Today is the perfect time to think about tomorrow.

We all have plans for 2010, grand or otherwise.  I never really make resolutions because they just feel like I’m trying to convince myself to break habits I don’t feel confident breaking.  Plans usually have more structure and wonderfully loose ends, whereas resolutions are uncomfortably finite.

Now is the best time to think about later.

What are some of my goals for the year?  Inspiration; I want to be inspired by life and I want to learn from the ways people around me are living it.  Passion; I love what I do when it comes to music.  I’m also planning on loving life itself.  The ups, the downs, the in-betweens.  Mission; I hope to spend the year working hard but also having meaning behind what I do.  Meaning creates drive, and drive gets you places.  Connection; I hope to feel the transcendence I’ve felt so many times before from the interconnectedness of the people I know, the people I meet, and the people I learn about.

I also want to floss more.

Only time will tell what 2010 will bring, but I’m planning on making the best of it.  2009 was an unbelievable year for me for so many reasons.  It only makes me fascinated to wonder what the next one will have in store.

If you’re interested in a little thoughtful inspiration for the new year, take a look at this free eBook: What Matters Now

And since I didn’t post it before, I’ll close out ‘09 by posting the new Shaimus video for “Like a Fool”

Naming a song “Interview” might lead people to believe that the upcoming Shaimus album kicks off with a band interview.  Boy would that be boring.  Talk about all-time album missteps, I think most people would find us supremely lame if we actually put an interview as the first track of our CD.  Or any track, really.

But no.  Lo and behold, “Interview” is actually music.  Prove it, you say?  Fine.  Phil proves it in the video below, underwear and all.  The video is for anyone who’s ever gotten new editing software and decided to freak out their friendly neighborhood epileptic.  The underwear part is for the ladies.  Everyone wins!

I will be very happy when this album is in my hands.  Incidentally, you can pre-order the album from www.shaimus.com now and save two bucks off the normal $10 price tag that will accompany it in a couple weeks.  And while you’re waiting for it to come in the mail, autographs and all, watch this video.

Here I am in my first appearance in a real, genuine music video for “Turn the Other Way” by Shaimus. You can download the song for free currently from our website (shaimus.com). My brother Spencer also makes a brief appearance as a fellow office worker. If you’d like to send him some fan mail, I will forward it to him.

If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’ll appreciate this video. Let the catharsis begin:

But that doesn’t stop me from pretending to play it every once in a while. Luckily, unless you’re an actual jazz listener/connoisseur, you probably won’t tell much difference, as I am at least half decent at faking the skill.

So in the spirit of the season, I’ve made you this video with my jazz guitar version of “Oh Christmas Tree.”

Additionally, with the playlist below you can hear the awesome full version I recorded a couple years ago (complete with solo section) and my acoustic recording of “Walking in the Air,” the main theme to the Christmas film classic “The Snowman.” If you’ve never seen that one, well… It’s never too late!

Just let it happen. Let your mind get blown by the following video. I was a big fan of the song “Frankenstein” as a kid; it was one of the songs that introduced me to the music of the ’70s. But had I also seen this video, I would have been able to call myself a man much earlier in my life.

Much like the song itself, words no longer serve a purpose for this clip. It truly transcends petty Earthly descriptions. You’ll understand when you see… You might as well just watch. And don’t forget to let it happen.

So the last time I remember being particularly impressed with a music video was with the OK Go treadmill production, and it was more from the amazement that they mastered such a routine than for the video itself. For years I’ve been pretty jaded to music videos in general and rarely have paid attention to them. Usually the few that were actually cool were for songs that I wasn’t into (although I do enjoy the OK Go song). But every once in a while I come across a really great one, including this one for a song called “Typical” by the band Mute Math. I had never heard of them before, but this video has become one of my favorites that I’ve ever seen. Take a gander:

The best part about it is that I really dig the song as well. This video really blows me away. It looks like there are 2 parts that could have been camera cuts, but if they did stop tape anywhere you can barely tell. I can watch it over and over again, which is a task that can be made unbearable if the song is bad. But in this case, I want to hear more from this band.

But what’s with the name? Mute Math? Really? It only reinforces my theory that almost every good band name is taken already. Naming a band can be a daunting task. It’s hard enough to come up with something cool, let alone something original. Then again, so many bands with names of questionable coolness have so firmly established themselves in the music scene that we rarely take a moment to wonder what they were thinking. Radiohead? Alice in Chains? Stone Temple Pilots? Pink Floyd? Jack Johnson? Ok, just kidding on the last one. But these are all bands that I like to varying degrees, yet I’d consider their names to be on least some level of lameness. It’s much easier to make fun of the names of bands you hate. Take Limp Bizkit or Nickelback, for example. The suck on both a naming and musical level.

But what’s in a name, really? As long as it’s sorta catchy or sounds semi-cool, you should be ok. It’s not like Shaimus is the best band name ever, after all.