Oct 12, 2006 - ISpace, YouSpace, we AllSpace for MySpace

First, I'll get the MySpace plug out of the way:

www.myspace.com/cdprewett

Ain't it purdy? I know enough HTML to have my way with the formatting, but not much else. Thank goodness for pre-formatted banners and the like.

I can't believe how much traffic goes through MySpace. In my month of membership, I've already received about 5 or 10 times the number of plays as I recieved in almost a year of membership here. Of course I think that part of that is due to the fact that it apparently double-counts your own plays. So 50 or 60 of those plays are probably me :D

But with 100+ profile views, I've received an impressive ratio of visits-to-listens.

Actually here at HRC, I reached a milestone of traffic to my profile. 500 visits as of this week, which is pretty cool I think. Another 200+ visits to my music page, and a surprising 450+ visits to my blog page. I must have some important keywords worked into these pages or something, because the search engine hits are coming in pretty steadily.

So, what's going on lately with me...

VACATION!!!! Leaving for a week in sunny Florida this Sunday. We're staying at a ritzy resort in Perdido Key, right on the beach, courtesy of my wife's aunt and uncle. They're well-off and they own a condo down there that they're letting us use for the week. It makes such a huge difference to have lodging paid for down there, otherwise it'd cost us somewhere around $1500 for the week to stay there. Hell, that's way over our entire vacation budget. so we'll actually have money to go and eat, golf, drink, shop, etc. You know, fun vacation stuff. I can't freaking wait! Hopefully I'll come back with a sunburn and a perma-smile on my face.

Other than that, the only other big news for me is that Tony from the Home Made Hit Show chose one of my songs "A Little Sunshine" for this week's episode. So keep an eye out Friday morning (usually around 10 AM Central). I'll probably tell everybody I know, including you fellow forum goons here, about the show. Rest assured, if you come to this site, you won't be able to ignore the fact that I'm on an episode of the HMHS this week :-D

I can feel the motivation for recording creeping back into my life. I operate in "waves" of motivation, and I can tell that a surge is just over the horizon. This vacation is about the only reason why I haven't dove in head first to complete several unfinished projects and remixes for submission to the HMHS.

I've written a couple of new songs, so hopefully I'll have time to develop them into fully-realized projects and record them and hang them out to dry here for your comments.

So sorry that I haven't been reviewing any of your music lately. My interest in critique of other people's music usually directly coincides with my interest in recording my own music, so I'll probably get back into the swing of being a reciprocal reviewer before long. There has been lots of music posted lately and I'm sorry to say that I havne't listened to a single note of it. Soon I tell ya. Soon.

Anyways, hang loose HRC, I'll catch ya after the vacation. Keep an eye on the NFL and fantasy for me this weekend since I'll be travelling on Sunday and won't be able to catch the action myself. That totally sucks because my Chiefs are playing at Pittsburgh, and the opportunity to catch the super bowl champions in a slump doesn't come very often. I'll be looking for any TV with the game on it, although I don't expect much coverage of KC/PIT in Florida. I'll get to catch all the exciting Tampa Bay, Miami and Jacksonville games though. Weee! How fun! I hate those teams.

Sep 13, 2006 - Hey HRC, how's it hanging?

So how's everybody? Good to hear that. Or sorry to hear that, depending on your response.

What's that? How am I doing? Fine, thanks for asking. You're always so considerate of how I'm feeling.

I haven't been feeling the need to express my thoughts and feelings in this space for a long while now. I've been feeling a bit closed off for various reasons. I'm feeling better lately. I've even started playing guitar and singing again. I can't tell you how good it feels to belt out my favorite songs. It's just good for the soul. It may sound like crap but my sleeping wife and aloof dog don't mind one little bit. I'm even learning some new songs for the first time in ages.

So I'm hoping that this may lead me to feel like writing and recording sometime soon. I sure hope so because I really miss it. I just tend to focus on the things that make me not want to record instead of focusing on the things that make me want to do it. My room acoustics suck. My strings are too old. My sinuses are acting up so I sound all nasaly when I sing. My mics and preamps are starting to get on my nerves. I need a better recording space. I need I need I need. Gear Acquisition Syndrome is a beyatch.

