I was with my dad in some general urban location. We were sitting in a restaurant next to a driveway that had a game in it. It was a large game that required putting some disks in and pulling a lever and spinning things, the kind of game you might see at a county fair. He didn’t know how to play and was curious about it so I went out there with him to show him. He got into the seat and did whatever it was that you were supposed to do except that he projected one of the playing pieces out into the main road which proceeded to go rolling down the street. I was really worried about it getting hit by a car and went running after it. It kept rolling down to the big intersection to the right of where the game was and no matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t catch up to it. It managed to make it all the way thru the intersection without getting hit and rolled onto the adjacent corner from where it started out, and turned into Arin at about the age of 10 or 12. I started pleading with him to come back but he just turned and disappeared with someone. I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with him and turned to go get my truck. When I got to it, Sam was there and jumped in with me. I started pulling out of the driveway but got blocked by a big rig and was forced to turn right and go up the street thru the intersection and make a u-turn up ahead instead of making an immediate left at the light. This was a detour I hadn’t counted on. After I made the u-turn, we ended up driving thru this very interesting city of tall buildings that made from concrete. Some were businesses and some were residential. The city planners had either made the mistake or nature was just reclaiming what was hers, but there were amazingly large banyan trees growing up into every crevice in and between the buildings. It was spectacular to see the ripples and twists that these enormous trees were making, reaching up and around 20 story buildings. We finally parked the truck and started walking thru a restaurant where Arin might be. It seemed to go on for a long time and we made it into the back where there was a sort of hotel room attached. I needed to use the bathroom and when I went in, everything was miniaturized for a kid. When I came out, Arin was there with Sam on the bed. I walked up and noticed a friend of Arin’s and introduced myself. His name was Chris. Then another of Arin’s friends came up who I recognized and we said hello. I asked Arin why he was running from me. He told me that I once told him that he was like his aunt and uncle, that his uncle was a hard worker and his aunt would cry about things. The weird thing was that he was talking about Mel’s brother Mark and his wife, Dena.
Greg’s TattooFebruary 23rd, 2013
We were at a party that got pretty wildly out of hand and Greg had too much of everything and passed out. Actually I think most everyone passed out. Greg woke up in the morning with a profane tattoo on his butt. He didn’t show anyone what it said but he was pretty upset about it. He took me aside and wanted to share his theory of who did it. He showed me pictures of two guys who I identified and Jack and Jesse. I didn’t really know them and wasn’t sure why they would want to do such a thing.
Inter-Dimensional TravelFebruary 23rd, 2013
I was living in a time when there was a lot of trouble on the earth, not that different than it is now. Some people had traveled to a different dimension and were creating a world that was peaceful. I was asked to travel to that new dimension to help bring in necessary objects and to help stabilize them so they could exist there. I was first escorted to the new dimension to meet the team. We arrived into a fairly barren location. It was dark, and we entered into a sort of fissure or fault line but there was greenery growing. I stepped out of the machine or whatever it was that we were in. It was pretty amazing. It was quiet as I didn’t know quiet could be. I was scared in a way. It seemed like I was waiting for some presence to come out and attack but nothing happened.
I met the team and was shown how they were working on a grid that paralleled the two different dimensions and enabled the transfer of things between the two. They were different. Being in this dimension, they were able to make modifications to themselves physically that suited their personalities, and they things they wore suited their tasks. I was shown objects that had been brought in and the explained the difficulties in keeping structural integrity of them across the dimensional shift. I was given information on what to avoid when making these transfers so that I could help in the project. We then went out to make adjustments and to show me around. We were traveling down a river that was party covered with ice sheets. One of the guys who looked like he was part human and part lion was on a motorcycle that he got to high speed on then laid down and spun out on the ice. I was strange to watch and looked injurious. Andy was with me and as we approached the location where he went down and gotten up and taken off, I found fury knuckles laying on the ice. I asked her if he was injured. She explained to me that permanent injuries didn’t happen. You just perceived your condition however you want to see it and that’s how it was. We passed some satellite dishes near a building that had been created and another guy who looked like a cross between Conan and Merlin went and checked some plugs on these huge cables coming out of the dish base. I for some reason expected there to be sabotage but everything was alright. I’m not sure why I had this looming threat in the back of my mind.
The Jewish WeddingFebruary 21st, 2013
I was with a couple that was getting married. They were trying to put together their announcement to send in the mail but couldn’t quite get the message correctly. I t reminded me of the lord’s prayer and I as I was looking at the five different announcements they’d come up with, I realized that I had the perfect message for them. I shared it and they loved it. I explained to them that I used to recite the lord’s prayer in Hebrew when I was a kid and shared it with them which they also loved. I then walked out of the building we were in which was like a guest house on some property, and proceeded to the main house. I was wearing the woman’s wedding dress I think, or maybe carrying it, I’m not sure. I was trying to keep it from getting dirty and wet which was difficult considering it was raining. As I got to the house, I realized that I needed to climb down a small rickety wooden ladder to get into the house. I was having difficulty keeping the dress in good shape as I descended the ladder.
