A Request: Try Not To Be A Douchebag

I am the type of person who likes to spend some time at the movies, a ball game, or a concert. It's getting harder and harder to do these days though. I still enjoy those things, in and of themselves, but some of the people at these events are well....for lack of a better term....ummm....douchebags. 

You know the type. Hell, you may even be one and not know it! That's why I do what I do....to help. Seriously now, when a person goes out to enjoy a concert, do you think they want to hear the music or do you think they want to hear you trying to talk over the music? When a person goes to the movies, do you think they want to concentrate on the movie, or do they want to be distracted by you texting or talking? You know the answers. 

I went to the Forecastle Music Festival in Louisville last weekend and had a pretty good time at the three day event. Friday was the best atmosphere, although the bands I really was pumped up to see where playing on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, the best crowd of the three days was on Friday. A lot of younger people who were there for the music, not to be seen, heard, or to "get their drink on". They had a good time, dancing and frolicking around and never let themselves get in the way of other people's enjoyment. It truly was a connective experience for me. 

Saturday was a different story. I have to give some lead way with this, because My Morning Jacket was headlining and they are a very popular band and they are from the Louisville area. I expected there would be some people who would be there just to see them. All well and fine, but what I didn't expect was that a large portion of these people were there just to be there. Just to say they were at the My Morning Jacket show. Or they were there because they had nothing else to do on a Saturday night. That doesn't make those people douchebags, but the fact that many of them were actually in the heart of the crowd (right among the music lovers) trying to talk over the band, trying to look cute and shooting eye rolling glances at those trying to enjoy the music, does make them douchebags. And not just for a moment....but for the entire show. They were there to be there, to be seen, and to drink. Not one incident on Friday. Saturday, people struggling to walk, bumping into people and acting all alpha-male gorilla.....a gawdammed shameful site. Sunday started out OK, but the douchebag ratio climbed as the day wore on. I started seeing all the "popped collars", backwards caps, Oakley's, UK and UL shirts (because god forbid we leave that behind for a fucking day, right?), fake tans, and wife beaters. And while we are at it...hey, UK fans...there is no need to keep chanting "C A T S Cats" over and over. We already saw your hat, shirt, tattoo, and belt buckle....we get it, you like UK....get the fuck over it, you are at a music festival and nobody gives a shit. NOBODY. 

Here's the thing; if you are going to go out to these events, try to be respectful of your surroundings. If you want to have a conversation, move to the back and have it so you don't interrupt someone else's enjoyment. If you want to get drunk, well, OK....but it doesn't give you the right to slam into people and act like an asshole. I know that's a shock to some people, but being drunk isn't a good excuse to be a dick or a douchebag or a bitch. When you are at the movies, turn off your damn phone or go home and rent a DVD. People pay money to try to enjoy these things and you are not the fucking show. Sorry, I don't care if you are a blonde with double D cup melon breasts and pretty blue eyes....if you are drunk and yapping while others are trying to enjoy themselves, you are a selfish bitch, no matter how many guys want to get in your sweaty shorts. 

In closing, here's what I'm trying to say; be self aware and don't be THAT guy/girl and don't involve yourself in douchebaggery. You are better than that, aren't you?

And, if you want to know whether or not you are a doucebag or want to be able to spot them, here's a little help.

The Douchebag Post!!! CLICK ME

The Replacements : Pleased To Meet Me

(At one point, I call this a review, but it's not. It's a "love letter" to the album.)

