Jonathan Cadien's Blog

Long time no see…

jonathancadien — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:12:32 +0000

Man its been a while since I have updated this blog! Sorry for those of you who have looked forward to a new post; life has caught up with me and I have had to take some time out from my hobbies (such as writing on this blog) to plan for my future. I will be moving from Edmonton (AB, CA) to Eugene, Oregon to attend school…I have an apartment with a buddy of mine, and it should be a great year. I hope to study either music or journalism, but hey, I guess anything is possible. Anyways, for those of you that are interested, I opened up a youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/soccerman034

This channel should contain music and sports content, so stay tuned! I have also been writing quite a bit lately, and I look forward to posting some of my stuff on the blog. Thanks for the reading!

My First Attempt At Lyric Writing…

jonathancadien — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:17:45 +0000

Hey gang, sorry for yet another long layover between posts; I really haven’t had the motivation to do anything these last few weeks, so don’t take it personally. I have an operation later this week (Gastroscopy…yikes), as well the GEDs so I probably wont have another post up for a week or so. Anyways, I figured I would show you guys a song I have been working on. I haven’t been able to match these lyrics with music yet (working on it), but they seem pretty promising. I am not too good at singing, so, I think it will be a while before you hear a complete song from me. Without further ado, here is “Modern Man“:

“The Meaning of life

written on my Walls

but I’m Illiterate.

The Truth in Lies;

Politics right?

Ignorance is bliss,

isn’t it?

Holier than thou;

maybe I am,

yet still I follow.

Over the Edge.

Fear engulfs;

stoked by those

we trust.

Blinded by faith

(no I’m not)

Chained by values

(no I’m not)

Disarmed by conscience

(no I’m not)

I am a modern man, (Whoo)”

It clearly still needs some work (Id like to get each stanza into four lines instead of 3 and 4), but it is coming along. Let me know what you think!

Sorry for the lack of new material…

jonathancadien — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:10:13 +0000

Things have been really busy lately and I havent had the time nor motivation to type up some original stuff for the blog. I am hoping to get my shit together soon so I can start writing again, and will definitly have a new post up tommorow. On a completely random side note, is anyone else tired of all of North Korea’s bullshit? Honestly, the only reason that country holds any weight in the current political landscape is becuase China stands behind it (i.e. the muscle behind the talk). Eventually China will realize how fucked up the leadership in Korea is….I just hope that this realization comes before a declaration of war that could spark a third world war. I will leave you with that bit of cyncistic, “fear mongering”, and downright scary idea for now.

Remembering D-Day (06-06-2009)…

jonathancadien — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 01:43:44 +0000

As many of you know, today (the 6th of June) 65 years ago, soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy. I couldn’t really think of a way to sum up my feelings about D-Day and the soldiers that fought in that battle, so I wrote a poem. Please feel free to tell me what you think.

D-Day Remembrance Poem: (by Jonathan Cadien, 06/06/2009)

A cool sea breeze,

chases tears

out of blood shot eyes.

A silent prayer is shared

by men,

by boys;

by those who will be

the sacrificial lamb

for the masses.

The icy ocean churns,

slowly sweeping the tiny boat

towards the destiny that resides at the shore.

Evil exists,

it is said,

where good men choose to stand idle

against the forces of oppression.

Yet these men are not idle;

They run towards death in a tiny vessel

to save the lives of the innocent,

and to redeem the wicked.

Nerves abound now,

as the beach grows closer.

Machine gun fire pierces the air above,

filling the boat with a cacophonous echo

that reverberates

down into the soul of each man.

As the boat hits solid earth,

the men hold still,

only for a moment.

For what is life but

a series of moments?

And how many men

have moments such as these?

A moment of pure clarity;

the preciousness of life

described through memories

flash through the mind of each man.

But it is too late.

The moment passes and adrenaline

now fills the tiny vessel.

Muscles flex, breathing ceases.

What first began as a whisper,

erupts as a scream from each solider,

as the doors of the ship open.

Each man runs forward

into the jaws of hell.

Chaos reigns.

As always, thanks for the read!

Loyalty in Sports: A thing of the past?

jonathancadien — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:35:48 +0000

Randy Johnson, one of my favorite baseball players ever, won his 300th game yesterday. For those that don’t know, 300 wins is a VERY big deal; in the 100+ years of professional baseball, only 24 total pitchers have achieved this feat, with only 10 of those 24 winning their 300th game in the post war era (including one Roger “Steroid” Clemens, does he really have to count?). This is easily Randy Johnson‘s best moment as a pitcher, and he is all but assured himself a spot in Cooperstown….But which cap will he be wearing when he is inducted?

