why I don't regularly watch television

Its pretty simple; I don't have time. Period. It sounds like an excuse. But seriously, who needs an excuse to watch tv in the first place? What the average person does to make their time useful is their business, of course. I'm just not one of those people.

Most of the television shows that came out after 2000 (reality, drama, dramedy, comedy, adventure, etc) are very hard to keep up with. I have never seen a single episode of Heroes, Lost, Glee, or Bones. In fact, I've said it before: if televisions biggest shows have one-word titles, that tells me that tv is running out of ideas! People have thought this ever since reality television came along. The last show that I tried to keep up with was Survivor. I actually watched the fast-paced, fun reality series until after the All-Stars. After that, it wasn't the same. In other words it jumped the shark (lol)! If I were to turn on Survivor today I would totally be lost. I'm not talking about the ever-changing cast. There's so many lame rules and such they have added since I stopped watching. But more power to Survivor for still staying on the air! I'll be open for any reunions in the future though.

People think I'm crazy for not even watching Family Guy or South Park. One, I tell people 'Do I look psychotic enough to watch South Park?'. Yes, I know its a show thats supposed to poke fun at pop culture. Two, I think Family Guy is a complete Simpsons ripoff that isnt funny. I watched a few episodes trying to get into it but I failed. It didn't grab me or win me over. Its been dubbed as 'stoner humor', and I'm proud to say I'm not one of those people. I even have a stereotype for those people: guys who are overweight, long hair, wannabe geeks/rockstars who get carryout fast food late at night, with their bongs and watch Adult Swim all night. There's only a couple shows I like on Adult Swim: Robot Chicken and Morel Orel, simply because they're funny.

I don't even have Tivo, DVR, VCR plus or whatever its called today. The only time I turn on the TV is if I'm watching a movie, or watching political commentary shows like Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, etc. There's even some great reruns from the 80s that I still enjoy. Its too bad they're not the same as they were. Since a lot of people are anti-family, its hard to get a true sitcom on the air now. I'll still break out my Full House, Roseanne and Seinfeld DVDs when I get sick in the winter time. Otherwise, count me out. I've already joined the web revolution

whats up summer?! rockfest/lazerfest tales

I say this all the time, but there's times where I have little time to write on here. Work, sleep, you name it. The last two months as well as the next two months are busy, busy, busy. I'm just trying to make the most out of summer.

On my rare nights off I usually take in a concert or just chill or whatever. My summer started in mid-May when I went on a short roadtrip with my friend Anthony to Kansas City and Des Moines for two rock festivals. Rockfest was in Kansas City (at their Liberty Memorial park), and it is a day-long festival they have every year and its sponsored by 98.9 The Rock. Note: in St. Louis, we call it Pointfest, but similar lineup :). Anthony has been wanting me to go for two years and so this year I finally gave in to see what its like. This was Anthony's 4th year in a row, and this was his party event of the year. He described it like a mini-Woodstock, and a hot weather Mardi Gras, combined with friend-making and good music. Welllllllll that day it rained and it was muggy and wet the whole time. It wasn't Anthony's fault, but had the weather cooperated it would have been more fun. It was fun that I got to walk around, hang out with groups, eat, even meet wandering band members. While we were there, we interviewed an up-and-coming group, Airbourne.

We also checked out the Kansas City scene the night before. Downtown KC was awesome, in my opinion. Its nothing like St. Louis. Sure, you have old buildings and all, but no broken windows or graffiti. In fact, I read the following day that KC spent millions rehabbing their downtown scene and needless to say they did a wonderful job. We hung out at a piano bar that was 5x better than The Big Bang in St. Louis, and we also had a few drinks at Kelly's Pub. Kelly's claims to be the oldest establishment in KC. For an old timer, they're doing quite well. They even had a pizza place open til 3am in the back. Where in StL can I find something like this?!

The day after Rockfest we headed straight to Des Moines for Lazerfest, which was very similar to Rockfest's lineup but with Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie thrown in. It took us forever to find a parking spot as we were listening to Lazer 103's instructions on how-to-park close to the field. By the way, the concert was in a balloon field, out in the middle of nowhere. But it was cool though, and the weather was still cold and windy for May. I hung in there though. I got to see bands like Seether, 5 Finger Death Punch, Three Days Grace and Papa Roach again. And Godsmack now holds the record for 'the band that I've seen in 3 different cities'. I also went backstage briefly with Anthony, although it wasn't much of a trip. The next day we were looking for something to do in Des Moines before we headed home. I wanted to look at museums (after all, it is the capital of Iowa) but of all things, Anthony wanted to shop. So I gave in. They have a very nice mall, Jordan Pines, which I'd say is twice the size of St. Louis Mills.

And that was all a month ago. Since then, adjusting to reality was difficult but I'm there now. I saw Dave Matthews Band a couple weeks ago but it wasn't anything I expected. I tried organizing a 'radio reunion' but it was unfortunately it was unsuccessful. I'll talk about it in a later blog. Summer's now officially a third over, but there's still plenty of good times ahead.

