Elusive Song

I can't find this song anywhere but on imeem...and the album it's from costs a minimum of $45 on Amazon. It's from the movie "Better Luck Tomorrow," during a really beautiful scene.  I was going to post my favorite movie soundtrack moments, until I realized that this song was hidden from the eyes and ears of humanity.  So, now it's here...for now.    More on my list later...

Honorable Mention

This is a project I completed for Woman's Studies 100 during Winter Quarter. Our guidelines were to create a "quilt" highlighting important women in any field we chose. I chose to focus on nine women who changed the face of music during their respective eras: Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner, Cindy Lauper, Madonna, Melissa Etheridge, and Alanis Morissette. Since I'm not a crafter, per say, I used a canvas, acrylic paints, and Xerox copies of Photoshopped images. I received an "Honorable Mention" for my efforts. The piece hung in OU-C's art gallery in Bennett Hall for the entire month of March.

I Guess That's Why They Call it Medical "Practice"

And now, a play-by-play of my recent medial dilemma.

Nearly three months ago, I developed what I thought was a kidney infection. I had all the typical symptoms - pain in the mid-to-lower left side of my back, the constant urge to urinate, and overall abdominal crampiness. A visit to Urgent Care sent me home with antibiotics, but by the following week, my pain had increased and none of the other symptoms had even begun to dissipate. I then started a series of tests ordered my family doctor, Dr. Kirk Tucker with the Franklin Clinic in Chillicothe. Throughout the next three months, I had three CT scans, a colonoscopy and an MRI. Possible dianoses ranged from kidney stones, diverticulitis, a slipped disc in my back, and porphyria. As these tests, including random blood and urine samples, continued to come back with negative results, I realized Dr. Tucker had no idea what he was up against. He became very restless with my office visits. I could tell he's had very few patients with conditions as obscure as mine.

Approximately three weeks ago, my pain reached a new level, and my left abdomen, just beside and above my navel, began to swell. I called Dr. Tucker's office to let him know about the change in symptoms. He was not going to be in the office the next day, so he set me up with an appointment with Dr. Gbaruk of the same family of physicians. Dr. Gbaruk took much more time sitting down with me than Dr. Tucker ever had. Dr. Tucker would rush me in and out, briefly speak to me regarding new development of symptoms, and rarely did any sort of physical examination. Dr. Gbaruk actually physically analyzed my abdomen, and he squinted his eyes in confusion for quite some time before deciding to go look over my recent scans and to have a conference call with Dr. Tucker. When he returned to the room, he had determined that endometriosis was the likely culprit, and that I should see my OB/GYN as soon as possible. A laparoscopy was ordered, and I was scheduled for the operation last Friday.

When I went in for surgery, I warned Dr. Bob Lee, the anesthesiologist, of a condition my aunt Barb has, one my family has been told is serious and genetic and can affect any of us at any time. While this sounds serious enough, I never knew just how dangerous the disease is until Friday. When I mentioned "Malignant Hyperthermia" to the doctor, he freaked out. He said if he were to have completed my surgery Friday, there would have been a 25 percent chance I could die. Malignant Hypothermia is a rare disease stemming from an allergic reaction to certain anesthetics. If contracted, it causes the patient's muscles to contract, and the presence of a high fever that eventually shuts down the body's systems, one by one. This all confused me because I have had anesthetics before, for an apendectomy at Pike Community Hospital in 2006. When I told Dr. Lee of this, he said, "Sure, you could say, 'I just crossed the road without looking first and I'm fine.' But that doesn't mean you'll be fine the next time you try to do it." So, apparently, MH can manifest itself whenever it pleases, but not every time. To find out if I have MH, I'll have to make a trip to Pennsylvania to have a muscle biopsy performed. It is the only location in the U.S., that I'm aware of, that handles the test.

Luckily, I didn't have to wait for a test to have my laparoscopy. Instead, special conditions had to be met by the anesthetic team. First of all, I had to be the first patient of the day, with clean new anesthetic tubes containing no traces of the drugs that might trigger a reaction. Next, the doctors had to avoid any drugs known to trigger an MH episode. And finally, I was given very high doses of oxygen to be sure my muscles wouldn't do the contracty thing. I went in for the operation yesterday morning, and did wonderful.

