Why BlackBerry Failed

I've been a BlackBerry user for two and a half years now. I was happy with it for the first year. It felt like EVERYONE had a BlackBerry. Out of my circle of friends, only one didn't have a BlackBerry at the "peak" - around late 2008-2009.

It was cool. It was smart. BBM was coolest way to text. But then what happened?

It's too easy to blame the iPhone. I think it's more the lackluster advancements that BlackBerry has made since their real competitors have come out. It's still running with an "office" mentality that will be the product's downfall. Originally, the BlackBerry was meant to be an "office" phone - for portable e-mail communication. It made sense and was a huge success.

But now BlackBerry has lost any edge it had. That's not news. It's just the way it went down. It seemed like a product that would withstand any new product, but instead it couldn't find ways to innovate itself. It remained too "office"-y while trying to be marketed as a "consumer" product.

Easiest problem is the internet. If you can't look at the "real" internet - not the mobile version - then it's stupid. iPhone's and Droid's can, so why can't BlackBerry? I literally don't use the thing to go on the Internet - mainly because I'm trying to save the battery - but the browser sucks.

Everything about the BlackBerry is too much of a pain in the ass. The BBM is cool, but it's not cool when nobody's on it anymore. Since the phone's break all the time, your PIN changes, so nobody knows you have an updated PIN unless you tell them. If you have alot of contacts, that could take a while.

I know I've written about this before, but the battery is atrocious. I also use the damn thing too much, but the battery won't last me much longer than maybe 6 hours? Again - most of that is because I'm OCD for Foursquare and check Twitter when I'm bored, but come on. I turn my phone off to save the battery. Doesn't it defeat the purpose of being mobile if I have to charge my phone every 5 hours? And, this speaks to how absurd our society has become, you feel lost without a functional phone, and the feeling of an almost-empty battery can be terrifying if you're crazy enough. We're enslaved to these devices.

I'm not totally sold on the touch concept, but BlackBerry got it wrong. The Storm with the "click" nonsense was lame. People were skeptical with the iPhone's touch screen for texting, but it seems that everyone's gotten over that. The new Torch works for touch, but it's still running on the BlackBerry Operating System - and that is what crippled the product. The App Store is too slow moving for me to want to do anything. It takes away from the simplicity that iPhone has really mastered.

I forget when I'm up for a new phone - because of the stupid contracts that we're stuck in - but I know my next phone will NOT be a BlackBerry. I'm done with them. Mainly it's the battery, but also the browser are too limiting. I'm stuck on Verizon, so who knows if the iPhone will actually be coming or if it's just more rumors, but I think I'll be content with the Droid X - the thing looks sweet.

Sorry BBM, but you're days are numbered.

The Tipping System

This post is probably going to make me seem like a cheapskate. Whatever.

I think the payment system for waiters/waitresses in the food service industry is completely wrong. They make $2 something a hour and depend on the tips for customers to make up the rest. It's unfair. It does allow for an incentive for the employees to do a good job, but their tips (and income) therefore rests in the hands of strangers while the restaurant owners bring in more money than they know what to do with as they charge $12 for a $4 burger.

Sometimes they'll get lucky and get really big tips. Sometimes they don't get anything.

My problem is I get annoyed when they are asking me for tips or criticizing me for my tip.

For example, one time I was at the Liquor Store in Boston, and I got two PBRs - which was already absurd at $6 each - and left a $5 tip because I was in a good mood. Next time up I just left $2, and was yelled at for being cheap, being ugly, was given the finger, etc etc. for my tip choice. I was drunk enough to try to engage in conversation with these wonderful human beings, and explained my logic, and I was still told to F off. Really?

At a bar - where all these bartenders have to do is reach down and open two cans of beer, does that warrant a serious tip? Isn't it out of generosity that we give anything anyway? Or maybe they get some girl back there to dress like a slut so guys will give her more money for attention. I don't fall for that. Regardless, I left a tip, and was told to F off because it wasn't big enough. That's not good customer service, and really turned me off towards that place. You can't treat your customers like crap and expect to have them coming back. Most of the people there seem to have more money than they know what to do with, so maybe I didn't belong.

Another time my friend was at some restaurant and paid the check and the waitress said "Are you guys short on cash? Cause you didn't leave a big enough tip." WHAT. No no really, that one floored me. You didn't leave a big enough tip? Who says you get to determine what it is?

Look, I know the system isn't going to change, so it's up to the customer to make up for the rest of the income for these people. But that doesn't mean it is a given. It should be based on the service - did you do a good job or were you rude? There shouldn't be a "well it should be somewhere between 12-18% of the bill" rule. It should be whatever feels right. After all, the whole concept is voluntary. It may be bad etiquette or whatever, but if the person did a really bad job, then they get a really bad tip. Am I just being cheap or does this make legitimate sense? My friends who have worked in the restaurant industry always argue this with me, but I don't understand the reasoning if they're rude. It's a privilege, not a right.