By the end of the summer, I'm buying my first car. Yeah, I know. I'm 28 and I've been driving mommy and daddy's all this time. So sue me. But its a great change as I drift away out of my parents house soon (I hope!). Me and my co-worker Becca are talking about a Los Angeles roadtrip in August, which I'm skeptical about but I do want something to happen. I'm still weighing the pros and cons. I've already been to Six Flags this year and I might go back again, who knows. Tomorrow I'm going with my sis and my nephews to Raging Rivers. I don't want to go, but I went last year and my nephs made sure their Uncle Jason was along for old times sake.

See ya soon

just browsing, not posting

I haven't neglected this blog or anything. I just haven't posted since its tough to find readers (or what they call 'followers') but I've been getting bored with Facebook and Twitter. I've noticed some more things are changing and rapidly evolving as we see trends come and go. I've also found some great blogs from this site (blogger, blogspot?) so it should keep me busy.

As mentioned before, I believe Facebook has seen its peak. I would hate to go to a new website and start over and add friends and old acquaintances again. I've heard people already say that Google Wave will be the next 'in-thing'. The thought of a 'google wave' sounds pretty scary. (If you've ever seen the Afterschool Special called 'The Wave' then you'll know what I'm talking about. You can watch it here: http://www.xenutv.com/blog/?p=849.) But so many adults I know are on Facebook and I don't really see them doing the same thing I don't want to do, which is again, starting over. Lately, I've been getting friend requests from people I don't even know, and in most cases, I turn them down. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad everytime I do such thing. But if I don't know them, or if they have no mutual friends, or if they have very few friends, its obviously just spam. I would hate to compare Facebook to Myspace, but whats going on here? I've also been getting bored with posting statuses, as I feel that I'm running low on ideas. Usually something poking fun at culture or the news, or a quote here and there. I guess I just feel that I've turned my back on the world, or Facebook society has turned its back on me, I don't know. I still read the newsfeed, so I can easily keep up on my 'friends'. It's always that feeling that by the end of the day, you feel like you missed out on their important moment of the day (lol).

Twitter, on the other hand, I feel I can go crazy on there all the time. My brother-in-law Kyle stated that he's 'totally addicted' to it because that's where he gets his main news from. And I can see that. I do have a few close friends on there, but I wish there were more people I know on Twitter. Some people just don't feel that their lives are important enough, I guess. I do like getting the personal side to some of my favorite famous people (such as authors, politicians, etc).

Well, I have plenty of things to share with you. Mainly, what's been going on the last 3 weeks! And today is my 12th anniversary at my employer's. I was hired here on 6/3/1998 after I finished my soph year in high school. (note: my employer's media policy includes not blogging or sharing certain information about it on socialnet sites.) But I shall wait....

immigration

In the last week or two, what's been flooding the news is Arizona's new law on illegal immigrants. However, also clogging up the headlines now is the big oil spill that happened on the Gulf Coast. I enjoyed listening to conservatives expressing how they felt about what America stands for and what this means to our freedoms. Which brings me to think that this oil spill happened purposely. Think about it, this immigration law is a pretty awkward subject and the news (or lamestream media) doesn't want to shove it down our throats. So now all they talk about is the 130-mile oil spill. Yes, I think its devastating, especially unsafe and wasting so much that could be used on something else. As one pundit remarked, 'Oil spills will probably happen every 20 years or so, (the last major one happened near Alaska in '89).

The illegal immigrants issue has been drawn to my attention for over 3 years ever since then-President Bush gave his speech against it. I've heard views from Arizonans, as well as people who lived in Houston, who have dealt with illegals. There are plenty of ways to solve this problem. One may think that the best way to deal with it is amnesty. But who are we kidding here? Yes, I understand why Mexicans want to cross our border and thats simply because they want freedom, and they want to feed their families. But there's a high cost involved. People pay taxes, and they should too. They need to go by our laws. Other words, its our way or the highway. Its all about fairness.

So far, so many left-wing groups have attacked those who have tried to help prevent this, whether it be policemen or Arizona/Southern politicians. Racist? Okay, that is one thing they will always make an issue. These are the same people who think diversity is more important than anything. I don't care what color, race, religion, or what language you speak. If you don't have citizenship status and you're living here, I hope you get sent home where you belong until you learn responsibility.

prom=overrated

I should be saying the same about weddings, but prom comes the closest of all! I won't make this blog sound like someone who was an anti-social geek without a date in high school. I'm totally way beyond those times. After all, it was ten years ago the last time I went to prom anyway.

I guess because last night Edwardsville High School (my alma mater) had theirs last night (which I consider it to be very early.....its usually in early-mid May). Believe me, I suffered last night when so many people brought their dates in to my workplace as well as come in late after the after-prom party at 4 in the morning. I only attended my senior year, but it was on a scale from 1 to 10, a 4. I remember going stag, and I hung around a certain group for a while, until I connected with another small social group luckily. Later, I went to someone's house and watched 'Dumb and Dumber'. Woohoo. But it could have been a lot worse. And no, I'm not trying to gain anyone's sympathy here.

