John Radcliff

Before I get to the Songpull, I want to announce that we have a new writer here at John Radcliff dot com. You may remember him from the Richard Marx cover band, Don’t Mean Nothing. He’s incredibly talented, but he has such a horrible sense of timing. But that’s why we love him and asked him to join us in this pointless grouping of words. Please welcome Richard Sparx and be sure to compliment him on the beard. He worked really hard on it.

I always want to say this, and it’s true again. This was the best group of songs, and such a wide variety of styles and subjects. The really nice thing is that I get so many people thanking me for hosting. I’m really grateful for everyone that comes and helps me to enjoy it. Remember songpullers, you make this happen as much as I do! Hopefully the videos will be out soon. Of course, I will post here, there, and everywhere about it when they do.

The funniest thing I hear about why people don’t use twitter is the 140 character limit.  I think the easiest and best way I can describe it is a stream of consciousness. If you’re interested in sports, you can follow all kinds of ESPN reporters and get interesting thoughts or info that cause discussions and links to stories. More so if you know who to follow in the blogging world.

Obviously, you can use it if you are a musician, a music fan, etc. You can give and get info about song and cd releases, copy and paste (retweet) what your favorite musician’s are up to. The best thing is that you don’t HAVE to be on it all day. Consume when you want! Same price, free.

I admit that you do need to be careful about what links you follow. For this reason, you need to follow people you know or people you trust at first. Also, check to see if your favorite websites have Twitter accounts. It becomes very easy to see who is and isn’t trying to deceive you. I mean, if you follow a link that just says “check out this video”, and they have a name like @Apple_Bottom, well you’re probably living on borrowed time on the internet already.

That’s the negative. The positive is that there are clever people out there that run fake accounts. Like my two favorites, @ GaryJBusey and @Nick_Nolte. Don’t follow those unless you don’t mind the weird and sick that goes along with it.

I follow Todd Burge, Rob Szabo, Gary Floater, Owen Temple, Adam Carroll, Kevin Montgomery. Gary is a lot like GaryJ and Nick, but less with the sick and more with the life lessons.

I also follow so many of the sports bloggers that I have known from their blogs. Actually, for me, the bloggers are the most interesting and funny on the spot. They were built for this, and I think I would go crazy without them. But for all the reasons I’ve given you, it’s the people and things I don’t know about on there that is the best reason for you.

Picture via Corporate Eye

I’ve had this picture to the right for about 6 months, or so it seems. Anyway, I took it at the fireworks and because of my shaky camera style it turned out kind of cool.

My friends Art and Katie suggested that I call it Naked Souls. Thus this song I’m getting ready to play at Songpull Saturday night. I wanted to use that name for the longest time, but didn’t want to rush it. I might still be rushing it. Anyhow, it’s about cabin fever and how little things seem to get to you when they normally wouldn’t. The thought for the chorus is that we’d be better off without our bodies sometimes. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me either, but it’s finished.

So yeah, when I woke up this morning I didn’t have my “will” face on. Compounded only by my stop two doors down at Hardee’s. This morning was one big white flag. The thought is that I should treat it more like a fight. So I was thinking that I should flex every time I want a cig. Being that I have such a sculptured body to begin with, it could be like my gift to the world. Free hugs are so yesterday. I’m talking free flexes, brother! Then, of course, the Youtube sensation followed by the guest appearance on Craig Killborn’s show. What? … Not the host anymore? Sigh.

Anyhow, I’ve got the Songpull coming up this Saturday. Looking forward to that! I finished my song last night and did some touch ups today. Did some painting. Sat around trying to think of something witty to say between sentences. The usual.

So yeah, tomorrow is another day. Maybe I’ll have my “will” face on when I wake up.

So that’s me, I guess. Hate being sick…I’m missing RJ Cowdery tonight at the Galley. Today was a beautiful day, but a little too beautiful for my sinuses. Besides that, music seems to be going in a good direction. Spirits are up despite the start to this post. I started working out again, and my body feels much better. But I think I’m ready to quit the smokes. When I stop and think about how much I smoke, how it can be a constant thing sometimes, I don’t have a problem with the idea of quitting. Besides, think of the stuff I could buy if I wasn’t spending $5 a day on cigs. Well, 5 x 365= $1,825. Too bad my pack is full. I guess I’ll smoke the rest of the night and go from there.

I’ve been listening to Midnight Oil a lot lately. Great band! I hate that their most popular song is Beds Are Burning. It’s a good song, but I think a lot of people missed out on all the other songs. They really kick ass! So go give them a listen sometime. Or start now.

Some day in the future, I will write a post or hell, maybe a book about this morning that I’m having. Because of a promise I made I have to remain vague about what I have built up inside of me. It’s about love. The love of being alive and sharing something so special it’s beyond comparison.

It’s more important than a subject, it’s transcendent. We all have it inside of us. It manifests itself in many different ways. But the end result for me is that I’m smiling through my tears. You can understand that and you can share it with someone. That’s what I would encourage you to do today and every chance you get. Because you never know who’s life you’ll change. Don’t be afraid.

To change the subject just a bit, I have wanted to post something to encourage people to donate to aid for Haiti. I donated to the Red Cross. You can also donate to Doctors Without Borders. I have concerns about suggesting anyone else because there are always profiteers out there. So if you choose to go in a different direction, make sure you do your research to make sure the donation you make has the most impact.

So as I experience more of their music leading up to the house concert on May 19th, I’ll post videos, etc. from The Good Lovelies. They seem like a really fun band. I think this will be a great show! Until then…

Sometimes in life, it becomes necessary to choose sides. As for me, I’m with CoCo.

Wooo! I have a new house concert to announce! The Good Lovelies will be here May 19th at the house. I’m still new to their music, but I like what I hear, and I think they’ll make for a great house concert. I’ll have more on this later….

So you say you got a new dance? Well here’s a new song to dance to. This is Ovada performing Altar Wine.

Altar Wine