Every so often I tell myself, “Self, you really need to start blogging again.” After all, a large reason I can’t sleep at night is that I can’t shut my brain off, so maybe releasing some of that onto the world wide web for everyone (or more likely, ten or less people) to see will help.

Now I could promise you a specific frequency of posts or say it’s my New Year’s resolution to post more, but I won’t say that. Let’s face it: I’ve said that before and it didn’t last. So here’s a post, and there will be another…eventually. It could be tomorrow, next week, next month, or even next year.

I consider myself an open book, but I often don’t just volunteer information about myself. However, if you ask, I’ll probably answer. So feel free to submit questions you would like to see addressed here.

Now on to today’s post:

Today I was asked a question that I can honestly say I have never been asked before: “Is that you that smells pretty.” I suppose it was.

Other than the word “pretty” there, you might not see anything particularly out of the ordinary there…that is, if you don’t know me.  You see, I don’t wear cologne, and the deodorant I use barely has a smell. I occasionally spray on some Axe, but even that is rare.

By the way, Axe commercials are highly inaccurate. Never once have women been chasing me down the street or losing their clothes at the mere sight of me. I always avoided the chocolate one though, because I don’t want to be a giant creepy candy bar.

How could I smell “pretty” under those conditions? I would have to change things up. Of all people to inspire such a change, it was my mom. I know. Weird, right? I guess I should explain.

I’ve always been a soap and washcloth guy. I was at Walmart with my mom, and she had this coupon for some Gillette body wash. I said I guess I could try it and see what I thought. So I grabbed a bottle that came with some free deodorant, and got one of those bath scrunchy things (that I had never used one of before.)

Fast forward to today, within the first week of implementation, when I was asked the question. It was equally odd and flattering. Was it the body wash or the deodorant? That I do not know. But it is a bit of a boost of confidence when a girl compliments your smell, even if it is not one you are trying to date.

Now will that confidence carry over to the next time I meet a girl I like? Only time will tell. (Time is probably going to say, “no”.) But for now, thank you for the comment.

P.S. This entire blog post was painstakingly written entirely on my phone. You’re welcome.

Now you are probably wondering why anyone would buy a shirt they knew they probably wouldn’t wear. I would love to say that it was purely to help support the artist, but that would be a false statement. Not that I don’t want to support Adam, but this was long before we were contractually obligated to have two shows per year together (no more, no less). (Speaking of, Adam, we need to talk about the first show of 2012.) If I were an honest man, which I occasionally am, I would have to admit that I only bought the shirt as an excuse to chat with the cute merch girl he had at the time. But still, that’s not what kept me from wearing the shirt.

This shirt had a couple of inherent problems. The first was the color and thickness. The canary yellow fabric was so thin, you can see right through it. I can assure you that no one wants to see my man boobs any more than I want them to see. So if I wear this shirt, I actually have to wear another under it. The other problem is the simple statement “I Give Hugs”. That is clearly a magnet for people wanting to hug you. It would be better if it read, “I Give Hugs…But Not to Everyone” or “I Give Hugs Awkwardly”.

Now don’t get me wrong here; I like human contact as much as the next guy, but hugs always make me a bit uncomfortable. Why? Because I over think them. Where do I put my hands? How hard do I squeeze? How long should I hold on? It’s a pretty complicated format if you think about it. You get one variable wrong and it could be the difference between, “Hey, how’s it going” and “I LOVE YOU!”. Yeah, I know it is completely over analyzing a simple situation, but that’s how I roll. (I have nearly as hard a time thinking about handshakes.)

But that’s not to say that it is a total loss. I did have one really cool experience the last time I wore the shirt. I was at a Captain D’s (I will accept payment now for mentioned your name) wearing this shirt when a deaf family (spanning four generations) came in. They clearly expressed themselves with their emotions on their sleeves, and they got a kick out of the shirt. While I don’t read sign language (though I would like to), I could put into context that they loved my shirt, and had to hug the whole family. In that case, I didn’t mind so much.

So that is my long-winded, possibly pointless, diatribe on the “I Give Hugs” shirt.

Will he wear the shirt again? Will he ever learn to show true human emotion? Tune in next time: same Bat channel, same Bat time.

Today’s topic is a bit of a rant about band promotions, or the lack thereof. Some of it is just me being mad, but then it sort of evolves into tips and tricks on the subject. Much of it will probably be “train of thought” style, as I am half asleep and just typing without really thinking too hard about WHAT I am typing.

Here goes…

Just a heads up for any bands thinking about doing business with me. When I book you on a show, I am watching all of your online presence: your website, Facebook, MySpace (yeah, I know it’s a ghost town, but I am still looking), Reverb Nation, and any other site I can find you linked to. When possible, I even check the personal profiles of your band members. And I have spies out in the scene telling me who is promoting, where, and how often. Basically, the only promotions I don’t have an eye on are your word-of-mouth tell-a-friend “hey, I have a show, you should come”. I am looking to see if you are promoting the show online, have posted it on your calendar, and if you are in the clubs promoting there. The closer the show gets, the more frequently I check. When I see little or no online reminders of the show, or don’t see it on your calendar, or find out you aren’t in the clubs talking to people, it makes me not want to book you in the future.

Some bands will argue that as the “promoter” or “booking agent”, it is my job to make sure people come to the show. To a degree, you are correct. However, the difference is the fan perspective. You see, the average fan doesn’t really care about the promoter. They see him/her as a behind the scenes person. No one (sane at least) ever says, “I want to grow up to be a promoter.” On the other hand, (nearly) EVERYONE wants to be a rock star. If I hand someone a flyer, they often have no idea who I am (or don’t care), and disregard it. But when you, a “rock star”, hand them a flyer, they feel like you care.

Don’t underestimate the power of personal interaction. I know it is a pain in the ass these days to keep up with which social media outlet is the most popular today (because it could change tomorrow), but that’s where the trend is right now. You NEED to interact with your fans as much as possible. Post status updates about the show you have coming up, the status of the record you are working on, or even something funny that happened at band practice. Upload videos of recording sessions, band practice, just hanging out, or whatever. Give your fans a window into to your world, so that they feel more connected. And it is nice to hear the perspectives of the different band members, but sometimes you just need to put someone in charge of your online presence.

And don’t limit it just to online. Online is important these days, but so is “face time”. You need to get out there where your fans are and interact with them directly. Getting a flyer from a band member comes off as so much cooler than getting one from a promoter. And don’t just stick the flyer in their hand and walk away. Introduce yourself, engage them in a conversation. It doesn’t have to be a long interaction. Just let them know who you are, what band you are with, when you are playing, and THEN hand the a flyer. This makes them feel like you actually care if they show up or not, regardless of whether or not that is true.

It’s all about making people feel less like “fans” and more like “friends”. They want to feel like you are the kind of person they could hang out and have a beer with. It doesn’t matter if you would actually hang out with them, but that’s how they need to feel.

Also, on site promotions shouldn’t have to end the day of the show.

Make it to town early for an out of town gig? Head to some place where people gather (a mall, a park, depends on where you are) and talk to people there.

Have some time to kill between sound check and the time you play? Instead of going home and arriving back five minutes before you play, walk around the area of the club (or if nothing is there, drive somewhere close people might be), and try to coax people to the show.

Playing later in the lineup? Talk to the people that are there to see the acts before you and ask them to stick around and watch you. A great personal example of this for me was when the lead singer of The Culprit invited us to stick around and check them out at a SXSW show. Had they not, we likely would have never seen them.

Be creative. Maybe you could take an acoustic guitar and just walk down the street singing “unplugged” versions of your song. Join a street musician to add some vocal harmonies or play dueling guitars. Take a walkman with your CD and give potential fans a sample of your sound. Burn some cheap 2-song demos/samples and hand them out for free or include them with your flyers.

The point is that it is up to YOU as the band to promote YOU. No amount of impersonal advertising from the venue, promoter, booking agent, radio station, local music publication, etc., can ever add up to the power that YOU hold over fans. They want to care about you, so give them more reason to do so. After all, in the end, whether you succeed or fail is largely dependent on your fans, and the more you show you care about them, the more they will care about you.

Ogy out!

I have two big predictions for this movie (and other smaller ones that don’t matter) that I will mention here.

