Red Light Martial Arts: Cracking wise while cracking skulls!

Concerning my next project,

                       A little bit about my current project. I'm doing a promo video for Red Light Martial Arts in downtown Phoenix! It's a great dojo that has just about everything you need if you wish to condition your body for strength and speed. Nick Edmonds runs the dojo along with this blog:www.redlightmartialarts.com .
                       I've studied martial arts in my youth, and to be honest it's something that I really miss. I miss learning something new, I miss pushing myself physically, I miss that satisfaction of knowing that my body is improving and getting stronger.  That's why I've started with some Tai Chi classes on Saturdays. Drop in classes ae only 15 bucks a class I believe but for those who wish to dedicate more time than just once a week there are contracts that will suit your needs.
                      Nick is a guy who dedicates his life to pushing himself as far as he can go in his art, not only as a student but as a teacher as well. I find this to be an admirable quality when one is looking for a teacher and I invite you to check out his blog or even a class (if you live in Phoenix like I do). You won't be disappointed, unless you like to give up on shit on a regular basis, in that case you will be disappointed but not in Nick, just in you!  =P

The first week is over!

Morning Party People!
               Wow what a week it has been! Frankly this week has been kind of sucky or at least suck-like in it's content yet somehow I still feel positive about the future. Some of you may call that being delusional but I can that being an optimist...that might be delusional.
                I have had a cousin that had to go to the hospital, been scammed twice for a total of 90 bucks on a night shift, might be charged for some damage to a cab that I may or may not have done, and on top of all of that there are dishes in the sink that still need to be washed! I tell you it's raining anvils and the only thing there is for lunch today are shit sandwiches. Could you imagine if you work place actually served shit sandwiches to the staff? I mean they would have to keep them away from the other food items but everyday at the commecary you'd see that one employee at the end of the line...serving shit sandwiches.
               "Hey Bob, whose the guy on the end of the lunch counter, no one ever goes over there."
               "Well Tom, that's Mike. He's the guy who serves shit sandwiches."
                "Are you kidding me? Bob who the hell would ever buy a shit sandwich?"
               "That's the thing Tom, no one buys them, they find their way to you one way or another." Just then we hear a woman in the lunch room violently spit out her sandwich while screaming.
                OK, enough about snack food. How about some good news! The good news is that I have a great gal in my life, I have a new project that I'm working on which I hope to share with you all very soon. I have an interview for a new job next Wednesday so hopefully I won't be having to drive these cabs for very much longer. With anew job and stable income I can devote more time to things like performing music as well as comedy! I did another open mic this week and I even brought my cousin a long. I had such a blast just hanging out with the other comics and shooting the shit with my cousin that I barely noticed my time on stage. Incidentally I think I'm getting better at stand up, I have a long way to go but I can feel it in my gut that I'm getting better.
               Till Next time Party People,
               Keep on a Chooglin!

Late night Musing, thoughts and hearts Fusing

Evening  Party People!
             Once again I'm writing from the skull that resides in the Dave Cave circa 2000 and now. Hey does anyone have something profound to say? Some thought or idea that's going to forever launch us into the essence of History? Perhaps make a wave so great that even another Ice Age wouldn't dare touch your immortality! It would be much like who ever made the Pyramids only with a much better slide show So anyone? Nope? Me neither.
              It's depressing isn't it? To not have the great idea? To not be "The One". It's something that all of us in our thirties have to some to realize. How did you deal with it? Did you have a family? A career that you wanted? A loving soul that loves you more than you could have ever imagined? I hope all of you have at least one of these, if anything all of us deserves a little happiness. If you had asked me a few years ago I would have said I had none of these things. That's why that desire to do something great always plagued me. I used to feel that it's the weak people in this world who have it easy, in the respect that they are truly powerless to change their lives. People who have a bit of resolve have no excuse, if our lives suck ass deep down we know it only does so because we let it.
              Like I said if you had asked me a few years ago...now a days I have most of those three things I had just mentioned. The thing is the closer that I get to what I want the truth becomes clearer and clearer," I need to step up and be the person who I wished I had known."
              Holy shit does that sound egotistical! Man I didn't think I could come across that douche-like in a blog but there you go. I wonder what I mean by that? I have an idea but it's a little foggy right now. Ok How about I start by describing the person who I'd always wanted to know.
              I always wanted to know someone who's encouragement I trusted. You see this is how I dismiss all the warm wishes that had been thrown my way over the years. It basically comes down to anyone who wasn't already in show business that wished me well I completely took for granted. Horrible to write I know, even worse to realize, trust me on that. You see I'd always wanted that buddy who was already a hit who knew what it took to make it tell me that I had what it took. You see that way I could take those in my life who love me for granted while at the same time completely undermining the need to believe in myself! Tada!
              I'm not writing this for sympathy, the point of this blog tonight was more of a proclamation. I'm going to be the friend that I always wanted to have. Nothing against my friends past or current. This has to do with pushing myself in a specific direction on a path to self improvement. I feel like I have a vault full of everything I've always wanted in life, meaning a vault of wants. Well it's time I turn those around and give those things I desired away to other artists out there in the net or ether.
              It might take some doing but I think I'm going to keep working on The Haven idea. I've seen t work before , I just need to figure how to give it life here o the net.
              Time for another baby step!
Till Next time Party People,
Keep on a Chooglin!

