And The Gold Medal For Bong Hits Goes To....MICHAEL PHELPS!

Ok, seriously America....can we stop getting all jacked off about shit like this?

I'm gonna say some shit right now that's gonna throw you through a tailspin.
Ready?

PEOPLE SMOKE WEED!

That's right...people smoke weed.
They do it now...they've done it before us....and they'll do it WAY after we're gone.

So Michael Phelps will now be run through the mill because he got caught hitting a bong. By the way, did anyone NOT think this fucker was smoked up all the time?
See, I didn't follow the Olympics...I couldn't give a squirt of piss that this cat can swim....good....REALLY good....whatever, it didn't make a damn bit of difference to me.
Why?
Because Michael Phelps don't pay my bills.
I know, that's a shock...but if you go and check your canceled checks, you'll see he don't pay yours either.
So as far as I'm concerned, that cat could have so many Gold Medals on him that you could mistake him for C3PO, and I wouldn't give a FUCK!
Ok...that's a lie...especially if he was standing next to a round topped trash can.

Think about the visual for a minute, I'll wait till you get it.

Good?
See that was funny, right?

Anyway, on that same token....I don't give a fuck if he smokes weed, either. Not that I'm some big weed smoker who just wants the threat of being busted to go away or someting. Actually, quite the contrary...I don't use drugs at all. Never really did. I just base life on logic, kinda like Spock from Star Trek.
Logic goes like this....if alcohol is legal, so should marijuana be. Wait, did I word that right? Why does that sound like some Yoda shit to me?
Screw it anyway, Yoda made some sense with his backward ass shit too.

And please don't start with the "But he's a role model for the...wait for it....CHILDREN!" You know who your child's role model is?...YOU, stupid!
The minute you start looking to a Michael Phelps to be your child's role model because he can swim back and forth really fast, you really need to sit down with yourself and try to pinpoint the exact moment you became an unadulterated jackass.

See here's the thing that makes me different than you...I don't expect people to act correctly. I never did.
In fact, I always assume the worst of a cat, and then it's like a surprise when they do shit right.
It's like fucking Hanukkah all the time...except I'm not Jewish.

Speaking of that, you HAVE to see "The Boy In The Striped Pajamas".
Every once in a while, Hollywood....you do something correct. But, what an ending!
I didn't expect that shit at all.

What am I doing? YOU aren't gonna watch something interesting like that...you're busy waiting for a "House Party" sequel or something, aren't you?
Christ, you're probably listening to "Tubthumpin'" from Chumbawumba while you're reading this and REALLY enjoying it, aren't you?

But you know what I WILL say about all of this?
If a cat who can dazzle the World with his athletic prowess, likes to get smoked up from time to time...or fuck it...if he wakes and bakes and keeps the shit going all day until he lays his head down at night....hell, if he gets high UNDERWATER...who are you to tell him it's wrong?

Can YOU out perform that guy?

He was your hero a minute ago, America...he was a "phenom", remember?
Guess your "phenom" likes to smoke weed.
It'll be ok, America.

HEY, look over there...isn't that Britney?!?!?

Remembering Bernie Mac

I was watching "Soul Men" the other night, and I was reminded of what a loss the comedy world suffered when Bernie Mac died.

This is from HBO's Def Comedy Jam, and it was one of the performances that put Bernie on the map. If this doesn't make you laugh...you need to go find a blog where they think Jeff Foxworthy is where comedy began and ended, because this isn't the place for you.

Then again, what about a buddy movie where you have two completely different comedic styles like that, that have nothing to do with each other trying to "out funny" one another?
That might be such a train wreck that it would become a cult classic.

Anyway...the great Bernie Mac

Metallica: Philadelphia, PA 1/17/2009

Yeah, I know it was a while ago, but the last time I checked I wasn't getting paid for this shit, so deal motherbitches!

