XXX Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympics have kicked off and I already know that the 30th Olympiad, represented by Roman Numerals XXX are going to throw off the balance of the interwebs between people searching events and landing on porn and vice versa.

I've always enjoyed watching the Games. The first Olympics I remember were the LA games and I remember going to Circus Circus in Vegas and every prize on the midway had something to do with Sam The Eagle, so I guess I was hooked. Later in life I became reinterested when they opened the Olympic Training Center in my hometown of Chula Vista, and even more when my BFF's brother-in-law was training at the facility and we got a cool behind the scenes tour before Beijing.

This is the first time that the Olympics have taken place at a time when I work from home and on my own hours more or less, so this means that though the games are just in the first couple days, I've already been up at odd hours watching men's and women's soccer, air rifle (really?), fencing, swimming, boxing, archery, handball (who knew?), volleyball, tennis, beach volleyball, and pieces of the men's road race. I also saw the beginning pieces of the opening ceremony before working and then watched the rest of the thing without sound while I was working at the Soda Bar. There is no point to this post other than a total rant. Because I can. So here are some Olympic observations, questions, and blah blah blahs....

1. If you actually care about the Olympics (and you have Cox Cable), you can watch at various times on NBC 7/39, MSNBC (39), Bravo (42), NBC Sports (65), CNBC (66), and there are replays OnDemand. Mostly you have to stay up all night if you want to see anything live. Which I did last night. Which is why I'm ranting right now.

2. Instead of worrying so much about security during the games and bragging about the 10,000 person crew and thousands of volunteers that made the opening ceremonies happen, how about focusing on attendance? How about making sure that EVERY event has a packed house? How about a Goldstar or a Groupon deal that you buy a voucher for uber-cheap and are on standby for seats? Or giving seats to students? Those women's soccer games are perhaps not the most exciting games in the world, but fill the seats with kids or soccer- er, football-  programs and let them spend money on popcorn and hot dogs (or whatever they serve in British stadia). It is pathetic watching events with hundreds in attendance in a stadium that has the potential to hold thousands.

3. Opening Ceremony- HUH? If you have to have Meredith Viera and Matt Lauer reading a script to explain what is going on, I would say that your "cinematic" approach to the ceremonies failed. On the other hand, Twitter was exceptionally entertaining tonight.

4. Boxing- Get your scoring together! The announcers suck ass, but one of them had a point when he suggested that kids who have talented XBOX thumbs would do a better job than the judges do. If you must, just go electronic like fencing.

5. Team USA- It is great that we have so many amazing athletes and all of them have these really great stories of triumph/hardship/struggle, but in competitions (like swimming) when there are EIGHT lanes, it would kinda be cool to know ALL of the countries represented and not just the two yellow lanes with America's next great hope. My favorite was in the women's relay trials when you cutaway before the swimmer in lane one even touched the wall. I'm pretty sure despite their disappointing loss, their families would like to see them at least finish their final event.

6. Who decided on that horrible font for the LONDON 2012 logo? It's like the new comic-sans.

I should've taken better notes because there were so many other things that popped into my brain while watching the dozens of competitions I've already watched, but I'm sure they'll come to me.

Without even touching the politics or business of the whole thing, what are your thoughts on the Olympics?

about that CityBeat issue...

In the past week since CityBeat released their "Great Demo Review" issue, I've had several conversations about the issue. I responded rather strong, and somewhat hastily, via Twitter while at lunch the day the issue was released, when the discussion turned to a specific review by a specific author with whom I not only vehemently disagree, but who I would just like to see disappear from CityBeat's pages altogether. I have contributed to CityBeat in the past, I respect Seth Combs and Kelly Davis immensely, and I absolutely love the cover featuring Tim Pyles in his sexiest American Apparel pose, but now that the issue is off the stands, I will comment. And really, I just want to know, what was the point? I waited for the issue to be off the racks for a reason. Read my rant if you 'keep on reading'.


