WHO IS YOUR SECRET AUDIENCE?

Who is your secret audience? Sometimes when I am playing guitar I imagine my high school math teacher sitting right there, or maybe an old scout leader who I lost contact with, maybe even an ex-girlfriend. Sometimes when I am writing a paper I think about writing it to an old teacher or some professor that I had a profound respect for. I think that everyone writes to a secret audience or performs for a secret person. Is there always someone you are trying to impress other than yourself? Do you keep it a secret? Do you ever wish that people would just automatically know who you are and where you are coming from?

Get the Word Out!

The Quiet Landing wants to get the word out with your help, we are a SJC band and we want to get shows on campus. If you have any ideas, let me know, we would really appreciate it. We play for free or for whatever we just like to play!

Baum's Bridge Last Sunday

Last Sunday, the band played at Baumb's Bridge again and it was off the hook! Its always good never boring. Some guy got so drunk he fell off the bar and hit his head, in 10 mins there were 2 ambulances and emergency vehicles and lots of drama. We stopped in the middle of our set because we didn't want to be a distraction but we resumed play as soon as they took that guy out of there. It was great, and like always, the band gets free booze!

Haunted Fear Grounds Lafeyette, IN

I went to a haunted house at the Lafayette fairgrounds last Friday. It was in the livestock and expo buildings at the actual fair grounds. The haunted house was put on by the dance and performance troupe hailing from Lafayette Jefferson High school. The students did such an excellent job. I had so much fun, and the decorations were so surreal. Everything was impeccable and the students got into their roles and really made you forget about reality for a moment. People were jumping out from garbage cans, startling the hell out of you in tight spots, waiting at your feet and just really doing their best to creep out all of the visitors. It only cost 10 bucks to get in and we waited for about 45 minutes to get in. It took a little over a half an hour to get through the entire experience. It was worth all of the effort. The first thing that they had us do was go into a completely black room with absolutely no light, and told us to have a seat. It was kind of a joke when they told us this because we had such a hard time finding the actual seats. We were in there for about 10 minutes and then we left and the strobe lights were so intense after our eyes had adjusted to the darkness. They made me dizzy. The most amazing part of the haunted house was a long catwalk that went through two large rotating tubes. One rotated clockwise around the walkers and catwalk and the other counterclockwise there was also a mirror at the end of the walk. The rotating tubes had blacklight painted symbols and they combination of all of these spectacles created the feeling of falling end over end. It really felt like the catwalk was turning over and we were going with it, if you looked at the ground the "illusion" went away but as soon as you looked up, it was back to ultimate seasickness.

Quiet Landing: First Show of the Season

This weekend was so great. I had practice with my band and we had an impromptu invitation to play at a local bar in Kouts. We played at Baum's Bridge for about 2 hours and had a great time. Our band had some SJC students come watch us as well as some family members that came out and had fun too. We played some Johnny Cash, Cream, Dave Matthews, Hendrix, Oasis, Weezer, Raconteurs and CCR. The dance floor was packed and the crowd was really into what we were doing. There is no greater feeling than being a part of mutual energy, and feeding off the energy that everyone is emitting. We didn't make any money but beers were on the house for us and whoever was with us. If you are looking for something to do on Sunday evening, look no further and come support your local band, The Quiet Landing. We will do anything for the sake of playing and entertaining, we will play any party as long as it is "legit". If you ever have a need for live music we will not disappoint. We take music suggestions and try to play what people want to hear.

Last Child in the Woods

This is a great book that I have been reading by Richard Louv. The book describes what the author calls "Nature Deficit Disorder". This so called disorder is based on the fact that people do not spend as much time with nature as they used to and many problems stem from this deficit. Americans are overstimulated and too reliant on material things to bring them happiness and to solve their problems. One quote from the book is from a child who says "I like to play indoors better because that is where all the electrical outlets are." I think that this is unbelievable but totally true. I feel this way, and I am a strong advocate of getting children outside and promoting outdoors activities. I am an avid fisherman, and I have been since middle school. I was an Eagle Scout in the DeMotte Troop 157. I have spent the night outside in all conditions including sub zero temperatures, blizzards, downpours and sweltering heat. I don't think people spend enough time doing things like this. Organized sports are great but the emphasis is on the sport not on the relationship with nature. Too many people have never seen an animal carcass go through processing. People have lost the relationship between what they eat and how it gets to the dinner table.

Our basic needs have been fulfilled since the beginning of time and now people are depending too much on the highly advanced and civilized world that surrounds us all. People don't realize the higher order thinking and problem solving that goes hand in hand with playing outside as children. Building shelters, going camping, cooking outdoors, imagination, and observation all serve as problem based learning that can be done through communion with nature. All in all this is just some things to think about while you ride in a car and watch tv while you are doing it on the way home or when you go somewhere with your parents. Keep your head up and your eyes open. Try to notice what is going on in your environment.

The Quiet Landing

The Quiet Landing is my Rock and Roll band. We started practicing again this week. We are looking to have some more shows on campus like we did last year. We have been practicing so many different genres lately: country, folk, rock, hip hop. We are influenced by the following artists: Weezer, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Clapton, Raconteurs, White Stripes, Counting Crows, Bob Dylan, CCR, Nirvana, P. Diddy lol!, Beatles, Allman Brothers, Oasis, Joe Cocker, Smashing Pumpkins, The Shondells, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Verve Pipe, Everclear, bud lite and beyond. I will be sure to alert the Blogosphere when we decide on show dates, but for now we practice in the choir practice room on the top floor of the Science Bldg. We are looking for someone with similar and different interests to play organ and keyboard. The band contains two guitar players, vocalist, bassist and a drummer. We are looking to play to benefit any organization. If you have any ideas let me know. We are willing to travel to fulfill these needs.