Now, I have seen Metallica live on several occasions in my life. More importantly, I saw them when you WANTED to see them...back when they were young, and lighting the world on fire with their brand of metal.
I don't care what anyone says, that was an amazing time in the late 80's. There was nothing like it for me, and there really has never been anything like it since. For us, the "metalheads" or whatever name you want to throw at it, we knew something that the rest of the world didn't. We knew that the sound we loved was blazing a new trail...was creating a turning point in the music world, and every time those who didn't "get it" yet would make their comments of "oh yeah..that music's real cool..."KILL YOUR MOTHER! KILL YOUR MOTHER!!", we would think "What a tool." and laugh at you. But it wasn't just the laugh that a person throws at another person out of dislike, it was the laugh of absolute assurance. See, we knew you were really just..well..a tool.

In the long run, I think we were right, and you were wrong.
After all, where's your Scritti Polliti now?

After Metallica's Black Album tour, in 1991-92, I SWORE I would never pay to see them again. You see, Metallica had finally reached the "tools". All of those people who just a couple years prior were power drinking with their friends and singing along to "Funky Cold Medina", had now discovered "Enter Sandman".
Now, I'm not being a metal purist or anything...I'm not saying you can't play in my clubhouse, but the vibe just changed all around.
The vibe at the show was different.
The vibe from the band itself was different.

Metallica didn't seem as energetic on stage anymore...and the energy at the show was not the same, because now, instead of an arena filled with people who knew all of the songs..you had tons of people who were lost when ANYTHING other than Black Album material was playing.

The electricity was gone, for lack of a better description.

This is the part where I'm an older guy, and a very strange moment occurs in my life.
My son, likes Metallica.
My son, wanted to go see Metallica.

How weird is that?
If you're a young guy reading this right now...picture a day when you're getting near 40 and your kid wants you to take him to see Slipknot or something. You're not quite as cool as you used to be..you're just trying to pay bills and shit..there's nothing hardcore or rebellious left in you.
Actually, I was never really that cool, but just play along, I'm getting to something here I swear!

Picture you're at a point where you're wondering where the hell all the time went...and you SWEAR it was just yesterday that you were doing funnels of 100 proof Southern Comfort and Coke at 10am because you were challenged by two Marines on leave in Ocean City, MD, and then you passed out for 8 hours with borderline alcohol poisoning only to wake up and have some chick that you were trying to nail show up piss drunk and asking you to come back with her and her friends to their hotel, but you were too much of a bitchsissy to capitalize on it when she was clearly trying to get things to take a turn while you were alone with her, because even in YOUR completely jacked up state, you could tell that she was a step away from a roofies level of unconsciousness. And NOW you look back and....wait...what was I talking about?

Oh yeah...so you're that guy, right...but in between that time, and current day, you mellowed out, stopped all that silly power drinking, got married, started a business, had kids, and got divorced.
You are now, the stereotypical late 30's white male.
Just a cornbread motherfucker.

Are we squared up until this point?
Good?

So your kid says he'd like to go see Metallica.
What a bittersweet experience.

On one hand, you're getting to take your kid to something that you know will be a magical experience. You remember the first time you went to a concert of a band you really liked, right?
You remember how amazing every single moment was?

But on the other hand, you have reached the age...*I* have reached the age, that my child wants to go see a band that was a symbol of my teenage years. Perhaps THE musical symbol of my teenage years.

Where did all the time go?
Seriously, it's fucked up people.
Listen to your pal, Joe...that shit your parents tell you...that shit about "before you know it, you'll be my age"...THAT is some square biz shit if there ever was any.

This time out, we saw Metallica from a luxury suite...fully catered and an open bar.
A little different from the old days.
(On a side note...a big THANKS to Howard Z. for making my kid's first concert the amazing experience it was!)

As we sat there, my kid saw "the pit"...he turned to me and said.."Those people are nuts! Look at them!.
The corner of my mouth went up a bit in sort of a smirk, and I said to him "In a few more years...that's the only place you'll want to be. Then, you'll get to my age now...and you'll want to be back up here."

