The world as I see it…

In case anyone has seen the Apple website and the “count-up” to 10B songs, I was a huge nerd and calculated an average of 27 sec per 1000 songs downloaded (if that’s a real counter), and with about 59,680,000 songs to go to hit 10 billion (at the time I did this calculation) it’ll take approximately 331 hours or 13.8 days until the 10 billionth download.  So, assuming there’s a huge surge, which is predictable beginning around March 1st, I bet this whole thing is gonna crash iTunes downloads and I’m going to make sure I’m not downloading my podcasts or TV shows at that time.

By the way… $10,000 is a LOT of money.  But a $10,000 iTunes gift card?   Really?  I love music…  I love movies…  and I love ipod/iphone apps.  But really?  I don’t know much about the limitations of an iTunes gift card, but last I heard you could only use an iTunes gift card to purchase things that are in iTunes.  I could be wrong…  but again, I ask…  really?!?!  10-grand??

Let me tell y’all a secret.  I have been buying from Amazon.com since 2000.  I only know that because amazon keeps records of all of your past purchases on your account. Not that I really care or pay that much attention… I just noticed recently when browsing around the “My Account” options.    I can actually go through and see all of the purchases I’ve made since I bought a book on amazon.com in August of 2000.

That’s not the secret…  the secret is that I was totally bored one day and went through every single order I made and added it up, just because I was curious as to how much I’ve spent in almost 10 years from that one company.  I won’t tell you exactly what that total was, but I will say that it was not even CLOSE to $10,000.   And in that stash of stuff purchased from amazon.com was a 46″ HDTV, stereo receiver/home theater set, many PS2 and PS3 games, dvd players, TONS of DVDs, CDs and Bluray movies, computer hard drives, keyboards, mice, software, shoes, midi keyboard, foot stool, office supplies, printer, books, rice cooker, ceiling fan and many many more things I don’t feel I need to list.

So, knowing that during the span of TEN years I spent much less than $10,000 on all of those things, most of which I still have and use everyday and are part of my everyday life, wondering how I could spend $10K in iTunes alone just baffles me!   I don’t spend money just to spend money…  I’m actually fairly conservative, regardless of some of the nicer stuff I have.  I sacrifice a lot just to be able to afford some of that stuff.  But that’s besides the point.

The point is…  what in the world would the winner of a $10,000 iTunes gift card do with all of that money?  Am I missing something?  Can you use it towards buying anything in the Apple store, like computers, ipods and software?  If so, then I guess my whole rant is moot.  But if it’s limited to only what is available for sale in the iTunes store…   WOWZERS!!!  I am not going to be envious of the person who actually wins this – IF it’s legit.  :)

I think these little givaways and contests are cool and all…  but sometimes you look at it and see the mega huge number and say to yourself “WOW, I wanna win!!”  But then it all boils down to the details and fine print.   I didn’t go through and dissect the hell outta this contest, but as much as I would love to have every album I want in the iTunes store or every movie, this is almost a joke.

Dragging it on and doing the math further, lets say you buy $10,000 of music albums alone.  Let’s see…  that would be $10,000 divided by the average album that runs $9.99.  That would mean you could purchase 1,000 albums.  I happen to have 889 albums (60+ GB) in my iTunes collection, or so it says.  Some of those “albums” are just unorganized single track tunes I haven’t gotten to yet.  But all of that consists of mostly music that I bought on CD starting about 20 years ago.  My iTunes collection is close to 1,000 albums, but spans over about 20 years of  purchasing CDs – as well as purchasing various iTunes albums in the past 4+ years only.  And to think, I am fairly content with my collection of music – not a whole lot that I’m dying to get a hold of these days.  (nor the time to listen to it all either).

Looking at this another way…  say you get only about 500 music albums and then spend the rest on movies and TV show episodes.  The way iTunes works, it auto downloads both the HD and SD versions of any shows that offer it, and as far as I know, you can’t stop it from downloading both.   I have purchased some movies on iTunes and although it’s awesome to have on the computer, you can ONLY play it through iTunes, iPhone/iPod or Apple TV.  So…  yeah, this would be a dream for any Apple fanboy who’s got the entire Apple media collection in their mansion.  But you still have to download this stuff.  Last I checked (last night) it took about an hour with decently fast DSL internet to get one episode of LOST.   So, you spend about $5,000 of that gift card on movies and TV shows…   not really gonna ask where you’ll put it, because I know you’ll buy a new HD if needed…   but how long will it take you to download it all??   Doing the math again, it were me and my internet connection (not the best, I know, but better than average), seeing that most movies are about $15-$20 (about 294 movies to fulfil the $5K), if it took about 80 min per movie to download, I would be stuck having to wait about 392 hours or about 16 DAYS of just downloading movies.  Just the movies.