The findings: endometriosis. Although I've not yet spoken to my OB/GYN, Dr. Richard Villarreal of Chillicothe OB/GYN, he briefed Nick on the situation following the procedure. Apparently, he did find endometriosis, but it wasn't severe enough for him to burn any of it off yesterday. He said he wants to start me on a series of injections to throw me into menopause temporarily. Supposedly, this will slow the growth of the endometriosis. Now, I'm concerned about my future as a woman. I don't even know if I'll be able to have more children following this. I'm afraid of the big "M" word because I'm not looking forward to having my hormones all out of whack - even more out of what than this crazy woman's hormones are already. I have an appointment with Dr. Villarreal Monday to discuss the issue further. He also said that he's not entirely convinced that my level of pain is coming from the endometriosis. He said typically, the condition doesn't cause pain as severe as mine. He would also like for me to see an internal medicine specialist to look for something further. What they'll look for this time I have no idea. The only thing I could think they might do is an endoscopy, where they'd take a scope down the upper part of my G.I. track and stomach to look for problems. Other than that, I've been scoped and scanned every which way possible. I don't know what more could be causing it.

So, now, I'm on my couch, feeling achy from a hole in my belly button and another on my lower stomach. The anesthetics have worn off finally, leaving me both drowsy and restless. I welcome uplifting messages and words of wisdom.

Tiny Food

I love this tiny food that Jenn made with Gracie. Just goes to show what a little clay and lots of time with a 4 year old can produce...

One for the Ladies...

I respect the opinions of those on all sides of the abortion debate, even though I, myself, am pro-choice. I just want to make sure that everyone is clear about John McCain's record when it comes to reproductive rights. He has been portrayed, in the past, as a Maverick that breaks the typical Republican mold.

But in most cases, it's pure fiction. I've included a couple of links that illustrate his record. He's never been a "maverick" except when his own party members fail to give him the glory. He was mad at Bush because of the 2000 primary, so he opposed tax cuts for the wealthy. Now, he's for them.

You'll hear plenty of flipping and flopping in the coming months, because he can't get too close to the middle...he'll lose the support of people on the far right. He also can't go too far to the right, because there aren't enough die-hard Republicans left to elect him. And Independents are going to identify the lagging economy and soaring prices with Republicans.

So, he has to ride a double-sided rhetorical beast, in hopes that he confuses enough people into voting for him...or get enough "vote against the other guy" votes. I'm more concerned about the issues....and how similar McCain IS to Bush.

He says on his own website that he will seek to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Scarily enough, this could actually happen if he's elected, due to the age of some Supreme Court Justices.

Here's his voting record on reproductive rights.

And here's a more detailed description of his voting record on reproductive rights.

The Lack of CD Dilemma

I got a message on MySpace from a guy in New York who couldn't find a place to buy one of my CDs. Crap! I don't have any CDs for sale. He listened to some of my stuff on last.fm, but only had internet access at work. So, I sent him a free copy of some of my old recordings in the mail. I figure if he wants it bad enough to ask a stranger for it on MySpace, he deserves it, postage free...

I'm working on an album...hopefully to be released at the end of the summer. I finished a rough draft of one of the songs, yesterday. I plan on doing more polished versions of some of my older songs, but mostly newer songs. I'm still plodding through the process of getting familiar with my new recorder. Perhaps I'll buy it a beer tonight...

Anyone have any advice for making vocals sound good? My recorder came with all kinds of effects...but the best of them have a little too much echo and sound a little tinny...and the worst of them just make me sound like a robot. I might end up just letting the natural echo of the room be my reverb. The reverb on the recorder has all kinds of fuzz and static on it.

Also, if there are any stray drummers out there, I needs me one...

Music, Independence, and the Internet

Disclaimer: I'm Nicholas Slone and This is My Long Account of My Life With Music (With Equally Long Title)

Lately, I've had an abundance of energy and ambition that is spilling forth into my one great passion....music. I've loved music all my life. I can remember flipping through hymnals when my mom took me to choir practice, looking for some better songs to sing. When I found one, I would insist that we sing it, over and over again, until it became a part of the repertoire.

My nieces and I would sit around with a crappy tape recorder and make up songs, pretend to be radio D.J.s and various other corny things that were incredibly fun. I'd say around 4th grade I started writing the words down. Of course, every few years, I'd look at what I'd written, decide it was all sappy crap and trash most of it. I took piano lessons briefly, discovered just how lazy and impatient I was.....then took guitar lessons.....again, too lazy and impatient to learn scales and such, and settled on just writing words. Plus, most of the songs I liked back then were terrible and required very little guitar.

