I recently responded to a tea-party member on Facebook regarding nationalized healthcare. It isn’t too often that I post something that both completely and articulately states my opinion on a forum. I may never be able to get it out in the same way again, so I am reposting it here.

Context: I was responding directly to this comment made by tea party member, and ultra conservative ___ ___: “you have the belief, I think, that liberty is government taking responsibility and having fingers in every facet of your life so that they give a “sense” of happiness and quality of life as defined by bureaucrats.”

My response:

Not true. Does everyone who disagrees with your view get labeled Orwellian? To make it clear: I am for small government but believe that disparity in education, shelter, nutrition, and healthcare are things that we should work to limit for the good of society. As the government is representative of the people, and it is in everyone’s best interests for a vibrant society, it is obvious to me that the government should work towards these goals. How that takes shape requires sacrifice and compromise and should evolve over time. The “every man for himself” attitude from the extreme right reminds me of the wild west, and frankly, disgusts me. Lobbyists also disgust me, as does special spending (aka pork), and endless bickering. A government is responsible for the safety, security, mobility, and well being of the people it has been elected to serve. It is not to be a vehicle for propaganda, misinformation, spying, and the denial of rights — or the reclassification of rights as privileges for the betterment of a few over the detriment of the many.

There you have it. If this makes me a liberal, so be it. If it makes me progressive, so be it. Independent? label away. On Erased, I wrote a song called “Screw“, which is related to this argument about the size and role of government. Smart regulation is key, some government is necessary. But I do not want Patriot Acts and government secrets.

For Wooden Planks (working title for my new album), I am going for a more acoustic sound. This means that there will be little or no electric guitar and almost no drum programming (I may still write some drum passages with Reason, but this is just because I don’t have a drumset here). To turn this dream into a reality (sorry for that), I’ve picked up the following percussion instruments:

Honestly, these are fairly standard (maybe except for the cajon?) in a percussionist’s arsenal. I would like to add congas and a hi hat to the stash as well. We’ll see…

Well, I’ve recorded my first ever cover song. I’ve played cover songs live before (Quinn the Eskimo, Come and Get It, Johhny B. Goode, and Why Don’t We Do It In The Road — you know, standard stuff), but have never attempted to record them. This particular one was requested by my wife. I’ve never attempted it before, but it’s such a classic and one of Ben E. King’s best — I thought I’d give it a try.

Of course, I’m heavily influenced by John Lennon’s version (as you’ll hear), but hope that I’ve been able to inject some of my own Kreativität.

Stand by Me – Ben E. King cover

Exciting news: The popular site “Band Weblogs“, which is run by fellow New Englander and expat Jenny May, has published a new release announcement for Erased. Check it out!

Here’s a snip:

Grenga Ma wrote and recorded Erased in the confines of his small studio, nicknamed “The Closet”, which certainly lends to the general mood of the album. Trapped. Confined. Helpless.

This song was inspired by Israel’s trek into Gaza December of 2008, but is more about the Israel/Palestine problem in general. The Barrier is a reference to the walls and fences erected in the West Bank plus the barricades and checkpoints throughout Gaza and other Palestinian lands. It’s also a reference to the three main points of contention separating the Israelis and Palestinians from peace:

1. Right of return
2. The honoring of pre-war borders
3. Illegal settlements

While other issues exist (Jerusalem, Israeli security concerns, the control over border crossings, the Palestinian economy, and mutual recognition), I think that the three mentioned above are the core issues that make peace impossible. “Peace requires compromise”, a clip from Madeleine Albright in a joint speech she made with Jimmie Carter at the Carter Center, sums it up.

You can listen to Barrier by clicking on the music player to the right. You can also search for it on iTunes. For lyrics and other information, try here.

Also — and if you haven’t already — take a moment to join the Grenga Ma Facebook fan page. Lastly, please rate Barrier below:

I’ve managed to make some updates to my design here.

