Full Disclosure: I HATE Hawthorne Heights' music, but I think Woodruff made some valid points.

This is not a new subject and I believe I've spoken about it here before. I rip cds to my computer and then copy them to my iphone/ipod/iwhatever as soon as i get them, but to me there's still something about looking at / reading the liner notes.

I think that labels should strive harder to sign bands for their talent and not their scene appeal and then nurture them until they are ready to release a record of quality material without the filler. Signing a band should be viewed as an investment and not a lottery ticket.

I feel like licensing songs to video games, television and movies are okay as is previewing half of the record or so on myspace or purevolume to garner interest in the band / record.

The labels should then only sell the full album, not singles, for around $8 for digital and $10 for physical. The lower prices combined with the ability to have previewed most of the record should promote buying. I know this won't stop piracy, but let's face it, nothing will. As long as there are goods in the marketplace, there will be those who steal them.

It's sickening to me to see the casualties of the war between Labels, Bands and the Consumer. There are so many quality bands out there that are drowned out by this flavor of the week crap from FBR, Victory or whatever label looking to make a quick dollar on whatever is popular for the moment. But as much as we want to blame the record labels for the situation we are in, the real power lies in the hands of the consumer. The labels wouldn't sign all of the talentless poser bands if we weren't buying the records they put out. I'm not going to lie, I've been at target or best buy and seen a cd and thought, "Oh, there's the Metro Station record. Those guys seem like tools, but that one song is catchy. Maybe I should buy their record." So I bought their record and it was crap. I don't know how many times I've done this. The bottom line is that if we're tired of labels signing crappy bands, then we need to stop buying their records.

In closing i leave you with this analogy: If I buy a computer, I read reviews online, talk to my friends and test it out at the store before I make a decision. If I'm going to buy a record, perhaps I should take the same approach.

There hasn't been a whole lot going on really. I've just been playing WoW and getting adjusted to the married life. It's pretty good times so far.

We looked at our new apartment on Saturday and it looks really nice. We're getting a two bedroom, so i can have a room for my computer and of my stuff that i'm told isn't to been seen else where. I'm also going to attempt to make this into a studio of sorts.

Oh yeh I bought a new acoustic guitar, It's an ovation.

It's pretty sweet.

Even though I'm always hearing about how myspace, itunes music store and other digital outlets are revolutionizing the way in which kids are exposed to and eventually purchase music,i'm still not convinced that these new resources are better than what we had before. Granted i'm not really about paying $18.99 at hot topic for a record, but i still think there's something special about buying a physical cd and reading the liner notes as you listen to it for the first time, something I swear i still do, because for some reason i can't stand buying digital only, unless i just can't find the physical release anywhere.

I just feel like i'm bombarded with so much music everywhere i turn and what's worse is that it seems that most of it is just crap. I want to stop listening to so much different music and focus on the music from the present and past that is actually worth listening to.

btw mogwai has re-released their young team record. If you haven't heard it, pick it up and read the liner notes as you listen to it through headphones.

ps. i'm not condemning the use of mp3 players such as ipods. even though i still buy physical media i still copy it all on to my iphone or ipod, because there's also something about carrying 16gb of music with you where ever you go.

maybe that is a contradiction to everything else i said... oh well.

a record that i haven't really been able to get into is the new cute is what we aim for record (itunes link). I dunno, it just seems too contrived, like many of the more recent fbr releases. i've heard the new academy is records is like that too... also i heard there were pics of shaant holding his wang, pete wentz style, floating about the internet... how stupid can you be... I'm pretty sure the most risque image of me floating around the internet is one in which i have a 9mm pistol in waist of my shorts... and i'm pretty sure i distributed it to show how thug i was(not).

uh, what else....? oh yes, i ordered tickets to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus at the erwin center (link)for leah and i. I'm a bit apprehensive about going due to my fear of clowns and carnies, but we're in the upper deck, no where near either group, so maybe it'll be okay. Even though i'm kind of nervous about the whole deal, i'm still excited to go.

so yeh that's about it.

did you watch the video in my previous post? no? go watch itnow!