Gosh, I am probably starting to sound really annoying huh?

(…starting to?)  :P

Yeah, I know…   I guess this is what happens on little sleep.

Anyway – rant over. I need to get back to work anyway.  I needed that break…  It was bugging me and I had to say something.

My cell phone bill is due today…  crap!  

I’m sitting at the starbucks just outside security at the San Antonio airport as I write this.  I won’t write a whole lot because I would like to just chill out a bit after I get through security and hopefully get in a good power nap.  I was up WAY late last night being social and woke up WAY early this morning…   it was all very worth it.  :)

Overall, the trip to TMEA for me this year was more fun and more successful than any of the past years, and I had a blast in such a short time.  All of the people I got to see and spend time with was great, and I am glad I spent so much time at the Pyware booth, getting a few issues ironed out that I needed.  And, funnily enough, teaching me how to do some of the simplest things with the tools that I was just unaware of.  Guess I shoulda just read the manual.  That’s the “man” in me that says I can figure it out on my own.   Oh well.  ;)

So, overall the only tough thing about this whole weekend was trying to be in multiple places at one time.  I did a great job bouncing from one restaurant to another hotel to another bar to another hotel and to another restaurant.  Although it was exhausting, I got to see everyone I wanted to and I just felt relieved to see and talk to everyone I saw.   When I moved back to Michigan without being able to say goodbye to most of my closest friends, it just felt to disconnected…  abrupt?  or something somewhat empty…  you know?  It’s okay though, because I know I probably hadn’t seen most of them since the TMEA before, but it’s always great to see and talk to old friends, as well as make new ones.

Well, for now that’s all I got.  I need to head through security and find a space to pass out for a bit…  hopefully not missing my flight.  But next stop, snowy and colder Michigan.  Boo!  :P

A friend of mine put this together to advertise his recital…  pretty sweet!

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dicksona/Trailer.mov

It’s the 21st.  21 is my favorite number!!! yay! 

(…gosh  I’m a loser).  

Interesting turn of events to talk about here…     Yesterday was a little bit of a wake up call to reitterate the fact that anything can happen on any given day.  I’m not talking bad things…  but I got a call from Dave G. over in bluecoats land, and he told me the corps was a little short handed staff wise and asked if I was able to come teach for the next couple weeks.  haha.   There was no way I could turn that down.

So, I’m flying up to Ohio tomorrow!!  can you believe that?? I sure can’t.  I’m friggin’ pumped about this chance to get up there and teach again for the next couple weeks.  Lately, the work front has been gloomy for me…   just sitting here…  waiting for someone to get me numbers and scores….     still have to audition the drums…   ugh!   that’s just the way it goes.  And in a way, anticipating the start like this can be a little rough on my brain…  because I’m really excited to write again.

Anyway, enough of that…  I have to pack for the next two weeks…   won’t be a big deal.   been there and done that last year.   I know it’s only 2 weeks, but I’m really gonna miss houston for the next 14 days.  I’ve had a great time the last week or so, going to the beach, getting to know some people better…   ahh good times.  

Amanda still owes me a date.   hahaha…

But seriously, it’s gonna be a great 2 weeks because I’ll totally stay in shape running around the field and such. I get meals provided for me…  basically a LOT better than the eating out 3 meals a day I’ve been doing lately.  yuck!   cool staff to hang with.  I can’t wait to see Erin.  She’s the asst. tour coordinator or something…   not exactly sure…  but she’ll be there and we’ll get to hang.  Last time I saw her was my birthday.  I watched the Michigan band practice for a bit before they went off to the Rose Bowl.   And the other staff and members that I haven’t seen since friggin’ finals last year.  haha.  I miss them a lot.

