Saturday, March 28, 2009

Funny

Funny

Peace and Love, 

New info on H.R. 875

Not sure if I passed on any misleading and untrue information to you in my previous post.  Looks like some of the info on the internet about H.R. 875 is untrue.  

Apparently Rep. Rosa DeLauro's Husband does not work for Monsanto.  The bill is supposed to focus on ensuring the safety of food in interstate commerce.  And Rep DeLauro has been meeting with organic farmers and is drawing up a proposed list of amendments to H.R. 875 based on those meetings.  

Here is a link to the story that I found about it.  Thank you Nonny Mouse!


I still say keep an eye on this one, though.  It's about the food we eat.  Something big is going on here.  

I am happy that they are meeting with organic farmers and writing amendments based on those meetings.  But I am still going to let them know I am keeping an eye on this very important legislation (that SHOULD actually make our food safer by putting tougher restrictions on imported foods.  This SHOULD make farmer's markets even stronger.)  

Check out this video about H.R. 875:





And here is a new petition against H.R. 875 that I found.  

Peace and Love, 

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

About our food and HR 875 - Act Now!

"If you control oil, you control nations.  
If you control food, you control people." 
                          -Henry Kissinger  


So what's up with House Resolution 875?...

...Here is the full text of the bill.  

(The full text of this post is coming back soon.  After I check out the info presented.)  

Love and Peace, 


West Coast 12/08 to 03/09

I love my job...  

We got out of Iowa just in time to miss a major snow-blanketing of the area.  As usual, we didn't get out of NW IA nearly as early in the day as we had planned.  Drove straight from Estherville, IA to Fort Collins, CO.  Got to see Jeff and Mindy, then went with them to see Alex and Rachael in Boulder.  Enjoyed our meal while we watched some cops beat up a guy on the street.  

Then we took off and drove straight from Fort Collins, CO to Glendale, CA. Hey, that was twenty-some hours straight... not complaining at all... a little used to this kind of thing by now... maybe a little tired, though...

(oh, by the way, this is near the spot on Glenoaks Bl in Glendale, CA where I would have bit it - if I was meant to be taken out by a flying car or two, immediately following their collision.)  


December was great for spending some time with family and friends.  And again this year, I sang with the "National In-Choir".  As is tradition with the group, we went around to different charities to sing Christmas Carols for people.  Sarah also joined the choir for some performances this year.  What a great way to end the year.  And what a great bunch of singers to get to sing with.  

We had ourselves a happy holiday season and even got to be amateur dog-walkers for a friend.   












January was good for getting out to a few music industry panels.  Those can be good for new ideas and for helping to keep up on your game.  They are also good for networking.  Met some new artists there and also ran into many people I already knew.  Thank you Music Connection, COSMO, Pitch-a-thon, NARIP, Discmakers, ASCAP, West LA Music, Conscious Life Expo, etc.  And thank you, panelists.  

My show on Jan. 20 at Room 5 was a blast... Until I broke a string.  Finished the set with a few songs that I figured wouldn't sound too bad on the 5-string guitar I was currently playing.  Sarah and I had a fun time after the show with Rachel and Vinnie until I figured out that my next show, scheduled for Feb. 1 at The Mint was scheduled to take place on Superbowl Sunday...  This was very bad news...  

In all my years of booking at the studio, I always joked that the order of importance of modern holidays is:  

#1 - Christmas... the classic numero uno.  Nearly impossible to get the average American to leave the comfort of his own home during this holiday.  

#2 - Superbowl Sunday... Second only to Christmas.  This is one holiday that is not to be taken lightly!  

#3 - Sadly... all the rest of the holidays on the calendar.  

And my next show was scheduled for Superbowl Sunday at The Mint.  I can't take it.  Does the fun never end?  





Made it through the Superbowl Sunday show at The Mint. Thanks to "Cosmic" Carl Breitweiser on percussion. And to people like Vinnie, Sarah, Rachel, Reena, Kristy, Jeremiah, Kate, Vinnie, Leah, Grams, Lisa & Phil, Phyllis, and Judd (to name a very notable few).  And Moshav, a great LA band from Israel, tore it up after my set.  Was the Super Bowl really all that? 


No broken strings tonight... but notice I am well-prepared with the new backup guitar that I picked up for $20 on craigslist.



S
M
I
L
E...











Look closely at Carl (the percussionist)... recognize him from the Dirty Hippie lighters?... "How 'bout it?"...  



With the coming of Feb, I started getting CDs out to some music industry people while my radio promoters started a national radio promotion campaign.  Jon Flanagan Radio Promotions in Hollywood, CA is running the national radio campaign and Music Associates is focusing heavily on select midwestern states.  By the middle of Feb, Jon Flanagan had reported to me that "The American Dream" was getting spins on over 50 stations, nationwide... and with more being added all the time.  Great news!  I'll take some more.  

I slowly started building my facebook page...
and soon figured out that Facebook seems to be the way that people want to communicate this year.  Old bandmates, old schoolmates, old friends from when I ran the studio... they all seem to be on Facebook now.  Another networking website.  That is some good news.  How about a little more?  

And it came... my songs were accepted with a company that will help me to get my songs placed in television and movies.  Finally a company that is non-exclusive and does not charge me any up-front fees.  More great news!  But I'd take even more...

Then my phone rang... it was Al Bowman from the Los Angeles Music Awards.  He said something to the effect of "Alan, I really think you hit the nail on the head with this CD.  I am going to nominate 'The American Dream' for 'Best Americana Album of the Year' in the 2009 LA Music Awards.  Alan, don't give up the dream."  

Sweet!  

My show at Room 5 on Feb 20 was some of the most fun I've had so far this year.  And again, it was because of the people.  Thanks Sarah, Rachel, Reena, Jon, Jessica, Aris, Phyllis, Faith, Fesh, Lisa, Phil, Cari, Peter, Hoagie, Sue, Berdo, Amy, Alex, Freddy, Travis, Rob, Carla, and everyone else who helped make it a great night.  Voyce McGinley III (drums and percussion on "The American Dream") did his usual excellent job on percussion.  














And here's a little more fun from the night:


















Next stop Sarah and I were special in-classroom guests at Jefferson Elementary in Glendale, CA. We got to sing some songs with the students in Ms. Miller's class. They sounded great. It really was a good time. But with songs like Blowin' In the Wind, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, This Land is Your Land, etc. you just can't lose. I was especially pleased to find out that most of the students are already starting to learn a musical instrument. 

Spent a little more time with family, then packed up the minivan, pulled over long enough to let a massive high-speed chase pass us by, and headed down the freeway.  Highlights on this leg of the journey include stopping in at radio stations KBCO, KCSU, KRFC, KVCU, and KRNU as well as getting a little more time in Colorado with Jeff, Mindy, Alex & Rachel (with no adjacent police violence this time).   

Looks like the snow-blanketing that we conveniently missed out on as we drove from the Heartland to the West Coast way back in November was the same type of snow-blanketing that we had in store for our trip back to the Heartland.  Only it melted before we got all the way back here...  And it's not coming back anytime soon... right... right?  

Love and Peace, 


Photos by Sarah Morphew