Words Of Wisdom

Ya wanna know why? For many artists, creating the complete album itself is just as time consuming as recording the songs. The mixing of sound and making an album set list that flows well is an art itself. Some people (ie, Brian Wilson) have gone insane over the stress of making a perfect album. I appreciate the concept of a full album with songs that were meant to be listened to in a certain order, meant to be part of a whole subject or have complimenting sounds.
Best Of albums often disregard any effort that was put into mixing albums and the flow that was part of a complete project. Often it feels as though Best Of’s just slap dash together the most popular songs in order of popularity by air-play, and not only leave out better songs, but also disregard the beauty that was part of the original vision, the original album, cover to cover.
Not all Best Of albums are terrible though. I firmly believe some artists sound best on this format. Example: an artist/band that doesn’t strive to make full albums or specifically used albums as a venue to sell a single or a few singles. In addition, early musicians that didn’t have complete control over the recording process, such as Elvis, Little Richard, etc…pretty much anyone prior to the mid 1960’s. A lot of 50’s and some 60’s artists and a decent amount of folk and country artists never had control over recording and developing their own albums. Often these musicians would be partnered with a producer or an executive of some kind who simply wanted to sell albums and singles to make money, not to make musical art or to realize a vision.
Many of my favorite artists have best of albums, and it seriously feels like a last ditch effort to make some cash, or to entertain casual listeners with recognizable tunes to get them immersed in the feel of the music. I still hate best of collections though. I’ll admit I have some of these creations…but typically they have since been supplemented, or I have them in my collection only because I can’t find more stuff of said musician (or just don’t want to pay for other stuff). The aspect that I find most annoying about Best Of albums is that they realistically can’t give a good impression of a musician’s full body of work. A Best Of album simply cannot achieve the task of representing an artist properly because it’s just one album…not an entire discography. Certain Best Of’s really piss me off though…
The Beach Boy’s Best Of Collection is a terrible album. It features mostly gimmick songs from their early years and almost completely ignores their best writing and most complex efforts. Is Barbara Ann, Surfin’ Safari, Surfin’ USA and Little Deuce Coop the BEST the Beach Boys music? The short answer is NO. Even members of the Beach Boy’s would agree, their early stuff was gimmick music with no real artistic soul.

Sigh…oh wells. RANT RANT RANT.

It is a fact that America is in a decline phase. We put too much emphasis on getting rich, finances and hording of goods. At this point, oil supplies are running low, technology jobs are being exported, and it seems the best and the brightest are leaving America instead of coming to America.
We do not produce the best cars and honestly don’t really produce much that other countries want to buy. Our levels of production are low because other places can produce more, cheaper and faster. What can we do to fix this?
My simple idea is solutions. We need to produce solutions to the worlds problems. Innovations, intelligence and hard work will never be replaced by cheaper and quicker versions. The best thinking and solid dedication will always be in demand and a desirable commodity.
As Americans, we need to find solutions to a dwindling oil supply. I’m not talking about just alternative fuels and electric cars and what not. We need to find alternatives to oil based products. Plastic. Everything is made of plastic these days…and plastic is from petroleum. America needs to be on the forefront of new alternatives to plastic materials, as well as alternative fuels and power sources. In a sense, America needs to “go green” and become greener than anywhere else. The utilization of geo-thermal energy, solar thermal, nuclear energy, wind power, tidal force power and others will not just save our future, but it will save our wallets. In addition: we need to be the model, not of excess, but of restraint, control and minimizing consumption of resources. I want to see America as the model for the world: efficient mass transit vehicles, reduction of urban sprawl, smart technologies for monitoring resources, alternative fuel based vehicles, renewable and powerful energy sources and other success stories that will allow the world to follow suit. Imagine producing ideas, scientists, innovators and products the world will want.
That is what I want to see. That is how American can reclaim its throne.

Recently I had a craving to play simulation games. Games such as The Sims, Sim City, Sim Ant, etc. These types of games have always been a lot of fun for me and have spurred lots of future creativity for me. Earlier today I noticed there is a lacking in institution type simulation games. What exactly did I have in mind? Sim High School and Sim College. No, I don’t mean “OHEEMMGEE, Like high school?!”.
I mean: Sim High School: You are given cities, demographics, public or private, inner-city or suburb or rural, funding issues, hiring teachers, athletic programs etc. Imagine a simulation where you have the option to begin building a high school in a new big city, develop cross town rivals, secure funding from local governments and parents and build a local HS dynasty. Your school could be known for having intense academic standards and the best teachers, or be known for a dominate sports program. Maybe you want to build a school with an intense drama and music program. In Sim High School all the options would be up to the player. I’ve always liked the idea of being granted funding and building a new school, and later adding editions, updating facilities, hiring teachers (in the game I imagine it being like a free-agent pool, where the list is updated every so often, with teachers retiring, new ones emerging, assistants becoming available, etc.) building athletic facilities and watching it all unfold. Imagine how much fun it would be to develop a school where you send over 85% of students to college, while still being inner-city, and having 50+ state championships in a wide variety sports programs.
Now imagine Sim College. Take the idea of Sim High School and add on the option of building your campus completely, developing the campus layout, hiring athletic directors, securing land grants (or city buildings!) and building a top notch university.

