Monthly Archives: February 2012

Breeding Conservatism

Posted by Tim on

It seems that a lot of posts stem from conversations I have with people, whether they be friends, family, coworkers, or even strangers. In the end, a good conversation inspires thought, and that’s what this blog is based on – thought.

The latest conversation on politics was with a republican, who I agree with on some things and disagree with on others. I agree with him on things like gun control, and public employee unions. While he considers himself a conservative, I might not call him that. More of a pseudo-con if you ask me. While he may agree with me on moral issues, he doesn’t stand up strong for them. For me, abortion is life and death and therefore very important. For him, it’s a minor league issue. You see what I mean, right?

Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum

Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum

During our talk he mentioned his distaste for the candidates running, and his disappointment in the upcoming republicans. Why aren’t we breeding the next generation of Ronald Reagans? Well, let’s pick these two statements apart. These are things I hear from people all the time, and I assure you they’re flat out wrong. People are uninformed. They see what the local TV wants them to see. They get their news from Yahoo! Don’t worry – I’ll set the record straight.

Unfortunately, people will often take someone relatively unknown, like Rick Santorum, and equate “unknown” with “weak”. This can be a fatal mistake. If you look back a few years, virtually no one outside of Illinois knew of Barry Obama. Yet he managed to run a very aggressive campaign against Hilary Clinton in the democratic primaries, and he ran a brilliant campaign against John McCain, his Republican opponent for the presidency. Unknown is not weak.

Furthermore, “weak” is relative. Who are we comparing our candidates to? Ronald Reagan? Again, if we look back – Reagan fumbled with his words. He messed up at debates. He misspoke. Our memories seem to forget that Ronald Reagan was not “the perfect candidate”. In fact, he was anything but. He was the outsider, pushing to break the status quo. Our candidates may mess up at times, but so did Reagan, and so has Obama.

I asked this person, “How many of the debates have you watched?” He told me he hadn’t watched a full debate from start to finish. Personally, I’ve watched about half of them from start to finish, then rewatched them an hour later, then read reviews on them, then listen to the radio to hear what the talk-radio-pundits were saying. If you haven’t watched the debates or done a bit of research, don’t tell me that the candidates are weak or that you don’t like the selection.

The fact of the matter is that we have had a lot of great candidates come and go, and we still have some running today. Michele Bachmann is a leader in the House of Representatives, and has a great record as a conservative. Tim Pawlenty is a popular republican governor of a liberal state, Minnesota. Rick Perry grew jobs in Texas as governor faster than all of the other states combined! These are leaders in our country, all of whom have great records, who just didn’t catch on.

Left behind is our mainstay, Mitt Romney – former governor and private sector tycoon. Rick Santorum – leading welfare reform and tough as nails on social issues. Ron Paul – brilliant on the constitution and small government. Newt Gingrich – rich resume, former speaker of the house, and the best debater on stage. These are not weak candidates. They may have their flaws, but any one of them could beat Obama!

This coming election will not be another 2008. There are a number of things that have drastically changed since then. First of all, Barack Obama ran in 2008 with a clean slate. Now he has a record, and it’s awful. Everyone knows it. Despite what the media may tell you, unemployment sucks, home sales suck, GDP growth sucks, Obamacare sucks, stimulus sucks. I could go on and on. Obama is a weak candidate with a horrible record to run on. He doesn’t have nearly the same enthusiasm behind his campaign as he did in 2008. People realize just who he is, and people are rejecting him.

Don’t count our guys out. They aren’t weak. They can all go 10 rounds, as they’re proving it right now. As I’ve stated before, Rick Santorum is who I stand behind. I’m really pulling for him to get the nomination. Seeing Santorum debate Obama on substance and issues would be a slaughter. But in the end, if Santorum isn’t the nominee, I’ll support whoever the candidate is. We have a strong few left, and any of one them is better than who we have now.

