Fall Semester 2011

As I sit down to write this post, I am home for Christmas break!  It is so nice to be home, surrounded by family and friends.  Los Angeles really is great, but there is always something special about coming home.

So many things have happened this semester and I am really excited about what the future might bring.  To kick off the semester, I started a new job working for Mobius Music Group.  MMG is a publishing company with a fully functioning professional studio and our primary task is working with music supervisors to place music in TV/film.  It is a small, up-and-coming company and I am really enjoying the work.  I have learned so much about copyrights, Performing Rights Organizations, and other aspects of the music industry.  We maintain a large catalogue of artists, and we promote them through the use of various e-mail campaign services.  It has been nice to get some training outside of school and it has opened my eyes to all of the possible career paths in music.  I hope to continue working there and learn more about the business side of making music.

In addition to studio work, I have three teaching jobs that keep me very busy.  I work for Takelessons, USC, and I still maintain a private studio of students that I have found on my own.  I still enjoy teaching, but I hope to find a balance between teaching and studio work.  I have also written some new songs which I hope to record soon.  I have definitely missed rehearsing, recording, and gigging, but I will try to bring these back into the picture soon.  Right now, I am focused on finishing my degree and figuring out how I can make a living in the music industry.

There are many options, but I know that God is in control.  It is amazing to think that I am nearly finished with my Master's Degree.  One more semester and then I will have two degrees!

In addition to work and school, I managed to get some down-time as well this semester.  At the end of September, Julie came out to visit for a week and we had a great time.  You can read about her visit here on her wonderful blog:

Julie's Blog!

We managed to go to the beach a couple of times and we even went hiking in Malibu.  We went to the Irvine Cars and Coffee meeting and then went to San Diego for Julie's childhood friend's wedding.  It was a great week!

In November, I got some time off of work and was able to fly back to Dallas the week after my birthday.  I was able to see my family, spend time with Julie, and we even drove down to Waco to see William!  I was also invited to one of Julie's work events and I got to see how hard she works.  I really enjoyed the time away from everything and it re-energized me as I prepared to finish the semester.

 
All in all, Fall 2011 has been a great semester.  I have learned a lot about myself and I am looking forward to graduation in May.  I hope that all of you are well as we begin this Holiday season.  I am very thankful for each of you and I wish you all of the best as we wrap up 2011 and welcome 2012.

May God bless you!

An Album Review: "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay

The objective for this assignment was to write a positive review on something that I love.  Predictably, I chose a Coldplay album. 

An Album Review: “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay

What a decade it has been for that small rock band from the south of England.  From “Yellow” to “Clocks” and “The Scientist,” Coldplay has been ruling the airwaves and our headphones.  The quartet’s fourth studio effort, “Viva La Vida,” demonstrates that this band has only gotten better with age.  The sounds, music, and overall concept of this latest release shows that a rock album can still have a single, unifying theme.  “Long live life” is the Spanish translation of “Viva La Vida” and each track contains this passion.  It proves that humans are still capable of generating something truly beautiful.

With a run time of 45 minutes, this album is intended to be listened to in one sitting and I believe that this is fairly reasonable to ask of the general public.  However, in the age of iTunes and file-sharing, the average listener rarely finds the need to buy entire albums.  With the variety of music on “Viva La Vida,” I do not feel that Coldplay is asking too much.

Opening the album is the achingly beautiful “Life in Technicolor.”  With a soft melody that rises like the sun over a mist-covered mountain, the song crescendos out of silence to a triumphant climax marked by the sound of crashing drums and a choir of voices.  The main melody is carried by zithers and keyboards, accompanied by acoustic guitar.  These instruments meld with the lush, ambient warbles created by none other than the legendary Brian Eno.  The only thing more remarkable than the array of instruments on display is the fact that this is an instrumental piece.  Quite a statement for the opening track of a rock album.

Having worked with U2, David Bowie, Talking Heads, and Ultravox (just to name a few), Brian Eno has become one of the best producers in the industry and this is worth mentioning because the production on “Viva La Vida” is top notch.  Each song has a unique sound, but a great cohesive quality is maintained.  Every single instrument present on the record sounds like it should.  The balance is superb and this is especially important when you consider the variety of sounds on this album.   

The tasteful use of exotic instruments pervades many of the tracks and each song carries its own character and personality.  The sound of tribal drums and hand-claps provides the rhythmic foundation for “Lost!,” an incredibly catchy song with references to the music of African tribes.  “Just because I’m losing, doesn’t mean I’m lost,” sings Chris Martin.  A true statement about what it means to be content in any situation.

With heavy references to the stadium rock of U2, “Lovers in Japan” features a driving beat and Chris Martin’s trademark falsetto vocals.  The piano, with a “honky-tonk” tone, is completely absorbed in Jonny Buckland’s reverb-soaked guitar tones.  The resulting texture, combined with Brian Eno’s signature ambient sound, is so rich and full. 

The two singles on this album, “Viva La Vida” and “Violet Hill,” showcase the maturity of Coldplay and their willingness to break down musical barriers.  The sounds of a full string orchestra punctuate the title track and the standard rock and roll drum set is replaced with two timpani drums and a massive bell.  But this doesn’t mean that Coldplay has forgotten their fans.  The chorus to “Viva La Vida” triumphs with “ohhs” that channel the energy of a football match (that’s soccer to American readers).  “Violet Hill,” with lyrics expressing discontent with the state of politics, contains elements of the blues and serves as Coldplay’s first anti-war protest song.  Buckland’s typical soft guitar tones are replaced with a gritty distorted sound that provides a fitting soundtrack to the anger expressed in Martin’s lyrics. 

This album has so much more to offer as well.  A piano postlude following “Cemeteries of London,” is reminiscent of Chopin or Ravel.  Hidden tracks bejewel the album and bring to mind the days when people would listen to entire albums with track-listing in hand, surprised when an unknown track would appear at the end of another.  The album comes full circle when “Life in Technicolor” is reprised as “The Escapist” (a hidden track) at the album’s closing minutes.   Coldplay, a self-proclaimed “heavy soft-rock band,” is changing the very definition of what is considered rock and roll.

What a decade it has been; what a decade indeed.  Long live Coldplay.

