Quotation Marks

Today’s post will only consist of my Quotations section on Facebook. I wanted to post them on here too, so their wisdom can reach more people. Every single one of these quotes has great meaning to me, and they represent either the way I think about life, or the way I am trying to think about life. Read them closely and you may find that they apply to yours as well!

 

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” – OSCAR WILDE

“Know Thyself” – SOCRATES

“I’m an artist. You give me a fuckin’ tuba, I’ll get you something out of it” – JOHN LENNON

“I think, as people, we must learn to put up with each other. We must stop if there’s someone broken down on the road. And you say, ‘well, they’ll hit you over the head’. Well, they won’t all hit you over the head” – KATHARINE HEPBURN

“Even a broken clock is right twice a day” – STEPHEN HUNT

“I think Western Civilization would be a very good idea” – GANDHI

“Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get – only with what you are expected to give – which is everything.” – KATHARINE HEPBURN

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” – STEVE JOBS

“I used to complain I had no shoes. Then I met someone with no legs” – HANIF KHAKI

“If you never try, you’ll never know just what you’re worth” – COLDPLAY

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – STEVE JOBS

“Good things take time. Great things happen all at once” – RAT RACE (THE MOVIE)

“Do onto others what you would like done upon yourself” – THE GOLDEN RULE

“When I was 5 years old I went to school and they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I misunderstood the meaning of the assignment. I told them they misunderstood the meaning of life.” – JOHN LENNON

“For small creatures such as we, the vastness of the universe is only bearable through love” – CARL SAGAN

“Always be a first rate version of yourself, instead of a second rate version of somebody else” – JUDY GARLAND

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say…” – J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Red Keycard Required

Much has been made in the media about children who pick up weapons and kill half their high school because of the negative influence of violent films and video games. There was an excellent film made a number of years back by Gus Van Sant, which won the Palme D’Or at Cannes, called “Elephant”, which in itself is a fictionalisation and re-interpretation of the Columbine High School massacre. Society placed the ultimate blame on the children’s premature exposure to overly-violent media, which supposedly determined them to pick up shotguns and massacre their mates.

I am going to walk a very fine line with this post, because while I partly believe this to be true, I also very firmly believe it to be untrue in other ways.

It is true that there is an excessive emphasis on negativity and violence in today’s world, and nobody is more guilty of propagating this than the media. Movies are, generally speaking, a lot more violent, gratuituously violent, these days than they were prior to the 70′s. In the Studio Era, because of the strictly censored nature of the movie industry, films in general were made to contain positive messages, heroes and values to aspire to, there was little violence or sex presented, and even when it was, it was more implied, rather than explicitly shown. Nowadays, filmmakers have no problem to show us a person’s head being blasted by a shotgun, graphically seeing bits of brain splattered against the wall. Then we see the killer grinning, and in many films, even great films like “No Country For Old Men”, the villain more of less gets away with it. Or Hannibal Lecter bashing people’s heads in while listening to Bach and preparing a gourmet meal. You might say, well, the explicit and the macabre is also an art form, following on from prior traditions such as Grand Guignol. But it’s undeniable that a great deal of what we see on TV these days, including the violent news reports that insist on mostly showing the disasters happening daily, has a bias towards violence.

Then we have the video games. Here we have even more gratuituous violence than in movies, shown even more explicitly in some cases, and the difference here is that the person who plays the game gets to COMMIT these virtual atrocities – as opposed to a film where the viewer simply watches it happening. There are many games in which the main objective, from start to finish, is to shoot your way through endless rooms and levels, blasting a huge variety of monsters, aliens, robots, animals and other human beings.

Having argued this point enough, I will now switch sides and argue for the other side. Personally, I am the best example that an exposure to violent films and video games in my youth does not produce a killer. I have watched violent and scary films pretty much since I was in primary school, and have started playing video games in earnest, in middle school. My first video game was “Doom”, one of the earliest “shoot-em-ups” in which you blast your way through an alien invasion. And never had I taken what I was seeing as anything more than entertainment. Even in primary school, I was able to make the distinction between art (even violent art) and reality. I have never had any kind of violent, homicidal urge in my life. I am not a rapist, or sadist, or junkie, or drunkard, or a person lacking chivalry and moral fiber because of playing those games. I am one of the most non-violent, most non-combative people I know. Even from a verbal argument, I tend to be the one backing down if I see that it’s dragging on for too long. Except if the argument is with an intelligent girl that I fancy. In those cases, I find a good intellectual argument very enjoyable, à la Tracy and Hepburn.

