Real People Can Talk

Starting a Band as a Busines

2016-11-29T19:46:00.001-08:00

Setting Expectations

As bands form rarely, if ever, is it based on people coming together to talk about their expectations for the future of the band or creating a structure and plan. More often it is because it is fun, you all like music, why not start a band? Real Age was formed during a sleepover because we didn’t know what else to do. Bands form in many various ways, but often once they are formed a lack of structure and common expectation can cause a lack of success.

Let me break this down how important expectations are. You join a band and begin to practice and play some local shows, you then start to feel that making this a career could be a reality. The problem is, you feel this way but how about the rest of the band? It does no good for you to work your hands to the bone to make the band a success if the others involved are not of the same mind set. So once you feel that music is something that you want to make into a business, making money and getting paid, the first step is to figure out where you want to go. This is true if you are a solo act too, it is not enough to hope that you make it in the music business, you need to know where you want to go.

Knowing where you want to go can make the difference between doing something or nothing at all. Sit down with your band (or with yourself if you are a solo artist) and talk about where you want to go. Often when you starting wanting to make music a career you want to make t-shirts, create posters, envision what playing at a stadium would fee like, design your tour bus interior, or try to imagine what it feels like to have fans surrounding you and asking for your autograph. However this is the time to really come together as a team and set some “expectations” and to openly talk about what everyone wants. Discussions about band expectations will bring the band together and help you to move forward as a group. Without this conversation you may find yourself investing all that you have only to find the rest of the group is doing this for fun and has no plans to make it a career. How does this meeting look? If you are a solo artist this may look like going to a coffee shop and writing out what you want to do with music, include your significant other so that they can be aware of your expectations and help you, instead of being in the dark and then being surprised when they find out how serious you are about music. If you are in a band, schedule a time to all sit down and have a talk. You won’t make it in the music business by staying where you are, you may have to move, and you will definitely have to travel so these are important things to talk about so that you are not faced with resistance later on down the road from your band or loved ones. Be willing to compromise, your band or loved ones may not be on board with you, there may be times where you will have to compromise in order to move forward. Let’s say that you want to tour across the United State but one of your band members has a family and does not want to leave them. Finding this out as you are investing all of your energy into your band can feel like someone letting all your air out. Now you cannot follow through with what your expectations are. Other than feeling disappointed this can cause discord in your band or family as everyone’s expectations are not met.

Take some time to literally write down expectations as a group, have everyone throw out their thoughts and if there is something the group is not sure about, talk about it. Because you create these expectations as a group you create camaraderie and you feel more of a team. You made this as a group, one person is not the dictator or control freak, you all agreed to this. Discussions such as this may need to happen regularly to keep you all on the same page. Agree on the expectations that are set (even have everyone sign it, seriously, have everyone take ownership of it) and begin to move forward with these as expectations for the group. This way everyone gets a voice, be it loved ones or band members. This will help moving forward as a band as well as making the band or your family more apart of the decision and together, you now know what to expect of others and what others expect of you

Once you have clear expectation you are on your way to beginning your musical business. Not many think about why we call it the music business, and I believe that it is simply because setting off to be successful in music is like starting a business.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Sweet Children formed in 1986 with members Billy Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, both who were only fourteen at the time. Over the course of the next year Billy and Mike joined forces with drummer John Kiffmeyer. In 1988 Larry Livermore, owner of Lookout! Records, saw the group playing at an early show and signed them. In 1989 the band recorded its first album 1,000 Hours. At the same time they dropped the band name Sweet Children, to avoid confusion with another local band, and picked up the name that we know them by, Green Day. In 1990 Green Day released their first studio album 39/Smooth and the group really started to get traction. When drummer John Kiffmeyer left the band in late 1990 after their first national tour, Tre Cool filled in and later officially joined. Green Day toured for the greater part of 1992 -1993 and when their second album, Kerplunk, was released 50,000 copies were sold in the US. With the success of their second album major labels had growing interest in the band. Soon enough the band left Lookout! Records and was signed to Reprise records.

