nubi_fae

I got a Yule present in the email yesterday.

Speechless.
Thanks kids!

In case you were wondering what the heck I meant by a Creative Commons License, here what's up.

First of all, this disclaimer. I am not a lawyer, though my nephew is. This article is based on my own experience and is not meant to take the place of official legal advice. Please consult your own attorney, or at least learn how to read and comprehend legalese while suppressing the urge to click the "Agree" button like most people do when they download new software.

Creative Commons is a means by which an artist of any stripe and concentration can define, in very specific terms where, why, when, and how their craft is to be shared, and in some cases, reinterpreted. This tool has proved itself quite powerful in the hands of independent artists.

Quite literally, CC represents a happy medium, a moderation between "all rights reserved" and "no rights reserved", more famously known as "copyleft".

Take for example, Phoenix Door. When I was preparing the album for release, I considered the possibilities of sharing my music with as many people as possible for the sole purpose of "getting my music out there". I decided that at the very least, I wanted credit for my music, no matter what. Not so much due to pride, but to make sure that there was no question that the song you like (or didn't like) was written by this guy and not that guy.

Another thing I felt important is that people have the right to copy and share Phoenix Door as many times as they want. A smart move, in my opinion, because:

1.) That aforementioned "getting my music out there" reason, and;
2.) We're all gonna do it anyway. This is the age of the internet, after all.

Which then begs the question, what if some enterprising remixer wants to sample the "doot-doot" part from "Destination Zero" for his project? I think that as long as he or she uses the music, they should at least credit me as the source of that sample. Besides, people will know or ask anyway where this and that sample came from. I'm fine with that on the condition that if they plan to make money off their venture they should, at the very least, get my express written permission.

All of that sounds reasonable right? As long as I think so, CC has the right license for me. And they do. I clicked this link to Choose A License and found the right license:

Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States
You are free:

* to Share — to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work
* to Remix — to make derivative works
Under the following conditions:
* Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
* Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
* Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

* For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work.

* Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.

* Apart from the remix rights granted under this license, nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.

And they gave me a link to to point online visitors to:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

A version of the code written in very fluent Lawyerese so that jam will stand up in court:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/legalcode

As well as a snazzy badge:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Perfect. I've created my work and given fans and consumers a means of how to share and interpret Phoenix Door among each other. Additionally, the international copyright laws already in place that protect my intellectual and moral rights as well as my right to seek royalties unless I specifically waive them further protect me and my work. I am now my own licensor. I have paid nothing to do this. This is liberating. I wish Prince had this at his disposal back in the day.

In the digital age, it is important that artists know what rights they have. Too many reactionaries to copyright laws flaunt and attack those laws due to a misreading of Copyright. Those people think that the concept of Copyright -- as it is -- is a way that extorts money for the sole purpose of lining the pockets of big business. In truth, the big four record companies misused copyright for nefarious purposes. (yes it used to be 10, then seven, then five, thanks to corporate merger deregulation -- a whole 'nother article, my friend)

Creative Commons and other independent forms of licensing justify the power of the artist to defend their legal and moral rights to their work and allows the artist to define boundaries of how to share and attribute their work. That's the reason why I got my CC.

http://creativecommons.org/

Greetings from the land of WTF! I bring you great tidings of the "Whaaa?"

First: The snowfall promised happened in the form of rising temperatures and melting snow. Tomorrow we are to get rain and then freezing temps. Have fun driving!

Two: Mercury goes whacko until 18 Feb. From Astro Weather:

Mercury has rulership of communication and transportation. This covers just about everything in one way or another. When Mercury is retrograde all things having to do with communication and transportation are prone to snafu and breakdown. You will notice during Mercury retros that the incidence of traffic light malfunctions, telephone service interruptions, lost and mishandled messages, general misunderstanding of information, missed connections and other problems in travel, and every other imaginable kind of trouble in these areas rises dramatically.