I'm getting old, people.

Oh, I guess you want to know how the concert was, huh?
Well, Metallica was as tight and energetic as I had ever seen them.
I was truly stunned at how *together* they were after all these years.

They've gotten old with me.
Somehow though, they got to keep being cool and I didn't.

But us old "metalheads" do have this...our kids want to still see the bands that we loved back then.
Your kid NEVER has asked you to go see Terrence Trent D'Arby.

We were right.

The Bullshit That Was The Danny Bonaduce/Jose Canseco Fight

I've spent a lot of time in Aston, PA over the years. A place I used to work for was located there. A friend used to own a Cajun restaurant there. But most importantly, growing up in Chester, PA, Aston was home to one of the nearest Dairy Queens, and I LOVED me a Peanut Buster Parfait as a kid. Hell, I even take my kids to that same Dairy Queen because there's nothing quite as cool as the feeling of doing something with your own children that you, yourself, did as a child.

But I never left Aston feeling ripped off until last night.

For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, The Iceworks in Aston, PA hosted the fight between 94.1 WYSP morning man, and former star of The Partridge Family, Danny Bonaduce, and former Major League Baseball star Jose Canseco.

Whoever it was that decided on this particular venue, should personally refund the majority of people's money for admission. This was a TERRIBLE layout for a boxing match, or I would imagine any other event except a hockey game.

Please allow me to elaborate.

The ring was in the middle of an ice rink, and the ice rink has bleachers on only one side of it. Those seats were gone in a matter of minutes. So, the rest of the 1,500 person crowd were left to stand behind the glass, nowhere near the ring. But wait, that was even more jacked up than it seems at face value. You could only stand on one side of the rink...oh screw it...here's a diagram I made...


Now, see the big dark grey bar on the right side?
THAT is where the bleachers are. But as I said, those seats were gone in minutes.
The small grey bars are the ringside $60 seats, but sorry, I wasn't paying that for this kind of a fight. To be honest, I wasn't exactly cool with paying $38 dollars for this, BUT....whatever. Not to mention, it appeared that they ran out of seats up in the ringside area too, as MANY people were standing wherever they could.
SO, now here's where it gets interesting...the light grey area at the bottom is where you got to stand to watch this fight for the $38 you laid out. All the other areas around the ring were barricaded off as indicated by the black lines that I added.

Kinda shitty, right?

Well, it's about to get better!
See that yellow square in the line of vision to the ring?
That was the 94.1 WYSP tent. That's right...they decided to put a fucking tent in the ONLY line of vision you had...it was big and yellow, and said "94.1 WYSP The Rock You Grew Up With!". It might have well just read "94.1 WYSP If We Could Ass Bang Your Mother To Add Insult To Injury, We'd Do That Too!!!"
But it wasn't enough to have ONE tent in the way...no, that would be ridiculous!
They needed a second tent on the other side to COMPLETELY fuck your already limited view. But this tent was VERY important. I mean, if you're going to piss off a crowd what more important reason could there be than a tent promoting an inflatable beer pong table?

What? Of COURSE that's VERY important, you mongrel...stop your complaining!

I would give you an example of the view, but someone ERRONEOUSLY told me that they were patting people down at the door so I ran my Hi-Def video camera back to the car.
Thanks, Ron!

On a funny side note to that...after we got in and were never patted down, we started busting Ron's balls about that whole thing, and he said "No, look...they're going through that woman's purse right now!" I looked over and said "Uh, no, Ron..THAT WOMAN is going through her OWN purse."
He responded ".....Um...my bad."

Now, I would have gone back out to the car to get the camera, but when we first got there an announcement was made that if you left the fight area, you would not be let back in. That sucked more than it seems, because the bathrooms were outside the fight area.
Isn't that illegal, Delaware County?
Oh but silly me, listen to me complaining over nonsense!

