Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Living the Dream (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Just Love the Poo!)

So anyway, I suppose this means I'm back. Ok, well, at the very least I'm finding myself in the mood to...what? Chat? Needless to say my sour disposition is elevating to a more, how should I say, jovial status. I still have the same complaints, grievances, issues and dilemmas as before, it's just that as of late I've decided to make an effort to flush some of them down the proverbial toilet. So without further adieu, let's rundown what's been going on in my infinitesimal and insignificant little corner of the universe.


I've been promoted. I'm as of September 1st actually getting the pay grade that reflects what I've been doing in this hole for the last, oh...say, TWO AND A HALF YEARS!!! So, yeah, the recognition is nice, but I'm still being underpaid by about $5,000.00 a year for what's expected of me. I'm like that kid in that investment commercial from a few years ago. You remember, the one who dreamed of "Clawing his way to middle management!"! It's a start...maybe the start of a long, winding trip down the road of lifelong unfulfillment (I know, that's probably not a word...but fuck it!) , but a start nonetheless.


Der Schlecte Affe is in day care. There's still that little voice in the back of my head telling me I'm an awful parent for putting him there (seeing as how I'm home all day - why would I need someone else to raise my child?). But it will be good for everybody. I'll get some time to sleep, or do things around the house...or, perish the thought...compose (fuck off Brad, I can already hear what you're thinking!)!!! He's on his third week and already he's had two colds and caught a strain of Fifth's Disease (which, btw, is just a dumb little virus that lies dormant for a week or two, then gives you a fever, and then once said fever breaks causes your entire body to break out into an ugly little rash distinguished by the appearance of having been slapped in the face repeatedly - ah, missed opportunities...did I just advocate child abuse?). Luckily, it's kinda like Chicken Pox in that once you've had it, you probably won't get it again. Also, it's good to have a little extra help in the whole potty training ordeal. And the social interaction is a key ingredient (the alternative being that we kept him at home until Kindergarten and his first instinct upon meeting other children his age be to attempt to eat them...or at the very least pound them into submission to his will).


Speaking of other things Monkey related, I suppose I should go ahead and relay the incident with the poo (lest the alternative title make no sense at all). I know Brad's already heard this, but it's still funny, and I want to share with the whole world (or at least the 2 or 3 other people that read this blog). To give a little background on my son...he's a thief. He's well on his way to a renowned career as some kind of criminal mastermind. At this point, he's still in the snatch and grab stage...you know, he'll sneak up on the intended victim, pretend to pay no attention to it, then snag it and run away at full speed. He's a taker, he never gives you anything. Prior to daycare, we'd often let him play in his room relatively unattended. He's trained us to know that as long as we can hear him, he's doing okay. It's when everything gets suddenly deathly silent that we have to check to see what he been destroying, or building, or whatever. Anyway, the day in question, he was doing his thing in his room. Things got exceptionally quiet, so I called out to him. A thunk and a thundering calamity were immediately followed by a guilt-ridden full-on run to me. To make amends for whatever he's just demolished, he presents to me a gift...these two droids, err, sorry, wrong movie. He's holding out his hand, shaking it vehemently...he wants to give me something. The child that only takes has a gift for daddy. So I hold out my hand and tell him to let me have it. Worst...mistake......ever! He gave me...a lump of poo. More specifically - his poo. He fished it out of his diaper pail and gave it, most lovingly, to me! I'm just thankful I didn't overreact and throw it like a fastball. Needless to say, things were washed...hands, face, baby teeth, you name it. And the lump of poo was returned from whence it came.


What else, well...I've started learning how to use that loverly (and free) copy of the Sibelius 5 upgrade I got back in April. I've started by inputting my String Quartet into it. It's a process. Even after a few weeks of it, my brain still can't get the Mosaic shortcuts out and let all the Sibelius goodness in. I'm almost finished though; I've only got about 4 pages left - what do you want, it's not bad for a half-hour here and forty-five minutes there. Now the real question is, does anyone know some string players interested in reading and rehearsing some new material? No one, really...no takers at all? Seriously?! M'kay (dicks)!


