Best Video of the Week

You'll probably see this everywhere soon, but if you stayed up late enough to watch Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, you saw and awesome video. If you aren't familiar with the video, I put one up that has Kimmel explaining the background for the video he is in. So sit back, relax, and take 6 minutes to watch a pretty funny music video.

Buying a House Sort of Sucks

I know, it's been awhile since I've posted, but more than likely now that I have removed this blog from my former MySpace account no one is reading it. Hell, I don't even really write in it that much.

Anyway, in the past month my wife and I have been looking for new homes. As you read a couple posts back, apartment life sucks when people try to steal your car. The attempted theft on our sweet, beloved Neon only accelerated our want and desire to purchase a new home. I was fairly excited about the prospect of moving into my own house. I was aware the process of purchasing a home was fairly lengthy, emotional and complicated. I just didn't know how aggravating it would actually be.

The easiest part of it was getting pre-approved and such. Finding houses in the area of town that we liked wasn't much more difficult either. Our Realtor is even pretty easy to work with. Although she does have some hair-brained ideas about our chances of getting a home that's been on the market for awhile in a "declining market." Our broker says not to worry, so I'll believe her.

Here's the exciting part. The house we want to buy is a foreclosure. It's actually a brand new home though. Let me explain. The builder didn't sell it fast enough or just went under and lost it to a bank or the bank that originally financed the build. So, technically it's new because it's never been occupied.

Here is what you may not know about buying a foreclosed home. When dealing with a bank it takes for fucking ever. The listing agent never answers her phone. Our Realtor has to leave messages for the most mundane items that are not carried out until the next day. Oh hey, we have a question about what you just told us, we need to call you back. Oh well, looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow.

With us being first timers, it's all very nerve wracking. The good thing is that the offer we made was accepted yesterday. All we have to wait for now is our home inspection to come back all Jim Dandy next Friday and we'll be good to go when we close on or before March 28th. So, wish us luck, we are hoping that the hard part is over. Somehow I doubt it though. We are keeping positive and hope to be in our new home soon. Pictures of the real house will be posted as soon as we actually close and take possession.

Notice now that I'm married my posts are now resembling mass family emails rather than points of view on anything of interest to anyone but my wife and I? Yeah.

Feeling South Dakota

That's right, this weekend I will be braving the elements to see some people back in my hometown of Sioux Falls. So if you know me, and I know you, and you read this entry give me a call. I'll be in town from Friday afternoon until Monday morning.

This week marked my return to college. I'm now attending Park University for a journalism major and public relations minor. Well, eventually on the PR minor. We'll see how the rest of this works out. My classes are quite interesting. Let me explain.

I haven't been to school for over six years so I thought it would be best to part-time it this semester and only take two classes. Not only that I'm taking day classes Monday through Friday. My Monday, Wednesday and Friday class is Interpersonal Communication. My professor in this class is, well, interesting to say the least. She's a bit of a dunderhead, but she seems like she'll be interesting and somewhat entertaining. My other class is even more offbeat.

Since I'm attending a liberal arts university, I have to take liberal arts classes. Of course every university has electives that one must take, but this one is a little out there in terms of class requirements. It's a music appreciation class. It's an intro class of course, but get this. No tests, no written essays and the syllabus is still to be accepted and approved by the department. The professor is obviously gay, which is fine by me but it obviously freaks some of the other students out a bit. This makes for some entertainment value for me.

Ah, the students. Most of them are like me, but younger. I feel quite old and I'm sure I look old to them. I'm married and I'm going bald. I look like I'm 35 but I'm only 27. At least to them anyway. I'm sure things will work out fine, I have a good feeling about my classes for the spring and that I'll do well. Plus, the company I'm working for is paying for it as long as I get a C or better.

Let's see, what else. Oh yeah! Now that I'm a proud member of the Nebraska Cornhusker Touchdown Club it is opening new doors for me and my Husker obsession. Being a booster now, I was invited to a club function in Lincoln, Nebraska on February 7th that involves the new head coach, Bo Pelini, and the rest of his staff. It's social hour, dinner and a presentation on the newly recruited football players!

I won't be attending this year because no one else will go with me. And it's in the middle of the week and an hour and a half away. Oh well, maybe next year. My season tickets should make me feel better for this next season.

