It’s amazing that the Christmas season is already here. It seems like just yesterday I was launching the Two Egrets studio site and blogging about it...

Anyway, a lot has gone on in the past months with personal recording, writing, performing, and the usual. I have been amiss in posting about it. I hope to do more blogging. The blog on the Two Egrets site has been very active, so perhaps I will employ a similar schedule for my songwriting/music site.

To celebrate Christmas this year, I am working on an Origami nativity scene. I posted this to my Twitter account and got quite a few nice comments. Being so, I figured it might be of interest to blog about it. This might appear to have little to do with my music, but it helps. It helps a lot more than one might think.

Art creates art, I think. Being blocked hasn’t been much of a problem for me lately. In fact, I’m very excited to share some of my new recordings with you. As I finish them up, it is helpful for me to have a sense of perspective. One way for me to get that is to try other art forms.

Origami is really fun for me. It’s kind of like folding an elaborate paper airplane that doesn’t fly. Its utility comes from its beauty and it’s simplicity. I often wonder how someone thought to fold paper in such a way. The cool thing about origami is that it mainly relies on a willingness to follow directions. That’s something I’m slowly learning how to do.

Anyway, stay tuned! Thanks for reading.

Diversion – a place or thing that provides amusement or entertainment.

This past week has been busy. Most of it has been fruitful, but it’s been fairly standard stuff—co-writing, song production, technical details, all-things-musical, etcetera, and etcetera.

All work and no play makes me rather dull. So, to avoid the doldrums, I made sure to enjoy several asides this week.

Diversion #1: Ft. Bragg Fair

This came as a last minute suggestion, but it was a welcome one. My wife and I headed to Fayetteville last Saturday for a brief, yet fun trip to the annual Ft. Bragg Fair. It was most enjoyable and diverting. Highlights included the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Zero-Gravity, a stunt show, the Hollies on the Zipper, and funnel cake.

Perhaps the greatest surprise was the excellent Thai restaurant we found in Spring Lake, NC, just north of Fayetteville. Thai Esan had some of the best Thai cuisine I’ve ever had. I didn’t know what to get, so I ordered what sounded best: Yum. It was an Asian salad. It was just as good as it seemed.

I was raised in Fayetteville. I used to enjoy going to the fair every year, even up through the times I would come home from college. I like the carefree atmosphere. Still, to this day, I can only score an 86 on the strong man hammer. Some things never change.

Diversion #2: Ulysses

I had previously sworn off James Joyce’s Ulysses as being pretentious and confusing. Recently, we had been cleaning out a few closets at home. I found several audiotapes, most of which were lectures by the late Joseph Campbell on the life and work of Joyce. I digitized the tapes so I could listen to them in the modern iPod format.

I couldn’t help but re-listen to these absolutely awesome interpretations—I think this would be the only appropriate time I could think of to use the term exegesis, but I despise how the word sounds—of Joyce’s writing.

Maybe a 33-year-old brain can process this book better than a 21-year-old one, but the concepts seem more lucid to me now. When a book is often in the top three of just about every educated person’s “best of the twentieth century” book list, there’s usually a cogent reason. The sheer magnitude of it blows me away.

Yes, the Cyclops inspired “Throwaway, A Race Horse.” That and what was going on in 1997, which is a long story. Far too long for today.

Diversion #3: Wolverine

A lesser-known actor named Judd Omen played a character named Mickey in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. In one of the film’s final moments, as a hyperbolic action film about Pee Wee’s bicycle is played at a local drive-in, Mickey turns to Pee Wee and says, “Great so far, Pee Wee. Action Packed!”

I have that same response to just about every action movie I see. I’m really not too hard to entertain. I like simple action movies. Wolverine was satisfying in that regard. I read a review today that Wolverine was far too simplistic to be considered socially meritorious. Why does Wolverine have to have social significance? I mean, it’s about a guy who has Steel-Plus claws and is indestructible.

