Ty's NFL Preview 2015: AFC

Ty is set to watch some NFL foot... wait, why the hell is his drink green?

Ed Note: We will break Ty's NFL preview up into three parts. Today we give you the AFC, tomorrow the NFC, and then the Super Bowl and awards.

On the heels of my 2015 college football preview, I'll be doing my first annual, "Ty's NFL Preview".

Much in the same vain as the college preview, I'll pick division winners, two wild cards from each conference, the teams that will play in the conference championship games, the Super Bowl winner and the offensive and defensive players of the year. Hell, I'll even throw in my pick for coach of the year and offensive and defensive rookies of the year. No preseason bull shit, because, just like the preseason poll in college football, preseason in the NFL doesn't mean anything to anyone that's watching. Preseason is more for players trying to make teams. And, no matter how terrible of a commissioner Roger Goodell is, I've mentioned how bad he is many times on the site, NFL football is the most popular sport in America and I love it just as much as any other fan out there.

So, let's get started. First, I'll break down the AFC. I'll start with the AFC East. The AFC East consists of the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and defending super bowl champs, the New England Patriots. The Bills had a pretty wild offseason. First, their former coach, Doug Marrone, quit out of nowhere, He led this team to 9 wins last season, with no decent QB, and just up and quit. It made no sense to me. So, the Bills hired Rex Ryan after he was fired by the Jets. I don't like this hire because I don't think Rex Ryan is a good head coach. He knows a lot about defense, but basically doesn't care or seem to know anything about offense. They also traded a linebacker, Kiko Alonso, to the Eagles for one of the top running backs in the league in LeSean McCoy. He didn't want to sign long term, but eventually did. They also signed supreme douchebag, Richie Incognito one year after his suspension for bullying. Like I said, a bizarre offseason. The Bills, I think, will look like the same team they did last season. They'll have a good running game, a good defense and no passing game whatsoever. They have no capable QB's on their roster and, with the exception of Sammy Watkins, no threats at receiver. I say 8 or 9 wins for the Bills. The Miami Dolphins made the biggest splash in free agency by bringing in Ndomakong Suh. They gave him a HUGE contract, but the guy is the best interior defensive lineman in the league. On offense they will look much the same, led by Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. They seem like a team on the rise and I think they're New England's biggest threat in the East. They could easily win 10,11 or even 12 games this year and possibly win the division. The New York Jets are a complete mess. First of all, their best defensive player, Sheldon Richardson, decided to drive his car 143 mph on the highway, and to top it off, he had guns in that car. He may never play football again. Next, a back up linebacker sucker punched starting QB Geno Smith in the jaw over what appears to be a $600 debt and he's out, at least 6-10 weeks. They have no real running game, the QB situation will be taken over by Ryan Fitzpatrick, and their defense, while solid, is only getting older, and they don't have Richardson clogging up the middle. I'd be surprised if they won 6 games this year. This brings me to the defending champions, New England Patriots. They've had an odd offseason as well. The main thing being the stupid non story of "deflategate". Another huge error in judgement from the moronic Roger Goodell. Tom Brady is supposed to miss the first four games of the season, we'll see if that holds up, and I think this will hurt the Patriots more than most. Jimmy Garroppolo may be good in a few years, but he's not ready. The Patriots do have a good running game and you can line up Rob Gronkowski against almost anyone and I'd take him, but their defense is suspect and can lose games for them. Darelle Revis also left to sign with the Jets this offseason, and that will sting. I still see the Patriots winning 10 or 11 games if Brady only misses 1 or 2 games. If he misses all four, they're more like an 8 or 9 win team to me. For that reason alone, I'm picking the Miami Dolphins to win the AFC East.

Next, The AFC North. In the North we have, the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. The Ravens are a decent football team. They have a great defense, they always do, and are led on offense by Joe Flacco. That's a good and a bad thing. When he's good, he can be great, but when he's bad, he's really bad. One week he will throw for 350 yards and five touchdowns, but the next week, he'll go for less than 100 yards and 3 or 4 interceptions. But, the Ravens find ways to win 10 games every year and I don't see that changing this season. The Pittsburgh Steelers have to deal with a suspension to running back LeVeon Bell, only two games, but it will still hurt. They still have Ben Roesthliberger at QB, but he's old and, while never the fastest guy out there, seems to get slower every season. Antonio Brown is a great receiver, one of the best in the league, and will stretch the field on defenses all season. The Steelers should be good for 9 to 11 wins this season. The Cincinnati Bengals are a very predictable team. They will look very good at times. Andy Dalton will be a decent QB, but make his typical mistakes. AJ Green is an electric receiver and catches some of the worst throws in the NFL and Giovanni Bernard is going to be a star. Their defense is worrisome. They got older and their big off season acquisition of AJ Hawk doesn't make them any better. He's old and the rest of that defense is getting older. They will be good for 10 or 11 wins and probably crap out in the first round of the playoffs again. Last, and certainly least, is the Cleveland Browns. They're a joke of a franchise and be it Johnny Manziel(please God no!) or Josh McCown at QB, it doesn't matter, the Browns stink. They have no receivers, no real running game, and stink on defense. If they win 5 games I will be shocked. This division will be tough, minus the Browns, but this seems to be Pittsburgh's last shot and I think they win 11 games and the division.

Next we have the AFC South. This is a division with one, maybe two real teams, but really, the South is owned by the Indianapolis Colts. Their only real threat in the Houston Texans, and that's a reach. There's also the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans. The Jaguars upgraded their offense by signing Julius Thomas, but Blake Bortles needs at least one more season to get his feet wet and the defense isn't ready yet. It will be another 4 or 5 win season for the Jaguars. The Titans are being led by a rookie QB in Marcus Mariota, and while he may be good, when your team is being led by a rookie, with no weapons on offense around him, it's going to be a long, tough season. Their defense is pretty awful as well. They'd be lucky to win 3 or 4 games this year. The Texans have one of the best defenses in the league, led by all world defensive end JJ Watt. They are pretty stout on the line, have good linebackers and a pretty decent secondary. Offense is where the problem lies. They do have a good running back in Arian Foster, when he's not hurt, and a great up and coming receiver in DeAndre Hopkins, but who's going to be the QB? Ryan Mallet or Brian Hoyer are the two choices, and I don't think either of them have played, or are good enough to win in this league. The Texans will be better, but anything more than 9 wins would be surprising. The Colts are the class of the division. They have an explosive offense led by Andrew Luck. They have receivers like TY Hilton and signed Andre Johnson this offseason. They do a running back by committee, but this is a passing offense. Their defense is bend, but don't break and they play it very well. The Colts will win 12 games easily this season and win the AFC South running away.

The final division  is the AFC West. This is another two team division, but can anybody really beat the Denver Broncos. Their only competition will be the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers drafted Melvin Gordon this draft and he will be a big upgrade for them at the running back position. They just locked down Phillip Rivers to a long term deal and he is a great QB in this league. Their defense in just okay. They will win at least 10 games this season, but the 4 game suspension to Antonio Gates will hurt their passing game. The Broncos are led by Peyton Manning. He's one of the best QB's of all time and he continues to churn out 4,000 yard and 35 touchdown seasons. Montee Ball should bounce back after an injury plagued, subpar season. While they lost Julius Thomas, they still have Demayrius Thomas and a bunch of other great receivers. The defense is led by Von Miller, and they are stout in all three phases of defense. Hiring Gary Kubiak won't change this team much at all. They should be a 12 or 13 win team again. The other two teams in the division are the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders. The Chiefs are competitive, but they are pretty stale. Alex Smith is not a great QB, they don't score with their passing game, and there's only so much Jamal Charles can do. Their defense is okay, but not great. 8 or 9 wins is their best possible outcome. The Raiders are still a joke, but they seem like they're trying to get better. Derek Carr could still be a good QB and drafting Amari Cooper and signing Michael Crabtree will help. The running game is still a work in progress. The defense is not that good and that will keep them back. But, linebacker Khalil Mack is going to be a star in this league. 5 or 6 wins would be a good season for the Raiders. The Broncos will continue to win this conference as long as Peyton Manning is the QB.

So, the four division winners, the Dolphins, the Steelers, the Colts and the Broncos will all be in the playoffs and the two wild cards will be, the Chargers and the Patriots. The Bengals and Ravens will get shut out. The Colts and Broncos will have the first round byes. The Chargers will beat the Dolphins and the Steelers will beat the Patriots. In the next round, The Colts will beat the Chargers and the Broncos will beat the Steelers. In the AFC Championship, the Colts will beat the Broncos and find themselves in the Super Bowl.

Come back tomorrow for some NFC action.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. Is he going to pick Green bay for the NFC, I think he is going to pick Green Bay. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Thank You for Inhaling: Money, Freedom, and the Legalization of Marijuana

The new buckeye?

The state of Ohio is going to vote on the legalization of recreational marijuana this November. Under Issue 3, Ohio would allow for marijuana use for medical and recreational purposes. People would be allowed to keep a very small number of plants to be used for personal use only. The passage of Issue 3 would make marijuana legal in a state where it is completely illegal.  Many progressive, and libertarian, leaning people have hailed this ballot initiative as a sign that Ohio is embracing the 21st century. Freedom is about to win.

How did a fairly prudish state like Ohio suddenly jump on the push for marijuana legalization? Ohio is rarely a trailblazing state. The top industries in the state are automotive, agriculture, and consumer products. The people who work in these jobs tend to be a bit more socially conservative. Procter and Gamble, one of the world's largest consumer goods company, quietly pushed for Ohio's 2004 gay marriage ban to be defeated. The ballot initiative passed overwhelmingly. Southwest Ohio, the home of Procter and Gamble, voted over 75% in favor of the issue. It does not seem like the people of Ohio would support an issue that the people of Oregon seem to embrace.

The people of Ohio are not being asked to support the same kind of marijuana legalization as many of the other states. Issue 3 using the idea of legal weed as a way to create a new monopoly on a product that is already flowing through the state. A product that is run by the black market, and is not taxed. The voters of Ohio are being told that Issue 3 is about individual freedom and sociological inevitability. This is not totally true. The people behind the initiative, Responsible Ohio, have already but in place the ten growing sites. Politically connected, and large corporate interests, are already lined up to take control of these grow sites. The passage of Issue 3 will make marijuana legal, and it will make a lot of rich people a whole lot richer. Money is the key to marijuana legalization.

I was a college kid in the mid 1990's, and like many other college kids, I tried marijuana (a few times). I inhaled, and learned it was not for me. Many of my peers made smoking weed a part of their lives. These people got married, took good jobs, had kids, took better jobs, and many of them still smoke weed. Whenever the discussion of decriminalizing marijuana would come up, many of my peers would say that I am not the right person to advocate for the pot smokers. I did not understand the lifestyle. My argument was not to wrap pot up as some great medical breakthrough. Every time I would see some retro goth person extolling the virtues of medical marijuana, and how it helps their back pain, I would cringe. The advocates for legalization were not helping their cause because the argument was false and they would not grow their circle of supporters. I wanted to make marijuana a cash crop for states who were having their taxes dwindle due to fiscally irresponsible state governments. If you could convince the states that there is a potentially new revenue stream that would not require you to raise taxes on the citizens, you have a winning issue. The secondary benefit is people could legally smoke pot.

The financial reward is the number one reason we are seeing the push to legalize marijuana. States are in a bidding war with each other over business taxes. Corporations regularly move manufacturing to right to work states that have very little, or none, business taxes. Corporations see the windfall in getting free land from the government, and producing a product with a very healthy mark-up. Sin taxes (i.e. cigarettes, alcohol) are very easy for the public to accept. Legal weed will have a healthy tax placed on it's sale. The non-weed smokers saw the dollar signs, and the weed smokers will get their victory.