An Album Review: "Pink Friday" by Nicki Minaj

The objective of this assignment was to write a critical devastation of a work that "annoys or irritates me."

An Album Review: "Pink Friday" by Nicki Minaj

From incredibly dull, to annoyingly vulgar, Nicki Minaj’s Hip-Hop/Rap/Pop debut album “Pink Friday” takes listeners on a journey that is nearly too awful for words.  At times, the assault on my ears left me utterly speechless and at other times pondering “can anyone create respectable music of this style?”  Each cut on “Pink Friday” is dripping with over-produced, auto-tuned vocals that often make it very hard to distinguish the lyrics from the electronic conglomeration of drum loops and bass-heavy synthesizer.  However, what does come across is a fair amount of senseless chanting and bad poetry.

Onika Tanya Maraj, known to her fans as Nicki Minaj, was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and then moved to Queens in New York City.  Prior to her debut album, Minaj released a series of mix tapes until she was eventually discovered by Lil Wayne.  “Pink Friday” contains collaborations with arguably some of the biggest stars in Hip-Hop, Rap, and Pop, but this only serves to showcase her shortcomings.  As co-writer on all of the tracks, Minaj cannot hide her pointless, yet somehow self-righteous, lyrics behind writing partners including Marshall Mathers, will.i.am, and Natasha Bedingfield.

Mathers lends a hand on the explicit “Roman’s Revenge” and manages to outshine Minaj in every way.  His flow of lyrics seems natural and even though the content is rude and nonsensical, I can at least appreciate his natural ability for wordplay.  Minaj’s song with will.i.am, “Check It Out,” is slightly less offensive, offering a pop-coated song that once again suffers from over-production.  Will.i.am brings his typical “coolness” and “swagger” to this radio-friendly tune, but there is nothing new or interesting to be found here.  In fact, “Check It Out” uses source material from The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” and “Think (About It)” written by James Brown.  Perhaps the use of these samples is the only tasteful selection on the album. 

The onslaught continues as the record progresses through the track listing, and I find it very difficult to tell each song apart.  “Super Bass” (the music video has 124 million views on Youtube!) is currently receiving extensive airplay, but I find nothing stellar about this song over the others.  It features a simple, repetitive pop chorus with verses performed in a rap-style.  The other top-billed single, “Moment 4 Life” featuring Drake, follows the same formula.  Except this time the chorus is sung with no regard for pitch or tone.  Minaj chants “for life” over a series of electronic pulses and beats.  The production quality is quite good and the balance between computer-generated sounds and voice is okay at times, but these demands are expected to be met by the modern-day pop album.  Synthesizers drone and bottom-heavy drums propel each song to the next, and the perpetual groove leads me to believe that this music is destined never to leave the club.  And that is fine, I suppose, because people do not go to a club in order to experience enlightening or uplifting music.

Nearing the end of “Pink Friday’s” one hour run time, I found myself trying to grasp onto anything remotely resembling a musical offering and this is where I found “Last Chance.”  A fitting title for the closing track on the album and one last chance for redemption.  Once again, the co-writer overshadows the lead lady as Bedingfield lends her powerful voice to the pop-infused chorus of this average, albeit radio-friendly, rap song.   

In all, I fear that “Pink Friday” offers nothing original or exciting to the world of popular music.  If anything, Minaj’s debut feeds into the growing catalogue of formulaic, unnecessarily explicit drivel that seems to dominate popular culture.  After glancing at the Billboard charts, my fears are confirmed and I appear to be in the minority.  “I’m the best now, anybody with some money should invest now,” chants Minaj, but I have a hard time recommending that anyone invest their time, let alone money, on this record.

The Art of Listening to Music

Hello everyone!

I am taking a course this semester called "Criticism of Music" and it is taught by Pulitzer Prize winner, Tim Page.  He is a truly brilliant teacher and writer and I am really enjoying his class.

I would like to use my blog in order to share my writing with others.  Please feel free to make comments as this will only serve to improve my writing.  Technology makes everything so accessible and I would love the input of people from all over the world.

Our class assignments focus on the art of "critical listening," so these articles are written as if I am a music critic.

Please enjoy and thank you, in advance, for reading.

Alex

"Climbing the Biggest Mountains in the World with the Person who Made Them"

The idea of faith and what that term implies has been on mind for the past few years.  Going to college, Bible studies, moving to California, and reading Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom has all served to influence my faith and what it means to me.

Yesterday, my Mum shared an article from Relevant Magazine.  It is an article about Bear Grylls and his personal testimony.  You can read the full article here:

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/digital-issue/45?page=51

To sum up, Bear talks about having the "wild and simple faith" of a child.  He talks about yearning to return to the simplicity of a "child-like faith."  Here is a quote of his that I really love:

“Christianity is not about religion... It’s about faith, about being held, about being forgiven. It’s about finding joy and finding home. We all want that, but nobody wants religion. Why do people turn away from faith? They’re not, they’re turning away from religion most of the time. I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t want to be forgiven or held or find peace or joy in their life. We try loads of other stuff—we think booze or foxy women or whatever will fill it—but it doesn’t fill the hole.”

In my faith journey, I have been all over the place.  I have gone from feeling passionate to feeling confused.  I have gone from feeling lost to being found.  At times, I have been a Pharisee, treating the Bible as law.  Like Bear Grylls, I long to return to the simple faith of my childhood.  Far too often I have forgotten what God, first and foremost, calls us to do: love Him.  In the end, that is all that we can do.

I think that Bear is spot on with his desire to keep things simple.  I will continue to read the Bible and try to understand all that It teaches, but I must remember that I will never be able to wrap my mind around everything in the Bible.  This is where faith comes into play.  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."- Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

When all is said and done, our minds often get in the way of God and receiving His love.  When we remove our minds from the equation, we can experience a true and simple love that comes from a simple faith in the almighty, infinite Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth.

It is always encouraging to hear the testimony of others and I find it remarkable that a celebrity, like himself, feels the way that he does.  When talking about his faith, Bear describes it has "being home."  "It’s about being able to climb the biggest mountains in the world with the Person who made them."

That is what I want.  A simple faith that finds peace and rest in the God of the universe, knowing that whatever comes to pass is meant to be.

 

 

Summer 2011:

Well, it's been a few months since my last blog post, but this post marks the return of the "Music Man."

