Layers Of Earth

I figure it’s about time for me to write a bit about this album thing I am working on.

Let’s face it – I’m always working on an album. Sometimes it is in the forefront of my freespace, other times it sits dormant for a month or two. I’m always composing, either way. I’m not a professional at this thing any longer, not that I was ever really successful as a “professional” anyway (I never made a dime). No, this fills a space in my life that needs a creative outlet. That’s all. Like a painter who still paints even though their art will never find its way into a gallery. I love the form, the putting out a collection of songs, finding a theme, an order, finding pieces along the way that fit, working in pro Tools, Photoshop and all those nifty creation tools. Choosing fonts and color palettes. Bringing in other artists and musicians. At my pace in my space.

Finally, there is this point where I currently stand: Where the linear notes are being put together, the final changes in song order, mix and, yes – the last minute song and its ridiculous demand to be included at the last moment. All brought together and crystallzing bit by bit. I kinda think I know what it will look and sound like when finished, but until it’s in my hand…. A little like childbirth, exciting, scary lots of anticipation. Ok, childbirth without the blood and pain, ok ladies? Well, not much…

Did I mention I am still mixing and recording little bits? Yes. It’s never done until submitted to the manufacturer. So of course it should be no surprise I’m trying to get a friend of mine who has the gospel pipes to get in here next week. *sigh*

Ok, let me run and work on some of this stuff…. the due date is fast approaching!

So, here we go again. this time, it’s my Miami Hurricanes in the crosshairs of the NCAA infractions committee. A lurid tale of prostitutes, parties, yachts and a ponzi schemer with access. Oh my ‘Canes; They never let me down. The little private school with the big public swagger, trying their best to reconfirm the national belief that the program is inherently dirty. And alas, it is looking pretty dang dirty.

The only solace a fan can take from this is that we have plenty of big name company in the department of collegiate sports corrections. USC, Ohio State, North Carolina, Tennessee – the list goes on.

The UM scandal has kind of become a tipping point of sorts. The media is clamoring for some sort of “fundamental change”, along with many of the conference leaders, school presidents and the NCAA itself. Lip service, more likely than not. But in real terms, how does one go about changing a system where the money is all gathered at the top, shared at the institutional level between schools and the million-dollar coaches? How do we preserve all that is right about college athletics while simultaneously recognizing that the money is too big and out of balance for it to go on this way? Read more

Lots of folks have asked me this week who I thought was going to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship that culminates this weekend at the Homestead Miami Speedway. Let me put forth my thoughts.

First, understand that this is racing. No matter how much thought one puts into their prognostication it must be remembered that motorsports by its very nature is chaotic. And when a Championship is this tight, little things can have a profound effect on the outcome. A hot dog wrapper on a front grill, a piece of debris or an untimely caution can ruin this for any of the three involved. That said, here’s my breakdown of what each driver faces and what they need to do to win it all.

DENNY HAMLIN

Denny has run fast all year and has pretty much avoided the emotional outbursts that have plagued him in the past. He has the points lead by a mere 15 points coming into Homestead, a race that he won last year. That would make him a strong favorite it would seem, right?

Well, not so fast.

Remember that this race was run under the lights last year while this year’s Ford 400 will go green shortly after 1PM local. The notes he and crew chief Mike Ford brought with them last year may lead them in the wrong direction if they lean too heavily on them. Another kink in the armor came last week at Phoenix when a costly fuel mileage flub let Johnson back into a title hunt that Hamlin was in position to put out of reach. Hamlin’s unchecked, emotional reaction after the race was there for everyone to see, including his competitors. He and Ford have to hold it all together, make smart choices in practice and pray that the mechanical failures that have plagued the Joe Gibbs Racing Team from time to time this season remain at bay.

JIMMIE JOHNSON

Everyone seems to forget that last year Jimmie Johnson put his Lowes Chevy on the pole for this race. While his average finishes at Homestead are no match for Harvick or Hamlin, bear in mind that he has never had to really race for this championship since 2004. He usually coasts at this event, running a safe, conservative race designed to bring home the cup. Johnson and his master crew chief Chad Knauss have to up their game here for a change.

The wild cards for the #48, if there are any, are in the pit crew. The much talked about pit crew swap with the #24 team of Jeff Gordon has paid dividends so far, but racing Karma, if one believes in such things, is bound to rebound a little at some point. But in the end, we’re talking about a 4-Time Champion  and his 4-Time Champion crew chief, two of the best in the business. Their minds are strong and their emotions level. It will simply be a matter of if they can come into this track and find the handle they need to be competitive when they never have had to before. I don’t think there are many race fans who doubt their ability to do just that.

