Archive for December, 2016

The Unemployment Rate

Posted: December 19, 2016 in Opinions and Observations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
15

Fact or Perception

As an update and a gentle lead-in to the title of this post, I recently put in a job application at the Sam Ash Music Store in Cincinnati.  I worked for years at a local instrument music chain a while ago (not records or CD type of music store…) and I also worked at an electronics music store called ICB Audio.  I thought that and my decades of management, sales and customer service experience would make me a good candidate.  I started working at Sam Ash about two weeks ago.  For me, it is like being a kid in a toy store……. because I AM!

So, do I feel like the employment situation is getting better because I now have a job?  In reality, unemployment rate is very low, and has been for a while now.  There are people still looking for work, but there are also companies that are looking but cannot find qualified workers in their field and/or location.

Do we feel that food insecurity is a myth because we do not see it in our neighborhood or town?

Everyone we know is well fed and has no difficulty getting their next meal.

Do we refuse to believe specific facts or national statistics because they do not apply to us?

I am glad to be working again doing something I love.  I will probably spend more money than I make as I have done in music stores in the past, but I will hopefully meet a lot of new talented people driven by their passion to make music for all to enjoy.

It is tough when you are unemployed.  For those of you still looking I wish you well in 2017!

My Little Cocoon

Posted: December 14, 2016 in Poetry
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
5

 

“Cocoon”                                  © MSK 11-17-2016

Sitting in a tub full of honey and milk

Long enough so your skin feels like silk.

Or bathe yourself in the big-city lights

Sleep through the day and roaming the nights.

 

Knowing life is often harder than it seems

Surround yourself with your favorite teams.

Winners today and losers tomorrow

Buy memories you cannot borrow.

 

Don’t want to end up another worthless jerk

Get up early and stay late at work.

Study all week ‘cause you can’t fail the test

Never satisfied until you’re the best.

 

            But lately I need none of that.

            Just pull up the covers until it is warm and dark.

            No need to get up and leave the room

            I just want to stay in my little cocoon.

 

Keep repeating my favorite song.

I love my life, don’t get me wrong.

Conversations with family and friends.

But I always know how the movie ends.

 

Keep driving around but there’s no place to park.

Nightmares no longer kept to the dark.

Eyes open as the dream fades away.

Stuck in this game and I don’t want to play.

 

            Take no comfort in any of that.

            Even the fastest of us get eaten by the shark

            No need to get up and leave the room

            I just want to stay in my little cocoon.

 

            But lately I need none of that.

            Just pull up the covers until it is warm and dark.

            No need to get up and leave the room

            I just want to stay in my little cocoon.

Chase The Dream

Posted: December 8, 2016 in Video
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
10
Black1

Our banner designed by Marty Gillaspy

“Chase The Dream”

When one of the bands I worked with collapsed under the pressures of day to day life, it was quickly resurrected in a new form.  Most of Euphoria members did not want to stop playing so we regrouped with a new guitar player to replace one of the founding members and became The Chase.  We played out with about ten different names for a few months – Scenic Route was another favorite of mine – until we settled on The Chase.  These guys were great.  We had a solid rhythm section, a great lead singer and back up vocals that were tight and an amazing lead guitar player that could feel everything he played. We could play cover songs no other bands would play live.  We also threw in originals from time to time.  The banner was hung one each side of the stage vertically as seen in one of the photos below, and horizontally behind the drum set.  It was pretty eye-catching and a lot of people complimented it.

I am an archivist.  I record everything.  Audio recordings of practice sessions and live performances. Video of many performances and photos of major events.  Before YouTube I posted a number of them on our cable TV Local Access channels using their video editing suite.  I had my fingers in everything.  Some of the projects got finished, but a lot of the raw tapes have only been viewed by me and a select group of people.

I just put together a new video that uses a lot of this vintage raw video and some of the photographs from the time period.  The medium is so old that the quality suffers, but it does a good job of representing the events of the time.  We played in many clubs and outdoor events and I will create future videos to highlight more venues.   For this video I used an original instrumental song that Nick Robinson was working on and our new band, The Chase, made it our own.  There is no video of the song as we only played it out a few times.  Nicky has since re-joined Euphoria when it regrouped a few years ago and is still playing out with some amazing players.

Please check out my latest YouTube post (and other videos while you are there) of his original tune: “Chasing The Dream”.  Enjoy!

Mike Gill
Timmy Gillaspy
Michael S Kennedy

Chase The Dream