A Bard's Real World Blog
Journal, Blog, News, and Diary

More Fall whether under the Texan sun
Beautiful day today. The weather is cooler and delicious. It's invigorating. How I wish I could spend all day outside. Shame TRF didn't start this weekend. Be perfect weather for it. But I had a great weekend nonetheless.

Can I remember it? Umm... I forget Friday, but Saturday, I hung out with my sister. That was too cool. It's not often I get the chance and usually we go to a movie. While I love movies, it doesn't give me enough time to really get to know her. There's a big age difference between us...what 15 years, so I like to do what I can.

We got to go down to the Pecan Street Fall Festival. Walked around, checked out some bands, then went back to my apartment to introduce her to her family...my kitties. :)

But before we got there, we stopped off for some Japanese Pearl Drinks. I love those! It's amazing. My sis spent only a few years in Hawaii as a wee one yet she remembers quite a bit about the experience, including the sushi and shave ice with Azuki beans.

Sounds wierd huh? Well, it's quite delicious. These red beans are very sugar-y and taste delicious. Momoko (I think that's the name) serves some sweets with these beans. First time I've found them outside of Hawaii.

Later that evening, I went to see Under the Tuscan Sun. I understand it deviates greatly from the book, but the movie was a fantastic tale of discovery and rebirth. And of course, it left me aching for Italy all the more.

I wish my mom would write a book on her experiences. She's been living in Italy for nearly twenty years and has a plethora of experiences and an ability to tell stories that no doubt would leave similiar stories on Europe in the dust. Ah well... Guess it might be up to me. Not sure if I'm up to that challenge though. The best I've done so far is my Christmas in Italy journal entries, but I don't believe that's quite the type of stuff the average reader would totally dig.

Well, I find myself newly dedicated to trying to get back to Italy in the very near future... well, that and just escaping in general. I love movies about places far away and times long ago, it's the romantic in me, I guess. But the problem is I find myself mentally escaping. I know, that doesn't sound quite like a problem. But it aroused some interesting thoughts in me.

I've noticed a stigma in me and the way I was raised where you have to have a certain profession in order to have a career. I'm working in computers. Why? Because I didn't really know what else to do. There's the jobs you find working for the state. Then there's independent businesses. None of these really fit my personality that requires flexibility. But I feel like I was raised where working minimum wage is not acceptable. I'm not saying it is, but you can't have a career working for $8 an hour or what not. (Course you can barely make a living but that's a different story)

What would I do if I totally broke apart from what I expect should be done? (aside from music) I don't know.

There's gonna come a time when I'll need to work part-time, and the Bards will make up the rest of my time. Well, that's just dandy, but what will I do?

Quite honestly, unless I want to work in a corporate environment, finding part-time work that pays more than $8 an hour is not too likely. Course I can also go independent with desktop publishing or whatnot, but that means getting out and working hard to find business.

Course in Italy, there doesn't seem to be that stigma. You can work any job and that's normal. Maybe it's just my own perceptions of a different culture, but when my time comes, I'm gonna do my best to think out of the box methinks.

Now if I can only get out of Austin. That's the other thing that's wearing me down. I want to move. Live anywhere but here. Maybe find some place with cheaper rent and cool weather year-round.

Course that'd suck cuz I couldn't visit with my sis as often, but I'm sure my mental health would flourish.

So anyways, Sunday I spent finally finishing up my taxes. Looks like I should do well. Dropped all the info off to my tax attorney and can't wait to see how well I done did.

Oh, I posted a new song in my forum. This one is a parody of "Black Velvet Band", about a black cat.

I also watched a LOT of movies and TV shows on my computer while I putzed around. T'was a pretty nice day. Then later I went for a Lavendar Pearl Drink.

Then later that night, I sent out new issues of The Bards Crier's Music Marketing and Music Promotion Tips Ezine and my Celtic Music Magazine. I haven't published The Bards Crier in over a year, so I was very happy to get that issue out. And it's concise.

As much as I sometimes enjoy long articles and whatnot, I've found what I love most are short articles and ezines that get straight to the point, and don't have a lot of junk. So I've been tightening up my ezines. Extra pleased with The Crier. Felt good to get it out. Now if I can only finish a couple o'those eBooks I was hoping to publish.

Well, we'll see what happens. Meantime, I'll stop roaming around writing about nothing. Happy days are here again! :)

"The Bridge" Enters MP3Songs Top 100
I submitted it last week, and it's already made the charts. So if ye have a moment, help out by going over to the MP3 Song Charts and listen.

Brilliant business idea for you
Just got done talking to my boss. She's waiting for the Cable folks to call her so she can make a mad dash home to get her cable installed. Her comment, "What do you think I have a wife at home?!"

What on earth is with this idiotic trend to maintain hours from 8-5 or whatever. Does that really make sense for retail businesses? I mean wouldn't it make more sense, to run it from say, 11am (to catch lunch folks) to say 9pm? Maybe even do the Italian bit and close down for an hour or two. What's the point!?

Our society really is functioning in an out-dated manner that just doesn't make sense. More and more couples work two jobs, just to make ends meet. Thus, the traditional way of doing things is out-of-date and needs to change, but we're all still stuck in the 9-to-5 mentality. It's bloody stupid!

I admit I'm guilty of it too. Trying to break free with music is a tough business to do. But tougher still is changing my attitude of when I should work.

Bottomline: Don't accept that a 9-to-5 job is what you *must* do. If you want to, fine, but break down the barriers, and you will ensure that life is interesting and fun!

FYI. It's raining. :-)

TGIF
Hanging on a thread... of water droplets. That's the only thing that seems to keep awake this morning. Thank God it's Friday!

Course, I went to bed late. Watched Happenstance last night. Stars the girl from Amelie. This one wasn't as much a winner as Amelie. It was interesting, mind ye, but also a bit on the boring side. Took the view point that nothing happens by chance. A butterfly beating its wings in South America will cause hurricanes on the other side of a globe, and it showed how this happened. So that part was interesting, it was just getting there that was pretty boring.

