The Greatest American Band Debate: Guns N' Roses

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

On the morning of November 23rd, 2008 I purchased my first Guns N' Roses album. I left work that morning so I could get to my local Best Buy and be one of the first people to get my hands on the highly anticipated Chinese Democracy. I had been a fan of Guns N' Roses since the beginning, and owned many of their songs through burned cds and mp3s, but this was going to be the first album I paid american currency for. I had heard many of the tracks leaked online, and I was pumped. Chinese Democracy was set to be the greatest album of my generation. Over the last decade all music fans were waiting for this album. Early reviews were positive. I drove around in my car listening to Chinese Democracy from beginning to end. I was happy, yet I was also underwhelmed. Their greatness was still not to be questioned.

Guns N' Roses torched the horrendous glam rack scene with their debut album Appetite for Destruction. The Whitesnakes, Ratts, and Poisons of the world were finally going to be wiped away from my MTV. G N' R was making raw, hard rock popular again. The opening riff of "Sweet Child o' Mine" was the "Satisfaction" of my generation. Slash was about to give generation x our greatest guitarist. Axl Rose's wail was lyrical and animalistic. Duff McKagen, Steven Adler, and Izzy Stradlin (who I always thought was the live version of Steve Dallas) rounded out a band that would usher in a golden age of American rock. Guns N' Roses was a fast living, hard rocking, antidote to the squareness of Reagan's america. The greatest american band was born in fire and burned extra bright.

Guns N' Roses had great music, and they also had a Spinaltapness to their lives. Drugs, groupies, and other general debauchery cemented G N' R as the new rock gods. During the summer of 1991 I was working landscaping at the neighborhood I was living at in St. Louis. One of my older colleague's brought me to his apartment and showed me his framed ticket from the July 2nd Guns N' Roses show at Riverport Amphitheater. This show was famous because Axl Rose jumped into the crowd to beat the hell out of fan with a camera. Security was lax at the show, the band stormed off, and a riot ensued. I learned in my landscaping partners apartment that day that Axl may hate St. Louis, but G N' R fans in St. Louis love the band. Riot be damned. A band that can tear apart your stadium, and still be loved, is a band that kicks ass.

I immediately started to borrow G N' R albums from my friends. I knew there was some awesome filthiness in a song like "Rocket Queen". Epics like "Don't Cry" and "November Rain" just kept building into magnificent pieces of music. Even covers like "Knocking on Heaven's Door" carried the distinct mark of Guns N' Roses.  All the turmoil and overexposure of being the world's greatest rock band seemed to not slow Guns N' Roses down. America once again ruled the rock landscape, and it was only going to get better.

This is the part in "Behind the Music" where the screen goes to black and white and the music becomes slow, because all of Guns N' Rose's success was about to come crashing down. The band had been fracturing for years, but when Slash officially left, G N' R seemed to be finished. Like all epic rock band stories, drugs, women, and creative differences ended the success of america's greatest band. So it seemed.

The end of the road was not in sight for Axl Rose. The decade long hype for Chinese Democracy was proof of our appetite for Guns N' Roses. The early 2000's were filled with embarrassing performances from Axl and his latest incarnation of Guns N' Roses. The internet was filled with false starts for Chinese Democracy.  Even Dr. Pepper was caught in the crossfire of the debacle. Axl and Slash refused to play together at their 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction. The glory days for G N' R seemed long gone, yet the band continues to make top music news anytime we hear their name.

There are still rumors of new Guns N" Roses music. Whenever it seems like their best days are gone, Axl Rose can still command attention just by using the cred built up by G N' R's golden age. Epic debauchery, band infighting, and kick ass music easily makes Guns N' Roses The Greatest American Band. Their best stuff may be twenty years old, but when the newest delayed album drops in ten years, I will be at Best Buy when the doors open.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. He wants to hear from you what kind of music rocks. Write for us.

Ty is ready to embrace SNL again with the news that Tracy Morgan will be hosting

Go ahead and get the tv out of storage

With the recent news that Tracy Morgan will be hosting the second episode of the upcoming season of "Saturday Night Live" I have a renewed faith in the people at NBC.

I'm so happy and was extremely pleased when my wife told me this news and I confirmed for myself by checking online. As most of you know, I'm a HUGE Tracy Morgan fan. He was my first stand up comedy show I went to. I've seen the majority of the movies he's done(he was exceptional in his last role in "Top five"). His character, Tracy Jordan, on "30 Rock" made him the household name he deserved to be. That is one of the most iconic and hilarious characters that's even been on TV. I would love to see the movies that Tracy Jordan had the posters of in his dressing room, especially "White cop, Black Cop". But, what I liked most, was the absurd characters he did on SNL. Brian Fellows is one of my all time favorite skits that's ever been on SNL. Astronaut Jones was so bizarre and uproarious. His impression of Star Jones in the best one out there. When he played Shaquille O'Neal's dad on a skit and had to give him a spanking, I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. I could go on and on about the many hilarious characters he played during his stint on SNL. The fact that the people at NBC and, Lorne Michaels especially, reached out to him and asked him to host is so, so great. For all the shit that's talked about Lorne Michaels, he does do some great, thoughtful things sometimes. Sure, the episode Morgan hosts will get great ratings, but what Michaels did by inviting him is an extremely classy move. He's putting Tracy Morgan in a very comfortable situation for him, by putting him back on the stage where he became a star. This is also a great idea and place for him to make his return to comedy and acting. Like I said before, he's being put in a low stakes situation, for himself, other people take the hosting of SNL way too seriously. Morgan will thrive on this stage. He knows the SNL stage like the back of his hand. He was there for a good amount of time and appeared on many skits during his run. I can't think of a better spot for him to return to the small screen.

This gives me hope that SNL may be turning a corner and getting back to some good skits and writing with the decision to have Morgan host. Normally, they'd stroll whoever the flavor of the month is, like last season when they had the girl from "50 Shades of Grey" host. That episode was awful. There were some decent hosts last season, Chris Hemsworth blew me away with how funny his episode was, but for the past couple of seasons, SNL has been in a rut. I think that should change with the people they've booked to host the first couple episodes of the upcoming season. They have confirmed flavor of the month, but also a comedian of big fame and a hugely successful movie, Amy Schumer and they have one of their prodigal sons returning in the aforementioned Tracy Morgan. Schumer will be good, because this is what she does. Tracy Morgan will be great, because he's done it before and he deserves this more than anyone right now. He's a comedy legend and that legend began on the stage of SNL. I can't think of a better way for him to honor the memory of his deceased friend by going out on that stage and crushing SNL. I hope they do all his famous characters because that will make me remember the good old days and he is so comfortable doing them. I love that Morgan is hosting and I haven't been this excited for an episode of SNL in quite some time. Thanks SNL and, more importantly, thank you Tracy Morgan for doing this. The world needs you and your comedy back and I cannot wait for you to host SNL.

I'm filled with joy and anticipation.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and co host of the X Millennial Man podcast. When he heard Tracy Morgan was going to be on SNL, Ty did the Super Bowl shuffle. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: The Velvet Underground

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

My submission today for our Greatest American Rock Band debate is the Velvet Underground.

I came to the Velvet Underground late in my life. I was in my early twenties when my oldest brother and my father gave me their self titled album. I was immediately hooked. What stood out most to me was, Lou Reed's "singing" and his beautifully written lyrics. I put singing in quotes because, he didn't so much sing, he talked. It was like written poetry put to great, very experimental for the time, music. I was in love and I gobbled up there short, but prolific music catalog. People will say, they reunited and made more albums, or after Lou Reed left, they still made music as the Velvet Underground, but the band that I'm submitting today is the one that put out three, others will say four, albums in a short 5 years. Those three albums they released were all great and extremely influential to what is now known as alternative rock. Without Velvet Underground, we'd never had other great American bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or even Nirvana. Go back and listen to Velvet Underground, then listen to Nirvana and try to tell me with a straight face that Kurt Cobain wasn't heavily influenced by Lou Reed and Velvet Underground.