As far as “not breeding new candidates”…. well…. Here, I’ll list a few names for you – John Kasich, Scott Walker, Jan Brewer, Rick Perry, Tim Pawlenty, Chris Christie, Rick Scott, Mitch Daniels, Michele Bachmann, Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio. The point is this – the next generation is strong. All of the names here could be running for president in the next 10-20 years. Our party is strong. We’ve gone through some rough times, but we’re starting to get back on track. Conservatism is not dead – it’s alive and well, and it’s ready to fight!

Changing My Diet

Posted by Tim on

Have you ever noticed that when you are under time constraints you can actually get a lot done? Procrastination isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, I’d say it can really be a good thing. It allows you, no wait, - it forces you –  to get things done quickly. “If you wait until the last minute to do something, it will only take a minute to do.” That’s what I believe. Well, in most cases – and that’s what we’re talking about. Most cases. This post is like most cases. Hurry – type!

It’s been a couple of weeks since I watched Food Matters, and Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead on Netflix. Since then I’ve been eating a lot better. I also cancelled Netflix since then because I didn’t want to pay the higher fee for the mail option, and I was very disappointed in their online selection. Very rarely were any movies I wanted to watch on there. Instead I was stuck choosing from the “You might like” section, which I rarely like. But I digress.

When I watched those movies it reminded me of all the stuff I already know. Pretty dumb, right? I know just about everything that was said in both movies, but I hadn’t heard it in a while, so it went to the back of my mind. Well, it was brought back to the front, and since then I’ve done a 180.

At first I wanted to go all organic, with half my food being raw. In the end, the organic stuff is just too expensive. For instance – a normal carton of eggs costs around a dollar. A carton of cage free omega-3 eggs? Five dollars! Now, I expected to pay more, but not five times the normal price. Forget it. So, I didn’t go all organic. Instead I buy a few items organic, and the rest I just get at the regular grocery store. I do buy cage free chickens to eat, and I do buy grass fed beef from a local butcher shop. (Wow! Amazing steaks I cooked the other day!) You don’t have to go ALL organic, but switching to a few items here and there helps.

Along with the organic switch came no fast food. Fast food has got to be the worst stuff we eat. It’s filled with everything that humans should NOT be eating. Not only that, but once you ween yourself off it, then try it again – it doesn’t even taste good. Cook your own food for a while, then try a big mac. It’s not as good as it used to be. Oh, and soda is gone too. Water, juice, milk.

No more fast food – easy enough. Also no alcohol. Well, I made an exception. I do still have a couple beers or a cocktail at gigs. But I don’t go out to bars or parties anymore. Sorry, but that period of my life is over. I’ve been there, done that. I know what I’m missing, and I know it isn’t much. Wow, so no alcohol either?

So far it’s been pretty easy. I still eat out occasionally, but I usually get some kind of chicken salad dish. It’s not as good as the chicken I prepare at home, but it does the job. I still eat on the road, but I opt for Subway or Qdoba instead of McDonalds or KFC. I haven’t lost any weight – which is really important to me. I’m not on a diet to lose weight – I’m not fat. If anything, I want to maintain my weight. Losing muscle isn’t cool. But I get enough protein from the sources I eat – chicken, steak, milk, supplements.

I find that in the short amount of time I’ve been doing this that I already feel a lot better. I didn’t feel bad before, but there is definitely a difference. More energy, less aches/pains, I don’t colds, my mood is better. Why do we think that food doesn’t matter? Of course it matters. In fact, it makes a bigger difference in the way your body works than almost anything else. I recommend to everyone to eliminate the poison they’re eating everyday. Really guys. You’ll feel a lot better.

Put Down the Bottle

Posted by Tim on

In a drunken moment I may have said something I didn’t mean to say. Ever been there? I have. Not recently, mind you, but in the past, sure. I know my limits now though. I don’t drink too much… usually. And when I do, I’m around good friends, so I know I’m safe. In fact, as of recently I’ve actually given up  drinking, except for gigs. I’ll still have a beer or two at a show, but other than that – nope. I don’t go to bars, I don’t buy alcohol for home, I don’t go to parties. Pretty dull? Pretty awesome, actually.