I've never made it a secret that one of my favorite bands (if not my tip top favorite) is The Replacements. Maybe I should say "was" The Replacements, since they broke up about 20 or or so years back. They were a band that influenced grunge and the emerging "alternative" sound as it came alive in the early 90's. I never understood the concept of a band or a song getting mainstream radio play being called alternative. Alternative to what? The Replacements, Concrete Blonde, REM (for awhile at least), The Smiths, Sonic Youth, and The Cure were real alternative bands. They were making music that college kids and misfit teenagers alike, who were sick of hearing the overproduced and over exposed synth rock of New Wave and the bloated excess of popular rock, wanted to hear. It was real and much of it was raw. The Replacements were a band that started out worshipping punk hero's like Black Flag and the New York Dolls, but wound up moving towards the pop sensibility of say The Box Tops or the Stones at their ragged best. At times, it seems that their fans, record label, and media wanted them to be famous more than they did. The self sabotage is great rock n roll history and diving into "All Over But The Shouting" by Jim Walsh explains some of it quite well. Showing up to gigs drunk and playing horribly when the "suits" were there to see them, and then showing up the next night and tearing the roof off. Pissing off the executives at NBC so bad that they were banned for life from Saturday Night Live. Taunting censors at the AMA awards in the infamous "Talent Show" incident. It was who they were. They never seemed comfortable getting attention. They didn't understand how to deal with it. Perhaps the pressures of fame chasing them hastened their death as a band. Perhaps it was inevitable either way. That's history now though and their body of work is a progression that is interesting when viewed from the distance of time. I could write thousands of words about The Replacements, but I wouldn't be saying anything that hasn't been said before, so I'm going to review my favorite record by The Replacements; Pleased To Meet Me. 

If you are still with me, then you probably either care about The Replacements or want to learn more....or perhaps you are really bored. No matter why you are still reading, thanks for sticking around. Pleased To Meet Me Was released by Sire Records in 1987, so it's been 25 years since it hit the shelves. PTMM, as I will refer to the album from here on out, was the band's second major label record, after having put out four albums on the smaller, Minneapolis based label called Twin Tone Records. Many people consider the 1986 album Tim as their masterpiece, and with the music on that record it's hard to disagree. It was their major label debut and had several songs "Bastards Of Young", "Hold My Life", and "Left Of The Dial", that proved to be anthems for many young music lovers who were coming to grips with moving out of their teenage years at a time when everything from fashion to music seemed hollow or to have a dollar sign on it, including their rock n roll heroes. For me though, PTMM was their grandest, most accessible and dare I say, greatest album. Maybe it was because it was the album that my friend Brian forced upon me unlike anything else he ever asked me to try. I was a card carrying Beatles, Zeppelin, and Floyd guy. Alternative music? Bah. If it's not on the radio, it must be minor league music. Whoops. That still stings. I had the cassette tape that I was loaned for ten years before I gave it back. I listened to it begrudgingly at first. A track here. A track there. Then I decided to just leave it in the car cassette player for awhile. And it started getting through. It started speaking to me. And not just the album, but the band and the way they played. The way Paul Westerberg sang with ragged desperation. The way Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars drove the music through your soul like a hammer slamming a nail into wood. The sensible, sometimes fun, and sometimes sad song writing. This album led me to become a full fledged Replacements addict. I collected everything I could find, from music, to magazines, to VHS tapes of them, and finally into an underground tape trading circuit where (I also met some neat people and still correspond with them today; Rob, C9) I collected tons of great live music, demos and outtakes from my new obsession. 

Well, I can't help it I suppose. I keep going personal when I simply want to review the record. Oh, well, fuck it. It's my blog, right? How can I share anything about this album without telling you what the draw is? I can't. 

PTMM checks in at a frantic 33 minutes in length. The cover is a take on Elvis' GI Blues album cover and the depiction of a "suit" shaking hands with a someone who was obviously ragged plays into the title of the album. Was it showing The Replacements coming to terms with being a major label commodity? PTMM was produced by Jim Dickinson and was recorded in Memphis, Tennessee. The Memphis influence can be felt at times, especially when the famous Memphis Horns, and Alex Chilton lend their work to "Can't Hardly Wait", and Luther Dickinson (Black Crowes lead guitarist) puts his stamp on "Shooting Dirty Pool". To date, it was their most polished and technically savvy recording, but don't mistake that for clean and anti-septic. The songs have life and drive. 

