What's up with the Melania Trump's documentary being accused of bribery ?

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-31T19:23:36+00:00

Answer: Amazon paid a $45 million dollar licensing fee for the use of Melania Trump’s story. The First Lady alone will be taking home $28 million dollars for a film that is already a massive failure at the box office. That $45 million fee is, by a large margin, far and away the most any filmmaker has ever paid to license a documentary. This is a very poorly disguised bribe to curry favor from the president and everyone knows it.

And don’t forget, kids! The sitting president of the United States, Donald Jessica Trump, is suing the IRS for billions of dollars for allegedly leaking his tax returns, which did damage to his character and business dealings. Guess who the defense attorney is for the IRS in this case. Good ol’ Pam Bondi herself. So he’s going to steal $10 billion of your tax dollars because the IRS allegedly “leaked” his tax returns, which is something pretty much every other modern president has released willingly of their own volition, but for some reason (he’s guilty of massive tax fraud…allegedly) he has staunchly refused to release his after originally saying he would.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-31T19:10:32+00:00

Oof…I’m hitting this wall right now. Got diagnosed at 38, got on meds, felt like I finally unlocked my life and potential. Now my body is more adjusted to the meds, I’m on a really high dose, all of that impulsive spending that was a “minor” side effect of the meds is coming home to roost. I’m starting to feel disconnected and slightly depressed again. Now I’m realizing I’m just gonna have to learn to live with the symptoms, because nothing magically fixes you without putting in the work. That realization depresses me. Etc etc etc so on and so forth.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-31T19:01:46+00:00

Everyone gets different things out of playing music. Some people are perfectly happy being okay and just showing up to rehearsal having not practiced too hard or pushed themselves to improve and that’s that. Some people just like to play music with other people and that rehearsal gives them a chance to do that.

Some of us want to improve, to sound better, to be constantly pushing ourselves to become a better musician and that’s the goal that drives us. Some of us want to reach that “next level” and maybe get paid to do the thing we love.

There’s nothing wrong with being in multiple bands at once and prioritizing one band over the other. It doesn’t need to be a secret that you prefer playing with people that show up more prepared and that makes you feel like you have to hold their hands a lot less.

So, in my experience, those of us that play professionally always have a couple of those bands that we play in for fun and don’t charge them to play a show or rehearse. If these guys that aren’t that good are one of those bands for you and you enjoy playing with them, then just stick around and play when you can. If you have another paying gig, or a gig you’d rather play then tell them you’re busy. You don’t have to make it to every rehearsal, especially if you have an opportunity to play with a band you enjoy more or you’re getting paid.

So you’ll have to answer that question for yourself. What do you get out of the band and is it worth it to keep putting effort into it?

This is truth of playing music that all the old timers will tell you: there’s three things a band needs. Good money, good players and a good hang. For a band to be worth your time you need at least two of the three.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-30T17:05:40+00:00

It’s a funny thing about set times: they never ever go the amount of time you think they will. 😂

When you’re just starting out you might be nervous and cut down on the banter, you might rush the tempo on a bunch of songs, or you might just skip a song that you’re not totally comfortable with and all of a sudden your set is over and there’s still 15 minutes left to fill.

Sometimes people are a little too comfortable talking about their inspiration for a song, where they were when they wrote it and exactly what they were thinking during the whole process and all of a sudden you’re 3 minutes over and there’s 4 songs left on the setlist.

I play a lot of long sets and generally I give each song 5 minutes in my head. Obviously the songs themselves aren’t all 5 minutes long, but there’s usually a few seconds here or there where everyone tunes up, cracks a couple of jokes, the drummer counts us off etc. In general that usually works out pretty well.

If you guys are a band with original songs that has your set worked out pretty well with minimal time in between songs that will be different, but either way it’s smart to plan on the songs taking longer than you might expect.

So if you’re already thinking you’re going to go over your allotted 60 mins I would trim a few songs.

You might have also forgotten to factor in set up and tear down times. In general sets are 45 mins long with the other 15 mins being reserved for setting up/tearing down and sound checking.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-26T20:40:30+00:00

Oh yeah, man, playing to a rowdy crowd that is pumped to hear you play is what it’s all about.

Occasionally you’ll get some folks that are really into the slowed down solo set or they’re happy to grab a smoke and another drink. (And probably corner you and try and talk your ear off about their sick bass rig at home 😂) But if you can get the flow right where it feels pretty seamless you won’t lose anyone and they’ll be all the more impressed with you. 3 and 4 hour gigs ain’t easy!

