It's a saturday night! and i'm bored...
Yep... believe it or not, this fiendish rock musician has been relegated to living a mundane and life. My focus has been on work, to the point now where i look on the last 6 months... I really don't have a life. All i do is work... and when i don't work, i recover from that work, and then hit the gym, and then recover from that..... hmm....
Strange part is that only a small part of me misses it. But the thing that annoys me the most, is that instead of making good use of the time (composing, reading or writing, studying, etc etc.), i end up just "veging" out... like a useless good for nothing potato... or a piece of broccoli (broccoli!!)
Admittedly after all the work i did on the INFINITY project i can't say that i blame myself for just jerking off, but still, i feel there is allot i need to do........ i just can't be buggered to do it...
Maybe a cup of Blackcurrent tea will motivate me....
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Virtuosity, Chocolate, Coupons, and the Odd cup of tea
Well, it's been an interesting week.
Just to quickly update you all, it's the 22nd of november, and i still haven't been paid by AUC for this semester. They had a system where we get paid half the amount in the middle, and the rest towards the end... and since september up until now..... no pesos.....
I spoke to my department heads about it, and they've been very good and supportive, unfortunately it's not down to them, and aside from complain, there's not much that can be done either..... ridiculous though...
Speaking of ridiculous there is one thing i want to talk about. What is it with every other guitar player calling himself a virtuoso? Do they even know what the word means? I saw some clips of some people and they say clips from the viruoso guitarist (insert name here). I'm sorry but to be a virtuoso... well... you have to be a cut above the rest... a technical control and proficcieny of the instrument that is flawless... and of a very very high standard.
I have some chops.... but i am by no means a Virtuoso. Guthrie Govan, Brett Garsed, Shawn Lane (r.i.p) Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale, Stanley Jordan are electric guitar virtuosos.
Tommy Emmanuel, Eric Roche (r.i.p my friend), Michael Hedges (r.i.p) Andy Mckee, Al Di Meaola and John Mclaughlin are Acoustic Guitar Virtouosos.
And for flamenco guitar.. well, only one name comes to mind (and that's only because i'm not that educated on the matter) Paco De Lucia.
Don't go around touting that you're a virtuoso.......because one day... a real one will come by... and you'll be made an example of....
Now back to the AUC. They've given Coupons to the students for food. Did Faculty get any? nope. That's probably because they assume that we can afford exspensive food because of our high salaries.........................AHAHAHA!.........my salary is ridiculously low compared to some staff.........and.......alas.........i haven't even gotten it yet!!!!!
Ultimately i'm giving them until next september, if things are still being done the same way... I'll have to walk away....
Finally..... What the hell? who do you have to kill to get a decent cup of tea in this god forsaken country... Best i've found so far is Ahmed Earl Grey Tea.... Which is not bad. The other kinds of tea are terrible...... no flavour whatsoever.
I'm a coffee man....... but i do love a good cup of tea. A real cup of tea that is... none of that namby pamby milk and 2 sugars nonsense...........
well... I've ranted.......time to go drink some Tea & eat some biscuits.
Bugger off!
Just to quickly update you all, it's the 22nd of november, and i still haven't been paid by AUC for this semester. They had a system where we get paid half the amount in the middle, and the rest towards the end... and since september up until now..... no pesos.....
I spoke to my department heads about it, and they've been very good and supportive, unfortunately it's not down to them, and aside from complain, there's not much that can be done either..... ridiculous though...
Speaking of ridiculous there is one thing i want to talk about. What is it with every other guitar player calling himself a virtuoso? Do they even know what the word means? I saw some clips of some people and they say clips from the viruoso guitarist (insert name here). I'm sorry but to be a virtuoso... well... you have to be a cut above the rest... a technical control and proficcieny of the instrument that is flawless... and of a very very high standard.
I have some chops.... but i am by no means a Virtuoso. Guthrie Govan, Brett Garsed, Shawn Lane (r.i.p) Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale, Stanley Jordan are electric guitar virtuosos.
Tommy Emmanuel, Eric Roche (r.i.p my friend), Michael Hedges (r.i.p) Andy Mckee, Al Di Meaola and John Mclaughlin are Acoustic Guitar Virtouosos.
And for flamenco guitar.. well, only one name comes to mind (and that's only because i'm not that educated on the matter) Paco De Lucia.
Don't go around touting that you're a virtuoso.......because one day... a real one will come by... and you'll be made an example of....