Before people jump on me and say, they're not an American band, Nico is from Germany and she made them famous, I say bull shit, Nico was a terrible singer and the album she made with them is great because of Lou Reed. She was only on one album as well. This band was created and made it big in New York City. All the important people involved with Velvet Underground are from America and they're an American band. Let's get to what puts them in the discussion for greatest American band.

First of all, Velvet Underground had two of the greatest rock musicians and writers in the first incarnation of the band in Lou Reed and John Cale. These two are some of the greatest writers in the history of music, and a lot of people would say they're responsible for creating alt rock. They both went on to bigger things after leaving Velvet Underground, but they did their best stuff together. I don't think you can argue that, it's a fact. As I've already stated, Nico was heavily involved with their debut album, but so was eccentric artist Andy Warhol. He was solely responsible for adding Nico to the band, and while some may same it was genius, I personally believe he was intimate with her and that's why she was a member, albeit short lived, with Velvet Underground. There's no denying that she helped make them a household name, but I think she's wildly overrated. She still deserves a mention when talking about Velvet Underground though. Same can be said for Andy Warhol. His cover for their debut album is iconic, but that and his involvement with Nico are the only connections to the band. They also had a great, very underrated singer and drummer in Moe Tucker. Her singing on their third album was revelatory to me. In my opinion, she's a thousand times better than Nico and I wished they found her before befriending Nico and Andy Warhol. Moe Tucker should be talked about right along with Nico, but unfortunately, she isn't and that's a shame. Doug Yule was in the band at the beginning, but what he's best known for is, continuing the band after Lou Reed departed. They were never as good, but the name Velvet Underground sure draws a crowd and Yule knew that. He's no Lou Reed, but he's not a dummy either.

Let us now look at their albums and songs that make them great. Their debut album, "Velvet Underground and Nico" is easily their most widely known album. Every music fan needs to own this record, not for what Nico and Andy Warhol add to it, but for the brilliant song writing from Lou Reed. Songs on this album include classics like, "Waiting For the Man", "Run, Run, Run", "Femme Fatale", "All Tomorrow's Parties" and the wonderfully, brutally sad "Heroin". "Waiting For the Man" is a great rock and roll song about a guy(most will say Lou Reed), waiting at the corner for his drug dealer. It's got a great guitar riff and wonderful lyrics about a junkie waiting to get his fix. "Run, Run, Run" is a fast paced, Velvet Underground version of a punk song. It's talk-singed wonderfully by Lou Reed. "Femme Fatale" and "All Tomorrow's Parties" put Nico on showcase. Her vocals are weak, but the instrumentation is excellent in both songs. Each song has a slow psychedelic burn to them and they build and build to these huge endings that are wonderful masterpieces, Listen to these songs for the instruments, not for Nico's vocals. Velvet Underground's best and most known song is "Heroin". This song is brutal, but wonderful. It's a seven plus minute ode to a junkie succumbing to the joy and then inevitable pain that heroin brings to him. I've never so much as smoked a cigarette or drank a beer in my life, but this song describes how to do heroin to perfection. It's eerie because you know that Lou Reed is speaking from experience. This song is so painfully beautiful. I love everything about it, especially how upsetting it is.

They garnered fame and fans from this album, but they ditched Andy Warhol and Nico, and went on to make the weirdest, most experimental album I've ever heard. I don't know if I like this album, but I know it's great. It's like the "Citizen Kane" of Velvet Underground music. The album I'm speaking of is, "White Light/White Heat". The album only has six songs, but it's running time is well over an hour long, The song, "Sister Ray" is the 17 minute, 27 second closer to the album. It can at times be both frustrating and exciting to listen to. There's a lot of wailing on instruments, some great, some weird. Never in my life to that point had I heard a 17 minute long studio song, and this song tells me why you shouldn't do it, but dammit, it's a very influential song to bands like Mars Volta and King Crimson. "Sister Ray" was their introduction to making these expanding punk rock type songs. "The Gift" is another long song on the album, clocking in at over 8 minutes. I like this song for the instrumentation. This is a jam type song, but it has structure to it and I never get bored listening to it. "Here She Comes Now" is a back to basics, short rock song. "Here She Comes Now" is the "hit" of this album. "White Light/White Heat" may frustrate me at times, but I understand why it's an important and influential album.

For their third, and in my opinion, last studio album(people will say that "Loaded" was their last true studio,I disagree), they went back to basics and, as my father called it, made a soft rock/punk album with, "Velvet Underground". This is, by far, my favorite Velvet Underground album. This was the record my oldest brother and dad gave me first, my entry into the Velvet Underground universe. These are softer, almost easy listening type songs. "Pale Blue Eyes" is a beautifully underscored song about the lady in Lou Reed's life and how pretty her blue eyes are. It's sweet in a way. Really great, slowish guitar and drums on that song. "Beginning to See the Light" is more up tempo and a basic rock and roll song. "I'm Set Free" is a great song about getting off drugs and your eyes clearing and seeing that there's a whole world out there that you can discover without drugs. This album is upbeat, a total departure from what they were doing before. The closing track, "Close the Door", is sung by Moe Tucker and it's a sweet lullaby about a couple going to bed together. I adore this album and will be forever grateful to my dad and brother for introducing it to me.

Like I said earlier, a lot of people will tell me I left "Loaded" off the list, but for me, after "Velvet Underground" they were never the same band again. They released a bunch of live albums and even reunited, but these three albums are the best of Velvet Underground. They're great and monumentally influential to modern day alternative music. Lou Reed is a genius and will forever be one of the greatest writers of all time.

These are the many reasons that Velvet Underground belongs in the conversation for Greatest American Rock band.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He thinks the soup inside a Campbell's soup can does not get enough credit. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Let me respectfully explain why your team stinks: Ty really dislikes the LA Clippers

It is never to early too think about basketball

Today I'm going to talk about my irrational hatred for the god awful franchise known as the Los Angeles Clippers.

I HATE THE CLIPPERS.

There's no amount of any love in my sports heart or brain for the Clippers. First of all, this is a franchise that's NEVER been to the Western Conference Finals. Not the Finals, they've never made it to their conference finals. They were mired in mediocrity for the majority of the 80's and 90's. They've become a playoff team in the 21st century, but they are best known for collapsing or flat out losing to teams that, on paper, they're better than. But, games are won on the court and not on paper. No matter what the people at ESPN say. I swear to you, when the Lakers were the best team in LA, everyone at ESPN loved them. Now that the Lakers are irrelevant and the Clippers are decent, all the ESPN employees have taken the Clippers as their "team". They all love the Clippers, but that will change as soon as the Lakers are relevant again. Bunch of sheep at ESPN.

