I have been getting a good deal more commission work these past couple months and that is fantastic! That being said I believe I am stiffing myself a bit for the amount of money that I charge for my work. Don't fret though kids! I'm not raising the roof on prices here,but I am becoming more competitive. Here are the prices as listed.
8 by 10" pencil character sketch - $ 15 dollars
8 by 10" pencil/ink character sketch - $20 dollars
8 by 10" colored sketch (photoshop) - $25 dollars
8 by 10" pencil character sketch w/background - $ 40 dollars
8 by 10" pen character sketch w/background - $45 dollars
8 by 10" colored sketch(photoshop) w/background - $55 dollars
11 by 17" pencil character sketch - $ 30 dollars
11 by 17" pen character sketch - $35 dollars
11 by 17" colored sketch (photoshop) - $45 dollars
11 by 17" pencil character sketch w/background - $ 60 dollars
11 by 17" pen character sketch w/background - $ 75 dollars
11 by 17" colored sketch w/background - $90 dollars
Small business/company logo - 8 by 10" inked and colored - $150 dollars
*With computer colored illustrations it will be printed out on semi-gloss premium card stock. The original illustration will also be given to the client *
*Any commission that is $50 dollars and more there will be an upfront 25% deposit due to the studio time involved*
If interested in any other kind of artwork or larger sizes that listed please email me with inquires at whitener75@gmail.com
Cheers!
Stephen Whitener
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
karaoke hosting- I answer the questions!!
It's no secret that the state of karaoke in whatcom county is absolutely abysmal. The only shining light has been the rockaroke band "The Uncanny Valley", unfortunetly they only play once a month. Most of us karaoke enthusiasts look for a weekly craving. For the past year now I have had to journey to snohomish and king counties to find decent karaoke venues. I think that it's ridiculous that there is nothing good in whatcom or skagit counties!
Many friends keep asking me why don't I host a show? The answer is money. In order to have good system and legitimate discs is going to cost upwards of three to five thousand dollars. It's just money I don't have right now. I don't want to get a loan or borrow money because I want to try to invest in a home in the somewhat near future.
Another fact is that almost no bar in Bellingham wants karaoke anymore. Mr. Clean's fine business is responsible for that. I have two friends who are karaoke jockeys aka "kj's" who are experienced and have equipment, but the bar owners aren't having it. I want to know why? Are there dirty payoffs going on? Drugs? Probably both if you ask me or perhaps neither. I don't have the answers.
Finally I just don't have time to host karaoke! I work 40 hours a week at my day job and have my daughter on my days off. I also am busy lately with art commissions. I love drawing and want to make this my full time profession. Don't get me wrong karaoke is one of my fave hobbies, but I want to devote my time to my art.
So kids that is the size of it! Hopefully it will answer your questions.
Cheers,
Stephen
Many friends keep asking me why don't I host a show? The answer is money. In order to have good system and legitimate discs is going to cost upwards of three to five thousand dollars. It's just money I don't have right now. I don't want to get a loan or borrow money because I want to try to invest in a home in the somewhat near future.
Another fact is that almost no bar in Bellingham wants karaoke anymore. Mr. Clean's fine business is responsible for that. I have two friends who are karaoke jockeys aka "kj's" who are experienced and have equipment, but the bar owners aren't having it. I want to know why? Are there dirty payoffs going on? Drugs? Probably both if you ask me or perhaps neither. I don't have the answers.
Finally I just don't have time to host karaoke! I work 40 hours a week at my day job and have my daughter on my days off. I also am busy lately with art commissions. I love drawing and want to make this my full time profession. Don't get me wrong karaoke is one of my fave hobbies, but I want to devote my time to my art.
So kids that is the size of it! Hopefully it will answer your questions.
Cheers,
Stephen
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Stephen's ramblings,thoughts and such....
So the Jet City Comic-Con has come and gone and unfortunetly for me it was a bust! I sold two prints for a whopping profit of $10! Considering my costs for gas to Seattle and back,convention fee,prints cost was totaling 170 plus dollars...yeah not very good, but I did meet some cool people and at least got my artwork looked at by hundreds of people. The convention attendance was farely low. I just think the economy is still taking a tole on people.
I have a couple commission pieces I am working on and have the first issue of my comic book done. Now I need to turn in the final draft to the print house and we're set. Issue 1 of "Diner Of The Dead" will be $10 and signed by myself and my partner Ben "1314" Hansen.
Speaking of "1314" , I don't do this often and toot other peoples horns(whoops does that sound bad?)but comic book artist Ben Hansen is a guy who has paid his dues and really deserves that big break in comics that some artists get to have. I've known Ben the better part of a decade and he has constantly been striving to improve and break into the business,which is by no means an easy thing to do! Ben has a great work ethic and is constantly at the art table or computer working on comics and single art pieces.
Ben is also one of those rare people that is always totally willing to help out fellow artists, whether it be teaching techniques in photoshop or showing them tips on panel layouts. He's not out for number one and looking to step on people along the way, far from it, he's a genuine great person and someone whom I consider to be one of my closest friends.
Ben has been published by comic publishers Bluewater,Moonstone,Arcana, and Dark Brain. If you go on the art page www.deviantart.com and type in 1314 then you will see Ben's vast diverse body of work.
Also a quick plug for my buddies the Knapp brothers aka whatcom county film makers extraordinaire! They have an indy film coming out soon, "Fantastic Stan Goes To Hell" you can see many of the trailers by hopping over to YouTube and entering in the above movie title. I have two roles in the film that is sure to become a local classic!
Many of you readers know that I have talked many,many times about online dating. Well I am happy to say that I am now one of those success stories because I am madly in love with a woman I met on a dating website a little while back. She was the first to send me a little flower and "Hello" in my inbox and it started from there. From our first phone conversation there was instant connection and shortly there after love! I have never felt so connected to a person in my life and she feels the same.
I have an aspiration to want to make a pro wrestling video game. If anyone has ever played the "Def Jam" wrestling games from the X-box/PS2 will know what kind of style I'm going for . I want to have the game set back in the hayday of "wrasslin"- the 1980's. The characters would be more comic book style looking and the music would be alot of 80's butt rock. The arenas would be full of personality as the wrestlers themselves. I would want a killer commentary from the ringside wrestling announcers. So many wrestling games have a bad to no commentary running through matches. I want to change that!
There would be a cast of 20 wrestlers, 6 tag teams, and 8 female wrestlers. I would have a huge amount of customization in the create a character mode. I would have a build a ring mode and a create your wrestling belt mode.
If anyone would be interested in colaborating , please let me know!
Cheers
Stephen
I have a couple commission pieces I am working on and have the first issue of my comic book done. Now I need to turn in the final draft to the print house and we're set. Issue 1 of "Diner Of The Dead" will be $10 and signed by myself and my partner Ben "1314" Hansen.
Speaking of "1314" , I don't do this often and toot other peoples horns(whoops does that sound bad?)but comic book artist Ben Hansen is a guy who has paid his dues and really deserves that big break in comics that some artists get to have. I've known Ben the better part of a decade and he has constantly been striving to improve and break into the business,which is by no means an easy thing to do! Ben has a great work ethic and is constantly at the art table or computer working on comics and single art pieces.
Ben is also one of those rare people that is always totally willing to help out fellow artists, whether it be teaching techniques in photoshop or showing them tips on panel layouts. He's not out for number one and looking to step on people along the way, far from it, he's a genuine great person and someone whom I consider to be one of my closest friends.
Ben has been published by comic publishers Bluewater,Moonstone,Arcana, and Dark Brain. If you go on the art page www.deviantart.com and type in 1314 then you will see Ben's vast diverse body of work.
Also a quick plug for my buddies the Knapp brothers aka whatcom county film makers extraordinaire! They have an indy film coming out soon, "Fantastic Stan Goes To Hell" you can see many of the trailers by hopping over to YouTube and entering in the above movie title. I have two roles in the film that is sure to become a local classic!
Many of you readers know that I have talked many,many times about online dating. Well I am happy to say that I am now one of those success stories because I am madly in love with a woman I met on a dating website a little while back. She was the first to send me a little flower and "Hello" in my inbox and it started from there. From our first phone conversation there was instant connection and shortly there after love! I have never felt so connected to a person in my life and she feels the same.
I have an aspiration to want to make a pro wrestling video game. If anyone has ever played the "Def Jam" wrestling games from the X-box/PS2 will know what kind of style I'm going for . I want to have the game set back in the hayday of "wrasslin"- the 1980's. The characters would be more comic book style looking and the music would be alot of 80's butt rock. The arenas would be full of personality as the wrestlers themselves. I would want a killer commentary from the ringside wrestling announcers. So many wrestling games have a bad to no commentary running through matches. I want to change that!
There would be a cast of 20 wrestlers, 6 tag teams, and 8 female wrestlers. I would have a huge amount of customization in the create a character mode. I would have a build a ring mode and a create your wrestling belt mode.
If anyone would be interested in colaborating , please let me know!
Cheers
Stephen
Monday, September 12, 2011
Random randomness
Hiya kids, it's your ol' pal Stephen writing about nothing again! Had some thoughts I wanted to put down to computer screen or is that up? Hmm?
This is America and filled with many people of various religions and cultures. What I don't like is certain Christian groups or individuals that say that Christianity is the definitive religion and those whom believe otherwise will go to hell. Wow, really guys? So a man or woman goes through life doing good things for other people in need yet because they may be Muslim/Buddhist/Atheist, that they deserve to go to hell? That does not sound something Jesus Christ would have approved of!
On the other side of the coin are Atheists who think that because people believe in religion or a higher power that they are idiots and are always wrong. I'm not saying all Atheists think this way. Most are decent people who just go along with their everyday lives, however there are some who mock people who believe in something greater than themselves. What harm are they causing? If a person leads a richer more fulfilling life from believing in God then I say more power to them. If a person believes that when we die we just die, then that's great if that works for them.
