Things I'm doing over lunch today

Right now, I am listening on-line to 17 songs that downhere have written for their next album (due in September). Oh, and I'm rating them to help them decide which ones to put on the album. And I'm eating Chinese stir-fry.

So, what are doing for lunch today?

Keep your eyes peeled

Okay, here is a heads-up for anyone out there who likes to see good musicians in concert. Two news items of interest for you here:

First, the Art - Music - Justice Tour, coming in Fall 2008. Featuring artists like Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, Sara Groves, Brandon Heath, and Charlie Peacock and sponsored by International Justice Mission and Food for the Hungry.




Also, keep a look out for a limited Burlap to Cashmere reunion tour. This from Steven Delopoulos:

It's true! Burlap to Cashmere is working on a mini-reunion tour with all seven original members. Dates are currently being booked, but if you have a serious booking inquiry, please contact David Breen at The Breen Agency/Nashville.

Not to be missed! All of the above artists come highly recommended by Euphrony, so you know I'm looking for tour dates.

P.S. If anyone reading this blog happens to chat with any of the aforementioned artists, could you happen to drop a hint that Houston is a great place for the tour to visit? Thanks.

Tags: International Justice Mission, Food for the Hungry, Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, Sara Groves, Brandon Heath, Charlie Peacock, Steven Delopoulos, Burlap to Cachmere, Concert, Tour

Music Monday: Euphrony Euphonic Enterprises

Welcome to the EEE label's website! We here at Euphrony Euphonic Enterprises are all big fans of music and want to share that enthusiasm with you through the music we sell.

The philosophy of my label is four-fold. First, the music we sell all has one thing in common - the lack of hate. By no means does this mean we make only happy music; oh, no, some of it is downright depressing. But it all has the aim of building people up, of encouraging them, of educating them, of showing beauty, and doing so without spreading hate or anger or despair. The songs may tear you down, but they won't leave you torn apart.

Second, our artists make music that they have a passion for making. If you have a great passion for making hard-rock, then by all means go for it! Do you love the sounds of Celtic music or its American progeny, bluegrass? Then indulge yourself. Do you want to make one album that is heavily influenced by jazz and follow it with a punk album or an instrumental collection? Go go it! But, keep in mind our third tenant.

Third, the music our artists make is done to the best of their abilities. If the effort is half-hearted, then back to the drawing boards. No pushing forward poorly worked follow-ups to a smash hit - think Boston's sophomore album, Don't Look Back, which Tom Sholz never did think was done well enough even given a two-year span between releases but was pushed for by the label. If you want to make a different kind of music than you have in the past, then go at it and make the best music you can; but recognize when you can't make a certain music style with a high enough quality and move on.

Fourth, I didn't make the music; I just offer the chance to let it be heard. I get paid for that, and the artists get paid for their music. I'm in it for the love of music, not money, and the artists on EEE feel the same way. Sure, we like to eat and keep the family cared for, but our artists will continue to produce the music we like to hear and I will continue to give them proper monetary credit for that. No funneling all the money through me and dribbling the leftovers to the artists, a la the standard operating procedures of labels since time immemorial - I get paid a fair salary and that's it. And no artist will get dumped for lack of blockbuster status. As long as we can break even selling an artist's music, then we'll make and sell that artist's music.

Artists EEE would sign in a heartbeat include:

Steven Delopoulus	Nickel Creek
Sara Groves	Shaun Groves (no relation)
Máire Brennan	The Chieftains
The King's Singers	Alison Krauss and Union Station
Andrew Peterson	Bruce Hornsby
Mat Kearney	Jason Gray

And be sure to check out our friends at Katostrophic Records

Puke N' Pass©: The Family Game of Infectious Disease Exchange

Come on and try the new family game sensation! Everyone is playing it! Your kids will love it! Once you start playing, you'll never stop! It's Puke N' Pass^©! You start the game when someone in the family plays with some other person - knowingly or unknowingly - and comes how to introduce the rest of the family to the game.

Once home, one of your children will immediately pick up on the game. Then the real fun begins! You get all the perks - fever, cough, sneezing, runny nose, puking. As an added bonus, the game also comes with whining, crying, fits over medicine and doctor visits, and sleepless nights!

But wait, there's more!

This is the family game, after all. And what is a family game if you don't have the whole family play? When you play Puke N' Pass^©, you automatically get the whole gang in the game. No fighting to find time to sit around a table together. No tokens or fake money to keep track of. And, best of all, no cheating is possible because there is only one rule to this game: get sick or stay well. And like Monopoly, this game really never ends. You can play for weeks and weeks - even while your doing other activities - and still not reach the end of the game!

Call now! Supplies are not limited, but you simply can't wait to play. Come by and shake my hand and you and your whole family can start playing Puke N' Pass^© just like my kids have been. Don't wait! You don't want to miss out on this kind of fun!

Sniff, sniff

Today was a monumental day. Today we enrolled Lil'E in kindergarten for the fall.

Excuse me while I go have a little parent-in-shock moment. Okay, we can go on, now.