1.) Harry Dies

Now some may think that you can’t kill Harry Potter, because he is the title character of the series. Well, that might be true if this was the first movie, and you knew ahead of time there were six more to follow. However, this is the final movie, so all bets are off. I don’t WANT Harry to die, but I think he HAS to die. It all comes back to the balance of good vs. evil and having to make sure everything levels out. Just like in the end of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (at least I think that’s the one I am remembering) when to kill the monster, he had to sacrifice himself. I believe that in order to kill Voldemort, Harry must sacrifice himself. They are a part of each other, and I don’t think either can exist alone.

2.) Snape Is a Good Guy

I never bought Snape as a bad guy from the beginning. Why? Because they tried to hard to make him seem villainous too early on. Yes, he killed Dumbledore (which was depicted terribly in the movie), but I think he had to. I think the argument he and Dumbledore had earlier was when Dumbledore told Snape that he had to kill him, and Snape didn’t want to. Dumbledore knew Snape had to kill him to be the rallying point for the forces of good, and to push Harry toward the destiny he tried so hard to avoid. It’s much like Obi-Wan allowing Vader to kill him to inspire Luke and allow him to escape.  His death closed the school and freed Harry up to go on the search to find what he needs to defeat Voldemort, even if he finds that what he really needs has been inside him this whole time.  The journey had to happen, and that event triggered it.

So that’s it, in a nutshell.  Hope you all enjoy the thrilling conclusion to the Harry Potter saga. If you know what happens in the final movie, please do not tell me if I am right or wrong. If you don’t know what happens, and would like to add your own theories, feel free to do so.

P.S. As far as the series goes…

Favorite Movie: the Prisoner of Azkaban
Least Favorite Movie: The Half-Blood Prince

My cousin Beth came to visit, the reason was either unstated or forgotten. She brought with her a cat and a collie, both of which were dying to be in the spotlight. If the cat showed you any attention, the collie had to try to steal the show. Not only that, but the collie had ridiculously strong leg strength. If he managed to get behind you on the couch, for example, he could put his back against the couch and push you off in the floor with very little effort. Then I had to drive up the road to pick up something we were missing for supper. On my way back, I noticed it was snowing. Not only was it snowing, but it had already snowed enough that it was covering the ground, and I was only in the store a couple of minutes. I had to get home right away and tell someone, because they were definitely not going to believe me. As I headed back down the road, I saw a chain of cop cars ahead with sirens and lights on full, all turn down one side street. When I got to the street they turned down, I noticed some sort of parade happening at the church there. There were a line of people around the building all doing what appeared to be a tribal dance of some sort while wearing that famous red leather jacket Michael Jackson used to wear, but with afros. I turned the corner to head down the road home, and noticed none other than Andy Aquino in the crowd cheering and jumping up and down. I decided to pull over and ask him what was going on, but as soon as I did, I was told I had to leave. No white people were allowed here unless they were part of the staff. So I got back in my car, and turned around. As I passed Andy a second time, I rolled down my window and told him to call me, because I only lived two minutes away.

Then I woke up. So can any dream analysis person tell me what all that meant?

“If you talk about this, you and your parents will all die.”

Well, I guess I will have to keep this short then. The thing that is great about Super 8 is that it harkens back to that time when kids were the heroes of an adventure movie (Goonies, Monster Squad, Space Camp, E.T., etc). Something bad is going on, and all the adults are essentially powerless to stop it. Cue the rag tag group of kids to save the day.

I imagine we have all had that moment when we were younger that such a movie was inspiring. That movie where the premise dipped into the science fiction realm, yet still felt real enough that it could possibly happen. And then you find yourself wishing that was real life, and you were in that group of pint-sized heroes. To this day, I still want to be a Goonie or help the Monster Squad stop Dracula. This movie does a great job of taking you back to that feeling, and I find that refreshing.

(The following got cut off of my original post, so I had to rewrite it off the top of my head.  It was a little more witty the first time, but I can’t find that anymore.)

I also like that they used the old horror movie trick of not showing you the “creature” until the end.  Sometimes the unknown is far more frightening that what you know.

Will Super 8 win any awards?  Probably not, but this could very well be a movie that makes you dust off your BluRay player (because who knows what the format will be by then), try to find batteries old enough to fit the remote, and watch this movie so you can remember how awesome The Goonies was all over again.

‘Twas the night after Christmas, and all through the house
The only sound to be heard was the clikc of a mouse,
And the occasional scream of, Die, bastard! DIE!”
As he swings his new sword with a gleam in his eye.
The food all consumed and the family gone home,
Now was a chance to enjoy time alone.
The next 24 hours he’d be sitting right there
Clicking away in his new underwear.
With the speakers cranked up, the walls started to clatter
As Deathwing burst forth and made the world shatter.
The barrens were torn in half with a gash,
While across the world, a zepplin would crash.
Loch Modan drained as the dam gave,
And Stranglethron Vale saw a huge tidal wave.
He burst from the earth on huge wings of fire,
And made the world feel his burn of desire.
Darkshore was destroyed, Southshore fared no better.
Thousand Needles was flooded and became much wetter.
He descended down on the Stormwind front gate,
But to see the rest, he’ll just have to wait.
He accepted the terms and logged right on in,
And decided to roll a new hunter goblin.
The hours flew by as the character leveled,
And he started to look a little desheveled.
“One more quest, one more dungeon, or even a raid.”
“I’ll skip work with a sick day that is paid.”
The sun rose outside, but it would go unseen
As his eyes were glued to his computer screen.
Seeing new zones and witnessing the destruction
Became a much needed real life stress reduction.
But before too long, he became too tired,
Logged out, and off to bed he retired.
He tried in vain, but just could not sleep,
So he returned to his seat and loggied in as Threekeep.
Off to the kitchen for caffiene and Cheetos,
And what’s this? An unopened bag of Doritos.
He chugged down his drink and refilled the glass.
“Now back to the game to go kick some a$$.”
He defeated the Lich King and ended his reign.
Next up was Deathwing, or so said his brain.
He grinded his levels up to 85,
And marveled at how he stilled stayed alive.
He never reached Deathwing, but Stood in the Fire
To the the achievement for all to admire.
He leaned back and smiled, happy for now.
And logged out before his wife had a cow.
He’d miss it for sure, but no need for sorrow.
For he would make a new worgen tomorrow.
With a yawn and a stretch, he headed to bed,
And feel right to sleep as the pillow hit head.
He dreamed only of dwarves, elves, orcs, and trolls,
Goblins, worgen, and the highest greed rolls.
Dungeons and raid, and seeing every new zone.
If only his dear wife will leave him alone.
He rolled over and gave a cheek kiss to his wife.
“Merry Christmas to all. Now go get a life.”

On my way home tonight I was briefly driving behind someone who had “pimped” their ride, and did not do so very successfully.  There’s the kind of “pimping” that says, “Hey, look at this cool thing my car can do,” and then there’s the kind that just says, “Hey, look at this thing I bought just because I want to show you how much money I have.”  While both of these methods are a bit pretentious and arrogant, one of them is slightly worse than the other.

This example falls into that second category.  You see, the gentleman whose car I was behind had monitors installed in the back of the head rests, and all playing different things.  Now you might be thinking to yourself, “That sounds pretty cool.”  You are correct.  It does in fact SOUND cool, however, it was poorly executed.  The monitors in the back of the first row of seats Were just fine, and I am sure led to much enjoyment for the passengers in the back seat.  But the head rests in the back seat also had monitors on the back.

That’s right:  there were monitors BEHIND the heads of the people in the back of the car facing AWAY from them.  These monitors were perfectly placed in a location that no one actually IN the car could see.  Why would you install monitors in your car that can only be seen by people outside your car?  That renders half of your displays useless.

