Woah, remember Spotify? One of the great hopes of the record industry?

Streaming audio all the time, all the music you can take, easy to use, etc, etc,. The big plus was that artists were going to start making some money off of streaming music.

Well a report recently claims that even after Lady Gaga got a million plays on Spotify she only made $167. Really?! We’d advise Ms.Gaga to have a sweet kegger, charge $5 at the door and double her money! Boom! Your welcome Lady Gaga.

So to make AAAAAANY money in the Spotify world you need to be the biggest pop act in the world? That’s encouraging. So I guess this means we should get in the van right? Lady Gaga still is. She was supposed to tour with Kanye West, when that fell through she still soldiered on. She’s my typeagirl.

If the biggest Spotify artist in the world is still touring, you should too. TOUR+YOUTUBE!

Martin Luther King once said that he became a criminal in the eyes of the FBI since his birth on 15th January 1929. Probably he never has been convinced of the contrary in his lifetime. Shortly after Martin Luther King got informed that he had won the Nobel Prize for Peace, he could read in the newspapers an interview with J. Edgar Hoover, the former FBI department chief. In this interview Hoover designated King as “the most notorious liar of the United States”. Also at a press conference Hoover spoke clearly out, what he was thinking about the black SCLC Leader. He promised that he just started with revealing “the truth” about Martin Luther King. J. Edgar Hoover wanted to uncover King as a Citizen Right Leader under the influence of the Communist Party with the aim of destroying the democratic system of the U.S.

Why was J. Edgar Hoover so sure he could inflict damage on the charismatic Martin Luther King?

After the famous “I have a dream“speech, the FBI was afraid of the “black Messiah”. They called him “the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country“[1]. These times are well known in the United States as the anti-communistic containment policy. The FBI feared any possible influence and believed in the domino theory. In result of that fear Hoover wanted to install bugs in King’s House and bureau. No one less than Robert Kennedy gave in 1963 the permission for the technical surveillance. Kennedy who always was shown as a great ally of King allowed the FBI to break into Kings private rooms. Moreover Kennedy added a proviso – he always wanted to get immediately informed of any pertinent information. However, at first sight the technical surveillance was not a success. No demo tape gave any proof of a communistic influence in Kings Work. Furthermore the FBI bugs “never picked any evidence that King himself was a Communist, or was interested in toeing the party line”.[2]

So the bugs couldn’t give any concrete evidence. King was not a Communist, even when he had friends and associates of the Communist Party. Stanley Leviston was one of them. He was one of the immediate advisers in Kings personal environment. Also he was under steady technical surveillance but no evidence was found. King once said about the communist reproaches that “there are as many communists in this freedom movement as there are Eskimos in Florida“. But Hoover did not believe him and searched forward to find other information to inflict damage on King. And he did. The memo tapes gave evidence that King had many affairs- probably with four other women. Maybe today nobody would make a big deal about that- not after the Monika Lewinsky affair. But at these times an extramarital affair was a pretty big scandal- moreover for a Baptist pastor. Even when King affirmed his affairs and said he would have to pass God’s judgment he also knew that the general public would not be so merciful. King and Hoover met once privately to discuss this topic. Afterward King called the meeting a friendly and understanding conversation among two people. King added that all problems should be solved right now. Most probably neither King nor Hoover believed that. J. Edgar Hoover’s private contempt for King was big and he had embarrassing and private details about Kings love life- no doubt he would reveal them.

After King came back from Oslo he received anonymous and ominous letters. “You are a colossal fraud and an evil, vicious one at that.” Or “The American public (…) will know you for what you are — an evil, abnormal beast,” (…) “Satan could not do more.” (…) “King you are done.” Some people have the theory, which says that the intent was to get King to commit suicide. “King, there is only one thing left for you to do,” (…) “You know what it is … You better take it before your filthy, abnormal fraudulent self is bared to the nation.”[3] A draft of one letter was later found in the FBI files. King did not commit suicide but continued his work. Maybe at first sight Hoover did not win the fight with King but surely at the second sight. When King planned the march in Memphis he booked a room in a hotel of a better standard than usually. Hoover immediately began his harassment once again. From his point of view it was hypocritical to fight for the poor and to live in a well-standard hotel. Furthermore Hoover approved an FBI plan to use “friendly press contacts” to pressure Martin Luther King into staying at the Lorraine Motel.

Dr. Martin Luther King bended to Hoover’s will and moved to the Lorraine Motel. At exactly that place he got assassinated- less than 24 hours later.[4]

written by Agnieszka Goździelewska©2009

Further Reading (extract):

Presler G., Martin Luther King, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1984.