Now back to the AUC. They've given Coupons to the students for food. Did Faculty get any? nope. That's probably because they assume that we can afford exspensive food because of our high salaries.........................AHAHAHA!.........my salary is ridiculously low compared to some staff.........and.......alas.........i haven't even gotten it yet!!!!!
Ultimately i'm giving them until next september, if things are still being done the same way... I'll have to walk away....
Finally..... What the hell? who do you have to kill to get a decent cup of tea in this god forsaken country... Best i've found so far is Ahmed Earl Grey Tea.... Which is not bad. The other kinds of tea are terrible...... no flavour whatsoever.
I'm a coffee man....... but i do love a good cup of tea. A real cup of tea that is... none of that namby pamby milk and 2 sugars nonsense...........
well... I've ranted.......time to go drink some Tea & eat some biscuits.
Bugger off!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
More Then Meets The Eye....
Howdy,
I can't believe i forgot to post this here....
If you're a fan of Transformers, then you should check this out: my own take into taking the old original theme and incorporating it into a movie score setting...
DFZ - More Then Meets The Eye
Enjoy!
DFZ
I can't believe i forgot to post this here....
If you're a fan of Transformers, then you should check this out: my own take into taking the old original theme and incorporating it into a movie score setting...
DFZ - More Then Meets The Eye
Enjoy!
DFZ
Friday, November 14, 2008
November Blues
is it me or this month is really sucking?
Nothing is going well.... It's all gone Pete tong.... Pear Shaped.... Bollocksed.
A.U.C is sucking me dry of energy and ambition..... and the fucking powers that be there have thus far still not payed me and the majority of the adjunct faculty.... This will not do.
On a lighter note i'm writing some new material in what will hopefully be a new album or EP.
Also two gigs next year... small faculty showcase in february.. and big gig in april hopefully.
I would write more... but i can't be assed.... besides.... does anyone actually this bloody thing?
Nothing is going well.... It's all gone Pete tong.... Pear Shaped.... Bollocksed.
A.U.C is sucking me dry of energy and ambition..... and the fucking powers that be there have thus far still not payed me and the majority of the adjunct faculty.... This will not do.
On a lighter note i'm writing some new material in what will hopefully be a new album or EP.
Also two gigs next year... small faculty showcase in february.. and big gig in april hopefully.
I would write more... but i can't be assed.... besides.... does anyone actually this bloody thing?
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Felt like an Infinity...
It's finally over..... sigh..... took bloody long enough...
The Infinity Project is done and dusted.. albet i have nothing particularly positive to say about it... so i'll keep my tongue in it's place...
The soundtrack is being processed and should end up on Itunes within the next 4-6 weeks.
Life on the new AUC campus has been.... well..... yeah.... not so hot.... Teaching there has become a real pain... the only positive element is that i have allot of eager hard working students. I mean i also have the useless pile of excrement types too... but the ratio this time around is much more balanced.
Plus this semester i have a fairly heavy workload.. and it's been exhausting doing all this work... teaching various things to various different levels of students is really a full time job... regardless of how you look at it.
On a more positive note, i bought an acer aspire one netbook, which is a really cool little gadget, which replaces my near ancient dell which is near death for all my surfing endeavours. Gotta love technology and the fact that it's moving so fast that it's hard to keep up...... yeah....
Other then that, not much is happening unfortunately.. I'm going to start work soon on my fretless guitar endeavours, and start work on my new projects (if i can find the energy to move...), one which is a vocal type thang.... another which is a futuronica type thing with middle eastern influences... and another instrumental album of large proportions (orchestral stuff, guitars, synths, etc etc).
The vocal project will be the first out since it won't take that long to do/complete... which will then be followed by the electronica album probably... no rest for the wicked i guess.... can always sleep when i retire or something...
I'll start posting more in the next few days in detail about whats up and whats happenin.. right now i am completely burned out from this week, and still have work tommorow too.... f.e.c.k it all to hell....
cry havoc! etc etc....
also, check this site out if you're looking to lose weight: http://dietglove.com/
The Infinity Project is done and dusted.. albet i have nothing particularly positive to say about it... so i'll keep my tongue in it's place...
The soundtrack is being processed and should end up on Itunes within the next 4-6 weeks.
Life on the new AUC campus has been.... well..... yeah.... not so hot.... Teaching there has become a real pain... the only positive element is that i have allot of eager hard working students. I mean i also have the useless pile of excrement types too... but the ratio this time around is much more balanced.
