Michael Dallin's Blog

It's been way too long.

2009-03-04T11:15:00.003+08:00

Hello Again I am back on my blog and I'm determined to get it together and make this a more interesting and informative experience for the reader.

Life is good in Beijing. The band is getting busy again and sounding great. We should have about 9 songs on CD here in the next few weeks and i'll be sure to post a place you can listen to them ASAP.

I'm going to leave you with just a little piece of lyrics to a song I've been working on and also a video of a song that describes the mood I have been in for the past few days.

"Its been too Long since I wrote a song about the ups and downs.

Oh the times they treat me good but my feets can't find no solid ground.
The quicksand the tricksand its drying like bricks and there's no one in sight.
Im distressed so I scream trying to cause a big scene but only Vultures arrive.
The hot sun on my skin burns my soul from within & my thoughts won't contrive."

Now go check out some music by YODELICE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcV8RIF7bAM

Addiction

2008-11-18T07:45:00.004+08:00

You know addiction can be a crazy thing. I won't delve into any of the things you might imagine from hearing the word addiction, but as I consider my current addictions I find this to be the best one.

It's 7:47 A.M on Tuesday morning and I just returned from Breakfast. I've been quite the insomniac the past few weeks sleeping all day and rocking and rolling through the nights. But even now as I try to get onto a more regular or should I say more normal sleeping pattern this addiction awakens me at about 7 in the morning, when I have only been asleep since 4 am.

Why would anyone get up after 3 hrs of sleep for breakfast... how could it really be that good? Well it just is. I order the same thing almost every time and it's the best breakfast I've ever had. Nothing like you'd imagine if you've never been deep in the heart of Chinese culture.

So what is so damn good about it. Well it consists of 1 bowl of tofu soup. This stuff is a tofu that literally dissolves in your mouth and it is flavored with a broth that is a tiny bit of onion, and wild mushrooms that only grow out of tree bark. 1 serving of Bowza. Bowza are little steamed rolls filled with ground meat and spices. In this case (oink oink) the other white meat. and to make sure i'm full 1 twist of fried bread. This stuff may as well be a twisted scone and you can catch me sneaking a few home when I'm feeling extra hungry cuz they remind me of my mothers scones when I drizzle honey all over them.

For some reason I just can't get enough of this stuff. I've even started to wonder if maybe the wild mushrooms contain some kind of drug that drags my lazy mess out of bed every morning to go get my next fix???

Pics from October gigs.

2008-11-11T02:00:00.005+08:00

Jesus and the Devil
Halloween 08'

Ian singing w/ the band

Stage Left

Packed house @ the halloween show

The Synchronized Head Bang

I really like this blurry pic for some reason.

This is a view of about half of Tun Bar where we play every Thursday!

Rocking @ Lotus Blue (Fridays and Saturdays)

Me n' Da Chuan

Doing What I Do.

2008-11-11T01:13:00.001+08:00

I just wanted to write out a little more informative Blog on what I'm up to over here in China.

Right now My band Bad Apples is playing 4 times a week. Thursdays @ Tun Bar, Fridays and Saturdays @ Lotus Blue, and now Sundays @ Hard Rock Cafe Beijing.

Even with all the bumps in the road it seems things are on a constant upswing and we just keep getting busier and busier. The band is really coming together, and we are constantly learning more and more songs.

Da Chuan is our Bass player and he actually used to be a cop. He's one of my best pals over here and I find myself chilling with him after shows and when we have time off.

Wang Yang is our Drummer and she is awesome. Her husband actually taught her to play drums and when she is sick or has to be out of town he comes and fills in for her.

Living in China has certainly been an eye opening experience. If you told me I was going to be living in China before this all came about I'm sure I would have just laughed at you.

Things can be stressful with the language barrier and just dealing with the when the Chinese do things, but in the end it's all worth it!

You can expect this blog to become more and more updated as time goes on, and if you have any requests about things you want to see or here on here just let me know!

A Beijing Halloween.

2008-11-02T20:17:00.004+08:00

Happy Halloween

Halloween this year was a blast. We started the night out @ Tun Bar arround 10 pm and that is where we remained long into the morning.
People came ready to celebrate dressed to impress or to scare, and the Club was packed full.

And I had a great blog ready to post, but firefox crashed and I lost my 2 hrs of work getting a great post full of pics and stories together and now I gotta jet out of the house so I guess I'll have to try again tomorrow.

I'm Alive October 30th @ Tun

2008-10-31T20:59:00.001+08:00

Hey everyone.. I just wanted to get this video of our song I'm Alive posted on here. You can expect to see updates on my blog now @ least 2wice a week.