The story of how Green Day became a successful band is important for several reasons. The first point is how it seems that their success as a band seemed rather smooth and quick. While I am sure that it was not all glitz and glam it makes me a little envious of their young success. Having someone hear my band play and then decide to sign me sounds great. This, however, does not usually happen. You need to create opportunity, and give yourself the best shot that you can to allow your music to be heard. There is a nugget of information that is helpful in their story. Treat every show as if you are auditioning for a label. Do not discredit the ability of a show to spread the word of your group, you are playing to a room of connections. Connections are the people that know people who you want to be in contact. For instance, when I was in high school our band played for some school functions and one of the people that we knew at school was cousins with the lead guitarist of Relient K (www.relientk.com). So even if you have a concert with two people in the crowd, it is possible that we were connecting with someone who is connected to a bigger band. Even playing at a coffee shop means you might be playing in front of someone important who is out grabbing a cup of Joe. With Real Age we certainly had some small coffee shop shows that built great connections. Suddenly everything is an opportunity. So you are playing to more people than you see standing in front of you. This is something that I wish I would have realized when Real Age was starting out. There were some occasions where we would be disheartened by the lack of attendance. So I offer this as encouragement to you now, don't worry about the amount of people showing up, play your heart out. As we learned from the story of Green Day’s success it only takes one person to hear you.

Secondly, make sure your product is ready for market. If Green Day had not performed well then it is safe to say that Larry Livermore would not have signed them. This holds true in business as well, you always want to make sure that your product is ready for market.

So how do you get your band and music ready for market? Well the first step is one that you will all roll your eyes at, practice. When getting ready to showcase your music practice is a vital part. Make sure it is something that you can stand behind and not have to worry yourself about knowing how to play it. Practice until you no longer have to think about how to play your music and you will be freed up to add more elements to your music. Once you have the primary structure of a song down I like to start to add some feeling into the song, give it some character. Try to find what you want to express through a song. Simply playing a song can get boring, and you won't be able to stand out. Movement is also important, how are you going to move on stage? Chances are, when you are at home with no one looking you move when you play. Now, you don't have to jump and work up a sweat, but you will want to move with your music. Show your audience that they can get into the song as well. A great example of how even simple movement can convey passion and feeling beyond the music is David Gray.

It is humorous that the first couple of line to his song “Please Forgive Me” he describes my first thought when I saw his head shaking stage performance for the first time.

“Please forgive me

If I act a little strange

For I know not what I do

Feels like lightning

Running through my veins”

Gray, David “Please Forgive Me”

But as I sat with it I saw that he was in his element and doing his thing. He does not only let the words and music express his song but also his movements. This does not mean that you need to loosen up your neck and act like bobble head. What do you feel when you play your music? Display how you naturally feel, be the you in the shower singing at the top of your lungs. If you are not sure how to move, just loosen up and let your music carry you away, let what you are singing about penetrate your heart and move you. Here is another example that is more subtle

Switchfoot “I Won’t Let You Go”

If you believe in your music others will too. When I was on stage with Real Age it always gave me such a rush that I could not contain so I had to jump. So let loose, whether that is tapping your foot, shaking your head or jumping.

Practice is more than just memorizing or getting better it enables you to do more with your music and prepare your “product” for the market. Sometimes it can be hard to establish the consistent practice you need to free yourself up to add other elements to your music. When I was in Real Age, we found that this was true. Our solution was to set up a scheduled practice time each week. Think of yourself as a sports team and your band practice as sports practice. Well, most sports teams that are successful practice a lot right?So why should your band be any different? Think of having a job. When you have a job do you just show up sometimes? No, you have set aside time each day that you devote to it. Do the same for your music. If you want you job to be music then treat it like a job. Setup time each week for everyone to get together to work on your music and create your product. Even put it on the calendar, and take it seriously. This will help your music, your skill level, and your bands relationship. When I first started playing bass I had no idea what I was doing, I even played bass on my dad’s old guitar. Then after mowing the lawns enough times to get my first bass I was able to learn to play with it. This was also true for the other two members of Real Age, Tim and Mark. We were all new with our instruments which made practice crucial. Afters years of playing and practicing we got to know our instruments, upgrading equipment and create a better sound. But without regular practice this progress would not have been possible.