But for those of you that are here in Houston, no need to worry…  your friendly neighborhood “George” will return soon.  June 5th, to be exact.  Even though it’s only 2 weeks, I feel like I’m gonna miss a lot back home.  Not sure why I think that, but just a hunch.   But as soon as I get back, I’m hoping that anyone who’s in town will be able to take some time out and meet me at Freebirds/Amy’s for some burritos and ice cream.   And, how about a nice run to the beach while we’re at it.  Not that I have all the time in the world…  God knows, I’m gonna be swamped with drill to write.   But there’s always room for ice cream…  and a run to the beach.  ha.

Gosh, I wanted to write this nice long journal entry talking about all this cool stuff that happened over the weekend and this past week, but I’m being totally ADD right now.  It’s all gonna come back to me later and I’ll stay up late (or probably at the airport tomorrow) and write something pretty good for my little xanga. 

To all my friends…  thanks for everything.  This exprience has been wonderful for me…   

Now, I have to check online for baggage check info and see if I can find a way to bring all the stuff I need to.  (clothes, trumpets, laptop, camera, maxim!)  

Bye!

Okay…  time for a more ‘real’ update.  I know it’s not always necessary to post huge mo-fo updates like this one, but a lot has happened in the last few weeks that it’s worth the time to write/read this.   I know that some people will open this up and go, “yeesh, that’s a lot. I’m not gonna read all that ramble.”  

First off – I need a haircut.  But I don’t have enough money for one.  Now, stop it with the “well, cut your own hair” deal.  I’ve done it before and, believe it or not, I really screwed it up.   How can you screw up my haircut?  it’s possible, believe me.   But there’s this lady at the mall that’s cut my hair every month since October, and I dig the fact that I can just walk in and she doesn’t even need to ask me what I need done.  I guess I’m a little too picky when it comes to my haircut, especially since I wear a baseball cap 90% of the time I go out of the house.   haha.  

so…  I’m getting a bit of scruffle on my cheeks.  I think I need to shave…   or should I?  I think I might try to grow a beard for the summer.  ha.  That’d be, umm..   interesting.   I’m not really a ‘beard’ kinda guy.  I just let it go every once in a while… get a little scruffle and shave again.   Why am I talking about shaving?  I guess because I feel like it…  and I can say whatever I want.   I know someone is reading this going, “wtf George?”   I love this xanga thing actually.  It’s really grown on me over the last 6 months, but I like it for the fact I can talk about personal stuff in a public medium.   …   anyway, back to my rambling.  

Maybe I should just let myself go for the summer…   grow a fro…   beard…  whatever…    stop showering…     j/k    haha..     I think I’ll just be a lazy hermit.  Heck, I have to sit on my ass in front of a computer in my room all summer…  who’s gonna see me?

So, Star Wars comes out in 9 days and some-odd hours.  I’ll admit that I’m a total SW geek.  …although I’m not one that collects all those figures and models and stuff.  I actually only own like 3 things that are star wars related…   and one is a SW t-shirt that I’ll wear to the theater next wednesday night.  I wore it to Ep. I and II.  And I don’t care if anyone makes fun of me…  I’m  uber excited about Ep.III coming out next week.  I’d probably be waiting in line for it right now too…   but I’m only a geek… not stupid.   But I do have tickets. (Thanks to the internet).  Got 2 tix for the midnight show at the Edwards cinema.  As Lizz would say, “it’s gonna be sweet titties!!”   Speaking of Lizz, I hope she goes with us.  I already have my other ticket spoken for…  Karen’s gonna be my date.   And by the way, I’m going to the midnight show.  I am such a huge dork sometimes when it comes to seeing certain movies.  I think living in NYC for 6 months sorta spoiled me with going to the theater.  But it always seems that the opening night/first preview viewing audiences are much more responsive and for me, it’s a more fun experience overall.  I guess it doesn’t really matter if there’s a lot of people there or not or whatever… I’ve had bad experiences too…  but I just love the excitement and the anticipation of being there for the first day the movie comes out.  But going to see X-men 2 on opening day a couple years ago…  that was a bit of a disaster.  Reggie and I were at the Mann’s Chinese Theater in friggin’ sweet LA, and had great seats to enjoy the flick.  but there was this drunk ass chick that sat next to me, obviously never saw the first movie and had NO idea what was going on and talked up a storm.  I’m a little bit passive, so I kinda let it slide a little longer than I wanted to…   but a few other disturbed people spoke up and the girl’s boyfriend/guy friend (who was also a little drunk, I think) was becoming a little, ummm…   violent.  So, I kept my mouth shut, because I didn’t want my 3-day vacation to Los Angeles to end up with me having to kick some guy’s ass.  