9/11/01 was a horribly sad day for America. Today was the ten year anniversary of that tragedy. Many people are mourning in their own ways or showing pride by displaying an American flag or wearing a NYFD t-shirt. What I hate seeing are tv shows that go into the conspiracy theories of the who/why/what of the event. Can't we just have a day of remembrance as opposed to crazy conspiracy nuts on talk radio saying that the event was caused by the Bush administration or aliens from outer space,etc... Give it a fucking rest already!!!
Star Wars is being released on Blu Ray and it's causing alot of controversy because Mr. Lucas has put it on himself to yet again tamper with the original trilogy. Why does he feel the need to do this? Well, I can tell you that money is the main reason, why else? Look I understand as a fellow artist that sometimes when you look back on an older piece of art that you know you can do much better now. You have more skills and better equipment. I would not however go and draw on an old piece of artwork and then put it out as a special edition! I personally don't understand why George Lucas won't give many fans what they want a re-release the original trilogy in its untampered form. No cgi or extra scenes with Boba Fett. Han shoots first! Just clean up the picture and redo the sound for THX standards and well be happy as a Rancor eating a fat Gammorean guard.
Ok kids the night grows old and I'm heading for bed
Until next time...
This is America and filled with many people of various religions and cultures. What I don't like is certain Christian groups or individuals that say that Christianity is the definitive religion and those whom believe otherwise will go to hell. Wow, really guys? So a man or woman goes through life doing good things for other people in need yet because they may be Muslim/Buddhist/Atheist, that they deserve to go to hell? That does not sound something Jesus Christ would have approved of!
On the other side of the coin are Atheists who think that because people believe in religion or a higher power that they are idiots and are always wrong. I'm not saying all Atheists think this way. Most are decent people who just go along with their everyday lives, however there are some who mock people who believe in something greater than themselves. What harm are they causing? If a person leads a richer more fulfilling life from believing in God then I say more power to them. If a person believes that when we die we just die, then that's great if that works for them.
9/11/01 was a horribly sad day for America. Today was the ten year anniversary of that tragedy. Many people are mourning in their own ways or showing pride by displaying an American flag or wearing a NYFD t-shirt. What I hate seeing are tv shows that go into the conspiracy theories of the who/why/what of the event. Can't we just have a day of remembrance as opposed to crazy conspiracy nuts on talk radio saying that the event was caused by the Bush administration or aliens from outer space,etc... Give it a fucking rest already!!!
Star Wars is being released on Blu Ray and it's causing alot of controversy because Mr. Lucas has put it on himself to yet again tamper with the original trilogy. Why does he feel the need to do this? Well, I can tell you that money is the main reason, why else? Look I understand as a fellow artist that sometimes when you look back on an older piece of art that you know you can do much better now. You have more skills and better equipment. I would not however go and draw on an old piece of artwork and then put it out as a special edition! I personally don't understand why George Lucas won't give many fans what they want a re-release the original trilogy in its untampered form. No cgi or extra scenes with Boba Fett. Han shoots first! Just clean up the picture and redo the sound for THX standards and well be happy as a Rancor eating a fat Gammorean guard.
Ok kids the night grows old and I'm heading for bed
Until next time...
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Jet City Comic-Con !!!
Hey gang I am going to be working at the Jet City Comic-Con in beautiful Seattle September 24th. It's going to be held at the Seattle center convention http://www.jetcitycomicshow.com This is the site to check out the finer details (directions,parking,etc..) I am going to be selling a number of 8 1/2" by 11" prints for $5 bucks.Also this year is a first for me because I am going to also be selling original pieces of artwork! They are going to be running $20 dollars and up.
Unlike some artists, my autograph is always free on every pic or if you want me to sign your t-shirt,paper,child,lol, I can do that too! Also at Jet City is the star of the 80's tv series "The Greatest American Hero" William Katt!! He was also in the classic horror flick "Carrie" and cult movie "House". I'm stoked to get to meet him!
Also I am going to be handing out flyers for the indy film I'm in "Fantastic Stan Goes To Hell". It's done by the soon to be famous Knapp Bros. It stars local popular music artist Jenni Potts and tv and film star Gabe the bulldog!! You may have seen Gabe recently on the hit tv show "America's Got Talent". The movie is going to be alot of fun and will hopefully get a fall release. Be sure to go to the "Fantastic Stan Goes To Hell "Facebook fan page and become a fan and you'll get regular updates on the film and other fun tidbits. Support local cinema!
Cheers
Stephen Whitener
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Too controversial for the paper!!!!
So recently I submitted a letter to the Skagit Herald and their website about the cancellation of the Rocky and Kristine Fields karaoke show at the Skagit Valley Casino. I was sent a reply this morning stating that the article was slanderous towards the casino and was an internal dispute between the Fields and the casino.
I guess I can somewhat understand the papers side of it, but how is this slanderous if it's true? Since this is America and I have free speech, I'm going to exercise that right and let you folks read the letter that I submitted to the paper..
So that is it kids. I hope all of my Facebook friends read this. I'm sure they all won't but I digress... If at least some of you read this and make your voice heard then my job has been accomplished!
Cheers,
Stephen
I guess I can somewhat understand the papers side of it, but how is this slanderous if it's true? Since this is America and I have free speech, I'm going to exercise that right and let you folks read the letter that I submitted to the paper..
Hello my name is Stephen and I am a huge karaoke fan. I try to go out for karaoke at least once a week. I live in Bellingham and in town unfortunately there are not many quality karaoke shows to go to, so when I do go out I would wait until Thursday evening and go to the Skagit Valley Casino to attend the Rocky and Kristine karaoke show.
I have been attending the Rocky and Kristine show for nearly four years. They have been running a show there for seven years. They have a very large fan base that come from as far north as Vancouver, B.C to Olympia – this really says something about the product they put out if people are willing to drive up to two hours out of their way for a karaoke show!
The karaoke at the Skagit casino is held in a section called “The Winners Lounge”, it’s a nice spacious room with a very large stage for people to cut loose and perform on. There is a large screen tv that shows music videos between karaoke singers. The sound quality here is fantastic! Rocky knows how to make the singers sound the best they possibly can. I know that when I come here I am confident that I’m going to be at the top of my game.
Of course Rocky doesn’t do this by himself. He has a partner in crime, his wife Kristine who is out with the audience making sure the sound is perfect and gives Rocky the thumbs up or down until it’s just right. Kristine is what I would refer to as the first lady of karaoke in the northwest. She is a very sweet, caring down to Earth person who makes everyone who walks into the Winners Lounge feel welcome.
Rocky Fields also makes people feel good about themselves as early in the evening he comes out and shakes hands with and hugs the patrons attending the show. No matter what a persons skill level at singing, he is always very encouraging and it just makes you want to go back up and sing again and again.
The Fields karaoke show is like a family gathering because most of the audiences are people who return week in and week out. It’s like the classic tv show Cheers- everybody knows your name! I have met many, many wonderful people from all walks of life here. We all go over and give hugs to one another and catch up on our daily lives and talk about the songs we’re singing for the eve.
This is what sets Rocky and Kristine’s show above the rest and that’s the family atmosphere feel. This is my karaoke home….and now unfortunately that home has been taken away! Two weeks ago was the last karaoke show that the Fields are doing at the Skagit Casino. I was told that they received a letter at the last minute stating that their show would be ending. No reason was given to the what or why’s of this choice of action.
Dozens and dozens of people were shocked to hear this, myself included. Why would the casino end something that so many people love and spend hard earned dollars at their establishment? I don’t believe it would be budgetary cutbacks. I have sent a letter to the casino asking why as have many other people, however none have gotten any response what so ever.
The Skagit Valley Casino has a fan page on the popular social network Facebook and many people have been going there to voice their opinions on the matter. Their posts are almost immediately taken off. Why is this? Does the casino not care about what the public thinks or look for ways to improve their business? By taking away the karaoke here they have now lost thousands of dollars of revenue that the crowds brought in, not to mention the amount of joy that had been brought to so many people…
I’m asking anyone out there who is a karaoke fan, singer, or just from any walk of life who believes in doing the right thing and please write to the Skagit casino and let them know that they should keep the Rocky and Kristine Fields karaoke show going! I for one am not going to be supporting the casino anymore until the Fields are back. Many other patrons are with me on this!
Thank you everyone for reading and thank you to Rocky and Kristine for the wonderful memories and friendship.
Sincerely,
Stephen Whitener
So that is it kids. I hope all of my Facebook friends read this. I'm sure they all won't but I digress... If at least some of you read this and make your voice heard then my job has been accomplished!
Cheers,
Stephen
Thursday, August 25, 2011
More on online dating,opinions on MJ and more!!
Lately I've been a blogging fool....My mind runs 24-7 so I think it really helps sometimes just to jot my ideas down on digital paper. I want to add some other tidbits I thought about on online dating.
- It's wonderful if you include half a dozen pics of yourself on a dating site,however have a full body shot in one of them. I am certainly no Brad Pitt, but I have at least one full body shot. If you are that insecure about yourself then why do it?
- Don't have pics of you with your ex or another guy kissing. Why not? DUH!!! There is nothing more unappealing than going through a profile and seeing a pic of the girl and some dude doing the ol' bump in grind on the dance floor!
- Put some info about yourself on your profile! Profiles I ignore and the ones that just say," Message me later about this" How bout I don't "message" you at all! I like to see people who put their interests there and what they're looking for.
- On a side note I appeared to make some people upset last week when I posted that women who have just gotten out of bad relationships shouldn't put themselves out there. I want to clarify what I'm saying here so there isn't any misunderstanding. I have been on a couple dates from online sites and the ladies had literally been out of their previous relationship a week or a few months prior. They were also going on about how shitty their boyfriend was or that they want them back. I don't have time for these types of people! If a person needs time to heal then take time out of dating for a while and do so!
Make sure you are ready to give 100% to a new person of interest instead of making your date feel like they did something wrong..... ok I've gotten that all out of my system. No more is going to be said about it, so time to move on to my next subject.
