Royal Canadian Mounted Douchebags

Growing up I always had this really heroic vision of the Canadian Mounties. Even comedic portrayals like Dudley Dooright or twisted views like Ren & Simpy's Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen painted a picture of heroism and valor. Apparently that's not always the case.

Today I saw a story in the news that genuinely made me sick to my stomach. This guy in Manitoba was speeding en route to the hospital. His wife was going into labor and had had complications with her first pregnancy so although he was speeding (105 mph) it was understandable, and they were pulled over by a mountie.

You would think they would get an escort to the hosipital right? Wrong. They got a $1000 ticket, which sadly isn't the bad part. They also got a 15 MINUTE LECTURE!! While the poor woman is in the car in labor! It gets worse...

Instead of escorting them to the hospital, the douchebag phones ahead to ANOTHER MOUNTIE who pulls over AGAIN and made them wait another 15 MINUTES for an ambulance to arrive and take them to the hospital. No info on the condition of the mom or baby but the husband has already had a court appearance and lost his license for 5 months.

What a couple of douchebags!

3D Or Not 3D... Is It Really A Question?

So last night I finally made my trip to the theater to see Transformers 3. Being a big fan of Transformers since I was old enough to remember, this trilogy has been a dream come through, but that's not why we're here. We're here to discuss this 2nd wave of "3D madness" that's ruining movies everywhere.

I personally am young enough I don't really remember when 3D was big back in the day. I remember a magazine or two as a kid but that was about it, no movies or TV shows. Well, a few years back, I guess movie companies decided with current technology where it was, it was time to bring 3D back. The first movie I remember seeing was the My Bloody Valentine remake. The movie was classic B horror (which I love) but the 3D was terrible. Lots of unnecessary things being thrown at the screen or stabbed outward to "show off" the 3D aspect.

A lot of those first 3D flicks put more thought into "what can we have poke out of the screen" and less into "is this movie worth making in 3D"? Luckily, over the past few years the craze seems to have died off some and less and less movies are getting the 3D treatment and the few that are are using it more wisely.

Now we're seeing 3D technology slowly invade our homes and game systems but will it last? The TV's cost a fortune and some require special glasses to watch or sitting in a certain spot to see things. Not to mention that converting 2D video into 3D looks terrible. I personally think it's just a fad like last time and in 10 years we'll be laughing at 3D movies again. Or, it could open the door to the next step in visual entertainment. Guess we'll just have to put on our 3D glasses and watch and see.

Changing of the Seasons

Summertime was always my favorite time of year as a kid. Obviously, no school was a big part of it. For me, though, the beach was what it was all about!

I grew up walking distance from the river and a pool so it wasn't uncommon for me to spend 3-4 days a week at one or the other during the summer. Then there was vacation time! Anywhere from a weekend at Atlantic Beach to a week trip to somewhere random like St. Simons Island there was always at least one trip to some beach. Add in summer camp and I pretty much lived outdoors all summer.

Sadly, that has not been the case in a while. Summertime is super busy in radio land so it's rare that I actually have time or energy to make that 45 minute drive to the beach. Not to mention so much of the fun has been beaten out of it now. You have to pay to park, most of the putt-putt and fun stuff like that has been stripped out, and this year it's super hot and smokey all the time!

I finally did make it to the beach 2 weekends ago and despite all the "problems" I had convinced myself of, it was awesome! Not a long day, just a few hours in the sun and playing in the surf but it was perfect. I had forgotten how relaxing it was to just lay back and listen to the waves crash. Or how fun it was jumping over waves and trying to body surf. All the magic and splendor the beach held as a kid came rushing back like they never left.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, as you get older and things you enjoy change, it might be you and not them that's actually changing and sometimes just you have to stop looking for a minute to see it.

Stay Classy San Diego

This past weekend I got to make my first voyage to the left coast and it was AMAZING!

I was invited to a music conference called Sunset Sessions Rock! which is an event where radio people, record labels, music producers, artists, and basically anybody who has anything to do with music in some form is invited to come take part in discussion panels and watch performances by up and coming new bands.

This was the first year of the event and it was held in San Diego. I've never been further west than Minneapolis so it was a whole adventure for me. Travel was surprisingly easy and even the traffic in San Diego was not nearly as bad as I expected. There were almost 30 bands there but some of the ones that really jumped out at me were Redlight King (who you can hear on The X), Dead Sara (Flyleaf-esque but not a carbon copy), Drive A (pre-Dookie Green Day style punk), Sons of the Lawless (solid rock featuring Jake Busey on drums), Kopek (Irish rock trio), AWOLNATION (trippy prog-alternative), and One Less Reason (Saliva style adrenaline rock). There wasn't a single band who was "bad" but some that I wasn't a fan of the style for varying reasons. Another band that really caught my eye was GIVERS from Louisiana. They had a very energetic live show and a female ukulele/xylophone/drums/tamborine player who also sings (and yes, she played all of those in EACH song!).

