Once again it’s time for the monthly installment of “New Music Monday.” January had a mass influx of new and diverse music into our catalog. Some of the additions were rediscoveries and some were new releases by definition. I think at the time of writing this entry, we’ve added a total of nine albums to our catalog. While that marks the biggest growth in the history of our catalog, there was an odds on favorite to be reviewed here. Again, the story is the same, unbeknownst to me; one of my favorite musicians was releasing a new album. It had once been said that if I was granted a fall from grace against my wife, it would be with this artist. This was by my wife’s own admission as well, mind you. And today is this artist's birthday!


As you may have predicted based on the above, or not, if you nothing of my obsessions, Alicia Keys released her new record “The Element of Freedom.” Thank Jebus I watch the horrible comedy of SNL as she was a recent musical guest. Unless you are peddling a new movie or album, or are a washed up basketball star, you don’t get to enjoy attendance on SNL. After her appearance, my immediate presence was felt on Lala.com as usual for procurement. Unlike other albums, I will pick up the ‘hard’ album too.

Get it here at Lala.com
http://www.lala.com/#album/504684635190067450/Alicia_Keys/The_Element_Of_Freedom

After the first listen of “The Element of Freedom” I wasn’t disappointed. Vintage soul with a bend toward the more contemporary R&B of a new generation. This is not your cookie cutter, radio friendly urban R&B like Rhianna and the like. There’s a tune or two which could easily translate to the radio. However, the beauty in the music is its mood altering ability in your aural sobriety. Get it? It’s mellow, inspirational, uplifting, introspective, and whoopee making music. However, in a vain more like the popular contemporaries, on this record there is more experimentation on the reproduction of Alicia’s voice. Traditionally, a woman with her lungs didn’t need help. But I get the feeling that with a few of the songs, the production engineers are trying to appeal to the new radio generation of soul listeners. What makes Alicia great is her full, low-register singing. Don’t need production effects for that.

While “The Element of Freedom” is a little more exploratory from the production side, it’s not a let down and can stand proudly next to her other records. Since I was introduced to Alicia Keys’s version of soul in 2000, I‘ve never been disappointed. Here are a few songs from this album:

Distance and Time – This is the prototypical Alicia Keys tune and that is not a bad thing. A driven urban beat, elegant pianos accompaniment, and soaring lyricism. The topic of love over distance is obvious and clichéd. But Alicia makes it hers and you feel the desperation in her voice. It’s convincing. During my first listen to this song, I caught myself lost in the depth of a photo of my wife and me. The song has the ability to ‘work’ and takes you right to your core feelings about your partner.

Wait Til They See My Smile – This is my favorite song on the record. The urgency of the piano makes your blood pump. The synth is interestingly used in this song and is very appropriate. It has an Information Society-type appeal. Musically, it escalates with each verse sung by Ms. Keys. And speaking of the verses, the lyrics of this song present an unrelenting desire to succeed no matter the obstructions or obstacles in your path. There are times in your life where a song makes a difference. This one has it.

Empire State of Mind (Part II) – This is a rendition of a track she joined on with Jay-Z. This version is much more of a classic soul version and shows the entire vocal range of Ms. Keys. When she hits the high register, the hair on the back of your neck stands. This song is incredibly visual in regards to her description of the big city. But moreover, you feel as a product of the big city, she is grateful of her beginnings and it has been intrinsically inspiring.

The one element consistent in all Alicia Keys albums, including “The Element of Freedom,” is the slow buildup in the songs as well as the album. There is no “BAM, I’M UP IN YOUR FACE!” The slow reveal and burn through out the album add to the experience. That’s what makes her blow (literally) by her contemporaries. But she also experiments with a new blend in the music. The production brings in more synthesized stylings in percussion a la Prince. It works well in concert with her soaring vocals and gospel-like piano playing.