Micheal Jackson was one of the best performers ever- bar none. Whether you do or don't like his music, you still have to give the man some props. Back in '83 when I was nine years old I listened to the "Thriller" album countless times and danced around and sang along. This album I believe featured about 12-13 tracks and every single one was a multi-platinum hit! Can you say the same thing about Nickelback? I don't think so, but I digest...;-D
About a decade ago there was a huge amount of controversy because a small group of parents came out and accused Micheal of molesting their children when they went over to sleep with him. Ok the first thing is why did the parents wait months or years to say anything? The second thing is is that if you let a ten year old sleep over with a forty- five year old single man in his bed then what is wrong with you as a parent?
I sure as hell wouldn't let my daughter do that! I think what it comes down to is the almighty dollar. The parents wanted to get rich quick and they found a sleazeball lawyer to help them out. Do I think Micheal Jackson was a normal person? No, I don't. Micheal definitely has some issues, but I really don't want to believe he was a child molester. I just hope as time passes people will just remember the music and not the controversy.
I finally sat down the other afternoon to watch what some call the worst movie ever- Troll 2. I have seen some horrible movies in my day and I wouldn't say it's the worst I've ever seen but it sure as hell ranks up there with them! I know this flick has become a cult phenomenon and has midnight showings across the country. Some questions get raised right away watching this film. Why is the movie called Troll 2 when the monsters are in fact Goblins? Also why did it take the main family in the film an hour to figure out that the town of Nilbog was Goblin spelled backwards? Anywho, there are plot holes aplenty and acting that makes Shatner seem like DeNiro. I suggest that if anyone has a weekly bad movie night, then by all means rent or buy Troll 2...because you can't piss on hospitality. I won't allow it!* - * This is an actual line from the film
Cheers
Stephen
- It's wonderful if you include half a dozen pics of yourself on a dating site,however have a full body shot in one of them. I am certainly no Brad Pitt, but I have at least one full body shot. If you are that insecure about yourself then why do it?
- Don't have pics of you with your ex or another guy kissing. Why not? DUH!!! There is nothing more unappealing than going through a profile and seeing a pic of the girl and some dude doing the ol' bump in grind on the dance floor!
- Put some info about yourself on your profile! Profiles I ignore and the ones that just say," Message me later about this" How bout I don't "message" you at all! I like to see people who put their interests there and what they're looking for.
- On a side note I appeared to make some people upset last week when I posted that women who have just gotten out of bad relationships shouldn't put themselves out there. I want to clarify what I'm saying here so there isn't any misunderstanding. I have been on a couple dates from online sites and the ladies had literally been out of their previous relationship a week or a few months prior. They were also going on about how shitty their boyfriend was or that they want them back. I don't have time for these types of people! If a person needs time to heal then take time out of dating for a while and do so!
Make sure you are ready to give 100% to a new person of interest instead of making your date feel like they did something wrong..... ok I've gotten that all out of my system. No more is going to be said about it, so time to move on to my next subject.
Micheal Jackson was one of the best performers ever- bar none. Whether you do or don't like his music, you still have to give the man some props. Back in '83 when I was nine years old I listened to the "Thriller" album countless times and danced around and sang along. This album I believe featured about 12-13 tracks and every single one was a multi-platinum hit! Can you say the same thing about Nickelback? I don't think so, but I digest...;-D
About a decade ago there was a huge amount of controversy because a small group of parents came out and accused Micheal of molesting their children when they went over to sleep with him. Ok the first thing is why did the parents wait months or years to say anything? The second thing is is that if you let a ten year old sleep over with a forty- five year old single man in his bed then what is wrong with you as a parent?
I sure as hell wouldn't let my daughter do that! I think what it comes down to is the almighty dollar. The parents wanted to get rich quick and they found a sleazeball lawyer to help them out. Do I think Micheal Jackson was a normal person? No, I don't. Micheal definitely has some issues, but I really don't want to believe he was a child molester. I just hope as time passes people will just remember the music and not the controversy.
I finally sat down the other afternoon to watch what some call the worst movie ever- Troll 2. I have seen some horrible movies in my day and I wouldn't say it's the worst I've ever seen but it sure as hell ranks up there with them! I know this flick has become a cult phenomenon and has midnight showings across the country. Some questions get raised right away watching this film. Why is the movie called Troll 2 when the monsters are in fact Goblins? Also why did it take the main family in the film an hour to figure out that the town of Nilbog was Goblin spelled backwards? Anywho, there are plot holes aplenty and acting that makes Shatner seem like DeNiro. I suggest that if anyone has a weekly bad movie night, then by all means rent or buy Troll 2...because you can't piss on hospitality. I won't allow it!* - * This is an actual line from the film
Cheers
Stephen
Saturday, August 20, 2011
The horrors and good things of online dating!
Hey all you out there on the inter-webs! It's Stephen back with a blog about online dating. Online dating a couple years back was thought by many to be a sketchy way to meet people, however in 2011 it is regarded as just as a legitimate way of meeting someone as going to church,college,coffee house,etc..
I have done online dating now for a couple years. I've had my shares of busts and it's hard for me to say successes because I'm still single. I have made a very good friendship out of one. I want to go through a list of stuff that a person should do when coming up with a profile.
1. Have a pic of yourself from the current year- I have seen so many people post a number of pictures of themselves,but it is from two to five years ago. Much can happen in that period and often it does to the people whom do this. Mostly it's a significant amount of weight gain. Right off the bat when meeting said person they are starting out on a lie....bad!!
2. Is their profile complete? - On many sites I've been on there will be a pic of a very attractive woman and when you go to read the profile the site tells you that the person of interest hasn't filled out their profile info. If you are hoping for a relationship that will last then you need the 411 on them!
3. Be honest! - If you don't like physical contact then don't post that your an affectionate person looking for a cuddle buddy! I've been on a couple dates where the person claimed they were very affectionate and loved hugs but at the end of the eve they deflected...I thought to myself," maybe she's just got the first date jitters?" So I gave them another chance on the second date and again hesitate to hug and no chance of a quick peck on the lips. I won't be fooled a third time and I hope you won't either!
4. Be ready if your going to put yourself out there - I have been on a number of dates where the person is still in love with their ex or are still trying to get over a recent abusive relationship. They are constantly negative and in foul moods. Stay away from these kind of people! I know from experience!! These aren't necessarily bad people but they do need time to straighten their lives out.
5. Know where you are!- There are tons of dating sites out there and there are many made for specific people types. There are BBW and BHM* sites, there are sites like Geek 2 Geek that obviously cater to the geek culture, and so on. What I hate is when someone is on say a BBW dating site and they state in there profile they don't like fat people! Hello? McFly?? (* Big Beautiful Women/Big Handsome Men)
6. Are they within driving distance?- I have tried a long distance relationship before and since I'm certainly not made of money and have a full time job, it didn't work out. If you can find someone in your same town then that is fantastic! I try to keep a 60 miles away and under rule for finding someone. I know this is different for everyone, so what ever works for you!
7. Do you share common interests? Are gambling and boat riding two of your favorite things but the person your checking out hates them? Look for some common ground. The two of you dig They Might Be Giants and shuffleboard on thursdays! Woot! Least you've found some common interests that will make for conversation and entertainment.
This list wasn't made as a slam at all on women. In fact I would love to hear the opinions of women who have also done online dating and their experiences. I do have a couple friends that are online dating success stories and have gotten married and are very happy. I say kudos to them and best of luck! I try to keep optimistic there is that right one out there for me :-)
Take care
Stephen
5.
I have done online dating now for a couple years. I've had my shares of busts and it's hard for me to say successes because I'm still single. I have made a very good friendship out of one. I want to go through a list of stuff that a person should do when coming up with a profile.
1. Have a pic of yourself from the current year- I have seen so many people post a number of pictures of themselves,but it is from two to five years ago. Much can happen in that period and often it does to the people whom do this. Mostly it's a significant amount of weight gain. Right off the bat when meeting said person they are starting out on a lie....bad!!
2. Is their profile complete? - On many sites I've been on there will be a pic of a very attractive woman and when you go to read the profile the site tells you that the person of interest hasn't filled out their profile info. If you are hoping for a relationship that will last then you need the 411 on them!
3. Be honest! - If you don't like physical contact then don't post that your an affectionate person looking for a cuddle buddy! I've been on a couple dates where the person claimed they were very affectionate and loved hugs but at the end of the eve they deflected...I thought to myself," maybe she's just got the first date jitters?" So I gave them another chance on the second date and again hesitate to hug and no chance of a quick peck on the lips. I won't be fooled a third time and I hope you won't either!
4. Be ready if your going to put yourself out there - I have been on a number of dates where the person is still in love with their ex or are still trying to get over a recent abusive relationship. They are constantly negative and in foul moods. Stay away from these kind of people! I know from experience!! These aren't necessarily bad people but they do need time to straighten their lives out.
5. Know where you are!- There are tons of dating sites out there and there are many made for specific people types. There are BBW and BHM* sites, there are sites like Geek 2 Geek that obviously cater to the geek culture, and so on. What I hate is when someone is on say a BBW dating site and they state in there profile they don't like fat people! Hello? McFly?? (* Big Beautiful Women/Big Handsome Men)
6. Are they within driving distance?- I have tried a long distance relationship before and since I'm certainly not made of money and have a full time job, it didn't work out. If you can find someone in your same town then that is fantastic! I try to keep a 60 miles away and under rule for finding someone. I know this is different for everyone, so what ever works for you!
7. Do you share common interests? Are gambling and boat riding two of your favorite things but the person your checking out hates them? Look for some common ground. The two of you dig They Might Be Giants and shuffleboard on thursdays! Woot! Least you've found some common interests that will make for conversation and entertainment.
This list wasn't made as a slam at all on women. In fact I would love to hear the opinions of women who have also done online dating and their experiences. I do have a couple friends that are online dating success stories and have gotten married and are very happy. I say kudos to them and best of luck! I try to keep optimistic there is that right one out there for me :-)
Take care
Stephen
5.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Times they are a changin!
