James Caronna

Here’s my thoughts has I scroll through the nominees for the 2011 Grammy’s. Im typing as I think it… Here goes…

Record of the year: This seems to be a list of songs, rather than records. Im confused. Id give it to BOB. dude rocks!

Album of the year: Is a record different than an Album? Look, Iv only half way understood the appeal of the Arcade Fire. there record didnt come out to long ago, how is it nominated for Album of the year? Oh and there Singer might be the ugliest guy on earth. M&M is always so angry and talking about wanting to kill/burn his girls down, No thanks. Cant Stand Lady Gaga, I cringe just typing her name. But I wont deny her talent, Just the ability to write lyrics better than a fifth grader! Ignoring the also horrible lyrics, Katy Perry’s Album is Fantastic!

Song of the Year: Ray LaMontagne is great, Although I say I like him more than I actually listen to him. M&M, not a fan of the song, Amazing writing skills tho! Need You Now is a great song, Its my pick to win!

Best New Artist: The Thought of that Cookie cutter, pre-packaged, Helmet haired turd wining a grammy makes me want to punch a baby! My Pick is Mumford and Sons, Despite the fact that every song ends/sounds the same, they rock! 

Skipping the boring ones that I dont Care about like Female Vocals. It will probably go to Beyonce but she blows, Im going with Katy Perry on this one.

Best Male Pop Vocal…: Buble’s great, Michael Jackson will get it cause he’s dead! Adam Lambert deserves to lose for spelling his song “whataya…”. John Mayer, No one likes him for his amazing vocals skills. Bruno Mars is Amazing but a bit to new to win!

Best Pop Vocal Album: Wow from ugly surprisingly good singer on Britain’s got talent to Grammy Nod, Congrats Susan! 

Best Dance Recording: I care about this category about as much as Animal rights!

Best Hard Rock Performance: This one is basically a list of bands that should not be allowed to make music!

Best Rock Song: Little Lion Man is one of the best songs iv heard in a while!

Best Rock Album: Im sorry but iv never heard a Tom Petty song I liked.

Best Alternative Music Album: Broken Bells all the way!

To Be Continued!

The Simple truth about money is, For you to have More, Someone must have less.

Merry Christmas!

Times are Hard these days, I know this because Fox News keeps telling me so.

People are looking for jobs and they are not always easy to come by. Heres a few Helpful tips from Uncle James, interview expert. (legally obligated to inform you that I am not an expert on interviews)

1. Show up Late! 

By showing up late you are saying ” Hey, I want you, but I don’t Need you!” Job interviews are like woman in that aspect. I suggest showing up a good 10 minutes late. Its like “Hey, Im only here cause my moms basement flooded and I can No longer live there”!

2. Dress Slightly Less.

Now keeping with the same theme of “Want not Need”, I suggest wearing a tie. Now the catch is, wear it with a Polo shirt. The tie says, “Hey I’m important…” while the polo says “… But your not”. Again, showing them that your better than them is Key, You want them, but you don’t Need them!

3. Bring a Hottie.

This one is optional. Bring (hire) a hot girl to walk into the interview with you. Try giving her a love tap then tell her to wait in the car. This does two things. One, it shows that you are a family man and two that you have a car.

4. Buzzed.

Do not be afraid to get a Good buzz going before the interview. The last thing you want to do is get too nervous and make a fool of yourself. Again this shows, you Want them, but you dont Need them.

5. Failure is an option.

Be prepared for the chance that you might not get the job. Times are hard, companies are looking for something different, something that sets you apart from the other interviewees. If all else fails, im pretty sure there is a Whataburger down the street hiring!

Your Welcome for these great tips. Follow them and the job of your dreams is just around the corner!

(by reading this you agree to giving James 15% of any income earned by following his advice!)

The first Four songs on my playlist entitled “slow” on itunes are as follows:

1: I just don’t think I’ll ever get over you - Colin Hay

2: Blue eyes - Cary Brothers

3: This year’s Love - David Gray

4: Penelope - David Ramirez

Followed by some Iron & Wine, Joshua Radin, Ben Folds, Regina Spektor…

This is the list I put on when I begin to really look at my life. When I begin to think of old Gals Iv dated, Stupid things Iv said, my lack of income.

There’s no limits to the list of comparatively small things that can make me feel disconnected and lost.

So I walk, Smoke my pipe (tobacco) and think, I pass large houses, nice cars.

I was thinking to myself on this walk, These houses are full of love. 

In some form or another these houses are full of love, Husbands to Wives, Fathers to Sons, Mothers to Daughters and so on.

Love Love Love. My thoughts are often on Love, its place in the world and what it means.

Iv been accused of singing to much about Love, this line came into my head, “Ill keep singing of Love till its not worth singing of”.

Love makes the world move, Wars have been fought and won by and for Love. 

Che said its the single most important part of a Revolution.

Everything I believe comes down to the word Love and what it implies.

All of my theology, politics and relationships. Love.

The bible is summed up in 4 Words, Two of which are the Word Love.

Love God, Love People.

Love.

Love someone un-Loveably this week.

Iv been thinking a lot about the word sorry, or more so people saying “I’m sorry”.

When people tell me they are sorry, my first thought is always, Why?

What are you sorry for? sorry you hurt my feelings? Sorry cause you think Im offended? Sorry you chose to do something else? What are you sorry for?

For me, I most often hear it in regards to people not coming to shows.

*To be Clear, I am never mad at people when they dont come to a show. Sometimes a little hurt, maybe a little disappointed, but id never be mad. Its not fair to the people who DO come to spend your time being mad at those who did NOT.*

But when someone says sorry I couldnt make it, I think, Could you physically not make it? Or did something else seem like a better option? 

To me its all about priorities. If hanging out or coming to a show is a priority, then you’d be there, (sometimes you honestly cant be there, in that case im not talking about you). 

More often then not what you chose to do instead you’d cancel if John Mayer called to hang out. To which you’d say well come on man thats John Mayer. To which I’d say, yes priorities. When we dont go, its because we felt the reason we did not go for was more important.

Cause trust me, If I didnt want to see another Tim Qualls show (which would never happen) and I said I had to stay in and study tonight. If john Mayer Called, I’d skip the studying. Cause in this situation, John Mayer means more to me than Tim Qualls and Studying.

Its whats more important to you.

I cant count how many times iv gotten late night calls from David Ramirez, While im in bed, He’s asking if I want to get a drink. to this day Iv yet to turn him down, even when im working an opening shift the next morning.

Spending time with David means more to me than my rest. He’s important to me.

When people say Im sorry I couldnt make it. Im not mad, I just feel pretty unimportant.

Lately Iv felt really unimportant in other peoples lives. I know this is hugely selfish of me. But dont we all want to feel important to other people. We want to feel like a priority. Even tho im Sarcastic, it doesnt mean im any different then the rest of yall.

When I play a show in a city where I have 50 “close” friends and 4 show up, I feel a little unimportant. Not mad, Just un-loved, unimportant.

The degree of hurt is always proportional to how important that thing people didnt show up to is to You. The bigger the importance, The bigger the hurt is when people dont show.

To me there is not much more important to me than music. Other then myself, its the thing I care about the most. So I’ve either failed in making people care about my music, or care about me enough to show up.

Please know that this is NOT about whether or not your reason for not coming is legit. Its always legit, regardless. Its about whether or not I’v lived the kind of life where when I call someone while there in bed the night before an opening shift to grab a drink, do they get out of bed?

More often than not (about 98% of the time) they sleep. Which means I’v failed in being important to people.

If they dont care about me, how can I expect them to care about what I care about?

The End.