Marijuana should be legal. It is archaic that we live in a society where something is illegal because moralists from over one hundred years ago thought God would be mad if they smoked pot. Issue 3 may not pass in Ohio this November. The initiative is a corporate giveaway, and Ohio is still pretty moralistic. Without Ohio, legal weed is coming. The dollars just add up.

RD Kulik

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He tends to be a bit high strung and needs to mellow out sometimes. Give him some advice.

Ty's College Football Season Preview

Official ball from the 1988 all backyard suburban league championship

Today is August 17th, which means it is only 17 more days until the 2015 college football season kicks off.

This is the biggest "holiday" in my life. I'm as giddy as a kid opening a present when college football season starts. College football is, by far, my favorite sport. It may not be the cleanest, most ethical sport (what NCAA sport is?) yet it's so entertaining. College football, and sports in general, are the only TV show or movie that there's any real drama involved. There's dramatic TV shows and movies, but the outcome, for the most part, is positive. Not the case in sports. Sports can make you extremely happy and can depress you for hours or days, depending on how your team plays that particular day. College football, in my opinion, holds the most drama of all sports. College football also has the best die hard fans. We aren't fans, we are fanatics.

Which brings me to my main reason for my blog today, it's my college football preview. I will make this a yearly thing, so this marks the first annual, "Ty's College Football Season Preview". I'm not going to pick a preseason top 25, because that's stupid and pointless. I'm going to pick my winners of the major conferences, I'll talk about teams that can surprise, I'll give you my favorites for the Heisman and who I think the four playoff teams will be, and who I think will win the whole thing. So let's get started.

First, the Pac 12. You have the usual suspects competing for the Pac 12 title this year in Oregon, USC and UCLA. Of those three teams, I would pick Oregon to, once again, be in contention and most likely win the Pac 12 again. The transfer quarterback from Eastern Washington, Vernon Adams, will somewhat ease the loss of last year's Heisman winner, Marcus Mariota. It's always hard to replace a player like Mariota, but I think that Adams will run this offense very well, and they won't miss Mariota as much as other people think they will. USC returns star quarterback, Cody Kessler, but I don't think that Steve Sarkisian is the answer at head coach. The last time USC had this kind of preseason buzz was the year they started out as preseason number one, lost badly at Arizona State on a late Saturday night game, fired Lane Kiffin when they returned home and finished the year 7-6. I personally don't trust USC. UCLA also has to replace an all Pac 12 QB in Brett Hundley, but they have Myles Jack coming back, and they have a decent defense. They're good for 8 to 10 wins. Teams like Arizona, Arizona State and Washington will be decent too. Arizona won't be as good as last season, they played completely out of their minds, but they have a good young core and are led by the best linebacker in the country in Scooby Wright. Arizona State will be good on offense and sub par on defense, and Washington's opener versus Boise State will tell you everything about their season. If they win or win big, they will be a really good team, and if they lose, it will be a long season for the Huskies. With all that being said, I see Oregon winning the conference again this season.

On to the "powerful" SEC. I'd like to start by saying, I think the SEC is very overrated and I wish companies like ESPN would stop with the constant coverage, it drives me nuts. Anyway, here's another conference with the usual suspects. Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, Georgia and Ole Miss are the class of the conference. Alabama is Alabama, they will be good for 10 wins at least, anything less is a failure. They will be good, probably great, all season. It's Alabama after all. Auburn and Ole Miss are very similar in my opinion. They both have decent offenses, Ole Miss is better with LaQuean Treadwell coming back after that horrific injury last season and they both have very good defenses. Auburn got a great hire in Will Muschamp as their new defensive coordinator. He was not a good head coach, but the guy is a defensive genius. They're also helped by the addition of graduate transfer, Blake Countess. That guy is a great cover corner. Ole Miss still has the Nkemdichi brothers, and Robert Nkemdichi is, by far, the best interior defensive lineman since Ndamonkong Suh. The guy is unblockable. Mississippi State has their QB, Dak Prescott, back and he runs Dan Mullen's read option to perfection. I don't think they'll be as good this season as they were last season, but they're still good for 8 or 9 wins. Georgia lost Todd Gurley, but replace him with Nick Chubb. They also have a decent defense. They should win at least 9 games. LSU and Arkansas are kind of a mystery to me. LSU has a lights out defense and probably the best running back in the nation in Leonard Fournette, but they have no QB capable of running an offense. Arkansas has a so so defense, but their running game is legit. Even with the injury to star running back, Jonathan Williams, they have a stable of guys willing to take his place. Missouri and Kentucky are probably your next level of teams. They'll compete, but if either of them wins more than 8 games, I'll be surprised. I'm going to have to go with Alabama to be the champ of the SEC again. Two conferences, two repeat champions.

Next, the Big 12. The Big 12 might be the most explosive offensive collection of teams in the country. First of all, there's Baylor and TCU. Baylor has to replace Bryce Petty, but it seems like anyone can come in there and throw for damn near 4,000 yards. That's how well their offense is coached and run by the players. On defense, they showed flashes, but disappeared late in games last season. Look at the Cotton Bowl loss to Michigan State last season for evidence. They do have a freakish athlete on that side of the ball. Go do a google image of Shawn Oakman and be aghast at how big and quick and nimble he is. The dude is a beast. TCU's offense is led by their explosive QB Trevoyne Boykin. He may be the best QB in the country and he runs their offense to a T. He's crazy accurate, can run if need be and makes the right decision 99% of the time. Their coach, Gary Patterson, is known for his defensive mind, but he will rely heavily on the offense this year. They shouldn't disappoint either. They should be one of the most explosive offenses in college football history. After these two teams, there's a pretty big dip. Oklahoma is Oklahoma. They should be decent, but they could also very well disappoint. That's the bummer of being an Oklahoma fan. They should compete every year, but they are on a down swing for them right now. Texas is still rebuilding, but you have to give them another two to four years before they are making any kind of noise in the national conversation. I do like their coach, Charlie Strong a lot. He doesn't take any crap from anybody. Oklahoma State has all these pending violations and recruiting problems that I think will affect their play on the field this season. Kansas State will be a 7 or 8 win team at best, and the same goes for West Virginia. I think that TCU basically runs away with the Big 12. Baylor will make it interesting, but TCU is going to be really special this season.

Next, the Big Ten. Full disclosure, I'm a die hard Michigan Wolverines fan, but that won't sway me from being biased. That being said, the story of this offseason is the hiring of Jim Harbaugh by Michigan. He's expected to return this team to glory, and with his track record, he should do that. In fairness, this season will be tough for him and my beloved Wolverines. I expect them to make a bowl game and I think they should have, at least, 7 wins, but their schedule is tough and we will see if the running game can finally live up to the hype and see if the defense can be as good, if not better than last season. Okay, I talked about Michigan. The Big Ten will be about two teams this season, Ohio State and Michigan State (ed note: That was the hardest sentence Ty has ever written). Ohio State is the defending national champions. They have three great QB's and one of them is now playing receiver(Braxton Miller). They have one of the best running backs in the country in Ezekial Elliot. But, I don't see many explosive receivers on this team and I think teams will stack the box on them. That doesn't mean they'll stop them, but they will be predictable on offense. I also think that both JT Barrett and Cardale Jones will take a step back. Cardale Jones made a mistake in not turning pro, because his stock will never be as high as it was at the end of last season. Ohio State has a great defense. Nothing more needs to be said. There defense will be hard to get points on. Michigan State has Connor Cook back and a highly aggressive, hard hitting defense. Cook is one of the top QB's in the country. A lot of his top receivers have graduated or are in the NFL, so he will have to find new guys, but he will, he's good. Their running game will be by committee, but that's what works for them. While having a great defense, they play undisciplined and get penalized a ton. They are one of the dirtiest teams I've ever watched, but that gets in other teams heads and takes them off their game. You do what works for you. I feel like this is Michigan State's last, best shot at doing something special. They better take advantage. After that we have, the aforementioned Michigan Wolverines, Penn State, Iowa and Minnesota. Penn State should be good, but they haven't really lived up to any expectations lately and their offensive line has got to play better for them to win. Iowa will be good on the ground, but the QB situation is clearer, with Jake Rudock transferring to Michigan, but we will see how CJ Beathard does as a full time starter. Their defense is in a down swing right now too. Minnesota is a good team. They're predictable, but they have an awesome offensive line and a bunch of good running backs. Mitch Leidner does exactly what the coaching staff asks him to do too. They are not great on defense and that will hold them back. Rutgers, Maryland and Northwestern are teams, like Missouri and Kentucky in the SEC, that will compete, but anything more than 7 wins will shock me. It boils my blood, but I think Ohio State will win the Big 10 once again (ed note: Sorry Ty).

Lots of the same conference champs for me. I'm going to bundle the ACC and the AAC, because these are both jokes of conferences. The ACC has only three teams that are legit. There's Florida State, Georgia Tech and Clemson. Georgia Tech will run the triple option really well and confuse a lot of opponents, but they will take a step back from last season. Florida State is replacing Jameis Winston with Everett Golson, so they will not miss a beat, They'll be good, but blow some games late, like they always do. Clemson should be really good this year and they may make the ACC look like a halfway decent conference. Duke will be decent again, but not as good as last season. I'm going to pick Clemson to win the ACC. I don't watch the AAC at all, but I know that Cincinnati is in the conference. The only other teams I know are UCF, SMU and maybe Temple. I know UCF was good a few years ago with Blake Bortles at QB, but this conference is such a joke, I guess I'll pick SMU to win it this year. That's just a blind guess on my part and for all my AAC fans out there, sorry but your conference stinks.

As far as independent and teams from other conferences go, I'd like to talk about Notre Dame, BYU, Boise State and Marshall. Notre Dame is kind of an enigma to me. At the start of last season they looked like world beaters to me, then they fell on their faces when they played Arizona State, but closed out the season with a bowl win over LSU. They will either be a 10 win team or a 6 win team to me. It all depends on how well new starter Malik Zaire plays. If he plays like he did against LSU, they'll be good, but if he regresses or gets found out, they will be lucky to win 6 games. He has good offensive players around him, but it's always on the QB. BYU gets QB Taysom Hill back, and he's almost unstoppable running the read option. The problem lies with him though, when he got hurt, they were terrible. I believe they lost 4 or 5 straight after he got hurt. That team is completely reliant on the health of their QB and that's a double edged sword. Boise State had a down year for them and they still won 9 games and played Ole Miss tough in the opener. The same goes for them as goes for Washington. It all depends on who wins that game to see who will have the better season. I think Boise State will be good this year. Marshall almost went undefeated last season. They were led by their all world QB, Rakeem Cato, but he's graduated, and I think this marks the end of Marshall winning double digit games. It's not happening.

As far as the Heisman Trophy goes this season, I see it coming down to a lot of running backs and one QB. I think we'll see Ohio State's Ezekial Elliot, Georgia's Nick Chubb, LSU's Leonard Fournette and TCU's QB Trevoyne Boykin get invited to New York. I see Boykin winning the Heisman in an almost landslide vote. He's going to have a special season if he stays healthy.

Now the playoff.  I see the Big 12 being represented by TCU, the SEC sending Alabama and the shocker being the Big 10 getting two teams in, in Ohio State and Michigan State. I think in order of ranking the final four teams, it will be Ohio State 1, Alabama 2, TCU 3 and Michigan State 4. So, we'll get an Ohio State-Michigan State game for the third time this season and I see Ohio State winning this time and we will get Alabama-TCU in the other playoff game and I see TCU pulling away late in that game to advance to the title game. So that leaves us with Ohio State and TCU playing for the championship. I see this game being close for about 2 and a half quarters and then TCU puling away and winning by at least 17 points. So, TCU will be your 2016 NCAA Football National Champions.

Tell me why I'm right or wrong in the comment section and sit back and enjoy watching football. It will be here before we know it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The editor is eagerly awaiting his NCAA Division 3 football preview. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik

Ty wants director Neill Blomkamp to get off the M. Night Shyamalan path

The first step to directing. Keep the film in the can.

