This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Ahhhh Monday and a holiday one for a lot of you. Happy President’s Day – a topic that we just can’t talk about it. Don’t worry – That’s all I’m doing with politics today. Although, I am wishing the best for former President Jimmy Carter and his family. Difficult times but it sounds like they are all trying to “Enjoy the Now.”
brentevans.net
Speaking of “Enjoy the Now,” I threw out some coffee this past weekend that I didn’t like. / Also made a reminder note for myself to take some “bad” beer that I didn’t like to work – added it to the community fridge. Life is too short to push through some things that you just don’t find tasty.
Speaking of tasty, I got my smoker put together and yesterday, I pre-seasoned it for 3 hours. So, I’m ready to throw some meat into the smoker today.
GOAL SETTING MONDAY & REVIEW –
It’s Monday – talk about setting up goals and then knocking them down
Accomplishments –
I was successful with my timing block goals again this weekend. No set times on when to do these blocks. Just set times on the actual blocks themselves. Each block for me was 30 minutes. I wanted to do 10 blocks of writing – that’s 5 hours total.
Book update / Very excited with how it’s coming along. 21 chapters – Well on my way to 30,000 total words.
Week ahead –
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – by Kevin Kelly
This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Fridays mean music to me anymore. I’ve been doing this “New Music Friday” for over two years now and I honestly look forward to all the new stuff to listen to.
Another musical direction that I love venturing down the road of is vinyl. This year’s Record Store Day is April 22nd and the specialty day releases have been announced. Top one goes to the Taylor Swift exclusive RSD vinyl live recordings from her Disney+ special Folklore: Longpond Studio Sessions. I looked over the list and saw Billy Joel, Metallica, Jason Isbell, but there was one that slipped by me and that was Poe (clip). Watching that video from Too Many Records brought to my attention the 1995 debut Poe album – Hello – would be available. On the wish list . . . along with the Taylor Swift one.
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a new R-rated horror flick that turns Pooh Bear into a serial killer. Debuting in US theaters today, the film follows a college-age Christopher Robin, who returns home to find that his merry pals have gone mad in his absence. copyright protections on content introduced then are set to expire 95 years later…or right about now. The filmmaker behind Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, Rhys Frake-Waterfield, also has two other movies planned based on characters that are entering the public domain: Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare and (swallow your coffee before reading this next one) Bambi: The Reckoning.
New Music Friday:
I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!
Lana Del Rey has shared the second single from her forthcoming album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. She co-wrote and co-produced the new song, “A&W,” with frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff. (clip) And to think I thought that a song called “A&W” would be about Root Beer. Anyway – full album drop next month – 3/24 (clip)
Nine years later after his 1st album, Skrillex today delivers his sophomore album called: Quest for Fire. We’ve already received a couple singles from this album already. Today’s push is with the one featuring Missy Elliott (clip) RATATA. 15 songs in a second under 45 minutes – the 2nd album from Skrillex Quest for Fire
Planet Giza (gee zuh) and Saba have joined forces for a new single (what you doing) “WYD” (clip). I just began digging into Saba and now with this collaboration with Planet Giza – I’m looking forward to hearing more Planet Giza.
Pink delivers her 9th album in its entirety today called Trustfall. We already got the one dancing single ” Never Gonna Not Dance Again.” Big 70s sound that even though I’m sort of terrified of the genre . . . Pink does it right. However, besides the dancing songs, she’s apparently going to make you cry on this album, too. (clip) That’s track #1 and it’s called “When I Get There” That has Pink looking to the heavens and asking her late father, “Is there a bar up there where you’ve got a favorite chair?” 13 songs – there’s some other dance ones on there – oh and a duet with Chris Stapleton.
Other new music out today: Madison Cunningham with Remi Wolf / Janelle Monae / and Nessa Barrett (clip) That last video . . . gets very revealing.
Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more.
Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Obstacles are an opportunity to create something new” – by Skrillex
This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Ouch – I just wanted to sleep it all away today. Yes, my Eagles lost the big one, but it was a wonderful year and I’ll know that they’ll be back. I’ll be cheering them on again next year.
GOAL SETTING MONDAY & REVIEW –
Accomplishments –
I was sick this past week – I don’t like giving in to that. Someone asks how I’m doing “ I’m fine.” I want to push through it. BUT – if I ever say, I’m not doing well. Please listen to me.
