Rockstars Don’t Make Good Pro Football Players
I’m a pretty sporty guy. I do a lot of different sports at various levels of awesomeness. However, there is one sport that I pretty much stayed away from, Football. Not the European version of it, known as soccer in the U.S., rather the American version. Last weekend I was invited to the PDFL (professional developmental football league), pretty much the D-Leauge of Football. I got asked to do something at half-time that left me saying that rockstars don’t make good pro football players.
The team who’s game I was at is the Utah Argonauts, also known as the Utah Argos.
During the game I was approached by someone working for the team asking if I’d be willing to get out on the field during halftime in order to participate in a kicking contest. They had no idea my background as a rockstar. Meaning a kicking a field goal contest. While I had never kicked a football, I figured why the hell not? What could possibly go wrong, and what do I really have to lose? Famous last questions that cross the minds of rockstars who jump at the chance to get in front of a crowd all in the name of fun and sport. Right?
Below is video of the event.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu34Isp7KwA]
As you can see, I know that I wouldn’t make a very good kicker. At least not without some coaching. As a bonus, I did actually receive tickets to the rest of the Argonauts home season games. That’s a nice consolation prize for getting up in front of a crowd and professional football players only to make them look like they really know what they’re doing by comparison. I believe the winner also got a signed set of autographed photos to go with their seasons tickets.
– Jody
p.s. – if you’re not aware what the D-Leauge is, it’s the developmental league or the minor league of the NBA.
Maggie May Cover
I’m not often prone to doing cover songs. Mostly because I’m usually so busy writing and creating new music. However, I’m being asked more often to realize songs by other people. Thus, right now, you get to witness an experiment utilizing the power (or lack thereof) of the internet. I’m posting a video on YouTube of myself doing a Maggie May cover of Rod Stewart with my friend Chris Hellstrom.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiNH0id9DZU]
Mind you, be aware neither Chris or I had ever “Jammed” over Skype before. We now know why. It’s not an ideal way to play music live, specifically because of the massive delays between participants. Chris and I did our best to make it work and there are a few stumbles. That’s to be expected when you’re flying blind. There’s so many variables that apparently go into this. Connection speed, something that isn’t as much an issue for me as it was for Chris. I enjoy a speedy 10Mbps up and 50Mbps down. Chris on the other hand not so much. Video obviously adds a lot of data to the bandwidth. I hear there are other things like data packet loss and such. Either way, if Skype really wants to make it’s world domination complete, they will have to figure out how to reduce these delays down to milliseconds. Enjoy our little escapade.
Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I just made arrangements to do this again with another friend. The twist is next time I’ll be playing guitar and he’ll be singing. My goal is to gather video from both sides so it can be side by side.
For now, I’d be happy to have you share this barebones rendition of the infamous (well, ok, it’s famous) song written by Rod Stewart called Maggie May.
– Jody
p.s. – don’t tell Rod I screwed some of it up.
p.p.s – this was posted before the video went entirely live on YouTube, so you’re an early watcher!
Organic Homemade Pizza
Besides being known for music, I’m also considered amongst friends to be a foodie. Mostly because I cook awesome meals. One of my favorite things to make is pizza. Could be because I worked a bunch of years in a semi-famous pizza joint while growing up. Nowadays I’m prone to making organic homemade pizza before I call for delivery.
In the video below, I show a method to making of my infamous organic homemade pizza. Plus I share a song called Clouds by Zach Sobiech.
Zach Sobiech Clouds
If you’re not aware, Zach is a young man who was diagnosed with a type of cancer. Sure a lot of people are having issues with cancer these days, however Zach has written a touching song about it called Clouds. The song gained a bit of notoriety online and went viral. His friends contacted other famous people and put together a touching video for Zach and that’s what prompted me to spend a little time learning the song.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qJQcWplYGE]
If you’re coming here from YouTube looking for the recipe for the dough and the sauce, you’re in luck, it’s here:
Dough:
1 ⅓ cups of warm water
2 tblsp organic sugar
2 ¼ tsp of organic yeast
1 ¼ tsp of Real Salt (by Redmond)
2 tblsp olive oil
3 ½ cups of organic flour
Watch the video for the directions on it.
Sauce:
1 – 6 ounce can of organic tomato paste
6 ounces of filter water
2 ½ tsp of organic sugar
1 ½ tsp of Real Salt
2 to 3 cloves of fresh crushed garlic
add some fresh dried thyme, basil, and oregano
Watch the video for blending it.
