Friday, October 15, 2010

Catching Up!

Day10 - A dream you had this past week described in detail
I had a dream that my husband made me go get a flu shot. If anyone knows me, they know I am deathly afraid of needles, shots, hospitals, and blood. Well my husband drug me to Wal-Mart and handcuffed me to the pharmacy window with a note that said I needed a flu shot and to not let me talk them out of it. It was awful!!


Day11 - Favorite picture ever taken of yourself



This is my favorite picture because Kevin and I were in Miami for the first time. It was a perfect night.



Day12 - Your favorite musical artist’s life story




Ben Harper is one of my favorite musicians. I personally think he is amazing!

His Bio:
Personal Information

Born Ben Harper on October 28, 1969, in Pomona, CA; son of Leonard and Ellen Harper; divorced; children: C. J. and Harris.

Career

Singer-songwriter. Performed on tour with Taj Mahal, 1992; collaborated with Mahal on soundtrack for The Drinking Gourd, a biography of Harriet Tubman; toured United States as both solo and warm-up act with his band The Innocent Criminals, 1994-95; toured United States, Europe, and New Zealand, 1995-97; recording artist for Virgin Records, 1994-01; headlined at HORDE Festival and Montreux Jazz Festival; founded own record label, Inland Emperor Records, 2001- .

Life's Work

Singer-songwriter Ben Harper came into the national spotlight as a retro 1960s- type folksinger, with songs such as "Like a King," which protested the Rodney King beating while referring at the same time to the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. He also appeared onstage singing his own adaptation of Maya Angelou's "And Still I Rise" without accompaniment, with his fist raised in the air. It soon became evident that Harper could do more than write earnest protest songs with just an acoustic guitar. In the years since the release of his first album, Harper has been called the heir to Bob Marley as well as Jimi Hendrix. On a recent album, Live From Mars, Harper performed quiet and reverent gospel songs and covered hard-rocking Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love." Harper's versatility has become a hallmark of his short but powerful career.

Harper was was October 28, 1969, in Pomona, California, and was raised in the Inland Empire region 50 miles east of Los Angeles. It is no wonder that Harper is able to draw from so many sources for his musical inspiration. His grandparents Charles and Dorothy Chase opened a music store in 1958 called the Claremont Folk Music Center. His grandfather played the lute and his grandmother played the guitar. Harper's parents were also musically inclined. His mother, Ellen, sang and played guitar while his father, Leonard, played the drums. Harper grew up in an environment saturated with many different types of music as well as books and different instruments from all over the world. When he was a teenager Harper listened to hip-hop, but his musical compass had already been set--he would play the music that he had grown up with--American roots music.

In his late teens Harper began to drift away from rap music and move toward the roots of today's popular music--the blues. He began to play Robert Johnson and Son House, key figures in the formation of the Delta Blues tradition from the 1920s. It was this reverence for the old traditional forms of music that led him to his trademark sound, which comes from playing bottleneck slide guitar.

Harper told Jas Obrecht of Guitar Player about the influence of the early blues masters on his development as an artist: "I'd play those records at night, and then I'd go to school and hear them in my mind. The music that I was brought up with puts me in a trance, and that's the channel to the spirit of my music. I woodshedded on the bottleneck for years, putting in hours and hours a day to where morning would turn to night. I did that from the time I was 18 to 20. I was really trying to learn Robert Johnson tunes ... Mississippi John Hurt just hit me like a truck, and that was something I had to play and be a part of. Then Taj Mahal called me up."

Harper had been playing acoustic blues sets in and around Los Angeles from the time he was 16 years old. At one of his shows, blues legend Taj Mahal noticed the serious young man playing the lap slide guitar and invited him on tour. In 1992 Harper appeared on the television show Austin City Limits as part of Mahal's band and collaborated with him on the soundtrack for The Drinking Gourd, a biography of Harriet Tubman. But Harper continued to play mostly the small local coffee shops with his vintage Weissenborn guitar, a completely hollow instrument handmade in the 1920s by Herman Weissenborn. Harper's childhood friend and producer J. P. Plunier was able to arrange meetings with Los Angeles record companies on the strength of the buzz surrounding "Like a King," but Harper's protest song scared some record executives away. In an article on the website of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, Harper told Randy Grimmett about his meeting with the head of Virgin Records: "We were advised not to play 'Like a King' because it made the other A&R people nervous. So, of course, we get to the meeting and it's the first song I play. It turned out to be the song he liked most."

From that meeting Harper and Plunier received money to make a six-song demo, which turned into Harper's first album, 1994's Welcome to the Cruel World. The acoustic-based album was very different from the music that dominated the airwaves in the last gasp of the grunge era. But it was exactly that community that was most attracted to Harper's music. He and his band, The Innocent Criminals, began a marathon tour playing solo shows and warming up at the concerts of more well-known acts.

Harper told Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers of Acoustic Guitar magazine about one of his typical early shows: "I'll never forget opening up for P. J. Harvey--she invited us to tour with her. I'd sit down with an acoustic Weissenborn in front of 12-year-old girls with black eyeliner packed in the front row, looking up at me going, 'What in the hell is he playing?' But by the third or fourth song, the heads would start to nod, and then it would be on, you know. We never got stoned or anything like that--not yet."

