You may not know it, but I have a Tumblr account called Music of the Day. It’s just a running log of what I’m listening to at any given time (though it may not always be real time).
So, if you’re intrigued by the weird music that I often reference on here, or you’re looking to discover something new (or old), you should RSS it and shoot me a note whenever you think that I’ve crossed too many genres in a given day. The Random Post button can be fun, too.
Also, if you happen to be a guitarist, I’m selling a few pedals on Craigslist. If you’re interested, email me through Craigslist and mention this post, I might knock off a couple of bucks.
It’s Thursday, so there’s a new TV Throwdown over at TOC. Today’s topic: an ode to my favorite screenwriter and two of the greatest television programs of the last 20 years that were canceled before their time. Editors Note: I’ve misspelled canceled 3 times in the last 12 hours.
So, along with the big 4th of July project, we also spent the better portion of last week hard at work on this one. I must tell you, I’m a bit frustrated by the screenshot that was automatically generated as we were very conscious of concealing the punchline. Oh, well. What can you do? Hopefully there will be an extended directors cut available in the near future.
Tina Brown: Director, Producer, Editor, Photographer, Voice of “The Director”
Ryan Brymer: Concept, Script, Props, Nigel Wayne
Kevin Goldstein: Concept, Script, himself
Scott Appleton, Wes Ashworth, Alison Grider, Russ McLennan: themselves
Motorcycle Driveby by Third Eye Blind – From 2000 to 2002, I’m not sure that this album ever left my CD changer in my dorm room. I probably heard this song a hundred times before I really listened to it. I love the way that it builds and builds in stages and then resolves. Lyrically, it was very relevant to me around that time in life and still hits me pretty hard when I sit back and take it in. It’s equal parts beauty and tragedy – at least that’s how I hear it. Couple it with Deep Inside of You and you’ve got a double dose of greatness.
Walked in the Spirit of Coppell 4th of July Parade and had a better time than I expected.
Took a nice nap.
Spent the evening at home working on laundry and dishes while watching Anchorman.
Sunday:
Awesome church service honoring civil servants.
Um, nap.
Good times at the block party. Lincoln had a blast in the bounce house.
So, here’s what we were working so hard on last week for yesterday’s service.
Video:
Tina Brown: Director, Producer, Editor,Concept, Photography, Voiceover
Ryan Brymer: Production Assistant, Props
Staff and Members of FBC Coppell, Coppell Police Dept, Coppell Fire Station no. 3: Lead Actors
America the Beautiful:
Ryan Brymer: Guitar, Xylophone, Congas
Tina Brown: Cello
Wes Ashworth: Engineering, Production
Hope to be posting some of my new video work soon, but for now, you’ll have to be satisfied with a classic. It never gets old, really. “Where’d Daddy go?”
My day with Lincoln – he took a 4 hour nap… so did dad.
Shopping at Target. I bought him a baseball and bat. He’s a natural.
Went to a birthday party for a neighbor down the block.
Saturday
We all went around to garage sales. Katie found him a farm with animals for $3.
Family nap.
Katie worked at night. We stayed home. Realized that the A/C had gone out.
Sunday
Church – We had an awesome potluck cook out then shot some video for 4th of July.
Went home to no air conditioning and took another nap.
Went to dinner with my brother and his family. He told us that they had a portable A/C unit that would cool a single room. We took them up on the offer.
Bought a little fort/slide for Lincoln off of Craig’s List.
Mowed the yard.
Set up the A/C unit – blew out the breakers twice before getting it all stowed away.
Monday
Stayed home for a couple of hours hoping to get the repair worked out. No luck. No one responds to my calls. Very FRUSTRATED!!!
About 6 weeks ago, I first became aware of this contest. My friend, Kevin, and I had been joking around for a while about starting a band and playing 80s cover songs at coffee shops and stuff. I figured that this contest was perfect motivation for getting started. But we didn’t really have an original song to submit.
About 4 weeks ago, my friend Wes says to me, “Hey, can you help out with this project for school where I have to fully record and produce an original song.” I said, “sure” and faked my way through a rough chord progression that became our song “Caroline.” I didn’t really realize how big it was going to get until Wes told me that he needed me to finish writing it because he already had the drummer and bass player booked for the recording studio. I went on vacation – the tracked drums, bass, guitar, and piano while I was in KS. When I got back, I finished the lyrics and tracked vocals and guitar just in time for Wes to turn it in and get 100% on his project.
So, for a band and song that didn’t exist before a month ago, finishing the contest at #27 out of 140 is not something to be upset about.
I really wanted to win and I don’t want to play the pity card, but there was really no way for us to win. I think that the voting method was as fair as it could be – and a bit laborious. But, at the end of the day, popularity did matter and there’s no way that a non-existent band could challenge the number of voters that an established band could provide – even with my 3 computers lined up next to each other for voting.
I can say that with some certainty because the shifts that happened in the Top 20 over the last 30 minutes of the contest can be explained by nothing other than a bunch of fans and perhaps some rigging of the voting by those more technically minded than I. That is, the #1 dropped to #12. #18 jumped to #2. We moved up one space then fell down three.
Still, we beat people who make their living (or at least try to) by making music. That’s fairly impressive.
The Outcome…
1) I’m glad for the contest because it broke a 2 year songwriting dry spell.
2) It made me more confident in my own abilities.
3) I’m always grateful and surprised by the commitment of my friends to help out when I ask.
4) If anyone from Hanson reads this and wants us to come to the show anyway, all you have to do is ask.
5) I’m hoping to go ahead and play some shows sometime in the near future. Hopefully Kevin will be on board.
