I've finally made it
When I was growing up as a kid, I saw a guy with a cool Tag Heuer watch and said to myself "when I grow up and I have made it, I'm going to get me a real Tag Heuer." Somehow I got the idea that I would do that by age 30. Well my 30th birthday came and went and I hadn't manage to get my Tag yet. Instead I bought a house, which was a much better investment anyway. But my 31st birthday also passed by without any Swiss watch goodness and has since faded into oblivion.
Since that time I became a bit more interested in the specifics of different watches, the movements, the manufactures and I decided that if I was going to get a prestige timepiece, why not get something really unique. I'm a big believer in the motto that "if it is worth doing, it is worth overdoing" so I set out to find something aptly suitable for me.
As it turns out, this happened to me somewhat by chance. I had to travel to Geneva for work and when my coworker had to cancel her trip because of train troubles, I was left to go to the meeting by myself and then spent a few hours alone in the airport. Frequent travelers will all agree that there really isn't much to do in airports, except drink in the lounge and to shop. So I thought to myself, what better place to see Swiss watches than the place where the majority of haute horlogerie manufacturers are located. So I went to the Airport Watch Center there and found the perfect timepiece for me.
IWC Schaffhausen is truly the Rolls Royce of watch makers. They are one of two companies that are still producing all their own movements! All timepieces are individually crafted to the highest specifications and the height of precision. I'm amazed that mine is made from titanium with a convex sapphire lens. It's big and chunky, feeling manly, yet deceptively light at only 131 grams! It's got all sorts of impressive features with the movement, but since it is made for diving and designed to withstand depths of up to 120 meters, the bezel is located on the inside of the lens!
So now I can say that I finally have made it! I've given myself one elegant seal of approval that hopefully I will be able to pass on to generations to come.
Comments
Have a listen at:
www.ebauche.net
It sounds and looks like you have a most impressive watch piece. I hope your watch lasts and lasts and never gives incomplete watch movements ;)
Thanks for the comment Alex. I downloaded your album and I'm listening to it right now. It's just the sort of slightly psychedellic downtempo glitch sort of music that I can really appreciate. I'm glad that you recommended it because it's really unlikely that I would have come across it myself.
Cheers!
I've found that a little bit of shameless self-promotion goes a long way. I remember when I released it I spent some time going around various music forums (sound on sound, propellerheads, some fan sites etc) just putting the word out, and it was amazing the response I got. I think within 2 weeks I had 200 downloads, which was just fantastic.. so much easier than trying to sell CD's.. I can't see myself trying to do a physical release for some time. It's just far too much hassle.
If you know anyone that would like it too, spread it around.. the joys of a creative commons license!
So, Buck O Five... is that a Trey Parker/Matt Stone reference.. if it is, nice one. I dig that tune and what a movie!
There should be no shame in self-promotion! If there was, why would you be promoting it? Unless you're a big lover of guilt (and growing up catholic I know a few of those) you shouldn't be ashamed of such cool work. In fact I would be proud of it.
It's cool that you have embraced electronic distribution of your music. I really think that this is the way forward. Why bother making a CD when people are just going to listen to it on their mp3-pods anyway and then they have the extra effort to rip it anyway. So you have saved them the effort.
The username actually is a nickname from long before Team America. I used to play flag football in a city league with some guys from work. I was really tall & skinny, but I could rush the passer like crazy. I got dubbed buckofive because my teammate said I didn't weigh 105 lbs soaking wet. The name stuck and it was even on my jersey that season. But the name got to be much more popular when it $1.05 was identified as the cost of freedom. That is much more catchy than freedom cost €0.79... Since then it has sort of been my unofficial theme song.
I think I'm definitely digging the concept of digital distribution.. It's a new world of possibilities, and good ones at that. I was reading an article today, can't remember where off the top of my head (could have been on Vox), where someone was pointing out that music could well be entering a new realm changing things from the old top-down distribution, to something much more fragmented.
I've long been fascinated by the way music seems to be returning to a much more 'local' and 'tribe' like system. In that, before there were giant record labels and world dominating bands, music was a very personal and local thing. You would not have heard of musicians from outside your locality and every community would have it's own musical personalities as such. Things seem to be returning to that, obviously the mass media bands will still remain, for a long time to come, but I think there are a huge number of smaller equally talented musicians that can make an impact in more of a community only sense.
A lot of this sense came from our local free party scene, where a number of local collectives would put on great shows with excellent music. Yet I would have friends who would know nothing about it. The nice thing about digital distribution is that it allows these local collectives to get out and about in the world, and if you're good enough your name will spread and you will build a 'local' fanbase, except that it has no physical location.
Or something....