19″ Monitor (x2)
15″ Monitor (x2)
27″ Sony Trinitron Television
19″ Sansui Televison
Ceiling Fan – 5 Blade – Single Bulb Globe – Light Brown
Ceiling Fan – 5 Blade – Single Bulb Globe – White
Ceiling Fan – 5 Blade – 4-Light – Brass Color
Stove
Computer Chair
Emerson DVD/VCR Combo Player
Sansui VCR
Sony VCR
Kenwood Single-Disc CD Player
DVDs:

-Animatrix, The
-Batman Begins
-Bourne Identity, The
-Bourne Identity, The [Collector's Edition]
-Casino Royale (2006) [2-Disc Edition]
-Chronicles of Narnia, The:  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
-Coyote Ugly
-Crash
-Dark Knight, The [Two Disc Special Edition]
-Day After Tomorrow, The (x2)
-Doom [Unrated Extended Edition]
-Dukes of Hazzard, The:  Pilot TV Episode
-Fantastic 4
-Fast and the Furious, The [Collector's Edition]
-Fast and the Furious, The [Tricked Out Edition]
-Fast and the Furious, The:  Tokyo Drift
-Ghostbusters
-Ghostbusters 2
-Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
-Hellboy
-I, Robot
-Ice Age
-Jingle All the Way
-King Kong (2005)
-Man on Fire
-Matrix, The
-Matrix Reloaded, The
-Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
-Mummy, The [Ultimate Edition]
-Mummy Returns, The [Collector's Ediiton]
-Not Another Teen Movie
-Office Space
-Office Space [Special Edition]
-Pirates of the Caribbean:  The Curse of the Black Pearl
-Reservoir Dogs [Ten Year Special Edition]
-Resident Evil
-Revenge of  the Nerds & Revenge of the Nerds II
-Saw
-Saw II
-Scary Movie 3
-Scorpion King, The
-Sin City
-Sixth Sense, The
-Spider-Man
-Spider-Man 2.1
-Terminator 2:  Judgement Day
-There’s Something About Mary
-Transporter, The
-Tremors [Collector's Edition]
-Underworld
-X-Men:  The Phoenix Saga
-xXx

*Buyer responsible for coming to pick up the item or pay shipping fees.

Items will be added/updated as well.  I just wanted to go ahead and get this out there.  If you have questions on any item, just let me know or post them here.

NOTE:  Some spoilers will appear if you have not seen these horror classics.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984):

The first of the series was by far the best.  Here you established the character and the rules.  Freddy Krueger (a character inspired by a hobo Wes Craven saw) was a suspected child rapist/murderer who was trapped by the parents of the town and burned alive.  Then he comes back from the dead to seek his revenge on their children.  He can only attack you in your nightmares, but anything that happens to you there comes true in the real world.

Looking back on it, the acting is a bit cheesy, but what can you expect from the time?  And without it, would we have the iconic scenes of Freddy pressing his face and hands through the walls over sleeping Nancy Thompson, the gloved hand coming up through the bathtub, or Tina Gray being thrown around the room and dragged onto the ceiling by an invisible assailant, all of which would be mimicked and parodied many times over?  Of course my personal favorite death scene is when Johnny Depp (making his acting debut) gets sucked into his bed and a volcano of blood, more than could possibly come from one person, all over the walls, ceiling, and floor.

FAVORITE DEATH:  ”My bed sucks.”

FREDDY’S DEFEAT:  Ceasing to be afraid of him, though it is clear in the final scene that this was a failed attempt.

FORESHADOWING:  We are told here that ignoring the demons in your nightmares takes away their power.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985):

Wes Craven never intended for A Nightmare on Elm Street to be a series.  He also thought the concept for the sequel was not in the spirit of the character.  As a result, Jack Sholder was brought into direct the film.  You can question fans on the series about a great many things, and nothing will be more agreed upon than the fact this was the worst movie of the series.  Not only did they change the rules by letting Freddy possesses a kid and kill people n the real world through the kid, but it also had extremely homoerotic overtones.  The whole movie is basically a metaphor for deciding whether or not you are gay.  Since I have already mentioned everything good about this movie, which was nothing, let’s move on.

FREDDY’S DEFEAT:  Convincing Jesse he is not gay, despite the fact the movie is.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987):

After seeing the disaster that was Freddy’s Revenge, Wes Craven decided to come back and directed a young Patricia Arquette (Medium) and Lawrence Fishburne (The Matrix, CSI) among others in what was much more of a sequel than the second movie had been.  While the only original character to return to the second movie had been Freddy, this movie showed the return of Nancy Thompson and her father (survivors of the original movie) as they tied up loose ends with Freddy.   The focal point was for the first time moved away from the original house on Elm Street, and it would not go back in future movies.  Here we see a cast of characters in a mental institution, where the patients are all plagued with nightmares of Freddy.  He picks them off one-by-one and disguises the deaths as suicide.  Some of the supposed suicides are ridiculous and impossible to believe, so you can’t help but feel like the parents here are stupid.  Falling/jumping off the building I can understand, but jumping up off the ground and smashing your head into the TV, not so much.  This may be explained in later movies.  We learn that the kids that are being killed are the last descendants of the parents that burnt Freddy alive, and that Freddy was the product of 180 psychopaths raping a woman.  We also learn that everyone has a special power in their dreams.  If they can harness this power, they can use it to survive their dreams.  In the end, Kristen Parker (Arquette) is able to fight back with her power to bring others into her dreams and a little help from Nancy.  This was also the movie where Freddy starts revealing his wise-cracking.

FAVORITE DEATH:  ”Too much TV.”

FREDDY’S DEFEAT:  Dousing his corpse in holy water and burying it.

FORESHADOWING:  An experimental drug is revealed that keeps you from dreaming.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988):

The movie starts with the three survivors of the previous movie (although Kristin is played by a different actress).  They think Freddy is dead, but are soon proven wrong.  The theme of “dream powers” continues into this move, and now you can pass the power on when you die.  There is a lot less time worrying about building a story, and more time on just Freddy killing people.  He also becomes much more humorous in this movie.

FAVORITE DEATH:  ”Bug out.”

FREDDY’S DEFEAT:  Alice uses the power of all her dead friends to kick Freddy’s arse, then shows him a mirror which somehow allows the souls he has captured to rip him apart.

(…to be continued…)

A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989):

Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991):

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994):

Freddy vs. Jason (2003):

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010):

http://www.nightmareonelmstreet.com/

Everyone to Come to the Birthday Bash:  http://www.ogyjoe.com/shows.html
R2-D2 USB Hub:  http://shop.starwars.com/catalog/product.xml?topcatID=1300264;product_id=1318466
To Actually Remember the Words to the Songs I have to Sing WHILE I am on Stage
Wal-Mart Gift Cards
Zooey Deschanel:  (click for pictures)
Target / Best Buy / Amazon.com Gift Cards
An All-Expense Paid Trip to Disneyworld
Cash
Unique Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars

Feel free to comment with additional suggestions.

In the first, a large group of friends met up to go see a movie.  All of the regular movie crew was there, along with a few school friends.  One apologized because she felt she sort of invited herself along, though I had extended the invite.  I also remember her boyfriend had some crazy name that sounded like Fab-roy-oh.  I have no idea how to spell that, but decided to call him Fred instead.  We decided to see Transformers, even though we had seen it many, many times before, because inevitably when we got a group together, there was always one person who wanted to see it, and the rest of us didn’t care enough to say no.  On the way to the theater from the lobby, I remember Terrence was intentionally following too close and stepping on my feet.  I told him to back off, and that made him even more relentless in stepping on the heels of my shoes.  Finally I got pissed off (and woke up pissed off), and made that very clear, and he backed off.  Then I remember the whole group singing some song as we walked down the halls (for some reason, it was a very long walk).

In the next dream, I was riding in the car with Captain Brass from CSI on the way to some birthday party, and we had to pick up this guy that had been selling pirated DVDs.  For some reason we drive ff in a wooded area to question him.  Then two cars drive by, one trying to pass the other on a one way road and hitting it in the process.  Brass tried to shake it off, but I said we should go after them.  Something felt off about it.  Even the pirate in the back seat agreed, and we pursued, but for some reason we were driving in reverse uphill through a narrow road.  The pirate kept harassing Brass about how slow we were going.  All of this had happened while it was dark outside, but when we got to the clearing, it was daylight suddenly.  Several dead bodies were hanging high in the trees.  Brass apologized, because we weren’t going to be making the party in time.

Next up was a direct followup to the previous…kind of.  Since I didn’t make the party, the party came to me.  Everyone I would want there, and plenty more I didn’t know, showed up.  It was like a massive beach party but in the middle of the woods.  I was feeling pretty down about being single apparently, and then Sophia Bush (apparently a single friend of mine in this bizzarro world) came to talk to me.  She managed to cheer me up (not like that you pervs, just talking).

Then I am in a Wal-Mart like store, and my sister is supposed to be meeting up and coming with me to a concert.  I fully didn’t expect her to show up, but she did.  A piece in the middle here is fuzzy.  I don’t know if I don’t remember it, or if the dream really did make this weird skip.  I remember the rest of all the dreams pretty vividly, but this one piece is weird.  Anyway, now I am standing outside a restaurant, and some fat drunk is lingering at the door, being held up (barely) by his friend.  As I walk past, somehow he manages to catch my foot and tangle me up.  I ask nicely for him to let go, and he doesn’t.  Jem is there too, and heads on in to use the restroom.  I eventually have to physically push him away.  I go inside this BBQ place, and head straight to the restroom to wash the grease off my hand I got from simply touching that mongrel.  As I start to wash my hands, clumps and clumps of molasses are on them, and as I sling piles of it into the sink, it seems to be taking forever.  In fact, it took 45 minutes to get that crap off my hands.  I realize how long it’s been and that my ride has left me behind.  I check my phone to see if I missed a call or to find out where everyone is, but the phone is broken.  I had decided I would just find a way to the club and then ride back to Nashville with one of the guys in the band, but I woke up before I had the chance to see that play out.

