Cahooties

I swear kids these days have it so easy. I was reading an article in the Chicago Tribune today about a new twist on an old game. How many of you remember the fortune telling fame. It was pretty popular amongst young girls. Here is the official description from Wikipedia.

 A fortune teller or a cootie catcher (sometimes called a scrunchie and a chatterbox in Australia), is an origami device used in fortune-telling games by children. A player asks a question, and the holder of the device answers using a regular algorithm like the examples below. The fortunes written inside can be anything, but what they are determines what questions a player can ask.

There are two positions that the device should be held — switching positions is used to mean opening it into the other position. The following is one description of how to use it:

To use it, a player first asks a question to the person holding the fortune teller. Then the holder asks for a number and a color. Switch positions of the fortune teller that number of times, and one time for every letter of the color. Then the holder chooses the flap that is the color that the player chose. Read the fortune inside.

There is more than one way of doing this, obviously the picture to the right can't use the color to determine which flap to choose. Here is another way:

"Have a player choose a color on the fortune teller. Open and close the fortune teller one time for every letter of the color. Have a player choose a number from 1 to 10. Open and close the fortune teller that number of times. The player then selects 1 of the 4 visible flaps revealed when you stop. Read the player's fortune."

I'm sure that many of you remember making these and using them to determine you would would marry and how many kids you would have. Anyway, kids can now by Cahooties (as they are now called) from a store or online. They will get colorful, laminated paper and 40 reusable fortune stickers. You can get them in six themes: Sporty Girls, Birthday Wishes, Truth or Dare, Wishes and Dreams, Republican and Democrat. They cost abou $6. You can check them out at www.cahootie.com.

 

 

My Dream Has Come True
Now Playing: Candy Girl/Cover Girl Remix

My dream has finally come true. My two all time favorite boy bands have recorded a song together. New Edition and New Kids On The Block have recorded a song together called "Full Service". It will be on the new NKOTB album due out this fall. I love both groups and have always wanted to hear them on a song together. Plus this finally squashes all of those rumors about bad blood between the groups. I always understood that New Edition's beef was with the management and record company not putting the same amount of money/marketing power behind them that was given to NKOTB. But they never had any problems with the New Kids themselves. They are all my fave Beantown boys. Of note, Bobby Brown opted out of appearing on this song. Guess he is too busy doing other things. Here is the article from People.com if you want to read it. I actually found out about it in the Chicago Tribune which was kind of surprising.

 http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20209629,00.html

BONNAROOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Now Playing: Pearl Jam

If I never hear another person yell Bonnaroo in my ear again, I will be a happy person. Keidra and I survived Bonnaroo. The music part of the festival was awesome. The logistics were a nightmare. I was about ready to cry on the first day because I thought that we would be stranded there and not be able to get to our hotel. That's right, we stayed in a hotel. Neither Keidra or I are campers. Never done it and didn't think that Bonnaroo was the best place to learn how. We did eventually make it to the hotel and then ended up having to rent a car for the weekend and then had to get the world's most expensive taxi to the airport on that Monday.

 The first day of Bonnaroo, we saw Matt Morris and What Made Milwaukee Famous. Matt Morris left something to be desired. He was kind of a cross between Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake but looked grungier than them. He hit some bad notes during that performance though. I thought that I was going to have to use my CPR skills as a fellow Rooer who I am convinced took one drug too many, started spazzing out. He was hugging people, then ranting at them, then trying to hit people with a stick, then taking off his clothes, stealing a beer, shaking on the ground. It took the Bonnaroo EMTs about 20 minutes to arrive at the scene to help the guy which was terrifying to me.

 Day 2 was awesome. We saw MIA. MIA announded that it was her last gig and she was glad to be sharing it with all of "her Hippies". Her voice really annoyed me after like the second song. But the crowd seemed to love her. Chris Rock was funny although not the funniest that I have seen him. Metallica was awesome. Those old men can still play hard and fast and rock the house. They played a lot of older stuff and pretty much all of "And Justice For All" which was great. Plus they played my happy song, "Last Caress". We witnessed the weakest mosh pit ever. I guess Hippies don't know how to mosh because they kept trying to mosh to songs like "Nothing Else Matters" and "Fade To Black". So basically it was guys walking around slowly in a circle. Keidra's rain poncho did get sacrificed to the mosh pit as it got drug into it when a bunch of guys ran past us to join the pit.