Since the logistics of getting my Last.Fm stats reflected here just don't work out, here's what I've been listening to lately:

- M. Ward - Post War
- Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
- Islands - Return to the Sea (yes, still...I actually went out and bought the real CD last week)
- Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming

What Ive been playing/singing/learning lately:
- Mariner's Revenge Song - The Decemberists
- Undertaker - M. Ward
- Dry the Rain - The Beta Band
- Gravity Rides Everything - Modest Mouse

I'm also about due for an electric guitar noise session. I haven't cranked my baby up for too long now, so I'm overdue.

Anyways, thanks for listening...er...reading. You're such a good listener/reader. I can always count on you to sit there and stare blankly while I spout this nonsense about myself.

Oh, I want to leave you with this:
Thanks to all that is holy that NFL football is back on the air for another season!!!

Maybe that's why I'm happier lately.

Oh, and my fantasy team is better than yours. All of yours. :-D

Aug 07, 2006 - Bleeding Kansas

This weekend I went with a couple of college friends to the Bleeding Kansas Arts and Music Festival, in Lawerence Kansas. It was a one-day fest with 3 stages, tons of local acts and merchants, and a few headliners that I was excited to see.

When I left Kansas City it was about 96 degrees. About the upper limit on how hot it can be outside and I can still tolerate it (assuming a breeze, some shade, and some cold water). As I crossed the Kansas border, I noticed it had warmed to 99 degrees. Between then and my arrival in Lawerence, the temperature climbed to 100, 101, 102 degrees. Oh crap, it's gonna be hot.

And hot it was! We arrived, made it through security. It was kinda funny. On the website for the fest, there were tons of non-allowed items listed. But the security guard was only interested in keeping 1 thing out of the festival: guns. My cigar case was suspicious enough for him to ask me if there was a gun in it, but I said no. And he took my word for it. Sweet, how trusting! Only in Kansas would they just take your word for it that you weren't concealing a handgun in a suspicious-looking container.

So we entered the fest. We had walked about a mile from the car, and we were already showing signs of fatigue. Plus we could only bring 1 bottle of water each, and it had to be unopened. So after we got thru security I busted into the water because I was already sweating like a whore in church.

The first tent had a local act, and they were showing signs of heat exhaustion. It had to be 115 degrees in that tent, and the setting sun was on our backs. I think that tent rivaled the temperature of hell. The music was interesting, but the poor singer was about to drop, and was having troubles keeping in tune.

So we moved on, through the gauntlet of hippie vendors, beer gardens, and indie hipster attendants to the main stage. We threw down a blanket and ended up between some hot college girls, a blonde hipster hottie M.I.L.F. and her nuclear family, and some other vagrants that were in and out for the rest of the night.

First up on the main stage was Broken Social Scene, which is the act that I was most interested in seeing. They did a great job. Being from Canada, they didn't complain about the heat even once (unlike all of the other acts that night). They sounded great, and really nailed their songs. When you have like 10 members in your band, I can't imagine the complications of doing a festival gig. But they were true professionals and their set totally rocked. Too bad I don't know any words to their songs (give a listen to either of their albums...you'll see why I can't learn any of their lyrics).

Next up was Keane, a british 3-piece act. The singer had a terrific voice, even though the music kind of lulled everybody into a near-coma when combined with the heat, humidity, and lack of a breeze. He was excited to be playing in the US, and commented how it was a great moment in his life to be playing in such a scenic area. We forgave him for calling the adjacent river a lake, and the band kept our interest because we swore we kept hearing guitars and basses, but it was just a singer, keyboardist, and drummer up there. Another great performer, even tho the songs didn't quite keep up riveted.

Next was the headliner: Death Cab For Cutie. Wow. Ben Gibbard really did a great job. His voice was in excellent condition, and he really went out of his way to put on a great show. He was really energetic much to my surprise. Death Cab plays kind of slow-tempo emo pop rock, so I expected a pretty low-key show. But the lighting and sound were really top-notch. Hats off to the sound guys for all 3 bands.

Well the fest let out at about 11, we hiked back to the car, dropped off the bags, and walked on to downtown Lawerence (home of KU). We went to my friend's local hangout and drank ourselves silly until closing time. Another hot walk to the Burrito King for late-night drunken munchies, and then back to the hotel. We got back at around 3:30 AM, stayed up just long enough to enjoy an ice-cold beer (seriously the coldest thing I'd drank all day, and a VERY welcome treat). Things get a little fuzzy then, although it involved a bad movie and nodding in and out of consciousness after an exhausting 12 hours in the heat.

