More Vinyl. Some for me, some for you.

Nate Ruess of The Format's new band is called "fun." On Dog Problems, Sam and Nate tapped Roger Jospeh Manning Jr. (a hero of mine from Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook, L.E.O. and Solid State Warrior) to arrange a few songs. On fun.'s LP, "Aim and Ignite", Roger arranged the whole album. It's pretty wild, with huge Brian Wilson-esque arrangements, channeling other influences of Nate's like Queen, The Beach Boys, Bowie, or Electric Light Orchestra. Highlights are All the Pretty Girls and At Least I'm Not as Sad (as I Used to Be).

So, anyway, I purchased the vinyl from hellomerch and they mistakenly sent me two copies. I only paid for one. So I called them up and they said to keep it. I already own the album digitally, but like most vinyl nowadays, these came with download codes. So I have for those who may want them:

A cool 180-Gram transparent color vinyl of "Aim and Ignite". (Which I'd prefer to give to someone who actually listens to wax, or is already a fan of "fun.") Pay the postage and it's yours.

And two download codes for legal ownership of this album. Let me know if anybody wants.

Why do I live in New England? Why DON'T you?

After church in Mt. Auburn Cemetery. All just with my iphone camera.

Revival Tour: Jenny Owen Youngs

Monday night Ben and I went to the Middle East in Cambridge for the Revival Tour featuring, among others, Jenny Owen Youngs. It's been a couple years since I've seen her play without a band. She was awesome enough to play "Here is a Heart" for me, albeit reluctantly. Here she is with Revival organizer Chuck Ragan, former frontman of the punk band, Hot Water Music.

She also played "Voice on Tape" with Chuck's fiddler, Jon Gaunt, who frankly, tore it up all night.

She's back at Middle East on November 5th opening for Mae. Who's in?

Another music post, but it's my own.

I've been involved in the recording, writing, arranging, and producing of music for roughly 15 years. For about a decade of that I have owned my own recording equipment and for the last year, a full blown professional recording studio. I've worked on records for Willie Nelson, Billie Joel, Brand New, Muse, Dashboard Confessional, Ryan Adams, and John Mayer.

And this week I finally recorded some of my own music. Not music for a band I was in, not music I helped write or arrange, my own music...6 songs worth. It's just scratch tracks for now, but it's further than I've ever gotten before. Some of the songs are really old and most reflect stages of my life that no longer represent me, but they're things that came out of me as I was developing into the person and musician I am now.

Anyway, I've finally begun and I'm really proud of myself for having done this much. I have another 5 songs to scratch track and all of them to finish and who knows how long that will take me, but one day in the not too distant future there will be music for you to listen to. My music.

Jared

More records.

On conference Saturday I found a bunch of great records and like a man with no force of will, dropped a hundred bucks on vinyl. What is it about having to own beautiful recordings on analog?

Finally, some dog problems.

I've been after the Format's last LP "Dog Problems on vinyl for the longest time. It had a very limited release on vinyl and while I downloaded the album it's first day on emusic, and have since bought the CD at least twice, I missed the boat with getting the vinyl. Now the band is broken up and the pressing is out of print. I asked my sister to try and track one down at some indie record stores in Phoenix (the band was from the valley), but she had no luck. She did find me a vinyl copy of the Snails EP and made it my Christmas present. Thanks Erika! Anyway, the other day I finally convinced someone at vinyl collective to sell me his copy for way over market value. But overpaying or not, it's mine at last and it sounds delicious.

Transmitter 'Awesome'.

So sometime last week I ordered my favorite songstress Jenny Owen Youngs' new album. I bought it on Amie St. when it was released, but for certain records, I have to have the physical cd too. Since I blew my money when she came to Boston on a sweet 7" vinyl and poster combo, I still hadn't bought the cd. It came today with a note from her mom, that's right, her mom thanking me for the purchase. The envelope also burst open with little paper sharks, a shark sticker, a button, and some gummy treat that I'm fairly sure was a shark before it melted in the Boston summer heat into a gooey indiscernible mass of orange sugar. I only have one thing to say, "No, thank you Jenny Owen Youngs' mom. Thank you for the treats, and your daughter for the beats.

We're your friends, we're your friends, we're your friends to the bittah end (the bittah end...)

Be our friend. Be a fan.

Dirty Water Sound & Music on Facebook

Dear tim@waves.com

Ok Tim, I'm attaching a PDF printout from Pace with my RMA case number.