LaFaMos Marketing and PublicityNovember 4th, 2012
I held off for a really long time on doing this post. I really don’t like having to criticize someone and I’ve always worried about defaming a person or company for having done something I didn’t agree with if fear that they’de retaliate. I guess now, I don’t care because at this point, I’ve kinda given up on the music business. Sitting around on my keyboard was the contract that I did with LaFaMos to do some publicity for me. Whenever I got thru my stack of bills, there it would be, sitting at the bottom like the mold under a shower mat that’s waiting to be cleaned.
I met a canvaser for LaFaMos at the Taxi conference down in L.A. in 2009. I gave him my name, number and web site. Some time later, Gideon Black contacted me and told me that they reviewed my content and really like what I was doing and thought that his company could really help me get some publicity and for a discount rate. For $570 per month with a two month minimum contract, I was told that they would be able to do all the art work to put together a nice press page for me with sample tracks, and get my press kit out to bloggers, radio stations, and other print and online publications. I looked around to find out if there was any web feedback about LaFaMos but didn’t really come up with anything. I really like Gideon’s enthusiasm so I made another trip down to L.A. to meet him at their new office on Hollywood Blvd.
The meeting went really well and I felt positive about it so I agreed to the two month minimum contract and laid down $1140. I didn’t need any creative services because I’m a graphic designer and so all my own work so it was really simple to just hand over a bunch of content. I did this just before a 3 week trip to New Zealand. In an ideal world, I’d just hand it over, go on vacation and return with a nice press kit and maybe a couple blog posts. I was very mistaken.
Amanda Blide was assigned to my account. I liked her attitude when we started out but I found that the communication via email was very slow. It began on Feb 3, 2010 and it took until Feb 20 to get a simple press kit up and approved by me. When I’m talking press kit, I’m talking about one page on the internet with mp3s and a bio. Mind you, I already had all this on my web site. They took my already posted bio, my already posted mp3s, and the graphics I supplied them, and made their own page from this in 17 days, WAY too long. The first blog article happened on March 3, one full month after I signed the contract. By this time I was getting worried, especially when the next possibility for any review of any sort came in the form of notification of a possible radio interview. This came via email on March 18 while I was out of the country. I specifically told Amanda that I would be out of the country and NOT to email me because I would not get it. If she needed to get ahold of me, she must call. That didn’t happen and I lost the opportunity for the radio interview, partly because I told them to suspend the account because I wasn’t getting anywhere with them. Amanda said she’s still try to schedule the interview for me, but she didn’t. So, two months of publicity and $1140 and I got a blog post buy a random blogger. I was really unhappy about my experience and wrote Hunter Scott, the owner of LaFaMos a letter that I had sent via U.S. Postal Service with a delivery confirmation. It came back marked “rejected.” Another big red flag for this company.
The thing is, I don’t know anything about publicity, and all that I do know is that they’ll take your money and make no promises. I’ve confirmed this with every publicity agency. They hold your music accountable for everything they do and don’t do. I can’t say that it doesn’t work because some people do experience success, I assume, or there wouldn’t be publicists. But as for LaFaMos, look elsewhere. Like I said, their attitudes were great, but the delivery fell flat. I didn’t feel that the competency level was up to snuff. And as for Hunter Scott, I chatted with him briefly on the phone when I first signed the contract, but afterward, I couldn’t get him on the phone, he wouldn’t return my calls, and he rejected my personal letter to him when I wanted to complain about their service. As far as I’m concerned; snake. Sorry Hunter, gotta call’em like I see’em.
This Monday at Red RockJune 16th, 2012
This coming Monday, June 18th is the night I will *actually* be playing at Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View as the featured performer for their open mic. I play from 9-9:30pm. The address is 201 Castro Street Mountain View, CA 94041 — (650) 967-4473.
Come out, have a coffee, scream a little… and wear something fun!
Tonight’s Show RescheduledMay 21st, 2012
Tonight’s show has been rescheduled to June 18. Sorry for the last minute notice.
Monday Night ShowMay 20th, 2012
I rarely play out anymore these days, but if you’re missing hearing what I’m up to musically, come out to Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View, CA. 201 Castro Street Mountain View, CA 94041 (650) 967-4473.
I’ll be playing pretty much all new music from the past 12 months or so. It’s a half hour set after their open mic for which I’ll be the featured performer of the evening, starting at 9pm.
It would be great to see y’all.
How a Stimulus Package WorksMay 11th, 2012
It’s a slow day in the small town of Steadman , and the streets are deserted.
Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on credit.
A tourist visiting the area drives through town, stops at the hotel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night.
As soon as he walks upstairs, the hotel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.
(Stay with this…..and pay attention)
The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier; the Co-op.
The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her” services” on credit.
The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner.
(Almost done…keep reading)
The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, picks up the $100 bill and leaves.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole town
now thinks that they are out of debt and there is a false atmosphere of optimism and glee .
And that, my friends, is how a “stimulus package” works!