Overall, I like how the album comes together. Alicia doesn’t let you down using what makes her great, grace and soul, yet remaining real and humble. She adds a slight wrinkle to the production with auto-tune and synths on a handful of tracks while not defeating her expertise. I had the opportunity to meet and casually chat about music with her once. Her grace, creativity, and compassion were very clear to me during our conversation. Clearly one of the best. Ever.

Son #2 has reached a new developmental plateau. Upright walking under the supervised assistance of adult figures and/or wheeled devices specifically designed for midgets. You may recall, Son #2 has been on his own development schedule since pre-birth. Fertilization, birth, satiation, and movement have all been driven by the unorthodox nature of Son #2.


To inspire the young lad to bipedal freedom, a wheeled walker was gifted to him at his first birthday. As expected, Son #2 had more interest in the sounds and lights of the device rather than the unique motile freedom it inspired. Over and over, the shrill sounds and annoying music spewed through our house at a mind numbing frequency. Son #1 had much to do with aiding and abetting Son #2 in this aural annoyance.

But that’s where it stopped. Son #1 brilliantly led by example and scooted behind the walker, once or twice for good measure, in hopes to lure his brother into an attempt. No such luck. In Son #2’s defense, no coaxing or incentive was going to work on his thick skull. Walking? Why? He had been pulling himself up on to furniture in our living room. He showed no fear in lifting himself up next to the CD case of the entertainment center. These all presented opportunities for destruction. Interestingly, an innocent laptop USB port was harmed during the development of this child’s walking skills.


But it wasn’t until his mother ‘gently’ coerced him to stand behind the walker and grab the handle. She left him there to his own devices and his tears. Tough love, mother style. And who knew? He walked under his own power. It was epic, apparently. He fed off of our cheering and the in-your-face hysterics of his brother. All of that was short lived as he traveled from on end of the room to the other. You see, while waddling like an old codger, we failed to explain to him Newton’s First Law of Motion. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force. And that force was a piece of furniture at rest in his path.

Yes. The walker, under the power of Son #2, immediately stopped when contact was made with our CD cabinet. While I found this event entertaining, Son #2 seemed to be much less amused by his obstructed progress. He made this known by the banshee-like howls and the crocodile tears. Son #2 needed to learn the art of steering. As he approached an object under his own power, we tried to gently turn him to keep him going. We were always a little bit late though. I personally think he accelerated to hit the objects just to keep us from assisting and granting him the freedom to scream. That’s what I would’ve done.

Visit this link if you can.....
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#/video/video.php?v=249245982738

I had hoped that steering would be lesson two for him but we never quite reached it. At this point, Son #2 wants nothing to do with the business end of the walker. He prefers to sit in front of it and torment us with repetitive music and sounds emitted by this device. If he’s placed behind the walker now, he loses it, drops to the floor, and repeatedly beats his forehead on the ground. Not a problem on the carpet, but this leads to significant bruising and head trauma when performed on the kitchen floor.

Son #2 now has a new approach. He takes our hands and allows us escort him through the house. This is a nonnegotiable approach to mobility for Son #2. He’ll call for you but he doesn’t want you to pick him up. He wants your hands to help him walk around the house. Your only choice as this point is to facilitate the desire of the youth and escort him around until he reaches boredom and returns to making noise with the walker.

The parental-escort role which we now provide is actually pretty entertaining. Son #2 is proud of himself and this new technique. During the entire exercise in mobility, he is vocal about his enjoyment of being able to walk, even if it is under assisted parental power. The smiles, giggles, and screams are a clear illustration of his pride in being more self sufficient. There’s definitely a substantial amount of parental joy in watching the little guy develop. Granted, the schedule was no where near what it was like Son #1. Son #2 is doing things on his terms but needs your hands to do it. But God forbid you let go of his hands before he is ready to return to his crawling position. If you do, you will quickly be alerted by his air-raid like siren of discontent.