Happy New Year

Out with the old and in with the new. In our case, meaning my wife and I, we are out with the old door and ignition switch in her car and in with a new one(s). You see, the night before New Year's Eve, New Year's Eve Eve, her car was broken into with the intention of it being stolen.

My wife was going to buy cat food in the afternoon while I was going to sit on the couch and play a rousing session of Super Mario Galaxy on my Nintendo Wii. She ran back into the apartment stating that someone tried to steal her car to which I promptly responded in true idiot form, "what, like right now?"

I went down to discover the ignition switch on the passenger floorboard of the front seat and the drivers side door had been pried away from the car to gain entry (as shown above). What the would be thief did not realize is that Neon's after the year of 2002 or 2001 had chips in the keys with the expressed purpose of not being able to hot wire them from the inside. Would it kill car thieves to subscribe to Consumer Reports to learn about theft deterrents such as this?

So we spent most of our New Year's Eve afternoon filing the police report, calling State Farm (our insurance agency) and getting the car up to the local Dodge dealership. The rep from State Farm said two other clients had their Neons broken into over the weekend. The tow truck guy said he just picked up a Neon a couple miles away and the only difference is that it was black.

Now the car is checked in at the dealership, but the body shop is backed up. It is winter in the Midwest after all. At least we only have to pay our deductible rather than upwards of $1000 for the cost of the repairs. So we ended 2007 with a bang, so to speak. Hopefully the year of 2008 doesn't involve any more destruction of our property. Who knows, it is Kansas City. Maybe this is karma for my last post of 2007?

Goodbye for now, sweet Neon!

Get Your Opinion Off Your Car

This is my first post on this blog not transferred over from my soon to be defunct MySpace blog. This isn’t a historic even or anything, I just figured I’d give the first non-MySpace entry its due. So, congratulations little guy, you deserve it.

I have an issue this morning. Well, it’s more an issue from last night that spilled over into this morning. My wife made enchiladas last night. No, my issue is not with the Mexican feast that she lovingly prepared. My issue comes from when I had to travel to our local grocer for a couple of missing ingredients.

I parked next to a 1992 Ford Taurus with an interesting bumper sticker. If it wasn’t at night and my cell phone had a flash on it for the camera, I would have taken a pic to post on here, but this will have to do…

While I don’t have an issue with his sentiment to promote the buying and purchasing of American products, I do have a problem with the tone of the phrase used. Does my owning and driving of a Volkswagen somehow make me less American than this gentleman?

Am I hurting the American worker by driving a car that is made in Wolfsburg rather than Claycomo? Should I buy a German flag magnet and put it on my car? My Dad is German after all. Nah, the Germans would never make something that tacky. However, some American company would probably manufacture it. In China.

I don’t hate my country. I don’t even hate this guy whose bumper sticker offended me. What I hate is the continued assumption that if you aren’t supporting someone’s particular cause in this country then you are somehow against them, and it’s personal. I think some people have watched too many Dirty Harry or Arnold Schwarzenegger flicks.

Let’s break down the message on the sticker itself.

“Get My American Flag…” – so, this guy and anyone else who purchased this mass produced sticker is somehow assuming that the American Flag is his intellectual property or he designed it? Could be. Or does he think that people who own foreign cars are out to actually steal all of his American Flags? Who knows, he could be crazy and actually believe that all the flags in the contiguous 48 states are his.

“…Off Of Your Foreign Car.” – who knows? Maybe I could just be driving my buddy’s Honda to the store quick for a six pack or a magazine. Maybe I have a good ol’ Chevy in my driveway and I’m catching the icy stare from this dude for no reason. “My friend is an asshole anyway,” I’d tell him in order to defend my poor choice in transportation. “He wipes his ass with toilet paper with the Declaration of Independence printed on each square.”

This flowed into this morning because our local sports talk radio station, which I spend about 90% of my time in my car listening to, 810 WHB has a program on Saturday mornings called “Racin’ Boys.” Now, I don’t particularly care for NASCAR or any other form of Americanized racing (man, maybe I do hate this country) but I’ll listen to anything while I’m half asleep on a weekend morning before 9AM.

Someone called in to the show and said that he didn’t have a problem with Toyota’s being in NASCAR. He said the people that do are hypocrites because they probably watch Sunday racing on their Japanese TV’s while they wear their favorite drivers T-shirt, probably purchased at Wal-Mart and manufactured in China.