I guess the reason ppl are freaking out about this was because Jesse heckled the crowd about seeing brand new and not explosions in the sky, who were playing at the same time.

i've heard after he made that statement he laughed, vin laughed and then the crowd laughed. besides it's not like jesse isn't kind of known for being sarcastic like that anyway...

regardless i doesn't matter and i like the video because it's a pretty intense playing of "you won't know" and not so much because jesse throws his guitar at the end of it...

i guess i like brand new way too much.

after dinner we went to waterloo records (on of my favorite shops in austin, even though i'm starting to listen to music so obscure, they've never even heard of it) and then traveled on to mozarts for a key lime tart and some coffee. Oddly enough while there i saw a dude with a headset playing wow. don't get me wrong, i love wow (and i might be playing it while i write this post), but i don't love it enough to play it at a coffee bar.

in terms of music i'm starting to get into "the sound of animals fighting" again. Its like chaos turned into something beautiful with anthony green singing vocals over it. what is there not to like about that? speaking of anthony green "avalon" comes out on tues and since i preordered it, i'm hopping i get it like tomm.

I'm not going to lie the class was extra boring and there was a really really annoying know it all kid, but then again most of them are probably saying there was a smart mouthed kid in there also (me). it was all good times though. I went with leah's dad, sister and her boyfriend. I also learned where to stand so as not to be "accidentally" shot by my father in law (not that i would suspect he would do that).

Leah and i also made a speed run though ikea today. Usually it takes an hour to walk through the store, but we knew what we wanted, so i just looked up all the isle and bin numbers on the stock computer.

I put together all but the new dresser tonight and leah went to a concert with a friend of hers from highschool.

once all of the new furniture is set up i will take new apt pictures and post them on facebook.

I am currently finishing up editing kids camp videos and burning dvds.

peace

I just don't feel at peace really. a friend suggested it might be cold feet about the marriage, but i know it's not that. marrying her is the one thing i'm certain of...

i just feel really tense lately. i feel stressed out and under pressure. i'm reviewing insurance paperwork thinking, no one told me being an adult was going to be this hard.

the summers are always hard. the heat gives me headaches. the lack of free time and sleep starts to drive me crazy. but something in my gut tells me that i wouldn't have it any other way.

this too will pass.

i purchased the e for explosion record, reinventing the heartbeat, which in my mind is the logical next step from jamisonparker's sleepwalker. The linking factor of course being jamison convington, who's voice (both lyrically and sonically) has grown more mature since his last outing as one half of jamisonparker. His new record is being referred to as shoegaze, which is a new term to me, but i suppose it's better than being labeled emo (another word with no meaning). I did some research on other "shoegaze" bands and the band who is credited with starting the movement that started in the 80's and died in the early 90's, my bloody valentine, aren't too bad.

anyway i'm going to be in goliad for the weekend. stay up to date on my twitter.

I've pretty much done a little bit of everything. I've worked at a television station, a fast food restaurant, as a web designer, for a construction company, for media relations and publications for swt and for two technical support companies.

I've also done a lot of dumb things as well though and I'm thankful that I made it through those times.

Over all I'd say that I have it pretty good. I'm engaged to a beautiful and smart girl, i have a loving and supportive family, I have close friends i can trust and I work at a job that I enjoy with people that I like. There's not much more I can think of that one could ask for in life...

So yeh I guess it would be correct to say that there have been ups and downs over the past twenty five years, but they've made me who i am today so I can't really complain.

... then i thought i grew up. I saw batman and robin and thought it was horrible. I thought I was too old to read comics. I heard christian bale was going to play batman and shuddered, but hoped christopher nolan could pull it off.

As everyone knows batman begins was amazing and the dark knight looks to be even better.

I started reading the dark knight returns by frank miller and it is amazing. probably his best work (i've read his other work).

anywho, i had to reset my iphone today and it was a pain.

I did a pretty sweet promotional video for D-Now this weekend. I might put it on youtube later if I feel like it.

So have you heard of E for Explosion? I had heard it was the name under which Jamison Covington, of the now defunct JamisonParker, performed under, but I had not heard any of the music until today. The songs are amazing. As sappy as some people felt Sleepwalker from JamisonParker was, I love love that record and the new E for Explosion record picks up right where it left off.

So that's about all that's going on here. Uh if anyone happens to some how magically have a version of the iPhone 2.0 firmware and wants to hit me up, please do so!!!!

Through out high school and college I wrote about unrequited love and being in college thinking it best to write what you know. To this day I still hold that motto dear, but in my new writing i couple it with a new motto, write what you understand.

I've come to the realization that I went through a lot in college and while it was all happening was probably not the best time to try and write about. Don't get me wrong writing was crucial back then and helped me through a lot, but I think my work as of late is some of my best and most poignant. Basically it's about the college version of myself and how that version of myself though my future would turn out. It's also about realizing that you don't have to be with someone to be happy.

That's probably an over simplification of everything, but I understand it in my head and that's what matters for now...

It's pretty awesome. If you're cool / smart / whatever you can read it here.