It was also my first chance to meet up with our very own Full Metal Jackie and Mic Czech and Malcolm from Skratch 'n Sniff (who are all 3 from southern Cali). They all mentioned the emails and social network love from the Xaholics so keep that coming!

All in all, it was one of the most fun weekends I've ever had. I learned things, met lots of great people, made some great business contacts, some awesome friends, and finally got to see the Pacific Ocean with my own eyes. Can't wait for Sunset Sessions Rock 2012!

Movies That Rock Pt. 1

Since this will be a recurring theme in my blog posts, I figured I'd give my movie reviews a title of sorts. I'm not sold on "Movies That Rock" so if you have suggestions, email me! Three movies to get through this time so let's jump in.

First up is Scream 4. I am a big fan of the Scream series but, like any avid movie watcher, I'll admit 2 and 3 were nowhere near as good as the original. 4, on the other hand, takes the franchise back to glory. In true Scream fashion, it starts out by making fun of how cheesy movie intros are lately BY DOING THE SAME THINGS! The premise of Scream 4 is that Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is trying to put her bloody history behind her with the help of her first book about surviving the Ghostface Killer and the celebrity status that she gained from it. All the favorites are back (SHERIFF Dewey Riley (David Arquette), Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox)) plus plenty of new faces like Alison Brie as Sidney's younger cousin, Rebecca, and Hayden Panettiere, as her friend Kirby. It's all the campy horror you expect from a Scream movie with a solid story and more twists than the first 3 combined!

Next on the list is The Collector. The movie centers around Arkin. They don't go into much detail but at some point he served time and is a master safe cracker. At the beginning of the movie he is working as a locksmith working on the new home of a rich family. In need of money, he decides to steal a large diamond from the house while the family is on vacation only to discover something sinister. The family is being held hostage by a masked psychopath. Arkin has to decide whether to take the money and run or save the family from certain doom. Excellent camera work, building suspense, and plenty of SAW-esque gore make this a must see for any horror fan.

And last on this edition, THOR! Finally got around to seeing this one last night and it was great! Thor is the Norse god of thunder. On the day he was to be named king, enemies invade the castle and due to Thor's overreaction his father is forced to strip him of his power and banish him from Asgard to Midgard (the realm of man, or Earth). We then find the attack was no coincidence and Thor must find his human side before he can regain his power and save both his world and our own. Not a ton of fighting but plenty of awesome visuals and a very solid story. I saw the movie in 3D but I feel like 2D would have been fine. (Geek Info: This is another piece of the Avengers saga that began with Hulk and Iron Man and will continue with Captain America).

So there you go, a slasher, a psycho thriller, and a Marvel hero flick. All three great in their own ways.

Rebellion Revisited

First off, just by reading my last post it's been a LONG time since I've blogged. Most things are the same, so I'll just jump back in head first.

Carolina Rebellion was AMAZING! Every band brought their "A" game and rocked it out on those HUGE stages. While everyone was rocking out, I was busy learning a very important lesson about staying hydrated.

We spent most of the day in the "Media Tent" where we could post pics and whatnot on Facebook and interview some of the bands. Well during all the chaos I apparently didn't stay up on my water intake and got dehydrated... bad. Luckily I caught it before it got to the point of needing assistance but I spent most of the afternoon with a pounding headache and achy muscles. Lots of water, some food, a bit of vomit, and a lot of resting later and I was able to rock out to the last handful of bands.

Learn from my mistakes and drink LOTS of water at big, all day shows like Carolina Rebellion. And if you're drinking beer alternate them with water. Trust me, dehydration SUCKS!

Back to Blogging

OK, so I have been realizing lately that I had a lot of crap on my mind and no real way to get it out so I'm bringing back the blog. Just so my ramblings make sense, I'll take this blog to catch everyone up on what's new in my world.

The biggest thing would be my girlfriend. As my last blog kinda goes into, my last relationship was a effort in futility on my part. Long story short I spent 9 months trying to please someone who was never happy with herself. Anywho, I met Amanda at the Alice in Chains show at the House of Blues in February. When we met, I thought they guy she was with was her boyfriend so I kept my distance. I later found out they were just friends so I turned on the charm.

The only thing that keeps her from being absolutely perfect is that she lives 5 hours away! I was hesitant at first because when I first moved away from Greenville the relationship I was in ended up falling apart and that was only a 45 minute drive!

The system we've fallen into seeems to be working pretty well thus far. We text or talk online most of the day and try to call each other at least once every day or two just to talk. Scheduling is always an issue with my job being so random sometimes but we have been going to visit one another about once a month at least. She is really amazing and I'm very happy I took the risk of distance.

Other than that, life is pretty much the same as always. Busy with work, trying to find time to see my friends when I can, and sleeping when it works into my schedule. There are some really kickass shows coming up this summer though so expect some thoughts on those to find their way in here as well as whatever else the world sends my way.