Hello, Lovine.com

I distinctly remember a few years ago when I got the DVD of the Smashing Pumpkins Greatest Hits, and watched a gig from Seattle where they played Geek USA. They rocked out so hard it scarred my heart. I prayed to God and said I would give my left nut to see them play live - I now owe him my left nut.

At first I was skeptical about the impending reality of seeing the Pumpkins, albeit sans original lineup. It was mainly Corgan with support of Chamberlin who wrote the material anyway, so I'm not too fazzled by that part. However, it's just the idea of liking something so much, investing your own feelings toward a certain art, and to be given the privilege of being a part of it. I mean, being a part it although you're the audience, in some passive visceral way, still puts you in the boundaries of being able to share that collective experience together with the artist. And I can't imagine anything else less gratifying.

I was secretly hoping that they would suck. Just to ground the whole idea of them as my personal super band. But no. Billy's guitar had this familiar voice, which I've heard countless times blasting through my speakers before. But this time, it was real. So heavy, so pure, and so real. Shit, they rocked. I have no idea how the band manages to recreate the depth of their sound, outside of the studio. I am just totally smitten. I'm on Craiglist now trying to find pit tickets for tomorrow's show. It's the last show of their tour. My new t-shirt says "Celebrating 20 Years of Sadness".

Thank you, Smashing Pumpkins for allowing me to know what it's like to feel, when you realize you love music.

Inside small spaces we find
what's hiding across imaginations
to forget about the ants marching.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of a small organization is the speed it can maneuver and respond to its operating environment. Provided it has the aptitude and resources to make intelligent decisions to anticipate changes in the market, it can work its small size to its advantage against the bigger players in the industry. While it may not enjoy deeper pockets or expertise as bigger companies, as long as it streamlines and allocates its resources effectively, the player who can provide the best value to the consumer will always come out the winner.

When the market fails, there is no room for error. But the biggest error you can make, is to not even try.

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Pepel and Pat Gangoso :)

17 November 2008

So the whole family (sort of) is now in Las Vegas to attend the SEMA convention, which is basically heaven for anyone remotely interested in anything automotive. This is pretty much the most productive year I've attended. It used to be a shiny-cars and hot-chicks kind of deal, but I have graduated to actually talking to exhibitors and trying to find software solutions for the Family Empire. My sister and I have also between attending the free seminars that range from inventory management, small business IT, and online marketing presented by leaders of their respective fields. The last seminar we attended was chaired by execs from eBay Motors, Amazon, Google, Activant, etc! This is a pretty damn good deal for the $15 registration fee that we paid!

Rambling mode on. So it's a cut throat market, and everyone's out to make a buck. I used to subscribe to the school of modesty, and self-deprecation. "Set expectations low, and perform high." Never acknowledge your talent, because there seems to be greater satisfaction when it comes unsolicited from a third party. There are, however, some potential drawbacks to this approach if it starts to manifest itself internally. To guise yourself from others through modesty, may be a formidable plan of attack, but be sure to always keep in mind what is real, and believe the truth in what you can do. It's easy to get swayed into the cop-out that you cannot do something, when all you need to do is to take that first step and make the effort to make it happen. It's easy to follow the crowd of lemmings and go with the flow. And this fear of 'failure' (that can present itself in many forms), marks the difference of those successful, and those who are not. And no matter how intelligent you are, no matter how much you understand it better than the monkey next to you, what stays in your mind as ideas can never be as real as the actions you put to follow the idea through.

There are constant disconnects between what I believe in, and the life I am stuck with. Each day is another opportunity to weed them out. Nothing that a few beers can't fix. :)

:)

Gobama!!

All I am is a curious monkey that wants to tinker around, learn, and be the best at what piques my interest. Boredom is my enemy, and it doesn't help that my attention span is beginning to wither into goldfish territory. I need to be exposed to new people, new situations, and never be allowed to stagnate lest I start to embrace the boring tranquils of comfort. The mestre once said, that each moment spent not training, is a moment taken by the enemy to train and defeat you in battle.

Wow.

We're in trying times, folks. Time to vote.

"Do you realize, that everyone you know someday will die
And instead of saying all of your goodbyes
Let them know you realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize that the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round"

Do You Realize - The Flaming Lips

Sunrise at Valley View in Yosemite.

A lot of times we attach our personal memories to certain events, that make them more meaningful. Specific smells from a period of our lives, the friends you hung out with when you hear a certain song. But there are times, when you venture out into the world, and realize how tiny you (and your personal life) are while you scrape your jaw off the floor. There is beauty built by our experiences, but then there is beauty built by something, someone, greater than all of us combined can ever be.

And little do we really realize, that we live in it.

Action packed!

I'm typing this from a brand spankin' new X200 - a sexy beast indeed! I'll have to readjust to the smallish 12.1" screen again, but I'm rolling with a full-size keyboard and speedy responses from the black box. Not too bad. Although I miss the rubbery feel of my old X23.

This is from last week's Big Sur camping.

Nickel in a sleeping bag, hehe.

Finished packing this morning for Yosemite. Weather forecasts light showers all over the weekend, so it may not be picture perfect, but our team of adventurers always finds something to gawk over. Like a rock! Or a shadow!

Congratulations to Marco and Wendy, can't wait to meet baby Isabella :)

Paul and Kat's new living room accessory. He he he.

The world is changing as we speak. I am normally optimistic about the way the world turns, but everything that's been happening the past 24-48 hours with the bank meltdowns and that horrible Palin interview by CBS are starting to bother me. This disaster can be real.

Meanwhile, I'm packing my bags and will hide the remainder of the weekend along the beautiful coast of Big Sur for camping. I hope America is still around when I get back. Suckas!

Happy birthday to the newest member of the Paul and Kat lens family! :) Hopefully she will bring us good tidings and cheer in the form of pretentious pixels and incoherent images.

A pencil is useless without it's artist on the other end of the lead. Camera - useless, without it told what to see. Gadgets designed to create, will never serve their purpose without a curious mind on the swing. And a curious mind remains steadfast in its curiosity, as it explores what's on the other side of that rabbit hole.

Caught the Parson Redheads and Citay last night at the Tangier. Second time to see PRs, they're always a fun bunch. Citay is good shizz also, I love their sound!! Glad I pushed through going out, because there's nothing like live music..