I finally got around to seeing the movie "Chappie" this week, and while it wasn't awful, it wasn't that good either.

Dev Patel and Sharlto Copley are serviceable enough in the movie. Copley as the robot Chappie is quite good actually. He does the whole motion capture thing really well and makes Chappie seem life like. I think Copley is a very good actor in fact. I like him in all his roles. Patel is decent as the scientist that created the robotic police force, and while I enjoyed his performance, it was nothing special. It was just okay. My two biggest problems with the movie were Hugh Jackman's performance as the bad guy and the Johannesburg rap duo, Die Antwoord's performance. Jackman, whom I love as an actor the dude plays Wolverine, my all time favorite superhero, does not make a good bad guy. He's too nice of a guy, and for those of you out there saying, Wolverine is kind of a dick, Wolverine is still a good guy in the end. It wasn't for lack of trying on Jackman's part either, that's on the writers and director, he's just too nice of a person in real life, that I don't buy him as the bad guy. It doesn't fit. Die Antwoord's performance was just confusing. I don't know if they're playing themselves in this futuristic world, or if their characters are just big fans of Die Antwoord's music. For example, they each go by their rap names in the movie, and there's, at least two that I can remember seeing, times that Ninja(that's the guy in Die Antwoord) is wearing his own band's merchandise as his wardrobe. I was confused by the whole thing. The two of them aren't very good actors either, which didn't help their case. The movie was very formulaic and you could tell how the movie would end very early in the plot. It was another disappointment from Neill Blomkamp, who I really liked after seeing his first movie, "District 9".

This brings me to my main point and question of my blog today, is Neil Blomkamp the new M Night Shyamalan? Let's start by comparing each director's first movie. Shyamalan came out of the gate and crushed a grand slam with the brilliant, innovative, and probably biggest shock in a movie in my lifetime with "The Sixth Sense". Talk about a great debut. This movie was well written, well acted and perfectly directed. People talked about the ending for years, and "I see dead people" has become as big as "My wife!" or "I knew it was you, you broke my heart"(if you don't know those references, you need to get up to speed people!). Blomkamp's debut was just as unique as Shyamalan's and maybe even more innovative. I'm of course talking about the brilliant "District 9". I remember seeing posters at movie theaters a year before this movie came out that just had a shadow picture of an alien, and the saying, "Humans not allowed". I was immediately intrigued by this and found out any and all information I could about this upcoming alien movie. As more previews and clips came out, I got more and more excited. I saw the movie on opening night, and it not only live up to my expectations, but it exceeded them.

"District 9" takes place in Johannesburg and there's a race of aliens, known as "prawns" living in the slums. They're treated as second class citizens, and in his film debut, Sharlto Copley plays a wet behind the ears, yet eager police officer. He goes into the "prawns" area to extract and arrest some that are stealing from the humans. He gets poisoned by an alien and slowly starts to turn into one. It is so awesome to watch his character's transformation into an alien and the movie has a great secondary story about how higher class people treat people they feel are below them. If you haven't seen "District 9" stop reading this, watch it, and then come back and finish reading this, That movie is so great.

Unforunately, at least in Blomkamp's case, the same can't be said for his second movie, "Elysium". Another good premise about the upper and lower classes in society, but this movie just didn't work for me. Matt Damon was miscast as a working class, former bad boy trying to turn his life around. Jodie Foster plays the leader of the higher class people living on the rich planet Elysium, and she's your typical, bitchy rich lady that only cares about the high society folks and can do without the poor people. She also sports a terrible South African accent. It's so bad. I mean, it's terrible. The only person I enjoyed in this movie was Copley. He plays a bad ass assassin for Foster's character and he's awesome. He's a great bad guy and he kicks total ass. But, he cannot save this movie. It's just not a good movie.

Shyamalan's second movie, "Unbreakable", I personally like more than "The Sixth Sense". It's a cool, pseudo superhero movie that I feel is criminally underrated. Bruce Willis is on a train that has a brutal crash and he's the only survivor. He actually comes out unscathed. Samuel L Jackson plays a big comic book guy and he's very intrigued by Willis' character and the fact that he did not even get a scratch in the train wreck. They team up and do some cool, super hero type stuff. It's a really good movie and I highly recommend watching it.

I've already mentioned Blomkamp's third, and most recent movie, "Chappie". You all know how I feel about that. After the success of "The Sixth Sense" and the high of making "Unbreakable", Shyamalan's star was going up, and it was never going to come down. Or so we thought. He followed "Unbreakable" with the god awful, Joaquin Phoenix and Mel Gibson bomb of a movie "Signs". That movie sucks, but hey, you can't hit a home run every time. Certainly his next movie would be better, it had to be. Once again, nope, he made "The Village" and that movie is worse than "Signs". I think it's Nicolas Cage's version of "The Wicker Man" bad. That movie is confusing and awful. He followed that up with "Lady in the Water". You know that movie about a mermaid, or some bull shit, that a guy finds in his pool and she of course has special powers. So, three stinkers in a row. Was this a sign of things to come, or was he just in a slump? His next movie would determine his fate in my opinion. He had the great un fortune of deciding to put out "The Happening". You know this movie, the one were plants come to life and make people kill themselves and Mark Wahlberg plays a scientist and calls himself a douchebag at one point. This movie was so bad that I convinced a group of about eight people to walk out. A movie we all paid for, and we didn't stay for the whole thing. I'd never done that before, but that's how bad that movie is. His next two movies did nothing to prove me wrong, that he was past his prime. He released the horrendous "Last Airbender" and the stupid and contrite "After Earth". Both these movies are just plain awful. "The Last Airbender" is so bad that fans of the anime won't even acknowledge the movie as part of the series. That's pretty telling. Shymalan is now dabbling in television with the mini series "Wayward Pines", and while it started interesting, I didn't finish it because it was way to boring and falling into Shymalan's routine of posing way too many questions that there's no way they could all be answered in ten, one hour episodes.

While I feel that Shymalan's fate is sealed as a director(he peaked early and is now no good), I think there's still hope for Blomkamp. He's only made three movies. "District 9" is, by a wide margin, his best movie, but while I didn't like either "Chappie" or "Elysium", at least "Chappie" was a bit more interesting and a touch better than "Elysium". I hope for his sake he's not turning into Shymalan, but the way it's going now, that's what I unfortunately see happening.

Time will tell I suppose.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. In the upcoming movie about SeedSing, Ty will have to wear Die Antwoord gear. Follow him on twitter @tykulik

#ILookLikeAnEngineer needs to have meaning

Do the people who drive the trains look like an engineer?

I am conflicted about this one.  This #ilooklikeanengineer movement.  I’m a woman.  I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering, and a couple decades of “hard” technical experience.  I self-identify as an engineer, even though a big chunk of my current work is paper-push..., I mean management.  I’m also really glad that people like Mary Barra (BSEE) and Ursula Burns (MSME) have thrown in with the movement, not just because they’re major CEO’s, but because they are actually ENGINEERS.  And actual engineers seem to be only half of the #ilooklikeanengineer movement.

In principle, this hashtag is great.  Engineers aren’t just dorky white or Asian boys who are good at math.  I bet in a lot of places, boys with average aptitude in math and science are tracked for engineering, and yet their schools/parents don’t do the same for girls with equivalent or even better aptitude.  That happens.  I graduated from Purdue University’s College of Engineering in the 90’s.  Purdue has a history of actively recruiting and supporting women engineers, and prides itself on having started the first Women in Engineering program.  For all their efforts, female enrollment there is currently about 20% right now, per their own website.  (I can’t speak to black and Latino enrollment, but I’m guessing they’re similarly underrepresented.)  So I’m all for anything that encourages a more expansive view of what an engineer can look like.

But the problem with this hashtag is while it expands the view of what an engineer looks like, it’s also trying to expand the definition of what an engineer actually IS.   Engineering is a specific field of study.  And one of my pet peeves is the conflation of “engineer” with “person who works with any kind of technology.”  Words have meaning.  And, despite recent abuse of the language, web developers, coders, and network architects are not engineers.  The noun “engineer” implies engagement with the PHYSICAL sciences; the application of chemistry and/or physics to solve a physical problem.  It implies grappling with scientific unknowns, and imperfectly modeling the physical world.  Well, either that, or a person who drives a train.  (My alma mater’s website backs me up on this:  computer science is not listed under the College of Engineering.)

I’m not suggesting that other STEM professionals are lesser or greater.  My mom had a long career in IT working on mainframe software.  My dad is PhD chemist.  But they don’t call themselves engineers.  And frankly, even though he’s certainly earned the right to be called Dr. S as an honorific, it would be pretty misleading for me to say “my dad’s a doctor” without some kind of qualifier.  Look, dentists and CPA’s are both highly trained and respected professionals.  But my dentist doesn’t call herself an accountant, because she’s NOT one.  Words have meaning.  And if your education and work don’t involve the application of physical engineering principles, you aren’t an engineer.   The team that designed the Wii U hardware?  Engineers.  The team that designed Mario Kart 8?  Not.  (I intend no disrespect, quite the opposite.  Mario Kart 8 is awesome.)

All these web designers, software developers, etc. who are jumping on the #ilooklikeanengineer hashtag (including the woman who started it) are undermining their own point.  Because all the sexist guys who are real engineers can point to these women and say, “Well, I don’t have to listen, because what you do is programming/web design/etc.  You don’t even know what an engineer is.”  

The set of engineers is a subset of the set of STEM professionals.  (It’s the E part!)  But there are also the S, T, and M parts.  They are disciplines and fields of study in their own right, and deserve recognition and respect.  And once they get it, maybe people can stop gussying up their job titles by adding “engineer” as some kind of professionalizing suffix.  All girls should be encouraged to take calculus and physics in high school, and know that they can have any career they want, in either software development, cell biology, applied math, nuclear engineering or whatever.  So I really respect the intent behind the hashtag.  But please, stop diluting my profession.  Pick a different word.  And I’ll tweet the hell out of #ILookLikeaSTEMprofessional!

I welcome any and all rebuttals. 

It’s a bit old, but for an excellent piece on why STEM training is great for women in particular: Check this out.

Tina S.

Tina does not look dorky or like a boy. That does not stop her from engineering (or paper pushing) like a boss. Join the debate by writing for SeedSing.

Ty wants to rant about the overrated Meryl Streep

The inside of every Diet Coke bottle Meryl Streep buys

With the release last week of "Ricki and the Flash", I want to take time out today to call out critics and, most importantly, Meryl Streep.

I don't get the love that's given to Meryl Streep. Sure, she's a fine actress, but all the accolades and the awards being given to get baffle me. Case and point, "Ricki and the Flash" has a rating of 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being, "while the narrative is trite and predictable, Streep shines in her role as an aged rocker reuniting with her family". First of all, when I first saw the preview for this movie, I thought Funny or Die, or The Onion made a joke preview. There was no way this was a real movie. Meryl Streep is easily in her sixties and they try to make her look like she's in her forties. You look great Mrs. Streep, but you don't look like your in your forties. The preview also makes the movie look like a melodramatic piece of garbage. AKA, a typical Meryl Streep movie and role. I cannot believe critics convinced themselves to, not only see this movie, but heap praises on Streep. Put someone like Naomi Watts or Maggie Gyllenhaal, two great actresses, in this exact same role and I guarantee you, critics would have crushed the movie. But not with Streep. She or her people must have given money to the critics association with the understanding that they'd never bad mouth her. That's not fair to other actresses and actors out there. Even guys like George Clooney and Brad Pitt get bad reviews when they're in bad movies. That doesn't happen to Meryl Streep.