I would like to tell you which bouts I enjoyed, but see the audio system was fucked the entire night too, so it kinda sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher talking to him. "WAAA WA WA WAAAA WA WAAA WAAAAAAA"

All around us people were complaining "This is FUCKING BULLSHIT!", and "NICE TENT, ASSHOLES!" could be heard. People began just leaving...not caring that they weren't going to see what they paid for. Oh, because I forgot to mention...not only were you standing for hours...you were standing on covered ice. Your feet literally felt frost bitten after awhile.

I do know one of the worst fights of the night, however. It came in the form of former ECW Wrestling star Sandman who replaced Brutus The Barber Beefcake, taking on some guy who CLEARLY appeared to be going easy on him. They barely threw any punches at each other, and the entire fight was met with resounding boos. So needless to say, those who WERE chanting "E..C..DUB!...E..C..DUB!" when he first entered the ring, were making a lot of different sounds upon his exit.

As for the main event, Canseco TOWERED over Bonaduce. It literally looked ridiculous.
People around me felt that Canseco was holding back on Danny...that he could have leveled him, but for some reason wasn't doing it. He did however land a few hard blows on Danny, but Bonaduce just came back at him like a pitbull. Danny seemed to be trying to work Canseco's mid section, which considering the height difference, would normally make good sense. But when you have 3 one minute rounds, there just isn't enough time for that to be a really effective strategy.
The match ended in a draw, but I had to find that out this morning, because like most all the other people in the Iceworks last night...we left before it even ended. Just so disgusted by what we had endured.

As for those who felt Jose wasn't trying as hard as he could have... well, let's just say there's already a rematch planned in L.A, according to promoter Damon Feldman.
Make of that what you will.

I however, finished my night off with some Blue Moon drafts at a local watering hole back in Wilmington called "Scrimmages", where I was further assaulted with the unexpected treat of a middle-aged band who looked like they just left a Star Trek convention, playing "Sweet Emotion" from Aerosmith.

Life in the fast lane, people.
Life in the fast lane.

Is It Just Me....

Or are people using the word "Precipice" a lot more lately?
Am I just noticing it more for some reason, or are they actually using it more?
It seems like every time I watch and interview now, someone finds a reason to inject the word into the conversation.

ZZZCast Interview Special: Scott Sanders - Writer/Director of "Black Dynamite"

After Ro and I ran our mouthes about his film and what we perceived to be a non-credited ripoff of Rudy Ray Moore's "Dolemite", Scott Sanders wanted to come on and talk about it with us.
Very cool, no?

So go listen to it!
Link To The Scott Sanders Interview!

Did You Ever Want A New Hair Style, But Didn't Know What To Go For?

This looks has a lot of potential....

A Moment Away From The Frivolity

If you've been paying any attention to the news at all, you know what's going on in Gaza.
Regardless of your feelings on the issue, I find the following account of the conditions in Gaza City incredibly depressing.
Take the time to read it if you will.

By IBRAHIM BARZAK

"I live alone in my office. My wife and two young children moved in with her father after our apartment was shattered. The neighborhood mosque, where I have prayed since I was a child, had its roof blown off. All the government buildings on my beat have been obliterated.

After days of Israeli shelling, the city and life I have known no longer exist.

Gaza City, with some 400,000 people, stopped supplying water when the fuel ran out for the power station driving the pumps. We listen to battery-run radios for news, even though the outside world watches what's happening to us on television. The Hadi grocery where we once shopped is closed. Food is scarce all over town.

Three days after Israel began its airstrikes against Hamas militants on Dec. 27, my apartment building was shaken by bombs aimed at a nearby Hamas-run government compound.

My brother took a picture of the room where my boys, 2-year-old Hikmet and 6-month-old Ahmed, once slept. Their toys were broken, shrapnel had punched through the closet and the bedroom wall had collapsed. I don't know if we will ever go back.