Everybody has had those who are really nice and seem concerned about your meal, and others who are so short with you that you can't even ask for more water/condiment/beer. I'm typically a person who asks for recommendations for meals, but if you act frustrated or annoyed with me, then that's not good for your end result. Sorry. I sound like such a mean guy. I sound cold-hearted here, so I should acknowledge that I know some people's entire income rests on tips, but you can't beg or tell the customer what the "right" tip is. Like I said, sometimes they get lucky and sometimes they don't. Depends on a lot of factors that are out of their hands, but the thing they can do to help themselves the most is to be positive, not nasty. And I know the "in such tight econmoic times" story, that doesn't give anyone the right to be a grouch. We're gonna get through this together, not on our own.

Or cab drivers, same shtick. If you're on your phone or make some wrong turns or something, no deal. My last cab driver I had was great and I gave him a nice tip. Not only was he friendly but he was courteous towards where I wanted to go and gave me options on how to get there and what he thought would be best. Then we talked about baseball and the city and whatnot. It helped that he was American-born and spoke English with zero accent, but he actually seemed to care. Most cabbies couldn't care less who you are or what you do. I read somewhere that cab drivers in NYC get around $50k a year. That's more than I will get for a while. So I don't feel bad when they complain that we didn't leave a "big enough tip" on a $10 fare. Relax.

I guess my point of this whole thing is that tips are a necessary evil because corporate America is a greedy bastard. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. I don't have a problem with tipping people for good service, but tipping "because I have to" doesn't fly with me. It's about respecting good service. And the times your trying to impress people - which doesn't happen for me much, but I understand the idea. But when someone tells their customer they didn't leave a big enough tip? Now we're just being greedy, and that drives me nuts.

That being said, anyone want to leave some tips for reading this blog? Whatever you leave, it's not enough. C'mon now, this takes hard work!

If you don't understand the sarcasm of that last paragraph, then we can't be friends and you may want to consider reading other blogs. Just sayin'.

Back To The Future - 25 Years Later

Today's a special date for geeks/losers/nerds/unemployed like me - 25 years ago today, Marty McFly time traveled from October 26th, 1985 to November 5th, 1955. I'm talking about Back to the Future - one of my favorite childhood movies. It's one of those movies I never grew out of. If anything - I've grown more into it as I've gotten older.

Maybe it's my circle of friends - mainly from high school - but we reference the movie almost every time we hang out. It's kind of sad, but that's why we're friends. I won't go into details of our jokes, because I don't want you stealing them. Or judging us.

It's started a sci-fi thought-process that's the basis of all time travel for me anyway. It came up a lot with Season 5 of Lost - the changing of the past and how it affects your future - including your existence. I know time travel is not real. Relax. It does keep my mind occupied when I'm bored or trying to be creative/imaginative, although I should probably be thinking about jobs/apartments/girls/sports/something normal. This is what I do instead.

The movie isn't even really about time travel. It's about parent-child relationships. Part II and III are more about the absurdity of time travel and different time periods and the life cycle repeating itself. But the original is a story is actually very complex hidden underneath a time travel comedy exterior.

What I think is great is I'm pretty sure when the team making the movie were in production, they had no clue it would of been this successful. It's purposefully corny. A jiggawatt? Or is it gigawatt? The whole concept of putting it into a DeLorean? Hilarious.
As usual I'm trying to find a witty ending to this. This is like my Bruce Springsteen post. I could say anything I want, and it would make me laugh. I'm losing my mind in this house.

Where we're going, we don't need roads.

Other posts I found interesting regarding Back to the Future:
52 Reasons Why Back to the Future Might Be The Greatest Film of all Time.
Going Back to the Future, 25 Years Later
Going 'Back to the Future' again, 25 years later

Video Games - Now vs. Then

This post is going to be a hot rambling mess. You have been warned.

This post is the collision of two thoughts - how good video games were as a child, and how futile they are now. I was playing Super Mario World the other day, and it made me miss all those old games. And I bought the new Halo today, and it made me angry at how ALL these games are the same, and honestly aren't as fun.

For the record, then "then" I'm referring to is primarily the Nintendo 64/SNES. Now is the Xbox/PS3/Wii.

At it's most basic level, then was simple, now is complicated.

THEN - THE CONCEPT
Wasn't it so much more simple? You'd play with you're friends - who were right next to you. That is, in the same room, and would be there when the TV turned off. You shared experiences together, not apart. It was so exciting when your friend beat the final boss.
Talking about simple - you could beat these games in a hour. Super Mario World was completed in 10 minutes and 54 seconds. They set up the game so you could BS you're way through or play the whole way. When I first got Super Mario 64 (Christmas 97 or whatever, if we had a video camera, I'd probably be a YouTube celebrity too) my cousin had 110 stars before the end of the day. Now it took me like 20 something hours to beat GTA. Not totally complaining - but it's part of the simplicity storyline I'm carrying.