Not only does she get rave reviews no matter how bad the movie is, but she gets nominated, and sometimes wins Oscars for bad movies. Last year the movie "August, Osage County" was released. It got luke warm reviews. It was about a family full of people with mental problems. It was another typical melodramatic movie that wanted to be a play. In fact, I think it was originally a play. Anyway, Streep plays Julia Roberts mother that has dementia, or something like that, and she spends the movie basically yelling her lines and, as Jon Lovitz would say, ACTING. She chews so much scenery in that movie. Did she get blasted by critics like a lot of the other actors in the movie? No, in fact, she got nominated for best supporting actress. What a crock of shit. That movie is garbage and her performance is really rough to watch. I don't recommend that movie. The same thing can be said for "The Iron Lady". This is the Margaret Thatcher movie and it got slammed by critics. I think it was below 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. That's not good, in fact, that's pretty bad. That's "Pixels" bad. But, once again, not only did Streep get nominated for an Oscar, I think she won it that year (ed note: She did win the Oscar). So, a movie that's given such a bad review for how terrible it is, gets awarded for with an Oscar. WTF! That makes ZERO sense!

I guess, I don't, and probably never will understand the love for Streep. I haven't seen many of her movies because I'm not into melodrama, but the love for her makes no sense to me. She's a very good actress, but I'll take Maggie Gyllenhaal or Naomi Watts or Jennifer Lawrence or Octavia Spencer over Meryl Streep any day.

No question.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is really annoyed that everyone in his family loves Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: The Black Keys

In the Great American Band debate that we have ongoing on the website, I'd like to nominate my personal favorite band, the Black Keys.

Most people know who they are now, but that was not the case when I stumbled upon them in 2002. I was living with my brother at the time and watching an award show on MTV2. This was when MTV stopped showing music videos and only aired reality shows, but MTV2 still showed music videos and the award show I stumbled upon was giving awards to new and unheard of bands. I can't recall the name of the show, but I laid there on the couch watching late into the night and these two guys, one with a bushy beard and shaggy hair named Dan Auerbach and the other, a tall, lanky dorky looking guy named Patrick Carney, introduced me to the concept of a two piece rock band that actually rocked and rocked hard. I couldn't believe that just two guys could make that much sound and make it sound that good. It was like Led Zeppelin came back to perform as a two piece. They're that great.

The next day I immediately went out and purchased their first album, "The Big Come Up". I was in love. These two guys were so very, very awesome. Dan Auerbach is the lead singer and guitarist. He is, by far, the best user of distortion in the history of rock and roll music. The things he did and still does with reverb and distortion is like nothing I've ever heard before. He is a wizard. His voice, while gruff, but in the best possible way early on, has gotten better and better with each album they put out. Patrick Carney has his own make shift drum kit and he smacks the hell out of the skins. I've never seen anyone live that puts as much effort and excellence in their drumming. He's dripping sweat when they get off stage. He's the best drummer alive in my opinion. No one is even a close second.

Back to their debut album. "The Big Come Up" came out in 2002. It has a few originals on it, but about half is covers. Except, they do the covers in their style, and it's awesome. They do the Beatles, "She Said, She Said" like it's an old blues/rock and roll song. Dan Auerbach, once again using his distortion wizardary, crushes the song on guitar and, with the gruff voice, almost makes it a brand new song in the best possible way. Patrick Carney attacks the drums like a machine and I think if Ringo Starr heard his version on the drums, he would be embarrassed by how much better a drummer Carney is. It's a great cover of a great Beatles song. Their version of Junior Kimborough's "Leavin Trunk" is a great homage to one of their biggest influences. It's a great blues song, made better with Carney's excellent drumming. Some of the originals are fantastic. "Heavy Soul" and the "Breaks" are two great introductions for any Black Keys virgins out there. Those two songs will tell you everything you need to know about the band. They're hard rocking, heavily distorted bluesy songs with very, very excellent drumming. My personal favorite Black Keys song is on "The Big Come Up". The song is called "Yearnin" and it's a masterpiece. The distortion, of course, is there but Auerbach's vocals are top notch and I love absolutely everything about this song.

A year later they released their second album, "Thickfreakness". This is my favorite Black Keys record. The story goes, they locked themselves in a studio and recorded the whole album in 14 hours. Holy cow, that's impressive! The opening track, "Thickfreakness" is phenomenal. It starts with a very loud, heavy guitar riff and morphs into a four minute gem of a song. The rest of the album follows suit, with Auerbach excelling on guitar and vocals and Carney rocking out on the drums. There's even two slower songs on the record. They do another Junior Kimborough cover, "Everywhere I Go" and turn it into an even more bluesier tune than I think Mr. Kimborough himself ever thought it could be. It's epic. The last track on the album, "I Cry Alone", has a very slow, repetitive guitar riff and quiet, sleek drums. It's a step in a different direction and it works for them.

The very next year, they released "Rubber Factory". This was the album that I first saw them touring live with. This album was recorded in an old rubber factory in their hometown of Akron Ohio. They started to get a little notice from critics and gained some new fans. Hell, David Cross directed and starred in a music video for the song, "10am Automatic". That is also the first Black Keys song I learned on guitar. It has a simple guitar riff, but there's an epic solo at the end. The drums are immediately noticeable as well. I could pick the song out if I only heard one tom or high hat being hit at the start of the song. "Rubber Factory" features other great songs like, "Girl is on my Mind", "The Lengths" and "Keep Me". Each song is uniquely a Black Keys song and each song shows growth in the band. They also cover The Kinks "Act Nice and Gentle" to perfection. It's a fitting cover to another UK 60's rock band, but the Black Keys still put their spin on it with Auerbach's signature distorted guitar. They also give us their version of an old blues standard, "Stack Shot Billy" with some phenomenal slide guitar being played.

They finally took a year off after releasing three albums in three years and in 2006 they released, "Magic Potion". Some may say that this was a disappointing effort, but I'd kindly disagree. I know every word to every song on this album. There's some great songs on it like, "Your Touch", "Elevator" and the best song on the album, "Goodbye Babylon". "Your Touch" has a cool guitar riff, it's fast and choppy and Carney shines on the drums. "Elevator" reminds me of something that could have been on the album "Thickfreakness". It's a hard driving, Zeppelin esque rock and roll song. It's very good. "Goodbye Babylon" has some of Auerbach's best vocals and the guitar and drums are top notch. It's an excellent song.

The year 2008 marked a big change in the band and they brought in a new producer. Luckily for the fans, that producer happened to be Danger Mouse. He helped them with their fifth album, "Attack and Release". This album showed the band taking big chances, like adding bass and keyboards to their sound, and it really pays off. The opening track, "All You Ever Wanted" is a slow song, accompanied by Danger Mouse on the keyboard. The keyboard is the main instrument on this song. That had never happened on a Black Keys song before, and it took me by surprise how much I loved it. I didn't even think about the guitar until many, many listens later. "I Got Mine" and "Strange Times" are a return to form, with heavy drums and guitar. But then songs like "Oceans and Streams" and "So He Won't Break" and "Psychotic Girl" show the band using bass, keyboards again and even flutes and banjos. "Attack and Release" showed me that the Black Keys still rocked, but they were taking chances and hitting home runs. I was pleased with the growth and the taking of chances.

In 2010, the Black Keys released the album "Brothers" and this was when they became famous. They started winning Grammy's and playing "Saturday Night Live". A younger me would have thought that they were selling out, but "Brothers" is so damn good, I didn't care. They were still doing their style of music, but made it a bit more accessible to all listeners. Check out songs like, "Next Girl", "Tighten Up" or "Howlin For You" and you can see the pop and hip hop influence in their music, but there is still heavily distorted guitars and Carney wailing away on the drums. Other great songs on the album include a slower ode to a brother never met called "Unknown Brother" and "Sinister Kid" that has a heavy hip hop sound with some excellent vocals by Auerbach and a cool drum groove from Carney.

Continuing their assault of great music, a year later the Black Keys returned to their rock roots and released the excellent, straight up rock and roll album, "El Camino". "Lonely Boy", the opening track, has the coolest, most innovative guitar effect I've ever heard. It sounds like the guitar is going in circles. It's so incredibly cool. "Gold on the Ceiling" is a true throwback to rock and roll from the 70's with the Black Keys putting their twist on it. "Little Black Submarines" has a two minute opening that's just Auerbach and an acoustic guitar and then, it turns into a heavy rocker with some of the best solos I've ever heard. "Dead and Gone" is a great singing in the car song on long road trips. It's awesome. The closer, "Mind Eraser", is a classic rock and roll song with expert drumming from Carney. Clearly, working with Danger Mouse opened the band up to trying new things.

Last year, with Danger Mouse once again back in the studio with them, they released their most ambitious album to date. Their eighth album, "Turn Blue" has them taking on an almost Pink Floydian type of sound. The opening track, "Weight of Love" has a trippy, psychedelic three minute instrumental that morphs into a rock and roll song and ends up back at the psychedelic beginning. The title track, "Turn Blue" is a lot like "Weight of Love". The lone exception being, "Turn Blue" has the psychedelic sound of the 70's throughout the entire song. It's spacey and awesome. The Black Keys still have bluesy rockers like "Fever" and "It's Up to You Now", but this record is not like any of their other albums to date. "Waiting on Words", "Bullet in the Brain" and "In our Prime" are all psychedelic rockers with cool bridges and insane solos, both on drums and guitar. I love this new direction they're taking.

As with most great bands, the Black Keys have changed record companies three times. They started at Alive Records, moved up to Fat Possum and are now with the heavy hitters at Nonesuch Records. As you get better, you have to be on bigger labels, that's the music industry. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have worked with other bands and have side projects, but they are best when it's the two of them(also really good with Danger Mouse) doing their thing. I love the Black Keys and will go to bat with them any day. They have a new, yet throwback sound to their music and they just keep getting better and better. All the things I've said should tell you how great of, not just an American band, but just a band, that they are. These dudes rock and will continue to for many years to come.

The Black Keys rule.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. What he does is called rockin out and you are to old to get it. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Let me respectfully explain why your team stinks: Ty tries to be rational about his Missouri football hatred

Plenty of seats left for Missouri fans at the WhoCares.com Bowl

Today I'm going to revisit a previous blog I wrote about hate watching sports.

When I say hate watching, it doesn't mean that I don't enjoy watching sports, sports are in fact, my favorite thing to watch, I mean to say, watching teams I hate and root against them. As the readers know by now, my teams are the Cardinals(MLB), The Thunder(NBA), the Packers(NFL) and, most importantly, the Michigan Wolverines(all things NCAA). It would be easy for me to pick on the Cubs, Clippers, Bears or any of Michigan's main rivals, be it Ohio State, Notre Dame or Michigan State. In fact, I'm sure that I'll write about all of those teams at some point very soon.

Today though, I want to go off the map and choose a team that I have a complete irrational hatred of, the Missouri Tigers football team. You'd think that I'd like them, or at the very least, not even care about them, because I'm from Missouri. Born and raised in St. Louis in fact. But, for many reasons, I actively root against the University of Missouri football team. For one, I loathe that they call themselves Mizzou. You're intentionally spelling the name of your school wrong so your dumbass student sections can go back and forth with the chant, "M-I-Z" from one side, and the other, "Z-O-U". That's stupid and promotes poor spelling. You're college students, you should be able to spell properly and come up with a better chant. I once saw a comedian that said he flunked out of college because he spelled Missouri, M I Z Z O U, because that's what they taught him at the university. Another problem I have with them, they get happy about a 7-5 or 8-4 season(ed note: 7-5 seasons do not come cheap). They feel as if they've accomplished something by going to lower level bowl games. I'm a Michigan fan and yes, they've been down for five of the past seven seasons, but I've never taken pride in them when they only win 7 or 8 games. That's a lost season in my opinion. But, you see the Missouri coaches and players talk after a 7 or 8 win season, and they're all smiles. Getting to a bowl game isn't tough anymore. If I remember correctly, I think there's 39 bowl games. That means 76 of the 128 teams go to a bowl game. That means almost 60 percent of the teams in division one go to bowl games. The only important ones are the four that make the playoffs. All the rest, in my opinion, are pointless. They have so many because it's a ratings boost and everyone loves football. So, Missouri football, don't act like the "Go Daddy Bowl"(yes, that's a real bowl game) is some kind of accomplishment. It's not. 

