Friday, October 30, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Economic Stimulus
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Times are tough, I am well aware. Last October happened to everyone, and it was especially felt in New York. By February of this year, I had dodged the proverbial bullet at my company no less than 3 times - that's about the time I decided to cash in my chips and quit while I was ahead.
Whew.
It was confirmed this month that had I stayed, I would indeed have found myself amongst the other 9.5% of the U.S. labor force in the unemployed category. (Counting those hidden blessings as we speak.)
Fortunately, for those of us who are just rich in relationships, there have been a lot of great things about our failing economy. It's now trendy to pinch pennies! My latest investment? A spool of blank cds. Enter, our Fall 2009 Music Stimulus Package.
Now, regarding the legality of it, I'm not really clear on all the fine print under the FBI Anti-Piracy Warning, but I'm fairly confident that Obama would back me on this.
This bill, like most others, came about from wasting time on the corporate clock emailing friends and googling stuff. We assessed the need (read: made a list of all the albums coming out that we collectively wanted), made the assignments and set the buy-in rate. Once you have purchased the cd(s) on your list, they become public property to share within the group. It's totally brill.
Now to the artists, who are loyal followers of A Musical Snack, who might be getting worked up about their royalties, don't fret. We are your biggest fans! We are the ones that sit in the upper tier at all of your concerts, in the rain! We follow you on twitter! We are your grassroots, word-of-mouth advertisers - so give us a break! Besides, we are cutting corners now so we can still go to your concert.
For example, if you pre-order John Mayer's cd from his website, you will also receive a pre-sale code for early access tickets for his Winter 2010 tour. Check! It's also being pre-ordered on iTunes so we get the exclusive bonus tracks and videos.
(A personal side note, go here to sample his songs - my heart literally flutters)
And the excitement is spreading! I recently got an early morning call from my good friend Robbie who, thanks to his persistence and excellent driving/emailing skills, won a copy of the New Moon Soundtrack from our favorite morning radio station! That's a $14.99 snag, people. I've bought all four books and have seen/will see all the movies - I think the Twilight franchise has extracted enough profit from me.
I also bought tickets to see Pete Yorn in November - and thanks to a contribution to the fund, I'll be singing along when he plays a new song instead of talking or twittering.
Every.body.wins.
Times are tough, I am well aware. Last October happened to everyone, and it was especially felt in New York. By February of this year, I had dodged the proverbial bullet at my company no less than 3 times - that's about the time I decided to cash in my chips and quit while I was ahead.
Whew.
It was confirmed this month that had I stayed, I would indeed have found myself amongst the other 9.5% of the U.S. labor force in the unemployed category. (Counting those hidden blessings as we speak.)
Fortunately, for those of us who are just rich in relationships, there have been a lot of great things about our failing economy. It's now trendy to pinch pennies! My latest investment? A spool of blank cds. Enter, our Fall 2009 Music Stimulus Package.
Now, regarding the legality of it, I'm not really clear on all the fine print under the FBI Anti-Piracy Warning, but I'm fairly confident that Obama would back me on this.
This bill, like most others, came about from wasting time on the corporate clock emailing friends and googling stuff. We assessed the need (read: made a list of all the albums coming out that we collectively wanted), made the assignments and set the buy-in rate. Once you have purchased the cd(s) on your list, they become public property to share within the group. It's totally brill.
Now to the artists, who are loyal followers of A Musical Snack, who might be getting worked up about their royalties, don't fret. We are your biggest fans! We are the ones that sit in the upper tier at all of your concerts, in the rain! We follow you on twitter! We are your grassroots, word-of-mouth advertisers - so give us a break! Besides, we are cutting corners now so we can still go to your concert.
For example, if you pre-order John Mayer's cd from his website, you will also receive a pre-sale code for early access tickets for his Winter 2010 tour. Check! It's also being pre-ordered on iTunes so we get the exclusive bonus tracks and videos.
(A personal side note, go here to sample his songs - my heart literally flutters)
And the excitement is spreading! I recently got an early morning call from my good friend Robbie who, thanks to his persistence and excellent driving/emailing skills, won a copy of the New Moon Soundtrack from our favorite morning radio station! That's a $14.99 snag, people. I've bought all four books and have seen/will see all the movies - I think the Twilight franchise has extracted enough profit from me.
