BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

29Aug/120

It’s so hard to find quarters!

So I was just at wawa... usually they have no problem giving me a roll of quarters in exchange for the same in bill currency.  Now they are being weird about giving up quarters.  Pretty much everywhere is getting weird about giving up quarters!  I use to do the coffee shop then they got weird.  Then I did walmart... weird.  Grocery store... also weird now.  Bank?  Weird.  I don't get it.  It's soooooo weird.  I mean... where do people get quarters to do laundry?  The last time I went to the bank they gave me a hard time about getting rolls of quarters.  Like something about they had to go forge them in a mint or something.  Maybe I should try an arcade next.  They have lots of quarters!

Or, maybe people just like to give other people a hard time for things before they finally do it?  I'm starting to wonder if that is it.  I think I'm going to try going to the bank and asking for like 100 dollars in rolls of quaters.  That way I won't have to worry about it for a LONG time.  Most of the time people just aren't very easy to get things from.

For example... I have to take my car in for an oil change and emission inspection.  I KNOW the people at the dealer are going to hmmmm and haaaaa about it when I call.  They always make it like it's this big long process and they might be able to "barely" fit me in.  But then when I call after they finally have the car... they are done in like 10 minutes....

I thought you had this big long super fantastic wait time because you were so busy????  Why is my car the only one that is there and I'm like the only customer even there when I go to pick it up and pay for it?  You sir are full of do do.

They should have 24 hour walmart type car service centers with cafe's attached where you can sit and work on your laptop while you wait for your car to be serviced.  That would be fantastic.

Actually everything should just be 24 hour!  I love 24 hour things.  I also love dealing with computers over people.  People fuss and whine and give you a hard time.  Computers just work.

It's annoying.  Even shopping at the groccery store is annoying.  That's why I love self check out (notice it's a computer... not a person).  The people at cash registers always make it seem like it's this big long process and ordeal to look up what number the bananas are.. everyone knows that the number for bananas are 4011... even I know that!

I think everyone should stop this nonsense.  I especially like to do this at work.  I like to just get things done.  I don't like to say to people "well... we're gonna have to... blah blah blah..."  No.  just do the work and move on to the next thing.

I think people in general waste entirely to much time making up excuses and saying why things can't be done...

When anything and everything can be done!  It's soooo easy!  Nike it up and just DO it!

So the next time someone gives you the run around or tries to make it seem like there is so much involved in doing something... tell them to cut the cow dung and do it.  That's what I say!

Let's stop being a lazy society and start helping each other.  If there is a reason why you can't give out quarters then tell me that reason with a logical explanation... then explain to me the best place that I should get quarters.  I have laundry to do... I don't want to be walking around with stinky clothing on because I can't seem to find anyone to give up quarters!

I guess you just have to be consistent and persistent with people to get things done anymore these days.  I wish the world were more hardworking and more into just getting things done instead of making up excuses for things.

Well I haven't ranted in a while... so I decided to write a rant blog.  Anywho that's my rant story about quarters for doing laundry.  One of my goals is to have two washers and two dryers in my house so I never have to worry about doing laundry. Or using quarters ever again.  Why two?  Just in case one breaks down.  Or in case I have a whole bunch of house guests over that happen to need to do a lot of laundry.  They can use the second one.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
28Aug/120

That phrase: “Not gonna stop until I’m famous”

...I always found that a funny thing to say... "I'm not gonna stop until I'm famous".  It indicates that... you will stop when you are famous?  To me that will only be just the beginning.  I've always thought when I finally come up with that song that finally goes viral and gets me millions of fans...

THAT is when things will START!  That's when I'll start collaborating...and making and doing more and more... that's when I'll start helping out people who haven't made it to make it!  I'm all about just continuing to do more and more and more... I mean... the very idea of "stopping" just doesn't make sense to me.  To me it's like you just keep doing and  there is no "done".

That's my goal.  I only want to try and just keep doing more and more.  I don't want to have a final goal where I say... if I make it to whatever then that will be my final thing.  I think I'll just keep diversifying my interests.  I want to try and make it in music.  But then I also want to: write, or act, or own a business, or well I mean I suppose anything that takes my interest at the moment!

That was just my random thought of the night.  I definitely won't stop until I'm famous... but I won't stop once I'm there either.  I think if someone is passionate about something and they do it for long enough eventually they start to get on the right track and just keep getting closer and closer and closer until they eventually get to where they are trying to go.

It's very easy to get discouraged but... just have to keep at it!  That's how I see it.  I think that there is no timeframe for how long it's supposed to take someone to do something or make it.  I mean... however long it takes and whatever level of success is reached is how it was supposed to be.  It's different for everyone.  Some people take the highway and some take the scenic route.  But I mean... some people prefer the scenic way.  You never know.

