The Cranky Christmas Commercial Post

Greetings to all Cranky readers, gentle and otherwise. As many of you know, “Mr. Blunt and Cranky” is the non de blog of a songwriter who earns part of his unfortunately-not-all-that-considerable income by selling his songs. If you’re looking for a last-minute gift that does not include getting trampled in a store, we suggest you consider a download or five of songs from the Rumbleman: http://www.rumbleman.com/Music_Page.html

Samples are there for your evaluation, so you can decide which tunes to purchase, at Google, Apple, Amazon, or eMusic.

Making such a purchase would be a gift to your song collection, AND this humble blogger. Whatever you decide, thanks for reading.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky, AKA

P.S. The Rumbleman moniker was the “gift” of a sound engineer who disagreed with me on how my bass should sound in the mix at a long-ago charity concert. I wanted it to sound very heavy and, well, like a bass; he wanted it to sound like a banjo,as far as I could tell. We argued during soundcheck, until he called me “that godd*** rumbleman up there”. Since many friends were in attendance, the nickname stuck like a flypaper. What the hell, I’ve been called a lot worse things over the past half-century. B&C

Small Business Saturday: Much better than Black Friday or Cyber Monday

http://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba_initiatives/small_business_saturday_2013 is a good website to view if you’re interested in keeping your dollars local, and supporting small business in America. Or you can just find some small business in your area- restaurants, pharmacies, shops, service providers, etc.and give them your business. Or even find a small, independent online business to patronize – there are a lot of them.

As an alternative to feeding corporate beasts and bastards like Wal Mart, it’s a great thing to do on its face. As a way to keep your money close, it’s even better. As a way to reward the real entrepeneurs in our society, it’s unbeatable.

One small business example: http://www.rumbleman.com/music_page.html This is where the Cranky Family earns part of its income, and it is a small business indeed. The Rumbleman is this writer’s nom de tune, and you can listen to samples of the songs there, and follow links to buy any of them that you like. That is a way to support small business, and to keep the songs and crankitude flowing.

Even if you don’t choose to buy a download, please give as much of your business to small businesses – today, and everyday.

(Yes, Small Business Saturday was started by American Express, and Mr. B & C says “f*** Amex”, 99.9% of the time. But this initiative is a good idea.)

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

There is a Foundation that We All Build Upon

Mr. Blunt and Cranky, as many of you know, is a musician/composer of sorts, and has been educated in the history of music. He is fully aware of the essential contributions made by Pythagoras, Mozart, Leo Fender, and manymanymany others who have gone before him, creating the mathematical and sonic body of knowledge upon which he bases his work. He does not for an instant think that he invented the western scale and other music theory, devised and built the instruments he plays, or invented and constructed the equipment used to record and reproduce the music that he writes. He is equally happy to take credit for the music that he writes, because that is his original work, built on the foundation created by others over a millennium or so.

Sounds pretty reasonable, yes? It is an attitude based on historical fact, and gives credit where due, both to Mr. B & C and those who came before him. Indeed, you’d be hard pressed to find a sane individual who would care to argue the point.

But if one changes the word “music” to “business”, oh my, what shrieks will emerge from some parts of the business community and their bought politicians. Evidently, the centuries of innovation and decades of publicly funded infrastructure, research and investment that facilitate and enable a prosperous business community don’t exist to these blinkered yahoos.

When one lets ego, talking points, or political philosophy distort their view of historical and contemporary reality, one is no longer living in the real world. For Mitt Romney to claim that he was successful in business solely because of his own brilliance and work ethic would be like this writer claiming to have invented the Fender Bass he uses: flattering to the ego, but a complete fantasy when looked at objectively.

We work best when we face cold, hard reality and deal with any resulting hits to our egos: all of us are to some degree dependent on those who came before us, and to those who share the world with us at this time. This does not in any way add to or diminish our own work ethic, intelligence, talent or other character traits. It just means that others play their part, too.

America is a great place to do business, due to our long tradition of social, regulatory and economic policies that provide infrastructure, educated workers, and tax incentives designed to encourage business success.  Anyone who favors a totally independent environment might want to consider doing business in Kenya, Ethiopia, certain Pacific Ocean islands, or other nations with less law and public investment. This writer predicts that once you see the alternative, you’ll agree with what the Prexy said last week (even though he said it poorly).

Mr. B & C