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

Blast it! Blast it! Blast it!
I remixed Test Copy 6 of Soul of a Harper to listen to today at work. And I bloody forgot it!!!! Shiite!

I was half hoping to possibly send it out to be duped because I think I fixed all my probs with it last night. Hmm? Debating whether I should run home at lunch. I'm thinking I will.

Yeah, I could listen to it on the way to Louisiana, but Andrew was not super happy with the fact that I made a solo CD (even though I started it years ago). With it still in production, he'll want to give an opinion on it and he's extra critical with things. It always seems extremely one-sided.

Ye know how some people ask for constructive criticism. When he gives it, it always seems more criticism than constructive. Makes it difficult at times. Course, I am very pleased with the end product. So maybe it's time...

KC Trip coming along
Well, I got an instant message from Melissa with the Hamlet of Mid-Missouri Renaissance Festival. I think she may've been surprised with the people who emailed her to ask to help promote my show there. Unfortunately, I friend my keyboard last night... and worse still, I spilled my wine on it... What a waste of good wine! ;)

Thanks for all the cool responses. Big thing I'm gonna need up there is a venue. I'm actually hoping more for a folk club though than a pub... or even a house concert. Not really sure how many people would show up though. I know we've a decent following in KC. But how many would come just to see me? I'd guess at least twenty, but possibly more.

One thing that I'm really looking forward to about this event is that it should be a good test. I know we've quite a few fans in the Missouri area. But one of the reasons we don't book any gigs up there is that Andrew has a base minimum that we need to make. If we're not making it, then we're not making our potential.

I appreciate what he's doing, but I don't entirely agree. Some areas, we have a strong enough fan base to make it worth our while to book something... like KC. Since tickets will benefit the Hamlet, I'm figuring CD sales will pay for my trip up there... Well, that's what I'm hoping anyway.

Depending on how much the Hamlet and I make at this event, we'll determine if we can build a big enough audience in other areas of the country. That's one of the reasons why I'm also planning on hitting Pennsic next summer. It should be another good test to determine if we can make decent money playing at that big event.

Any case, the wheels are set in motion. The only thing I'm wondering about now is... are there any hotels that'd let me bring my kitties too. I'd hate to leave them at home for a week even with kitty sitters. I'll miss them!

Pet Peeve of the Day -- Bicyclists
I love to go bike riding. I remember biking the hour-long trip from Isola Mantegna where my mom lived to the military base in downtown Vicenza. That was a beautiful trip. Driving through the Italian countryside. Seeing the villas. Having Fiats pass me driving 60 mph on a two-way road that in the U.S. would be considered a one-lane road. One thing I learned in my biking travels... follow the friggin' laws!

That's not something you'll find here in Austin. Driving to work today, I guy just ran right through a stop light. And it wasn't one of the lazy guys thinking, "Well, it's up hill and I'm moving. So this'll be easier."

No. Because he had a perfect downhill road. He coulda stopped. Green light... glide down the hill... no extra effort involved. He's just a stupid arse.

I remember in college, students used to bitch when the cops gave them tickets. Now, I look back and think, if you were driving like that a$$hole, good for them!!!

Is it really that difficult to follow the bloody laws of the road for the safety of all?

Okay, [step down] off my soap box.

All I want for Christmas is... a bard... in Kansas City
Well, I've begun making plans for my Xmas vacation. What are those? Drum roll please... Kansas City.

I contacted Melissa from the Hamlet of Mid-Missouri Scottish-themed Renaissance Festival and told her that I was planning on going up to visit friends. While I'm up there, I volunteered to do a benefit performance for the Hamlet, which needs to raise money for next year. So I'm hoping to have a solo performance sometime around the 28th of December.

I know Melissa is gonna need some help getting this event rolling since she's a lot our plate. So if you'd like to help, go to the website and email her through the contact form to find out how you can get involved to make this a big event. Meanwhile, I need to get off my arse and make a set list.

I hope some you can make it out!

Faire-ly recovered
Ye know, it's not so bad having a gig in Louisiana on the weekend when ye take the Monday after off. I feel fairly relaxed. In fact, I haven't had so much sleep as I did this past weekend. I guess it helps when the faire closes at 5pm.

