General questions:

1)    What visual aesthetic initially attracts you to a band’s content? (i.e. style, branding etc)

2)    What sources do you use to find new music?

3)    Do you download music?

4)    If so – Do you buy everything that you have downloaded in the physical form afterwards?

5)    Do you own CD’s with “additional content”? (i.e. bonus DVD/CD/CD-ROM)

6)    What do you like/dislike about how the content was presented during the experience?

7)    How often do you watch/listen to the additional content?

8)    In response to the above question, what influences your chosen decision?

Questions for musicians:

1)    What ways do you choose to promote your band?

2)    Do these methods give you full control over your content?

3)    Does your band have a press pack? (A collection of photos, music, reviews to show potential venues and/or labels)

4)    If not – Would you find interest in having one in the future?

5)    Would you find it beneficial to have all the different aspects of a press pack in a singular CD-ROM for convenience?

6)    Would you be more interested in choosing a press pack CD-ROM over your current method if it offered more security over your content?

Leave a comment with your answers!

Which poster do you like more? And why??

Tonight, my daughter asked me the question that every parent dreads.

“Daddy?” she asked from her bedroom.  She had just climbed into bed and I was in the bathroom getting a load of laundry ready to take to the washing machine.  I expected her question to be a simple one, like what time she had to be up tomorrow or if she could watch TV before going to Grandma’s house.  I had no idea of the conundrum that I was in for.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Is ‘ain’t’ a word?”

I froze, arms full of dirty clothes.  My pulse quickened. My heart raced. My brain jammed.  It was the question that every parent dreads – every parent that gives a damn about linguistics, anyway – and here it was, staring me right in the face and opening its unholy maw, threatening to devour my daughter’s sense of proper English once and for all time if I didn’t slay The Horrific Ain’t Question Beast quickly.

How could I answer that question?  All my life I’d been told that “ain’t” is not a word, by English teachers with drawls so thick that four-letter words had no less than three syllables and who also used the “word” unsparingly in their off hours.  If I said it was a word, I was giving my daughter free license to use it and have others think less of her.  I could imagine her in adulhood, saying “ain’t” and her friends laughing behind her back at her use of “ain’t” like she might as well have been wearing a Confederate flag t-shirt and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon on the back of pickup truck with 44-inch tires to overcompensate for her three-toothed boyfriend’s bedroom deficiencies.  On the other hand, if I said it wasn’t a word, I gave her license to look down on perfectly good people who just didn’t have parents as concerned with language as her, which of course is no reason in and of itself to look down on someone. . .unless they drink Pabst Blue Ribbon as well.

And what about “ain’t”?  It’s such a versatile construction!  It can replace any number of contractions, like “can’t,” “won’t,” “didn’t,” “don’t,” “haven’t,” “hasn’t,” “isn’t,”. . .the list would be endless, except that I just ended it right there.  Was that the reason that it has been so shunned by the literati?  Because of its chameleon ways, sneaking in and replacing words that no doubt someone long ago sweated and slaved over to construct, only to have the Almighty Ain’t saunter in like it owned the place and knock those hard-earned constructions into a cocked hat?  Was “ain’t” simply the victim of Literary Elitist persecution?  Or was it a deliberate, perfidious attempt at dumbing down the English language enough that people could no longer recognize when a string of words make sense or not?  (If you watch certain political speeches, you will see that this has already happened.)  Was “ain’t” a good word ninja or a bad word ninja?

I could have simply asked myself, “What would the Oxford English Dictionary do?”  But at any given time, I only believe in five things greater than myself, and the OED’s turn isn’t until next week, so that was right out.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration.

With a confidence I did not actually feel in my quivering bones, I replied, “Well, technically it’s not a word, but some people use it anyway.”

A pause.  Silence.  Was my daughter thinking this over?  At 9 years of age, was she losing faith in her father’s infallibility as I waited, instead of losing it at 14 like every other child?  Was she picturing me in a tweed robe with leather-patched elbows, a God of Language decreeing forever which words were worthy? Or was she picturing me wearing a rebel flag t-shirt and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon?

“Okay,” she said, a satisfied tone in her voice.  “Goodnight, Daddy, love you.”

“Love you too,” I replied, wiping my suddenly-damp brow.  Tweed robe it was, and “ain’t” had been sent to languish in literary limbo.

For the nonce.