I spent my entire summer in Dallas and it was one of the best summer breaks I have ever had.  It was a time of great emotional trial juxtaposed with times of true joy.  It was a time of trying new things whilst enjoying the everyday things that we often take for granted.  It was a time for family.  While living at home, I did have the urge to write several blog posts, but it didn't feel quite right.  I was spending time with the people that normally read my blog anyway!

My summer started with a nice, long drive from Los Angeles to Dallas.  My dad flew out on the day of my last exam and we spent two days cleaning and packing.  We left early in the morning on Sunday, May 8th, and we arrived late-afternoon the next day.  It was a fun drive, but I was glad to be home.

May turned out to be a very eventful month for the McKee family.  During my first weeks back, my brother went to Kenya on a two week mission trip and my dad went to Belfast, Northern Ireland for my grandfather's 80th birthday.  Upon his return from Belfast, my father found out that he lost his job.  This was a huge blow to our family, but we banded together and prepared for what the future may hold.  I truly feel that we became closer and more dependent on God during this time (since June, my dad has applied for jobs all over the country and still seeks full-time employment).

June was all about cutting back and enjoying the simple things in life.  I spent a lot of time with my family, my church family, Julie, and my closest friends.  My brother and I decided to play summer softball with the college guys at our church.  It was great to get outside, learn a new sport, and fellowship with some of my oldest friends.  Before this summer, I never gave baseball (or softball) a chance, but I grew to appreciate "America's past-time" and I can now say that I enjoy to play this sport.

During this time, Julie and I started working on our Summer bucket list.  You can read more about it on her blog: justjuliec.blogspot.com.  We had a lot of fun buying lottery tickets, watching fireworks, going to Cars and Coffee (twice!), eating Thai food, making new desserts, and going to NRH2O.  There were so many other wonderful things on the list, but the thing that I enjoyed most was sharing my love of running with Julie.  She was hesitant going into it, but after a few sessions she is now running on her own!  I am so proud of her for trying something that she didn't really want to do and for giving it her best.

On June 24th, my brother turned 20 years old!  To celebrate, I made him work for over two hours in the hot sun.  Let me explain...

Julie works for the Center for Brain Health in Dallas and they planned a company picnic to take place on June 24th.  For this picnic they wanted live music, so I decided to get a small band together.  I asked the closest people to me for help... my family!  I played guitar and sang lead vocals, my dad played bass and sang both lead and backing vocals, and my brother played drums and sang backing vocals as well.  It was really fun to rehearse and prepare the two hour set-list which included selections from: The Beach Boys, The Eagles, Jack Johnson, Oasis, Kings of Leon, Fastball, The Fray, Weezer, Keith Urban, Don McLean, Mumford and Sons, and Lynyrd Skynrd.  The only thing missing was my Mum playing keyboards.  Next time!



July brought forth celebrations of independence and more musical endeavors.  Julie and I went with two other couples to see Le Freak at the Glass Cactus.  For those of you who don't know, Le Freak is a disco band that play the greatest hits of the disco era.  It was a crazy concert experience and we had a really great time watching both the band and the audience in attendance.  On the eve of my Mum's birthday, July 6th, the family band played a second gig at my brother's "Thank You" Concert.  This concert was our way of thanking the everyone for supporting William on his trip to Kenya.  He took the time to share many of the wonderful things that happened on the trip.  You can read more about the trip here:

http://www.baylorkenyamusic.org/ 

July also brought forth the opportunity for me to enter the recording studio with an old friend and band mate.  While getting ready for the "Thank You" Concert, I received a call from one of my oldest friends, Adam.  He wanted me to go into the studio with him and help him record his debut album.  I said that I would love to help without even thinking.  Then he told me that the studio was in Denver.  This didn't change my answer.  Two weeks after the call, we flew to Denver with the hope of completing the album.  After two and a half long days in the studio, we finished the recording process for the album.  I played electric guitar and some acoustic guitar parts, saxophone, and sang some backing vocals.  It was a great experience that is worthy of its own blog post (I will get to work on that soon).  You can hear AJ's music and learn more about him here:

http://www.ajadamsmusic.com/AJ_Adams/Home.html


After getting back from four days on the road, the rest of the summer was really a blur.  I spent the remaining weeks with loved ones and friends, enjoying the fleeting moments of the season.  There were several poker nights (which I hope continue when I come home for winter break).  I played a few shows with NOVA during my last weeks (ahh yes, I failed to mention that I had been rehearsing with NOVA once a week since May) and it was awesome to reunite with my Dallas band again.


Celebrating our anniversary two weeks early, Julie and I decided to exchange gifts and spend a really nice evening together on Saturday August 14th, knowing that we would have to be apart for our actual anniversary.  I bought her a pair of running shorts and a gift card to get a massage at Massage Envy.  She bought me a watch from Fossil.  It is beautiful.  She is too good to me!  On Sunday, I played my last gig with NOVA and then ended the evening at BJ's Brewery for a get-together with some close friends.  It was awesome and a reminder of how blessed I am to know such wonderful people and to be able to call them my friends.  I also really like that this evening saw my friends from college mingle with my friends from high school.  Again, this summer was about the simple things.

And that is all.  I am sure that I have missed some things, but I always strive to keep my posts brief.  However, I feel that I fail miserably at this, fancying myself somewhat of a writer.

I hope that your summer was as blessed and as peaceful as mine was and I really hope that you will take some time today, or this week, to be thankful for all that you have.  That is what I feel this summer was for me; a time to be thankful for all that I have been given.

Goodnight.

Home Stretch

First, let me apologize once again for taking so long to write in my blog.  School has been all-consuming these past weeks and things are finally starting to wind down.  A lot has happened recently, so here is a brief update:

I have managed to stay on top of school this semester by spending a fair amount of time practicing and researching in the library.  I just finished the first draft to a huge term paper which is due in two weeks.  It required a lot of reading and research, but I am thrilled that it is almost finished.  I have two final exams on May 6th and then I will have completed my first year of graduate school.  It has been a great learning experience for me, but I am glad that I am almost halfway done with my Master's degree!  Time really is flying by very quickly.  I have been practicing saxophone as much as possible and I have been fortunate enough to play for church services on several occasions.  I was also asked to participate in the premiering of a new work for saxophone quartet, which was very exciting.

