Writing music

The process of writing music is something that has intrigued me for years. There are so many variety's of ways to write a song that it is amazing.

For me the base of a song is mostly always written alone. I like to sit with the acoustic guitar and just improvise until a melody or riff catches my ear. This is how I wrote songs for the entire 3 years I was in a band. I would come to practice with the basic song and let the rest of the band fill in the blanks.

Now days it is odd because I have been messing with rap songs. This changed how I write music. The first collection of songs I did were all separately written and recorded in a couple of hours, and featured music sampled from the music program "Garage band" Having to quickly adapt to the music and figure out not only verse lyrics but also a chorus was fun but different.

With the second collection of rap songs I did I decided to write my own music. I would sit down with my acoustic and figure out some music and then show it to my cousins who runs the studio and he would record the music with a keyboard. Most of this still involved recording the music first and listening to it back and trying to figure out what to do rap and melody wise. Sometimes during recording I would just find the chorus right when we finished the music and other times it took a long while.

Bands that write music during jam sessions are interesting. Red hot chili peppers is one of those bands and reading about how their songs came to life is so cool.

There is always that special moment when you find a melody that you just know is good. I really don't know where it comes from but it just suddenly appears. One moment there is nothing and then the big bang happens and that melody is something. Anyone that writes music has to understand that feeling.

Quicker thoughts

Just finished all 5 season of The Wire. Great show.

I read The Constitution in exile by Judge Napolitano. I learned tons.

I don't understand why people are so excited for the Republicans to gain control of Congress again. Were they doing a good job before? No. Vote 3rd party.

I love Chang's Mongolian Grill and Spaghetti factory

My beard has grown for over 8 months now

I've been trying really hard to get into the TV show Rubicon but this show is taking its sweet time getting going.

Mad men is good but way over rated.

Breaking bad is the best show on AMC.

CBS makes the worst TV shows known to man

I tried to watch True Blood but after 3 episodes I just couldn't handle it. Way too much of a soap opera for me

I have the hardest time listening to Punk music anymore.

Girls that are hyper are annoying. You're not 7 so relax.

I have to admit that when it comes to certain subjects, activity's, etc, that I am an elitist. That's the truth.


Movies are an entertainment device that most people seem to view as exactly that, Just entertainment. Nothing more. They don't want to watch a movie that will challenge them (unless it is also filled with great action. Inception squashed thinking and action one movie and pulled off a miracle) It's this type of thinking that keeps filling our theaters with Michael Bay films, endless remakes of old movies or classic TV shows redone into bad movies. I believe we should respect that art of film making a little bit more than this. This isn't to say that their is no place for mindless entertainment because their most certainly is, but why is the biggest money making film of all time Avatar? James Cameron had 2 and a half hours to develop characters and couldn't. He had the same amount of time to tell a great story but opted for Pocahontas meets Dances with Wolves. Why are we rewarding this? Just because the computer fx were cool? Film making is an art and should be respected as such. Millions of dollars are spent on these movies we watch and thousands of man hours and all we ask in return is that they entertain us? We should expect more and in return we will receive more. It's basic free market thinking that says that the consumer votes with his or her money. Lets vote for quality.


I don't know everything about religion. I sure wish I did, but sadly I don't. But I am sure I know more than the average person. How do i know this? Because I have engaged in many religious discussions with a diverse crowd and have come to the realization that the average person has no clue what is going on. Most have some sort of theory but its based on nothing. People will say, " Well, I believe God wouldn't punish anyone," OR " As long as I am a good person I will go to heaven.? What is this based on? What knowledge? Anyone that will answer like this most likely is not religious and will say the Bible, Koran, ect, are just books with a good message but not the word of God. So where do these beliefs come from? How do people come to these conclusions with no evidence? I have to believe these are cop out answers. Instead of just saying you don't know, you try to create God as you would like him to be.