I don't like their coach, Gary Pinkel either. He acts like he's a top coach in the country. You don't even rank in the top eight of your conference. I'd take Mark Richt, Nick Saban, Steve Spurrier, Kevin Sumlin, Gus Malzahn, Les Miles, Hugh Freeze, and Dan Mullen before I'd even consider you. I also hate how arrogant he acts in press conferences. You're not that good of a coach, and the fact that you have a lot of wins at Missouri doesn't make you special. If you were such a good coach, big time programs that have had recent openings for head coach, like Michigan, Florida, Nebraska or Wisconsin would have been banging on your door. Apparently they had no interest, because your name was never brought up. And stop saying in press conferences that you'd never leave Missouri. That's a lie and if any big time program showed interest in you, you'd be an idiot not to take it. No, I think you have found that people are happy with 6 or 7 wins a year, and you're afraid of failure if you left for a bigger job. You're not happy, you're comfortable. Those are two very different things.

Missouri football, when they do have a good, or even a great season, always seems to choke on the biggest stage. I remember about six years ago, Missouri made it all the way to the number one ranking in the country. They were voted the top team by the BCS prior to championship week. Guess what happened in the Big 12 championship game? An under manned, probably less talented Oklahoma Sooners team beat them by three touchdowns. That's embarrassing. Two seasons ago, with 11 wins going into the SEC championship game(why the University of Missouri is in the SEC will always be a mystery to me, they should be in the Big Ten or stayed in the Big 12, but that's a blog for another day) they played what looked like an even match in Auburn. Auburn had a great running game, but Missouri was explosive on offense and had a stout defense led by SEC co defensive player of the year Michael Sam. There was no way Auburn would control the ground game and beat Missouri, right? Nope, Auburn ran for over 500 yards on them that day and turned a close game into a late rout. Another disappointment for Missouri football. Last season, they somehow made the SEC championship game again(they got a lot of teams at the right time, be it with injuries or suspensions to star players, or in Florida's case, an inept offense). But, they ran into Alabama and lost by 28 points. They looked like they didn't belong on the same field as Alabama. It was like watching a power house high school varsity team playing a lowly all Freshman squad. You know what it looked like actually, it looked like Missouri playing Alabama. It looked exactly how it should have looked. (ed note: Go Tigers?)

When I really look at my irrational hatred for Missouri football, my biggest gripe is with their bandwagon fans. Missouri fans are the absolute worst. They love you when you're good, and they hate you, or even worse, won't mention you when you're down. When I was in high school, NOBODY talked about Missouri football. I can almost guarantee that I went to more Missouri games than friends of mine that are now "die-hard" fans. That's embarrassing. A guy who dislikes a team has seen more games than a supposed "die-hard" fan. Full disclosure, I went to those games to root against them too. Being a Michigan fan, I have stuck by their side no matter what. Good season, bad season, bad and good coaching hires, up and down years my fandom never wavers. That's what true fans do, you stick with your team no matter what. Missouri fans now are even worse. I've been to a couple games in the past couple of years to see stars on other teams(Jadaveon Clowney and Dez Bryant) and, in two games that Missouri should have won, they lost both and their stupid, stupid fans didn't know how to handle it. I heard complaints like, "I can't believe that kicker can't kick it to the end zone every time, they should cut him", or "since they're running the ball so well, they need to pass more, that will fake out the defense", or, probably the worst I've ever heard at any sporting event I've ever been to, "it's not Gary Pinkel's fault, the players were just not prepared, that's on them". ARE YOU OUT OF YOU'RE MIND! THE COACHES MAIN JOB IS PLAYER PREPERATION! YOU MORONS! Also, touch backs on every kick off is almost impossible, and it's best to stick with what's working. These players are smart and will figure stuff out, it's not a video game. I prefer my fans to be knowledgeable and understanding I guess. I just wish that these bandwagon, idiotic Missouri fans knew the smallest detail about football so they don't look so stupid. I also feel bad for true Missouri fans like two of my older brothers. They've been fans for as long as I can remember and if more of their current fans were like them, I wouldn't hate Missouri fans so much, but that, unfortunately, is not the case. I'm going to paint a broad brush, but the majority of Missouri fans are not knowledgeable when it comes to football and they're the definition of bandwagon fans.

So, those are my reasons, albeit irrational, for why I root against Missouri football. It makes no sense, but that's the great thing about sports. You can still watch, even when your team isn't playing and find something to either like, or even better, hate about the teams that are playing. It's cathartic and very pleasing to root against teams you have no stake in. Take my word and try it out.

You'll probably like it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is eagerly waiting for Urban Meyer to retire for "health reasons" once Harbaugh gets Michigan up  and running. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik

Welcome to the Future: The web as the platform

You may not need to upgrade to Windows 10

I have long waited for the day that the platform I use would be primarily the internet browser. Years ago, I installed a Linux based desktop distribution and stripped out much of the software aside from Firefox. This was when Google Docs had yet to become Google Drive and Google’s Chrome browser was in very infantile stages. It sort of worked. There was not much for web based services for video editing, software development, or photo management the way there is today, but I did not really expect it to fulfill all my needs at the time. I just wanted to see how far we had to go. I ended up using it as my baseline, adding software as I needed it after the browser when nothing available through the web sufficed.

Today things are quite different. I have been using a Chromebook for about a year now and I have not found that I need to go back to a full desktop for anything that I use a computer for on a personal level. Those three things I mentioned above are now taken care of through web based applications. I do all of my writing on Google Drive. I use a service called Codeanywhere for coding. I use WeVideo to edit together video clips. And Google Photos works great for photo management and editing for me. If I do need access to a desktop computer, I have a headless Mac mini sitting in my living room that takes care of some automated tasks. I can use remote desktop to get at it, but I have not used it for anything that I couldn’t do with Chrome OS. Maybe someday I would put a Chromebox in it’s place, but the Mac is doing the job fine right now.

The reason I have been so excited for the web to be operating system rather than merely another application on your main operating system (Windows, OS X, Linux, etc.) is because every platform has a portal to the web. At this point it makes more sense to build a web app before any platform specific app. In fact, a lot of the apps that can be attained from the various app stores of the modern mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and others) are little more than a native app wrapper around code that runs in a web browser. This does not always mean that the device needs to be connected to the web for the app to function. Many offline apps are built using web browser technologies as the core. Many websites can be placed on the homescreen of your device and be indistinguishable from an app store app to the untrained eye, even without going through the app store. I like this idea since I do not believe that any app store curator be it Apple, Google, Microsoft, or whoever, should be the czar to the digital media we enjoy.

Another positive reason to celebrate the web as a platform from a developer’s perspective is that an app hosted on the web can feature the ultimate piracy protection. Using a system that the user has to log into and pay if they want to continue to get certain features means that there is no way that a pirate can use your software without paying. Now I do believe that users should be allowed to try before paying, and I think that is one of the main lessons we have to learn from the state of piracy today. However, individual developers are free to try other models.

Problems with the web as a platform at this point are mainly the complexities. Most people are used to the world of software being something installed locally. Though web apps can be installed locally, most do not require it. The expectation is that you will likely be online when accessing these services. Many people are not comfortable with this. I can use Google Drive offline to some extent, but I cannot edit video from within a tunnel on the Metro. I think that some of the heavier web apps will evolve to work offline, but our connectivity will also evolve to a point where we will not be offline ever. It may still be a while, but even as I write this I am hardly ever away from access to the internet. I almost have to go out of my way to make it so that I am totally outside the boundaries of an internet signal. I went to a cave on my recent vacation and they had wifi hotspots in there. Seventeen hundred feet underground and I still could not escape internet access. Even with my example of the Metro train, I would not be surprised to see wifi installed in the near future. And if not, do I really need to be doing heavy web applications from within a Metro tunnel?

So the web is the platform. Some people are currently stuck using a more fully featured version of Microsoft Office or Photoshop, but I think it is silly to think that every feature of those software packages would not be available through a web app one day. I think someday soon native software will be dwarfed by what is available as a web app.

Kirk Aug

Kirk has settled into his virtual cubicle at SeedSing. He is curious if future space tourism will have good wifi coverage. Follow him on twitter @kirkaug.

"Playing House" is one of the best comedies on television

USA has to be on the UHF band

Last week season two of "Playing House" premiered on the USA Network.

I was out of town and my wife and I were unable to watch. We got back from our trip last night and not only were we able to see the season premiere on On Demand, but we got to see the next two episodes as well. "Playing House" is back and it's just as good as the first season. Lennon Parham and Jessica St. Clair are comedic geniuses. Not only are they excellent comedy writers, but they're phenomenal actors. They're both so funny and their chemistry is great. It's easy to see that they are best friends in real life.

USA is a great network for this show to be a part of. St. Clair and Parham had a show on NBC a couple of years ago, but it wasn't a good fit. USA lets them take chances and they let the show be a bit risqué. In the three episodes we saw last night I heard them say asshole and shit. That doesn't happen on channels like NBC. I feel, and I think they'd agree, that the cancellation from NBC was the best thing for them. This opened up the possibility of doing the show they wanted on a network that would let them take chances. USA hit a home run by putting "Playing House" on the air. They scored even more points for me when they renewed it for a second season.

In season one, we all know that Emma(St. Clair) left her high powered job in China to move home to help a very pregnant Maggie(Parham) get ready for the birth of her baby. We also found out that Maggie's husband, Bruce(Brad Morris) was cheating on her, so she needed her friend more than ever. In the season two premiere, we see Maggie, Emma and the baby posing for pictures at a mall. The baby girl, Charlotte, looks to be about four months old. St. Clair and Parham play up the photo shoot for very big laughs. After the photo shoot, they run into "Bird Bones"(Lindsay Sloane) and Mark(Keegan Michael Key), friends from the town that they can't see anymore because Emma is in love with Mark and "Bird Bones" isn't happy with that. "Bird Bones" and Mark are working out their relationship problems, so they are at the photographers to get family photos with their new dog Renee. It's supposed to be a bonding time for them, but it's just awkward after running into Maggie and Emma. We find out later that Maggie is secretly bringing Charlotte over to Mark's house so he can see her and they can continue their friendship. This encounter runs us into the big problem they run into in the premiere. Charlotte has a doll called Mr. Kooky and it's the only thing that can get her to sleep. Maggie and Emma go over to Mark's house, Maggie knows the code to get in, and look for the doll. We then see Renee chewing on Mr. Kooky. Maggie and Emma eventually get the doll back, but by that time, "Bird Bones" and Mark arrive home. It eventually gets found out that Maggie and Emma are in the house. The four of them have a big talk where they reveal all their problems and, having this out in the open, makes everyone more comfortable around each other. Maggie and Emma are told that they can have the toy back, but we then see Renee humping it, so they leave Mr. Kooky be. When Maggie and Emma go to Bruce's house to get Charlotte, Charlotte is sound asleep. When they ask him how he got her to sleep, Bruce replies, "I told her she's the love of my life, kissed her and put her to bed". Simple as that. The three of them are looking at their picture from the photo shoot and while Emma and Maggie are unhappy with how they look, Charlotte looks great and that's all that matters. A very sweet ending.

It was a very solid season two premiere. I don't want to spoil the next two episodes from anyone, but they're both very funny and very good. Jane Kaczmarek is back as Emma's mom and Zach Woods is back as Charlotte's uncle. They both have very good scenes in the next two episodes. The real standout to me, so far, is Keegan Michael Key. He is so funny and a very good actor. He plays Mark as a strong, but understandable husband and friend to the three ladies in his life. He's a top notch comedy actor. I'm so happy that "Playing House" is back on the air. It's a very solid show, and fans of comedy should be watching.

