Musing No. 14 - My Observations

So it's been awhile since I've posted. The combination of my businesses, - my marketing company, record label, and real estate solutions company; and the fact that most of my thoughts recently seem to be able to fit into 140 characters for a twitter/facebook status update - the blog has not been chuggin.

But where I've not been writing much, I have been observing just as actively - likely more actively than normal. I would like to share some of my observations with the world now. (Yes. The whole world reads my blog. What of it?)

OBSERVATION 1: LINDSAY LOHAN IS STILL DUMB.

Yes, Lindsay Lohan has continued the proud tradition of celebrities who repeatedly break the law and then wonder why they get in trouble for it. But hey, she got like a month cut off her 'a little longer than a month sentence' so I guess she really didn't get into trouble for it. And she's already gay, so getting violated by other women won't really be that traumatic either. Come to think of it, that doesn't really sound like a whole lot of trouble when you really play it out...I'm thinking I might need a new headline....

*EDIT* OBSERVATION 1: LINDSAY LOHAN DID ONE OR TWO DUMB MOVIES WHEN SHE WASN'T AN UGLY-ASS STICK, SO SHE WILL NEVER GET INTO ACTUAL TROUBLE. EVER.

That sounds about right.

OBSERVATION 2: MEL GIBSON IS STILL AWESOME.

Yes, you read that right. Still Awesome. Now if some of the allegations are true, he's also guilty of a few crimes, but that never stopped other celebrities from being loved. And I don't hold the fact that he at least tried to follow God and all that against him like the media seems to want to. That doesn't seem to make sense to me - 'Because you tried to be good and didn't succeed you are much worse than all the people who just try to be bad and succeed.' lol. The guy has battled alcoholism, he's bipolar and now he's apparently crazy. Just chalk another point up to 'Awesome' in my book.

Also making me dislike him less and hate the woman more is the week and half of daily audio tid-bit releases. Nothing says conniving bitch more than a woman realizing she has no legal right to his money so she just tries to tank him in a slow tortured career suicide. When I have more money I'm hiring Mel to join my posse and just curse people out. If you have listened to the tapes at all, you have to admit - he is good at insults, like really really good.

OBSERVATION 3: THE WHITE HOUSE ONCE HAD SMART PEOPLE IN IT

Lol, Yes yes, my political rants are not appreciated - dually noted. I'm assuming this was the cause of 3 people blocking me on twitter - but out of my 9000+ twitter followers, 3 seems like an insignificant number. And now that I've stunned you with my math skills:

I have no personal issue with Obama or anyone else in the White House, but they really seem dense at the moment. If we wanted someone to pursue their own agenda and not deal with the actual problems of the country, well then we wouldn't have needed 'Change' now, would we?

The combination of a Healthcare Bill that only taxed people who didn't buy Healthcare, a Stimulus Bill that didn't stimulate, The Cardcheck Bill that is trying to make a majority of the businesses Unionized so we can have nationwide the joy that Detroit has had with the Auto Unions, and Cap & Trade that taxes companies that pollute too much, (because we need more taxes on companies in America right now) It appears we are in the middle of a war on American Wallets. "No-good wallets, always planning schemes behind our backs."

OBSERVATION 4: PEOPLE ALL HATE WHAT THEY WANT TO BECOME.

I laugh when I hear about people talking about the 'filthy rich' people on wall street, big firm execs, big oil or whatever else. The reason I laugh is because if 99% of the people who complain about these people were offered the same position for the same pay they would almost all take it. I heard someone call into a show to complain. Here is what I heard, which made me so happy:

Host: "Hello you're on the ______ show. What's on your mind?"

Caller: "I'm so pissed off at the big CEO's of big oil and big business and Wall Street. Obama needs to take them all out and give the money to the people they have stole from! It's not fair that they make that kind of money when the rest of us suffer!"

Host: "Now real quick, I just want to ask - how much would you like to make if you could?"

Caller: "I would love to make 100 grand a year, like those greedy Wall Street folks make."

Host: "That sounds like a great salary, so what are you doing to make that kind of money? What have you done in preparation? Have you gone through 8 years of schooling, climbed your way up the corporate ladder over 30 or 40 years? Have you spend nights away from your family, sleeping in a hotel bed by yourself more nights than you get to sleep in your own bed with your wife?