First up on the album is "IOU". It starts the record off on a raucous note. Driving the guitar right down your throat from the get go and letting you know that you are listening to The Replacements. The lyrics, when dug into, seem to reject the fact that simply because the band is being pushed towards the bright lights, they still don't buy it. They do what they do and don't owe anyone a damn thing. The drumming by Chris Mars is not always technically proficient, but he really pushes the song with his relentless beat. 

The next song is an homage to Alex Chilton, a fantastic song writer, who was a member of the Box Tops (The Letter, Cry Like A Baby), and one of music's first "alternative" bands Big Star. Paul Westerberg was a big fan of Chilton's songwriting and was probably hoping to turn a new generation on to one of his heroes. The tempo of this song is infectious, as Mars does great work once again and Westerberg writes one of his best hooks ever; "I'm in love, what's that song? I'm in love, with that song". "Alex Chilton" is featured on the Rock Band video game, just as an FYI. 

"I Don't Know" is the Replacements showing their grit. Tommy Stinson, in my opinion, is the backbone of the music with his relentless bass, along with the subtle saxophone work. The lyrics, once again, seem to be a push back on "hitting it big". The line is "one foot in the door, the other one in the gutter". Westerberg realized they were just one step either way from being nothing or being something. There they were, stuck in the middle, with the door closing. 

Up next is "Nightclub Jitters". It's a nice slow down take on cocktail jazz. I feel guilty for not listening to it in a dark bar with a bourbon sitting in front of me. This is a song where Westerberg was exploring something different. It fits pretty well right in between "I Don't Know" and "The Ledge", acting as a bridge from pissed off rock n roll to a song with a conscious. "The Ledge" is Westerberg's taking on suicide. Because of its lyrical content, which is a stark look inside the mind of a disaffected youth who is ready to leap to his demise, it was banned from MTV and seemed a very strange choice for the albums first single. We are talking about The Replacements here, so why should anyone be shocked. The song doesn't give you a happy ending. The kid doesn't come to his senses. We get a look into his thoughts as people gather below and around him. There is no "movie" ending. "All the love, that they pledge, for the last time will not reach the ledge" I think Stinson does some of his best bass work on this song. 

"Never Mind" is yet another song that uncovers Westerberg's feelings that he doesn't want to be duped by the draw of being a pop star. If you don't invest in it, how can you be hurt? It's evident in later work that Paul Westerberg wanted to be a star, he just didn't possess the ability to jump in the water and throw caution to the wind. "Never Mind" gives way to one of the most underrated Westerberg songs ever. "Valentine" searches for something. There's a longing to the lyrics. I don't know of many songs that open with a better line about romanticism ripped away than "Well you wish upon a star, that turns into a plane". It doesn't get any more hopeless than that. This is such a great song that tears your heart out, I can't believe another band hasn't covered this. It has it all. Great beat. Rousing guitars. Heartfelt lyrics. 

"Shooting Diry Pool" and "Red Red Wine" are the obligatory "throw away rockers" and they fit right into the album. These are songs that in less than capable hands, could have been a drag on the record as a whole. Sometimes a band just mails in the filler material. The Replacements don't, and some credit probably goes to producer Jim Dickinson and his direction for the album as a whole. They treat their second tier songs with just as much fervor and love as their more notable tunes. You get what they want to give you. Most of the time, they give you what you want. "Shooting Dirty Pool" is a straightforward rocker with some really fun, soaring guitar work from Luther Dickinson of the Black Crowes. 

The album winds down with two of the bands greatest songs. "Skyway" is a soft, low key song about a person who has a longing for a woman he has seen, but never met, on the mass transit system. He dreams of meeting her, but can't quite find the nerve. Love is fleeting, especially when it's expressed from afar. A theme that Westerberg has hit more than once in his career. Notably on "Love Untold" from his solo record Eventually.