The Louisiana Renaissance Festival went pretty well. The site is absolutely beautiful. One big prob is that we're on a big stage, and the stage was really meant for either a band with a big sound or a stage act, and well, we may be brobdingnagian, but our music isn't brobdingnagian enough for such a big stage... yet.

I think a lot of it is also learning depends how we use the stage. And we've a bit o' work to figure that part out.

The only other odd thing for me is we've a few fans on cast, and I just feel embarassed when they go on about how awesome we are. One'd think I'd be used to that by now, but nope. Not yet...

Buy Nothing Day
It's that time again folks. The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest spending day of the year in the United States. We buy useless gifts and presents and bury ourselves into debt, and for what? Some absurd excuse to fill our own whimsical desire for affection when affection is attained by spending time with the person you love.

So boycott waste. On November 28th, put away your credit card and support Buy Nothing Day. Check out this radio ad for Buy Nothing Day, then check out the Buy Nothing Day website.

Busy, busy, bus
So where've I been? Busy! With MP3.com disappearing on Dec 2nd, I've been scrambling to get everything into order. Would love to start a Celtic version of MP3.com, but I'm really not sure if I can get the resources necessary to make it happen. I know I don't have the technical know-how, that's for certain. Staying focused on it has been tough. I did, however, compile a list of websites offering free music downloads.

And if you're looking for some extra cool websites, I compiled a list of 21 websites offering free Celtic music downloads. It's a pretty cool list, to be sure. I'm also hoping to add more of my own.

I was also checking out latest poll and it's looking like I need to upgrade my MP3s to a higher fidelity. 24kbps is great for dialup, but seems most of the people voting in the poll are using a much higher fidelity. I guess, I'm alone in that aspect. My computer at work crashes too much when I use higher fidelities. Ah well...

I have been brainstorming the idea of creating my own Celtic music internet radio station. Going back and forth on it. Wish someone else'd run it though since I don't have enough time for all i want to do... *sigh* ah well. Maybe I'll just have to get off my tush and do it.

Soul of a Harper is coming along. Still a couple more things I need to fix, but the song selection is now set. Thirteen folk and Celtic songs and aires. I'm really excited about the tone of the album. The mix is nice, it's fairly mellow overall and just feels kinda warm and homey to me. I could see someone snuzzling up with a loved one by a fire with the album. I think I did a pretty good job of capturing the title, Soul of a Harper, but I"ll let you be the judge of that.

Well, that's all for now. We're taking off at noon for Louisiana to hit their Ren Fest. Three weekends there. I'll try to pipe in when I can, but I suspect I won't have a whole lotta time what with work and music. But I'll do my best. Hope to at least post a few extra poems to Marc's Musings. Take care and I'll talk to ye next week!

The scramble after the demise
Got the news that MP3.com is biting the dust. I'm very disappointed about that. If for no other reason, it means I need to get off my arse and start working. I've a lot to do to get us back in a position where we will earn a flood of new fans. MP3.com was great for that. I definitely could use some helpers. If you'd like to help, check out our help wanted page. I list some of the helpers we need and whatnot.

Shakespeare, do your worst!
Okay, I'll take a break from the depressing MP3.com news that's been taunting me all morn and go on to review something I saw last night--Coriolanus by William Shakespeare.

Ever heard of it? I hadn't. I mentioned it to Andrew who grew up going to the Houston Shakespeare Festival and his comment was something like, "It's the worst play by Shakespeare, which only goes to show why he's so famous."

The show is being put ont at the Vortex Theatre here in Austin and directed by none other than the amazing Lorella Loftus. If ye remember, I had the joy of working with her for the May Day celebration earlier this year.

Lorella is one of the few amazing people who can put on Shakespeare's worst and do something brilliant with it. For starters, she took a three hour play and condensed it a wee bit to just under two hours. No easy feat, but something Lorella excels in. She then put together a team of actors who are not all Prima Donnas and work their arses off, and it shows.

