Category: The World

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X-Ray Christmas

Got a check from X-Ray Dog today: this is a music library company I did some music for with my friend Jono Brown years ago. I have 50% writer credit on  2 tunes called “Into The Abyss” and “Pinche Rey”, and 33% on a third, “Jono Cubano” which we did with Chris Smith. The amazing thing is, on this statement alone, there use reported from: France, Germany, Russia, the UK, Ukraine, South Africa, and Mexico! Maybe even more amazing: my total share of the royalties for all of 2012 plus half of 2013 comes to $40. Mind you, these are not single uses per country, we’re talking a 4 page legal size statement. I’m not complaining, it’s free money, but it still seems a little silly, doesn’t it?

On a conceptual level, it’s very interesting, wild to think that evidence of my existence is found all over the world. When I put out my first solo CD, I got orders from as far as Thailand and Japan, and there are now copies in Turkey, Brazil, all over Europe, Mexico. Between my two solos CDs I’ve probably just about made back my investment, but I’ve created something that will outlast me and that’s exciting! I’ve always been more interested in the art of music, than the commerce, so to me this is great success. I still believe in the compositions, they are not burdened by stylistic restrictions which limit their lifespan, at least I hope they’re not.

The beautiful thing is that the systems for residual payments will only get more and more automated so with proper labeling, royalties should continue to come in. With the continuing homogenization of music increasing, the call for truly original content is getting louder, and not just around here, the most unoriginal big city in the world. I think we will witness a resurgence of art of great proportions soon….

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Illuminatus

People make their own definitions of words sometimes; it’s not without danger, because it leads to misunderstanding when two parties involved in conversation use the same word, but mean something different. The subtleties of language are endless, but a good thing to do is to go back to the where a term came from to find common ground. There is a lot of talk about the “Illuminati” these days, so where did this name come from? Wikipedia has a fairly good article about it; it says:

“The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, “enlightened”) is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776 to oppose superstition, prejudice, religious influence over public life, abuses of state power, and to support women’s education and gender equality. The Illuminati were outlawed along with other secret societies by the Bavarian government leadership with the encouragement of the Roman Catholic Church, and permanently disbanded in 1785.”

Funny, isn’t it? Today the name is used mostly by conspiracy theorists to describe a secret group of people with power, “the man” if you will, created to effect a new world order! Originally, it was an organization that opposed the powers that were, fighting against abuses of state power and such, and vehemently disliked by for instance the Catholic Church! The enlightened part is most interesting to me, as with advancement in understanding comes a better way to do things, doesn’t it?

So if we define Illuminati broadly as those who are the most connected, with the most power, and access to information, is it really a “secret” society? This is the part I don’t understand about the conspiracy theorists! Don’t they understand that things that are obvious, clear and evident, are by definition NOT a conspiracy? When people get together to work to change things, it’s NOT secret, the agendas of world leaders are NOT hidden; it’s clear what they want, at least to me. Does that mean I’m an Illuminatus?