Johnson is a perfect example of what legends of the free agency era have become. Lets look at the list of teams Randy has played for: Expo‘s (RIP), Mariners, Astros, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Diamondbacks again (just for one season), and Giants. Man, and I thought Brett Farve was ruining his legacy by leaving the Packers! Today’s superstars are mercenaries, and before you go looking for whose fault it is (Marvin Miller and Curt Flood not included), you must first look at the system.

Tom Glavine, another 300 game winner, was recently cut by his original team (the Atlanta Braves). Glavine, who began his career with the Braves, was told that he didn’t have the stuff to compete in the majors anymore. Pretty harsh right? Especially for a guy that is one of your organizations living legends. But before you start to demonize the organization, you also must realize that Glavine left the Braves in 2003 to pitch five years with Mets. Do the Braves really owe anything to a man who left them first?

The problem discussed in this article is not just a part of baseball; super stars like Lebron James in the NBA, and Brett Farve in the NFL have either hinted at moving away from their original teams, or actually went ahead and moved (in Farve’s case). The days of Cal Ripken Jr. are over, and the new sporting landscape is riddled with both selfishness and cut-throat cynicism. It is all about the bottom-line, and if you haven’t produced lately, well, your headed to the curb. This same analogy can be expressed in an even bigger scale, looking at the economic downturn, and the inevitable failure of large and historic companies such as GM.

There is no happy or uplifting way to end this story; we are witnessing the decline of loyalty in all walks of life, and it truly does sadden me. Although their are a few lone examples of guys who have stuck with an organization for the long run (Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning), even they are not immune to this decline; I would not be surprised to see both Jeter and Peyton in different uniforms by the time they retire. In the end, I think that we will be honoring individuals and not teams, even in team sports. I have been meaning to purchase a Randy Johnson jersey to frame and put on my wall, but there are just way too many jerseys to pick from…why bother?

Alternate Picking Exercise

jonathancadien — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:45:18 +0000

I thought I would share another exercise with you guys that can help with really fast alternate picking. I scanned in a sample tab as well, here is what it looks like:

- Over the first repetition on the tab, I have the picking rythmn (U= pick Up, D=pick Down). Over the second repetion I have the finger structure (1: pointer finger, 2: middle finger, 3: ring finger, 4: pinky). This tab should sound like this: Alternate Picking Exercise.

The key with getting better at speed picking is starting out slow; play this riff 10 or so times at 4:4 timing, then speed up from there. Make sure you have a good solid pick as well, that is always key to playing stuff like this really fast; I tend to choke way up on my pick when doing this as well to produce a better cadance for my picking hand.

A crossroads in my life…

jonathancadien — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:39:28 +0000

Sports was really my first love in life. From playing kick n’ chase soccer, to little league, I loved everything about sports; it made me part of a group, and allowed me to satisfy my competitive nature. But I think the biggest thing sports gave me was heroes. Don’t get me wrong, I had/have other heroes as well; the writer of “Fight Club”, Chuck Palahniuk, once said that most Christian boys growing up in the 20th century modeled their views on God after their father, and I am a whole-hearted believer in that quote. My father has always been the embodiment of moral and ethical reason , and I have a feeling that that will never change, but sporting figures were right up there with my father, shaping and molding my life with their actions both on and off the field. The mythical achievements of guys like Vince Lombardi, Lou Gehrig, and Ken Dryden were more than simple bed time stories to me. They represented pure and utter greatness. These professional athletes were true giants to me then, and to some degree they still are, but something has begun to change. As seen in prior blog posts, I am a huge fan of minor league baseball. For me, it represents a cleaner and more historic replica of what the game was when guys like Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner played the game. I have looked up to these athletes just like any of the pros, even as I dissected their potential and ruled on whether they would become stars in the big time or not. As time has gone on, and I got older (currently 19 and a half), these sporting phenoms have not aged a bit. Like the famous quote by Matthew McConaughey in “Dazed and Confused”: “That’s why I love these high school girls: I keep getting older and they stay the same age.” Some of these minor league stars that I glorify so much are quickly becoming even younger than I am….This realization has caused me to both yearn for my childhood and look ahead to the future. Who will I look up to now? Many of these young athletes ( I realize now) are as scared shit-less as I am about the future and entering the “Real World.” Many of them are even less prepared than I am to face the harsh and often brutal realities of an adult life. Times likes these, when we think introspectively about the past and the future don’t occur often, and I feel as if this is a major cross road in my life. Are these athletes really that important? Hell, are sports in general really anything more than entertainment? Thoughts like these tumble through my mind as I move forward to college, where I will decide whether I want to pursue a career in the sports world, or whether I want to pursue something else. In the end, I think we all must decide what we consider to be important in our lives… It may be difficult as the definition of “important” is often fluid and hard to identify, but I think that this whole process is just part of becoming an adult and defining ourselves as in individuals in this world. Children praise athletes like gods; can adults do the same? I will be finding this out in the coming months.