I’ve always been the most creative in my darkest states. I guess that’s why recently, I’ve struggled to drum up any inspiration. Happiness. My wife has always told me to learn how to be inspired by ‘happy.’ But I think as most creative, tortured souls go; our inspiration is fired from desperation. I used to draw and write music but those days seem to have passed. Just the other day, I was musing about how I haven’t come up with any truly engaging visuals in the last few years. I can only extrapolate this assertion to the current ‘happy’ chapter in my life where I’m now a husband, a father of two punk children, and work for the man.

Occasionally, I miss the days where I was stumbling and drowning in tears of frustration and fear. When you’re in the emotional basement, you appreciate the long climb out, even if it’s only up to the ground floor. The process of climbing is empowering, the milestones are huge, the lessons are epic, and the growth is immeasurable. This isn’t to say that I’m ready to throw a grenade on my current chapter and get back there. No way. What I’m saying is that I miss the emotional fragility of stages long since past. Out of them came great creativity and realizations of self.

A new year makes you think about the past and how shitty it was at times. Interestingly, I’ve been reconnecting with friends from my past. In that regard, I received an email from a blast from the past from my very first days at American Racing in 1999. It was a quick email looking for a favor to which I was quick to assist. But what got me thinking was that this email hit rewind on the tape back to 1999. I once was the man behind several brands of automotive wheels. I miss those days where I had a ‘name’ in an industry. While those days have passed, the essence still exists. It made me think about sketching wheels again after a five year hiatus to see where it goes. If they make it into 3D models, photo-realistic renders, or even tangible products remains to be seen. On another interesting note, I’ve recently networked overseas manufacturing. Despite all of that, I’m appreciative of hearing from this voice to reconnect me with old creative desires.

I also read a great blog entry from a close friend whose creativity, compassion, and inspiration are something to truly behold. 10 years ago, she, her husband, and several friends created a 1999 time capsule. They dropped in several mementos, assorted trinkets, and each wrote their innermost thoughts on index cards. Some took it seriously and others not so much. With the beginning of 2010, they reopened the time capsule to gauge their life in 2009 versus their life in 1999. Her writing was an eye opener on the dynamic changes 10 years can orchestrate when you are not looking. With that, each person wrote a new personal note and reinserted into the new time capsule which won’t be opened for another 10 years. The end of the entry was what really resonated with me. As she looked around her quiet house, and with the knowledge of the changes of the past 10 years, she came to grips with inevitable changes the next 10 years will impart on her and her family and embraced the future.

Very well written and inspirational:
http://scukanecs.blogspot.com/2010/01/y2k-time-capsule.html

Reflecting on my own growth without the aid of a time capsule, I’m much calmer and more objective now than I ever was as a kid. Hell, even more than just 10 years ago. But I think the message here is about trying to re-channel that youthful fragility and fear that once kept us full of desire. It just seems that, as adults, we have softened and lost that edginess where we felt we were on the brink of losing everything around us. There’s something pure in imbalance and the corrective action needed to overcome it. We, as adults, sometimes forget that common denominator.

Reflecting on the past is a good thing. Getting caught up in it, is another. I’m grateful for the reconnection with several voices from my past, two of which are mentioned here. The reflection has allowed me to leverage old memories into new creative energies for future ideas as well as re-energize old projects. I’m looking forward to some new sketching as well as continuing forward on a 20 year creative endeavor that requires new focus. More importantly, I’m really into the ‘happy’ phase. Apparently, it has some people around me a little shocked to say the least. I’m still learning how to channel the positive energy. It’s taken seven years to get to this point but it’s all about the journey, not the destination.

Now I’m not one to wait until marquee moments on the calendar to make changes in my life. I’m an advocate of implementing change when and where it’s needed. However, given my sincere and loathsome disdain for the fortune which the year of 2009 provided, I’m opting for a change in my stubborn behavior.

