A Great Hannibal Buress Show is Just What We Needed after a Crappy Week

Being funny with a mic can cure a lot of our ails

Last night I got a great break from the horribleness that is going on in our country right now. I got to see comedian Hannibal Buress at The Pageant here in Saint Louis.

I'm a big, big Buress fan. I loved his show "Why? With Hannibal Buress" on Comedy Central, I think he is great on "The Eric Andre Show", his writing on stuff like "SNL" and "30 Rock" has his stamp on it, but most of all, he is a world class stand up. That is what he does best, in my opinion. This was the third time that I have seen him live, and it was as great as the first time.

We did get an opener, Willie Lynch Jr, and he was very funny as well. He touched on many things, like being a vegan, a new dad, a college grad paying student loans, all very relatable things to the crowd. I really enjoyed his short set, and I think he could become a bigger comedian, quite possibly, a headliner.

Then, we got Buress. He was great. He opened his set by immediately addressing what a shit show this country is now based on who the electoral college elected, but instead of using that as the basis for his whole set, as some other comedians would do, Buress did 10 minutes on it, only touched on it one or two more time throughout his 90 minute set, and that was it. I respect the hell out of that. He did not use it as a crux. He said his peace, then went on to do his regular set, and it was hilarious.

Like I said, this is the third time that I have seen him, and there were some familiar jokes, but the majority of his set was all material that I have never heard. Buress loves sports, I do too obviously, and he did some great bits about being a bandwagon fan, gambling on teams and a chance encounter between his father and Bulls/White Sox owner, Jerry Reinsdorf. He also did some good stuff about Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. The sports stuff, as far as comedians go, can be hit or miss, but Buress' stuff was all a homerun for me. I laughed pretty hard at all the sports jokes.

Buress also did some stuff that has become a new thing at his shows. He has always had a DJ with him, the great Tony Trimm, but this time, Trimm added a lot more than just music. There was a great bit about a Reddit thread that had someone, a fan, that had recently been intimate with Buress, commenting on the experience, for all the internet to see. Buress and Trimm put her words on a big screen behind them, and Buress made hilarious comments about the stuff that this person wrote. Trimm also played the role of straight man very well. Buress would talk to him from time to time throughout the show, and Trimm would have only one or two word responses, which led to Buress doing some great improvised stuff that all worked. Trimm did bring the music as well. Buress did his bit about rappers talking about waking up "in the mood", which I have seen before, but he had some new riffs on this, and Trimm was there to play the songs for him. Buress did his Riff Raff bit, fans will know what I'm talking about, and it was as funny as it always is, again with some help from Trimm.

The best thing that he and Trimm did together though, was when Buress talked about what he wanted to do at his funeral. The subject of funerals was brought up when Buress said the worst thing he had been to all year was his Uncle's funeral. He said that it was like most funerals, sad, dour and upsetting. This led to Buress talking about what he wants to do at his funeral when he dies, and clearly, Trimm was his camera man for all the hilarity that ensued. Buress had a video of himself introducing everyone to his funeral, and then his face melted. He then talked about splicing in videos of him doing weird shit, so the crowd would be thrown off. He had a video of himself humping a Keurig Coffee Machine, Trimm put his spin on it, and I was laughing at this image so hard, I had to cover my face with my hat. I was in literal tears. There was some other stuff, Buress doing random things, showering, working out, and saying, "I can't do this anymore, I'm dead!". This was the highlight of the night for me.

After this great, new bit, Buress did a little crowd work, finding a pregnant lady and telling her he'd buy her baby for 10,000 dollars. It was very funny, especially when he kept asking her questions, never letting her off the hook. He also talked about getting in shape, getting older, doing more movies, investing his new found money, just basic stuff from a 33 year old comedian that is currently blowing up right now.

This show was exactly what me and my two friends needed after a very crappy week. It was great to get away and laugh for a couple of hours at random jokes and observations. I was so glad that this show happened last night, and I want to personally thank Buress for putting on an excellent show. Hannibal Buress is fast becoming a very big name in comedy, and I highly recommend seeing him if he comes to your town, you will not be disappointed. Go see this guy do stand up, he is great.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. If you are an aspiring stand-up in the St. Louis area, tell Ty and he will review your show. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Cleveland Browns are Hopeless

The new Browns mascot

After last night's terrible showing on Thursday Night Football, which the NFL needs to get rid of, I really think the Cleveland Browns are going to finish the season 0-16. I, like many other people, thought last night was their best chance to win a game. They were playing a Ravens team that had to gut out a tough win against the Steelers on Sunday. They had some guys injured, as does all teams, and Flacco and the Ravens offense has not be setting the world on fire by any means. The Browns usually stay in games too. They never really get blown out, but they can never seem to come through in the end.

Last night though, they looked abysmal. The Browns looked like the team that had a gritty, tough game 3 days before. They looked sluggish. They looked slow. They looked unprepared. They looked as bad as they have looked all season last night. They made Flacco look like a premiere NFL quarterback. The Ravens offense suddenly "got going". I don't put much stock into this offensive performance by the Ravens because the Browns make all teams look like they have elite offenses.