The play is about a legendary, prideful Roman hero, Coriolanus, who leads an army to attack the city of Corioli. There he encounters the Volscan hero Aufidius and defeats him in hand-to-hand combat.

He returns to Rome triumphant and is called by his fellow generals and Patricians to become a the Consul on the Senate, but the Tribunes fear him and lead a revolt that ends up banishing him from Rome.

So what does our great war hero do? He joins the Volscans to attack Rome. Coriolanus' friends try to dissuade him and when they succeed, he's killed by the Volscans.

That's the basic story, so what did I like/dislike about the play?

Well, admittedly don't let the intro full you. Not all the cast members are great and one of the Plebians just about ruined the play for me. She was dreadful. Fortunately, her roles were minicule. And once Caius Marcius Coriolanus enters, the story greatly improves.

Coriolanus is played by Matthew Patterson, and does a fantastic job as the intensity and grew. You could tell he put a lot of work into his rule and IMO really captured the arrogance and hot-headness of this soldier.

His arch-enemy, Tullus Aufidius of the Volscians (played by Todd Porter) did just as great a job. Shame, he didn't have more scenes. He disappears after Coriolanus kicks his arse and isn't seen again until the second half of the play.

We also can't forget Virgilia, the wife of Coriolanus, played by Melissa Vogt. She does a solid job, but course, for me the thing that made her the most was that killer Princess Leia slave girl of Jabba the Hut outfit she worries. Youch! That was hot.... mmm! Damn, sexy!

Sexiness aside. She did a solid job as a Coriolanus's loving wife and also filled in some roles as Roman Senator that she really carried well.

Menenius, the cousin of Coriolanus, played by Besty McCann was very solid. She really carried herself well. While several of the actors seemed a bit stiff at times, she didn't. Lovely and fluid, she was a very emotionally engaging person and loving friend of her cousin.

The Tribunes in general were a bit stiff, but I must commend Blake Anthony DeLong who played the Tribune, Brutus. While the majority of the play he was way too stiff and unemotional, there was one scene he kicked major arse! Coriolanus had joined the Volscians and the news was brought to the Senate. The look of terror on Brutus' face was mind-boggling. Incredible job!

On other notes, I gotta say the costuming was awesome! Coriolanus' fiery red clothing, helm and cape were just too much. I gotta get me a cloak like that! Maybe not bright red, but...

Aufidius wore some very cool tights that made his charcter standout and really emphasized his own hatred towards Rome. Actually pretty impressive.

Menenius and Volumnia (Coriolanus' mother) bhad some cool outfits... I guess I just dug it all around (and esp of course, the Jabba the Hutt slave girl outfit ;) Big huzzah to Chad Salvata and Kari Perkins who designed the costumes.

Chad Salvata also happened to nail the music for the play. It's almost entirely backed by theme music for various scenes. It blended beautifully with the performances without conflicting and still capturing the emotion of the scene.

Finally, the set design. I loved the huge sword pommel. Very cool. the blocks of "marble" were well-used by the cast. Simple and effective. Now, there was also a well-designed logo or whatever ye want to call it. On one side, ye had a lion to represent Rome. The other side there was snake eye and ring to represent the Volscians. Okay, that didn't make too much sense to me. But once explained, I thought it was a nice touch, and again the design was exquisite.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 7. That stems from the fantastic performances by Matthew Peterson, Todd Porter, and Betsy McCann. Definitely worth seeing IMO, if for no other reason than to see one of Shakespeare's "worst" plays performed extremely well. Great job, Lorella!

Ignorance is the hobgoblin of little minds... especially in regards to free music downloads!
I always loved that quote by Emerson. It really captures the absurd nature of some people... those same people who burn books, and listen to others instead of thinking for themselves. Seems there's a flood of that in the world, even among people who you'd hope and expect thought would think differently.

That's the case with Peter St. John. Heard of him? He's attributed to having written the "Fields of Athenry", the rebel song popularized by Paddy Reilly in 1979. I added Peter to my Celtic MP3s Music Magazine Things Celtic and Music Directory in order to help promote him, but he refused my offer. Typical.

Why? Because he didn't read my website FAQ.