If you’re reading between the lines here, you’re correct, I’m going to practice the ancient, yet never followed by anyone, tradition of the New Year’s Resolution. I have an elephant load of behavioral modifications which need to be addressed. But in the essence of time and in the honor of actually completing a goal, I’m selecting my five most important targets. I’ve got to keep my goals realistic and reachable. Otherwise, I lose focus. I’m a dad after all.

Most people set unattainable resolutions such as ‘lose weight’ and ‘quit smoking’ and never quite get there. Resolutions become about setting unreasonable goals, never reaching them, and making a person feel like shit. Instead, everyone should to take a hard look in the mirror and consider the serious aspects that need improvements in your life that CAN be met. So let’s talk about the areas where I suck.

1. Exercise patience with the children
While inherently obvious, this challenge is probably the most difficult to succeed at. This resolution is about MY children. I don’t have to be patient with anyone else’s kids because it’s not my fault their kids suck.

In the recent past, I’ve been pulled in so many directions that it’s made it easy to misinterpret Son #2’s screaming and Son #1’s fits as plausible attempts at ruining my life. This isn’t the case.

Both are great little boys and most of my humorous subject matter here is in regard to them. Taking a step back from my misdirected temper will help me enjoy the beautiful moments with my children that will be gone all too soon.


2. Practice acceptance of unchangeable and sometimes intolerable aspects of life
The underscore of this resolution is the simple fact that I can’t control everything. Some shit, I just have to let alone and accept that it ‘is what it is.’

Here’s an example: People who drive motorized vehicles in Washington. I just can’t understand how some people can be licensed to drive metal coffins and be completely oblivious to the world in which they operate them. MANY curse words have been hurled through the air toward this segment of people and their inability to successfully and safely negotiate their equipment.

It’s a waste of my energy to obsess and curse during my commute. Therefore, I’m going to accept the fact that people can’t drive. Just one example of accepting what I can’t change.


3. Focus on balance in my life to reduce the health effects
It’s no secret that 2009 was an energy sapping sycophant when it came to my health. I joked about the fact that it was the only year that I had a flu shot and ended up with the most injuries, maladies, and illnesses of any time in my life.

There was that one year where I had meningitis, three spinal taps, and spent a week in the hospital. But 2009 was holistically worse. It’s obvious that it comes down to my Type A personality and my inability to balance the emotions with the occurrences in my life. Work, home, personal, professional, and etc. are all at fault here. Practice mental and emotional balance.


4. Refuse to join the latest pop culture phenomenon
Late night TV is bludgeoned with some of the worst exercises in advertising. Even worse than the ads are the products being peddled by these ads.

The latest craze: the backward microfiber robe called the Snuggie. With its purchase and adornment, you too can become a recluse that never leaves the house, never get a date for the prom, ruin your child’s social life while wearing it in public, and look like a complete tool. No thanks.


5. Refuse to save 15% on my car insurance
I’m becoming extremely relentless and homicidally violent toward British-accented reptiles, bug-eyed stacks of bills, and Cro-Magnon man with the increased frequency of Geico advertisements on television.

Three annoying ad campaigns don’t make me want to source my insurance needs to this company. Save 15% on my insurance? Eat it. I would rather funnel that 15% of my hard earned cash to an out-of-style vapid country singing insurance agent with State Farm. As disturbing a visual as that is, I’m not subject to the aggressive marketing spin with annoying jingles, slogans, and foreign accents. I’d pay 15% more just to not see hairy guys bowl.


My resolutions for 2010; some appropriate and some just because. Enjoy.

Ahh, the beginning of a new year. That, usually is marked by the end of another year and artificially creates a justifiable reason to coordinate an event in the over excess of party poppers and cosmopolitans. Yes. The New Year’s Eve party. We had our own party which was absent of three foot tall tax deductions and infused with the aforementioned party poppers, a Motley Crue approved selection of adult beverages, and a camera to capture all of the inappropriateness and party-goers.