Waldschmidt-Nelson B., Gegenspieler, Frankfurt am Main 2000.

Zitelmann A., Keiner dreht mich um, Berlin 1985.

[1] Christensen, Jen „FBI tracked King’s every move” on cnn.com http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/03/31/mlk.fbi.conspiracy/index.html [31.03.2008].

[2] Ibidem.

[3] Ibidem.

[4] More Information at http://www.africawithin.com/mlking/assassination.htm.

Smith & Wesson expects to nearly double its annual sales in the next three to five years as demand for its firearms soars in the recession. It is not alone.

All over America demand for firearms and ammunition is rising amid concerns that rising unemployment, which passed 10 per cent this month, will lead inexorably to higher rates of crime. Fears of terrorism have also helped to lift demand, as have concerns among gun owners that the Obama Administration may introduce restrictions on gun ownership and impose additional taxes.

Smith & Wesson is expecting sales to rise by 30 per cent to $102 million in the first quarter of the next financial year, after growing by more than 13 per cent this year to $335 million.

At Sturm Ruger, sales for the third quarter hit $71.2 million, up 70 per cent from the same period last year.

At Glock, the leader in law enforcement markets, pistol sales rose by 71 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year for 2010, in comparison with the same period last year.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the FBI carried out more than a million background checks on behalf of gun dealers in September (a check is required with every sale), an increase of 12.4 per cent on the same period in the previous year.

Mike Golden, chief executive at Smith and Wesson, is skeptical about the so-called Obama effect on gun sales, believing that his company’s booming revenues have “nothing to do with the administration” and everything to do with the economy.

“People are worried about personal protection with unemployment and crime on the rise,” he said, adding that 30 per cent of customers who had bought the company’s guns in the first half of this year were “first-time gun owners”, up from 9 per cent nine a year earlier.

Randy Williams, industry editor at Hoover, the research firm, agreed. “As an example of the personal safety and terrorism aspect, Smith & Wesson’s hunting rifle sales in 2009 dropped about 33 per cent at a time when the company’s other gun sales — revolvers, pistols, Walther imports, and tactical rifles — grew 33 per cent,” he said.

At the Freedom Group, whose brands include Remington, Marlin, Bushmaster and Harrington & Richardson, managers are encouraged by the “meaningful percentage of current firearm sales . . . made to first-time gun purchasers, particularly women”.

In the NRP book we wrote that although MySpace is getting pushed around by facebook it still holds weight for artists. I was concerned that I’d have to revise that during the summer as MySpace looked like it was going down for the count. But then Tom went and grabbed a second wind. So here’s what you need to know:

1. Recently MySpace pulled a social network coup when they integrated Twitter into their world.  Although it was a small change overall, it showed that MySpace still wants it.
2. An even bigger addition is the new analytics provided to artists. Like facebook fan pages you’re provided with a closer look at ways people are finding your music and where they’re coming from. But this is wayyyy better than the facebook stuff. The MySpace back end is big, colorful, and very user friendly. You can see what songs were played when over the course of days, weeks and months and break your visitors down to country, state/province, and city, and MySpace integrates iLike.
3. MySpace bought Imeem. Hypebot reported that MySpace bought Imeem which will mean…. something? Sure. I always thought of Imeem was kinda like MySpace anyway, but Imeem does have a coolness/niche factor that MySpace is too blunt to capture.

So looks like MySpace isn’t down for the count. Word on the street is that they’re going to be an entertainment social network. Giving artists a reason to stay on MySpace BESIDES the large audience will go a long way to getting artists (entertainers) engaged and supplying MySpace with good content.

FloorMate Spin Scrub Review

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FloorMate Spin Scrub Feature

FloorMate Spin Scrub Overview

With its 15-inch-wide cleaning path, this revolutionary all-in-one cleaner can be used to not only vacuum dry debris, but also wet-clean and squeegee-dry most hard-floor surfaces including ceramic tile, sealed hardwood, marble, vinyl, and laminate. Quickly switch between cleaning options – vacuum, wash, or dry – using the EZ Select dial. Exclusive SpinScrub brushes gently and safely wet-scrub and buff hard floors, plus they pop out for rinsing clean. The SpinScrub brushes can be interchanged with the grout brushes that come with specially designed bristles for cleaning tile grout on large surfaces. In addition, the cleaner’s fingertip trigger control allows for choosing where, when, and how much cleaning solution to apply. Separate solution and recovery tanks ensure dirty water never gets put back onto the floor, and both 1/4-gallon-capacity tanks remove for convenient filling or emptying. Other highlights include a 27-foot power cord, brushroll shutoff, a bagless design, and a fold-down handle for storing. An 8-ounce grout cleaner and an 8-ounce floor-to-floor cleaner come included.