Also part of the fun was the cheat codes. Every game had them. Hitting up, down, right, right, right, left, down, and up to get a big head was SO worth it. You could have those things memorized. Or the GameShark? What a god send. Until it messed up my Diddy Kong Racing game so that the levels were permanently invisible. That was a letdown. Cheat codes barely exist anymore.

NOW - THE CONCEPT:
Now, you can play with your friends online, so you don't actually hang out. It's nice when my friends are far away, but it's dumb when it's 20 minutes. And after the TVs off, I'm on my own again. And honestly? We all look like the biggest losers with those headsets on. The "shared" experiences are gone. It sucked taking turns, but you cared more. Maybe it was also my youth and obsession with video games. Then my ADD started kicking in, and if I can stay in my seat while someone else is playing Call of Duty then I must be on some kind of drug.

Playing online means well. Especially with friends. It's so much better than playing the computer, but people are such sore losers. Or they yell and kick and scream online. Or they find ways to cheat through the game. It's so lame sometimes. I'd rather kick the computer's ass then deal with a whiny 12 year old who wants to sing the latest Drake song but doesn't know the words and can't drop an F bomb cause his mommy might hear him. No thank you.

THEN - THE GAMES:
Almost every hit N64 game was Mario & Friends. Kart. Golf. Tennis. Party. Smash. Only like 6 more Parties. Honestly was there ever anything better than Super Mario 64? Maybe Zelda or Goldeneye, but that game will forever go down as a life-changer. And from a social stand point? Mario Kart 64 is the base of my FAVORITE drinking game, and honestly I never get enough of it.

I kind of look like this guy, but without the amateur hour.

I've upgraded to Wii Mario Kart, but if there's a chance to do it on the N64, game on. Sure, there were a lot of shitty games that never should of ever been made (Earthworm Jim 3D will go down as the biggest disappointment of my childhood) but the great games were unreal. Smash Brothers is an awesome 4 player game. Except everyone gets mad that I'll win everytime. Such is life.

Same for SNES - The Mario games were fantastic. They also had their fair of shit. I think my favorite SNES game was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. I remember me and my one friend played that game every Saturday night. I was SO excited when they were making a re-boot for Xbox, but it sucked more than Earthworm Jim 3D. This also gets back to the old arcade games. Like that X-Men game? Chucky Cheese games. I'm starting to drool.
NOW - THE GAMES:
The top selling games are all sequels and franchises. The Madden/NHL/NCAA/NBA. The Halo/Call of Duty/GTA/Tom Clancy stuff. Couldn't tell you one game I played where I'll really remember anything. What was the storyline of any of the Call of Dutys? I have no idea what all those Halos are about. These games aren't made so that we remember them forever, the same way you remember a book or movie. They're made as time killers. To play online Call of Duty online for as long as possible until then next one comes out (aka a year later) and then sink another $60. It's changed now. It's not the game using their own experiences. You're supposed to create you're own. Playing some intense game of capture the flag with a last second win. That's lame. I also don't have enough friends online and don't have enough care to to things like that, so I'm not getting as much out of it as others are.

These sequels suck. I can only think of one series that's had good ones: The Grand Theft Autos. Maybe that's because I really enjoyed the violence (and playing it without my parents knowing made it a fun challenge too). I don't know what the difference is between Maddens 02-10, but I've bought every single one. This year was finally the year I didn't. They sucked me in for 8 whole years. This new Halo game? It's too complicated. Trying to reinvent the wheel. I think Halo 2 was the best Halo for online play. The game just worked. Instead, they had to make another 3 now that have all sucked compared to that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and don't make me spend more money on more poorly-designed products. I thought Modern Warfare was amazing. MW2 was better - and that's rare. I don't get why the Call of Duty people are making new games every year. Make it every two.

To boot - the games are money sucking whores. Every game you buy (for $60) will then have download-able content that costs $15 bucks a pop usually. They purposefully hold things back to release it later to suck more money out of us. It makes sense if you're a greedy bastard, but I, the poor unemployed graduate, gets annoyed.

I think people are starting to get sick of the new games, so Nintendo tried to do something bold and go back to the old school 2D platformer and give it a 21st century upgrade. That game saw huge success. Not worth my $50, but I know people loved it.

Add in this crazy 'motion' craze we're going through now with Wii and soon for the Xbox. Why do I want to play a video game without a controller? That doesn't sound fun. Part of video games are the laziness - all I need to move is my thumbs. Having to jump up and down and swing my arms and things? I'll get tired in two minutes.