I have four part-time jobs that serve to keep me very busy when I am not doing school-related work.  I teach private music lessons for Takelessons.  Through this company, I teach two trumpet students, one trombone/guitar student, one flute student, and one guitar student.  I am really putting my Music Education degree to good use!  I am still working for the USC School of Music Outreach Program by teaching music lessons to local music students and accompanying a children's choir once a week.  In addition to all of this, I have been teaching saxophone/guitar lessons as a private teacher out of my own studio.

I have continued to work with Grayson Palmer on several projects and I am really excited about what the future has in store.  We worked on the theme music for ASST, which is a great web-series that can be viewed on-line.  We are also working on some other film scores.  He has been helping me work on my own material, which has taken longer than I would have liked, but we have been getting some great tracks laid down lately and I am excited to finally share them with you.  The plan is to have an acoustic EP available sometime in May.

Here is a link to ASST:

http://www.asstseries.com/ 

I will be moving back to Texas at the beginning of May (which is really soon) and I cannot wait to be home.  I miss my family, church family, Julie, and my friends very much.  I have a lot of things already planned for the summer.  I will be working with some summer band programs.  I am going to be playing some small acoustic shows in order to get some exposure for my solo stuff.  I am also going to be playing some gigs with my band, NOVA.  We just released our debut album on iTunes and I am really excited for everyone to hear the songs.  I believe that we will be recording another batch of freshly-written songs at the end of May.

My summer plans also include checking items off of the "Summer 2011 Bucket-List."  You should read Julie's blog to see what I am on about (http://justjuliec.blogspot.com).  I will also be spending a lot of time with friends and family.

Here are some links to check out NOVA's album, Love Revolution:

https://www.facebook.com/novatheband 
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-revolution/id427653476
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004T6V5EQ/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1302824599&sr=8-1

Thank you for reading my short update.  I am really going to try hard to keep this blog up to date, but we will see how successful I am!

Take care and may God bless you.

The Men That I Admire Most

"Behind every great man there's a great woman."

This well-known quote implies that a great man has the support of a great woman.  I agree with the implications of this quote.  I am not going to get into a Feminist debate here, because I wish to focus on something else.  I agree that a man should have a "great" woman in his life, but I also believe that a great man should look up to other male role-models.

I started to think about this a few weeks ago when I was talking with one of my friends about who has influenced me and who I admire.  In this post, I will list some of the guys that I admire most and discuss their influence over me.

Chris Martin

Anybody who knows me well can attest to my slight obsession with Coldplay.  I really admire each of the band members, but (as any Coldplay fan will tell you) Chris Martin is the heart and soul of the band.  They wouldn't be a success without each member working together, but Chris is really the glue that holds everything together.  I admire him primarily for his song-writing abilities.  He has had a profound influence over me as a song-writer and as a musician.  I will forever be in pursuit of influencing others as strongly as he has influenced me.



Michael Westen (fictional character played by Jeffrey Donovan  on "Burn Notice")

This may sound lame, but I really admire a person that doesn't actually exist.  I am sure that there are people out there similar to him, but no one will ever be quite like Michael Westen.  If you haven't seen the show, Michael is a spy that is burned (fired) from his government job, and he is forced to stay in Miami (I will probably dedicate an entire blog post to this show).  I have been a loyal fan since season 2 and it is one of the only shows (in addition to Top Gear) that I will watch on a regular basis.  In many ways, I aspire to be like Michael.  He is incredibly resourceful, quick thinking and intelligent.  He really cares for his family and friends will do anything to keep them out of harm's way.  He also drives a 1973 Dodge Charger Rallye which is an amazing car.  Throughout the seasons, he has taken on every bad guy imaginable and he plays the consummate hero well.  He is a "man's man" and is always placing himself into the line of fire in order to save the day and protect the innocent.  I know that he doesn't exist, but he does exist as a symbol; something that all men can aspire to be.

Paul Walker

I have liked Paul Walker as an actor ever since I saw him in The Fast and the Furious.  I can relate to him because he is passionate about cars and surfing.  He appears to be a really chill guy that gets along with everyone.  However, I really admire him for the work that he does off screen.  He is active in the preserving of great white sharks and has been involved with several initiatives to keep the great white population from disappearing.  He also avoids the Hollywood scene and leads a rather simple life.  I never see him in celebrity news (not that I really watch this stuff), but I admire that he doesn't wish to be the center of attention.  In a Men's Health article, he says that he built his own home in Indonesia and he will go there for a few months out of the year and live off of the land.  I think that this is awesome!  He has made enough money to live as richly as he would like, and yet he chooses to live simply and enjoy nature.  I do not aspire to be wealthy, but if I ever come into money, I hope to treat fortune in the same way as Paul Walker.

Richard Hammond

For those of you who do not watch Top Gear, Richard Hammond (AKA Hamster) is a co-presenter on the greatest show about all things cars.  On the show, he is known as the young one and he infuses a "hip coolness" into each episode.  I admire his taste in cars, his sense of style, and most importantly his attitude about life.  In 2006, he was involved in a car crash that could have ended his life.  Suffering a brain injury, Hammond was not expected to fully recover.  Well he did recover and he continues to work on Top Gear in addition to working on other projects.  He is my favorite petrolhead and I will continue to pay attention to his thoughts about the future of motoring. 



Jason David Frank

Better known as the Green/White Ranger, from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Jason David Frank has had an influence over me since I was a small boy.  He is the main reason as to why I got involved in martial arts in the first place.  I would certainly be a very different person today had I not taken martial arts for so many years.  More recently, he has founded Jesus Didn't Tap.  It is a Christian-affiliated MMA organization that promotes Christianity in the world of mixed-martial arts.  I think that this is a really amazing endeavor.  The world of martial arts has never really been associated with Christianity and I really admire all of the work that JDF is doing in order to spread the gospel. 



Lance Armstrong

Anybody who has known me for any length of time will realize that I really admire Lance Armstrong.  I have proudly worn a Livestrong "baller band" since 2004 when he won his sixth Tour de France.  I never take it off, ever.  I keep it on at all times as a reminder of how strong a human can be.  Lance Armstrong's battle with cancer is the ultimate example of the indomitable spirit.  I may not agree with his personal choices, but I will always admire his attitude and spirit.  Since beating cancer, he has gone on to raise millions of dollars for cancer research and he is constantly raising awareness about this disease.  He has inspired millions of people all over the world and he inspired me to continue pressing on in life.  I use Lance's attitude and apply it to my spiritual life.  Paul says in Philippians 3:14, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  The Christian life is an uphill battle, but we should never, ever give up.