Honestly, I don’t miss it. Some people are into getting totally wasted every weekend. I see it time and time again with tons of people I know. Almost everyone my age is a drinker, and a lot of them aren’t good drinkers. By “good” drinkers I mean people who will have a cocktail, a conversation, and be fine to drive home. The people I’m talking about are the binge drinkers. Apparently, college is just way too exhausting, so every weekend my peers go to the local tavern to get f’d up. Then they either stumble home, hail a cab, or (God forbid) drive home themselves.

What a life I’m missing. I’m in my 20′s. I should be out with them, right? Nah, I’ll pass. I’d rather enjoy a good book at home, watch some TV with my family, or sit down for coffee with a friend. I don’t need some substance to make me feel alive – I have life to do that. I don’t need alcohol to make me feel comfortable – I have relationships for that. And I don’t need a drug to numb my mind – my mind is something I hold dear to my heart; I would never want to numb it.

So, what is my generation giving up? Is this what it’s all about? I try to look back a few years, talk to older people about what life was like for them when they were my age. The stories I hear are very different from what young people are doing now. Sure, they got drunk, but it wasn’t binge drinking. Or maybe it was, but very few people got as caught up in it then as they do today. My parents (and probably yours too) grew up during the hippie days. Despite my mom not being a hippie herself, she did occasionally hang out with the wrong group of people, and get into a little trouble. But at the end of the day she grew out of it, had a couple kids, and works a full time job to this day.

I’m a little worried about what’s going on now though. More and more, I see people who are not just drinking – they’re drinking uncontrollably. Not just that (cause we’ve all been there), but they repeat it every weekend for years on end. Once or twice, that’s fine. But after a certain point drinking turns into a habit, and a habit turns into an addiction, and all of a sudden we’ve got a generation of people going to AA meetings. Well, hell. Even that’s pretty optimistic. I doubt they’ll go to any meetings, or seek any kind of serious help for their problems.

Eventually these kinds of irresponsible people will have kids; accidentally and out of wedlock, no doubt. The kids will grow up, looking to mommy and daddy as examples, see them stumbling around after 4 too many drinks, and learn that it’s okay to drink excessively. Is this what we have to look forward to? Is this the future citizenry of America? Not only are we fat and dumb, but we’re drunk too? I surely hope these people won’t vote!

Oh well, I’m just getting caught up in my thinking again. It happens every now and then. That’s my drug of choice – thought. Hopefully I can pass it on. Maybe someone I know will see what I do as an example. Maybe they’ll give up their lifestyle once they realize that you can live a happy, fulfilling and FUN life without alcohol. Put down the bottles, my friends. There’s so much more to life.

VIDEO: Hopsin – Sag My Pants

Posted by Tim on

If you haven’t heard, there’s this new rapper out there named Hopsin. He’s pretty sick. Like, he’s pretty disgusting. His lyrics aren’t for little kids. But he’s also pretty sick – he’s a damn good rapper. His style is very Eminem-esk. Keep an eye out for this guy.

Bit By the Blogging Bug

Posted by Tim on

(That’s a tongue twister, ey? “Bit by the blogging bug.”)

So, I finally got around to buying TimPreuss.com. The whole dot.wordpress.com thing was a real hangup. It’s great if you want to try out blogging for a while, but once you get the hang of it, and know you’ll be doing it for years to come, you ought to just buy a domain. Huge thanks to WordPress for making everything so easy! They provide a killer service, really.

Since I’ve started this blog a few months ago I’ve noticed a few things. I’m no expert, but I think I know what I like and what I don’t like in a blog. I don’t have much experience in this realm, but I love learning, and I love sharing what I learn. Here are a few blogging tips from a relative novice.