There are certainly many reviews that I just disagree with, however, this isn't about difference of opinion. It really surprises me, year after year, that CityBeat, which is so closely tied (some say entwined) to the San Diego Music Awards and the San Diego Music Foundation, which are supposed to encourage music diversity, music education, and music participation in our city, would then endorse the chopping down of so many people who are just doing what they love. Many of the reviews are constructive and even descriptive, but sadly those reviews are so overshadowed by some of the writers trying to prove how snarky and clever they are and not saying anything meaningful about the music. I was counting on CityBeat to come through and it disappoints me for the several reviews that actually give a feel for the music they're written about, for better or worse, there are too many that are purely, to quote Jim Ruland, "dick drizzle", that make the sum of the parts feel snarky, pretentious, and full of music-snobbery elitism. Those "folded arm hipsters" that CityBeat mentions in every issue? Well, apparently they all contributed to this issue. I'm just glad most of these writers don't actively participate in the local music scene, so my folded arms won't be bumping elbows with them as I line up to hear yet another band that sounds like Pinback (and enjoy it).

Some of my favorite music descriptions:

"pretentious and nondescript"; "dick drizzle"; "as appealing as pouring hot shards of glass into my open eyes", "cluster-fuck my brain and give me a bad rash in the the process"; "absolutely pointless"; "I want him the fuck off my stereo"; "smells like dog piss and cheerios"; "deserves to be ass-raped by Michael Bolton"; "maudlin introspective masturbation";"watery load of excrement"; "sentimental garbage"

I didn't really want to link to the original posts, but there were some interesting comments so you can check it out here.

I'll close with one final comment. If a band doesn't explicitly submit their music for review for this issue, they should not be reviewed. Picking up music laying around the CityBeat offices that was submitted during the year for review consideration or even music award consideration should be off limits. If all of it is open game, then a stronger submission disclaimer should be included in every issues of the weekly.

Tom Petty SuperBowl Halftime Show

Quite possibly, the most boring half time show. Ever.

and while I'm commenting, could the ads of SalesGenie.com be any more racist?

SDMF Music Industry 101: "The Media in the Digital Age of Music"

My Saturday afternoon was spent sitting in the freezing clam-shell ballroom of the Lafayette Hotel getting some music biz edumacation. The panelists were Anya Marina, Mike Halloran, Marc Balanky, and Scott Riggs. Though it was only my second time attending one of the seminars, they always prove to be interesting. I think Balanky is the only one who doesn’t have a background in terrestrial radio, but the digital vs. radio debate is pretty entertaining. There was a whole lot of talk about the RIAA and their new rate schedule for internet broadcasters and really, the seminar just pointed out how unfair those rate schedules are for small time businesses. Halloran likes to talk, and likes to hear himself talk, as anybody who listens to him on the radio would know, but he has the lifetime of experience that backs his shit up. At least he’s not just pulling stuff out of his ass.

There were plenty of musicians there asking questions. Mostly “how do I make money in music.” It seems a lot of them are looking for one sure fire way to get their art to the world. I was kinda sitting there a little frustrated because it was at times a whine fest…How come people don’t come to my shows? How come I can’t sell CDs? How come 94/9 doesn’t play more local music? So instead of piping in at the seminar, I thought I’d save some of my opinions for here, where I can rant freely.

First, if you want to be a musician as a career, one should expect to always be a “starving artist”. If all you want to do is write songs and gig and make CDs, great for you, but just because in your own head you have a gift, the rest of the world may not think so, and getting bitter because your sense of entitlement tells you you’re better than XYZ performer who is making big bucks is only going to stunt your own development and possible success. There are thousands of musicians who are good, or even great, who never get a break. Conversely, there are a lot of really shitty bands who make a boatload of cash who are completely unworthy. Such is the way of the world.

There was a lot of talk about getting music to music supervisors and radio stations and getting tossed in a pile without airplay. All I could think about was this same thing on a small scale. My personal MySpace account is set to private. Everyday, I still get about 10 or 15 new “friend requests” from bands. I don’t accept most bands as my “friends”, and I was thinking about the criteria I use in my own head, and thought I’d share it here, because while I have my own quirks, I don’t think it’s too far from how radio programmers or music supervisors listen to music. Maybe you have similar criteria when checking out new music.