But I always loved to write and sing. I was raised on a dairy farm (like Lemony Snicket), and I often had to run the cows into the barn when it was time to milk them. Now, there are plenty of ways to scare a cow....but pretty much any kind of loud noise will do in a pinch. I'm sure to this day, that many cows have fevered nightmares about me singing/shouting various curse words and declarations of love at them, flailing my arms in the twilight. Why the combination of singing, swearing, and declarations of love? Well, where else does a shy kid from a good Christian family get his rocks off, but on the open range?

Flash forward to high school, when I always sang loudly with the radio. Hell, I loved high school dances, just so I could sing at the top of my lungs....much to the dismay of my sore-footed dance partners with ringing in their ears. Finally, I was given an outlet when I started hanging out with Joe Keaton. Along with Adam Clausing, we formed a band called Azre-el. I got my first taste of actually singing with a band. I also started playing around with a guitar around the same time. I took a couple of lessons from Joe, who is quite an accomplished guitarist, but ultimately, I just hated learning other people's shit. We recorded a 4 song demo, and I got my first chance to write a song, set to music that Joe wrote. I LOVED it. By the time we recorded, I wrote my own song, lyrics and music. I had caught the songwriting bug. Afterwards, I started writing all the time. The band wanted to learn 3 hours worth of covers, so we could start making money, which makes perfect sense. But, I just wanted to write. So, I quit/was replaced.

That's pretty much how I spent my time with music for a long time. I played with people here and there, most notably with my friend Luke Chamberlin, but I just focused on writing and finishing my English degree. By the time I was finished, I was a little sick of words and tired of most of the music I was hearing. After graduating, I moved from Athens back to Ironton for a year, where I was exposed to a musical renaissance by my friends Patrick and Brandy. Nearly every time I visited their apartment, I came away with music by 3 or 4 bands that I had never heard. I was shocked that so much music existed under the radar. It also exposed me to a method of discovery and distribution of music that I hadn't yet considered, probably because I didn't have access at the time......The Internet.

During the time that I worked on my Master's in Library and Information Science, I had the opportunity to really learn and explore the internet in a way that I previously hadn't. The major thing I discovered about the internet and its relationship to music (and in fact, most forms of media), was that the old way of doing things was slowly dying or evolving. In the old days, the major record labels essentially held a monopoly on distribution and exposure. What this did, and what ultimately led to my past disgust with the music available.....is that it created an artificial scarcity of goods. It wasn't that there wasn't a massive amount of music produced, it was that only a small fraction of that music was available in stores/on radio stations. Specifically, the music that these massive corporations are trying to sell. The internet, or more specifically, those that access and utilize the internet to access, promote, and distribute music, cracked the game wide open.

I've seen it elsewhere, and I believe it.....a musician can make a living if he or she has 1,000 true fans. A true fan is someone who will pay for every CD, not because that's the only way to access it, but because they truly want to support the artist. But that's only a tiny part of it. Even if they can't afford to buy it, they'll be promoting it, or will dish out the money to see a show. The most important thing seems to have been lost on the major media corporations. Focus on making something first. Make it your number one priority....the MAKING. If you make something with your heart and soul in it, SOMEONE will like it. It's what needs to happen....more people that make music because they HAVE to. They're internally compelled to. Just because it's what they do. My generation has been bombarded with advertising all our lives, and we're desensitized enough now that hype alone will not make us fans. Now, we create our own hype. There are too many different kinds of people for everyone to like the exact same music.

So, what was the point of that rant about the music business? The point is that the same renaissance that revived my critical interest in other people's music has also reawakened my desire to create and distribute my own. I have around 30-40 songs that I've written over the years, and I'm still writing. I have an old album that I recorded on a shitty tape recorder, years ago. I have it up on last.fm for free streaming, right now. Along with some stuff that I recorded with Joe's help a couple of years ago. There are some tools that I've recently learned about, as well as some new recording equipment I just bought (thank god for tax returns). So, why am I telling everyone about it? I don't really know...maybe because it's like an adventure to me....and I think all of this stuff is so damn cool....

