Move Aside Guitar Hero

Are you a Guitar Hero addict but struggle to admit it because of its evil sacrilegious association? Well fear not...take action against your addition this Lent with the Guitar Praise!

Ok...I fear for the direction that I'm going in by poking fun at something associated with religion. The horrible jokes that can be made are just too easy. But I just can't help but laugh at this apparently real product that I stumbled upon:

Guitar Praise

Yes...it's real. They even have a "Dance Praise" in the style of Dance Dance Revolution. Guitar Praise is a version of Guitar Hero, but instead of the demonic music of Black Sabbath and Michael Jackson, it features ALL Christian music. You know...that music that they have infomercials about to try to get you to buy like a 30 CD Set of songs with lyrics such as, "Our God...is an awesome God"

My worry is that conservative parents out there restrict their children to listening to Christian Rock, if anything. If that's the case, chances are they'll restrict them to playing Guitar Praise. If you have the freedom to be exposed to all types of music, and you're moved by Christian Rock on your own volition, good for you. People are moved by all kinds of music, so there's no reason to judge anyone for listening to Christian Rock...some of it's pretty catchy. I just hope that young children have the option to listen to what they want. Music is a big part of many people's lives; I listen to music every day and I can't imagine what life would be like without it.

That said, this thing costs 150 freakin' bucks for a 2 guitar package that runs off of a computer! What's up with that??

50 Jobs in 50 States

Going through the headlines, this one caught my eye: "50 jobs, 50 states in a year? 1 man gives it a try." Ballsy experiment considering people are struggling to find a single job in their home states, but it seems he's pulling it off, and it doesn't have anything to do with testing the state of the economy or anything like that. His goal is to learn about different trades and all of the states of this great country, trying to take on a job that is common to each particular state. I definitely admire the idea. I would love to have that kind of learning experience.

You can see on his website that he's on week 23 in Wisconsin, working as a Cheesemaker. Some past jobs include being a logger in Oregon, a Park Ranger in Wyoming, a Corn Farmer in Nebraska and a Rodeo Announcer in South Dakota. I wish you luck Daniel and hope you accomplish your rather creative goal.

If I can find a job that I would want to continue to work at for the rest of my life, awesome. I'm definitely still in the realm of confusion when it comes to lifelong career goals though. I like variety in my life...I like a variety of music, a variety of film genres, a variety of food and if you've read my blog in the past, of course, a variety of beer. My degree is in Marketing, a fairly broad subject, which gives me a variety of career paths to take.

I've often posed this question to myself and I ask you to pose the same question to yourself if you never have before: If you had the option of being really, really good (possibly the best) at ONE thing...or if you could be pretty decent at many different things, which would you want?

Also, today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. One of my Lenten goals is to post on this blog every day of Lent...40 days, 40 posts. People often debate what they should give up for Lent, but you should realize that rather than giving up something, you can start doing something. Have you given up or taken up something for Lent?

My Oscar Predictions

The 81st Annual Academy Awards show is on tonight...the ultimate awards show. Get an Oscar and get respect for life. As a big fan of film, I always enjoy watching the Oscars but often times, I've only seen one or two of the films. This year, I've seen many of the nominations and intend to watch the ones that I've missed. It's been another great year in film and the nominees reflect that.

I wanted to claim my predictions for tonight and I should note that I'm making these predictions before reading those of anyone else (including that psychic)...

Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn. I've seen all of these roles and they were all excellent but I think Sean Penn and Frank Langella had the most difficult roles. I really loved The Wrestler and Mickey Rourke definitely made the movie, but I don't really see him winning tonight. Richard Jenkins was also great in The Visitor but I don't think his role was as demanding as Penn or Langella. Penn deserves this one.