And those are the weird things that ran through my head when I was sleeping last night.

Ogy Joe:

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Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/OgyJoe
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I had a job at some company that required me to wear a suit.  The job was in a building that was apparently shared with my former employer.  On day one, we had some sort of meeting that had the whole company in a room behind school desks.  I had a tie pin on, and when I arrived at work, I was told that the pin symbolized a retired Dell employee.  Two other people had similarly designed pins, but with different patterns.  They never explained what theirs meant.  Later I was in my office in a skyscraper overlooking a big city.  I was in some position of authority in which people never questioned what I did.  I would wear regular everyday clothes to work, and only throw a suit jacket over them when I was headed to meetings.

Later I was living with my friend Doug, and had apparently been given the exact time of my death.  I was under the impression that I was going to burn in a house fire, so I had evacuated everything I owned to my car, and pulled my car far away from the house.  Doug was also supposed to have died at the same time, but refused to buy into it, and was quite angry at me for believing it.  I woke up a minute after I should have been dead.

First of all, I love disaster movies, even the bad ones (except Disaster Movie, which I have not watch, nor do I plan to).  Volcano, Dante’s Peak, Armageddon, Deep Impact, The Core, The Day After Tomorrow…just to name a few.  With that in mind, I was excited to see another great disaster movie after seeing this teaser:

Lots of destruction and, based on the teaser, no chance of survival.  What’s not to love?  But then I saw this full official theatrical trailer:

Okay, now I get a completely different vibe from this movie.  It looks to be a bit cheesy.  And now I expect there will be lots of destruction and overused special effects early in the movie, followed by even more spectacular bad acting.  And instead of everybody dying it is going to turn into the disaster movie version of Noah’s Ark filled with poorly thought out biblical metaphors.  But it could still be good, right…

Then I saw this scene actually from the movie:

SPOILER WARNING:  Actual movie scene.

Seriously?  That had me laughing.  If you were too in awe of the special effects to see how constipatingly cheesy it was, rewatch it.  Lots of explosions and building collapses?  Check!  Impossibly perfect timing to avoid death?  Check!  Acting so bad that it makes anyone watching think they could act out the scene?  Check!  A really bad Arnold impression?  Check!  Bad jokes admist certain death?  Check!

Still, as bad as that scene was, now I want to watch the movie more than ever…if for no other reason than to see how bad it can be.

Here’s the website if you want more details:  http://www.whowillsurvive2012.com

P. S.  I personally believe that the world will come to a zombie apocalypse before any worldwide natural disaster strikes.

In conclusion, just because I am sometimes lonely doesn’t mean I am ever alone.  Thank you to all of you who ensure that fact.

I was at a wedding.  I don’t believe it was ever clear whose wedding this was, but because of some of the details, I am going to assume it was my sister’s wedding.  There I met a beautiful new woman, and we hit it off right away.  Before the day was over, we decided we were going to get married, and immediately set forth into the planning stages.  The wedding was scheduled on very short notice.  I believe it was the next day in fact.  When it was time for the wedding to start, the bridal party was in the staging area playing Rock Band.  We were in the middle of a song when we were supposed to begin, but I said, “They can wait.”  Fifteen minutes later, I walk out onto the stage.  I was disappointed that the crowd was so small, but the wedding was short notice, so it is understandable.  Then I addressed the audience.  “In case you haven’t figured it out by now, this whole wedding is a sham.  It was really just an excuse to get you all to the party.  So if you will all make way to the fellowship hall, the party is on!”  A roar of laughter fills the room and we party the rest of the day away.  Of course I woke up before much of the party happened, so I don’t know how it ended.

I choose to believe that a good time was had by all, and in the end, I get the girl.  Actually, me getting the girl is how I choose to believe all stories end.  Now why did I have this dream?  I am no dream analyzer, but I have a pretty good idea what it means.  My sister’s wedding really affected me and threw my feeble brain for a loop.  In addition, I spent the whole week in a house all by myself with only a hyperactive peeing dog to keep me company.  All that time alone really leaves time to think.  Time to think can be bad.  So I found myself replaying recent (and a few not-so-recent) events in my head, and generally stirring up feelings of loneliness.  So as a protective move, I think my brain decided to conjure up a different, though somewhat preposterous, ending to the day of the wedding in which I get the girl, and we have a crazy party to celebrate.  On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is slightly abnormal and 10 is completely impossible, I rank this a 3.  The part about getting the girl would probably be a 4 (which would be higher if I actually knew for sure I got the girl before waking up), but the part about the wedding that is actually a party is only a 2 (because I could actually see myself doing that), and no bonus points for alien, zombies, or other bizarre monstrosities/technologies, so a solid 3.

All in all, this got em to thinking.  Though the crowd was relatively small for a wedding, it was better than a lot of rock shows I organize, so I think I might book my next concert as a wedding to get more people to show up.  Plus, people get cool gifts at weddings, so this could be a show where I get people to see my bands AND get a new blender.

Before I get into the meat of this discussion, I unfortunately have to point out one thing.  I wish it didn’t have to be said, but inevitably there is always someone who reads what I post and completely overreacts.  Because of this, and because I potentially have some new audience members in this post, I must insert this disclaimer.  This is not a cry for help.  It’s not even a cry for sympathy.  I don’t want any of you going around feeling sorry for me.  And I am not manic depressive, suicidal, mentally deficient in any other way like that.  All this is is a simple statements of some thoughts bouncing around in my head.  If you can’t take it for what it is, please leave before reading any further.  Thank you.  Now with that nonsense out of the way, let’s dish.

Today’s post is a followup of sorts to my previous post regarding my sister’s wedding (which is another great example of something that would have sounded much better had I typed it sooner).  As I had mentioned there, the event affected me much more than I ever expected it to.  So now it’s time to evaluate exactly why that is.

When you are single, weddings in general have a real way of making you think.  Sometimes it can be outright depressing.  In addition to the “happy couple”, you have a room filled with other couples who are feeling all romantic because of the atmosphere.  That was part of what got to me that day, and we are going to address that later, but there was much more to it than that.

This wedding saw my younger sister getting married off.  First and foremost, I am happy for her.  But on the other hand, I also harbor a bit of jealousy.  When you are younger, society plants certain ideals in your subconscious.  You are supposed to go to school, get a good job, fall in love, get married, buy a house, and have two and a half kids (though I never understood how you have half a kid).  My sister is well on her way to all of this, and six years younger.  She went off to college, graduated, got a decent job, found someone she cares enough about to want to spend the rest of her life with,a nd has her own house.  Then there’s me.

I was always good in school, then went off to college.  I felt like I was learning more at my job (where I was getting paid) than I was at school (which I was paying for), so I dumped school for work.  I had three jobs in my adult life which I considered to be pretty good at the time (and I still think there were times at each of them in which they were good jobs, even if they didn’t end that way).  I never really made enough money to buy a house, but I was looking at one time (and it is probably good I didn’t find a house since I lost my job right before the economy tanked, and probably would have lost the house too).  Never had much luck in the dating world, though I did date one person for a very brief amount of time (and I don’t regret the time we were dating, just the way it ended).  But after all of that, I lost my job, had to move back in with my parents, and have continued to be single except that four month window.

So as I am at the wedding, anytime there is downtime, my mind starts wandering.  I start to evaluate every choice and every mistake that led me to being thirty years old, unemployed, broke, single, and living with my parents.  Yeah, that sounds bad on the surface, but it could be much, much worse.  And even though I am not living the dream life, I am content with where I am right now.  Still, when you have busted your a$$ to try to achieve the dream they plant in your head as a kid, and it doesn’t quite work out, you can’t help but think.

