Open Fields And Fruitful Trees

If You've Ever Worked in an Office

2008-06-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

Monthly Blog

2008-05-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hi...It appears that my frequency of blogging is monthly. So, here's a new one for ya!!!

I work in Encino now
I drive a Chevy Cavalier
My current blood pressure is 109/57
My hair is falling out
I have a beard
I am wearing shorts today
My wife still likes me
My daughter is happy
I am bored right now
I do not like sweet potatoes
My bed is broken
My shoes squeek when I walk
I am alive
I still exist

Stagecoach: California's Country Music Festival

2008-04-28T19:23:00.002-07:00

This weekend I'll be working at Stagecoach with a team from my work. We will be managing all things merchandise for the event: artist and event merch. I will mostly be vending, which will be a lot fun! I am really looking forward to the interactions I will be having with all kinds of interesting people. It is so cool to see excitement on the faces of folks who are super stoked about their favorite music and bands, and it's fascinating to see how a simple t-shirt can bring the excitement to an even greater level through feelings of personal connection.

I've never been to a country music festival...at least not to a popular country music festival. For the last 3 years I managed the California Stage at Santa Clarita's Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival. Working at Stagecoach will be all together different, and I can only imagine it will be a lot more fun.

If you are somebody who is going to attend the festival...make sure to come find me on either Saturday or Sunday at the main merchandise booth. If I'm not there, I will probably be vending at the campsite.

Does it Rock?

2008-03-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

So, I'm subscribed to an E-mail blog that receives writings from Bob Lefsetz who is a Music Industry guru, genius, and...well...often times...hater. But he's legit and has mad credibility as he has years of experience as an entertainment lawyer in the (music) biz. You can read his blogs here: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/.

Anyhow...below is an excerpt of one of his latest blogs. Read everything first and then go to the You Tube link he provides.

Does it rock?!?!

I have to tell you that when I watched the clip I felt something...I wanted to hear more..., but did I like it? I actually don't know! But what I do know is that it rendered an emotional response in me. It did what music is supposed to do!!!

I have to agree with Mr. Lefsetz' last two paragraphs and say that it indeed does rock!

SEE BELOW...

Someone e-mailed me about this act a couple of years back. I downloaded a few tracks. I didn't get it. But watching the clip, I was brought back to the sixties and Laura Nyro. Both sounded not quite like anybody else. You couldn't put your finger exactly on their talent. Neither was classically beautiful. But you were touched in a way Top Forty radio never reaches you, you felt the power of rock and roll.

Go to: http://youtube.com/watch?v=6kMIFDm7rS8

I know, you're asking yourself...is this guy gay? I mean what's up with his hair? Couldn't he go on a diet? Let go of your American preconceptions, just watch. This completely live performance.

This guy isn't doing it for the audience, he's doing it for himself. You believe he's been tortured his whole life, criticized for being himself, so he holed up in his bedroom and wrote this song and nervously, he's playing it for us live.

We didn't see the intro of this clip on the DVD. We had no idea of Antony's history. All we got was the music. And that was enough. Great music needs no context.

The business is tanking because everybody's playing it safe. They want surgically-enhanced stars, who don't write their own material. Who they can get commercials for, who they can get sponsored. What Fortune 500 company is going to go into business with Antony and the Johnsons? Public companies would run! Top Forty radio would laugh at the prospect of playing the music. The irrelevant rock formats are too caught up in oldies and formulaic hard stuff to take a chance. So greatness languishes. But greatness is out there, it exists.

Watch this clip in its entirety. It will render you speechless. If for no other reason than your brain will be unable to process it, will wonder what the fuck it is!

What this is is rock and roll. Music that tests the limits that touches your heart. Not pabulum. Not entertainment. Rather tuneage that demands your attention. That enriches your life.

You wonder why the U.K. music scene is healthier than that of the U.S? Because of shows like Jools Holland's. Where everybody plays live, where it's only about the music. Music still gets respect in the U.K. Here, it's just a tool of the man.

I Who Interests Me

2008-03-05T19:17:00.000-08:00

I have become bored with MySpace, and I'm sure anyone who has ever frequented www.myspace.com/thesouza has by now given up checking to see what might be new there. I can't get the hang of making it interesting to others, and nobody seems to leave any comments for me! Well....I guest that's probably because I don't make any comments on anybody's "space"...ever. What does that say about me?

I believe that I learned something about myself from MySpace: I might be a little more narcissistic than I thought. I am willing to admit that I am very much interested in my own self, but it is certainly harder for me to admit openly that I am not as interested in others. Reason is that if that were to be true than that would have to mean...that I'm mean...or arrogant or stuck up or something else horrible that might damage my own view of myself. Ah ha, back again to me!

Regardless of what may be difficult to come to terms with, I never spent much time on any other MySpace except for my own. There is no getting around that fact, and that has to say something.

"My my, I certainly am an interesting fellow aren't I?"
"Well, yes of course thank you my dear self!"
"What do you think of those other people?"
"Not interesting...besides they don't seem to be interested in me."
"Strange"

Philippians 2:20-21

The Heart of Her Voice

2008-02-28T10:32:00.000-08:00

Have you known her
Have you spoken with her
She's fun and sincere
She's intuitive and real

Have you watched her
Have you sat with her
She cares for the young
She cares about you

Have you worked with her
Have you played with her
She's loyal and trustworthy
She's competitive but true

Have you read her
Have you seen her
She's thoughtful and creative
She is adorned with love

This woman seeks truth, cultivates courage, and chases light unto a journey marked by grace. Her weapons are of righteousness on the left and right, and her dagger is of the Spirit, two edged, and breathes inspiration useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training. The strongholds of this world, the rulers, and authorities stand only as obstacles in front of her to be brought down one at a time by the power of a faith charged by a divine nature of which she has accepted invitation to participate in.

I ask myself...Have I heard her?

This woman is mine, and be it ever such a terrible handling of my privilege to be her man if I do not train tirelessly to tune my ears to hunt for the heart of her voice.