We've Moved

Come visit us in our new home.

Experiencing Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By

So, I decided it was high time I update this here blog, but when I signed into Blogger today, they had all of these new features and I had to link my Blogger account to my Google account (just another way for The Man to keep track of me), then I was prompted to update my template so that it would be compatible with the new features, but when I did that I lost most of the customizations I had made to the site.

I realize that was an egregious run-on sentence.

Anyway, I'm working on getting this thing back up to speed, so please bear with me. Until then, please enjoy this picture. The guy just wins football games, it's that simple.

Update - One of the unexpected changes was the disappearance of the comments on each post. I'm working on it.

2nd update - I just can't figure out how to recover all of the old comments. Oh, well. On a positive note, I can now assign labels, or tags, to each post. Now, if anybody really wants to see all of the posts on this blog that have to do with music, or Vince Young (VY, to those who may or may not have some sort of non-sexual man-crush on him), or LA, they can just click on the label in the list on the right side of the page. I think that's pretty cool.

And for the record, I did not intend for my blog to be decked out in Tennessee Titans colors. I promise. I'm working on that, b/c I like these colors, and I'm certainly not against being a HUGE fan of VY, but I'm not trying to design my blog around his team's colors.

3rd update - Screw it. I like these colors.

4th update - Regarding the aforementioned labels, or tags, I'm going back through all of the old posts on this blog in order to tag them. It's not going to happen overnight, but I'll get to them soon.

The Water Cooler

ATTENTION!!!

There's a brand new pop-culture blog out there that I feel the need to call your attention to for many reasons, not the least of which is that I am one of the two (currently) contributors to it.

The Water Cooler

I would urge you all (some more than others, but hey, we're all family here, right?) to head over there and check it out, b/c in my humble opinion, it's damn good. We've got a bunch of stuff going on over there, might be a little ambitious, and who knows how long it will last, but we think we need to at least put in as much time updating the blog as we did designing it, so that gives us a minimum of 2 weeks. I would imagine it'll go much longer. Most of what we do over there is going to be pop-culture related, reviews of movies, music, etc. Two things to look out for are our fake reviews of books we have never read (our "Judge a Book By Its Cover" series), and my "30 Years of Rock" series in which I will be reviewing the top 10 albums of each year of my life, each year on a new day leading up to my 30th birthday next month.

One thing I want to point out, though, is that for some reason, the template we used looks like complete crap on Internet Explorer. This would be a great time for you to download and use Mozilla Firefox as your web browser, if you don't already. With tabbed browsing, you can have multiple sites open at once in the same window (without crowding your computer with so many browser windows open at one time), and it has much MUCH better pop-up blockers and security features than IE does. Best of all, it's free!! Get it here.

There's a lot going on out here in the City of Angels, so don't think that I'm abandoning Manifest Destiny in favor of The Water Cooler. I don't like one more than the other, I just like them in different ways. It's like the way my parents feel about my sisters. They don't love one more than the other, they just love them differently. They do, of course, love me more. That's a joke. They love me much less.

So, check out The Water Cooler, bookmark it, read it early, read it often, and keep coming back here as well, b/c I'm going to be posting different stuff in both places. And thanks for reading. You stay classy, San Diego.

PS - My buddy Micah's latest Chicago Sports Review column got picked up by the up-and-coming (at a very fast pace) sports blog Deadspin. Check it out here, it's quality stuff.

Every Moment's a Little Bit Later

I'm one step closer to world domination. The way I see it, the steps to world domination are as follows:

1. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
2. Figure out how to post mp3's on your blog.
3. Unknown.

As soon as I figure out what Step 3 is, I'm there. Then nothing can stop me.

The big news is that I've figured out how to post mp3's on this here blog. So, if you're interested, just click on the following link and listen away (note: it might take a few seconds to load, but it'll get there). I probably won't post too many songs, maybe one or two a week, when the mood strikes me. In honor of this inaugural mp3 posting, I've decided on a nice upbeat tune from my favorite band, Wilco, that you're all sure to love. Also, in honor of my buddy Johnny Crump, I've also posted a favorite tune of his, or so his recent comments have led me to believe. And for my friend Wavin' Dave Kahn, a catchy tune from Loose Fur (one of Jeff Tweedy's side projects) with some rather, shall we say, unorthodox views on a major religious figure. No offense intended, listen at your own risk.