Let's get back to why I hate the Clippers so much. Let's look at the players on the team. First, the starters. You have Chris Paul at point guard. He's a great basketball player, but I think he's extremely overrated. People always say that he is the smartest player in the game and runs his team to perfection. So, perfection to these pundits is, having a good regular season, only to crap out in the first or second round of the playoffs. I thought to be considered one of the greats, you have to at least make the Finals once and if you're lucky win the Finals. Not only has he never led his team to the Finals, they've never been to the conference finals, like I said earlier. He didn't do it with the Hornets and he sure as shit hasn't done it with the Clippers. He's also a whiny, crybaby on the court. He's constantly complaining to officials about calls or no calls. When he's not crying to the refs, he's yelling at his teammates for not doing what he told them to do. It's never his fault, it's always someone else's fault. That's not a leader, that's a whiner. He's also the dirtiest player I've seen since John Stockton. I swear. he punches someone in the balls at least 3 to 5 times a season. That's a punk move by a dirty player. Screw you Chris Paul. Shooting guard is manned by JJ Redick. This douchebag is a pile of garbage. First of all, he played at Duke, so if you're a fan of his, you're probably a rich, white privileged asshole that's never had to work for anything ever. Redick seems more concerned with how his hair looks during the game than actually playing the game. He's only good at shooting the three and, while the folks at ESPN will try to make you believe different, he's a terrible defender. He's constantly fouling people and James Harden made him his bitch in the final two games of the Western Conference Semis last season. Harden, who chokes on the biggest stage, destroyed Redick when he had the ball. Personally, I loved watching Harden own him in the playoffs. Redick is a subpar NBA player at best, but he has somehow managed to start for the Clippers the past couple of seasons. He's a glorified Jimmer Fredette. At small forward, they have a platoon of guys like Jamal Crawford or the rotting corpse of Paul Pierce or the newly acquired Lance Stephenson. Jamal Crawford is all but out the door. And good for him for getting out of that situation. This dude can shoot and, while he's a liability on defense, that's not how he's made his career. He's supposed to be instant offense off the bench. He shouldn't be a starter in the NBA. The Clippers signed both Pierce and Stephenson this offseason. While Pierce played very well for the Wizards last season, he's about 900 years old and he's played a lot of minutes in the NBA. He brings championship pedigree to this garbage franchise, but that was 7 years ago, and he had Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett on his team. I think he's well past his prime and he won't give the Clippers what they need. He's too old and has played way too much. I believe he used anything he had left in last years playoffs. The Wizards were beaten by the Hawks in 6 games during his run by the way. Lance Stephenson is a cancer and becoming a joke in the NBA. He is best known for blowing in LeBron James' ear during the playoffs two years ago. He can't shoot, he's not the defender he was three years ago and he doesn't get along with his teammates. The Pacers couldn't wait to unload him and the Hornets were more than happy to trade him one year after signing him to a three year deal. At power forward, they have probably one of the most overrated "superstars" in the league in Blake Griffin. This effin guy, I have a big problem with. First of all, the comparisons to LeBron James need to stop immediately. On his best day, Griffin isn't 1/100th the player James is. He's not even in Karl Malone's or Moses Malone's league. Those guys were all around good players. All Blake Griffin is good for is dunking. And, no matter how fancy it looks, it's still worth two points. He has gotten better at his jump shot, but he shoots it on a straight line and it's a disgusting looking shot. He plays little to no defense, he can only manage to get 5 or 6 rebounds a game and he's on the same whiner level with Chris Paul. He complains just as much, if not more, than Paul does to the refs. He's such a douche, he poured water on a Warriors fan two years ago during a playoff game. Did people call him out for this move of supreme asshole? Nope, everyone thought it was a funny joke by him. Not me. That's a bitch move of the highest caliber. He also seems more interested in his commercial acting than improving his game. He does have plenty of time to do commercials, because this team is always out of the playoffs early every year. I HATE Blake Griffin the player. He may be a good dude, but I can't stand him as a basketball player. Center position is manned by DeAndre Jordan. You know him, the guy who gave his word to the Mavericks, then changed his mind and instead of talking to the Mavericks and Mark Cuban like a grown man, he wouldn't so much as send a text message to them to tell them he changed his mind and wanted to stay in LA. I'd have no problem with his decision if he owned up to it properly, but nope, his "apology" was posted on twitter for crissakes. What have we come to in society if this is tolerated? This is what a child does, not a man making millions of dollars. But, in his "defense", he's never going to be a player to build your franchise around unless you want a team that can only win 20 to 25 games a season. All he does is dunk and rebound. He's a decent shot blocker too. Other than those things, he does nothing else good at all. People may read this and say, he's a new version of Shaq. Bull shit, Shaq was one of the best passing big men of all time and Shaq is a billion times better than DeAndre Jordan will ever be. If I were an opposing coach, I'd foul him on EVERY SINGLE POSSESION. I don't care if he shoots 100 free throws a game and the game lasts six hours long. I'd love to slow down their offensive tempo and make this joke of a free throw shooter beat me at the line. He's NEVER going to be better than a 40% shooter from the line. Never. I also hope he's happy with being Chris Paul and Blake Griffin's scapegoat for the rest of his career. It will never be their fault, it will always, somehow, be Jordan's fault. Congrats on having to deal with that for the rest of your basketball life. The bench is made up of guys like coaches son Austin Rivers, Jason Segel look alike Spencer Hawes and hotel trashing, girlfriend cheating Glen "Big Baby" Davis. Austin Rivers recently said that he was better than the majority of the guys participating in the recent Team USA scrimmage. He claimed to better than guys like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, John Wall and Steph Curry. Um, Austin Rivers, you wouldn't be the best player on the current 76ers team, so get your head out of you ass you stupid moron. The only reason he's still in the NBA is because his dad coaches the Clippers and, as any father would, wants his son to succeed. Too bad your son is a shitty basketball player Doc Rivers. Spencer Hawes is a terrible NBA player. He can't rebound, play defense, block shots or shoot. He's a bum that the Clippers overpaid last offseason and then under utilized him when he started to play poorly. He played poorly all season, but got worse as the season progressed. Glen "Big Baby" Davis is a joke and his nick name tells you everything you need to know about him. He looks like a grown up baby and complains like one too.

The coach is Doc Rivers, another one of the most overrated people in basketball. He's won a championship, but what people forget, the year before that title, he was almost fired. The Celtics wanted to get rid of him, but instead they traded for Allen and Garnett and won a title. After that team disbanded, Rivers was traded to the Clippers to be not only the coach, but the GM too. His coaching philosphy is, complain about officiating, call out reporters that bad mouth his team and to not worry about the defensive end of the floor. He's an average NBA coach that lucked into getting two of the top 100 players of all time in their prime and win one championship. As a GM, he's terrible. He's made bad decisions left and right. He may be the worst GM in all of sports.

The last thing I want to touch on, as to why I hate the Clippers, is their ownership. First of all, they were owned by HUGE racist and all around horrible monster of a human breath, Donald Sterling. He is a worse version of Donald Trump and I loathe Donald Trump. Now, they're owned by eccentric billionaire Steve Ballmer. Every time I see this weirdo jumping up and down and screaming into a microphone on TV, I want to punch him right in the chest. He has no idea what he's doing, but if he continues to show enthusiasm, the chuckle heads at ESPN will continue to say how great he is for the game of basketball. He's the opposite of that. He's a thorn in the side of basketball, and he has forever inflated the actual worth of a team by buying the Clippers for 2 billion dollars. He's ruined it for every other potential buyer or current owner in the league. Every team that's purchased from here on out will be bought for way more than they're worth. Lots of people are going to end up losing a lot of money.

This team, while it may not seem on the surface, is still in as much turmoil as they were when Sterling owned the team. It's a different turmoil. And, if you don't agree with me, look at what season ticket holder Bill Simmons has been saying on social media about the Clippers. He believes that they may be in worse shape. These are the many reasons I hate the Clippers. They're a franchise that hasn't won anything of importance ever, yet act like they're the best team in the NBA.

I hate you Los Angeles Clippers, and I'll always hate you.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He did not get to talk about the Clippers, but hear Ty go over a few more overrated teams. When you are done listening throw Ty a follow on twitter @tykulik.

Let's talk about how guns kill people

ed note: These are the thoughts of the head editor and do not reflect all of SeedSing. We believe in giving everyone a voice and welcome any respectful dissent.

