Who Am I Listening To These Days?--Part 1

Scottieholics! Salutations! It's been a long time I shouldn't have left you without a good entry to read through. For the past couple of days, I've been reading Mick Foley's book, "Hardcore Diaries."

Once up reading, it made me feel guilty for not writing. It's just that as of late I've been feeling rather sluggish when it comes toward writing. On the train ride home from work, I made it a point to head to my fairly unorganized and messy spot, The Desk of Ideas. That's where the magic usually happens. As of late, my ears has been dedicated to Henry Mancini.

I came across Mancini via television. I'm not sure which one of his television scores caught my ear first. Was it "What's Happening?!", "Remington Steel", "Pink Panther", "Newhart" or "Hotel"? It's been so long ago I'll just say all of them did. I have some his albums as you see above. This guy has an amazing body of work which encompasses 90 albums. Yes, 90! It blows my mind thinking about how many albums Mancini dished out.

Here are a couple of his songs I had uploaded. You may have to change volume I believe each file varies.

NBC Nightly News Theme


Once Is Not Enough


At times, listening to Henry once is not enough. How about that play on the title? If I were a trained musician, Mancini would've been one of my influences. Personally, in my own opinion, Mancini is your favorite composer's favorite composer. With someone of that high of a calibre, how can he not be? In the meantime, arrivederci and Godspeed!

Bash at the Beach 1996

Scottieholics! Salutations! Well, I had to chalk another one up for the day. As I was relaxing to go to sleep, I learned today was the day that the wrestling world was turned upside down. This goes back to 1996. It was when Will Smith took the box office by storm with “Independence Day”. Apparently, Word Championship Wrestling and Hulk Hogan took note. Hulk Hogan took the wrestling world by storm by unleashing the evil, street wise persona, “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan. The reason behind that was Hulk Hogan was booed a la John Cena in good ol’WCW. The fans of the south were a fan of athleticism and not a fan of anything that was pushed out of New York (World Wrestling Federation) with the testosterone filled soap operas. Basically, the Hulk Hogan mantra, “Take Your Vitamins, Say Your Prayers” was down the virtual toilet.

On July 7th, 1996, history was about to change and it’s still being talked about ‘til this day. It was the WCW pay-per-view, “Bash at the Beach.” For the main event, it was a six-man tag. On the corner representing the good guys, you had Lex Luger, Sting, and “Macho Man” Randy Savage and in the opposing corner, there was Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and a mystery partner.

For many weeks, I wondered who the mystery partner could be. I thought about one of the 4 Horsemen, but that wasn’t happening. It was someone nobody would’ve guessed in a million years. At the climax of the match, Luger, Sting, and Savage were down for the count and it looked like Scott Hall and Kevin Nash (the Outsiders) were going to take it to the bank.

Suddenly, Hulk Hogan came out. He was not seen on television for several weeks. It appeared to be he was going to help out Luger, Sting, and Savage, but was the other way around. He was the mystery partner! That damned Hogan was the mystery partner! He sold it really good by giving Savage the big leg drop. Hogan neutralized Sting and tossed the referee Randy “Pee Wee” Anderson out of the ring. Hogan gave Savage another leg drop while Hall and Nash counted.

Uno.

Dos.

Tres.

After Savage was carried out of the ring, there was almost a real life riot. The fans illustrated their great displeasure by throwing cups, garbage, and other sort of debris into the ring. Hell, even a fan jumped the guardrail in an attempt to attack Hogan but was intercepted by Hall and Nash and whisked away by WCW security.

Roving WCW reporter, “Mean” Gene Okerlund returned to the ring demanding answers from Hogan. Hogan pushed the envelope even further by saying that he was tired of the fans that turned on him despite everything he had done for them over the last two years in WCW, that Hall and Nash were the two people that he wanted as his friends, that he was bored with the way his career had turned out, and that together, the three of them would take over the company and destroy everything in their path in the process. In a post-match interview, Hogan dubbed the three men “the new world organization of wrestling”, this was changed “New World Order” and history was made.

I wish I could get into more detail about this, but I’m almost on empty. Thus meaning I need to get my screwy butt to bed! In the meantime, arrivederci and Godspeed!