FloorMate Spin Scrub Specifications

Hoover

Portable DVD Player for car

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Nov 19, 2009 18:00:06

Last weekend, I checked out this band called Ohbijou. It was really out of a chance as I was with some people and we ended up at the venue. When I heard the band name from a friend, I was like what?? It sounded like a jumble of vowels, very similar to my mumbling (if you ever meet me in person, you’ll know).

Then the band hit the stage and I saw a big “OH” in lights. Then it hit me. OH-bijou. It stuck and now I clearly remember the name. If you have a messed up name, it’s good to figure out ways to help people remember it, especially if they’ve had a few beer at a club.

Even if you don’t have a messed up name, having people remember who you are is pretty key.  The chances of that drunk going home and googling/youtubing your band relies on his/her ability to know what to look for.   Make it easy for drunkie to do so.

Ok… Lets start with the home. Image you walk through your front door, the first thing that hits you is smell…no not your old smelly socks! the smell of fresh cut flowers, clean laundry or the smell of scented candles you lit for last nights romantic dinner (ok, forget the romantic bit), one doesn’t have to dream this. If you have had a crap day, it can really cheer you up by walking into a lovely fragranced home. In this section I will tell you how to achieve this on a budget! You don’t need a stash of money to make your home smell nice, here are some tips to meadow freshness.

Fresh Fridge
Clear out all the bad smells in your home, starting with the kitchen.
Get rid of all foods that are turning nasty or are well past their sell by
date. Not only will this look after your health it will look after your
fridge too.

Big Bins
If you have a big bin, this is a big no no! The bigger the bin the longer
bad food has to rot before you throw it out. A smaller bin means you
empty it more regularly and stop smells from lingering on.

Dirty Dishes
Always do the washing up on that same day!

What Hoover do you have?
If you have a hoover that doesn’t need the refill bags get 2 Cotton buds, put 2 drops of your favorite essential oil on each bud and pop it into the dust and dirt collector. However if you do have a hoover that uses bag refills lightly sprinkle some nice smelling talc powder on to the carpet and hoover away.

Smells that go a long way
I strongly suggest you invest in 4 or 5 essential oils. They will come in        wonders for your home. I usually go for:
Lavender (relaxing and healing)
Peppermint (antiseptic & aids digestion)
Rosemary (energy & aids digestion)
Eucalyptus (healing & antibacterial)
You can add a few drops to an oil burner, or if you don’t have a oil
burner just boil up some water and add 2 to 3 drops of you favorite oil.
PLEASE BE WANED NATUAL ESSENTIAL OILS CAN BE VERY
HARMFUL IF NOT USED CORRECTLY! DO YOUR RESEARCH!

Candles
Scented candles are great for making your home smell nice. Also the
warm glow from the candle can be very relaxing too.

Hang or Tumble
I prefer to hang my washing rather than tumble dry it. One it saves on
energy and two your home is filled with the smell of fresh laundry.

The right side of the bed
If you want to freshen up your bed sheets, get a spray bottle, fill with water and add 5 drops of lavender oil. This will also make your bedroom smell nice and help you sleep at night, as Lavender is known for its natural relaxing and healing properties.

No Fills
To freshen up your underwear draw simply add 2 cotton buds with 2 drops of your favorite essential oil.

Flowers
Buy Fresh cut flowers once a week they can do wonders for a home, not to mention your mood.

I hope this helps you on your way to a fresh smelling home! If you have any tips or tricks let us know.

(Like I mentioned before please be careful when using essential oils they can be harmful. DO NOT USE NEAT ON SKIN – DO NOT TAKE ORALY. Some essential oils can be harmful if inhaled some need to be diluted before use! PREGNANT WOMEN MUST SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE BEFORE USE OF ANY ESSENTIAL OIL.)

Rock music is a different beast then it was in 1999. Thank god. Nu-metal is a bad dream I’d like to forget. But out of all that shit some good things did come. Mainly, the incredible crop of bands that took rock music to either: it’s classic roots, new sonic heights, or found a sound and perfected it. So I give you the Top 3 Most Influential Bands of the 2000’s

Number 1. Coldplay

No one could foresee the success that these 4 British boys would have when they released their first single in 2000. After Yellow exploded many bands hopped onto their sound. Not that Coldplay were impressively original, but Jeff Buckley died too soon and Radiohead didn’t care about being the biggest band in the world. But Coldplay did, and so they created a sound that was just as big. Coldplay’s soaring guitars with Chris Martin’s piano and honest lyrics made for an equation that millions of people loved. To this day their are still bands making music that sounds like A Rush Of Blood To The Head and Parachutes. Luckily Colplay have moved on and are still influencing songwriters with their self described “very heavy soft rock.”