Let me find the words.

There was another senseless killing of two innocent people by a person with a gun. Allison Parker and Adam Ward were doing their jobs. Their particular television jobs at Virginia station WDBJ did not cause anyone undo harm. They were not out destroying people's lives. Allison Parker and Adam Ward were living their lives, going to work, and looking forward to good life ahead of them. A gun ended those dreams.

I am not going to go over the crime. I will not mention the name of the person who killed Allison Parker and Adam Ward. I will not speculate why the crimes were committed. You can find that information out there on the internet. The only thing I want to talk about to prevent more senseless deaths like Allison Parker and Adam Ward is how they were killed by a gun. Guns kill people, guns have killed a lot of people this year alone. That is the purpose of a gun, to kill. I love when people use the concept of a swimming pool is less safe for your home than a firearm. So every time I jump in the pool, I am less safe than every time my untrained self handles a loaded firearm? Swimming pools are for swimming, guns are for killing. The gun is way more effective at killing someone than a swimming pool is.

The pro gun argument is filled with false statistical comparisons. I get tired of hearing about how we have more guns and less crime. Crime is down for a large number of reasons, the amount of guns is not one of them. There is no credible information that can link drops in violent crime with increased gun ownership. If this was the case, our urban areas would be virtual crime free utopias. The increase in gun ownership has added to the number of accidents and suicides. Every pro gunner leaves those statistics out of their arguments. More guns means more effective ways to kill and be killed.

The weapon used to cruelly kill Allison Parker and Adam Ward was a handgun. This is another incident of a handgun being used to kill a person. I have rarely seen stories about responsible hunters going out and using a handgun for sport. Yet the NRA makes damn sure that anyone, even people who cannot pass a background check, can get their hands on a handgun. People that want to kill can easily go out today, purchase a handgun, and then complete their task of killing a person with a bright future. We can thank the rich old white men at the NRA for the privileged of living in this society. 

I am tired of these killings. Crime has existed since we climbed out of primordial sludge, that is not what tires me out. I am tired because we can do something about these senseless killings. Allison Parker and Adam Ward were killed because a madman could get a handgun thanks to the NRA and their bought politicians in Washington DC. We have the ability to stop these killings. The cowards in our federal government will wait out the initial public sadness, and then they will talk about how our gun laws need to be relaxed. This happens every time, and I am pissed off about it. I want to live in a society where random crime is not enhanced by guns. Guns kill people.

I am sad for the people who know and love Allison Parker and Adam Ward. They will never be given comfort by the idiots in DC and the NRA because of greed. We are supposed to be the greatest society in the history of mankind, we can do better. The NRA wants a world where we are less safe. The cowards and DC have no care for the American people. I have one thing to say to the both of them.

Guns kill people.

RD Kulik

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. Do you disagree - tell us.

The non-Simpson Legends of "The Simpsons"

Faux wood paneling helps prevent fal-a-part

I've written and talked about "The Simpsons" before on this website, and I'll do it many more times. Today will be one of those days.

Instead of talking about the Simpson family today, I want to talk about secondary characters. Characters that don't have the last name Simpson. I'm talking about people like Sideshow Bob, Chief Wiggum, Principal Skinner, Edna Krabappel, Ned Flanders, the list goes on and on and on. There's an endless number of secondary characters. So many in fact, some have had multiple, entire episodes dedicated to things that have happened in their lives. I have three personal favorites, and those are the ones I will focus on today. I'll come back to this topic many more times on the site, but, just today, I'm picking my three favorites to tell you about.

When it comes to secondary characters, I'll take Troy McClure, Milhouse Van Houten and, far and away the best secondary character, in my opinion, Dr. Nick Riviera. These three have had story arcs and multiple episodes that focus solely on them. Hell, Dr. Nick had a somewhat monumental occurrence happen to him in " The Simpsons Movie", when he was crushed by the dome and said his trademark line, with one huge difference, "bye everybody". That was heartbreaking to me, but I'll touch on that later in this piece.

I first want to talk about Troy McClure. Voiced by the genius and hilarious Phil Hartman. He died way before his time, especially for his voice work on "The Simpsons". There could've been so many more stories than they already had, but the ones that they do have are great. It's a shame that he died so young, just a shame. But, let's focus on the hilarity we did get from Troy McClure. Troy McClure was Springfield's "movie star". He was once a TV movie star, a long time ago, and as time went by, he settled for roles in student teaching films. He was a has been, that never really was. He had a moment in the spotlight. He married Marge's sister, Selma, and, for a very brief moment, studios were all over him because he was a married man and the rumors about him and fish were a thing of the past. He even had a shot at being McBain's new sidekick(McBain is Rainier Wolfcastle's, Springfield's legit movie star, best known role) if he and Patty could have a baby. But, the marriage was a sham and they didn't really love one another, so why bring a baby into the world. McClure lost out on the role and was exiled back to his student films. The fact that he is always confident and doesn't realize that he's a joke of an actor, makes me like his character even more. He's in the clouds and oblivious to the world around him. He always greets people with, "Hi, I'm Troy McClure and you may remember me from my role in" add any terrible, TV movie. He is/was such a great impression of these actors that think they're a big deal, but most people know that they're a has been, or in Troy McClure's case, a never been. I love me some Troy McClure and I recommend you watch the episode where he marries Selma ("A Fish Called Selma" season 7, episode 19) to see Troy McClure at his best. It's a great episode.

Next, we have Bart Simpson's nerdy, pushover of a best friend, Milhouse Van Houten. Milhouse is the epitome of a dork. He does anything Bart tells him to do, no questions asked. He's in love with Lisa, but she could care less about him. Homer refers to him as a wiener on multiple occasions. Hell, he even looks like the nerd on the Dating Game board game the Simpsons play when they stay at the Flanders' summer cottage. Milhouse has some of the greatest and most memorable moments on the show. There's the episode where Bart steals the video game, earlier in the episode Milhouse tells Bart how great the game is and Millhouse has only entered his name, Thrillhouse. But, when the camera shows you his name on the game, it reads Thrillho. He couldn't get the last three letters in. Another great Milhouse moment happens when Homer becomes an artist and floods the town. Milhouse is complaining about his flood pants, but the water comes and he rejoices, "my shoes are soaking wet, but my ankles are bone dry! Everything is coming up Milhouse!". That's a classic line. In the episode where Bart gets Laddie, Bart and Milhouse are talking about lost pets and he says to Bart, "remember that time you said I never had a fish, but then I found the bowl? Why did I have the bowl Bart, why?". I love stuff like that. When he moves to the big city with his mom and tries to become a cool kid by dying his hair and giving Bart a wedgie is hilarious. He's such a failure at being cool, and he loves Bart so much, that while he's giving him a wedgie, he tells Bart that he will always love him. The best Milhouse episode is easily when he becomes Fall Out Boy in the "Radioactive Man" movie ("Radioactive Man" season 7, episode 2). We see some Milhouse depth and sadness in this episode. He doesn't want to be famous and is so distraught, he runs off the set during the critical acid spill scene. Another thing I like about this episode, you see Bart's jealousy, but also love for his friend when, he's talking to what appears to be Milhouse, then Milhouse blows up, but we very quickly find out that it's a dummy for the movie. Bart is so sad, he keeps saying, "I wished him well, I wished him well!". So, Bart has an equal amount of respect that Milhouse has for him. Milhouse Van Houten is a power house on "The Simpsons".

