Morning Folks,
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How is everyone doing this fine FRIDAY!!
Myself, I''m super duper tired today. Katie and I decided to stay up a little late last night and watch a movie. I''m somewhat glad I did stay up to watch the movie as it is part of the fuel I''m using to write this musing for you all today.
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I thought I would take things on a different twist today and talk about something I know very little about... Music!!
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What started this thought about Music? I have a co-worker who sits next to me who is very... well... unique. The guy is great company to have and he likes to analyze pretty much everything. He uses some pretty big words which sometimes require me to look up things in the dictionary :) Truth be known, he is inspirational to talk with as he has some different insights into the world and its people.
To protect the name of the individual, we will call him Jay.
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So Jay and I will sometimes sit back and have a discussion. We will analyze reactions, people, additudes and all sorts of things we probably shouldn''t :) The other day we started talking about Music. Myself, I play the guitar and the piano. I actually learned how to play the piano before ever picking up a guitar. I wouldn''t say I''m musically gifted, but I do have the rhythem and I know how to use it :) The talk started out when I stated how I can get into these mind sets when I play. I tend to zone out everything around me, clear my mind of all obstructions and play whatever comes off the top of my head. When I get in these moods, I tend to forget what I played and can never reproduce the sound and ''feeling'' of the song. Of course, try explaining that to a guy who does nothing buy analyze things breaking them down to a framework of information and ideas.
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When I play my guitar, 9 times out of 10 it is to improve technique. It is that 1 time that I play where I lose myself in the music and do what comes natural to me. It is those times I discontinue to ''play'' and I ... create. My wife will confirm that when I play, I tend to zone out. I can see everything going on around me, but I am unable to respond verbally to any questions or comments made. It isn''t until I break out of the zone (the music) that I am able to respond. I don''t know what it is, maybe my mind can only do one thing at once :)
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The movie we watched last night was entitled ''Raise Your Voice''. Yes, it is a Hillary Duff flick and it was GOOD. There, I said it. It is about a girl (of course) who''s life long dream is to sing. She loves to sing, she loves to write songs and wants to do this for the rest of her life. Her Brother, who is her biggest supporter in her singing dream, plays a sneaky trick on her and makes a DvD of her singing and how she acts around the house and such. He sends this DvD off to a summer school for the musically gifted. One of the best music schools in the country, or so they tell me. Ultimatly it was her brother''s DvD that got her into this summer school; unfortunatly he dies in a car accident early in the movie because she snuck him out of the house one evening so they could go to a music concert together. Of course she blames herself for his death and decides to give up singing. In the end, she gets back on track and overcomes her fears and does a great job singing ! for her family and friends.
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Good movie which inspired me to write about music today for you all. My friend Jay has a hard time understanding the ''feel'' part of music. I told him simply, if you think about it, you won''t get it. Music isn''t something that is created in your head; music is something that is created from the heart and soul. I don''t know how else to describe music other than it is a mental/physical release. There is something about the power of music that enables us to think clearly, open our eyes and achieve a different kind of conscience. I''m sure the musicians who read this musing would agree with me on this :)
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As a result of conversations this week and watching this movie last night, I have some things I need to deal with in my personal life. For example, I''ve been slacking quite a bit on my guitar playing these days. I pick it up and strum a few chords and I put it back down again :) I''m sure most musicians have gone through similar slumps in their lifetime. I realized something while trying to explain music to Jay. I learned what it means to play play music and why I did it. It was almost inspirational and I wanted to run home and pick up my guitar and just play. I didn''t, but that was the first time in a long time I actually wanted to play above anything else. A good start? Perhaps, but until I actually sit down and become that 1 out of 10 again, I fear I may lose it forever.
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Now I know the question going through all your heads :) Yeah, he talks about about music and guitar and such, but is he a good player? My question to you is simple.. Define good player. Some of you may not like the style of music I play, some of you may not like the type of guitar I play and everyone has their own views as to what sounds good and what doesn''t. Music isn''t just a hearing thing, it is also something that is felt. I think it is the only thing in the world that is both hearing and feeling at the same time (feeling inside that is, not like an explosion that you can hear and it rocks the ground so you feel it). So do I play well? Yeah, I would like to think I do. I''m not as good as some, but I''m not as bad either. I can pretty much play anything I sit down and try to learn and with my rhythmic gift, I can pretty much mimik any style of play that exsists today. I pride myself in that I learned how to play guitar on my own and it required very little effor! t to pick it up and learn how to play.
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Anyway, I''ll stear away from that topic for a bit. I think as a personal goal I am going to attempt to get more into my guitar playing and try to win back some of that which I lost due to not having enough time. wish me luck! :)
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So, I mentioned to a few of you in-game the other night that I was going to teach you all how to play Liar''s Dice. This is a fun game that requires very little effort to setup and play.
