A New Crack at Blogging

It has been awhile since I publically blogged. It is about time I give it another shot.

You Can’t Trust The Critics

Saturday I was sitting in a Burger King with my best friend getting an artery hardening treatment and reveling over the kids' meal toys we had each collected in support of Iron Man 2.

Channel 8, Austin's all news channel, was featuring a movie critic who was effectively panning the film. Now, I admit I am no film critic. And I do it proudly, because most of the film critics I have watched recently are ignorant luddites incapable of giving a good review to anything but movies which are so boring they are hard to keep your eyes open to watch.

This guy must have been reviewing a movie poster- because I know the idiot didn't see the movie we just left. Perhaps the critics are just trying to garner ratings with controversial reviews, maybe their panties are too tight, or perhaps they are just mean spirited dirt-wads trolling for newbies.

Well, the weekend started off slow for Iron Man 2. My opinion is that lots of people listened to the movie critics and their so-so reviews of the film until a few brave souls got past the picket lines formed by the lukewarm critics and word of mouth spread that Iron Man really was invincible.

By the time the weekend was over it was the fifth biggest first weekend at the box office in history. By movie critic standards that reduces the movies chances for an Oscar because it was too popular. Unless of course it is about a sinking ship, and a love affair, and is 194 minutes long. At least James Cameron also gave us Terminator and Avatar.

My friend was right… the first ones to go in the upcoming Zombie apocalypse should be parking lot designers and movie critics. Lawyers would be the next obvious target.

Clash of the Titans

The Church. The State. Big Business. Name your iconoclast here. We need these organizations. But there are inherent problems.

In my last blog I ranted about how political extremism unnerves me. And worse, how I hate to be mail-bombed with everybody’s junk mail on the subject. Before you paint me pink you should know I don’t like mail forwards to begin. I’ll save that for another day right now.

Okay, I bit off a big chunk today. My bad. I once heard a preacher say that one of the things that made sense to him was that the Church and the State had rolled through history correcting each other along the way. The clash between these two titans pulling things into a general balance. Not hard to see.

I have friends who have worked really hard for a lot of years and have been more fortunate than most to have many beautiful things as a result their efforts and good planning. In the current political climate, militant liberals frown on good people who have achieved so much and would love to find ways to whittle away at their nest egg through over-taxation. C’mon people. This is a democracy. I am all for capitalism. You work, you earn. A good thing.

Maybe Frederich Nietzche had something there when he said “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” or maybe he just proved that if you think about politics, religion, and philosophy too much you will just go insane.

Giving all of our individual power over to any one iconoclastic organization does not seem like a good idea to me. I don’t want any of the aforementioned organizations to be my Big Brother. When big business gets to do what they want unchecked you get Enrons and Bernie Madoffs. When banks go unregulated we now know what happens. At one time whenever Greenspan sneezed the economy shook and went into a different direction. He was one of the guys who pressed for de-regulation, got it, and we all got screwed, blued and, tatooed. It is hard to take the church seriously when it’s various denominations have leaders who engage in immorality, rake in tons of cash, and abuse their authority. On, another note who wants another Pizarro or inquisition?

I went through the majority of the Bush Administration without decent work, despite all my best efforts to have one. Corporations got tax credits for sending jobs oversees. if you ask me- Government interference in the Free Market. Business divisions got sold off to promote stock returns- shrinking job opportunities. So I am skeptical about the Republican party.The mess we are in is not going to be solved by pure Republicanism or pure Democratic Party policy.

Popularity Contest

“To thine own self be true.” Wow. Easier said than done.

I was raised to be very conservative. Apparently this has given all of the people in my life an open license to e-mail bomb me with radical, alarmist, paranoid, right wing extremist propaganda. I get constant blasts against Obama. Obama-care, and every manner of Tea party support and lauds for the Fox News Network. Let me set the record straight: I DETEST the Fox News Network. It completely operates on the principal of “Trolling for Newbies.” Yeah, Wiki that up. The idea is to say something highly controversial that is a ridiculous exaggeration or at least willfully incorrect to lure people into an argument.

In the hurt and damaged world it is a sad thing to see that people of faith use that faith to exercise intolerance and what amounts to hate to people who do not believe the same as they do. It is a paradox that a religious commitment that is supposed to inspire love for our fellow man fuels wars between countries over religious and philosophical differences. One I cannot reconcile.

What I have determined is that I will never win a popularity contest if I let my friends and family know what I really think.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a Socialist or a Communist. I am not a Tea Partier. Extremists make me queasy. 

In my opinion the President is in the toughest popularity contest of all. He needs our prayer and support. I may not agree with everything he stands for, but I am convinced he is a good man and he is doing the best he can.

So, do me a favor… take me off your “Hate on Obama”, Right Wing, or Left Wing e-mail lists. I don’t care about your personal politics. Render unto Caesar and all…

If you insist on believing everything Fox News or CNN  feeds you, fine. My opinion is that news networks need ratings and that comes by stirring up a bees nest in order to get viewers, in order to get advertising dollars. Not the best foundation for honest journalism.It also means that some of their shows are opinion reels and not news. Finalluy, for God’s sake people, check your facts before you mail bomb all your friends with sensational or controversial forwards. Anything less just hurts your credibility.

So just keep me out of it or I will put your e-mail address in a twit list (ignore list) so I can live in peace and not let you aggravate me.

If that makes me un-popular, oh well. To mine own self I am true.

