holes in that is counter-productive, potentially hurtful and borderline UN-American.
Don't believe me? Watch this.
Disneyland is no more magical than Knott's Berry Farm or Magic Mountain. Arguably, Magic Mountain is the most magical since the word 'magic' appears in its NAME. But really, all of those places are basically amusement parks that have some REALLY amazing visual stimuli mixed with various physical stimuli. And since an ice cube costs $74.99...how is it the HAPPIEST place on Earth?? A steakhouse where all the food is free while they wax your car and change your oil for free would be a FAR happier place. Sorry, maybe I went too far. In all seriousness, you'd save more money ordering pizzas and having a pool party for your kids where everyone comes inside to watch all the Harry Potter movies back-to-back-to-back. That would be a VERY, VERY HAPPY PLACE all the way around (far happier than Disneyland any day of the week). Disneyland is a supremely overpriced, germ-laced real estate phenomenon with fabricated and/or digitally enhanced replications of fantasy items as seen in Disney movies since movies had color and sound (and before). That didn't feel good, did it?
Perception is the ONE AND ONLY thing that makes Disneyland the happiest place on Earth. Somewhere along the way as a kid, as an adolescent or as a parent you perceived your experience to be magical. It was so magical, in fact, some of you might have even SKIPPED to your car afterward. How many of you bought that ridiculous hat with your name and mouse ears?? How many of you actually sought out some random dude in a Mickey Mouse SUIT to have your photo taken?? Some of you have paid big money to have an ANNUAL PASS because you can't get enough of the magic. That magic feels pretty good, thanks to your perception.
Don't spend your time poking holes in perception unless the perception is visibly detracting from someone's life. Notions of Disneyland's magic and the miraculous walk on the moon's surface are uplifting and inspirational...so leave 'em alone.
There is far too little magic in the World today. There is far too little magic in people's eyes these days. Whatever people find magical is a real source of light and happiness for them and as long as it's not hurting anybody else, we should be accepting of their source of magic.
Disneyland is magical to millions of people.
Landing on the moon 40 years ago was magical to an entire planet.
Go find some magic. I would recommend you stop watching the news immediately...you won't find any magic there.
Love.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
application required
Sure, I enjoy being one of the [Boston accent here] 'smaaat kids' now, but remembering past events such as high school it wasn't always like that. Or was it?
Some say 'with age comes wisdom'. The only thing I've become wiser about is application. I didn't APPLY myself in high school. Wow, just typing that made me feel like a guidance counselor for a second! Furthermore, it was easy to look around and count the kids who apparently WERE applying themselves since their names appeared on prestigious lists like the Honor Roll. I wasn't knocking those students, but admittedly I wondered what they were doing differently. Granted, they were generally in the habit of doing ALL of their homework and even doing extra credit assignments but there had to be more to it than that, right?
Well, not really. As it turns out I could've applied myself and joined my fellow classmates on those glittery lists. I find it terribly intriguing WHAT people apply themselves to and WHAT their motivation is for doing so. Sometimes it is fun to wonder what became of all that application. Are those academic over-achievers now esteemed CEO's and distinguished members of Congress? Are any of those athletic letter-jacket guys playing pro ball somewhere? Are the students that were members of the yearbook committee now publishers or web designers or those people with the really annoying Myspace pages with 889 photos and sparkly backgrounds? Then there are the unsung heroes of application: the geeks, the nerds and those creepy triplet girls. Are they now running the Googles, Microsofts and Apples of tomorrow?
I remember being younger and being jealous of all these people and recently, I ran into one and it simply rocked my world!!
The conversation started very typically when I learned that she attended a prestigious college, drives a nice car, owns a home in an affluent community, is happily married and has two wonderful children. Frankly, given my memory of her in high school, I would've expected no less. She was popular, smart as a whip and was one of the girls you had to muster up enough courage to ask her to sign your yearbook at the end of the year. I was the kid in the marching band. See where this is going?