I Need To Get Back Into This

Scottieholics! Salutations! I apologize for the slight delay on another entry. As of late, I've been camping out in my living room just for kicks for about almost a couple of weeks. After being around the television, surfing, and playing with the Playstation 2 when time was avail, it made me realize why I couldn't write crap in Texas. I couldn't write in Texas because I was in my dorm room quite of bit (perhaps more than I should've) and around the television. Television is my proverbial kryptonite when it boils down to writing. I'll just sit there, watch it, and surf. Heaven knows how many ideas were either stalled or went down the virtual toilet due to that habit. As I was getting older, I learned television and writing does not mix unless I'm in Hollywood writing for a television show.

Speaking of writing for a television show, many moons ago. I was looking at the option of going to college or join the military. I thought about doing the former before doing the latter. I thought about actually going to college and heading out to California to write for a television show. But I'm glad I chose the latter. Had I hadn't I would be in debt up to my eyeballs in college loans and other evil things. And also, I'd like to have creative freedom and get paid more those studios or book publishers will ever pay me. As I continue typing in these blogs, we can see it as calisthenics.

I should look at writing those personal ads as such in retrospect. That would probably sink in one of those days. These days I'd get mentally exhausted if I think about writing another personal ad ever again. Maybe I'm still a little pissed at myself for wasting such talents on something that undervalues my worth. In the meantime, I need to get back into setting up shop back at the desk of ideas (the desk you see above) over here at Scottropolis. Arrivederci and Godspeed!

The Thickness of Audio

Scottieholics! Salutations! Here is the entry I was talking about many entries. Prior to typing this, I had to re-read the article and managed to throw in the juicy stuff. It was published in Scratch magazine dated back from the May/June 2005 issue. This article made me look deeper into my music collection and also I found another reason why I hardly stand the current mainstream music. The latter is another entry for another day.

The article is about rap pioneer DJ Quik and is entitled the “Main Ingredient” by Johnny Mann.


The “ORIGINAL HOME of the Muppets” is probably the last place you’d expect to find one of the pioneers of gangsta rap working on his latest release (due out in May), but it’s not as weird as it sounds. Located on the five-acre lot is a state-of-the-art recording facility that has played host to Quincy Jones, the Rolling Stones, and most notably the “We Are the World” performance. When we arrived at Henson Studios, Quik was marveling at his new board and practically in awe of the sounds that he has been producing for his new album using his patent-pending “ID Process.” If you thought he was slipping, think again. In between crafting tracks for Chingy and Jigga and serving as the Game’s tour DJ, Quik has been on a mission inventing this new system of sampling and thickening up his sound. Sounding more inspired than he has in years, Quik let us in on a few secrets of his recording process that led to the creation of what he calls a project that will send all producers back to the drawing board. It’s big talk, but if you heard what we did you wouldn’t bet against him.

SCRATCH: What are the advantages of recording in a spot like Henson Studios?

QUIK: I hate to say this to all my producer friends who really desire to record and make hit records in the bedroom, but the power that comes into your house is dirty. It’s dirty consumer power that gets polluted by things like the refrigerator and the microwave. Even if you don’t have a hum in the room, or you lifted the IEC cable to whatever piece of equipment that you are using, the power is still dirty. In real recording studios, they condition their power so it’s clean. You don’t get spikes or fluctuations that cause anomalies in your equipment, which end up affecting your sound. So an advantage of recording in a big studio is that the power is clean. Second and most importantly, there are no parallel walls. The shape of the room has everything to do with what you hear. When you are in a room shaped like a box, the sound is bouncing from all the walls, and when the sound bounces from your speakers to a wall that’s flat and back to your speakers, you lose all depth of perception. So in a sense you are making boxy-sounding records, while in a studio you make big, open, realistically stereo records.

SCRATCH: I overheard you mention that the TL Audio VTC board is one of the main reasons your new album came out the way it did. How did that help enhance your sound?

QUIK: It added the third dimension. Because people use computers a lot, the sound is different. There’s no sound in a computer. It only records information and spits out what it thinks it recorded. It does that by converting signals to digital information and then reconverting it back into an audible signal. That board [pointing to the VTC] is an analog board, so it doesn’t reconvert anything. It passes a signal through the tubes, preamps, and solid-state circuitry. They’re all daisy chained in the right way to where when the signal comes back out, it’s three times better than it was when it went in. It’s like a hot rod. And it just does magical things to the low end that we miss when record to computers. Computers are notorious for stripping away the bottom or for not giving you the same bottom that you put in. Sometimes they don’t convert those low odd harmonic frequencies. Digital is getting better and it’s an easier medium to deal with, but at the same time, it’s not that thump we want to hear when we get in a club. Whereas the VTC board that I got has the low roll and girth of music that we’re used to from the early ‘90s and beyond. It’s thick forever. Parliament, Slave, and even some Donny Hathaway records were using a lot of those old tubes. When digital came in, it made it all cheaper and faster, but it also affected the sound and made the sound cheaper. With that said, the TL Audio VTC just gave us back the sound we were used to when we produced records early on, and you can’t beat it.