Firstly, you’ll notice a new gradient effect when you scroll to the top and bottom of the site. That was fun to do, but much more time consuming than I first expected. If you look at the image to the lower left, you’ll see it looks pretty simple. Just some funky mountains, a sun, and some fuzzies. It has two colors: gray and black. Because the background is transparent, when you scroll over the black gradient at the bottom, the black images get hidden while new images appear. I learned the technique from a great website called “CSS-Tricks“.

(I may have forgotten to mention that I’ll be experimenting quite a lot here with CSS!)

Also, I’ve updated the banner image at the top. Now, the picture is of my creation (aside from the grass, which comes from the original graphics provided with the theme by LonelyTree). That funky tree thing was from an ink drawing I did almost 15 years ago. I scanned it, cleaned it up, and smacked it between two hills.

I’m curious. How much Social Networking is too much social networking?

I currently maintain two blogs (this one and a professional one), a Twitter account, a Facebook profile, a LinkedIn account, and I’m also a member of several other forums and newsgroups. Loosely calculated, I think I spend about 1.5 hours a day in this space. And I should mention that most of this time is spent early in the mornings before the kids wake.

But here’s my justification: For one, Facebook is necessary! It is the only way that I can keep in touch with more than 100 close friends and family. Without FB, I would feel completely out of touch. I live in Europe after all and most of my friends and all of my family live in the US.

On Twitter, I’m able to post links and interesting tidbits about the economy, politics, and technology with an eye towards marketing for my professional blog. On GrengaMa, I can post more personal accounts, musings, and rants on the blog without interference or contamination with the people who care only about what I have to say professionally.

All of these things to me are necessary to stay connected. But at what cost? Should I cut down? I’d like to know your thoughts if you have any on the matter.

They really ought to build another set of tracks between Brussels and The Hague. Seems like every time I take the train I get diverted, delayed, or canceled. One time it was “smoke in the tunnel”, another time it was a suicide (some schmuck decided he’d like to go out in pieces). Today, I had to get off my train, get on another, then a bus, then another train, then another train — all because of some construction.

So here is a request to the Dutch train wardens:

Please build another set of parallel tracks between Antwerp and Amsterdam. That way, when you have these myriad problems, folks like me can get to where we’re going on time. I don’t pay close to 30 EUR (2cnd class, of course) to take a freaking bus!

I originally wrote the music and lyrics for this song in June of 2000. Back then it was called “Same Song” — which was just a working title. Unfortunately, it never saw the light of day because of its somber mood. For fuzzy logic and The Wheel, Down was too down. In hindsight, though, this may have worked with Seven Bridges.

For some reason, last December, I felt the need to update the lyrics and music. You can listen to the result here:

Down

Of course, keep in mind that this is the first mix of a batch of ten. I expect to revisit this song and adjust some levels and perhaps add some EQ as I mix the others.

For lyrics and recording info, see Down’s main page here.

Here I am again – twiddling with Grenga Ma. After more than 10 years with this domain, and after many different versions and purposes, I’ve finally settled on what this tiny little space on the Net will be used for.

As most of you who visit this site know, I am a musician. I’ve been in a few very fun bands over the years, which I’ll certainly talk about. But I’m not playing in bands anymore; instead, I am focused on songwriting and recording. I’ve also done some sketching, writing, and photography, with more to come. Lately, I’ve also been itching to write a novel (or three), so you can expect some thoughts and ideas posted on that subject as well.

Instead of posting all these things on various web pages and in various lists, I thought it better to treat my creative life with a little more attention and respect. Not because I want to be famous (my mom might be the only faithful repeat visitor, you know), but because I feel the need to get it out in an organized way.

I intend to open the time capsule, post old live music, and talk about some of my friendships and musical interests. For those of you who want to follow along, please feel free. Tell me what you think. Contribute.

I will likely also create a page on Facebook and MySpace – just because that’s the cool thing to do these days. Thanks for reading.