That’s all there is to it. Pick your own toppings and above all else, don’t forget to use a pizza stone in your oven! Enjoy the organic homemade pizza and the song Clouds re-imagined by myself and Dave originally by Zach Sobiech.
– Jody
Successful Crowdfunding
I got hooked up with a new PR firm a couple of weeks ago. One of the things we talked about is getting funds together to break through the stratosphere for music promotion. Part of that goal includes making use of a style of funding that I had been loath to attempt – crowd funding. They helped me to see to some light on the subject and now I’m gearing up to go for a campaign for successful crowdfunding with you and me. New territory.
Hesitations
What I’ve seen from a vast majority of bands/musicians that have attempted this route is utter failure. Mostly because they’re underestimating what they need to get something done right. Then they’re not pushing it correctly with enough help and without a compelling reason. All that = a recipe for disaster.
Getting It Together
Mind you, I’ve done my budget. I’ve got it all figured out. While the amount I know I need isn’t realistic from a crowd funding situation, I do believe that I can achieve the goal if it’s done in stages and with help. Thankfully I’ve got the initial step of help. All the people who are going to be involved with the recording have stated they’re up for helping out too. First step is the recording of 18 songs.
Currently I’m in the midst of researching all sorts of things involved with doing a successful crowdfunding situation and started putting together the initial information for a site called PledgeMusic (they’re the peeps I’m going to use for this adventure). I’ve got one more book to devour about how to do it right. Then it will be off to the races.
Your Ideas
I’ve put together most of the levels of funding/donations for the campaign. Since it’s still in flux, I’m happy to accept input as to what you would want from me as a gift and what it’s worth. I’ve got some good ones, but I can always use more.
Once my new PR partners feel comfortable, we’ll launch it. It’s bold. It’s exciting. Being that I’m taking a leap of faith to attempt something I’ve poo-pooed in the past. I’m understanding why lots of them have failed and I don’t wish to make that same mistake. It also helps that I just came from a meeting about angel investors and they were talking the glories of crowd funding as well. Didn’t hurt that I also met a couple of angel investors whom may want to jump in on the situation.
Here’s my early desire from you
I’m going to need your help when I get this campaign going. Thus, if you’re not on my email list – please fill out the Unity 42 list by clicking on the link in the upper right (I know you see it). I’ll keep you informed as to what day it will launch and how you can help. I’ve got some great things that will happen if I happen to overshoot my goal. Be a part of the magic and a successful crowdfunding campaign with me and a great batch of music.
Iron Man 3
Oh hell yeah. Today is the day that Iron Man 3 opens in theaters. As rockstars go, I’m an Iron Man geek. The first Iron Man is likely my favorite superhero movie of all time. Robert Downey Jr. has been the perfect choice for Tony Stark – no if’s and’s or but’s. The right amount of wit, sarcasm, narcissism, and fun = pure entertainment. Thus I decided to put my little cap on and mash up the video of the early trailers for Iron Man 3 and added Hero Unexpected as the soundtrack.
Here’s my result:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeLK5vagRY0]
Why would I do such a thing?
The answer is: for fun.
However, there’s another reason, that reason is, I’ve had numerous industry friends tell me that Hero Unexpected would be perfect for superhero movies, but in particular it’s this movie they cite – you should have it in Iron Man. Mind you, it’s not for a lack of effort to get it in the movie(s). Well, for the first one it was. For the second one, the song did get into the hands of the music supervisor – who apparently really loved the song. For whatever reason the stars weren’t aligned for him to make use of it in Iron Man 2 and instead they opted to roll with AC/DC’s Highway To Hell.
At some point I believe Hero Unexpected will make the jump to the big screen. Until then – enjoy this video mashup of Iron Man 3 (and some Iron Man 2) clips as edited to tell the story of Hero Unexpected. Share amongst your Marvel friends and fans as well.
*** UPDATE ***
I wanted to reserve judgement on Iron Man 3. Mostly because between Iron Man and Iron Man 2 – my favorite was Iron Man. Having now seen Iron Man 3, I believe I have a new favorite with Iron Man 3. Holy shit, this movie had it all (with minimal flaws). Action, humor, and great visuals. I did see it in IMAX 3D, which is something I only do if I’m a real fan of the franchise – as I normally hate 3D effects. The only movie so far where I felt the 3D was done right and didn’t irritate my eyes and give me a headache was Prometheus. While the 3D effects in Iron Man 3 were really great, there were still elements of it that gave me a headache. This was a minimal issue. If you want my recommendation – GO. SEE. THIS. MOVIE.