So what is the correlation between violence in media and a teenager picking up and using a shotgun? Well, I am the best example that exposure to simulated violence does not produce a criminal. So it must be something else. Maybe those kids were neglected, unloved. Who knows? Maybe it’s just something part of your nature. You either have those tendencies, or you don’t. And if you’re already predisposed to violence because of the genes coded in your DNA, or because of some sort of dysfunctional upbringing, then, violent media and games may influence and stimulate that. But the argument that they are universally responsible for it is wrong, and in placing the sole blame on it, these people are washing their hands of more serious responsibilities to our youth.

Advertising Space

The extended Romanian summer has given way to a very sudden and chilly autumn. In the space of no more than two days, temperatures have dropped from a summery 29*C to a mere 11*C, and there was the first snowfall of the season up in the mountains.

This is the first autumn in a long long time in which I am not a student. I have only experienced this feeling two other times in my life, the first was before kindergarten (but understandably, I can remember very little from that period, given that I was less than 5 years of age). And the other period was my gap year before I went to LIPA. It’s a strange feeling, but one that I’m starting to get used to. On the one hand, there is so much freedom that it’s refreshing. On the other hand, freedom can sometimes be scary when you don’t know what to do with it.

What am I doing with it? Well, I have started working on some new tunes with one of Romania’s leading music producers. Call that a big or small achievement if you wish. I have started being more active, waking up at 7am daily to go trekking through the woods close to my house with my two dogs. Those who know me will know that I consider this to be a great achievement for me, complemented by the occasional visit to the gym. I have also started finding members for my band, and we are basically one drummer short of a full basic lineup at the minute. First rehearsals start this week, and then I can consider that as my “job”, and going to rehearsals as “going to work”. It’s so weird for musicians. In a way, we’re always “at work” because our instrument of work is always attached (especially in the case of a singer) and much of our work takes place at home (vocal workout, writing songs, managing the band).

If you define “work” by the payment you receive for it, then no, I guess I’m not there yet. I have done two gigs with two separate groups of musicians since coming back home, neither of which was paid. But it’s all part of my establishing a reputation/foothold in the musical world back home, a world which is in dire need of improvement. Put very simply, the music industry here consists of a few well-endowed (albeit artificially) girls who can only “sing” because they are auto-tuned to death. Some of my colleagues in the Romanian music world make asses of themselves by forgetting the lyrics to the national anthem at stadium inaugurations (but I suppose Aguilera’s done that too) and by failing to string together two notes in tune, when asked to sing live.

Of course I’m exaggerating a little bit. Not ALL Romanian artists are artificially-endowed females with questionable talent! There are a few who are indeed talented and hard-working, but they tend to be relegated to the sidelines. This, to me, is a great travesty. How can you dismiss the real talent you have in this country, and then complain that our country lacks talents? I’m very worried this might happen to me, as well. But it’s part of the bet I accepted with myself, by coming back home to ply my trade.

So there is much improvement to be done, and I realize that my potential in the current Romanian music scene is pretty much that of Sebastian Vettel’s in the Formula 1 scene. And he’s my age, incidentally. If I do things right, I realize, with all false modesty aside, and with sober realization as opposed to arrogance, that I can set a new standard in music here. And it’s a comforting thing to know.

Apply. Rinse. Repeat.

You’re born. You grow up. You go to kindergarten. Then school. Then high school. Then, depending on whether you take gap years (and how many), you eventually go to university. And to be politically correct, as one must be in this fascinating day and age, I don’t mean that everyone follows this pattern. I’m talking specifically about people in my socio-cultural-economic demographic category.

You listen to people supposedly teaching you roughly your entire life from 5 to 25. You think to yourself, maybe they know what the fuck they’re talking about, maybe not… And then, suddenly, you’re thrown into this dark ocean and you’re expected to know how to swim. Just like that. But, now that I’ve gone through education and come out the other end (if that is an agreeable image to use), I can say this: 20 years of education may teach you everything there is to know about swimming, but they don’t teach you how to swim. You gotta learn that all by yourself. Put in practice everything that you’ve been taught, and then teach yourself how to make your path through life. That’s right, buster! DIY time!