Day 3 the awesome continued. We saw Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings who were awesome. Sharon Jones is a 52 y/o female version of James Brown and I thoroughly enjoyed her set. I have to buy her cd. Then there was Mastodon who I just don't get. They band was decent but the singer just ruined it for me. Kind of the same way that I feel about System of A Down.

 Ben Folds was funny as hell. "Bitches Ain't Shit" was awesome and he sings it so melodically. he is an awesome live performer and this is coming from someone who is not really a fan of his and does not own any of his cds.

 Pearl Jam, all I can say is wow. And that I want to give Eddie Vedder a hug because he is so emotional and intense. I am so glad that I finally got to see them live. They rock hard. Plus they played my fave PJ song, "Rearview Mirror". That made my whole weekend. They played for like 45 mins to an hour past when their set was supposed to end. Which I loved. But apparently this screwed up things for Kanye West and made his show start late. Although I heard that his set was actually ready to go abotu 30 mins past his show time but he still did not hit the stage for another hour. So I really don't have much sympathy for him.

 Day 4 - We saw Matt Cameron's (from Pearl Jam and Soundgarden) jazz trio which was cool. I'm not a big jazz fan but there was some great musicianship and it was cool to be so close to Matt Cameron.

We also enjoyed the air conditioned Cinemaroo. We saw Heavy Metal in Baghdad which was a great documentary about the only heavy metal band in Iraq. But it was depressing as hell. Then we tried to see a Hunter S Thompson documentary but the Bonnaroo staff had misplaced it so we ended up watching "Charlie Bartlett" which kind of sucked. Of course, after Charlie Bartlett ended, the staff found the Hunter S Thompson movie but at that point we were ready to end our Roo experience.

 I really loved the music but it is an experience that I never need to have again just due to the logistical nightmare of it all.

 BONNAROOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Just have to give you one more for the road.

New CDs

I was just listening to "The Leak" of Brett Michaels new cd "Rock My World" on www.vh1.com. I must say that I was a little disappointed. I was expecting a completely new cd with all new songs. Instead I learned that half of the songs are new and half are from his previous cd "Songs Of Life". The new songs are not strong enough for me to want to buy the cd since I already have a cd with the old songs on it and only 2 of those were really strong. I guess he was too busy finding love to write a whole new album.

 I also got the Cavalera Conspiracy cd recently and it is ok. I was not blown away like I have been with some of the Sepultura albums like Roots or Chaos AD or Beneath the Remains. It just seemed to be missing something. I'm not sure what but something. It is one of those cds that you can put on in the background and just tune out a bit.

 On another note, I love 3 Doors Down and I love their new self-titled cd. They just put out goood solid rock albums. I love a lot of the songs and like all of them. I don't find myself reaching for the skip button which is a sign that the album is great. There are so many cds that come out these days with only 2 or 3 good songs and then you find yourself hitting next on the majority of the songs on the album. Now I just wish that they would go on tour with non-sucky bands and then I could go see them live. Come on guys, Hinder and Staind. You're killing me.

Would You Like to Eat Here?

 

I saw an article on this restaurant in US Weekly magazine. It's a restaurant called, Dinner In the Sky. You and 21 friends get to eat dinner while being suspended 160 feet in the air for just $38,000. I think that I would be too scared to be able to eat or enjoy the view.  Right now it is only available in Hungary, Belgium, The Netherlands and South Africa. If you're interested in more details go to www.dinnerinthesky.com.

 

NKOTB Fans Are Awesome

Since NKOTB announced their reunion, the fans have come out in full force. I have had the pleasure of meeting several of them and it has been awesome. Particularly since none of my friends were New Kids fans when I was growing up so I didn't have anyone to share my New Kids obsession with. Over the weekend I met with a fan (Deb) in Glen Ellyn, IL and had a blast. We met at her husband's store, Clean Coffee and Smoothies. We chatted about the New Kids and even watched their Greatest Hits dvd. We were laughing and screaming like a bunch of teenage girls. The other customers made fun of us a little but that was alright. Deb was also a hair metal fan so we got to chat about our love of bands like Poison, Trixter, Warrant, etc. We had lunch at a great restaurant called Honey. They had the best veggie burger that I've ever tasted. I highly recommend it. I hope to meet a lot more fans. Here is a pic of Deb and I.