Then I read another chapter of Harry Potter. It really does speed along, it seems.

Course, earlier in the evening we had a live performance on KVRX radio in Austin--Nummy Muffin Cocoa Butter. Big name... like ours. Had fun, but I should've ate first, that'll often affect how well I remember songs.

Oh for a brief bit, I worked on "Buttercup's Lament". Seems on a second listen there was a bunch of static from the recording. I'm really kicking myself now. So if you bought the CD, please contact me and I'll get ye a replacement. Course, I'm gonna have to re-record the vocals this weekend. Meanwhile, the CD is offline. Again, my apologies.

Story of my life really. Overanxious. Try to get stuff done and forget to check my work. Heck even the Irish Pub Songs for Cat Fanciers, I jumped on really quick w/o thinking through. Course I haven't recorded any of that, just writing right now. But still...

Oh, I did tell Andrew the idea. You can imagine the look on his face... He doesn't like animals. So I told him he can play backup and we'd never sing the songs in public. :)

Okay, that's not entirely true. If any of the songs come off really good, then great. Right now, I've had a lotta great comments for "Wild Kitty", so who knows I might slip it in occasionally. ;)

How to Publish Newsletters
Two or three years ago, I published a series of articles on how to publish a band newsletter. Man, was I ticked off though cuz I forgot to keep copies of the articles. So they disappeared from existance, maybe saved on a musicians computer or two, but I'll never know.

Kinda sad really. As they were pretty good. So I figured I'd share a few newsletter publishing tips.

Stick with Text Newsletters
There are a growing number of people out there who are praising HTML newsletters. I tried those once, but failed miserably. Then the huge slaughter of SPAM that's been hitting my email, I'm not sorry I did fail.

While you can boast the benefits of HTML newsletters with catchy graphics and hidden affiliate URLs, quite honestly HTML ezines are not nearly as good as Text. Why? Well, lets start with me.

I get only a few HTML ezines. I read none of them at home. Why? HTML in newsletters is a horribly easy way for a publisher to add cookies or spyware into your computer. Plus, they are much more prominent when it comes to carrying viruses. Thus, I convert ALL HTML ezines that come to me to text to prevent the spread of viruses.

I also block all attachments. And since most HTML ezines include graphics, you're ezine is gonna look pretty crappy and distracting to me if I can read it at all.

This is probably the reason why Text ezines are known to be much more profitable at selling products and sevices than HTML ezines and also why all the best marketers stick with text.

To be continued...

Bread and butter come to supper
BTW, if you missed our live performance on Nummy Muffin Cocoa Butter, stay tuned to his website. You'll find a copy available for download in the very near future.

Oh, and speaking of free downloads, did you see me Free MP3 Music Download of the Month. I kinda threw this page together to feature some of the MP3s I have available. Most are on MP3.com, but not all...

Look for more in the future.

Irish Pub Songs for Cat Fanciers
It's midnight, and I can't sleep. I have this funny idea for a CD--Irish Pub Songs for Cat Fanciers. Course the CD would be filled with filks of Irish pub songs with kitty themes.

Crazy, huh? Yeah, but it makes me smile, and giddy. Cool thing is that I have the instrumentation recorded for the songs. All I need is the lyrics, and I could lay the vocals on top and voilá, there's a hilarious new CD. :)

I really want to do this. I know I don't have time for it, but hey! It'll be fun.

So I'm looking for new lyrics to the following songs: Whiskey in the Jar, Johnny Jump Up, Wild Rover, Come Out Ye Black & Tan, Lanigan's Ball, Patriot Game, Spancil Hill, Rising of the Moon, Rocky Road to Dublin, All For Me Grog, Finnegan's Wake, Danny Boy, Rosin the Beau, The Mermaid Song, Health to the Company, and any other public domain Irish drinking song that you might've heard us sing or that you really love.

The lyics have to be about a cat or cats. Keep in mind that I may make adjust ments to the songs which would make them co-written, but authors will get full co-writer credit when and if this CD is ever released, plus royalties.

Submit lyrics to my forum with the pub song title.

:)

I LOVE this idea!!!

Public Domain Scottish Drinking Songs
We'll I'm not giving up. I was reminded of one Scottish folksinger who does a lot of public domain material--Carl Peterson. Gonna search through some of my CDs and his music on MP3.com as well.

Irish Drinking Songs
Our recent gig at the Irish Dragon Pub in Killeen really got me back into the Irish drinking songs. Just been wanting to hear more. And I noticed something, which'll require a wee bit more investigation... there's a big difference between Irish and Scottish songs.

Admittedly, I haven't explored traditional Scottish songs as much as I'd like to. They're a LOT harder to find. Ye have the Childe Ballads, of course, but it seems there aren't as many fun Scottish drinking songs as the Irish (that is, that aren't traditional and uncopywrited). On the other hand, the Scots songs are much more rousing.

This raises an interesting question then... how will we record our Scottish CD and still stick to our bardic sound?

What's our sound? One lass described our music as "fun". I like that description. It's just kinda... well, fun and fitting too. Yeah, our music runs the gammit. Probably the majority of it is composed of ballads and beautiful instrumentals, but I like to think that our love of the music shines through.

So as although we have most of the songs picked for the Scottish CD, I'm thinking there will be a few arrangement changes before it is done. I want another album that's just a helluva lotta fun to listen to.

Course the toughest part is just getting in the mood to record it. I've got a bunch of new original songs I'm wanting to set to music, and new ideas pop in my head all the time, like "Kyara, The Elven Mistress of Whispers" did. And the other night I started laying rough tracks for "The Pleasant Peasant Pheasant Plucking Song".

Well, I'll get there soon enough. Got one more project before I start on the Scottish songs. So stay tuned. And if you have any song suggestions, let me know. I want some more drinking songs. The Irish Dragoon Pub setting is just too cool. If we could find more pubs like that, I'd be a very happy bard!