There are other pictures that haunt me. The Israeli army issued a video of the bombing of the Hamas-run government compound, which it posted on YouTube. In it, I also can see my home being destroyed, and I watch it obsessively.

Some of my colleagues lost their houses to the shelling as well, and are sleeping on mattresses spread across the floors of an apartment upstairs from The Associated Press bureau.

On Tuesday, I stood outside my apartment building but didn't dare enter. I was worried the remains of the nearby compound might again be shelled.

Othman, the owner of the Addar restaurant where my wife and I bought takeaway when we were both working, put up aluminum sheeting over the broken windows to stop looters. On the pavement, phone and power lines were tangled together like twine.

Driving to central Gaza City, I took the road where Gaza's two main universities are. It was covered with shards of glass, telephone cables, electricity wires and flattened cars. This road was once crowded with students, taxis and street vendors.

The Mazaj coffee shop on Omar Mukhtar street, Gaza's main thoroughfare, was shuttered. It was popular with wealthy university students and foreigners working for nonprofit agencies because it served really good Guatemalan coffee — rumored to have been smuggled in through the same tunnels under the Egyptian border the militants used to bring in weapons.

Al Dera, a beautiful hotel on the Mediterranean shore, was a place where young men and women smoked water pipes and flirted, and where families went for dinner on Thursdays.

Those days are gone now.

On Tuesday, the only shop I found open was the Shifa pharmacy run by my friend Eyad Sayegh. He's an Orthodox Christian, and I stopped to wish him a Merry Christmas — Eastern churches celebrate Christmas on Wednesday.

Eyad told me he forgot it was Christmas.

All the landmark buildings I covered as a reporter have vanished.

The colonial-era Seraya was the main security compound for the succession of Gaza's rulers — the British, Egyptians, Israelis, the Palestinian Authority and then the rival Palestinians of Hamas.

We used to fear the Seraya, where the central jail was. Now it's rubble.

The Al Shuhada mosque on the eastern corner of the compound, where I prayed every day, was one of the few in Gaza with good air conditioning. A local philanthropist who liked Moroccan architecture redecorated the interior with intricate wooden arabesques and Quranic verses etched on the roof. The roof caved in when the Israelis bombed the jail next door.

Of the presidential office overlooking the sea, only a few walls remain. For many Gazans it was a symbol of our statehood, even though President Mahmoud Abbas, who also heads the Fatah movement, hasn't been there since Hamas seized control of the territory in June 2007.

Someone planted a Palestinian flag on the building's remains. The huge gate at the western entrance still stands, giving an illusion of something big behind it.

And across the city, the Parliament house is half destroyed. It used to tower above the Unknown Soldier park and the shops that lined downtown Omar Mukhtar Street.

On Jala Street, one of Gaza's main roads, I saw about 30 boys around a leaky irrigation tap on a traffic island. They were clutching empty soft drink bottles and jerry cans, trying to fill them with water.

Samir, who is 9, told me his family has no water at home and he wanted to bring enough for a bath because he and his brother smell.

That's a problem for most people in Gaza right now.

In my father-in-law's building, residents throw out bags of spoiled food. With no power, refrigerators don't run and fresh food quickly rots.

There were few cars on the roads, and most of those were media cars, ambulances and vehicles packed with civilians. Some looked like they were fleeing, with mattresses tied to the roofs, but who knows where they can go.

Israeli helicopters flew overhead. I heard blasts in the distance. The roads were ripped apart by explosives.

I drove into downtown Gaza, trying to prove to myself I can still do something I have done so often before — drive through my city.

I reached the Catholic Latin Patriarchate School I attended, where my late father — also an AP correspondent — used to bring me every day. The building was undamaged.

I stood in front of it, wondering if I will ever be able to walk my children to this school."

Jon Lajoie is BACK!!