After viewing a handful of pics on my Facebook page, she said the unthinkable to me, "I wish I would've applied myself like you did." She drew the conclusion that I must've applied myself to drumming at an early age, and boy was she right. To me, I never viewed it that way. I always thought of application as 'using what you've already got' rather than 'working on something you've got a little bit of'. In my eyes, the kids who were ALREADY smart applied themselves and got good grades. The kids who were ALREADY good at sports applied themselves.....and so on. Their results were so measurable. Good grades, winning games, scholarships to college, etc. Being a guy on the drumline was never measurable (nor is it until you sell millions of records, win a Grammy and appear on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest that Jennifer Aniston introduces).
Sure I got a scholarship to college to play drums (very unexpectedly), but it just didn't seem as impressive (to me or anyone else) as an academic scholarship to Princeton or a football scholarship to Notre Dame. Since my college days I've played drums...lots of drums...and I find myself here. I'm in a place where within the last couple years I've developed a voracious appetite for reading books about thinking, marketing, psychology, phenomena, logic, statistics, probability and outliers. I've realized that I can digest and am interested in all kinds of complex information. Basically, I'm the smart kid that convinced myself that I was the dumb kid. I had fooled myself. What a dirty trick! By a chance meeting with an old high school classmate it was as if I had followed the path she figured I would, just as she followed the path I figured SHE would.
What's the point of my blog? Apply yourself. Apply yourself at all times. Apply yourself at all times to something...anything that YOU feel is important. Don't allow anyone to diminish the importance of that which you have chosen to apply yourself to. And above all, don't allow YOURSELF to diminish the importance of that which you have chosen to apply yourself to.
Application required to live the life YOU want to live.
Some say 'with age comes wisdom'. The only thing I've become wiser about is application. I didn't APPLY myself in high school. Wow, just typing that made me feel like a guidance counselor for a second! Furthermore, it was easy to look around and count the kids who apparently WERE applying themselves since their names appeared on prestigious lists like the Honor Roll. I wasn't knocking those students, but admittedly I wondered what they were doing differently. Granted, they were generally in the habit of doing ALL of their homework and even doing extra credit assignments but there had to be more to it than that, right?
Well, not really. As it turns out I could've applied myself and joined my fellow classmates on those glittery lists. I find it terribly intriguing WHAT people apply themselves to and WHAT their motivation is for doing so. Sometimes it is fun to wonder what became of all that application. Are those academic over-achievers now esteemed CEO's and distinguished members of Congress? Are any of those athletic letter-jacket guys playing pro ball somewhere? Are the students that were members of the yearbook committee now publishers or web designers or those people with the really annoying Myspace pages with 889 photos and sparkly backgrounds? Then there are the unsung heroes of application: the geeks, the nerds and those creepy triplet girls. Are they now running the Googles, Microsofts and Apples of tomorrow?
I remember being younger and being jealous of all these people and recently, I ran into one and it simply rocked my world!!
The conversation started very typically when I learned that she attended a prestigious college, drives a nice car, owns a home in an affluent community, is happily married and has two wonderful children. Frankly, given my memory of her in high school, I would've expected no less. She was popular, smart as a whip and was one of the girls you had to muster up enough courage to ask her to sign your yearbook at the end of the year. I was the kid in the marching band. See where this is going?
After viewing a handful of pics on my Facebook page, she said the unthinkable to me, "I wish I would've applied myself like you did." She drew the conclusion that I must've applied myself to drumming at an early age, and boy was she right. To me, I never viewed it that way. I always thought of application as 'using what you've already got' rather than 'working on something you've got a little bit of'. In my eyes, the kids who were ALREADY smart applied themselves and got good grades. The kids who were ALREADY good at sports applied themselves.....and so on. Their results were so measurable. Good grades, winning games, scholarships to college, etc. Being a guy on the drumline was never measurable (nor is it until you sell millions of records, win a Grammy and appear on Saturday Night Live as the musical guest that Jennifer Aniston introduces).
Sure I got a scholarship to college to play drums (very unexpectedly), but it just didn't seem as impressive (to me or anyone else) as an academic scholarship to Princeton or a football scholarship to Notre Dame. Since my college days I've played drums...lots of drums...and I find myself here. I'm in a place where within the last couple years I've developed a voracious appetite for reading books about thinking, marketing, psychology, phenomena, logic, statistics, probability and outliers. I've realized that I can digest and am interested in all kinds of complex information. Basically, I'm the smart kid that convinced myself that I was the dumb kid. I had fooled myself. What a dirty trick! By a chance meeting with an old high school classmate it was as if I had followed the path she figured I would, just as she followed the path I figured SHE would.