All in all it was a good time. Its always good to get to hang out with the fellas that I went with, and its always good to see new acts as well.

So that's 2 consecutive weekends that my friend has worn me out in the heat (same friend that I helped move out of Lawerence a week earlier). If he asks again this week, I'll have to politely decline :)

Jul 31, 2006 - I hurt

First, a shout out to Dan the man: my condolences go out to you and your family. I'm very sorry to hear about your loss, although it seems that you (and your family) have been handling everything very well. Peace be with you man.


...anyways...

I took part in a triathalon this weekend. The events:

- packing an apartment into a moving van in 100 degree weather.
- driving 100 miles
- unpacking a moving van into an apartment in 103 degree weather.

There were only 2 contestants in this event, and I think that we both actually lost. We were absolutely exhausted by the end of yesterday after sweating, huffing and puffing all night and all day. What an undertaking, but we did it. My friend is now officially relocated to Emporia Kansas. A thriving metropolis of 25,000 people, Emporia houses Tyson Foods' exclusive beef processig plant, complete with an on-site slaughterhouse. Now you know.

So my back has been out of whack today. I've got a catch in my upper that just about drops me to my knees every time I move in a certain way. Its a definite sign of overexertion. Plus I'm so sleepy that I can barely keep myself together to make it thru the work day. It'll be an early night tonight, for sure!

So I think I'm going to start a series of blogs that will detail the process of my latest songwriting project. I think I may provide text and recordings that show how the music and lyrics have transformed over the last couple of months, and then continue to provide audio examples of how it progresses from this point forward.

So be on the lookout for an "Evolution of a Song" series of blogs from me. Yeah, I know you're riveted now. Both of you.

Jul 19, 2006 - Midle of the day, middle of the week

Well its just the middle of everything today, isn't it? I've actually been thinking about using that as a refrain in a song, it kind of has a rhythm to it.

You won't believe this, but I actually fired up Cubase a few times in the past week. I've been working on remixing "Homesick" because the current mix of that song drives me nuts every time I hear it. So I'm trying to get more out of the drums, and cut down on the audible pumping from my pseudo-mastering work.

Also I didn't do any noise gating on the original mix. We were recording in my friend's garage, next to his refrigerator and air conditioner so there was quite a bit of background noise. Hell, even the scratch track bled into the overheads. So it's been fun to try and squeeze a better mix out of those tracks. I'm hoping that this will provide some fuel for my desire to record and mix more. I've been almost totally dormant on that front for most of the year, except for my little 8-week stint of the Thursday Sessions. Speaking of which, I need to flush out those ideas. I thinkn that there's at least a quality EP's worth of tracks there. If I could only record drums myself I'd be so much more productive. At least that's what I'd like to believe! This is reinforced by our forum thread from this week that said how the more gear you get, the less you seem to do with it. How true.

Damn its been hot here lately. I'll take it over the cold any day, but man its pushing the limits of human tolerance lately. 99 or 100 degrees every day, with some humidity...pushing the heat index into the 110 degree range every day this week. My poor lawn, I can't give it enough water. Same for my hard-earned newly-renovated gardens. They're looking pretty sorry.

Oh and the critters have eaten every freakin leaf of every hosta in our yard. We're growing hosta stems, such an attractive plant to have around...no foilage, no flowers...all devoured by critters of some sort. Grrrrr....

Jul 10, 2006 - I Still Call It Home

That's a line from one of my own songs, referring to the town where I grew up. I went back for 4th of July and it was kind of a refresher course on all of the issues swirling around my family. Every family has its issues, and mine is no exception. The problem is, we're all such passive-aggressive people that nobody ever comes out and confronts their problems. So they fester and grow, bubbling beneath the surface. Every so often something rides the convection currents to the surface and erupts like a solar flare.

Between the stints of terrible luck, unwillingness to flinch when it comes to matters of pride, and even a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy, my family has taken a figurative beating over the past few years. A nasty divorce, a family feud, kids coming of age under great stress, losses in the stock market, old age, young age, estrangement, addiction and apathy all factor into it.

I've taken a passive stance about everything. Things tend to get even messier when I try to interfere, so I've left it all alone hoping that the wounds would heal themselves. After a few years I see that this didn't happen. So I thought that maybe it was time to interfere. But I'm no good at matters of diplomacy or moderation. So I'm impotent when it comes to being the family therapist. I just soak it all up and keep it inside because I have no outlet.

