I wrote this for one of my endorsers' blogs. With the exception of my blatant plug at the end (in Italics), I felt there were some good thoughts worth sharing here...
A few days ago while driving I noticed an assortment of words on the back window of a pickup truck. From its appearance, this wasn’t merely a truck stop sticker with a witty saying, but rather a combination of individual letter stickers that were meticulously arranged to form this quote: “He who desires to succeed will find a way, he who does not will make an excuse.” The intent of this person, who went through such great lengths to share this message with fellow motorists in the greater San Diego area, was probably meant to inspire...
In my case it certainly did!
I began thinking about the plethora of goals I have set for myself, and how instead of realizing them I have made excuses as to why I fail to fulfill them. Most of these goals are quite trivial in the grand scheme of life (ex. Goal - Go to the gym constantly and become the most shredded dude ever) yet the only obstacle I truly have that keeps me from it is my mind (Excuses- “ahh the gym is way too crowded right now/I don’t want to become a bulky steroid looking dude/burritos are so delicious/I enjoy beer/etc”). History has proven that I do tend to set way too many goals for myself that are more or less cool ideas that I think I really want, but somehow never get around to. When trimming out the fat, however, and addressing things that are a real concern in my life, the notion that I am making excuses for my lack of discipline and fortitude in pursuing my dreams is a harsh bit of reality. I alone can make it happen or not.
The beauty of coming to this realization, though, is that it really is all up to me. It is all up to you to. Life and all of the things we dream of accomplishing in our span of time in it can be ours if we exercise our willpower and discipline. Upon arriving home I googled the quote (as best I could remember) to find out who actually coined it. Although I had no luck (perhaps it was an original?) I did get caught in a whirlwind of other awesome inspirational success quotes:
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”
Benjamin Franklin
“I attribute my success to this - I never gave or took any excuse.”
Florence Nightingale
“Nothing is impossible; there are ways that lead to everything, and if we had sufficient will we should always have sufficient means. It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible.”
Francois La Rochefoucauld
“Niney-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
George W. Carver
Now to shamelessly tie this all in to Planet Waves and my relationship with them: I am on the noblest of pursuits to obtain the raddest guitar tone known to all of mankind. There are many variables involved with achieving this, with the most basic division of categories being the player and the gear. True tone comes from the fingers, but unless you plan on playing acoustic sets in coffee shops for your entire musical career you’re going to have to run through some amplification! Most players focus the majority of their gear attention to simply amp and cab. While this is the bulk of your tone’s awesomeness, the cutting edge and extra sparkle of quality resides in the little details. The most important of all these little details is what transports every moment of your sound: Cables! In my opinion, to truly succeed in honing sonic excellence is to use the best, and the best cables in existence are made by Planet Waves... hands down. To use anything else would be to make a sorry excuse for lackluster tone.
Peace and I’m out,
Nick
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Who is Deadliest!?
It seems for the past year one of my favorite random questions to ask people is: "Who do you think would win in a fight, a Samurai or a Viking?" I would use this question to gauge a persons logic, tastes, reasonableness, morals, racial bias, and ultimately their entire personal belief system. I was very adamantly supportive of the Samurai, but many of arguments were left open ended by my opponents choosing the ultimate-hypothetical-discussion-cop-out... "I guess we'll never know."
Thanks to the raddest new show on cable television, however, we have an answer!
The geniuses at Spike TV just launched a show that logically addresses the biggest issue of our time: Who is Deadliest? Here's the official explanation from the show's website...
I will not spoil the climactic ending of this episode by disclosing the scientifically chosen winner, but I will say this: one man found himself on a trip straight to Valhalla while the other ended up back in his comfy Seki Jo in Kyoto.
Thanks to the raddest new show on cable television, however, we have an answer!
The geniuses at Spike TV just launched a show that logically addresses the biggest issue of our time: Who is Deadliest? Here's the official explanation from the show's website...