My Father- Kenneth McKee

I admire both of my parents for many reasons, but since we are talking about male role-models I will have to leave out my Mum for the moment (Mum, if you are reading this, I am sorry).  My Dad is very smart and hard-working.  He cares for his family and has provided for us through many difficult times.  He was brave enough to move his entire family to a foreign land and we have really thrived here in America.  He is an excellent runner, having run many marathons.  His level of physical fitness saved his life when a doctor told him that his left anterior descending artery was completely clogged.  His heart had actually built its own bypass and that is what prevented him from having a heart attack.  I thank God everyday that my Dad is still alive and that near death experience is a big reason why I wish to continue running and staying active.  My Dad is also a great musician and he has influenced me in countless ways.  From my taste in music, to how I play the guitar, I have been influenced my Dad.  I may not have discovered David Bowie, Thin Lizzy, or Neil Young if it wasn't for my Dad.  I hope that I can be as good a father someday.

I am also old enough to realize that my Dad couldn't have done any of these things without my Mum!  She is the reason why I am here.  She is the "great woman" behind the "great man."

My Grandfather- Alexander McKee

The original Alexander McKee (I am named after him) dropped out of school at the age of 13 in order to work full-time and provide for the family.  He has served his country in the Royal Navy and still attends Naval functions.  He has seen the world at war and has lived through extremely difficult times.  He has been married to the same woman for over 50 years.  He is a great leader of our entire McKee family.  He has a great sense of humour and he is incredibly intelligent.  I have many fond memories of sitting on his lap while he told stories of his life and I would always be amazed at the things that he has done.  I am really looking forward to being a grandfather, so that I can carry on his legacy.

On a side note, Gaga (my Grandfather) turns 80 in May!  I really want to be there, but it is just too dear.  I cannot afford it.  I am saving hard for next Summer, when I can hopefully return and spend some long overdue time with my family.

There are countless other individuals who have had a profound influence over me, but I wanted to try and keep this post short.  I have said this before, but if you are reading this blog post, then you have had an influence over my life.  I could not be where I am today without each of you.

Thank you for everything.

Spring Break 2011

2011 Spring Break was truly a great spring break.  I got some time away from LA and school.  I was able to spend time with loved ones and friends.  Seeing my parents and Julie everyday was awesome!  It really reminded me of what is important.  I also enjoyed attending my home church.  All in all, it was a wonderful week that went by too quickly.  Here is a brief summary of what went on:

On Friday, my flight left LAX at 8:15.  I wasn't charged to check my bag, so the trip was already off to a great start.  I got into Dallas around 1:00 and I spent the afternoon catching up with my Mum, Dad, and brother.  In the evening we ate dinner and watched Due Date.  Julie came over and spent the evening with the family.  On Saturday, we rehearsed for the next day's church service.  I was able to lead worship and play my Dad's Les Paul!  On Saturday night, Julie and I went to the Galleria.  Julie needed to find some clothes for upcoming events and I went along for emotional support.  Julie found everything that she was looking for which was cool.  After shopping, we met two of Julie's friends, Allison and Lance, and we had a double date at an Asian restaurant called Firefly.  It was a really wonderful evening spent in great company.  After dinner, Julie and I ate frozen yoghurt.  On Sunday, we went to church and then I spent the afternoon hanging out with my brother before he headed back to Waco that night.  The weather was awesome, so Willy and I played basketball at the local park.

Monday was a relatively chill day.  I hung out with a good friend, Parth, in the afternoon.  In the evening, Julie and I had dinner with Doug and Renee.  Julie arrived just in time for dinner.  It was great to spend some time with old friends and we really enjoyed ourselves.  On Tuesday, I hit some golf balls with Parth because the weather was perfect again.  Spending time outside was really nice because I feel like I don't do enough of that in LA.  On Tuesday night, my Mum and I went to see The King's Speech.  I hadn't been to the movies in ages and we picked a cracking film to break that dry spell.  It is a brilliant film that deserves every bit of recognition that it receives.  I cannot praise it highly enough.  I loved it!  After that, I spent some time with Julie and we planned our adventures for the next day.

On Wednesday, Julie took a half day, so I drove down around 12:30 to pick her up from work.  From there, we drove to Old City Park in Dallas.  I don't know if I should broadcast this, but we got in for free!  Technically, it costs money to get in, but nobody asked us for anything.  We walked around an old-fashioned town filled with houses, a church, a general store, a train station, a bank etc... It was quite an experience to see how people lived just 100 years ago.  It really made me think about the future.  One hundred years from now, are people going to tour houses, like the one's I have lived in, and wonder what it was like to live in such primitive times?  After Old City Park, we went back to Coppell and ate Marble Slab ice cream.  It was seriously excellent ice cream!  Julie and I then spent the evening at my house.  My Mum cooked an excellent dinner and we watched some tv.

On Thursday morning, I woke up early and had a nice run.  After that, I went to Dallas and jammed with my band, NOVA.  It was great to see Travis again and re-connect.  We played our original music and then played some cover tunes.  It was awesome to be back again and I am really looking forward to playing live shows in the summer.  By the way, if you haven't checked out our album "Love Revolution," it is on iTunes!  We are really excited about what the future has in store.  Since Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, my little event-planning girlfriend threw an awesome party!  We played Telephone Pictionary, which was hilarious!  It was another great evening.

On Friday, the three McKee's in Coppell loaded up the van and drove down to Waco.  We had all registered to run the Bearathon 5K on Saturday morning.  The proceeds from the race went to fund student scholarships, so we thought that it would be a great way to give back and get exercise.  I was also hoping that this would encourage me to continue running in my free time.  On Friday night, we met up with Willy and Emily, his girlfriend, and we went to Pei Wei.  After loading up on carbs and nearly killing ourselves laughing on the way back from the restaurant, we spent some time at my brother's apartment.  We watched Land of the Lost, which was actually pretty funny.  Mum and Dad and I then went back to our hotel and tried to get some sleep.  I didn't sleep very well because I was anxious for the race.

