So, they are saying in 50 years Gates will be a hero and Jobs will be forgotten. I don’t think so. Jobs was a pioneer, Gates stole, er I mean, borrowed technology, produced a faulty product, and is now engaged full-time in grandstanding. He was not an entrepreneur as his carefully nurtured press would have you believe. He is the grandson of some of the richest people in Washington State. He used ruthless and illegal tactics to force competitors out of business. He gave nothing to society until after his own mortality was evident. And I hold him single-handedly responsible for computer viruses and the mess he made with that. Thanks to him, most computers will never work like they were supposed to.
I went past to show Charlie how to charge a digital camera and download the photos. I really dislike the abuse of networking. It is fine to design a product, but when they intentionally don’t print a user manual, or print a bad one, that’s asinine. That presupposes everyone has a computer-literate group they can consult over how it works. Jazz, the camera people, you really suck on that issue. But I see your logic. What good are old people who don’t know how a USB cable works?
An hour later, in walks a guitar player I know very well from the west coast. I disobeyed my own rule and said hello first, asked how he was doing. He walked past like he didn’t hear or know me. Oops, my bad. Got it. Not my business what the hell somebody is doing here, but that was our guitar player’s older brother from more than twenty years ago. But that is one strange coincidence.
And this new Pope. How do you like that guy? “Who am I to judge?” he asks. The Pope, that’s who. Do your dam job. We got enough ass-kissers near the top already. What a gonad, cops out first chance he gets. Business as usual, politically correct as always. Let some future generation clean up the mess; he’s busy inventin’ a reputation.
Speaking of capitalism earlier, I was looking at distribution systems. I support the “buy local” lobby but only if it is relatively convenient. What I found was the many ways capital, as in large amounts of investment money, changes the community. Here’s a quick synopsis of what I found, sort of like the Economics 99 that they never taught.
Most societies are founded in trade, usually beginning with barter and moving toward money as the medium of exchange. They pass through a phase called mercantilism, where everyone wants to buy low and sell dear, the original profit motive. The problem is, if successful, all trade ultimately comes to a stop. But at this point, I depart from that and bring up a related item that the others don’t pursue.
The point is, people, especially family units, will also try to minimize trade, as trade involves an outflow of assets. I think subconsciously, every family and most individuals would prefer to produce all they need on their own rather than pay and trade for it. Any value added to what they produce is from their own labor, they aren’t paying through the nose for the labor of others. But since this is impossible to achieve all the time, you get inward focused groups, such as co-ops and farmer’s markets to minimize the outflow of value. On a national scale, this outflow is called “exports”.
It’s a self-contained system, but along comes somebody with capital. For example, right near the co-op, this money builds a manufacturing plant. This requires raw materials and the next thing you know, certain families in the co-op switch from producing a variety of goods for their own needs to a “cash crop” they sell to the factory. Now, they have money, but it must be used to purchase the cloth they used to weave and the food they used to grow. Result? A distortion of values and an irreversible change in the system. Irreversible, I say? Yes, because once you forget how to survive on your own, dependence on that money becomes paramount.
The opposite of this mercantilism is “free trade”. But you can pursue that on your own. Myself, I only buy what I have to, so I’m more the monetary isolationist. The most expensive things I own would be the house, food, vehicles, my brain, and entertainment. What? Did I say brain? Yes, a brain is a costly thing to maintain. I spend around $900 per year on reading material alone and there are related costs such as the correct diet, proper lighting, and challenging tasks for mental exercise. While these don’t seem important, I’ll bet you know right off when you are stuck on a bus full of people who have not maintained their brains.
Don’t mistake that to mean I said somebody who eats nothing but spaghetti and doesn’t do the crossword has a poor quality brain. Because I didn’t say that. I said they were Italian, ha! That’s a little joke at someone else’s expense. If they don’t like it, go ride the Titanic or the Costa Concordia or something. Double ha! Amazing how I got through that without saying Patsie.
ADDENDUM
Well, this month is a goner. For a change, it flew by before I got anything done. There is a word for this illusion, since plenty was accomplished. Curiosity here, but why the huge number of hits on my blog with the criteria, “The Cost of Electricity Generation”. Whoever you are, leave a comment. It won’t publish, but I’ll pick it up.
Let’s pop into the music department. I see I have competition, another singing bass player. Except I know this guy and he is pretty good. However, and you don’t need to tell him I said so, but he uses McCartney style, where his bass playing suffers when he sings and vice versa. Overall, though, he is better than I am. But a new category of winner is appearing in the local contests. We have the usual battle of the bands and Karoake prizes, but now there is a reward for stage presence.
This element has been the secret ingredient missing from Florida night life for so long. I’m tempted to sign up [for the contest], but the nearest joint is Jensen Beach, 95 miles from here. Stage presence I learned from Johnny Cash and I have no local competition. Don’t be a smart ass and think I’m bragging. I’m not talking about some mystical charm, but a deliberate long-term study of technique. Where most musicians focus on music alone, on my stage, the music is but one ingredient. And I know instantly when somebody is trying the music-only approach, Glen.
Here is a link to the best stage presence I’ve yet seen in Florida, and I’ve never seen him live. Meet Riverside Barry. You may not be impressed, but do you know what to look for? If all that meets your eye is some old guy with a hearing aid, how come you watched the video to the very end? Because this guy’s stage presence is natural, that’s how come. I’ll give you a few pointers on what I perceive:
a) his guitar strumming varies between songs, yet remains consistent
b) he used dynamics (soft or loud) that match the song being played
c) one could enjoy either his music or vocals if heard in isolation
d) he plays only “people” music, with a lot of “space”
e) he captures the essence of every tune and tells a story with the lyrics
f) his delivery is “honest”, no showing off
This is a partial list only, I searched five years for such a guitarist and failed. Or, in retrospect, was it not the guitarists who failed me? I’m finally in a band, where are they? Still advertising on Craigslist, that’s where. Oddly, my stage style is quite different from Riverside Barry. How so? Here’s some of what I do differently, which takes longer to explain.
If you look again, Barry is working the microphone, not the room. In my show, you would hear the audience singing along. Laughing. Crying. He also plays exclusively guitar music, a shortcoming of most players on that instrument. Want to hear me play saxophone on the bass? He plays too much slow music and though this video is just a sample you can tell how comfortable he is with it. My show is far more “out there”. People looking around to see where the fun is coming from may find I’m sitting up at the bar next to them, rubbing elbows. Plus, I will often be doing three or four things at once, giving the impression I’m not paying attention to the bass. Trust me, I am.
There is no right method, but lack of variety is usually wrong. This is where Arnel excels with no two shows of his alike. I know the next question, why am I not teamed up with Riverside Barry? Well, I sent him a written offer long ago and he never responded. This was expected, because all solo guitarists honestly believe they are best off as solos, making them unwilling to even consider a duo. That’s too bad, because can you imagine Barry and I on a stage together? We’d have them eating out of our hands.
I hear the logical next question. Logical, that is, to those who fancy themselves fast thinkers. Why don’t I have many videos of me on stage? Simple. The vast majority of videos when I am performing don’t show me. They show the audience. Ahhhhhhh……….
I’ll say it again. I know this business.
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