Become A Rock Star In 24 Hours
I have been asked so many times about "how to get hooked up in the music business." The reality is, I can't "hook you up" anymore than you can! So here's what I know about how become a rock star...and you can do all of this in about 24 hours.
Write Great Fucking Songs
Find Your REALLY SPECIFIC Niche and Stick With It (Christian-Hippie Folk, Nursing Home Piano Tunes, African Metal, whatever)
Get A Good Job...That You Can Leave OR Become Self Employed
Buy Tour:Smart by Martin Atkins and Read It Several Times With Margin Notes
Make A List of Everyone You Know and What THEY Know and How That Can Help You
Make Everyone In The Band Responsible For Something
Use Myspace As Your Website, Not As Your Crutch...No One Likes It
FUCK Email Lists: Use Facebook Instead and Send Personal Messages...NOT FORMS
Devote One Hour A Day To Twitter
Be Authentic!
Promote Something Other Than Music
Friday, May 15, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Richard Dawkins, Gardening and the Number Seven: Parshat Behar
Richard Dawkins, Gardening and the Number Seven: Parshat Behar
I just watched the Richard Dawkins movie, "The God Delusion. I disagree with Dawkins who thinks that religion is poison (a little too Chairman Mao for me), but he did bring up an interesting point: In one scene, Dawkins confronts a British rabbi about the Genesis account of creationism. The rabbi says that he supports a literal interpretation of Genesis and believes that the world is only 6,000 years old. Dawkins tells the rabbi how stupid this is, because archeologists all agree that humans are millions of years old and that 6,000 years ago was the start of the Agricultural Revolution.
This got me thinking: is there a biblical connection between the agricultural revolution and the laws of Moses? Sure enough, there is...and it's this week's Parshat.
Parshat Behar gives the faithful a set of rules for how to handle all their farming...stuff like the Jubilee, contracts between tenant farmers, a year of rest for the land, etc. etc. I'm not gonna go into it because frankly its boring to me and I don't have a green thumb...i can barely keep a house plant alive.
At the beginning of human civilization, cultures believed that they were controlled by the land and created Earth gods and goddesses to act as the middle man between the Earth and their needs. Life was subsistence, short and brutal. But when the Agricultural Revolution happened, people had abundance for the very first time. We were able to control the land and were free for the first time.
But with freedom comes responsibility, and as keepers of the Law, Jews understand this and bring this to the world with Torah. G_d demands we level the playing field, giving time for the Earth and those who cultivate it to rest. We have to give to the wandering stranger and return land back to its original owner, eliminating the tenant farmer relationship. We cannot abuse our land privilege with usury and on the 50th year, we have to celebrate with festivals.
When a culture has comfort, it becomes responsible to those whose lives are still short and brutal. The lesson of Parshat Behar, and the agricultural revolution, is to see the bigger picture: that no matter what our abundance, we are still partners with G_d and have to play by the rules in order to make life worth living.
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
I just watched the Richard Dawkins movie, "The God Delusion. I disagree with Dawkins who thinks that religion is poison (a little too Chairman Mao for me), but he did bring up an interesting point: In one scene, Dawkins confronts a British rabbi about the Genesis account of creationism. The rabbi says that he supports a literal interpretation of Genesis and believes that the world is only 6,000 years old. Dawkins tells the rabbi how stupid this is, because archeologists all agree that humans are millions of years old and that 6,000 years ago was the start of the Agricultural Revolution.
This got me thinking: is there a biblical connection between the agricultural revolution and the laws of Moses? Sure enough, there is...and it's this week's Parshat.
Parshat Behar gives the faithful a set of rules for how to handle all their farming...stuff like the Jubilee, contracts between tenant farmers, a year of rest for the land, etc. etc. I'm not gonna go into it because frankly its boring to me and I don't have a green thumb...i can barely keep a house plant alive.
At the beginning of human civilization, cultures believed that they were controlled by the land and created Earth gods and goddesses to act as the middle man between the Earth and their needs. Life was subsistence, short and brutal. But when the Agricultural Revolution happened, people had abundance for the very first time. We were able to control the land and were free for the first time.
But with freedom comes responsibility, and as keepers of the Law, Jews understand this and bring this to the world with Torah. G_d demands we level the playing field, giving time for the Earth and those who cultivate it to rest. We have to give to the wandering stranger and return land back to its original owner, eliminating the tenant farmer relationship. We cannot abuse our land privilege with usury and on the 50th year, we have to celebrate with festivals.
When a culture has comfort, it becomes responsible to those whose lives are still short and brutal. The lesson of Parshat Behar, and the agricultural revolution, is to see the bigger picture: that no matter what our abundance, we are still partners with G_d and have to play by the rules in order to make life worth living.
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
A Quote By Matthue Roth
"I learned how to get to the point where the only rules I followed were the rules I cared about. And that is when I found G_d."