Each week on Deadliest Warrior, a new episode will pit two of the most feared warriors civilization has ever known against each other. Along with the use of 21st century science and the latest in CGI technology, each episode enlists warrior-specific world-class fighters and experts to provide insight into what makes these combatants tick, analyzing every facet of their unique skills of destruction, culminating in a head-to-head final fight between two legends of the battlefield that will produce the deadliest warriorThe show ends with a scientifically gripping/cheesy dramatization of what would happen if the two rival warriors were to encounter one another in the forests of LA! The second episode of this most excellent show tackled the query I mentioned earlier....
I will not spoil the climactic ending of this episode by disclosing the scientifically chosen winner, but I will say this: one man found himself on a trip straight to Valhalla while the other ended up back in his comfy Seki Jo in Kyoto.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Blog Resurrection!
I've decided to make my blogging comeback with this awesome/creepy photo of me and my hometeam Biruk...
Friday, November 14, 2008
Rice Ball Roulette
Being a culinary daredevil of Japanese descent affords me some very exciting moments in Japan. My favorite morning hobby the past three consecutive days I spent in Tokyo is going to either an AM/PM or Family Mart and playing "Rice Ball Roulette."
Upon walking into one of the aforementioned locations, I am greeted by an impressive selection of foods and beverages unparalleled by the western-convenient-store-world. Here there are multiple sections of legitimate foods such as sushi, noodles, pastries, and of course... Rice Balls!
Things become interesting, however, due to my complete lack of ability at understanding the written language and also identifying some of the areas food ingredients. As a result, I am forced to guess purely by my untrained eye as to what would constitute a delicious rice ball or not. Jackpots include balls mixed with Japanese pickles, a charsui type meat, or an infusion of seaweed. The ultimate bumout rice balls are filled with huge pockets of mayo and small bits of tuna : (
This is what a man leaving his snacking choice to fate looks like:
(excited, terrified, nervous, eager, hungry...)
If ever you find yourself in this part of the world, I urge you to give this game of chance a shot! The payoff is awesome! The consequences are... interesting?
Upon walking into one of the aforementioned locations, I am greeted by an impressive selection of foods and beverages unparalleled by the western-convenient-store-world. Here there are multiple sections of legitimate foods such as sushi, noodles, pastries, and of course... Rice Balls!
Things become interesting, however, due to my complete lack of ability at understanding the written language and also identifying some of the areas food ingredients. As a result, I am forced to guess purely by my untrained eye as to what would constitute a delicious rice ball or not. Jackpots include balls mixed with Japanese pickles, a charsui type meat, or an infusion of seaweed. The ultimate bumout rice balls are filled with huge pockets of mayo and small bits of tuna : (
This is what a man leaving his snacking choice to fate looks like:
(excited, terrified, nervous, eager, hungry...)If ever you find yourself in this part of the world, I urge you to give this game of chance a shot! The payoff is awesome! The consequences are... interesting?
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Life Slogans
Two of the people I have loved most in life are my Grandfathers. They both had individual mantras that I had heard often growing up, but until recently had not truly adopted. They are as follows:
"Never stop aspiring" -Dr. James R. Murphy
"Don't sweat the small stuff" -Samuel V. K. Hipa II
As I age at an alarming rate, I have learned that there is a tremendous amount of wisdom in the advice given to me by these great men. I believe there is no end to what we can accomplish with our minds, and also that in the grand scheme of things life is much too short to be concerning myself with things that in the end are quite trivial. I myself have created a maxim which I repeat many times daily. This life motto of mine seems applicable when things are ruling and times are good, or even when life is one huge inconvenience after another and I am the grumpiest dude on planet earth. It is this:
"These are the good ole' days" -Samuel N. K. Hipa
"Never stop aspiring" -Dr. James R. Murphy
"Don't sweat the small stuff" -Samuel V. K. Hipa II
As I age at an alarming rate, I have learned that there is a tremendous amount of wisdom in the advice given to me by these great men. I believe there is no end to what we can accomplish with our minds, and also that in the grand scheme of things life is much too short to be concerning myself with things that in the end are quite trivial. I myself have created a maxim which I repeat many times daily. This life motto of mine seems applicable when things are ruling and times are good, or even when life is one huge inconvenience after another and I am the grumpiest dude on planet earth. It is this:
"These are the good ole' days" -Samuel N. K. Hipa
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Maybe a dingo ate your baby....
Hey hey hey!