1. Blog often. I know, it’s simple. I personally try to write something everyday. I do this not only to provide my lovely blog readers with stuff to read, but also for myself. The more you blog, the better you get at it. Writing your thoughts down really helps you develop those thoughts. Instead of sitting and wondering, “What’s the best way to put this…”, I just write it. After a while it comes naturally. And of course blogging often gets you more views, which only makes you want to blog more.

2. Use pictures. I don’t know the laws on copyrights on Google images, but I do know that interesting pictures make a blog easier to read. We’re so used to pictures on the internet that when we see a screen with only text it’s kind of a turn off. Pictures help break everything up, and they can really add something to your blog.

3. Be personable. No one likes reading essays. This isn’t a textbook I’m writing – it’s more of an online journal. Thoughts that wash through my head occasionally get stuck, and the only way to get them out is by talking or writing. Writing is better, I think, because you can chose your words carefully, edit, add quotes, pictures, etc. But I like to write like I’m writing to a friend. Obviously I don’t know most readers personally, but I imagine that people I know are reading this. Hopefully that helps reveal my tainted Woody Allen-esk sense of humor.

4. Vary your content. I try to keep stuff somewhat on topic. I write a lot about a few key things, namely exercise, music, and politics. I also write about some random stuff here and there, whether it be relationships, news, religion, or whatever. I like to mix things up. I could write Obama-bash articles every day, but eventually I’d start turning people off. Exercise is great, but there is only so much to be said. Varying content also makes it easier to write. I’m not forced to write anything – just what I feel like.

5. Utilize the sidebar. Look next to this article. There’s a bar filled with archives, recent posts, a twitter feed, links, and other stuff. This is a great area to  put extra stuff out there. Post links to your favorite posts, promote a friend’s blog, or write a little “About Me” section. I try to put as much stuff on this page as possible without making it look cluttered.

I hope these tips help someone out. Maybe I’m completely wrong, but I don’t think I could be wrong at blogging. These are just some things that I’ve picked up on. Let the blogging continue…

Ayn Rand and Religion

Posted by Tim on

Every once in a while you come across someone who you agree with on one issue, but sternly disagree with on another. It’s kind of like one of those “love/hate” relationships. One part of you wants to embrace them, another part wants to discard the every word they speak. It’s for this reason that I once again promote the idea of being skeptical of your fellow man. Never just go along with what someone says because you like them, or because you may agree with them on a single issue.

For me, a person like that is Ayn Rand. For those of you who don’t know, Ayn Rand was a Russian-American author and philosopher. She is well known for her book, Atlas Shrugged, which was recently turned into a movie. Rand has been a major influence among libertarian and conservative thinkers. She’s very vocal about her support of free-trade, capitalism, and limited government. She’s even written a book titled, “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, where she discusses Keynesian economics, government controls, and taxation.

Rand’s philosophy is also one that has become popular among libertarians. “Objectivism” is the idea that all decisions should be based not on emotion or morals, but rather on reason and logic. Sounds right up my alley, right? Wrong.

While I appreciate not getting emotional about certain issues, other issues are worth getting emotional over. While some morals are taught, others are ingrained in us from birth. Humans are set apart from all other species by our unexplainable sense of justice. Furthermore, basing all decisions on reason only gets you halfway. There are parts of life that are unreasonable. There are questions that we cannot answer.

This leads me to my second hold up with Rand – she is a devout atheist. Such a shame, and while I feel that much of her contempt for religion stems from her Russian upbringing, it’s still atheism at it’s finest (or worst, I should say). Because, in Rand’s mind, there is no “proof” of a God, or “higher power”, she simply does not believe in one. Too bad she didn’t do her research.

Well, that’s a little brash. At her time, evolution in the Darwinian sense was still widely accepted. Only recently have more and more scientists (secular scientists, mind you) come out and said that evolution has no factual basis to stand on. Micro-evolution, maybe, but macro-evolution – No. Sorry. It’s doesn’t hold up. That’s why we now have new ideas about humans being placed on Earth from another planet. Evolution fell apart; there must be another explanation.