Yeah, I don't know why I went with that played out "is BACK!" shit either. It just seemed like what I was supposed to do. I guess it's because I'm not super creative or anything. I mean, I try to be once in a while...sometimes I hit a homerun, but you have to pick your battles, you know?

I mean, I'm just going to show you the latest video in the "Everyday Normal Guy" series.
Is this a moment where I need to show excess creativity?
So you agree with me now that the cliche' "is BACK!" is passable in this instance?

Good. I think everyone feels a lot better about what just happened here.
Talking things out.
That's how you get shit done.

EXTREME LANGUAGE WARNING!!!

Meet Robert Sylvester

What you are seeing is the final moments before Illinois Police put so much lead into Mr. Sylvester, that you could sharpen his head and use him as a pencil.

Miraculously, Mr. Sylvester is ONLY in critical condition as of this posting.

What caused all of this you ask?
Apparently, Mr. Sylvester took it upon himself to rob a "Check N' Go" in Bloomington, IL, and THEN led police on a high speed chase.
What happened next is the stuff that Hollywood Counter-Heroes are made of.
Mr. Sylvester, gun in hand and cigarette dangling from his lips decided to jump the barricade and engage his enemy.

In movies it works.
In this case....not so much.

I'll bet my caption above his head is pretty much accurate as to the final barb in the internal dialogue battle he was having with himself.

UPDATE: Mr. Sylvester is no longer with us. The original newsfeed I saw the story on was incorrect about him being in critical condition.

YouTool: Coheed And Cambria 2!

Okay, I know I've been falling back on the YouTool pieces a bit lately, but I can't help it.
I also realize that I already did the Coheed And Cambria version of YouTool, but I think this might have to be an ongoing segment because it's awesome times infinity.

In this edition of YouTool, we will examine people covering Coheed's "Wake Up" which if you aren't familiar with it, is a slow, love song of sorts.

Now, I know it seems strange coming from a guy with a blog and podcast, but I have to ask myself WHY people do these YouTool videos. I mean, if you have something to say...some sort of thought to convey, or if you're trying to do a comedy skit or something in hopes of it being the next big sensation...fine. But to just go on there singing someone else's song while bringing nothing to the table in terms of an original twist...well that's just bizarre to me.

First we have a young lady named "xCutexWithoutxThexEx"
Huh?
How the hell do I know what that's supposed to mean, it's what she calls herself.
Quit blaming me for everything....did I invent the internet?!?



Dazzling, no?
My favorite parts about it are that it takes place in a CAR, and when she hits the "for you" parts.
It's like all ability to articulate the word "you" leaves her body.
Also, is it just me, or does she start trying to hide her singing from a passer-by on the "of the window" part?

Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "Joe, how can anyone else do better than that? Shouldn't we just stop here?"
No, because you haven't seen "anotherbobhead1" yet.
So stop being so damned impatient!!

Anotherbobhead1 is easily the most impressive cover artist EVER.
I could go over the reasons why, but let the man himself lay it DOWN for you right now....



I'm speechless. No matter how many times I watch it...the man's rendition of the song simply takes my breath away.

See, it was all worth doing a YouTool: Coheed And Cambria sequel for, right?

Let me leave you with a live version of the song, from the real band. The audio and video are a bit out of sync, but you'll be able to get the point anyway.

YouTool: ZJemptv

His name is Zachary Antolak and I don't know what's more interesting....the articulate and well thought out video blogs that he puts on YouTube, or the responses that he gets.
For instance, he made a video about his opinion on whether or not people should have to defend themselves for being gay by saying "I can't help it, I was born this way" which was a very solid and interesting take on the issue.
As a result, here's some of the responses he received, which you'll see are equally as well thought out:

"You just implied that everyone on youtube is gay. You're being a bigot. Enjoy your aids."

"Fag. Merry Xmas."

"Im gunna fuck ya' till yuo luv me faggot!Eat my penis!"