Obama Shoot ‘em Up

 

From the same people who brought you the Bush Shootout:

I feel dirty

I feel dirty. I just got done writing (actually re-writing) Lyrics for a song I originally wrote in Los Angeles in 2003. Broke and homeless I scraped up enough money to buy Microsoft Office. I upgraded a Trial Version that came with my Netboodk.Once installed, the banner on the information bar of the software I purchased said “Microsoft ffice- Not for Commercial Use” Wow. I thought I was buying software. Not another trial version.

Don’t get me wrong. I have the highest regard for Bill Gates. For God’s sake… rumor has it he wrote a bootstrap loader for the MS version of BASIC for the IBM PC on the plane flight to Boca Raton. He had the vision to understand the importance of an operating system for the nest level of a personal computer for IBM and the business acumen to see the value of taking computers into every living room in America by adding value to hardware that would otherwise be a footnote in progress of human need. He embraced what every person would need to make a PC their own.

One cannot wonder how much he had to borrow to get to that place. Seriously, allegedly he and his friends used humongous amounts of borrowed computer time to learn their craft. He was accused by one biographer of letting a poor woman’s ice cream to melt in a line while he scrambled through his pockets for enough change to buy his own and has been vilified in parody even by the writers of the Simpsons for crushing small businesses that might have new ideas that his own company could profit from.

Still. I love the guy. When he finally settled down and got married he took the surplus of his wealth to seek solutions for the disadvantaged, the ill, and the underdogs.

I have never been so star-struck that I would write anybody to thank them for what they have done in the course of their stardom that affected me so profoundly. But I have often wished to write Mr. Gates. His efforts have been profound. The rewards he has gained have been filtered back to people who would never understand his accomplishments let alone the valid efforts he has achieved for humanity. Their humanity. I read the articles about the Altair that I am sure he did. Way back then.  He seeks out brilliance. He recruits it. He brings it all back home (apologies to Dylan.)

I am a certified project manager. I am a nameless number in an economy that has forgotten me. I refuse to be folded, spindled, or mutilated. I know things. But still I cannot reach one base ten exponent of the complexity that is Bill Gates.

But I still feel guilty. I am just writing lyrics. How can I know if they will ever have commercial value? Or if I will one day be used for commercial use? Are the lawyers from Bic pens ever going to come knock on my door to ask me for the royalties they deserve for the songs I have written with a pen I used on a spiral notebook I bought at Walmart? I doubt it.

As much as I doubt Microsoft will ask me for a chunk of the profits of a song I wrote using Microsoft Office.  Even if I should eve get so lucky to be noticed enough to have a single verse that makes a difference. Open Office is FREE.

I will not lie. It is still imposing to my creativity to know I paid for my word processer and am being informed that it is only for non-commercial use. So is a library. So is public computing. For some reason…. I still feel dirty. But I still admire Bill.

Joe’s Generic Guitar Lesson

If you have never picked up a guitar before or are a beginner player and have a passing interest in guitar I have just the thing for you. It is a free guitar lesson I wrote to teach a small handful of students. The document is in Word format and is located here. I hope you enjoy it. I was going to post it here but it would take way to long to reformat it from it’s simple outline form.

You can visit my web site to download a few songs I wrote. Go to the music page using the menu button. Happy picking! http://www.joseph-d-polizzi.com Just for the record, the guitar lesson is there too! Tell your friends!!!

INTERNET RESOURCES FOR GUITAR PLAYERS AND MUSICIANS

• About.com has AWESOME guitar lessons FREE. You can go to http://guitar.about.com/ but I suggest you start here: http://guitar.about.com/library/weekly/aa071200a.htm
• Use http://wikipedia.com/ to research scales, chords, or how to read music. e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_Lessons
• Billion Chords- Shareware chord builder. Cheap but good. I use this. http://www.chordeditor.com/ Free trial version.
• Want to dig deeper? Here is a music theory site for guitarists: http://www.essentialguitar.com/
• Fun animated shred show. For the rockers! http://www.guitarshredshow.com/
• Lessons. Guitar Heroes. Practice tips. The web-based vehicle for one of Guitar’s most popular magazines: http://www.guitarplayertv.com/
• Another guitar lesson site. FREE http://www.guitarlessonworld.com/lessons/index.htm
• Find out how to make any chord online FREE and how it sounds! http://www.chordbook.com/guitarchords.php
• A free recording studio package. You can record multiple tracks and play along with yourself or a drum loop. How cool is that? Audacity for the PC. Mac/Linux versions available too! http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows
• Incredible Midi software to help you get started with your own free backup bands! One of my favorite FREE software packages. http://www.anvilstudio.com/upgraden.htm
• Another good online chord speller: http://sologuitarist.net/chord_speller/chord_speller.html
• Advanced tools for learning real Music Theory and how it applies to the guitar! http://chrisjuergensen.com.hosting.domaindirect.com/lessons.htm
• Riffster- mentioned earlier. Slow down solos from MP3 without changing the pitch so you can learn them by ear! http://www.novadsp.com/riffster_lite.htm
• Two Great word processors for guitarist’s to write lyrics with chord boxes over them- Chordwriter: http://www.appcabin.com/ Lyricist: (30 day trial- but great software) http://www.virtualstudiosystems.com/content.php?pg=l_features
• I strongly urge you to download and install these fonts: http://simplythebest.net/fonts/fonts/frets.html The reason you will want to do this is so you can see the guitar chords in Word documents.

My advice is: don’t get discouraged; if it is hard to make a chord- don’t worry- come back to it later. It is like conquering levels in a video game. It is hard to get Crash Bandicoot to do what you want the first time and it takes lots of tries. Guitar playing takes practice. Just keep picking and grinning and don’t give up. It will all sink in- in due time.