We are currently in Sydney, Australia enjoying a glorious summer! The festival we have been playing has afforded us the rad opportunity to hang out with our buds from previous touring (i.e. Killswitch dudes, Shads dudes, Haste the Day dudes, etc. etc.) as well as playing for the notoriously and awesomely rambunctious Australian people. These perks are not without their quirks though....
The first show in Brisbane while playing "Confined," someone threw a bottle of sun block that magically hit my channel selector and put me into "clean mode" during the heavy mosh part in the beginning. While it may seem like I'm complaining, I am actually bringing this up because I feel as if it is the greatest exhibition of sun block bottle throwing marksmanship the world has ever known! I was actually kind of blown away.
The second show in Sydney was not without its projectile indulgences as well. During "The Sound of Truth" some sort of bogan (Australian for kind of dirty trashy dude) chucked an empty glass maker's mark bottle towards my awesome back-line gear. Fearing for the safety of my rented Mesa Boogie Cabinet and Krank Krankenstein head, my body instinctively intervened. The crown of my head foiled the diabolical scheming of the soaring whiskey bottle and saved the day! Unfortunately, though, I kind of suffered the consequences and entered a surreal dizzying state that was probably due to moderate blood loss. We had to cut our set short because the local EMT's don't quite understand the concepts of "keeping it real" or "being brutal." In hindsight, however, I think maybe it was a good thing because I was kind of out of my mind for a good ten to fifteen minutes.
Well here I am a day later and feeling like a champ. Me and the huge lump on my head are going to take ourselves down to the Sydney Aquarium to bond with the Great White Sharks!
These are the good ole' days,
Nick
We are currently in Sydney, Australia enjoying a glorious summer! The festival we have been playing has afforded us the rad opportunity to hang out with our buds from previous touring (i.e. Killswitch dudes, Shads dudes, Haste the Day dudes, etc. etc.) as well as playing for the notoriously and awesomely rambunctious Australian people. These perks are not without their quirks though....
The first show in Brisbane while playing "Confined," someone threw a bottle of sun block that magically hit my channel selector and put me into "clean mode" during the heavy mosh part in the beginning. While it may seem like I'm complaining, I am actually bringing this up because I feel as if it is the greatest exhibition of sun block bottle throwing marksmanship the world has ever known! I was actually kind of blown away.
The second show in Sydney was not without its projectile indulgences as well. During "The Sound of Truth" some sort of bogan (Australian for kind of dirty trashy dude) chucked an empty glass maker's mark bottle towards my awesome back-line gear. Fearing for the safety of my rented Mesa Boogie Cabinet and Krank Krankenstein head, my body instinctively intervened. The crown of my head foiled the diabolical scheming of the soaring whiskey bottle and saved the day! Unfortunately, though, I kind of suffered the consequences and entered a surreal dizzying state that was probably due to moderate blood loss. We had to cut our set short because the local EMT's don't quite understand the concepts of "keeping it real" or "being brutal." In hindsight, however, I think maybe it was a good thing because I was kind of out of my mind for a good ten to fifteen minutes.
Well here I am a day later and feeling like a champ. Me and the huge lump on my head are going to take ourselves down to the Sydney Aquarium to bond with the Great White Sharks!
These are the good ole' days,
Nick
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Not that big of a deal
So Tim has put a lot of thought into the Grammys, and inevitably he decided not to go. In doing so, he inspired me to ponder my own feelings and opinions on how I feel about being nominated for, as well as if I should even go, to this illustrious event. After much deliberation I decided on going...
If someone were to straight up ask me, "Dude, so why are you going to go the Grammys?" my response would be and has been, "Yeah for sure! It should be fun! I'm going to try and holler at Beyonce! Also I heard John Paul Jones is doing something with the Foo Fighters!"
Now in all of Tim's thoughts the one I agree with most is that the awards meaning the most are without a doubt the ones voted on by our fans. Awards like San Diego Artist of the Year and MTV2's Rock God; those are important to me because "the kids" voted for it. Our fans are the ones who afford us this blessing and opportunity; I don't think any of us take it for granted. My differences of opinion start with the idea that the Grammy's are voted on by "a small group of self-proclaimed musical elites' and anonymous music industry bigwigs." My initial dilemma in early December, though, was the same as Tim's: I was trying to decide whether or not I should even be honored by the fact we got nominated. Specifically because I felt like the dudes that do the voting have no idea what is really going on in metal, and if they did, they would have picked better bands who put out better albums for this category. It started to bum me out because I felt like it was an award with no real merit as far as "Best Metal Performance" goes.