You will need:
2 Dice (preferably numbered and not the ones with dots)
A cup with a lid or some other object easy to open so you can view the dice and keep the #s hidden.
That''s it! Now, I''ll admit this game is a lot more fun the more people you have playing, however it can be done with just 2.
Quick, grab a sheet of paper and write down the following numbers in the same order as shown here:
31
32
41
42
43
51
52
53
54
61
62
63
64
65
11
22
33
44
55
66
21
How to read the dice? Always use the biggest number first! If you rolled a 5 and a 3, the number would be 53. If you roll a 2 and 4, the number would be 42. Get it? Great! :)
The object of the game: Don''t get a point :)
Rules: Pick a person in the group to start things off. That person roles the dice in the covered container and takes a look at the dice. Without showing anyone else in the group he/she passes the covered container to the next person in a clockwise direction. Here is where it gets a little tricky. When passing the container to the next person in the group, you MUST say what number you rolled. The goal is to get a higher number than the person before you (check list of rolls above for number order). However, if you roll a number that is LOWER than the person before, you will need to lie to the next person in line (lieing with a higher number helps). It is up to that next person in line to decide if you are lieing or not. If that person calls you and checks the roll, one of two things can happen.
1) If you were lieing, YOU get a point
2) If you were telling the truth, THEY get a point
The person who gets 5 points is out of the game.
Here''s an example:
Players: Jay, Al, Brad
Jay rolls a 32, passes and says 32 (truth)
Al rolls a 64, passes and says 64 (truth)
Brad rolls a 43, passes and says 22 (lie and remember 22 is higher than 64, refer to list above)
Jay decides to believe Brad and rolls a 62, passes and says 21 (lie but this is the chance you need to take sometimes)
Al checks and Jay gets a point.
The game will continue on until there is only one person remaining. Sounds boring? Give it a try sometime with your friends it is a hoot!!
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Now that you are all now enlightened and know how to play Liar''s Dice, I will switch gears to World of Warcraft :) DING 50!!!!!! WOOT.
Yes, I dinged 50 on my Hunter last night and I''m quite happy about that. What is even better is I''m almost half way through 50 already making my way for 51 faster than I made it through 49. I promised some screenshots yesterday to you all and I admit I forgot to put them online. I plan on doing that today as soon as I get some time here. When I do, you''ll need to check out the On''Goro Crater area. WOW!
:)
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I''m debating on whether or not I will be playing this evening. Katie and I talked briefly about it last night after she got home from work. Sometimes it is good to step back and take a break. Unfortunatly, Friday nights are typically when we get our best gaming times in and those are usually the nights I enjoy the most. I made the comment last night that I might not be playing tonight and I think I may have disappointed a few people with that comment. I got to thinking about that a little bit and came to the realization that I put to much worth in what people think. Everyone has their own opinions and ways of dealing with situations and I tend to adjust myself to the situation so I don''t present myself as an antagonist to the situation. Everyone has their problems and challenges and sometimes they need an outlet to lay it all out on the table. I like to consider myself an outlet type of person, someone people can talk to and confide in knowing I''m not going to write ! about their personal issues and I''m not going to tell others about it. That said, I''m also human and I make mistakes and let things slip. My wife is my best friend in the whole wide world and my confidant. When I''m feeling down I have no issues letting her know about it so I can outlet those feelings. Unfortunatly, I''ve been burned quite a bit in the past and I choose my outlet people very very carefully.
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Bottom line, you can''t please everyone and I spend way too much of my life trying to do just that. I like having friends and having people to talk with, but it just isn''t worth it trying to please everyone. My life is my life. Yes it directly affects my family so I guess in a way my life is our life, but in the end when it comes back down to the framework, it is me. Each person you encounter on a daily basis changes your outcome of the day; regardless of how small that encounter is, it will change your life. I find it interesting to watch people sometimes and how they react in different situations. I like seeing employee A walk into the building tired and cranky and a few hours later be laughing with a smile on their face all through interaction. It doesn''t take a lot to change a person''s perception. A simple smile or a friendly hello can make a world of difference in someone''s day and ultimatly change the outcome of their life. Seems too far fetched? Give it a try! sometime. You obviously can''t prove you made a difference because you are unable to see what would have happened, but if everyone in the world decided to smile and say hello to just one person that day, I think the global effect would be astounding. In my opinion of course :)
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Well gang, I need to bid you all a fond farewell for now. My son''s birthday is this weekend and I''m going to need to mentally prepare myself for 10 or so screaming kids tomorrow :) You all have a grand weekend and we''ll see you all back here on Monday.
Take care and remember, Baweep Granaweep Ninibong :)
Cheers,
Al
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