Lastly, my personal favorite besides Homer, we have the incredibly hilarious Dr. Nick Riviera. He's the greatest secondary character of all time on any TV show ever made. He's laugh out loud funny. He's Springfield's cheaper alternative to Dr. Hibbert. He went to a fake medical school and has crazy ways of doing his job. For example, he needs Lisa's help to perform surgery after Homer has a heart attack. He tells Homer, during a different procedure, one to put hair on his head, to take this medicine to knock him out, but Dr. Nick takes the laughing gas, and he punches Homer instead. He offers to give free nose jobs. When Homer wants to gain 61 pounds so he can work from home, he seeks out Dr. Nick for advice, and he's more than willing to help him gain the weight. He even tells him that, if he has any doubt the food isn't unhealthy enough for him, rub it on the table and the grease will tell you if it's healthy or unhealthy. I even use Dr. Nick's famous catchphrase, "Hi Everybody!", as my opening to the X Millenial Man podcast. The bar none, best Dr. Nick episode is the one with 22 short stories ("22 Short Films about Springfield" season 7, episode 21). He has a very small part, but it tells you everything you need to know about him. He enters in front of the infractions board at the hospital and he's in trouble for using a knife and fork to perform surgery. His response to these allegations, "I cleaned them with my napkin". Next, Grampa Simpson is complaining of a problem and demanding a "quack". Who should answer the call, Dr. Nick. He tells Grampa that he has a disease called Bonus eruptus, when the skeleton tries to leap out of the body through the mouth. He proceeds to electro shock Grampa every five seconds, and the board drops all the charges against him. That's when he offers free nose jobs. It's a classically great "Simpsons" episode. Like I said earlier, he "died" in the movie after being crushed by a piece of the dome. This upset me because it meant that I wouldn't get anymore Dr. Nick centric episodes. He's popped up here and there, but he doesn't get lines or any interaction, he's just there. Dr. Nick has, for all intents and purposes, "died". It's a bummer.

So, those are my three favorite secondary characters involved with "The Simpsons". I will retread this topic and the Simpsons many times, but I wanted to point out how great these three particular characters are. They're awesome and watch the three episodes I mentioned for each to get a good idea of what makes them so memorable.

These three background characters are many of the true legends of "The Simpsons" and the Simpson universe.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He will keep Hi Everybody alive and well until a dome covers the St. Louis area. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Papacy Complex of Washington DC

New uniforms for DC police?

I am absolute and will never be wrong.

That is the attitude that has taken hold in Washington DC. We have popularly elected a government of Popes. These "representatives" believe they were chosen by a higher source, and their message cannot be questioned. Our national government has no curiosity, ability to compromise, or empathy. They are infallible. They are the Alpha and the Omega. We are mere vassals to fatten their coffers.

The infallibility complex of Washington DC is the number one reason our government is completely worthless. Starting with the President and filtering through every office on Capitol Hill, our government would rather feed us lies than actually fix the problems facing the nation. These elected officials cannot be dumb enough to think that their never ending lies are being bought by the majority of citizens. How can our representatives think that we buy the garbage they are selling? Philosopher George Costanza once said "It is not a lie if you believe it". Is our government a bunch of Costanzas? Would you rather have hundreds of Popes or hundreds of Costanzas? Does Speaker Boehner believe that people think the Republican Party is for the lower and middle class working family? If he believes that, it must not be a lie.  Does President Obama believe that we think he boot strapped his way to the highest elected office? If he believes that, it must not be a lie. These are the leaders that will steer this country through our next great crisis (it is coming soon). We deserve better. We need to have a better group of leaders.

The best recent example of the Papacy complex is the current Benghazi fiasco. What fascinates me about Benghazi is how easy it is to figure out what all parties want. The Republican Party wants to find a way to impeach Obama, and they want to torpedo Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions. Those are the republicans only goals. They do not care at all about terrorism. The current Republican establishment will only use terrorism as a fear tactic when they can assign race to the issue. A white man with an agenda kills a bunch of people, that is an unfortunate crime. A non-white person does the same thing, and it is the worst terror attack since the last. They do not care about the lives lost. They only care about gaining an edge on a political issue. The Republicans want Meet the Press and Politico to continue the cheerleading of Benghazi in order to embarrass the highest profile Democrats. 

President Obama and the Democratic party has their infallibility problems with Benghazi as well. Since day one, President Obama has been afraid of being weak on the War on Terrorism. Anytime we have had a terror like issue, the Obama administration has been very swift in making a statement condemning the act. These swift actions have yielded unclear, and confusing, official statements on the terror activities. Morons like Sean Hannity get upset because our non-white president will not scream terror. I do not believe we need to use code words to appeal to the sub par intelligence of Master Hannity. I do think that the Obama administration has rushed to finding a reason for the attacks in order to protect their political identity. Benghazi was not about a movie, yet the administration kept floating that narrative out. To this day, the White House has yet to ascribe a motive to the deaths of four American foreign services workers. In order to not be wrong, in order to be infallible, the administration would rather not correct the record.

Benghazi is just one recent example of how the need to appear right has destroyed any credibility in our government. Every person I know that has an opinion on Benghazi will defend their position based on what side they want to defend. The Republicans look only to weaken President Obama or Hillary Clinton. The Democrats seek only to paint the Republicans as investigation happy zealots. There is no room for thinking. The narrative has been set. If we deviate from what the story is, the lie will be exposed.

What happened in Benghazi on September 11, 2012 is a tragedy. Four Americans were not the only ones killed, over one hundred Libyans also lost their lives protecting US interests. It is very likely that we will never know what happened to cause the tragedy. We honor no one by being political opportunists. We insult those who serve by being self serving and lying about our motivations. Investigations should yield answers. Our leaders should lead the country, not a party. Being a partisan hack only gives you the reputation for being a hack.

Accepting the infallibility of people is a tricking proposition. I was raised catholic. The Pope is infallible because God is speaking through him. Right or wrong, that is the belief handed down to me. I have stopped believing the idea of any human being infallible. I do not believe anyone in our government is a pope. Everyone else needs accept that Washington DC is not infallible. Only then will our government start to work on solving the problems coming our way. That is the only way America thrives.

RD Kulik

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. In order to break his infallibility complex, we need you to write for SeedSing. RD is also willing to tell everyone your product is the best, no lies - advertise with SeedSing.

What did Ty think of HBO's Ballers and the Brink?

Sometimes this machine does not beam garbage into your television

Last night HBO aired the season one finales of "Ballers" and "The Brink". I've written about these two shows on the site, both about their premieres.

One, "Ballers", left me wanting more during the premiere. It was a watered down version of "Entourage", and I hated "Entourage". What kept me coming back to "Ballers" was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. That guy oozes charisma and charm. He's a star because he's so easy to watch when he's on the small and big screen. Rob Corrdry is one of my favorite comic actors, so when I saw that he was in the cast, that was another point before I watched one episode of "Ballers". Then the premiere happened and some more episodes happened and then the finale happened. Nothing of importance or consequence really happened on that show. Like I said earlier, it is a watered down version of an old, crummy HBO show. There were moments, but for all intents and purposes, NOTHING truly happened. The star player got his multi million dollar contract, Dwayne Johnson and Rob Corrdry got what they wanted, enemies became friends and then season one just ended. The finale really left nothing, for me, to be desired. There's no reason or desire for me to come back for season two. A second season has already been confirmed, but I won't be watching. I gave it one season and I feel that's enough for me. "Ballers" has it's fans, but you can't count me as one of them. Best of luck to "Ballers".