Then I started thinking that I know two people in the Grammy society: Metal Blade President Mike Faley and Sound Engineering Revolutionary Kevin Puig. Both dudes I love and respect because not only are they good dudes, but they are both passionate in what they do as well as genuine fans of music. My assumption is that all the categories from Best Latin Pop Vocal Performance to Best Spoken Word Album probably have their own Mike Faley's and Kevin Puig's. If the entire Grammy association is composed of people like them, only with different musical backgrounds, then I guess I do consider it a honor that they recognized our band. We stuck out because our label and publicists put us all over the place, because we wrote a better record then our last, because we toured heavily, etc. To me it means that we are all doing our jobs right, to the point where all these people in this society had to take notice.
I don't think its right to demonize the Grammy society. They're not telling us what is and isn't good music, I think they're casting votes on who is doing what they do well... or maybe standing out the most... Now obviously they all don't know much about metal because I can't think of a single awesome thing King Diamond or Slayer did THIS year. I attribute this to the Mike Faley and Kevin Puig theory... an example of my theory is that there is probably some sort of Latino fansite bemoaning the fact that Carlito Esperanza's "Mis Hermanas Quincenera" didn't receive a nomination nod although El Fuego Pantalones got nominated for "El Gatos es Delicios," even though it was a bonus track added in 2007 to an album they had come out with in 2006. The real Faley and Kevin, who are familiar with the currents happenings of rock and metal, probably don't know much about Latin music, but they get to vote on it anyway because they are a part of the collective society. So my understanding is that we aren't exactly being nominated by our real peers, as in the ones who know what's up in metal, but maybe just our proverbial peers in the entire music community.
I do think its unfortunate that we would have to pay such large amounts of money to bring guests. In all honesty I would have brought my Mom if it was free, but when I found out it was $600 to bring her to something that would be "kind of cool" rather then something extremely important to me, I opted not to. She had told me that she WOULD go if it was a huge deal for me, but didn't really have any sort of desire to just go for the experience. Its not a huge deal for me, plus at the end of the day it is an awards ceremony... meaning we're going to spend a lot of time just sitting there.
In trying to figure out WHY they would charge us to bring people, I came up with a plausible explanation: I started thinking it would be flat out wrong if they charged any nominee to go to the ceremony. And if they didn't charge any nominees supporters (family, friends, managers, agents, etc.) then how would they be able to pay for the ceremony itself? The production, the venues, the performances, and the presenters, that's got to be a lot of money. If everyone I wanted to get in got in for free, and so did everyone else who got nominated, then who pays for it? It is this thinking that made me give up on being bitter about them charging us.
It is worth it for me to represent everyone who cares that I'm going though. Both of my Grandpa's would have been insanely proud. This sort of nomination would have been all I needed to overshadow the fact that I didn't quite finish college haha. I'm even wearing one of my Gramps' old suits in his honor. I'm pretty sure my Grandma will be stoked to see a photo of me chilling on the red carpet in one of his stylish threads.
Finally and honestly, I think it will be kind of fun to go. I'm looking forward to watching all the performances, as well as attempting to finagle my way into a high profile interracial celebrity relationship. All seriousness aside, it just seems like a good time, which goes along with my response to the question in the beginning. All the words in between are my efforts at explaining how I am attending with a clear conscience.
So in closing, I understand Tim's reasoning not to go, our opinions on the matter differ, but I harbor no ill-will or bitterness towards him... only respect for standing by his convictions.
Nick
If someone were to straight up ask me, "Dude, so why are you going to go the Grammys?" my response would be and has been, "Yeah for sure! It should be fun! I'm going to try and holler at Beyonce! Also I heard John Paul Jones is doing something with the Foo Fighters!"