VS – 11/25/09

Man.. Allen Iverson is retiring.  So much talent, so much passion, and so much attitude.  I still remember the first time he did THE CROSSOVER during an NBA game.  The next day, we spent the entire lunch period in the gym, trying to imitate him.  I know he had a few stumbles over the years, but I choose to remember the happier times.

The best to do it since Tim Hardaway.

Iverson’s statement [here]

Thanks for everything, AI.. We’ll miss you!

I like you a lot

I love you and not

Until you show you care

I’m not gonna bear…

Just try a little harder

Before we go farther

I can’t stand this anymore

The problems, you ignore.

Do you really want me?

Have you ever loved me?

Do you mean what you say?

Or do you want another way?

If no one asked you, would you save my life?

Would you hug and kiss me and sleep with me all night?

If I was disabled, would you stay with me?

If you lose everything will you come to me?

Would you live all your life with me?

Can we raise a bigger family?

Would you tell me your secrets, your fears?

Would you laugh with me and share your tears?

Can I trust you all my life?

Will we ever be all right?

Will we ever be?

Can we?

Just a simple question

Waiting for an answer:

Will I ever be the luckiest?

Can I win your love and be the happiest?

Orice drum începe cu un pas, orice drum sfârșește cu un pas. Drumul e la alegerea noastră. Care este calea ta?

a Quick Text Question.
Its Tamil title is ‘Digilan’; Telugu title is ‘Amavasya’.
What Movie am i talking about..

by sylvia

A while ago, I wrote a post about my neuroses regarding how I look and feeling bad because I wasn’t “beautiful” but was ok with being cute, because I like cute things better than beautiful things.  The post was called “Are You Beautiful“, and it was, like a lot of the stuff I write, cathartic and cleansing for me to get out there.

But the other day, someone commented on this semi-old post, and as I read it, I thought “Wow, I feel bad for that girl.  She is really down on herself and I hope she is able to pull out of it.  I totally feel for her.”

Until I got to the end:

P/S: I DONT MEAN TO LOWER YOUR CONFIDENCE OR ANYTHING BUT UNNATRACTIVE PEOPLE ONLY GET THE ‘CUTE’ REMARK. WANT TO KNOW WHY?

CUTE MEANS……….

ugly but adorable…. SORRY.

OUCH.

Really?  You’re telling me that I’m ugly?  Sure, I’ve heard that one before.  And worse things, too.  But here I was feeling bad for you because you felt so bad about yourself, and I quote:

I like this post a lot especially because I feel the same way as the writer. I have been self-loathing myself ever since I realised people NEED to look some way to be ACCEPTED. In high school, the pretty girls get all the advantage and ever since I’ve been trying to improve my looks. I am not fat, not thin either…somewhere in the middle. But if you would ask me what I would change about myself, I will give you a million answers. I feel embarassed everytime I am out with my friends because they look like top models. Sometimes I feel I look okay but the feeling is so delicate. It doesnt help that people around me are sO hypocritical. Everything from my hair to my feet had received numerous harsh comments. I hated mirrors ever since. I hated taking photographs too. Everything that remind me of myself would only make me feel worse. Sometimes I feel like going out with a brown bag over my head. Only then, I would feel safe. I would do anything to be beautiful.

I sense some projection, some self-hate, and there is also a possibility of trolliness in that comment. 

And I’m trying not to take it personally, because this person doesn’t know me, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t bother me.  Not because some random commenter might think I’m ugly, but more because this random commenter has probably been called “cute” on more than one occasion, and probably hates herself for it.  Which is wrong.  I don’t know what this girl looks like, but based on her comment, it’s obvious her self-esteem is in the toilet.  And as someone who knows what that is like, I know it can affect how others see you and what you “look” like.

But seriously – do you think CUTE = UGLY but ADORABLE? 

And no, Bianca – I’m not fishing for compliments….I’m curious how y’all feel about it…

Now I’ve got something else to obsess over….sheesh

Let me first say this: all you ladies who were blessed with the crafty gene have my utmost respect. Really, you do.

But napkins? Cocktail flags? Table runners? Seat signs? Are these things really necessary? Will anyone really notice the bands you’ve wrapped around the sparklers for your grand exit, or the hand-sewn vellum envelopes for the lavender buds they’re throwing instead? Will they really take the time to admire the Gocco’d, ribbon-wrapped custom magnets for your save-the-dates? Or will all that time, energy, and frustration be in vain?

