Pribek

I used to subscribe to Billboard Magazine. This was a few years ago when I was involved in music publishing, pitching songs and such. I figured that the pricey subscription to Billboard would allow me to, stay in the loop, keep my finger on the pulse, give me inside information and be a resource for finding industry types to pester with song pitches. Turns out that Billboard wasn’t much good for any of that but, it looked good to have copies laying around the studio, in the bathroom and on the couches. When songwriters would came by to argue with me about their latest masterpiece, it made it look like we were up to something.

Anyway, I was just messing with my Google Reader to see what new feeds the master of the universe recommended and, lo and behold, BillboardBiz came up. I thought, why not; at least it isn’t going to cost me. So, I looked through the latest batch of articles and, right away three jumped out at me that made me feel like I’m living in some kind of shadow land or alternate reality.

First up is “McGraw Fragrance To Debut This Summer”.

Country superstar Tim McGraw is now in the company of Celine Dion, Kylie Minogue and Shania Twain. Coty Beauty has announced the launch of McGraw’s first fragrance, “McGraw by Tim McGraw,” which will debut in stores this August.

Boy, country music ain’t what it used to be. Can you imagine Ernest Tubb Cologne or maybe, Ferlin Husky Pit Juice. Music borne of the sweat and blood of the working man, inspiring two steps on sawdust floors and fistfights raging through smoke filled honky tonks; you don’t want to turn that in to a fragrance and try to sell it, do you? Of course not but, country music isn’t about any of that.

Next we have “Korn Calls On Fans”.

Nu-metal rockers Korn and French game publisher Ubisoft’s upcoming video game Haze are asking fans to submit videos expressing how Korn has changed their life.

Users will be able to use Korn’s song “Haze”, which was written for the game, video from the game, as well as footage of Korn in concert to make their videos.

How Korn has changed their life! Are you kidding me? I started listening to Korn and took up knitting. I started listening to Korn and became a Bhuddist monk. No, I started listening to Korn and killed the neighbor’s cat, became a sociopath and now I pick up hitchhikers.

Lastly, “MySpace Karaoke Goes Live”.

MySpace unveiled the beta launch of a new music service called MySpace Karaoke. The user-generated service allows members to sing, record and share recordings of themselves singing along to the songs of their choice. Each member can save up to 10 songs on their MySpace profile, and share them via friend bulletins, embed them in profiles or bookmark then in their library.

Other members can then rate the performances, leave comments and share them with others.

Is somebody at MySpace saying; “This software is glitchy, the music sounds wonky, spammers are rampant, the graphics look like hell; you know what-this doesn’t suck enough.”

Glad I didn’t fall for paying for it this time Billboard.

Here we go. I wrote a post about the Virginia Tech shooting. I had a feeling, just from people that I talk to, that this time people seemed to have a different response than they did after other violent acts that have come before. After Columbine and other school shootings folks I know were quick to come up with possible solutions like; ban guns, more guns, parents should be more strict and pay more attention to their children’s possible behavior issues, prosecute parents, ban video games, kill Marilyn Manson. After 9/11, as a nation we were quick to respond with unrealistically simple ideas of solutions to stop this type of thing from ever happening again.

I’m not criticizing or, making light. I think that people were reacting with pure and passionate emotion to these events. Reacting with emotion is part of the stuff of life. On the whole it’s a positive. A well-meaning emotional response to a crisis is often ineffective because life isn’t simple. There are problems that can’t be solved by emotion and the alternative, logic, is uncomfortable because it is stark.

After Virginia Tech, I had a sense that people’s emotions were spent. Or, maybe there was a widespread realization that the emotional response wasn’t working. Once again, this is my opinion garnered from personal observation.

Today I saw this press release entitled, “David Lynch to Announce Plan to End School Violence: Teach One Million Students to Meditate”.

David Lynch, he’s no stranger to violence in his artistic expression. He is being joined in his effort by author John Hagelin (“The Secret”), and folk singer Donovan (“Mellow Yellow”).

You may be expecting me to slam this as whack job insanity but I am not going to.

First off, I meditate. I have experienced concrete, positive results from meditation. Meditation, in some form, is a basic tenet of any spiritual system. That isn’t a coincidence, it derives from results going back to ancient times.

Second, I don’t think that a meditation period during the school day would be nutty at all. For those of you that get upset because we don’t allow prayer in school, what if we just called it the meditation period. For that matter, I think it would be great to have a meditation break in the workplace too.

Here’s the problem. The guy at Virginia Tech, the guys at Columbine were sociopaths. Is a sociopath just born evil or created by their environment? I don’t know. Nobody knows. I guess the premise is, that if one is born evil, we can meditate it out of them. Or, if it’s the other way, maybe we can get them meditating early enough that their environment won’t screw them up.

A sociopath is selfish and wants to do harm to society. A sociopath doesn’t just snap and inflict the harm, they plot and are clever enough to fit into society until the time is right to do their will. A sociopath would go to meditation class and fit right in then, one day shoot up the place and leave a manifesto.

Can meditation stop violence? I’m sure it has but ponder this; the evil men that flew those planes into the World Trade Center did so with the misguided belief that it was the will of their Supreme Being. Would you be surprised if they meditated that very morning?

So, David Lynch, John Hagelin, and Donovan, I like the idea of promoting meditation but, make your pitch on an honest premise not showbiz sensationalism. Or, as we say in the Ozarks, don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining.

This O.J. Simpson stuff is really bugging me. I thought he was guilty from the day I saw the infamous white Bronco incident. I know people that, as the trial was proceeding, said they thought he was framed and I recall having some pretty heated discussions with some of them. I saw a poll yesterday that says ninety percent of Americans now believe he was guilty. I remember watching in disbelief as the verdict in the criminal trial was announced.

I think that O.J. Simpson is a sociopath. What is really bothering me is I can not understand how someone could knowingly enter into business with a sociopath.
I am speaking specifically about Rupert Murdoch and Judith Regan.

Ms. Regan (interviewer/publisher) went so far as to describe Simpson as a sociopath several times in her recent press release. She also says that she did not pay Simpson for the publishing deal. The story I am hearing is that the deal was in the 3.5 million dollar neighborhood and was arranged by a third party. Ms. Regan technically may not have payed Simpson but, she knows where the money is going. Shame on her.

Rupert Murdoch is planning on airing the interview with Simpson on the Fox Network, in prime time. The point here is that the news value of this item could easily be reported on without a two night placement on an entertainment network.
Murdoch is trying to cash in with a big rating during sweeps. Even if all the sponsors pull away, the network will still profit from a big number. Shame on him.

I’ve also got problems with Simpsons attorney, Yale Galanter. Mr. Galanter says he had “no knowledge of Simpson’s involvement in the project”. I don’t know what the implication is here. Was Simpson writing and shopping book without his personal attorney’s knowlegde or, was the book ghost written and Simpson’s name tacked on? The wording “involvement in the project” sounds to me like it is the ghost writer situation which, is possibly even more reprehensible. Mr. Galanter also says that the money involved is not an issue because in the end it will go to Simpson’s children. This is a crock. That money, which is rumored to already be invested in Florida real estate, can be manipulated a thousand ways and those kids could easily never see a dime. So, shame on Mr. Galanter as well.

All of these slimeballs are aiding in the travesty and tragedy and, are of their own free will in cahoots with a sociopath.