In addition to real estate related activities, I also record music.

Check out 15 of my original recordings...

1. Eel Song, 2. Something for You, 3. Much too Plain, 4. 'ip 'op in December, 5. Imminent,
6. Sloppy Bass on 2-17 (Part 2), 7. Calming in September 2003, 8. Syrupy Funk Drive,
9. Space on December 13, 10. Ballad of Trivial Fiction, 11. Why Must it be So, 12. Awful Song,
13. Try, 14. Earth's Okay (Version I), 15. Receding into Mediocrity

A Brief Bio:
The Jay Allen One began creating original bits and pieces in 1999. Its style has been described as rock, classical, r&b and experimental. Influences include The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and JS Bach.
The Jay Allen One has recorded ten albums, beginning with a self-titled debut in 1999 and most recently a compilation of tracks from the '00s. An eleventh album is being developed and is scheduled for release in 2011.

Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich was arrested this morning at his home for allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

According to Chicago's WLS the affidavit includes the following...
During the call, Rob Blagojevich stated, "unless I get something real good for [Senate Candidate 1], s--t, I'll just send myself, you know what I'm saying."

Rob Blagojevich later stated, "I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I'm saying. And if I don't get what I want and I'm not satisfied with it, then I'll just take the Senate seat myself." Later, ROD BLAGOJEVICH stated that the Senate seat "is a f-ing valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing."  (For the sake of humor... I also find the use of a double negative in Blagojevich's last sentence to be troubling.)

Corruption is this decade's trend for both Republican and Democratic Illinois Governors. Blagojevich was preceded by George Ryan, who is currently serving a six and a half year sentence for corruption.

What are your thoughts?

Best regards,
Jay


Jay Allen
MovieVoice
jay@movievoice.net

 

As I write this post, I am listening to a fantastic new Paul McCartney album!  The album, Electric Arguments, under the moniker "The Fireman" is a collaboration between McCartney and a producer named Youth.  This is the third release from The Fireman, but it seems to have attracted the most attention.  My favorite song is Traveling Light - it sounds like Pink Floyd plus Paul McCartney in 1971.

Let me know your thoughts, if you listen to the album!

Best regards,
Jay

Jay Allen
MovieVoice
jay@movievoice.net

Here's another one of my original recordings... "Instead of Thinking". The track is a demo and features only bass and drums. In addition to writing and performing the brief amount of music on this track, I produced a video to accompany the track.



And here's the video...


What do you think about the track and/or video? And even better - does anyone have ideas for lyrics?

Best regards,
Jay

Jay Allen
MovieVoice
jay@movievoice.net

Google has recently published several volumes of photographs from LIFE magazine.  I've spent the last hour looking at many of these fascinating, depressing, and bizarre pictures dating back to the 1870s.  Every picture I see, seems to flood my mind with more blogging ideas than I can possibly write - pictures of the Great Depression and if it relates to current economic conditions - pictures of Congress from decades ago and how odd it is to see no women and all whites - pictures of windmills from the 1800s and how odd it is to think that this "technology" is part of the future - and the list goes on...

The picture that caught my attention the most was of the Washington Monument under construction in 1876.  Construction on the monument began, nearly 30 years prior, in 1848 and the monument was not completed until 1884.  Funding problems and the Civil War were two of the primary reasons for the lengthy construction.

© Time Inc.

For some reason, the picture is calming to me, especially in our country's economic crisis.  It reminds me of the simple adage - plan your work and work your plan.  1876 was nearly 3 decades after construction began on the monument, nearly 1 decade away from the monument's completion and 1876 was not much more than a decade beyond the Civil War, our country's biggest crisis.  There's a lot more pictures and a lot more monuments 132 years later.  However, I can't help but wonder what Americans in 2140 will think of our generation.  Will we leave behind more than shopping malls?

What are your thoughts?

Best regards,
Jay

Jay Allen
MovieVoice
jay@movievoice.net

It's interesting if not astonishing to compare the $700 billion bailout to the cost of other major government projects and wars. According to CNBC, when adjusted for inflation, the Vietnam War, Korean War, Gulf Wars 1 & 2, and the war on terror have all cost less money than the bailout. And the ten years of technological advancements to send a man to the moon was 1/3 the cost of the bailout.  The following is a list of big projects with original costs and inflation adjusted costs:

Hoover Dam
Original Cost: $49 million | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $782 million

Panama Canal
Original Cost: $375 million | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $7.9 billion

Gulf War I
Original Cost: $61 billion | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $98 billion

Marshall Plan
Original Cost: $12.7 billion | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion

Louisiana Purchase
Original Cost: $15 million | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion

Race to the Moon
Original Cost: $36.4 billion | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion

Savings & Loan Crisis
Original Cost: $153 billion | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion

Korean War
Original Cost: $54 billion | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion

The New Deal
Original Cost: $32 billion | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion

Gulf War II / War on Terror
Original Cost: $551 billion | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion

Vietnam War
Original Cost: $111 billion | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion

NASA (Cumulative)
Original Cost: $416.7 billion | Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

What are your thoughts?

Best regards,
Jay

Jay Allen
MovieVoice
jay@movievoice.net

 

This track is a synthesizer instrumental I wrote called "Bliss for Less than a Minute (At a Time)". In addition to writing and performing the brief amount of music on this track, I produced a video to accompany the track.



And here's the video...


What do you think about the track and/or video?

Best regards,
Jay

Jay Allen
MovieVoice
jay@movievoice.net

I think ActiveRain is a great website - informative, fun and addictive!  However, it seems odd that the spellcheck feature on ActiveRain, as of today, does not recognize the name of our President-Elect. If you type a blog or make a comment with the name Barack Obama - the spellcheck recognizes it as being a mistake.

So, come on AR - update your spellchecker!

Best regards,
Jay

Jay Allen
MovieVoice
jay@movievoice.net

In July, I founded the AR Group - Blatant Politics. Since then, I have posted several political blogs. However, with the election just hours from now, there will soon be less emphasis on politics (for better or worse) both in the news and on my blogs.

One of my favorite hobbies, outside of arguing about politics, is composing/writing/recording original music. So, in the spirit of non-politics, I've created a new group called "Originality".

Originality is a group for originators. Members should present original thoughts, original artwork, original music, and/or any other original material for others to review, praise and to offer constructive criticism.

I invite you all to join and look forward to reading, seeing and hearing your original material!

Best regards,
Jay

Jay Allen
MovieVoice
jay@movievoice.net

 

This track is a psychedelic song called "Space (on December 13, 2005)". In addition to writing and performing the brief amount of music on this track, I produced a video to accompany the track.



And here's the video...


What do you think about the track and/or video?

Best regards,
Jay

Jay Allen
MovieVoice
jay@movievoice.net