 

 

3rd Gig, Does this make me a Rockstar?

So this is the 3rd time that I am trying to post a blog about the Second Prom. Stupid tripod kept freezing up on me and making me lose everything. Anyway, here I go again.

 I have been attending a Rock Band class through the Milwaukee Recreation Dept for about 3 years. This year the community center where the class is held decided to have a Second Prom. Basically this is a chance for people who missed the prom the first time around to attend. Or for those who want to relive their prom experience. They asked if our band wanted to play at the prom and our teacher said yes. So we were on for the prom.

There are 10 members of our class and we dubbed ourselves The Brintones for this gig. We each had a special part for certain songs on the list to showcase everyone's talents. The prom was to start at 6:30pm so we arrived at 5pm to help set up. This took a bit longer than planned since most of us had never set up for a show before. Also we were having some trouble setting up the mixing board. This proved troublesome all night as we kept having trouble with the sound levels of the mics and then there was the intermittent high pitched feedback.

Anyway, things worked out alright because most people didn't show up until around 7pm. Only about 15 people showed up but they were all dressed up in their fancy prom outfits. They were a nice audience and even applauded. Although they complained that we didn't play enough slow songs. I was told that I did a good job singing the 2 songs that I sang lead on. I even played the congas for the first time on "Black Magic Woman". I did not know that I would be playing the congas until that morning but it was fun. Although it did kind of hurt my hands a bit. Overall it went well, except for some shaky intros and not so clean outros.

We finished up our set and then my teacher's band, The Gigolos, played. The prom was supposed to end at 9pm but people kept dancing so it didn't end until 9:45pm. I think that my mom was ready to leave before The Gigolos started to play but I had to stick around to help take down the equipment.

 Here was our setlist:

• Down on the Corner
• Crazy Little Thing Called Love
• The Joker
• What A Wonderful World - which ended up being Stand By Me because our bassist started playing the wrong song
• So we played "What A Wonderful World" after the misplaced "Stand By Me"
• Black Magic Woman
• What I like About You
• Have You Ever Seen The Rain
• Crazy
• Crocodile Rock
• La Bamba
• Twist and Shout
• Louie Louie

Here are some pics from Second Prom.

Set up

Me preshow. Don't I look cool in my Kiss shirt?

The Brintones

The Gigolos

My Rock Band teacher

Me and my Mom

So this was my 3rd gig (if you count the 2 Ladies Rock Camp shows), am I officailly a Rockstar now? At least I am starting to get more comfortable playing in front of other people.

Ladies Rock Camp Portland

I attended that Ladies Rock Camp in Portland, Oregon this past weekend. Ladies rock camp is a camp for women aged 19 and up and is a fundraiser for the Girls Rock Camp that is held later in the year. My friend, Keidra went with me. We attended that Willie Mae Ladies Rock Camp in New York last year and decided to go to the rock camp's place of origin this year. It was a good experience but different from the New York camp. This could be because the experience was completely new last year so the excitement level was a bit higher. We had a bit of an ordeal getting to the camp this year so we missed the band formation part of camp. But we were placed in a band and things worked out fine. I started out the camp with bass as my instrument because I've always wanted to try it out. I love bass lines in songs and have always wanted to learn how to play them. My bass teacher taught a bit over my head but it was cool to hold and fool around with a bass without having to buy one myself. My band ending up having 2 bassists, me and Keidra.

 

Keidra is a way better bass player since she has actually been playing bass for a couple of years. So I was recruited to be the band's singer. Now I usually prefer to be more in the background but this weekend was about trying new things so I accepted the challenge. I was a bit nervous because I've been told my whole life that I can't sing and I actually hate the sound of my voice in general. But my band was very supportive and noone cringed when I sang, so all was good. I ended up switching to the vocal instruction class which was awesome. I learned a lot of good breathing techniques and vocal exercises and also tips on countering nerves while on stage. The schedule was a bit different that the rock camp last year. Also the Portland camp is held in a warehouse rather than a school so the practice space is smaller and limited. Only 5 bands could practice at a time and then we would alternate.

 Anyway, Windy City Chi Girls was born and we wrote a great song that we performed at the Ladies Rock Camp showcase. We didn't mess up and the crowd seemed to really like our performance. So it went well.