While you’re in school, you’re pretty much shielded within a bubble. And you only need to worry about the things inside that bubble, which is a very safe feeling. A schedule is provided, along with a list of academic objectives which you must achieve, and then you spend year after year meeting those objectives. All the other concerns are mainly pimple-related, and whether the girl sitting two desks in front of you liked that poem you wrote for her last week. But, after you graduate, there is no schedule anymore. No list of things to achieve is given to you. You have to come up with everything on your own. It’s a pretty numbing feeling that, no matter how much you anticipate and prepare for, always takes you by surprise.

Left and right, you see angry, stressed out people running around frantically to their next destination. Everyone worrying what everybody thinks of them, and thinking that everyone’s against them. Everyone having a bill they need to pay, children they need to feed, trying to remember happier times when they had dreams they thought they could achieve. Before life whips you into place and into some kind of robotic, dehumanizing routine. Apply. Rinse. Repeat.

Apologies for the bleakness of this post. I am still a romantic at heart, although my cynical alter-ego is seriously developing more and more as I get older. Sometimes I wish I could have stayed 16 years old forever. At that age, I had pretty much all the mental maturity I do now, but without so much of the cynicism that’s built up in the intervening years. So maybe my next objective (now that I am the fresh recipient of a Bachelor of Arts degree) is to get back in touch with my teenage self and to reawaken that feeling of reaching for the stars and dreaming wide awake.

And, in the meantime, find a fucking band to make music with. And then save the world, one song at a time! Does that sound like something you’d like to do when you grow up?

End Of An Era

Well well well. I have shamefully been absent on here for a long long time. During my hiatus, I have been very busy with the end of my degree at LIPA, most importantly with my showcase. I had great fun, worked with some wonderful people which I am in awe of. Bottom line is that, despite all my constant whining and defeatism over the past 4 years, these 4 years have been the time of my life so far. If I have to draw the line, I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without this wonderful place and these people. I feel bad I didn’t make more friends in this place, because it’s not easy for me to open up to people and I think most of us are this way in this business, so it feels like I didn’t really get to know many of my schoolmates as well as I could have, even though I admire and like the vast majority of them.

To quote my favourite book, “Lord of the Rings”:

“I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”

How true these words ring now. I think I shall have a quote from LOTR at every significant stage in my life. It is the “Godfather” of fantasy stories, with a quote usable for everything in life.

Leave it to me to suddenly turn a post about me finishing LIPA into a post about Lord of the Rings. Typical. The Snoopy within me is currently shaking his head in silent consternation, haha. Oh, and did I mention I’m pretty much done with uni? It’s really hard to comprehend it. Just had my final tutorial today and my teachers made some valid points. I didnt get the grade I was expecting because of my lack of drive and gigging activity this year. Although my voice was great, which was the part I was most worried/concerned about. All this should largely take care of itself when I get back home and on a gigging spree. It’s important in life not to get disheartened by getting a low grade. Or, anyway, a lower grade than the one you were maybe expecting. Especially if you’re like me, and you don’t really care about grades at all. Sometimes, a cold sober shower is just what you need to get you to pull your head out of your own ass and get going. The most important thing I was told today is that I have what it takes to make it in this business, if I could just bring myself to do it. Now I just need to get out there and fucking do it. Not think about doing it. Actually doing it.

I assume I didn’t get to 6600 views on here (and counting) without some of you LIPA peeps reading this, so if you are a LIPA teacher/student/staff member reading this now, I want to let you know how grateful I am that we have met, even if all we exchanged was a furtive glance in the halls. Each and every single one of you has made my life better in many more ways than I could even think of at this moment. Just because I don’t always express my emotions (ever heard of the word “introvert”? Look it up ) doesn’t mean I didn’t feel them. I hope the feeling is mutual. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world, and would repeat the experience if I could.

I will finish off this post with the first song I sang at LIPA, in February 2007 for the audition that got me in. The message of this song now comes full circle at the end of this most enjoyable era in my life. Cheers, guys!

And The Oscar Goes To

What a treat, to be in a year with so many great films nominated for the Best Picture Academy award. Given that they’ve restored the number of nominations to 10 movies like in the old days, there’s bound to be a few names on that list that you think don’t really stand a chance of winning the golden man. I mean, can you really see “Toy Story 3″ grabbing the award? In a year with so many quality contenders?

For me, two movies stand out above the rest. And below are the two scenes which sold those movies to me.

