Month: December 2010

Reflections After Day One

by

Yesterday was my first day working as a full-time business owner, without a day-job to distract me. I’ve been a full-time business owner for a while, but having two full-time jobs can only result in less than excellence in both. When it came time to choose, I selected to dedicate myself fully to the work that has been more rewarding — both in personal and financial satisfaction.

I don’t have a proper place to work. My desk in the loft is apparently furniture designed for children. Right now, it’s configured with my photography computer, so I use that area for hobby time rather than work time. In fact, I took what could be the lazy way out this morning and worked for a few hours from my bed on my notebook computer. A headache from bad posture was the expected and delivered result.

This coming weekend, besides wrapping gifts and spending time with friends, I will need to spend some time aligning my apartment to be more friendly to working permanently from home. I’m looking at other options to allow me to get out of the house once in a while, such as working one day a week from a café with free WiFi or a shared office environment. But for now, the magic will happen here, and I need to design a space that facilitates that.

It will get lonely here, spending the day with no one other than my cat, Rupert. it will be important for me to get out of the house. I plan to get in the habit of getting exercise outdoors every day (once the weather is more favorable, or possibly in a gym before then) and meeting friends for lunch occasionally. I didn’t get out of the house yesterday, but I am excusing myself for taking a bit of a break during the transitional period lasting the rest of the week.

I shot the photograph of Rupert using a Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 EX DG IF HSM APO Telephoto Zoom Lens borrowed from a friend (and former co-worker at Prudential) in low light. It’s a little blurry, and I had to hit the noise reduction pretty hard.

Ben Folds and Lady Danville

by

Tuesday night, Amy and I had the pleasure of seeing Ben Folds at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The night’s entertainment began with an opening set featuring a band new to me, Lady Danville. Though they play instruments, the band was formed out of an a cappella tradition in Los Angeles in 2007 and has been touring with Ben recently.

Not only do they play your standard rock instruments like piano, guitar, and drums, but they rock the glock and uke as well. After the jump, I’ve shared videos of their songs I Want You Back (featuring Ben Folds and the ukelele) and Bed 42 (featuring the glockenspiel). At the concert, I was struck by the band’s harmonies; even with only three voices, they managed to produce rich vocals. I recommend checking them out as they open for Dashboard Confessional on next year’s tour; feel free to leave the show before the main act performs.

Ben Folds is a masterful pianist. This might be news for anyone whose only exposure is his appearance as a competent judge on NBC’s singing group contest show, The Sing-Off.

For those who have never been to a Ben Folds show, there always seems to be a point when there is a lull between songs, and people start shouting song requests. What makes this different than other rock shows is that, through tradition, people often yell a request for Rock This Bitch. From what I can tell, this originated from a concert many years ago during which an audience member randomly yelled out, “Rock this, bitch!” (note the difference in inflection and meaning). Ben Folds proceeded to improvise a song based on this phrase and the song was eventually included on an official recording.

In Tuesday night’s concert, the request for Rock This Bitch was followed by the cliche drunken rock request of Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Although he claims to not know the song, he pounded it out on the keys, incorporating the first requested song, in a clever improvisation.

The last time I saw Ben Folds live was several years ago, and I don’t remember if he had his synth keyboard at the time. There were three of these red keyboards on stage, and they produced some amazing sounds. Searching the internet, I was able to find a photograph of the set-up that had enough detail to make out what it is. Along with his piano, Ben plays a Nord Lead 2 keyboard, although the branding has been somehow modified to appropriately read “Nerd Lead” instead of “Nord Lead.” I have found the next musical object of my desire.

His latest record, Lonely Avenue, featuring lyrics by author Nick Hornby (Juliet, Naked, About a Boy, Fever Pitch, High Fidelity) is really growing on me.

One annoying aspect of the concert was the security. There was no announcement regarding flash photography or video recording, but concert-goers should assume that this wouldn’t be allowed. Since we were in the fourth row of the orchestra seating area and on the aisle, we were close to the security guard who was sitting at the lip of the stage in the aisle, facing the audience. Every three minutes he stood up to reprimand one of the same four people in the immediate vicinity who were recording videos with compact digital cameras.

Of course, without stealth concert recorders, those willing to put their lives at risk through copyright infringement for the sake of sharing music, I wouldn’t be able to share the videos below.

Keep reading for some videos.

Read more

Intellect and Romance Over Brute Force and Cynicism

by

A few days ago, I gave my notice to resign from my position at Prudential. I’ve been working at the company for almost nine years. While I never felt completely at home in a corporate environment, I enjoyed my time at Prudential. Many co-workers have now become my friends, and I am grateful for the opportunity to earn a master’s degree.

Outside of Prudential, I’ve been building a business for the past few years. I can only describe the business as one that is involved with internet publishing, and for several of the most recent years, the business has thrived.

I decided it was time to dedicate myself fully to my business.

The next chapter of my life is about to begin, and I’m looking forward to making the most of my short time on this planet, spending more time building my business as well as increasing my involvement with music and photography, while improving my overall health.

In celebration of change, I’m sharing the “lost” cold open from The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, which would have aired on November 16, the episode featuring Matt Smith during the week focusing on Doctor Who. Unfortunately, the producers were unable to obtain the rights to broadcast the Doctor Who theme music which would have been aired in this scene, so the segment featuring a dance to lead off the show was scrapped.

Perhaps they secured rights to publish the music online, because the clip is now available on Youtube. Craig Ferguson used Orbital‘s cover of the Doctor Who theme music, the same version you can hear on my defunct Not The Mind Probe Doctor Who Podcast. See the video, featuring a crazy dance as well as lyrics describing the history of this particular science fiction television program, after the jump.

Read more