The only way to end this album was to save the best for last. "Can't Hardly Wait" features the Memphis Horns prominently, but their presence doesn't detract at all from the raw feeling of the album. There is a lot to love about this song. The lyrics are sublime. Westerberg longs for (and dreams of) home as he sits in a shitty hotel room (perhaps in Memphis?) somewhere on the road, far away from his hometown of Minneapolis. Lyrically it's hard to beat "I'll be home when I'm sleeping. I can't hardly wait" and "Hurry up, hurry up, ain't you had enough of this stuff? Ash tray floors, dirty clothes, and filthy jokes." Alex Chilton lends his guitar to this song and he carries it musically. The rest of the band plays in a controlled manner, with Stinson plucking away in unison with Mars' drum pace which is simple and patient. I've probably listened to this one a thousand times in my life. I never grow tired of it.

That's about it. Yeah, I could go on, but I don't really expect very many people to read this honestly. It's lengthy and the subject matter appeals to only a few. This was a labor of love. It's one of my favorite albums and it's hard to believe it's been 25 years since I was a clueless 18 year old, who latched on to something he didn't immediately understand, but knew felt right. The album only charted at 131, yet The Replacements following over the years has expanded enough to the point that Rhino released a remastered version (along with all the other Replacements albums) along with demos and outtakes. Even if the public, or you, didn't care about it, the fans and critics did. Famed critic Robert Christgau gave it an "A-", Pitchfork checks in with a 9.3 out of 10, the Rolling Stone Album Guide ranked it the fifth best album of 1987, and PunkNews.org rated it 4.5 out of 5.

 Perhaps the best review I have read about Pleased To Meet Me comes from David Fricke (Rolling Stone Magazine) who gave it a glowing review, saying "Tracks like "I.O.U." and "Shooting Dirty Pool" practically sound like Exile on Main Street at 78 rpm. It is ironic that Westerberg and the Replacements can make such a joyful noise out of so much anguish and insecurity. But on Pleased to Meet Me, the pleasure is all yours." Fricke got it, way back in 1987. And yes, the pleasure has been all mine! 

Thanks for reading.

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Observe & Report: A bipolar film review

I'm sort of a Seth Rogen fan. I wouldn't say that I consider him a top shelf actor like Bale, DeNiro, or DeCaprio, but he's good enough at being the slightly off kilter "every man" that he's interesting in his roles. He has the gift of making his lines seem like real conversation, rather than a heightened sense of what the world is like, set within the illusion of a film's reality. It suits him well in roles that he has played in "Knocked Up" and "Pineapple Express" as well as others. 

In the much maligned film "Observe & Report", he still has that going for him, but it's not abundant. There were a lot of Rogen fans and fans of the Apatow style that were unhappy with the film, Rogen, and director Jody Hill. I'm not one of those people. The first time I saw the film, I was admittedly underwhelmed. I purchased it, sight unseen, mostly because of Rogen, Anna Faris, and Ray Liotta. I let it set for a month or so and decided to watch it again. 

As soon as the film started turning dark, the light went on for me. This isn't a comedy at all in the sense of being a mindless knee slapper.  It's a case study, and a close up look at a mentally ill twenty-something that has had to learn how to be a man and find his way without the help of a stable home life and under the burden of bi-polar disorder. Rogen's character "Ronnie" seems harmless enough and over the top for most of the film. His misinterpretation and fundamental lack of understanding when he is being put on or put down leads to him believing that he should become a police officer. It's at that point, when he stops taking his meds, and is feeling the euphoric high that a person with bi-polar goes through, called "mania". He is on top of the world and everything makes sense to him through a heightened sense of his own subjective reality. 

We get hints that Ronnie has had a terrible upbringing. His mother is a black out drunk, who has no sense of what it means to protect the feelings of her son. His father left early and his mom makes it clear that it was because of Ronnie. It's not likely that Ronnie had any sort of home life that didn't involve imagination and learning how to be a man from television and movies. It's abundantly clear, when hearing his inner monologue that he sees movies and how to live life as being intertwined. Ronnie moves through the film seeing himself as the hero in an action movie and that everyone he encounters are actors in his film, playing their roles. Once the viewer can set aside a preconceived notion of what one believes the film should be doing (being another Superbad) and sees it from the outside as a functioning member of society watching a dysfunctional man fumble his way through the reality that only he knows, it makes it much easier to understand the point of the film, in my opinion. 