The only good thing to come from the current systems are the wireless controllers. Seriously. But - the buttons suck. They're more buttons on that thing than my first cell phone.
We can't go back to such a simple time, because the technology has changed. Or maybe it was just my childhood and everything is so much more simple as a child. It's probably a lot of that honestly. Now we worry about too many other things. I know I wrote a post earlier about the death of our creativity focused on movies and touched on it for video games - but it's true. All these sequels and franchises. Easy money, no substance. Every now and then you'll see the true gem of the bunch - something that separates itself from the rest. Those are the ones you'll remember.

So this post took like four hours of me thinking and reading and playing and a few very-important phone calls to friends I haven't spoken to in years to devour how and why this all happened. Thank you to them. I doubt they read this.

Isn't it absurd that the video games world's most famous character is a plumber who has a pet dinosaur and saves princesses from angry standing turtles? That's how you make a billion dollar franchise.

Fall TV Thoughts

Because it's too much to tweet, here's a quick post on what I'm watching so far.

Mad Men

This season finally caught my attention and actually made me want to watch. I didn't force it down my own throat. I think I know why - there was less Betty/family BS and more office drama. Sure, the focus is and always will be on Don, but this was on the only thing going on in his life: his work. He left his family and is completely alone, which is why he is clinging to anyone that will put up with him. He's realizing he really shouldn't keep drinking this much - but he will. His past is fading away, and now he's lost. The mid-life crisis.

I can't believe he married the secretary. It seemed like everything with the doctor was lined up. Yet he fell off the wagon and made a (most likely drunk) impulse decision that, as we see in the last scene, he's regretting. Unbelievable. How do you marry someone you barely know? Brutal.

Also, "The Suitcase" was the best 48 minutes of television I've ever seen.

Dexter

It bothered me that the season picked up exactly where the last one ended - that hasn't been the format over the previous seasons. Either I don't remember it, but I never thought that Dexter would of been so upset over Rita's passing. And the kids are gone. Why didn't the grandparents take Harrison? Very confusing. Have all of them or none of them. I'm excited for the Quinn/Dexter clash, but I'm worried it'll be too much like season 2 with Doakes. It's my favorite show on TV right now, just because I find Dexter's character to be so interesting and humorous.

Boardwalk Empire

I REALLY want to like this show. I really do. It feels like the episodes are dragging and building towards something, but I don't know what. I just need that "WOW" moment for me to really believe in it. Last week's FBI raid on the Celtic dinner was the first steps towards some serious action I believe, but I hope it comes sooner than later. I still don't buy Steve Buscemi as Nucky. He just looks like a wax statue. There's too many things they aren't explaining that they need to sooner than later. I also think I'm becoming too used to watching it on DVD so I can bang out a few in a row instead of this once-a-week deal. I guess that's how TV works.

Eastbound and Down

Awesome. There's nothing else I have to say about it. I just hope they can keep it up.

The Event

This show sucks. NBC is promoting it like it's the second coming of Lost ("What is THE EVENT??"). They're aliens. It blows. I watched the first episode and was excited, I watched the second episode, found out they are aliens, and cursed it off. I refuse to see anymore of it's nonsense, and any ad I see about it makes me shake my head. Haven't we had enough aliens? Between those crappy ABC shows and everything, who cares.

Dancing With The Stars

They kicked Situation off? That's all I know. Haven't seen any of it. I thought fist-pumping was the best type of dancing there was?

I'm Height Challenged

I'm 6'5". It's not freakishly tall, but it's above average. I'm the tallest kid I know out of my circle of friends. I've always been the tallest kid, since probably 2nd grade. When I meet new people, I can tell you the typical conversation:

"How tall are you? Like 6'3"?"
"6'5"
"Wow!!! Are you good at basketball?????" (or, can you dunk a basketball????)
"No."
"Why not???"
"I'm white."

It happens every time. Without fail. I'm not sure where everyone connects basketball with height. Does every tall kid but me play basketball?

Everyone wants to be tall. They think they aren't tall enough. I'm here to tell you, I'm too tall. People don't realize how different things are when you're tall. Here's a laundry list of things that make me "too tall":

-When my parents were buying a car, I had to sit in all of the seats to make sure "I fit" - I was 15.
-Traveling on a plane, train, or bus? It's brutal. If I don't get an aisle seat, my knees will hurt the rest of the day.
-When going up/down a flight of steps, in my house (or more recently in going downstairs in some subway tunnels), if I don't duck, I'm bumped. In a similar vein, on the subway, when I'm sitting down, if I don't angle my way out, bump. And getting onto the subway? Duck.
-My feet hang over my bed if I don't sleep in the fetal position. The dorm room twin extra long could barely contain me.
-When in a place with loud music (concert/bar/club/hell) good luck if I can hear anybody. It's usually me continually bending over and screaming WHAT because I'm "too far" away. Makes me look like a deaf jackass when I'm meeting new people or trying to talk to somebody.
-As a follow up to that, I've been asked to move or sit down or get out of the way of other people because I'm blocking their view - even in stadium seating at a sporting arena. They were standing too.............................Needless to say I didn't sit down. It's a concert. Rock out.
-It's impossible to blend in. Not that I'm ever really "trying" to, but I typically stick out like a sore thumb. Especially in pictures. Especially in pictures with my short friends. It just looks stupid. Or playing Hide-And-Seek as a kid? I always lost first.
-When I got my own set of golf clubs (age 16) we had to get them extended so I could swing "normally". I went golfing this weekend without them, it was a terrible scene.
-My boss said I look like Sasquatch or Bigfoot. No seriously.
-I'm borderline to having to start buying the "tall" clothes, which are only available online or at "big and tall" stores.
-The fun "joke" at family gatherings is that I was stretched as a child. Ha. Ha...............Ha.


