Weenie Roast 12

This past Sunday was the Weenie Roast 12 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Charlotte and what a hell of a way to wrap up the summer!

For those who don't know, Weenie Roast is a big end of summer concert that's been going down in Charlotte since the mid 90s. This year was the first in a few years and you could tell the rock fans were ready for a show.

We arrived a little late and missed local rockers VESS but did see a few songs from Eve 6. We also missed Evans Blue and Anberlin's sets but were able to hear most of them as we wandered around the venue or waited to meet bands. The Offspring headlined the main stage along with Garbage, Flogging Molly, Coheed and Cambria, Switchfoot, Anberlin, Our Lady Peace, and Eve 6. Our local boys Paper Tongues closed out the side stage with Foxy Shazam, Evans Blue, Drop D, and VESS.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Foxy Shazam, Our Lady Peace, Coheed & Cambria, Paper Tongues, and The Offspring. They were all nice, Foxy was crazy, Coheed was nerdy, Paper Tongues were all hugs and stories, and Offspring were nice but kind of stand offish.

If I had to pick a favorite band from the day, it would be a tie between Foxy Shazam, Paper Tongues, and Flogging Molly. Fozy Shazam has one of the most amazing live shows I've ever seen. My girlfriend describes it as a carnival freakshow and it's pretty spot on. Paper Tongues' set was great and filled with new music added to how nice these guys are makes them an unforgettable experience. Flogging Molly are legends in the punk world and rock in general but I had never seen them live until Sunday and, along with the rest of the crowd, was speechless as they rocked the stage!

It was a great day and a great concert and possibly the best way to wrap up the summer that I can think of!

Scripted Reality

I've been an outspoken hater of most all Reality TV but lately it's getting to a point that just blows my mind.

Reality TV is defined as a genre of television depicting SUPPOSEDLY unscripted situations. The word supposedly is in there because most anyone who can count to 10 knows that reality TV isn't real. It's scripted. People are pushed into certain roles and situations and video is edited to depict certain characters in certain ways (i.e. villains, heroes, mean, nice, etc).

Reality TV to me is the new generation of soap operas. For a long time, reality TV stuck tightly to celebrities and rich people showing off a life that most of us will never live. As much as I hated it, at least it could be looked at as a cautionary tale of how money and power can change people. Now the new trend seems to be to find the most pathetic people they can and shine a spotlight all over them.

We have shows like Swamp People and Redneck Island and now this Honey Boo Boo thing. Why? My theory is that by looking down their noses at these people, the ones watching the shows feel better about their own lives. How messed up is that?

I have, do, and will always hate reality TV. Even when it was sort of real back in the old Real World days it still got old fast. If I want to watch TV and movies, I either want fact like a documentary about some major event/person or fiction where I can get lost in another world. If I want reality, I turn off the TV and walk outside. THAT is reality. Totally unscripted, unsponsored, and unpretentious REAL reality.

(De)Classified

Should our government keep secrets from the public? It's a huge question with tons of consequences on either side. Here's my thoughts:

On first thought I'd say no, they should be open with us about anything and everything that may effect us on any level. Then when I stop to think about it, maybe there are somethings we just don't need to know. 

The reason it's even on my mind started with this book No Easy Day that one of the members of SEAL Team 6 wrote about the mission that ended with the death of Osama Bin Laden. Like most Americans, when this all first happened I wanted to know more. That sadistic a-hole killed hundreds of innocent people and I wanted to see him suffer like they did. Once things calmed down though, I was fine knowing he was dead and didn't need to know the details. Now this book is coming out that tells everything which I think is a bad idea. Not only will we as Americans get to see what happened, our enemies will as well. The details in this book could fuel another group to start conflict with the US or even give details on how US military operations are coordinated and executed putting current and future troops in more danger.

Another bit of info that's been made public lately that I'm baffled by is the Secret Service's codenames for those they protect. For example, President Obama is "Renegade", Mitt Romney is "Javelin", and so on. What is the point in having codenames if EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE! In normal every day situations, it won't make much difference but if something does go wrong and someone needs to be discreetly moved from one place to another, they wouldn't even be able to use their codename without everyone knowing exactly who they were talking about!

I'm all for open government and people being informed about what happens on Capitol Hill, but I think it's safe to say that SOME things just aren't meant for the public. The problem is, who decides...