"fuck u fuck ur mom and fuck the vagina u came out of!"

So as you can see, he's got some tough debating days ahead of him. Especially with the guy who hates him for being gay, so his answer is to HAVE homosexual relations with him to teach him a lesson. The logic pattern on that one is going to be tough to negotiate around.

Anyway, check out his stuff...YES he has awful hair that you just want to punch....YES he has an annoying Jeff Goldblum-esqe speech pattern...YES, that IS a Hello Kitty on his bed, but we already established he's a fruitaloon. (NTTAWWT)<-----See how I covered my ass right there?

The point is, for a young kid, he's laying down some really decent thoughts, and that's a whole lot more than you're doing with the internet with all your Facebook and Twitter business.
Besides, if someone's sexual orientation makes you so uncomfortable that it prohibits you from even listening to them, then methinks you may have a little sugar in your own tank.

See that was called reverse psychology to you and me, Rusty.
I'm gonna trick you in to making the world a better place!

Who Was The First Lunatic.....

To test out this suit?

R.I.P. Jett Travolta

Jett Travolta son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston has died as a result of a head injury after he slipped in a tub in his parent's home in the Bahamas.

What an unbelievable tragedy to have to endure.
To lose your child is something that most of us will hopefully never have to cope with, but to lose them in such a senseless fashion must only compound the pain.

I've always dug Travolta and I have no concern for what he finds "religion" in.
That's his business, and however people choose to better themselves internally is fine with me.

Jett Travolta was 16 years old.

This Is What Christmas Is ALL About!

Ok, I know it's a little old, but was that really necessary?
I mean, even if ole' Mom does produce an XBox360 at some point during the day, didn't you just fuck the kid's day up overall?
THEN, as if you haven't mentally scarred this kid enough, you put the video on YouTube for all the world to see.

In 15 to 20 years, when this kid goes apeshit with a semi-automatic weapon in a mall during the Christmas shopping season, while screaming "NOW I'M PLAYIN' GEARS OF WAR, MOM....NOW I'M PLAYIN'!!!!!", you'll know why.

And Anudder WTF Presents.....

So get this...The Big Bopper's son....what?....ok, if you don't know who The Big Bopper is, please leave my site and don't return.
J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson was part of a pivotal moment in American Music history....such a pivotal moment, that a song was written about it.
If you don't know what that infamous moment is, you can't possibly understand half of the nonsense I ramble on about here.

So anyway....The Big Bopper's son is selling his father's casket on Ebay.
No, go ahead and read that again...you'll see you got it right the first time.

Apparently, The Bopper was exhumed in 2007 as a proper autopsy was never done, AND because he was being moved to a new memorial created for him. During the process, the very same company that created his original casket, made him a brand spanking new one.
What?
No, it wasn't made with Chantilly Lace.....I hate you sometimes.

Point is, his son took the old casket that housed his father's corpse for 48 years and is now putting it up for bid on Ebay.
I would put in a bid but...."I ain't got NOOOOOOO money, HONEY!!!!!"

Sorry, I just had to.

The Last Days Of Satellite Radio?

Picture From The New York Times

If you've listened to the last podcast, you heard me say that I believed that Satellite Radio is finished as an entertainment medium...at least in it's current form and business model.
I wanted to get in to that a bit more here, and explain a little further why I see this as the final days of the medium.

I began subscribing to XM Satellite Radio in October 2002. At that time, I found satellite radio to be one of most amazing experiences I have ever had in my car that didn't involve a member of the opposite sex. And quite frankly, it was even better than some of those experiences too.

At a time when there was, in my opinion, NOTHING being offered in terms of decent quality music on the FM dial, Satellite Radio gave us...CHOICES.
I was no longer being forced to accept that Metallica was the most hardcore "metal" that I would ever hear on radio airwaves. I also was no longer being forced to accept that I would only hear "Plush" from Stone Temple Pilots, as if they never created another single tune, OR that I couldn't have an entire station dedicated to Frank Sinatra and his crew. Now, I could hear ALL of their bodies of work, thrown in to a rotation, along with ALL of whatever other bands of each and every genre of music I chose to listen to at the time.