Wow I am just becoming the blogging fool here, and yes it is another blog about karaoke. Today I heard news that The Fairhaven Pub is permanently closing their doors this weekend. Thus one more good karaoke show in Bellingham has been eliminated. It's a sad week for local karaoke because I've had two kj friends lose their venues and another who is more than likely going to be next week....man the state of karaoke just keeps getting sadder and sadder in the city of subdued excitement!
What hurts most here is that these folks are good people. They are friendly,non-drug users and they have legit music...no illegal downloaded business here! I hope these guys can all rebound and find better gigs and come back stronger than ever. That is my hope! Some may say I'm foolish, but like Steve Perry says,"don't stop believin!"
I think many rich business men come into Bellingham with the idea in their heads that our town is another Bellevue and they can charge outrageous prices on food and drinks and people will keep coming....wrong! Everyone knows Bellingham is primarily a college town and the local bars are largely supported by those dollars. Dollars that are very hard to come by! The Fairhaven, while very nice, charged way too much for their drinks. What is sad is that they had good acts come through their establishment.
I realize however that Fairhaven is a fancier part of town and the prices match that. I want to see diversity in the karaoke in town! There shouldn't be a monopoly. Variety is the spice of life and I would love to see a number of different kj's in town with shows running seven days a week again. Snohomish county has become a mecca for karaoke as of late! From Smokey Point to Lynwood there are so many places to go! I tend to journey that way almost once a week now for good karaoke. It's sad because it doesn't exist in Bellingham anymore!
Cheers
Stephen
What hurts most here is that these folks are good people. They are friendly,non-drug users and they have legit music...no illegal downloaded business here! I hope these guys can all rebound and find better gigs and come back stronger than ever. That is my hope! Some may say I'm foolish, but like Steve Perry says,"don't stop believin!"
I think many rich business men come into Bellingham with the idea in their heads that our town is another Bellevue and they can charge outrageous prices on food and drinks and people will keep coming....wrong! Everyone knows Bellingham is primarily a college town and the local bars are largely supported by those dollars. Dollars that are very hard to come by! The Fairhaven, while very nice, charged way too much for their drinks. What is sad is that they had good acts come through their establishment.
I realize however that Fairhaven is a fancier part of town and the prices match that. I want to see diversity in the karaoke in town! There shouldn't be a monopoly. Variety is the spice of life and I would love to see a number of different kj's in town with shows running seven days a week again. Snohomish county has become a mecca for karaoke as of late! From Smokey Point to Lynwood there are so many places to go! I tend to journey that way almost once a week now for good karaoke. It's sad because it doesn't exist in Bellingham anymore!
Cheers
Stephen
Friday, August 12, 2011
A blog for local karaoke enthusiasts!
Bellingham used to be one of the best karaoke cities in Washington state. Back in 2006-2008 was the golden age. Karaoke went 7 nights a week and multiple venues. Every bar is packing eager singers in with at least a dozen people rotation a night.
We fast forward to 2011 and Bellingham is virtually a barren wasteland when it comes to karaoke venues that are decent. Most is to blame on laziness of karaoke hosts and drug/alcohol abuse. The rest is to blame on the bar owners whom were either tax evaders or drug runners.
I want to stress that not all the shows in whatcom county are bad. There are a select few who seem to have their stuff together and have a good crowd on their given nights. However there is one company in town that has really put a bad taste in singers and bar owners mouths. I don't want to really mention the name here and don't feel I need to because anyone who reads this will know exactly who I'm talking about.
What I keep hearing and at this point it's starting to sound like a broken record, is that people are tired of this person and want to see them out of business. Well if you want this to happen then don't go to this companies shows! It's that simple folks. I personally don't go to this companies show because of what the owner represents. Again I'm not going into the finer points of why said person is a douchebag....readers of this will again know whom I'm referring to. The way to end the reign of this companies power over the city of subdued excitement...STOP GOING TO THEIR SHOWS!!!!!!
I know some of you might argue," but Stephen I love singing and it's the only place to go." I will tell you to do your homework :-) At a number of local bars there is the Northwest Karaoke Entertainment newspaper. In it you will find tons of venues local and not so local. I have a list of places below to go that are local and semi local that are not affiliated with the above company:
- The Fairhaven Pub- shows run every wensday starting @ 9pm.
The Fairhaven runs a quality show and tends to fill up quick so I recommend getting there early in the eve if you want to sing 3 times. DJ Seamus and Bam have been running the show here for years and have built a good following of folks.
- Bobby Lee's in Everson - shows run thursday,friday,& saturday starting @ 9pm
This might be a little out of the way,but if you like to sing alot then I recommend coming here on a thursday night. Saturday is when this place can get quite wild! It is also alot of fun when owner Bobby Lee kj's. He's full of energy and sometimes will break out musical instruments to join you in your song!
- The Uncanny Valley - this is not a venue, but what it is is the best rockaroke band around!! The UV have played shows at The Fairhaven and lately at the Village Pub. In september they are going to be playing at the new Shakedown bar on north state street. If you have never experienced rockaroke before then you owe it to yourself to try the Uncanny Valley out. These fine gents tend to draw a large crowd so get to the venue early in the night to get your song in!
Now I give you some good venues south of whatcom county
- Skagit Casino hosted by Rocky and Kristine Fields -every thursday 8pm til midnight- To me this is the definitive show! I have gone here since 2006 and have loved everytime I go. Usually the shows are either asses and elbows or a little quieter...it's like a box of chocolates! Great singers from 'round the sound come here and even famous music acts will come in for karaoke when in town! Great sound,big stage,big screen tv with great music videos and two great people who make you truly feel at home. This place is my karaoke home!
- The Conway Pub in Conway- shows run friday & saturday starting @ 9:30pm. A couple miles south of Mt. Vernon will bring you to the small blink and you'll miss it town of Conway. What you won't want to miss is the damn fine karaoke going on here during the weekend! The place fills up fast and is loaded with good singers and better looking people.
- Danny's Midway Pub in Smokey Point - shows run 7 days a week starting @ 9pm. I have been to Danny's several times now and have always had fun with my buddies there. They have a huge catalog of music to go through and a decent sound system. Usually if you go during the week you can sing alot (which I love!)
- The Blue Moon Lounge in Everett - shows run thursday-sunday starting @ 9pm. Easy place to find right off Broadway. This place is a tiny venue,but what isn't tiny is the booming sound here! Jim really knows how to run his sound board and make you sound great. Half the bar usually becomes a dance floor. The patrons here are very supportive of the singers.
There are other venues as well but I won't go into further details. Like I said be sure to check the NW Karaoke Ent. newspaper for more venues.
I want to start on another subject here which is of great concern to me. I was informed last night that Rocky and Kristine's karaoke show at the Skagit casino may very well end in two weeks.....this was shocking news to me and many others. I don't understand the casino's logic behind this at all! So many people come in to the casino and give them their hard earned money and alot of that is thanks to the outstanding show that the Field's run here. On a personal note Rocky and Kristine are two of the most genuine,kind, and giving people that I have ever met in my life and I love them both and am truly honored to call them my friends. I think that's why this hits even harder to me is that because these are close friends and I want my friends to do well in life and not get the royal shaft!
If the Skagit casino decides to stop karaoke here or get another cheaper host, then I will boycott the casino and make it very public for fellow karaoke goers to not support this establishment any longer! This is a slap in all the singers faces and let me tell you there are many,many of us. I personally am writing a long letter to the casino to voice my opinion and I truly hope all of you will follow suit!
Like I said earlier in the blog the Skagit casino show is my karaoke home. I love the venue and the people. So many great folks like George aka Grumpy, Byron, Papa James,Trouble, Gretchen & Larry,etc... Great singers and good friends that I've made here over the past four years. I know the old saying goes," All good things must come to an end" Well I don't want this ending anytime soon and it doesn't need to! Please Skagit do the right thing and keep the Rocky & Kristine show going! If you don't the karaoke gods shall smite you forever (hee-hee)
Thanks to everyone who has read this!
Cheers
Stephen Whitener
We fast forward to 2011 and Bellingham is virtually a barren wasteland when it comes to karaoke venues that are decent. Most is to blame on laziness of karaoke hosts and drug/alcohol abuse. The rest is to blame on the bar owners whom were either tax evaders or drug runners.
I want to stress that not all the shows in whatcom county are bad. There are a select few who seem to have their stuff together and have a good crowd on their given nights. However there is one company in town that has really put a bad taste in singers and bar owners mouths. I don't want to really mention the name here and don't feel I need to because anyone who reads this will know exactly who I'm talking about.
What I keep hearing and at this point it's starting to sound like a broken record, is that people are tired of this person and want to see them out of business. Well if you want this to happen then don't go to this companies shows! It's that simple folks. I personally don't go to this companies show because of what the owner represents. Again I'm not going into the finer points of why said person is a douchebag....readers of this will again know whom I'm referring to. The way to end the reign of this companies power over the city of subdued excitement...STOP GOING TO THEIR SHOWS!!!!!!
I know some of you might argue," but Stephen I love singing and it's the only place to go." I will tell you to do your homework :-) At a number of local bars there is the Northwest Karaoke Entertainment newspaper. In it you will find tons of venues local and not so local. I have a list of places below to go that are local and semi local that are not affiliated with the above company:
- The Fairhaven Pub- shows run every wensday starting @ 9pm.
The Fairhaven runs a quality show and tends to fill up quick so I recommend getting there early in the eve if you want to sing 3 times. DJ Seamus and Bam have been running the show here for years and have built a good following of folks.
- Bobby Lee's in Everson - shows run thursday,friday,& saturday starting @ 9pm
This might be a little out of the way,but if you like to sing alot then I recommend coming here on a thursday night. Saturday is when this place can get quite wild! It is also alot of fun when owner Bobby Lee kj's. He's full of energy and sometimes will break out musical instruments to join you in your song!
- The Uncanny Valley - this is not a venue, but what it is is the best rockaroke band around!! The UV have played shows at The Fairhaven and lately at the Village Pub. In september they are going to be playing at the new Shakedown bar on north state street. If you have never experienced rockaroke before then you owe it to yourself to try the Uncanny Valley out. These fine gents tend to draw a large crowd so get to the venue early in the night to get your song in!
