Woohoo!

So I finally finished that Who Am I cover. It took for-E-VER (scenes from the Sandlot flash through my mind). My computer forced me to use Windows Live Movie Maker simply because I was running Windows 7, and Microsoft is irritating. I finally managed to get a copy of the old XP Movie Maker, thought I still kept having to switch between the two. But it was still a lot harder than it needed to be. I had considered switching to Apple when I got rich. I have no problem with the accompanying actions of only eating at Panera Bread and going to Starbucks twice a day…but I’m still not ready to drive a Prius, so I can’t get a Mac. Anyway, after lots of slaving over a hot CPU, here is the finished product:

The little Lego guy (Captain Rafael…he is the captain of his soccer team, as shown by that captain’s headband) gave me a  bit of trouble. He was very fidgety, which is not an admirable quality for a stop-motion film actor. But by the end of shooting, he had learned his place. He may even show up again sometime. Just as long as he doesn’t raise his rates. He certainly drove a hard bargain. Luckily I have a sister who will work for free. If she reads this and demands payment, I’m quite prepared to offer her 10% of my profits that Youtube pays me (lol).

Still waiting on some good movies, too. We got Lovely Bones from Netflix last weekend. After we watched it, we sent it back. Then there was some weird mixup, and Netflix sent the movie back, saying that it hadn’t been opened, so they didn’t think we had received it in the first place. Then it just got left on the counter for the next two days, instead of being mailed back to them again. Guess we just can’t get rid of that movie. It was a good movie and all, but I want to see The Book of Eli. In the meantime, I’ll just spend my free time working on music (shocker, I know) and reading books. Right now, I’m reading White, the third installment in Ted Dekker’s Circle Trilogy. Ted Dekker is a fascinating writer. Rarely does a story that exists in another reality/fantasy world and still feel so incredibly realistic. I would definitely recommend the Circle Trilogy (or anything by Ted Dekker, honestly) to anyone. It has quite a strong allegorical value, as well, with each event in the book’s other “dimension” lining up with Scriptural teachings. All of that going on while the entire world is scheduled to meet a very abrupt and catastrophic end.

My sister (not the one in the video) insists I’ll be working in the dish room when I get back to school. I hope she’s wrong lol. But if she’s right, I can’t complain too much, cuz I need the job either way. My car needs some repairs done. I’m actually getting excited about school. It’s been a while since I’ve had any music classes/lessons. I’ve got a music theory class, a hymnplaying class, a voice class, and a piano lesson. Then two engineering classes and a Bible class. I’m actually hoping that I can get lucky and they’ll movie some of the classes around so that I can keep those classes and add another engineering class, so that catching up won’t be so tough my senior and super-senior years.

And with all that being said, I bid you all good day, I’m going to go listene to the auto-tuned Bed Intruders song again. It’s by far my favorite Youtube video now

32 posts, 32 days left

So I go back to that little bubble that we like to call PCC a month from tomorrow. I'll be working on campus this semester, So I'm headed back a few days before the semester actually starts. I'm not sure where I'll be working yet...I'm supposed to find that out the day I go back. It's funny every time I think about it, how that place is just its own little world. The mall looks like a completely separate country in comparison. The PCC people are always so easy to pick out, because 50% of the other people are wearing baggy shorts (so big you could use them for shelter on a rainy night if need be) or mini skirts, have their hair bedazzled with each of the three primary colors, and look like that just came straight out of a hip hop video (you know, the ones that are trying to express their individuality that just so happens to match the individuality of everyone else they hang around with). Then 20% are dressed like typical human beings, and 30% are walking around in groups wearing khakis and a collared shirt (or skirts if they're girls...obviously). Then you get back to this Bubble that's running completely independent of the outside world (apart from US Mail and water) go to dinner with friends, and laugh at things that, really, no one in that mall you just came from would have found funny...for the simple fact that they've never experienced this other world you live in.