Your sound will mature with time and nurturing. Don’t expect to sound like Coldplay during your first practice session, they have be practicing for much longer than you have. With Real Age our sound was very different from the first time we played together to the last. We went from not knowing our instruments or even having them to playing our instruments and understanding how each other played, eventually building our sound and feel. This won’t happen overnight, but it won’t happen at all if you don’t work at it. I don’t mean to be discouraging I just don’t want you to think that all of it will magically happen. While being in music can be challenging it can also be rewarding, don't give up. I had a conversation with Tim not too long ago where we talked about how being in a band and pursuing music had helped to shape our outlook on life. For me personally it boosted my self confidence and helped me to understand that I could work toward any goal, I do not need to be limited by what I am currently. Elon Musk was once asked how he was able to start SpaceX with no prior knowledge of space travel, he replied “I can read”. So if you don’t know how to play something, how to get gigs, our how to make it in music (starting a business) there is no limit to what you can learn. I hope that by what I can share I will enable you to know more spark your journey in music and business.

Measuring Your Influence with Klout

2016-11-22T12:41:00.000-08:00

App Spotlight

Measuring Your Influence with Klout

What is Klout?

Klout is a web based site that measures your online social influence based on how often you post and the response to it. It then gives breakdowns of your social platforms and how each of them contributes to your Klout score (the higher the score the more influence you have). Things that can influence your Klout score are how many followers you have, likes or retweets, influential the people following you are, how many people you are following, if you are mentioned by others etc.

Why is this a helpful tool?

When Real Age, the band that I was in, started to take a more business style approach to our music this was a great way to see our online impact. Not only did it show how much impact we had, but it also showed us where that impact was coming from. In our case we found that most of our impact was coming from Facebook. With this information we were now equipped to try and build up our other social platforms (eg. Twitter and Youtube) to increase the level of impact our social media had. In the long run this can be a helpful tool to increase the effectiveness of your social media use. By showing where you are impacting your social network you can see what parts of your social presence need to be worked on. This will ultimately lead to a more successful social media presence that can help to propel your ideas, business, music and more. Another part of Klout is its ability to show you other people and their level of influence. By looking into others who have higher Klout scores you can see what they are doing well and try to implement it in your own work. For instance, if you see that Richard Branson has a great Klout score (his score is an impressive 90), look at how he uses social media and see if you can implement some of his techniques. Sometimes it is difficult to know who to look at for advice, but in the social media sphere this cuts through some of the fog and shows you who those people are and how you compare.

Why use Klout

First off, Klout is free. It is also well designed and clearly displays where your impact and influence is coming from and how much you have. Klout does not have unnecessary content or spam you with information that you do not want which is nice to see from app these days. The interface is simple and easy to use and it integrates with most popular social media sources, which means that you can quickly learn how to use it and apply what you learn. So with its ease of use and wealth of information it is a great addition to your business building tool bag.

Please let me know what you experience and how what you think about Klout.

Here is a link to Klout - www.klout.com

Take Aways:

Klout will show you your level of influence
It is a useful and simple tool
It is free and worth trying

Music and Business Introduction

2016-11-21T12:27:00.000-08:00

Click here for table of contents

When I was younger my dream was to be a rockstar. Like many aspiring rockstars I thought that the road to the top would be fun and relatively simple. A recipe of music, cool looks and adoring fans would be enough to make the band I was in the best. This rockstar plan seemed simple enough and I was keen to get started. While I thought it would be easy I slowly found out how hard it would be. I will be sharing my story with you and help you learn from it. This is helpful even if you don’t want to be a musician and would rather start a business. Many of the same concepts apply to music as do to business (I will touch more on this in later posts). Before I get too far I’ll start with a story.

Our band formed one night during a sleepover at my friends (Tim and Mark) house. Being bored we hatched the idea to create a band. I forgot to mention that we were all in 6th grade at the time. So we set off to make our first decision, who would play what? Without hesitation I knew I would play guitar, soon I would be on stage just shredding. The only problem with my choice is that we all chose it. We talked and deliberated to see if we could work as a guitar trio and soon decided it would not. So, Mark chose drums, I settled for the bass and Tim stuck with guitar. Now, as a three piece, nothing could stand in our way.

Over the next couple of months we worked on songs and creating a band name. We decided that the time school let out sounded like a good name. Our name was then 2:15pm, which also happened to be the locker number of the girl we all liked. After we felt we had enough songs to play a concert we set up for our first show. It was sold out, and by that I mean we invited our parents and siblings and they came. We played our songs and acted out how we had formed (as if they didn’t know). After it was all over our families applauded and the first concert was over. It was electrifying and we want more. We had to do it again.