SCRATCH: Where did you come across it?

QUIK: I saw it at Westlake Studios right around the time I was into digital mixing. I was trying to get my heart to accept that this is the way music is going so I gotta get on board or be left behind. I jumped on board and my sound ended up getting thinner as a result. Then one day I happened to be at Westlake Studios in Santa Monica and saw it. I was like, “Look at that mega piece of equipment.” It looked like a living, breathing thing as opposed to a cold, flat surface with a mouse. It was like looking into the past. So I had my friend bring in one of my CDs from the car and just listened to a session that I was working on. It didn’t necessarily add anything, but as soon as I played my song through the board it just warmed the sound up. Right then I knew that’s what I needed, so I had to buy it. It’s an expensive bitch, but it’s well worth it.

SCRATCH: In the past you’ve mentioned that you use a lot of second-and-third-harmonic distortion. Can you elaborate?

QUIK: Computers have no harmonic distortion, but a tape machine is dripping with third-harmonic distortion. Third-harmonic distortion is the overtones of resonance that creates a chord as opposed to just that one note ringing out and decaying over time. When you record to tape, something happens where it makes notes one octave above and one octave below the note that you bring up. It swells the sound up and covers more sonic space. They’re invisible harmonics so you don’t hear them, you feel them. That’s why it was hard for people to get used to CDs, the sound was real thin and bland, because they don’t record second-and third-harmonic distortion. The sound was in your face, but on tape and vinyl it’s in your face and all over the room. By recording it on something different, you add magic to it, whereas if you tried to get that sound on digital, you have to do a lot of things and you still won’t really end up with it.

Chess

Scottieholics! Salutations! For about a decade and a half, chess has been playing a certain role in my life. It teaches the balance of existence, strategize, attack, and defense. I’m not really into football, but the 2007 Super Bowl can make a good example. For those who may not remember, it was the Chicago Bears going against the Indianapolis Colts. If you can relate to football, you can relate to chess. Football is an example of chess. The coaches strategize on which player can perform the job effectively instead sending someone out there at random. That’s totally no different from chess.

I learned how to play chess when I was 12 years old by signing up for the school’s chess club. I started to love the game as a game. A boss thinking game to be exact. As a beginner, I’d watch myself as a lamb who was innocently walking into a slaughterhouse. Yes, I was getting mauled across the board. Just as with any beating, there was a lesson waiting to be learned.

Many saw it as a glutton for punishment. But in retrospect, it was an extra conditioning. It gave me some sort of discipline I needed. It’s one of the reasons why you see me take life a bit more seriously than the average Joe Schmoe.

When I say, “Chess is life”, I’m being honest. It’s really about life at its most basic level. Here’s an example, in chess a lot of players protect their queens at all costs. In life, a man loses his woman and hell breaks loose. The comic book character, The Punisher, is a perfect example. Frank Castle (The Punisher) loses his family through gunfire. He snaps and kills any criminal at will without any sense of remorse.

Being a writer, it is another outlet for me to play god. You’re not just a piece like in Monopoly, Sorry, and many others I cannot name at the moment. You’re playing all pieces. You’re choosing the fate for each piece whether it is a bishop, pawn, knight, rook, or queen.

Not everyone is built for chess where it builds patience, skills, and the idea of being resourceful. I came across people who’d want to knock the board over out of frustration. Nobody wants to second guess themselves. In retrospect, you have to realize each move you make can have an impact on your future. ‘Til the next entry, arrivederci and Godspeed!

Another Site Advertisement

Scottieholics! Salutations! As much as you all know, I'm a pro wrestling fan. On Monday, Thursday, Friday and some Saturday nights, I'm watching WWE RAW, Friday Night Smackdown, and TNA Impact. Since one of my buddies have moved, I can actually scale back and watch the programs. Before it was the DVR and spoilers whereas I know what's going down before the show comes on and in some cases, after the show. Both of those outlets have made me a bit more spoiled and privileged. Next I'll start typing as if I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Knowing damn well the spoon was plastic and government peanut butter was on that spoon!