What's the point of my blog? Apply yourself. Apply yourself at all times. Apply yourself at all times to something...anything that YOU feel is important. Don't allow anyone to diminish the importance of that which you have chosen to apply yourself to. And above all, don't allow YOURSELF to diminish the importance of that which you have chosen to apply yourself to.
Application required to live the life YOU want to live.
Friday, July 10, 2009
My take on the Actors Studio interview
I loved Corey’s blog so I’m copying it.
What is your favorite word? Right now, in print, it’s “Paraphernalia.”
What is your least favorite word? “Can’t.”
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? The feel of a Fender P-Bass in my hands, the possibility of making a difference, and the Microsoft Windows commercial where the little Asian girl clicks to make the picture of her pet fish Dorothy “much better.”
What turns you off? Irresponsible profiteering.
What sound or noise do you love? The clanging of pots & pans and opening & closing of kitchen cupboards, hushed conversation, and the popping and hissing of a percolating coffee maker in the morning, as heard through a slightly open bedroom door on Christmas morning.
What sound or noise do you hate? The cry of a smoke alarm, proclaiming the impending death of its battery.
What is your favorite curse word? Mother@#$@%
What profession other than yours would you like to attempt? International Spy, Novelist, or Wizard.
What profession would you not like to do? Airline customer service rep.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Welcome! Wow, you’re having a great hair day! Your orientation schedule is full. At 7 it’s coffee & corn meal mush for breakfast, then you’ve got a few hours in the Endless Hall of Fender Basses Throughout History, some time in the Infinite Chuck E. Cheese style Ball Pit, then lunch with Sting and J.K. Rowling (they’ll beat me there.) After that it’s a run in the brisk afternoon air with our army of Labrador Retreivers, some video game time, then a writing/jam session with Sting, Danny Elfman, Elvis Costello, and Billy Joel. Then dinner with Jack Nicholson and Danny Elfman. Then you’ll catch a movie with whoever’s available, and you’re playing at the Sky Dome arena at 10. Your wife should be along in a few years, once your grandchildren have had a chance to win their second Academy Awards.
What is your favorite word? Right now, in print, it’s “Paraphernalia.”
What is your least favorite word? “Can’t.”
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? The feel of a Fender P-Bass in my hands, the possibility of making a difference, and the Microsoft Windows commercial where the little Asian girl clicks to make the picture of her pet fish Dorothy “much better.”
What turns you off? Irresponsible profiteering.
What sound or noise do you love? The clanging of pots & pans and opening & closing of kitchen cupboards, hushed conversation, and the popping and hissing of a percolating coffee maker in the morning, as heard through a slightly open bedroom door on Christmas morning.
What sound or noise do you hate? The cry of a smoke alarm, proclaiming the impending death of its battery.
What is your favorite curse word? Mother@#$@%
What profession other than yours would you like to attempt? International Spy, Novelist, or Wizard.
What profession would you not like to do? Airline customer service rep.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Welcome! Wow, you’re having a great hair day! Your orientation schedule is full. At 7 it’s coffee & corn meal mush for breakfast, then you’ve got a few hours in the Endless Hall of Fender Basses Throughout History, some time in the Infinite Chuck E. Cheese style Ball Pit, then lunch with Sting and J.K. Rowling (they’ll beat me there.) After that it’s a run in the brisk afternoon air with our army of Labrador Retreivers, some video game time, then a writing/jam session with Sting, Danny Elfman, Elvis Costello, and Billy Joel. Then dinner with Jack Nicholson and Danny Elfman. Then you’ll catch a movie with whoever’s available, and you’re playing at the Sky Dome arena at 10. Your wife should be along in a few years, once your grandchildren have had a chance to win their second Academy Awards.
Inside the Actor's Studio with: Corey Manske of 7k
If you've ever watched the program 'Inside the Actor's Studio' with host James Lipton, you know he asks every guest the following survey developed by Bernard Pivot. I'm always fascinated by the answers people give, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Enjoy.