I'm kind of conflicted because the darkness that has clouded my working environment for the last year and a half is leaving. I of course refer to...THE BITCH! Oh, did I forget to mention? Yeah, I hate my boss, or at least, that is to say, I hate my boss-boss (more on that in a minute). If she was on fire, I wouldn't piss on her to put her out. I have wet dreams of pinning her to the floor and pummeling her face into hamburger...get the picture (okay so now I'm endorsing misogyny - I've already touched on child abuse, that just leaves euthanizing the elderly and torturing the handicapped and I'll have run the entire politically incorrect gamut I think...oh wait no, I forgot minorities and Jews, damn!). Anyway, in my department we have a shift supervisor (who is my boss) and a shift manager (who is also my boss, and since she's also the supervisor's boss, she shall be referred to as boss-boss). In any case, I hate her. Everyone hates her. I'd be willing to bet that the only people on Earth that like her are her children, and even then I'd lay good odds that at least one of them hates her too. I don't want to get into the details (that's another blog - not another posting...an entirely new BLOG!). I've dubbed her The Bitch with the sincerest affection. In the phone directory of my cell phone I have her listed as "The Bitch" for work, and "The Bitch at Home" for, well...home (duh!). Here's the conflict - she's leaving...to manage the 2nd Shift in our department. This is 31 flavors of bad because now she'll be in charge of (cue spooky music)...MY MOM! My mom doesn't put up with my shit (and that's a lot of shit), so there's no way in the deepest, darkest, remotest corners of Hell that she's going to get along with psycho-obnoxious-backstabbing-opportunist-glory hound-cheerleader-bitch. Yeah, I'm almost certain that The Bitch has about four weeks to live...tops.


I guess that's it for the moment. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but at this point I'm tired and ready for a new post...so we'll see if I can't squeeze another one in sometime in the next six months. Oh, and will someone please just go ahead and lynch Mike Vick by his own nutsack so we can get him off my fucking TV and Internet and get back to more important news. You know, stuff like what President Shrub is going to do now that half of his brain has resigned, or why Brittney shaved her pubes and glued them on her head...you know...important stuff!





Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Funk...y

So anyway, here I am on my 80th post and to say I'm in a bit of a funk would be a monumental understatement. Like Herr Vogler, I too am experiencing something of a personal artistic crisis (though admittedly, I still have no idea what's bugging you Brad and I just talked to you yesterday for fucks sake! - my bad, sorry about not asking...some friend!). For me, I'm simply at a crossroads in my life, a horrifying prospect of a crossroads, but a crossroads nonetheless. I've come to the realization as of late that I may have to give up on any thoughts of ever being a composer. There...I've said it (that actually hurt a little). It's a difficult decision and one I'm going to take a plethora of time making.

Should I hold on to my dreams, be patient, and wait for circumstances to improve so that I might resume being an artist once again? Or should I accept an unfortunate inevitability that the position I've placed myself into leaves little room for me to pursue my life's ambition. With my son, I've discovered a new found wealth of patience. I honestly didn't know I had it in me. So, should I apply that to my aspirations and wait for a potential time in the (hopefully) not-so-distant future when I can begin composing again? Or should I acquiesce to the idea that my devotion to my family won't allow for personal pursuits of this nature any longer. Am I an awful person for allowing the most important people in my universe to become a crutch this way? (That's a rhetorical question btw)

It might be easy to an outside observer to simply say, "For God's sake man, just go and write something!". But I would reply that things just aren't that simple. I could ramble on with a list of excuses why I can't "get my groove on". But that would be shallow, and relatively pointless. Suffice it to say that my life is my life and my problems are my own and not yours (whomever you may be) and in the end, I'm the only one who can relate to my situation because it is unique to me. I've regrettably made the proverbial bed and now I'm sitting next to it wishing I could get in and get just a couple more hours sleep. I don't blame anyone for my woes. I chose to work on this damned graveyard shift in this damned place. I donated the baby batter that resulted in that wonderful little creation of mine. It's just, well, I'm in a rut...a deep rut. A giant, gaping, seemingly bottomless chasm of a rut, with spikes layering the bottom (wherever it is). I know perfectly well that mine is a profession where you make something happen. Unfortunately, I've tried, and my failures thus far dismally outweigh my successes.

Now before anyone gets any ideas of commenting with opinions or ideas, don't. I don't want them. If you want to use a comment to relate in your own personal way, fine. Anything beyond that will only aggravate my disposition further. I hate the idea of using my blog to poor my heart out...but what the hell, it's not as if I've had anything else to write about lately. This is all your fault Brad...you're the one who nagged me for a new post. Well, ok, not really, but blaming you anyway brings a hint of a smile to my face.