I mean, sure there are times when I'd rather be anywhere other than there...but when it comes down to it, I don't think I'd trade it (besides, we all feel like that about most places from time to time). I like being at a small school where everyone knows each other, and you've got so many people you can depend on. I just love the whole atmosphere and idea of smaller communities.

That being said...here are some things I ponder when boredom sets in:

• When cleaning products say stuff like "It is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its directions," how much room does that give me? Can I land myself in prison for cleaning the grout in the tile with a product that says it's for counters? Or do I have to feed the Lysol to someone's cat before I'm charged with a crime?
• Do whales snore? Can they? If not, do they "talk" in their sleep?
• Who was the daredevil that decided eating eggs would be nice to try?
• How many attempts at bungee jumping did it take before they managed to convince people to pay to do it?
• Could it be that the chicken really DID just want to get to the other side, and has now become a laughing stock, just because of this one simple desire?
• Why do so many people think it plausible that an alien race would travel many thousands of light years to come specifically to our planet and do tests on us, when we haven't even made our presence in the universe obvious until little more than 100 years ago?
• Why am I still writing when I so desperately crave a snack right now? Goodbye

I'm sorry, Blog

It appears i have been neglecting you these past two weeks. That "Blogger.com" button just kinda sits there on my bookmarks page looking lonely while I pass it up for Facebook and YouTube. I apologize, old friend.

...     [*Blink*]  ....  OH! Hey there! If you're reading this, it means you care about what I have to say. Aww you are all so nice. I thank you all from the heart of my bottom! Ok, just kidding...that's slightly weird. I'll thank you from the bottom of my heart instead. I've had a busy week. I've spent a lot of time working on music, particularly Meant for Me. It's pretty close to done (considering where it was a few weeks ago, that is). There are a few spots I still need to smooth out, but after that, we'll be good. Don't worry, the other ones shouldn't take this long. This is hard because it's my first song I'm actually trying to do a really good job at producing, and I also feel like it's my most important song, so it has to be perfect. I can't help but analyze even the most minute details in this thing. it's starting to drive me crazy. I really don't know how professional audio engineers can do this kind of thing every day and retain their sanity. Then again, I've only met two people who ever do anything with recording and/or mixing. One's a musical genius (and I've never heard of a genius who was in his right mind), and the other is weird and annoying and hated by almost everyone I can think of at school. So I guess there's no sanity to retain in either of them. Now I understand how this works!

Steps to becoming a professional audio engineer:
   1. Lose mind
   2. Develop an excuse for said lost mind, so no one suspects it (i.e. music or nuclear physics)
   3. Get lucky. Win the lottery. Inherit Bill Gates' fortune by mistake, and unethically keep it.
   4. Use the aforementioned fortune to buy the kind of expensive gear you need or just think you need.
   5. Make money and get discovered by producing a song with a heavy enough beat that no one cares how good it is. They just listen to it anyway because it's the coolest thing to listen to when you're walking down the street with your pants down around your ankles, obviously.
   6. After step 5, you can record anything you want, because you're already a famous producer now.

Sounds like i've got a business plan! Let's just hope there are better fads by the time I get to step 5. Ok, just kidding again. I don't plan on working in a studio for a career. I'd actually like to design wireless communication or digital entertainment devices. I'd also like to make sure that whatever career path i embark upon, it consists of big words, so that I can still look smart, even with a retarded grin on my face! =D

So anyway, i hope you're still reading, because I have big news! I registered 5 songs today to be copyrighted! Woohoo! Now I get to wait for "up to 6 months" ( though I've read it could take longer =/ ) for them to mail me a certificate (providing I did everything right). It was kinda nerve-racking doing it all.