This list makes me sound like I hate being tall. I don't hate it, I just think people don't realize that it's not as glamorous as it seems. It gets frustrating. I'm sure short people have the same problem. People feel more sympathetic to them than to tall people. The funny thing is that most of the stereotypes/jokes aren't true. I don't play basketball. Girls don't seem to like tall guys (note: you can still prove me wrong, but so far "tall dark and handsome" is a lie, or maybe I need more than 1 out of the 3, I'll go tanning tomorrow, rambling,), the "weather" isn't any different "up here" then "down where you are", and no, I don't mind grabbing something you can't reach, just say thank you. Man, I sound like a jerk. I promise I'm not?

I was talking about this with my boss today - the ideal height. I think it's 6'2". Above average, but not life-changing. A nice middle ground between the two. You don't get what you want, so you just have to deal with what you got. I've gotten over it. I live with it everyday. No big deal.

Now if you'll excuse me I've got to get back on the court and practice my basketball dunks.

Webcam Lawsuit Settlement

Back in April I wrote a post about the webcam privacy lawsuit that was taking place at the local high schools in my hometown school district. If you want more info on the case, I’d recommend the Wikipedia page on it.

The case was settled out of court (surprise) a few days ago, with the end result being $610,000 of my district’s tax dollars being given away because of their acts of stupidity.

This case is really a Catch-22 for everyone involved. We want to get to the bottom of this, but we don’t want it to cost us more than it has to. That was the problem. The district would have to pay for the investigation, litigation, and then pay out the consequences. We let it end early without truly getting to the bottom of it so we could be cheap. That’s not really justice. That’s part of what’s wrong with our legal system (for more, watch The Wire).

I’m not a legal eagle nor do I totally understand the inner-workings of the court system, but the part that blows my mind in this case is that the lawyer gets $425,000, which is over $200k more than the “victim” himself gets. How does that possibly work? What kind of messed up system is this?

What else is astonishing is how much the district found out during the review – over 56,000 (or 66k, unconfirmed) images had been recorded – on only 2,300 computers. That’s over 24 images per computer. WHAT? For a system that was supposed to be in use “in case the computer goes missing” that is absurd. You can’t tell me they had that many cases. Absolutely not. They took pictures while kids were asleep? That’s creepy and the next phase should be to prosecute the administrators responsible. Seriously. This isn’t some kind of a “no big deal” joke. This is invasion of privacy of adolescents. We’ve seen so much in the news lately towards cyber-bullying and webcam photos/videos that there should be zero tolerance of this from anyone, and that starts with the faculty. Instead, they are doing the same thing, and could cause just as many problems as the students do. But no, we’re too cheap to do the right thing. Carry on.

Clearly the people with power have no control. That’s what bothers me the most; the irresponsibility of the administrators in a situation that is supposed to be conducive to learning. Great job everyone. Making my hometown proud.

This just proves the incapability of the educational system.

Hey does anyone wanna video chat later?

5 Weeks in NYC

So I'm going into week six of being in New York City. Time is flying.

Quick recap of my life in case you don't know (or if you don't care you can skip this part): I'm currently "temping" at a PR agency in NYC, and while I'm temping I'm living in a studio with two of my best friends. 3 dudes, one studio. We call it The Brutal Tomb. I sleep on an aerobed that loses air overnight because either I'm too fat or it's broken. Could be a healthy combination of the two. If I sent you a picture of this place you would laugh. It's absurd. This temp period was supposed to last two weeks. It's week five. It could result in being hired or it could result in nothing. That's my life right now.

These are my thoughts on the city so far, but some of them combine with working full-time.

1) There aren't enough hours in the day. Seriously. If you work 9-6, that's 9 hours of your day, give a hour to travel, hour to get ready, that's 11 hours of your day. If you get your 8 hours of sleep per day, you've only got 5 hours left. 1 hour for the gym, down to four hours. That's brutal. There are so many things I would love to do if I had the time/money/energy for, but it doesn't work.

2) New York doesn't sleep. Original line, but it's so true. This city literally goes and goes and goes. You can be out at a club or bar until 6 am, and by then you can get breakfast from the diners opening up. It's absurd. There are those days where you go from work to dinner to bar/movies and you don't go home once. That's more of a general observation, and I was spoiled in college when I only had 12 hours of class a week.