As we just spoke on the phone, you probably picked up on the
frustration I have with waves over the hostage plan you guys always
seem to put me through with this software. The bottom line is I own
it. I paid for it in full through a licensed dealer without discount.
I pay a yearly fee (called by you the WUP) to keep that software
current. When I called waves a month or so ago concerning the lost
iLok, I was told that since my WUP was current and I'd obtained an RMA
case number, I'd be supplied with temporary licenses for my bundle
until the needed documentation from pace arrived at waves, at which
time waves would send me an email instructing me to visit a page on
waves.com and enter in my iLok account info. After that process, I
was supposed to receive permanent replacement licenses. This was
explained to me in detail. The email never came and when I enter my
iLok info next to my version 6 licenses, it comes up saying the iLok
(the serial number of the old one SN 00025B9C) is reported stolen.
But I have a new iLok (SN 000A4636) registered with that account to
which I should be able to download new permanent licenses.

It puts a very bad taste in ones' mouth when every interaction with
your company consists of being told you need to buy something else in
order for your software to remain your property. That impulse is
seemingly so profound that I've had sales reps and technical support
personnel start demanding I buy something before they've even heard
out my issue. I'm providing you all the documentation I have now,
because I've become used to having evidence demanded of me at every
turn with waves, that I do in fact, own the software. I know plenty
of people who use your software illegally, but I own it properly and
legally and have 4 times the headache in maintaining the ability to
use it, as the criminals who pirate it. Something needs to be
rethought here.

The RMA number is SI1338987
My iLok.com account name is theheadroomaudio
My waves account name is Mooneyrocks

My email is headroomaudio@gmail.com
My phone number is 617-555-7786.

Please just get the software I bought from you years ago, and pay you
again every year for, licensed to my new iLok.

Jared Mooney.

Hahahaha.

Summer Fun Quota: Progress Report 1

So far I've had a pretty fun and interesting summer. Some highlights:

Before she left for the summer Katie Danger and I went out to Fort Warren on George's Island in the Boston Harbor. We ran around exploring the caverns and passageways for a few hours.

One day Victoria and I went to the Boston Children's museum. We got badges certifying the fact that we were the creepy adults here without any kids... but other than some skeptical looks from parents, we had a great time. We climbed up this sweet suspension sculpture, put our whole body inside a bubble, made samurai helmets, rolled around in wheelchairs, learned about kinetic energy, construction, flight, camping, and chroma-key (green-screening). Plus we got in totally free. Way to go Victoria!

My first Walden visit of the season was foiled by the Lexington Police. We decided that the beach might be easier to pull off and drove to Nahant, only to be pulled over again. That cop was way cooler though and told us where to go that we wouldn't be caught. Unfortunately the ocean was absolutely arctic. And all of us were too wussy to go in. Oh wait, except for Katie Ball who walked straight in and went all the way under. We were all a little astounded at her nonchalant walk in-walk out. Also Katie and Bree had their "who's robot is better" dance off again and as-per-usual, Katie's was scary and Bree's was ridiculously bad.

Weekend before last I headed down to Washington DC for a Saturday morning freelance job at NPR National. I finished around 3 and headed back to my hotel in Northern Virginia and then went to dinner/goofed off with Katie Danger for a while in her home town. She kicked my butt in basketball and pool, though she won the latter mostly on account of my scratching the 8-Ball every time. Story of my life.

Sunday morning I drove down to Norfolk for my nephew's baptism. My sister's family was moving only a couple days later to Southern Utah, so it was good to spend a little time with my only family on the East coast before they left. Even though they were still a good 12 hours away from Boston, I'm gonna miss my sister and nieces/nephews. It was nice to have them out here.

It's been raining a lot more than it ought to during the summer so far, but expecting a little clearing last Saturday, we went to the beach. We were gonna head to horseneck, till we got delayed by moving David and by 1ish it wasn't worth driving 2 hours anymore, so Ben, Brian and I went to Nantasket. It was foggy and the tide was so high, the beach was just rocks. The wind coming off the water was cold, but the water itself was surprisingly nice. I went in for a half an hour or so to swim and boogie-board. Then we found a warmer spot with a little sand and played some frisbee. We stopped in Quincy for some Southshore beach-front food, and headed home. Ben and I then went to the studio to start recording our 8-song split together. It's a little weird, but I am glad I'm forcing myself to record my own music for once. I've owned a pro-recording system for 9-odd years now and this is the first time I've really done that. It's going pretty well. So far, I've played everything, including drums, and even Ben agrees it doesn't sound half-bad. Ben's stuff sounds great too.