Number 2. The Strokes

We’ll be writing more about The Strokes in the next few weeks, but I think the influence of The Strokes cannot be over stated. Well maybe the NME would overstate it, but like The Velvet Underground, and The Ramones, The Strokes gave us a new hope for rock and roll. All of a sudden we remembered that you don’t have to be a douche bag to make rebellious rock and roll. The greatest compliment that can be paid to The Strokes is that after people heard Is this it they started bands.

Number 3. Nickelback

I found a Guitar World magazine from 2001. In it Chad Kroeger talks about Silver Side Up, the album that not only would make Nickelback a household name, but create a standard for the modern rock radio song. The success of This is how you remind me was so effffing epic that nearly ten years later there is little on modern rock radio that doesn’t follow or pay homage to Nickelback and their sound. My local rock radio station jerks off Kroeger and Co. so often that my friends and I have stopped playing the Nickelback drinking game because we can’t be tanked at 10am. But why do we drink? Because Kroeger writes a hell of a hook, and he knows it. In Guitar World Kroeger says: “We are all about the music. There’s not one tattoo or piercing on any member… we’re not trying to fool anybody … we’re a rock band that tries to write really contagious melodies that are going to weld themselves into your subconscious.”  Once again it’s all about the songwriting.

Also worth noting are the honorable mentions:

• Radiohead: Too omnipresent
• The White Stripes: Too Jack White-y
• Arcade Fire: Too pretentious
• Wilco: Too country
• Linkin Park: Nope

La policía de Oregon acusó a un hombre de conducir en estado de ebriedad después que llamó al número de emergencias 911 para reportar que le habían robado su marihuana.

El telefonista que atendió la llamada de emergencia no pudo entender lo que decía el hombre de 21 años, porque al mismo tiempo estaba vomitando en la calle.

Calvin Hoover, un residente del condado de Salem, dijo a los operadores el martes que alguien había entrado a su camioneta y le había robado dinero en efectivo, una chaqueta y una pequeña cantidad de marihuana mientras él estaba dentro de una taberna de Salem, dijeron los asistentes del alguacil del condado de Marion.

Después llamó al número 911 para quejarse de que las autoridades no habían llegado al lugar, pero el operador tenía problemas para entender a Hoover porque iba conduciendo y se detuvo varias ocasiones para vomitar.

El hombre fue arrestado, acusado de conducir bajo la influencia de drogas.

Fuente

Last night the kids were having fun in the living room. There was much screaming, a few tears and, when I went through to chase them all to bed, a scattering of polystyrene balls that had escaped from our very cheap fluffy Netto beanbag. I like the beanbag. If I sit on it I can cuddle up close to the fire and keep my back supported. And the Joker likes to stroke the fluffy material and suck his thumb when he’s tired. But the escaping balls are a total pain. The first escape occurred after some vigorous jumping by the tribe, and since then the bag has leaked regularly. Those little balls cling to everything and travel round the house, cheekily pointing out my lack of attention to housework.

When I twittered my distress this evening one tweetpal suggested ‘vigorously brushing your hair and then gently sweeping floor with head & the static will attract balls like magnet’. Since I did not have a plan for transferring the balls from my hair to an appropriate receptacle, I instead went and fetched Henry, who sorted everything out. Henry is my wonderful Numatic vacuum cleaner. Now, I know it’s a bit sad to enthuse about a hoover, but I hate housework. And Henry has made vacuuming almost a pleasure.

Mine is a lot dustier than this

There is a good deal of surface area that needs regular hoovering here in the Vicarage. I find that mess and dirt always expand to fill the space available and we’re certainly blessed with space and have risen to the challenge of expanding our mess and dirt. At the moment leaves blow into the hallway every time we open the front door. And we have inherited dark carpets in the hall, stairs and landing, which don’t show mud too much but do highlight every piece of fluff that the kids drop from their pockets.

But Henry is light so I can lift him around, he’s quiet so I can still listen to Radio 4 or the new Sovereign Grace cd as I trundle him about, and he has a cord and hose so long that I can clean the whole of the downstairs of the house and all the way up the stairs without having to unplug him from the socket in the hall. His eyes and smile are a bit cheesy, but looks aren’t everything you know.

He’s not a cheap vacuum cleaner – he cost about £100, but he’s made it possible for me to keep the Vicarage looking almost respectable. So I love him and will continue to recommend him as the perfect Vicarage vacuum to anyone who’ll listen.