6:30 came early on Saturday morning.  We ate a light breakfast and headed over to Willy's apartment.  From there, we walked to the starting line.  I had been training a little bit, but not nearly as much as I wanted to train.  I was aiming for a time of 24-26 minutes, which would have me running an 8- 8.6 minute mile split.  Willy and I decided that we would run together and our strategy was to start out fast, settle down, and then kick at the end.  Well, we approached the starting line and took our place near the front of the pack.  It was a beautiful day and there were people cheering everywhere.  The gun went off around 8:12, and Willy and I took off at a pretty fast pace.  About half a mile in, I thought that the pace was too quick, but we kept at it.  We were in about 15th and 16th place.  We took turns taking the wind and we started to pass other runners one by one.  With about half a mile left in the race, I told Willy to kick and try to catch some other runners.  I was running on fumes and he looked strong.  He pulled away from me and passed two more runners, finishing with a time of 21:44 (a 6:58/mile split)!  I came in shortly after with a time of 22:36 (a 7:15/mile split).  Willy finished in 6th place and I finished in 9th place out of 449 runners.  Not bad for very little training!  Dad came in a couple of minutes after me with a time of 25:54 and Mum ran the 5K in 35 minutes even.  I have always been really proud of my family, but I was even more so on this day.  It was awesome to have the entire family get out there and run a race!  Bring on the next one!  I think that Dad and I are going to run the LA Marathon someday!

Here is a link to see the official race results for the McKee family:

http://www.cadencesportsonline.com/raceDirector.cfm?raceid=374

Saturday afternoon was spent eating Gut Paks at Vitek's and recovering from the race.  We said "goodbye" to Willy and drove back to Coppell.  I spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch, falling in and out of sleep while watching Top Gear.  Saturday night was another amazing meal and then Julie and I watched Paranormal Activity 2.  It was pretty scary, but we preferred the first one!  On Sunday, we all went to church and then I spent the afternoon packing.  It was tough to pack again because I felt like I had just arrived.  Julie came over for a while and we got to spend some time together before I had to leave.  I ate my last meal in Dallas (an English roast, which was out of this world amazing) and then it was time to go to the airport.  I got back into LA really late and my uncle graciously agreed to pick me up from the airport.  I got back to my apt and reality sank back in very quickly.  I went to Ralph's to buy some essential grocery items and then I called it a night around 1:15 AM (3:15 AM, Dallas time).

Like all of my previous trips home, this one was much needed.  It was perfect and I couldn't have envisioned it going any better.  I was able to see a lot of my friends, spend time with family, and see Julie everyday.  I came away reminded of how truly blessed I am.  In about seven weeks, I will be back again.  But this time, my stay will be closer to three months as opposed to just three days or three weeks.  I am really looking forward to it!

Goodnight and may God bless you.

The Petrolhead Goes Green

Hybrid and electric cars get a lot of grief amongst petrolheads.  They are viewed as uncool.  They are viewed as wimpy versions of their gas powered equivalents.  They are viewed as... a threat.

Nissan ESFLOW

Yes, that's right... a threat.  The one thing that car enthusiasts will admit is that they truly feel threatened by the thought of a motor vehicle that does not rely on internal combustion.  And I used to fit into this category.  I was all for the powerful V-10 engine that cranks out 500+ hp and propels cars to 200+ miles per hour.  Up until a few years ago, I believed that the hybrid car was a threat to the pure, unbridled joy of driving a sports car.

Well, as anyone with doubts would do, I began to research and dig deep in order to figure out what hybrid cars were really about.  I chose to tackle this particular subject matter for a presentation in my sociology class during my senior year of high school.  What I found really made me think about what a car should do and what we as a society should do in order to protect the environment.

Now before we really get started, let me just say: I am not against gas-powered cars.  I still love Aston Martin's 4.3 V8 and I still adore the V-10 that gets placed in every Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.

The first thing that I really wanted to tackle was the fact that so many hybrid cars looked uncool (this was back in 2006, before hybrid cars really stepped it up).  In 2006, there were not nearly as many hybrid cars as there are on the roads today.  The Toyota Prius was the most accessible and it didn't look that great at all.  There were a few other car manufacturers starting to get into the market, but the Prius was definitely the front-runner.  As a petrolhead, I was immediately turned off by the looks.  Yes, it had (and still has) amazing fuel economy, but that was the only great quality that I could find about it.  It was around about this time that Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, and Lexus were going to start offering hybrid versions of their current models.  This would definitely help improve the "looks" department.  I would definitely have an easier time buying a hybrid version of a car that already looks good.

My research then gravitated to what was powering these hybrid and electric cars.  Hybrid cars, by definition, run on both battery power and gasoline.  The batteries used are typically Lithium-ion batteries.  At low mph, the battery component is used and the car functions without consuming any fuel.  As speed is increased, the battery component switches over to the internal combustion engine (this switch typically occurs around 35 mph).  So, in turn, your fuel economy is improved because you are not using any gasoline in the city (which is primarily stop-and-go traffic).  To this day, I think that this is a great idea.  It makes so much sense to conserve energy, especially in heavy traffic.

However, the thing that really floored me about hybrid and electric cars was the concept behind regenerative braking.  Regenerative braking allows the battery to be re-charged by the energy created whist applying the brakes.  The Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) uses energy that goes to waste on cars with conventional braking systems.  The whole concept still blows me away, but it is a genius idea.  After researching for several days, I started to change my opinion of these cars.  I realized that these car makers are using state of the art technology to change the motoring world for the better.  As I continued to research, I found several interesting developments in the form of the first hybrid sports cars.

I was excited to see that car manufacturers hadn't forgotten about car enthusiasts!  I found these particular cars to be very interesting and a great way to bridge the gap between the average car owner and the petrolhead:

Ford Reflex Concept

Tesla Roadster

These cars are filled to the brim with the most advanced technology that saves on energy usage.  The Tesla, for instance, is all electric and it gets 245 miles per charge!  However, the best part is that this car produces 0 tailpipe emissions.  I quickly began to warm-up to the idea of hybrid and electric cars.  If we can help the environment and still enjoy the thrill of motoring, then we can truly please everyone.