I love the little details of weddings– truly, I do. I’ve been reading wedding blogs for a good long time, and know what sort of triumphs and tribulations brides go through planning their special days. Therein lies the problem, though: it’s mostly the brides doing all the insane crafting. Lately, on Weddingbee, I’ve noticed an uptick in creative designer-type grooms helping with the invitation design or not-so-creative grooms busting out the spray paint for the centerpieces. I’m all for that.

But ladies, let’s re-evaluate. Why are you DIY-ing yourselves to death? Is it to save some money? Is it to put your own personal stamp on the day? Is it because you know you’ll always remember the flags on the toothpicks for your Cheeses of the World station? Or is it because you feel like you have something to prove? And I don’t mean to be offensive here, truly I don’t. I’m honestly curious.

As for me, I plan to DIT (do-it-together) the flowers, the centerpieces, and the invitations. That will pretty much entail wrapping the bouquets and bouts the day or two before the whole shebang (likely with some of the ladies, as the FI doesn’t have much of an eye for flower design, I’ll admit it), spray painting lanterns for the centerpieces, and cutting/folding/stamping/addressing the invitations together. The FI has made it very clear that he wants to help with the invitations.

But he has (thankfully) given up the notion of singing sherpas on bicycles delivering them.

Il ressemblait à un retournement étonnant: la même église que la défaite a aidé le mariage gay en Californie en règle avec les militants des droits des homosexuels sur un anti - la discrimination de droit dans son propre jardin.

Mardi soir, après une série de réunions clandestines entre les autorités locales bailleurs de gay-droits et les Mormons à Salt Lake City, l’Église de Jésus Christ des Saints des Derniers Jours a annoncé qu’il soutiendrait les propositions de lois ville qui interdirait la discrimination contre les homosexuels dans le logement et l’emploi.

Les ordonnances adoptées et l’histoire a été faite: Elle a marqué la première fois que le Salt Lake City, basée église avait soutenu gay législation sur les droits. L’Eglise mormone – qui continue de souffrir une réaction brutale de son soutien
Dernière année de la proposition 8, la mesure interdisant le mariage gay dans Californie – a souligné que sa dernière position ne contredit en rien ses enseignements sur l’homosexualité. Mais l’action est un des signes les plus forts encore que même les conservateurs groupes religieux opposés au mariage entre personnes de même sexe pourraient être disposés à l’appui des protections juridiques pour les homosexuels qui restent en deçà de cela.

Dans le même temps, la position de l’Eglise a provoqué la colère de certains de ses alliés conservateurs sur le plan social, a soulevé des questions quant à savoir si de relations publiques est sa motivation réelle, et mettre l’église à l’endroit sur la façon dont jusqu’où cela ira sur les législations semblables sur l’état et fédérales niveau.

“C’est une très bonne réponse de relations publiques qui a le plus bénéficier de représenter effectivement la façon dont la direction de l’église actuelle pense, dit Armand Mauss, un professeur retraité de l’État de Washington Université et spécialiste du mormonisme.

Certains alliés conservateurs de l’Eglise dans les batailles le mariage gay, toutefois, l’appeler un échec. Les deux nouvelles ordonnances de rendre illégal incendie ou expulser une personne d’être gay, bisexuelles ou transgenres.
Une telle législation prive les employeurs et les propriétaires de leurs droits et donne munitions juridique aux juges favorables au mariage homosexuel, a déclaré Peter Sprigg, attaché supérieur d’études politiques de la famille conservatrice Research Council.

«C’est décevant et je redoute que cela reflète en partie une réaction aux attaques dont ils relèvent, après la proposition 8 – un effort de plier Pièce en quatre pour la tolérance envers les homosexuels en quelque sorte, “ Sprigg dit.

WHAT ARE YOU “THINKING” RIGHT NOW? ……DON’T THINK ABOUT IT, JUST ANSWER.*

“If I could catch a rainbow
I would do it just for you
And share with you its beauty
On the days you’re feeling blue..

If I could build a mountain
You could call your very own;
A place to find serenity,
A place to be alone.

If I could take your troubles
I would toss them in the sea,
But all these things I’m finding
Are impossible for me.

