Life at the Owen School of Management has begun.
Tons of reading, too many assignments, and more than enough work...but its great because everything learned is important and applicable toward the future!
On Monday, the first official day of class, my Leading Teams and Organizations class met and I was assigned to a team to complete a case study on a fictional character named Erik Peterson. The case was due Wednesday, giving us only 2 days to assemble 5 pages of text (plus 2 exhibits) and it was really tough since we had an international student in our group who speaks "just enough" English. Which, of course, wasn't enough, but we made it.
I don't think I've had this much fun doing this much work since math team in high school!
On another note, after running one of my usual Google searches on Jimmy B & the Fortune 500, I found the following profile of a random Furman student, who for some reason felt compelled to include a quote from War Machine among his favorite quotes!
Its cool to find stuff like this that happens as a result of putting a creative work out there...you never get to see how people respond to it, but you know some people do enjoy it and take something away from it.
http://www.w4gs.org/memberpages/af4hk/profile.htm
If you haven't placed your order for both "Everything You Know Is Wrong" - Jimmy B & the Fortune 500's last work for a while - and "Maintain Radio Silence", by instrumental disc, you need to do it soon so you can get a free Mariner Records frisbee!
We're not skimping on the frisbees, now...they are regulation size and weight. There aren't many of them at all so go to jbf500.com and mail me a check and order one!
Lori surprised me today with buying me Two Towers as a present for starting business school, but told me I couldn't watch it until my work was done on Thursday (end of business school week of classes) ... so I guess I better get back to work.
Talk to you soon.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Friday, August 22, 2003
Full post coming on orientation ending and classes at Owen about to start!
One quick thing...I would give a lot to find out who exactly runs www.metrock.com, and the corresponding "Metrock Records". Another Squished Mosquito production? What the hell?
No one in my family or extended family has any idea what it is or who's running it...kinda strange, huh?
Friday's here, and running some errands with Lori and her sister tonight, including dinner at 5 and Diner! Slurp.
One quick thing...I would give a lot to find out who exactly runs www.metrock.com, and the corresponding "Metrock Records". Another Squished Mosquito production? What the hell?
No one in my family or extended family has any idea what it is or who's running it...kinda strange, huh?
Friday's here, and running some errands with Lori and her sister tonight, including dinner at 5 and Diner! Slurp.
Monday, August 11, 2003
Its a wrap...Maintain Radio Silence is complete!
I am extremely pleased with the album. I wasn't sure, entering the project, if an album of 12-15 instrumental songs with piano as the primary instrument would be compelling.
I still don't know if it is (!) but I think most people will really enjoy it.
The Steinway concert piano blended wonderfully with a variety of synth sounds of all different types for some promising new re-interpretations of Jimmy B & the Fortune 500 material, as well as some brand new songs...some of which were simply made up on the spot!
In the next month or two, I will plan a new initiative behind the promotion of Maintain Radio Silence ...approximately 250 copies of the instrumental album will be personally delivered to Nashville-area nursing home residents, with follow-up performances to occur on a month-to-month basis.
This will be a great way to give back to the community, and to show my appreciation for being able to do what I love to do and record new music for release by Mariner Records.
I will also be seeking out a lawyer to license some of the instrumental music to commercial interests...this will be the primary way I hope to regain the investment in the album's production.
Bradley Hartman, the engineer who recorded Maintain Radio Silence from his house in Hillsboro, was wonderful to work with and a great talent with bringing out the best in the audio. I hope to work with him again at some point.
I'll be back and forth from Birmingham in the next day or so, moving stuff from home up here to my new place, then Orientation at Owen starts bright and early Wednesday. See you soon.
I am extremely pleased with the album. I wasn't sure, entering the project, if an album of 12-15 instrumental songs with piano as the primary instrument would be compelling.
I still don't know if it is (!) but I think most people will really enjoy it.
The Steinway concert piano blended wonderfully with a variety of synth sounds of all different types for some promising new re-interpretations of Jimmy B & the Fortune 500 material, as well as some brand new songs...some of which were simply made up on the spot!
