Echobox

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Echobox. It’s a box… that echoes, obviously Everybody’s second voice Second talk, second mind, Echoes back a righteous choice Zion! Zion! To Zion we shall go! Infidels cannot hold Zion against its rightful heirs! Billy sat and played with his toys. Mother’s echobox was on again, firing its angry nonsense words down the hall. It seemed like it was always on, even when she slept. He wanted to close the door, but he knew if he did, he would get in trouble. She would take away the toys. Billy… What a stupid, average, nothing name, he thought as he piled brick upon brick.…

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Your Friends Are Not Your Audience

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Why you shouldn’t expect friends and family to support your art. We’re playing a show this Saturday at Club Fred. It’s only five bucks to get in and we’re playing all night. I used to throw out this line nigh on every week back when I was 19-21 and gigging in rock bands regularly. After that it was different venues, more friendly to my classical and flamenco stuff, but the pitch was always the same, as were the responses, which something like this: Awesome! I’ll totally try to be there. My girlfriend/boyfriend loves that kind of music! It’s so cool…

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Teachers make a DIFFERENCE! What about YOU? Huh?

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A Reflection on the Ego of the Teaching Profession I had a different article in mind for today, but a conversation I had during work yesterday with my screenwriting partner Matt (find his website here) inspired me to create a different piece. Thanks for reading and don’t forget to share! Credit/Source: Zen Pencils, zenpencils.com              I am a teacher.             I have been a teacher for more than ten years, in various faculties. I’ve taught at private and public school. I’ve taught individuals and I’ve taught classrooms full of kids. I’ve taught at the college level and the elementary school level. Given…

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Moonsong – Prelude: Power

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Because I am forced to be away from my home (and my computer, and all of my free time), I thought instead of giving another bit of Muramasa: Blood Drinker, I would give everyone a taste of what I wrote last year. This is the prologue to Moonsong, an epic fantasy story I began writing last year in pieces sent one at a time to the woman who would become my wife. Eventually the story grew so large (some 325,000 words) that breaking into volumes became necessary to pursue publication. The third I’m hoping to get to this fall, after…

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Shores of Null – Quiescence (Album Review)

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I haven’t tried to review anything in years, but this rather unknown doom band I came across recently compelled me to write one. Looking back at my Amazon reviews from 2005, I think I’ve improved quite a bit! I’ve included some videos and links at the bottom so you can preview their material or possibly support them by buying the album. My overall score: 9 out of 10 Shores of Null is a band from Rome that combines a diverse set of influences and styles, including doom, death, and black metal. Sounds reminiscent of November’s Doom, Woods of Ypres, ICS…

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Nostalgia Chronicles, part 3: Moving?

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Another year, another room Where you hang a few things on the walls It’s just where you call home for now, Until it’s time to take them down and move on. -David Gold, from “To long life in the Limbo Union” Woods 4: The Green Album The act of moving, and by that I mean changing your home from one location to another, is usually not looked back upon fondly. This is for good reason, as moving can involve hours of physical labor, tedious organizing, and frantic cleaning in an attempt to recover one’s security deposit. Having moved some five times…

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“I’ll Never be Good Enough” and Other Lies you Tell Yourself

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I’ve done many different things in my life. I’ve played concerts, written books, recorded albums, and written sonatas and symphonies, along with plenty of other things people mind find more than a wee bit daunting. Sometimes, people disparage themselves and say that such things are impossible for them; that they lack the skill, talent, time, or intelligence to do what they really wish they could do. I am here to tell you that such impossibilities exist only in your mind. You can write a book if you choose. You can play a concert, solo or otherwise, if you choose. You…

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The Grand Magicians and False Prophets

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There is no magic; There are only illusions. There are no wizards; There are only magicians. The crowd waits for the reveal with bated breath. The curtain drops, and what was, is no longer. The magician bows and accepts the prestige of the illusion. They love the show, and the lights, and the costumes. The crowd love watching the impossible become real. Not because they really believe it, but because they know, ultimately, that it is all a lie. That’s the fun of it. We know that what our eyes see and our hears hear is not what is true.…

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Why We All Have High Hopes for Net Neutrality

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1: Radio emerges. Some stations broadcast on the same wavelength. 2: Create the FCC to keep the airwaves “clean.” 3: FCC creates broadcast monopolies within each local market, hurting consumers and benefiting established broadcasters. 4: FCC institutes sweeping censorship laws retarding the growth of art and prevents wholesale any political discourse. 5: Television emerges to challenge radio. 6: FCC licenses, monopolizes, and censors television. For decades, only three major networks exist. 7: Cable companies emerge to challenge existing broadcast monopolies, offering a much wider variety of programing direct to consumers. 8: The government grants cable companies a total monopoly in…

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Nostalgia Chronicles Part 2: Super Mex Cantina

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Continuing my series on nostalgia, which for me is a feeling akin to a flashback, only packed with emotion and often consisting of highly condensed time, I thought I might speak about a place that was near and dear to my heart, rather than a piece of intellectual property. That place is Super Mex, a Mexican restaurant and bar at Sunset and Pecos in the city of Las Vegas. I say that the place “is” Super Mex because, even though it has been re-worked by the owner and is no longer known by that name, the memory and reality of…

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