I got two things to say: Jack and Shit

OK so this morning I don't have so much to talk about Party People.
              So why the hell am I writing this? It's simple really, these blogs have become part of my morning wake up routine, or workout if you will. After I finish writing this I'll eat some breakfast then go for a walk. I used to take long walks everyday for a short period of time but then the summer hit. I know that's a cop out but holy moley does it suck trying to take an introspective stroll at 8 am when it's already 100+ degrees outside.
               Well it's a bit cooler out this time of the year so gone are any excuses to not get out there and walk off some of this tubby ass that I've been building up.
               I feel like shit because I keep missing ....I keep choosing not to go to any open mics for the past few weeks. It sucks, I hate myself more and more every week because I know that as crappy as they are there is no way I'm going to get better if I don't go. So what's the fucking hold up? I know I can be funny , I know I'll get a few laughs every time I go up, I know I get better every time I work out a joke, so what's the hold up?
               Well seeing as the whiskey that I put in my morning coffee is starting to kick in so shall my honesty. I've been trying to shed all the things about my past that I never liked. Now I know I can't shake the past itself, all I can do is work on the habits that have seem to come out of it. I rarely smoke anymore, that's a big thing, I eat healthier these days, that's another big thing. Yet some how my cowardice from the 90's still haunts me. My fear of not being any good.
               "But Dave, an actor who is afraid of failure? Please go on."
               I know it's true, they do exist  and yes its a self serving egotistical fear that's annoying if anything else. I won't go any further into any details for this because when it comes down to it, none of it matters. There's nothing to it but to do it.
               So how the fuck do we do this?
               I do have an idea! The Artist's Haven! What the Artist Haven is or was, was a group of artists who would get together to work on various projects in the same workspace. What this did was give a sense of camaraderie to a bunch of people who usually work in solitude. I found that it freed up a lot of creative energy and we always got a lot of good things out of each meeting.
               I totally could use another Haven but it might not be feasible for a bit, so what do we do until then? Well I was thinking of a Google Hangout. It's a video conference tool where we could all chat and even video chat. I'm curious to see if any of you out there in www world would be down for a hangout where we kind of only talk for a few minutes before we start our own projects the 50 minutes later we chat for a few more before getting back to work. Hit me up here if you're interested!

Till Next time Party People,
Keep on a Chooglin!

Memes Don't Piss Off People, People Do!