In the next month or two, I will plan a new initiative behind the promotion of Maintain Radio Silence ...approximately 250 copies of the instrumental album will be personally delivered to Nashville-area nursing home residents, with follow-up performances to occur on a month-to-month basis.
This will be a great way to give back to the community, and to show my appreciation for being able to do what I love to do and record new music for release by Mariner Records.
I will also be seeking out a lawyer to license some of the instrumental music to commercial interests...this will be the primary way I hope to regain the investment in the album's production.
Bradley Hartman, the engineer who recorded Maintain Radio Silence from his house in Hillsboro, was wonderful to work with and a great talent with bringing out the best in the audio. I hope to work with him again at some point.
I'll be back and forth from Birmingham in the next day or so, moving stuff from home up here to my new place, then Orientation at Owen starts bright and early Wednesday. See you soon.
Thursday, August 07, 2003
Recording Maintain Radio Silence is underway and is actually a day ahead of schedule. As I've mentioned before, the album is strictly instrumental...recording piano for all tracks has concluded and I'm halfway through laying down the accompanying keyboard pads/synths to the songs.
The track listing will be different than the one I originally posted...a revised listing will be posted next week. Some changes include the addition of an instrumental version of "Near From Far", an additional new track or two, and the integration of Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is" into "Someone Else's Song" as an introduction.
Next Monday and Tuesday, I'll be moving into my new place over on West End (3415 West End, to be exact) and I can't wait! The condominium unit I'm moving into is actually a 2-bedroom unit, so anyone who wants to come visit Nashville is welcome to come and stay. I believe the Vanderbilt/Auburn game is up here in Nashville this year, so I expect to see plenty of people up here!
Orientation at Owen starts next week!
The track listing will be different than the one I originally posted...a revised listing will be posted next week. Some changes include the addition of an instrumental version of "Near From Far", an additional new track or two, and the integration of Bruce Hornsby's "The Way It Is" into "Someone Else's Song" as an introduction.
Next Monday and Tuesday, I'll be moving into my new place over on West End (3415 West End, to be exact) and I can't wait! The condominium unit I'm moving into is actually a 2-bedroom unit, so anyone who wants to come visit Nashville is welcome to come and stay. I believe the Vanderbilt/Auburn game is up here in Nashville this year, so I expect to see plenty of people up here!
Orientation at Owen starts next week!
Saturday, August 02, 2003
The following is an email that I sent to the Jimmy B & the Fortune 500 listserv...
--------------
On September 30, Jimmy B & the Fortune 500's follow-up
album "Everything You Know Is Wrong" will be released at a price of
$4.99.
On November 11, Bradley Metrock's solo piano instrumental
album, "Maintain Radio Silence", will be released at a price of $7.99.
You can order BOTH for $10.00 and receive a high-quality Mariner
Records frisbee FREE.
A single check for $10, made out to Bradley Metrock, can net you 3
Mariner Records discs!!
For details, visit Jimmy B & the Fortune 500's homepage,
www.jbf500.com.
--------------
Everything is progressing smoothly for on-time releases of Mariner Records two new discs of material prior to the end of the year.
When I get a chance this weekend, I'll be back to elaborate on Mariner Records' stance on piracy, as well as my progress toward a National Championship for Vanderbilt's football team in NCAA Football 2004.
--------------
On September 30, Jimmy B & the Fortune 500's follow-up
album "Everything You Know Is Wrong" will be released at a price of
$4.99.
On November 11, Bradley Metrock's solo piano instrumental
album, "Maintain Radio Silence", will be released at a price of $7.99.
You can order BOTH for $10.00 and receive a high-quality Mariner
Records frisbee FREE.
A single check for $10, made out to Bradley Metrock, can net you 3
Mariner Records discs!!
For details, visit Jimmy B & the Fortune 500's homepage,
www.jbf500.com.
--------------
Everything is progressing smoothly for on-time releases of Mariner Records two new discs of material prior to the end of the year.
When I get a chance this weekend, I'll be back to elaborate on Mariner Records' stance on piracy, as well as my progress toward a National Championship for Vanderbilt's football team in NCAA Football 2004.