Didn’t do the newsletter stuff – unfortunately that’s a bunch of research on setting things up properly. The newsletter writings is
Week ahead –
5 hours of writing – that’s my overall goal
Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “If you don’t have dreams, you don’t have a life.” – by Bryce Harper
This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Happy Friday / Super Bowl Weekend is upon us too!
This was one of my toughest 3-Day Fasts in a long time, because I wasn’t feeling too well. Nothing extreme, but definitely not 100%. Each day, there were definitely moments in time where I seriously contemplated bailing on the fast. I’ve had these moments before with past fasts, but not on each day and not so often on each day. I did it though – enjoyed a breakfast dinner at the end of it all. Since pancakes were involved with syrup, that’s sort of like a dessert breakfast too. I had bacon!
After a 3-Day Fast, I’m not a big fan of my coffee being black. That’s how I normally drink it – all the time. That’s how I can get the true taste of the coffee bean or flavor that’s within it. But – after a fast, no desire. I add sugar and cream. The feeling will go away in a day or so, but I do find it interesting.
Speaking of coffee, you can go to Starbucks and order a “Lavendar Haze” from the secret menu – it was created by a Swiftie. “Lavender Haze” is a single from last October’s album – Midnights. but this past week, Miss Taylor Swift released the video for this song (clip). If you want to order that as well, visit my website and it’s there. By the way, Taylor’s own go-to drink, which is known as “Taylor’s Version.” It’s a grande nonfat caramel latte.
How to order a “Lavendar Haze” (the recip) – To try one for yourself, all you have to do is order a venti passion fruit tea with soy milk and six pumps of vanilla for a sweet, fruity, creamy tea. If you want to kick it up a notch, you can also add berries or strawberries.
New Music Friday:
I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!
Beck’s most recent album was his 14th called ‘Hyperspace’ and that came out 4 years ago this month (2019). Since then, he’s done a couple songs with the cartoon band – The Gorillaz and some cover songs. One was Paul McCarney’s “Find My Way.” The other was last year when Beck shared a cover Neil Young’s ‘Old Man’ for a Sunday Night Football commercial, which apparently made Mr. Young, a Grumpy Old Man. (clip) Today, we do get another from the 8-time Grammy winner (1/3 of Beyonce). Today, we get the song “Thinking about You” which is an acoustic ballad with him crooning about an absent loved one (clip). Chilled-out Beck along the lines of Morning Phase / not Odelay and that’s okay. Both Beck styles – I love.
There was another full moon this past Sunday which meant another new song from Peter Gabriel as he slowly releases out his album, i/o. The song to drop . . . well again last Sunday when the full moon was here . . . is called “The Court”. (clip) He says, “I’m an old drummer; I still love to find a groove.” I believe he did. I’m really intrigued with how he is building towards the full release of this album with a new song for every new full moon – along the lines of what Weezer did last year with an album for every Season. I’m also fascinated with the details Gabriel goes into with his interviews with the music. (clip) Mr. Peter Gabriel – making me look forward to that next full moon, when we get another song.
Since lead singer Chester Bennington’s death in 2017, Linkin Park has technically been on hiatus. However, they did reissue their debut album, Hybrid Theory, Then, last year they released a deluxe version of 2007’s Minutes To Midnight. And today, we get an unreleased song “Lost” (clip) Now, in the past, Mike Shinoda spoke about a possible Linkin Park reunion (back in April 2022 via Twitch) “The only Linkin Park news I have for you is that… Yeah, we talk every few weeks — I talk to the guys, or some of the guys. And there’s no tours, there’s no music, there’s no albums in the pipeline. Okay, so let me just tell you that. So just keep in your minds that that is not happening.” He continued: “I’m just gonna say that much for now. I say that because anytime the band says anything or does anything, everyone tries to start up the hype train, and we’re like, ‘No, no, no, no. Don’t start up the hype train.’ You’re gonna disappoint yourself. Don’t do that.” I’m still a little excited. Fingers crossed for even more music from Linkin Park. In the meantime, enjoy the new song “Lost.”
Other new music out today: Yo La Tengo / You Me At Six / Paramore / Where are the new songs from Rihanna? I really thought we would get some more with her doing the half time show of the Super Bowl. I guess just doing that show could keep you busy.
Here’s something interesting, back in 2005, a 9-year old boy picked Andy Reid’s Philadelphia Eagles to win the Super Bowl through his local paper. That little boy – Patrick Maholmes. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not jinxing anything. Although, if a Chiefs fan really did put a Chiefs jersey on the Rocky statue . . . enjoy that game everyone.
Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more.
Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Knowing when to leave may be the smartest thing anyone can learn.” – by Burt Bacharach
This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Happy Monday – say it, Happy Monday.
Sunday night was the 65th Annual Grammys – here’s a quick summary:
Beyoncé tallied her all-time Grammy wins to 32 which made her the most-winning Grammy artist of all time.by a single performer.
The biggest prize of the night is the album of the year and Harry Styles won that.
Host Trevor Noah set up Adele to meet someone she had never met before and wanted to: The Rock or Dwayne Johnson.
Food was eaten this weekend. Like a lot. My 3-Day Fast begins tonight and I need it again for a reset. I talk about being puffy. Well, this time, I feel swollen. My Monday morning weigh-in – very negative.
My new favorite at DD has done me in. Hitting Dunkin a lot for this (show clip)
That’s a Toasted Everything Bagel with cream cheese. You then need to order separately Snackin’ Bacon. When you get home, you always have to respread the cream cheese, because you know how Dunkin does it. Slap it only one side. I either utilize what they gave me onto the other half OR hit the fridge for some of the cream cheese we got and really spread it on. The Snackin’ Bacon is then placed on top. I crave that. I’m already thinking about it for Friday!
Hold a door for someone
GOAL SETTING MONDAY & REVIEW –
Accomplishments –
Week ahead –
Timing Blocks of my Habits – Habit tracker (dot grid notebook within a journal)
Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Spread positivity; don’t matter how big, or how small.” – by Beyonce
This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Happy Friday – always, always, a Happy Friday.
Lots of music news this past week:
Grammy’s this weekend – the 65th annual / Beyonce nominated for like everything; hosting again is Trevor Noah who is always so dynamic. That’s a smart dude. I remember watching the clips of his Daily Show program; the ones that were done NOT for the actual show, where he would just be saying whatever or talking to the audience. That wasn’t scripted.
Also, Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Nominees were announced. On that list are some of my favorite bands: Rage Against the Machine / Soundgarden / and The White Stripes. You also get some names like George Michael, Missy Elliott, and Willie Nelson. Go vote.
And finally, there was that viral clip of the center from the Philadelphia Eagles, Jason Kelce, doing his best dance version from Lil Uzi Vert. (clip) My man was moving. I couldn’t do that. I’d throw out my back, make something snap.
New Music Friday:
I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!
Last September, Death Cab for Cutie released their 10th studio album: Asphalt Meadows. This past week, they announced that have recorded a complete acoustic version of that same album. Apparently, in December, they wanted to release an acoustic version of “Pepper” since that was going to be their next single release off of the album. BUT – when they went into the studio, it basically went like “Hey, this is fun, we should keep going.” The entire acoustic album drops on March 10th. but today we do get that acoustic “Pepper” single. (clip)
Also, this past September, Mr. Kane Brown released his album: Different Man. It’s packed with all kinds of good music. One that I listened to right away and talked about last September as well, was the song “Thank God.” An incredible song that he performed as a duet alongside his wife. Today, we get to have another version of that same song with the Spring Symphony playing along with them. It is very much worth a listen again. (clip)
Last February, Korn released their album Requiem Mass – it was just over 30 minutes spread out over 9 songs. Merriam-Webster’s definition for “requiem” states that it is “a Christian religious ceremony for a dead person.” So, a year ago, Korn performed an intimate little show at the Hollywood United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, California. Today, we get the deluxe version of Requiem Mass which includes 5 songs done live from that show.
Everybody is getting into this re-releasing act – today we get: A Valentine from Bing. It’s a compilation of 20 songs, nearly an hour of music onto one album from Bing Crosby. I was running on the mill this morning and suddenly I heard, “My Funny Valentine” playing.
Feel bad . . . that was a bunch of “new” music done in a different way from last year. Or in Bing’s case, just compiled differently. I do have albums to listen to with the guitarist from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jon Frusciante (froo shaa tay), Shania Twain, who made a whole lotta news for posing nude for the album’s artwork. Apparently, she had to “forget the sag” in order to muster up the courage to do the shoot. Gonna have to look at that artwork while listening to that album. Oh, and I missed an EP last week from the Young Rising Sons.
Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more.
Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “If you don’t have haters, then you aren’t doing something right.” – by Jonathan Davis (Korn)
This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Hey Monday
The wife was away for the weekend – actually still away until Tuesday. So, for everyone concerned about me with the kids . . . send help. / Actually, we had a good weekend together. Although, I believe I did let my daughter finish the internet on Saturday- Don’t worry – it was the “safe for kids” section. But anyway – that’s done.
And yes – I try not to go down the sports road too much, but my Beloved Philadelphia Eagles are going to the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs – Feb 12th!
GOAL SETTING MONDAY & REVIEW –
It’s Monday – talk about setting up goals and then knocking them down
Accomplishments –
I was successful with my timing block goals. No set times on doing these blocks. Just set times on the blocks themselves. Each block for me was 30 minutes. I wanted to do 5 blocks of writing / 3 blocks of Journal work / and 3 blocks of Video work
Writing – added 2 more chapters / Part 2 has better flow / I’m feeling it. Random thoughts are popping into my head throughout the day and I’m jotting them down.
Journal – I have the initial page laid out for my Journal. Determining about what to rotate different on the page. Quote of the Day is involved with that.
Videos – one is done with the writing / Need to do the shoot / I was actually listening to music beds last night for it
Week ahead –
Doing it all over again with the index cards. I was thinking of using an App but then just went with the brightly colored green cards.
Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Doing is better than not doing, and if you do something badly, you’ll learn to do it better.” – by Twyla Tharp
This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Happy Friday – last one for January! I cannot believe next week is February. How many people still writing 2022?
Bad beer last night – I’m at that age where I don’t want to drink a bad beer. Not a beer snob just protecting my girthiness. Funny – I write down girthiness and it wants to change it to grittiness – 2 completely different ideas.
New Music Friday:
I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!
Sam Smith’s 4th studio album dropped today and it’s called Gloria / 13 songs spread out over 33 minutes – take what you can get. The song being pushed today talks about Sam being “so over love songs” and the fun-time goal of: “I need a partner when the lights come on.” It’s called ‘I’m Not Here to Make Friends’ (clip) The actual video for that song will be available this weekend – here’s the link. Wrapping up the album on Gloria, the final song is a duet that includes Ed Sheeran called “Who We Love” – that will have to be pushed as a single at some point.
“Outshined” is a song by American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, “Outshined” was released in 1991 as the second single from the band’s third studio album, Badmotorfinger (1991) – definition courtesy of Wikipedia. Today, we get a cover of that song from the group, Brass Against (clip). I’ve been listening to this group. They play all kinds of covers from bands that I love, like Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Run the Jewels. The brass sound to go along with that rock sound – totally digging that. Highly suggest going deep on them – Brass Against.
Last December, my wife and some friends of ours hit up Philly and went to the South Jazz Kitchen to see the holiday show from Emmaline, who is an incredibly talented jazz singer. She has a new album coming soon and today we get the first taste with the song “These are the Memories” (clip) Looking forward to the rest. She’s actually on a small tour right now, too. Not coming to Philly quite yet, but we’ve seen her twice now at South Jazz Kitchen and I’m sure that there will be a third. My mouth is watering.
Couple days before Christmas, we got the booty shaking song “Dancing’s Done” from Ava Max. Today, we get the rest of the album Diamonds and Dancefloors – 14 songs in just under 40 minutes – nearly half the album has been pushed with singles. Today, Spotify is pushing her song, “Ghost” (clip)
A whole lot of disco-sound happening. Going back to the 70s, are we? Anyway, here’s something that isn’t new (came out last February), but has definitely gotten into my head lately. I learned about from this guy. Matt Kessler and his YouTube channel called Too Many Records (clip) After a statement like that, I had to dig into that album. I actually opened the Babble today with a clip of the song that crawled into my head. Here’s another clip from that song “One Way” by Saba (clip) He’s smiling as he’s editing himself for the radio show that he’s on. Apparently, he got his start by collaborating with Chance the Rapper, but he’s definitely flying quite nicely on his own right now. Again, that’s Saba with his album Few Good Things. Thanks again to Too Many Records also – now, I have another record added to my vinyl to get list.
Thank you to Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more. Too Many Records!
Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Life is a lot like jazz . . . it’s best when you improvise.” – I saw that at South Jazz Kitchen in Philly – back wall of the stage – that’s George Gershwin
This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Happy Monday – time to get back at it.