Saving a Bard
Ooo, I forgot to mention that the first couple Save a Bard donations and CD purchases are in. We've made a huge $8.20...and counting. :)

Idiots and newsletters
Got an unsubscribe request from one a subscriber. The person had the audacity to say I spammed them. That just ticks me off.

There are so many people out there that don't pay attention to what they're signing up for online. Whenever I sign up for anything, I double check the newsletter signup. How did this idiot get subscribed? I'll tell ye.

A couple years ago, I started collecting email addresses for my mailing list. To make it easier, I added sign up forms on every webpage I own. You could sign up to any of my newsletters from any webpage. I would then go in and add people to each newsletter.

I really don't know what some people were thinking though. I found early on that people would sign up for every one of my newsletters whether they wanted them or not. They just clicked the "subscribe all" link and voila.

Eventually I realized that some of this idiots were just weren't paying attention. They just wanted, say, my Celtic MP3s Music Magazine for free MP3s, but didn't care about the other stuff. So sure, my zine numbers blossomed, but the quality went down the tube.

That's why a year ago or so, I switched all my newsletters to Topica. They have a nice "confirm your subscription" email so if you're too stupid to sign up for everything, you might figure it out and sign up for nothing or at least just the one thing you want.

And you wonder why there is so much spam out there?!

NPR had an interesting report last week where they did some interviews about who was actually responding to spam.

I mean, if no one responded to spam, it would stop coming because it would NOT be financially profitable, right?

But lo and behold some teenager is out there making a fortune off of penile enlargements that he's not even selling... just taking money from $uckers.

The point is, don't be an idiot. Don't sign up for things you don't want. Double check mailing list sign up forms. Otherwise, you could hurt some legitimate business that does not want to spam anyone.

Happy Eleventy-First Birthday to Bilbo Baggins and Thirty-Third to Frodo

Weekend in review
What a great weekend! Much better than last, that's for sure.

My weekend began with a fun show on Friday night at the Irish Dragoon Pub in Killeen Texas. Admittedly, I don't remember the evening too well. I was pretty exhausted. It also didn't help that we had no monitors and a fairly loud crowd at the bar, so I could barely hear myself. I suspect that was the reason one lady came to me and said, "I'm sorry for all the drunk people. You just don't look like you're having fun at all."

Aiya! That seems a first for me. I'm usually so hyper or at least bouncing around at gigs that it's not a prob. But no doubt the inability to hear myself hurt me a wee bit. But everyone still seemed to enjoy themselves.

The proprietor of the pub, George, even had a Lord of the Rings happy birthday cake that was delicious. But I spaced out too much to really give the event proper attention.

I then went home, putzed around on the computer, read some Harry Potter and crashed around 3am. Woke up at 10:30 to take a friend to lunch for her birthday. We went to East Side Cafe. Mmm! That place Never disappoints. A bit pricey, but worth every dime.

Home, I went, messed around with some websites then took a nap. Didn't wake up 'til 5pm. Soon Andrew arrived and we were back at the Irish Dragoon.

I don't know if they were just wondering where the heck we were or what, but we got a huge cheer when we walked in the door.

I could see immediately that it would be a fun night. And so it was. Lots of regulars and a bunch of newbies too. Lots of cheering and singing along. I had a coke before hand, and man, was I wired! It was a total blast!

On the way home, Andrew and I had our normal business meeting and whatnot, and we talked about the Bard Website. Needed a few changes. So when I got home. I updated it a bit to make it easier to navigate. Makes me wonder... any complaints or suggestions for my homepage?

So Sunday I got to sleep in. Woke up around noon slowly... with kitties sleeping lazy-eyed in the bed with me and as adorable as ever.

Woke up enough to get off my arse and clean up my apartment which was looking like a the recent hurricane on the East Coast had hit it.

I then started downloading a bunch of Celtic MP3s from MP3.com that I didn't yet have, and listened to them while I worked. Planned to use them to write a new issue of the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, but just didn't happen... and that's okay. At least I got a LOT of other stuff done. Plus, as an added bonus, it was rainy all day. Life is good. :)

Around 6pm, I pulled myself away from apartment and decided to get out of it for a while. Andrew called, so we hit Kirby Lane Cafe and I had some wine and a delicious veggie burger that was the perfect relaxing ending to a fun weekend.

Well, not entirely. Went home, and watched the latest episode of Enterprise. Very cool. I've enjoyed that show. The season though is extra cool. There's more of a mission. Lots of tense action, and very action-packed. Definitely digging the new season a lot.

Around 11:30 or so, I started working on the music for the The Pleasant Peasant Pheasant Plucking Song I wrote a while back. Didn't crash until around 1:30am or so.

But no complaints from me. I mean, I've got the sweetest kitties in the world. (Did I show ye my latest picture of my sweet Tabby cats? Love to get your feedback on it.) And the kits have been as sweet and loving as ever. Can't wait to see them tonight. Mreow!

Now I didn't get to work on my Hobbit Birthday Song as much as I'd hoped, but that's okay too. Again, it was a zillion times better than last weekend, and I got more done too. Oh, and...

Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo!!!
Yes, today is the day that wee hobbits would celebrate their birthday. Hope you're having a wonderful birthday celebration. And until, I get that birthday song up, here's a song I wrote for Memories of Middle Earth inspired by Bilbo's farewell speech called "Now It's Time To Go".

Frickin computer crashing my useless post!!!
Blast it. I had so many useless things to say, and the bamm.. it all disappears. Which no doubt means that MSN Messenger is screwing with my crappy computer. Shiite!

Where was I?

Umm... Let's see I was babbling about... my happy birthday Bilbo song. Umm. oh yeah.

I made some headway on it. I'm planning on two different versions. A long one and a short one. The short is done. But the long wasn't coming together.

So last night I was brainstorming this whole b-day thingy and had an idea. I recently bought a domain for my Free Music Download Ezine. My plan was to put together a nice self-maintaining site. But ye know, I don't have a heckuva lot of time to really maintain something. I have too many sites as it is. I haven't even published my Celtic MP3s Music Magazine in over a month now (though I plan another edition this weekend). So I don't really have the time for anything that doesn't require minimal maintenance.