Time went on we practiced more and planned to do another show as well as something scary… Invite our friends from school! We worked on this show as if we going to play the Astrodome, except it was in a church basement. We built a backstage area with movable dividers, put mood lighting on the stage (our parent's lamps), set up the sound system and set up all of our gear. Our parents were a huge support too, they helped with setup, made rice crispy treats and manned the doors. When the night came 100 of our friends showed up, even the girl that we had liked. I remember specifically peaking out from underneath our backstage set up and seeing all of the kids from our school and thinking “Wow this is amazing”. All of these people had come to see us, they were not here for anything else. This was where we got our first glimpse into marketing and creating a business, but we had no idea back then. At the time we just thought that it was cool.

From then we began to work harder at making our music successful and as we did we became more serious about what we were doing. Upgrading our instruments, getting more gear, writing songs and developing a consistent practice schedule. We began to play at coffee shops, local churches, and our school. Through this process we began to build connections which allowed us to grow and go places we could not have before.This included meeting people at school who were also in bands which enabled us to play with and open for others. Also being connected at churched helped to provide us with venues to play and got us involved with people who knew more about music than we did. In this process we meet Nate Macy (https://www.facebook.com/Nate-Macy-275611578528/) who would eventually help us to record our EP and guide us with his wisdom about music. A cornerstone for us was when we starting using Afton (https://tickets.aftonshows.com/cgi-bin/index.pl), a company that helps artists book shows (I will touch more on this in future posts). Through Afton we were able to start playing shows in Portland at some bigger/better venues which was great. There were pros and cons with Afton and we ended up leaving them and going it alone which proved to be a better option for us.

Once we were on our own we then had to kick into marketing high gear to get concerts and continue to grow as a band. This was pivotal in forcing us to start looking at our band as a business. We rebranded and changed our name to Real Age and worked on a website, merch and contacting people in the music business. This was a paradigm shift for us and how we operated. We were not longer just playing music but rather building a business. As we reached out we received many no’s or just no response at all. With persistence we were able to start to open communication with groups of people in the business that gave us advice and insight that informed our decisions. We gathered some momentum and eventually got to open for a nationally touring act (Remedy Drive, www.remedydrive.com) and the opportunity to play at a festival (Creation Fest, www.creationfest.com). After moving forward and gaining momentum we eventually ended up separating as a band, but have remained friends for life.

This is a brief look at my story and experiences that have lead me to have a passion about both music and business. I want to share what I have learned and enable others to grow and by showing what I have learned to others. My hope is that I can convey some nuggets of information that will change the way that you approach your music and business. In future posts I will be detailing some key points and ideas that can help unlock potential and allow you to grow your music and business. This is just the start to a conversation. Please comment or give your feedback so that we can have two way dialogue. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to be open to new ideas.

Here are some takeaways that I will discuss in further posts.

Take Aways:

Music and business have relatable concepts
Starting a band is like starting a business
Good and appropriate marketing is key
Create and establishing contacts
Who to reach out to and how
Resources for business and music

I will be posting once a week for this series.

There is more that may not be in this list that will also be covered.

Thanks again for spending time to be here.

For those who are interested, here is a link to my band's music on www.noisetrade.com (a great free resource I will talk about in future posts).

www.noisetrade.com/realage/come-alive-ep

Morning Drive #2

2012-10-18T22:14:00.001-07:00

As I set off my car seemed to have a difficult time waking up (warming up). It made spluttering and chugging sounds for quite a while. The car seemed to be struggling much like a human does as they swallow soda and somehow an air bubble slips in and is hard to swallow. All of this went on while I was looking at the road through very foggy windscreen. I suspect that much of this could have been avoided if I had simply allowed my car to warm up. But I was running late for work, so I skipped the warming up.

Once I was buzzing around town, my windows were fog-less, and the engine was warm and smooth, I felt great about the commute. Approaching a red light I changed lanes and entered the turn lane. Once in the turn lane I saw that I was behind a large truck, well more of a semi.

The light turned green, and in true semi fashion the large vehicle (semi) start its slow ascent to 25 mph. I was soon the only car still brave enough to stay behind the semi and tough it out. I was stuck behind the semi for far too long, I would have passed it but my car was too slow to jump into the small gaps in cars passing the truck.

After what seemed like every car on the planet had passed me I found enough room to over take the semi and carry on all the way to work.

Fueling up for next time...