Education

A couple of these points are simple, but we’ll look at them anyway.  Let’s start with school.  All through school, I was a good kid.  I had good grades, didn’t fall in with the wrong crowd, and overall did pretty good.  In my last year or so I starting slacking a little.  Still, I got a scholarship to Motlow (local community college), so I would be able to go to school and still be close to home and friends.  (A quick side note for any kids out there reading, cherish your friends in school, because odds are that you will never see most of them ever again after you graduate.)  When I got there, I found a flaw in my classes.  A couple of classes (particularly math and science) were the exact same classes I had in high school.  I felt like I was paying to take the same classes I already had for free.  This led to big issues with grades.  Because I already had the material, I always knew what was being discussed in class.  That became boring fast.  since I already knew what was being discussed, I would just end up doing homework in class.  Then a bizarre anomaly occurred.  When tests popped up, I suddenly went blank.  why could I not remember stuff that seemed easy before when I was taking tests?  That didn’t bode well for grades, and that began to get frustrating.  Meanwhile, I was working for a local ISP at the time, and I was learning new stuff every day there.  Ultimately I decided to forgo the school and concentrate on work.  After all, most computer careers only look at certification anyway, not college diplomas.

Employment

Careers should be a short speech.  I can quickly knock out all three jobs I would consider to be the big ones of my adult life.  (Names withheld to protect the guilty.)  My first “real” job was when I was in college and a friend got em in at a local ISP that was just starting up.  I got to learn a lot about network infrastructures, Linux, and servers here.  On top of that, we got paid to spend a lot of time simply playing Everquest and watching DVDs.  (This was the beginning of my DVD habit, as I easily had over 50 DVDs before I ever had a player at home.)  After my friend was found to be a pathological liar who screwed over the company, I was essentially put in charge.  Though the boss never trusted me simply by association to my lying friend.  When he starting cheating me on my paycheck, I informed him I was looking for other employment.  He found a replacement before I was gone, and kicked me out.  That’s fine by me though, because his underhanded business practices eventually shut him down.  After that I got a temporary job at a cell phone carrier.  I started as just the door greeter.  All I was supposed to do is ask people why they were there, and then point them in the right direction.  Often times the store would be filled with customers just waiting on a sales rep to be free while I just stood there.  This seemed very inefficient to me, so I started taking the sales pitch I heard the reps use every day, and helping the customers while they waited.  It got to the point where I would have them completely ready to go as soon as they got to a rep.  “They want this package, this phone, and these accessories.”  The reps loved that, since they got commission off work I did, but I got reprimanded from management on multiple occasions.  My temporary time ran out, and I was out of work for about a month until a position came open and they called me back.  I was officially the billing person, and unofficially the backup tech, but I also still helped out with the sales when I was free and reps were not.  This ultimately became my downfall, as some of the higher ups did not like the fact that a non-sales rep was outselling the sales reps.  And with that, they trumped up a BS accusation (“damage of company property” for actually fixing something), and I was canned.  Next up was a medical claims clearinghouse.  I was doing great at the call center.  I got promoted pretty quick to a special team, and then to a team lead (essentially a secondary supervisor).  Everything went great until I decided it was time for a promotion to a different department.  I technically got a raise, but the new salary pay did not pay as well as all the overtime I got before.  Additionally, I never felt like I got any respect out of most of the supervisors/managers I had.  And they find loopholes to keep you from promoting further.  So I was trapped in a seemingly dead end job.  The solution to this came when I finally got downsized, and my job went to India.

Habitation

That didn’t turn out as brief as I had expected, but housing sure will.  Throughout college, I was still living at my parents’ house.  No reason to pay to move out when you can live at home for free.  But when I got a job in Nashville, spending three hours or more a day on the road was exhausting.  I was finally helped out by a friend’s parents who let me rent a room from them.  I was paying for a bedroom and a bathroom, which may not seem like much, but it was much cheaper than an apartment and served my needs.  Still, I never felt at home there.  I always felt like an outsider squatting in another person’s house, and it never felt right.  I felt uncomfortable, and had this crazy idea that they didn’t like me and would prefer I wasn’t living there.  This was likely all in my head, but still I felt out of place.  As a result, I spent as much time as possible away from there.  That led to a lot of movies and eating out, which also led to not much spare cash.  At one point I did look for a house, but never found anything in my price range that I was completely happy with, and was really paranoid to commit to something like that when I wasn’t completely sure of my job stability (which I realize in hindsight was for good reason).  That story ended when I lost my job, and could no longer afford to pay rent.  So back home with the parents it is.

Now all of this may seem bleak, but there is definitely a bright side.  Two of the three jobs I lost led to better jobs in the long run.  The third hasn’t led to a better job yet, but the stress of it in the end was overwhelming, and receiving my notice that I was being let go was actually quite a relief.  I do miss the money, but the lack of stress goes a long way to make up for it.  And living at home may seem like a drag, but it’s not all that bad.  I am not dating anyone, so there is no one to be turned off by that.  It’s a real money saver for sure.  But the most important thing is that I feel like there are people there that care.  Being single is one thing, but being single and living alone…I think that would drive me crazy.  Actually, I think that is a large part of what bothered me about the room I was renting.  Here I know that there are people that love me close by.  And I have a good relationship with my parents, so it doesn’t bug me to be here.  Plus, I sometimes feel like I am actually helping out, and that they prefer not to be completely alone anyway.  (Of course that could be all in my head too.)

Basically I say all of this to say that I am content where I am at now.  I did what you are supposed to do and tried my best to achieve certain life goals, but came up empty in the end.  So for the moment I am content to sit back and relax before diving back into it all and starting the cycle all over again.  Sometimes it is difficult to get motivated when you look back and see what all your hard work didn’t get you.  I’m certain I’m not the only person who has ever gone through that.  It’s a temporary problem, and I am sure I will move past it soon enough, but I want to move forward on a path that will make me happy and won’t just feel like I am needlessly killing myself.

So that’s where I am with my thoughts.  Until next time…what?  Oh, you think I left something out?  Women?  Okay, okay, I guess I will go into that, since it’s probably the most interesting part of it all, and what you have suffered through all of this to get to.  I’ll address that in the following post.  Ooohhh…well…I can tell by all of those torches and pitchforks that you want the dirt now, so I guess I’ll give it to you.

All of this I’ve written so far are things that run through my head when I go into deep self-evaluation, but all pale in comparison to my final point.  I dare say that nearly everyone at a wedding is left to think about relationships.  Whether you are in a happily committed relationship, an unhappily committed relationship, an uncommitted relationship, or just single, it makes you think about your situation.  Because even those who think marriage is stupid and never want to “settle down” still want what the rest of us do:  to love someone and be loved in return.  Seriously, is there a greater goal in life?  Whether it’s forever, or just for right now, we want it.  Anyone who denies that is lying.  With that in mind, I can’t help but ask why I am still single, and why I don’t try harder.  To answer that, we have to dig deep.  So that’s what I am going to do.  Some of this you may have heard before, and some is going to be brand new insight, but all of it is probably more than you ever wanted to know about me.  I’m spilling my soul for you people, so don’t go criticizing.  It’s not too late to leave.  (Don’t say you weren’t warned.)

Women

There are several reasons I am single.  From my intentions to my insecurities.  In order for this to be therapeutic at all, I think I have to address all the issues at hand.

First off is my intentions, or how I find myself attracted to women.  Unlike most guys, I don’t just see a girl and instantly think, “Man, I would like to sleep with her.”  It just doesn’t work that way for me.  The vast majority of women I have ever felt an attraction for have not been immediate.  It generally ends up being someone who I am around enough to get a good grasp of her personality and who she really is.  Most of my crushes end up being on women I would call friends, having built the attraction as we build the friendship.  I’m sure things would be much easier if I just saw someone and went after her, but I can’t do that.  At best, I might see someone who looks interesting, and then see if I can get to know her.

This kinda leads into my next issue, which is fear.  Fear has always been a big enemy of mine when it comes to women, but the cause of the fear has evolved.  When I was younger, I was simply afraid of being rejected and/or ridiculed.  These days it is different.  As I mentioned before, most of the women I am attracted to I would call friends, or am otherwise around enough to get a feel for who they are.  So my fear these days is that it would be awkward if she said no or things didn’t work out and we still had to see each other, or even worse that I would ruin a friendship.  See, I want someone who I am first and foremost friends with.  Everything else comes secondary to that.  And so I am often too afraid that I will kill a friendship by “making a move”.  The truth of the matter is that any real friend wouldn’t let that come between you, but sometimes you don;t want that reality.

