Ramsayings

Thinking about the music industry’s continued commitment to release dates got me thinking about the Royal Tenenbaums. You remember the scene where Eli Cash is on a show very similar to Charlie Rose and he says, “Wildcat…was written in a kind of obsolete vernacular”? I think release dates are part of the music industry’s obsolete vernacular. I’m guessing not many on the label side would admit it publicly, but they will eventually. Release dates just don’t matter to anyone anymore. (more…)

Call me crazy, but I think the music industry is broken. Sure, it’s still possible for bands and managers and labels to make money, but it’s getting increasingly difficult to do so. The contributing factors are too numerous to mention, so I’m only going to address the one I can control in my professional life: the production of editorial content. (more…)

I’m currently trying to wrap my head around an idea that best conveys “my personal brand.” It’s not easy. It also requires an embarrassing degree of self-awareness. I think that the ending of Barton Fink probably sums it up best.

In the meantime, I’m going to be experimenting here on my new blog. What’s it going to be about? Well, me, and the people and things that come into my life. It’s a welcome change from Blackmail Is My Life, which I’ll be shuttering in the near future. I have no intention of importing that content. It, like most of the work I’ve done on the web, will be left in the pixellated past.

After careful consideration, I decided to keep my own name as the blog’s title. It’s not as sexy and enigmatic as Blackmail Is My Life, but it’s much easier to find out what I’m up to, which isn’t easy when you’re blogging under an alias for reasons that were never really clear. I’ve tried as best I can to claim the web services I use in my own name, or a phonetic approximation like “jayteeramsay.” That way it’s abundantly clear that I’m posting in my own voice and stating my own opinions.

I want to give a shout to Keith Fitzgerald, who’s been the captain of this ship so far. He’s a gentleman and a scholar, not to mention the sort of technology geek who’s not foolin’ when it comes to knowing his stuff, and knowing what’s best on the web.

This blog will be developing apace as Keith and I collaborate on what makes best sense for what I want to do with my new home on the net. My goals are modest: I want to create an environment that combines my content from around the web without cluttering the blog. I want it to be as social as possible, which means I’m looking for your feedback every step of the way. I want it to be experimental in the sense that I’m going to be trying some new things, like incorporating more video content as I see fit.

One thing I will point out is that I intend to make the categories a useful part of this blog. Instead of attempting to literally categorize anything I write, I’m going to put my musings in categories defined by the action verb that best describes what I’m up to. For example, if I’m writing about a blog or a book I liked recently, you can find that under “Reading.” I think it’s far less cluttered and confusing that trying to put everything in its own box, don’t you think?

I’m pretty excited about what’s to come.  I’ll show you the life of the mind!