So what hit me was using the site instead to promote my birthday songs. Here's the idea:

Basically, setup a site that is designed to giveaway my happy birthday songs. There'll be greeting cards, free downloads, and customized happy birthday recordings. So people could pay twenty bucks and have someone's name plugged into Bilbo's song instead of Bilbo.

Well, that's the idea. I know I've had a few people ask about that for friends. But it might be another decent income source that could help me quit my job. Only this one sounds pretty decent.

So whatcha think? Am I loon?...umm.. with this idea that is...

Websites and stuff
Hey BTW. In case ye missed it, I do also have a livejournal. I really would prefer having the functions of livejournal ON my website, but LJ has a nice little community in tack. Seems everyone I know is on it. So feel free to add me to your friends list if you have one.

Umm... still feel like writing, soo... let's talk about my other websites... the Texas Musicians Network.

Well, that was the name when it started up in 1997. My brother and I were working on it. Much bigger than it is. Well, whatever I wanted it to be is again gonna take up too much time. So I'm getting ready to change it to another music biz resource page like The Bards Crier's Free Guerrilla Music Marketing and Promotion Tips.

I mean as long as that site is doing so well, why not turn the TMN into something similar for Texas artists, right? Well, that's the idea anyways.

I love helping out other musicians. Haven't had nearly enough time. I'm also just not big on criticism, methinks which is one of the reason The Bards Crier eventually disappeared in the first place.

Heck, also been thinking of dropping out of the Austin Celtic Association. I'm just tired of organizations in general. Particularly those that seem like "members only" clubs... Not saying I wouldn't be happy being a member in a "members only" club, but when you're not in it, it's frustrating.

Feeling like I just want to disappear off the face of the earth (side note: need more coffee).

Ugh, yeah, we could use a manager. Someone to guide the whole promotion of the band and keep things in check. I really should just focus on music. But I'm just psycho that way I guess.

Other annoyances
I signed for a bunch of newsletters over time. Ye know the ones I think are absolutely worthless? Those run by the Big Five record labels. Like Launch. What a crappy ezine! Heck MP3.com's bites these days. They used to have some decent zines.

Avoid those. Listen to Indie music (that means, Independent for those who don't know). That's the type of stuff that's way cool. I've found some incredible Indie bands. And that just makes me pretty durn happy!

So stick with those. You'll be happier in the long-run.

Ooo. One of the slogans (been brainstorming lots) I came up with was, "Think for yourself. Listen to Indie music." Odd little twist, of course, since I'm telling you what to think... but the it still makes a point, I think.

Celtic station
Oh, I'm also looking at the fact that I don't have much faith in the livelyhood of MP3.com. My guess is the Vivendi wants to kill off another indie competitor (though they could make a killing if they tried).

So the thought occurred to me. I need to find a new place to host the music from my ezine. So I guess I'm gonna try to find an online Celtic radio station that might be willing to give up an hour a week for me. Don't think I want to invest in something like that myself... I don't know though.

I forget where I saw this quote, but I like it:

How beautiful it is to do nothing...
and then to rest afterwards.

Alrighty. I'll stop babbling now. Have a great day!

Before Sunrise 2
SWEET! Just saw in C Wayne Owen's Movie & TV News that there'll be a follow-up to the movie, Before Sunrise:

Before Sunrise 2
Richard Linklater told Arizona Daily Star recently that he, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy just finished shooting the follow-up to "Before Sunrise" in Paris - only a short 15-day shoot too. The untitled film takes place 9 years after the events of the first movie, and "deals with the romance very realistically" according to Linklater.

Happy When It Rains
Man, I LOVE the rain. There's nothing like waking up in the morning and stepping outside into a light rain. Mmmm...

Yeah, I love that. And that was this morning driving to work too. I was dying to have a pissy morning. Tiziano was being a little runt, knocking their water bowl over and spilling everything. Crappy drivers. Ye know, the usual annoyances.

But lo and behold, that rain just kept falling. Wonder if this is my Celtic heritage of the Brittish Isles speaking to me. Yeah, never been, but I hear it rains a lot. mmmmm....

Oh, and if ye want a good rain song, check out "Happy When It Rains" by Jesus and Mary Chain from the Darklands album. This an incredible mood album that was very atypical for JMC.

Wow... Just saw the band was from Scotland too. Coolness.

Happy Birthday, Dear Hobbit & Friend
I've been getting ready for Bilbo's Birthday Party this week. And last night I started practicing another Happy Birthday song I wrote. This one for Bilbo. Though it could be sung to anyone.

What's my fascination with birthday songs?

I guess part of it is that I love celebrating my own birthday. Yet I've always tried to not be so egotistical as to tell people. Consequently, I linger on the edge of a miserable birthday as I lament that no one cares enough about me to celebrate my birthday. All a bunch of crap, I know (which is why I'm not afraid to say March 17th, St. Patrick's Day:)

Admittedly, that's not the only reason... It also partly has to do with the fact that well... Here's a trivia question for ye. What song earns more performance royalties than ANY other song in the world?! "Happy Birthday". I think Michael Jackson bought the rights to that song... Is that right? I forget.

So obviously, it's the marketer in me. The Beatles have a cool birthday song. Wierd Al has a cool birthday song. Why can't I?

Yes, I already have one, but to some degree, "Happy Birthday from Ireland" is a birthday song for me. More importantly, it's a bit long and not a great sing-a-long IMO. So I wanted something short (like a hobbit), sweet (like a hobbit), and to the point (not like a hobbit).

Hopefully, I'll have a recording for ye this weekend to celebrate. Stay tuned to Marc's Musings, my newsletter for details.

Elven Mistress of Whispers
There's nothing like a challenge to inspire you to write a song. Well I was so challenged this evening but a slightly intoxicated elf. She was so cute, and I was already in the recording mood, that I wrote this song: "Elven Mistress of Whispers." It's a very rough cut first take, so be gentle, but let me know what you think.