Long, hard, deep reflection is where I'm at at this point (that almost got kind of dirty!). I need to continue to think, and weigh the consequences of whatever action I decide to take. So...this won't be my last post, but unless something extraordinary happens, it'll be the last one for a little while. Who knows, maybe something absolutely hilarious will occur tomorrow forcing me to post on it, thus making a total liar out of me. But for now, I'm out.

Peace out yo!

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Happy Birthdays All Around


Just wanted to take a minute to shout a big Happy Birthday to both my beautiful wife who is 30 today (and who's home tending to a sickly little Monkey this morning), and to the great one...Mr. John Towner Williams who is now three-quarters of a century. Love of my life and personal hero and icon born on the same day...is that serendipitous or what?!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

If I Were a Superhero, I Would Be...

...CONTRARY MAN!!!

My power would be that I'd take the exact opposite stance on any opinion that anyone I don't like has (which would be a shitload of people actually), rather I actually agree with that stance or not, and then bicker with them about it until they become so pissed that their head literally explodes - or at least until they suffer a massive coronary through sheer frustration. Thus ridding the world of their stupidity...COOL!!!

It might be fun to be Orgazmo too, but it'd be kinda sticky, and I wouldn't want the stuntcock.

Friday, January 26, 2007

James Horner Was a Genius

So anyway, I was listening to Krull while working tonight, and I stumbled upon a real gem that I had completely forgotten about. It actually kinda pisses me off really - knowing that the man has such an awesome feel for accentuating any given moment in a film so very gloriously, and that he shits all over such a talent so regularly by being one of the most highly skilled musical plagiarists ever.

Sure, Ride of the Fire Mares is awesome, so are the Main Titles, but a real treat happens starting around 1'35" of the Inside the Black Fortress cue (Track 8 on the 2ND disc of the 2-CD SuperTracks bootleg - for those out there who don't have it...find one, NOW!). It's the scene where Colwin first breaks out the Glave to actually use it. He and the others are standing around the dome prison holding Llysa. It's a shit scene really! It would've/could've/should've been a fantastic moment, but thanks to some terrible camera work, blah special effects, and a little poor acting, it more or less failed...until...

Jimbo threw in his score cue.

OK, so it still failed in the end, but thanks to the music, they almost nailed it. This is without a doubt one of the better musical excitement build-ups I can remember. Like I said, alone, the scene flops, but with the score cue, it does a complete 179 degree turn (deduct a degree for the letdown that followed, regardless of how great the music is/was). The orchestra slowly starts revving, and even without the benefit of picture, you still get this wondermous sense of "Stand back folks, you're about to see some serious shit here!". I've heard this cue umpteen thousand times, and last night it still gave me goosebumps. It's brilliant...fan-fucking-tastic. Unfortunately, once the Glave is actually out, the excitement kind of peters-out. It's like waiting for the money shot, and all you get is a puff of air - no release, no boobies covered in a hot puddle of Elmer's glue...just some red-faced lame-ass holding his Johnson ("oops, sorry...my balls must be dry!"). It's a stripper-cake and the bitch is dead because some idiot cooked it with her in it!

But hey, at least the music still kicks ass!

James Horner was a genius, now he's a hack...but a genius hack nonetheless!

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

W...T...F!!!

JESUS CHRIST!!!


Ok, so um...yeah, two for one sale today. But I had to say something. Has anyone else seen what has to happen for K.C. to pick-up the Wildcard spot? I'm sure a lot of people could give a shit, maybe two (two whole shits - wouldn't that be something?!), but I do...so here's how it breaks down:


Denver has to lose
Tennessee has to lose
The Jets have to lose

Yeah, ok so it could happen, here's the rub: Denver's got San Fran at home (fuck), Tennessee has the Patriots (ok, not so bad), and the Jets...

...HAVE FUCKING OAKLAND AT HOME!!!

Oakland...arguably one of the worst teams in NFL FUCKING HISTORY!!! What're they gonna do, pull one out of their collective ass and win one just to retain their dignity? Right, and my wife's gonna let me have that hot 3-way I've been dying/begging for! Don't Fuckin' Think So!!!

FUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKK!!!!!!!


(*in English accent*)It's...just not fair!

Materialistic Capitalist American Swine...ooh, CD's!!!

"Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Mer...Kiss my ass. Kiss my ass. Kiss his ass. Kiss your ass......Happy Hanukkah!"


So anyway, I know I haven't had much to say in a while (at least that didn't concern the death of someone relatively famous anyway), so I thought I'd throw a season's greetings out to my loyal fan base (all two or three of you..."I'm a very lonely man!"). While I was here I thought I'd share how nice Satan Clause was to me this year and see if anyone else wanted to reciprocate.