Just unabashed, all-out, passionate moviemaking. The transformation scene from “Black Swan” left me breathless. Being a performer myself, I can completely understand the metaphor of “becoming the character” just before going onstage. And to see Natalie Portman become the role with such grace (echoes of Audrey Hepburn abound) is more than I thought her capable of as an actress. And as for Colin Firth, it was a role just waiting to happen. A wonderful, talented actor who is finally getting the roles he is capable of. I cannot decide between “Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech”. Whichever of these two wins, I will be happy with. Buenas noches

Fire With Fire

Happy New Year, world! I hope you are all feeling refreshed and ready to attack 2011 with new energy and commitment. According to Chinese astrology, this is the year of the Rabbit, and it’s supposed to bring a period of calm and things coming to fruition. This forecast fits perfectly with the events that will happen in my own life this year. First, and foremost, tomorrow I am returning to Liverpool to start the final lap of LIPA before finishing my degree. Yes, world, this is the year I graduate from university. I will be a legitimate, educated young man ready to become a force of good in the world.

This year will also mark my return to Romania to live and work there as a musician and actor after 4 years of being a student in Liverpool. I already have some significant professional opportunities lined up for me back home. Being the superstitious guy that I am, of course I cannot tell you about them now, until I know 100% that they are going to happen. I will, however, say that one of them involves setting up my own professional standard recording studio in Bucharest. Happy times!

Back to LIPA, I have finished my Dissertation (which was the thing I feared the most about this year) and now only need to do some minor editing to it before I can turn it in. Having already done two gigs in Bucharest over the winter break, I don’t need to worry too much about finding more gigs in Liverpool in order to meet the minimum gig quota for my degree. However I do intend to do at least one trial gig before my showcase in April. I am also scheduled to perform at an Auction Gala at a very nice hotel in Bucharest in March. It was very touching to receive this invitation from my old school, the American School of Bucharest. I will be performing for some pretty important international people in Bucharest, which should be a great way to introduce myself as a musician back in my cosmopolitan home city.

It’s weird to see that Bucharest is more international than Liverpool these days. Not to mention it’s at least 4 times as big. And there’s even a jazz scene that seems to be starting up.

So, here’s where I’m at, and what I’ll be up to in the first half of 2011. I hope that you all have an equally productive and (hopefully) rewarding year ahead!

Best Album(s) Of 2010

‘Evenin, everybody! I’m writing this from my chilly Liverpudlian flat. I thought, since the end of the year is rapidly approaching, and since I happen to be a musician – I should let you know what my 5 favourite albums of 2010 are. So, here goes (in no particular order):

1. JOSH GROBAN – “Illuminations”

From the stylish artwork to the quality of the music, this album exudes value. Produced by Rick Rubin to within an inch of perfection, a true “classical crossover” album. Orchestras abound on this album, as well as more traditional pop instruments. Groban is, vocally, in superb form and he is listed as co-writer on the majority of the tracks. A stand-out showcase of quality over commodification in a music industry that’s sadly, exponentially veering towards the latter in this day and age.

2. ELTON JOHN & LEON RUSSELL – “The Union”

Recipient of a rare 5/5 review on RollingStone.com, “The Union” is, arguably, Elton John’s finest album since his mid-70′s heyday. Collaborating with his idol and main inspiration, the legendary Leon Russell, it makes for sparks flying as the two veteran singer/songwriter/pianists bring out nothing but the very best in each other. The songs are superb, with not one filler in a 16 track list. Stellar production by T-Bone Burnett, with both musicians in fine form. Complete with gospel choir backing vocals and a few guest stars such as Neil Young. A front-row nominee for Album of the Year in my book.

3. TAKE THAT – “Progress”

 

 

 

 

This is the sentimental bet for Album of the Year. The biggest boyband of the 90′s is now complete again, after Robbie Williams’ return to the line-up. Arguably the most eagerly awaited band reunion since The Beatles (which never happened), this album is guaranteed to set some sales records this year. Musically, the band takes a new, fresh direction – sounding different to both 90′s Take That, and 00′s Take That sans Robbie. Brisker, noisier sounds and production values are employed, with Robbie taking centre-seat next to Gary Barlow and contributing some nice songs and vocals to what was already a revigorated band. Also, this is the album cover of the year to me!

4. MARIAH CAREY – “Merry Christmas 2 You”

 

 

 

 

Mariah Carey’s other Christmas album, “Merry Christmas” (1993) is the highest-selling holiday album of all time. More than a decade and a half later, the diva serves us another helping of what she does best. Sugary, gospel-tinged music that makes no attempt to apologise for its cheesiness, but rather, elevates cheesiness to an art. On this album, Mariah ditches the quasi-hip-hop influences she has (unfortunately) picked up over the years and goes back to the sound which characterizes her early albums, which to me, are the best work she’s done. Also, she’s back in full voice again, after years of stylized whispers and coos. It’s good to hear Mariah the Belter again! Some future Christmas classics will undoubtedly come out of this album over the next years, in particular her work with Broadway composer Marc Shaiman.