Ah, how I'd love to get leid right now!
I was just looking at a business card I got at the Austin Farmer's Market last weekend--Dugger Hill Plumerias. I love plumeria. The smell is soooo divine. And such beautiful plants.

I used to own one, but just didn't have time to take care of it and so it finally passed away about two years ago. Almost bought another at the market though. But I am happy to see that there is a nearby plumeria distributor, cuz I really want to buy one one of these days when I have a wee bit o'time to take care of it. Right now, the kitties are enough of a handful.

Oh, speaking of kitties, did I show you this picture I took of Jasper the Tabby Cat when he first met TnT.

I love the responses I get for that picture. Usually they are shock and fright. hehe ;)

P.S. I forgot to mention that a lei is necklace of flowers usually made of Plumeria. Get your mind outta the gutter!

Young Guns blasting off on the Enterprise
Ever get bored naming stuff. Obviously, I did. But hey sometimes nonsensical is fun right?

Actually it's not that much nonsense. Last night I saw Young Guns from the beginning, for a change. I realized last night that I've never seen the beginning of the movie. I always came in after they started riding and whatnot.

Course after Young Guns, I watched another episode of Enterprise. I'm really digging that show. Can't wait to see the new season. Sounds very cool. Highly adventuresome as the crew heads out into deep space to kick some alien arse. No longer just wandering, they have a mission. That's pretty cool.

Bards T-shirts get a make-over
In between all that, I updated the The Bards T-Shirt Store a wee bit. I was inspired a wee bit back with a simple slogan that many have thrown at us. So I thought it might be cool--"Bards Rule!"

Sure it's nothing spectactular. Kinda cliche, but at the same time, it seems a common sentiment among a number of our fans. So I figured what they heck. A couple Nagians have commented that it sounds juvenile...and I can see that. But the majority seem to dig it. It kinda fits the fun behavior of the band. Love to get your feedback on it.

A wee bit disheartened
I know it's only been a week since I decided to put together the Save A Bard Foundation. Thusfar, the income is a whopping... ZERO.

Mind you, there are a lot of people who don't like to buy online, others who don't have the money right now. And I understand that. But it does make me think that mayhaps my $2000 goal in the current format is a bit unrealistic.

What?! Me unrealistic... NOOOO! Impossible.

Yes, this is the reason I enjoy having Andrew's feedback with promotion and stuff. Sometimes I get a wee bit overzealous. Add on top that my partner found out about the idea and didn't care for it much.

So I'm thinking of changing the idea. I could really use some feedback too.

Rather than trying to raise money for one person, what about doing a lottery idea. Basically, I'll still be donating/raising money for the cause, but the person won't be defined. Rather, every dollar donated or product sold will have the money go into a pot. For a every dollar contributed, the contributor earns an extra chance to win. At the end of the year, one person will randomly win the entire pot.

Whatcha think? Stupid idea? Good? Pyscho? Where do we sign up? Let me know... or don't.

Yippeeee! Soul of a Harper is here!!!
That's right folks. Soul of a Harper was finally approved on MP3.com. And it's on sale right for just $9.99. The CD features eleven tracks of some of my most-popular solo songs that I've been recording since Winter of 2000.

The album is benefitting the Save a Bard Foundation, so please help out by ordering a copy. If ye don't have the money just yet, head over to my site and download my music.

Addendum
Well, while I'm at it, I figured I'd re-add Extinct to the CD list. That's a CD featuring some of a couple of my old bands. Won't last long, so if you're interested. Profits go for the same thing.

Feeling better, but perplexed
Ye know, it's kinda funny (not haha funny, but funny funny). I spend so much time at work and think to myself, "Man, if only I could take some more time off from work so I could finish some projects."

Then a weekend like this one pass where I have the Whole Weekend at my command, and don't do a dang thing!

Well, I'm throwing around ideas as to why, and a couple ideas clicked around 2am last night when I was up journaling. Fortunately, I had kitties. I was lying in bed writing when Torre came up and plopped down next to me baring his tummy, saying, "Love me." Then the purring started. Oh! There's nothing like a kitty purring. Kinda a wiped away my depression and made me giddy again. So I petted him in between writing.

Then Tiziano joined in and the kitties fought on my bed with Torre pouncing Tiziano at every opportunity. There's nothing like a kitty romp to really put things into perspective. After enjoying watching them for a while, I drifted off to sleep.

This morning, I was pleasantly pleased to step outside the door and feel the cool morning air. Oh, how I miss that. I love cold fronts. They bring storms followed by cold weather. Man, what can be better!?

Lamenting my place in the world
So what was bugging me last night. Well, there were a lot of things, but one of those that hit late last night was how much The Bards aren't loved.

I guess I feel excluded somewhat. Though admittedly, it's a self-induced exclusion. We are not a part of the Celtic music community in Texas. For that matter, we don't really seem to be a part of the Ren Faire music community in Texas either. Or the filk music community, or the classical. Heck, we aren't a part of ANY musical community.

I guess that's alright though. It means we stand apart. We are different. I should celebrate those differences rather than lament them.

I got an email from one fan and DJ up in the Northeast who hosts Zion Planet with DJ Sterling on WWPV 88.7-FM. He mentioned the thing he loved about our music. We have a different sound. We stand apart from the crowd.

A part of me knows that is good, but then the other part of me wants to have a sound like Capercaillie or Lunasa or Brian McNeill. I mean, they have just great professional sounds. Maybe we just need a wee producer, but that might just take away from our unique sound?

Somehow I doubt that though. I've been listening to Autoharp Legacy a lot recently. And there is one thing I can say whole-heartedly, my autoharp has a sound ALL it's own. None of the other autoharpers out there sound remotely like me. Good or bad? Who know. I love the sound these other autoharpists have as well, but I also really enjoy my sound.

Kinda makes me think that I was successful. I created a sound all my own. I mean, to some degree that's every musician's dream.