The studio has been markedly more busy (with paid projects). I'm wrapping up Mike's EP (In which I became pretty heavily involved), and Ryan is working on a record with his friend Mandi. The biggest part of that though is a film project I've been working on for the last couple months, but I've also been working a lot less than I should. So now I'm playing catch up, having to finish several weeks worth of work on a much faster timetable. My procrastination skills have apparently not faded much since college. In college I could just b.s. my way through a test or essay though... The film will either sound good or sound not good.

This coming weekend will be my fourth Independence Day weekend in Boston. I love the 4th here. I'm convinced it's the best place in the world to be on America's birthday. K-Dub and Leah will be here too, which makes things even more awesome. And if that wasn't enough I'm going to the Red Sox game that afternoon. Having more fun than one should be able to on this schedule? Check.

I'm alive.

It's time for the obligatory...

"Hey, sorry I haven't blogged in like 8 months. I was just, you know living real life for a while and got sidetracked from what's really important... virtual life."

Followed by the...

"Let me try to give you a brief but informative summary of goings-on in my life during my prolonged blog absence."

1. My studio is sorta finished. (I'm convinced the "sorta" will always be there) But we record a lot more than we used to. People actually pay us, and drag our feet though we may, we finish people's projects. At the moment I'm (sound of feet dragging) finishing Mike's album and (sound-to-picture of feet dragging) doing foley on a feature film called Love on the Rocks. The first question people have when they hear you're working on a film is, "What kinda movie is it?" (a question filmmakers hate). I'd have to call it a dark-comedy. Meaning, in this case, that it starts really dark and ends really funny and it's kinda hard to tell where it changed over. It's a winner. It's being entered into Sundance, so hopefully it's a winner there too.

2. My church burned down. There's been a lot written about it online, but I've never really gotten to the point of recounting it in writing yet. It turned out to be an emotionally and physically exhausting experience for me, but it also helped me draw myself back toward the church more. Logistically it's actually given me a bit of a break. I'm a ward clerk, which usually occupies a huge amount of my time, but we've been waiting for a replacement computer for a while, so I haven't been quite as busy as usual. That honeymoon will so be over when we get one and have to count like 5 weeks of tithing and do a few months worth of membership work on one Sunday. The last couple of weeks we met at the First Church in Cambridge Congregational. They have been very warm and friendly to us and very kind to share their beautiful sanctuary. We just signed a lease at the Harvard Divinity School to use their chapel and adjoining facilities for a year while the Longfellow Park building is reconstructed. It will be immensely nice to get back to some kind of normalcy.

3. Work is work. I've had good weeks, I've had bad weeks, I've had weeks from hell. The lack of predictability in my shift is simply maddening sometimes. Fail to assert yourself and you'll be totally abused. I might have some NPR freelance coming up in DC which is always nice for a change.

4. I've been dating a lot of different people. Mostly just getting to know a lot of different girls out here I didn't know. There's one person I'd really like to be dating, but sometimes that just doesn't pan out (maybe it's a non-phase coherent stereo source). Stupid engineer's joke for Jason. Other than that I'm kinda crush-less at the moment. And increasingly ok with that.

5. Music is an increasing part of my life again. Well, the writing/making of it, that is. Having the studio has facilitated my creativity and I'm getting ready to officially record some of my own music for the first time. I have recorded myself before but it's never gotten past scratch tracking before I decide to scratch the idea completely. We'll see how it goes this time. My roommate Ben is gonna do it as a split with me 4 songs each, so that might help motivate me to finish it. As you might imagine, this increase of musicliness makes me happy, even though I write depressing music.

6. I realized my purpose in life is to love people. I'm good at it. And people's love is sometimes the only thing in this world that gets me by. I've been staving off my depression for weeks and feeling very close to being overwhelmed by it. I keep it at bay, in part, by loving people. My head was made for reasoning with people, my ears were made to listen to people, and my arms were made for hugging people. Pure and simple, I need people to care for. I'm glad to have that...

Geez, I need a girlfriend, huh?

Mmmmm. Food that looks like guts.

Jenny Owen Youngs - Clean Break from Jenny Owen Youngs on Vimeo.

Thanks J.O.Y.

I know I'm already celibate and all, but...

I really have to wonder how facebook ads decided this was a winner for my page, especially cause the other ad was a dating site.

I always thought becoming a Catholic would let me sin more freely, cause you know, you just confess after every date and you'll be ok. (I am aware of the contradiction in that line of thought) But then becoming a monk just negates the only motivation I've ever had to become Catholic.

This is why St. Francis of Assisi is rolling over in his grave.