Anywho... I've got lots of projects that are underway... books, music, videos... soooooooo I'll just keep working away every day until I have more things to post up for the world to enjoy.  It makes me super happy just making the creative things.  So if people find enjoyment out of it as well.  Then it's just an added bonus.  That's kinda the way I look at it.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
21Aug/120

New Song: College Town 4 Life

Well.. here it is everyone... my new tune... "College Town 4 Life".

All I can say is it's been a journey.  I think I finally figured out that the reason why I didn't end up scrapping this song and I pulled on through to finish it is that it represents overcoming a negative event with creativity.  That when people do mean things to you... you can turn that into something grand and creative.  I was able to take stupid prank played on me (see previous blog on backstory of this song http://bennyeast.com/blog/?p=3441) and I turned it around and put the negative energy those individuals in that car that night gave out... into something, well... productive... I created this song... although the song isn't exactly the most positive message... I like the idea that I was able to take the negative energy of those people... and ... well...

Turn it into something super creative!  So that's the lesson and the idea of this song... when someone tries to do something mean to you... just turn around and put it into a creative outlet!  I think the world would be a much better place if we put things into creative outlets instead of other non-healthy ways of dealing with the world (such as the binge drinking scene talk about in the chorus of this song).

So here you go mystery joy riders from over a year ago... I dedicate this song to you... from the brief impression lasting only seconds... here's what you inspired me to make...

I definitely could have kept editing it... the intro solo is slightly awry... it's not in time with the high-hat I think or something is slightly off about it... but it's just going to have to be part of the song.  Life has its mistakes... and since the whole idea of the song is making a mistake with the direction of your life in general... I think it fits the theme.  So kids... don't spend your life living in your college town playing flip cup and beer pong every night as the song states... go out and make something productive!  Go out and be part of society!  Flip cup and beer pong have their place... but... eventually you have to graduate and head out in the world.  But there are lots of awesome things to experience out in the world...  I'd say it's rather interesting.  Life is full of adventure.

Anywho... now that I have finally finished this song... I can move on to more wonderful and creative things... so stay tuned for more songs and videos with a... slightly more positive message to them, hopefully.

 

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
19Aug/120

The backstory on my new tune

Usually I don't post the story until after I post the song.  But I'm going switch things up a little and give a little preface to this song tonight.  Then, tomorrow night... I'll post the song up!

So what's this song about anyways?  Well... I'm not going to give much away.  I'm only going to tell where the initial idea for this song came from... I'll keep it short and sweet so that I can get back to work on finalizing things for tomorrow evening!  But the initial idea for the song came to me... ummm... accidentally... I suppose.

About a year and a half ago... I moved to the cute little town of Wayne.  It's a nice place.  I enjoy living here.  Although I did have some doubts about living here a little while after moving in after this happened...

I think it was maybe a month or two in? Although it might have been a few months in... I just know it was warm enough to go on a run out side at night... soooooo... I was out for an evening time run.  As I was running out on the main drag an SUV drove up beside me and slowed to my pace only for a brief few second before driving off.

The passenger side front and back windows were rolled down as it drove up to me... in the front, a dude that looked essentially like your typical "frat guy" college student hung out the window (google image search "frat guy" and you'll get an idea of what he looked like)...  and out the back window was a young lady that looked like she was about to go out clubbing (google image search "hooched up club girl" and you should get an idea of what she looked like).  As they drove up the girl was laughing and yelling... "wooooooooooooooooo!!!!! yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!" And the guy was laughing loudly as well with everyone else in the car emitting similar sounds from the dark shadowy interior...

So the guy in the passenger screamed at me as they rolled passed "HEY BUDDY!!!! WHERE'S THE FIRE!!?!?!?!"

And then the girl yelled "YEAAAAAAAAAAAA! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Then the driver floored it and they they drove off into the night, cackling away.  Google image search "lion king hyenas" and you should get an idea of what all the people in the car were like.

My first thought was... isn't it "where's the beef"?  My second thought was... did I just get made fun of?

I think the second thought was correct.  I went home and googled "where's the fire"...

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Where's+the+fire%3F

So they were saying... "where you off to in a hurry?"... you know, since I was running.

Funny... very funny.

Then a few days later I was fiddling around with a riff on guitar and... I thought about that scene... then I wrote down some lyrics to go with the riff about this frat guy and this clubbing girl...

Then... things just started flowing.  I didn't want to really put much effort or time into this song... because it's inspired by a random event and two random people that were randomly yelling a random phrase at me on the side of the road.

But... I couldn't stop wanting to work on it!  And more and more I kept writing... and I started recording... and then I kept recording... and after recording I kept tweaking and editing and...  I've been fighting this song since day one...I've attempted to scrap it several times... and I keep coming back to it.  It's stupid, but it's also catchy and simple... but it's inspired by two people that I don't even know their names or anything about them.  And they were actually attempting to make fun of me... so it felt wrong to write a song or put any effort at all into writing a song about these mystery people.  Since usually I only write songs for or about people that mean something to me.