The best site to go to get info about World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Total Nonstop Action (TNA) wrestling, Ring of Honor (ROH), and many other wrestling outlets is www.wrestleview.com. Hunter Golden and Adam "Captain Funkadelic" Martin are totally boss in my book for putting it together and having it up and running. Also, if you're into listening to podcasts, if you look around the site and dig up the Pro Wrestling Rewind. The show is hosted by Adam and "The Power" Andy Knowles. As much advertisement, I put on this website I know I should be getting paid. Well, my love for the sport is worth more than the money itself.

Many weeks ago, my CD player had an untimely demise and fortunately, I had my laptop with me when that happened. Since I have the luxury of listening my audio devices at work, I asked permission to use the laptop since the CD player died. Fortunately, the boss gave it the green light and she is really groovy for doing that. Once I got home, I went to Wrestleview and downloaded the podcasts. From my perspective, the show is entertaining and there were times I had to stifle the laugh at work. Like when Mike Scilliano substitued for Andy on the show. Mike was funny and fiesty. I almost thought it was me on the phone talking to "The Power". Anyways, Mike has a blog which is listed on my blog list entitled, "Pro's From the Palace."

You'll be getting a hell of a insight from him. Whenever I'm reading them, it feels like he and I are on the same wavelength as far as WWE and TNA goes. Before I screw around and segway myself into something else, I must say this. If you're a wrestling fan or inspire to be a wrestling fan, stop www.wrestleview.com. You shall not be disappointed. In the meantime 'til the next entry. Arrivederci and Godspeed!

I'm Still Standing

Scottieholics! Salutations! I was scrolling around the website and realized it has been a little while since I wrote an entry. Since I'm in my old stomping grounds as far as writing goes, I figured why not post one up. As you all know, I'm not too big on fillers. But I write them to give you groovy readers some reassurance that I'm still standing.

As of late, I've been wearing quite of bit of hats. I think a little bit more than I bargained for. But it's one of those things that make life interesting. Right now, I just cannot wait to take off one of them so I can get back to writing. It should be in a matter of days when I can really get back into it. Currently, I miss how it feels to sit down at a desk or table and just let my brain flow and guide my fingers into the right direction.

I have a certain entry in mind that would make you readers change your point of view. It has broaden my knowledge. In the meantime, stay tuned and dig this groovy, rare Kool & The Gang song entitled, "Mighty Mighty High."

Shyness is Attractive

Scottieholics! Salutations! Well, I'm back in the driver's seat and feeling rather froggy to post once again. During the unexpected sabbitical, I had the luxury of reading while going to and from work. So I revisited some books to get the wheels turning once again. If I'm not writing and cannot come up with a decent entry to write about, I'd go through my library and dig for something. If many of you are familiar with the Hip Hop culture, you are familiar with the term, crate digger. A crate digger is a deejay or a producer would find some records to use whether it's for a party, to make a rap song, or just to collect. Well, I went through some books I had read many moons ago and combed right through them to find a good vehicle for my ideas.

Anyways, to get the fireworks popping. Whomever told you shyness is bad has lied. I kid you not. They lied to compensate for their lack of understanding shyness. I'm willing to bet two dollars. Scratch that. I'll bet my yearly salary a good load of them never been shy a day in their life. Nothing against those people. They mean well, but their advice is misguided. If I were at the table, I'd say use your shyness as a tool. As in, work with it. Not against it. Working against it will make you the antithesis of who you are.

The most common misconception is the shy and quiet ones are usually the types who'd fit the profile of a sociopath. Well, those crazed sociopaths who perform horrendous crimes usually do it just for the sake of being famous. Not because of being shy and quiet. They'd wake up one morning and feel they can leave a mark on this world and be famous for it. Unfortunately, they take the route of taking innocent lives to do so. Due to his or her sensitivity level, a shy person would rather harm him or herself than harm another human being as well as any living creature.

With that being said, sensitivity is a romantic trait. It shows you sense how your partner is feeling. I came across a few women who griped and complained their significant others were not sensitive about their feelings. Unfortunately, many of us men were raised to believe sensitivity is unmanly. Well, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. To those who are not sensitive towards their partners' feelings, they will have to learn to be sensitive or risk losing the relationship completely.

Over the years, I learned I was more of a marriage potential than a dating potential. The reason being I bring substantial qualities to the table. I'm not here to brag and boast about it. Anyone can bring that bravado to the table, but it is better to walk it than talk it. You have more stories to tell once you're out on the proverbial battlefield. If I were a bragger, I wouldn't be this groovified, funkdafied Aesop who is typing today. Due to my qualities, many of the women the guys drooled over would be looking for me. Now, anyone can be hot, good looking, and what have you. I'm sure there is some 5 foot 4 beauty queen has the hots for a 5 foot 8, 300 pound guy. Of course, many people would ask, "What does she sees in him?"