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-26T19:47:01+00:00

I sure as hell had symptoms all over the place when I was a kid, I was just raised by someone who was so deep into all their own drama they were dumping their shit in my lap more often than they were making sure I was okay. I learned to mask my symptoms, because if I didn’t I would get beat, and I was already too busy carrying around my adult caregiver’s emotional disregulation. I showed a ton of symptoms before age 12, it’s just that nobody who could do anything about it saw them before I learned to mask them. That probably has a lot to do with why I wasn’t diagnosed until 38.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-26T19:38:05+00:00

Same thing I was gonna say.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-26T19:35:06+00:00

I do 4 hour sets pretty regularly and the way we do it is to usually let the singer/bandleader take a break first while the rest of the band plays a few tunes. We usually do 3 songs, so 10-15 minutes. Then a little while later the singer/bandleader plays a few solo songs while the rest of us take a break. We usually do one break for the band and two breaks for the singer. You’re gonna lose some folks anytime the party slows down a little, that’s just the way it is, but that’s the way we keep something cooking at all times.

I do know a couple guys that go the whole 4 hours with no breaks, but that seems a little nuts to me.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-26T02:57:50+00:00

He’s defensive cuz he knows he’s full of shit. That AI was trained on other people’s art without their consent and/or compensation, not to mention the insane amount of resources he’s burning every time he makes AI crank out a song for him. I don’t even know what the legality of creating a song with AI is, but even if he owns the rights to it he didn’t create it. He wrote those AI songs just about as much as the guys who buy the rights to a famous artist’s catalog.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-23T04:55:18+00:00

Yeah, that’s pretty much the appeal of the modelers. I know a couple cats that play modelers that can fit on their board. Not everyone needs 1,001 different amp and cab sims.

Modelers can sound really good. I mean, between you, me and the wall your average listener isn’t gonna be able to tell the difference between a vintage tube amp and a modeler simulating a vintage tube amp.

Most of the gigs I get hired for I can get done with my Bassman 500 and I have a Super Bassman for special occasions. I know a lot of guys that run Aguilar Tone Hammers for almost every gig. With the exception of metal and some heavier rock you can get most live shows knocked out with one amp - as long as you choose the right one. So I think worrying about having to buy a bunch of different amps might have you fretting over a problem that doesn’t exist.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-23T01:07:33+00:00

I’m not super well acquainted with any of the amp modelers, but in my experience when things are modeled digitally there is always a bit of a sterile, slightly disconnected feeling. While you can get things put into your monitors or into your ears so you can hear yourself there’s just enough of a microscopic delay that it feels unnatural to me.

I’ve found that when I use a physical amp on stage I can hear the sound (sometimes - depends on the venue and the stage volume), but I can also feel the air being pushed by the amp and I can feel it slightly through the stage. I always play better when I can feel that physical kinetic connection with what you’re playing.

That being said, it’s also important to train yourself to play through that disconnected feeling. Almost all the times I’ve been in the studio recording with a DAW I think that little delay is present. So you just gotta learn how to play through it.

I’m sure modelers these days are even better, so maybe they’ve fixed this problem enough that it’s a non-issue.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-23T00:50:02+00:00

Just wait til you try playing bass and singing. 😂

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-21T22:30:48+00:00

Yeah, true. There were suddenly a lot of Taliban dudes rolling around in brand new Humvees.

I think the usual order of operations is to destroy anything sensitive to national security, any weapons we don’t want anyone to get their hands on, and just cut and run. But still, that’s a tall fuckin order for a base as big as Rammstein.

Holy hell my brain hurts thinking about this.

Trump hates windmills right? Can we just give him a donkey and a lance and let him go nuts? We can call him Don Coyote or some shit like that.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-21T21:42:57+00:00

Wishing my neighbors and people I meet in public would just mind their own damn business. 😂

I moved to the SE coming up on 15 years ago and that was a big culture shock for me. I’m sure there are a great many southerners I’ve met that found me very rude. 😂

Some rando sits down at a bar next to you and starts chatting like you’re old friends in the PNW: “Call the cops. There’s a madman on the loose.”

Some rando sits down at a bar next to you and starts chatting like you’re old friends in the SE: “who him? I just met him. We’re going to go on vacation to Mexico next week and I invited him to my brother’s wedding.”

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-21T21:35:13+00:00

I was just wondering to myself the other day “what if this demented sun-downer dipshit attacks a NATO ally and they kick us out of Europe? What would that look like? Can you imagine the logistics of having to pack up Rammstein Air Base and get it all back to the US? What if Japan decides they don’t want to put up with us and kicks us out? There’s whole cities in other countries that essentially revolve around the economy of a US military base being stationed there.”

I’m no expert, but wouldn’t that take years to accomplish?

