December 7, 2011

So you take a few days and disconnect yourself from the internet completely and everything goes to crap. I took like four days to just see the sights and interact with the people and thought all would be on autopilot but NOPE. First thing that happened was I got yet another strike on YouTube so to speak. They didn't give me a copyright strike but they took the ad's down off my own video, What is the deal with this company man? I mean it is MY video and MY work, Not like I went and stole someones content and then try to profit off of it. The whole video was me from beginning to end and I really do feel like they have an agenda but can't figure out what exactly. Then you send them an email and try to contact them and never do you hear from them and when you take that into account along with them flagging someones own personal content it just leads me to believe that the whole operation for the most part is robotic and software run. But when you start messing with people and their content and when YouTube is their job and at least their second job then that is not cool. At least have the decency to communicate with them and answer emails.

But enough of that and onto what else has been going on these last few days.

I finally got my Christmas shopping done, I hit up some of the smaller stores and found so many cool gifts for the family and friends. Something else I didn't know was how many comic book stores there are here and I really love how each one has so many different products. A lot of times they all stock pretty much the same thing but not the case here in San Fran. Also ran into some interesting people yet again but I think that is a given in San Fran. But this one dude I ran into was regaling with his life story wrapped up into a five minute conversation. And then it took a turn for the creepy and I found out way more than I would want to know about, Long story short he was like the sixty year old virgin who had a phobia of sex and commitment. When I heard that I can't tell you how fast I was getting to my car and heading down the road. Then I ran into a woman whom I had seen before with a cat dressed up as Santa and this time she was pleading with anyone who would listen to please get her off the street and was going on about how she was raped and attacked at the motel she stayed at and how the police wouldn't help her. She really is a sad case of what drugs and alcohol does to people, I did feel sorry for her though and I think I am going to try and get her some help and get her off the street if I possibly can. There must be some program to try and help her out before she dies, I guess the first time I ran into her it was a good day for her but the second time was her bad day and even though she sounded like a crazy person it was evident her true emotions were spilling out. She really is just standing in the middle of the street screaming for help and I just don't think I can forget about her and leave her to whatever may come her way.

Then apparently there are some conventions that have hit town, Because the hotel was trying to say I had to leave but they found a cancellation and could squeeze me in. But of course my rent would go up $400.00 a night. Which is just appalling, I mean no wonder that this country is going down the drain. These companies just have no respect at all for their customers, All they are interested in is how much money they can beat out of us. They are nothing but gangsters operating within the law and it has to stop and I believe one way or another it will stop. People will only put up with so much before they just lose it and go after the bullies.

But that is a whole other story in and of it's self.

© MCM (2011)

December 3, 2011

Well today has been great so far, Started my day off at about 6:45 AM so I would have plenty of time to pack and make myself some breakfast. After I finished breakfast I started my trip to San Francisco, I had forgotten it was a 380 mile trip though but really it didn't make much of a difference. I decided that I would take my convertible so I could enjoy the sun at some point during the trip. Seemed a little early for dropping the top when I left so I waited until a little later in the morning and it was just glorious. Weather was just right for me anyways and I was able to finally get some good sun on the way up there. I had forgotten how nice of a drive it actually was even though it was a longer drive than I usually take.

So made it safe and sound to my destination and got checked into my hotel room, After the bellman delivered my suitcases I decided I would get a hot shower before heading out to see some of the sights. Apparently the hotel had been having some form of trouble with the plumbing because when I went to start the shower I noticed some foul looking water coming up into my tub from the drain which didn't really instill too much confidence in me regarding their supposed 5 star status. They did send their maintenance up and after about 30 minutes they decided to move me to another room, So they moved my bags over and actually upgraded me to a better room. This one had a fully functioning shower with no dirty water backing up into it. So I was finally able to get my shower and head out.

Seems as though there are more unusual people out than other times of the year. I encountered a woman who had a cat dressed in a Santa outfit and she was blatantly on some form of drug / booze or both. I then encountered a woman who had no legs and was sitting in her wheel chair cuddling her dog. She had a heart shaped basket on the ground to collect change, For some reason I didn't feel sorry for the woman with the cat but I was intrigued by the second woman. She was younger but you could see the pain in her eyes, I stopped and spoke with her for a bit and soon she was joined by her husband who was trying to sell guitar strings so they could get money to eat. My general rule is I never give panhandlers money because I don't want to support a habit but neither of them appeared to have had a habit. They just seemed like a young couple who have faced hardship after hardship and were abandoned by everyone around them. They both touched me so much I decided to give them $500.00 so they could eat for a while, He fell to his knees and she started weeping. I then said I was going for a late lunch and would be honored if they joined me so we could talk some more. They declined and we went our separate ways.