Let's see...

Got a nice juicy 19" flat-panel widescreen monitor for my studio. Yea!!!
And a 48-port patch bay. Double-yea!!!
And an effects/accentuator pedal for my synth...yea again! (in case anyone's wondering, the pedal basically fortissimos passages when depressed during playback adding emphasis to the music where the performer - me - needs it. Kinda cool, huh?!)
And thanks to Brad, my mom caught me up on a rather large hole in my Basil Poledouris CD collection (The Blue Lagoon, Lonesome Dove, and For Love of the Game - all very much recommended). So...thanks mom, thanks Brad!!!

Birthday's on Friday (fuck...30......fuck!!!). I know mom got me the complete Two Towers and something else. Sam got me a John Williams Signature Score from Hal Leonard. Hoping it's Far and Away, E.T., Close Encounters, or Viktor's Tale (from The Terminal). They really need to release a new one. And releasing 1941 by itself without the parts would be a plus too!!!

Anyway, that's what the American Consumer Commercialist Holiday Goat (the bunny was already taken by that other Jesus Day) brought this year...how'd everyone else make out?!!

Friday, December 01, 2006

Ok, If This Keeps Up, I'm Going to Have to Change the Name of This Blog to "Shehan's 'You Heard It Here First' Artist Obits and More"!!!


So anyway, I know it's early so I imagine no one's heard yet, but Shirley Walker died of a brain aneurysm yesterday. At this point I'm more than grateful that November is finally over because it was not a good month for artistry in Hollywood. That makes Basil, Altman, Big Jack Palance, and now Shirley (ok, so who am I forgetting...). For those of you who are unfamiliar, Ms. Walker was really a damned good orchestrator/conductor/composer. Just listen to just about anything Danny Elfman did before 1995 or so and she had a hand in its orchestrations. Her music for Batman: The Animated Series was top notch, and there were several of her film scores that I was fond of, particularly Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and the first two Final Destination's were pretty good too. She and Rachael Portman more or less embodied feminine success in film music. Shirley wasn't exactly a household name like Johnny or Jerry, but I'm sure she'll still be missed nonetheless.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Ok, So What's the Deal, Is There Some Kind of Artistic Genius Conspiracy Going On or Something?

So anyway, if no one else had heard yet, CNN.com just announced that director Robert Altman died today. Last week it was Basil and now Altman. Who's up for next week...Paul Newman? Probably not, seems the Lord's got it in for artists who were born here in K.C. lately. Still it is a sad day for film fans everywhere, and even more of a travesty that old Oscar always eluded him. Condolences to his family...Bob, you'll be missed - you were one of the greatest (we'll excuse you for Pret-a-Porter...everyone gets one big mistake in life)!

Thursday, November 09, 2006

A Sad, Sad, Sad Day


Ok, so...I'm officially depressed. In case some of you haven't heard yet, Mr. Basil Poledouris passed away yesterday at 61. I haven't read the full articles from VareseSarabande (update: the Varese "article" is more of a blurb with a picture really) or Filmmusic.com yet (update #2: scratch that one too - just finished it), but apparently it was cancer...which I guess explains why he hasn't been busy at doing much for a while. It's almost enough to make you feel like a dick for wishing he'd get back to work for so long. I don't know what to say really...I'm so disheartened right now I could almost get teary-eyed. So now that's two composers I idolize who are gone without my ever so much as having been able to say hello to them. Oh great, now I'm an even bigger prick because I'm making this more about me than him. It's strange how this has happened to two iconic film composers now in the last few years. Think about it, the same thing happened with Jerry, you know, just sort of disappeared all of a sudden, then poof...gone. Poledouris was quoted not that long ago as having said something to the effect of being semi-retired since Hollywood didn't seem to have much of a use for composers like him anymore. Who knew he was fucking dying! What's more sad, the fact that a truly great artist is gone today, or that he was right and that Hollywood has lost touch with good film music. Fuck this sucks!!!



SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!



Light a candle folks, say a prayer, whatever it is that you do...do. Another true genious has left our shitty little world for the big orchestra in the sky. God bless you Mr. P, and thanks for everything, especially Conan, Starship Troopers, The Hunt for Red October, Flesh + Blood, Quigley, Robocop, Lonesome Dove, The Jungle Book, The Touch, It's My Party, Farewell to the King...and did I mention Conan!?!?!