I also bought tickets to see Pete Yorn in November - and thanks to a contribution to the fund, I'll be singing along when he plays a new song instead of talking or twittering.
Every.body.wins.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Nepotism
So I took to Wikipedia for a creative tie-in for the use of nepotism, and I'm thinking that may not be the appropriate word I was looking for in a title:
1) Nepotism gained its name after the church practice in the Middle Ages, when some Catholic popes and bishops, who had taken vows of chastity, and therefore usually had no children of their own, gave their nephews such positions of preference as were often accorded by fathers to son.
2) Nepotism is a common accusation in politics when the relative of a powerful figure ascends to similar power seemingly without appropriate qualifications.
So not entirely accurate, but you can get where I'm headed.
This week we donned our bomber jackets, flannel and boots in our best attempt at rocker-chic and made our way to the Kings of Leon concert. KOL consists of 3 brothers and a cousin, all with the last name "Followill" and all in their mid-20s. I can only imagine how much fun it would be to be on tour and still be able to see your family. And you don't have to worry about the band breaking up! (the exception to that rule being the Gallagher brothers of Oasis.) I can only imagine how their mother cringes at the thought of the things they do. But I digress...
The were fantastic live! It's pretty heavy rock, and he sometimes has to scream, but Caleb was spot-on vocally, every time. And considering that they have been touring and playing the same songs, night after night for nearly 2 years - you have to appreciate that they still do it and do it well. (and thanks to Kristen for bringing a real camera - this pic is very rock 'n roll, we even caught the drummer mid-swig!)
Another set of brothers that have recently peaked my interest are The Avett Brothers. They have a small cult following amongst our co-ed softball team, but now I'm also hearing about them through major media outlets. A departure from KOL's southern rock, The Avett Brothers have been labeled more folk-punk with grunge roots; and they lean towards the piano ballads, which is right up my alley. Billboard declared their new album, "I and Love and You" potentially one of the best new pieces this fall and said "(they have the) ability to lure comfortable yet elegant fireplace melodies from just a handful of guitars and one DNA strand,"mmmmm doesn't that make you warm & cozy all over? Check it out:
1) Nepotism gained its name after the church practice in the Middle Ages, when some Catholic popes and bishops, who had taken vows of chastity, and therefore usually had no children of their own, gave their nephews such positions of preference as were often accorded by fathers to son.
2) Nepotism is a common accusation in politics when the relative of a powerful figure ascends to similar power seemingly without appropriate qualifications.
So not entirely accurate, but you can get where I'm headed.
This week we donned our bomber jackets, flannel and boots in our best attempt at rocker-chic and made our way to the Kings of Leon concert. KOL consists of 3 brothers and a cousin, all with the last name "Followill" and all in their mid-20s. I can only imagine how much fun it would be to be on tour and still be able to see your family. And you don't have to worry about the band breaking up! (the exception to that rule being the Gallagher brothers of Oasis.) I can only imagine how their mother cringes at the thought of the things they do. But I digress...
The were fantastic live! It's pretty heavy rock, and he sometimes has to scream, but Caleb was spot-on vocally, every time. And considering that they have been touring and playing the same songs, night after night for nearly 2 years - you have to appreciate that they still do it and do it well. (and thanks to Kristen for bringing a real camera - this pic is very rock 'n roll, we even caught the drummer mid-swig!)
Another set of brothers that have recently peaked my interest are The Avett Brothers. They have a small cult following amongst our co-ed softball team, but now I'm also hearing about them through major media outlets. A departure from KOL's southern rock, The Avett Brothers have been labeled more folk-punk with grunge roots; and they lean towards the piano ballads, which is right up my alley. Billboard declared their new album, "I and Love and You" potentially one of the best new pieces this fall and said "(they have the) ability to lure comfortable yet elegant fireplace melodies from just a handful of guitars and one DNA strand,"mmmmm doesn't that make you warm & cozy all over? Check it out:
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