Premature E-rapture-lation

premature e-rapture-lation

Over excitement concerning the 'rapture' (5/11/2011) that leads to prematurely spewing irrational behavior.

John sold his house, cashed in his 401k, left his wife and headed to the mountains because he thought the end was near. Sounds like a case of premature e-rapture-lation.

Gig Update!

Gig update: Jim will NOT be performing at Granite Peak Ski Area 2/26....Chad Brecke will take his place.

Jim will perform at Granite Peak as scheduled on March 26, 2011.

Thanks for the Sweater

For years, I received sweaters as gifts. I accepted them, and promptly never wore them. See the problem was that sweaters and I just didn't get along.

It wasn't that I didn't like the look of sweaters I had received. They were quite nice. In fact, they weren't gaudy. You'd unlikely wear one to an ugly sweater party.

The problem was me. I simply was too hot for sweaters. No, I'm not being conceited here. I have always been warm blooded. Put me in a sweater, and I'd burn up. Too hot. A bucket of sweat.

Fast forward to the Winter of 2010. This winter has been cold. For example today was -17F below zero.

So anyway, I've raided my (almost vintage) unworn sweaters this year. They are very nice, and I'm thankful that I have them.

If you've given me a sweater in the last few years and were upset that I never wore it, I think I might have worn it yesterday. Or the day before. Or it will be worn later this week. Thank you.

Blatant Self Promotion

Musicians who want to be successful need to be educated. In my two decades of performance, I have seen talented musicians fail because they didn't take the time to understand how this business works. In contrast, I've seen moderately talented musicians (myself included) have pretty successful runs simply because they understood the music business.

For the entire article, please check out my latest post at JimCarlson.net: Sharpening Your Music Marketing Skills.

Jim Carlson Live at Granite Peak

Jim will be performing solo shows @ Granite Peak this winter! All shows are from 2-10pm.

• November 26th
• December 30th
• January 8th
• January 16th
• February 26th
• March 26th

For more details, check out www.jimcarlsonmusic.com or www.facebook.com/jimcarlsonmusic

Bigger Issues - Wrinkle Free Shirts

Ok, ok, ok. First off, this is not a political entry. I really don't care if you are for or against the recently passed health care bill. I am hoping that we can move on and US Government will have the time to address another serious issue plaguing this great country:

THE WRINKLE FREE SHIRT ISSUE

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I've been dressing somewhat better these last few years. With dressing better, comes the responsibility of taking better care of my better clothes.

Let me state, for the record, I don't mind ironing. That does not, in any way, indicate that I love the task either.

So, enough banter. Here is the issue: I have purchased quite a few dress shirts in the last couple of years. I've been able to purchase some major label, high ticket shirts at amazingly low prices. I've also picked up some generic 'store brand' shirts.

As I was doing laundry earlier today, I noticed that the shirts that were originally the highest priced of the lot came out of the drier (still damp) with the most wrinkles. Two of these had 'wrinkle free' on their labels.You guessed it, these two were the most wrinkled.

Ironically, the two house brand Target shirts in the same load came out nearly wrinkle free. And for the record, they did NOT have any mention of being wrinkle free/resistant on the label.

This is not the first time I've noticed this. In my collection, without fail, the shirts with the highest retail prices wash up consistently more wrinkled and require the most ironing attention. The majority of them claim to be 'wrinkle free'.

This is an injustice. Congress, Mr President, are you listening? There needs to be some uniform labeling laws enacted to ensure such wrinkle free claims do indeed equate to wrinkle free shirts.

Thank you for your time. -jc

Texting While Driving

Recently, Wisconsin passed a text message ban while driving. There has been a lot of discussion on the dangers of texting while driving. On the flip side, CNN recently reported that cell phone driving bans don't work.

As discussed in the first article above, Wisconsin already has a law that outlaws distracted driving, or “being so engaged or occupied as to interfere with the safe driving of that vehicle.”.

A couple of months ago, a friend traveling from Minneapolis said something that made me think. He said that he'd never think of texting while navigating the streets of the Twin Cities, but while driving to Wausau he felt comfortable placing an occasional text.

I agree. I've been on the road quite a lot lately. When I'm circling the state Capitol in downtown Madison, I would not think of texting, changing a CD, playing with my iPod or even answering my phone. There is just too much going on. Add snow, bad visibility and rush hour, it is clear: Pay attention and drive.

Fast forward to my ride from Madison to Wausau. I usually am driving during the business day. There is hardly any traffic. Often the roads are clean, wide open and I'm on cruise control (which no reasonable person would use in downtown Madison either, for that matter....)

In this driving situation, I am more comfortable changing songs on my iPod, throwing in a CD, scanning for radio stations (analogue music reception, for you tech heads), answering the phone and -gasp- texting while driving.

Full disclosure: I have a qwerty keypad on my cell, I lift my cell up to the steering wheel keeping one hand on the wheel, *and* have the open road within my field of vision.

Now, many of you will still say: Jim, you're being reckless. Perhaps.

But is texting while driving, in the manner I described above, more dangerous than looking down at my car stereo, futzing with my iPod, reaching in the glove box to grab a CD or grabbing a cup of coffee from my drink holder? I think not.

I get the intent of the law. People should pay attention while driving. Different driving situations require different levels of attention. I also know that common sense isn't that common any more.

I'd prefer the State of Wisconsin start a PR campaign and enforce the current law. Distracted driving is about more than texting. Banning texting only tells drivers to put their phones down, but does not address the other distractions drivers have in their vehicles.

Your thoughts?