Now, being one that did attend both Ep. I and II on opening day (7:30 pm shows both times) and seeing how excited everyone was and the people dressed up in costumes (mega dorky) and all the hype, I have no idea what I’m in store for with the midnight show next wednesday night.   I can’t wait, but Karen is still trying to get me to dress up as Han Solo…   haha…  all I can say is, are you kidding?  I’m not that good pulling off a white-guy already, but I can’t compete with Harrison.   Getting the outfit would be easy, but I ‘d be better off shaving my head and going for Mace Windu.    ugh…  why am I even contemplating it??   no no no…  I won’t do the costume thing.  I would probably do it if I could go Vader with the mask and all…  heck, I’m tall, dark…  well, wearing a mask, what good is dark?   ha…   anyway, it would be fun, but I’d rather just go watch the movie and enjoy the crowd of people that comes to be part of the midnight viewing.   agh…  SO excited.

So, until then, I have lots of little things here and there to do and lots still to talk about here.

I have my piano final on wednesday…   should be a piece o’ cake, but only IF I get my ass out to UH sometime before wednesday.  I suck ass on piano when I don’t touch one for a few days at a time.  I just can’t wait to live closer to school next year, so it won’t be a struggle to get to school just for a little practice time.  Or I should just buy a piano for the apartment.   psh…  yeah right.   …well, maybe if I make enough money this summer, I’ll try to get one of those electronic upright ones…  like the ones we have at school, only better.   But we’ll have to wait and see.

As for summer and work and drill and all that stuff, things look like they’ll be okay.  I hope nothing gets in the way of doing a quality job for all the bands I’m writing for.  This will be year number 4 for me in the drill designing and the last couple years were just filled with obstacles that just sucked up my getting through the summer smoothly.  Last year was a combination of teaching Bluecoats and my move down here to TX.  I moved in mid-september which is mid-crunch time for shows.  I was litterally working on drill while I packed.  My laptop was the last thing to get packed and the first thing to get unpacked.  And as soon as I got here, I was back to work on drill before I even enloaded stuff from my car.  And that all made for just a little more of a stressfull end of the fall.  I kinda had somewhat of an internal breakdown that I kept bottled up all that time and it’s one of many things that I know affected my personal life and my ex g/f and my friends, etc.

But this summer… living with Andy…   cheap rent and close to everyone.   Gonna work my ass off on drill and hopefully get through it all smoothly and with flying colors and write some kick ass shiizznit!

Then in the fall…   moving in with Robbie and Tyler.  That’s gonna be sick fun.  I am just thankful that fate plays some weird tricks.   I remember the first time I ever walked into Robbies place back in December.  I met people like Ashley, Andy, Justin, Matt, et al.  and I remember standing in the kitchen while Robbie and Tyler were cooking dinner, and I think it was Robbie that asked if I was gonna try to move closer to school.  They were both there talking to me when I mentioned that I wanted to look for a roommate and maybe move in the summer.  They both said they’d keep their ears open if someone needed a roomie and let me know.  And now…   the 3 of us will be roomies!!  kick ass!   But everyone has to come visit our place…  it’s gonna kick ass!  HDTV heaven!  I wonder if we’ll get the cable service?   I don’t think we need it or should get it…   all I need is internet.   That way I don’t have to drive myself out to the library or Panera Bread anymore, just to check/send e-mail.   (and post this).  

So, I needed to do laundry the other day…   did I do it?   nope!  ha.   I’m so lazy.  Well, not so much lazy and more poor.  I have money to do laundry, but things are so tight right now and I’m so worried about being able to afford gas to get to school over the next couple days, I’m just putting a few things aside.   But as soon as I’m done writing this, a trip to the clothes center is happenin’.   I don’t even have that much to clean…  just all my socks, underwear, shorts, shirts and jeans.   I have lots of clean sweatshirts and dress clothes.  

So, to get some money to help me move, I’m gonna try to get rid of a few things I have around the apartment.  Basically, all I’m keeping are my bed, desk, chair, big TV, and dining set.  I have things like a couch , coffee table, end table, lamps, some shelf units, and random little junk to try to sell off.  I have a smaller TV that I think I’ll just give away and a TV stand that could go with it.  I have lots of friends that could use the TV.  just who’s gonna be the lucky one? 