The US Copyright Office's site is not the most self-explanatory site in the world, and it was difficult to find sufficient help. I called them, but it took around 15 minutes for me to get in touch with somebody (and every minute, this recorded voice that sounded like it belonged to a guy who wore square coke-bottle lenses and had a pedo-stache would say "Sorry, but due the the very high volume of calls, there is no one available to take your call at this time. Please hold for the next available information specialist" or something close to that) I hope Mr. Recorded Voice Man doesn't read this. It might affect my success in securing that fancy certificate. Nothing against you, Mr. Recorded Voice Man. I was just really bored waiting. So i apologize for whatever offense I might have caused. Some hold music would have been cool. ANYWAY, I asked the lady all the questions i could think of at the time, and she sounded more like she was quoting things from an internet forum. her answers seemed sorta distant, like they only partially applied to me. So for the questions that arose when finally working my way through the confusing details of the site, I just resorted to reading the forums myself. That way i wouldn't have to say "I'm sorry, what did you say?" after everything she said (I'm bad at understanding people on the phone).

But oh well. While I would argue that the site could stand to be slightly more self-explanatory, it's all done now. I submitted Meant for Me, Timeless, Once Again, I Need You More, and Night Sky; all in an EP collection I entitled Actual Size. =D
I know you haven't heard Timeless or I Need You More yet, but you will before too long. I like them both a lot

I'm off now. As the Beatles once sang, "Go dig a pony!"

One small step for man = One giant leap for leprechauns

Yesterday was a good day. I got the violin part recorded for my song, courtesy of Ericka Wright! It went pretty smoothly. We only had about an hour to record anything, so we got about 5 takes done. I told her to ad-lib for the first part of the song. Little did she know that I planned to use the ad-libbing. Muhahaha. I've also been arranging several other songs at the same time. (Ok, not like simultaneously or anything, but you know what I mean, right?) Some are a little intensive, others not so much. I was having a hard time getting my vocals to sound right today, so instead, I recorded a version of me singing with this weird british alternative-rock style accent. Only reason I did that was because my roommates made fun of the way I pronounced "man" in my first recording of it (the low-quality one that's on my youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/JeevesBobz  

...there are only three uploaded videos...it's not hard to find lol) and sang the whole thing with an accent all the time. There's also my video bar to the right if you don't like clicking your mouse more than once. So anyway, I told him I'd record a weird-accent version just for him. And I did! Woohoo!

Which reminds me! I need to put up another song, so yall don't think I'm just being lazy! I think I decided the next one I upload will be one I named Once Again. Piano is the main instrument (in the video, it will be the only instrument) in this one, as opposed to my oh-so-incredibly-cool Cougar-branded guitar:

(BTW, if you can't make it out, those fancy letters of Greekness are Pi Kappa Delta)

See that awesome-looking shiny new soccer ball next to it? My sister bought me a new one because mine is beat up. Isn't she the best sister in the world? Now I have a fresh ball to practice with as I prepare to have a rockin' season this upcoming semester. Last season wasn't so great, because we lost more than half of our team, and they were all replaced with new freshman. Don't get me wrong, we have some talented players, but the face that they were all newcomers meant that we lacked the chemistry that a team gets when they've played together for a while. But this season will be better, I can feel it. We had all last year to get to know each other and grow as a collegian, which always makes for great chemistry on the field.

Where was I? British leprechauns...wright-handed rock...woo's and hoo's........Oh yeah! You should be able to expect an upcoming video in the next couple days. And by the way, if you remember when I mentioned going to Open Mic Night at Playground Music a few weeks ago...well, it's on Thursdays, and i somehow managed to have something else planned like every Thursday. So i might not get a chance to do that for a while, if at all. If I don't, it's no big deal. It's not like people who participate in it get the musical debut of the century. I'm pretty sure Youtube gets more business than Playground anyway lol, so it doesn't matter much. I'll only go if people write me and beg me to change my mind so they can come watch. Since I don't see that happening, looks like I'm safe to enjoy my Thursdays! (they're the new Tuesdays, you know).