I then made my way to Macy's to admire the tree they had up out front of the store and in hopes to get some Christmas shopping done. I was able to get a couple gifts there but still nowhere near what I needed. I guess tomorrow I will go to some of the local shops and see what I can get. Something I was able to get though were some good books and I was able to get some new sketch pads, I am not an artist by any means but they had such bright white paper that would look so great with the black ink from my favorite pen I use to write songs that I just had to buy them for writing and jotting down ideas that come to me, It didn't even matter that there were no lines for writing; I love it when I come across things that speak to me so vividly like that.

Now I am retiring for the night even though it is early, Spent from the days events I look forward to a good nights rest. And tomorrow I can hopefully get out and see more of the city, Might even drive down to the beach and take some pictures and just soak in all this beautiful place has to offer. I am so glad I decided to come here and enjoy life for a little bit.

Goodnight all.

© MCM (2011)

December 2, 2011

So not much going on today, Spent most of the day locked in the studio trying to get work done. Even though I got some much needed rest yesterday I guess I need to take a break creatively also. Maybe if I take the rest of the month off and start back to work as of new years eve when I host a party in Las Vegas it might help me out. I have actually been thinking on going on a small vacation maybe to San Francisco and seeing the sights and relaxing. Haven't been there in ages and I remember all the good restaurants there and fun things to do. Now that I think about it I just might leave in the morning and take a break. That should be interesting for the blog as well.

The other thing I have been doing today has been dealing with my YouTube account again, The more I look at the new channel design the more I am kind of torn. There are many things about it I like but also so many things I don't and I have been reading comments from other users and it seems a lot of other people don't seem to care for it either. As of right now there doesn't seem to be any change in my view counts and I have actually gained quite a few subscribers today. So I guess I will stick to my original plan and not be hasty and see what happens in a week. If I don't see any change as far as view counts or subscribers I guess my plan of attack will be to try it out for a while and decide which version I like better for myself. But I have a feeling even if I do decide that I like the original design better and switch back that in just a matter of months they will just change everyone over and discontinue the original design.

Well I hope everyone is having a good week and will have a good weekend as well, And I will be back with some more updates tomorrow.

© MCM (2011)

December 1, 2011

Well today started off well. I got to sleep in which was something I was in desperate need of, Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over I have been working on so many projects through out the days that I haven't been getting to bed until maybe 4:00 AM and then waking up at around 7:30 AM if I am lucky. On average I have only been getting about 1 – 2 hours sleep and it has been taking a toll on me both physically and creatively. But what most people and especially the record companies and business people don't seem to understand is that we are not machines you know, If we don't get our rest then our creativity levels fall down to nothing but they are more interested in getting that next song wrote or that next beat created. They don't seem to think long term and honestly I believe they don't care if they burn us out, They look at us as disposable items is what I honestly believe. But what they need to understand is not everyone can do what we do even if they try to make everyone believe they can. Truly talented individuals are few and far between and they need to start treating their talent better than they do.

But I am rambling and will probably end up getting in trouble with the powers that be at the record labels and such.

Events of the day were kind of nice for a change, After I awoke from my work induced coma I went out and kind of just enjoyed the day. It felt nice to get some sun and feel the wind on my face. It was also a nice feeling for a change to just do some people watching and pop into a few shops around LA here and try to get some Christmas shopping done....Which I failed miserably at. I don't even know when I will get all that done but that is a whole other story. But back to the events of the day. Then I got a phone call from a friend asking what I was doing for dinner tonight, That was something that hadn't crossed my mind yet so I thought might as well see what she says next. So I replied with “Not sure yet...What's up?” and that led to a dinner invite which took us to Baja Fresh. I had forgotten how good their food was and relished the time spent just relaxing and having good food and conversation. So after we finished dinner and parted ways I figured it was about time to head home and try and clear out some of the inbox and see what else I could get done....Even when I take a day off I am working in some form.

So I logged into my Youtube account and was surprised by the revamped home page, But I really like it. The new look gives it a much more streamlined and refreshed feel. But I wonder if they may have changed too much too fast and might turn people off? Nah people are too addicted to instant videos and all us quirky Youtubers. But then when I logged into my account I found we could change our channels also, I took several hours changing it up and trying to get everything in order. I am kind of at a cross roads with it though because even though it looks sharp it just feels kind of unusual. I like how I can now have icons on my page for Twitter, my blog, my DailyBooth and for my T-Shirt company. But overall something just doesn't feel right with it. So I guess I will give it a week and monitor what the subscriptions and view counts do and take it from there.

Well that is my day in a nutshell, I know this is supposed to be blog that is updated daily but oh well. Now I think I am going to retire for the night and maybe watch a movie and try to get some more rest. Tomorrow brings me to the studio yet again to try and get some work done to keep everyone entertained.

© MCM (2011)