Hey guys,

This is me trying harder to blog.

So, basically, I am have been reflecting today about my life, and I realized am stoked right now.  The holidays are on deck, which is my favorite time of year, and Halloween, which is my favorite holiday, is just around the corner.  So, in early honor of Thanksgiving, here is my "Things I am Thankful For" list for 2008:

My wife:  the master chef, great mom, hard worker, accounting grad, best friend.

Ian aka The Prince, Eon, Een, Little Ian, The Goat:  fan of Kraftwerk, The Killers, The Specials, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, New Young Pony Club.  Total computer head, loves superheroes.

Hyde aka Big Hyde, Smyde McNoodle, The Incredible Hyde, The Brown One, Tired Hyde:  fan of Hot Hot Heat, Kraftwerk, Tokyo Ska.  Dancer, fighter/tough guy, heart of gold, loves Ninja Turtles/dinosaurs/spiderman.

Leif aka Beefy Leify, Beef, FeFe McNoNo, Blondey, The Nordic One:  fan of Barney, Yo Gabba Gabba, all danceable music.  Possesses a questionable attitude/incredible determination, dancer, cuddler.

My education:  My bachelors degree only took 10 years on and off, but it was worth it.  If any adult is thinking about going back to school to finish, trust me when I say that it is worth it.

My house:  killer backyard, killer office, killer garage.

My job:  awesome company, fast pace, and I work with a very talented/honest team of people much smarter than me.

Being a US Citizen:  Although the US has become socialistic and the two 2008 leading candidates are both full of it, I am thankful to be an American.  I am thankful to have far more freedom than most.

Ron Paul Revolution:  I am thankful for an honest man like Ron Paul who cares and wants to help the US.  I want to be part of this peaceful revolution.

My parents:  Thanks for raising me with morale character, solid work ethic, and self confidence.

My brothers:  Thanks for influencing me in positive ways.  Thanks for laying down some serious hardcore thrash with me.  Thanks for The Arrogants, and The Ska.

My sisters:  Thanks to my older sister for all the help during weak points during my life, thanks to my younger sister for laughing at my jokes.

My neices/nephews:  And my kids couldn't love them anymore than they do.

My friends:  Heller, Nate, Brown, NLP, K10, and all of the countless acquaintance's I have had over the years.

My Aunt Ginger:  We all had so much fun growing up; her making us candy, hangin' out with her friends, etc.

The Ska:  Although it may be corny to some, it is still my life-long and all-time favorite genre of music.  The Ska has provided me a huge source of fun (playing and listening) for the past 15 years.  NOTE:  Traditional and 2nd wave will always be the best.

My trombone:  1968 Olds Recording trombone, which has been with me since 1996; I am not amazing, by any means, but intend to practice more now that my braces are off.  Thanks to my Mom for encouraging me to pick it up at 17 to play The Ska.

Subtractive Analog Synthesis:  Few things sound richer or more exciting than a great analog synth.

Reliable transportation:  Instead of tracking new sports cars, I track minivans, lol.  I do, though, want to buy an old man's car (full-size sedan) when I get a little older.

MySpace.com:  An incredible website that has kept me up with music, and allowed me to find people from my past.

Chocolate/Chocolate Milk, Chocolate & Peanut Butter together, Chili & Cheese

Der Weinerschnitzel:  Whoa, we've had A LOT great times together.  I am thankful my sons are fans of you, too.

Wahoo's:  Probably my favorite food of all time.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is time for a peaceful revolution.  It sounds dramatic, but it is time.  The 2 party system has failed us, and it is a complete sham.  Our interests are no longer represented.  Our government is becoming socialistic. 

Search your souls and join me in the peaceful revolution against the current Federal government that our founding fathers would be ashamed of.

After a 3.5 year break, I returned to Slumlord Studios in Fullerton, CA, to record with Northern Labour Party. After spending the better part of 2005 recording keyboards and witnessing my brothers, Jana, and Billy record during the Arrogants (myspace.com/thearrogants) sessions, I was excited and anxious to return to "The Slumlord."

Known for his calm and cool demeanor (with occassional freak-outs - just kidding), I knew The Slumlord had the patience and skills to help Northern achieve our goal; delivering a decent demo. However, just weeks prior to starting the Northern sessions, I heard a track recorded at Slumlord by I Still Have Nightmares (http://www.myspace.com/istillhavenightmares) which sounded great sonically. Upon further study of this new track, I realized The Slumlord had been secretly honing his skills over the past 3.5 years.

After a few tracking sessions, we upgraded our goal of a demo to that of a good EP comprised of 5 songs. And so, after tracking the drums and the guitar, it was my turn to gather my analog equipment and move to Slumlord Studios.