5. HERBIE HANCOCK – “The Imagine Project”

 

 

 

 

After his previous album “River – The Joni Letters” famously became the second jazz album in history to win Album of the Year at the 2008 Grammys (beating Amy Winehouse’s “Back To Black” in an unusual twist) the world was watching in expectation to hear what the legendary jazz pianist will produce as his follow-up. In 2010 he delivered it – an unusual mix of jazz, soul and world music recorded in various locations around the world, with a cornucopia of international musicians ranging from Pink, Seal, John Legend, James Morrison – to Congolese group Konono N°1, Anoushka Shankar and K’naan. The album begins with a beautiful re-interpretation of John Lennon’s “Imagine” and continues on in magnificient form.

Vienna Waits For You

Once upon a time, before I had made up my mind I was gonna do music with my life, before the heart palpitations of opening up envelopes from LIPA to find out whether I’d been accepted or not, I was a psychology student in the most beautiful city in the world, Vienna.

I cannot begin to describe the wonderful memories I have of my brief residence in this city. The superlatives keep on coming. Pure class exuding from every street corner, every little cafe, every majestic building. The former capital of perhaps the most cultured of European empires, the urban equivalent of a Mozart symphony. I was a totally different person then, as I feel a much higher affinity towards Vienna than I do towards Liverpool. The two cities have a totally different energy. While Vienna is like a graceful ballerina, Liverpool is like a hearty sailor. Both cities have added two wildly different facets to my character, which balance each other quite nicely.

I have been to the Vienna Staatsoper a good few times. I remember queueing outside the side-entrance for hours to get standing-room tickets to see the likes of Rolando Villazon and Anna Netrebko in Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette”. It is also here that I saw the best version of Puccini’s “Tosca” I have ever seen. The opera house is situated right in the middle of Vienna’s historical centre, where every building within your eyesight is a work of art.

However, it’s little cafe’s like the one above that represent the best thing about Vienna, to me. Walking around town aimlessly, then turning a corner only to discover some quaint little Kaffeehaus that looks like it was built just for you. Also, I know many people say Italian coffee is the best, but the best coffee I’ve ever been served has been in Vienna. Also the best ice-cream!

I also had the use of a car in Vienna, my trusty little Mercedes A 180 CDI (which I’ve sold since coming to Liverpool). I miss that little car and the trips I used to make right after classes finished for the day at Webster University Vienna. Traffic is not a problem in Vienna, even at rush hour, the system being so fluidly designed that there are hardly any traffic jams at all. I rememeber driving across the Danube to go home every day. Driving up to the hills to the west of Vienna, to the belvedere at Leopoldsberg overseeing all of Vienna and the Danube. Also, the two impromptu road trips to Bratislava (another great Danubian capital) which is as far away from Vienna as Manchester from Liverpool.

Happy memories indeed. It’s fair to say that, in just under half a year, Vienna left a bigger imprint on my life than Liverpool has in my soon-to-be four years here. However, they are both special places to me, each in their different way. Places make us who we are, don’t they?

Shine

With Christmas fast approaching, I thought I’d give you all a big present and announce that my latest album, “Shine” has been completed and is for the FIRST TIME, available for free download! It is a 14-minutes playlist featuring fresh takes on timeless covers which I absolutely love. Also included are 4 demos of original tracks. The full studio versions of these tracks will probably be released on my upcoming album in June 2011. In the meantime, listen to “Shine” on the link below:

http://soundcloud.com/petru-calinescu/sets/shine-2010

 

The tracklist for the new album is:

1. Why Does It Always Rain On Me?

2. Ain’t That A Kick In The Head?

3. Mr. Tambourine Man

4. Lost

5. Falling

6. Note I Left

7. Straighten Up And Fly Right

8. I’d Wait For Life

9. I’ll Be Coming Home

10. You’re Still You

11. Hallelujah

12. It Was A Very Good Year

13. There’s A Place For You

14. Everytime We Say Goodbye

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support and for even demanding that my music be available for free download. Also, thanks to Liam Malorey-Vibert for showing me the site I used to post it on. Enjoy!

Love, Petru