Morning Party People,
             I'd like to talk to you about a touchy subject today, I want to talk about memes. For those who might not know what those are it's a picture with a funny tagline attached to it. An Example would be a kitten doing something adorable with the caption reading something to the effect of Ron Paul 2012.
             Over the past few days I've seen an emergence of angry memes flooding the net concerning everything to....well no, they've all been about guns. Pro/Con it doesn't matter, all of FB has been taken over about the gun debate. Now I know debates tend to get ugly seeing as most people forget that there's a middle ground to most arguments.
             I think what is upsetting me about all of this is that we just finished an election cycle and for a few weeks we had a peaceful meme climate on the net. It was nothing but cats and more cats doing funny shit. Now we have gone from sympathy memes to anger memes, to Jesus Memes and now to the fuck you for not loving Jesus and Guns Memes.
             "So what? You saying I can't use my right to free speech commie?"
            Nope, I'm saying this :You're not using your free speech, you're using your "like"-"Share" buttons. The guy who made the meme is using his free speech, you're just riding on someones intellectual coattails. You want to be a real American? You want to use your freedom? Might I suggest writing a blog like this one (only better).
            "Hey what if no one reads it?"
            I can't promise people will, but I can tell you there's a strong sense of accomplishment that goes with finishing every blog post. Kind of like that feeling you used to get when finishing your homework back in high school.
            "Can I put pics of kittens on it?"
            Yes if you must.
            "Can it be of a kitten and a gun?"

            Yes, because that pic is adorable!
           It's just an idea guys but I think we move into dangerous territory as a nation when we try to make our philosophy into a slogan. Your way of thinking is much deeper than that, so are your thoughts and ideas, so why should are disagreements be any different? I say write them out and post them and see what happens. Your argument might not hold water but if you gain some enlightenment through the process I'd call that a win, wouldn't you?

Till next time Party People,
Keep on a Chooglin!

Be Honest, it kinda feels like New Year's Day huh?

Morning Party People!
           It was the end of the world last night and I felt fine! Ha! Just in case you didn't read that line enough on FB yesterday, there it is. Last night there were a bunch of end of the world parties and I can say I missed everyone of them! Why? Well Jennie and I had a prior commimtment to a birthday dinner and afterwards we were kind of lame and tired so we went home, complained about young kids on Mill Ave then went to bed.
           Exciting huh? Not really but enjoyable none the less. One great thing that came out of yesterday is a list of things to do when I wake up in the morning. It's come to my attentions that I don't pay enough attention to how I'm using my time. To remedy this I made a list with the aid of my beloved Jennie. So far as of today I'm on track with it al. I've washed my face, brushed my teeth, made my coffee, done my stretching, and now I'm writing my blog. The writing part I'm excited about as it's like working out for my skull. I find my writing has a lot in common with the laws of physics as an object (or imagination) that is in motion tends to stay in motion.
          The other day I took my laptop to the yard and managed to finish two rough drafts for some sketches as well as a new scene for a radio drama that I have been putting off forever now. As happy as I am about that I also feel a little guilty as perhaps I could have found that time to work on stuff ha I looked a bit harder. Not much I can do about it now other that to keep using the time I've found, right?

Till next time Party People
Keep on a Chooglin!

Writer's block or Creativly Constipated?

Morning Party People,
               It's 3 am and I'm wide awake. A fine time to et some writing done right? It should be yet here I am having been staring at a monitor for about an hour now. I hate this feeling, it's when I let a story go for too long and I don't know how to pick it up again. It's kind of like playing an RPG for months, then leaving it along for  awhile and when you get back to it you feel the need to start over because you don't remember where you were in the story.
               I think I need to start from the beginning, to look at one of my stories and find what I loved about it so long ago, perhaps I can find that vibe again. If you've never written a story before I highly recommend it. There's a special feeling of creating a world for you creation. A world where they fit in as much as you want them to, a world where they can overcome whatever obstacles you lay before them, even better is that when a tragedy befalls them it'll have meaning...because you've made it so it would. You know it just hit me, I need more practice at this.
              I've been playing the guitar for awhile now and I can say that it makes more sense to me now than it ever has, just picking up a guitar I know what kind of music I can get out of it and what I can create. Well I've spent more time with my guitar than I have with my keyboard and at this moment in time it totally shows. That's ok. It took me awhile to get where I am in music, I know I can go farther in that as well as writing.
             In closing this blog post is for my frustration of not being as awesome as I want to be. It's ok man, you're working on it and progress is key right now. If anything progress far outweighs potential. Always remember that, hey haven't you written more in the past few weeks than you have in the past year? Why yes you have Mr. I onlylookatwhatIhaven'tdone! Ok back to the drawing board!

Till next time Party People
Keep on a chooglin!