-Reed

Morning Drive #1

2012-10-06T00:23:00.001-07:00

To start off I must say that the 27 minute drive to work in the morning is a rather enjoyable part of my weekday morning. I get to listen to the radio in a cozy car and just drive.

When a car passes you what do you do? You look over to see the car/person and by doing this I began to notice all the things going around me.

We will start off with Scion. Now the first time I had an encounter with Scion was at a red light. I pulled behind her colonial red Scion xD as I would any other car. But as the light went green I began to notice that she was different. As all of the other cars made their way across the intersection Scion seemed not to move. Then as I focused I realized that however slow, Scion was moving. Now I have heard of lead footed or even heavy footed by Scion was feather footed. Eventually we got past 25 mph and across the intersection like the rest of the cars, and as soon as we did I politely passed Scion. Glancing quickly at the car/driver as mentioned earlier.

Now for those of you who don't know, I drive a 1981 VW Rabbit, which is not exactly a Ferrari, and on top of that it is also diesel. Great gas mileage but pretty gutless up a hill, which was exactly what I was now steadily approaching. As I began my ascent to the precipice, I saw what looked like a red blur in my mirror. Soon enough Scion was passing me. Again, we both looked over at each other, but I was too scared to look at Scions eyes being as she was now passing me. So I hung my head in slow lane shame and trudged the rest of my way to work.

Fueling up for next time...

-Reed

Foto Dump #1

2012-04-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

Janitor's Journal #8

2012-03-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Journal,

I don't know what it is that gets into some peoples minds, but sometimes they seem to block out all common sense and use uncommon sense, the kind of stuff that makes no sense. What I am referring to specifically is one particular incident that happens repeatedly at work. Every once in a while when you place something in a trash can the liner (plastic bag) falls in with the article of which you are disposing. At this point it would seem that common sense says, "Don't put any more trash in the trash can, instead pick the liner out of the can, put it back in place, then commence your trash dumping." But this hardly happens. Usually I will get to a trash can and see no liner whatsoever, then I say to myself, "I am sure I replaced the liner in that trash can yesterday." and it is not until I look in the dark depths of the can that I realize that there is a liner but someone has allowed it to fall in and then continued to dump trash on it. Ugh. I guess that this is a better problem than having people pick up your trash cans and dump them on the floor, but still. So if there is a take away from this journal entry it is simply this, "If the liner in the trash can that you are dealing with falls in, fix it!"

Reed

Collecting trash and stories for next time...

Janitor's Journal #7

2012-02-29T21:15:00.001-08:00

Dear Journal,

Here are a few words from a fellow janitor (custodian).

Reed

Collecting trash and stories for next time...

Janitor's Journal #6

2012-02-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Journal,

There is something that happens to people when they are face with an impossible task. Sometimes people scale mountains, complete incredible goals, and do something great. However some people do things that are just annoying. This second type of person is often the one that has a large piece of trash, sees a small trash can and says, "Yeah, that'll fit." But here the thing, "It doesn't!" I have since appropriately named this IFS or It'll Fit Syndrome. Trash cans that have been effected by IFS often show signs of breaking, overflowing trash, trash around the base of the can, and more. If you notice any of these symptoms call a janitor immediately, this could be the sign of a life threading decease.

Reed

Collecting trash and stories for next time...

Janitor's Journal #5

2012-02-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

Dear Journal,

I knew that there would some purpose to me counting all of the trash cans that I empty every day, and today was that day. Someone asked, "How many trash cans do you empty every day?" I suddenly felt warm inside, as if my time wasting had finally come to serve a purpose. "221." I replied. To which the asker's jaw hit the floor. They could not believe that there were that many trash cans and that I emptied ever single one. This got me to think, how many trash cans have I emptied to date? So as I did when I counted the number of trash cans, I sat down and with the help of some complex math figured out that I have emptied over 20,000 trash cans in my janitorial career so far. How far would the stretch if all of the trash cans were lined up? Well, to be precise, it would stretch for 4.7 miles (using more complex math and a calculator).

Reed

Collecting trash and stories for next time...

Janitor's Journal #4

2012-02-09T12:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Journal,

At work I noticed something that had not come across my attention before. There, hidden behind several layer of shelving, was a flashing light. Now normally a flashing light would not evoke much emotion or panic, but because of the light's color I was both scared and panicked. The light was red, like a one of the lights on the top of an ambulance or that one light in movies that flashes right before a large explosion. Either way I was not sure what to do, should I run for cover leaping at the last minute to create a heroic and explosive montage or was I to pretend that I had never set eyes upon it? Then after several moments paused in thought, someone walked by, looked at the light then at me, subtly laughed and walked on. So I figured that it must be safe to go about my business.