Plus this semester i have a fairly heavy workload.. and it's been exhausting doing all this work... teaching various things to various different levels of students is really a full time job... regardless of how you look at it.
On a more positive note, i bought an acer aspire one netbook, which is a really cool little gadget, which replaces my near ancient dell which is near death for all my surfing endeavours. Gotta love technology and the fact that it's moving so fast that it's hard to keep up...... yeah....
Other then that, not much is happening unfortunately.. I'm going to start work soon on my fretless guitar endeavours, and start work on my new projects (if i can find the energy to move...), one which is a vocal type thang.... another which is a futuronica type thing with middle eastern influences... and another instrumental album of large proportions (orchestral stuff, guitars, synths, etc etc).
The vocal project will be the first out since it won't take that long to do/complete... which will then be followed by the electronica album probably... no rest for the wicked i guess.... can always sleep when i retire or something...
I'll start posting more in the next few days in detail about whats up and whats happenin.. right now i am completely burned out from this week, and still have work tommorow too.... f.e.c.k it all to hell....
cry havoc! etc etc....
also, check this site out if you're looking to lose weight: http://dietglove.com/
Sunday, August 24, 2008
One year older, none the wiser...
howdy, been awhile eh?
for the uninitiated, my birthday was on the 26th of last month... and.. i turned 26.
Aside from being more crabby and hort fused, i don't feel a tad different. Actually last night i flicked through my old pics.... i sure have aged a lot... not in a bad way... but at certain times... i look waaaay older then 26... maybe i need to relax more..
I've been busy over the last few months working on a soundtrack for a stageplay called "Infinity", which you can find in the facebook groups listings. It's an interesting work, with a somewhat interesting score... including chinese/japanese music, native american music, persian music, generic movie score type cues, and electronica.... all in the same soundtrack no less.
It's been interesting, and something of stretch from the kind of scoring work i've done in the past, which has mostly been background/soundbed kind of stuff. Ultimately i've always wanted to go fully pro with the scoring thing, but nowdays it really is not an option. The market is saturated with people looking to break in and get into the elusive circle of elite that handle 70% of hollywoods blockbusters.
I give credit to Zimmer and Co., they're doing some incredible work, and he never fails to suprise me... many a time i'll watch something and say "i liked the score... who did it?" look at the credits and find Zimmers name... most recently being the incredible "Kung Fu Panda" score... really is an amazing score that one....
having turned 26 i can't help but wonder where i'll be in the next 10 years, since 10 years ago i was in a place so different from now.... my previous life seems almost like a dream....
A large part of me regrets that i became a musician, i say became because i don't think it was a choice i made, it was something that wether i wanted to or not was going to happen. Part of me wishes i'd gone into computers or graphics, something were i could lead a fairly normal life.
But that's how it goes... i'd bet good money that if i did get into computers.... i'd be blogging about how i wish i went into something more cool and fun, like music........
It just gets very tiring in this business.... it certainly has declined to a staggering level, i can't even remember the last time i bought an album by a commercial artist.... i'm not even sure current music is even listenable.......
Plus trying to open doors has become impossible.... people are so corrupt nowdays.... it's ridiculous..... For example, i cannot get the famous Guitar9 distribution company to even LISTEN to my album... yet shredders who are producing god awful wankage get interviewed, reviewed and talked about...... go figure. Funny because they built themselves up from nothing, and now they've acheived status... they're acting just like a regular label (no manager, no marketing, no service).
Unfortunately at this point i almost couldn't care... i don't know wether it's age or just accepting the situation... i never used to be like this though. In the past i'd always find a way and get to the goods... maybe i'm just tired of fighting the good fight.....
on a more positive note though, i'll be releasing the Infinity soundtrack on Itunes, and many other online distribution sites, which hopefully might help turn things around abit.
I'll post more about that when i know more about it. The soundtrack should be done by middle to late september, with an almost immediate release i guess.
Oh, and i start work early september, new semester, new campus, new students, new problems.
ahh.......it's...allllll........good.
for the uninitiated, my birthday was on the 26th of last month... and.. i turned 26.
Aside from being more crabby and hort fused, i don't feel a tad different. Actually last night i flicked through my old pics.... i sure have aged a lot... not in a bad way... but at certain times... i look waaaay older then 26... maybe i need to relax more..