In the meantime, does anyone know where to source replacement inner liners for beanbags?

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know I’m a John Mayer fan.  Knock him all you want, but Continuum was a great album. Over the last year, I’ve kept close tabs on his blog/twitter as he started developing the concepts for his new album, Battle Studies,  that’s being released next week.

Not only did I want to see the type of songs emerging,  I wanted to see what the process of writing, recording, and promoting a new album is like in the major label world of today.  What would unfold is an experience that lead me to pre-order the album and get first dabs at tickets on his upcoming Winter tour.

The whole experience of vicariously living the conception and birth of an album (as a fan of the artist) was something I enjoyed thoroughly.  During the early stages he would put up snippets of song ideas on his blog via youtube. You had to imagine the rest yourself, but you could feel the melody or solo and know that it could turn into something sweet. No lyrics, just random vowels to get the idea down on garage band.  It was unfinished and recorded poorly, but that was the best part. You wanted to find out how they would turn out.

You were seeing the creative process unfold. He trusted his audience enough to let them take a look at unfinished material. That in itself helps bonds the artist to a fan.   You saw pictures of the house evolve into recording studio. There were videos of songs being recorded,  the studio atmosphere,  the people involved, etc.. The cover art concepts of the album even evolved over the year.

Then there were the secret shows that he would not so secretly tell his audience about through twitter, where he would play mostly new songs and get audience reaction.  Even then, the songs weren’t completely finished. Of course, fans video-recorded the shows and they were up on YouTube the next day.  Most core fans know most of the songs on the new album, but not in finished form.

I was thinking about how if I just heard about the album now, I don’t know if I’d be driven to pre-order it.  The whole process of virtually tagging along for the whole ride made me almost need to have the finished product.

What does that mean for you an artist with a limited audience?  Well you might not get people excited about a song idea if you don’t already have fans, but you could put up the song idea after you’ve recorded the finished product.  It could  be part of your long tail of online content.  People get hooked on  the finished song, but are interested enough to hear the song in its infant stage. It’s an artist-fan bonding experience.

I’ll leave you with a live version of a track from the upcoming Mayer album.

In 2001, Milton Friedman wrote:

Employer financing of medical care has caused the term insurance to acquire a rather different meaning in medicine than in most other contexts. We generally rely on insurance to protect us against events that are highly unlikely to occur but that involve large losses if they do occur—major catastrophes, not minor, regularly recurring expenses. We insure our houses against loss from fire, not against the cost of having to cut the lawn. We insure our cars against liability to others or major damage, not against having to pay for gasoline. Yet in medicine, it has become common to rely on insurance to pay for regular medical examinations and often for prescriptions.

This is partly a question of the size of the deductible and the copayment, but it goes beyond that. “Without medical insurance” and “without access to medical care” have come to be treated as nearly synonymous. Moreover, the states and the federal government have increasingly specified the coverage of insurance for medical care to a detail not common in other areas. The effect has been to raise the cost of insurance and to limit the options open to individuals. Many, if not most, of the “medically uninsured” are persons who for one reason or another do not have access to employer-provided medical care and are unable or unwilling to pay the cost of the only kinds of insurance contracts available to them.

If the tax exemption for employer-provided medical care and Medicare and Medicaid had never been enacted, the insurance market for medical care would probably have developed as other insurance markets have. The typical form of medical insurance would have been catastrophic insurance (i.e., insurance with a very high deductible).

HT: Carpe Diem

We’ve mentioned the beauty of video EPK’s before, but recently I was re-introduced to the power of these little videos when I stumbled upon Emiliana Torrini. Her epk is slightly longer than most, but it tells me all that I need to know about her music and her background.

As a writer, I find video EPK’s can show me a lot about an artist. Not only do they show you what the artist looks like and how they sound, but you get a feel for their personality, which really is the whole point.

Now here’s the sweetest part about Video EPK: They can can be done very quickly. 4 STEPS TO MAKING A QUALITY VIDEO EPK:

1. Acquire a high quality (read: Hi-Def) camera.
2. Film a show, film some randomness, film you talking about your music, your life, etc. What you’re trying to do here is highlight WHY YOU STAND OUT and why anyone should care about you.
3. Editing. This could be the most important part. Edit it for a while, or until you are thoroughly convinced that whoever sees your vid will be blown away by your awesome-ness. Once again, edit to highlight personality.
4. Double check to make sure your EPK shows a accurate profile of who you really are and what you stand for.