KEVIN HARVICK

Kevin Harvick fans have to hope something goes wrong with both Hamlin and Johnson. It’s as simple as that. Harvick has the best average finish at this track, that we know. It kinda fits his style, a banked track that rewards under-driving the turns. In many ways, though, that kind of neutralizes one of his strong suits. Harvick is a master of being aggressive behind the wheel when he has to, but this track doesn’t reward that kind of driving. But if it gets down to it and it’s the three of them in the hunt and there’s a late restart or something like that, count on Harvick to do anything it takes to pass as many cars as possible. Checkers or wreckers, as they say.

In the end though, Harvick is a long shot. He can’t afford to qualify badly and spend half the race working his way up through the field as is his norm. His pit crew must be uncharacteristically flawless.

But if it were to come down to fuel mileage? Oh boy…

INTANGIBLES

- The Toyotas were real fast here last year, but the Chevy power seems to have really stretched its legs on the intermediate  tracks this year. I am concerned that the Toyota engines are going to be really “up against the chip” trying to keep up. Remember what happened to Hamlin’s teammate Kyle Busch at the 1.5 mile Texas Motor Speedway earlier in the Chase? I’m afraid mostly of Hamlin blowing his motor in a similar fashion…

- The Roush Fords will be a factor as well, so don’t be surprised to see someone like Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle or Carl Edwards in the mix for the race itself. With the points so tight, the curious thing will be how these drivers outside the Championship battle will race those within it.

- Teammates will be in full play this weekend as well, from practice to the race itself. You can bet that each team will be focusing their testing and set-up methods around their respective contenders. If things get tight, to what degree will teams go to gain a spot or two if necessary for the title? Will we see drivers pulling off or giving up spots in an obvious attempt to help their teammate’s chances? And if there is something blatant, where will NASCAR come down in the shadow of the “have at it boys” policies?

PREDICTION

Again, this is racing so it is nearly impossible to predict these things. But I still think the #48 Lowes team of Jimmie Johnson has the speed and the mentality to get this done. It may not be a matter of them winning it, but of Hamlin losing it in a ball of emotion.

But if I had my druthers, I’d like those two to take each other out, get in a fist-fight and have Kevin Harvick pilot his #29 Chevy through the smoke and bring home Richard Childress’ 7th NASCAR Championship. That used to be the old #3, after all…

I know it’s just an old computer. But understand that to me, my computer is my gateway to the world, a palette for creativity and something of a constant companion. This old girl, “Bulldog” was her name, was built for me by a friend nearly 10 years ago. She was a 1.3 Gigahertz Athlon (sorry, Beat) with a half gig of memory. By today’s standards, an outdated beast with old IDE drives and barely 100 gigs of storage. At the end, she was relegated to being nothing more than a internet station, covered in dust from a previous stint at our old metal polishing shop where her primary job was to run Quickbooks.

But to me, old Bulldog represents more than a tool or a machine. She was an important part of my life.

Back when my friend Tim built her for me in 2001, she was a pretty killer box. Understand that at that point in my life, I was just learning how to deal with the reality of being legally blind. I was at a real difficult point emotionally and this computer was really going to be my way out. On this computer, I learned how to use text to speech readers and magnifiers so I could keep up in the digital world. On this computer, I re-learned how to make art in Photoshop. I spent hours figuring out how to make a website again. On her, I discovered that if I played with some of the gauge settings and config settings enough I could fly my beloved Flight Simulator again.

All of this was great, but the thing this machine was built to do was to make music. It was on this computer that I learned that I could manage my way through the complicated interface of Sonar, a recording program that I mastered well enough to create a very therapeutic CD of original music I composed and recorded in my garage.

You see, while this old bucket of transistors and chips may be nothing more than a dusty old relic today, to me it was a conduit to a life reclaimed.

Over the past couple of weeks, she was acting strangely, almost like a virus, but even a complete wiping of her hard drive couldn’t save her. Ultimately, those years in the polishing shop had coated her motherboard with a layer of zinc dust that corroded her badly. So I gutted her today and put her serviceable parts into another old machine I had laying around. I saved her video card and her sound card as they can be useful in a pinch. But the old chassis, motherboard and chipset will be curbed tomorrow permanently.

So there you have it my friends – a tear for an old bucket of bolts named Bulldog. She will be missed…