Now I give you some good venues south of whatcom county
- Skagit Casino hosted by Rocky and Kristine Fields -every thursday 8pm til midnight- To me this is the definitive show! I have gone here since 2006 and have loved everytime I go. Usually the shows are either asses and elbows or a little quieter...it's like a box of chocolates! Great singers from 'round the sound come here and even famous music acts will come in for karaoke when in town! Great sound,big stage,big screen tv with great music videos and two great people who make you truly feel at home. This place is my karaoke home!
- The Conway Pub in Conway- shows run friday & saturday starting @ 9:30pm. A couple miles south of Mt. Vernon will bring you to the small blink and you'll miss it town of Conway. What you won't want to miss is the damn fine karaoke going on here during the weekend! The place fills up fast and is loaded with good singers and better looking people.
- Danny's Midway Pub in Smokey Point - shows run 7 days a week starting @ 9pm. I have been to Danny's several times now and have always had fun with my buddies there. They have a huge catalog of music to go through and a decent sound system. Usually if you go during the week you can sing alot (which I love!)
- The Blue Moon Lounge in Everett - shows run thursday-sunday starting @ 9pm. Easy place to find right off Broadway. This place is a tiny venue,but what isn't tiny is the booming sound here! Jim really knows how to run his sound board and make you sound great. Half the bar usually becomes a dance floor. The patrons here are very supportive of the singers.
There are other venues as well but I won't go into further details. Like I said be sure to check the NW Karaoke Ent. newspaper for more venues.
I want to start on another subject here which is of great concern to me. I was informed last night that Rocky and Kristine's karaoke show at the Skagit casino may very well end in two weeks.....this was shocking news to me and many others. I don't understand the casino's logic behind this at all! So many people come in to the casino and give them their hard earned money and alot of that is thanks to the outstanding show that the Field's run here. On a personal note Rocky and Kristine are two of the most genuine,kind, and giving people that I have ever met in my life and I love them both and am truly honored to call them my friends. I think that's why this hits even harder to me is that because these are close friends and I want my friends to do well in life and not get the royal shaft!
If the Skagit casino decides to stop karaoke here or get another cheaper host, then I will boycott the casino and make it very public for fellow karaoke goers to not support this establishment any longer! This is a slap in all the singers faces and let me tell you there are many,many of us. I personally am writing a long letter to the casino to voice my opinion and I truly hope all of you will follow suit!
Like I said earlier in the blog the Skagit casino show is my karaoke home. I love the venue and the people. So many great folks like George aka Grumpy, Byron, Papa James,Trouble, Gretchen & Larry,etc... Great singers and good friends that I've made here over the past four years. I know the old saying goes," All good things must come to an end" Well I don't want this ending anytime soon and it doesn't need to! Please Skagit do the right thing and keep the Rocky & Kristine show going! If you don't the karaoke gods shall smite you forever (hee-hee)
Thanks to everyone who has read this!
Cheers
Stephen Whitener
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Karaoke Host 101
As almost everyone in the known universe knows by now, I'm a karaoke junkie :-) I've been singing now for about twelve years and don't ever want to stop. Over those twelve plus years I have seen many shows and hosts. Some great,some mediocre, some downright horrid! Sometimes when a karaoke show is canned it can be because of many factors. The host has a drug or alcohol problem. The venue owner was a tax evader or drug dealer or because of the current poor economy the business was forced to shut down.
I have seen what makes and breaks a karaoke show. 75% of it has to do with the host aka "the kj" or "karaoke jockey" for those not in the know. To me what makes a great host is his/her personality. Are they energetic and get the crowd interested and grooving? Do they just sit in a seat in the corner of the bar and don't make eye contact with the crowd and just blend in with the environment?
The kj needs to make every singer who comes up feel like they are the star of the show and all eyes should move on them. Even if there is someone up who is a borderline professional singer and hits every beat, they should not praise them more than a patron whose singing skills aren't the greatest. If they do then the latter person will feel self conscious and likely will not sing again for the evening or perhaps again!
The kj needs to be able to project when on stage. Does everyone turn and listen when they're speaking or tune them out? Timid or shy people tend to make bad hosts. The main reason is they have no presence and the second reason is that they tend to let aggressive bar patrons walk all over them.
It's great to be entertaining as a host and interject your own personal humor and flare but don't tell a story that is drug out for ten minutes or make lude sexual comments about a person in the audience. This is very unprofessional and will hurt the bar in the long run. Don't be pompous hosts!!
The sound system and selection is a big factor to running a great show. Does the kj know how to set up and run his equipment? I've found that many don't and the sound and singers suffer because of it! There is a local company that has many hosts working under their banner but they fail to fully train their hosts and they give them shoddy equipment to work with- very bad business practice, even if they do charge far below the normal rate of a karaoke host.
It really helps if the kj has had previous radio experience. Most will know how to tune in a singer to make them sound their best and run the equipment at optimal levels.
Song selection is another biggie. A good host will have upwards of ten thousand songs to choose from with a wide variety of artists and genres. There are some shows out there that cater to country music or spanish and that's all well and good but if you are hosting a show at "The Groove-Thang" then you should have a wide range of tunes.
The digital age is certainly upon us and a lot of hosts are switching it up to a laptop setup with strictly digital files and no discs. This can be a good and bad thing. The good thing with digital is that a host won't have to worry about scratches on a worn disc and quick access to a song file. The bad things are that the computer can crash and then the host is up the creek unless they have a cdg machine as a backup with discs. Another thing is that because of the new digital format a lot of hosts are illegally downloading karaoke tracks and many advertise that they have one hundred-thousand songs. Nine times out of ten these are illegal.
Karaoke companies such as Sound Choice are starting to crack down on these hosts and fine them and the bar several thousands of dollars!
Going back to the hosts I find many hosts feel that since they work in the bar that they get to drink all night like the patrons of the bar. This is very unprofessional to be drunk. I realize that many hosts make very little money doing what they do, however do you see a cook at McDonald's sucking back a fifth of whiskey while working the fry station? I don't think so!
Don't bring personal drama to a show! Don't ask everyone in the crowd to put money in your tip jar because your pet iguana needs a liver transplant or your sister needs a new car. I have witnessed this ridiculousness happen and everyone in the bar was very put off by it and needless to say didn't put any money in the tip jar that night.
Keep rotations fair! If you have a large rotation of twelve or more singers make sure that the order stays constant. I realize throughout the night singers will leave or arrive late so rotations have to be adjusted accordingly. However don't let Sally keep singing twice to three times in one rotation because you think she's cute or can sing better than everyone else. Again it's common sense here.
If the rotation is extremely long then the kj should take themselves out of the rotation. They are being paid to be there...not the singers! This personally drives me nuts and I don't go back to these places.
I hope everyone has found this blog entertaining and maybe informative. I would love to hear comments from my fellow karaoke goers about this!
Cheers
Stephen
I have seen what makes and breaks a karaoke show. 75% of it has to do with the host aka "the kj" or "karaoke jockey" for those not in the know. To me what makes a great host is his/her personality. Are they energetic and get the crowd interested and grooving? Do they just sit in a seat in the corner of the bar and don't make eye contact with the crowd and just blend in with the environment?
The kj needs to make every singer who comes up feel like they are the star of the show and all eyes should move on them. Even if there is someone up who is a borderline professional singer and hits every beat, they should not praise them more than a patron whose singing skills aren't the greatest. If they do then the latter person will feel self conscious and likely will not sing again for the evening or perhaps again!
The kj needs to be able to project when on stage. Does everyone turn and listen when they're speaking or tune them out? Timid or shy people tend to make bad hosts. The main reason is they have no presence and the second reason is that they tend to let aggressive bar patrons walk all over them.
It's great to be entertaining as a host and interject your own personal humor and flare but don't tell a story that is drug out for ten minutes or make lude sexual comments about a person in the audience. This is very unprofessional and will hurt the bar in the long run. Don't be pompous hosts!!
The sound system and selection is a big factor to running a great show. Does the kj know how to set up and run his equipment? I've found that many don't and the sound and singers suffer because of it! There is a local company that has many hosts working under their banner but they fail to fully train their hosts and they give them shoddy equipment to work with- very bad business practice, even if they do charge far below the normal rate of a karaoke host.
It really helps if the kj has had previous radio experience. Most will know how to tune in a singer to make them sound their best and run the equipment at optimal levels.
Song selection is another biggie. A good host will have upwards of ten thousand songs to choose from with a wide variety of artists and genres. There are some shows out there that cater to country music or spanish and that's all well and good but if you are hosting a show at "The Groove-Thang" then you should have a wide range of tunes.
The digital age is certainly upon us and a lot of hosts are switching it up to a laptop setup with strictly digital files and no discs. This can be a good and bad thing. The good thing with digital is that a host won't have to worry about scratches on a worn disc and quick access to a song file. The bad things are that the computer can crash and then the host is up the creek unless they have a cdg machine as a backup with discs. Another thing is that because of the new digital format a lot of hosts are illegally downloading karaoke tracks and many advertise that they have one hundred-thousand songs. Nine times out of ten these are illegal.
Karaoke companies such as Sound Choice are starting to crack down on these hosts and fine them and the bar several thousands of dollars!
Going back to the hosts I find many hosts feel that since they work in the bar that they get to drink all night like the patrons of the bar. This is very unprofessional to be drunk. I realize that many hosts make very little money doing what they do, however do you see a cook at McDonald's sucking back a fifth of whiskey while working the fry station? I don't think so!
Don't bring personal drama to a show! Don't ask everyone in the crowd to put money in your tip jar because your pet iguana needs a liver transplant or your sister needs a new car. I have witnessed this ridiculousness happen and everyone in the bar was very put off by it and needless to say didn't put any money in the tip jar that night.
Keep rotations fair! If you have a large rotation of twelve or more singers make sure that the order stays constant. I realize throughout the night singers will leave or arrive late so rotations have to be adjusted accordingly. However don't let Sally keep singing twice to three times in one rotation because you think she's cute or can sing better than everyone else. Again it's common sense here.