The guy had a thick Missera (maybe you’d have to live here to get that) accent and used the vocabulary of a 5^th grader, but he made a very valid point. We don’t really live in an American economy any longer when it comes to the purchasing of most products.

We live in a global economy and it’s probably going to stay that way while most people are looking for “Everyday Low Prices.” So, until American auto manufacturers can produce a car that isn’t a complete piece of shit that I can afford and I feel is safe yet mildly sporty at the same time, I’m going to stick to buying Volkswagens.

Just sort of a side note here, have you noticed that the two big foreign car makers are from former World War II Axis powers Japan and Germany? Even most people associate exotic cars (IE Ferrari and Lamborghini) with Italy. Does anyone else find this awfully coincidental? Maybe it's just me.

I make a conscious decision to not shop at places like Wal-Mart. I don’t like it. They don’t pay their employees much, or take care of benefits for the non-management workers that make up 85% of their global staff, and yet they are the richest retailer in the world by leaps and bounds. I won’t buy from a company like that. But mostly it's because a majority of the people that shop there have the IQ of Forest Gump with none of the sunny disposition and life lessons that he had to offer. Not one damn piece of chocolate either.

That is called a personal decision. Well, “that’s not unusual Zach,” you might say. To you and me, probably not. You are literate enough to follow what I’m talking about, so you’re smarter than most people. But a personal decisions to purchase American made cars, or bar soap, or socks should be just that. You shouldn’t have to buy your opinions and put them on your car.

This country is now full of personal opinions on cars. “Stay The Course,” “They Started It, We’ll Finish It,” and my favorite “Support The Troops.” Give me a fucking break, do you really need to put crap like this on your car to prove you’re that much more American than someone who doesn’t? Keep your opinions to yourself, and keep your bumper clean. Your crappy 1987 Ford 150 will thank you for it.

And In The End?

Category: MySpace

I've been toying around with the idea for the past few months of ending my run on MySpace. I know, let it sink in. What is a person to do with no MySpace?? How crazy is that? Being between the ages of 14-35 and having a MySpace page is almost like having an email, or a toaster.

Honestly, I'm just sort of getting tired of it. I'm not a shut in, but I'm not really all about sharing myself with the rest of the world through this site. Of course I want to stay in touch with my friends with whom I'm in contact with, frequently or infrequently. I'm sure I'll keep a Facebook because it's less annoying. We'll see.

I'll more than likely continue to blog as well. Maybe at a steady pace again. I have two blogs, one for the Red Sox and one for the Huskers. You can catch me on either, but I think I may start another to blog about other stuff like I did here. I'm considering putting up all my old posts from this blog and puting it on the new one. Yikes, that would be alot of work. I'll let you all know.

Anyway, it's not goodbye, not yet. I haven't really decided entirely. This isn't a cry for help, I don't want a bunch of people telling me how much they'd love me to stay on MySpace. It's more about not having as much time for something like this any longer. It's not really a focus anymore.

Currently listening : Heresy & the Hotel Choir By Maritime Release date: By 16 October, 2007

10:04 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

	J.F. Whitaker	Good riddance, jerk. Posted by J.F. Whitaker on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 9:23 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Cory

Fear not, your legacy lives on... Posted by Cory on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 9:24 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Questionable Effort

Not my best writing effort ever, but I did spend time on it while bored at work so better to post it than just let it die. For your reading enjoyment...

It's not that uncommon to like Led Zeppelin, although some of my friends that I made and associated with would say that during my freshman year of high school I had an unhealthy obsession with the band.

I'm not sure exactly what tipped me off into purchasing "Houses of the Holy" in October of 1994 (see, I still remember that). My old man had a couple of Zeppelin records but they never generated any interest in me when I was a five-year old kid listening to KISS, Steely Dan and Bruce Springsteen. Before this time in my life I couldn't even hum "Stairway to Heaven."

So when I was at Best Buy with my Mom some fall Sunday afternoon, I decided that I would buy a CD with naked kids on the cover. My Mom of course knew what it was, she grew up in the seventies after all. No concern her child was forging an unhealthy interest in pedophilia.

