Reflection.

I discovered a lot about my writing through this project. I thought I wouldn't have to do much revising in this paper. I thought I would have been good enough to turn it on the first day. As I look back on my first draft, it was nothing like the final draft that I finished with. My writing improved greatly from revision of the drafts. One specific writing technique I used was the technique of flashback which is the act of stepping back in time from a current point in a story to recall or explain a story. I took the audience to a different point in my past, the first drum kit I ever owned myself, and described a lot of the emotions that were running through my head when I got it. I think it had a very positive effect on my writing. It let me use description to paint a picture in the audience's heads. If I had time to do another draft, I think I would include more description and tighten up my stories a little better."The shades of the autumn burst took me to a Midwest town in November; the sap of the trees, and un-raked leaves in the front yard, seemed as if they had made their way to the fade of my drums ." I think this sentence is good because I use a lot of description and a strong similie to add a little more. Thats about it!

Picture

First Draft Summary

In class today we critiqued each others first draft. The main points I saw needed fixing on mine were adding a bit more about my icon, omitting some sentences to get rid of unnecessary text, establish more of a connection between my icon and OTHER people as well.

It went good today. I plan on taking out several sentences to free up some space for creativity and alterations. I feel like I need to talk more about my icon. That is about it. Stoked for tomorrows revisions.

Here is a new draft:

I began to play, cringing at the sound of each drum being hit. I didn't mind, the sound of the rusted rim and weathered head of the navy blue Sunlite, for it was better than the sound of my playing at the time. After 8 months of playing these navy blue rust buckets early 2008, my father decided it was time to make an investment in my future.
I considered my new Gretsch, Catalina Birch drum kit more my own then my body itself. The shades of the autumn burst took me to a Midwest town in November; the sap of the trees, and un-raked leaves in the front yard, seemed as if they had made their way to the fade of my drums .My eyes never left them until the night had made way with me, and even then, my sub-conscious mind was filled with nothing but dreams of my endless days to come of timeless playing. It was that day I realized I wanted nothing else of my teenage life then to make drums of my own, in hopes that one day I could re-place the smile that hung on my face as I slept, onto another aspiring musician like myself.

Today, as I sit in a different house, with different drums, different people, different dreams and aspirations for my future, one thing seizes to change. My passion for drums and the process of making a beautiful drum is a fire that can not be put out. Mike Ciprari, a once aspiring musician such as myself, set off in the I have needed no map to follow. Starting off as a drummer touring the world with a band, his brother Scott stayed home to begin working on a custom drum kit for him to take to college with him. When people saw the finished product, they wanted a piece of his artistry for themselves. Mike quit touring with his band in order to make custom drums with his brother for a great multitude of people. Such detail is put into each drum made by SJC, that it makes you feel as if you are purchasing a piece of artwork. Is it the curve of the bass drum, the shimmer of the acrylic, the perfect offset of each golden lug that ever so royally hold my drums together? Or is it the hours upon hours put into making pieces of wood, plastic and metal represent who you are. Mike makes the vision of a drum set become more real then you ever expected it to be.

The collaborative effort to find a sponsor to purchase my new drums was completed on July 22nd 2009. Ups delivered my custom kit by SJC Drums, a company that makes your dream, your vision, your imagination, become a reality much greater then you ever expected. As it was carried into the first floor music room, the same glowing smile was hung upon my face once more. Such detail is put into each drum made by SJC, that it makes you almost feel as if you are purchasing a piece of artwork. Is it the curve of the bass drum, the shimmer of the acrylic, the perfect offset of each golden lug that ever so classy hold the drums together? Or is it the hours upon hours put into making pieces of wood, plastic and metal represent who you are.

Today, the rust buckets are no longer that. They have been stripped of their parts and broken down into their original wooden shells. A new process has begun; a refurbishing of the old drum kit as my first complete custom drum project. It will be finished one day, and when people look at it, and watch me play; no one will know that this is where I started.

Photo Skillage

Contrast-
This improves the photo by making it a little more defined. Soloing in only on the dark parts of the face/head such as:
Hair
Eyes

Lips

Nostrils
Chin Shadow (light)

I like to use a lot of contrast in my pictures because it makes the audience focus more on the dark/light contrast of a certain pictures features, often highlighting edges and curves.

Rule Of Thirds
A picture is too boring if your object is in the center of everything. It doesn't look right. In order to fix this, people use the rule of third, placing their main object/objects in seperate boxes. It is like a tick tack toe board. Never center your object in the middle, always have it off in another box. This will make your picture and the objects in your picture, more even with the background, giving it room.

Backlight

Backlight improves alot in a photo. If a picture or shot is too dark, add a backlight to highlight such things such as outlines, curves, objects etc. Using a backlight can add a cool almost edited or photoshopped look to you picture.

Reconsideration...

I took a look at all of my icons and I realized, there is not one that really emotionally impacts me. I did a little reconsideration about my icons and stumbled upon a man that has influenced me a lot, and provided amazing things for some pretty important people. His name is Mike Ciprari. Him and his brother Scott are the owners of SJC Custom Drum Company. Mike has been playing drums for 14 years, since he was nine years old. He fixed up an old drum kit of his when he went to college, so he could have it closer, and when people started seeing his work, many wanted one of their own.

Mike inspires me because he took a little hobby of his, and was able to form a career out of it. He goes to work everyday loving every minute of it. Making custom drums for bands such as Panic! At The Disco, All Time Low, Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, Boys Like Girls, Miley Cyrus, Dr. Dre and hundreds more including myself.

I could take his inspiration, and form it into something of my own. I have been meaning to make a custom kit of my own for a while now, but just haven't found the money or drive to do it yet. After getting a custom kit from them, it has been making me want to start the project more and more everyday.