If the rotation is extremely long then the kj should take themselves out of the rotation. They are being paid to be there...not the singers! This personally drives me nuts and I don't go back to these places.
I hope everyone has found this blog entertaining and maybe informative. I would love to hear comments from my fellow karaoke goers about this!
Cheers
Stephen
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Make comics fun again!!!
In the late 1980's-early 90's comics took a dark turn. Story lines paralleled current events going on in the world. Heroes would kill the villains now instead of being content with putting them in jail. Many of the superheroes would pack guns and the way many artists drew them, made them look like the very villains they were trying to take down!
The question in my mind raised is," Why are these characters even called superheroes anymore?" The hero rescues the citizen from the evil-doer and puts them into the max security prison. To me a hero doesn't take out a hand cannon and blow the villains brains out in front of the person he/she just saved! Yes I know that this is the way Charles Bronson did it in the Death Wish series, but that series is also not geared for kids....that's just it too is that comics biggest audience are children from six to sixteen years old.
I know that there is an adult audience as well whom loves and reads comics (myself included), however the major comic book studios DC and Marvel need to work on making comics fun again! Does Spider Man need to worry because his gay Cuban neighbor overdosed on cocaine? Shouldn't it be a back to basics story of the Green Goblin and his group of goons are trying to rob the museum who recently acquired the worlds largest diamond? Spidey would swing in and thwart the group using his classic array of one liners.
Spider Man used to enjoy his job as a hero and not worry over whether Aunt May's social security check came in or not. Another thing in mainstream comics is the series bogged down with continuity and multi storylines that run through eight different books. Old school comics from the 50's and 60's would have a simple intro on the front page that would give you a quick run down of what the heroes origin,powers,etc... I didn't matter whether you picked up issue one or one hundred, you could get right into the story and enjoy yourself instead of having to try to go on wikipedia and find out which version of the villain you are looking at!
Now I enjoy mature reader titles and I know I'm coming off like I probably don't. What I'm trying to get across is that there needs to be more kid friendly titles. I'm not talking about Disney characters or Casper the ghost either. I mean superhero comics that are light hearted and exciting that will make a kid super excited for the next months issue!
I'm actually seriously considering doing something like this myself. A fun throw back comic that anyone could pick up and follow and would be full of action and enjoyment! I'll keep you kids posted.
Excelsior!
Stephen Whitener
The question in my mind raised is," Why are these characters even called superheroes anymore?" The hero rescues the citizen from the evil-doer and puts them into the max security prison. To me a hero doesn't take out a hand cannon and blow the villains brains out in front of the person he/she just saved! Yes I know that this is the way Charles Bronson did it in the Death Wish series, but that series is also not geared for kids....that's just it too is that comics biggest audience are children from six to sixteen years old.
I know that there is an adult audience as well whom loves and reads comics (myself included), however the major comic book studios DC and Marvel need to work on making comics fun again! Does Spider Man need to worry because his gay Cuban neighbor overdosed on cocaine? Shouldn't it be a back to basics story of the Green Goblin and his group of goons are trying to rob the museum who recently acquired the worlds largest diamond? Spidey would swing in and thwart the group using his classic array of one liners.
Spider Man used to enjoy his job as a hero and not worry over whether Aunt May's social security check came in or not. Another thing in mainstream comics is the series bogged down with continuity and multi storylines that run through eight different books. Old school comics from the 50's and 60's would have a simple intro on the front page that would give you a quick run down of what the heroes origin,powers,etc... I didn't matter whether you picked up issue one or one hundred, you could get right into the story and enjoy yourself instead of having to try to go on wikipedia and find out which version of the villain you are looking at!
Now I enjoy mature reader titles and I know I'm coming off like I probably don't. What I'm trying to get across is that there needs to be more kid friendly titles. I'm not talking about Disney characters or Casper the ghost either. I mean superhero comics that are light hearted and exciting that will make a kid super excited for the next months issue!
I'm actually seriously considering doing something like this myself. A fun throw back comic that anyone could pick up and follow and would be full of action and enjoyment! I'll keep you kids posted.
Excelsior!
Stephen Whitener
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Wonder what my Earth 2 counterpart is doing right now?
Totally random title for a blog for a totally random blog!! Whoozah!! I haven't blogged for quite a while and am at home bored, so why not add my two cents on things to the ol' information super highway,eh? Here's I go......
I used to be a big wrestling fan starting as a kid and going well into my late twenties. I usually followed the WWF (now WWE). During the late 90's I would watch it probably three nights a week. After the year 2000 rolled around wrestling started to go on a downward spiral that it has yet to rise from. WWE owner Vince McMahon bought the competing wrestling leagues WCW and ECW and then shut them down. He later resurrected ECW but should have left it dead!
Now a days wrestling isn't so much wrestling anymore as it's a lot of bullshit filler and little actual wrestling. The wrestlers tell their story in the ring not in the locker room or a motel. Upstart wrestling fed TNA started off with tons of promise but they have just devolved into a WCW2 in my opinion. My feeling is that with mma (mixed martial arts to the laymen) becoming all the rage, that it has really taken away from not just pro wrestling but boxing view rates as well.
Now and again I will flip on to see what's happening in both WWE and TNA but I have yet to find it interesting enough to watch an entire 2 hour episode and that's saying something for me!
3-D has taken over the fantasy/sc-fi/horror genre! I for one am ready for the gimmick to end. There are the rare 3-D flicks,such as Avatar that were filmed with actual 3-D cameras and use the effect to its fullest and look amazing, however nine out of ten movies that come out with 3-D were done in post production and actually take away from the visuals and create nothing but blurring and eye aches aplenty. When you take the 3-D out of Avatar what you have is an average storyline, but still awesome ground breaking cgi!
2012 is going to be a great year to be a comic book fan and fantasy fan! We have the following super hero flicks coming in 2012:
- The Avengers
- Spider-Man (re-boot)
- Superman (re-boot)
- The Dark Knight Rises
- Ghost Rider 2
- Fantastic Four (re-boot)
- 300 part 2
On the fantasy end we have the most anticipated movie of the past couple years "The Hobbit" at christmas time! I am so damn excited about this movie and to return to the universe that Peter Jackson & Tolkien created once again!!
On many of my blogs over the past year plus I have been complaining that the karaoke scene in whatcom county has been god-awful, but things seem to be turning around and light appears to be at the end of the tunnel with the rockaroke sensation "The Uncanny Valley". The gents have been playing locally for a little over a year now and like a fine wine have been getting better and better with age. Now no they don't have 75,000 songs to choose from like some hosts, but what they do give you is a very unique experience to really be the lead of a band! The UV has a play list of over 150 songs that span many genres so everyone should be able to find at least one tune they can rock out to!
I attended a recent show of the UV at the Village Pub in Bellingham and the bar was asses and elbows! The song rotation was tipping the scales at 30 plus. I haven't seen these many singers in Bellingham for years! I applaud the Uncanny Valley for bringing great karaoke fun to town!! No drama or drugged out host-just four nice guys who love playing music and having you sing with them! :-)
I highly recommend going on Facebook and becoming a fan of the Uncanny Valley. You get updates as to where there playing next and you can also request a song you'd like to sing for next time- 9 times out of 10 they'll do it!
Well this has been fun putting down thoughts to digital paper :-D
Until next time kids- stay groovy!
Stephen
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Great movies that NEVER should have had a sequel!
Don't you hate that? You watch a great movie and it's one you and your friends talk about for a few weeks or months. It's a wonderful stand alone story and then the Hollywood studios in their infinite wisdom decide to drop a sequel within a year! Below is a list of films that I feel should never have had a sequel. Drum roll please......
- The Matrix
- The Nutty Professor
- The Blues Brothers
- Smokey and the Bandit
- Caddyshack
- Saw
- Highlander
- Fright Night
- Eddie And The Cruisers
- Tremors
- Dumb and Dumber
- Tron
- The Thing (1982 version)
Also I could add to this list films that were trilogies but should never have had a 4th entry
- Alien trilogy
- Indiana Jones trilogy
- Star Wars
- Batman (Burton/Schuemacher series)
- Superman
-Jurassic Park (yes there is a 4th one in the works!)
- Pirates of the Carribean
- The Bourne series (yup 'nother one of these is coming too!)
These are my lists. I'm sure there are some more I'm neglecting to mention,but I'll leave it up to you, the viewer, to fill in the blanks.
Cheers
Stephen
- The Matrix
- The Nutty Professor
- The Blues Brothers
- Smokey and the Bandit
- Caddyshack
- Saw
- Highlander
- Fright Night
- Eddie And The Cruisers
- Tremors
- Dumb and Dumber
- Tron
- The Thing (1982 version)
Also I could add to this list films that were trilogies but should never have had a 4th entry
- Alien trilogy
- Indiana Jones trilogy
- Star Wars
- Batman (Burton/Schuemacher series)
- Superman
-Jurassic Park (yes there is a 4th one in the works!)
- Pirates of the Carribean
- The Bourne series (yup 'nother one of these is coming too!)
These are my lists. I'm sure there are some more I'm neglecting to mention,but I'll leave it up to you, the viewer, to fill in the blanks.
Cheers
Stephen
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
DC Comics is a changin'!!
So my blog today is strickly for the geeks,then again it usually is, but I digress. As some or maybe most comic book fans now know as of september, DC Comics is starting all there titles back at #1. They are launching 52 titles,which only a small amount have been offically named yet. The first of these titles is hitting shelves in late August- Justice League Of America #1. The characters have been redesigned by legendary comic book artist Jim Lee. I like most of the designs he reinterpreted here. My only small gripe is putting Cyborg on the team. Martian Manhunter is no where to be seen this time around,however I'm sure Mr. J'Onzz will show up at some point in the near future.