--Matthue Roth www.matthue.com
This quote is more punk than I will ever be in a thousand lifetimes. Thanks, dude!
--Matthue Roth www.matthue.com
This quote is more punk than I will ever be in a thousand lifetimes. Thanks, dude!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Crushed Testicles, Broken Limbs and Holiness: Parshat Emor
Crushed Testicles, Broken Limbs and Holiness: Parshat Emor
(Note: this post was brought to you with help by activist Nick Dupress. Visit his blog Nick's Crusade at http://www.nickscrusade.org/wordpress/)
In Leviticus 21, the Kohanim, the holiest of holy priests, were instructed to not perform their priestly duties if they had the following disabilities: blindness, mobility impairment, sunken nose, broken or twisted limb, one limb disproportionate to the other, sores, and, of course, crushed testicles. Then again, if I had crushed testicles, I probably wouldn't if I was holy...all I'd be worried about is getting an ice pack.
It got me thinking about my friend Nick Dupree, an activist for the handicapped. Here's a person who knows all about being a sacrificer and the one being sacrificed. Nick is completely immobile except for his hand. Nick needs constant care in order to stay alive. In spite of this, Nick has sacrificed his life to handicapped issues and home care reform. At the same time, by being immobile, Nick himself is a sacrifice: a sacrifice to the angels of our better nature, calling to us do the work of G_d, Tikkun Olam and Tzedaka. By being stuck in a hospital bed, Nick is the proverbial Issac, bound to the altar of our health care system.
I asked Nick to contribute something to this discussion. I expected he'd think the same way that I do: that this Torah portion is outdated and trivializes the disabled.
I was wrong. Instead, Nick managed to find holiness that spoke to him. In his blog he wrote, "I’m not offended by the stringent requirements for kohanim. Disabled kohanim were never stripped of their title, and were still allowed to eat from the holiest of sacrifices (they got all the benefits of their role). Some were even allowed to perform the priestly blessing. And unlike illegitimate kohanim, disabled kohanim continued to keep all the benefits, and all the priestly laws. To suggest a physical defect is a spiritual defect is ablist and false."
If we literally interpreted this scripture then Nick would not qualify as a Kohanim. But his battle for goodness and a fair society for all oppressed people makes him holier than any moron bouncing around in a tunic and robe.
My take on this Parshat is a little different...
So maybe Parshat Emor isn't talking about physical blemishes and deformities. Maybe what it is REALLY talking about is an emotional deformity, one that blinds us and cripples us on the inside, where we cannot see the G_d that challenges us to make the world a better place for everyone...especially people like Nick.
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
(Note: this post was brought to you with help by activist Nick Dupress. Visit his blog Nick's Crusade at http://www.nickscrusade.org/wordpress/)
In Leviticus 21, the Kohanim, the holiest of holy priests, were instructed to not perform their priestly duties if they had the following disabilities: blindness, mobility impairment, sunken nose, broken or twisted limb, one limb disproportionate to the other, sores, and, of course, crushed testicles. Then again, if I had crushed testicles, I probably wouldn't if I was holy...all I'd be worried about is getting an ice pack.
It got me thinking about my friend Nick Dupree, an activist for the handicapped. Here's a person who knows all about being a sacrificer and the one being sacrificed. Nick is completely immobile except for his hand. Nick needs constant care in order to stay alive. In spite of this, Nick has sacrificed his life to handicapped issues and home care reform. At the same time, by being immobile, Nick himself is a sacrifice: a sacrifice to the angels of our better nature, calling to us do the work of G_d, Tikkun Olam and Tzedaka. By being stuck in a hospital bed, Nick is the proverbial Issac, bound to the altar of our health care system.
I asked Nick to contribute something to this discussion. I expected he'd think the same way that I do: that this Torah portion is outdated and trivializes the disabled.
I was wrong. Instead, Nick managed to find holiness that spoke to him. In his blog he wrote, "I’m not offended by the stringent requirements for kohanim. Disabled kohanim were never stripped of their title, and were still allowed to eat from the holiest of sacrifices (they got all the benefits of their role). Some were even allowed to perform the priestly blessing. And unlike illegitimate kohanim, disabled kohanim continued to keep all the benefits, and all the priestly laws. To suggest a physical defect is a spiritual defect is ablist and false."
If we literally interpreted this scripture then Nick would not qualify as a Kohanim. But his battle for goodness and a fair society for all oppressed people makes him holier than any moron bouncing around in a tunic and robe.
My take on this Parshat is a little different...
So maybe Parshat Emor isn't talking about physical blemishes and deformities. Maybe what it is REALLY talking about is an emotional deformity, one that blinds us and cripples us on the inside, where we cannot see the G_d that challenges us to make the world a better place for everyone...especially people like Nick.