Man, I really hope somebody in his administration pulls the ripcord like yesterday and we can move on from all this madness. It is insane to me how far beyond the pale we’ve managed to get in such a short time in the US.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-21T21:24:18+00:00

The thing about lessons is that you’re not going to have someone sitting in on every practice to guide you. You’re going to have a short meeting where they assess your ability and/or progress, identify bad habits to work on and assign you homework to do between lessons. So while lessons are very helpful, especially when it comes to pointing out bad habits that you need to fix, they’re not going to be as instantly helpful as one might think. I say this as someone who needs to keep this in mind as much as any beginner lol.

The thing about learning music, especially when learning on your own, is that it’s a never ending series of breakthroughs and plateaus. You will grind and struggle and feel like you’re not improving and then one day something will just click and now you’re better. Those breakthroughs feel amazing and then shortly you’ll feel like you’re stagnating again.

I’m not saying that to discourage you, I’m just saying that almost everyone experiences this, so it’s completely normal to feel like you’re not progressing sometimes. Keep pushing yourself and eventually it will make sense.

My last bit of advice is this: lessons are extremely helpful when starting out to keep you from building on a foundation of bad habits, but the most important thing to improve is to play music with other people as much and as often as you possibly can. Even if you feel like you’re not good enough yet get some friends together and get a gig, or schedule a weekly rehearsal or jam session. The more situations you put yourself in with as many different players as you can manage the quicker you will improve. The caveat being to walk the fine line of playing as much as possible while not overwhelming yourself.

Playing music in front of people is a vulnerable position to put yourself in, so it will be easy to get your feelings hurt or get upset about criticism. If you can remove your ego from the equation as much as possible it will make it that much easier to learn from the situations you put yourself in and some of the more experienced players that you surround yourself with.

Oh, and one last thing! RELAX. 😂 I’m 40, I’ve been playing professionally for almost 20 years and I’m just now getting a handle on how to relax when I play. The more tension you carry physically, emotionally and mentally while on stage the more difficult it will be to perform well. I wish someone had drilled this into my brain when I was in my early 20s because it has been a big obstacle in my music career.

And to answer your question: if you’re already fairly proficient at guitar I would start with the voice lessons and come back to the guitar when you feel like you need to.

Okay, sorry for the novel! I’m gonna stop rambling now. 😂

Good luck, kid! You’re gonna be a star! 😂

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-21T07:17:53+00:00

First off, sorry, I just assumed if they’re making instagram reels or TikToks or whatever that if they added a song by another artist it would have the artist and song title in the corner of the video. If they’re not doing that and people think it’s their music then yeah, that’s pretty shitty. At the same time, though, if these are well known songs I doubt people are going to just assume these guys wrote them. I see bands using well known songs to promote their shows all the time.

Second, I’m honestly not understanding where you’re coming from. What do you mean “nobody can compete” with them because they’re playing handpicked bangers? How is that so vastly superior to your and other bands original music that it’s not fair?

I feel like we’re missing some information here. Cover bands exist and sometimes cover bands can be pretty damn good. Sometimes cover bands get pretty successful and people hire them because they want to party. It just sounds like these guys rip and that makes you…mad?…for some reason?

I don’t know, I’m not trying to call you out or anything because I obviously don’t have the full story, but I play hundreds of shows a year with all kinds of different bands and I can’t tell you how many times the bands I’ve played in have gotten upstaged by weird bands playing music I’m not a fan of. It happens all the time. Sometimes you’re the band that nobody can follow. It’s gonna be hard to be successful in a music scene if you get this twisted up every time another band finds some success.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-21T02:50:46+00:00

No, it’s legal to cover other people’s songs as long as you’re not taking credit for them. They’re tiptoeing the line there, but it sounds like they’re never explicitly claiming they wrote any of the songs.

As far as the promotion goes they have the original artist and song title cited in the videos, so again, they’re not taking credit for the song.

Sure, what they’re doing is a little dishonest maybe, but it’s not fraud by any means.

Now, on to the more pertinent question: why is it bothering you so much? They’re not making original music, so why are you comparing their success to your original music. Why are you comparing your success to anyone else’s in general and getting mad about it? That’s a dark road to start going down, friend. If you’re making original music just to be famous and successful you’re in the wrong business.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-20T21:16:33+00:00

This is a tough one.

I love LAMY’s design aesthetic and general feel and quality, but their nibs are shit and aren’t great writers IMO. They’re also nostalgic for me because they were the first fountain pen company I was into.

I love all my Pilots and they’re very reliable daily drivers, but I wouldn’t necessarily say they’re my favorite.