Because 2009 sucked and I was eager to see it booted out of the picture like a sleazy overweight politician getting kicked out of office after sexing an Argentine temptress. I’m hoping 2010 brings better tidings than 2009. In my schoolgirl giddiness leading up to our New Year’s Eve party, I concocted an idea to motivate my self and others to join in the festivities. The idea was to come up with a twisted 12 Step process to ring in the New Year. The fun was making it up as I went along. Strategically thinking what should be ‘classified’ as a step and what should not. Also, what ‘could’ be a step but shouldn’t because it may be offensive.


So here is my 12 Step list with a brief explanation of each step which I marched through on New Year’s Eve and posted step by step on Facebook for others to follow. As a disclaimer, each step was developed on the fly throughout the day.


‘The 'Betty Ford 12 Steps of Ending 2009 and Starting 2010.'

Step 1: Finding Nemo fruit chews, locate and eat them for breakfast.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Finding Nemo fruit chews are made from the joys of real fruit. How is this not part of the fruit group?

Step 2: Mud, find it and make sure you have enough on your rear derailleur that it won't shift.
The weather in 2009 sucked. Finally, I had the opportunity to get out of the house and jump my bike. The conditions were muddy-frosty-muck madness. It’s a metaphor for just getting out and living.

Step 3: Locate yourself some chocolaty crunchy balls and eat them for lunch.
See Step 1. Chocolate comes from a bean, a legume and is part of the Meat and Beans group in the food pyramid. The malted crunchy goodness is a byproduct of the Dairy group. Two for one right here in one small tasty item.

Step 4: Drop your tax deductions off at the babysitter (grandparents). If you don't have children, envy your friends with them for their tax deductions or mock them for always being broke ass.
A ‘friend’ of my wife seems to think that children are resource sapping draws on the economy and those without children are penalized for not procreating because they do not receive the same economic tax benefits of those with children. Screw that. I have kids and I am broke. People without kids are generally not broke. Save the drama for your mama.

Step 5: In the essence of socially appreciative actions, apologize in advance for drunken dialing/texting. While it is New Years, it's not always appropriate to drunk text your best friend's sister. Wait...yes it is.
This always happens. Alcohol + Libido = Inappropriate actions. Do a pre-emptive strike and apologize early for going past the point of good taste and dangerously close to a 1-976 hotline.

Step 6: Beanie weenies
See Steps 1 and 3. The finest of meat in all of the land. What kind of party doesn’t have beanie weenies? That’s a party I won’t attend.

Step 7: Locate a form of entertainment which condones the act of alcohol and energy drink consumption. Thanks Red Bull No Limit for my extreme excitement in jumping over the LBC and my drunken over stimulated screaming.
Parties can have wonderful conversations. See Step 5 above. However, having a television event which lubricates the discussions about the size of manhood it would take to jump a rally car over a harbor always enhances the party. Additionally, the sponsor’s energy drink works well in vodka.

Step 8: Always invite friends that are medical professionals to your New Years Eve party so they can bring their IV bags to properly rehydrate your drunken guests.
I don’t think this requires much explanation. Medical professionals in attendance can help prevent hangovers by intravenously delivering liquids.

Step 9: Always use proper glassware when serving your specialties.
See the picture on Facebook. Better yet. Don’t see it. Step 9 is a double entendre.

Step 10: Use your best French accent and toast your champagne at midnight.
None of us could muster up a French accent after THAT volume of consumption. It was much easier to use a Scottish accent. However, to be truly accurate, please masquerade as a French frog and pretentiously toast to the New Year.

Step 11: Done. Pass out.
Sleep.

Step 12: After all of the inappropriate photos are downloaded and the last suggestive actions and texts are out of your system and phone, enjoy the beginning of a new year. Rinse. Repeat.
Following the previous 11 steps will land you right here on Step 12, the proper starting point for a successful new year.


My 12 Step process for bringing the ruckus and celebrating the New Year’s arrival. Betty Ford tested Betty Ford approved. Happy New Year to all!