3) You will see every type of human being here. This isn't a jab at any type of person, but you see all walks of life. I guess in a city with over 8.5 million, that's the result you get. I couldn't tell you how many times I'm on the subway and I see strange people doing strange things. That being said, it's also surprising how many times I feel like I see the same people - mainly on my commute to work. You would think that dividing between 8.5 million my chances of being on the same subway car at 6pm at night as another person every other night would be slim.

4) Gotta have thick skin or this city will spit you out. While the people here are a lot nicer than I expected/heard about, there's still people who will be an asshole to you for no reason, and you can either fight back or just let it go, but you can't let it get to you. Cab drivers have told me to go eff myself multiple times. I was kicked out of a bar the other night because "you're not drinking." Nothing that is all too serious, but if you can't handle it you won't make it.

5) Every corner seems exactly the same. There's a Starbucks/McDonald's/Subway/Dunkin/Random Pizza place/ATM everywhere. It all looks the same. I couldn't tell you the difference between one corner and the next.

6) Speaking of pizza, it's delicious here.

I'm sure I'll have some more once I start actually living here in a real apartment and start making more friends. Until then, don't stop believing.

My Obsession with Bruce Springsteen

This post has been a long time coming. I've written it a few times and then deleted it and re-wrote it and re-wrote. I think I'm finally comfortable with this version. I think. I've tightened it so it's not a rambling mess or me trying to academically break down his music (believe me that was brutal), but just a short honest answer. I don't know why I'm taking the time to tell you this.

I don't know if it's been established how Bruce Springsteen is probably my favorite artist. I know I've written a lot about Kanye and Green Day lately, but Bruce is the favorite. I spent most of today trying to figure out why I love Bruce's music so much. I listened to it him day. I think I figured it out. The song/stories are about what I/we/everyone is chasing: The American Dream.

Think about what the American Dream means: the opportunity to succeed. To do whatever you want. It's the promise of prosperity. It's Working On A Dream (Bruce Pun counter: 1).


More specifically for a man, to find a woman, fall in love, start a family, provide for that family, and so on. Isn't that the typical male instinct?

That's what Bruce Springsteen's music is. Very simple. I know, I know, I'm not the first person to come up with this idea. It's so true though. Songs about dreams, work, love, success, failure, a somewhat blind optimism, etc. The thing I love the most is that he has written songs that I feel like I could apply to every emotion or feeling in my life. I may not be unemployed (well, eh, okay, sort of), in love, have my own family, and so on, but I still feel like I relate, and will be able to relate all my life. I love his optimism. Every day is a new opportunity to grow.


What else is amazing about Bruce is his longevity. At 61 he's still writing new music, and his music written almost over 40 years ago now are still relevant today. He hasn't forgotten who he is - a Jersey boy. He just wanted to get out of Jersey - doesn't everybody? I (thank god) don't come from Jersey, but I spent a lot of my free time there with my friends and spent time down the shore. I get it, sort of. I'm not from it at all, since South Jersey is like a Philly suburb, but I understand the idea when you're from a nowhere town. Doesn't almost everyone feel like they've got to get out of their hometown? That's the whole premise of Born to Run. Get out of the swamps of Jersey. Yet he's still in Jersey. And he fell for a Jersey Girl (pun counter: 2) and is still kicking ass as much as he was 30 years ago, playing for 3 hour sets when most bands can barely stay on stage for 90 minutes.

Bruce Springsteen represents the American ideal that this country stands for. It's changed quite a bit since he took over the world, but at it's core, he expresses everything that our country talks about. Especially after 9/11, no other album seemed to capture a sense of the nation than The Rising. It was what we needed at the time. I was also 14 when that came out, so I might be biased. Okay I'm most likely biased.

If you asked me to pick a favorite Bruce song, I don't think I could. It depends on my mood. And since he only has about 300+ songs to choose from, every day is a different answer. That's part of the beauty of it. One day I could be in a Tunnel of Love mood, but the next it's Rosalita. Either way it's from the same artist/storyteller/writer/etc. I'll probably write a post one day counting down my favorite 100 Bruce songs - things to look forward to! The sound is also different - how many popular bands have a saxophone as one of the band's key sounds? Only ones I could think of are Dave and OAR. Regardless, the band wouldn't be the same without Big Man's horn.
To capture my obsession, let me put it in numbers: I've downloaded over 100 live concerts from his shows. That's over 3600 songs. Andddd most of them are the same song. That's over 100 versions of Born to Run. I literally cannot get enough. I've been to four shows, and if I had better planning/money/friends/transportation, could of easily gone to at least four more. Hands down my favorite show I've been to.