Upon arriving with gear in tow, I went about setting up my monophonic synthesizers and linking them together for maximum effect with a MIDI-CV converter (please folks, don't get purist on me, I do not own a VX-351 for the MiniMoog yet). My weapons of choice for these sessions were: my recently acquired MiniMoog Voyager (Solar), ARP Solus, Alesis Andromeda, and Rockman Analog Delay/Chorus.

Besides the overarching band's goal of delivering a good EP, I had a few personal goals which I knew I needed to achieve to feel a sense of progress artistically (this is partially in jest). In the Arrogants, our recording perspective was heavily focused on showcasing the melody of the songs, with all instrumentation lending support to the vocals. In Northern, our focus seems to embody all elements of the songs within reason, of course, as prog rock and self-indulgence will not be tolerated. This shift in philosophy has allowed me spread my wings slightly wider than in years past.

Thus far, I am happy with the tracking. I am anxious to begin the mixdown process to tweak and effect the recorded tracks. At the end of the day, I hope it sounds excellent.

you're killing yourselves!
a form of growth or
malignant mass
has formed
in my left
ear canal
but i'm hands free
for 10 digits
on my ps/2
or usb

/chorus
i'm hands free with a blue L-E-D
but optic nerves can't see (or but i can't see)
that's i'm killing myself

radiation
contamination
i'll need dr. shepard
to cleanse my mind

/chorus x2

Watch this trailer for the new film Control, which is a motion picture exploration of the life of Ian Curtis of Joy Division.

Life intensifies following the birth (or adoption) of your first child.  Suddenly, your own mortality becomes excruciatingly relevant.  I became more cautious in everything I do, as I owe it to my sons not to get myself killed; leaving them fatherless.  The importance of being able to support my family intensified, tenfold, as I knew I wouldn't be able to explain to a toddler why there isn't any bananas atop the microwave.  My own weaknesses and shortcomings are mirrored back to me when my children imitate my occasional less-than-desirable behavior or verbiage.  Very sobering.

Watching this trailer for Control reminded me of how intense and almost crushing the young father life stage is.  The game changes tremendously for all parties involved.

when i was about 25, i swore-off new music.  what this meant was, i would no longer seek out new music.  i would no longer waste my time 'searching for the new' (as my brother Jayd calls it).  my logic was, there was so much good stuff from the past which i still needed to study.

however, the past 5 years, despite me not actively searching for new music, i got interested in several incredible bands such as:  interpol (heard them playing in bionic records), ladytron (got a promotional flyer in 20001 which seemed interesting), keane (my wife got me interested in them, as she started watching a lot of VH1 after my first son was born), and the list probably goes on.

it is interesting, however, that myspace has fostered my complete lack of effort in the search for new music.  i get targeted friends requests now from bands on a regular basis who have obviously done a search for kraftwerk, numan, and others.  the best band in this genre which has invited me to participate in their international marketing is MIDI LIDI.  these guys are incredible, and their entire CD is available via free download on their website (reminds me of the arrogants- myspace.com/thearrogants modis operandi)  (listed on their myspace page:  myspace.com/midilidi).

but enough talk.  here is my list of best discoveries, stumblings-upon, or invites from the best bands from the first half of 2006:

myspace.com/midilidi (listen to Laska)
myspace.com/newyoungponyclub (listen to Ice Cream)
myspace.com/67840 (listen to Will I Dream)
myspace.com/thepipettes (listen to Your Kisses are Wasted on Me)

Before seeing Star Wars III, I suspected Anakin’s turn to the Dark Side would have something to do with him trying to do the right thing for his family.  I was pleasantly surprised to have found just that in the film.

 He was doing what he believed would keep his family together.  Unfortunately, he went about it all wrong, but he was indeed left with few alternatives.

 Being a young husband and father, I identified with Anakin Skywalker, as corny as that may sound.  While sitting in the theater, I often thought, “What would I have done?”

 The family element of the film ties into the “there’s still good in him” theme of the entire Star Wars saga.  Anakin is not an inherently evil individual; he just made some horrible decisions.  That’s why we all feel a connection with Darth Vader… we know the real person behind the mask.  We think of him as the stupid kid on Tatooine, or the unruly teenager who gave Obi-Wan a pain in the neck.

this morning, i woke up to the sound of my 3+ week old son soiling himself. it was loud, sufficient enough to wake me. i don't know where the hell the time has gone. it feels just like yesterday when i was just hanging out all the time, going to work for short periods, swimming in the afternoon, or just staring at the wall. now, it is a different story. the wild thing is, even though our baby is only 3+ weeks old, i don't want to remember a time when he wasn't here. it bums me out now to think how he hasn't always just been around. like how much fun it would have been to have him around years ago. i guess it is the reverse with dying, you don't want to think about them being gone. my grandma was excited about the two new babies developing inside both my wife and my sister. she died exactly three months before my son, "the wolf," was born. bizarre. anthropoligists call that phenomenon "replacement reproduction" - people dying at the same rate babies are being born.