MATTHEWGOODONLINE

Photo by Laura Derouin Therrien.

I like it there.

It’s pretty weird using Kubrick again after all these years. Unfortunately, it’s really the only Wordpress theme that I know how to manipulate - and I mean that in the most half assed sense possible. On Tuesday I’ll begin the process of getting quotes on how fast my new design can be implemented, but this is going to have to suffice for the time being.

So enjoy the old school format while it lasts.

Oh, and if you’re having problems with anything, don’t email me or ask me what can be done because the answer’s going to woefully be – “I have no idea”.

Another day in paradise. The rivers are flowing backwards, the rain falling upwards, and the North Koreans have, for the second time, been removed from the auspicious Axis Of Evil.

Meanwhile, John McCain, to his credit, found himself defending Barack Obama at a recent Republican Party rally. One woman in the audience actually claimed that she didn’t trust Obama because “he’s an Arab”, after which Senator McCain quickly took the microphone away from her.

Of course, what would it matter if anyone running for the Presidency were an Arab American? It wouldn’t. Unless, that is, you’re the sort of bigot that believes that race somehow automatically infers that someone is, for example, a terrorist or terrorist sympathizer.

If McCain is to be given credit for anything said at that rally it’s certainly the following…

“…but I have to tell you…I have to tell you…he is a decent person that you do not have to be scared as President of the United States.”

Boos and jeering followed as McCain continued talking.

I’ve been getting a lot of messages on Facebook and emails concerning the website and I wanted to make an entry that waylays any and all worries regarding the future.

First; maintaining this website as its current level is highly important to me, which means that there should be no concerns that I will stop writing on a daily basis, nor that past content will be removed. Over the last few days I’ve had my hands full, so I haven’t been able to focus on it as I usually do. I have all but completed a new design and am currently looking into hiring a company to implement it for me.

Second; one of the most important issues that has to be confronted moving forward is having a site that I do not need to rely on anyone else to manage. Be it tour information, album promotion, or something as simple as the alteration of a logo – I want something in place that I have the ability to change or alter myself without the fear of causing damage to the site while muddling through code that I do not understand.

Third; I want to streamline the website and cut a lot of unnecessary fat from it. While the design that I am currently working on entirely focuses on achieving that goal, there a few things that, over time, I will work to implement, such as a complete lyrics archive presented in alphabetical order. But for the most part, a lot of the slick little features that the site currently has will not be present. Comments, for example, will be dramatically simplified, as will the way the archives are presented.

Fourth; I do not want the main page of the site centered around the blog. If there is one thing I have learned, especially given that this is a website that also exists to promote my music, it’s that when you make the blog the primary focus the design ends up cramming a lot of information into a limited amount of space. Therefore, I have been working to confront that problem and believe that I have produced a well thought out solution.

Anyway, if my entries in the weeks ahead are limited, please forgive me. It’s not that my desire to write has been diminished, just that I am working on implementing these changes in a timely fashion.

The reaction that I have received about the site has been overwhelming. I’ll tell you what, I will make sure that commenting on the new site is still a feature. I’ll find a way, no worries. The last thing in the world that I would ever do is ask anyone to pay to read what I write, and while I’m flattered that some have suggested that as a solution, it’s not something that I would ever contemplate. No one should have to pay for access to information, to be a part of a broader discussion regarding what is transpiring in the world, their country, or their community. So I’ll find a way to make it happen.

Anyway, Roy sent me this video yesterday which is worth a look. While economic analyst Max Keiser is a little over the top at the beginning of the interview, make sure to watch all of it, as what he has to say is extremely important.

Sometimes you hit a wall and when you do you have to take stock of things. Over the last few days I have been thinking about the website, how much time I dedicate to it, and how much work goes into managing it. The truth of the matter is that I don’t get financial support from my record company to keep this site going – it’s something that most record companies just haven’t figured out yet with regards to marketing potential. For example, without a scrap of promotion involved, besides that found on the site, Live At Massey Hall climbed as high as the low 40’s on the US iTunes top 100 yesterday, though it has since slipped, and remains at number 2 on the Canadian store. In truth, when SoundScan is released next week I could end up having one of the highest chart debuts based solely on iTunes sales alone – with basically next to no promotion.

There is no denying that this website, and its community, play an integral role in such things. But with that also comes difficulties. Besides myself, both Dale and Duane work on the site, besides being contributing authors. Unfortunately, I don’t possess the means to pay what a normal web firm would ask for development and daily involvement, which is actually a great deal of money. That being the case, and given that Dale and Duane are working hard to get their own company off the ground, focusing on this website without fair market-standard payment is not something that I am prepared to ask them to continue doing. Therefore, I find myself in the position of having to look at the future of the site and how best to maintain its visibility while making some changes that make it easier for me to manage.

I am currently in the process of designing something that is far simpler, something that does not use Wordpress as its base platform, and something that is, unfortunately, less interactive. For example, rather than the blog being on the front page of the site it will be replaced by a graphic, news updates, and a menu. I do plan to continue writing on the site, but given the volume of registered members and the number of people that comment, I have had to make the decision to do away with commenting altogether. I simply do not have the time to moderate comments, nor will I enter into an arrangement with strangers in which they’re willing to ‘help out’ – that only leads to problems and headaches.

