Music and the Moods it creates.

Have you ever noticed that music, aside from being pleasant to listen to, can also create a variety of moods and mental states?

I am not just talking about things like romantic music making you FEEL in the mood, when you and your loved one are together. I am talking more about the other affects that music can create. Let me provide you with some of my own personal examples.

Pink Floyd - No music inspires me or causes my creative streak to bloom more that Pink Floyd. I write stories, and find that I can hammer out two or three times the workload if I am listening to The Wall or Dark Side of the Moon. There is something in that music that trigger a response, and that response causes me to be creative. All Pink Floyd music has this affect on me, but mostly those two albums.

Ray Lynch - This music can do two things... If I am in a sad mood, it can depress me even more, but more often, when I am happy, his music has the ability to uplift me and make me see hope where I did not see it before. I listen to it, it is all acoustic, no words, yet I hear what he is trying to say to the listener. It is almost as if there is a story there, and if you listen to the chords and the notes, they will make the words. You have to really listen, though.

Moby - As odd as it may seem, Moby makes me work aggressively. I usually play his CDs while working in the back yard, or in the garden, but mostly while doing things that require real physical labor. There is something in the music that is almost like a form of potential energy that, through listening to it, becomes kinetic. Listen to We are all made of Stars or Porcelain, and you will hear what I mean... The same is true for most of the album '18'. I may not like his politics, but I ignore that in most performers.

All Classical - This is my driving music. I tend to be an aggressive driver, this is not to say I am dangerous, but when I drive, I take it very seriously and watch everything. Classical music seems to increase my focus. There is something in it that makes me acutely aware of everything that is going on around me... I drive like I play chess, looking several moves ahead of the present, thinking about where a car is going to be, what options they have and what responses I have to counter that. Classical music just seems to augment that perception.
Those are my examples, and I feel they are pretty good ones. I know that what I have described is more psychosystematic than anything else, and that if we over-analyze it, it might have less meaning, but it is interesting none the less.

It is almost as if, in my case, my mind needs a soundtrack.

Traveling and Restaurants... a Rant

When I travel, and my company does have me travel a bit, I make it a point to be adventurous.

When I get to my hotel, I look for a restaurant... preferrably one that I have never been to before, or one that I enjoy, but rarely get to enjoy. Am I the only one that thinks it is silly to go out of town and eat at the same restaurant that you have in your own home town? I mean granted, there are times that I have been in a hurry, and not wanted to look for a place to eat, so I would hit fast food or the like, but a majority of the time I would make the effort to find someplace different.

Right now I am limited, for as I write this article I am doing the "Low Carb" thing to get my weight down in preparation for a pending knee surgery... in other words my options are limited. But normally when I visit a town, and it does not matter how often I get to visit that town, I pretty much ignore places to eat that I frequent in my Home town. I even go so far as looking up a list of good places to eat around the hotel I will be staying at before I get there. Makes life interesting.

Do not get me wrong, there is a certain autistic comfort in going to the same places all the time. Sorta like letting yourself know that everything is "right" in the world as long as you see a Denny's, Roadhouse Grill, Carrows or Outback someplace. But people... you gotta live a little... be adventurous. By the simple nature of who we are, it is OK. Humans THRIVE on diversity, not monotony. How many Cob Salads from Marie Calendar's can a person eat? Are we on a quest? Somewhere is there a talley center? "Well... Paul has eaten a Cob Salad from every one of our locations in Southern California, better send him that award now." Yeah... Right.

In short... Next time you are out of town, look for some place to eat that you have never been to before, or maybe have never even HEARD of before. Personally I would even say look for the "Hole in the Wall" places... my experience tells me that, more often than not, they are the best and most rewarding meals to be had.

That is just my input for tonight... do with it what you will, nothing more nothing less.

The Politics of Politics (or How we waste our time Arguing about Arguing)

Coming Soon...

The Dumbing down of ME!

I live a relatively sedate life.

I work and I come home… as for entertainment, I spend time with my wife, write stories that will probably never get published (until I die… we are all famous when we are dead.) and write in my Blog… among other things.

I restrict myself to a few shows on TV a week. This does not count things like news programs, and the occasional show on the History Channel or the other various educational programs out there. That being said, here is the way my viewing habits used to be:

News. (MSN and Fox)

StarGate: SG-1

StarGate: Atlantis

Battlestar Galactica

Now the networks have gone and released a few new shows… and, to my utter amazement and spectacular dismay, I like them. I now have two more shows to add to my list…

My Name is Earl

Surface.

Keep in mind, and I am a person that does not typically enjoy TV… It is the single most destructive thing in your house since TV Dinners, Microwaves and Jazzercise. I have seen my wife… these shows have a brainwashing affect on people, and I see the glazed look in her eyes while Law and Order, Criminal Minds or CSI are on. I could yell “Fire!!!” and get little or no response until the next commercial.

I feel that if the networks continue to put more shows I like on the air, then I might, alas, finally succumb to the evil plans of the network leadership, and fall into the abyss that is… dare I say… the black hole of television dementia.

For now… I will continue to write my stories and curse you all with my Blogs and attempt to maintain my personal thoughts… but I may not last long… I feel the TV calling me.

The Miramar Airshow

The Miramar Air Show

What can I say… WOW.

I went to my first Miramar Air show with a friend, and his buddy from work… though I, personally, think they would have been better off there without me. My knee went out about a third of the way through the show, so I was a little bit of a bore.

Blue Angels, Black Knights, the Static Displays and everything else was great. I loved it. I am thinking seriously of going next year, but we will see.

I am prepping a link on my web site, the one that probably lead you here, that will show all the pictures I took.

Beyond that, not much else to say. Check back later to see the link, or go to:

www.samuraimarine.com and look in the pictures area to see my photos.