All the books are evidently set in the characters early years. So Supes and Bats (aka Superman and Batman for the laymen) are now in there twenties. All this is going to go down at the end of the "Flashpoint" mini-series going on currently. DC Comics is pulling a Star Trek reboot essentially by having Flash baddie Professor Zoom going back in time and screwing with reality and the Flash stopping him and setting it right....or at least for the most part!
The real reason behind DC doing this is due to the fact that next year they are losing part of the rights to the Superman character. The Siegel and Shuster families will own the rights to the first two years of the character being published. What this means is that DC will have to "tweek" Superman's origin a bit to get around a potential lawsuit. However next year also means that the Siegel/Shuster families can sell their version of the character to any major competitor (ehem...Marvel anyone?)
Many fans are torn down the middle of DC Comics redoing their universe. Long time fans are upset because all the major crossovers of the past three to four years will in essence mean jack squat or at least that's what it looks like on the surface. New fans are excited because they don't have to worry about 75 years of continuity to wade through to understand the varying story lines.
I myself am a DC man. Always have been and probably always will be. I grew up just loving "Crisis On Infinite Earths" and I still regard it as the greatest comic book mini-series/crossover of all time. DC Comics changed a number of things after that crossover, such as only having one Earth and one continuity. Some of the other characters from the other universes (the Captain Marvel family,Charlton Comics characters, JSA) were woven into the new reality. In the late 90's DC tweeked a little more with the dreadful series "Zero Hour", which introduced a number of forgettable characters and a convoluted storyline.
I personally welcome the new universe and having a fresh start. However, I hope DC does it right this time. Make these books accessible for the person picking up a comic for the first time. A kid or adult should be able to pick up a comic,whether it be issue six or six hundred, and get a grasp of the characters and who they are and not half to have a 300 plus page continuity encyclopedia to understand what is going on in the storyline!
Here is a wish list of things I would like to see DC Comics implement with the reboot:
- Lower the number of Batman books. There should only be Detective Comics and Batman. That's all for the character.
- One Batman!! Bruce Wayne should be Batman. Not Dick Grayson or a number of international Batmen. It's ridiculous!
- Have the Justice Society Of America be a period book and keep them in World War 2. This could also open up for fun crossovers with the JLA/JSA! The Flashes could get on their cosmic treadmills and we could have a yearly event set up that would be fun for the fans the way it was back in the late 60's
- No more universe spanding crossovers for at least two years!! For the love of God let the books be fleshed out and established before doing a twelve issue mini series starring 500 characters!
- Keep the multiple lantern corps going on!
- If there are going to be multiple universes keep it small and in reason! I say 5 Earths instead of 52 are a good idea. We could have the Captain Marvel Earth,Crime Syndicate Earth, Charlton Comics Earth, Wildstorm characters Earth, the fifth could be up for grabs to whatever DC wants!
I would love to hear opinions from the other comic geeks out there. Send me those comments!
Cheers
Stephen
Monday, May 9, 2011
Old school needs to come back!!
Hey kids it's the bearded geek Stephen here with another entertaining blog about nothing! Without further ado let's begin.....
I can appreciate new tech and gadgets as much as the next person,but frankly I miss some things from the past that are all but gone. Number one would be LP's or "records" to the newbie or those born after 1990. I always liked when you would open an album and it would have great artwork and the lyrics for the songs listed. Also sometimes included would be liner notes from the artist. It just gave it that more personal touch that you can't possibly get with digital downloads.
Another thing I truly miss is classic 2-D gaming. I love games like God of War and Doom, but I never had a better time playing games as when I did on the Nintendo 8 bit and Sega Genesis game systems. Games such as Sonic the Hedgehog,Super Mario Broths. and even Ms Pac-Man have longevity and staying power even 20,30 years now that has passed. Can you say that GTA will be looked on as fondly a decade or more from now? I don't think so!
I would love to see a 2-D game system developed that has todays beautiful graphics, but yesterdays gameplay. Look at the recent release of "Mortal Kombat" they returned to 2-D, but with a modern graphic overhaul. The game is great by the way! Another recent game "Zombies vs Plants" is simple and 2-D, yet it is one of the most addicting games I have played in recent memory.
So this has been my wish list of things of yesteryear to return. There are things that I hope never return: VHS tapes,cassette tapes,and floppy disks
Cheers
Stephen
I can appreciate new tech and gadgets as much as the next person,but frankly I miss some things from the past that are all but gone. Number one would be LP's or "records" to the newbie or those born after 1990. I always liked when you would open an album and it would have great artwork and the lyrics for the songs listed. Also sometimes included would be liner notes from the artist. It just gave it that more personal touch that you can't possibly get with digital downloads.
Another thing I truly miss is classic 2-D gaming. I love games like God of War and Doom, but I never had a better time playing games as when I did on the Nintendo 8 bit and Sega Genesis game systems. Games such as Sonic the Hedgehog,Super Mario Broths. and even Ms Pac-Man have longevity and staying power even 20,30 years now that has passed. Can you say that GTA will be looked on as fondly a decade or more from now? I don't think so!
I would love to see a 2-D game system developed that has todays beautiful graphics, but yesterdays gameplay. Look at the recent release of "Mortal Kombat" they returned to 2-D, but with a modern graphic overhaul. The game is great by the way! Another recent game "Zombies vs Plants" is simple and 2-D, yet it is one of the most addicting games I have played in recent memory.
So this has been my wish list of things of yesteryear to return. There are things that I hope never return: VHS tapes,cassette tapes,and floppy disks
Cheers
Stephen
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Fifth Doctor!
Continuing on my series of Doctor Who's, I introduce to you the fifth Doctor- Peter Davidson! When Tom Baker was leaving the series the producers of Doctor Who knew that they had to go in a radically different direction with the new Doctor so they went with 30 year old Peter Davidson. This Doctor was borderline cocky and had a piece of celery pined to his lapel. This Doctor was also fond of crocket. I personally was never overly enthused with the fifth Doctor.
His stories were kind of boring to me and the only episode I really got into of his was "The Five Doctors", and how could any Whovian not like that episode since it featured five doctors teaming up against tons of classic foes! I'm not 100% happy with how this pic turned out...the likeness isn't quite there,but I think I at least captured his spirit. Again this pic was penciled and inked on bristol board and then scanned into the computer and colored with Photoshop CS.
Next blog is the Sixth Doctor Colon Baker
Cheers
Stephen Whitener
Monster Island Studios
Saturday, April 2, 2011
The Fourth Doctor
Ahh yes here we come to my personal favorite Doctor, the 4th Doctor played by veteran actor Tom Baker! Tom was a tall man with big curls and toothy grin. This Doctor is by far the most iconic of the bunch. The impossibly long scarf and pocket full of jellybabies. During the fourth Doctor's incarnation we saw the return of a new Master, the introduction of K-9,The Zygons, creator of the Daleks-Davros. Tom played the part longer than any of the other actors- 7 years!
I drew the Doctor with his tradmark grin and sonic screwdriver with an outerspace background. I penciled and inked the 4th Doctor on bristol board and then scanned it in Photoshop CS and colored it there. Next time I will be the 5th Doctor, Peter Davidson in my continuing series of Doctor Who
Cheers
Stephen Whitener
Monster Island Studios
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Third Doctor
Continuing in my series of Doctor Who is the third Doctor- Jon Pertwee! Jon was a famous stage actor in England when he took over the part of the Doctor. He played the roll for three years and what was different about Jon's Doctor was that he was stuck on Earth for most of his regeneration! At the end of the second Doctor story "War Games" the Doctor's people,the Time Lords, put the Doctor on trial for interferring in the affairs of other worlds. The Doctor protested and tried to defend himself, but alas the Time Lords forced the Doctor to regenerate as punishment and banished him to Earth with his knowledge of how to operate his time traveling machine the Tardis, taken away from him.
The Time Lords let the Doctor choose what his next regeneration would look like and what he chose can be best described as Austin Powers age seventy! The same red velvet coat and pants. What the brits call a "dandy". He had thick grey hair and since the Doctor couldn't operate his Tardis, he built himself a car and called it "Bessie". The license plate on his car said, "WHO 1" (har-har, get it?)
The 3rd Doctor's run was when we were introduced to his greatest villian and arch-nemesis "The Master" The Master was another renegade Time Lord,but unlike the Doctor who wished to help other races, the Master sought to either rule them or destroy them! The Doctor did get his memory back of how to operate the Tardis in the 10th anniversary episode "The Three Doctors" where the third,second, and first Doctors all teamed up to take on the evil Time Lord Omega.
Ok on to the drawing. I gave this Doctor a background consisting of Gallifrean hieroglyphics. I started with a pencil sketch,then went to detail the pencils and went over that with Micron pens. I scanned the drawing and colored it in Photoshop CS. The whole thing all together took around three hours to complete from start to finish.
Next time I will talk about the most iconic Doctor of them all..... actor Tom Baker aka the fourth Doctor Who!
Cheers
Stephen Whitener
Monster Island Studios
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Second Doctor!
Well here is the second picture of my Doctor Who collection of who else? The second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. I have to confess in that I have only seen a handful of episodes with Patrick Troughton, so I'm kinda hard pressed to have a distinct opinion of the character. The second Doctor was more whimsical and elvish that the first as well as younger. He often played the recorder and would shout,"oh my giddy aunt!" He would whine when the other Doctor wouldn't. His haircut resembled one of the Beatles.
I don't have much more to say about the second Doctor, so I'll talk about my illustration that I did of him. I experimented here and decided to do the pic entirely in black and white with an outer space background I had found online. I kind of wish I would have done what I had previously with Doctor Who #1 and had the character be in black and white and the background in color to make it "pop" a bit more. I feel it showed it in the number of views on my deviantart page, but art is all about experimentation!
Next time will be my drawing of Jon Pertwee aka the third Doctor Who.
Cheers!
Stephen Whitener
Monster Island Studios
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Doctor Who
I remember first catching Doctor Who late night on a friday when I was about ten years old. It was playing on the local tv station KVOS TV12. The first thing that stood out about it was the rather creepy opening music with actor Tom Baker's face looming in a blue vortex and then seeing the famous "blue box" twirling about. I had no idea what was in store.
