Blogging By Smartphone – Smart?

I recently broke down and purchased a new smartphone. I’ve since fallen fast in love with it more for its features that have nothing to do with making phone calls.

Twitter, Ping.fm, Facebook, the very web itself are all at my fingertips wherever I may be. (Case in point, this entry is being crafted on my commute home by bus.)

Where I’m leading is this-I’ve always been a huge fan of having options. Still, this is an active experiment of mine to help me answer a question-is blogging by phone smart for me?

Smart is really not the appropriate word, I suppose. I’m really more pondering the practicality of blogging by phone. How long can I sustain a blog using only two thumbs to type?

If first impressions have any meaning, my experience thus far has been positive. I think it may also prove worthwhile, if only to increase my personal texting speed. (Thank you HS typing class and QWERTY layout for the head start.)

Welcome to my exercise room.

Radiohead, Beastie Boys, Madonna-Better Or Worse With Age?

After listening to Metallica’s new single, ‘The Day That Never Comes’, I’ve been thinking a lot about the evolution of bands that stick together over time and the loyalty (or lack thereof) of the fans who follow them.

Many fans, I find, don’t always evolve alongside the bands they love.  True, you’ll always have the so-called fanboys who idolize every scrap a band records-that’s not the poplulus I’m thinking about here.  I’m pondering the differences between fans who discover bands at a certain point in their careers, fall in love with that format, and accept nothing else but that format from that day forward, and those fans who are open to changes a band makes from one release to the next.

I’ve read the argument that master guitarists excel at specific styles.  Generally speaking, for example, professional classical guitarists are not automatically master metal guitarists or jazz guitarists.  Each works to master of a particular style, but probably will never be masters of more than one.  I think this is quite plausible as a simple truth, and therefore think there is a place for most artists to find their niche, master it, and stick with that same formula throughout their careers.  I think that some fans would prefer their favorite bands to be that way.

However, being someone who considers himself a creative sort, I know how cumbersome repetition can become.  To perfect a piece of music requires countless hours of repetition.  Professionals, after all of these countless hours of work, make everything look so easy in performances.  But consider, if you will, not only how many times they’ve played that hit single before it was released, and how many nights they need to repeat those songs again and again while on tours.  It’s no wonder to me that many bands start to rearrange their own works or even re-write them while on tour.  (Listen to the arrangements of Counting Crows pieces on their Across A Wire release as compared with the original recordings, for example.)  They get tired.  The fans are hearing the live performances for the “first time”, but the bands are playing it again for the thousandth time.

The natural progression then in my mind is for talented bands to experiment with their own styles.  Compare Radiohead from one album to the next.  Or the Beastie Boys.  How many times has Madonna reinvented herself?  Some fans would much prefer ‘Creep’ to ‘House of Cards’, ‘Brass Monkey’ to ‘Flute Loop’, or ‘Lucky Star’ to ’4 Minutes’, but I think there is a place for both and applaud the forward motion of talented musicians who choose to try new things.   To demand that some bands stop experimenting or refrain from modifying their styles over time could potentially be like opening a good bottle of wine too early – it might be the best thing you’ve tasted, but also might not be nearly as good as it could be with more time to mature.

The Day That Never Comes

Metallica’s newest release, Death Magnetic,  is only a few weeks away.  Today, the new single ‘The Day That Never Comes‘ is making stops at a number of internet haunts.  I listened and quite liked what I heard.

Much criticism has come Metallica’s way over the past few years, particularly those following their massive self-titled release.  Many hardcore fans felt like the band followed a downward spiral towards St. Anger, losing much of what made them great along the way.  I actually like their later work for different reasons, but I also like it when bands grow over time, evolving into something greater than they were before.

It’s potentially dangerous to judge the new work from one cut, but I’m loving the single because I hear old and new.  I see an almost eight minute track as a tip of the hat to their earlier work.  I hear the energized solos of old.  I hear the haunting melodies of the new.  I think it’s an excellent blend and hope it is a taste of the whole album and not the best of the bunch.  I’m pleased by much of the early buzz, too – I think many hardcore fans who had felt burned by the past few albums are finding themselves suprised to say they like the new cut.

Best wishes on the return, boys.  I can’t wait to hear more.

Fragile Beginnings

If abandoned blogs are litter in the landfill of the internet, I am a waste generator.

I’ve lost track of how many blogs I’ve started.  I launch each in a flurry of excitement over what it could become.  I contribute content according to my set goals.  And eventually, I toss them on the growing trash pile and walk away.

I’d like to pretend it’s some great mystery as to why, but in truth I already know the answer – I just don’t like admitting it.

I get bored.

This is not a part of my nature that makes me proud.  Why, I ask myself, can’t I be more disciplined?  Why invest so much time and energy into something that will eventually be of no interest to me?

Strangely, while I do know the odds of me sticking around here are low, what I don’t know is why I keep coming back.  I have some ideas, but no concrete answers.

I think a small part of the answer as to why is that I am a curious person by nature.  I also believe I love to create things.  Have I’ve been trying to learn the wrong kind of discipline?  Maybe I’m not meant to maintain-maybe my skills are more in the creating.

I think that’s why I’m back for another round.  I want to create something.  The challenge will be to find out what I want to create before I leave this forum behind, too.

The clock starts ticking now.