This past weekend, I listened to not one, but two recent podcasts that Tim Ferriss had with Todd McFarlane – creator of Spawn and Venom / Founder of Image Comics and McFarlane Toys. I was truly inspired. McFarlane talked about the guardrails that were placed on him and how he broke free – OR, basically he just ignored them. Oddly, I then sort of began feeling the shackles on my own brain starting to shake/break free. Shackles that are placed there by myself. I thoroughly enjoyed those interviews.
It’s Monday – talk about setting goals up and then knocking them down
Accomplishments –
I didn’t hit snooze all week BUT – I didn’t find any real benefits despite the “extra” time in my life. Instead, I feel as if I wasted time just not doing stuff. – that bummed me out. I expected myself to be doing something. Creating . . . something!
This got me thinking about Cal Newport and his Time Blocking routine. It makes sense – you block out times to do things. Set aside specific times . . . to get your shit done. Currently, with a constantly rotating kids schedule mashed into mine, it’s not that easy. Plus, if I write down 7pm, I’m going to write. What happens when one of the kids has a math problem or wants to practice their violin for me? You help with the homework and you listen to the sweet strings of music. Lindsey Stirling started somewhere too.
Now, I’m not writing off this method. Instead, I’m thinking in “timing blocks”. This past November, my goal was to write 30 minutes every night. No set time. Just the set timing block of a 30 minutes. It didn’t matter where that block was placed. Make sense?
Week ahead –
So, I don’t want to hit snooze again all week and with that extra time in the morning possibly utilize it with “timing blocks”. Over the course of the week, I want at least 5x of 30-minute writing sessions. I also want at least 3x of 30-minute video/script work sessions. And lastly, I want at least 3x of 30-minute journal creating sessions.
Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Today will not be perfect” – by Todd McFarlane
This is the scribble that leads to the babble. Sometimes, it gets tidied up; but other times, not so much. When all else fails: watch the video!
Made it! It’s Friday. I say, “we made it” but we have lost a lot of people lately.
Lost David Crosby / last week, Lisa Marie Presley / Jeff Beck / A whole lot of sad going on.
Also, earlier in the week, our family lost our dog, Charlie.
Our house is now Dogless – know what means? More vacuuming. I’ve already caught myself tossing something to the floor and then having to pick it up.
Enjoy the Now / You know what helps get me through it all – music!
New Music Friday:
I put together a Spotify playlist of the songs that I talked about and thought about today for New Music Friday. Click here for that!
Black & White Film playlist via Spotify – “Feels like falling in love in the 50s”
I talked about this band last week – Måneskin (Moan-Ah-Skin) – as they dropped a new single “Gossip” which featured Tom Morello from Rage. Today, full album drop – it’s called Rush and I think I have my first new favorite album of 2023. I’ve already listened to it all – nearly an hour of music, 17 songs. Today, the song “Baby Said” is being pushed. I think you get a Maroon 5 or Adam Levine sound going on. (clip) Little naughty there too – it’s rock & roll and I like it. Again, the album is called Rush and the band is called Maneskin.
Next up – Boygenius is back together and they just released 3 new songs for their upcoming album: the record. I like that. Album comes out March 31st. But again, 3 songs today, I went with the one that has Phoebe Bridgers on vocals – “Emily I’m sorry.” (clip) Interesting line emphasizing the age of 27 – we lost Kurt Cobain at that very same age. AND – speaking of Kurt. His band, Nirvana, appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone many, many moons ago (picture). Boygenius recreated that same shot (picture).
This past week, the band – The National – announced their next album release which is called First Two Pages of Frankenstein. We get the whole thing on April 28th. But today, we have “Tropic Morning News” (clip) I’m a huge fan of their sound and I’m really looking forward to good things from them this year . . . as well as a summer tour! We’ll see if I can get to one. Again, that’s The National – go check them out. By the way, Phoebe Bridgers of Boygenius – will appear on 3 of the songs on this upcoming album.
Back in December, Metallica returned to the scene with their first new song in more than six years. Today, we get number two – “Screaming Suicide”. (clip) It’s Metallica. In its entirety & arriving April 14th is their new album 72 Seasons. Also, a tour kicks off in Europe that same month, before a bunch of North American shows which come later this year.
Many thanks to: Spotify, Rolling Stone, Apple Music, uDiscoverMusic, Pitchfork & I know there’s more.
Please subscribe on YouTube and spread the Babble wherever you can – Thank you!
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Sometimes I just need somebody to tell me a bunch of ideas I don’t like, so that I can figure out what it is I actually want.” – by Phoebe Bridgers