Check it out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He plays house with a living baby, a dog, and his hard working wife. Follow him on twitter @tykulik

The Death of the Old Internet: A rebuttal and revisit.

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece on the problems at Reddit, Gawker, and Ashley Madison. This morning I uploaded a podcast recorded days after the article that discussed the current death of the old internet.  The future of the internet is a topic that consumes my mind throughout a large portion of the waking day, I think I actually dream about the idea on some nights. I am excited, and saddened, when I think about how many of my favorite sites have changed with the times, and how many of them have failed to adapt. Being a beginner in content creation for the internet, I wanted to learn from all the successful people in the past, and heed the warnings of the failures. The new internet is where I want to live, it is where we will all thrive.

On August 6th, the website Vox.com published an article by Todd VanDerWerff titled 2015 is the Year the Old Internet Finally Died . I was initially shocked that there was an article out there with a similar headline, and many of the same ideas I had proposed. My first basic thought was "Have I been ripped off?". Then my rational brain took over and reminded me that Vox, Todd VanDerWerff, or any other large professional news organization probably did not rip off my piece. They did not know the article, or SeedSing, even exist. I really wish they had ripped me off, because that would mean some big dogs are reading, and agreeing, with the ideas I am presenting. I highly doubt, but am naively hopeful, that is the case.  

VanDerWerff's piece recounted some of the same problems I talked about surrounding Gawker and Reddit. The Vox.com article was more researched, and devoted a lot more words to the overall topic. The author also has experience working with websites I frequently visit. He is definitely more of an expert on the death of the old internet than I am. I also believe he is wrong in his conclusions of the new internet. Where VanDerWerff thinks we are getting away from community and long form expression (funny considering his piece was definitely not that short) I think that long form articles will be a big part of the make up in the new internet. We are entering a new age of enlightenment. The ideas of the common people, not only the connected elites, have a place on the new internet. Real, positive change needs to be explained, and explanation takes up screen space.

The professional internet writers are more interested in their personal profiles, they have forgotten about writing to the masses. Clicks and monetization seem to be the only concern for these old bloggers. The A.V. Club is a website I visit everyday. I have been there since the launch, and have no reason to change my loyalty. The A.V. Club is also in danger of not being a viable part of the new internet. They have built a community of writers and readers, and have walled off that community to anyone else. The movie reviewers have been my go to source for Paul Thomas Anderson praise and Adam Sandler hate. They are incredible predictable in their "reviews". I am sure Sandler's latest movies stink, but I also really did not care that much for There Will be Blood or The Master. Those views will invite the stupidest inside joke scorn from the commentators and a more professional rejection from the writers. The A.V. Club has created a community for the writers, and this shows a lack of vision. If you want to write about anything, pop culture especially, you need to understand and expand the audience. Creating a community of people that only think like you is the same as going to church (or the Republican National Convention). The kids in the high school audio visual club were awkward because they were assholes about what was cool (it was almost never something that was cool). The A.V. Club wants to be the asshole, they will also get to have their little room that no one else wants to go in.

Cracked.com is another website I have visited nearly everyday since their launch. What I enjoyed about Cracked was how they would talk about the worst fictional towns (Gotham City number 1) or the dumbest GI Joe vehicles (so many dudes hanging off of the sides). This was a site for nostalgic men over the age of 30, but who really want to be 13 again. As the audience changed, Cracked started to change with it. Their articles started to take on an intellectual vibe (with some crude humor), but at the same time the core purpose of the website stayed the same.  Their commentators hated the change. Recently Cracked has added a BuzzFeed feature looking at the news of the week, which their commentators hate. The personal experience articles, where the editors talk with people who have interesting jobs and life experience, have brought a whole new group of people in. The commentators predictably also hate this. Cracked does not care what the commentators think, those people will still come to the site that they fell in love with in 2005. Cracked is interested in growing the community by adding new people.

Todd VanDerWerff's piece lamented the fact that the new internet is removing the nice communities of the old internet. That is a good thing. The old internet was built with walls, and walls do not foster ideas. Many of the writers from the "professional" sites want to live in an echo chamber where only their ideas are correct. That kind of behavior leads into problems like ones facing the current national Republican Party. As communities start to meld, innovation takes off. The New York Times is going extinct because they have created a public persona that only the sycophants can believe in. Dissolve.com did not last past two years because The A.V. Club had already captured the "I like it because it is not popular" film crowd. Reddit created a wall by being where all the awful people can go and be unfiltered. When Reddit tried to take that wall down, their image was forever tainted. A new and better Reddit is being incubated right now to takes it place. Facebook created a community in the old internet and crushed the more free MySpace. In the new internet Facebook has brought down its walls and has become something that looks a lot like the free world of MySpace. VanDerWerff even points out that BuzzFeed may be disposable viral content, but they also produce insightful journalism. That is why BuzzFeed's community is one of the largest on all the internet.

We have the ability to radically remake global society into something grand. The grad student of yesterday would study Dunbar's number. The world at large can get a easier explanation through the Cracked article on The Monkey Sphere. The cult television show of yesterday would be lucky to last one season. Now Yahoo is not just a search engine, you can watch the latest season of Community. Expanding and dissolving communities is how we innovate. The new internet will bring more knowledge, culture, and freedom to the entire world. 

Standing on your island and you will only see the water. Standing on a continent and you can touch all of society. The internet does not need to be special for a few. The internet needs to be useful for all.

RD Kulik

RD is the creator and Head Editor for SeedSing. If any big websites are watching us for content, Hi there. Drop us a line seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

Let Ty tell you about a perfect spot in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Top of the bluff. Photo by Ty with an Iphone 5

I have spent the last five days in what I believe may be a piece of heaven on Earth.

I don't believe in any kind of faith, so by calling this place heaven, I mean to say, this place is perfect. I used to travel to this town a lot as a child, pre teen and teenager. I've even gone as an adult. I guess it took me being a father myself to truly appreciate the quiet solitude that is Bessemer, Michigan.

Like I said, I've vacationed there a lot. My folks grew up there.(technically my dad grew up in Bessemer. My mom grew up in a town called Ramsey that's three miles away, essentially the same place). It was always fun to go as a kid because I got to see my cousins that lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Michigan. Both my parents folks lived there too, so I got to see my grandparents as well. We usually went during Spring Break. It was the only time that me and my three brothers had a full week off.

So, I bet you're thinking, Spring Break, that's great, good weather, not too hot, not too cold. That's not the case in Bessemer. Bessemer is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so it's winter about eight to nine months of the year. So, in mid March, when we'd normally visit, there'd still be three to five feet of snow on the ground. My grandparents would be relieved by this. This meant winter was coming to  an end, maybe by May, the snow would be gone. I loved the fact that they still had all this snow on the ground. I thought, awesome I can go sledding in the middle of March! No way that was happening in St. Louis, my hometown.

As I got older, and cousins grew up and moved and grandparents were passing away, our annual trips dwindled. At first it was every year, then every other year, until it was good if we got up there once every four to five years. It also seemed like we only were going up for funerals. A place I once loved was becoming a place I associated with death. I was in my early twenties when my last grandparent passed away and that trip to Bessemer was pretty upsetting for me. I was very close to my grandpa. My dad and I talked to him on the phone every Sunday after my grandma passed away. My dad and I made trips up there to visit him also. Grandpa Louis was very important to me and I loved him almost as much as my parents. We were extremely close. So, after he passed away, I genuinely thought his funeral would be my last trip to the UP. What was the point if grandpa wasn't going to be there? I constantly asked myself that question.

A few years after his death, my mom and dad planned a trip to Bessemer. I was hesitant at first, but they explained to me, that if I thought it was going to be hard, think of how they felt. That's where they grew up and their parents were gone. I knew exactly what they meant and I was on board for the trip. The only difference, besides my extended family not being there was, my parents planned the trip for the summer. We did go there in summer,  but sparingly. As I said earlier, we usually went on Spring Break. We didn't have a place to stay, so my parents rented a luxury cabin. Tons of beds and bathrooms and pool tables. It was great. But what made it even better was the fact that I was able to remember good times I had there as a kid. Instead of dwelling on what I didn't have, I made the concerted effort to make new, grown up memories. Sure, sledding was fun, but now I could go hiking with my brothers and climb the bluffs with them. Swimming in Lake Superior is exhilarating. You can go to Little Girls Point and skip rocks while lounging on their rock beach. If you'd prefer a sand beach, head to Black River Harbor. These were all things I couldn't do with a ton of snow on the ground. This was a whole new world to me. I'm glad I have brothers who like doing these things too. I wouldn't do this stuff on my own.

On this most recent trip, I climbed the bluffs for the first time in a long time. I couldn't do it before because I was overweight and out of shape. In the past two years I've shed about a hundred pounds and decided I would challenge myself, and with a little encouragement from my brother, I did it and got some great pictures of the town. It was phenomenal. I also went tubing for the first time in my life. I laid on an inner tube on my stomach and a boat pulled me from side to side and I did jumps in the water. It was great. My wife and three year old son were with my family and I and it was great to share this beautiful place that I love with them. We'd drive by streets and I'd tell them memories I had. I also was able to show them where my grandparents lived. My parents drove us around and told us stories that I'd never even heard. My wife has been there before, but it was my sons first trip. He loved it, his favorite thing to do was skip rocks on Lake Superior. I also got to see a lot of my cousins this time around. We are all adults with kids now, but we were able to make time to see each other. It was great. The weather was as good as it gets. This was another thing that made this trip so perfect. This was the first week of August and the temperature never got any higher than 76 degrees. Did I mention the fact that there's no humidity. It was a great relief from St. Louis summers.

Another reason I'm so happy that we travel to the UP in the summers now. I know they do most of their business during the winter with all the ski hills. But, I'm here to tell you that summer time is the time to make a trip to the UP. It's so great. The sky at night time is so clear you can see the stars perfectly. I'm so grateful that my parents talked me into going back to the UP and the fact that we go in the summer now. Bessemer, Michigan in the summer is the best place in the world to visit. Do yourselves a favor and book a week long stay up there. You will love it.

I know I certainly just did.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was paid no money to write this rave review of Bessemer Michigan, he would like some money. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: Fountains of Wayne

So what exactly is the Great American Band?  Is it just the best rock band that happens to be American?  If the Beatles or the Rolling Stones were American, would this conversation essentially be over?  I’m not convinced.  There’s a lot of talk in literary circles about the mythical Great American Novel, with the understanding that said novel is supposed to Say Something about The American Experience (a la The Great Gatsby or Huckleberry Finn).  If that’s the case, then the great American band should be not just a great band who happens to be American.  It should be a band that says something quintessentially American.

With that in mind, I’m going out on a limb to nominate Fountains of Wayne.  As in “Stacy’s Mom?”  Yes.  Hear me out.  Not to be one of those “but I knew them when” types, but I remember hearing their infectious first single “Radiation Vibe” on college radio, and instantly loving it.  A few years later, I heard the song “Troubled Times,” bought their first two albums, and was hooked.  All this is just to say that when I heard “Stacy’s Mom” on the radio, I had more context for it than most people.

Music first:  Most of their music is a mix of pop/rock styles.  It’s slightly off-kilter guitar driven power pop, sometimes with a little low-fi sheen.  There are rock, country, punk, and folk influences here, along with great harmonies and a little indie whine-rock thrown in for good measure.  More importantly, these guys write a hook like nobody’s business.  You’ve likely heard Adam Schlesinger’s songcraft in the movies.  He wrote the Wonders’ big hit, so you can blame him if you can’t get “That Thing You Do” out of your head.   If you’ve seen the film “Music and Lyrics” (which I don’t really recommend), you know that Schlesinger also has the chops to write a credible Wham! knockoff such as “Meaningless Kiss.”  (Look it up on YouTube right now.  I’ll wait.)  

