ONOFFON

[onoffon]

Mar 5, 2009, 9:12am, davekershaw wrote:Wow Von!A range of 1.5 to 9 for songcraft and musicianship 5 to 10! There really is nowt so queer as folk!! Isn't that amazing, Dave? It just shows how personal musical opinion is.I just looked at Joga's reviewer page on the site and she describes herself as "Swedish girl looking for some fun"...Now, imagine the screener listening to one of our tunes has the ear of Mongo. He hears near perfection so he forwards it on to the job and you feel great about what you've accomplished.But, and that's a big butt, the music supervisor has the ear of Joga and can't understand why something like this would even be sent to her.Granted, this would be an extreme case and hopefully a screener is a little more in touch with what the job is asking for, nonetheless, this is a perfect example of how night and day someone's opinions of the same piece of music can be...Unbelievable....

[davekershaw]

Quote:I just looked at Joga's reviewer page on the site and she describes herself as "Swedish girl looking for some fun"...That says it all Von.She's obviously just having a laugh! Not the kinda person you really want reviewing serious music!

[onoffon]

Mar 5, 2009, 12:15pm, davekershaw wrote:Not the kinda person you really want reviewing serious music!Well... I would agree with you in regards to being part of a review website, but she is a viable opinion and she demonstrates how some jazz is perceived by the casual listening audience.She says she listens to jazz - I would be curious to hear the jazz she appreciates.On the other hand, my favorite from the other reviewers' scores was the Freshness factor. We got a 9, 8.5, and 8.5 - on a jazz fusion tune we released on our first album back in 1997. The 10, 9.5, and 9 in Musicianship felt good too but having it score that well for freshness is great to me.I've mentioned before that we were one of the first 100 members on CD Baby and Derek Sivers wrote to me and requested the right to include this song on their first 'Best of the Best of CD Baby' compilation CD. I still have a copy of it...It's just nice that it's still can be so well received... by some...

[onoffon]

I posted this on the general board but I thought it should be archived in this thread as well...Many of you know of my film background, mainly in special effects. One of the movies I put almost a year and a half of myself into was John Carpenter's The Thing. I worked on the mechanical effects crew for about eight months and another eight months on the makeup effects crew.While hooking up over on FaceBook with an old friend who also worked on the film, I learned that there is a gentleman in the U.K. who is writing a book about the making of John Carpenter's The Thing. I have recently completed my third hour of phone interviews he has conducted with me about my experiences on the film. There have been a few stories I've contributed that no one else brought up so I know I will be mentioned more than a few times in the book. And, I have a few choice pieces of conceptual art and a few pics that I am sending him copies of. He's hoping to have the book completed by the end of this summer, but you know how that goes.It's something I am definitely looking forward to. He said he would continue to contact me if any other questions come to mind. I'm also reviewing the movie to see if I can jar any other memories... What fun...

[onoffon]

Well... I guess after playing in my cover band for more than three years now, I might as well post some pics -Here's one of the lead singer, Mark Anthony Warner, and myself rockin' out -And another of me doin' what I was born to do -BTW - we call ourselves Killer Chihuahua (I don't think I've admitted that until now) and we have a MySpace page with no music (since we do cover only with no licensing in place). But, there's plenty of pics of the band and the regulars that come see us. http://www.myspace.com/killercbandBeing on stage is 'going to my happy place'...

[onoffon]

Okay now, this is gonna blow you away! I found this auction on eBay for a publicity still from the movie, A Song Is Born. My brother, Perry, just won the auction so we've got our hot little hands on it. The thing that's so cool about this particular photo is that it's not from the set of the movie, it's taken in the recording studio while the band was recording the soundtrack!!! My dad is almost dead center and is the only one fully facing the camera. I couldn't have asked for a better shot! This is a copy I saved on my hard drive -The description is as follows: "A rare original 8" x 10" publicity still from the 1948 RKO film "A Song Is Born". Pictured, from left to right in the back row are Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet, Harry Babasin; in the front are Al Hendrickson, Mel Powell, and Louis Bellson. Other than a 1" wrinkled area near the center of the top border, the photo is in excellent condition." If you look over the piano player's shoulder, Mel Powell, you'll see the sheet music laid out on the piano. I'm hoping that the actual photo will be clear enough to see the title of the track they're playing - I'm sure it will be.It makes me wonder if MGM has an archive of behind the scenes photos from the movie that I've never seen. Obviously, this is one... This just keeps getting better and better...