My Lovely Lady Escaped With A Chinaman.

2008-08-18T21:27:00.003+08:00

Family, Friends, Fans, and Loved ones,

Honestly I don't know where to start so I guess I'll start with the bad news. My guitar escaped from me yesterday in a taxi cab. I exited the cab then answered my phone and turned around and the taxi was already driving away with my girlfriend (the guitar) still inside. We spent the night waiting outside hoping the taxi cab would return with my lover, and we filed a report with the police and are still doing everything possible to try to get her back.

As you all know I am currently in China playing music in a Band with my good friend Kris Liu. We currently make less than one hundred dollars a week playing two gigs a week, but we have a try out tomorrow that pays well so when that goes good as it will we will be looking a little better come Sept. comes. I found a guitar I can borrow for tomorrow night but after that I must find a guitar as we have shows every Friday and Saturday Night.

I have been very lucky to be able to pursue my dreams of playing my music throughout the world up to this point and I won't let this setback stop me. I am asking for your help in sending me forward on my Journey. I need to purchase a guitar ASAP and I can't do it without you.
I've created a PayPal Donations Account and am asking everyone I know for Donations in whatever amount they can afford.

To donate go to the top right or the bottom of this page and click on the Donate button.

Thank you everyone for your love and support of my music and my dreams. I look forward to seeing all of you @ a show again someday soon.

Peace and Love to all of you,

Michael Dallin

The Rain Came

2008-07-18T01:55:00.003+08:00

Oh the colors of the night and the rain how it came.
Now it's gone but its damage and its victory still remain.
Oh the colors of the the water as it clings to all the leaves.
And the light inside the drops it glistens like a diamond of the queen.
Oh who am I to wonder why this diamond shines her light on me?
And who are you to tell a man he can't live in a dream?

Open Mic, and Eurocup finals all in one long night!

2008-07-09T20:59:00.008+08:00

Playin some tunes @ Lush Ope n M ic. on the 29th of june.

The Spain Germany Eurocup final Match. Spain - 1 Germany - 0

this match started @ 3 am Beijing time and look how packed Pyro Pizza was. Good times!

I was actually going for Germany since Spain knocked out Italy, but I didn't get what I wanted this time. Spain certainly played better Ball.

"Set Me Free"

2008-06-30T19:30:00.001+08:00

Here's a video with music from one of my new songs "Set Me Free". I wrote this song while sitting in the park one morning around 4 A.M. Something spoke to my soul that morning and by 5 A.M. the song was finished. No guitar, No strings, just me and the birds and the trees and the winds whispering their sweet songs to me.

I just used windows movie maker for the first time and for some reason the sound quality ended up a bit poor. Enjoy!

What happens on the off nights???

2008-06-21T01:01:00.005+08:00

I just figured I'd give you guys just a little insight and maybe a few pics of what goes on in the late night hours that I'm not somewhere Rocking the Mic.

This is just a couple hundred feet outside of our apartment complex and still barely inside our gated community we live in. You'll find a kabob guy just about everywhere you go in Beijing. Kabob's are a popular late night food here and you can order anything from Cartilage to Lamb Penis. Yeah really... I said Lamb Penis, and NO I haven't tried it and I don't plan on it. I usually order just plain old Lamb, but at times I do go a little crazy and eat some Heart or Tendon.

This night was actually about a month and a half ago and I went with my roommate Cameron to get some Kabob's around midnight. What we thought was going to be a quick outing for some kabob turned into a long night of eating and drinking with all these Chinese guys. They kept on buying us more and more til we were about to explode...

Gotta love the Chinese!!!

Michael Dallin's BlogSpot has Begun.

2008-06-13T01:46:00.001+08:00

Today or should I say tonight I will begin to bring you a more detailed update of my adventures as a Musician, Artist, Poet, and Person. I am currently living in Beijing China where my band Bad Apples is currently on Tour.In April of 2008 I jumped on a plane with my band mate Kris Liu, and nothing to my name to see what we could do with our Rock N' Roll tunes in Beijing, China's very new and alive music scene. In just 2 weeks we added 2 musicians to the band. Da Chuan on Bass and Wang Yung on Drums.
We began to practice then and haven't stopped since. We've really found our grove and we are only getting better with the time. We are currently Rocking Beijing on a bi-weekly basis and will soon be taking the band outside of Beijing to share our music with other parts of China and as soon as possible the rest of the world. My dream is to share my music, and a message of Peace, Love, and Harmony with the world while doing so. With this new blogspot I hope to bring my friends, fans and loved ones closer to me and the adventures that are my life.