Jane, our band's awesome guitarist, was from the Portland area and became our unofficial tour guide. She was so great in making sure that we saw some of the highlights of Portland. Although she could not talk us into going to see the Portland Rebuilding Center. www.rebuildingcenter.org. Where people can drop off toilets and furniture and other home remodeling equipment that they don't want and exchange it for used items from other homes. Great idea but not the most exciting place for out-of-towners to visit. We did go to Voodoo Doughnuts after Keidra talked about it nonstop since we set foot in Portland.  I bought the dirt donut which has white icing and orea cookie crumbles on top. Keidra bought the c*ck and balls donut which was $5 and look like it's name.

 

Overall it was a fun weekend. It really made me wish that I had more time to play music and write songs. I could totally spend the rest of the week just playing around with my guitar and writing music. But as usual the day job calls so it's back to work.

Awesome Name
I was talking to a fellow physician the other day. His wife is a surgeon and belongs to a running group that is composed of other female surgeons. The group has the most awesome name ever. They are called "Chicks With Knives". They even have t-shirts with a woman holding a scalpel on the front. I am totally in love with their name. It would make a great band name. I might have to steal it for Ladies Rock Camp.

ASCAP Expo 2008

I attended the 2008 ASCAP "I Create Music" Expo and it was great. I finally found some time to sit down and write about the experience. There was a heavy focus on the business side of songwriting and I learned a lot. I also enjoyed hearing the stories of the songwriters and producers experiences and particularly the stories behind their hit songs. The Expo started on Thusday, April 10th. I attended several workshops including one on writing musicals, christian songwriting. They were all very informative. I had my one-on-one session with a publisher and got some good advice about pitching my song, "Text Message."  I learned that Disney is very particular about lyrics and won't accept a song with any lyrics that could possibly be thought of as racey. So I will not waste my time pitching the song to them. The Christian workshop was very powerful with some very inspirational panelists. The only downside of the one-on-one session was that it was at the same time as the Jon Bon Jovi/Richie Sambora interview so I missed the first half of it. I was bummed that I didn't get to sit near the front so that I could take pictures of them and possibly speak to them after the interview. Oh well. An interview with Jackson Browne followed and it was cool to hear about his experience as a musician and songwriter.

Jackson Browne

 To wrap up the first night of the Expo, there was a Writer-Producers Jam with several great songwriters and producers who performed several of their hits and told the stories behind them. Here is the list of performers.

Glen Ballard - cowrote Jagged Little Pill with Alannis Morisette, "Man In the Mirror", "Believe" from Polar Express

Mark Hudson - "Living on the Edge" and "The Reason"

Linda Perry - "Beautiful" and "Get the Party Started"

Mike Bradford  - "Follow Me" and several other songs with Uncle Kracker

Moderator, Mark Hudson, Glen Ballard

Glen Ballard, Mike Bradford, Linda Perry

The Expo fun and learning continued on Friday. I attended these workshops - being your own publisher, the Nashville music scene, R&B and hip hop songwriting, writing for film and tv.

Hip Hop panel - Bun B, Carvin Haggins and Ivan Barias, Chamillionaire

Friday night there were 2 showcases with hit songwriters performing their songs. The first showcase included Chris Wallin who wrote "Don't Blink" sung by Kenny Chesney, "Something To Be Proud Of" and "Speed" sung by Montgomery Gentry; Algebra - a songwriter/performer whose songs include "At This Time", "What Happened", "U Do It 4 Me"; Amaury Gutierrez - songwriter/producer whose songs include "Nada Es Para Siempre", "Dime Corazon", "Perdoname Todo"; and Walt Aldridge - songwriter/producer whose songs include "I Loved Her First", "No Getting Over Me", and "Holding Her and Loving You". I was blown away by Amaury Gutierrez. He is so talented and could make his voice sound like different musical instruments.

Saturday was the final day of the Expo. I attended the sessions on collaboration in the digital age, copyright and congress, the Nashville song listening panel where one of my songs was played and critiqued, writing the a track and the Desmond Child master session. The Desmond Child session was very cool because he took us through his process of writing some of his hit songs from being to the final recordings. These songs were "Livin La Vida Loca", "Dude Looks Like A Lady" and "You Give Love A Bad Name". He played the protools tracks of the demos of the songs and then the final recordings. It was very cool.