Please stop saying you like a song because it has a good beat. If this was the case then you would sit around listening to drums all day long. Stop saying a song is good because of the lyrics. You like the song because the music is good and then the lyrics also add emotion or meaning to the song. It's the music that grabs you. The lyrics are only an additive like salt. If you really love lyrics that much then go read poetry.

Bearded and ready to go

I have had dreams for many years of letting my beard grow for an entire year, and that is why it feels so good to only be around 4 months from completing this goal.



Has it been a worthy goal? Well, I guess compared to getting a degree or pushing my body to be in peak condition, the beard isn't really worthy. But it has been and will be worth all the days I have had to spend looking so homeless.



I have found that the best and funniest memories are when people go to the extreme and then are able to look back and laugh at it. I grow my beard for my own reasons and I have realized more and more that it has nothing to do with anyone else but myself. It's totally selfish, I know.



This selfishness is good though. Pushing myself to complete a ridiculous goal has brought a certain amount of happiness that i believe can only be found in doing the absurd.



Could I do this If I had a family? Maybe, but I would forsee problems with any wife if your trying to look so dirty. I guess I should say that this is a goal that I wanted to complete before I get married but i hate saying that because that would imply I believe I will ever get married. Supposing I will for sure get married someday seems egotistical to me. People have told me over and over that that is a stupid way to think but I can't really help it. My getting married depends on more than just me. It takes another willing person (preferbly a lady) to agree to being joined with me forever, and I honestly can't just expect that a girl would want to put up with me or would that we would both agree on our feelings for each other.

Marriage is a seperate issue though. The beard is what's important right now and it is mighty.

Random

My mind can easily become fixated on........


I once went an entire day feeling very claustrophobic when It suddenly dawned on me that I am always trapped. I can't stand the feeling of being held down or in tight spots. It makes me freak out. So one day while lying in bed It just hit me that........I'm trapped in my body. I can see outside of my body, but I am very much a prisoner in my own vessel. This is very stupid, and I know this, but for the rest of that day I had a small feeling of being claustrophobic.

I sometimes become very fascinated with people passing me on the streets. In my movie they are just extras, but in reality they each have their own memories, family's, beliefs, dreams, hopes, fears etc. I've caught myself just staring at a bystander and wondering what their childhood was like. If they believe in God. If they are going through a bad time at the moment or if they are a terrible person. For the most part I don't even accept these people has real people because they have no effect on my life and I know that it isn't right but their realities are a mystery to me. Though I do know that we are all very much a like.

The rudeness of people has always interested me. Watching everyday people get stuck in a long line in the supermarket or have their time taken up in anyway they don't care for causes so much rudeness that It confuses me. How a person acts when a waiter accidentally spills water on them or if a new employee at Winco keeps making mistakes really shows what kind of person they really are. I think we all at times feel disconnected from people we don't know, just like I do at times, but it seems many people only view others as sub human and then treat them as such when they feel their toes have been stepped on.

Why does it seem that most people would rather do a mindless activity instead of having a good conversation? Most important lessons I have learned have come from conversations with friends and family. All my important relationships that I have in life have been formed by long conversations. Games are fine, but honestly sitting around and talking until a topic catches on is one of the funnest things to do. Deep religious conversations are always interesting and political debates are just awesome.

My lately

Here a list of some movies and books I have watched or read lately.


Books.


The Road. The story centers around a father and son trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world. Great book that paints the world in such a way that you can feel there is no hope.

The Stand. Another post apocalyptic book , but this one is all about good vs. evil. I am a Stephen King fan and this is considered one of his best, but honestly I was let down. I did get the extended version of the book so it was near 1200 pages in the smallest print possible. Maybe this is why the second half of the book dragged terribly and came to a real anti climactic conclusion. Loved the first half though.

Haunted. I'm a fan of Chuck Palahniuk's books. Fight club, Survivor, Lullaby, and choke were all great books and I enjoyed this one as well, but it was easily my least favorite. It was about a group of authors that answer an ad to a two month writers retreat. Each take turns telling crazy and gross stories. And things go crazy. I really didn't get the ending but overall i liked it.