Ronnie never sees himself as out of touch or mean. He quickly steers any perceived critique of him as a misdiagnosis from someone who just doesn't "get" him. His mental illness shields him from reality. He can't accept that he is anything less than the movie character he is playing out from minute to minute. He can be forcibly kind and gentle (which in turn makes him NOT kind and gentle), or he can become a raving lunatic that has lost a sense of organized reality. He becomes a pseudo-vigilante, ala Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver". I could pick around at some scenes to flesh this out a little more, but if someone happens to watch this on my recommendation, I don't want to force my ideals about particular scenes into anyone else's head. I will say this though, only a very few people have a feel for Ronnie and what he is about. Those characters, (his mother, the girl at the coffee stand, and even his boss) understand Ronnie isn't a bad human being, he is just off kilter. His reality isn't everyone else's and that's harmless....until he stops taking his medication because he feels so "right". Anyone who has suffered from or knows people who do suffer from depression and/or bipolar can understand that when you feel good and on top of the world, you REALLY feel good. As if nothing you do can go wrong. It's the crash that comes that drives those people into depressive states where they are the total opposite of where they were. Life becomes miserable and pointless, when you fall down that long flight of stairs from the top to the bottom. All that seemed right and worth being a part of before become wrong, void of meaning, and hopeless. 

If you decide to watch it again or for the first time, I simply ask you to watch it as its own vehicle and don't put expectations on it, based on what you have seen Rogen or Faris in before. Ray Liotta and Anna Faris shine. Ronnie looks up to Liotta as a father figure and Liotta, who doesn't have the first understanding that Ronnie is mentally ill, rejects him at every turn, even to the point where his co-workers feel ashamed. Faris' character is the object of Ronnie's infatuation, and she also has no use for his eccentric ways, mostly because she is so self-centered that she can't even see the obvious signs that Ronnie is mentally ill. Michael Pena, as Dennis, Ronnie's right hand man, is also very good, but underutilized. I hope if you  have seen this before and just didn't like it, that maybe you will give it another chance. It's not a film that everyone can like, nor is it easily understood by anyone who hasn't had to deal with bipolar disorder on some level. If nothing else, the movie should convey that there are people out in the world that we interact with daily that are constantly teetering between practical reality and an internal reality, which are starkly different. 

Thanks for reading, if you got this far. 

An interesting interview with directer Jody Hill from avclub.com. 

Jody Hill Interview: CLICK ME

Here's the original trailer for the film. It is way too oriented towards the one liners and doesn't give much of a feel for what the movie is about. It's marketing that causes anticipation and expectation and the marketing of this film did nothing to help it, as far as I'm concerned. 

Divided & Conquered By The System!

I'm feeling a bit political today, even after enjoying the afternoon with the kids at Churchill Downs. I am still exasperated by our need to paint ourselves as Democrats and Republicans. I'm still confused on how we have sat through the past 12 years and not figured out something very bad is happening. 

We are just months away from an election that I am certain will be called the "most important" of our generation, even though the last five have been called that also. The politicians and media want to frame this as some sort of culture war and it is, but it's not liberals versus conservatives. It's the powers that be (federal government, multi-national corporations, mainstream media) against our freedom and civil liberties. Now, I can sit here and say we must wake up, but it's really almost too late for that. The voting booth no longer holds power. The days of your vote meaning anything are over and you let it happen. 

Democrats and Republicans are essentially the same when it comes to the situations that truly have an effect on the life of an average American citizen. I'm talking about your production as a worker, your ability to get health care that is adequate and affordable (and not some fucking luxury), your safety, and your ability to treat your life as your own. They differ on the bullshit. The bullshit that is important, but is more divided into groups. The social issues like gay marriage, gun ownership, abortion, drugs, and such are important to be sure, but those are the issues that they want us to fight about as a distraction. It makes us feel like we are part of the team. In reality, we are all fighting for the same team. The Democrats and Republicans are the same thing. They are political parties that thrive on power. They understand the need for each other and that's OK with them, so long as no third or fourth parties try to get involved. Power is just an election cycle away and they want to make sure that your choice is limited. 

