D'oh

Epic Fail on my part. Posts soon.

Better Than the Original

Found this on Okayplayer.com. Empire State of Mind Part II (no Jay-Z). Details are below the video.

Holy shit. This is good. I'm not really a huge fan of Alicia Keys, mostly because I just haven't taken the time to listen to her music. But this song just stabs me in the heart and makes me want to cry. Fuck, I miss New York City.

Sportscenter Advertising

Oh, sweet Jesus Cristo. Sportscenter is my dream account. Always has been. I've been a fan of the "This is Sportscenter" campaign since I was a wee tike and Sportscenter was still a low-production, informal show. The random humor, the "candid" insights into what made the show so awesome. The silly mascots doing silly things. The awkward acting performances of star athletes. Oh, it is all so wonderful.

Except that while the advertising has maintained a consistent and hilarious voice throughout the years, the show is a mere shell of what it used to be. And that makes me sad. Sportscenter, and ESPN in general, used to be a goofy, low-fi channel with silly graphics and sillier anchors. It used to be simpler, idealistic and take itself less seriously. It used to have anchors and personalities you didn't want to slap the smarminess out of. It used to have experts that actually knew what they were talking about. (Scratch that. No it didn't). It used to be a casual experience with less-than-flashy graphics and low budgets. It used to be fun.

Now Sportscenter is loaded down with statistics that don't make sense, anchors that are so smug with self-satisfaction that they are completely intolerable, and crazy, amped-up graphics and sound effects that make me feel like I'm in some kind of Michael-Bay-meets-cheesy-80s-sound-effects-time-warp. It's depressing. I miss the good ol' days.

Amazingly so, the advertising for the show hasn't changed. The tone, the humor, the ideas are all still there. In fact, the tone has spread over to other shows, establishing a consistent voice for the channel. And it is still at the top of my dream account list. Despite how much distaste I have for the actual product. I love cognitive dissonance.

If I Were in a Band, I'd be the Rhythm Guitarist

Hey you! I've missed you! It's so good that you're back. It's been such a long time since we've seen each other. I wish I had the time to catch up, but it looks like we're going to have to save it for a later post. For now, I'll just give you the run down. This is my new blog address. I'm not going to be posting on the old one anymore. But, really it's all for the better. This blog address makes more sense. The topics will be more consistent (hopefully). And I'll post daily. So, please, don't mourn the demise of my previous blog. It's all part of the growth process. Instead of being sad, let's rejoice at a life well lived and celebrate the happy moments.

Also, let's get excited. I'm performing in a Stand-Up Comedy Contest. The link is right here. You should go, if you can. It will be amazing. I might even post some jokes that won't be in the show in the week prior, just to get you excited. Because the jokes I post won't even be the funniest ones. I save those for the live performance. The show is in Manchester, NH, on November 30th. It's at the MCAM Studios at 540 North Commercial Street. I realize that it's a Monday night. You might end up missing Monday Night Football or Dancing with the Stars. But I think it will be worth it. Hope to see you there.