Look Out, World!

I've decided to promote myself more aggressively. By that, I mean that I will try to promote myself. Because so far, I haven't done that. At all.

The #1 topic among jazz musicians I talk to is that there aren't enough gigs, and gigs we get usually suck. I'm finally sick of whining. I'm going to go get some good gigs.

I saw a band play this weekend and they were playing ALL THE SAME SONGS THAT EVERY OTHER BAND PLAYS, and nobody was listening. I really think most people are sick of Brown-Eyed Girl and Margaritaville. BUT I bet if you were at some weekend fair and you were walking past some tent with your sno-cone and you heard some really good jazz, you might actually look inside to check it out. I see no reason why MY band can't get a few of those gigs.

Don't get me wrong -- playing background music for cocktail parties or corporate dinners can be fun (provided you don't get treated like crap by the snobs who frequent those events), but I want to play for some crowds who actually listen. And I want to get paid for it.

I'm good enough; I practice hard. And people enjoy the music I play. I just gotta get out enough damn business cards and meet the right people. Some of my goals -- which should have been goals long ago -- are to hand out cards to at least 3 people at every gig and make conversation with at least 1 non-musician at every gig.

Yes!

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 75% Superman 70% Robin 58% Green Lantern 50% Iron Man 50% Supergirl 48% Batman 45% Hulk 40% The Flash 35% Wonder Woman 28% Catwoman 20%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Moviemakin

I haven't blogged in forever, but a few people have asked about the movie I'm making, so I'm posting some clips and info here.

This film will be a little over 10 minutes and is about a group of neurotic 3rd-graders who save the world from alien invaders. I'm writing the music and doing most of the animation. Jeff Messerman wrote the screenplay and did storyboards.

This is the teasy-trailer. It is set to music I wrote and features pictures that I drew and also pictures I stole from various sources.


Here are some shots that I came up with. Some of this will appear in the film pretty much as-is, and some of it will be re-done.


Here's a walk cycle with two of the main characters, Tammy and Conrad.


Here's a tiny little clip with two more characters, Tiger and Ernie.

Me and My Flubb

I joined Weight Watchers a few months ago. For anyone interesting in shrinking his or her wobbly parts, I recommend this method. This week, I hit -14 pounderonis. I'm pretty sure this has never happened before.

Also this week, I had a colonoscopy. The procedure itself was no big deal; they pretty much put me out for it. But the night before, you have to drink a Fleet Phospha-Soda, which is a mega-laxative that wipes you clean so they can get good video footage in the morning.

You haven't lived unless you've drunk one of those. And as a Buddhist, when I say "you haven't lived," I mean "you haven't suffered." That shit is pure evil. I literally shudder when I think about it. I have to drink another one in about a year, and I'm already feeling dread. I swear, I bet whale piss tastes exactly the same. It's like a Kenny G album in liquid form.

Diversions

So, I haven't touched this blog in decades, but here's why. Well, here's partly why, anyway.

Kinda been working on a humble animation project. Here's a few samples:



<

<

And I made this.

TURN THE SOUND DOWN BEFORE PLAYING. I don't know why it came out so loud.

Anyway, I made this with Movie Maker, as usual. It took a while, because I scanned each frame and the "photo-negatived" it. 60 frames, total.

Then I saved that into a file, put THAT file back into MM, and made it double the speed. So THEN, it was actually 16 fps, double the usual 8 fps. Enjoy.

A Major Milestone

Well, earlier this week, the last copy of my CD at CD Baby.com sold out. 30 copies! And it only took 3 years. Fortunately, I sent them 2 more copies and it's back in stock.

Where Did That World Go?

So Meff remembers Freakies. And so do I. Does anyone remember "Grins & Smiles & Giggles & Laughs?" There's a commercial for it near the end of this clip.



The question is, with a product name like that, was it possible to only sell it in jumbo-size boxes? Oh, and why the hell is the Hamburglar playing a trumpet?

Another favorite cereal of mine "Quisp." That was around longer. I think it was 125% sugar. Needless to say, as a diabetic, those days are well behind me, which makes me even more nostalgic...

It ain't just about Myanmar, folks.

Ohfer crissakes.

Read this. And then explain to me why NOBODY will ask the Prezanit two simple questions:

1. DOES THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ENGAGE IN THE PACTICE OF "WATERBOARDING," THAT IS, THE PRACTICE BY WHICH A DETAINEE IS STRAPPED TO A BOARD AND DUNKED HEAD-FIRST IN A TANK OF WATER TO SIMULATE DROWNING, IN AN ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN INFORMATION?

2. IS THIS TORTURE?

YES OR NO?!?!

The reason they won't ask, of course, is that they fear being told that asking these questions PUTS OUR LIVES AT RISK!! Help! Help! Mommy! The bad journalist is trying to kill me! Cut his mic! Lock him up! Waah! Waaaaah!

This country seriously needs its own Suu Kyi.

Burma

Things have, of course, turned bloody in Mynanmar. Here's a photo from Rangoon, where soldiers have begun shooting directly into crowds of peaceful protestors.

Here's another.

I hope this story continues to get some coverage in the US media. Even a bit MORE coverage would be nice. But that will only happen if Britney Spears doesn't go anywhere or do anything for about a week.
Thousands of unarmed people facing imprisonment or death in the name of freedom and human rights just doesn't make good copy.

Joe Maneri

Joe Maneri was my teacher for the 4 years I lived in Boston. He's had a greater impact on me -- musically, personally, spiritually -- than anyone else I've ever met. He's one of the true great geniuses of the last 50 years. Really.

He was very supportive of me, and helped me out a lot. He introduced me to a lot of cats, and he was always telling people "Greg Pagel -- he's one of the best piano players in the fucking world!" He always said my wife had a face like an angel. The last time I saw him was the day before we moved bak to Wisconsin in 1997. We were at his house, and his wife made spinach pasta for us. It was amazing.

In this video, he's the guy holding the saxophone and singing briefly.

KICK ASS MONKS

Have you been following the news from Burma/Myanmar this week? Long story short: 35,000 Buddhist monks, nuns and followers have been marching in protest against the oppressive Burmese military government. On Saturday, they marched up to the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the pro-democracy movement in Burma, who's been under house arrest for about 18 years. After she waved to the procession, she was moved to the notorious Insein prison.

Today, armed soldiers and police mobilized. The last time this happened, in 1988, they fired into peaceful crowds, killing 3000 unarmed civilians.

Here's the cool part: China -- freaking China -- is "quietly" urging the Burmese government to excercise restraint in dealing with protesters. World leaders everywhere are urging Burma to release Kyi. Even George W. "World's biggest prick" Bush is talking about it.

Here's the lesson I hope GW is learning: The world community likes it when you deal with assholes by not being an asshole. If freedom fighters in Burma had blown stuff up, would it had made the news? Probably not. Ehh, more stuff blowing up. Big whoop.

But when thousands of monks and nuns risk their lives by peacefully protesting, people actually notice. And slowly things change.

Here's a picture of monks kicking ass.

Update: There've been 200 arrests and 4 people murdered by police...

And We're Back.

Here we go again, kids. My blog has regenerated. Think of this as Peter Davison as my last blog was Tom Baker. I'll miss the scarf!

If you got that bad joke, get a life. Seriously.