What is your favorite word? COALESCE
What is your least favorite word? THE 'N' WORD
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? PERSONALITY, INTELLIGENCE, GOOD STAGE SOUND, WELL-TUNED DRUMS, PIERCING SNARE DRUMS, WIDE-EYED LABRADOR RETRIEVERS, KISSING AND LINGERIE.
What turns you off? HATRED, SEGREGATION AND INEQUALITY.
What sound or noise do you love? THE GLUE SEPARATING IN THE COLLAR OF A SNARE DRUM HEAD BEING CRANKED.
What sound or noise do you hate? PEOPLE SPOUTING THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND/OR POLITICAL OPINIONS (SINCE BOTH ARE PRIVATE MATTERS).
What is your favorite curse word? MOST CERTAINLY THE 'F' WORD
What profession other than yours would you like to attempt? ACTOR OR UFC FIGHTER
What profession would you not like to do? ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH TAXES, TEETH OR POLITICS.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? HAVE A SEAT BY THE TV, HERE IS A BOTTOMLESS BOWL OF THE BEST MAC & CHEESE YOU'LL EVER EAT, THE GAME IS ON AND IT LOOKS LIKE THE PACKERS ARE ENJOYING THEIR 77TH STRAIGHT UNDEFEATED SEASON....OH, BY THE WAY YOUR SOUND CHECK IS IN AN HOUR.
What is your favorite word? COALESCE
What is your least favorite word? THE 'N' WORD
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? PERSONALITY, INTELLIGENCE, GOOD STAGE SOUND, WELL-TUNED DRUMS, PIERCING SNARE DRUMS, WIDE-EYED LABRADOR RETRIEVERS, KISSING AND LINGERIE.
What turns you off? HATRED, SEGREGATION AND INEQUALITY.
What sound or noise do you love? THE GLUE SEPARATING IN THE COLLAR OF A SNARE DRUM HEAD BEING CRANKED.
What sound or noise do you hate? PEOPLE SPOUTING THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND/OR POLITICAL OPINIONS (SINCE BOTH ARE PRIVATE MATTERS).
What is your favorite curse word? MOST CERTAINLY THE 'F' WORD
What profession other than yours would you like to attempt? ACTOR OR UFC FIGHTER
What profession would you not like to do? ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH TAXES, TEETH OR POLITICS.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? HAVE A SEAT BY THE TV, HERE IS A BOTTOMLESS BOWL OF THE BEST MAC & CHEESE YOU'LL EVER EAT, THE GAME IS ON AND IT LOOKS LIKE THE PACKERS ARE ENJOYING THEIR 77TH STRAIGHT UNDEFEATED SEASON....OH, BY THE WAY YOUR SOUND CHECK IS IN AN HOUR.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
ROCKY ROAD
You may or may not know this, but we're preparing to hit the road later this year. We'll be gone for a whopping 51 days and will experience a gorgeous FALL SEASON in regions of this country that NONE of us have been before! As exciting as this is, believe it or not, it is very bittersweet. Sure, we'll be away from loved ones and away from home, but that's not what will make the road rocky.
We're touring as a part of NACA which would take a series of lengthy blogs to explain sufficiently. The short story is we'll be performing in showcases and interacting with college students at conferences in convention centers. We'll be at three four-day conferences: Lancaster, PA, Covington, KY and Hartford, CT. The purpose of the conferences is to book us for a LARGE SCALE college campus tour for 2010. So, those of you with a calculator have figured out that 12 of 51 days will be spent doing the NACA conference stuff. What about the other 39 days?
Here's where things start to get rocky.
As a three-piece band, we've never ventured outside our home state of California. That said, it seems California is actually the BEGINNING rather than the END (a little 7k humor). What that means is we aren't a 'proven commodity' yet. Sure, you and your friends like 7k, but what about the rest of the United States? Now factor in the cost of fuel, not drawing an income from our day jobs and our need to consume food. See where I'm going with this? Don't feel bad if you don't...I'll explain.
Things are officially very rocky at this point.