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Wolverine Is Jewish
Wolverine Is Jewish
(Editor's note: there aren't any spoilers in here other than a basic plot line for the first five minutes of the movie. If you're one of those people who HATES knowing what a movie is about before you see it, then don't read this. If you already know who Wolverine is and what X-Men is about, then go right on ahead! Just don't come crying to us when we've "ruined it" for you, please!)
I saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night. Can I just say, TOTALLY F*CKING AWESOME!
For those of you who aren't comic book nerds, Wolverine (real name Logan) is a mutant with two strange super powers. First, he heals almost miraculously from any kind of injury. Almost nothing can hurt him permanently, and this leads him to have a lifespan far beyond a normal person. Second, he has razor sharp claws that come out of his hands when he clenches them.
In the movie, Logan and his brother Victor (also a mutant with similar powers, later to become the character Sabertooth), are born in the 1800's. With animalistic fighting powers, they hide their mutant abilities by serving in every war from the Civil War until Vietnam. In Vietnam, Victor begins to show a ruthless lust for blood, killing anyone he can. Logan, on the other hand, suppresses his animal instincts and shows a sense of compassion for others. This tension between them leads to an epic struggle (and tons of fight scenes) through the movie.
I ask you...what ISN'T Jewish about this? First, you have a struggle between brothers (Cain/Abel, Jacob/Essau), people living a strangely long time (Adam 930 years, Methuselah 969), supernatural powers, war...I could go on.
The main point I want to drive home is the psychology of Wolverine. Throughout the movie, Wolverine is suffering from an internal struggle between his good nature (humanness) and his killing nature (animalistic). Jews know all about this: we view ourselves as part G_d, part animal, constantly trying to imitate G_d so that we can fully live in his image. Wolverine hates what his brother Victor stands for: self-centered-ness, cruelty, violence, but at the same time cannot escape those feelings himself.
The word "Israel" means "to struggle" and when we see characters like Wolverine struggle between their G_dly nature and their evil nature, we can't help but feel a sense of connection.
What Wolverine ultimately realizes is that he is neither G_d, nor animal: he is something else entirely. He is something special. That's why he finds himself in the company of the X-Men, a mutant "minyan" of other people fighting between a cruel nature, that while powerful, has the ability to create total chaos, and another, more Divine sense of goodness that triumphs over the evil doers.
Sure, Wolverine isn't actually Jewish. But his struggle to live a righteous life sure is!
Besides, we all know Kitty Pride is Jewish...come on, she's from Deerfield, Illinois for G_d's sake!
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
(Editor's note: there aren't any spoilers in here other than a basic plot line for the first five minutes of the movie. If you're one of those people who HATES knowing what a movie is about before you see it, then don't read this. If you already know who Wolverine is and what X-Men is about, then go right on ahead! Just don't come crying to us when we've "ruined it" for you, please!)
I saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine last night. Can I just say, TOTALLY F*CKING AWESOME!
For those of you who aren't comic book nerds, Wolverine (real name Logan) is a mutant with two strange super powers. First, he heals almost miraculously from any kind of injury. Almost nothing can hurt him permanently, and this leads him to have a lifespan far beyond a normal person. Second, he has razor sharp claws that come out of his hands when he clenches them.
In the movie, Logan and his brother Victor (also a mutant with similar powers, later to become the character Sabertooth), are born in the 1800's. With animalistic fighting powers, they hide their mutant abilities by serving in every war from the Civil War until Vietnam. In Vietnam, Victor begins to show a ruthless lust for blood, killing anyone he can. Logan, on the other hand, suppresses his animal instincts and shows a sense of compassion for others. This tension between them leads to an epic struggle (and tons of fight scenes) through the movie.
I ask you...what ISN'T Jewish about this? First, you have a struggle between brothers (Cain/Abel, Jacob/Essau), people living a strangely long time (Adam 930 years, Methuselah 969), supernatural powers, war...I could go on.
The main point I want to drive home is the psychology of Wolverine. Throughout the movie, Wolverine is suffering from an internal struggle between his good nature (humanness) and his killing nature (animalistic). Jews know all about this: we view ourselves as part G_d, part animal, constantly trying to imitate G_d so that we can fully live in his image. Wolverine hates what his brother Victor stands for: self-centered-ness, cruelty, violence, but at the same time cannot escape those feelings himself.
The word "Israel" means "to struggle" and when we see characters like Wolverine struggle between their G_dly nature and their evil nature, we can't help but feel a sense of connection.
What Wolverine ultimately realizes is that he is neither G_d, nor animal: he is something else entirely. He is something special. That's why he finds himself in the company of the X-Men, a mutant "minyan" of other people fighting between a cruel nature, that while powerful, has the ability to create total chaos, and another, more Divine sense of goodness that triumphs over the evil doers.
Sure, Wolverine isn't actually Jewish. But his struggle to live a righteous life sure is!
Besides, we all know Kitty Pride is Jewish...come on, she's from Deerfield, Illinois for G_d's sake!
Check out the Facebook page!
Also check out the Punk Torah YouTube channel!
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