Anyone who reads them knows that my website is dedicated to FREE and LEGAL MP3 downloads. It's posted on the front page of my site in bold letters. Yes, to attract a larger audience, I promote that my site features music LIKE Enya, The Corries, The Dubliners, etc.. But the key word is LIKE. There are NO illegal downloads on my website or even LINKED to my website. And anyone fool enough to not read the site will know that I believe MP3s are a great tool for indie musicians to promote themselves. That's it!

Some people though are too narrow-minded to accept that, and that's okay. I guess it goes with the territory... or rather, territorialism.

In any case, it's a brilliant song, and we've been learning it. A big huzzah to Peter St. John for his arrangement.

Progress at last on Soul of a Harper
Well, I decided to remix and master the album last week after hearing some feedback from the songs. But the big question was... TIME.

Well, I made some time last night, and had a friend come over to help and encourage me... okay she slept, but that's a lotta help and encouragement for me these days.

I stayed up until 3am and completed over half the songs. Next week, I hope to finish the other half. Maybe I'll have it out in time for Christmas. But hey at least ye can pre-order multiple copies at a GREAT savings.

Pub Sing Lyrics
I saw a post in a forum about pub sing lyrics, so I put together some of my favorite Ren Faire Pub Sing Lyrics, and included some links to some of the songs ye can download and share. If ye go to faire, make sure ye share this page and lyrics with your friends.

Speaking of faire...
I was delighted to see some friends of Royal Eggs, posted a link on The Bards website.

We met these artists at Kansas City Renaissance Festival in 2001. Extremely sweet couple that designs those Faberge Eggs. I can't tell you how cool some of those eggs they designed were...little dragons inside. Those eggs (and their creators) are still one of my biggest memories of KCRF.

One of the coolest things I heard came from one of the artists. The eggs usually cost anywhere from fifty bucks up to two hundred. She had an egg there that was absolutely exquisite and priced at about $900. I was blown away and asked her about it.

She smiled and said she never really sells those eggs. She just prices them such because she's still enjoying the beauty of her work. And if someone wants to shell out that kinda money, she'll be happy to let go. But when she's done enjoying it, then she'll lower the price.

Now, that's pride in your work!

The Butterfly
That's probably one of my favorite tunes out there. I've been working on that quite a bit recently. It's coming along. Now I just need to figure out the whole tune organization thang.

Last Week's Enterprise Bites!
Last night, I got a wee bit done I needed to. Need to find a second bard business assistant methinks to help out the nights Sorsha can't. I got a little done, but mostly watched some movies and TV: Blue Crush and the latest episode of Enterprise which I migth add REALLY Sucked! Worst episode I've seen so far. Too Next Generation B.S. stuff that was just a stupid and pointless divergence. Just when ye think the show is getting better...

"use" vs "utilize"
A teacher in college made a good point and I've had a discussion about similar stuff today. What is the friggin' point of "utilize"!? It's a useless word. "Use" is just as good and shorter. "Utilize" is designed to make an idiot sound smart, but anyone who knows better knows that person just wants to feel smart. Boy, it ticks me off.

And yet, there's not much ye can do thanks to the idiots, politicians, and capitalists who formed the "standardized test" crap!

While visions of drummer bards dance in my head
This was byfar my most favorite weekend of the Texas Renaissance Festival. Why? We had rhythm!

Umm. That sounds bad for musicians, huh? Rather, we were fortunate to have a guest musician. Two dear friends came down from Kansas this weekend, Michelle and Cynthia. Michelle has played music with us on a number of occasions. She plays the bodhran. She's always a joy to play music with though, cuz the music and interaction on stage... just naturally works IMO. But this weekend it all excelled.

I can't begin to describe how much fun it was to play music with percussion. It's just bloddy well cool! It kinda opened my mind up to a slew of new possibilities in how she can be added to expand to a trio. And I'm really liking the possibilities I see. I just wish she could come down here sooner, but we'll have to wait till the summer if all goes well.