Most regard X3 (the last X-men movie) to have been not-so-good. I had a difficulty following it, but I thought it has some good moments. Wolverine, for me, re-piqued my interest in the X franchise. That, and, well, it’s inspiring how far some actors will go to get completely “ripped” for an action movie.

Diversion #4: Thierry David

I was thumbing through the New Age music channel on TV about a year ago. I came across this killer hook over this relaxed back beat. I’m not usually into New Age stuff, but I wrote down the name of the artist. Later, I did a search on iTunes. I found Thierry David.

I don’t know how to pronounce his first name. I Americanize it and just call him “Terry.” Anyway, his stuff is really good. It’s ambient music with hooks. Well-written relaxation pieces. I could easily hear his stuff at a Yoga class or at a dinner party.

Zen Pause is my favorite. I have three others: Ocean Rhapsody, Evasions, and Zen World. He has about twenty other albums, but I only connected with the latest stuff. I like his newer sound best.

I often put on Zen Pause first thing in the morning. It is the most played album in my iTunes library.

Diversion #5: The Smitt

My dog turned 5 a few months ago. He’s a champ. I love Smitty. If you can afford it and have the space, I recommend a big dog. Smitty is a black Labrador Retriever and is 100% love.

Labrador Retrievers come from Canada and are formerly known as “Lesser Newfoundland Hounds.” They like to retrieve things and love to swim. Smitty isn’t very good at either, but enjoys trying. In fact, when it comes to other dog’s retrieving spoils, he’s quite often a crook. He steals tennis balls from other dog’s efforts and tries to get credit for it.

I walk Smitty everyday. I enjoy that.

Meet my brother, Joe.

I had never seen a polar bear in person until yesterday.

The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC is becoming one of my favorite places to hang out. My wife and I have an annual pass; it's a great place to take a walk and enjoy fauna from around the world.

This bear's name is Wilhelm, or Willy for short. He's in his 20's. Polar bears live until they're about 25 or so. He's an older bear. I'm sure it was hot yesterday for him, even though it was about 39 degrees as we walked around. I look forward to seeing Willy again.

It was nice to have a day off. We enjoyed it.

I know this movie came out nearly two weeks ago (as I write this), but, I finally got around to seeing it. Wall-E (in addition to having one of the best websites for a movie, ever) was a really enjoyable movie for me.

Pixar, with the exception of a few movies, has generally produced films that I've thoroughly enjoyed. At face value, the incredibly sophisticated computer animation is pure eye candy; and, kids love that stuff. Underneath, there's a larger story that even the best well read of adults could appreciate. Wall-E joins many of the other films in this regard.

Wall-E is set 700 years into the future. The Earth is full of trash and a lone robot continues to do it's job: cleaning up the Earth. Humans have left Earth for a "five year" cruise on the Axiom mega-cruise space ship. The trip has turned into a 700 year venture. The cruise ship is furnished and run by Buy N' Large, seemingly the only corporation on Earth at the time of the ship's departure. Without giving away the plot (which is really good), there's a lot of great twists and a satisfying, happy ending.

Wall-E presents a bleak picture of the course of humanity. Once we see humans on board the Axiom, we see them in hover chairs in a virtual, isolated reality. They consume all of their food in liquid form "in a cup." They are all obese from not having to work, or better, even do any basic life tasks--computers and robots do it for them. It kind of made me wonder, is this the course we are headed for?

The visuals are stunning. I think this is the most visually pleasing of the Pixar films. The voice of Wall-E was credited to Ben Burtt, who came up with all of the original, vintage sound effects in the Star Wars saga. Hearing Wall-E's voice and watching his eyes are worth the price of admission.

I haven't gotten out to the movies as much as I hoped I would this summer. Of the three movies I've seen, Wall-E has been my favorite. The other one's were really good, too. I remember reading that there was skepticism as to how good this movie season would be. It's been pretty good so far. I don't know much about movie awards, but I'm sure Wall-E will do well.