It was one of those "I'm feeling adventurous" type days, even though buying an album from this band was anything but. You just have to keep in my that during the fall of 1994 I was reading Spin (still good back then) and listening to bands like Guided By Voices, Built to Spill and early Liz Phair. I listened to every band that magazine said was cool. I even still listened to leftover Seattle grunge. So for me, this was about as against the grain as you could possibly get because I'd already gone through my metal phase. Imagine my shock and awe at the bombast that came through my stereo speakers as "The Song Remains the Same" filled my room and house. I had a big stereo as a teen.

My interest in Zeppelin intersected with the release of "No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded." Remember that? It was a VH1 Special, an album and eventually a VHS and DVD. It was the year before they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The revival was on. The channel that debuted the special played Zeppelin videos and their concert film "The Song Remains the Same" over and over again. I taped it all, watched it and re-watched it a hundred times. I made others dine on my cornucopia of Zeppelin.

I played bass guitar before this epiphany of musical infatuation. Not until this band got under my skin did I get serious about learning and studying a craft and an instrument. Not long after I purchased my first Fender Stratocaster. Sure it was a Squire, but I was plugged in and poised to rock.

I bought books and brought them to school. I was ridiculed among friends for being so into a band that was seemingly only as cool as their parents. When someone asked me about Zeppelin, I didn't know if they were serious or if I was being mocked for the 78^th time that particular day.

The music to me was a gateway into music that I had never though of opening myself up to. Specifically, the blues. It's a sad affair when white kids from England have to compose songs on the backs of true pioneers, only to repackage it into a spiffy and pristine package suitable for middle America. But I needed a way in and I got it. The rest was a musical hodge podge of different world music as well. While I don't listen to too much international (or "ethnic") music I can still recognize different influences now. So, it helped.

From the fall of 1994 until the spring of 1995 if you saw me with headphones, you probably could guess I was spinning "Presence" or even "In Through the Out Door." Oh, I also had a four CD box set. I asked for it for Christmas because it had two songs that were not in release at the time. Remember, this predated internet downloading.

I've no doubt sealed my fanhood in the preceding. But I'm not here to tell how big of a Led Zeppelin fan that I was, or still am. What am I trying to say? I'm not even completely sure. The only thing that I know is that most people, teenage boys specifically, go through a Zeppelin phase. It's not hard to understand, it's a myriad of musical influences mashed together into something very pleasing. It's very sexual music, dumb as it is for me to type that even though I've seen it written about 376 times regarding the band. Anyway, teenage boys are all about the sex, or at least the sex they imagine in the palm of their hands.

Saying that, liking Zeppelin is boiled down by some as being for the tasteless and the musically inept. Most of the time, I may be inclined to agree. Really, you say? The songs are all over classic rock radio twenty-four hours a day. They've even lost some of their mystique by selling songs to Cadillac and letting the "Immigrant Song" be apart of Shrek the Third. I about puked when I saw and heard in a trailer that it was in the movie. Fuck Shrek, I hate those movies.

Even a few days ago at their reunion concert for Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertergun, videos surfaced immediately on YouTube and everywhere else. I wanted to see the show, but you couldn't film a Zeppelin concert back in the day without being practically beat up and consumed by the band's manager, Peter Grant.

Even with the shine off of Zep a bit, the reunion sparked something with me and I did something I didn't think I'd do. I was content to let my Zeppelin CD's sit on the shelf for the rest of my life, only listening to them very occasionally. However, last night I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning (lame that it's late now, I know) ripping every album of theirs into my iTunes.

Despite growing up (whatever that means), my musical tastes evolving or the music becoming dated, which it hasn't, I still can sit here at work and write while listening to "Four Sticks." They may not be trendy or hip or cutting edge, but when a band is good they're just good. If you don't get what I'm trying to say then you probably don't like the band in the first place, probably never will. And that's fine. I'm not going to go on and on about the layers of songwriting and production value that went into these albums that made them great compositions. Like my point in this entry. You either get it, or you don't. Either way is fine with me. I've gotten to the age where I don't care what you think. I've been there for awhile, but it bears repeating I believe.

If Zeppelin decides to play in the States, I know I'm going to be there. Not so much to say that "hey, at least I got to see them before they died." No, it's more to go and see a band that still knows what a rock and roll band is supposed to do and still do it well.