Promoted: Carlos Gutierrez moving up to AA

jonathancadien — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:44:48 +0000

Drafted with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2008 MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins, Carlos Gutierrez was considered by many as a closer in waiting due to arm issues (he had Tommy John surgery late in his high school career which made many question his durability). Despite concerns about his durability, the Twins allowed the young pitcher to start and he has yet to disappoint. Gutierrez has posted a 1.32 ERA over 10 starts (52.2 IP), while posting a 33/22 SO to BB ratio, a fantastic .192 BAA, and the most a freakish stat of all: a 4.48 GO/AO ratio. Carlos showcases a low 90′s fastball with late heavy movement (a plus pitch by all accounts), a plus change up (which has allowed him to cause a crazy amount of ground balls), and an improving slider. Gutierrez will be moving up to AA to pitch with Minnesota’s AA affiliate New Britain; the sky is truly the limit for this fantastic young pitching prospect!

Note: This is the second surprising/fantastic 1st round pick the Twins have made consecutively; last year it was Ben Revere who has become one of baseballs best prospects, and now Gutierrez. Great organization!stat

Using a warm up method to form a guitar solo…

jonathancadien — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:18:30 +0000

I thought I would give you guys a little insight on the solo I have been working on for “Falling Apart”, although it may end up being an intro riff to another song (I can’t seem to play it right in E minor, the key in which “Falling Apart” is played). To be honest, the whole idea of the solo came from a warm up riff I created to stretch my hands while playing. I printed a copy of the tab off (I used Power Tab V1.7 to write it, great program!), and scanned it in so I can show you an example. I also wrote a reference to which fingers should play which notes; in the reference, the pointer finger=1, the middle finger=2, the ring finger=3, and the pinky=4 (I figured some of the newer guitarists our there would find it useful). Here is the tab:

Warm Up Exercise:

-This warm up should sound like this.

Here is an advanced version of the same warm up; this is meant to show the versatility of this fingering structure down or up the fret board (keep in mind that the same fingering should be used no matter where this warm up is played).

Advanced Warm Up Exercise:

-This warm up should sound like this (half speed recording).

Using the notes in the 1st warm up, I came up with a little riff that I intend to use for a solo at some point. Here is what that looks like in tab form (again, same fingering structure).

Solo:

-This is how the solo should sound.

Pretty interesting stuff! By the way, I used my strat reproduction (Silvertone) to make these recordings while my Epiphone Les Paul gets a tune up. As always, thanks for the read!

NOTE: I see that my images are cut off (damn you WordPress!), but you can still view them by right clicking, then clicking “view image.” Sorry for the inconvenience!

Finished the first draft of “Falling Apart”, and am working on a solo….

jonathancadien — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:44:56 +0000

I decided to incorporate the intro to my second song (“Falling”) into my first song; I am using it as a transition from the solo to the main chorus line and I think it works pretty effectively. Not only does it sound pretty good, but it also allows my hand to slip down to the end of the guitar where the chrous and the verse are played. Here is the first draft: “Falling Apart” Draft #1.

I intially meant this first song to be a two guitar attack, meaning that one guitar would play the lead line and the other would play the rhythm section. The only issue is that, for the most part, I was only using the rythmn guitar for harmonization. Harminzation is when one guitar plays a riff at a certain octave, and another guitar plays the same riff at a different octave, creating a ear appealing affect. A key example of “harmonizing guitars” can be found in the “The Trooper” by Iron Maiden. Anyways, I decded to start working on the solo for “Falling Apart”, and thus I needed to also write a rythmn line to play under it. Here they are; keep in mind these are very early drafts and the solo is played at half speed:

-”Falling Apart” Solo (half speed) Draft # 1

-”Falling Apart” Solo Rythmn line Draft #1

Anyways, sorry for the long time between posts, but I have been really busy. I am renting an apartment next fall with a buddy of mine in Eugene Oregon, and I need to get a ton of stuff ready before I move. Thanks for the read!