The proof is most certainly available. How exactly do you explain people being raised from the dead? And no – this isn’t stuff that one guy told another guy and then we all read it in the Bible. These are historical events – written about in literally thousands of first century manuscripts. This stuff DID happen. Of course, if you weren’t there, and in Rand’s case, if you were separated from it by almost 2000 years, it would be hard to believe. And that’s where faith comes in. The premise that you must throw your mind in the trashcan to accept Christianity is a fallacy.

It’s too bad that Ayn Rand didn’t agree with me on everything. But everyone is put here for a reason. Maybe her purpose was to show us that just because someone agrees with you on economics, or political theory, doesn’t mean you should believe everything they say. And maybe Rand also taught us that there are more important things in life than economics and political theory.

Home Gym vs Commercial Gym

Posted by Tim on

Whenever I’m with someone and we start talking about lifting weights or anything along those lines, the question is always asked – “So, what gym do you go to?” My response has been the same for a long time – “My basement.” There are a number of reasons why I bought my own equipment instead of going to a gym.

That’s not to say that I never went to a commercial gym. Of course I did. I went to the YMCA for a little while, I went to it’s competitor, the “Wisconsin Athletic Club”, for about a year, and I went to a hardcore bodybuilding gym a half hour away called “Animal House”. They all had different problems for me, and in the end I decided to invest in some good equipment and just deck out my basement. I had a few weights sitting around, a bench, but I didn’t have the main piece of equipment that kept me paying commercial gyms to use. The squat rack. Once I bought a rack I never looked back. (Hey, that rhymes!)

The reasons I finally pulled the plug on commercial gyms vary quite a bit. Some problems were minor nuisances, others annoyed the hell out of me. Here’s a short list of the reasons why commercial gyms suck.

1. Limited Hours. Most gyms are not open 24 hours. I don’t expect that to change. While there are a few gyms (Snap Fitness, Anytime Fitness, etc) that are open all day, these gyms usually lack the equipment I use. When I gym is open 24 hours the owners don’t always have someone working there. That means they have to limit the type of equipment they have. Anything that can be stolen isn’t there. That means there won’t be dumbbells, barbells, plates, or kettelbells. It’s most just machines.

So, we’re back to gyms that have the equipment I want, but aren’t open 24 hours. I work late some nights, and I occasionally get the urge to work out after midnight. I can’t do that at most gyms; but I can do it at home.

2. Driving Distance. Again, this isn’t always a problem, but for a picky lifter like myself, it is. The coolest gym I found was an old school bodybuilding style gym. This place looked like it hadn’t changed since the ’80s. It was (and still is) awesome. The problem? It was a half hour away. It’s hard enough to find a gym that’s made for people who actually want to exercise (instead of socialize), but finding a gym like that in a comfortable driving distance? Not likely.

Driving became a real pain. Get in the car, drive for 20 minutes, work out, then be sore and tired and have to drive another 20 minutes home. Forget it.

3. Equipment Availability. Ever have to wait to use the machine that you want to use? I’ve been there countless times. It’s especially frustrating when you’re timing everything out. I should only be resting for 30 seconds, but I’m forced to wait for some idiot that’s been hogging the pec-deck all night. Not only are the machines often not available, but when they are available they’re covered with sweat. Just great – I had to wait 5 minutes to use the machine, and now I have to sit in some strange guy’s ass-sweat.

Why wait for equipment? Just buy it, and that way it’s available whenever you need it. No waiting ever again!

4. No Annoying People. I don’t want to hear your cell phone ringtone. I don’t need to hear about your party this weekend. I don’t find your laugh the least bit tolerable. People annoy me. They especially annoy me when they wear white wife-beaters, smell like cheap AXE body spray, and talk loudly. I can’t handle it. Then there are the other people. The disgusting old people that walk around the locker rooms butt-naked. Their junk is just hanging out, and they come over and talk to you all nonchalant like. These are the same guys that choose to use the machines right behind the girls on the ellipticals, just so they can look at some young girl’s ass.

