Update to the below: today, 5/19/2011, marks a year since I quit. Couldn’t be happier.
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Seven months ago today, I quit smoking.
This might sound like a small deal. It’s NOT.
I’ve been smoking since I was 13 or so. For the vast majority of time, a pack a day.
My new alternative?
E-cigarettes.
E-cigs are essentially nicotine delivery devices – with one really important difference – you don’t BURN anything. So you’re not breathing in smoke at all. It’s vapor. They come in a billion different flavors and strengths.
But most importantly – they helped me kick smoking after nearly 35 years. Pretty damned cool.
You can find out more about e-cigs than you ever thought possible here.
What you’ll need:
1. a starter kit, which comes with the items I show in the video
2. Cartomizers (the tip with the liquid in it.) I’m a fan of the Wowboy carts, but you should experiment and find one you like. There are about 8 BILLION flavors.
3. Someone to give your ashtrays to – you won’t need them anymore.
Buy a ticket to the MM 1/15 show, and get a free album!
I will be playing in a pretty rare live performance of (mostly) original material on January 15th, 2010 at Backstage Productions in Kingston, NY, as part of a Saturday night showcase of great music. (I say mostly original, ’cause with me, you just never know what cat might crawl out of the bag.)
I’ll be joined by drummer extraordinaire Joe Scheibelhoffer and bassist Mike Ralff.
Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show begins at 6:30. I’m not the first act – at this point, it’s looking like I’ll go on around 8.
If you’ve never been there – the space is pretty amazing – I’ve always wanted to play there. And there are a bunch of great acts from the area playing as well – so this is going to be a slamming night.
I’d love it if you joined me, and to show my thanks in advance for your support – if you buy a ticket, I’ll give you an album!!!!
(Note – you’ll be able to modify the amount of tickets on the next page – if you buy more than one, just let us know which second album you’d like – Merge or New Eye – in the checkout comments. Your download code will be sent the same day, and your tickets will be waiting at the door the night of the show!)
This is Ted Williams of Columbus, Ohio – who truly has one of those “golden” voices.
UPDATE: A Reddit user set up a fundraising page for him, just to gather $500 for clothes, a place to stay and a cellphone to contact potential employers. Result – over $1000 in a matter of hours.
To top it off – job offers are pouring in from all over the place, on both the youtube page and the fundraising page.
So first off – I’ve been working on a quiet opus of a track, called “Storm”. Instrumental in nature, it has multiple guitars and a whole bunch of keys / percussion. I’ve been working on this track for the better part of two weeks.
Well – I got an absolutely gorgeous mix done… only to find out that one of the primary instruments wasn’t fed into the master. I could hear it, but it didn’t get sent into the actual mix. So I have to remix the whole track. BIG sigh. It might sound trivial – but a mix is like one big improvisation… no two are alike. Ahh well – everything happens for a reason.
Then…
I had to cancel the gig I had scheduled for this Friday. I’ve never cancelled a gig before – but I have no intention of putting on a less-than-great show. What would be the point?
Why cancel? Well – I had already lost one wingman to a scheduling conflict 1.5 weeks ago, but decided to press on as a three-piece – a pretty mean feat in and of itself when you consider how thick my stuff is. Then due to infirmity, I lost another. I just couldn’t bring myself to press on with a hastily prepared, or backing-taped or midi-ized backed show. It just didn’t feel right. (I’d feel guilty about someone buying a ticket for that, too – ’cause I’m not convinced it’d be a good show.)
All in all…sometimes the universe sends really clear messages, you know?
Buy a ticket to the MM 1/15 show, and get a free album!
