Darther than me

Alright, fine, I admit it. This guy looks a lot more like Darth than I ever could've hoped to. But seriously, how am I supposed to compete with Hollywood street performers? Huh? I just don't have the time that these semi-employed people do. I guess when I finally quit my job to be a full time musician, I might be able to make some time in my schedule for things like "looking more like Darth Vader" but the way my life is right now, it's just not possible.

So as you can already tell, the Hollywood trip was a success, and not a waste of money. Of course, I haven't gotten my credit card bill yet, so it's pretty easy to say right now. Ask me again at the end of the month. Anyway, I took a lot of pictures of stuff that I thought was either funny or gratuitous. Like this for example:


Now, is it just me, or does this just seem unnecessary? I mean, who even takes pride in this star? Does the guy that came up with the Godzilla character brag about this, even though he gets absolutely ZERO credit? Is Mothra jealous? Is the Pillsbury Doughboy's star down the block? I guess these are just rhetorical questions, because we'll never know the answers. But, based on my trip, I can answer this next question. Here we go.

What songs did this guy write?

Well, the answer may surprise and horrify some of you. Especially those of you that are fans of the 80's and not of the Latin explosion of the late 90's. Here's the list: "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi, "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi, "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by KISS, "Crazy" by Aerosmith, "She Bangs" by Ricky Martin, "Livin' la Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin, and "The Thong Song" by Sisqo. Yeah, the way that you just said "whaaaat?" is exactly how I said it. Except I was in the middle of a crowded conference.

Apart from all that, I did get some good information and advice, and I met some people. I got to hang out with Bryan Kelley, who owns a cd manufacturing company called Groove House Records. I met him in Boston, and he lives in LA. We went out to lunch at this obscure Vietnamese restaurant that Bryan had heard was good with two musician guys: Stefan Mitchelll and Jonathan Kingham. Our waitress told us she had come to Hollywood to be an actress and we had the following exchange...

Us: So have you had any luck?
Her: Well, a little bit, I've been in a few things...
Us: Oh yeah? Like what?
Her: Um, well, mainly some reality type stuff.
Us (confused): What? Reality? Really? What kind of shows have you done?
Her (sheepishly): Uh, I was on, um, Joe Millionaire...
Us: ...(awkward silence)

So apparently she was eliminated in the first round. Only in Hollywood. She complained that they edited stuff to make her look different than she really is. NO WAY. Reality shows are NOT TELLING THE WHOLE TRUTH? I won't believe it. Anyway, Stefan's website is hilarious because he is one of the more animated and goofy people I've ever met, and his website and cd seem to suggest otherwise. And also, weirdly enough, I had actually seen Jonathan in concert a few months ago, because he was playing in Glen Philips' band on his tour.

Anyway, later I had a mentoring session for 10 minutes with a songwriting teacher named Jai Josefs as a part of the conference. I played Already Over for him, and he said I'd "go far if you learn a few things". And then he told me some thing he thought I should change in the song. True story. To repay him, I bought his book.