So keep your cool, don't make no waves and plan ahead. Good advice.

Three: Apparently. a severe case of The Stupid has migrated to the Great White North. To wit: The people who run Miss Toronto Tourism kick the current Miss Canada Plus out of the judges' booth because she's a Witch, reads tarot card and does Reiki and Yoga.

"We just got her bio a week ago and we don't agree with it," said Karen Murray, Miss Toronto Tourism pageant director. "We want someone down to earth, not someone into the dark side or the occult."

"We need a judge who has an upright reputation and we would be proud to introduce to the audience," noted a Jan. 24 letter to the Miss Canada Plus group from Murray and another official with the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant.

"Our board of directors has eliminated her as a judge as tarot card reading and reiki are the occult and is not acceptable by God, Jews, Muslims or Christians. Tarot card reading is witchcraft and is used by witches, spiritists [sic] and mediums to consult the dark world."

And yes, they cite the oft-poorly-translated section of Leviticus that also mentions the evils of shellfish. Even though the Miss Toronto Tourism is a private organization not associated with the City of Toronto, I expect a very public legal battle to ensue. I'm sure many of my Christian friends are shaking their heads in collective WTF with the rest of the sensible world.

Four: I'm not mentioning a single word about W's State of the Union speech. I'm just happy that it's his last.

And now for something cheery! Led Zeppelin Guitarist Wants World Tour

Remember folks... no matter what, the glass is half full.

Thanks to access_nikita from mystic_cafe.

or



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AJxc3Lxn4o


Courtesy of CDBaby Dot Com, where, once I stop procrastinating, you will be able to buy Pearls

Soulshine Radio has taken a shine, as it were to my music and has added them to the play list on their Live365 Station. I'm sharing internet real estate with some very fine artists indeed.

Go listen.

For the benefit of those who chose to "play the gane, play the game of love", I'll keep it short.

1.) "Radio Ga Ga" was written by Roger Meddows-Taylor (not Roger Andrew Taylor of Duran Duran).

2.) Since 1975, Queen would end every concert with "God Save the Queen."

3.) I can't cook it, but I'll order it from Freddie Mercury's homeland: Zanzibar! (I thought that a Tenacious D lyric would help.)

4.) "Another One Bites the Dust" was going to be the theme for Rocky III/ Getting the rights was difficult, so Stallone settled for an original song by Chicago band Survivor called "Eye of the Tiger".

5.) At the 1992 Freddie Mercury tribute, "We Are the Champions" was sung by Liza Minelli, who Freddie thought would have been perfect for the song. Annie Lennox and David Bowie sang "Under Pressure". Sir Elton John sang the verses to "Bohemian Rhapsody" while W. Axl Rose sang the rockin' bridge.

6.) Everyone got a free point for this because the poll creatrer messed up. In the Queen logo, Freddie used two faeries as his icon, representing his astrological sign, Virgo. The two Leos are the drum 'n' bass (Taylor and Deacon), and the crab was Brian May. Phoenixes are pretty. So are crowns.

Bonus question: Bonus Question: Who should have won Rockstar Supernova besides Storm Large?
I would have taken any answer, but in my opinion, it should have been Tony "Evs" Rand, the "Thunder from Down Under". He has the looks, pipes and the stage presence to keep the guys singing along and the ladies dancing. I found him to be more charismatic and competent.

I also though his vocal delivery was better. For examples, I submit two WMA files of the now-offically-named Rockstar Supernova song, "Be Yourself and Five Other Clichés" first by Lukas Rossi and then by Toby. See the differnece?

In other news, happy anniversary to solis93 and A. as well as a happy birthday to their E. -- congrats to the birth od Mariana Ariel Thomas -- and once again, birthday wishes to wolf_kells .

Donna De Lory: "Love Never Dies" : _Bliss_

[Poll #820943]

As promised in a post a while back and finished,
Sandman mp3 Really short.