the media and musings of jOE dEVINE

I originally wrote this in first person for Parker to sing, but she’s not quite up to this level of verbalization.  So she makes a cameo, and I do the tune in third person.

True.

What’s My Name Again (remix)?.mp3

Parker likes to freestyle in the studio.  “Yeah baby” and “Put your hands in the air like you just don’t care!” are some favorite quips of hers.  SHE’S FIVE!

I guess it doesn’t help that her favorite song is “Insane In The Membrane” by Cypress Hill.  Daddy’s fault.

Anywho, here’s a “chill out” (listen on headphones, repetitive themes that sloooooow yooooou doooooown) tune I whipped up from some of her freestyle riffs in my studio.  It’s repetitive yes, but hey, I had little to work with

Get a glass of wine and put on the headphones and chill out for three and half minutes.  Not bad for a five year old.

Spring.mp3

A friend asked for a copy of this a few days ago…didn’t realize I hadn’t put it online.  Recorded somewhere around 1996, just a simple demo I did.

Cigarette Away.mp3

Four stars.  Several tunes off this record are radio-ready and have hooks like you won’t believe.  The band’s penchant for excellent melodic harmonies along with sparse intros followed by lush, building crescendos is nothing short of awesome.  Check ‘em out.

Since we’re now back in Texas, it’s time to start working on the lake shack we have in East Texas on Stanmire Lake (more to come on this).  The first project was replacing the back (much debate on which side of the house is the “back” but we tend to call the lake side the “front” and the other side the “back”) steps.

Couldn’t have done this without the help of the wife and the in-laws and uncle helping entertain Parker Anne while we worked…

before we started - ignore the fire, and note the stairs in the red box

After we tore down the old steps and move all the wood and stuff, the house looked like this:

nothing left after the old steps were gone - watch your step!

And once we were finished with the whole thing:

time to sit a spell

Now we have a landing so we can stand on the porch without being in the way of the door!  Anyone who has ever carted ice chests up the stairs while trying to open a door handle understands our former pain.

And there’s even room for a chair!

For those do-it-yourself nuts out there, here’s the tools and part list we used:

• (2) 8′ 4×4″ treated posts
• (5) 4-step treated pre-cut stair risers
• (3) 8′ 2×6″ treated boards
• (13) 8′ 1×6″ treated decking planks
• (20) 3″ lag bolts
• (200)+  2 1/2″ coated deck screws
• (10) 2×6″ galvanized hangers
• Circular Saw
• Cordless Drill
• DC Impact Wrench
• Reciprocating Saw
• (2) 12″ Clamp / Spreaders

We ended up with about 3 feet of landing plus three 11″ stairs.  Solid as a rock.

Ok, so if you’re reading this you’ve probably seen my rant about facebook from earlier this year.

Funnily, I seem to have leveled off for a while now at about 520 friends or so.  Today I logged in to check a message from a friend of mine (someone I actually see from time to time) and I noticed my friend count had dipped below 520.

What!   Only 519 friends?  Jeez…

I had this strange feeling come over me…I really wanted to know who it was.  I dunno why.

But guess what?  I thought about it for a minute and came to the conclusion that it had to be only one of two kinds of people.

1. A “friend” from a previous employer who no longer needs me as a reference, and couldn’t care less about my Parker Anne videos; or
2. An ex-girlfriend, probably one that I added (as opposed to the other way around), with whom I really didn’t have any status at all but was merely curious to see how her life was unfolding.

I thought about it, and realized I had whacked all the people in category one a long time ago, and so it must be category two.  Sure enough, I became “friends” with an ex (though we never exchanged any pleasantries since befriending) last month.  So…I searched through my friends, and she was gone!

FINALLY.  Facebook is starting to become real, at least in this case.  And you know what?  I APPLAUD her (she is still on facebook, just not friends with me) for actually thinking “You know, is there REALLY any reason I should be friends with this guy?”  And the answer, at least in her case, turns out to be “no.”  Way to go girl!

I mean, who wants to be friends with someone who’s so concerned with their friend count, anyway?

I love it.

Make the Enexity crew dull..and slow.

So, we played a little golf a couple months ago.

At least we remembered to take one pic.  Here it is.

From left – Joe, Scott, Jeff, Roland, Gene, Brad, Justin and Dave.  What a crew!

The Enexity Boys At The Course!

So I wrote a little chord progression for a song, and my boys Ben Smith and Matt Parmenter decided to make it happen one night.  They just slapped some stuff on top of my riff and this is the result.

I laughed my ass off when I heard this.  No, it’s not PC.  So what?  It was pretty funny considering all they had was the piano track.  I am not sure, but that may be me playing the drums..

Enjoy “Shake for Me” ’cause I know I did.

Shake For Me.mp3

I met Ben Smith and Matt Parmenter, two dudes from out of state that now live in Austin, when  Matt purchased my two Vocal Booth sound isolation booths last month (sorry about the missing parts guys!).  I just didn’t have room for them anywhere.

Now – I am starting to work on music with these guys and I got to tell you it’s a blast.  Both are very talented musicians in their own right, and I’ve been lucky enough to get to remix some of their stuff.

Matt plays bass in a great Austin banned called Quiet Company – they also have a myspace page.

Matt and Ben both also play with James Kinney, a local Austin musician.  I am going to see them at Speakeasy on April 30th, time permitting.

This song is fully realized on Ben’s myspace page, but here’s the acoustic version I whipped up last week.  Just Ben and his guitar.  His vocals and songwriting talent really shine on  this one.

missed-connection-acoustic-vocal-2

Man, Ok so Facebook (hereafter f8) is a phenom.  Seems like in the last six months I have 200 new friends.  On f8.  Yeah.

Which I have no issue with.

A girl I dated in eighth grade that I treated badly.

Some dude that cheap-shotted me at a park in high school.

The mom of someone I dated,  whom I can’t remember.

It’s an unprecedented outpouring of connection and community.

But…

Seriously.  When is someone gonna tell it like it is?  I mean, so many people are so concerned with what other people think they never tell the truth.

Tell me you haven’t seen this:

• The “OMG you look exactly the same as you did 20 years ago comment.”  Uh, right.  I’ve gained 60 pounds.  And the girls?  When they say this?  Uh huh.
• The “hmmm…we didn’t really even LIKE each other in high school…but let’s be friends now” request?
• Who the heck are you again?

It’s out of control.

Don’t get me wrong.  I like f8.  But, it’s due for a course correction.  When people stop being nice, and start being real, perhaps unlike now where you have 600 friends you’ll be back to having the same 12 friends you had in high school, plus a few from college and your job.  Which isn’t a bad thing.  Is it?

I made an innocuous comment one day to a girl I hadn’t seen in 15 years.  BLAM-O!  I had to delete it.  She took it the wrong way.

Rather than saying “oh, you  misunderstood what I was saying.”  I just packed up my tent and left.  Because 500 of my friends might see it.

Jeez.   I am nothing if not usually uncensored, but f8 makes me censor myself?  Good thing?  Who knows.  But I am not happy about it.  Not at all.

Start being real.