I cannot build a mountain
Or catch a rainbow fair,
But let me be what I know best,
A friend who’s always there.. “

“Life is a coin, you can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once.”

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass….It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

“When GOD takes something from your grasp, He’s not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better”.

****This was sent to me by my good friend Pam S…….I thought it was nice and wanted to share it. Hope you liked it! Beautiful words!

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I was walking down the old dirt paths and slowly navigating my way through the landmine of pinecones and taking in each snapshot of scenery that dripped with raw beauty. I was taken in by all the things around me. The sweet harmonious melodies of the birds singing in choired unison and the romantic whispered chirpings of the cicadas’ calling me deeper into the forest, deeper into the night. It is this call that leads me to wonder if there is more to life than a book? Is all that life is, summed up in the pages of 66 authors?

I wouldn’t be able to share with you my experience in a captivating forest if all I did was read about the forest. I might be able to give you glimpses and a sort of scientific approach to what it might feel like if I were in a forest, but the experience is vastly different than the science. One is factual, the other is life-altering. This isn’t to say that facts don’t have the ability to change our lives, but studies have shown that one out of one person are always changed by their experiences, whether good or bad. I could have explained to you a map of the forest, but it wouldn’t have given you the contours, colors and outlines that you can only experience in person.

You can sit down and read a really good book. You might even feel like you are one of the characters drifting through each of the pages, but there is nothing like living your own story. If we replace the word living with writing, then maybe what we might be able to say is that all of us are still writing not just our story, but God’s story as well. We get to write with Him. In The Bible: The Biography by Karen Armstrong, she asserts that before the Old Testament was canonized that the Jews had this belief that they were responsible to reinterpret scripture as much as possible so that it was relevant and spoke to the current structures of society. In fact, one place, she even says that they had thrown out certain parts of scripture because it wasn’t relevant to the time. For most, this is a different view to what we have been taught(but just because it’s different doesn’t mean its not true). And if it is true, then what are the ripples in the pond? I think for those who believe the Bible holds all the answers then it seems like an attack rather than an enquiry, because it seems a bit reductionistic to try and make the Bible anything other than the Word of God. Yet, this is isn’t the hope of postmoderns or those with questions. It is to experience God as those in scripture did. So rather than see the bible as trail map to be studied, it is more like an invitation between friends to come and walk with God and discover the raw unedited beauty of the journey. To come and discover God. To “taste and see that he is good”. Both words for taste and see in the Hebrew when translated mean “to experience”. God is inviting us all not to simply read the pages, but live the pages. Write the pages. And Be the pages.

Postmodernism is running through the halls of our churches and fortune 500 companies and classrooms, but is postmodernism the enemy? Can’t postmodernism be a good thing too? It can help us revisit things and begin asking hard questions that maybe aren’t that comfortable but might be necessary to pursue together to find the answers to. Postmodernism is simply asking the question “Is there more to life than this? Is there more to the Bible than this? Is there more to truth than this?” The ancient Jewish followers of YHWH believed it was imperative to ask questions. To be Jew meant you had questions. To be a person who lived and breathed meant you were a person who was driven to seek answers to those questions, no matter how long the journey took. No matter where those questions took you, it was your responsibility as a Jew to make sure you found the answer.

how many more tears
would you have me fall down my face?
how many more tears
do I have to hide from your sight?

how much more anger
would you want me to feel?
how many more gasps
of despair do I have to hold inside?

I get so angry, that I cry
then I hate that I cry these tears
I can’t continue to feel
so many emotions all at once

For now, I choose to live in this misery
against all good advice
For now, I endure the pain
against all that’s right for me

Because I believe you when you say
you will make a change
Because I want to feel again
what we once had

I have just one question.  Why do I still cut myself?  Is it because I’m addicted to the feeling I get afterwards?  I’m not in a crisis and my family is supportive.  I guess I think that I don’t deserve to live this kind of life.  I want a job so badly!  What can I do about that though?  I guess all I can do is continue filling out job applications and hope that something good comes out of it.

Even though I still cut myself I’m not depressed.  I’m just bored.  It seems like everyone is protecting me from something and I hate it.  What are people protecting me from?  I just don’t get it!  I guess there are alot of things that I don’t understand.  I hate feeling like I have no control over what happens in my life.  I can change though.  I have to change before I lose it again.

What do you think?

Good, bad, or indifferent!!!