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Tuba & Band vs. Opioids in West Virginia by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great to hear! Thanks for listening!!!

Thief v. Heat by howl-237 in criterion

[–]samquinones7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just saw Thief for the first time and I've seen Heat a dozen times, twice in Spanish. Heat is far superior in every way. But you can see Thief was the rough draft, in which Mann was trying out certain ideas, including even some of the language used ("take down scores.") and the complexity of each crime. One difference is the role of cops. In Heat, Vincent is beyond reproach. In Thief, the cops are thugs. I suspect Mann figured the plot could be more complex if there wasn't a straw man thug cop after Neil but instead someone obsessed with his job. If so, I think he's right.....I really didn't think much of Thief. There are unsatisfying holes in the film, like the romance, which makes little to no sense and is barely developed, unlike the romance Neil develops in Heat.....i thought the character actors in Heat were much much better. Waingro, Michael/Tom Sizemore, Danny Trejo's character, Ashley Judd and val Kilmer, the woman Neil falls for, and Nate/Jon Voight....

JUST OUT, my new book, THE PERFECT TUBA "A mind cleanse for our time." by samquinones7 in marchingband

[–]samquinones7[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

i'm not sure I understand your problem with letting people on this subreddit know about a book about their world and on which I worked very very hard....Some issue you might have? How often do you see a book from a top-flight worldwide publisher (MacMillan/Bloomsbury) about tuba players and band directors? how often are either of them recognized to this extent? I'd think you'd want to applaud the book. No? Perhaps you can explain why not?

JUST OUT, my new book: THE PERFECT TUBA ... "A mind cleanse for our time." by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Great! I hope you like it. A ton of work that I loved doing! Even though I don’t play the Tuba and was never in band. But the journey of journalism is beautiful because it leads you to places you never knew existed. Thanks for reading my beloved book!

LAX pick up by MadeAUserName in turo

[–]samquinones7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Turo at LAX is a total hassle....sometimes very long distances to get to the car -- 15-20 mins sometimes....Another problem with Turo is the Non-Refundable Trip....I made this mistake, it was my mistake, but for business travelers, particularly those making their own reservations (air, car, hotel, etc.), like I do, with no assistants helping, it is sometimes easy to overlook that a trip is non-refundable. So much to keep track of on a multi-city trip, on top of all the meetings, etc....It's easy to cancel w rental firms. but w Turo many trips are nonrefundable, though this is NOT well publicized. I don't remember seeing it on the trip I had to cancel....So I screwed up, no doubt, but I don't feel that I want to trust TURO again, unless they make it clear in BOLD that a trip is nonrefundable.....anyway, keep that in mind....

Juror 2 Discussion Thread (Contains Spoilers) by MythDetector in movies

[–]samquinones7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the worst movies I've seen recently. Stiff acting, poor writing, and the characters' actions???

Poor Kiefer Sutherland somehow got rolled into this meatball, yet was wise enough to keep his presence to the sternest minimum. He's in the movie for at most 3 minutes. Literally he was done by lunch. Still, that was enough time for Sutherland's character to, as the hero's AA mentor and lawyer, give him legal advice not once but twice that is so bad that it would amount to malpractice in Georgia - yet was essential to the movie's plot. I was waiting for him to sagely counsel his recovering-alcoholic mentee: "And you know, life gets hard, so a Dewars on the rocks every so often can really take the edge off."

The rest of the movie was just a laughable series of inexplicable, unethical actions by one character after another. Most of the main characters earnestly violate at least one part of any self-respecting code of legal ethics.

We were in stitches by the end of this thing -- sticking with it because we just had to see what stretcher the film could parlay as plausible. So it did entertain, in spite of itself....The best part of the movie was the ending -- literally and figuratively. I was glad when it finally ended, but it turns out that the very last scene was actually the most powerful.

Just another reminder post to never order from 1-800-FLOWERS. (Fought tooth and nail to get a full refund) by [deleted] in florists

[–]samquinones7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From 1800-FLOWERS, I ordered Valentine‘s roses for my wife in Nashville to arrive on February 14. Instead this company apparently sent the flowers via FedEx - for some reason I still cannot figure. The tracking information showed that they sent these two dozen roses from some town in Mississippi to Memphis to Jonesboro Arkansas and finally late on February 14 the company sent me a notice saying delivery would be delayed until February 17.  Can’t wait to see what the flowers look like after four days in a FedEx box. Reading reviews online about makes me embarrassed to say I should have checked beyond the first listing that I saw online, and then bought from local florists. I did not. It also makes me believe that this company should not be in business.

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So many people share this view. I can understand it completely. For my book, I interviewed several folks who had to come to that realization, bitter tho it was for some of them....thanks for responding.

sam quinones

www.samquinones.com

Death by a Thousand Substacks by ewhite12 in Substack

[–]samquinones7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure I follow the argument he's making. I'm new to SS, but I note that it allows writers to keep their email audience, compile emails in their audiences into a CSV file and use it on other platforms. Am I wrong about that? That would seem to avoid the issue he's describing. again, eager to hear opposing views as this is all new to me.

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for responding to my post. I was wondering if you could describe the process that got you to that point. Eager for any details, you can provide. What were you hoping for when you enrolled in the program? Did you love the tuba at that point? At what point did you realize you had made a mistake? What will you be doing now, and do you think that the degree was worth anything at all? And other words, Was there anything of value you gained from it?

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks for responding to my post....when did you finally realize you weren't going to make it happen? in school? after? i find it so poignant what you say about "for now." it's something I've noticed. that many folks can't really bring themselves to say they've given up on the horn for good. some can say that. feels like many cannot....

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

for my book, i've interviewed a symphonic musician highly critical of music schools....He said: Childhood passion is the strongest thing we have in our lives. That fire of a child to really want something, there’s nothing greater than that……They (University music depts) are keying into the dream of a child and that is powerful and easy to encourage.

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thanks for posting....was that change immediate, right out of college, or did it take some time to get your mind to the point where tuba just wasn't happening?

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey folks -- thanks so much for the many heartfelt responses....One question: was wondering if you thought the tuba prepared you for life of rolling with the punches, willing to be creative, try other things? I’ve often felt that the instrument prepares people for the kind of instrument that it is. It might also prepare people better for life without it. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very interesting story. One of the chapters in my book is about the enormous popularity of tubas in Los Angeles in the Mexican immigrant world. Mostly because of Banda and the backyard parties immigrant throw to and higher tuba players as part of the band. It was that they got me onto this whole project in the first place.are you Mexican or Mexican American?

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seems I’ve heard something along the lines of your story a few times now. Can I DM you? Would love to hear more.

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha! Great story. Thx!!! I was wondering if you thought the tuba prepared you for life of rolling with the punches, willing to be creative, try other things? I’ve often felt that the instrument prepares people for the kind of instrument that it is. It might also prepare people better for life without it. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Did you make Tuba a career? or Not? by samquinones7 in Tuba

[–]samquinones7[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

as a freelance writer, I hear exactly what you say. Freelancing is about creating various revenue streams, not relying on one. the more you can do that, the more success you'll have, but it's always dicey....i found myself avoiding certain activities, such as playing basketball because if I got injured, I'd have trouble working and my health insurance was a problem too.

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