Reed

Collecting trash and stories for next time...

Janitor's Journal #3

2012-02-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Journal

Sometimes there are things at work that confuse me. One of those "things" is when people put large wooden planks into the small garbage cans, which alone is not strange, but when the small garbage can is right next to the large garbage bin it is. I mean you couldn't move three more feet to the left, no, instead you put the plank in a small garbage can and rip the bag making garbage fall through the hole and onto the floor.

Another aspect of work that confuses me is when there is food in the garbage can that seems ok to eat. When you have a box that used to hold a bunch of doughnuts and now it holds just one or two, is it safe to eat? This type of occurrence is happens much more often that you might expect and each time is more tempting than the last. There was one time when I save the a box with one untouched doughnut in it, then after I had taken out the recycling I came back an took a bite. Then another, and another, soon I had devoured the entire doughnut. But before I swallowed the last mouthful of doughnut I began to think. Why was the doughnut in the garbage in the first place? As many gross and disturbing reasons began to fill my head, I booked it toward the trash compactor. Upon my arrival I leaned over the edge and spat out my mouthful of doughnut.

Reed

Collecting trash and stories for next time...

Janitor's Journal #2

2012-02-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

Dear Journal,

Today, while I was moving trash from a smaller garbage can into a large bin I saw a small glove. Now the glove was sitting mid trash can and seems to have no need of being there. I mean it was clean, had minimal wear and tear, and so why was it there? Had the wearer that had thrown the gloves away touched something that was toxic or even deadly? Anyway, with many more trash cans waiting for me to come and see them, I grabbed the glove, putting my life on the line, and moved on.

Since it was a rather easy day, with less trash than usual, I four myself finishing an hour early. However this does not mean that I can leave, we have to stay for a minimum of 3 1/2 hrs, so I set about to fill the time. One question that I have had since the day that I started was, exactly, how many trash cans do I empty every day. Sitting down to think, I began to formulate a plan, mentally trying to remember all of the trash cans. But I kept losing count and decided to just walk around counting all them. 221, was the final number, and I was rather impressed. This wasn't enough though, how much trash have I taken out, at work, to date? Through a series of complicated and sometime unnecessary calculations I reached a number, 19,448 gallons of trash.

-Reed

Collecting trash and stories for next time...

Janitor's Journal #1

2012-02-01T22:07:00.001-08:00

As I am sure most of you know, (if you don't, you can still keep reading) I am a nighttime janitor. Several days, well actually nights ago, I had an epiphany, "Not many people know what garbage is like through the eyes of a nighttime janitor, I need to enlighten people, show them the ways of the janitor." So, that is what this is, or what this will be, a window into the mind of a nighttime janitor, what you've always wanted. You're welcome.

Collecting trash and stories for next time...

Foto Friday #4

2012-01-27T14:40:00.000-08:00

Foto Friday #3

2012-01-20T23:37:00.000-08:00

Transit Travels #38

2012-01-18T15:32:00.000-08:00

Now it was a rather wet/snowy day, and so waiting for the bus was like taking a shower. At one point I thought, "Tomorrow I could bring some some soap and towel, and shower while I wait for the bus." Oh the ideas that flow through your head when you are cold, wet, snow covered, and a waiting a bus.

Rain Proof showed up t the bus stop several minutes after me, and he made me very jealousy. The reason for this seemingly unsanctioned jealousy was that fact that he was entirely rain proof from head to toe. I on the other hand was going through the soaked cycle (partially damp, wet to the touch, excess water runs off). Over his shirt was a raincoatesct jacket that was repelling water, and his pant coverings (or leggings) were not going to allow any water to pass their membrane. You would think that this (other than a hat) is all that Rain Proof would cover, yet somehow he found more ways to protect himself. His shoes were blanketed with the same material as the rest of his body, again wicking water away.

The bus came, but not as it normally would, today it had chains on. Not being phased by this seemingly good addition to the bus, since the weather was not as safe as normal. I got on the bus and sat near the middle, slowly the bus began to roll onward. Suddenly a quiet drumming began to arise. At first I thought that it might be music escaping from someones headphones, but it grew louder, much louder. I looked back, expecting to see some weirdo or stomp drumming on the seats. but there was no one there. It struck me, the chains, the is what I was here. Dread came over me as I thought about having to share the rest of the bus ride with a drumming group (the chains).