But the challenge is that it becomes that much more difficult to get people to take notice of you. Yes, we've had a lot of success online with our music. Not many indie musicians can claim 3.5 million downloads of their music. But we can. We make dozens of new fans daily, thanks to our success on MP3.com as well as people like you going out and sharing our music.

But at the same time, we've had very few CD reviews. The media has not grabbed onto us. They haven't even taken much notice. Course I'm also not the greatest publicist. So if ye know of one who wants to work for peanuts, let me know. :)

There's just too much going on in my world. I just don't seem to have enough time for it all. Heck, I don't seem to have enough to time to focus to start doing any of it as I didn't do this weekend!

I guess in all I'm just scared. I'm scared people won't like us, won't give a damn about our music, or will belittle us. We have a few musician friends, but we just don't know too many bands out there. I guess our musical networking skills aren't quite up to par.

But then... we do have fans. And not just people who listen to our music. We have Nagians... People who go above and beyond the call of duty. People are personally interested in our success. We are blessed with people who are not just into the music, they are into the lifestyle that sets them apart.

Our Nagians are different, alright. They celebrate their differences and say, "screw those who expect normality." I guess, I still have a lot of to learn about the wonderful people who enjoy our music. I'm still just perplexed. But I am also extreme blessed. So thank you for the inspiration!

Day...weekend...blah
It's definitely been one of those weekends. Felt kinda pointless to me. I know, I know, it wasn't. I got stuff done. I finished all the graphics and remixing of Soul of a Harper.

Saturday, I also went out to the Austin Farmer's Market. That was really cool. It was pretty small, but it was the first time I went to a market that sorta reminded me of some of the markets of Italy. Kinda got me interested in trying to find more. But then, I won't be able to hit any on the weekend after this weekend.

Oh, and there was a great bluegrass band there, Hard to Make a Living aka HTML. I've been really digging bluegrass recently. Been a major resurgence it seems in the media, and the music has been totally wiring me. Love to do some bluegrass.

Something about the autoharp it seems. Most of the autoharpers out there play folk music and while I do too, the style has been creeping more and more to various styles. I never thought growing up that I'd dig folk music as much as I do. But man, it really gets into ye. Love to explore the styles more, and I will. It'll just take some time I reckon.

Feeling a wee bit better. Watching Spider-Man on my computer as I type. Woohoo!

After the Austin Farmer's Market, I watched Bridget Jones's Diary for the first time. Really good movie. Then, who knows. It's all a blur. Think I watched something else on my computer as I messed around in a daze until finally I got a call from a friend about Rennie gathering at Mother Egan's.

Wasn't feeling very social, but I needed to get out, so I went. That was kinda cool--one guy and eight women. Sweeeet!

But I left after a couple hours. Wasn't feeling much like listening to music and the Sarah Dinah Band was playing--Celtic music band. Interesting arrangement. Sarah doesn't play any instruments. She sings. Has a very nice voice. Not quite so typical like some Celtic bands I've heard.

What's interesting is watching the arrangement and performance. It's so different from our music and performance. Whereas with most Celtic bands, there's a specific formula that combines songs and tunes (in the Celtic music world, songs have vocals and tunes are instrumental). Sing a song, then play a tune. It certainly makes for an interesting musical performance. There's lots of dynamics. With us, however, there's not quite as much we can do because... well, there's just two of us.

I crashed pretty early that night. I think it was about 11pm. For me, that's early. Was kinda bored. Couldn't think what else to do. That's one of my probs working on a computer.

But then I woke up at 11am! There was a brief threat of rain. And then the storm hit. I was very disappointed it didn't last longer. I love storms, but then I would've preferred having a lass to share it with... Heck, it would've been nice to just have a "friend" to share it with. But I'm feeling a wee bit anti-social. So I did try calling some friends, but my bloody phone wasn't working. Really sucked!

The rain lasted only about an hour or so. That was disappointing. Then the day moved on, me not wanting to work on the computer at all. So I...well, I don't remember what I did. Oh, yeah, watched The Two Towers then fell asleep.

All in all, much less exciting a weekend than I hoped. I was looking forward to it... ah well.

So now I just waste time blabbering in my journal.

Oh, I remember what else. I worked on my store, A Dragon's Eye. I was trying to manipulate some of my photos.

I just don't think I'm cut out for graphic arts though. Staring at a computer is just too bloody exhausting. That's the thing that threw me a loop in the first place.

All righty, let me stop wasting your time. Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow, though the b*tching sure feels good. :)

The passing of Two legends
I was saddened to hear on NPR this morning that country music legend Johnny Cash died today at 71.

My intro to Johnny Cash was twofold. I didn't much know about the whole "Man in Black" thing until the mid-90s. I knew him more from one of my dad's old albums of his, Blood Sweat & Tears where he does an incredible version of "The Legend Of John Henry's Hammer". It's been a while, but I remember the song is LONG...and engaging! The album is just brilliant.

But as much as I enjoyed Cash's music and such, after his wife June Carter Cash passed away a few months ago, I kinda expected it. What I didn't expect was the death of IMO another legend... John Ritter.

At just 54, John Ritter was the comical genius of Three's Company and then some. Apparently, he died while on the set of his new TV show. It's hard to think of a greater tragedy. He was just way too young. Considering how much I watched Three's Company growing up, he was really almost like family. He will be missed.

Soul of a Harper is done!!!
Yesterday, I put the final touches on Soul of a Harper. They weren't exactly the final touches at the time, but I decided late last night that, indeed, the album is done. I really need to move on and focus on my bardic pursuits. I listened to the songs I recorded for the album. Yes, there are a LOT more songs I'd like to add, but I just haven't focused enough on The Bards upcoming CDs, so I made the decision. The music is finished.

All I have left to do is finish up some of the graphics for the CD, but all the music will be available on MP3.com shortly, and since I found a low-cost duplicator, I should have CDs printed in a few weeks. I hope you will help Save a Bard by purchasing a copy since the profits will go to my Save a Bard Foundation until the end of the year. Then we'll see what happens.

