I'm Back

Well, here I am once more, and I broke my promise. (Shame on me!) I promised last month I would have a post ready at least once a week. But, I went and gave myself a vacation. I’m back though, and guess what, I’m not promising anything this time. I can justify my absence at least a bit by saying that the last post was really a biggie—by the way, I hope everyone’s read the Prologue by now. I have been writing my book during this time, and it’s going well, but not as well as it should. There is one big problem which, as long as it stays unsolved, prevents the book from being finished and published. So, it won’t be ready for the planned October release. I’m very sorry. Having said that, I believe it will be ready for the public sometime in the first half of the next year.

So, what have I been doing besides writing the book? Well, I’ve been busy with my band. We had a gig three weeks ago, and it was awesome. Here are some of the videos from that gig. Storm - Sweet Home Alabama Storm - Walk of Life Storm - Whatever You Want And this is just the beginning. Next month, we are going in there for real. Also, our band has a website managed by Pero. I won't give you a link here because its so poorly done it's not even funny. Just kidding (or not).

I've read some great books during this past month. I discovered Dan Wells and his John Cleaver books and Partials. I've been trying to get hold of his latest book, The Hollow City, but I just can't seem to get my hands on it. I've read one more Stephen King book (Four Past Midnight), and it was awesome as all his books are.

On a totally unrelated note, I've been researching a bit about the Mac and VoiceOver, and I like it a lot. It seems like my next computer will be a Mac.

So, that's it for today, and see you next time (whenever that may be). Be safe, be strong, drink a lot of beer and don't do anything productive on these hot days.

Long Time, No See

Here I am, guys; I haven't died yet. So, why was I inactive on this blog for... oh my God... a month? Well, real life things got in the way, you know, things such as my sister getting married (congrats, sister) and me finishing the music school (thank God) and having the first ever gig with Storm (yay). It really isn't surprising that I haven't posted for a month. But, here I am, stronger and more (damn, I've already used that one).Anyway, this is just a quick post for me to sort of get back on track, and for you to know that I'm still out there. My book is going very well, and the prologue will be published on this blog next week for your enjoyment and commentage (hope it's not too bad). Also, the first episode of my podcast is in the works. The podcast will be essentially the same as this blog (without prolonged gaps between the posts, though).
The gig at Srce: it was so much fun. We were the first to climb the stage, which proved a real bummer because half of the people we invited weren't there. On the other hand, we were the only band out of nine that played an encore, which is awesome. The comments are pretty good; many people were surprised at our professional sound, considering we're only together for three months.
So, that's it for this time. One final note: I promise to post at least once a week. The podcast episodes may appear a little more rarely, but every two weeks sounds all right to me. See you next time, which will be on monday (or maybe tuesday)...

A Rehearsal: Prequel to a... Oh Wait...

I know, I know. Long time no see. But, here I am, stronger and more terrible than ever before. And with a new keyboard, too--it's awesome (those of you who follow me on Twitter know this already). Besides that, there's some big news since I last posted, so let's get on with it, shall we?

Storm (that is, my band) is playing on June 8 in Srce (a local club). We're pretty excited about it. We won't be playing the whole night, but only five songs, because it's really a twenty-year-anniversary celebration of another band, and they invited us to play along with several other bands. But we're going to be the best. If you're coming, check in on Facebook: .

Also, it looks like we're going to appear on Radio 101 sometime in June. It's not certain yet, however. More info on this as it develops.

What else? I don't know... ah yes. Here's a video from a rehearsal a while back (we're a lot better now, trust me): Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing to boost your excitement for June 8.