"The Brink", on the other hand was great all season long. The stakes were raised each week and the finale was excellent and left me wanting more. I cannot wait for the second season. "The Brink" has been picked up for a second season as well, I believe. Tim Robbins, playing the Secretary of the State, was phenomenal. He deserves an emmy for his performance. He was rude, crude, chauvinistic, oddly lovable and the smartest guy in the room. His performance is an education in how to play smart, political humor that even novices like me can understand. He was great. Jack Black was his typical character. He was working at the US embassy in Pakistan, but he was a buffoon that didn't take his job too seriously. A typical role for him. That being said, he was good and when the stakes were high for his character, he stepped up to the plate and performed really well. One particular scene, in the finale, had him trading stories with the crazed leader of Pakistan and he plays scared, yet in control of the situation, to perfection. Aasif Mandvi was pretty great in his role as Black's driver and only true friend in Pakistan. His family was heavily involved in the show and he was at the center of all the conflict between them and Jack Black. He's a very good, underrated actor and I feel like his role on "The Brink" is perfect for him. He should be a house hold name. The next best person on this show, Tim Robbins is the number one best person, is Pablo Schrieber. He plays the Navy's best fighter pilot, but he's also a screw up with his girlfriend back home and he's a pill popping alcoholic. I had only known Schrieber from his roles on "Orange is the New Black" and the second season of "The Wire". Those were two very different roles and he played two very different types of people. On "The Brink" though, he plays a comically hilarious soldier boy and I loved every second he was on screen. He's a very good comic actor. The finale, unlike "Ballers", ended with consequence and a build up to a second season. Schrieber's fighter jet was flown into a disguised tanker that was actually a bomber about to land on Pakistan. Schrieber and his co pilot escaped the crash by ejecting from the jet and they ended up somewhere in Africa. As the finale comes to a close, you see a young African child with a goat see the damage from the planes crashing, and there's one missile left, unharmed. Next, we see what seems to be a war lord and his troops putting the missile on a truck and they drive away. The music and credits play immediately after this scene. Talk about building up the tension for the next season. It was a great finale. I'm very pumped for season two.

So, "Ballers" left me wanting more, giving me nothing and the decision by me to not return for season two. On the other hand, "The Brink" has me amped and ready for season two with a fantastic finale. HBO needs to quit with the "Entourage" clones and keep making new, interesting shows like "The Brink". "The Brink" was the standout of the two new shows that HBO premiered this summer.

Happy binge watching for those that need to catch up on HBO Go or HBO Now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is in search of a new (or old) show to watch. Give him some ideas and follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Welcome to the Future: Wearables Part 2 - Android Wear

Our ability to tell time has come a long way

I too have been using one of these new wearable computers. RD went through his thoughts on the Microsoft Band seeing as he is a Windows Phone user. I, being primarily an Android user, went with a Samsung Gear Live which runs the Android Wear platform. I have been using it since July of 2014. After a little over a year, I can say that I will be sticking with it.

When I first saw Android Wear announced, I was curious. I did not think that I would end up using one of the first generation watches. I did not immediately plan to buy one as soon as one was available. Unlike RD, I was not going to the store hoping they had one in stock. I could have cared less if they were out of stock. How I came to purchase one was that I had traded in my old MacBook Air for some Amazon credit. After adding my Chromebook to the cart, I had about the same amount left over as the cost of the Gear Live. Amazon happened to have it in stock, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Before I go any further, I think that it might be notable to explain that, to this day, I am not convinced of the utility that a smartwatch provides to the average consumer. I once kept my phone in my left pocket. My watch goes on my left hand. It is not effectively more convenient for me to look at my wrist and get vibrations on my wrist as opposed to the same in my pocket. If I still used a pocketable smartphone, I would not have even tried an Android Wear watch.

At the time that I decided that my use case was such that I might benefit from Android Wear, I had a seven inch tablet, the Nexus 7, as my carry around communication device. At one point I had both an iPhone and a full sized iPad and had become frustrated by the complexity and needlessness of two touch screen devices and realized that I could do everything just fine with one smallish Android tablet. The only issue with this was that I often missed notifications. The tablet stayed in my bag or on a table somewhere in the house. I saw this watch as the solution to that issue.

Android Wear works great for getting me the notifications that I had been missing and freeing me from feeling that I need to be close enough to my tablet to hear the audible notifications. But Android Wear has other benefits too. I can read and reply to messages without having the device in my hand. The car connects to my tablet via bluetooth when I start it up and I can play music without digging it out of my bag. I like being able to set timers when I am cooking without touching a screen with my food saturated hands. Having my alarm on my wrist means that it targets no one but me to wake up at the early hours that otherwise bother family members who prefer to keep sleeping. These are all nice extras beyond my original purpose for the device. The fitness tracking features are nice too, but might be better with GPS baked into the watch since I do not want to take my tablet for a run with me.

In summary, Android Wear is a nice accessory for me. I still do not know how useful it is in general and question how far the niche customer base for wearables can drive market demand enough to keep them in production. I think that most people have long since left a watch out of their accessory arsenal and prefer to keep it that way. If wearables are to thrive, I believe a little more creativity and innovation, or at least evolution, will be required. We shall see what the future brings in this space.

Kirk Aug

Kirk is the first colonist in our Idea Farm. Let him know what technology, philosophy, and people will create the new society. Follow Kirk on twitter @kirkaug.

Watch Ty awesomely live tweet a going to be awful "The Unathorized Full House Story"

We have invented a device that can beam garbage directly into your television

Tomorrow night on the Lifetime Channel they will be showing the "Unauthorized Full House Story".

This comes on the heels of their Saved By the Bell unauthorized movie and their Britney Murphy unauthorized movie and their Aaliyah unauthorized movie. Do you notice a pattern with these movies? If you didn't, they're all unauthorized. That means that the real people involved, for the most part, have nothing to do with these movies. It's maybe one person or, a friend of a friend that's involved with these movies.

I don't know who did the Britney Murphy or Aaliyah movies, but I know, for a fact, that the Saved By the Bell movie was based on, world renowned douchebag, Dustin Diamond's book. The fact that he wrote a book is disturbing enough, but Lifetime made a movie out of it! How troubling is that?! The Saved By the Bell unauthorized movie was god awful. It wasn't bad in a good way, it was down right terrible. I mean, there's scenes of Screech getting stoned and drinking beers with an extra. That same extra black mails Screech to get on the show. They barely touched on Mark Paul Gosselar and Lark Voorhies relationship. The guy portraying Mr.Belding wasn't creepy at all, when in actuality, he was a HUGE creep. And the one scene I can never shake, Screech's dream sequence, when they super imposed a body builders body under his head and he's in a hot tub full of beautiful women. That scene still haunts me.

With how terrible the "Saved By the Bell Unauthorized Story"was, that will not stop me from watching the "Full House Unauthorized Story". Why you may ask, the answer is I need to watch this "movie" to see how truly awful it can be. It's like a train wreck, or a terrible accident, you don't want to watch, but something inside of you makes you watch. This movie is going to be terrible, I know this, but I have to see if it's better or worse than the Saved By the Bell one. I'm sure it will be worse. If the early pictures of the cast that were released months ago is any indication, this is going to be a flaming piece of garbage. I'm still going to watch it though. Morbid curiosity is the only reason I can think of as to why I'm going to watch it.

Another reason I will be watching it, I'm going to be taking over the SeedSing Twitter account(@seedsingrdk) and live tweet the movie as I'm watching it. I feel this needs to be done for all our readers and listeners out there. The movie is on at 7pm and 9pm central time, so you have two chances to watch. I'll probably start at around 8, I'm DVRing the movie, so I don't have to watch commercials. I want to get this thing over ASAP. So, tune into Lifetime at the two times I mentioned or follow @seedsingrdk for live tweeting and watch in terror with me at the utter horror and stupidity that the "Unauthorized Full House Story" is going to be.

It's going to be epically terrible. I assure you of this.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He really cannot stand Kimmy Gibbler. It also seems like he watches a lot of Lifetime. Although he will be using the website account, make sure you go follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Soil is right, the seeds have been planted

We are just now starting to irrigate our new farm. Please be patient while the seedlings start to take root.