**sigh** One project down, a dozen to go.

P.S. The track listing in no particular order yet:
1   The Barrel Song
2   Killiecrankie
3   The Bridge
4   The Lady of Setliff Manor
5   Lanigan's Ball
6   Happy Birthday from Ireland
7   Middle Earth Bragging Song
8   Patriot Game
9   The Leprechaun (No Irish Laddie!)
10   My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose
11   (The Princess Bride) Buttercup's Lament

Autoharps and inspiration
Well despite the depressing message (or inspite of), seems yesterday turned out to be a great day. I found a wee bit o'inspiration and finally got started on stuff I needed to do...like record. Well, mix at least.

Last night, I finally remixed "The Leprechaun" and uploaded it to MP3.com. Hopefully, the new version will be ready soon. This also means that my plans of yesterday will take effect. I'm gonna finish my CD as I intended, and I'm in the process of getting my poetry edited to finish my book as well. I'll still need to filter through some pictures to see what'll work in the book. But I was pleasantly surprised that I got a few things.

And I forgot to mention I got a new autoharp! :)

Course you may be thinking after glancing at the above picture, "Are you psycho!?!?" Let's just say there are autoharpers who have MANY more autoharps than I do.

Actually this autoharp is a wee bit different. I bought it from someone who contacted me through my Autoharp Radio website. Ye see, I pretty much upgrade my autoharps every year. And I'm gonna do it again, but since I don't need more than three or four autoharps, I'm gonna sell one of my old ones to someone who's really interested in learning how to play. If you are such a person, please let me know. I haven't figured out the basics yet, like which autoharp I'll be giving up, but I'll keep ye posted.

And ah, this autoharp is a beauty!

Mmmm... Yummy!
It's not often I find a wine and food that taste WOW together. But tonight I made this mushroom soup and had some Bella Sera Pinot Grigio, and wow, did they taste great together... Simply amazing! Gotta experience that some more.

Curiousity killed the cat
I think that's a human term. Curiousity didn't kill th cat. I think some human was forced to after a cat woke them up in the middle of the night. The human just blamed it on curiousity.

Yeah, Tiziano is cruising. It was cute to start. First thing in the morn, he'd be there pawing at my hair, or meowing in the bathroom. "Time to get up and love me."

Me being the sap I am would wake up and be overjoyed to see two beautiful kitty faces. What's a bard to do? I had to love on 'em right? Wrong.

Lesson to be learned: Never, ever, ever, Ever love on a cat before 8am. No matter how cute your kitty is. Don't do it! He can be cuddling close or licking your arm. But don't give that kitty love... cuz he'll take it and You'll be sorry!!!

I did and now Tiziano things he's being cute whenever he starts pawing at my hair, and I'm trying to sleep. I'm thankful he's probably not doing it before 7am, but then who knows. I'm too tired to look at a clock.

That's what I get for being proud that my kitties were trained not to wake me up at 3am. Thus, the other great saying, "pride comes before the fall."

Stinky
Okay, I'm feeling really stupid this morning. I apparently didn't dry my shirt and pants enough whenever they were last washed. Thus, the familiar nauseating smell of mildew permeates the air. Ugh!!!

Guess I'll be running home at lunch to change.

On a brighter note from Tuscany
I don't really EVER watch TV these days. But last night, I said what the heck and even watched John Ritter's new sitcom. Man, how bizarre was that. Was well reminded why I don't like watching sitcoms. It's the laugh track. Just annoying.

Not to say I didn't enjoy watching the show. I did. Got some great laughs outta me too. But still.

Oh yeah, the bright side. Guess, you can tell which side of the bed I woke up on this morning.

Under the Tuscan Sun has been turned into a movie!

Okay, I admit I haven't read the book. I'm Wayyyyyy behind on things I should read. *sigh* Too lazy or something. But it's Italy! And while I may not know a dang thing about the storyline, who cares! It's in Italy.

I love watching movies that take you away...particularly to Europe. I just love to watch movies that take you to another time or place and of course, Italy holds a special place in my heart.

I'm still hoping I'll be able to go this Winter, but it's not looking likely. Finances have been a wee bit tight as I do some catchup from bard stuff.

Which opens up another thought
A few weeks back, I had hinted at the idea about raising money to help someone using various online projects. Well, I figured out who needs to be helped first--my music partner.

I love to bash Andrew on stage...and in private. It's just sorta a game we play. I think it probably helps to diffuse the fact that we have really different personalities. But in all honesty, I'm very proud to have Andrew as a musical partner. He's extremely kind and giving.

A few years back, I was trying to cut through my debt. My ex had moved away for a while. I moved in and mooched off my brother. I lived off pasta for three months. Well, pasta and whatever benevolence Andrew gave me. He's a quirky fellow, but a great friend.

So here's the deal
First, I don't think he reads this journal, so don't share the info, but I would like to raise two thousand dollars to give to Andrew as a gift to pay off his own debt troubles. My goal is to raise it by the end of the year. How? Well, my hope is through donations, as well as through sales of my CD and pending poetry book. This means, I really need to finish them asap, but I don't think that's too much of a challenge, quite honestly.

The big challenge is just finding the buyers and people willing to support this project that will help the Brobdingnagian Bards become a full-time career.

So stay tuned, hopefully later today I'll have a page setup to begin the countdown. I appreciate all your help.

Oh, and I do intend to make your donations well worth your while... Well, I hope to at least. Some of that depends on what you consider worth your while. But if you enjoy my music, if you enjoy my poetry and pictures, then it will be worth your while.

Alrighty, the Save a Bard Foundation begins. So please donate if ye can.

Nothing like professional editorial feedback
Last night, I had a nice meeting with Sci Fi/Fantasy author, Rie Sheridan. It was pretty cool. We got to talking about her success at Dragon*Con where she shared our tables. Plus, I learned about her seven different publishers. Wow! I can't imagine having one, let alone seven.

But it is interesting to hear how similar the record industry is to the book industry. It's a tough climb, so it's always nice to have a few friends. That's why I do my best to hook up with artists and writers and musicians. It's a tough battle. I'm still hoping to get Rie added to A Dragon's Eye Fantasy Art Store, but of course, being signed to publishing agreements, most of her work is unavailable for that option. But mayhaps her next project will be there.