Revolution: A manifesto: A political book by Texas Congressmen Ron Paul. It just goes over the basics of his thoughts on the government. It is a great book that really sells Libertarian ideas.

End the Fed. Another Political book by Ron Paul. This one he explains how the Federal Reserve runs and why it should be abolished. Loved it and it taught me tons.

The Communist Manifesto. I wanted to learn more about Communism so I went right to the source. Written by Karl Marx and someone else who's name escapes me. This books puts up a great argument for Communism and why the working man should unite against the rich man. Short and to the point.


Movies.


Inception. Christopher Nolan is the best director/writer working today and this movie just cements that. Amazing film that hit me on every level.

Mother. I believe this is a Korean film. Either way it was made somewhere in Asia. It's about a Mother trying to prove her slow witted child is not guilty of the murder he is accused of. Overall I enjoyed it even though it was slow at times and little long.

Daybreakers. Blah. Vampires run the world. Few humans exist. Vampires are running out of blood and need a solution. Bad special effects. Bad Editing. Bad writing. The end has some cool scenes, but....blah.

Up. Loved the first half. Wanted to kill myself during the second half. Talking dogs? Really?

I pondered

After much debate I have decided to add something to my blog that is not political. Might as well just throw my thoughts out on random subjects as well. Not sure If I'm allowed by the Blog God's (upper case G or lower case g?) to challenge their dominance when it comes to writing awesome blogs, but you better believe I will try. Guess I'm a polytheist.



I have always been taught to Search, Ponder, and Pray. I have really only been great at the pondering part. The other two take so much work ( I'm not discussing works vs grace here so if there are any born again Christians that are suddenly thinking of a certain verse in Ephesians... then just stop...Hammer Time ) and honestly, I'm lazy. Luckily for me though it's easy to ponder while reclining and eating a party pizza.

So what have I pondered? This, and I guess it does tie in with politics.

There is so much talk of fixing our immigration problem in this country, and when anyone talks of this they are only speaking of one group, " Mexicans." Everyone is crying about them taking real Americans jobs and mooching of our welfare system. There is even the assumption they still work for $1.50 an hour ( which is crazy because they all demand 15 bucks an hour these days) but none these things really matter. What matters is they are now essential to our Country in an unseen way. They are the spiders getting rid of pests all around us and we don't know it. We all say we hate spiders but then realize if they didn't exist we would be overrun with Zeus only knows how many bugs.

So what population are our friends from the south helping to control?

I call it the hefty girls club.

There is nothing a grown Mexican man loves more than an American girl that looks like Louie Anderson. This is a fact. Maybe they would make the hair longer and have them wear a jean jacket but overall this is a good idea of what they want. So I think you can see I don't just mean heavy girls in general. I am talking the ones who hang outside the Plaid Pantry smoking a Cig and talking loudly on the only pay phone left in the U.S. I am talking the girls that need a man and are willing to give up and date with what appears to be Mario.



















If we throw all these Mexicans out then what will we do with their left over women? Can you imagine this. We would be looking at the chunky apocalypse.

Someone would have to start dating these women and trust me when I say HE can't do it all alone.



















All black men in this country would have to step up and take a plump white girl, and yes, I mean even those black guys that prefer thin girls or black girls. ( Not that they exist)
I'm almost certain we would have to start shelters for these poor girls because frankly, I think the average African American man today would realize what the white man was trying to push off on to him and they would revolt. This is where all those years of slavery might actually come back to bite us.
We would end up having to pay reparations just to get them to go along with our plan and I really don't think they will accept 40 acres and a mule.

Could this be huge in rap videos soon?





















I guess we could push them off onto the white man. Start a dating show called

"Who wants to drop their standards?"

Though that might already be a game show for Mormons who turn 30.

My point is that our country can't afford tossing out the people that serve me my biggie fries because the backlash is something we can't prepare for.

I have pondered this.