Or do I? When I feel like this, I write. I think that I have lots of writing to do. This mental block is ridiculous. Its a matter of motivation and self-discipline, neither of which have proven to be strong traits for me.

Hopefully something will come of this, in more ways than one.

Jun 28, 2006 - Hump day

You know, that term could be interpreted in so many ways. Of course it refers to being "over the hump" of the 5-day work week, but it could also denote what my job is doing to my head today. Hump day indeed.

I actually worked on a couple of songs last night, which is at least mentionable. I have so much trouble keeping my motivation up for such things, but Fortymile's thread about the IMM thing got me in a bit of a songwritig mood. They're coming along nicely, although both songs are still total messes right now.

Its been a weird few weeks. My wife has had a couple of scary episodes with painful muscle spasms, one of which landed us in the hospital. She has a pain pump installed in her abdomen, so she's on a permanant dilaudid drip to combat her chronic nerve pain. The pump has worked pretty well for the past year or two but strange things happen if they get the dosage wrong. So she's thinking of getting rid of it. I'm all for it but I'm not too crazy about the amount of medications she'd have to go back on if she did get rid of it. She was on over 800mg of assorted opiates daily before the pump, and now is down to something more like 20mg. She's trying really hard to get back in stride but damn its tough. Its a fine line between treating the pain and turning into a comatose zombie. She's been making good progress lately. Her color has come back, she's been in better spirits, and she's been wanting to go out and do things again. We actually went out to dinner the other day which was a first in several months. Heck, she even went to a Widespread Panic show with a friend last week, which totally amazed me. I was very happy for her that she got to go out and enjoy some time away from the house.

Anyways, so what else is going on...

Work sucks and is driving me crazy, but I've kinda already covered that...

My hobbies and interests have dwindled down to almost nothing lately. Usually I keep myself entertained between playing guitar, songwriting, recording, video games, golf, pool. But I haven't really been too motivated to do any of that lately. Not sure what's going on.

I'm taking a few days off of work along with the 4th of July holiday and making my rounds down in Oklahoma to see friends and family. First, to Stillwater to see my friend who's in his last year of undergrad classes. Then off to Oklahoma City to see my brother and sister-in-law. Then it'll be a trip up to my hometown of Bartlesville to see my parents, sister, and neices and nephew. We'll probably go to my aunt's property and blow up as much stuff as we can afford to buy for the 4th. It ought to be fun. All of the travelling will be a bit rough on the wife, but she seems up for it. I'm definitely up for it since I haven't seen anybody since Christmas.

Anyways I'll leave you with the most recent incarnation of my unfinished lyrics that I'm working on:

The universe listens to me
It has eyes and ears and walks circles around me
It exploded out of nothing
But I still think there was something precursory

10 billion eyes looking away
From the center of the Earth after a long day
Our searchlights shine on endless
The night sky hasn't talked back
Since the olden days

I want you to know
I wear a ring
Thats made of things
That used to be a sun

Jun 08, 2006 - Fencing with a machine

Touche, vile machine!

I swear that sometimes programming a computer is a lot like fencing against it. For every move I make, it has a counter-move or parry that negates my idea. For every change I make, it brings on a set of problems that each need a change to fix...and each of those fixes bring on more fixes...and so on and so forth until I'm left staring blankly into the screen, at a complete loss. Every avenue is a dead end. Its not a very rewarding situation.

I'm at that point right now. Freaking touche.

See that thing way back there? That's the drawing board. I'm on my way back there.

So I've been tossing around a new song idea. Its kinda lame at this point but it has potential. Inspired by something I saw in Carl Sagan's Cosmos.

You see, I've never quite bought into the whole Big Bang theory. I know that all of the evidence points towards that as the explanation of the creation of the universe as we know it. But what the hell, all of a sudden some super-massive thing explodes for no good reason? C'mon that's kinda silly.

What I like was the Hindu-inspired explanation that Carl gave...maybe the Big Bang was just one of an infinite number of iterations of Big Bangs, expansion, stasis, contraction, and an eventual "Big Crunch", which in turn causes another Big Bang. Nothing created in the billions of years of cosmic evolution survives this renewal or reincarnation, and all is reduced back to that singularity which, in turn, expands, condenses into stars and planets, expands until its momentum can carry it no further, then gravity starts to pull it all back to its point of origin, and it all collapses upon itself again for another Big Bang. Over and over, eon after eon.