Foto Friday #2

2012-01-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

Transit Travels #37

2012-01-12T23:51:00.000-08:00

In 2010 Blockbuster video declared bankruptcy, and so you would think that now, in 2012, people would no longer have much of an affiliation with the company. But you'd be wrong, there are some that do still hold ties to the company, and one off their names is Blockbuster Boy. He sat in the middle of the bus and was flipping through his wallet aimlessly, then as I galled over at his activities, and saw that he had a Blockbuster members.

When you have to stand because there are no seats left, why not make the best of it? Pull Ups got this message loud and clear, and as soon ad he was aboard the bus he got to work. Strategically, he chose to stand in the front portion of the bus, where there is a overhead rail on each side. It was here, standing in the front of the bus, between the two overhead rails, that he began to make the best of standing. He put a hand on each of the rails, then proceed to tense biceps, he rose toward the ceiling and then slowly he came back to the ground. He only did this pull up a few times, but that's all it took.

A ways down the route Mrs. Tumnus got on. At first she seemed a normally dressed person, but when she sat down next to me I realized that her leggings were made from wool. She was kind of like a female version of Mr. Tumnus.

Transit Travels #36

2012-01-11T23:15:00.003-08:00

What Woman paced up and down the pavement, constantly lifting her cell phone from he pocket and up to her face saying, “What?” Then she would press a few buttons, put the phone back in her pocket, and repeat the sequence. This went on until the bus put on its air breaks and opened its doors, at which point What Woman said, “Finally!” I am still a little bamboozled by exactly what she was doing with her phone, was she texting the driver, looking up jokes that didn’t make sense, or just plan acting?

As I boarded the bus, standing behind What Woman who was paying the bus fare, a grumble came from the bus driver “Err, looks like the fare box is broken.” What? That’s like the moment in Star Wars when Han Solo and Chewbacca can’t get the Millennium Falcon to make the jump to hyperspace. The fare box is broken! Questions began to flood my mind, what will the next people getting on do, can we pick other people up, and how will we go on? Then the bus driver put his coat over the fair box, and that was that. From then on the bus was free to ride, I was just afraid that word might get out and all soon enough everyone would be on the bus.

The Stoic One was wearing black slacks, a white button up, a black p-coat, and a black brimmed hat. All of this added together made for a rather stoic look. The Stoic One’s face only made his persona that much more, intense. He seemed to be the perfect person to have the persona. When the bus became crowded he had to move toward the back of the bus and out of my field of vision. But I pictured him standing at the back of the bus Contrapposto, looking ever stoic. Keep on keep’n The Stoic One!

Until next time…

Transit Travels #35

2012-01-10T23:18:00.000-08:00

Standing on the pavement ready to board a bus that would take me home, Goofy came into view. He was tall and seemed to have a lack of limb coordination, he flailed about as he slowly made his way closer to where I was. As he drew closer I finally saw what was causing his flailing, he was laughing, with great force. To be honest I never figured out exactly what it was that was making him laugh, but it really didn't matter, because he laughed at no matter what. On occasion he would lift his phone to his ear, take it slowly away, take a look at the people around him, then explode into laughter.

When I got on the bus, seating was limited, and so I had to sit next to someone, no big deal. However in the seat in front me was The Outside Man. He sat, not in the inside seat creating space for someone else to sit, rather in the outside seat, so as no one would be able to sit next to him. Quite a few people were peeved, not that they told me, but you could see it on their face. So I began to think of ways to get him to move to the inner seat. I could poke him, have someone else poke him, or just ask him. Then I realized that, I could comment on his corn rows, telling him something like. "Hey did you know that one of your corn rows is bigger than all of the rest?" Then I thought "Nah, I'll just let him deal with his seat guilt, that should be punishment enough."

Bobby sat in the seat in front of my and had her headphones set firmly on her head. There under the foam pads of the earpieces, must have been some really pumping beats, because they were moving her head forward and back. She sat there bobbing her head, and it would not have been out of the ordinary, if Bobby had not been over the age 65. Now I mean no offense at all to anyone over 65 bobbing their head, in fact I say "rock on", but on the bus it was not a "normal" occurrence.