So, I'm gonna start blogging about what I'm doing with all this stuff. What I'm doing, what I'm using, where I'm at on the internet. I have the luxury of a full time job, so I'm certainly not afraid to try shit out and fail miserably. Success, I'm told, is often far scarier. Right now, my plan of attack is as follows (I'll go into more depth in the near future):

1) last.fm - full track streaming - people listen to your music for free, they pay royalties now based on how many listens you get (plus links to buy albums)
2) Use new recording equipment to make album on the cheap
3) Amazon's CreateSpace - On Demand Publishing (Very Cool)
4) Use recordings to recruit additional band members, give fellow friends/musicians a chance to learn my songs...
5) Play every open mic night known to man (until gas money runs out)
6) Get paid to play my own music (The Dream)
7) Fly around on a hover-board, dropping jellybeans on people as they clock in for work, thereby throwing them off schedule by a few minutes and severely angering The Master Timekeeper, like in "Repent Harlequin, Said the Tick-tock Man," by Harlan Ellison, except I won't get caught (the other dream)

Click for My last.fm Music Page

Click for My MySpace Music Page

Too Good to Resist

Ok, it's been awhile since we've posted anything, but this is too good not to blog...

Close Call With John Popper

Nick and I traveled to Cleveland for the weekend in celebration of our first wedding anniversary. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and stayed at the Holiday Inn Select. It's funny, but our most interesting experiences occurred during our time at the hotel.

On Sunday, we had just packed up our bags and left our room on the 16th floor, and were preparing to go downstairs to check out and head over to the Rock Hall of Fame. As we reached the elevator to go down, the doors open, and my jaw dropped. A man who looked EXACTLY like John Popper of Blues Traveler, along with a Native American-looking man packing luggage, got out of the elevator as we were getting on. I knew, deep in my gut, that this man WAS in fact THE JOHN POPPER. He rounded the corner with who I assumed was his roadie, and I found my vocal chords.

I tugged on Nick's coat sleeve, and said, "Hey, wasn't that John Popper?" Nick was in denial. He said when you see celebrities, they almost never look like themselves. And this man looked just like John Popper, therefore he assumed there was no way it was him. So, I didn't chase him around the corner, although I would've liked to. Like I said, something in my gut said I was right. Call it women's intuition. :)

As we went downstairs, I said to Nick, "But, seriously, we're in Cleveland, the home of blues, how far-fetched is it that John Popper could be here?"

Well, I was right. As soon as we got home, I logged on to Blues Traveler's website, and low and behold, they are performing at the House of Blues tonight.

It was John Popper. I've been kicking myself for not saying something to the man, just in case, ever since. I have to say, though, this was by far my favorite experience of the weekend.

And to add to the bizarreness of the experience, while at the Hard Rock just the night before, we saw, on Hard Rock TV, an amazing cover of "Low Rider" performed live by Blues Traveler. Straaange. :)

Cough, hack, sneeze...

I'm back! With a vengeance! As Nick reported, I spent the weekend in the care of the fine folks at Adena Regional Medical Center, laid up by the nasty pneumonia goblin. Now, I'm on my way up, up, up, with Levaquin, (prescription-strength) Mucinex, an inhaler, and steroids. And the daggone steroids have me bouncing off the walls. I swear, while trying to sleep last night, my eyes felt as big as quarters!

'Lil Gracie has a cold, too, and is also taking some anti-biotics and cough syrup, and Nick headed to Dr. Tucker's office this morning with the same bug. Hopefully he can nip it in the bud before it gets him down as bad as it did me.

So, in other words, we've been ailing, but we're fighting bac! (Haha)

This Friday is our annual Halloween Party, which is sure to be a hoot. Nick, as you know, will make his attempt to look like Tom Waits, and I'll be appearing as none other than Betty Boop! Boop-oop-a-doop! :) Festivities will begin around 7ish.

I'm also back to school today, and I'm amazed at how quickly this quarter has flown by. I've missed a lot, which sucks, but I think I'm back on track for good now. All of the surgeries are done until the beginning of the year, when Mom will have her gall bladder removed. She had a very successful heart cath two Thursdays ago, and her doctor, (check this name out:) Bipinpreet Nagra, healed her quite well. Turns out, she had a rhythm problem and all he needed to do was burn a small place in her heart so that her synapses would have a place to go. Or something like that. Nonetheless, she's doing much, much better.

On a romantic note, Nick and I will celebrate our first anniversary next Wednesday, and we'll be heading to Cleveland for the weekend following. He's taking me to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I've never been to, and he's got some other tricks up his sleeve that I'm unaware of. I love surprises! :)) Perhaps for next Wacky Wednesday, our pals will celebrate this monentous occasion with us. I'll tell ya, it's so strange, I feel like I just met Nick yesterday and that I've known him all my life both at the same time. He's the man of my dreams, and I still feel as lucky as the day I married him.

My recommendations for this week: "Death Proof" and "Planet Terror," better known as the double feature "Grindhouse." Amazing, amazing, amazing.