But this song happened anyways.  As much as I'm almost against it... it happened.  As much as I tried to delete it and work on other things... it happened anyways.  I enjoy the catchy beat and the simplicity of the song... but I don't really like the origins of it.  There's nothing super meaningful about it.  It was just a scene in the night that lasted a few seconds...

So I guess I should dedicate the song to Mr. and Mrs. "Where's the fire?"

So where is the fire?  I guess it's in creativity and being able to make something out of... the random things that happen to us in life.

So stay tuned to hear the song... It's definitely catchy, if nothing else.  I guess if I had to say a final thought about it...

It's just for the fun of it.  That's all the song is.  It's not "deep".  It's not "spiritual".  It's not "personal".  It's not anything but just stupid fun and something to put on your headphones when you are out for a run... or driving around with friends in the car... or at your next kegger party.

That's all it is... no more no less... it's a party song.  So grab a drink... turn the stereo up... and push play.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
12Aug/120

Brita filter

So I finally decided to get a Brita pitcher at the store tonight.  I've had a Pur for ever and ever and ever... but I've been noticing a trend that the filter media cartridges for Pur just don't seem to ever be in stock!  They always have the ones that attach on the sink... but they never have the pitcher ones!  Soooooo I decided to just get a small Brta one.  It works well.  It's the little tiny one that only makes 5 cups.  But that's all I need.  The other one that I had was the crazy super huge one that you use the pour spout and all and put things under it.  It always took up too much room in my fridge anyways.

I'm pretty sure the water tastes exactly the same.  I don't think either one is better than the other.  Some people claim that one filters out better than the other.  But to me I can't tell the difference.  As long as it doesn't have that yucky tap water after taste that's all I care about.

So that's what's new in the world of Kenny.

Also... I should have that new song up this week.  Fingers crossed.  I'm taking a day break from it and coming back to it on Tuesday to make sure it all sounds good and ready to go.  Then I'll post it up and people can download it and such.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
7Aug/120

Ready for some cooler weather

So I don't know about everyone else... but I'm ready for some cooler weather.  I can't wait till fall.  And all those fall things.  It's one of the most favorite times of the year for me.

But yea... the cooler weather will certainly be most welcome.  I don't have a lot to update... just working away still on things.  I'll definitely post here when there are new things happening or up or whats' going down etc. etc.

But what is DEFINITELY new is the following... I decided to try putting some of that barenaked granola on top of some black raspberry ice cream... it's pretty awesome.  I could eat it every night.  In fact, I'm probably going to have some tonight.  I had pizza for dinner soooo why not ice cream before bed?  I say yes to that!

Anywho that's my update on things that are of the chilly side.  Hopefully there will be some cooler temps on the way sooner rather than later.  For now, stay cool everyone.

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments
3Aug/120

The Check Engine Light Update

Sooooooo... it wasn't something cheap.  It was the catalytic converter.  There was also an issue with some radiator return pipe hose housing thing that was broken too.

Got it all fixed.   Spent a ton of money.  Not going anywhere or doing anything that requires spending money for a while.

 

In other news... I'm still just not satisfied with the new song.  Things are getting better... but there are still things that just don't sound like they are in sync.  If I can just get past this song and get it done I can start working on new songs.  I'll get it soon, I know I will... I can feel it.

I cut out a hat for a character in my music video for Outlaw Lover.  Sooooo while I take breaks from the new song I can work on cutting out shapes for my video.  And playing around with ideas for that.

 

What else is new?  Well I'm not working overtimes at work anymore.  We're just doing comp days.  It's nice to go back to that.  I missed doing that.  The extra money is ok.  But with enough beans and rice for lunches I can make it work.

Plus this comp day gives me a full weekend every week... so no more 6 day weeks.  If I work Saturday I'm off Monday.  In the case of today I'm off Friday work Saturday and then off Sunday.  I used today because I was driving my mom to some Dr's appointments downtown.

Full weekends though will be great.  That way I can recover and recoup and be more productive during the week.  I can also use the time on the weekends to work on finishing projects and songs and such.  Like I said after I get this current song done I can just go back to my regular flow of songs.  It's just this song is... I don't know... things have just been out of sync on it from the start.  I don't know why I'm having so much trouble.  But I will be VERY happy when I can finally just finish it and post it.

I'll probably have some sort of mini party to celebrate.  That will be like me going to Wegmans and getting a build your own craft 6 pack and then having 1 of those craft beers while ordering a pizza and watching something on Netflix.  I've already decided that's going to be my celebration party.  Sooooo that's my incentive to finish the song as soon as I possibly can.

less talk... more rock.

That's my slogan until it's up and out there.  Stop talking about it and just get it finished and up.  Like I said...

Less talkity talk... more ROCK!

Filed under: Stuffs No Comments