Sure, there are a lot of concerns, but it was so much fun playing music. The traditional Celtic songs, in particular. I love the ocomedy and whatnot, but seems like recently it's been tough getting the Celtic songs out to the audience, particularly at faire. But this weekend it was just all natural. With percussion, I finally felt like the latest t-shirt idea should read, "Bards Rock" instead of "Rule", because there were soooo many times, when we finished a set, and I was pumping and realizing that our music actually can "rock". And well, coming from rock music background, this makes me VERY happy!

I wish I could say it was a solid decision, but a big part of it is up to Andrew. We've got to fill up our schedule next year so we can afford having a third member, cuz I hope to move to a part-time job this summer. We'll see what happens, meantime, I'm pretty psyched about what the future holds in store!

In other news, we got a bunch of photos taken this weekend which we hope to use for press photos. Some by my great friend and fantasy artist Jen Clower-Brown. Keep an eye on my photography and pictures gallery for details.

Surprising realization
It's way way to late... or early, whichever way you want to look at it. Earlier, I made the mistake of looking at my finances. Not saying that's a bad thing, mind ye. Actually, it's looking great except, now my mind is racing with thoughts. I was looking at what it'd take for me to play music full-time. And wow, I am so close!

Actually, I could fairly easily drop it all and do music if I wanted, but I want to save more money. And the band still needs to pay off a few CD bills. I'm hoping we'll be a wee bit closer once we finish the Tolkien Special Edition CD. We've only sold a fifth of that album thusfar. So there's still about 120 to go, but my guess is that they will go fast once we finish the set. Especially since we plan on adding a few extra bonuses, like some unreleased live recordings that we recently got from KEOS Radio in College Station.

The cool thing is that I'm actually saving money. And as long as I don't get stupid, I could actually do this full-time, or at the very least, just work a part-time job for a while to fill in the blanks. Might not be able to save, but hey, at least I'll be free to pursue my art all the more! Well, whatever the case, this makes me VERY happy. I can't begin to tell you how long I've been dreaming of this.

Today, I was listening to some Music Promotion audio files on MP3.com, and the music biz professional being interviewed talked about how in her early days, she would have to work random jobs to help pay the bills. But the key was... she was living her dream. My dream has been music since I was a wee one.

I remember when I was a kid my mom gave me her old 45s and record player that she had as a kid. She'd joined Columbia House and dozens of records. The 45 that stuck out the most for me? Elvis Presley. "I Gotta Know". It's the B-Side to the more popular song, "Are You Lonesome Tonight".

I feel in love with Elvis, it's amazing to think that I was begging my parents to take me to see him perform live! I was five when he died. WHOA!

Yeah, that really stuck with me. I was a very peeved at my parents when I learned he died and never got to see him perform.

With time, the dream disappeared. It wasn't until I joined Amway in the early 90s that the dream reappeared. While Amway may've brainwashed the hell outta me, the one big benefit of it was that the taught ye to pursue your dreams. Sure they wanted you to pursue monetary dreams--fancy cars and big houses--but my dream was being Elvis Presley.

Interestingly, the business that taught me to dream was also the business that started my debt problems. Before I knew it, I was drowning in debt trying to keep up with the Amway Joneses. Ironic, acutally.

Well, years later, I'm mostly out of debt. I've a band that's growing daily. I'm creating music, art, and poetry. It just feels like it's finally all coming together. It's just that extra baby step I need to take to make it all a reality.

So if you'd like to see that dreams can become a reality, order a copy of my CD, Soul of a Harper, or even better, purchase a copy of the Memories of Middle Earth Special Edition Lord of the Rings Tribute album. Order CDs to give to others for Christmas.

Or if you're flat broke, there's still something you can do. Listen to the music of the Brobdingnagian Bards.

Solas at the One World Theatre
Ye know, one of the really big advantages of being on the board of the Austin Celtic Association happened last night. I was attending the ACA Board Meeting when Celtic Storm radio host, Donnelle McKaskle, came in with some free tickets to see Solas last night. So I grabbed one and went.

I haven't followed the career of Solas as much as I'd like. I spend most of my time checking out Indie Celtic groups, so it was a mighty pleasure to catch the other side of the coin. And wow! The arrangements and instrumentation and of course performance was fantastic!