Another change is that there will no longer be contributing authors on the website. Those that are currently contributing will, in the future, be making guest entries, but the design of what will be called the ‘daily writing’ page is by no means in depth. Therefore, anything posted on that page will be automatically attributed to me unless stated otherwise at the beginning of an entry – such as Guest entry by Roy El Saghir.

One of the ways that I am going to try and offset the loss of community is to open my Facebook page up to friend requests from fans. I will also be importing entries made on the website, so if you want to comment on them you can do so on my Facebook page. The link to my profile is here if you would like to send a friend request. I will say now that I will delete and block anyone that starts any sort of trouble, be it on the wall or elsewhere.

Another place to connect is via Twitter. If you use it, you can find my page here. Feel free to ‘follow me’ and I’ll do the same.

Anyway, with that said I am getting back to work. I hope that everyone has a good Thanksgiving weekend.

Gandhi once said “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

A statement of wisdom from a wise man with whom I could not agree more…

And with that sentiment, I am going to ask that you join me in donating to and supporting California’s Prop 2 this November 4th… Prop 2 is a modest measure that stops cruel and inhumane treatment of animals, ending the practice of cramming farm animals into cages so small the animals can’t even turn around, lie down or extend their limbs. As far as I am concerned Prop 2 doesn’t do enough, but it is a start in the right direction…

Support Prop 2

Now I realize that most of you aren’t Californians… many of you aren’t even Americans… so why should you help me in supporting this bill?

California is essentially the cultural capital of the world… and yes, I know… there is much bad that can be said about that… but also much good… I dare anyone to argue that film, music and television haven’t had a positive effect in terms of shifting progressive and tolerant cultural ideas on race, gender, sexuality, and politics… so let’s make it culturally UNACCEPTABLE to support factory farming…

I eat meat.

Every day.

I enjoy grilling steaks, brats, ribs… I love bacon… and burgers… and a good beef stew… and fried chicken too… I am a foodie and I have the sumptuous waistline to prove it… based upon my impressive corpulence, in Victorian times I would have been considered a very wealthy man… (burp… rubbing belly…)

But lately the enjoyment of my culinary pleasures has been associated with much guilt… Yeah, I get the graphic e-mails from PETA and the Humane Society… you know the ones… I try to ignore them… to pretend they aren’t there… I’d even argue with myself that the horrible factory farms, the shit caked cages, the slaughterhouses thick with gore and terror were all just a few extreme cases of animal abuse…

I was dead wrong.

This is the NORM.

If you don’t believe me go visit a typical turkey farm, where the birds are cramped in dark hangars by the thousands… or a stinking abattoir staffed by illegals because no legal worker will put up with the rank and fetid conditions… or pig farms, with the lakes of toxic sewage fouling the ground water and neighboring rivers..

I spent my teenage years in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (think of it as Canada without the social safety net) living and working among family farms and farmers… I was a 4H kid… the chickens ran free, the piggies played in the mud, and the cows munched in fields of alfalfa… and yes… we ended up eating all of them, but at least they had full happy lives… and at least to my knowledge, they were slaughtered humanely as well…

I’ve gone deer hunting… I love to fish… I believe that we humans are natural carnivores… Hunters and gatherers… But I also believe that we have a moral duty to be humane and that we shouldn’t be putting food on our table that has been tortured to death.

I’ll pay more for meat and eat less of it if that is what it takes… We North Americans eat way too much meat as it is… It is bad for the environment and takes up far too much land and resources which could be put to better use…

The horrible conditions in which we raise the food we put on our table is endemic to our society… a society in which there is little regard for anything other than how to turn a fast buck… we don’t seem to care about the fact that much of what we eat has been pumped full of steroids and antibiotics and raised in conditions so bad that Guantanamo Prison looks like the French Riviera in comparison… then in a final black celebration of our blatant disregard to the life we are about to vanquish, we slaughter the terrified animal it in the most callous manner feasible…

We eat the insane, the crippled, the sick… and what does that in turn make us? What do you think happens when you repeatedly ingest tormented flesh? We essentially become what we eat…

Just because we were given dominion doesn’t mean we should be dominionists… But seeing as we may be getting a vice president who considers shooting wolves from helicopters a pleasant sporting activity, I see this as a long uphill battle…

If you can, please donate… or at least help get the word out…

Support Prop 2

It seems there has been some extremely fucked up miscommunication regarding the vinyl release of the record. I am now being told that it will not be available for purchase, be it online or at retail, until the November 4th release date. Sorry for the confusion.

As most of you are aware, Live At Massey Hall is now available for purchase on iTunes. Since being released at midnight the record is already #2 on the iTunes Canada store and #48 (which is a feat given that it has had no promoting in the United States whatsoever).

Regarding pre-sales, the records allotted for pre-sale sold out in two hours. We are currently working on getting more, so please check the online store for updates.