I Started Growin' Jeff Tweedy's Beard...

So I wanna be Jeff Tweedy? Whats it to you?

Ok so I dont want to be Jeff Tweedy. If anything, this last year has done nothing but make me realize how comfortable I am in my own skin. The whole songwriting experience has taught me nothing other then to be yourself, and that as long as I am expressing myself, the end product will be more fun to play, and more exciting in general. Blah blah blah, I love me.

But I was recently asked an interesting question by a fellow local songwriter which was phrased something like this; 'Whose career would you most like to model yours after?'. Or something along those lines. It didnt take me much thought to determine that I would most like to be in Jeff Tweedy's shoes from a songwriting standpoint.

Here is someone who has unlimited capabilites as far as making records. He records, and performs with several bands, including the obvious Wilco, and the lesser known such as Golden Smog and Loose Fur. At the same time he can also tour by himself and fill small stadiums with people who just want to watch him do his thing with an acoustic guitar and that wonderful folk voice of his I have grown to love. What musician wouldnt want to be in his shoes?

So yeah I suppose everyone could say they wanna be like Jeff Tweedy, much like I am saying now. He has worked endlessly on perfecting his art and in my opinion is one of the greatest the world has ever seen. He is living his dream...He has embraced himself much better then most people, and everyone has responded in such a positive way. So yes, I definitely want to be like Jeff Tweedy, and I like to think I am off to a good start, and at the same time I know there is a lot more to work to be done.

Pete Was Almost Right

I recently watched Dane Cook's HBO special 'Vicious Circle'. I honestly wasnt that impressed with his humor. Don't get me wrong, some of his jokes were great, and I definitely laughed a couple times. He was very animated as well which, I thought, was the funniest part. Watching him imitate a female masturbating makes the whole special worth watching.

Some of his stories I thought dragged on, sometimes leading to other funny side jokes, and other times leading to unfunny slow moments. Of course you can't always hit homeruns.

One thing I admire about Dane Cook is his ability to blow up to the scale he has. There aren't a lot of comedians out there that can fill a stadium of that size, stand in the middle, and do their routine leaving everyone satisfied. You have to admire his obvious effort towards perfecting his own art, and for all that hard work paying off.

So in conclusion, I'm gonna give this one to Pete, cause he was listening to Dane Cook before everyone I know. He was the one trying to convince me that he was funny. Granted he isnt the funniest out there (in my opinion), but he is good at what he does. I've never been one for comedy CDs, so I can't help him out that way, but I would watch another special if it took place. Watching him stomp around the stage is all it takes for me to crack up.

For those of you keeping score thats Pete 1, Nick 563.

The Dick-scover-ey Channel Part III

Grey's Anatomy - If 'Scrubs' and 'ER' were bored in the off season, they would screw and have a baby. The end result would be Grey's Anatomy. And even if this was how the show was formed, rather then just pure plagiarism (the same way most popular shows are created i.e. Family Guy), it would still suck, even though I've never even seen it.

Sugar Ray Leonard Minus Ray Leonard - I've redeveloped my sweettooth ever since giving up fast food and soda. It makes sense due to the lack of refined sugars in my diet, if that even is such a thing. I've had cravings for ice cream, and splurge on candy purchases every now and then. My body is compensating for the lack of deliciousness, and unhealthiness. Its causing me to revert to the good ole days when my lunches consisted of a box of ho-ho's and a jar of pickles. Everyone loved sitting with me at the lunch table, cause I always had a spare twix bar considering I would just stuff the whole box into my little brown bag. I wish I was eating a triple classic wrapped in donut glaze right now.

Wifeswap - Ok I admit, I've been hooked on this one for awhile, but after this weeks two hour season premiere I almost laughed the shit out of my butt. One of the husbands said 'Women are like Puppy Dogs, you reward them with a treat when they do something right, and then you're alright' - and that wasnt even on the episode with the family of Pirates. And no that is not a typo. There was a family that lived by the code of Pirattitude, and even invented 'Talk like a Pirate Day', which was September 19th. This is the stuff you are all missing by skipping this gem of a reality show.

New Blog...Surprise Surprise.

I swear this one wasn't even my idea, but it is a great idea, and I will be a regular contributor.

Click the link for 'Time Travel' to the right. Its a new blog Sparky and I have started for the obvious topic of Time Travel.

iDisney...

iTunes has finally made its way into the Movie business. Obviously we all saw it coming, and personally I've been awaiting it.

Personally I am no DVD buying buff, and its very rare that I actually do buy a movie. TV shows are another story. I buy lots of those, so I was thrilled when I could just make a couple clicks and get my hands on the Office, Scrubs, and Lost, three of my favorite currently running television shows. And now I can do the same with Movies.

Of course, it will be awhile before the available library opens up, but I was doing a little browsing today, and even found 'The Great Mouse Detective' - which is (as some may recall) on my top ten Disney movie's list, because of its greatness (hence the name).

It seems only Disney has jumped on the bandwagon so far, but I am sure many will follow suit, depending on its popularity among the consumer world. Of course not even all the television networks have jumped on the TV bandwagon, so will I eventually be able to get all movies on iTunes? I hope so, but it could be a while.

I for one am all for this digital media age. Sure its a pain in the ass to hook my computer up to my television for proper viewing pleasure, but there are ways around that which I haven't really looked into as of yet. Not too mention the days of bookshelves full of DVDs and CDs are over. Which is a huge advantage for someone like myself who has a tendency to move every year or so.

I am aware that stuff like this has been available through 'illegal' torrent sites for a long time, but I've never been much of an advocate for these (plus you never know what you are gonna get). I am all about file sharing with your friends and whatnot, but for some reason the whole torrent thing is a turn off to me. Ive gotten a few things here and there from friends that were from torrent sites, and the quality hasnt been superb all the time. And of course there are other times where Ive gotten things from friends that I could never get anywhere else (like the complete Simpsons Series Seasons 1-17 - Thanks Nate).

So in conclusion there will be no more waiting for the next day for me to get new release albums, movies, or the TV shows I missed the night before. Because at midnight I can start downloading them from Itunes, plus I have TiVo. God Bless iAmerica.

Some Good News About Star Wars

Tomorrow they are releasing the original three Star Wars movies (episodes IV, V, and VI) in a limited edition two disc DVD collection that will fortunately contain the original cuts. This is such great news for us real Star Wars fans.

It turns out I will be able to watch this trilogy I so love without having to see Greedo shoot first, or the cartoon alien dance seen. I can finally watch Luke blossom from a power converter nerd, to a Jedi Master, without having to worry about seeing Hayden Christiansen in the final moments. I mean sure the Death Star explosion wont be as eventful, but at least I don't have to see Han Solo walk over Jabba's tail...

Finally I can go on with my life ignoring the existence of episodes I, II, and III, which were quite possibly the worst three movies ever made. Its a good thing they don't exist.