Actor in a Supporting Role: I haven't seen Revolutionary Road but I think most people expect Heath Ledger to win this one. It's hard to imagine what the circumstances would be with the release of The Dark Knight and the subsequent nomination had Ledger not unfortunately died. Personally, I think it would not have been as hyped, but noone can deny that Heath Ledger was amazing as The Joker. If he had not passed away, I think Philip Seymour Hoffman might take it, but Ledger should get this one.

Actress in a Leading Role: I have not seen Changeling or Frozen River yet, so I can not judge Angelina Jolie or Melissa Leo. From the limited hype that I have taken in, however, it seems that Kate Winslet is favored for this win. From seeing her versus Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, I definitely do not think Winslet is a hands down win. I think Streep and Hathaway had more complex roles. Streep may already have a couple wins under her belt but this is probably her most warranted nomination in years. Winslet might take it due to politics but I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Streep.

Actress in a Supporting Role: I think this will come down to either Amy Adams or Penelope Cruz. My expectations were definitely not met in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Viola Davis in Doubt had a powerful performance, but she only appeared in about 10 minutes of the film. And Marisa Tomei has her third nomination but I really don't think she's going to take this one for being a stripper. I think Penelope Cruz will take this one.

Animated Feature Film: All 3 were very entertaining, but this one is going to Wall-E without a doubt.

Best Director: I think Gus Van Sant should probably take this one for Milk. He was nominated before for Good Will Hunting against freakin' James Cameron for Titanic. I wouldn't mind seeing Danny Boyle take this for Slumdog Millionaire, but I think it will go to Gus Van Sant.

Makeup: The one thing that you have to hand to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the hype surrounding how the hell they made Brad Pitt into a short old man, which is why it should win for both Makeup and Visual Effects.

Best Picture: If this doesn't go to Slumdog Millionaire, I'll be disappointed. I saw all of these nominees and Slumdog Millionaire was by far the most entertaining film from start to finish, gripping you in from the start and not letting you go until you find out what happens at the very end.

I'll leave out the other categories but am very interested in seeing all of the awards tonight. For those who have not seen any of the nominees, I strongly suggest seeing as many of them as you can.

A Late Reflection on St. Stephen's Day

So I'm a bit late to discover the video coverage, but I was happy to find today a video from the 1st Annual St. Stephen's Stumble, a pub crawl that celebrated the relatively unknown holiday of St. Stephen's Day, which happens to fall on the day after Christmas, December 26th.

This holiday is observed and celebrated more in Ireland and other parts of Europe. It's the feast day of St. Stephen, who is known as the first Christian martyr. The celebratory tradition has died down but consisted of groups of people carrying a caged wren (a type of bird) from house to house, singing and dancing as a performance. These people are called Wrenboys or Mummers (and here I thought Mummers started in Philadelphia).

Anyway, an Irish pub in New Haven called Anna Liffey's took this holiday, and like any other American person does with an Irish tradition, turned it into an all-day drinking event.

The pub crawl was led between pubs by a bagpiper, which was largely my attraction to going in the first place. When else do you get a chance to walk around a city with a large group of people in daylight with a buzz, led by a bagpiper? The turned heads were rather abundant that day.

Here is the video coverage. The strapping young lad in the tan coat that you may notice walking (NOT stumbling) is yours truly...you can also see me in the "Ole, Ole, Ole" chant on the right, which was one of about 300 Ole chants we did that day...

Proposition 3-17

Tomorrow is February 17th, marking a month before the holiday that Irish and non-Irish alike celebrate, arguably moreso in the US than in its home country, known as St. Patrick's Day. Even though people across this country celebrate the holiday, or atleast take it as an excuse to drink, the day is not recognized as a holiday in the U.S.

Last year, Guinness set out to change this and got over 350,000 signatures last year in an attempt to get serious notice. Unfortunately, those signatures did not make a difference to the Bush administration. Well change is the key word with Obama now in office, and Guinness is trying to get 1 million signatures this year. With a month left, they are already over a 1/3rd of the way there, with over 368,000 signatures. So spread the word and sign the petition! You can sign here:

www.proposition317.com