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Jan 01

The Poets and Parasites of Art

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments
What unifies all great art is inspiration and vision. It cuts beyond popularity, profitability, and personality of the creator. Yet with the rise of greater leisure and technology allowing for everyone to more readily become creative, we see a huge swell of new music, movies, books, and games. Unfortunately, inspiration is rarer than the amount of media that is out there and only the true Poets are the visionaries, not being concerned for money or reputation. Where does that leave everyone else? I have mapped out a definition hierarchy of this creative class that ranges from the authentic Poet to the Parasite. 1) Poets (the elite of the Artists, known for influencing the Artists, being visionaries not concerned for money or reputation, the crazed and eccentric) 2) Artists (the creative craftsmen, creating new genres/markets, concerned about legacy) 3) Craftsmen (those who refine the performance, bringing peak performances, concerned about the craft) 4) Performers (capable, journeymen, emphasizing showiness, concerned about the performance) 5) Pretenders (riding on the coat-tails of the Performers, the critics, concerned about reputation) 6) Parasites (pure copy-cat, cynical marketing, pure hype, concerned about money) Its not a pyramid that Poets need Parasites who are at the bottom of […]

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Dec 27

Enjoying iTunes via Statistics and Music Geekdom

by Chris Billows in Hobby Heedings 0 comments
This next post is not as much a lesson as a confessional. Did you know you can combine music and statistics? iTunes has so many labels and tags that can be added to your music and the database that it is possible to evaluate this music with statistics. (Whatever that can be labeled can be measured and whatever that can be measured can be tracked with statistics). I am a huge statistical geek (an obscure soccer league, political elections, band ratings, etc) so the idea of analyzing the music I listen to in new ways is like combining peanut butter and chocolate. First of all here is the best page with links to great software that can help analyze your iTunes library. It is located at TuneQuest. Check it out… I have tried two different programs. The most polished one is called SuperAnalzyer and it is pretty super. It creates some wonderful statistics and graphs. SuperAnalzyer PDF Document The other program is not listed on that page but is courtesy of a fabulous little script written by Scott Yanff. iTunes Statistics Text Document Now these statistics were taken late December 26, 2009 of my personal library. It is a snapshot […]

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Dec 26

The John Sellers Formula

by Chris Billows in Hobby Heedings 0 comments
I always thought it would be cool to come up with a way to evaluate musical artists and bands using some kind of mathematical formula. But thinking and doing are two different things. An intrepid author by the name of John Sellers who wrote a book called “Perfect From Now On” answered my prayers and created such a formula. I am not going to provide a book review, except summarize it by saying it is an entertaining memoir from a person from my generational cohort (so that means its full of piss and vinegar) who talks about his devotion to the Alternative Rock scene. What Sellers does in his Appendix that had my geek-senses all aflutter is create an elaborate, pretentious, but all so tasty combination of math and music fandom. With John’s permission, I am pleased to make my own contribution to his formula by enshrining it in an Excel spreadsheet. Now you too can see how your favorite artists align (or don’t) with John’s passion for the abrasive world of Alternative Rock. I would hope that John’s formula could become a template for others to tweak and create their own formulas. Check it out… John Sellars Formula

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Dec 21

DJ Crsb is in the House

by Chris Billows in Hobby Heedings 0 comments
Consider this to be my Christmas and Holiday Gift to you. I am releasing for free ( hey, you get what you pay for 😉 ) my first album of Electronica music. I originally composed this music for a computer game that I had in development between 2004 and 2007, but that game has now been shelved and the music was good enough to still be shared. So without further ado… DJ Crsb is pleased to release his debut album called “Never Mind The Billogs Here’s Chris Billows”. Yes, corny is what I aim for, but you will find the music not reflecting that tone. I might not be taking myself too seriously as far as the album name and sleeve is concerned, but I did work pretty diligently on this stuff and am proud of it. Check it out and Merry Christmas to you. Presents (1) Standoff 2:31 (2) Duel 1:54 (3) Rising 1:51 (4) Chalk Shock 2:06 (5) Crystal Lullaby 2:12 (6) Fairy Tale Down 2:53 (7) It’s Never Too Late To Rewind 2:46 (8) Soft Space Scrap 3:11

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Dec 12

Jack, the Beanstalk, and Market Intervention

by Chris Billows in Political Ponderings 0 comments
The year end is fast approaching and it appears that the global financial crisis has being contained. Governments around the world stepped in to nationalize banks and insurance companies and invested heavily into their economies to keep them from collapsing. They played the role of the hero, just like Jack in the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk. The response of the government has been the same as a wise parent would have with misbehaving children. When highly-paid and highly-educated bank executives act as stupid as they have been, it appears completely rational to? provide oversight and limitations on their behavior. We are told that free market capitalism has been wholly discredited. Governments need to cut the roots of the problem, just like how Jack cut down the beanstalk in the fairytale. Governments see themselves as having a role to protect citizens from harm including protecting the integrity of the economic system. They have a duty to the businesses and citizens who were hapless victims to the financial crisis just like how Jack had to defeat the evil Giant by by cutting down the beanstalk. So we see an interesting parallel between the Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale and what took […]

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Nov 23

Some Are Not Worthy… Rational Charity Giving

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments
I believe that giving to the less fortunate is beneficial both personally and socially. When a person demonstrates generosity by giving to a charity, their spirit is enriched in some non-material way; it is like invisible bridges are built between them and others. This is nothing to be said of the how the act of generosity helps the recipient. Generosity is a virtue that all of the world’s great religions share and is the basis of the modern taxation system, which is meant to redistribute resources to the most needy. But is all generosity the same? Is giving to a charity that buys books for disadvantaged children as beneficial as giving to a charity that prevents children from becoming disadvantaged? What about charities that protect our environment or those that promote particular religious perspectives? The problems of modern society is overwhelming and the charitable response is just as confusing. While I commend people to give to a cause they believe in, I also think that some things are not as high a priority as others. A blogger named “Gates” posted a bold and insightful blog that helped me develop a rationale method on prioritizing which charities I should give to. […]
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