So, with the TBS/KKY formal coming up this weekend, it’s gonna be one jam-packed weekend of stuff.  There’s a Cavalier thing this weekend that will occupy Friday and Sunday, and with the formal being Saturday, I have 3 full days of party and fun.

With all that stuff going on this weekend, I’m not so sure when I’m actually going to move.  I told Brian and Andy that I would move the weekend of the 14th, but it looks like I won’t do it until the Monday or Tuesday. Either way, I have a shit load of furniture and crap to relocate, but I might just move some now and the rest later.  It just so happens that I made a mistake in making these arrangements to move mid-May, when in fact my lease doesn’t end here until June 30.  I have a whole month and a half of the Conroe apt. to still pay for.  So, what I think I’ll just do, for practical purposes, is still move to H-town next monday-ish, only take what I need for work and clothes and come back for my furniture later.  This way, I don’t have to pay an extra month of storage, my electric bill will be quite low, I’ll have internet at the new apt. and I’ll be closer to school if I need/want to practice and stuff.   I think the one and only downfall is the money thing.  Which is a big deal, but paying rent for June for 2 places will burn me for about $900 but I should be able to swing it by the time I need it.  It’ll definitely require a bit of a sacrificing a few things like a meal here or there or maybe an extra bar of soap.   but I’ll manage.  I always seems to find ways to make it work out, even if I have to sell off a few dvds or PS2 games.

But besides the apartment stuff and things going on this summer, I have quite a load planned for the fall.  I’m gonna be taking a trip to Indy for BOA again, but this time with some colleagues from a new company we’re starting in the field of show designing. I’m not gonna get too deep into all that right now, but I will update as I feel is necessary later on.  And soon after that weekend, I plan to do a recital at school.  It’ll be a junior recital still.  But I plan on making it a fun one.  Not only fun, but hard as shit.  Everyone has doubts on what to do for a recital and what would be the best line-up, etc.  I do look forward to sitting down with Vassallo and getting this all figured out, but I have a pretty good idea of what I want to play and the order.

Here’s what I would like to do:

- Rustiques – Bozza
- Trio for Trumpet, Violin and Piano – Ewazen

(intermission)

- Neruda trumpet concerto
-Slavic Fantasy – Hohne

For me, the Neruda is pretty much done…  I’d play it memorized because I already know it so well (and heard it like 12 times this semester  )  and I’d like to do that because it’s something I have to work less hard on getting.   I can tell you now that the Ewazen will by far be the most difficult thing to pull off on this recital.  Not only is my part mega psycho, but I have to find a pianist and viloinist that will commit to this.  I might have to set aside a new savings account with the money I make this year to help pay for some musicians.  I would LOVE to get Mr. Hester to be my pianist for that.  I can’t imagine anything better, but I’d mostly like that because it’d just be cool because we have the same last name…  but of course, no relation. 

I’ve got other music I’d consider for the recital, but for sure I’ll be doing Neruda and Rustiques.  I did the Bozza for my jury.  ehhh…  not a performance I’d take for my recital, but I definitely have a good head start on it.  It’s basically done, just needs polishing.   The Hohne though…  just fast as shit and fun as heck!   I played bits and pieces of it years ago and always wanted to perform it in a recital.  I’ll make sure I bust ass on my clarkes and make sure my fingers can fly for this mother.  I figure if I’m gonna close the recital out with something flashy, it’d have to be something like Slavic Fantasy.  And I especially wanna do it because not many people here have heard it before.

But lots to get ready for and lots to do today still.  I think I’ve updated enough for today.  Heck, if any of you actually read all this, congratulations…   I know I ramble and talk forever, but that’s what this is for.  If you don’t like my rambling, don’t read my shiznit.   haha.   I’m sure it’s all enjoyable to a point though.  I don’t even know what other people get out of this online journal thing.  But I get a kick out of being me and babbling about the most random stuff sometimes.   It’s all good, dude!

See ya later…   I’ll be updating more often this summer.   And those of you that have my s/n for AIM that might be a little frustrated that I’m ALWAYS mobile…  get ready for some 24/7 action once I get back online.   (…if anyone was interested, that is).

until next time…