Helping Hand

Dane Cook- Web
http://comedians.comedycentral.com/dane-cook
^provides press quotes about Dane Cook
"comedian phenom and icon" by Entertainment Weekly..."

http://www.danecook.com
^personal website. provides biography, followings, video and more.

http://www.hbo.com/tourgasm/interviews/dc_livechat.html
^interview on tourgasm

Video
Harmful If Swallowed
Retaliation
Rough Around The Edges
Tourgasm
Vicious Circle

Music
I'll Never Be You
Forward

Mike Ciprari- Web
SJC Custom Drums
^home website for SJC
includes full list of Bands&Artists they work with
includes testimonials from well known drummers
includes brief bio given by Mike

Interview
Mike Ciprari Interview
^provides great information for background about SJC
provides more bio info about him and company
provides his inspriation

Art/Photography

Copyright 2008 SJC Drums, All Rights Reserved
Steven Colbert- Web
Colbert Nation
^includes bio, history, followers, opinions, shows
useful for background info, as well as current news/shows of his

Podcasts
The Show
Mon-Thurs 11:30pm/10:30c
^Provides weekly information and opinions by Steven Colbert
Provides more information about other peoples views of him

Books
I Am America ( And So Can You!)
^this could possibly give me more info on his inspiration and icons
i have yet to read this so, it is hard to tell what the mood of the book is.
could be informative

America Makes Some Good Babies

Dane Cook. Apparently he is Harmful If Swallowed, a little Rough Around The Edges and much more, to over 450,000 fans that pay for his hit stand-up comedy series. Dane Cook is known for being a very energetic comedian, with a style that is very original. "I wanted to create a stage persona for myself that allowed me to really speak about anything I want... So I can be a storyteller, I can be jokey, I can be corny, I can be a little vulgar, I can be a lot vulgar. And I'm not afraid to go anywhere to get the point of the joke across, even if I have to just blabber like an idiot until it becomes apparent that I'm telling a joke and that the audience should laugh" says Dane Cook about himself. He hit the nail on the head. Taking influence and inspiration from such people as Steve Martin, Bill Cosby, Johnny Carson and George Carlin, Dane Cook sets the path as the best selling comedian in 27 years from hitting double platinum on his album Retaliation that dropped mid 2007.

This icon is important to me because it shows me that you don't have to be an engineer, a scientist, a chemist, a computer tech or a lawyer to make a living. You have to be able to laugh and make others laugh as well. I was watching a movie at the movie theater and a Dane Cook quote came across the screen. It went something like, I would rather re-live high school than ever re-learn stand up. That struck me because it seems like it comes so naturally to him, but apparently it is something that took him years upon years of practice, success, failure and hardship. Dane Cook wove his way into American culture very subtly. He began his career when he was 18, traveling doing small gigs as any craftsman does to promote himself. From actor, to musician, to comedian to hit sensation with over 500,000 hits on his website and over 2,300,000 myspace fans, I think it is fair to say he has made an impression on several people.

Willi Fleming. Local Hero, Musician, Pioneer and most importantly...inspiration. Willi began playing trombone freshman year at Saint Augustine high school here in San Diego. There, he joined the school band and met fellow band members Lucas, Ivan, Frankie, Ernie, Kevin, and Ernesto. Their first day of band, their instructor gave them words of wisdom. He told them, the most important rule in music is "Bucket Of Fish," a Latin percussion fill with a catchy name. It stuck with all the men in the band enough to use as a band name.

Today, 3 years later, they have played with bands such as Dr.Skavra, EPZ, Straight Trippin, The Skank Agents, Captain Squeegee, Grim Luck, Social Green, Mike Pinto, Half Past Two, Buck- O- Nine and many more. I don't expect many people to know of any of the bands listed, but to me and many other people who are fans of beautiful, loving, happy music, it is nothing but inspiration.

Willi takes inspiration from all those bands and more such as Sublime and Bob Marley, pioneers in the genre of music he chooses to play. Instead of singing about getting women, and gang banging(which I know is awesome) he sings about things such as superhero manatees that come to save the day against supervillain sea creatures, songs that have that special "rudi-ring" that lift you off the ground on a bad day, as well as historical figures such as Ferdinand Magellan. He inspires me because he loves nothing more than playing music. We often joke about his fame in San Diego which is slim, although wherever me and my band go with him, we will publicly announce his arrival at any sort of event like a celebrity. We spread such rumors of him walking on water or floating upon clouds in heaven that only the Willi Fleming fans would believe with every ounce of their soul. I would consider his vote for presidency if the day ever came.


Steven Colbert. America in a man. He studied acting at Northwestern College, then went off to join the Second City Comedy group birthing many celebritys such as Mike Myers, Eugene Levy, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Nia Vardalos, Steve Carell, Andy Dick and Bill Murray. In 1995, him and colleagues Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello formed the sketch comedy Exit 57 on Comedy Central. When this show ended after its two seasons, he got a job starring as "the new guy" on The Daily Show with John Stewart. After several years there, in 2005 The Colbert Report was created. A show of his own which tunes in an average of 1.5 million viewers.

He is an iconic figure because he does what not many people can do. He turns polotics into something laughable. He is not only an actor or comedian, he is a dancer, singer and writer. He brings all of these to his comedy show which makes him different than all others. He can entertain like most cant. I think it is something that leaves people laughing about him later. I find that a skill that will benefit you more than knowing how to find the area of a triangle or knowing what the quadratic formula is. Just my opinion.

Steven Colbert draws inspiration from a lot of the people or alumni of The Second City comedy group. You can find a full list of members at http://www.secondcity.com/