RD Kulik

Cloves and Fedoras: Lux Lisbon is a band you should know

Some new music to make your ears happy.

Cloves and Fedoras is SeedSings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

I was recently introduced to a new band via Twitter. They started following me and sent me a direct message that had a free download of their new ep. I was very happy to receive this gift. I downloaded the ep and just recently gave it a listen and it's really, really good.

The band is called Lux Lisbon and the ep is titled "Get Some Scars". This is a really cool thing they're doing for their fans, sending out a link for a free download. Believe me, the album is well worth multiple listens. They're an English band, but you can hear influences from all over the world. My wife was listening and she said they reminded her of the band Queen. My son and I were listening to it in the car, he's only three years old by the way, and he said to me, "daddy, this sounds like Oasis. The ones you and mommy listen to". I've listened to the ep a few times now and I hear traits of Glen Hansard, Fleetwood Mac and old blues musicians like Howlin Wolf. The singer has a great voice, and while not as gruff as Howlin Wolf, he's got a cool, raspy voice that works perfectly for their style. The female singer is better than Amy Whinehouse in my personal opinion. When she sings, "Devil Got Me Dancing", I got chills. Her voice is that good.

Other songs I really enjoyed were, "Keep Me Wild" and "Demons You Show". "Keep Me Wild" has a great acoustic guitar and the singer is really bringing out his inner Glen Hansard, almost yelling the lyrics. It's really intense in the best possible way. "Demons You Show" is a great rock song that needs to get some radio play. I like every song on the ep, those are just my favorites.

The band even includes bonus tracks and you get some live songs and some stuff they did at the BBC. I like when bands do that on their album. That shows their true musicianship and Lux Lisbon doesn't disappoint. These guys are really good and I think they will be a pretty big band within the next year. They have something special about them. I'm just glad they contacted me via Twitter and gave me the free download. It was a great idea by them and more, less known bands should do the same thing. I know that when a new album comes out from Lux Lisbon, I'll buy it the day they release it. So, check this band out and let them know how awesome they are, because they're really, really good. And I'd just like to say thanks again for contacting me and hooking me up with the download.

You guys and girls are awesome.

You can download Lux Lisbon's music for free on their website luxlisbon.com

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. If you send him music, he only asks that it is good music. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: Weezer

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

My next entrant for our Greatest American Band debate on the website is Weezer.

I love Weezer. That's to say I love Weezer's first two albums. Their stuff after that is okay, they've even had mega hits like "Islands in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills". I love the song "Beverly Hills". It's really catchy and Rivers Cuomo plays some sweet guitar on the song. His solo at the end is epic. But, while I enjoy those albums, they don't come anywhere close to the "Blue Album" and the highly and undeservedly underrated "Pinkerton".

That's the case I will make for Weezer today. I feel like those first two albums are so excellent, catchy and memorable that they belong in the conversation. Weezer may be the greatest rock/pop group of all time and those two albums are Weezer at their peak. Cuomo is at his writing peak and his guitar playing is phenomenal. His band is at the top of their game as well. Let's first talk about the "Blue Album". This was the title given by the fans, it's actually a self titled record, but everyone knows it as the "Blue Album". From start to finish this album is rock/pop at its finest. The opening track, "My Name is Jonas" has a great guitar riff and the lyrics are so well written. For example, "buildings not going as we planned, the foreman had injured his hand, the driver says hey man we go all the way of course he knows we need to pay". That's pop music at its best. The song is so well known, it appeared on the very first Guitar Hero game for Playstation. The hits on the album are the unforgettable "Sweater Song", "Say it Ain't So" and the catchiest song I've ever heard "Buddy Holly". The "Sweater Song" is one of the coolest, most unique tunes I've ever heard. There's a real simple, real cool guitar riff that builds to a huge crescendo at the end. It's a great song, go listen to it right now, you'll love it. "Say it Ain't So" is super sad, but also great. It's about a falling out between a father and son. It's the millennial version of "Cat's in the Cradle". It's so sad, but it's great, great guitar and a real cool, almost up tempo bridge. It's a great song. Everyone knows the video for "Buddy Holly". Spike Jonze directed it and used "Happy Days" as the back drop. It was a super inventive idea at the time and it worked to perfection. The video is almost as memorable as the song. It's really cool. "Buddy Holly" is the quintessential rock/pop song. It's such a perfect pop song, with a sing a long chorus like no other song. The rock element is right there as well with distorted guitars and heavy drums. It was lightening in a bottle. It's such a great song. That would be enough to put them in this conversation. They also have other great songs on the "Blue Album". "Only in Dreams" is a seven minute gem of a rock song. "The World Has Turned" is another great track with awesome guitar. My personal favorite is "Surf Wax America". It has all the best elements of a 50's era surf song, but Weezer puts their touch to it and it's a home run. When they whisper sing, " you'll take your car to work, I'll take my board and when your out of fuel, I'm still afloat", I get giddy the louder and heavier it gets. It's a perfect song. I love it.

The highly anticipated follow up to the "Blue Album" was, at the time and still a bit today, the extremely underrated "Pinkerton". This album is a masterpiece. This record even has a myth to it. The story goes, Cuomo was obsessed with an Asian girl he met on tour, wrote this record for her, she basically rejected him and he, supposedly, wouldn't play any of the songs live. I thought this was still the case when I saw them in 2002, but not true. They played a couple of songs off the album much to my surprise. This is such a great, great album. The "hit", if there's one, would have to be "El Scorcho". This is a real cool, unique song. It has a very interesting, offbeat guitar riff and the Asian girl myth is at the forefront when the first lyric is sung. The lyric is as follows, "God damn you half Japanese girls do it to me every time". I think this is proof that, at least some of the myth is true. Other great songs on the album include, "Pink Triangle", "Across the Sea", "Tired of Sex" and "Falling for You". In "Pink Triangle", Cuomo comes to the realization that this girl he loves doesn't love him back because she's gay. He's totally fine with it, but it's a very sad, heartbreaking song. You can hear the pain in his voice when he sings the song. "Across the Sea" shows Cuomo pining for the girl that this whole album is about. He says he wants to be with her, but she's too far away and he doesn't want to do long distance. Another sad song. The guitar and drums are real good in this tune. "Tired of Sex" is a great rock song and a real good opener to the album. It's got fuzzy guitar and bass and real heavy, excellent drumming. The lyrics are very cynical and Cuomo sings them that way. "Falling for You" has Cuomo opening his heart to this girl and telling her that he's in love with her and he's literally falling for her. It's met by deaf ears, but he doesn't care. He needs to let this girl know he loves her and that's what he does on this song. "Pinkerton" is a great album and it's a must own for all Weezer fans.

The strength of these two albums is more than enough for me to put them in the Great American Band debate. They're still making music, but these first two albums are what you need to listen to when putting them in this debate.

Weezer is an awesome band and they definitely deserve consideration for Greatest American band.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He looks nothing like Buddy Holly, but his wife can turn the world on with her smile. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty's NFL Preview 2015: Super Bowl and Awards

Ty has his snacks ready for the big game.

Read where Ty previews the AFC and NFC.

Now it is time to wrap a bow on this preview and give you the Super Bowl winner, along with some awards.

The Packers Colts Super Bowl will be close for about one half and the Packers will pull away and win Super Bowl 50 by at least 10 points. So, the Packers will win Super Bowl 50.

My picks for offensive player of the year is Aaron Rodgers. He's the best QB in the game and he will have an awesome season.

Defensive player of the year will come down to two defensive lineman, Ndamokong Suh and JJ Watt. I think Suh will dethrone Watt and win defensive player of the year.