But dig a little deeper, beyond the killer pop hooks, and you’ll hear Fountains of Wayne creating masterful songs about the suburban experience for Generation X America.  All the little details underscore the theme:  the power pop/punk melodies, the finely observed lyrical humor, and finally Chris Collingwood’s vocal performance, with its straightforward “everyman” delivery.  Part of the hip hop tradition is to talk about Gulfstream, the Palms, and Prada to seem glamorous and out of reach.  On the flip side, Fountains of Wayne name checks more prosaic and accessible brands like Subaru, La Quinta, and the Gap.  Even the seemingly fluffy “Stacy’s Mom” captures a sense of ennui, where the most exciting woman you know is your friend’s hot mom.  That whole album, the aptly titled Welcome Interstate Managers, is largely about the banal underpinnings of suburban life.  There’s a cheery song about a traveling salesman with an alcohol problem; another about waiting for a red notification light; and another about a Sunday morning with a significant other, drinking coffee while watching “Face the Nation.”

This theme runs through Fountains of Wayne’s entire catalog.  They’ve even done one of my favorite Christmas songs, “The Man in the Santa Suit,” which peers into the life of the poor schmuck who dons that red suit for the extra cash.  The image of a mall Santa who is “sweaty and smells like beer” is funny, but he’s been led there by his blue-collar cash strapped existence.  

Like most of us, as the band aged, the theme went from the youthful detachment of the mid-90’s to a little more fatalism in the post-9/11, post-Great Recession era.  Their latest album contains the elegiac song “Cemetery Guns,” about a military funeral on the Illinois plains.  The song focuses its attention on the grieving young widow, but it suggests that her life has been upended by a centuries-long cycle of military-industrial conquest.  While they aren’t raging, exactly, there is no mistaking the resignation of the lyric “Godspeed their reckless sons, who evermore play their forefathers’ hands on the foreign sands.”  Plus ça change, et cetera...

“Okay Tina, fine,” you say.  “They’re more than Stacy’s Mom.  But great American band?”  Fountains of Wayne’s music is a sardonic and melancholy reflection of middle class life disguised as upbeat power pop.  It’s the Reagan era’s sunny facade imperfectly plastered over that famous Gen X apathy.  What’s more American than that?

Tina S

Tina is an infrequent contributor, somewhat scientist, and tennis fan. She could not sit on the sidelines while we ignored great bands. Follow her lead and nominate your Greatest American Band.

Ty wonders when we will all get over MMA.

Scenes from the next great MMA match.

I've never understood the love for the "sport" of MMA.

Why do people like this? What is so appealing of watching people kick the shit out of each other? I used to love boxing. I was a big fan. My favorites were the heavy weights. You may read that sentence and say, if you like boxing, you should like MMA. It's the same thing, right? No. Boxing takes skill. There's a science to boxing. You have to wait and watch and prepare for what your opponent is doing. You counter punch and attack based on when your opponent is tired. It's not the same with MMA. These "fighters" go into an octagon and just try to destroy each other. There's no science or skill to this. In MMA your allowed to kick, punch, wrestle, etc. You can basically do everything except kick the person in the crotch. It's glorified back yard brawling. People pay just as much on Pay Per View for an MMA fight as you do for a title boxing match. At least in boxing, most fights go, at the least, 5 rounds. In MMA, your lucky if the main event lasts one minute. That's insane. You get a thirty second fight that you paid ninety dollars for. What a ripoff.

All the love that's being given to these MMA "stars" is dumb. It reminds me a lot of the poker craze that happened about a decade ago. Tell me one "famous" poker star today. The same will be said for MMA. I don't see any of these "fighters" becoming stars. You may say to me, look at Ronda Rousey, she's a star. She didn't become a house hold name until she started acting. Acting made her a star and she just happens to be an MMA fighter. I remember people I knew telling me about a new MMA fighter named Kimbo Slice. He was going to be the next big thing. He was some back yard brawler that was becoming an MMA fighter. I swear to you, within a week of him starting in MMA, I had already forgotten about him. Apparently he wasn't much of a fighter either. I guess he lost his first couple of matches. People told me, he'd be a better fit for boxing. MMA was too tough for him they said. Bull shit. If he tried to box, he'd get destroyed. Boxers would crush him and crush his spirit, way worse than any MMA fighter could do.

I see this "sport" losing steam within the next five to six years. It just doesn't have lasting power. I think people will become bored with it and it will morph into some kind of wrestling clone. Better yet, a wrestling wannabe. MMA will NEVER be on the same level as boxing.

Never.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of The X Millennial Man Podcast. The only octagon that he is afraid of is the stop sign he just rolled through. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: Influencers

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

When  it comes to music, no one is completely unique.

Continuing our discussion on the website of the greatest American band, I want to focus on influential bands today. I'm not going to single out one specific band, I will give my readers many examples. The one problem I ran into doing research for this piece, it was hard to find American bands that were truly influential. It was easy to find bands from the UK that were influential. You can take Pink Floyd and see their influence on many current bands like Radiohead or Muse. You can take Led Zeppelin and see their influence on bands like the White Stripes and Black Keys. There's so many more from the UK that have influenced American bands. Doing further research, I found that these bands from the UK were influenced by American musicians, but not bands. Zeppelin and Cream were heavily influenced by guys like Robert Johnson and Son House. In fact, a lot of the UK musicians were very influenced by blues musicians from the 20's and 30's. So, like I said, it was tough, but with help from my father, we found a good number of influential American bands.

When we talked, the first band that came up was the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. If you listen to our most recent podcast, you know that's my dad's favorite band. What makes them so influential, they had great musicians playing great, rocking blues music. Their writing was top notch. You take a band like the Black Keys, and as much as Zeppelin influenced them, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was just as important to shaping their music. The same could be said for a band like Buffalo Springfield. This is another band that had great musicians and wrote great songs, and members of Buffalo Springfield would break away and do some really big things in the music industry. Stephen Stills and David Crosby were in Buffalo Springfield before they were Crosby, Stills and Nash. I love music that has distortion in it. It's my favorite effect on guitar. That's where a band like Ike Turner's Rockin 88's come into play. The story goes, while traveling, their amps fell off the car and were sliced. Ike and the band didn't know what to do or where to get new amps, so they used them. While playing, the guitar sounded gruff, but they all liked it. Distortion was born. Look at any number of rock bands, be it RATM or Soundgarden or Alabama Shakes, and you can hear how important distortion is to their music. Another, bigger band, Sly and the Family Stone, brought the concept of playing funky rock and roll, while having a big band feel. The way they injected horns and funk in their music reminds me a lot of what a band like Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears are doing right now. You can take bands like the Eagles and Three Dog Night and see the influence they have on bands that focus on the vocals and harmonies in their music. Take a band like the Killers and see how much the Eagles and Three Dog Night meant to them getting started in music. A band I never really listened to until my dad told me about and have recently listened to and kind of enjoy is ELO. They have a unique electric sound and most of their music is all instrumental. I can see how a band like Ratatat was influenced by ELO. Some of their songs sound identical. It's uncanny.

Even bands from the 80's have influenced current bands. Look at Blondie, they had a cute blonde girl as their lead singer, and a bunch of dudes begin her. Tell me Grace Potter and the Nocturnals weren't influenced by that. They have the exact same makeup to their band. The Talking Heads were this avant garde, take all kinds of risks kind of band. If you just listened to them, I bet you wouldn't be able to guess what they looked like. I look at someone like Har Mar Superstar and feel the same way. He and his band play funky, R&B music, but Har Mar looks exactly like Ron Jeremy. When I first heard him and the Talking Heads, I felt the same. I loved the music, but I had no idea what these musicians looked like. Devo had a big influence on electronic/rock music. They took big chances and hit home runs every time. I look at a current band like TV on the Radio and see they were heavily influenced by Devo. Aerosmith, with their accessible to all ages rock music reminds me a lot of the Foo Fighters. Even a band like Nirvana has influenced younger musicians. I look at Conor Oberst and I just know that he listened to a ton of Nirvana. His lyrics are almost as poetic as Kurt Cobain and just as sad sometimes.

So, there are a lot of influential American bands. You have to do some research, but you can see how influential a lot of the bands from the 60's and 70's are on current day musicians. Go check out some of the bands I've mentioned today and compare them to who you are currently listening too, it may surprise you.

Go out and seek older music too, you will see the influence, I promise you.

Ty (With a little help from his dad)

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the co-host of The X Millennial Man Podcast. The biggest musical influence in his life is Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: Wilco

You do not know who Wilco is? Well let me introduce you to a candidate for the Greatest American Band. You know who Wilco is and you think I am crazy to submit them as the Greatest American Band. Well let me kindly show you why you are so very wrong in your wrong opinion you wrong person.

Many people unfairly loop Wilco in with bands like The Eagles, country rock. No, no, and double no, Wilco is not a country-rock band (plus I do not like The Eagles and would never nominate anyone in the same ballpark as that drivel). It is true that all music needs to fit a category, and Wilco's early work put them in the realm of alternative country. There is no way that their music could be lowered to the "good time easy feelings" of The Eagles. Jeff Tweedy wanted to create his own sound, and he was well on the way.

Wilco was a band formed out of the disagreement between two leading members of the alternative country group Uncle Tupelo. Singer Jay Farrar created Son Volt, and the rest of the band created Wilco. Jeff Tweedy immediately continued the sound of Uncle Tupelo with albums like A.M. and Being There. The spark of the country alternative music world was founded in these albums. The die hard Wilco fans will still listen to these albums, but Wilco was not even close to becoming one of the greatest american bands.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was the album that moved Wilco from the cult category into the bound for greatness fast lane. The story about how the album was bought twice by the label is great in its own right. Go see the movie I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, it is an incredibly fascinating look at why the corporate music culture is so messed up. The story behind the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is awesome, but the album itself is way more awesomer (that is a word).  The opening track, "I am trying to break your heart", is the call of a band moving from alternative country into a realm of music that has yet to be inventive. The rest of the album is kinetic and inventive in a way not seen in american music.

Wilco followed up the groundbreaking Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with two more great albums. A Ghost is Born and Sky Blue Sky both continued to grow the Wilco sound. Any time I hear the song "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" and I am immediately transported to time when I had to drive directly through the city of Chicago during rush hour. That song gave me the soundtrack for my montage of tolls and waiting. "The Late Greats" is one of the few songs I know every word, and belt them out when the song gets picked in my roulette of random tunes on my phone. "Impossible Germany" is the complete package of great music with great lyrics. "Hate it Here" is a comfortable tune to listen to during my moments of doubt. The songs are great, but that is not why Wilco is considered one of the greatest american bands.

During this prolific time Wilco not only became a great band, they created the iconic Wilco sound. Their later works just grew this sound, including their exceptional recent album Star Wars (best album cover art ever). This sound is uniquely Wilco, it is uniquely american. Many artists have embraced the idea of country alternative (Drive-By Truckers, The Avett Brothers, and The Decemberists are just a few examples). All of these bands are just following in the footsteps created by Wilco. 

What makes the greatest american band? Early discord amongst the band, check. Issues with record lables, check. Having a run of one great album after another, check. Creating great songs, check. Incredible album art (you really need to see  the cover of Star Wars and download the album). Inventing a unique and defining sound, check plus.The total of the parts prove that Wilco is one of, if not The, greatest american rock band.

Prove me wrong.

RD Kulik

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He is really not trying to break your heart. Give your voice by writing for SeedSing.

Ty's pumptitude pays off with the great "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp"

Is Netflix on UHF or VHF?

Now that I've finished "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp", I'm so very, very pleased with how great it was and is.