I've had the cursor blinking on this line now for 20 minutes. I can't think of a way to close this post. I typically like to do stupid cheesy lines that humor me, but I can't think of it. So I'll end with a lyric. And PS I could of picked any lyric here and I would of been satisfied.

Meet Me In A Land Of Hope And Dreams.

Social Network

I swear I have more things on my mind than what I watch on film/tv. That's just the only thing I have that's worth blogging about.

That being said, I saw Social Network last night. I was really looking forward to seeing it - the combination of Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher was TOO good to pass up. Add in the idea of the creation of Facebook and it's a home run. I think I wrote this exact same paragraph before about American Idiot. I'm losing my creativity and my brain.

I knew going in that the movie wasn't totally true. It was Hollywood-ified. There were parts added for the convenience of the story. It's my understanding that most of it is true though, based off what I read.

The movie was good. It was neurotic. It really kind of describes how college (and as we grow out of college, the "real world") is now. You friend a girl you meet and class, probably one you don't really know outside of some glances, and determine if you're interested in her or not by her pictures (while she's showing the pictures that show her in her self-perceived "best light" - while you do the exact same thing) and find out the relationship situation and see who she's friends with etc etc. That's Facebook. Maybe not always about girls, but about people. Most likely people you don't know well.

I don't know if me or my friends could imagine college without it. It's such a strange concept. Seriously. And I'm not even talking about "stalking" girls. Just communicating with friends - especially those who you haven't seen in a while. Seeing what others are up to. Sharing your crazy stories. Writing a happy birthday wall post. And so on. I'd go to parties and people would say "Facebook Me." It's just how we operate.

It's changed the generation. We can't socialize normally. I know more about some people thru Facebook then I learned from hearing them speak. We hide behind our phones and our iPods and blogs and don't actually communicate anymore. It's absurd. I can't say I'm not guilty either, it's just the truth of our generation.

The only thing that really killed the movie for me was Justin Timberlake. He sucks as an actor. It was such a joke putting him in. It was just to make some kind of a "celebrity buzz" since most people wouldn't of known who Jesse Eisenberg is. Stop acting JT. Just make some more music for girls to go crazy over. Don't say "Bong hit!" in the middle of a movie. Ever.

I loved Fincher's vision. It was shot so well. It had a "Fight Club" pacing without going Tyler Durden crazy and no fighting. I also love to reference Fight Club and Tyler Durden whenever possible, so maybe I'm stretching it. Sticking feathers up your butt doesn't make you a chicken.

Zuckerberg came across as too smart for his own good - which is probably true. He's brutally honest and unable to communicate the way normal people do. It's interesting. I have never actually seem him talk, but I could believe he's something like this. It's also interesting to see the way the site developed, how the lawsuits came through, among other things. Something so simple that changed everyone's life.

Overall, it was good, I just think there was so much hype. Too much hype kills everything. And too much hype is why Facebook succeeds.

4 Days in October

This post is triggered by my watching the ESPN 30for30 Documentary "4 Days in October," highlighting the four days of games 4-7 in the 2004 ALCS.

It's well established I'm a Red Sox fan. I think it's also been well established that my Red Sox obsession was borderline insane. The level that you've heard about but didn't believe those type of people existed unless you had seen it. Jimmy Fallon in Fever Pitch, without the girl. That was me.

I wrote over a month ago how I feel like I lost my interest in my teams; that I wasn't invested as much as I was. That's still true. You grow up, your life changes, you do things differently, whatever. I still think the best way I can describe it was that we accomplished what we intended - to win a championship. It's not like the relationships over, but it's not as special as it used to be. It's like when you're not trying to impress your job/girlfriend/baseball team (because I was trying to impress an baseball team). The comfort zone. Whatever. There was nothing I wanted more than to beat the Yankees and win a ring. I was also 16. Needless to say, I have a few other priorities. Beating the Yankees isn't as high as it used to be, but it still feels great.


2004 was the height of my obsession. I think we peaked. I remember every day of October. Every single day. How many days do you remember from six years ago?


There was so much built up into the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry that 2003-2004 was truly special. It may never happen again. The entire series of events took place so fast that you easily lose sight of how special/rare/unbelievable those four days were. It was a blur. Like a dream that never seemed it would ever come true.


It really hit me why I love sports; because it's real. It's uncontrollable, unpredictable, yet a perfect chaos. Most of the time it's nothing out of the ordinary. It feels good if it's your team. If it's not, it's just another let down. Take any movie or television show or novel. They aren't real. Real stories rarely have a happy ending. That's what makes the story of the 2004 ALCS real drama. Exciting drama. Once-in-a-lifetime drama. It's not just that the Sox beat the Yankees, it was the way they did it. No other team has ever come back from three games down to win (well until the Flyers did it in the 2010 ECF [what's up Flyers!]) The World Series didn't even matter because it was a boring sweep. Beating the Yankees was better than the World Series. The World Series was just the icing on the cake. And really, this story caught the entire nation. Red Sox Nation was the sportsman of the year for Sports Illustrated, and it was everyone's feel good story of 2004. Or my life.

