I did it!!

I finally got a song recorded! And I'm headed back in the studio on the 30th to do another one!! Take a listen on myspace, add the page, let me know what you think here and/or there!

And this, my friends, is why DC local music is what it is.

I came across this blog in the Washington Post's Going Out Gurus column earlier, and it got me all excited, until I read the comments. Explains a lot...

Help support local music, no matter where you live.

An interesting perspective...

I saw this in a Washington Post online blog yesterday, and I found it quite an interesting perspective. Americans are infatuated with Queen Elizabeth II being here, but this reminds us that she represents exactly what we established this country against. My favorite quote of the whole thing came when discussing the movie "The Queen" from earlier this year: "America now believes that the Queen is a graceful, complex, dignified but still very human monarch with an admirable devotion to family and duty, instead of a little old lady who likes horses and never says anything much," writes Tim Dowling.

But then I read the comments. Those are pretty interesting too...

Some things never change...

For those of you that don't already know, I started my masters program a few weeks ago. This is week 5, I believe. I decided to go the online route, which may or may not have been a good idea, I'll let you know after this class is over. The positive side is that I can do one class at a time, which means I can pay for it myself without having to use tuition assistance (and thus owe the Navy) or take out any loans (and thus owe someone else). But on the negative, well, those of you who know me know that I am a world champion procrastinator. Hence the blogging right now instead of working... Its going alright so far though. I will likely end up having to take a couple hours on Saturday to just get the work done this week.

In other news, I'm slowly but surely getting more familiar with the DC local music scene, something I should have done AGES ago. There's a great scene around here, and not near enough folks pushing it. So I need to do my part.

Now on to the other method of procrastination- dinner time!

The world's reaction

So, here I am bored at work (imagine that). The BBC News online page has this section called "Have Your Say," where readers can leave comments. I'm not giong to say anything about any of them, just have them here to ponder, and continue to pray for the victims and their families. Some of the comments left about the tragedy at Virginia Tech this week:

Unfortunately there are some deranged people in the world, just as there are harmful viruses, violent lightning strikes, random earthquakes, motor accidents, viscous dogs the list of possible things to go wrong in our world is endless. Fortunately most deranged people are harmless but occasionally one will commit an outrageous crime. Yes the availability of guns will make it more likely a deranged individual will use one, but even in our non-gun culture we have had Hungerford and Dunblane.

Arnold, Blackburn

The 1st (church-state separation) & 2nd amendment both have ambiguity (semantics & interpretation). Its interesting to observe as a ‘foreigner’ that exploitation of this ambiguity in the case of latter is seen as unpatriotic & used to defend its maintenance in modern society, while with the former, its seen as moral pursuit in achieving the addition of theology onto school curriculum. Criticism of the constitution is seen as both a moral imperative & morally moribund depending on circumstances

Cut Chemist, United Kingdom

My heart goes out to the lives destroyed by this tragdy. God only knows why these things happen. I feel saddened by such a blamful response from fellow UK residents. America is such a large place and there are so many different indivuals even if guns were not legal this would of still happened (not that I agree with them being legal) Even if illegal this would of still happened please remember guns are harld available legal in this country yet still teenagers are walking around with them.

Alicia, cheshire

"Only people completely devoid of intelligence would put AK7s and Uzi machine pistols into the hands of homicidal maniacs yet Americans think its okay to do just that."

John McLaughlan, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Sorry, John, US citizens may not own automatic weapons in the United States without very extensive and expensive permits and background investigation by the FBI.

Both pistols were European. The nutcase was Korean.

robert, Wadsworth, Ohio

Amazing, with over 1700 comments published it seems the tragety in Virginia is being used more as a forum for taking shots at the US constitution than anything else. I have to wonder if a similar tragedy occured in the UK, Would Americans use the tragedy to to belittle and denigrate?? Somehow I don't think so. My sincere condolences to the families of the victims.

Alan Holmes, Las Vegas, United States

I wish we could muster the same compassion, that we all feel, for these helpless college students, for the hundreds of thousands that we (the US) have killed in Iraq for no good reason. Let's stop all killing today.

phil greene, houston, United States

The hatred and rancor expressed in many postings on this site are like more bullets being let loose, regardless of geography.

Samantha, Northern Virginia

Vote for Braxton!

My very good friend Braxton Parker has been selected to be featured in ALTERNATIVE ADDICTION'S "Next Big Thing"

The contest started yesterday and features 8 bands. Fans can vote for the band they like the most. I say you should vote for Braxton Parker!

Click here to vote. You can only vote once per day, votes are filtered on a daily basis.

Also, Braxton just put out a new 3 song EP. Click here to take a listen and find out how to get your very own copy.

Thanks for the support!

What's the story?

This whole Iran thing is really kinda bothering me.

In the normal ways, yeah. I can't believe that now, at this point in time, with tensions already being high between them and the West, and when their president was about to go try to speak to the UN about why they're doing things the way they are, to go ahead and capture 15 British hostages. Because, technically, thats what they are. Just so happens they wear the outfit. But what's really upsetting me abut this whole thing is the woman.

I noticed yesterday that she was wearing a veil. And I read the letter she supposedly wrote. But I didn't really think about it until a little while ago when, while reading an article in today's Washington Post online, that I really started thinking about it. In the caption to the still frame shown of the video the Iranians released yesterday, it says her name, with "unidentified sailor" and "unidentified marine." Seriously? Do you mean to tell me that while the media has gone ahead and found out her entire life story, they can't even take the time to figure out who her fellow prisoners are? I mean, come on now... its not that hard to figure out... (And here's an interesting commentary on that from a British paper)

Then there's the rest. The veil. The letter. What seems to be comfort on TV. I'd just like to hope that there's something going on there that we don't see. I hope its something like a deal they made with each other that she goes home and passes information, or be able to go back and tell the Brits where the rest of them are so they can get them out. I hope its not torture, or AK47s being held to her shipmates' heads. What it likely is, either way, is Iran trying to look like the good guy, who keeps getting picked on and by the Big Bad West, coming into their territorial waters and harassing their citizens. Experts are saying her body language points towards her being coerced. There are also people saying her statements look entirely made up, like they were peiced together from bits and peices of a conversation. Either way, they've singled her out. And that's angering.

Either way, the whole thing is a mess. It will be interesting to see how it pans out, and what she or all of them have to say upon release or when/if Britain is granted access to them. For now, all we can do is keep praying for them all...

Back. Let's see how long this lasts...

So. I've been missing. I know. I don't even know if anyone will know to read this anymore, but perhaps if I really start posting here more often I'll actually put it places again...

Lots has happened since I moved to DC. New music, the Rock Boat, some guys, a cat, love the new job... Where do I begin?? I don't even know.

I guess I'll start with tunes. If you've never listened, you should check out:

Five Star Iris
Braxton Parker
Andy Davis
Nathan Angelo
Sons Of William
Toby Lightman
Will Hoge
Danielle Lyn

I think thats enough for now...

And here's my kitty. Her name is Matilda, Mattie for short:


And yeah. Thats about it... more to follow. I hope...