Please enjoy these, and any future songs I may decide to post. As a disclaimer, I feel that I should say that these are posted strictly for the enjoyment of myself and my readers, and are not intended to be used for illegal downloading. If anyone has any problem with these songs being posted here, please feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email, and I will happily take them down.

Wilco - Pot Kettle Black - mp3
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman - mp3
Loose Fur - The Ruling Class - mp3

I've come across a slew of really cool mp3 blogs lately. I'll probably recommend a few of them in a future post, and I'm definitely going to link to them at some point in the near future. Until then, stay tuned, and enjoy the music.

A Sign of Things to Come

Sorry for the prolonged absence. I'll try to be a bit more diligent with my posting. I took this pic and sent the post from my new cell phone, so there may be some interesting (maybe) mobile posting in the future.

Selling Out, Vol. 4

I have gone commercial. I don't know how many of you noticed the random link in my last post, but I found this ad on Craigslist that actually pays you to put certain links into your blog posts. I am actually making money (though VERY little money) now, writing this blog. It's a little strange, but I think I can handle it. I can write about whatever I want, but as long as I put something in here, like vioxx lawyers, then I'm in like a dirty shirt.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on old Johnny Damon for seeing green. I guess the main difference, though, is that the money I'm making might - might - cover the price of a DVD or a few beers, whereas the money that he's making might cover the price of a company that makes DVDs or beers. Oh, and I didn't write a book about how I'm proud of not putting random links in my blog, then immediately jump ship for a little extra cheddar.

So, anyway, be on the lookout for a lot more random crap hanging around these blog posts. And, if you feel like it, click on one or two. You might not need legal representation in a pharmaceutical class-action, but you never know what might be out there.

Lisa Diane Tilley-Newman Has A Blog

Is a blogger from Boston a "bloggah"??

I'd like to be the first (well, probably not the first, but who cares, it's an expression) to welcome my friend Lisa to the world of blogging. I like when my friends have blogs, it makes me feel like less of a high-schooler, my addiction to The O.C. notwithstanding. Anyway, it's great - she's a bit of a Bon Jovi freak, but who among us doesn't have some sort of semi-embarassing addiction (see aforementioned O.C. reference)?? Also, by the looks of things, she might be ... a liberal. I've definitely made my journey leftward over the past few years, but she was doing it WAY before it was the in-thing. Take that, Al Franken.

Her blog is now forever (or at least until my 2 1/2 years are up, I was just wondering this afternoon what I'm going to do when that happens...) linked at the left, joining Neola, Ziggy, me & Jeremy, The Roommate, and Dana as my friends that have blogs. She gets the top spot, because it's the newest one, and because I've known her the longest. We used to swing together at recess in first grade. (PS - her husband's a stud. Only guy I know who can jump from quoting Fletch to Pee Wee's Big Adventure to The Breakfast Club in the same breath while lining up for a putt.) There are a few other noteworthy blogs over there as well, but I'm not exactly friends with Mark Cuban, I just like his blog.

Who else out there has a blog that they're not telling us about?? It's ok, don't be shy. You can tell me.

Oh, and one other thing. You may have noticed that I took off the Red Cross thing to donate to Hurricane Katrina relief. That's not because I'm a douche. It's because at this point (or ever, really), I just don't think the Red Cross is getting too many donations as a result of my blog. Not that I don't think I make a difference in people's lives in other areas (I shudder to think what some folks' lives might be like without my semi-regular ramblings about the O.C. or my fantasy football team). Anyway, I hope I didn't offend anyone by taking that down, it was just time.

And Now for Something Completely Different

(still watching: Red Sox at Angels)

My boy Jeremy and I have decided to start a blog to air out our mindless, senseless, meaningless, random movie quotes, and what not. Mainly so we can entertain each other from 2,000 miles away. It's called A Blog About Nothing (blatant Seinfeld rip-off), and it's on the list of links at the right. Enjoy. Or don't. We don't care.

I'm so bored with the U.S.A??