EPK’s are not necessarily for all of your fans. They are for people who want to know more about what you have going on (read: Bloggers/Press). With that in mind you can make specific EPK’s to highlight specific things you have going on. Do you have a new single coming out? A new 3P? a new look or feel to your band? All of these can be highlighted in several different video EPK’s.

Although it may sound daunting, it’s totally do-able. It’s the New Rockstar Philosophy Challenge!!! Ah? Ah? now you’re going to do it eh? I dare you. In fact send us a link to your EPK and we’ll post our favorites. Winners get a free copy of The New Rockstar Philosophy ; )

helllllllllloooooooooooooo!

wow, 9AM, and its raining. big, fat, wet, heavy rain. i like it. and now I can fully enjoy it again, because the Gutters stopped its incesant dripping. life without dripping, its almost heaven.

Almost, but not quite. Maybe throw in a hot irish guy and a bag of maltesars, and maybe flick on p.s. i love you and i think that be as close to heaven as you could get.

wow, i just reached my 1000th ‘Weet. how freakin awesome am I… you know… considering im a child and all.

gonna hoover my house later, just for the hell of it. sometimes, i think hoovering just might be the freaks equivilant of retail therapy, but then, sometimes i just think what the fuck no it isnt, retail therapy is retail therapy, their is no god damn equivilant.

and, the only thing better than retail therapy… retail therapy with a hot irish… yeah ill stop doing that now.

grrr i think i need to hoover under my key pad. its kinda skanky… i just hope it dont suck the actual keys of… :S slightly worried about it now. ahh im sure itll be fine… and if it isnt, fuck it ill just get a new one.

anywho, im off now.

have fun and remember, always wear protection!

x.

Hoover washer dryers were not too bad at one time. and they suffered with 2 problems that can be easily rectified.
1, they dont empty. just replace the pump.
2, they don’t dry , clothes, come out damp. clean out lint in pressure chamber at rear of the machine. then you will need to replace stat on top of machine or re-set it.

this normally happens between 5 – 7 years but can happen sooner depending on usage.

If you call a repairman A AAArepairman.com you will pay £49 plus parts(pump 10-18. stat for heater and lint problem 10-15)

another washing machine problem solved by AAA repairman.com

regards
richard Saupe Senior trainer and marketer for Appliance Repairman.co.uk
Ps Always disconnect applainces from electric source and wear protective gloves.

The boy’s soccer team’s season ended with an emotional and hard fought battle against Jackson. The team played with heart and courage all year and although they are done with this season, they are taking with them many great memories.

The season started off very strong for the bulldogs, beating Kent, Hoover, Cloverleaf, and Avon Lake. They then took on a tough Wadsworth team, tieing them 0-0. This is where the problems began for the boys. Seniors Jud Sprandel and Ryan Bayonnet were injured in the match, which played a significant role in the season. Even with 2 starters injured, Green was able to beat St. VM and tie St. Edwards. Going 5-0-2 in the first 7 games was one of the best starts the boys team has had in years. But then, the injuries really took a toll on the Bulldogs in the middle of a streak of 8 games which were played almost always within 2 days of the other. The fell to Highland, Revere, Glen Oak, and Copley, and tied Stow, but were able to beat Lake, Barberton, Talmadge, and Ravena to end the regular season with a record of 9-4-3. Thats when things started happening for the boys. Ranked 4th in the district, the team received a bye for the first round, and played Howland in the second round, a team that had beaten them 3 years ago in the district finals. In their last ever home game, the boys beat Howland 2-1 in a great showing of dominance which the score did not reflect. This gave them confidence for their second match for district semis against Glen Oak, one of only four teams who had beaten them in the season. In a very exciting match, the boys pulled out a 2-1 win with a goal by Zach Lucas in the last 5 seconds of the game. Then came the district finals against 1st seated Kent. The boys were determined to win their first district title in 7 years, and came out very strong. Goals scored by Tyler Meredith, Juan Amaya, and Jud Sprandel led the bulldogs to an amazing 4-2 win over the Rough Riders.

“As one of the seniors on the team, I will never forget these past 4 years, this season especially. The chemistry and bonds that were formed were incredible, and we will always be a team”, said Jud Sprandel, Senior Captain of the team.

A friend of mine reminded me about wearehunted.com. The idea is that the website ranks and finds the most blogged, downloaded, and buzzed about music from all over the internet world. It’s a cool idea, but the most significant piece of info is not who holds the number one spot on the list of daily emerging songs, but who’s in the weekly and monthly charts.

When you scroll through you realize that to be a band that sticks around you must have massive songwriting chops.  The kind of writing that will keep people coming back to your music. That’s because you’re not only competing against other artist of today, but you’re competing against Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and Zep, to name a few.