Another big issue is emotional scars.  If there are any women reading this, please heed this warning:  tread lightly.  You have no idea how much damage you can do to us.  This also ties in a little bit to fear, but once you’ve been hurt, you don’t really want to be hurt again.  My scars started early when I was at 4H camp, and this girl that my friend set me up with for the big dance at the end of the week basically left me right after we met at the dance.  That left emotional scars tied to both women and dancing.  Looking back I know that nothing would have come out of that anyway, as I probably would have never seen the girl again after we left camp, but at the time that hurt.  Who knew women could be so evil at such a young age.  Later in life I found scars in women who like to intentionally lead you on being they are attention whores and like the fact that you like them, but never have any intention of dating you.  Ladies, most guys won’t admit it, but it hurts to be used, so stop that crap.  Then there was the only girl I ever dated, who just simply stopped talking to me one day with no warning, and no explanation.  I still never really got the closure on that one I would have liked, but if that’s the kind of person she was, I’d rather it had ended before I was in too deep.

The combination of emotional scars and fear lead to real issues of confidence.  I get so paranoid that I am just being led on again, that I don’t know when I am actually getting “signs” or she’s just a natural flirt.  I am generally completely oblivious in the moment and only later start picking it apart in my mind.

The last main problem I have is probably my lack of actively searching.  I don’t go clubbing or bar hopping or whatever else you do just to meet women.  I don’t think you can really make that connection properly when either or both of you are filled with alcohol.  No, I prefer to meet someone by coincidence, or through every day circumstances.  It’s much more exciting to find something you weren’t looking for anyway.

So once you mix all this together you get one big clusterf*ck that leads me to reevaluating things in my head over and over again.  Everytime I have some interaction with someone I am remotely attracted to, odds are later I will be lying awake in bed unable to sleep because I am replaying every moment to see if I missed something I should have caught, or if it was really nothing.

And all of this is running through my head as I sit there at the bridal party table watching people dance and have a good time.  Part of me is just content to sit here and be happy for the newlyweds.  Yet a bigger part of me secretly wants a beautiful woman (and I had a couple in particular in mind) to come drag me out of my seat and force me onto the dance floor where I would feel awkward and vulnerable, but eventually loosen up and have a good time whether I wanted to or not.  But that never happened.  I just watched.  Daydreamed.  Thought about the events of the last 48 hours or so.  Thought about all the women I ever had a crush on.  If only I had asked one of them out way back then.  Any of them.  even if I got rejected it would have made me stronger.  The asking is the hardest part.  Once you get past that, everything else is a cakewalk.  Speaking of, the happy couple is now smearing cake on their faces.  So I snap back to reality, let this all bounce around in my head, and eventually post it days later.

The end?

P. S.  The thoughts seemed to get less and less coherent there at the end.  That’s because I am getting sleepier and sleepier and losing words as I type.  the whole last section sounded much more elaborate in my head before I started typing it.  Oh well.

As some of you may be aware, today (Saturday) was my sister’s wedding day.  You may also be aware that these last few months, she has been a real pain in my…I should probably refrain from going there.  That could be a whole ten page rant by itself.  Still, no matter how bad she got, and no matter how much I didn’t like her at times, she was still my sister, and I could never hate her.

Fast forward all of this to the wedding rehearsal.  I am a groomsman in the wedding, so I can’t even make an excuse not to be there.  But seriously, it was an honor to be a part of the occasion.  Unfortunately, my sister could not be so kind as to pair me up with a single bridesmaid that I was not related to.  Way to help a brother out.  Of course, out of the whole event, there were really only two that caught my eye anyway that might have been single.  (You’ll have to pay extra, or maybe, MAYBE, ask really nice to get names.)  The rehearsal was fairly simple and straightforward.  Nothing complicated and pretty easy to remember.  Nothing super memorable that night, so let’s skip to wedding day.

I only got an hour and half sleep (from 5:00-6:30), so I was pretty tired already.  It wasn’t nerves, just my normal insomnia.  It kinda worried me that I would be alseep mid-wedding.  I went to Wal-Mart before heading to the church to pick up some socks (because I don’t own any black socks).  Right about the time I got there, it started pouring down rain.  After running into and out of Wal-Mart, I was drenched.  Luckily I was not wearing any of my tux yet.  I arrived at the church earlier than most, so spent some time wandering aimlessly around.  As some of the others that needed to get ready arrived, it was still raining pretty hard.  Immediately my natural gentlemanly instinct kicked in, and I offered to park people’s cars, especially the women who had their hair all fixed up, so that only I would be soaked.  As I thought about that later, I realized that was a great opportunity to score points.  That is totally not why I did it (as any of you who know me would already know), but getting points for doing something I was going to do anyway is great.

We got dressed, and despite being way more dressed up that I am accustomed, everything felt right.  I looked good (if I do say so myself), felt good, and everything was comfortable.  I was not nervous at all.  After all, all I had to do was walk down the aisle and then stand for about a half hour, then walk back down the aisle.  Piece of cake.  Time draws near, we line up, still no worries.  We walk through the door into the sanctuary and…PANIC!  My mind suddenly went blank and I found my self wondering, “What are we supposed to do and when?”  Still, that didn’t last long.  I might have been intimidated by the number of familiar faces in the crowd, but since I had taken off my glasses, I couldn’t see any faces.  Just a bunch of colorful blobs in the crowd.  There could have be 30 or 300, and I wouldn’t have know the difference.

As I stood up there on the stage, there were no problems at all.  Then my dad starts bringing my sister down the aisle.  Immediately I starting bawling like a baby.  I’m not ashamed to admit that, but it did make me wish I had stuffed a tissue in my pocket.  I had no idea it was going to affect me like that.  I thought I’d be able to maintain my composure.  Wrong!  I even think my lip went to quivering at a couple of points.  So I just casually reached up and wiped the tears off my eyes.

After that, I was fine for a good while.  Except for my right eye that has been burning a lot lately.  It wouldn’t stop watering the whole time.  So I now had one dry eye, and a faucet.  I didn’t actually cry cry again until they kissed.  Not sure why that got to me.  I was fine through the poem and the song, but the kiss got me.  And then I was fine again the rest of the time at the church.

At the reception, I busted out my fedora for the true big pimpin’ look.  Yeah, I am not a pimp in the slightest, but I can still look it.  I wasn’t there long before I added my trademark Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars.  I didn’t realize how many people (in that circle at least) expected me to be in my “kicks” until I got to the reception and kept getting asked why I wasn’t wearing them.  I even broke out the graffiti style kicks this time.  Those dress shoes were fine when we were walking around, but standing on the stage in one spot…they got painful fast.  Once I had my Chucks on, all was right with the world once again.

The only other problem I had in the night was when I danced with my sister.  Once again the waterworks flowed.  The whole day was really a mix of emotions.  On the one hand, I was happy for Thomas and Traci.  On the other hand, I was greedy and jealous that my little sister has accomplished more than me, and that made me a little sad.  P.S.  Jokes about “One down, one to go,” followed by, “You’re probably stuck with Chris for life,” no matter how true they may be…NOT funny.  Or at least save those for when I am not standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.

With all said and done, I am really happy for Thomas and Traci.  I wish them the best of luck in the future (especially Thomas, because he’s REALLY going to need it ).  It was a fun experience.  I am honored to have been a part of it all.  Wish I would have loosened up a little more and let myself have more fun at the reception, but I always seem to think that after the fact.  One of these days.

I am going to bid you all farewell for now.  Perhaps later I will post updates on what’s going on in my personal life, and how I feel about me right now.  Until then, goodnight.

I remember when I was younger I enjoyed the original Fame movie.  Although I currently can’t remember anything about the movie at all, save for the theme song.  Tonight I got the chance to see the sneak peek of the 2009 version.  Overall, I wasn’t impressed.  What was wrong with the movie?

1.)  The plot…or lack thereof.  There were so many “main” characters, that the scenes just jumped from one to another without any real cohesion.  Sometimes there were even two scenes going on at the same time with the camera flashing back and forth between the two.

2.)  The timeline.  Before each “section” of the movie, you got a title like “Freshman Year”, “Sophomore Year”, “Junior Year”, and “Senior Year”.  This would have been fine if they spent any time in these years.  Instead, they went by so fast that the title just threw off the pace.  For example, you get introduced to the characters and see “Freshman Year”.  Then you get to see their insecurities and character flaws all over the course of one day.  The next day is “Sophomore Year” and the characters have made no forward progress since day one of freshman year.  The movie could have been vastly improved by simply stripping out these time stamps.

3.)  Character development.  Tied to the first two problems with this movie is the character development.  There is so much going on and time passes so fast that you don’t really get to see much development of many of the characters.  I understand there is only so much time in the movie, but that could have been resolved by reducing the number of “lead” characters.  If you reduced the number of people we had to keep track of, we’d be able to see more how those characters evolve, and care more about them in the end.

