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Though my hopes for the Ravens tend to be somewhat unrealistic (understatement of the year), I do have a very strong suspicion --and hope, for that matter-- that YouTube will kill the 'celebrity' as we know it. With so many self-absorbed, MySpace-Americans now having access to camera-phones, blogs, (and now Vlogs), everyone is getting their 15 minutes of fame, and loving every minute of it. Do you honestly think that those who were once obsessed with what Britney and Lindsey were doing last night really care anymore? They're trying to get their own number of 'Views' up to six digits. And with SecondLife about to become the new society, we'll be able to create our own celebrities. Who needs virtual heroes when we can create virtual egos? I have mixed feelings about all this, but as much as I hate to say it: there are some advantages. From a musician's point of view, never has there been a more perfect time to get discovered without the need of a label to back you. On the other hand, you might be playing your sold-out stadium tours to a bunch of C.G.I.'s... Okay, so the year's about over, and I've made a ton of resolutions --all happy and positive. Please join me for a most unforgettable year, and I'll make you positively happy (sorry --couldn't resist) Seriously, 'Life Beautiful' will be coming out; a ton of new Opus 1 music as well, plus more multi-media tunes...you're gonna need a bigger iPod, fo' sho. And I'm down to the last 13 months of swinging a paint brush. This is what I'll be doing. That quote keeps entering my mind: What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
This has to be one of the funniest videos I've seen in years; and just this morning, Patty started the day off by doing exactly this (except for the baseball bat part --that was what Skippy used to do) Enjoy!! Wake-up video
Here's some great news: I got my first-ever royalty check today; apparently one of my tracks aired on an episode of Oprah! Wish I knew when it was, but now it's official: I can now say, "...my music has been used on Oprah..." Cool, eh?
If I had to put money on it, I'd lay everything on the Colorado Rockies winning the World Series. NFL: Based on 4 weeks of play, it looks like this will be the first time that virtually every team will end up .500, with the exception of a few that will have nearly all wins (Colts, Cowboys, New England and Seattle). How will the Ravens do? 11 - 5 and winning the Super Bowl, of course!
I sold 'XTASY' to Regententertainment.com ...Finally, after 3 years of pursuing a dream, this is the deal that made all the suffering worth it. The first deal signed in 2005 was cool because it was a deal. $0.00 made, but someone liked my music enough to add it to their West-coast library. Then another deal in July '05, then a few more like that in '06; the Harpo stuff --that actually paid-- in Jan. and March of this year, and now this. XTASY will be played in the cable series 'Dante's Cove'. No, it's not '24' or a feature-film, but it's more credibility (in addition to the nice check). I came to Appleton City with one goal in mind: to make enough music to make enough money to make a living at it. After the first year, I got nervous and I started painting; the dream was turning into a nightmare. Deep-down, I knew something was going to happen, but you can't tell that to the utility companies, so I did what I had to do. But after the Oprah deal, I started to get that 'can-do' feeling again, and set a 2-year goal. By January 2009, I'll be making a full-time income from my music ...no more painting, fixing toilets, cleaning gutters or patching driveways. This time, I will not doubt (but will probably worry and whine to my friends!)
I decided to re-do my cabinets; I really wanted to enamel them, but after I took a small door in the bottom corner off to see what condition they were in, decided to strip the paint and refinish. Take a look at the before-and-after pictures on the 'Misc. Pictures' page.
It's almost August, but the birds outside don't seem to mind the heat; they're too busy taunting Patty. ~Had a nice visit with Hip Jen on Friday; how can you have a bad time with a good friend, esp. when that involves a burger at (my most favorite place to eat) the Flea Market?!? I missed the Chris Isaak concert...guess it just wasn't meant to be. At least I have DVDs of all 4 seasons of his Showtime series. Not as good as a live show, but still entertaining and lifts my spirits. Looks like the West Memphis 3 will eventually get a new trial, and be found not guilty. I don't know any of them, but will be very happy for them upon their release. Lesson to be reminded of: While there's life, there's hope.
Still waiting! While that question remains, I'll be busy with my new project: creating the music soundtrack for a resort in Hawaii. This is one of the coolest gigs I've worked on. Mo' better than Harpo, as this has already paid nicely and will continue to pay. And of course, painting is keeping me honest. Getting caught-up on bills is nice, so I shouldn't complain, so I won't. All this work is a major blessing. Mike D. and Annie had their first child on Tuesday. Congratulations to them and their new son, Blaise!
Just found out Chris Isaak is coming to town "...do ya wanna go (to Vegas?)?" tommy@musicoftommy.com
I apologize for being gone for so long; a ton of work has been keeping me away from music and web site updates for almost 2 months now. I'm so very tired all the time now, as the tile job I started last week wore me down (same school from a couple years ago, but this time it's the original portion, laying new VCT over asbestos); add to that visiting friends and family in KC, and paint jobs (in KC, too) makes me want to list every piece of music gear on eBay and get it over with. But I see the light, and after next week, should have a day or two to get completely caught-up. Of course, that's what I told myself over a month ago! I'm trying desperately to keep a positive outlook and to keep the feelings of good fortune-- that it's much better to have too much work than no work at all, among countless other aspects of good health, having all my body parts and living in America, but one does get tired. An e-mail from Jason today made me stop complaining; it was a short note, telling me '...life is good...' Despite all the chaos, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Now that I've had a few more days to get things figured out, it looks like I really am going to love this new technology. And I hope the Opus 1 customers like it too, now that I'll be able to put together a real newsletter and keep everyone updated on new material. ~Patty's doing well, despite the taunting from Ms. Homie and George the con artist cat....how sad is it I'm giving you updates on the cats around here! ~Had a dream last night that I received my first residual check from ASCAP for $1.24; I remember shedding tears of joy that I not only received a check from ASCAP, but that it meant my tunes were played on Oprah. I scanned and printed the check, smiled at it and felt a true sense of accomplishment. The dream wasn't too far fetched, as I did receive my front money in the mail today for the Oprah tracks (thank God it was more than $1.24) --and I did smile at this check when I saw it-- Also got an e-mail from Harpo stating they would like a bio and resume to submit to other publishers interested. ~Dream big; don't be afraid to take a chance in life. If I didn't move down here to focus on music, I doubt I'd be telling you about Oprah tracks.