It was during this ceaseless touring that the band worked on material for Harper's next release, 1995's Fight For Your Mind. Harper's song "Look Like Gold" also garnered some radio airtime. The record also yielded a two-year worldwide tour that found Harper travelling the globe to spread his music. Harper and his band toured throughout the United States and also in Europe and places like Turkey and New Zealand. While on the road Harper wrote material for his next album, which was released in 1997 and called The Will To Live. This record proved to be somewhat of a departure for Harper, as it featured a harder, more electric sound, especially on the record's single, "Faded," which featured a grinding electric guitar over Harper's hushed vocals. Harper was now playing with the heavyweights of the music industry such as Pearl Jam, Dave Mathews Band, and the Fugees, as well as blues and soul icons like John Lee Hooker and Ray Charles. He headlined at the HORDE Festival and played at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival. It was this variety of influences that led to the next album, Burn to Shine, which was released in 1999. On this record Harper fully spread his musical wings, showing his quiet spiritual side in "Two Hands Of A Prayer," and from there going to the light and playful "Steal My Kisses," which attracted significant radio airplay. He went all electric on the album's title track and on "Forgiven," and ventured into the realms of reggae, soul, and even ragtime jazz on "Suzie Blue." Harper told Rodgers of Acoustic Guitar about his musical progression: "I do have to say that playing and expressing myself on electrics of late is renewing my focus and enthusiasm and excitement about acoustics. If I played only acoustic for my entire life, I would get bored. So for my own musical growth, I need to venture out into other worlds of music and sound."

Harper's versatility was showcased on 2001's Live From Mars, a two-disc concert recording. One disc features his acoustic music, including a soulful rendition of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing," and the other disc features his more hard-edged music. Though Live From Mars was met with critical acclaim, Harper's life took a turn from the touring and recording cycle that he had known for the past six years. Harper's name began to appear in the gossip columns as much as it did in the music section of the newspapers. Late in 2001 it was reported that Harper had divorced his wife, Joanna, and bought a house in Los Angeles with actress Laura Dern. In 2002 The New York Post reported that Harper would be dropped from EMI's financially troubled Virgin record label in the midst of recording his next album. Harper also took time to found his own record label--Inland Emperor Records. His first artist, who had also appeared on selected recordings throughout Harper's four studio albums, was Patrick Brayer, the man who had given Harper his first paid gig. Brayer was the man who organized the Starvation Café series of concerts. The local concert promoter paid the stunned 16-year-old Harper half of the gate, which at that time was $75.

Whatever direction Harper's next project takes, he will remain true to his roots. He told Lisa Wilton of the Calgary Sun: "I'll never be a rock star and I'll never care to be. It doesn't interest me. It's not me being a rock star, it's me being perceived as a rock star. There's a difference. I feel no physical, spiritual, psychological or egotistical connection to that term at all. My commitment and discipline is in writing songs and playing them well live."


Day 13 - A memory that never fails to make you laugh

I really have a ton... Usually it's something stupid that I have done. One funny one is when Tricia and I stole firewood from UHual. That was pretty funny.

Day 14 - Best mashup you’ve ever heard

I have no idea what a mashup is but for some reason punk music comes to mind... So my favorite time during a punk song is when the beat gets intense and you know it time to MOSH!!! Love it!


Day 15 - A moment, phrase, or song that has changed your life the most.

"Do the right thing, because it's the right thing to do" is a phrase that has stuck with me since 8th grade. My engligh teacher used to say this at the end of every class. She would say "Do the right thing because..." and the class would say "because it's the right thing to do"

I try to live my life by this.


Day 16 - Something that you want to do within the next five years.

Finish school and start my masters!!!! OOOOOOOOOh yeah!


Day 17 - What you want to remembered for.

For being myself, not trying to be like anybody else. Being tough and honest. having a big heart that I don't often show... but the ones that are closest know it's there. I want to make a difference! I just want to be remembered.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Day 09 - Five things you want to see change

I don't need 5 things to change.

I need one thing to change...

I want people to be more open minded!

If you are going to judge them, get to know them first.
If you don't agree with something, was there a time where you once did and something changed?
Is there 100% right and 100% wrong?
Is there no grey area?
How do you know what you know? Have you lived it? Did you read it?

Being open minded it tough. It is a skill and should be something everyone needs to strive toward. If everyone was openminded than everything else would change for the better.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Day 08 - Someone you think would make a good president

This is probably the WORST question that could be ask me to answer. If anyone knows me they will say that I am a middle of the road type of person. I can NEVER be on one side or the other. I believe there are always exceptions.

So maybe my answer would be someone who is openminded and a middle of the road type of person?

Is anyone in particular ever going to be liked or respected by everyone?

I don't think so.

Maybe we should have a royal family instead?