The answer is simple. The qualities make the person attractive. We shy people bring unique qualities to the table that makes us interesting. I'm not saying shy people are better than anyone else. We all have our own issues to deal with as much as anyone else if not more. It's just that we're just as attractive as the next person. Shyness never was and never will be a disease. If doctors tell you that shyness is a disease, they should be revoked of their licenses for malpractice. In the meantime, arrivederci and Godspeed!

Positivity

Scottieholics! Salutations! Things are coming back into place for sure. For the past few weeks, I had a series of things going on which prevented me from writing. Many would say blogging, but I prefer to say writing. I've been writing since the last quarter of 1990. Yeah, almost 20 years. Yes, I'm getting old. Next I'll be writing about wearing bifocals and taking Viagra. Good times! Before I get into this entry, I'd like to say my Match.com profile is coming to a close. The reason being I'm tired of putting in so much effort where I'm getting little to nothing in return. I could sulk about it, but it's not going to get me anywhere. The last time I did sulk about it let's just say I went away for several months.

For those who are interested in using my personal ad as a blueprint to follow, just slip me an email at scottiepoindexter@gmail.com and we can go on from there. With that being said the entry I'm going to slip into is positivity. I've been wanting to do it for quite sometime. It's just a matter of time for me to go into the right direction. I'm not too big on using my personal life, but I'll use certain aspects of it to help illustrate the picture. Personal experiences help paint a better picture and put things into perspective. That's one of the reasons why I got into writing. While the world is content with negativity, I always strive to stay positive. It is never easy to stay positive in a negative world. However, I've been fortunate to escape a negative one and bounce into a positive one. To me, it's good. It helps me continue to evolve as a person.

Sometime ago, I wasn't getting what I wanted in the dating department. I've been getting familiar song and dance routines that could've been a shoe-in for the Gong Show. Hey, yo, Chuck Barris, bring out the gong! I'm feeling rather froggy, man. The catchy dance routine "You're Too Nice", the rousing number, "You're Too Weird", and my personal favorite I keep in my laptop so I can do the Cabbage Patch dance to, "You're Too Smart." It really doesn't take a psych major to decipher those quotes. As much as I love being the deskchair psychologist, it just years of experience decipher those codes. "You're Too Nice" it really actually does mean you're too nice or that person cannot see him or herself with a great person. With me, it's the latter. For those who fall into the latter, that person has self esteem issues and not worth your time unless you have a couch and get paid by the hour.

"You Too Weird" phrase is so easy I can tell the answer to this one in my sleep. It equals to "I'm sooooooo insecure with myself it boggles the mind." And the last one, "You're Too Smart." That person is really not worth your time unless you perform miracles. However, some of us men are no different. About many moons ago, I sat down with some women and they were definite marriage material. I thought about dating one of them, but she was already engaged. The engaged one told me she went through some men who weren't ready to commit. She noticed through many song and dance routines also. One man gave her the "I Don't See You In A Romantic Way" routine. Well, that's a nice and cowardly way of saying, "I don't want to be with you."

Many of the excuses pecked away at her self-esteem. She told me she thought many things were wrong with her. Such as not attractive enough, not intelligent enough, and what have you. One of her girlfriends chimed in and said, "That's when I told her to make a list of her most attractive qualities."

I thought, what a groovy concept. I took it to heed and made a list of my positive qualities. That's what I encourage you Scottieholics. Not just only for dating purposes. Also for social purposes if you want to broaden your circle. I'll share with you five qualities from my list.

1. Intelligent
2. Technical
3. Sensitive
4. Fiesty
5. Different

If one person shies away from me, that's less b.s. for me to deal with. Life is too short for it. For many years, I heard many people always say, "I want a great partner." And when that person shows up, they choke. If you want it, go for it. Don't be like the Patriots and choke. You never know when an opportunity like that comes again. Arrivederci and Godspeed!

New Section

Scottieholics! Salutations! I'm going to make this short and sweet considering I should be asleep. It's been a while since I posted an entry. Hopefully, sometime this weekend an entry will be up. I added a new section in this blog for my aliases. Feel free to check them out, I may use one of them throughout the time here at this site. Just click on "Scottie Aliases" on the right side of the page. If you see an alias and went through the list, you won't be lost. Anyways, I must go. In the meantime, arrivederci and Godspeed!