Now in all of Tim's thoughts the one I agree with most is that the awards meaning the most are without a doubt the ones voted on by our fans. Awards like San Diego Artist of the Year and MTV2's Rock God; those are important to me because "the kids" voted for it. Our fans are the ones who afford us this blessing and opportunity; I don't think any of us take it for granted. My differences of opinion start with the idea that the Grammy's are voted on by "a small group of self-proclaimed musical elites' and anonymous music industry bigwigs." My initial dilemma in early December, though, was the same as Tim's: I was trying to decide whether or not I should even be honored by the fact we got nominated. Specifically because I felt like the dudes that do the voting have no idea what is really going on in metal, and if they did, they would have picked better bands who put out better albums for this category. It started to bum me out because I felt like it was an award with no real merit as far as "Best Metal Performance" goes.
Then I started thinking that I know two people in the Grammy society: Metal Blade President Mike Faley and Sound Engineering Revolutionary Kevin Puig. Both dudes I love and respect because not only are they good dudes, but they are both passionate in what they do as well as genuine fans of music. My assumption is that all the categories from Best Latin Pop Vocal Performance to Best Spoken Word Album probably have their own Mike Faley's and Kevin Puig's. If the entire Grammy association is composed of people like them, only with different musical backgrounds, then I guess I do consider it a honor that they recognized our band. We stuck out because our label and publicists put us all over the place, because we wrote a better record then our last, because we toured heavily, etc. To me it means that we are all doing our jobs right, to the point where all these people in this society had to take notice.
I don't think its right to demonize the Grammy society. They're not telling us what is and isn't good music, I think they're casting votes on who is doing what they do well... or maybe standing out the most... Now obviously they all don't know much about metal because I can't think of a single awesome thing King Diamond or Slayer did THIS year. I attribute this to the Mike Faley and Kevin Puig theory... an example of my theory is that there is probably some sort of Latino fansite bemoaning the fact that Carlito Esperanza's "Mis Hermanas Quincenera" didn't receive a nomination nod although El Fuego Pantalones got nominated for "El Gatos es Delicios," even though it was a bonus track added in 2007 to an album they had come out with in 2006. The real Faley and Kevin, who are familiar with the currents happenings of rock and metal, probably don't know much about Latin music, but they get to vote on it anyway because they are a part of the collective society. So my understanding is that we aren't exactly being nominated by our real peers, as in the ones who know what's up in metal, but maybe just our proverbial peers in the entire music community.
I do think its unfortunate that we would have to pay such large amounts of money to bring guests. In all honesty I would have brought my Mom if it was free, but when I found out it was $600 to bring her to something that would be "kind of cool" rather then something extremely important to me, I opted not to. She had told me that she WOULD go if it was a huge deal for me, but didn't really have any sort of desire to just go for the experience. Its not a huge deal for me, plus at the end of the day it is an awards ceremony... meaning we're going to spend a lot of time just sitting there.
In trying to figure out WHY they would charge us to bring people, I came up with a plausible explanation: I started thinking it would be flat out wrong if they charged any nominee to go to the ceremony. And if they didn't charge any nominees supporters (family, friends, managers, agents, etc.) then how would they be able to pay for the ceremony itself? The production, the venues, the performances, and the presenters, that's got to be a lot of money. If everyone I wanted to get in got in for free, and so did everyone else who got nominated, then who pays for it? It is this thinking that made me give up on being bitter about them charging us.
It is worth it for me to represent everyone who cares that I'm going though. Both of my Grandpa's would have been insanely proud. This sort of nomination would have been all I needed to overshadow the fact that I didn't quite finish college haha. I'm even wearing one of my Gramps' old suits in his honor. I'm pretty sure my Grandma will be stoked to see a photo of me chilling on the red carpet in one of his stylish threads.
Finally and honestly, I think it will be kind of fun to go. I'm looking forward to watching all the performances, as well as attempting to finagle my way into a high profile interracial celebrity relationship. All seriousness aside, it just seems like a good time, which goes along with my response to the question in the beginning. All the words in between are my efforts at explaining how I am attending with a clear conscience.
So in closing, I understand Tim's reasoning not to go, our opinions on the matter differ, but I harbor no ill-will or bitterness towards him... only respect for standing by his convictions.
Nick
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
