Don't Give Up Hope!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I haven't abandoned them I've been very busy lately and I'll have to wait until after the holidays before I get into the great musical debate. In the meantime I think I'll post a link to one of my Youtube vids, just to stir things up a bit. It's politically controversial and was removed from the Flixya site I had it on. They suck anyway. Their site is all crap about how to make 48 cents a month "getting rich" online.
So, without further ado, here is my video "Just A Statement (About War)" (it features the song "Coma" by Buckethead with Serj Tankian of SOAD and Middle Eastern Singer Azam Ali)





Happy Holidays Everyone!

***NOTE: A few days after this was posted, WARNER BROS RECORDS, told Youtube to remove my video for Copyright Violation! Now, anyone who knows me knows I'm a HUGE supporter of music. I used to be a radio disc jockey, back in the days when record execs were at least equally concerned with PROMOTING good music as they were with squeezing every last dollar out of the fans. It's ALL about the money with the big companies now. That's why there's so much crap out there we're forced to ingest. I had just over 2 minutes of an 8 minute song that I used. This could hardly be construed as trying to cheat an artist out of royalties, as you would be missing MOST of the song by just listening to it on my video. I wanted to PROMOTE the song...it's a GREAT song and I encourage people to go out and buy it, but get it from somewhere like iTunes, instead of maximizing the Warner profit they get from their overpriced CD's.
It really pisses me off when stuff like this happens, as it takes away from the actual message of the video, which is that so much money is spent wrongly, when we COULD be helping people buy food, medical supplies, education etc.
Now this post has become more about what dickheads Warner Bros. are than about the plight of the sick and suffering...fuck.
WARNER BROS SUCK!!

A New Direction

I originally started this blog because I wanted to discuss stuff about myself and what I do, like so many others out there, but really, who cares? You wouldnt care about my Aunt Martha or what I had for lunch anymore than I would about you, so let's just bring things into focus, shall we?

I am, in fact, a musician, among many other things, and I have a great passion for the subject. I eat, breathe and sleep with songs in my head 24/7 and it's (to use a cliche) really the soundtrack to all our lives. Many years ago, while attending University for my degree in Philosophy, I wrote a weekly newspaper column called "Vinyl Preservative", which mostly dealt with biographies on lesser known obscure bands worth checking out. I would like to pick up here where I left off then, but with more of an emphasis on not just obscure curios in music, but the historical context of that music. To that end, I expect to eventually hit upon a hot topic or two, most notably the attitudes among people of different races over the years as music has changed.

Some of the things I'd like to see discussed here are topics like the origins of slave songs and how they've changed with the Disney mainstream, gender specific music marketing, boy bands, why heavy metal is associated with satanism, dust bowl ballads and cylinder recordings. And that's just to get started! I plan to make the topics very interesting so please bookmark me and feel free to join in with a comment anytime. Thanks!

Dizzying Digital Cameras

So, I was in the market for a digital camera a couple of months ago and I was AMAZED by how many choices and features there are! It was quite dizzying! I was originally thinking I just needed something to point and click at my subject and that was pretty much it, since I'm not a professional photographer. I did lots of research first on the internet before going out to look at any in the stores, and this lead me into a vast world of cameras that actually gave me a headache just sorting through them. Do I want it to do video as well? What about sound? How many megapixels are good enough for me? How many modes are sufficient? How good is the macro mode? What about night mode, Black & White, Sepia tones...ARGHHH!!!!
Everytime I thought I had settled on a choice, I would change my mind. I had it down to 2 cameras (a Canon & a Fuji) at one point, but then changed my mind AGAIN! I didnt want to shell out over $200 on the WRONG decision, so I just gave up for awhile. I also find that camera makers don't always make their features clear and obvious, so you really have to do a lot of digging to find out what you want to know about it. There are many good camera review sites out there if you Google it, but ultimately it's your decision and you have to live with it. My advice is to do a LOT of research and don't just pick a camera that happens to be on sale. If it's on sale for VERY cheap, then it's usually because the store is phasing it out to make room for the newer models. That can be a problem when looking for accessories later on.
Basically, make a list of the features you HAVE to have and then research cameras that have those features in the price range you're willing to pay. Any other features a camera might have would be a nice bonus, but dont let it sway your decision too much if its a feature you'll probably never use anyway. Take your list and research info with you shopping and then look for what you want. If you are well prepared beforehand then this will be less painful than it could be and you may even walk away with a great deal!! Good luck and happy shopping!

What Is Mystery Shopping?

I wanted to start right off today with a brief introduction to mystery shopping. It's just one of the things that I do to supplement my income. It won't make you rich, but it can be a nice little bonus sometimes. The one thing that I'd like to stress to you is not to be sucked into the vision that shopping for money would be the greatest/coolest/most fun job EVER! Yes, getting paid to buy stuff can be great, but there is a lot more to it that you may not know. But I'm going to tell you! :)
The first issue to be aware of is that when you have an assignment to do there is a very specific time frame for that assignment. You can't just go into a clothing store whenever you feel like buying a new outfit and expect to be able to do an assignment out of it. The company will give you specific days, and then times within those days when an assignment must be completed, so there are restrictions on when you can shop. The other important thing is that you can't always buy WHAT you want either. Some assignments will reimburse you for whatever you want to buy as long as it's something small and under their price allotment. Other companies, especially fast food assignments, want you to buy very specific things or orders that cannot be altered. I've quite often found myself eating a meal I did not like during a shop because they required the purchase of a specific menu item. Another factor to consider is the pay versus your cost of completing an assignment. Some companies pay VERY little (sometimes less than $10 per shop assignment), and when you factor in all the MANY variables, such as gas, paper, printer ink to print assignments, and your time doing the assignment and submitting the results afterward, it may not be worth it to you. Fortunately, you can pick and choose the shops you want to do, so I recommend choosing wisely. Also, sometimes the reimbursable amount does not quite cover the cost of the actual purchase, so you may be out a dollar or two there as well. Some companies will pay extra for gas mileage and some won't. Again, choose wisely, little grasshopper...
I'm not sure if I scared anyone away yet, but there is one last important thing to mention. Being a Mystery Shopper (also known as a store evaluator or merchandiser) is a REAL job. There are many companies out there that will try to scam you, by making it sound more glamorous than what it really is. Make sure you only do what feels right for you! That being said, there are many good mystery shopping companies out there, and I work for several of them. Don't limit yourself to just one company. You can work for many and make a better income by doing so. There is a great mystery shopping resource here: http://www.mysteryshop.org/ and I recommend the site as a good starting place. There are also good international shopper companies such as http://www.shopnchek.com/ and http://www.xec.gapbuster.com/ . The 1st is the largest American mystery company and the latter is based in Australia but has offices in North America with one of the biggest clients in the world.
Bottom line is, it can be a fun extra income opportunity and a great way to get a free meal or pair of pants sometime, but don't expect to retire from it. In fact, a large percentage of shoppers ARE retired people looking for a little extra something to do to supplement their income.
Above all, have fun with it!

Birth Of A Blog

Here I am late at night joining the internet blogging world with my words of wisdom. Am I wise? Probably not, but ya gotta start somewhere, right? I plan to use this as a forum for writing about many things. We live in an A.D.D. world and I have to throw my facts and opinions at you as accurately as possible while still keeping your attention, or you're off with a click of the mouse to find that latest Britney Spears photo to crash all over the World Wide Web. I'll leave you to that for now. I'm off to dream with the fishes...