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Day 07 - Favorite cover of your favorite song

I don't really have a favorite song...
But the cover I probably like the most is Social D's cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" I have always liked Social D and in my opinion, I don't think that they can't do anything poorly. Johnny Cash is always amazing and just has this way about his music and his presence. The two versions are so different but I love them both... I have to say I love Social D's a bit more, but I am a huge fan of punk.


It think this was the perfect mix and wish they would have actually collaborated in a few music endevours.

Here is the Socail D version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk5JUp27_Oo

Here is the Johnny Cash version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRlj5vjp3Ko

Monday, October 4, 2010

Day 06 - Earliest thing you can remember

I am not exactly sure what my first memory is. I guess it could be a few things.

I do remember sitting on the floor eating pizza with my Mom and Dad. It must have been when we first moved into the house in Lake Elsinore. We didn't have our furniture in the house yet, so we were all on the floor. I must have been around the age of two. I don't remember much else except that we didn't have stairs by the front door yet so my Dad would pick me up and set me in the house.

I guess that would be the earliest thing I can remember. Not too exciting!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Day 05 - A thank you letter to someone who has changed your life

This is probably the hardest challenge day yet. So many people have impacted my life and I can learn something from every person I come in contact with. The easiest people to write to/about would have to be my parents and of course my husband. My parents were incredibly influential; I still learn from them and look up to them. My husband is the reason I want to be a better person, the reason I am in school, and I don’t know who or where I would be without him.

However, my letter is to someone who has been in my life since day one and might not even know how much they have changed my life. Well, she may know just a little.

Dear TLS #2 (My Wonderful Sister Trina),

Currently we are closer than ever and I couldn’t be more grateful for your friendship and love. I have always looked up to you because of your strength and take no prisoners attitude. You say what you mean and mean what you say; this is a trait we both share. Maybe we got it from Dad? Although, he is usually a bit nicer and we are J and watch out when we get together… oh boy! it’s like we have been close all of our lives, that doesn’t happen by accident. Did you know that you are the reason I am in Human Services? You have inspired me by the experiences you have endured and how you have handled everything.

I know I have told you in the past that I wish I would have answered the phone when you called that night. I sometimes think that the incident wouldn’t have happened if I answered, but I also know that way of thinking doesn’t change anything. You had a feeling and I just couldn’t believe that he was capable of something like that. It just shows me that you may feel you know someone but you never truly do unless you are with them every day. Seeing you go through this has made me look up to you more than ever. You are so strong and have shown me that this can happen to anyone. You have changed my view of women that have been faced with domestic violence. I now have a passion for helping women that have been in similar situations; maybe not even domestic violence but any situation where they may need a bit of rebuilding.

I know Mom has told us a little about her experience with abuse but I wasn’t there to see it and we know she left, so I don’t think it hit home. You showed me that no matter how strong and put together someone is, they may still be going through something. The past occurrences have allowed us to see the true character in some of our family members and truthfully, it is disgusting. It’s sad that it wasn’t surprising when their true selves started to shine through. Did you know that I have also learned from her? She is basically the person I do not want to be.

You may not see how amazing you are, but I do and I am lucky you have you as my Sister! You are such a great mother and you have raised the best nephews and niece that I could ever ask for. You are amazing to Mom and Dad and I know they appreciate everything you do for them. In some aspects we couldn’t be more different but I think we are also similar in so many areas. I couldn’t be more proud of you. Most importantly, I couldn’t be more proud to call you my sister. Thank you for being you and for showing me what true strength is.

Love ya,
Tiff

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Day 04 - What you imagine paradise to be like


My paradise is on a little island in the Bahamas where dolphins are my neighbors and a hut is where my husband and I reside. My parents, family, and close friends live on the next island over and we have our own resort. A fun place just for us and also invited guests. Cold drinks are served in coconuts and pineapples. A private chef will make us anything. The sun is always shining. Crystal clear blue waters and white sandy beaches. No one ever feels pain or gets sick.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Day 03 - The five songs you would have with you on a desert island and why


Oh boy… This is a tough one! It’s hard to narrow it down to 5. I like a ton of different music but, punk music is my favorite. Is punk music really appropriate for a desert island? Maybe I would want upbeat happy music? Or slow island music? Or booty shaken music?
Anywho, here is my list...



1. Sweet Honey by Slightly Stoopid. I have no idea why but this song never gets old. I can listen to Sweet Honey over and over and it still makes me smile from ear to ear J As soon as I hear this song I see my friend Mindy and I in her apartment in Pacific Beach dancing and acting goofy.



2. Steal my Kisses by Ben Harper. This song is upbeat and fun. I remember hearing this song for the first time on the set of Pepsi Smash and I was in awe when I heard this awesome song. Love Ben Harper. I was on a desert island this song would automatically take me back to where I first heard it.



3. Crazy by Gnarles Barkley. I would probably be going crazy on an island by myself, so this song fits. It’s also fun and has a great beat.



4. Let’s get it started by the Black-eyed Peas. This was the bridal party entrance song at our wedding and that is the first thing I think of when I hear it. Super fun song!



5. The Cha Cha Slide by Dj Casper. Who isn’t happy when this song comes on? Plus, I love to clap!!!! With this song I would have my own one person party on the island.