I've been busy over the last few months working on a soundtrack for a stageplay called "Infinity", which you can find in the facebook groups listings. It's an interesting work, with a somewhat interesting score... including chinese/japanese music, native american music, persian music, generic movie score type cues, and electronica.... all in the same soundtrack no less.
It's been interesting, and something of stretch from the kind of scoring work i've done in the past, which has mostly been background/soundbed kind of stuff. Ultimately i've always wanted to go fully pro with the scoring thing, but nowdays it really is not an option. The market is saturated with people looking to break in and get into the elusive circle of elite that handle 70% of hollywoods blockbusters.
I give credit to Zimmer and Co., they're doing some incredible work, and he never fails to suprise me... many a time i'll watch something and say "i liked the score... who did it?" look at the credits and find Zimmers name... most recently being the incredible "Kung Fu Panda" score... really is an amazing score that one....
having turned 26 i can't help but wonder where i'll be in the next 10 years, since 10 years ago i was in a place so different from now.... my previous life seems almost like a dream....
A large part of me regrets that i became a musician, i say became because i don't think it was a choice i made, it was something that wether i wanted to or not was going to happen. Part of me wishes i'd gone into computers or graphics, something were i could lead a fairly normal life.
But that's how it goes... i'd bet good money that if i did get into computers.... i'd be blogging about how i wish i went into something more cool and fun, like music........
It just gets very tiring in this business.... it certainly has declined to a staggering level, i can't even remember the last time i bought an album by a commercial artist.... i'm not even sure current music is even listenable.......
Plus trying to open doors has become impossible.... people are so corrupt nowdays.... it's ridiculous..... For example, i cannot get the famous Guitar9 distribution company to even LISTEN to my album... yet shredders who are producing god awful wankage get interviewed, reviewed and talked about...... go figure. Funny because they built themselves up from nothing, and now they've acheived status... they're acting just like a regular label (no manager, no marketing, no service).
Unfortunately at this point i almost couldn't care... i don't know wether it's age or just accepting the situation... i never used to be like this though. In the past i'd always find a way and get to the goods... maybe i'm just tired of fighting the good fight.....
on a more positive note though, i'll be releasing the Infinity soundtrack on Itunes, and many other online distribution sites, which hopefully might help turn things around abit.
I'll post more about that when i know more about it. The soundtrack should be done by middle to late september, with an almost immediate release i guess.
Oh, and i start work early september, new semester, new campus, new students, new problems.
ahh.......it's...allllll........good.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
The End of semester
Thank the good lord... it's finally over...
Spring semester 2008 is over and i'm done teaching. The finals and exams went how i'd anticipated... which is both good and bad.
Quite few students put forth the effort and got an A... and about half the class has to settle for a C grade (and few B's here and there).
For those who read this: Congratulations on your A.. and for those who got a C... study hard... you should not take your time at the university for granted. Many people do not get to further their education, and for allot of you.. you're wasting a crucial point in your life: The time to better yourself and prepare for the years to come... in the real world.
Admittedly most of you are spoilt rotten by your parents and don't take any real responsibility for your actions.. all i can say to you is that you better grow up... because nobody likes an asshole.....
Anyways, now that the semester is done and dusted, i can get to work on all my projects that i've been neglecting to make sure i was doing my job properly. First and foremost i'm going to work on new material to release later in the year, then there is the possibility of some fusion playing with some good players, some production work, some scoring work, maybe some clinics / workshops, and finally, some good hard practise.
more to come when it comes...
Spring semester 2008 is over and i'm done teaching. The finals and exams went how i'd anticipated... which is both good and bad.
Quite few students put forth the effort and got an A... and about half the class has to settle for a C grade (and few B's here and there).
For those who read this: Congratulations on your A.. and for those who got a C... study hard... you should not take your time at the university for granted. Many people do not get to further their education, and for allot of you.. you're wasting a crucial point in your life: The time to better yourself and prepare for the years to come... in the real world.
Admittedly most of you are spoilt rotten by your parents and don't take any real responsibility for your actions.. all i can say to you is that you better grow up... because nobody likes an asshole.....
Anyways, now that the semester is done and dusted, i can get to work on all my projects that i've been neglecting to make sure i was doing my job properly. First and foremost i'm going to work on new material to release later in the year, then there is the possibility of some fusion playing with some good players, some production work, some scoring work, maybe some clinics / workshops, and finally, some good hard practise.
more to come when it comes...
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