(Listening to: Twisted Logic, Coldplay)

So, I happened to take issue with a post on the blog by the authors of Freakonomics (which, by the way, I highly recommend reading very soon, and their blog is great - listed at the right of this page), and I felt compelled to respond. Click here to read the entire post, with comments. Mine is toward the bottom, though I'll reprint it here to save you the time. (I'm still not convinced who the aforementioned "you" is yet, but I guess that'll work itself out over time.)

It's true that one vote really doesn't have the "electoral oomph" you
referred to in your answer to the Washington Post Q&A, but don't be so quick
to jump down Anna V.'s throat just yet.

I think that a vote in a national election is just as important as it is in
a local election, and the reason is that, although it doesn't necessary carry
with it the "oomph" or even any sliver of a chance of affecting the outcome of
the election by itself, it does carry with it the example of participating in a
system that is somewhat flawed and certainly ignored by many.

My vote in Mississippi (which is where I live, before anyone hassles me for
bashing the South) really didn't matter in November's Presidential Election.
Mississippi was, and is, and will be for quite some time, a red state,
regardless of how I vote, or how those in my immediate circle of peers vote.
However, by voting, and by talking about voting and encouraging others to vote,
even though you don't necessarily do much for any candidate in particular, you
really go a long way toward strengthening the integrity of the system. In a
situation such as this, where many are so vocal about not voting and complaining
that their vote doesn't even count anyway, merely being part of
the example is effectively leading by example.

Am I just way too much of an idealist, or were The Clash onto something there??

What do you call 10,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean??

(Listening to: The Rebel Johnny Yuma, Johnny Cash)

Everybody's got to start somewhere. I guess I start here. I like to write, and I want to be able to keep my friends and family apprised of just about everything that happens in Los Angeles, once I head out west this summer, so I figured that this would be a good way to do both, rather than sending out the countless mass emails, apologizing for their impersonal nature but not really meaning it.

I don't know how often I will write, but I will certainly try to post a couple of times a week. I don't know exactly what I will be writing about, either, but I would imagine the posts would fall somewhere within these (self-imposed) guidelines:

Things I will NOT write about:
1. Personal problems - I will not be airing out my problems in a public forum. Nobody likes that shit, especially me.
2. Any past or present experiences with hard drugs.
3. That was a joke, Mom.
4. That's pretty much it. Anything else is fair game, I guess. I will not be censoring myself, so if you have a weak stomach, or heart, maybe you shouldn't read. I use a lot of foul language, and I don't necessarily intend on changing that.

Things I probably WILL write about, maybe more often than not:
1. The Texas Longhorns
2. The Boston Red Sox
3. Books, movies, tv, music, etc. The things that fuel me, other than caffeine and Jim Beam.
4. I listen to a LOT of music, and, more for myself than for anyone else, I'm going to indicate at the top of each post what I happen to be listening to at the time of posting, and it will generally have nothing at all to do with the content of the post or with the title of the post. Pure coincidence if it does.
5. Crazy drunk nights in LA (although I doubt seriously that I will be able to afford too many of these)
6. Horrible hungover mornings in LA (hopefully these will be few and far between)
7. My soon-to-be "Three's Company" style living situation, when Amanda and I take a roommate in LA. This should be interesting.
8. Lists. I LOVE lists. When I get bored, I make lists. Sometimes, I will post them.

I guess I could go on, but I won't. I will just say this. The "Talk to Me" link under each post can be used by anyone to comment on anything. Until I see some comments, I will be writing under the assumption that the only person reading this is my mother. She's used to the foul language by now, though, as her attempts to stop me from cussing like a sailor back in high school proved fruitless, when my entire allowance would generally go straight from their pocket into the "swear jar" (with offenses maxing out at a whopping $1.00 a pop), bypassing my hand entirely and yet having no effect on the blue-material I was working.

I didn't really get an allowance, I got paid 5 bucks a week for taking out the trash, and I wasn't really very good at it, but I think they felt some obligation to pay me off anyway.

Anyway, back on point. Until I leave Jackson, I'll probably post periodically, with anything I think might be interesting enough to write about, like sitting in my apartment watching reruns of the OC.

That is all.