It is seriously hard to believe that this sweet little girl pictured on the right is ready for school. But she will be five soon, and she can already read and write a little so it must be that time.

We went to a kindergarten roundup today at her school - she got to see the kindergarten classes and we got to fill out forms. Yeah! We heard this year's kindergarten class sing a few songs. And then we heard a few words from the school principal - her picture is below.

Okay, so Linda Hunt is not her real principal; I think she is actually taller than Lil'E's new principal. Anyway, it all looks like it will be a good time for Lil'E. She's excited about it all, and talks about starting school all the time. And in just four short months she will!

And Mrs. E will cry for weeks. It is a mother's prerogative.

Tags: Kindergarten, School, Lina Hunt, Principal

My wife has a favorite Sonic carhop

Yes, you read that right. Mrs. E not only has preferred Sonic locations to go to for her diet cherry coke, easy ice, but she actually has a favorite carhop at her favorite Sonic. There are a few others, but they don't rank as high in her book.

I guess that's not so odd, really. What I find funny is that all of her fellow Sonic-addicted friends agree with her choice. It's like how they all went to see the same person to get their hair cut, they flock together to Sonic. Except with Sonic they're going there daily, maybe even more often.

I don't know what the point of this is. I'll stop talking now.

Music Monday: Bobby McFerrin

Okay, first of all try to move yourself past a knee-jerk reaction to thinking of Bobby McFerrin as that guy who sings "Don't Worry, Be Happy". If you are not familiar with McFerrin's work beyond that one hit, then you have no idea what you are missing out on. First of all, let me remind you of a few things: Bobby McFerrin is a vocal artist. Emphasis on vocal (as in, he uses his voice to produce a multitude of sounds). Emphasis on artist (as in, this guys knows his stuff, musically). Yes, most people may only know him for "Don't Worry, Be Happy", but before you think his success merely a oddity or stroke of luck be sure to consider his teaching at Harvard and his guest conducting the likes of the Vienna Philharmonic. Oh, and don't forget the 10 Grammy awards and his work with Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Bella Fleck, Chick Corea, Rob Wasserman, etc.

Here is a video of Bobby McFerrin with Chick Corea at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2001. Enjoy!


Tags: Bobby McFerrin, Chick Corea, Jazz, Vocal

Car DVD Players: Boon or Annoyance?

Boon:

Oh, my! What would parents today do to keep sanity in the car on long trips without the car DVD player? With young kids, especially, who are locked up in their seats and can't roam about the car like we did as kids (tell I'm not the only one who lived on the floorboard or in the space behind the back seat and rear window as a kid). It is truly a God-sent blessing to be able to pop in any old movie and watch the kids be entertained for hours; the peace it brings to the car is amazing!

Annoyance:

Oh, my! Are these car DVD players good for anything? The first thing it does is give your child a sense of entitlement. It's as if the moment they are strapped into their seat they deserve to be entertained with a movie - even if the trip is only five minutes down the road. (Granted, here in Houston 5 minutes may get you out of the neighborhood, but still . . .) And do they every work? Sure, you get a few good plays of DVDs out of them, but then the DVDs start getting stuck. You have to take them out and try to clean them off repeatedly, assuming it is having problems because your 4-year old with grubby hands has been handling this DVD for months. But then it won't even play a brand new disc untouched by PB&J hands. ARGH! And you're constantly having to fiddle with controls, especially if the player is not built into the car and you child can touch them and mess up the normal playback. Absolutely sent from Satan to annoy parents even more in the car.

Care to rebut?

Tags: Car DVD players, Point/Counterpoint

Overruled

I've been overruled. The contest is not canceled. There were, in fact, five entries. One which I considered a comment is, in fact, an everyday usage of one of the listed words. So says an authority I dare not challenge: Mrs. E.

My guest judge is NatCh. NatCh is a very old friend of mine, who has long been active on various web boards (especially those relating to e-book readers) but does not venture much into the bloggoshpere. His judgement:

I think that the one by "erin" is the most conversation-like, so I'm picking that one.

There are a couple that use more than one word, but they're not really conversational, except for the one that used the words in incorrect forms, so that's why I picked this one. :)

There you have it folks, erin it the official winner! Yeah! Just e-mail me at euphronyatsbcglobald0tnet and I'll send you the goods. If you don't like the results, sorry. This judge will not be overrulled!

P.S. Some might cry fowl if they knew that NatCh's wife works with erin. But knowing NatCh, he is completely clueless to this fact and I feel his objectivity is not compromised.

P.P.S. Mamasboy, I'm not going all girly on my blogging with a give-a-way. I said then and reiterate that isolated incidents do not a trend make. And as to your sentence of reading a dozen tribology papers - too late! I'm already ahead of you on that one. HA!

Contest canceled

I requested at least five entries for the contest to get a $10 iTunes card. I received four, therefore the contest has been called on account of lack of interest. I'll try to be more interesting next time, and you can try to get more excited for free music.

TTFN