So I haven't blogged here for a while, so it's time to catch up.

I have been very active in trying to reinsert myself into the world of contemporary a Cappella this year.  My stated goal at the beginning of the year was to find a group, or start one.  Right now I'm heading towards starting one.

I attended the LA A Cappella Festival at UCLA at the end of January and started meeting people and getting ideas pretty quickly.  The two most inspirational people I met were a guy named Mister Tim who starts new a Cappella groups like his life ends if he gets bored singing and--the Godfather of contemporary a Cappella himself--Deke Sharon.  Great guys, and very encouraging.  Also high on the list is Jill Burke, whom I was in 7/D/W with previously; she gave me a little comfort level (here's someone who's performed with me and knows that I've been there and done it) and a great tip for a mailing list.

Though the mailing list I found a local showcase called "Javapella" hosted by a local jazz group called "Vocal Magic".  While the group's focus on jazz isn't what I'm looking for, the environment is very encouraging and it serves to keep me focused on a monthly basis.  Otherwise Mister Tim pointed me towards most of the plan I've followed since as far as inserting myself into the world...first stop, the LA Harmony Sweepstakes in April.  Met more people, saw more groups, and got a second chance to chat with Mister Tim himself.  But now I'm starting to tell too many people that I am thinking of starting my own group.  Getting high time to put up or shut up.

When I found out about the LA Sweeps, it begged the question "where are the finals held?"  Turns out it's in San Rafael, CA and with about 400miles worth of gas, I could be there too.  I laughed softly at myself at the time of the thought (driving home from LAAF), but it stuck there.  After I attended the LA Harmony I knew I wanted to be there at the finals, so plans were made, tickets were purchased and that's coming up May 16 (and as an aside a nice little vacation for me and the incredible and supportive wife).

So another Javapella attendance last weekend and I figure I need to start moving.  Inertia is my friend.  So I turn to a trick I've learned about myself; start walking in the direction without thinking or analyzing too much about it and pretty soon I'm moving where I want to go.

I wrote Deke an email to join the CASA League (EEEK!).  And not wanting to leave myself that big of an out, I create a Facebook group to be one of the foci of the new project (ACK!).  That sort of requires a group name which I have been wrestling with for a month or so now and a little Internet panhandling reveals the Latin word "sono" to me, which roughly translated means "to make a noise/sing/celebrate".  Accepting that I might hate it later, I add that it's a "working title" and decide to employ a little GIMP skill and come up with a logo (WTF?).  A screen shot of Audacity (me singing "The Impossible Dream") and a screen shot of the music for "A Kiss From A Rose" (one of the first songs I want to finish arranging for the group)... add a few effects and viola!  Logo.  (AAAAAAAHHHH!)

And in the meantime I purchase the domain www.wearesono.com (EEEEEEEROOGGG!)

So I added a Myspace Classified (I love all the free services) and linked it to a Bulletin, and decided to stop and blog about the evening.  Next stop will be an add on Craigslist (eeep!) and content for the new webpage (Runaway!!)

Inertia is a beautiful thing.  It seems it might already be too late to turn back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2DOmOXmb_k

This is one of the best Christmas shows ever. There are three parts so if you watch the first part look for 2 and 3 on YouTube.

I propose that as a culture, we adopt a new phrase to explain away the evils of the world around us: the coffee is too hot/cold, the bed isn't soft enough, my commute sucked, my feet hurt, you forgot to give me the taco I ordered, etc.

"All I know is that none of this would have happened if Brett Favre was still starting for the Packers...."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d809ccdb9&template=with-video&confirm=true

The inevitable news of Brett Favre's trade to the New York Jets came tonight.  As an avid football fan, I have followed the drama that was his un-retirement with a lot of consideration.  The Happy ending: Brett Favre, one of the best that's ever played--maybe THE best--bids a tearful farewell and rides off into the sunset.  Yeah, right.  Knowing him as only an avid football fan who knows only what the press publishes about him, it seemed a little too easy.  2nd place MVP last season, one of the best of his career and 1 busted play away from the Big Game...and he retires?  Weird.

I'm not shocked that he didn't really want to retire, and I'm not shocked that he's back.  Sports history is replete with people reconsidering retirement.  Has it ever gone well?  Generally no, but there is no doubt that the man has a passion for the game...that's why we all fell in love with him.  He is the icon of every armchair quarterback who lives for football but could never play the game for real.  He could not give up playing football anymore that we could give up watching it.  And if you're Brett Favre, could you sit around Sundays watching football knowing that you should be playing it?  No way.

Pure speculation to follow here, but I think Favre wanted out of Green Bay.  It's the reason he retired instead of following up his amazing season, and the reason for all the previous un-retirement false starts, and the reason why no matter what else has been offered on his way back to the Packers stadium, he never seemed set to actually return to the Packers (other than to engage in talks in person).

OK, so he's back and not going to play for the Packers.  I could accept that.  The rumor was he wanted to play for the Vikings.  I could even root for that; they are an up-and-coming team with a dynamic running game and the need for a stable QB.  But the JETS?  C'mon.  They were 4-12 last year; a mark that would normally have buried them in the AFC East but for the woeful Dolphins and ties them for 2nd-to-last place in the Conference (tied 3rd-to-last in the NFL).  They were below most other teams in almost every important stat and their offseason was arguably uneventful (until now), highlighted by a QB fight between two mediocre choices.  Favre gives them a QB identity now, but I can't shake the image of a little boy bailing the Titanic with a bowl.  This is not a team with a buzz coming into pre-season (again until now).