All these kind of people I can do without. I think we all can. Unless you’re on of them. Then you deserve to be around people just like you.

5. Music. I love music. It’s a huge part of my life. And like most people, I like listening to music while I work out. I don’t, however, like to listen to Top 40 while I work out. I don’t have anything against Ke$ha, or Katy, but it’s just not good workout music. Give me some DevilDriver, Pantera, or Rage Against the Machine, instead. I also hate earbuds. For one, it’s damaging to have music going directly into your ear (instead of using the entire earlobe, like it was designed), but it’s also a pain when I’m working out. I move when I work out. When I do power cleans those earbuds come right out. Music from external speakers is a must.

I don’t put up with music I don’t enjoy when I work out. Therefore, I work out at home and I can blast heavy metal or gangsta rap all I want.

In the end, I invested about $4000 in my home gym. I slowly bought little pieces of equipment, until I had everything I wanted. If you are seriously interested in lifting, I strongly encourage you to get out of the commercial gyms. For me it changed the way I work out, it changed my mood, and it saved me time and money in the long run. If you can invest a little money at a time, and slowly build a good gym, you’ll reap the benefits for a lifetime.

Do Your Priorities Match Your Budget?

Posted by Tim on

“You’re such a health nut!” Yeah, shame on me, right? All I want is to be healthy. You know, feel good, have lots of energy, get sick less often, live longer. Silly old me. Well, if I’m a health nut, what’s does that make the people who aren’t health nuts? Unhealth nuts? Death nuts?

(Before I go any further, I’d like to admit that I stole the whole “death nut” thing. I’m not positive, but I think Chris Shugart wrote about that on T-Nation a few years back. He used to (probably still does) have regular posts in a section of the T-Nation forum called “Shugart’s Hammer”. There’s a lot of good reading there, so I suggest you check it out.)

Back to the point! Why exactly is being a “health nut” a bad thing? Why is taking pride in your body and well-being something we should feel ashamed about? On the list of “most important” in our lives, isn’t health pretty high up there? For me it’s #3, right after a relationship with God, and my family. (Yes, I would put my family before my health. How altruistic of me.) I argue that what we say is one of our highest priorities really isn’t. In fact, it’s probably pretty far down on the scale.

I understand God being #1 in people’s lives. (I also understand God not being on the list. I really don’t understand God being somewhere in the middle.) I also understand family and close friends being high on the list. After those two, what else is usually next? For myself, and for a lot of other people, it’s health. Our health is more important than our jobs, it’s more important than our houses and cars, and it’s more important than money. That makes sense. You can survive in a crappy house, but you can’t survive (at least not for long) with a crappy heart.

So, we say health is more important than our jobs, but be honest with yourself. How often do you eat a quick crappy lunch, probably from some fast food joint, just so you can get back to work in time. That 30 minute lunch break doesn’t allow much time for cooking a healthy meal. So, instead of staying at work longer to make up the time, or just asking for a longer lunch break, we put our jobs first, and shovel poison into our mouths. (That’s right – poison. Call it like I see it.)

Is your house more important than your health? Of course not! No point in having a house if you aren’t alive to live in it. Sure, it might be nice to die in, but that’s a rather negative view on what a house should be for. So we buy a house that might be a little more than we can afford. Not to worry; we’ll cut back on other things. Like… Food? Gym memberships? That healthy grass fed beef is too expensive; those cage free chicken eggs are too expensive; those organic vegetables are too expensive. You know what else is expensive? Heart surgery. Cancer. Diabetes.

Take a close look at your priorities. We may say one thing, but what do our actions represent? The health of our nation is absolutely embarrassing, and there’s no excuse for it. We go in debt for just about anything else (cars, houses, clothes, electronics) but how about we put that money where it matters. Do your priorities match your budget?

The Seven Deadly Sins (Part III)

Posted by Tim on

About time for part III of this series. I must admit I almost forgot about it. Whenever I can’t think of something to write I’ll go back and reread my old posts, looking for ideas. Well – here’s an idea for ya, Tim! – Finish what you started!

