Morgan Wallace Music

TIMBALAND’S NEW YEAR

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 09:22:45 -0800

It’s 8:48AM, January 1st, 2018. Officially a new year. And yes, I did happen to be in the car when Midnight struck, and yes, my favorite station indeed played “New Years Day” by U2. I’ll be breaking out their U218 Singles today (2018 = U218... how great!)

I dropped by Half Price Books after a dentist appointment this past week, thinking I might score some new fiction, or anything that was more of a joy-read versus heavier stuff like biblical studies or commentary (not that I even read those).

I'm now officially certain that I *always* go to the musician’s memoir/autobiography section. In this case, other famous people were right next to the music bios section, so I perused. I picked up & considered books of the likes of Christopher Plummer, Julie Andrews, Alan Cummings, Joel McHale, and Ellen DeGeneres. Most of those didn’t seem to please everyone on Amazon.com (I put Alan’s in my wishlist), but I did walk away with 4 books, including Anna Kendrick’s Scrappy Little Nobody, and Timbaland’s The Emperor of Sound. They just look more appealing than my Keith Richard’s Life right now - sorry, Keith.

My strange affinity for Timbaland started back in 2006 in Izmir, Turkey. Beautiful resort on the coast - we were there for a conference, not because we just get to vacation in Eurasia. I remember Coldplay’s “Yellow” being sung constantly by the Yellow Team, and Pirates of the Caribbean’s Johnny Depp was still the hottest guy on the planet.

JustinTimberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds came out in 2006, and “My Love” was *the* song on repeat by the pools, the beach, everywhere. Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous” was also circulating, and it was undeniable that they were similar, but at the time I didn't truly care to know why.

Shock Value came out soon after that in 2007, and “Oh Timbaland”, “Give It To Me”, “The Way I Are”, and...Read More

(Good) Friday Media

Mon, 17 Apr 2017 16:27:55 -0700

Words are impressive.

I'm currently writing this at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in the Town Center of Southlake, TX.
It's Good Friday, which I didn't initially take into account when I was wondering why there were so many families out and about when I arrived earlier today.

Though groups of teenage girls walking around and chatting loudly with empty Starbucks frappe cups in hand is frustrating, and all of the boys are wearing all variety of Patagonia shirts, it's awesome to see so many "youth" hanging out at a Barnes & Noble. Today it feels vibrant, and it's encouraging.

It's no secret that the new age of technology and everything wrapped up with that (socio-economically) is affecting certain stores, and many are at risk of closing down if they haven't already. Sear's is barely hanging on these days, with only the sweet memories of Sear's catalogs to keep them afloat (which I have no data to back this up, obviously). I also have no idea how Gamestop is still alive.

I've feared that Barnes & Noble would be included in this, and though they might, it does my heart good to see other people, sitting or standing in the aisles, skimming books, just like me, every time I enter one of these magical places.

What I love about B&N is that every time I enter one, I get overwhelmed (in a non-anxious/hyperventaliating way). HOW can there be so many NEW books just within THIS subgenre of fiction & literature, and just in the English language alone?! (They've done a great job in including Spanish literature as well!) It's absolutely astounding.

It also gets me because it's just like the music industry.

I don't have the stats on me, but I remember something about XXX,XXX books get published a week and how it'd take years and years for a reader just to get through those alone. I know, I'm being general and non-specific - but the point is this: A LOT OF DATA. A lot of new*, creative, unique material, sitting on these shelves hoping...Read More

Making the bed

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 11:51:07 -0800

Today is March 6th, and a few things that I vowed to complete before March did not get completed.

Today is March 6th, and it marks one more day of being in bed all morning, even though I have the freedom to do so many things, yet I choose sleep over them.

It's 11:40am - I vowed to hit the gym at 9 or 9:30am, and I didn't. I just looked out my window to the YMCA next door and saw a gentleman over the age of 50 leaving after a workout - I bet it was a good one.

It's an interesting place to be when you find yourself "in a situation", an empass if you will, where you have an incredible ability to be highly capable and proactive, a go-getter and a creator, and you find that you have no desire to do any of those things.

I'm confident that I am not depressed, though I have questioned if I am in all of my hours alone, and thought that maybe I just can't tell because it's new territory. But I know that I'm not, because the thoughts or feelings that consume my day vary at a normal rate, and none are lasting feelings of dread, defeat, anxiety, or sadness.

What DOES dominate the space that seems to be my mind and body is apathy.

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I've always been told that I am incredibly jaded, and have been from an early age. That fact was not lost on me from all of the times I was told so, and part of me minded, and part of me didn't. Though being told sometimes would be a reminder of how I should either be more grateful or not so condescending at the ripe age of 8 or 12, the jadedness meant that I was privvy to incredibly awesome stuff at a young age. I got to learn things and be around people that made life cool - of course I kind of couldn't help it when I was surrounded by others my age (or older!) who didn't seem to have the ability to see anything past themselves or a 20 mile radius.

But here I am now - jaded and apathetic, with nothing to show for it. At least that's how...Read More

Beginnings: Media, Music, Marriage... what?

Thu, 09 Feb 2017 12:29:42 -0800

Today is February 9th, 2017 - the first day I start a published, legitimate blog.

I've thought about it for awhile, and the questions of whether "does it matter?" and "what's its purpose" have been the primary questions I think that need to be asked over and over again, and occasionally answered. Right?

I just watched a bunch of Phillip DeFranco videos and then finally watched Casey Neistat's vlog day for Oct. 26, 2016, where he visited UNT (University of North Texas in Denton, TX - my alma mater) (crap! I'm an alumni of a university now, with a diploma hanging on my wall - I don't think it's hit me yet that I am no longer a collegiate student...)

The simplest way to put it is this - I am overwhelmed. Or I "get" overwhelmed, as I'm not constantly in an overwhelming state (is that grammatically correct? does anyone care? #RealQuestions).

There is *a lot* to take in when watching these YouTube videos. I'd say that a fairly large chunk of viewers watch to consume, but never ask the questions of "how did he get that shot?" and "X Y & Z had to be set up before (____) could happen?" and "how can a human do so much in one day?". But then I'm wrong - if I'm not mistaken, a large part of many YouTubers' viewership, is composed of young individuals who consume *a lot* of media, and they see this stuff, and they get it.

And that doesn't really even tap into the content itself, as well as the question of "why should someone watch every day of someone else's life?", or "why does someone share 35-95% of their life with the world at large to see?".

So much could be analyzed and written about these two questions alone.

But for now, there's a large population that is not phased by this technology at all, and they consume a lot of it, and it's incredible - but to me, it’s fairly...Read More