[liamkelly]

Mar 31, 2009, 1:35pm, onoffon wrote:Okay now, this is gonna blow you away! I found this auction on eBay for a publicity still from the movie, A Song Is Born. My brother, Perry, just won the auction so we've got our hot little hands on it. The thing that's so cool about this particular photo is that it's not from the set of the movie, it's taken in the recording studio while the band was recording the soundtrack!!! My dad is almost dead center and is the only one fully facing the camera. I couldn't have asked for a better shot! This is a copy I saved on my hard drive -The description is as follows: "A rare original 8" x 10" publicity still from the 1948 RKO film "A Song Is Born". Pictured, from left to right in the back row are Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet, Harry Babasin; in the front are Al Hendrickson, Mel Powell, and Louis Bellson. Other than a 1" wrinkled area near the center of the top border, the photo is in excellent condition." If you look over the piano player's shoulder, Mel Powell, you'll see the sheet music laid out on the piano. I'm hoping that the actual photo will be clear enough to see the title of the track they're playing - I'm sure it will be.It makes me wonder if MGM has an archive of behind the scenes photos from the movie that I've never seen. Obviously, this is one... This just keeps getting better and better... VonWhat a photo to get your hands on! Very cool, and a who's who of the era! I'm very happy for you Strange drum kit though Hope you're real well.

[onoffon]

Mar 31, 2009, 1:50pm, liamkelly wrote:Strange drum kit though Thanks buddy... hey, who are we to question Louis Bellson?

[onoffon]

Mar 20, 2009, 10:25am, onoffon wrote:I learned that there is a gentleman in the U.K. who is writing a book about the making of John Carpenter's The Thing. I have recently completed my third hour of phone interviews he has conducted with me about my experiences on the film. There have been a few stories I've contributed that no one else brought up so I know I will be mentioned more than a few times in the book. And, I have a few choice pieces of conceptual art and a few pics that I am sending him copies of.Just an update on the book from the author -"Hi Von,Both packages that you sent me have now arrived safely in the mail. Thank you very much for that. It is very much appreciated. The pictures and illustrations are just wonderful and will make welcome additions to the book. Incidentally, I interviewed producer Larry Franco today and he vividly remembered the miniature helicopter disaster. Nobody else has ever mentioned it but Larry did as soon as I mentioned it. Thanks again for the pictures. Take care of yourself.Michael"I'm so honored to be included in this - how cool to be a part of something that has gained such a cult following through the years. I was so happy to hear that someone finally copped to the "miniature helicopter disaster". It's funny how people recall the successes but rarely remember the failures. I'm the only one with the cajones to bring it up...hehehehe.... Anyway, in looking through some old photos, I stumbled on one more that I originally couldn't find - it's a picture of me holding up one of the dead dog carcasses used in the kennel scene when the creature blows out of the dog that brings it into the American compound. I'm going to send it in the off case he decides to include it... who knows...

[crystallions]

Mar 31, 2009, 1:35pm, onoffon wrote:Okay now, this is gonna blow you away! I found this auction on eBay for a publicity still from the movie, A Song Is Born. My brother, Perry, just won the auction so we've got our hot little hands on it. The thing that's so cool about this particular photo is that it's not from the set of the movie, it's taken in the recording studio while the band was recording the soundtrack!!! My dad is almost dead center and is the only one fully facing the camera. I couldn't have asked for a better shot! This is a copy I saved on my hard drive -The description is as follows: "A rare original 8" x 10" publicity still from the 1948 RKO film "A Song Is Born". Pictured, from left to right in the back row are Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet, Harry Babasin; in the front are Al Hendrickson, Mel Powell, and Louis Bellson. Other than a 1" wrinkled area near the center of the top border, the photo is in excellent condition." If you look over the piano player's shoulder, Mel Powell, you'll see the sheet music laid out on the piano. I'm hoping that the actual photo will be clear enough to see the title of the track they're playing - I'm sure it will be.It makes me wonder if MGM has an archive of behind the scenes photos from the movie that I've never seen. Obviously, this is one... This just keeps getting better and better... This is so cool!!! I am glad your brother saw the auction and won it.Congratulations on the interviews for the book too. That is really exciting. I assume they will send you a copy?~ Lydia