It wasn't a rip-roaring evening, mind ye. The late show began around 9:30pm, so people were obviously a wee bit tired, but it wasn't due to a tired performance, that's for sure. The band very quietly and humbly, commanded the stage and played two ours of material, largely centered around their new album Another Day that was released last week. What struck me the most was the arrangements.

According to the bio, founder Seamus Egan, was somewhat of a child prodigy. So the fact that he also produced the album and no doubt worked quite a bit at arranging the songs really stands out. It's contemporary traditional Irish music, if ye know what I mean. No?

Well, "pure drop" trad Irish music is where ye have a group of musicians playing the same tune, usually with different instrumentation. Well, that happens here too, but instead, some of the instruments embellish the music that make the stunning trad side sound even more stunning. The bit that really grabbed me was wondering how to attain that "sound".

I mean, I like the NoFi folksy sound that we've been doing for a while, but I would also LOVE to do a future album that has that full-body.

Memories of Middle Earth is the closest we've come, but contemporary Celtic music really covers the entire audial spectrum. The autoharp, recorder and mandolin don't. It's a fairly narrow band. But my ability to come up with ambient sounds just hasn't worked as well when I've tried it. It usually entails a lot of reverb and synth, neither of which I'm super proficient with.

Well, end of the evening, I happily bought one of their $20 CDs to support the group (you can buy it at amazon for much less). Now I'm ready to jump into the trad music world. Though I've started practicing the Penny Whistle, so that makes it easier.

Oh, and the moral of the story, head over to the Austin Celtic Association and become a member. Or if you're not in Austin, join your local organization. (In either case, Coventina's Well benefits the ACA). The Celtic community really needs your support. We had a great festival, but thusfar, we've only broken even. Now we need people to help rocket us forward and to help build the Celtic community.

Manipulation
Yesterday, I got the server back up, then ran off to give Margaret Moser of the Austin Chronicle some CDs for an upcoming feature of Celtic music in Austin. Afterwards had a nice time with some Ren folks having coffee. One of the gals out there is a Major flirt. It reminded me of another 'friend' who I'm no longer very fond of because she loves to manipulate.

I admit it. I'm a sap when it comes to women. If I let her, a woman could walk all over me. And many have because usually I do. I guess it's a sign of maturity that I don't let them.

I saw the warning signs. The hardcore flirting and batting of her eyes. Very attractive woman, but it was all the random flirting that made me wary. I took a step back and noticed the effect she was having on my emotions. And I stopped.

Yeah, I love flirting, but after being hurt too many times by this move to gain power over your mind and body, I'm not gonna put up with it. One of my biggest turn offs.

As I understand, another friend handled it really well. Straight, blunt, comment, "Do you want to sleep with me or what?" Threw her off her guard. I wish I was half as blunt as that. But I guess I could say that's just one of my weaknesses...

Oh, hey, if ye get a chance, drop by the Brobdingnagian Bards homepage and check links. I think there's probably some dead links around there, but not sure. Thanks!

Server probs, motivations, and movies, oh my!
Ugh to the server. Well the bards server's been down for the past four days or so. Finally, just switched servers. Tonight comes the uploading all the info and then testing to see what links are dead or what I didn't download correctly...

Happily, I've been fairly motivated to get stuff done. I got a bunch done with my bard office helper, Sorsha, last night. Feels almost wierd to be motivated for a change. Now I just need to clean and get lots o'other stuff done as well.

No doubt my new movie won't help. I've been on a DVD buying spree. It's hard to stop though when you pay just five dollars for a bunch of movies that were on my Amazon Wish List. Speaking of which, I better remove those now... Even deleted a few downloaded movies I had.

Also started practicing the Tin Whistle for a change. I've been wanting to learn another instrument that I could play at some sessions when I finally get off my arse and go to one. Got one of these a while back and it's cool. Simple enough to learn lots o'tunes. Been anxious to play some traditional Irish tunes for a long time. Now at last mayhaps I will.

This morning I started putting The Call of the Bodice to music. Got a decent drinking tune to go with it. Still needs work though.

Oh yeah... My latest recording: The Parting Glass. Tell me whatcha think.

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