Will all of that...and i mean AAALLLLLLLL of that...being said, I can now bid yall adieu (i refuse to say the word you and all separately in succession. I just won't do it) Do something good this week. Go adopt a penguin, or feed a starving leprechaun. Be a good example to every midget that may be watching you from underneath the couch! (bet that'll make you think twice before you sit down)

--- Me, myself, and John

Recording day

So I got to spend all afternoon recording that duet I had mentioned earlier. If you didn't read that post, now is a good time to go back and read everything I've written! Muhaha! But seriously, it was fun. Had to relearn the song pretty much, because I found out like 10 minutes before the two spiritual attributes got here (I wonder how many of you guys are going to get that? her sister came too, if that gives a decent clue) that I had learned the wrong chords. So i tried to quickly relearn it, and then I had to transpose it down a key, because I just couldn't reach the notes I needed to sing today without sounding pubescent lol. I could reach those notes at midnight when we decided to do that song, but we started recording at 2 in the afternoon. It takes several hours for my higher notes to sound good lol. Needless to say, it took a while to get started. Good thing it's a home studio, so that whole "time is money" thing doesn't apply! We had fun practicing it a bit, then tried with the microphones. Those took a few tries to get set up right. It's not often I record anything for multiple people and an instrument all at the same time, so I'm still learning how to set up all those mics. Eventually we started recording with video too! Until the battery died. Then we just goofed off for a while. But amidst all our fun today, I managed to learn a very valuable lesson. Always check to make SURE a memory card will fit in your memory card reader before just sticking it in. I had to spend quite a while trying to fish the memory card back out of the computer, because it got stuck so deep haha. We almost lost all our video. I ended up taking apart the entire laptop, hoping to maybe get it out from inside, but that didn't do any good. After about half an hour of fiddling with it, we finally got it out with a bobby pin.

Speaking of bobby pins (by the way, if i awkwardly misspell that somewhere, i apologize in advance...spell check doesn't catch it), have you ever noticed how functional those things are? Think about it...there's very few situations where a bobby pin will not come in handy! Need to fix your computer? Get a door unlocked? Hold some papers in place? Find a fish hook? Increase your radio reception? Replace a zipper handle? Poke at something dead? Cause a short circuit in a large power station and take out half a city block? Stab someone who breaks into your house when you don't have a knife handy? (Yes, that was discussed as a serious use) There's virtually nothing these little guys can't do. And to think people actually pay good money for Swiss Army knives! And on top of all that, they can hold hair out of people faces! Ahh...bobby pins.

If you haven't gotten bored yet, I'm helping another friend record some music he wrote. He should be coming over tomorrow. I get to arrange stuff for it! Woohoo!

I watched a movie tonight...about Ramen. I love ramen. Have i ever told you guys how much I love ramen? I'm not sure why, but it's one of the most amazing foods on the planet to me. If I won a lifetime supply of ramen noodles, I would eat it all in a month. I'd be willing to eat it much faster, but I have to spend 3 minutes cooking it, and all those 3 minute waits add up. I sure hope Maruchan never goes out of business. I would probably cry at that sad loss of incredibly cheap ramen. I don't know how much this love of ramen stems from my limited cooking ability, but i just want to shout it out to the world that I love ramen. My roommate and I wrote a song about ramen noodles. It had an organ in it. I don't know why, but it sounded cool. J, if you're reading this, do you still remember that song?

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, so that duet turned out pretty good. I listened to what we had, and I like it. As soon as I get the video (since that whole getting the memory card stuck inside the computer still resulted in not getting anything transferred to the computer), I can start working on it, and if by the Grace of my duet partner, and if the camerawoman has enough Faith in her abilities to show yall, maybe I can put something online for yall to see! (That might be the first time I've said yall on my blog. Now it's there three times.)

Bye yall!
Yall come back now, y'hear?
(To certain possible readers, I add an evil laugh to that. Yall know who yall are)