For some this may not come as a surprise, but it threw me for a loop. People have Radiohead’s entire discography at their fingertips. For you to get through you’ve got to connect with them. Make them dance, make them cry, make them laugh, make them angry, as long as you make them FEEL something.

Sites like We Are Hunted re-affirm one thing; Songwriting is and always will be king. Write more songs.

The Hoover Elite Rewind Bagless Upright U5507900 is a design bagless vacuum cleaner with an empty s Bottom-Release Dirt Cup, and a lifetime HEPA filter. The 24 'retractable power cord that removes the need for manually submitted the cable after each use. There are 7 height adjustments, headlight and an airflow indicator that signals when the cup is full, dirt and the filter needs cleaning. In addition, this model is also an on-board tool kit, the onelong slit wall, a combination dusting brush and upholstery tool and a deluxe stretch hose, a 9 'extended release for cleaning hard to reach places. Selling for under $ 130 U.S. dollars, this vacuum cleaner seems like a good value, especially with an included 1-year warranty.

The Hoover Elite Rewind Bagless Upright U5507900 is an impressive-looking machine with a strong design and a seemingly bold cherry red color. The deluxe furniture guard is a generous wide black band,is connected across the front of the base. The guard is thick and protects baseboards and furniture from scratches. The tool kit is well contained with the vacuum cleaner up and store the unit for easy access. In addition to the on-board tool kit, a powered pet hair removal tool is included in the price and saves on the handle. The powerful 12 amp motor and 15 "find widepath cleaning with the tool kit to make this quite well at this price point.For the money, which is a fully featured vacuum cleaner with a lot of suction and a sophisticated design.

The Hoover Elite is equipped with a reflux powered pet hair tool that really effectively to animal hair, especially when compared to the equivalent of Eureka vacuum cleaners equipped. This machine is made a better than the unity of Eureka, in particular Eureka 4D Pet Fresh vacuum created. The Hoover far the amount of suction tool excels at the facility, including plannedThe pet hair tool, which ends up more hair, dandruff and other debris in the dirt cup. The nice thing about this model of Hoover, that is also a deluxe hose for 9 'extended reach cleaning. The additional length of the lines is great for cleaning wall and ceiling lights, baseboards, under furniture and on stairs.

The only feature that is missing the real is at the Hoover Elite Rewind self-propelled, which will have a nice thing for heavier vacuum cleaner is. Atabout 17 kg, this machine is not too heavy but it weighs enough that self-drive would make a difference if the operator needed to cover large amounts of carpeting at regular intervals. One great thing about this device shows that the operator is to save time the automatic return of the power cord, which tend to go quite aggressively. It is recommended that caution should be exercised, while the cord unwinds through the speedy withdrawal of the power cord and the prongs on the plug at the end will be. Without care it ispossible to get through the fast-moving plug beating.

With a HEPA filter, 24 'retractable cord, stretch hose 9'deluxe, powered pet hair tool 15 "widepath cleaning, bagless design, and other features of the Hoover Elite Rewind vacuum cleaner is a good value at a reasonable price. The 1-year Guarantee, the Hoover with this unit and the fact that the machine has a filter washable and requires no bag makes a really good deal for someone in the market for a new vacuum –Cleaner.

So I got back from Vancouver after seeing U2’s last show on the 2009 North American Tour.  As a fan,  I had a great time. Every song I knew and they played almost everything I wanted to hear.  It was pretty much the exact same set as the YouTube Rose Bowl Show, so there were few surprises, but still seeing it in person was key. 60,000 people singing “Sunday Bloody Sunday” in unison is an experience hard to top.

U2 has so many hits that still feel fresh today. Streets, One, With or Without You, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pride, etc..  They aren’t songs that fit a moment in time. They’ve endured. That’s something every artist should strive for in my opinion. Writing material that you can go back to later on and still get into it.  I don’t know if you know exactly when you’ve got a song like that,  but ignoring trends and following your own gut seems like a good place to start.

Download The NewRockStarPhilosophy eBook. It’s FREE!

A few weeks ago Billboard magazine released it’s Maximum Exposure List. The idea was that if an artist did the things on the list they would become a hit sensation. It included such reasonable things like, get your music on an Apple commercial, get on the cover of Rolling Stone, and play on Saturday Night Live…. mmmhmm. Yeah so all of that is very do-able if Jay-Z is managing you, but for the rest of us it may take some time.

Luckily Ariel and her friends at Cyber PR put out a sweet pdf which lays down some more reasonable and actionable plans that can help you get exposure. It has many great ideas from indie artists and industry types who know what they are doing. I think it goes very well with The New Rockstar Philosophy. I would suggest you download both and then go play Saturday Night Live.