Across the isle was Jitter Jaw, a man on the phone with a jaw that moved like lightning. Was someone on the other end of the actually comprehending what this man was saying. Maybe he was talking to Hear All, a person of exceptional hearing, with the ability to understand words coming at great speeds.

Until next time...

Transit Travels #34

2012-01-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

Note: I Suggest listing to Nora Jones while you read this, it made the experience better for me.

A new term of school has begun, and that means that I will be riding the bus again. Today was the first day back on the bus, and as I approached the bus stop, headed to school, I could help but feel excited because of the unavoidable adventures ahead.

I reached the bus stop and began to wait for the bus to arrive, as I did Velvet Trench (she wore a large velvet trench coat) came over and asked if the bus was coming. I told her that I was sure it was, however I was not sure of what time specifically. She accepted my answer and walked into the near by Sheri's. After a good amount of time spent in waiting, Velvet Trench came out of the warm Shari's and stated " I'm just standing out here, waiting for that damn bus." I felt like telling her "Aren't we all?" but my better judgement kicked in and stopped me.

Soon enough the bus came, as I had predicted, and I began to move toward its wide open doors. Setting foot inside the bus, I was suddenly struck by its warmth. This warmth is best described as having a hot chocolate next to a crackling fire. You could say that the warmth of the bus is a sort of external hot chocolate. However you decide to describe it, it is comforting and cozy, well as cozy and comfortable as a bus can be. As far as seat choice goes, I didn't bother with it, I was only concerned with having a seat.

Slipping into the semi bucket shaped seats of the bus I began to take in my surroundings, re-familarizing myself with the interior of the bus. Looking around something struck me, it was the patina. Like on an old grandfather clock, the bus had a certain natural wear and tear to it that gave it a sense of character. Now I am not sure if this character is something that enhances the bus, due to some of the patinas profanity and vulgarity, but it does enhance it.

Ox Man, got on several stops after me and had the courage of an ox. The first thing he did when he got on the bus was sit extremely close to a girl, ask an outlandish question, and strike up conversation. If you haven't guessed by now, when some one has the courage of an ox, they are couragious. If you haven't heard of this colloquialism that is because I made it up, it is a prototype.

The Hook Ups: "What's your name?" "Denis, but not your typical Denis." "What like a rich uncle." "What is that?" "What rich?" "Yeah. Oh wait I know what rich is, no I live in oregon, keep that in mind." It was love, or at least the start of a friendship.

Raider Babe, got on the bus and completely baffled me. She was wear a Oakland Raiders blanket around her clothing with what seemed like a baby underneath it. the reason I say that it seemed like a baby is because I could not actually see any part of the baby. Looking at the lump for a while, I felt confidant in saying that it was a baby, but I was still not one hundred percent confidant. But all to soon she got off, and I was still unsure of what the lump/baby was.

Until next time...

Foto Friday #1

2012-01-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

The Coffee(house)

2012-01-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

Todays coffee shop is a place to see friends, hold a meeting, catch up on what's up, and all the rest. But how did this style of community/coffee/shop begin? Well it comes from something that is not as far from todays shops as you might think.

17th century people who wanted to catch up on the latest news, or the newest developments in society, would only have to go as far as a coffeehouse. At a coffee house you could buy and cup-a-joe, and as a bonus, get all of the latest news by talking with the people inside. In Europe, these coffeehouses served as information hubs for scientists, businessmen, writers and politicians.

However, these coffeehouses, were often an unreliable source of information, and were tailored to certain topics. So coffeehouses in different areas of town may draw, politicians, scientists, or businessmen and display shipping lists, pamphlets, or flyers all tailored to the specific area that the coffeehouse crowd was conceded with.

A Piece Of Apple Pie

2012-01-01T14:38:00.000-08:00

When the words "apple pie" are spoken, most of us conjure up an image of juicy (or dry depending on preference) apples amongst a sea of sugary sirup, covered with a voluptuous pastry (crust). But in all reality the apple pie did not start out this way, no it was quite different.

Due to the scarcity and price of sugar in the 14th century, crusts contained no sugar and was not really intended to be consumed. Instead the crust or pastry aspect of a pie was meant as a means of storing the pie.

Then in the 16th century, sugar became more readily available, and soon enough people got the idea to put sugar into the crust of pies. This made the crust more eatable, and the evolution of the apple pie continued.