I’m about an hour away from running out to see “Fantastic Four- Rise of the Terminator 2″ …I mean Silver Surfer The 1st one was campy fun…I’m guessing this one will be in the same boat. You now me… I love just about all super hero movies though.

The movie will be a nice break away from working on the new tracks for the next CD…I’m now to the point where my ears have stopped working. I need to step away from the stuff and try to listen with a fresh ear. I’m real happy with how everything’s coming together and can’t wait to finally get another CD out there. It’s been a long time coming.

My diet is still going well… but it’s been work…I miss food… junk food… not that I was SUPER overweight or anything… just the heaviest I’ve ever been. For those doing the math… in April I was 212lbs (at 6′2) and as of today I’m down to 187lbs…I’m trying to get to 180 and almost there. I think once i get to 180 I’m going to celebrate by eating 2 Pizzas and 3 loafs of bread. Oh… and a giant bag of chips. I am pretty happy that I lost 25 pounds … this has given me a whole new respect for ANYONE on a diet… it’s tougher than I ever imagined.

Well….i need to get ready for F4.

Good to know Summer is here!

UPDATE: Save your money on F4… CHEESY!

Yesterday, I spent about an hour on-hold with Sprint. But let me say what led up to that.

For the last few months I’ve been getting these UNWANTED Text Messages on my cell phone from someone I don’t know. I have NO IDEA HOW I got on this list.

The messages say things like “Come see my show tonight at _____ etc..”… so I’m guessing it’s a musician of some sort trying to plug their stuff. Now, I have nothing against that since I too have a text mailing list… but my text list is ONLY for people who want to be on it and if anyone wants to stop getting messages, they can do a one-click unsubscribe (same thing goes for my mailing list).

So… when I got the 1st message, I thought it was a mistake until I started getting MORE. After the 2nd text message…I replied asking nicely to be removed from their text mailing list and never heard any response (this wasn’t coming from a service, it was coming from someone’s actual cell phone).

As the spam messages went on… my responses started getting meaner… by the 5th time I exploded into “Take me off this fucking list, this is the 5th time I’ve asked!”.

So yesterday…I get yet ANOTHER message…I call the number and get the guy’s answering machine and leave a message. An evil part of me felt like posting his cell number HERE and asking everyone to call and text him back but there’s no need to give the idiot this much attention… I admit, the thought DID cross my mind though (evil grin).

So I call Sprint and told them I was being Spammed via text message… at 1st they said the only thing they could do was get rid of my text messaging ALL-TOGETHER [not an option] … so then I ask to speak to someone else and FINALLY got it to where this number is blocked from texting me in the future … at least that’s what they said. I guess only time will tell.

The whole thing just annoyed me. It might be one thing if I knew the guy or was a friend or fan… but I’m clueless… and getting unwanted texts surely isn’t going to suddenly make me WANT to be a fan. Quite the opposite!

Not sure what I’m going to do If another text message comes through from this idiot. :-[
Getting spam in email is one thing… it’s easy enough to delete… but now that it’s crossed over on to my cell phone??? I’m pissed.

I’m back in the Recording Studio this week…FUN. Wednesday, we’re tracking Strings and on Saturday I’ll be trying to sing these suckers. We’ll be just about done with these tracks then and moving on to the next. Things are moving along though.

I’ve been looking online for new places to live. I like where I am but the thought of being able to rehearse and record in the same place I live is very appealing. Trouble is…finding studio space that affordable and in a spot where it’s OK to play the piano or track drums at 3am (not that i’ll be tracking at 3am but it would be nice to have that option).

I like that my rent is somewhat cheap for Hollywood but considering the costs of renting out rehearsal space weekly…finding a place that I could actually live and work in would be ideal!

Anyway..right now I’m just looking and not finding much.

I can’t help but think that if i were still in Michigan, I wouldn’t have any trouble finding what I’m looking for at all..but then again..i’d be in Michigan. Not really an option… And so…i keep looking to see if anything comes up

Last night I went to a Red Carpet Premier for a film that I have a song in. The movie’s called “Anderson’s Cross” …I’m pretty sure there’s a 6 Minute long Trailer for it floating around on YouTube It’ll be on video soon for anyone interested. If you blink your ear, you could easily miss the few seconds of “Upside Down” that’s in the movie but It’s a nice credit to have.

