Ahoy!
I haven't written for quite some time. But you know how it is. The weather changes, tides roll in and out, and other considerations move to the fore.
Life continues much as you'd expect. I'm working for a bank through the week, and in whichever venue needs me at weekends, for NML (National Museums Liverpool). It's fun!
If you don't know already, I absolutely hate being on the dole, since I hate having nothing to do. So I find myself strolling into work 7 days a week. :) Money is nice too. I've never really been into the whole "Let's go to town and get sh*tfaced, waaaaayyyyy!" mentality - generally I only venture to town to appease a friend or similar.
Anyway. Life with The Trestles is going well! Had my first media-facing opportunity on Monday (18th?). Admittedly, it was only Halton Community Radio, but they're good lads running the place, and it was a laugh. :) We have a few corkers coming up in the next few weeks - Back to Trearddur Bay, Southport's Street fest, and then The Bluecoat, as part of the Mathew St. Festival. :)
Still missing the urge to really make some loud music, but I have so little time to devote to two bands, that The Trestles is going to be priority.
Anyway. Onto what moved me to have a little write/rant in the first place: "Keeping Up With The Kardashians".
I'm a little concerned, given the viewing figures achieved by this program and similar "slush" media, that we're developing an acceptance of perfection. Allow me to explain. Prim, perfect, and genetically enhanced people have been the subject to both sides of the media's knife for our entertainment/judgement for decades now. I have no problem with this. Well, I do, but that's a whole other ball of cookie dough. No; my concern is that we're devolving into a nation of glory-seeking perfectionists. Young girls dreaming of Prince Charming arriving in a sparkling white Mercedes, young lads fixated on a girl's face and body, and having some sort of trophy-girl to show off to their friends. It's incongruent. It doesn't *feel* right.
Aspirations are admirable. Wanting the best in life is perfectly natural. The lines are being blurred, however, by those who'll sit and wait for the high life to sweep them off their feet. The best things in life (Did you think of the song 'Money' then? :') I did.)... The best things in life are, inevitably, discovered after vainly chasing a preconceived notion of perfection. "Aim high, but keep your feet on the ground, and don't lose sight of what's around you", is, I suppose, the neatest summary I can think of for my plea - One voice in billions.
I'm a happy man. I take time, and enjoyment, in getting to know people. I don't look at a person's face/body/etc., and dismiss them from my own personal universe. A girl with a confident manner and nice personality is infinitely more attractive than a girl who fits the arbitrary parameters of beauty society has set, with all the charm and wit of half a brick. Beauty does come from within. I'm content, because I know that. Do you?
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Sunday, 10 April 2011
A driving force
A quick one, this:
Today, I was asked why I'm driven to succeed with music. Mostly, my answer is that, just occasionally, we are given the chance to find the one thing in life that just feels right; almost as though we are genuinely born with a reason for existance. I know I'm quite intelligent, and I can turn my hand to a good range of, well, stuff, but there's only one thing that has captivated me every time I do it; Playing music. It's a form of expression, as much as picking up a pen and writing, or a paintbrush and painting are. My guitar can let the world know how I feel much more eloquently than I could explain with words.
The other answer to the question of being driven to succeed in music is more selfish, less spiritual. Basically, I want to be able to turn to the people who've doubted me or looked down on me, and show them a big, 24carat "Fuck You!"
I've had people tell me I'm not good enough, or that I need to know theory to be any good - Again: Fuck You. If I make something of this, it will be because of my natural ability. People who have jammed with me know that I can play. They are also likely to know that I constantly work to teach myself.
Deal with it, theory nazis. I know it's important, but equally, I know this can be done by people who have an inate feel for music.
Today, I was asked why I'm driven to succeed with music. Mostly, my answer is that, just occasionally, we are given the chance to find the one thing in life that just feels right; almost as though we are genuinely born with a reason for existance. I know I'm quite intelligent, and I can turn my hand to a good range of, well, stuff, but there's only one thing that has captivated me every time I do it; Playing music. It's a form of expression, as much as picking up a pen and writing, or a paintbrush and painting are. My guitar can let the world know how I feel much more eloquently than I could explain with words.
The other answer to the question of being driven to succeed in music is more selfish, less spiritual. Basically, I want to be able to turn to the people who've doubted me or looked down on me, and show them a big, 24carat "Fuck You!"
I've had people tell me I'm not good enough, or that I need to know theory to be any good - Again: Fuck You. If I make something of this, it will be because of my natural ability. People who have jammed with me know that I can play. They are also likely to know that I constantly work to teach myself.
Deal with it, theory nazis. I know it's important, but equally, I know this can be done by people who have an inate feel for music.
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