Have you noticed that Twitter evolved to a new level recently? It’s not a news story that you have Twitter. Everyone does. But what this next level of Twitter is doing, is making the experience of Twitter more customizable and personal. You can use this to your advantage as an artist. So here are 3 Twitter apps that you should check out and see if they work for you:

1. TweetDeck - Tweet Deck is very good at organizing your Twitter world and giving it a sense of community that most don’t get with logging onto the Twitter page. Understanding what’s going on in your Twitter world will help you start conversations and answer back at people who may be trying to talk to you. The point is to stay connected and TweetDeck helps with that.
2. Twibbon – Twibbon is like a tattoo for your twitter picture (avatar). If you belong to something, a group, a tribe, whatevs, you want to show that association. Plunk a poppy on your avatar to remember the veterans, or a NY Yankees logo to show the world that you have bad taste in sports teams. In both cases you’re spreading a message and saying something about yourself.
   BANDS DO THIS: Create a logo, join Twibbon, and get your followers to show their support by tattooing your logo on their face.
   
3. Tweet For a Track – This is pretty self explanatory. You post your music, then you tweet about it, your fans wanting the track must then tweet for that track (ah, ah, see that? Clever right?). I haven’t had a chance to use this app myself but it appears to be a pretty innovative way of sharing your music.

Wow! Wasn’t that the just the Top of the tops!? Maybe… there is a lot going on for Twitter these days… and yet with all this hubub, word is that Twitter’s growth is stalling, and its number pale in comparison to Fbook. So it still appears that you need to be active in more than one social media network to get the most out of this internet thing everyone keeps talking ’bout.

Yes, whenever the sagging economy comes up, or the foreign quagmires, Obama blames Bush. And certain talk show hosts have defensive hysterics over that.

But, unlike neocons at Fox and on the radio, and other advocates of Big Brothernment, true Conservatives have no problem at all with this, for two reasons:

First) It’s true. Bush governed like a Liberal, spending money, increasing regulations, and dragging us into a trillion dollars in wars, and then mismanaged them abysmally. Even if it is embarrassing to  ”our side”, we believe in supporting the truth, taking responsibility for mistakes (something Bush rarely did), and fixing problems.

Second) It’s not a condemnation of Conservatism, anyway, because Bush was so Liberal. Like neocons in general, he only talked Conservative, but when the chips were down he always turned to huge government solutions, more squandering of taxpayer money, et cetera.

It’s no surprise that we had economic and political trauma, when Bush violated Conservative principles in these ways:

• He had claimed the economy needed to be deregulated, yet he rolled out more huge regulatory schemes, even counting only his first two years in office, than Clinton did in eight…hundreds of billions of dollars in new regulations on insurance, shipping, health care, and many other industries.
• Even his “tax cuts” were mostly semi-annual welfare checks disguised as “refunds”, along with “tax credits” that are literally welfare, plus a maze of new exemptions that truly increased tax compliance cost just as much as any actual tax savings. Compare this to Reagan simplifying the tax code so much that people saved as much in compliance costs as they saved in taxes.
• His “solution” to the failure of socialized education was to break his School Choice promise and set up a massive Federal bureaucracy called No Child Left Behind.
• His response to 9-11 was to set up a police state in violation of the Constitution, to refuse Afghanistan’s offer to turn over bin Laden for war crimes trial in order to invade, and to attack Al Qaeda’s mortal enemy, Saddam Hussein.
• His promise to make Socialist Security more privatized and voluntary was abandoned because he was spending all of his political capital on a voluntary trillion-dollar set of wars.
• Speaking of socialism, until Obama’s health care plan passes (shudder), Bush’s prescription drug plan stands as the largest socialized medicine expansion in US history.
• Speaking of being more Liberal than Clinton, in EVERY SINGLE YEAR, of his eight years in office, Bush increased domestic spending more than Clinton did in his entire second term.
• His answer to Katrina was to throw $87,000,000,000 dollars at the region, that had already squandered more than the rest of the nation’s combined Army Corps of Engineers budget at NOT fixing its levees.
• His response to the economic decline was to not only increase spending above his super-Clinton levels, but to bail out companies and squander hundreds of billions on “stimulus” packages that actually depress the economy more.

Who’s seriously surprised that this kind of socialism caused an economic depression? Hoover’s big-government approach helped cause the Great Depression, and Bush’s similar approach did the same.

Real Conservatives don’t try to defend this. Instead, we say:

Yes, that’s right, Bush’s domestic policies cause economic catastrophe…so stop doing exactly the same stuff, Obama!