So Favre gets to play, but being the competitor he is, I can't imagine that he's going to end this next season satisfied as he's staring at the hind end of the Patriots, the Bills, and maybe even the Dolphins (depending on how fast Parcells can work his magic).  Speaking of teams that need a solid QB....

In other words, WTF is he thinking?  Playing football...ANY football is better than being happily retired?  Yeah, that probably is what he's thinking.  Maybe if you're him and you have that itch, you've got a point.  Personally I don't care about his "legacy"; he owns most of the QB records (expect his Interception record to grow with the Jets) and he'll never accomplish with the Jets what he accomplished with the Packers, leading him to still generally be thought of as a Packer (like Emmitt Smith is a Cowboy even though he went to the Cardinals for a few years at the end).  He's just padding those stats and scratching that itch until the day comes when they have to carry him off on his shield.  I can respect that.  And while there's a poison pill in the contract that prevents the Jets from trading Favre to the Vikings, the details are sketchy enough that I wonder if that applies beyong the 2008 season?  Maybe after 1 unsatisfying season he can go where ever he wants.

And I was just hearing that there's still a chance that Brett could say "no" to the deal (as of this writing he hasn't officially commented on accepting it) and retire again.  A bumpy ride to the sunset, but still more satisfying than seeing him play for that other team from New Jersey....

Bleck.  Oh well, football is coming and I have HBO Hard Knocks with the Cowboys to keep me warm. 

Happy Season everyone.  May the Football Fairy bless your team to be the lucky one that the Cowboys crush on their way to their 6th Superbowl ring....

This was a great blog article I read today from a site I frequent.  Mostly because of it's article on the true causes of the price of gas.  Give it a read and let me know what you think!

http://foundingsons.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/as-goes-big-oil-so-goes-our-country/

Is it inevitable that we will all become jaded with age?  Is it just experience tarnishing our world-view?  Too many stories or bad experiences under the belt?  It’s true we become wiser when we get older but along with that wisdom is this sense of...reality...that sets in.  This person’s a nut-case, that person’s going to ask you for money, those people are no good--all based on experiences, but is it true?  Or is there a sub-conscious need as we get older to protect ourselves from a world that we fear is very different from the one we grew up in?

Those young-whipper snappers don’t appreciate like we did!

I find most of the categorizing or judgments are based on fears at some level and, as such, are a biological effort to protect myself from what could be a dangerous situation, but what about that high-horse kind of judgment where you think you’re better than someone else--or some group?  To give an example I’ll use everyone’s favorite (and most PC in our racially-sensitive times) whipping group: rednecks.  I’m not exactly afraid that a group of rednecks is going to hunt me down, nor am I really afraid of them judging me.  So why is an entire classification of people considered "white-trash"?  I realize most rational people would judge matters of character on an individual basis (don’t get me wrong, some of my best friends are rednecks!), but as a whole, you expect less of them.  Or you hear the banjos playing.

I could tell you some white-trashy stories... in the end would it be any different than stories about "liberal hippy elitists that think their shit don’t stink?"  Am I the latter?  Ouch.

Why is it so hard to separate the wrapper from the nutty-goodness inside?  Is there a fear that even as a life-long nut-hater you might find you really like the nuts after all and that would bring the framework of the world as you see it crashing down around you?

Stereotypes exist for a reason.  People are pre-judged (prejudiced) as a built-in biological protection against harm; when something is unknown we have to classify it as helpful or hurtful so we know whether the waterhole is safe to stay at or not.  And we all likely know or will meet stellar examples of humanity from all walks of life.  Yet there are those individuals that invoke the stereotype as soon as you meet them.  And yet there is still nutty-goodness inside of them too, if you’re willing to remove the wrapper.

Isn’t there?  Or is jaded just reality?

OK, too much talk about nuts.  There are some analogies men shouldn’t make.  It makes my core ache.

My wife Angie has just started as a distributor with Barefoot Parties. It is pretty new and it’s products feature items created by women and that empower and support women. She is very excited and we hope you will be for her too!

How can you help? Direct sales is a tough business where you bug your friends by asking them to host and attend parties, but this has two things going for it:

First of all you can help out by going to her website and taking a look at the catalog; anything you order gets credited to her; no party necessary. And there are a lot of great gift ideas. Turn your friends on to it as well; let them know that a friend is starting a new business and you’d like to support her by spreading the word.

Secondly the products are great and they are reasonably priced. Unlike a lot of these parties where the products are expensive, you can find a lot of gifts at a great cost. And Mother’s Day is around the corner!

But if you want a party there are a lot of great benefits to being a host! If you’re interested, contact her.

And if you are interested in getting in on this business while it’s still early, she can help you with that too!!

Check out her blog
Or check out her site! http://angelakeyes. barefootparties. com

And we thank you in advance for your support!!!!

Debt-free in 2008.

...in careless hands....
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/080304_depression

In other words, "believe none of what you hear and half of what you see".  I think reading qualifies under "what you hear".