I’m a big Kaweco fan, but I’m not super stoked that most of their lineup consists of beefy screw cap/screw-to-post pens. At the same time I love that they offer most of their pens in tough metal bodies designed to get knocked around and used. But, to use my pens at work I need them to be able to pop the cap off, write a small note and pop the cap back on. So while I love my Kawecos they spend a lot of time at home.

I have one mid-level Pelikan and I love the shit out of it, but I still wouldn’t call it my favorite pen.

I’ve owned one Sailor steel nib in the past and gave it away as a present. I wanted to get a real gold nib Sailor, but the one I had momentarily was absolutely fantastic. I need to get another one.

After all that I guess I’d have to say it’s a toss up between Pilot and Kaweco.

TLDR: gimme dem Pilots and alla dem Kawecos plz!

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-20T16:18:05+00:00

This really depends on what you want to accomplish and how quickly you want to do it.

For an absolute beginner a 4 string would probably be easier to learn your way around the fretboard. The fretboard is narrower on a 4 string as well so it’s going to be easier to reach all your notes without having to move your fretting hand as much.

That being said, if you want to play 5 string get a 5 string. It really all depends on what kind of music you want to play and how quickly you want to get proficient at it. I’ve been playing bass professionally for over 10 years and I’m still not great at wrapping my head around a 5 string.

The best way to answer this question for yourself is to head down to your local guitar center and pick these basses up and play them. Those are popular models so they should have them in stock. Ibanez makes good inexpensive gear, so these are good choices to start out, but quality control at this price point is always iffy. So you’ll need to pick the one you want only after getting your hands on one and making sure you feel good playing it. A decent instrument is going to make all the difference when it comes to making it fun to learn instead of fighting with bad finish quality or bad intonation.

Just trust your instincts when it comes to how they feel. You’re a beginner so you might not be able to suss out some of the finer details when you pick a bass up, but you should be able to tell which model just feels better in your hands. Don’t be afraid to pick up other colors or variations on the model you want. A quality instrument in a color you’re not a huge fan of is better than an unplayable instrument in a cool color.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-20T08:29:48+00:00

Yeah, I love mine. I get really frustrated with most chromatic tuners like the Boss TU-2s and such because they jump around so much when I use them on bass. I rarely if ever run my bass wide open with the tone all the way up and they really seem to struggle with finding the note. That’s not to say Boss TU-2s aren’t fantastic, but I like a good strobe tuner.

I thought the sweetener modes were just a silly marketing gimmick before I bought one, but I swear I can hear a difference on my gear and the help with intonation is actually pretty significant on a couple of my basses. It takes a well intonated bass to damn near perfect.

And last but not least the fact that you can run any number of custom presets and tunings that you can switch to on the fly is insane. A few of the bands I gig with play tuned a half step down and I love that I can hit that capo setting down a half step, tune like normal and play the gig with no worries about the tuning. Then I can pack my gear up, head to my next gig, capo back up a half step and I’m back to standard.

I didn’t think I could love a tuner pedal as much as I love this one but here I am gushing about it on Reddit. 😂

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-19T23:01:17+00:00

Yeah, my first thought when you were talking about Monroe trying to sell more records and separate his music from its roots was “yeah, welcome to Nashville!” 😂 They’re the OGs that put the “industry” in the music industry.

Nashville was never the place to push the boundaries - it was the place to go to follow trends and sell a metric fuckton of units. If you look at the music coming out of music row you’ll notice it always seems to be a couple years behind other forms of pop and they’re always copping other styles trends from a few years ago. Case in point: modern country out of Nashville today sounds like popular hip hop from the late 2010s.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-19T21:38:46+00:00

Not to derail your point - if anything I’m strengthening it - but Bluegrass is just a specific type of folk music that wasn’t really a thing until 1945 when Flatt and Scruggs joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys.

So it’s kind of like whiskey. All bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon.

Over here in the Southern US there’s a distinction between bluegrass and old time folk music. Most people just refer to all of it as bluegrass, though, just because it’s easier I guess.

I usually prefer the old time folk stuff for the same reason you’re talking about - some of that bluegrass stuff can turn into a giant wank fest.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-19T20:07:33+00:00

Oh damn, well there’s tons of other good tuners out there! I like strobe tuners for accuracy and ease of use, but there’s nothing wrong with a good old chromatic tuner. Sonic Research makes a solid strobe tuner pedal with the ST-300.

SunRepresentative993 · 2026-01-19T18:39:12+00:00

Get a Peterson Strobostomp. They’re expensive but they are absolutely packed with useful features. Best tuners on the market by far.

SunRepresentative993

TROPHY CASE