Caller: "...."

Host: "I didn't think so. Call me back when you've done all that, and then we'll see what your point of view is.

I want to develop a TV disclaimer device, that puts a nice disclaimer on all speeches on TV. Here are some examples of what you will hear once I develop this device. Obama, in a big political speech, "And I Will Make Sure that the Rich Fat Cats on Wall Street (whose money I glad took to fund my campaign) Don't Steal From Americans Anymore! (and by steal, I mean find ways to make money in an economy that I'm trying to kill.)"

This an example of what would be heard. Of course it wouldn't be popular by any means, because people love to have an enemy other than themselves and love not being held accountable for their own mistakes. Furthermore, most of these people who are rich worked long and hard to get to where they are, and if most people put in the same amount of time and effort would also end up in the same great positions. But it is easier to not do anything and just complain - and easier has become the American way apparently.

That is a few of my observations in the past few months, and I'm sure I'll share more.

End of Musing No. 14

Musing No. 3 - Enough with the Politics in the Music

So I am more than a little annoyed by political music. Both sides. Seriously. Now I lean more to the right than to the left, but whether it be some country hack writing a McCain song, or Green Day or Smashing Pumpkins making anti-bush songs, or Lynrd Skynrd writing anti-healthcare songs - it ruins the listening experience for me.

I want you to stop making political music.

You have political views. I get it. You are very excited about those feelings. I get it. But don't write a stupid song about your political beliefs. That's dumb. Political debate is not art. Despite what is currently being considered art by people today - the 'Obama Hope' posters is just creative advertisement - much like this:

Really captures the teenage angst...

One reason not to do it is it makes your music dated very quickly. Do you think people care about Green Day's 'American Idiot' anymore? Once Bush was out of office, it doesn't matter anymore! There are songs that are written for and against Reagan, Kennedy, and even Clinton - by some pretty famous bands in the past. But do you know of these songs? The answer is probably not. Why is that? Because they became quickly irrelevant, and therefore faded away. Do you care about what someone's political views of Kennedy or Reagan was however many years ago? Of course you don't, it has no bearing on your life as of right now, and the music public has a very small attention span for things that aren't relevant to them - right now.

I believe this is the real 'American Idiot' hahaha...ok my puns suck.

I don't care if people hold personal political views, I would actually rather they did. I don't even care the position, if they pay attention to politics that means that they care about things outside of their own little realm. I don't even care if they give interviews saying what those views are - have at it. Just don't put it into your music, man. It ruins it for me.

Now of course, anti-war, anti-poverty, other transcending political topics are always going to be around, I don't have a problem with those. Just getting so specific ruins the poetry. There's alot of political songs that most people don't know are political, because they were written poetically or about general social injustice even if the artist was thinking something specific, it was open to interpretation.

" A King James I by any other name would still have dissolved Parliament..."

The beauty of music is that it connects with many audiences, in many different situations. I have many times listened to a song in a particular time in my life that helped me through that time and that I really connected with. Later on I have found out that the song was written about something different altogether, but I was able to connect with it because it was written in a way that was open to what I was feeling at the time.

Another reason it's not a great idea to make political music is because it instantly alienates a great part of your audience. This is not the days of Pink Floyd anymore - the average listening audience for a rock album or a rap album ranges to all difference races, religions, walks of life and political views. You are instantly alienating a portion without reprive when you blatantly state your political views in the contents of a song. The whole point of poetry is to create some mystery of what you are saying so the listener or reader can come to their own conclusions. Don't just state what are saying plain and out there. That makes for very little listening quality.

I'm sorry, I become deaf when people sing stupid.

On behalf of musicians and music listeners everywhere - please don't make any more songs for or against presidents, congressmen or city councilmen - I'm tired of skipping your songs on my iPod. Don't make songs for or against government policies or things you should be government policies, although I suppose people will never stop making songs about weed...what are you going to do? lol. Those are dumb things to make music about, don't make for great musical poetry, and frankly are getting pretty boring and repetitive.

End of Musing No. 3
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