First I’ll say, because of what I do here and for CityBeat, I accept all San Diego bands as friends, and when approving their friend requests also subscribe to their blogs. I don’t accept all LA bands, but the majority of socal bands are important enough for me to keep on my radar as well. But then there’s the randoms, and here’s how I decide who “makes the cut” as it were.

There’s no order or specific method, but these are some things I look at:

• Band/Artist Name- If you’re not original enough to come up with a band name that is unique, I might just decline you. If I like your music, I want to be able to search about you on the net beyond your MySpace page and if your name is Mike Smith I’m not gonna be able to do that. I’m personally against names with certain words- “kings” or “royal” always sound pretentious to me, but that’s not gonna immediately turn me off- but I do consider it. I was surprised how much I loved Vampire Weekend because I think the name is pretty stupid.

• Music Type- So when you set up your MySpace profile, you thought it was cute to call your style “crunk” or “new age” even though you’re pretty standard indie, folk, pop, or rock. It’s annoying. I wanna kick my friend’s asses everytime I see one of their profiles that is mislabeled. People just might be looking for your band, or looking for music by genre. Confusing them only hurts you. If you don't take your own profile seriously, why should anybody else?

• Band Description- I want a brief one paragraph thing about you. Where you’re from, perhaps why you play music, if you’ve toured or plan on touring, maybe links to press about your band. I don’t need to read 1600 words on every stumble you’ve had in your life and how it shaped you. And I swear to god, if you describe yourself or your music as eclectic, I’m almost certainly pushing that reject button. First, you’re probably not as eclectic as you think and I can find 300 bands or musicians that sound exactly like you. Second, there are enough adjectives that might describe you more adequately, and if you can’t think of one, why am I to believe your lyrics are gonna be any deeper?

• Music- You should have at least 4 songs on your MySpace player, and if you’re unsigned, they should be downloadable. Period. Also, if your page has 16 youtube videos and flash slideshows and takes longer to load than the average page, you’re getting denied. I listen to every band that requests me. If I’m not at least somewhat intrigued in about 37 seconds by the first song that starts playing, you’re getting denied.

I don’t consider myself a music snob at all, but I think adding a MySpace friend is work. By accepting you or your band, now I’ll be subjected to your bulletins, and the more bulletins I have to read, the more frequently I have to read because they only go back 25 pages. On my Dialed In profile, that doesn’t really matter, because I have a small amount of friends who aren’t really posting too many bulletins. But even with just over 1000 friends, I could spend hours reading bulletins. Make me want to listen to your music, to read your site, to make me Google about you to find out more. If you can’t get me to do that, fat chance I’m gonna come to your show, buy your music, tell my friends about you.

Anyway, I really like the Music Foundation seminars. They're really great for getting people who are willing to share what they know with musicians and others, like me, who just wanna understand the music biz a little more. It's great for bands to network and meet one another and for me it always turns me on to musicians I might not otherwise see.

One thing I wanted to highlight was Anya's advice about sending music to Music Supervisors, because it also applies when you send a CD in to media, radio stations, and even bloggers.

1. Most people don't want MP3s. You're usually better sending a CD in most cases.
2. CDs should always be in a standard size jewel case, with the name of the band and the title of the CD on the spine.
3. All song titles should be listed on both the CD and on the insert in the jewel box, in case the two get separated.
4. Contact information (full name, band members, a person to contact with a phone number and e-mail)

Pretty basic information, actually. Should be common sense but that ain't so common, as they say. Finally, one last thing I wanted to say is that people who complain that nobody comes to their shows don't deserve to have people coming to see them if they aren't, in turn, going out and supporting other musicians. Sometimes people ask me if I'll slip a CD to Tim Pyles for consideration for The Local 94/9. I refuse. Tim is at the Casbah every week promoting local bands. If you can't come down and meet him in person and hand him your CD, well, you're gonna end up in Pyles pile.