Porsche GT3R Hybrid

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the 2010 LA Auto Show and there was a marked increase in the number of "green" cars:

Jaguar C-X75

Fast-forward to 2011.  I have matured a great deal when it comes to cars.  Yes, I am still working on my car lust, but I am starting to realize why cars were built in the first place.  They were built to carry people.  Looks were not important back when the car was first built.  Henry Ford was quoted as saying, "Any customer can have a car painted in any colour he wants, so long as it is black".  Henry Ford is the reason we have mass-produced cars.  His goal was to help everyone.  And I think that many of us have lost sight of that.  So in this new mature state, I now present some of my favorite hybrid/electric cars (some of these are concept cars and may never be produced).  These cars are for everyday use and will help the general public get from place to place whilst saving the planet.

GMC Granite Concept

GMC Granite Concept

Nissan Elure

Nissan ESFLOW

Porsche 918 Hybrid

Lotus Evora Hybrid

Okay, so maybe those last few weren't daily drivers, but it just goes to show you that even hyper-cars can be hybrid.  I saw the Granite and the Elure at the LA Auto show and they are truly the future of urban transportation.  The seats in the Granite can be folded and moved in order to accommodate a full-size bike!  In addition to the daily driver cars, Lamborghini have announced that they will jump into the hybrid arena and Lotus will offer a hybrid version of several of their new models.  If companies like Lotus, Porsche, Lamborghini and Jaguar create hybrid and electric cars, then I feel that it is our job as petroheads to support these fantastic companies.  They haven't forgotten about the joy of motoring and they haven't forgotten about us. They are just now starting to think about the environment as well.

Goodnight.

(500) days of Julie (-497)= Valentine's Weekend 2011

 
Julie came to visit LA for the third time this past weekend.  The schedules worked out really well and it was the closest weekend to Valentine's Day, so everything seemed to come together perfectly.  It had been a little over a month since I last saw Julie, so I was definitely ready see her again!

Julie flew in pretty late Thursday night.  I picked her up from the airport and then took her back to the apartment.  We exchanged gifts Thursday because Julie had packed my gift, but didn't wrap it, so she was afraid that I would see it at some point during the weekend.  This worked out well because I had bought her present several weeks before and I was dying for her to see it (or them, in this case).  I bought her pink sparkly TOMS and she seems to like them (if there is any doubt, then you should just check out her blog).  She bought me a shirt from J. Crew and a pair of J. Crew boxers.  The shirt is green which is awesome because I don't have much green clothing!

At the Grove

On Friday, I had a normal school day, so Julie chilled at the apartment while I went to rehearsal.  After rehearsal, I took Julie to the Grove.  The Grove is an outdoor mall and farmer's market.  It is a really cool place and we enjoyed walking around all of the expensive stores.  I even manned up and went into the American Girl store with Julie.  I have never seen so much pink before in all of my life!  The farmer's market is also pretty cool.  You can buy local produce and basically any other kind of food of which you can think.  After walking around for a couple of hours, we went back to the apartment.  I cooked a Caribbean stir-fry and then we went out for the night.

James Beach!

Bars aren't really my thing, unless I am playing music in them, but we decided to go to James Beach in Venice.  It is a really cool bar with a great SoCal vibe.  The real reason that we wanted to go there is due to the movie, I Love You, Man.  In this movie the main characters go to James Beach and eat the "best fish tacos in the world."  This movie has become a favorite of ours, so we couldn't pass up this awesome opportunity to go to the place where they actually shot that scene.  I invited my neighbors to come along and we had a great evening.

On Saturday, I had to teach a few lessons in the morning, so Julie relaxed in my room and I taught lessons in my living room (which also doubles as my private lesson studio).  My last lesson ended at 11:30 AM, which was awesome because it meant that we had the rest of the day to go the the Getty.  The Getty is an art museum just north of UCLA in the mountains.  The views of Los Angeles were unbelieveable.  It was incredible to see the entire city from nearly 1,000 feet up.  Julie and I enjoyed walking around the gardens and taking pictures in front of the scenery.  We walked around several of the exhibits as well.  The art was really cool and the place was so huge that we could have definitely spent all day there.  We stayed until the sun started to set and then we went back to my apartment.   Tonight was to be the night for our Valentine's celebration, so I cooked dinner (tri-color pasta with a bolognaise sauce, salad and some sour dough bread).  After dinner, I manned up (again) and watched The Notebook with Julie.  It was a very nice evening spent in each other's company.

A Beautiful Day at the Getty

 
Sunday was an interesting day.  Going into the weekend, Julie and I both knew that Sunday was going to be a little crazy.  And it didn't disappoint.  The thing was... I had a concert at 4:00 PM with a 3:30 PM call time.  Julie's flight didn't leave until 5:50 PM.  Our original plan was to go to church in the morning and then spend most of the afternoon exploring downtown.  Well, my concert got in the way of things, so I had to drop Julie off at the airport three hours before her flight!  I felt terrible, but there was literally nothing that I could do about it.  On Sunday morning, I decided to show Julie around the downtown area.  For the most part, it is just like any other downtown area.  Shady areas, lots of tall building, crowded sidewalks, tons of traffic, and an incredibly beautiful park.  Yes that's right... in the middle of the chaos rests a small wedge of land called Angel's Knoll.  It has been made famous by being in the movie (500) Days of Summer.  The park is one of the main character's favorite places.

So I decided that Julie needed to see this place before she left.  It really is beautiful.  Right in the middle of this concrete jungle is an oasis.  It was really quiet and peaceful (there were a few homeless people sleeping on benches and one patch of grass smelled like booze), but Angel's Knoll didn't disappoint.  We took some pictures and sat on THE bench from the film (there is a plaque on the bench marking the one that they used for the movie).  After enjoying the serenity, I took Julie down to Pershing Square and then along Broadway.  After walking around for a while, I wanted to show Julie the Staples Center and LA Live.  The only issue was that the Grammy's were taking place there that evening and we couldn't get anywhere near the Staples Center.  It was kind of cool to see all of the limousines driving around the downtown area.  So after a failed attempt to get to the Staples Center, we went back to the apartment and Julie and I had lunch.  At this point it was pretty close 2:30 PM and I had to take Julie to the airport.  It was really unfortunate that things had to turn out that way, but everything happens for a reason.  I dropped Julie off at the airport and then I just made it in time for my concert.