It was truly everything I hoped and wanted it to be. It was silly, goofy and ridiculously uproarious. The fact that they made it 15 years after the movie and the actors played their same roles was great. I loved how they kept saying things like, oh I'm young, my body is still in great shape, or, I can't drink, I'm not of age yet. It's hilarious when you watch it and see these actors in their late 30's and 40's saying these lines. The original cast members were excellent reprising their roles, the best being Paul Rudd. He was rude, crude and gross. But, he also showed some heart and we realized that he wasn't a total jerk, he can be a good guy sometimes. Elizabeth Banks back story was great. She was a journalist that wanted to get the real teenage experience by going to a summer camp. Problem was, she was 24 and nobody at the magazine believed she could be a 16 year old, until she pulled her hair back. Then they all believed she could do the report.

The new cast additions were pretty excellent too. Josh Charles, Kristen Wiig and Rich Somer, the rich kids from Camp Tiger Claw were awesome. Josh Charles was so douchey, his collar was popped three times. They played the snotty, spoiled rich kids perfectly. John Slattery was so great as the big time theater director from New York. He was slimy and acted as if he was a well known, superstar director. He was just great. Micheala Watkins played his choreographer and she was a disgusting, horny old lady that wanted to hook up with campers. It was a perfect role for her and she nailed it. H Jon Benjamin and Jason Schwartzman as the camp directors were really good too. Schwartzman played his typical role, but he was very funny. Benjamin was hysterical and we found out where the talking of can of vegetables from the movie came from.

Watch the series to see what I'm talking about. My favorite new addition was Jon Hamm as President Reagan's top assassin, The Falcon. He was a stone cold killer, but we find out that he's an old army buddy of Camp Firewood's head chef. Hamm plays the role with his usual quiet, yet seething anger charm. Jon Hamm is a very strong comedic actor.

I loved "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp". Fans of the movie will love the show and I think the show will bring a bunch of new fans to the franchise. This was totally worth the wait and I'm probably going to watch it about ten more times and hope they do more.

It was perfect.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of The X Millennial Man Podcast. He is currently away at summer camp, and he is way to old to be doing that. Follow him on twitter @tykulik

Welcome to the Future: Wearables Part 1

This watch must be smart. It knows how to tell time with Roman Numerals

Let me tell you about my watch.

In January of 2015 I purchased a Microsoft Band. I had been going to the local Microsoft store every Sunday afternoon to inquire if they had any Bands in stock. One day I got lucky, someone had returned a gift and there was a medium Band ready for my wrist.

Why would I want a Microsoft Band you ask (or you ask what is a Microsoft Band)? Well I am one of the few people on this planet with a Windows phone. I was with Blackberry for many years and I felt that Microsoft would fill my business needs when Blackberry became obsolete. I may have been wrong, but I do love Microsoft's mobile platform. The Band was a great device, with Cortana integration for Windows phone. That is the only additional benefit with a Band and a Windows Phone. All other features are available to any one with an Andriod or IPhone. Even if I did not have the Windows Phone, there was an excellent chance I would have purchased the Band just on the features alone.

I had been eyeing a Pebble smartwatch for some time but could never take the plunge (I know there is no Pebble app for the Windows Phone, but there are always ways around that problem). The price did not reflect everything I was looking for in a wrist wearable. I wanted my texts, e-mails, notifications, and some fitness tracking. I also felt that the Pebble looked kind of cheap. Do not get me wrong, it is a grand piece of technology, the aesthetics were just off. I was not looking for a computer on my wrist, I was never going to take phone calls from my wrist, and I was not about to use a watch as a camera. My choice of phone and time were conspiring against my simple wishes.

In late October of 2014 Microsoft unveiled the Band, with little fanfare. It was exciting for me, because I knew this wearable would be compatible with my very personal choice of phone os. The Band had all the features I wanted. E-mail / text / notifications sent to my wrist, steps counted, sleep tracking, calories burned, alarms, calendar, and the ability to display the time of day. There were a few features I could have cared less for, like GPS (I have a phone with that function and the Band needs the phone close by), and a fairly useless keyboard for text responses. The Band was also $199.00, better than most smartwatches with similar features. There was a few things I would have liked to see. The Band being waterproof  and native music controls would have been nice. During my time with the Band I have relied more on apps like the Starbucks card and Pimp My Band (best third party app out there), and I have found myself caring less for things like sleep tracking. The positives way outweighed the negative, I was sold.

The features of the Microsoft Band (except for maybe GPS) should be with every smartwatch. I think these are the only features smartwatches need. The other area the Band excels is the size and placement of the screen. The current crop of smartwatches use a large square (or circular) screen. This makes most of the watches only able to be worn on a large (usually a mans) wrist. The Band made the screen a rectangle, and the placement is recommended to be on the bottom of your wrist. This is the way all smartwatches should work. I use the device to see my notifications. When I am cycling, or driving my car, the natural reaction I have to read my Band is to quickly look at the bottom of my wrist. It is simple, and makes the messages much easier to read. Super fancy pen and watch company Mont Blanc knows this is best way to make a smartwatch. This is where Microsoft got something right, all smartwatches should copy this design aesthetic.

The Microsoft Band is a forward thinking device. The push of basic information from your phone is what will make the smartwatch market take off. The Apple Watch seemed to miss the boat on so many things people want, plus it was laughable overpriced. The Android wear devices seem to be caught in a keeping up with a moronic Apple cycle.  The Band may not look great (I refer to it as my prison bracelet), but it's functionality more than makes up for the weird looks. Microsoft deserves to be a market leader for understanding what people want in the world of wearables, and making the price reasonable. 

Just please make the next one waterproof. I am going to forget it is on my wrist sooner or later. Thank goodness I have the warranty.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He knows his technology choices are part of the minority. Give the other side by writing for SeedSing. 

Ty is pumped for "Wet Hot American Summer" series.

Does this show have horsemen too?

In 2001 a movie called "Wet Hot American Summer" was released to very little fanfare.

The movie was panned by critics and made a very small amount of money at the box office. I don't remember seeing any previews for it and I saw little to no press before it was released. It just kind of came and went and I assume most people forgot about it.  

About two years later a friend of mine told me I had to see this movie she just saw called "Wet Hot American Summer" She said it was so bizarre and hilarious, and she knew that I liked wacky, humorous movies. I remember thinking, oh yeah I've heard of that movie, I thought it was supposed to be pretty bad. She told me to give it a chance, that she was sure I'd love it.

Boy oh boy do I love that movie. It was so off the wall and different than any movie I'd seen before. It was on the same level as "Pootie Tang" for me. I knew, after watching it, why critics may have not liked it so much. Critics, for the most part, are crotchety old men that usually only like documentaries and dramas. So, a ridiculous movie like "Wet Hot", they went into giving it no chance and decided before it even started that they hated it. I couldn't disagree more. This movie is a genuine "cult classic". I have friends strictly based on them knowing lines from the movie. That's how our friendships started.

"Wet Hot American Summer" was also the first place I saw actors who I love today. I had never heard of, or at least they didn't make any lasting impressions on me until after this movie, people like Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Ken Marino, Joe Lo Truglio, Michael Showalter, Bradley Cooper, Margarite Mareau, Michael Ian Black, Christopher Meloni and Molly Shannon. Judah Friedlander had a small, but very memorable part in the movie. In fact, the only two actors I truly knew were David Hyde Pierce and Jeanane Garafelo. They are excellent in this movie. The pure silliness and goofiness with which this movie was acted, written and directed with could only be done by David Wain. I, for the most part, have liked all of his movies, my favorite being "Role Models".

"Wet Hot" is great for someone that likes off the wall silliness in their movies. These guys do it to perfection. This movie should be shown in film schools, to show students how to truly make comedic movies. Another hilarious thing that I love about it, the actors playing the counselors and workers at Camp Firewood are much to old to be playing the age of their characters. This was obviously done on purpose because it's hilarious. I cannot say enough good things about it, "Wet Hot" is great.

Which brings me to what I'm truly writing about today, July 31st 2015. Netflix announced months ago that they were in contact with the original writers of "Wet Hot" on possibly doing a prequel movie or series. All of the fans hoped for a series because it meant that we'd get at least four new hours of "Wet Hot". Our dreams were met when they announced that they would do 8, thirty minutes episodes on Netflix. You can stream them right now and watch all 8 in a row if you want to. The only reason I haven't watched it yet is, I have a three year old and I'm a stay at home dad. My job is to watch him, but he's about to go down for a nap and I know exactly what I will be doing for the rest of my day. It doesn't hurt that all the original cast members are back for the prequel, but they've also added some more big time names like, Jason Schwartzman, Kristen Wiig, and Jon Hamm. Most of the people involved with the movie are huge stars now, yet they wanted to come back and do this show. That should tell you how good it is going to be. The addition of some major stars show how much people adore the "Wet Hot" movie. I'm so pumped to watch and 2 pm central time can't come soon enough. As I said, all eight episodes are currently streaming on Netflix, so you can watch it right now.

In fact, I'm probably going to move nap time up to right now so I can watch. Enjoy it everybody.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing. If the show is that good, he may have to extend nap time. Follow him on twitter @tykulik

Kirk reads "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande. He thinks you should pick it up.

Time to read a bit more.

I am not sure what lead me to reading this book. It was certainly a recommendation that resulted from the use of some algorithm, probably Amazon or Overdrive, based on books I have read in the past. But I have no idea which book or books that I have read provoked this recommendation. Many times throughout I found myself wondering how this was related to other books I have enjoyed. Nonetheless, it was an excellent recommendation and I could not put it down.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande is a book about how our culture handles aging and dying. Gawande is a surgeon who has seen far too much end of life suffering in the well intentioned attempt to fix or give hope in the face of a hard fact of life: that it must eventually come to an end.

Gawande investigates how the elderly have been treated traditionally in a time before our world of fast paced and over committed lives when instead of having strangers care for people at their final days, it was more commonly the role of their descendants. It was a time when multiple generations often shared a dwelling and folks were free to continue writing the story of their lives with a lot more autonomy and meaning than they are afforded by many of today's arrangements.

The focus today, Gawande points out, is instead on safety and health restoration. Safety is often a concern that counters the autonomy that gives life meaning. It is also most often a priority of the family, friends, and doctors rather than the ill-fallen person themselves. The traditional setup of nursing homes is for the peace of mind of the brood of the elderly who are often making the decisions as well as the efficiency of the institution rather than focusing on what the needs of the residents are.

Often times when patients find themselves in a condition that is unlikely to be repaired they hold out hope that they can go back to the way things were prior to the ailment. It is not just the patient and their family that hold on to these hopes, but the doctor as well. Gawande points out that, statistically, doctors predictions for how long someone with a life threatening disease will live are on average longer than what really ends up being the case.

Doctors also often see their role as one to fix the problem and are dumbfounded as to how help them realize which choice is best for the patient on an individual level, especially when that best choice is less aggressive. Gawande describes two typical types of doctors. Those who are authoritarian, or as he puts it, paternal. These are the doctor knows best types. Then there are doctors who simply lay out all the options in a very informative manner. A sort of, “here are your options, pick one” scenario.

A third option proposed by Gawande is a what he calls shared decision making. There are a few questions, albeit difficult ones, that can help get down to what the ill really wants to do. What are your biggest fears and concerns? What goals are most important to you? What sacrifices are you willing to make and unwilling to make? Having these hard discussions can tremendously help everyone involved help find the decision that is best for the individual.

Unfortunately, this kind of care is not common. It is just not how a lot of doctors see their role. There is hope though. Gawande writes of assisted living centers that have started to focus more around the needs of the residents. The advanced directive is a step in the right direction and palliative care is becoming a wider spread specialty. However simply being a specialty is not enough. Doctors in general as well as families and loved ones need to start addressing these questions before we can be truly sensitive to providing the absolute best quality of life possible in the end. 

I highly recommend giving this book a read.

Kirk Aug

Kirk is SeedSing's writer on society, science, and whatever else his brain may fancy. He received the good reading certificate in elementary school 5 out of six years. Follow him on twitter @kirkaug.