Catch Up If You Can

I know, I've been away for a long time. Schools required my attention this week so I've been unable to devote some time to this blog. Sorry about that. But, here's a little post in which I'm going to catch you up on the goings on in my life.
First off, let's talk about Game of Thrones. The Old Gods and the New (who names the episodes this season?) was a... frustrating episode. I'm not going into details, but all the changes from the books just didn't work. The good: Winterfell (Theon is an imbecile), King's Landing riot (Joffrey gets slapped ftw), Daenerys and the spice king. The bad: Arya's wish (it makes perfect sense for her to want Lorch killed, but in the show they made her do it for all the wrong reasons--book readers will know what I'm talking about), Jon Snow's scenes (no comment), but the thing that bugs me most is the dragon-napping. It doesn't happen in the books, and seriously, who steels dragons from their mother? Only a fool, I'd say. Bottom line, this episode gets a miserable 6/10 from me.
Moving on. I've read some pretty interesting books recently. In this post, I'm just going to comment briefly on every book; full reviews are coming.
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King: A new Dark Tower book is just what every constant reader has been waiting for. A story within a story within a story, it has a very unusual structure. Roladn and his companions aren't the main protagonists of this book. It's Tim Stoutheart, and his quest to save his mother. A recommendation for this book goes to everyone, not just those who read The Dark Tower, and not just constant readers.
Shortly before I made this blog, I finished The Wheel of Time, and it was awesome, save for a few points which were not quite so awesome, but we'll get to it in the full review of the series. The total time it took to read this series was three months. Just saying.
Next, I picked up The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. And, when I finished it, I was stunned. It was so epic, particularly the last part. Sanderson, it seems, really is going to be the heir to RJ.
I began reading A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham yesterday. I wasn't really satisfied with the prologue, but chapter 1 seems to be better, so I'm going to reserve judgement until I finish the book.
My book, A Voicer of Darkness, is going pretty well. An announcement: sometime in June, I'm going to publish the prologue of A Voicer of Darkness on this blog for free. I expect the complete book to be published in October.
There should have been a rehearsal yesterday, but I, sadly, was unable to be there. Or, to be honest, I was forced to be somewhere else. I think that we'll have a rehearsal today, though.
I believe that is all for now. So, don't worry be happy, and see you next time.

A Rehearsal: Prequel to a Gig

It wasn't the rehearsal, but it was a rehearsal. And a very short one, at that. We rehearsed? (the spellchecker has no problem with it, so I guess it's a word) for a little more than two hours. Which is very short. In fact, it's the shortest rehearsal we've ever had. I, as well as the others, was amazed.
Spash wasn't in attendance because he had some work to do (no, he wasn't drunk this time). That's part of the reason why we were so brief. We couldn't play three songs in which he plays the solos, but that's not really it--I improvised a little and it sounded okay. Here's the thing. Some of us noticed that two weeks ago, when Spash also wasn't in attendance, we played really well--in fact, we could've gladly posted videos on YouTube if someone had remembered to record the damn thing. Last week, Spash was with us, and... it did not all sound very well; some arrangements had to be made and all that. And yesterday, we played awesomely! No, we played awesomely awesome! I like this, because it's awesome! Hah, but seriously, it was really awesome!
So, you may ask yourself, why did we not stay and play, if it was so awesomely awesome? The answer is, sadly, no more songs all of us know. Mata knows Led Zeppelin, Pero and I know November Rain, Johny knows Iron Maiden and so on. But, other than these eight songs we've agreed to play together so far, there are really few we all know. And those we do know, they are either really dull or extremely stupid. So, we departed. Some home, some to their girlfriends, and some, like me, to beer! (heh)
We settled on L.A. Woman for the next week, which is kind of not very easy to learn by ear, as I do, but what can a man do. *sigh* And, nothing of the keyboards yet, because Spash is the man who hath understanding of this beast, and he's doing work, as I've already said.
Time to rap up, for I'm repeating myself. I promise videos next time. No, really.

A Song of...

As I said in the previous post, I had a rehearsal with my band yesterday. Let him who hath understanding hear the wisdom of my words, for they are... wise? Anyway, here's the commentary.
A few things before we start. I'm going to be referring to the band as Storm, because that's how it was called before some things happened, which we won't talk about here. Why? Because I said so! Buahahaha! There are six of us in Storm: Pero and Spash on guitars, Johny the voice, Josip on bass, Mata on drums, and me on keyboards. Onward.
We started playing The Cult's Lil Devil, which is the 8th song in our repertoire as of now (what, we're a young band!). There are no keyboards in that song, so I improvised my part, and it sounds well. There were a few tricky parts, but all in all, we managed to play the whole thing at the end of the evening. Which is pretty good. Also, we played the other seven songs, an I kind of lost my temper when we had to repeat the ending of Whatever You Want for the hundredth time (figuratively) because of Johny. (Sorry, dude, I wasn't really in the mood. I'll get you a beer next time.) Which reminds me: Spash was drunk. Siriusly, we thought he wouldn't be able to play. We were wrong. Considering how wasted he was, he did really well. I guess it's true that you play better when you're drunk. I'll have to try it some time.
In other news, it looks like I'm going to try out a new keyboard on Tuesday (Korg M1). I know it's old, but it's one of the best keyboards out there, and it would be my first professional one. Really excited about this, let me tell ya. More on this in later posts.
And that's all for now, I think, until next time...