4.)  Lack of resolution.  None of these characters really show any sign of improvement until the last scene in the movie, and then we still get no resolution on how things turned out.  The last scene is graduation and we have no idea if any of these people amounted to anything after that.  Very few even make mention to what they MIGHT be doing after the movie ends.  Heck, I would have even settled for the lame freeze frame with written text explaining what people went on to do (which is a pretty cheesy cheat out of writing a resolution to your story as is).

5.)  Predictability and memorable characters/scenes.  I am going to lump these two issues together, because they go pretty much hand-in-hand.  the movie from beginning to end was pretty predictable.  There were absolutely zero surprises within.  As a result, there was very little memorable about the movie.  In fact, without looking at IMDB, I couldn’t name a single character in the movie.

So was there anything good about the movie?  I guess for what it was, it was an okay movie.  No real surprises, and nothing you are going to remember any length of time from now (which is maybe why I don’t remember the first movie).  But I did enjoy the gratuitous completely unrealistic cafeteria jam session on day one of Freshman Year.  And some of the cast music (which I assume was mostly original…at least nothing I’ve heard elsewhere) was good.  Actually, I would have been okay if it was just one jam session after another, because I kinda dug that cheesy scene.  Otherwise I say that if you are really interested in this movie, or perhaps a fan of the previous one, wait for the DVD.  There are much better movies you could spend your money watching, especially since tickets are so high these days.

Oh, it’s been a while since I posted here.  Now I get it.

First, I would like to start off by thanking all of the German spammers for adding comments to my page.  I promptly deleted them, but don’t take it personally.  I simply decided not to post any spam, especially spam I could not read.

Now since it has been a while since we spoke, perhaps I should start by recapping what has happened in the downtime.  In the time between “An Update of Sorts” (May 28, 2009) and now, we have lost Ed McMahon (the guy that owes you millions), Farrah Fawcet (now not just Charlie’s angel), Michael Jackson (I think he had some songs or something…and a monkey), Billy Mays (go by some Oxy Clean in his honor), Steve McNair (basketball player I think), and Oscar G. Mayer, Jr. (the third generation of Oscar Mayers) all died as well as countless other “celebrities”, and the world was very sad about that.  What the world doesn’t seem to care about is all the police officers, firefighters, emts, and soldiers who have died in the line of duty.  I’m not bitter, but who is really more influential in your life:  a guy who sang a song about dancing zombies, or the guy that saved your house from burning to the ground.  Priorities.  That’s all I’m saying.

Something else that started since we last spoke, and for that matter continues now…

By now you should know that I don’t sleep much.  Also, I enjoy video games.  Doesn’t mean I am great at them, but I enjoy playing.  What I did not know, is that you could combine these two genius ideas into raising money for charity.  Really?  You mean to tell me all this time I’ve spent unable to sleep that I could have been playing video games to raise money for a worthy charity?  Why the f* didn’t anyone tell me this.  I am of course referring to the internet sensation (to some people) of Mario Marathon 2.  So what is Mario Marathon?  It’s a group of guys playing Super Mario games around the clock to raise money for Child’s Play, which is a charity that gives books, games, toys, and money to sick kids in the hospital.  All they have to do is play Super Mario Bros. (NES), Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES…though it’s technically NOT actually Super Mario Bros…will explain later), Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES), Super Mario World (SNES), Super Mario 64 (N64), Super Mario Sunshine (GC), and Super Mario Galaxy (Wii).  As of right now, they have been playing over 40 hours and raised over $12, 315.  Brilliant idea!

So we are thinking about doing one of these ourselves.  What should the theme/games be?  If I could find the Mario/Zelda GC games, I could download all the older games and pick up the Wii versions and do that.  Or I have all but one of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games and track packs.  Or I think others have other systems entirely.  What would you want to see us play?  For now, just go to the Mario Marathon site, watch, and donate something.

I’m going to try to nap and type the rest later…

Okay, so I slept…poorly…then got up, showered, ate, did a bunch of browsing, and NOW I shall continue the post.  Mario Marathon is up to 55+ hours played and raised over $16,300.  Good job!

Now let’s get to what’s been going on with ME since, for some bizarre reason, that’s what you people seem to want to hear.  Not a lot has changed.  Still unemployed.  Still living with the parents.  Still a big slacker.

I have more on my mind, but not in the mood to type it right now.  I’ll write more later.

So what exactly has been bothering me lately?  It seems a common biting lack of accomplishment is rearing its ugly head more frequently these days.  Here I am, 30 years old, back living with my parents.  I have no job, and in turn, no money.  I am single, having only ever dated/kissed one girl in my life.  And it’s getting increasingly difficult to muster up the motivationt o do much of anything.  Most of my friends are in Nashville, and I am not, so I don’t get much quality time with anyone outside of this house.  Even if I did, I am broke, and can’t really afford to do anything.  To make matters worse, I get a front row seat to watch my younger sister’s “success”.  With seemingly little effort, she has managed to meet a man who she cares deeply enough about to want to spend the rest of her life with.  Both of them are gainfully employeed (not rich by any means, but enough to get by), and in a few short months she will be married and living in a house of her own.  Now I’m not saying I want to find a wife right away (or maybe even at all), but it would be nice to have someone to care about like that who returns your feelings.  Someone to “hang out” with and talk to when crap like this bounces around in my otherwise empty skull.  Had you asked me when I was graduating high school where I’d be now, I’d probably say living in a house of my own and enjoying life.  Instead, I sit here and can’t help but think, “What the heck did I do with my life?”  Where did I go wrong?  Is it too late to fix it?  How can I get the mental motivation to get my life back on track?  And is it too early to have a midlife crisis?

And for anyone who thinks you should be concerned about my well being, thinking this is some not-so-subtle cry for help, please rest easy.  I would never do anything drastic.  I am not depressed, and I have no intentions of killing myself.  Inevitably anytime you write something like this, there is someone who thinks you need to be on suicide watch.  If you EVER hear that I killed myself, launch a full scale investigation immediately.  It is a lie, and someone murdered me.  Now let’s stop lingering on the dark and dreary portion fo this ranting.

Often times I find myself alone with my own inner thoughts.  Sometimes they are simple seemmingly depressive reflections like the ones above.  Other times they are songs, poems, stories, etc.  Not always a full work; it could just be a simple verse.  But these things often hit me when I am driving alone on the road, or when I am lying in bed trying to find sleep.  These are particularly inconvienient times and places to have such thoughts, because it’s not easy to just scribble them down right away.  And if I don’t, they often go forgotten.  As a result, I have recently purchased a digital voice recorder so that I may easily capture these little gems when and where I need to.  I haven’t gotten into the habit of using it much just yet, but I hope that it will really pay off in the long run.  Who knows, maybe I’ll just upload random recordings for you to laugh at.

In addition, there will likely be two new categories of posts coming just to keep things here fresh.

• The Best of Ogy Joe – Old posts from previous blog locations that people seemed to really enjoy shared here for a new audience to view.  If you read any of the old stuff and would like to vote on favorites, please let me know.
• The Lost Episodes – These are posts I scribbled on paper or half-typed, but never completed and posted.  Sometimes the material within may be dated, so it should be separated from the new stuff.

I believe that is all for now.  If you made it this far, there might be something wrong with you.  Please consult with a medical professional immediately.  Until next time, live long and prespire.