Thanks to the current state of the music business, and the known fact that only a 'proven commodity' makes money playing original music on the road, 7k will be performing many COVER GIGS while on tour. That means we'll be playing your favorite AC/DC song, your favorite Journey song and dozens of other songs you enjoy singing and dancing along to while slightly or massively inebriated. Oddly enough, the classification 'proven commodity' doesn't apply to a traveling cover band. Even more oddly, clubs of all shapes and sizes in every city imaginable pay BIG MONEY (relatively speaking) for cover bands. If you can rock 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' and kick out a snappy version of 'Jessie's Girl' people will have fun, buy multiple drinks, cheer loudly, make-out with strangers and vomit in the parking lot. Most people would prefer to repeat that string of events in that order over and over again. Clubs pay bands to be the entertainment and evidently that entertainment consists of the same 50 songs whether you're in Omaha or Dallas or Boston or Daytona Beach.
It's no secret for 7k fans that 7k is not a cover band at heart. Although everyone knows of our genuine aim to please. It's also clear that this tour is the gateway for us to be able to tour next year. The tour next year will consist of mainly 7k getting paid good money for playing 7k songs with a cover gig here and there for some extra money. So this time around, we'll do what we need to do no matter how rocky the road. The way I see it, if you're trying to jump from trapeze 'A' to trapeze 'B' you'll be in mid-air, between the two, holding on to nothing for a short period of time. For 7k, trapeze 'A' is being a LOCAL band, while trapeze 'B' is being a NATIONAL band.
My guess is this won't be our last rocky road and I'm okay with that.
Someone asked me the other day what my goal for 7k is. An impressive answer sprung from my mouth before I knew it: "U2. U2 is my goal for 7k."
The adventure continues.
We're touring as a part of NACA which would take a series of lengthy blogs to explain sufficiently. The short story is we'll be performing in showcases and interacting with college students at conferences in convention centers. We'll be at three four-day conferences: Lancaster, PA, Covington, KY and Hartford, CT. The purpose of the conferences is to book us for a LARGE SCALE college campus tour for 2010. So, those of you with a calculator have figured out that 12 of 51 days will be spent doing the NACA conference stuff. What about the other 39 days?
Here's where things start to get rocky.
As a three-piece band, we've never ventured outside our home state of California. That said, it seems California is actually the BEGINNING rather than the END (a little 7k humor). What that means is we aren't a 'proven commodity' yet. Sure, you and your friends like 7k, but what about the rest of the United States? Now factor in the cost of fuel, not drawing an income from our day jobs and our need to consume food. See where I'm going with this? Don't feel bad if you don't...I'll explain.
Things are officially very rocky at this point.
Thanks to the current state of the music business, and the known fact that only a 'proven commodity' makes money playing original music on the road, 7k will be performing many COVER GIGS while on tour. That means we'll be playing your favorite AC/DC song, your favorite Journey song and dozens of other songs you enjoy singing and dancing along to while slightly or massively inebriated. Oddly enough, the classification 'proven commodity' doesn't apply to a traveling cover band. Even more oddly, clubs of all shapes and sizes in every city imaginable pay BIG MONEY (relatively speaking) for cover bands. If you can rock 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' and kick out a snappy version of 'Jessie's Girl' people will have fun, buy multiple drinks, cheer loudly, make-out with strangers and vomit in the parking lot. Most people would prefer to repeat that string of events in that order over and over again. Clubs pay bands to be the entertainment and evidently that entertainment consists of the same 50 songs whether you're in Omaha or Dallas or Boston or Daytona Beach.
It's no secret for 7k fans that 7k is not a cover band at heart. Although everyone knows of our genuine aim to please. It's also clear that this tour is the gateway for us to be able to tour next year. The tour next year will consist of mainly 7k getting paid good money for playing 7k songs with a cover gig here and there for some extra money. So this time around, we'll do what we need to do no matter how rocky the road. The way I see it, if you're trying to jump from trapeze 'A' to trapeze 'B' you'll be in mid-air, between the two, holding on to nothing for a short period of time. For 7k, trapeze 'A' is being a LOCAL band, while trapeze 'B' is being a NATIONAL band.
My guess is this won't be our last rocky road and I'm okay with that.
Someone asked me the other day what my goal for 7k is. An impressive answer sprung from my mouth before I knew it: "U2. U2 is my goal for 7k."
The adventure continues.
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