The episode opened on a rock quarry and there was this round spaceship and a short stocky alien that resembled mister potato head. I later found out this alien was called a "Sontaran", one of the Doctor's oldest enemies. Another thing that stood out was the good Doctor himself- Tall man with curly brown hair,toothy smile, and an impossibly long multi-colored scarf, who had an affinity for jelly babies (british candy for those not in the know)
The effects were chessy but the stories were great and the show just had that great British charm to it! I discovered years later that the Doctor that I had watched was not the first but actually the fourth. You see the Doctor is an alien and when he is severely injured he "regenerates" into a new body. Sometimes younger and sometimes older. Each time he gets new garbs and a new personality.
I found at the time that there were a total of 7 Doctors. Then the show had ended in England back in '89. Fast forward years later to 1996 and I found out that Fox was going to do a new series with an 8th Doctor. Unfortunetly the pilot movie didn't go over as well as the studio had hoped and the Doctor was out of commission again....at least for eight years. In 2005 the BBC brought the Doctor back and updated the series for the modern age with top notch cgi and Tardis set.
Here we are in 2011 and Doctor Who is still going strong and shows no signs of stopping. Anywho I have drawn many Doctor Who pieces over the past couple years and wanted to share my stories behind them. The first piece I am showing is of the first Doctor- actor William Hartnell. Bill played the part from 1963 to 1966. He played the part as a crotchety grandpa who knew more than everyone else. He did lighten up a bit towards the later part of his time as the character. He also traveled with a family member, his granddaughter Susan.
Bill Hartnell was in fairly poor health during his time as the Doctor and the show writers had to find a quick way to write Bill out of the series so one writer suggested," well since Doctor Who is alien then why can't he just change his appearance and body?" This turned out to be a genius idea and at the end of the episode "The Tenth Planet" The Doctor regenerated for the first time to the suprise and shock of audiences everywhere back in '66!
The drawing I did has the first Doctor in black and white, since that how the series was filmed for years. I put the Doctor in a color background that I had gotten from a Doctor Who Tardis bank. Some photoshop trickery was used and BAM- the first Doctor is complete! This piece I posted on deviantart.com and it has become one of my most popular Dr.Who pieces.
Next time I will post the second Doctor Patrick Troughton
Cheers
Stephen Whitener
Monday, February 14, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Stephen is perhaps the Simon Cowell of karaoke reviews lol!!
Bold statement to headline with,eh? As most of my friends know, I am an avid karaoke goer. Have been for the past twelve years now. I have been to shows all through western Washington and some in southern California. I've seen the good,bad, and the ugly. Occasionally I write reviews about the various venues that I have been to. Sometimes good and sometimes bad. I don't pull any punches on my opinions of the kj,sound,waitstaff,etc... Why should I?
It wouldn't be any different as you going out to a used car lot looking for a car and the dealership you are looking at have had over two dozen recalls and bad consumer reviews. Wouldn't you want me to tell you," Hey don't buy a car from these wankers!" Same case and point with karaoke establishments. Whatcom County used to be one of the prominent places in Washington state for karaoke fun. This was three years ago when most of it turned to horse crap.
Drug use,faulty equipment, and personal dramas have been the downfall to many of Whatcom counties karaoke problems. One company in Bellingham has put such a bad taste in local bar owners mouths, that when someone else comes into town they say," Sorry we've had too many problems with Mr. Clean entertainment* One of my biggest sticklers for karaoke is unfair rotations and favoritism. I have seen a place in town that had a near twenty person rotation and the kj's deemed it upon themselves to put themselves up at the top of every rotation. They could have had six different people up during this time instead of stroking their own egos.
Favoritism is another biggie for me. Local karaoke icon "Johnny V" is a very nice guy,whom I've had the pleasure of having many conversations with over the years. If any of you don't know Johnny is an elderly man in his mid 80's who is a crooner. He has a great voice and people always give him great ovations whenever and where ever he appears. My issue is this, just because Johnny comes in at eleven pm and turns in a song slip does not mean that he should be put up right away! There are many other patrons whom have been there since starting time or early and should not have to wait longer because someone is a popular singer. Hey I'm a veteran of local karaoke myself as are a few of my other friends but I no way expect for the kj to drop everything and put me right up if I arrive late!
The thing that believe it or not lately tends to be the kj's not knowing how to run their own equipment! I've seen many hosts sit there stairing at me and looking at their sound board just flipping random switches the entire time hoping nothing will mess up. Learn your machine!! Take a class at the college for sound operation or consult a trusted veteran karaoke host. I know that many karaoke gigs don't pay much and sometimes when you calculate it out at times it can be right about or below minimum wage. However this is still no excuse not to know and care about your job.
Well this has been my two cents on the matter. If anyone else would like to comment,send hate mail, praise,confused yet? ;-)
Cheers
Stephen
It wouldn't be any different as you going out to a used car lot looking for a car and the dealership you are looking at have had over two dozen recalls and bad consumer reviews. Wouldn't you want me to tell you," Hey don't buy a car from these wankers!" Same case and point with karaoke establishments. Whatcom County used to be one of the prominent places in Washington state for karaoke fun. This was three years ago when most of it turned to horse crap.
Drug use,faulty equipment, and personal dramas have been the downfall to many of Whatcom counties karaoke problems. One company in Bellingham has put such a bad taste in local bar owners mouths, that when someone else comes into town they say," Sorry we've had too many problems with Mr. Clean entertainment* One of my biggest sticklers for karaoke is unfair rotations and favoritism. I have seen a place in town that had a near twenty person rotation and the kj's deemed it upon themselves to put themselves up at the top of every rotation. They could have had six different people up during this time instead of stroking their own egos.
Favoritism is another biggie for me. Local karaoke icon "Johnny V" is a very nice guy,whom I've had the pleasure of having many conversations with over the years. If any of you don't know Johnny is an elderly man in his mid 80's who is a crooner. He has a great voice and people always give him great ovations whenever and where ever he appears. My issue is this, just because Johnny comes in at eleven pm and turns in a song slip does not mean that he should be put up right away! There are many other patrons whom have been there since starting time or early and should not have to wait longer because someone is a popular singer. Hey I'm a veteran of local karaoke myself as are a few of my other friends but I no way expect for the kj to drop everything and put me right up if I arrive late!
The thing that believe it or not lately tends to be the kj's not knowing how to run their own equipment! I've seen many hosts sit there stairing at me and looking at their sound board just flipping random switches the entire time hoping nothing will mess up. Learn your machine!! Take a class at the college for sound operation or consult a trusted veteran karaoke host. I know that many karaoke gigs don't pay much and sometimes when you calculate it out at times it can be right about or below minimum wage. However this is still no excuse not to know and care about your job.
Well this has been my two cents on the matter. If anyone else would like to comment,send hate mail, praise,confused yet? ;-)
Cheers
Stephen
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
These are a few of my favorite things.....
Well not really favorite things but here are some things that I do find amusing and how fucking dumb that the human race can be at times!
- People on Facebook who "friend" a celebrity and then get angry and complain to friends,family, and co-workers that Samuel Jackson didn't respond to their Cinco De Mayo party invite. Hmmmm....maybe because you are friend 5209 out of 136,348 that Mr. Jackson has on his page and 99.9% of those are people he's never met. Ya think???
- Customers who come into my workplace assuming that I do all the ordering for the entire franchise of Walgreens. Sorry sir that we can't get that cd of "Molly Hatchet's Greatest Hits" for you! And no, I'm not going to have an off the rack muffler for your 62' Chevy there brain-trust!
- People who still don't get the concept that there is generally a 2 month waiting period before a theatrical movie will come to home video. I have seen many a moron go up to the clerk at Best Buy and ask," Hey do you guys have the new Harry Potter flick in stock that's playing at the theater right now?" Dee dee dee!!
- Rebel Flag stickers that adorn the back windshields of cars and trucks. Actually this doesn't really amuse me as it does piss me the hell off! Why not just put up a sticker that says," I'm a bigot" Also the stickers that have the saying," The south's gonna rise up again!" slogan need to be donkey punched in the jewels
- NEWS FLASH!!!! Micheal Jackson is dead! He died over a year ago now. Let's just move on and things will be fine. I am giving it a couple years before we start having "Micheal sightings" along side Elvis.
- Why do Kanye West and Puff Daddy have careers?
- Three words Charles.....Nelson....Reily.... if you don't know then "YouTube" it
Well that's all I can think of for now kids cause I am off to dream land...
Ciao!
Stephen
- People on Facebook who "friend" a celebrity and then get angry and complain to friends,family, and co-workers that Samuel Jackson didn't respond to their Cinco De Mayo party invite. Hmmmm....maybe because you are friend 5209 out of 136,348 that Mr. Jackson has on his page and 99.9% of those are people he's never met. Ya think???
- Customers who come into my workplace assuming that I do all the ordering for the entire franchise of Walgreens. Sorry sir that we can't get that cd of "Molly Hatchet's Greatest Hits" for you! And no, I'm not going to have an off the rack muffler for your 62' Chevy there brain-trust!
- People who still don't get the concept that there is generally a 2 month waiting period before a theatrical movie will come to home video. I have seen many a moron go up to the clerk at Best Buy and ask," Hey do you guys have the new Harry Potter flick in stock that's playing at the theater right now?" Dee dee dee!!
- Rebel Flag stickers that adorn the back windshields of cars and trucks. Actually this doesn't really amuse me as it does piss me the hell off! Why not just put up a sticker that says," I'm a bigot" Also the stickers that have the saying," The south's gonna rise up again!" slogan need to be donkey punched in the jewels
- NEWS FLASH!!!! Micheal Jackson is dead! He died over a year ago now. Let's just move on and things will be fine. I am giving it a couple years before we start having "Micheal sightings" along side Elvis.
- Why do Kanye West and Puff Daddy have careers?
- Three words Charles.....Nelson....Reily.... if you don't know then "YouTube" it
Well that's all I can think of for now kids cause I am off to dream land...
Ciao!
Stephen
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