We'll disintegrate
And reincarnate
Eon after eon

Jun 02, 2006 - A boat's a boat, but the mystery box could be anything...even a boat!

And so my weekends are like the mystery box. They could be full of anything, which is why I love them so much. But they usually end up being full of nothing (or a couple of tickets to the Chuckle Bucket). it's all about the potential.

For a short week, this sure seemed like an eternity. I barely squeaked by. Staying up late on the weekends just kills my ability to get up early during the week. I can't sleep past 8 on a weekend but come 8:30 on a weekday I'm still hitting the snooze on my alarm. Go figure. Again, its all about potential. On a weekday I know exactly what I need to do. But on a weekend, the day is totally open and I'm anxious to get started (which usually involves a wake-and-bake and some video games and not much else). But I've been getting stuff done lately. Kind of.

So a regular thing for me on a weekday is to go home for lunch and play electric guitar for 30 or 40 minutes or so. Its the best time of day for me to play because having just eaten lunch and a Mt. Dew gives me both the energy and the clarity of mind for me to play my best (which isn't all that great anymore but its good for me). Plus I have the house to myself, which is key. I can cut loose and lose all inhibitions about how it actually sounds. I tell you its some of the best time spent in my life. Its so cathartic, like a drummer pounding the crap out of his trap set or something. I get excited and play as if I were on stage playing for everybody I know. I just get into it for some reason. I sure miss gigging for that very reason. I get all sweaty and hot and go back to work..people probably think I go jogging or something. Its the next-best thing!

Plus I just love hearing my guitar, amp, and compressor stomp box playing together. It really does sound great even if its way too loud for my house. That's another benefit to playing mid-day...my entire neighborhood is away at work so I can be loud and not bother anybody.

Maybe my rig sounds so good to me because I'm thinking of selling it. I'm pricing THD Univalves but they're not cheap, even on eBay. I really want one, plus the THD 2x12 cabinet, and an Electro-Harmonix Black Finger compressor. Give me all that and I won't have a want in the world. Except for all that other stuff I want...which I'll still want.

Jun 01, 2006 - Arena rock

So I went to a concert last night. First time in a while. My friend is in the Dave Matthews Band fan club, and has been for like 10 or 12 years now. He's been to over 20 shows and he likes to go any time they come to KC. Since we live relatively close to each other, he usually invites me to come along even though I'm not a huge DMB fan. I always enjoy myself, mainly because its an excuse to go hang out with a good friend for the evening. Plus he always gets good seats.

This time around we were 5th row, stage left. What awesome seats for a stadium! Right in front of the left mains. My ears are still ringing! The hi-packs were 12 pairs of 10" or 12" speakers (couldn't quite tell), and the lo-packs were 8 or 10 pairs of 15" speakers, all pointed right at our heads. So the kick drum nearly caused internal bleeding and the cymbals cashed my ears for the time being...I hope they recover soon because I can't hear a damn thing above like 500Hz. I might as well have worn earmuffs to work today.

Really it was a great show, and the best out of the 4 or 5 that I've been to. The opening band was called G-Love and Special Sauce. Hehe, what a band name. It was white-boy rap, which isn't my thing but they did a good job. They had an upright bassist that was great, and the "singer" was this skinny kid that played fingerstyle electric guitar and harmonica. He was definitely talented, and the lyrics were fast-paced. It was enjoyable and it made the hot young girls dance, so it wasn't so bad at all.

Big-ticket concerts attract such an interesting cross-section of society. Given, this was one of the whitest concerts that I've ever been to...I mean this was a 99.99% caucasian crowd. And over half of the headlining band is black, yet the black kids stay away and the white kids can't get enough. Well it wasn't just white kids, but white twenty-somethings, white thirty somethings, white forty-somethings...jeez the entire spectrum of anglo-saxon america showed up.

But everybody was well-behaved. Its kind of an amiable and stoney crowd, and the aroma of pot wafted by me more than once after the sun went down.

The one great thing about the crowd is that its at least 40% hot young shapely scantily-clad girls every time I go. Wow. They somehow defy the logic that big boobs only come on big women. I don't know where these girls come from or where they live but it must be in some fantasy land that I've never seen. They only descend down to Earth to shake it for millionaire rock stars apparently. I can live with that. It makes it worth the $60 ticket price. :-D