In case you’re unfamiliar with the last two posts, this is a series of blog posts on the “Seven Deadly Sins”. The sins are pretty simple, and they’re things that are ridiculously common in the world today. Already discussed are wrath, greed, sloth, and pride. You can find the earlier posts here >> (Part I, Part II). That leaves only three left – lust, envy, and gluttony.

Lust is pretty much rampant in 90% of guys in America, myself included. Lust not only includes the random one night stands, but also just the lustful thoughts that so many of us have. Women are guilty of it too, by the way. Instead of looking at the opposite sex as individuals with value, we often look at them as sex objects. I know I’m guilty of judging a book by it’s cover. Look good? Ok. Not so good? Eh… Stay over there. How many problems does this produce? I bet the whole feminist movement would have been drastically different if it weren’t for men and women being so lustful. And think of the countless marriages that lust destroys. Lust, although it can be fun – can be dangerous.

I don’t know if any of the sins has received more news coverage in the last year than envy. Maybe you missed it, but it had to do with 99% vs 1%. Oh sure, “income inequality” was the guise, but envy was the reality. Some people were jealous of other people’s money. But where does this kind of talk get us? Instead of looking at what other people have, look at what they don’t have. Someone may earn a bigger salary than you, but they also might have a bitter ex-wife, and estranged kids because of their awesome paying job. Jealously leads to friendships ending, marriages getting tangled up over money and houses, neighbors fighting, and just unhappiness all the way around. Envy is a leading cause of hate, and hate is a leading cause of unhappiness.

And how could I forget. My favorite sin – gluttony. Well, America (and Australia too, actually) have taken this to a whole new level. In general, gluttony is just consuming too much. It doesn’t need to be food, but that’s just what everyone thinks of when they think of gluttony. Nickelback came out with a song late last year titled When We Stand Together. One line says “We could feed a starving world with what we throw away.” How true! But it’s worse. We could feed a starving world with what we overeat! Take some of your fat and give it to a starving kid in Africa. Do you really need 3 Big Macs?? Our health problems, many of our money problems, and once again, our happiness problems would be solved if we cut down on the gluttony.

As I’ve said before, I don’t mean to sound preachy. These are sins that we’re all guilty of. The point of this is to bring these sins to the front of our brains. Perhaps if we actually think about what we’re doing we’ll try to not do it so much. We’re always going to have sin in this world, but if we minimize the sin in our own lives, we can not only set an example for the rest of the world, but we can change our own lives for the better.

Recommended Reading (2/20/12)

Posted by Tim on

I’m a musician, but I don’t read books about music too much. Music is something I play, write, listen to, but I don’t really study it. Oh, sure – I took a music theory class once, and I know a bit about chords, scales, and all that, but I never sat down and studied it. After reading The Music Lesson by Victor L Wooten, I realized I did it right.

As most musicians would agree – music is a language. Well, how did we learn our first language? We were surrounded by other people who had mastered it. We weren’t taught to read or write before we learned to speak. So why do we do the direct opposite when we learn to talk (play) music? Instead of doing things the natural way, we focus on learning to read music, learning music theory, learning fancy technique, when instead we should just be playing. Playing with people who are masters will get a beginner up to their level faster than any book.

The Music Lesson is without a doubt the most influential music book I’ve read. It completely changed the way I think about music; everything from my technique, to my role in the band. The book goes through all the areas of music – groove, notes, articulation/duration, technique, emotion/feel, dynamics, rhythm/tempo, tone, phrasing, space/rest, and listening. We need to learn to focus not only on the notes we’re playing, but all of the other elements of music as well.

The best part of the book is that it’s really easy to read, and is told in a story – a mysterious man shows up to give a young bass player a music lesson. Each lesson deals with a different element. Throughout the book the story continues. It’s a real easy read, it’s fun and funny, and it’s moving. Again – this book completely changed the way I think about music.