Boston Spring.

I'm sure pretty much every Bostonian who reads this will have had as fantastic a Saturday as I. The weather was perfect and this city bursting into bloom is ridiculously beautiful. I woke up early to help out in cultivating and planting the beds for the church garden. It was fun. I came home and slept a bit, then I went out to the esplanade (a series of parks along the bank of the Charles River) with my guitar and played for a few hours. Everybody in Boston seemed to be out jogging, riding bikes, rowing, sailing, walking dogs, or sunbathing. It was a good time. I walked down to the hatch shell and actually just grabbed a loose chair on stage and started playing music. Some people stopped to listen. Most just kept walking. Eveyone looked happy. It's amazing what the sun does to people after a New England winter. I actually think I appreciate the summer more now that I live in Boston, because we go through all the seasons.

It makes you appreciate new life. There's so much new life in my life these days.

After the esplanade I stopped by the studio, but it was too nice to stay and work, so when David called to invite me to a bbq at Christina Sullivan's I shut down ProTools and headed to Waltham. I ate tons of delicious food and then we played some fiercely competitive wiffle ball and watched Snakes on a Plane. It's every bit as lame as imagined. Also the Red Sox beat the Yankees in game 2 of the current 3 game series. If we shut em out, we'll be up 6 games. Now we just have to catch up Toronto.

In case you wondered.

I had a fun Patriots Day.

Autopilot to hell.

Hahahahahaha, THIS is gonna make for some good times. I love when Google decides to bring unasked for convenience into our lives... I predict this bombs within months.

I love the remark that, "Two Gmail accounts can happily converse with each other for up to three messages each. Beyond that, our experiments have shown a significant decline in the quality ranking of Autopilot's responses and further messages may commit you to dinner parties or baby namings in which you have no interest."

I'm not kidding, I'm turning this thing on right away!

Happy Dirty 2009

Well it's here. The end of my 20's. I have to say I'm absolutely oodles happier than I was last year, and last year I had a girlfriend (which I suppose actually has a lot to do with why I'm happier this year). Ouch. Oh well, live and learn.

I've been listening to the song '29' by the Gin Blossoms for the past few days and have to say it pretty well sums up my feelings on the occasion. The video's a lame attempt to sync up the album track with live video. But the song is there.

I'm blogging late at night because I actually am spending my birthday in DC and the weekend in Norfolk with my sister's family (nieces and nephews!!!). Which means early flight. Love you guys. Thanks for everything.

Facebook knows their market!

I will not be potty training my kids with the cougar fight song...



Incidently, I recall all my scout leaders waking us up in the mornings on campouts by singing "Rise and shout, cougar-women are out", at the top of their voices.

A-Roid, and the bigger problem.

The nagging steroid controversy in major league baseball exploded this week when after a players'-union consented drug test from 2003 which was supposed to remain confidential was leaked to Sports Illustrated, Yankees second baseman Alex Rodriguez appeared on ESPN's sportscenter to admit that from 2001-2003 he regularly took "a banned substance" to enhance his performance. The purpose of the players' union's consent to the 2003 test was to demonstrate there wasn't a need for outside regulation and that steroid use was not a widespread issue. 3 other current Yankees players have already admitted to past steroid use, and once-thought future Hall of Famers Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens face mounting accusations that they have regularly doped.

I was thinking about how similar this fiasco is to the financial meltdown that came to a head in October of last year. Banks and financial institutions have insisted for the 2 decades since the savings and loan debacle, that they require no outside regulation or accountability to function. Economic philosophies arose giving praise to the free market and the self-regulation of widespread greed.

The premise of that stance, is of course that the individual institutions will regulate each others' behavior instead of cooperate and encourage fraud and cover for each other. Just like in baseball, the players' union insisted there wasn't a problem and that the minimal steroid use is confronted and managed by the individual clubhouses. But the problem was there and it wasn't being internally addressed. Rodriguez put it, "it was just the culture at the time". Economists warned for years that the pattern of trading on mortgage backed securities and selling defaulted commodities on Wall Street was a bubble, and eventually all bubbles burst. The fact emerged the same, that rather than keep each other honest, the banks, lenders, traders, appraisers, and credit agencies went to bed together. And we're now suffering the fallout of their unsanctimonious orgie of greed.

How many times do we need to see this philosophy up-ended before we realize the truth that the natural man is an ememy to God and to his fellow man? He will seek his own by competition or by cooperation, whichever offers him a higher yield of money, pleasure, and power. These are my thoughts. Except for one final one...

...Yankees suck!!!