The reason I say it is overrated is because, in my opinion, so many people (mostly girls) look forward to this one night. I know what its like being young, but there's plenty of things to enjoy while a teenager, and I think prom is not just one of them. Every January I start seeing prom-themed magazines. You know, the ones that tell girls with 'how-to' instructions of setting the stage of their perfect night. There's also the part where your dress has to be perfect, as well as your car, your man, his tuxedo, list goes on and on. Nobody knows the true definition of love, and if there was one, then maybe there would be a true-defined perfect prom night.

To make myself less grouchy on this one, I think prom should just be another social gathering where everyone is meant to have fun. Dress code? Sure. Anyone who threatens to spoil the fun or any person should be ejected immediately. It's not a place for politics or social cliques, but just a joyous time to catch up with everyone you haven't seen in your class. Gosh, this is starting to sound like a class reunion. But I hope I proved a point here.

high school memories, volume 1 (?)

It doesn't make me feel old that I've almost been out of high school for 10 years, but it DOES make me feel weird knowing I'm almost thirrrrrrrty. Sometimes I don't feel bad because we live in different times than ten and/or twenty years ago. More people are getting married and having children in their late 20s and 30s. Sometimes people get their 'big break' or 'the one thing they've been asking for in a long time' while they're in their 30s. But like I said, its a different America now thanks to a different economy.

Probably my biggest highlight in high school came when I was in the Theatre Arts play where I made the whole school laugh. It made me feel popular for a short time, but that was it. I took a Theatre class with Mrs. Motley, hoping I get at least more for my credit and get a little experience. It was fun as me and my classmates wrote plays, organized them and acted in them. We put on a performance for our families, and in front of every class period at the school. One of my favorite teachers, Todd Minichello, even made the comment that I should go into acting one of these days. I still can't believe it was 10 years ago next month that this all happened. Sometimes I wonder where did these years go. I also wonder what stopped me from acting?

Those that know me well know that I went into radio that same year at Lewis & Clark college. To me, that was a 'substitute'. By the time I made it into SIUE 3 years later, I took a written Theatre class, and from then (mostly thanks to the professor) I totally hated it. But I later changed my mind and took an acting class, which was fun. If acting never worked out for me, I could always go into writing of any sort. I've been drumming up ideas for a screenplay I thought of since August. It's a chick-flick that even guys will praise. The reason I say that is it points out stereotypes and moods of some of today's modern young women: they want to get married because they feel life is too short, among other things. More coming soon!

rockin' in the StL!

Last night I got to see music legend Chuck Berry perform at the Pageant! It was my second time seeing him live. He's a legend and rock forefather in his own right, but I was a bit disappointed with what I saw last night. It was only $30 to see him, but it seemed that he wasn't on stage that long (almost an hour) and he didn't even say goodbye. He left the stage, but his son had to stall for him as we thought he was coming back for one more song. Yeah I know, he's in his 80s. But he still played guitar 'like a ring in a bell' and amazingly, he sang a song that he is known not to play live: 'My Ding-a-Ling', which was a possible tribute to our 'black president' (it was Chuck's only #1 Pop hit). He sang most of his well-known hits, surprisingly not his first hit song, 'Maybellene'. Yeah, I know, he's probably performed it 1000s of times, but still. I'm planning on donating money to the upcoming statue that is erected of Mr. Berry, which will be put somewhere on the Delmar loop.

I hope you can stand another Chuck Berry story: the rock legend is known to frequent local St. Louis casinos (not just performing at them, but gambling at them too). On Presidents Day my parents and my grandma took the day off to go to 'the boat'. My dad spotted Mr. Berry in the restroom but of course, minded his own biz. Later on, Chuck was gambling about 25 ft. away from my g-ma and my mom, as my mom whispered 'That's Chuck Berry...'. My grandma actually wanted to go over and talk to him, but my mom rejected, saying he should be left alone and it might cause embarrassment. A few minutes later, my mom gets up for a drink, and the next thing you know, my grandma is chatting with Chuck Berry. I wasn't there, so I'm not sure how the conversation went. From what I hear, he was glad to hear from an older fan whose 'kids and grandkids had all of his records'. My mom was in the state of red-faced embarrassment, but my grandma later quipped, 'He's probably used to it...'. lol

Last week, I got to meet 2 members of the 60s/70s musical group The 5th Dimension. Who are they? The group, whose music is known as 'mixed champagne soul', had dozens of hits on the Pop chart in the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. Their most famous songs include 'Wedding Bell Blues', 'Stoned Soul Picnic' and the theme from the musical Hair, 'Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In'. Three out of five of the groups members were originally from St. Louis. For that reason, they were honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Ron Townson (deceased), Billy Davis Jr. and Lamont McLemore got their musical start in the St.L before moving to California and joining forces with Marilyn McCoo and Florence LaRue. Davis married McCoo and had a very successful singing partnership afterwards in their career. When I was little, my mom used to play the 5th Dimension's Greatest Hits lp around the house while she was cleaning and I knew all of their hits. So it was quite a thrill to be at the induction ceremony and on top of that, meeting Davis and McLemore. Sadly, hardly anyone in my generation has heard of the 5th Dimension, or probably knowing maybe just one of their songs. I blame it on fazing out oldies radio formats. Pictures of the event are here.