I got a chance to see Star Trek last night, so I thought I would give my two cents. First of all, as far as what level of Trek fan I am: I never watched much of the original series growing up. At the time, it just didn’t excite me. I also recall not liking the animated series when it was on. But my mom watched The Next Generation, and I kind of got into it then. I have seen most TNG episodes, and all of the movies (those most of the movies only once, and it’s been a while). I tried to watch Deep Space Nine when it first came on, but then the time slot kept getting moved, and I lost track. I watched the first couple of Voyager episodes, but then our cable company dropped UPN. We still didn’t have UPN when Enterprise premiered, and by the time we did, it was well into its run. So the majority of my experience is with TNG and the movies. Prior to seeing this movie, I made it a point (as I often do) to not find out too much information up front. I know some people like to know what’s going on, but I prefer to save as many surprises as possible for the theater trip. One thing that did have me very skeptical was the cast. The MILF/White Castle Guy, Shaun of the Dead, and Sylar? Really? And they all seemed so young. I was very iffy. Other than that, I held no preconceptions on what to expect from the movie whatsoever. Having seen the movie now, I think it was VERY well done. You do not have to have an prior knowledge of the Star Trek universe going into this movie (though a basic understanding will obviously help a few things make more sense), because it is an origin story. Yet if you are a fan, you get to see new sides of things than ever before. The plot was great and not filled with a million holes like a lot of the summer blockbusters that come out. The character development was great, especially considering the limitations of time and number of characters to introduce. Those actors I was skeptical about? Well, they all were great in their respective roles. And it was a fun movie as well. It had a good balance of seriousness and sense of humor without coming off as over the top and hammy (even though the ham was some of the fun of the original cast). All in all I thing that Trek fans and newbies alike will enjoy this movie. It’s a fun trip to the movie, and well worth the price of admission. Will it be the biggest this summer? We’ll just have to see about that. Oh, and no hidden clips after the credits, so you don’t have to sit and wait if you don’t want to. P. S. These older ladies behind us REALLY got into the movie. They were bawling through most of it, not out of sorrow, but just out of awe. And I have to admit, at times I was close to a tear myself. The best moment though had to be when the credits were nearly over, and one guy in front of us stood up without leaving the aisle. All of the sudden I hear, “Sir! Sit down or move out of my way!” I’ve never witnessed anyone getting yelled out for standing up during the credits. I guess she really wanted to know who the Best Boy Grip was.

Read what Ogy Joe Show co-host Terrence had to say here.

After Elvis – http://www.myspace.com/afterelvis
– WINNER:  Listeners’ Choice
- NOMINEE:  Best Rock, Band of the Year
American Bang – http://www.americanbangrock.com | http://www.myspace.com/americanbang
– NOMINEE:  Best Bassist, Listeners’ Choice, Band of the Year
Atomic Blonde – http://www.atomicblonde.net | http://www.myspace.com/atomicblonde
– NOMINEE:  Best Female Vocalist
Auto Vaughn – http://www.autovaughn.com | http://www.myspace.com/autovaughn
– NOMINEE:  Best Bassist, Best Alternative/Pop Rock
Beautifully Crude – http://www.myspace.com/beautifullycrudemusic
– NOMINEE:  Best Bassist, Best Male Vocalist, Best Rock, Song of the Year, Album of the Year
Becoming, The – http://www.myspace.com/wearethebecoming | http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/The-Becoming/29490142830
– NOMINEE:  Best Male Vocalist, Album of the Year
Blacklist Royals, The – http://www.blacklistroyals.com | http://www.myspace.com/blacklistroyals
– WINNER:  Best Punk/Hardcore/Underground
Broken Frame – http://www.myspace.com/brokenframetheband
– NOMINEE:  Best Percussionist, Best Male Vocalist, Song of the Year, Album of the Year
Carry-Ons, The – http://thecarryons.com | http://www.myspace.com/thecarryons
– NOMINEE:  Best Punk/Hardcore/Underground
Chris Hurt – http://www.myspace.com/chrishurtmusic
– NOMINEE:  Best Roots/Americana/Singer Songwriter
Compromise, The – http://www.myspace.com/thecompromiserock
– NOMINEE:  Best Bassist, Best Alternative/Pop Rock
Creeping Cruds, The – http://www.creepingcruds.com | http://www.myspace.com/creepingcruds
– NOMINEE:  Best Guitarist, Best Punk/Hardcore/Underground
Dead Air Radio – http://deadairradio.musiccitynetworks.com | http://www.myspace.com/deadairradioband
– NOMINEE:  Best Guitarist, Best Percussionist
Deadchain – http://www.myspace.com/deadchain
– NOMINEE:  Best Metal
Error 51 – http://www.error51band.com | http://www.myspace.com/error51music
– NOMINEE:  Best Metal
Fist of the North Star – http://www.myspace.com/fistofthenorthstarmusic
– NOMINEE:  Best Guitarist, Best Punk/Hardcore/Underground
Former – http://www.myspace.com/formerband
– WINNER:  Best Bassist, Best Rock, Album of the Year
Framing Hanley – http://www.framinghanley.com | http://www.myspace.com/framinghanley | http://www.facebook.com/pages/Framing-Hanley/17513667383
– NOMINEE:  Best Percussionist, Best Male Vocalist, Listeners’ Choice, Band of the Year
Gone City – http://www.myspace.com/gonecityrock
– NOMINEE:  Best New Artist
Halo Stereo – http://www.halostereo.com | http://www.myspace.com/halostereo
– NOMINEE:  Best Rock, Album of the Year
Heather Jacks – http://www.myspace.com/heatherjacks
– NOMINEE:  Best Female Vocalist
Hip Kitty – http://www.hipkittyband.com | http://www.myspace.com/hipkitty
– NOMINEE:  Best Female Vocalist
Hollywood Cowboy (now The Jaggs) – http://www.myspace.com/thejaggsrock
– NOMINEE:  Best Roots/Americana/Singer Songwriter
Katie Kerkhover – http://www.myspace.com/katiekerkhover
– WINNER:  Best Female Vocalist
Kings In Pieces – http://www.myspace.com/kingsinpieces
– NOMINEE:  Best New Artist, Listeners’ Choice, Band of the Year
Last Straw, The – http://www.myspace.com/thelaststrawjams | http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Last-Straw/6770662825
– NOMINEE:  Best Guitarist, Best Roots/Americana/Singer Songwriter
Look What I Did – http://www.myspace.com/lookwhatidid
– NOMINEE:  Best Bassist, Best Punk/Hardcore/Underground
Lovers and Liars – http://www.myspace.com/loversandliarsrock
– NOMINEE:  Song of the Year, Listeners’ Choice, Band of the Year
Lover’s Ball – http://www.myspace.com/loversball
– NOMINEE:  Best New Artist
Manic Bloom – http://www.manicbloom.com | http://www.myspace.com/manicbloom | http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manic-Bloom/12709415999
– WINNER:  Best New Artist
Mellow Down Easy – http://www.mellowdowneasy.com | http://www.myspace.com/mellowdowneasy
– NOMINEE:  Best Roots/Americana/Singer Songwriter
Michael James – http://www.myspace.com/mjkthechronicles
– WINNER:  Best Roots/Americana/Singer Songwriter, Song of the Year
- NOMINEE:  Best Male Vocalist
Mindset Defect – http://www.mindsetdefect.com | http://www.myspace.com/mindsetdefect
– WINNER:  Best Guitarist, Best Percussionist, Band of the Year
- NOMINEE:  Best Metal, Song of the Year, Listeners’ Choice
MindSplitter – http://www.myspace.com/mindsplitter
– NOMINEE:  Best Metal
Mondo Primo – http://www.mondoprimo.com | http://www.myspace.com/mondoprimo
– NOMINEE:  Best Alternative/Pop Rock, Album of the Year
November – http://www.myspace.com/novembernashville
– NOMINEE:  Best Rock
Piranah – http://www.myspace.com/piranahrocks
– NOMINEE:  Best Percussionist, Best Metal
Push Button Start – http://www.myspace.com/pushbuttonstartmusic
– NOMINEE:  Best New Artist
Royce, The – http://www.theroyceonline.com | http://www.myspace.com/theroycerocks
– NOMINEE:  Best Rock
Running, The – http://www.myspace.com/therunningband
– NOMINEE:  Best Punk/Hardcore/Underground
Safety Suit – http://www.safetysuitmusic.com | http://www.myspace.com/safetysuit | http://www.facebook.com/pages/SafetySuit/10964124733
– WINNER:  Best Alternative/Pop Rock
Shaky DeVille – http://www.myspace.com/shakydeville
– NOMINEE:  Best Roots/Americana/Singer Songwriter
Shirock – http://shirock.net | http://www.myspace.com/shirock | http://www.facebook.com/pages/SHIROCK/7197216189
– NOMINEE:  Best Alternative/Pop Rock
Ugene – http://www.myspace.com/ugeneband
– WINNER:  Best Male Vocalist
Upside of Envy – http://www.myspace.com/upsideofenvy
– NOMINEE:  Best Female Vocalist
Voodoo Prophet – http://www.voodooprophet.com | http://www.myspace.com/voodooprophet
– WINNER:  Best Metal
- NOMINEE:  Best Guitarist, Best Percussionist
Worsties, The – http://www.theworsties.com | http://www.myspace.com/theworsties
– NOMINEE:  Best Female Vocalist, Best Alternative/Pop Rock, Best New Artist, Song of the Year

More details here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=61690428&blogId=482614283

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners.  We have some great music in this town.  Happy listening!