The MVP will be won by Aaron Rodgers again. He's going to bring home a lot of hardware this season.

The offensive rookie of the year will be Melvin Gordon. I see him going for about 1,200 rushing yards, 500 plus receiving yards and 10 or more touchdowns. He's going to be really good.

The defensive rookie of the year will be Steelers rookie linebacker Bud Dupree. He's a beast and has the nose for the football. He's also in a great situation to succeed playing for the Steelers.

Coach of the year will be Jeff Fisher. If he can get the Rams to the playoffs it will be a no brainer. He's just a good coach too.

So, that's my NFL preview. Tell me why I'm right or wrong in the comment section and hopefully I've prepared you for the upcoming season. Football is right around the corner.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. His football knowledge was gained by being the commissioner of his fantasy league the last three years. He is eager to replace the current NFL commissioner when he ends up getting fired. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Ty's NFL Preview 2015: NFC

Game is on, get ready to...why is Ty's drink still green?

The NFC is also made up of four divisions as well, the East, West, North and South. The NFC East is made up of the, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, the team from the region of Washington DC and the New York Giants. The Cowboys completely shocked me last season. I didn't see them playing that well at all, especially on defense. DeMarco Murray was awesome, but he's gone to the Eagles and Dez Bryant is good, but he's got Tony Romo throwing him the ball. That's a bummer. Jason Witten is reliable, but old. The defense will take a step back for sure. The offensive line is good, but as I mentioned before, DeMarco Murray is gone and Darren McFadden won't ease the loss. The Cowboys are going to take a big step back this season and probably only win 9 games. That may be enough to win this division. The Eagles have had a very odd offseason. Chip Kelly traded away a lot of great players like, LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin and Nick Foles. The only one he really "replaced" was McCoy by signing Murray. Sam Bradford seems to be their starting QB, but he CANNOT stay healthy (I am from St. Louis, I know this). He's a liability. They also brought in Tim Freakin Tebow. That guy is not an NFL quarterback, he's just not good. The Eagles defense is pretty good and should keep them in games. They will either win 11 or 5 games, who knows. I will split the difference and say they get to 10 wins, but barely. The New York Giants aren't a very good football team, and the recent news that Eli Manning wants to be the highest paid player in football is laughable. Sure, he's won two super bowls, but what have you done for me lately besides lead the league in interceptions and stupid faces. They have no running game. They do have Odell Beckham JR and Victor Ortiz, but that doesn't matter when Eli is throwing it to the other team. Their defense is not good either. They will be lucky to get to 7 wins this year. Until they are willing to change their name, the team from Washington will get no love from me. They stink anyway and 4 wins would be a shocker. The Eagles will win this division and get the pleasure of being blown out by whoever they play in the first round of the playoffs.

The NFC West is one of the best, if not the best, divisions in the NFL. First, you have the Seattle Seahawks. They have the best defense in the league and it's not even close. All three phases are lights out, and while I may not like the players in the secondary, they are shut down corners and the safeties are heavy hitters. The offense is run by the overrated Russel Wilson. That offense is truly run by Marshawn Lynch. He's the current best running back in the league. He's truly a beast. They don't have great receivers, but they traded for Jimmy Graham this offseason and that will only make them better. They will easily get to 11 wins this year. The St.Louis Rams are up and coming, but I don't know how they'll play with expectations. They also have a great defense and one of the best defensive lines in the league. They drafted a great running back in Todd Gurley and replaced the oft injured Sam Bradford with Nick Foles. He's an upgrade at QB. The receivers are small, but explosive. If they can put it all together, they won't be able to challenge the Seahawks yet, but they could win 9 or 10 games. The Arizona Cardinals are another good team in this division. If Carson Palmer can stay healthy, they should be good on offense with him throwing to Michael Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald. The running game was in flux, but they just signed Chris Johnson to a one year deal. If he can do half as good as when he was with the Titans, they should be set. Their defense is awesome led by cornerback Patrick Peterson. They are really good, but they seem to get bitten by the injury bug every season. They should win 10 games, barring any big injury, but someone will inevitably get hurt, so they'll probably only get 8 or 9 wins. The San Francisco 49ers round out the division. This team seems to have gone into rebuild mode. They changed coaches, lost Frank Gore, Patrick Willis retired along with a lot of players on defense and Michael Crabtree left in free agency. They still have Anquan Boldin and Colin Kaepernick, but this team is going to take a huge step back. They will only get 5 or 6 wins this year. This division will be won by the Seahawks again, but it will be very tough.

The NFC South is the exact opposite of the West. This division could be won by a team with 8 or fewer wins. The teams are, the New Orleans Saints, the Atlanta Falcons, the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Saints still have Drew Brees, but he's old and they got rid of his best weapons. Their defense is terrible as well. 6 or 7 wins would be ideal for them. The Falcons have Matt Ryan,  Roddy White and Julio Jones, but they have no running game and they don't even try to run the ball and this is a team with another pretty bad defense. If Matt Ryan plays well and gets the ball to either White or Jones, they could outscore teams on their way to 8 wins, but 6 wins seems more likely. The Panthers do have Cam Newton and while he's inaccurate, he has a big arm and he's hard to tackle when he's in the open field. They have a so so running game led by DeAngelo Williams and they have upgraded at receiver with Kelvin Benjamin and rookie Devin Funchess. They do have a decent defense led by linebacker Luke Kuechly. They could win 9 games this year. The Buccaneers are still in rebuild mode and will be led by rookie QB Jameis Winston. Rookie QB's struggle and while he does have Vincent Jackson and the big receiver from Texas A&M, they have no run game and a god awful defense. 3 or 4 wins is the bar for the Bucs. The Panthers will win this division with only 9 wins this year.

The final NFC division, the NFC North should and will be won by the Green Bay Packers. The defense improved last season and will take another step in the right direction this season. They have the best QB in the league in Aaron Rodgers and he has weapons on offense like Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. They also have a good running game led by Eddie Lacy. The Packers should win 12 games and the division easily. The Minnesota Vikings will be better. They get child abuser Adrian Peterson back and, while he hits little children, he's a good running back. But, he's a terrible person. Teddy Bridgewater looks like he's going to be good and if he can get some help from receivers the offense could look good. The defense is decent, but nothing to write home about. They could get to 9 wins this season. The Detroit Lions will continue to baffle me. Matthew Stafford is so inconsistent, but when you have a receiver like Calvin Johnson, he'll make you look good. They got a great running back in the draft in Ameer Abdullah. He'll immediately be better for them than Reggie Bush was. The defense lost Suh and Nick Fairley, so they'll take a step back. 8 or 9 wins seems like their destiny. The Chicago Bears round out the division and they're a total mess. They did hire John Fox, but he won't be able to fix the mess that is the Bears in one season. They have no defense, no receivers, a shitty QB in Jay Cutler and poor Matt Forte can only do so much. The Bears are like a worse version of the Chiefs. At least the Chiefs are competitive. The Bears will be lucky to get 5 wins this year.

So, the NFC playoff teams will be the Seahawks, the Packers, the Panthers and the Eagles, the four division winners. The two wild card teams will be, I'm going to go out on a big limb here, and pick the Rams and the Vikings. I even see the Vikings beating the Eagles in the first round and the Rams fighting, but losing late to the Panthers in the playoffs. The Vikings will see their season end at the hands of the Seahawks and the Panthers will get mercy killed by the Packers. This sets up a rematch of the NFC title game from last year, and the Packers will avenge their loss with a big win and advance to face the Colts in Super Bowl 50. 

Coming up next, Super Bowl and awards.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. The editor appreciates his hopes for the Vikings. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

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.