The barriers were gone...FINALLY, we had real music variety at our fingertips.

In October 2004, XM brought Opie And Anthony to their airwaves...the first uncensored "shock radio" program to hit the uncensored Satellite airwaves. Being a big fan of the duo at that time in my life, this was the ultimate coup. I now had all of the music I enjoyed, AND the morning show that I loved.
FM Radio was DEAD as far as I was concerned.

As time went on, I noticed that the playlists were becoming more in keeping to that of FM rotation, than that of the Satellite Radio rotation that I had become accustomed to, AND commercials were being introduced to some of the channels.
There was also something funny going on with my "favorite" morning show.
It started to really...for lack of a better word...suck.

In my experience, the "shock radio" format strangely doesn't work in an uncensored, anything goes environment.
As crazy as it seems, the pushing of boundaries, the seeing "what we can get away with" factor, is a CRUCIAL component of that particular genre, and when it's gone, so is the compelling element of the program.
Anyone of us can say "cock"...but the directions taken to convey that word when you aren't allowed to say it create a more interesting atmosphere. Even when we grow up, we still love listening to someone fighting against authority somehow.

At this point, as a whole, the medium lost it's luster for me, and I canceled my subscription.

But something much more important was happening with Satellite Radio's faltering than this particular moron's waning interest and subesquent cancellation.

In 2001 Steve Jobs introduced something new to the world of tech geekdom...you may have heard of it, it's called "iPod".
No? Doesn't ring a bell?
Maybe you should stop watching "227" reruns and get out and experience things a little more....just a thought.

At first, iPod didn't seem too threatening at all really. Sure, you could put 1,000 songs on it, but who had a 1,000 songs, and more importantly, you still didn't have the variety that Satellite Radio was providing unless you personally had the most diverse taste in music that anyone has ever seen.

Let's jump in the Dolorean and arrive at 2009.

The current iPhone and iPod Touch are AMAZING devices.
With Wi-Fi you are connected to the internet on device that you hold in the palm of your hand with really great speeds.
You not only have access to thousands of songs on your own library, but theatrical films and TV shows are there at your choosing too.
But let's say you want to listen to some talk radio...you can't have that on an iPod, right?
Wrong.
By downloading the "AOL Radio" application, which takes seconds, you are instantly connected to a series of stations and a variety of music that is very reminiscent to the early days of Satellite Radio. You can select from local stations in your area, or listen to stations from around the country. Southern California's 97.1 with Adam Carolla and Tom Leykis, Philadelphia's "Big Talker" WPHT, and many more are available to you, for NO MONTHLY FEE.

Metal, Rock, R&B, Blues, Jazz...you name it, it's there.
And it's FREE.

Now, I know what you're thinking...you're thinking "well, that's great if you have a Wi-Fi connection, but it's not available everywhere."
And that's a valid point.
But what about a 5 years from now?
What about 10?

At some point in the near future, Satellite Radio will be a memory.
It will have amounted to nothing more than an interesting experiment.

These days, I personally find more entertainment value in the guys on the Extra Life Radio podcast, or Uhh Yeah Dude, than anything that Opie And Anthony or Howard Stern could bring to the table.
Niche progamming...that's what podcasting is.
It's the quintessential example of choice. You can find a show about anything that you're in to. Somewhere out there, someone is doing a show that discusses stuff that's right up your alley...and if it's not there...go make it!

I really believe that what we have always thought of as outlets to provide us with our entertainment, are about to head the way of the dinosaur.
We are on the verge of a massive change in how we entertain ourselves, and where we get that entertainment from.
Unfortunately for Satellite Radio and all it's big money contracts, I think the writing is on the wall.