Two for the price of one

So after a long time of talking about it, and less time practicing for it, the One Night Jam went off pretty well. (I'll post the video links once those are all up.) Originally, I had committed to only doing one song. In fact, a song that we've already done publicly before.

On Saturday, as I was running through the song again, it suddenly hit me that while everyone was pushing themselves to try something new, or go a bit farther than they normally do, I wasn't. At best, I was running in place. At worst, I was going to deliver a cardboard cutout effort.

So, I decided to do one more song. In the end, it worked out well enough. The effort seems to have made my already sore throat a whole lot worse though. But hey, you can't tell what you're made of, or how far you can go unless you test your limits, right? It was well worth the risk.

Update: the direct embed(s), plus a link to the most of the night's videos



Cover of "Pare Ko" (Eraserheads)


Cover of "Most Beautiful Girl" (Flight of the Conchords) with Casey Martin

Bonus thought: I've always said, if you have a gift to share, share it. I'm glad to be blessed with such a great group of people to share it with. Thanks to everyone who made it possible, everyone who was able to make it out, and everyone who would have been able to make it out if I mentioned it sooner (or at all for that matter..haha!).

Instruments and Music

I was at the Swell Season concert on Sunday, and Glen Hasnard, went on an interesting tangent while trying to banter his way through changing the tuning on his guitar. He basically made a point that they were instruments, instruments that may get to stay in a nice hotel now, and eat better food, but in the end they were still instruments that played music. The biggest danger he said, is when instruments forget who they are, and believe to think that they are the music.

I thought it was a pretty humble way to look at talent and the world in general, applicable for a lot more than just music. You can almost believe or imagine that the entirety of music, art or even science already exists...it's just waiting to be discovered. Humbly letting the music play through you, as an instrument, rather than arrogantly believing you are the source of music and entitled. Believing you are the instrument means that you are more likely to be open to new and different things and experiences. Believing you are the music means that you think you know better, closed off to new and different things since you think you are the source of it all...when you're not. I wasn't expecting that revelation as part of the concert, but what a lucky bonus!

Oh yeah, the concert was pretty good too! They played for almost 2 hours.

How To Tell If You Are A Terrible Parent...

...if you buy these for your kid.



Gabe at Penny Arcade noticed it first.

It's Good to Have Multiple Partners...

...dance partners that is.

I ran into a friend of mine at Chicago SummerDance, and during the course of conversation that particular line happened to come up as we were talking about learning to dance. Of course we laughed a little bit on the accidental humor of it all, but it really made me think afterward.

It is very easy to get set in our own ways, if we don't challenge ourselves and put ourselves outside of our comfort zones. Whether that's trying new things, taking risks, or trying to dance with a completely new person and learning whether or not what you've been doing was right all along. In this case multiple partners is a good thing.*

Otherwise, if you haven't made it out to SummerDance, I definitely recommend it. Mostly nice people of all ages, looking to have fun and dance in the summer air, with our beautiful Chicago skyline as the backdrop.

*where everything starts doesn't condone or recommend multiple partners in other life situations unless you are attempting to start a law practice or a small business.

Did Tyrus Grow?

More good stuff here.

My new coach...Vinnie?

Yep. Just as I thought I had a decent explanation for the Bulls' / John Paxson's never-ending search for a new coach; I even had the blog post almost written out, talking about wanting to talk to either Kurt Rambis or Tom Thibodeau, and wanting to look just inept enough, or move slowly enough, so that they wouldn't lose any leverage when they actually talked to them...

But so much for that! Vinnie is set to be announced as the 17th coach of the Bulls.

During this whole process, my biggest concern was getting someone that was a legitimate fit. I didn't want to get someone that everyone would agree with, but was a horrible fit. It's very easy and tempting sometimes to make the "easy" choice, the choice everyone agrees with, because when your choice fails, you get validation from those same people who will tell you "who knew?". You can then shrug your shoulders and get away from having to take a risk at all.

At some point, someone has to give the next Phil Jackson or Greg Popovich a chance. Will Vinnie prove to be that guy?