I was glad to watch the 30for30 documentary. It was a little cheezy, but I loved it. The Simmons/Clarke part was stupid. Kevin Millar milked his 15 minutes. But the images and audio gave me 45 minutes of goosebumps. It reminded me of how happy I was for those 11 days. I would argue it's the happiest streak in my life. A natural high. Isn't that pathetic? Whatever, this was my past. I wouldn't of had it any other way.

Keep the Faith.

American Idiot on Broadway

Last night I saw American Idiot on Broadway. I'm not sure if I'm emphasized how important this album was in my life in 2004-2006. So let me reiterate.

Remember when you were 16 and just started driving by yourself? And you could blast the music as loud as you wanted, listening to whatever you wanted? I had too much fun with it. Literally I burned at least 30 CDs - mainly of music I had never heard of - and would just listen and listen and listen. That's probably why my iTunes is overflowing with music I'll never listen to.

American Idiot was really one of those albums in my car - although it got bumped to the front of the list because the title song was featured on Madden NFL 2005. I'm serious. You don't have to remind me how cool I am.

Anyways, this was the album that I'd listen to the most - mainly on the commute to and from school. It was a different album than what I'd really known - I'd consider myself a music novice back then - in that it was a narrative story through song. It was different than anything else I'd heard, except for Born To Run (obviously). It was a story I felt like I could somewhat relate with - a teenager growing up in uncertainty. I didn't have a broken family, girlfriend, or drug addiction, but I felt I connected with it. Smells like Teenage Spirit. I'm not funny.

I couldn't tell you how many times I listened to that album. It was the go-to album for me and my close friends. Anytime we were driving, relaxing, working out, whatever. That was it. I used to have my trips home measured in time based on the songs (I'd be in the middle of Are We The Waiting from South Jersey, and would hit I-76 in time for Holiday, when I could speed up. Did I mention I'm super cool?) I think at least 4 songs from that album are on my iTunes Top 25 (Blink-182 has a huge presence there too, I blame Colin for that). I've been to four Green Day shows in the past six years, and each one has just been phenomenal. I can't get enough of the American Idiot songs. I'm not into the politics of it, I just enjoy the story it tells.

So okay, did I establish that I love the album?

I've been wanting to see the show on as soon as I had heard about it. I'm also not the one who wants to see any plays (although I'm interested in the Spiderman one too since U2 is doing the music). Originally it was only going to be for a week in LA. Then it got the promotion to the big leagues. So it's been on my radar for a while. The mere fact that a rock ("punk") band would be able to create an album that could be adopted and be successful on Broadway is an unbelievable achievement. Add to it that the album is easily one of my Top 5 ever and it's like a slam dunk.

Are you ready for me to talk about the show yet?

I don't know why I keep typing like this. Does anyone like it or am I losing readership?

I didn't really know what to expect - and I tried to read as little as possible so it would all be new. This week only, Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer of Green Day, wrote the album, some consider him a God) was filling in for an actor on leave, and that made my expectations even greater.



The show was great. I'm not artsy enough to comment on the acting itself, but I think I set my expectations to be too high. That's not taking away from the show at all. It was re-written a little bit, and while it certainly didn't "upset" me, I was surprised. It makes sense, but I just wasn't ready. They also incorporated songs from the latest Green Day album, 21st Century Breakdown, which is another concept album, but is not as tight as Idiot. I didn't think they would be able to combine the two, but it worked pretty well.

I think it's like reading a book and then seeing the movie based on the book. You have this image in your head of how you think the events would happen - and it makes perfect sense. Then you see someone's vision of the story, and it wasn't what you had in mind. It's not wrong - it's just not how you imagined it. Which is why everyone says the book is better than the movie. It's interpretative. That's how I would describe it.


I guess what I was expecting was it to be more like a concert, and it's not. It's a performance. It's a story. The music is the background to the acting. It still was an amazing interpretation, and I really enjoyed the entire experience. If you hadn't heard the album beforehand, you might not of connected the dots.

Having Billie Joe in the show was surreal. He did a fantastic job as St. Jimmy, the Tyler Durden-like alter ego of the show. I just find it great that a multi-millionaire rock star who's toured around the world over and over would take the time to perform in a Broadway show that he wrote. And not only did he perform - he killed it.

The other thing that me and my buddy were talking about was the "punkness" of Green Day, and the debate of is doing a show on Broadway punk or not. You could argue it either way, saying that it's not, or that it's punk because it's one of the last thing you expect a punk band to do. Honestly though, who cares? Just enjoy it for what it is - entertainment.

I'll close with this link - for the encore, the entire cast came out and performed "Time of Your Life" with an acoustic guitar. With Billie Joe, it's even more powerful. Check it out.

I hope you had the time of your life.