It was brought to my attention that just about every time I have a song placed in TV or Film, it’s usually playing on the radio–which is somewhat funny since my tunes and Radio have yet to come together as one happy family. For the next CD, these radio folks will be held at gunpoint. It’s going to all go down like some sort of Adam Sandler movie

Anyway…the movie last night was pretty good. Production and Acting was 100 times better than some of the movies I’ve been renting lately [I’ve been picking up some real duds]. Sometimes I’m amazed at what makes the shelves at Blockbuster…

I think what bugs me most about some of these movies I’ve been renting is… “Interlacing”. You know…when you’re watching it and you see jagged lines on screen. Hard to explain. I guess the best way to describe it is that they look like they’re shot with someone’s home low-end video camera. What’s worse is watching something like that on a giant screen TV…you really see the flaws then. I guess watching HD TV has really spoiled me.

Yesterday rocked!

We spent the day tracking all the guitars (pictured above is Kevin doing his thing–it’s a GOOD thing) and now the songs are sounding pretty amazing… we’re booked next Wednesday to do Strings now. I can’t wait!

I didn’t get to the vocals of the songs yet but with each part that’s added, I’m getting more and more excited to do so.

My brain is a little fried form hearing these songs over and over…i need to take a break from them and listen with a fresh ear..but for now…I’m really diggin’ them!!

I’m getting myself in gear for the Recording Studio again. We’ll be tracking guitars today and maybe if there’s time I might throw some vocals down. I had planned on shooting for Guitars and Violin in this session but Jesus (the violin player) called me a few days ago saying that he wasn’t going to be able to make it. Actually, he was calling from the hospital and was just a few hours away from having his appendix removed! I told him we could wheel his hospital bed into the studio and stick the violin under his chin. I think the IV dripping sound might make for some nice ambiance for the CD HA!!

I touched base with him yesterday and was pleased that the operation went well so eventually when he heals, there will be strings. As for today… it’s guitars, guitars and probably more guitars.

Oh, I just realized that some of you might be confused as to why each track is put down separately. Most people are under the impression that the whole band goes in and records at the same time. That’s one way to do it but there’s quite a bit more that goes into it. What I do is:

1. Establish the Click with the metronome and get the drums down 1st (we’ll usually play along with the drums while this is going to help get a better feel for it but those tracks usually aren’t the “keepers”). Mainly, we focus on making sure the drums are solid and on the click- So basically while getting the part down in the songs we hear this nice little annoying CLICK, CLICK, CLICK going throughout the tracks.

2. Once the drums are down and solid, we’ll layer the other tracks one at a time to make sure everything is spot-on. Vocals are usually one of the last things to go on along with little whistles and bells.

It’s a fun process actually but time consuming.

Oh…here’s a link to some Stills from the last studio session with Drums, Bass and Piano. I’ll be sending this link out in this month’s mailer but I figured I’d post it on the blog 1st. Some of the pictures are snoozers but some are fun. These were snapped from HD video clips. Yeah, I’m having the studio sessions taped in HD for video use down the road so you’ll probably see some of these later as part of a video for one of the tunes

Ok… Off to work

June 1st…ah how I hate thee. On this day each year I’m reminded that the cards that life deals are not always the best hand. Of course, I play the game with what I’m dealt and do the best I can. In retrospect, I realize I wouldn’t be who I am today if not for how I grew up…but I often wonder what sort of person I would be though.

And so, today’s just another reminder of something I’ve tried to leave behind. Most of the year, I’m lucky that I’m not reminded as often. THANK GOD!

You would think that each year would get easier and easier but it’s actually the opposite. I know I’m speaking in non-specifics but I think I’m just tired of putting my thoughts down about the situation. Nothing I do, say, or write will change anything that was, is, and will be. And so? I MOVE ON (until the next June 1st).

On the brighter side of life, I’m back in the recording studio on Monday. Recording is what’s keeping me optimistic. This next CD (so far) has some songs on it that are mainly for myself. I’m not writing songs with the thought of “this song is a single”…If others connect to it or relate and like it, that would be a bonus.

So far the songs are a bit “extreme”…if it’s an angry song, it’s probably the most vicious song I’ve ever written. Depressing tune? Pull out the sharp objects. Love song? Mushy as they get! One of the songs worries me a little due to the content, but it certainly is honest as hell. We’ll see what sort of response it gets.

As for the rest of the CD, I’ve been writing and have quite a few tunes that are just OK…I’m not sure what’s gonna make it on disc and what’s gonna get tossed aside. All i know is, I’m looking forward to recording them.