Indpendence Day and the Riverfront Celebration

I went down to the riverfront celebration last night in downtown Salem. Actually, that's not true. I went to my sisters last night and watched fireworks on her cul de sac. However, I did go down on the 3rd of July, and watched the fireworks show over the river that night.

I have to say that, overall, I'm pleased with what Salem has put up for the holiday.

It seems that the common thing you see to always hear around Salem, and posted in local Salem blogs is how we're not this, or we don't have that, or I wish we were more like this town or that town. Personally, I don't want to be like Portland or Eugene. I would like Salem to have it's own identity.

I was pleased at the overall feel of the night. There was a band playing music at the amphitheater, there were carnival rides in the parking lot area. Even though they were a little steep in price compared to regular entertainment. I guess as far as carnival rides go they were about average priced. $.50 a ticket, and the kiddie rides were 6 tickets each. So for my 4 year old & 3 year old it was $6.00 for about 2 minutes of fun. But whatever.. I understand.

Additionally there were food vendors here and there.

We went early thinking we'd need to get there to get a good spot to see the show, but surprisingly there weren't as many people as I thought would be there. Even if there had been a bunch more people there, by my estimates, the park could have easily held em, and most everyone could have had a good view of the fireworks show.

We left right after the fireworks were over as it was way past the little ones bed times. But my brother was there, and said the band played for about another hour.

I think overall it was a good event. EOFF Electrical was the main sponsor, and they were cool enough to give away some pretty neat Yo-Yo's that light up and make noise which was pretty cool considering it was a night time event. Maybe next year we can get a local business to sponsor some inflatable slides or something for the kids to do for free. That would really draw out the city and make it stamp of salem and a true community event.

Choose your candidate

I've been following the party nominations races pretty close the last couple months. I had made up my mind on who I wanted to win both parties nominations, and the presidency.
Then I found this little test taker and it made me think... Was I choosing this person based on the actual issues, or was it because I just liked them more than the other people.
So follow this link, and answer a short quiz of about 20 questions about how you feel about certain key issues and it will match you with the candidate that most closely matches your views.
I was a little scared when I was taking it. I was worried it would match me up with some looney, and I didn't want to have to face that reality. But in the end...
My original choice was the right one, which just makes me even stronger in my convictions in regards to supporting this canditate.

Play the: Candidate Match Game.

The current state of the music industry, and the benefit we all receive.

Here is my theory on the music industry and the future of the music business.

Now I don't claim to be an expert in any field, but I have noticed a trend of attempt to stop, or slow down the use of digital music. Whether it's true or not, I overheard a conversation about how in the very near future it's going to illegal to have music on an iPod or other such item. That there are laws on the horizon that are going to make this happen. Now I don't know if I buy into this or not, but it does lead me into my theory.

The long and short of it is this: The powers that be, along with Metallica, are going to whatever they can to stop the downloading, and trading of music. And of course... just like any other crime, the better the defense, the better the criminal. Like it or not, sales are going to continue to decline. It's the end of an era. The days of making 50 billion off of a band are now going to be down around 10 billion. In the media, they'll report a "40 billion loss!!!" but in the end.... 10 billion is not chump change. So the recording companies are not going to make as much money as they used to.

But the times are changing. Now a days, you can spend a little bit of money, and any person can make a home studio and produce a CD. Throw in a MySpace presence and you've got your own promotions, marketing, advertising, etc. And it's only going to get cheaper, and easier to do. Point being.... record companies are not as needed as much as they were before. They still are... right now... their necessity is declining.

I recognize that I'm rambling too much, so I'll get to the point.

Music sucks these days. And I'm not even talking about rap.

The future success in music is not going to be made via a CD or recorded song. The future of music is going to be made in live performance. Like Zeppelin and their notoriously gargantuan performances. Which means that musicians won't be able to hide behind digital cover-ups, and effects. It will require people to have to actually put on a performance.

And that makes me very excited.