I LOVE MY BESTIES!

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Michael Jackson died yesterday of cardiac arrest.

In fact, I’m fairly certain you know already, because a good portion of the world knew within 30 minutes of the event.  Christy and I had a cup of coffee and checked our Twitter and Facebook accounts right around 3:30pm, and the world was a BUZZING about it all. By the time I tweeted and facebooked it, I had already read it from dozens of my FB friends. 

Amazing.

We’re talking about mere MINUTES after he died (he was pronounced dead at 3:15pm PST, I think)–the whole world knew–well, at least those connected to the most popular social networking sites.

But let’s not forget the network news stations…oh wait…we can…because most of them didn’t cover the story until a couple of hours after the fact–at least on the west coast (which was an eternity later).  And although we all were watching the 5 o’clock news to hear more of the story, by then it was old news. The world is just moving faster than that.
Hopefully you’re jumping on board, if you haven’t already.

OK–enough of that…onto MJ.

Hmm…

Unfortunately, for folks around my age or younger, the only thing we really can remember about Michael Jackson is his reputation in the 90′s, which wasn’t great. 

I’m hanging around with some older folks this weekend (heeheehee) who are all fans of MJ because they are old enough to remember the MJ of the 80′s–the HUGE pop star he was during that time…the time of BAD, and BEAT IT, and THRILLER, and BILLY JEAN, and so on, and so forth…

But not me. I only know of MJ from the 90′s…the strange era of his life.  The child molestation accusations, the trials, the weird plastic surgery allogations…you know, the “Whacko Jacko” era. 

Sadly, I understand the loss of the King of Pop for what it is, but it is not as emotional for me.  I appreciate the event for its global magnitude, and I understand the fact that he was one of the biggest pop stars in the world, but I’m not devastated by it.  I guess I was just born a little too late for this one…

…or maybe my heart is just an emotional meat locker.

Next on Daniel’s blog…”The Proposal”.

Last year at this time I was frantically calling the Glendale Galleria to see what their policy was for staying overnight to buy the new iPhone 3G. I WAS SO EXCITED. Turns out I went over there around midnight, and was joined shortly thereafter by Heidi…and we stayed up all night until the opening of the Apple Store at 8AM.
IT WAS AWESOME.
We were 12th and 13th in line.  We walked out of the store with our iPhones, and I’m pretty sure (not exaggerating here, folks) that there were 500 people in line behind us by that time. I actually thought I was going to be mugged, or there would be a riot…or something.
It was epic.

This year, I’m will not be upgrading quite so quickly. I’m not too sad about it. I love my phone…and although video capture would be pretty sweet, that’s about the only feature that I know of that is enticing as of now.  The 3.0 update is pretty rockin’ and there’s an app for just about everything…soooooo I’m good.  I’m good for now…you know…and also, I kinda started a business this year…and that has cost me some money…so, I’m being smart this time…and waiting.

I’m not sad.

Really.

(sniff)

–

In other news:
This week has been amazingly stressful, but I’m just about done with EVERYTHING I wanted to accomplish. I’m sooooo grateful to you all for your prayers.  It has been tough and also fulfilling.

Twelve years ago I walked into a professors office as a lowly freshman at APU and told him that I wanted to be the next John Williams.
I was definitly more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed than I am now…
He went on and on about how hard I was going to have to work–told me about all I needed to learn and know how to do–and frankly, overwhelmed me a bit.  So let me just say that although I am actually TRULY surprised by the incredible amount of work it takes to do what I’m doing, I can’t say that I didn’t see it coming. The long hours and sleepless nights are just all a part of the deal, folks…and let’s just be clear that I’m not making millions here, either…I’m still doing a lot of work for free and/or little pay. That’s just where I’m at on the totem pole, but I’m OK with it.
And I press on…working my bushy tail off…and sometimes taking a break for facebook scrabble.

And let that just be the gauntlet you need thrown before you if you aren’t already playing with me…I hereby challenge you to a facebook scrabble duel.

BRING IT ON.

…equals a cluttered mind?

My current computer desktop…

Nothing much is going on ’round these parts…

I had a fantastic time on Tuesday night listening to a bunch of John Williams’ music played live at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro at a rehearsal. It was epic.

It was really helpful for me to be there as a composer, especially after a long day of fighting with my computer so that I could attempt to write in that same genre. It reminded me of WHY I love music, and why I want to be a film composer…errr…am a film composer.

For real, it was SO inspiring. I need to go back.

In other news, there was a big debacle about a rug we bought from IKEA that was shedding wool all over our house–we returned it but did not have the receipt, so we only got store credit.  This means that the boys finally got a big dresser for their clothes…and also that I spent about 9 hours last night assembling the darn thing.  I think the name of the dresser was Blerg.

Speaking of 30 Rock, I found this blog on another blog linking me to a blog about how 30 Rock is really just a remake of The Muppet Show. The comparison is actually stunning…

Work is coming in steadily–really steadily, which is a huge blessing. 
And I STILL haven’t decided on a business name, but I think I’m just going with something generic and professional like “Semsen Music”

I know, original, huh?

Currently writing music for Travelscope (India show) and starting orchestration for a Curious George show on Monday.

Pressing on…

…but I’m sure you’ve already heard alllll about it, dear readers (all seven of you).

BUT THEN I SAW THIS:

Heaven help us.

And a snake in your crotch, Adam? Really?!

REALLY?!?!

I wish Danny Gokey would have won (or, at least come in second).

Well, back to the iPhone. I’m not getting a new one because for me it would cost $399.00 to upgrade (like all other current iPhone 3G owners) and I’ll be able to download the 3.0 update like everyone else in the world, so I have no reason to upgrade right now.  Not to mention, I don’t have an extra 400 smackers just lying around that I need to burn…hardly.

I’ve tried to figure out for a long time why I like to bake so much.  I’ve thought about the fact that I also love to make music…and I think it ties in somehow. It FEELS like it should.

…so the logical answer is that both baking and composing are CREATING something.

But it’s more than that.
I also like the results.

I know for certain that I would not like to bake or cook only for other people…there is something about actually EATING the thing you worked so hard to make that is utterly fantastic. And the same applies to music for me–my most favorite kind of composing is when I get to hear the music I’ve made right away. There are jobs that come along all the time where I write something and ship it off to another group to rehearse and perform, and this is just not quite as fulfilling as putting that music in front of a bunch of musicians and hearing the music come to life.

So, I guess I finally figured it out…

Now, I’m going to go make some hot dogs and eat ‘em.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!?!

GO GET IT!

I was skeptical about Disney/Pixar’s new movie, UP, mostly due to it’s nebulous marketing.  I had no idea what the movie was going to be about. The posters were minimalist, the trailers were short, and the ads didn’t reveal much…

But you know what?

It was a brilliant choice!! I finally went to the theater to see a movie from which I hadn’t previously seen all the best punchlines in the ubiquitous trailers and billboards. It was great!

And the movie UP was fantastic. Seriously, it was soooooo amazing.
Go see it.