Why haven’t games like this been created? Most likely because most people would find it dull and tedious to develop so many crucial aspects without actually playing any of it. For example: you would build a high school sports program, but would never play the games of soccer, football, volleyball, etc. In addition, it’d mostly be administrative stuff, but the player would get to see the schools in action, and see the cumulative efforts through decorations and history (example, you could look inside your school’s gymnasium and see all of the banners on the ceiling and walls)
Anyways, I think it’d be a lot of fun and a great idea. So someone: please see this, steal this idea and make it a game. Know you’ll have at least one customer.

who swaggered in to your life right as our paths were crossing. As the deepest depths of night set upon your last chapter, our new beginnings started to peak over the horizon. Oh what a beautiful sunrise it was. Our chapters together are just beginning to be written, carefully unfolding our storyline with intimate detail. It’s amazing how great writing and a perfect chapter can solve problems from chapters before, can smooth any issues and make the world forget the past. The days before are part of what makes the journey so grand, but when our time together began…life took on a whole new meaning.
I’m glad I can satisfy you.

Today it rained as if mother-earth was crying for me yesterday.

Not being ready for death.

come and join me in a moment of perfection. Find me and we will discover an existence of wonder and excitement. Love me and I will love you back. Trust me and I will love you forever. Know that I want this world to be ours, not just mine or yours.

More regular posts will follow in good time. Thanks for reading

My friends are real. They support me when I need them most. My friends are smart, compassionate, dry and witty. My friends do not take life too seriously but know when to be adults. My friends are not jealous. My friends want to know about me.
I try to do the same for my friends. I will support them when they need me, be there through the good times and bad. I will offer my words of wisdom and never force them upon anyone.
If you’re reading this, I’m sure you’re a real friend.
Life must move on, and this is the time to prepare for departure. Hello and goodbye. I’m sure our paths will meet again.

This is not a sad post. This is not an entry of wistful thinking, backtracking or wishing life was different. I love how things have turned out. I love what life has become. But I remember what life was, with different people. When the most important people in my life were different than they are today. When my friends were different people, or at least I was more connected to them than I am today. I remember the days when I had the time to drive all over town to deliver stuff to friends and had literally nothing else to do or worry about. I remember the days when my group of friends were close, but I always still felt alone. I remember when I started to break away from that and developed other, smaller groups of closer people. I remember the days with some of you, arguing about pointless crap, sometimes aggravating ourselves to a point of rage induced stupors. I sometimes almost miss those times. I miss them because they remind of a time when school was the most pressing issue, and life was just about what was coming up the following weekend. The relatively bull relationships we had forged and attempted to build would fall apart because of general incompatibilities. I remember when I tried to be close friends with people who I would never have hung out with, and we forced a close relationship on each other. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a post of remorse, or wasteful wishing. I’m happy to still be friends with a lot of these people, but looking back it’s clear a lot of it was crap.
What I have now is wonderful. As time has moved on, relationships will crumble like a sandcastle is claimed by the sea. The connections worth keeping will always be present and allow themselves to remain intact. As I move forward, I will continue to make that trek with my love, whom I want to bet there through it all with me. I realize now, that with love, you will always have a best friend through it all. When others become jealous, distant or fall away, love will always be by your side.
I’m lucky to have found love at all. Finding one’s perfect compliment is a rare and beautiful thing. When it happens, life changes at that moment and nothing remains the same. Love is scary and wild, but worth every moment. Priorities change, mindsets evolve (note: evolve doesn’t mean better or worse, just adapting to the surroundings. So essentially different) and deep set thoughts and emotions are allowed to surface.
I have one love in my life, but I still want to have all my friends as well. Things change, and if you ever have the chance to experience what I have, I’m sure you would completely understand. Thanks for your time my dear audience, I hope our paths will continue to cross for years to come.

and just like that I can’t forget your face. It’ll be another day, and I can look away but I’ll still remember you. Nobody else has quite been like this, oh yes darlin’ I keep coming back again. I’ll keep calling, and you’ll be there, yes you will. And yes, I’m falling, falling in love with you. Just be there when it’s over, through the days, you’re my four leaf clover. Why should I feel any other way? It’s only love and love will keep us together.

Peace and love everyone.