Overall, it was another great weekend.  I really enjoy showing Julie around Los Angeles.  The "City of Angels" will always be a special place to me because it has served as my home.

However, the things that we did this weekend may not have been as spectacular had the weather not cooperated as it did.  The weather was beautiful... really beautiful.  It was so clear and it was warm.  The sun shined every day and there was a light breeze.  We got up into the lower 80's on Saturday and it was perfect.  All weekend, we kept overhearing people's conversations about how amazing the weather was and how it hasn't been this clear in a long time.  So, Julie really did pick the perfect weekend to come out here.

British Classic Cars- Lotus Esprit

This is my sixth post in a series entitled, British Classic Cars.  For those just tuning in, I have been writing (since October) about the cars that have made Britain one of the best car-building nations in history.  It is with great national pride that I try to "summarize" the high points of each car and state its place in the motoring world.

For post number six, I have chosen a car that is quite different to the cars about which I have written previously.  The first five in the series are certainly considered classics, simply because those models are not produced anymore.  The interesting thing about the Lotus Esprit is that it has been around since the 70's and hasn't really gone away.  Sure, Lotus stopped making them in 2004, but a newly updated version is scheduled for release in 2013 (I have actually seen the 2013 model in person).  So, this particular car marks a real turning point in my series of blog posts.  I will start featuring cars that we can call "future classics."  I have borrowed the term "future classics" from Top Gear.  Sometimes a petrolhead just knows when a car is destined to become a classic, and my writings will help to contribute to this list of future classic cars.

Enough of that... now let's talk about the car.



The Past

This car is the first mid-engined sports car that has been featured in my series.  To clarify, mid-engined sports cars have their engines just behind the driver/passenger seats.  This equals better weight distribution.  Better weight distribution equals better performance statistics.  Here is a list of famous mid-engined sports-cars: anything Lamborghini, Audi R8, Ferrari F40, F50, Ferrari Enzo, and the 458.  I could keep going, but you get the point.  A mid-engined car is purpose-built for one thing... speed.

The Lotus Esprit deserves a massive series of posts for the number of versions that have been built over the years, but I only wish to provide an overview, so I will keep things brief.  Lotus nearly named this car the Kiwi, but they decided to name the car the Esprit (all Lotus cars follow an "E... naming format).  The first model was dubbed the S1.  It produced 160 bhp and had a 2.0 litre engine (the same size engine as my Lancer).  This was the engine previously used in the Jensen-Healey (I will post on this car later).  The S1 had the looks of a sports car and is considered to be the best handling of any Esprit built since then.  The S1 garnered international attention by appeared in the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me.  In that film, the Esprit transforms into a submarine following a lengthy car chase.  Check it out on Youtube if you haven't seen it!

S1 as a submarine!

The S2 and S3 came out several years after the S1.  A number of improvements were made on these cars and not as many were produced, so finding one in good condition can be quite difficult.  In 1980, the Esprit received a hearty performance boost in the form of a turbocharger.  This version of the car is referred to as the Essex Esprit because of the strong ties to F1 sponsorship.  The turbo kit brought the Esprit's engine up to 210 bhp.  Two Essex Esprits can be spotted in another Bond film, For Your Eyes Only.

So, in just four years, the Esprit found itself in two Bond films and available in seven different versions.  It became one of the first British supercars.

The Peter Stevens' Esprit Turbo

The Esprit is also one of the only supercars to go through several design changes.  Peter Stevens (known for designing the McLaren F1) created his version of the Esprit in 1987.  This car had Kevlar reinforcement for roll-over protection and was built using a Lotus patented process called Vacuum Assisted Resin Injection (VARI).  This Esprit was faster than the previous models due to an increase in horsepower.  This version also went on to become a movie star by being featured in Pretty Woman, Basic Instinct, and The Rookie.


Another redesign was performed in 1993 by Julian Thompson.  This Esprit became known as the S4.  This was to be the last of the Lotus Esprit, but all in divine timing, a canceled project for a front-engined car left Lotus with a V8 and no car to fit the engine.

2002 Lotus Esprit V8

The Lotus Esprit V8 is arguably the most well known version of the highly esteemed sports car.  It features in the dream garages of petrolheads all over the world.  The Esprit V8 has a twin-turbocharged all-aluminum V8 that originally produced 500 bhp, but had to be limited to 350 bhp horsepower in order to prevent damage to the gearbox.  The gearbox is made by Renault (the French can't get anything right).  Despite the gearbox, the Esprit V8 goes 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds and possesses a top speed of over 175 mph.




The Future

2013 Esprit

As mentioned before, the Lotus Esprit is the first car in my series of posts that has never really stopped being made (I don't count the new MINI's because they are made by BMW).  The future looks very bright for this car.  In 2013, the world will get to experience the Lotus Esprit all over again, but in a new way.  There will be a V6 and a V8 version offered (both with twin-turbos).  Within the V6 option, there will be several engine sizes to choose from and the same goes for the V8 option.  This new Esprit will also be offered in an environmentally friendly hybrid version which will have a KERS regenerative braking system.  Early figures state that the Lotus Esprit V8 (with a 4.8 litre engine) will have close to 600 hp and will go 0-62 mph in 3.4 seconds.  Lotus also state that the Esprit will have a top speed of 205 mph (making it one of the fastest production cars in history)!

The 2013 Esprit looks stunning!

Lotus plans to re-invent itself and surely everyone must view the Esprit as the figurehead of the new fleet of vehicles.  The Esprit is truly a working man's sportscar.  From the Renault transmission to the Jensen Healey engine, the Esprit was built using whatever parts could be found.  From the beginning, the Esprit has always been about getting the most power out of small engines.  The Esprit was never the fastest car, but it has always had a certain "spirit" about it.  The Esprits built before 2004 can now officially be called British classic cars because I am now stating that the 2013 Esprit is a "future classic."  The world is ready for a British company to give Porsche, Lamborghini, and Ferrari a run for their money.  Even though I am a little bias, my money is on the Esprit.

Goodnight and I can't wait to see you in 2013.  

2013 Esprit seen at the LA Auto show 2010

Esprit V8 that I saw at Cars and Coffee Irvine!