It was also cool to hear that her Bruce and Roxanne short stories are topping the charts. I haven't read them yet, but plan to real soon. Sounds like a lot of fun. As she says, "Humorous Horror to Tickle Your Funny Bone". If you've had a chance to one of her stories let me know. Love to get your feedback.

Find our more about the fantasy writings of Rie Sheridan here.

Promoting my websites
I've been attempting to do that a lot recently. I really need to cut back on my web projects though. I think I'll be doing that in the future. Got one more project I've promised and then...step back.

I have so many dang websites. Not that I mind, but it kinda clouds my mind at times. Web sites I like best are those that once done are DONE! I have a few sites that have fallen into disuse, like TexasMusicians.net, Magenetwork.com and many more. Sure I have stuff on 'em, just haven't really figured out what to DO with them. I don't know... I'm almost tempted to just let the URL slide.

I have gotten another angle to look at online promoting. Times have changed with the incredible amount of spam that's bombarding everyone's email. The toughest part when it comes to promoting any website is Focus.

It's too easy to try and promote something for everyone. That usually leads to nothing for no one. You really have to focus to be effective. I've done a decent job with the Bards, but even there I stray. Our target audience is largely ren faire folks, but the music appeals to a wide variety of people.

So of course when Rie Sheridan made the suggestion last night that I should figure out a theme for my poetry book, it all clicked. Find a focus for the book. That'll make it easier to promote. Sure it might not sell worth a dang, but hey, if I can find a focus mayhaps it'll sell a wee bit better. Any thoughts?

I will at least follow her suggestion and add some photos to it as well. Can't wait to see what these books'll look like through Cafepress once they are printed. Too darn cool, I imagine...cuz well, it'll be all mine. :)

Course, the best way to express the difficulty of online promotion for me... just re-read this entry and try to figure out what the heck I'm talking about.

Blogging changes
Well, started looking at other blog stuff. I signed up with LiveJournal hoping that it would offer me some better functionality, but so far no good. But the itch is there. So I'm thinking I'm gonna find a new blogging system.

I saw one yesterday that sounds like what I want--Moveable Type. Kinda what I'm looking for is something that does a few things:

1. Easy online updates of my journal.
2. Ability for people to comment on my journal (like LiveJournal does).
3. Save individual pages directly my website with adjustable titles.

Course my reasoning all has to do with marketing. I'm just a promo fool. But happy about it!)

Fairly relaxing weekend
Didn't get much done this weekend...and that's okay. I think I'm getting back into the bad habit of not taking care of what needs taking care of. Well, gotta get out of that habit. But it was still pretty nice.

I got lots of sleep on Saturday and was able to get the house clean enough to have some friends and children stay the night. Hung out with them on Sunday. Gotta say, wow, 4 year old boys are exhausting. I vaguely remember my sister when she was four. Don't remember her being quite so frantic. No doubt the location had a bit to do with it. But it was still fun.

Really leaves me wondering though how parents do all they do. Like their mom said, "you have no choice." Guess that's it.

Meanwhile I really need to focus. Think I'll try to take some time this week to do that. A little meditation or something. Yeah, shoot still haven't taken care of that music stuff. DOH!

Ah well. Time to get working.

Topping the search engines
Sweet! I was just checking google and saw that my website is in the Top 30 for 'bard'. I know it's nothing special (I still don't get that many website hits), but it's kinda tough category to break.

More sinus trouble
I was hoping to fight off infections and what not, but today after much sniffling, I finally headed back to the doctor to try to kick my sinus infection in the butt. And man, medical costs really are going up. I had heard about it, but today I felt.

Co-Pay $25
Medicine $75!!! (there's new $50 deductible)

That hit hurt. Gotta finish some of my many projects so I can have an occasional income and save money. It inspired me after I came home and slept (the infection has me really exhausted) to accept donations for my music. Hopefully, I can raise money to put out the album, though I'm not expecting much. There's a fine art to CyberBusking, and I just don't have the time to really work up a site to that goal. Mostly, I'll stick with advertising on my website unless, something amazing happens that makes advertising unnecessary. And the Google ads are not at all intrusive IMO.

Hopefully, I'll be feeling better tomorrow. At least the weekend is here, huzzah!

Advice on Marriage and a Career
I got an email from my mom today. One of those Forwards with a bunch of witty comments. But one kinda stuck out to me:

I HAVE YET TO HEAR A MAN
ASK FOR ADVICE ON HOW
TO COMBINE MARRIAGE
AND A CAREER

Kinda raises an interesting point. I found it very difficult when I was engaged to build a musical career. So I want to find out your thoughts and opinions on the subject. Any good advice?

Back to reality
Yeah, it's back to the real world. After four incredible days of Elves, X-men, Starfleet, Dawn, Pern, Star Wars and much, much more, the real world has crept back into view. What a shame. I had such a great time this weekend, that I wish I didn't have to go back to work, but I guess I'll have to for now.

It's hard to say what I loved most on this wee trip, so I won't bother trying. It was just one magical rollercoaster ride that's left me high on life. I can't wait until next year.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get back to focusing on what needs to be done. We're having Bilbo's Birthday Party in a week and a half, followed by Texas Renaissance Festival two weeks later. Plus, I'm behind on my Celtic MP3s Music Magazine issues. But on the bright side, thanks to Jen's hard work, A Dragon's Eye, my fantasy art store, is up and running and looks fantastic.

I even let Jen add some colorization to my dragon, and it looks INCREDIBLE. Check out my Dragon Journal, and you will see what I mean.

Jen has also added some of her own artwork to the store. And man, I gotta tell ye I love the stuff she added. (I helped pick some of the stuff out :-)

So I guess it's just a matter of time before I get things back in the swing of things. In the meantime, May your boots be well-worn and your soul well-wandered.

latest | archives > >

Well if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer those as well.