All that said, here is a big problem for us; we do not support each other as citizens. Why do I support entities such as The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street? Because they are a mass of citizens that are standing up to what they see as injustice and the robbing of the middle and lower classes, or an erosion of our constitutional rights. Not that I agree with either of those two movements across the board. In some cases I agree a lot. In other cases, not at all. I do understand what they are doing though. I do understand they are motivated by a want to make things better and to shine a light on where things have gone wrong. But, you know what almost always happens? These groups are instantly portrayed by the media as either a Republican or Democrat movement, and then they are overran with entities from those parties, robbing them of true power and influence. This frames the debate about them. It eliminates a Republican from looking at OWS as a movement that they may find some commonality with. It eliminates a Democrat from looking at the Tea Party as a movement where they may find topics that they agree with. It's all or nothing. The media is in cahoots with corporate America, and our federal government, to suppress power from going back to the people. There can be no groundswell of support for what is going wrong, because anyone or anything who wants to change the system or bring awareness is pushed into a political side and immediately, 50% of the populous is against it. Just because of a label. The label of liberal or conservative or Republican or Democrat. Think of it in the terms of a sports rivalry. Both teams in a rivalry play the same sport. They have the same amount of players on their roster. They have similarities all up and down the line, except they have on different colors. THAT is where the dislike and even hatred comes from. Sure, there could be other small circumstances, but overall, over a long period of time, it simply comes down to the name on the shirt and nothing else. It's not logical to do when it's concerning something so important as the future of our nation. 

Folks, we have been duped. We are past the tipping point. We have been led to be opponents who fight tooth and nail against one another, even as the sides we support are basically in bed together. We are the fools. Let me explain; 

If you are an American who believes you have the right to own a gun, why would you not support the rights of a gay couple to marry? You don't have to approve. You don't have to condone it. You don't have to participate. It won't affect you in any way, but we still have to take sides, don't we? We want the rights that we want and piss on someone who doesn't hold the same values as we do. I think gun ownership is an important part of being an American if you so choose to have one. Where is the incentive for a gay man in California to stand up for a man in Arkansas who wants to make sure he has the right to a firearm? And vice versa. What business is it of yours (or the governments) if your neighbor smokes marijuana? Even if you don't. What business is it of your neighbors if you want to have a couple of drinks when you get home from work?  If we don't start seeing rights as the rights of EVERYONE, whether we choose to exercise those rights or not, then any persons rights are apt to be taken away. If we don't care about civil rights, human rights, and Constitutional rights as a whole, then we truly weaken those rights. If one persons rights can be taken because of political trickery and lies, then ANYONE can have their rights taken by the same measure. If you don't believe that, you are not thinking.

Please understand that is is the United States. We don't (or shouldn't) favor anyone's rights to be greater than the next persons. We can worship how we like. Or not worship at all. We can own a firearm. Or not. We can marry. (well some of us) Or not. We should seek out more freedom, not less. We have gone past the tipping point and revolution is the only way that things will change on a grand scale. And if we seriously want to stop the politicians, multi-national corporations, and the media from treating us like pets and giving and taking as they see fit, we have to start standing up for one another. We are being divided and conquered by our need to fit in. Stop it. We are Americans first. Stop letting them decide what you support and don't support. Stop letting them decide what you will do in the privacy of your own home. Stop letting them decide how America should be. It's our country. We were founded on the populous controlling the government, not the other way around. Stop hating the opposition.....the opposition is YOU!

Here is an article that I urge you to read about how spy drones are collecting information or will be collecting information on American citizens. Oh, "I have nothing to hide" you may say, but does that mean you are OK with your civil liberties being violated? What about when something you do think you have a right to gets taken away? Will it matter then?

Napolitano: Where Is The Outrage?