Reformatted new computer after only a few hours of getting it set up; love this new technology. ~Found out that Patty's brother (pictured below) is a con artist....lives next door, and comes over to get the good, name-brand food.
April 12, 2007
April 3, 2007 I have 2 more tracks to finish for Harpo, but wanted to ramble a bit. I dug through some tracks to share with you, but don't remember in what folder I saved them (you wouldn't believe the week I've been having...chaotic to say the least). Will update more later this week! March 16, 2007 A call from Harpo Productions came in...they need more tracks in the genres of mystery, suspense, drama, etc, so I threw my hat in the ring for 10 songs (Did I mention that over Christmas, 7 tracks made it into their library?!?) (And I bet I failed to mention that taxi had absolutely nothing to do with this gig (oops--just did)) Big deal for me, esp. since this time they're paying over 4x's what the last compensation was...almost making what I do painting. I'm still focused on my 2 year goal to hang up the paint brushes for good, and with 18 months left, I really believe I'll make it; the (PAID) music gigs are finally starting to pick up some momentum. In the words of Mike D, "Yessir..."
February 25, 2007 I've had it with 1and1.com I can no longer recommend them for hosting your web site. Their lack of understanding the English language has caused me to lose ownership of over a dozen websites, and now I have to waste another day filling out and faxing forms with signatures from me and the new owner (if I can track him down). What a mess! It's not quite as bad as it sounds, but with time being so precious, this is the last thing I wanted to do when I really need to be working on more music. This is a music site, isn't it?? Some good news: I spoke with (hip) Jen yesterday...was good to hear she's doing alright. And Mike D's all excited about his latest sonogram; looks like he and Annie will be the proud parents of a bouncing baby boy. I like 'Roy' ...stick with that, dude.
February 2, 2007 I hope the new updates are working for everyone. My mind feels like it's been floating for the last few weeks; maybe it's the Emerson essays I've been reading lately. I just don't see the world the same anymore (in a good way...) TV sucks more than ever, and for every minute I watch, can almost feel my brain cells atrophying. I now view an average of 3 hours a week, and it's usually all in one setting. Full of ideas for songs I never could have dreamed. Maybe it's from the BooKoo or RockStar energy drink. I've never been high, drunk or stoned in any way (never been curious), but diet RockStar sure makes composing more colorful--no kidding with BooKoo, either. My good friend Mike in Arizona is getting married next week (congratulations!), and unfortunately I'll miss the celebration. Good luck, Mike! Too bad I can't make it--it's in California, and I could have gone to see Ben....Jason's gonna be there, too. I'm on the verge of rambling, as my mind is peregrinating again, so I'll stop now. P.S. Almost forgot to mention the Photos page has been overhauled. Check it out! January 14, 2007 Now I can talk about how great the Ravens are, because their season is over. That game was p a i n f u l to watch. No offense from either side, esp. the Ravens. Just awful. At least now I can move onto life issues; 'Life Beautiful' issues. How do you like the new homepage pic? That was taken about 10 miles from here, just up the road from an old church; it's actually a former missile silo HQ. It's just vacant now, and the fence is always open; I think one of the farmer's just stores his flatbed trailer there. I'm going to ask if I can get a closer look, maybe even see inside the building.
And here's another picture of a missile silo (facing North) about a mile down 52 Highway. I did get the farmer's permission to get as close and take as many pictures as I wanted, so I took about a million, and set my camera to 'video rec.' mode, which made for some really grainy, lo-budget-lookin' footage. Anyway, I guess the recent fascination with these places is two-fold: One, that I may not be able to see them again on a regular basis in the near future, so lately I've been taking a LOT of pictures of the town and my house. Secondly, the first time I saw that these fenced-in lots were used for storing hay for the cattle, I thought it was ironic. Up until 10 years ago, this very plot of land housed a device used for ending mankind; now the land is used to sustain us.
January 11, 2007 First entry of the New Year.
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Still
in the running to be selected as the guy who wrote the new Oprah
theme song; received word today that the Harpo people in charge of
the decision making have been swamped, and have put off selecting
the wining piece for another 2 weeks. Man, I wish I had just
one more day to tweak it...I suppose I'd always find a few notes to
add or subtract no matter the timeline. ~Getting kind of bored
with politics and talk radio in general, and can't believe all the
talk about the 2008 election, that's still a year and a half away.
~Snow is coming within the next 36 hours; just what I need to help
me recover from one of the most painful and nastiest colds I've ever
had. Second one in a year, and before that, I hadn't had one
in 5 or 6 years. Guess I'm not getting any younger, or it
could just be the stress and a very serious bout of depression I've
been suffering through for the last couple of months. It's so
hard to put on the smile and let everyone think all is well, though
having Patty's brother come around helps... this is the cat I was
planning on taking in back in December '04, but he disappeared until
a few weeks ago. When I realized it was him, I thought, "This
could have been Patty, left out in the wild to survive on mice and
birds..." I need to get a 'lucky cheeseburger'
at Margie's Dari-burg tomorrow....yeah, that's it: haven't had one
of those in quite some time, and every time I get one, something
good happens :-)
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Music of Tommy No longer across from the school in Appleton City, MO |
e-mail: tommy@MusicOfTommy.com |
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