And this is a short TED Talk on how the American middle-class are the real job creators, not the wealthy. It's important because we have been fed the supply side theory for so long that we accept it as truth, instead of examining whether it is sustainable and healthy for the middle and lower classes. 

Favorite Things....For Today At Least!

I like using my blog to write about things I really enjoy. It's fun to share with others. I also have written about things that aggravate me and stuff I consider to be funny. The house has slept in this morning, so I don't really have anything to do right now other than write something. I think I'll use this blog to do a "favorite things" list. And that list will likely be different than one I would have done two days ago or that I will do two days from now. I change what I consider to be my favorites as my moods or thought processes change. So take any of this with a grain of salt. My goal with this is to just write and to hopefully share a few things that some of you may take an interest in and check out. 

My Favorite Movies

Almost Famous : I love music and this has so much about my favorite era of music sprinkled throughout it that I totally relate to how Cameron Crowe must have felt while he was living through the "hey day" of rock n roll!

My Blog On Almost Famous!

Field of Dreams: I don't watch it as often as I used to, but I can't get over how good the movie makes me feel. There is an innocence and magic to it that touches the part of me that still holds youthful memory. It sucks that we can't go back and experience long forgotten feelings and reconnect with people.

The Godfather Part II

Inception

The Empire Strikes Back

It's A Wonderful Life

Superbad

The Big Lebowski

My Favorite Bands/Musicians

(I can't help but notice that my favorites were/are trend setters or system shakers)

The Replacements : They were an alternative band back when alternative music was not what you heard on mainstream radio. The minute music is played on commercial radio, it ceases to be alternative by definition. They were loose. Their music was relevant to their age. They were real. 

The Beatles

Led Zeppelin

Pink Floyd

My Morning Jacket : They have an amazing sound that continues to evolve with each record they make. They also kick ass live. 

My Blog On My Morning Jacket!

The Beastie Boys

My Blog On The Beastie Boys!

Waylon Jennings

My Favorite TV Shows

Arrested Development : One of the most consistently funny and witty shows I have ever watched. It only lasted three seasons, but it was truly great. 

The Sopranos

The Office

Starsky & Hutch

Six Feet Under

Party Down : Most people have never heard of this one, but it's great. Lots of star power and a show that turned the eye of Hollywood (no not the stars in Hollywood, but the wannabe stars in Hollywood) back on itself at a low level. Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Martin Starr.....just a great cast.

WKRP in Cincinnati : Another show that wasn't just dumb comedy. It had a spirit and it made me want to be on the radio. Fortunately I got to do that for awhile. 

My Favorite Sports Teams

2004 Boston Red Sox : That was the last season that I really, really loved baseball on a level that was close to the way I did as a kid. 

1985-86 Louisville Cardinal Basketball Team : It was the first year I started going to games at Freedom Hall and I really got in to it. It was also at that point that I stopped paying much attention to UK. Other than Larry B, most people made me feel weird about trying to like all the area teams. 

1996-97 Louisville Cardinal Basketball Team : This team overachieved and I loved watching DeJuan Wheat play basketball. 

1992 Dallas Cowboys : Great, great football team. They rolled through the play-offs. I thought their reign would last forever!

1983-84 Kentucky Wildcat Basketball Team : The last UK team I was really, really pulling for. Jim Master and Sam Bowie were favorites. A very tough loss to Georgetown. 

2006 Louisville Cardinal Football Team : A fantastic year. Not just for the football, which was awesome, but I hung out with B, Joe, Chris, Matt, Josh and my tailgating buddies. It didn't hurt that I got to go to Miami!!!
(adding this video I made following the season)
Louisville Football 2006

1990 Cincinnati Reds : Another fun team to watch. Not a bunch of All-Stars, but just really good baseball players. Larkin, Davis, O'Neill, Browning, Sabo.....really enjoyed watching that team!

That's all I got for this morning. I'll do better next time. Unless I don't! 

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favorite things 

"My Favorite Things" - Julie Andrews

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