I totally put this loss on the terribleness that is the Cleveland Browns. They just can't do anything that resembles something good on a football field. They cannot run the ball at all. The line gets no push and they open no holes. The running backs are either running for their lives as soon as they get the ball from the QB, or they cannot break away from tacklers. They are bad. When your best receiver is Terrelle Pryor, that should alarm Browns fans. Pryor is a very good football player, but he is, by no means, a number 1 or 2 option at receiver on any other NFL team. He is more of a trick play or third option on a decent NFL team. But, other than Pryor, I cannot name one other receiver on their roster. Their tight end, Barnidge, used to be very good, at least a good fantasy option, but he has been non existent this season. The QB's aren't throwing to him, and that is a problem.

Then, we have the QB situation. I mean, how much worse can it get for this team? They have played so many QB's this year, and the problem with all these QB's, none are NFL starting caliber QB's. Last night they turned to Cody Kessler, and he wasn't even that good at USC. I mean, he was good enough to be a starter at a major power 5 university, but he should be a third string QB, at best, in the NFL. They have also started guys like Kevin Hogan, a rookie who benefited from David Shaw and Christian McCaffrey at Stanford last year, Josh McCown, who has been so mediocre in the NFL, I don't understand why he still gets chance after chance, RG3, who was great as a rookie in Washington, but he has become a shell of himself and he never learned how to properly slide, choosing to take multiple hits, and now can't stay healthy. Besides those three guys, the other names include, Charlie Whitehurst, Connor Shaw, Pat Devlin and Austin Davis. That is a TERRIBLE list of players. No team could win with guys like that starting at QB.

On the other side of the ball, the Browns defense just can't stop anyone. They're a myriad of reasons, but I think it is mostly due to spending way too much time on the field. The offense does little to nothing for them and then the defense is thrown back out there, usually in poor field position. Even with the addition of Jamie Collins, it won't matter. One good linebacker will not shore up all the problems this team has on defense. Like I already stated, they made Flacco look like a pro bowl QB last night, and he stinks.

Also, we cannot mention the Browns without talking about Johnny Manziel. He was a problem from the start. He never did the things he promised he would do, and they eventually cut him, which they needed to do, before the season started, but he had already done his damage. Manziel was also a HORRIBLE influence on their best offensive player, Josh Gordon, who went to rehab, now is out, and doesn't want to play for the Browns anymore.

This team is a mess. I think that Hue Jackson is going to be a good coach, he did a decent enough job at Oakland as the head guy, and he was a good coordinator for the Bengals, but he was put in a no win situation this year, especially when RG3 went down in the first half of the first game. This first season is a mulligan for him.

When I look at the rest of their schedule, I honestly do not see a win coming. They have 4 home game left, but they are against the Steelers, a loss, Giants, most likely a loss, Chargers, probably a loss and the Bengals, a loss. They also have to travel to Buffalo, probably a loss and at the Steelers, another loss. I just do not see a win coming from their final 6 games. Their best chance, in my opinion, is the Giants because Eli Manning is always capable of throwing a lot of picks, but the Giants defense will win that game for them. Others may say the Browns could beat the Chargers, but I think the Chargers could score 50 if they wanted. There is no way they beat the Bengals or Steelers because those teams are fighting for playoff spots, as are the Bills. This has been a rough year for the Browns and Hue Jackson, and I think it will end with an 0-16 record.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. At one point, Ty was sick of all the Browns talk. He now thinks we need to acknowledge their historic terribleness. 

Dear Trump Voter

I'm hearing some protests from you recently that "we're not all racist/misogynist/etc!"  And I take you at your word. It's not my place to figure out what is in your heart. But here's what I know.

We're all grownups here. We all have deal breakers and priorities.  You voted for Trump for a reason, and I voted for Clinton for a reason. I'm sure Trump isn't your ideal candidate, and Clinton isn't mine. Some things are disqualifying, and some aren't. For instance, I put aside Clinton's hawkish interventionist tendencies. I put aside the dynastic implications. I put aside her ties to Wall Street and the general whiff of graft because they were preferable to what I saw on the other side.  I own that decision. I will not pretend that I can distance myself from the less savory aspects of her candidacy.  If she won and chose to invade Yemen, I'd have no right to be surprised.

You made a different choice, based on your own values. That's completely fair. You heard the divisive language, the racist dog whistles, the calls to violence, the authoritarianism,  the grotesque treatment of women, the suggestion that Latino judges and Muslim gold star families are less American that their white Christian counterparts. You knew that his running mate supports gay conversion therapy.  You chose to set that aside for the things (abortion, guns, making America great, whatever) you felt were more important.  Fine. But own it.

Don't pretend to have hurt feelings that people call you out for your priorities.  Don't even try to equate the discomfort of being called racist or misogynist with the sting of actual discrimination. Don't try to equate being called a homophobe with the pain of not having legal rights with your partner. It's just insulting.

So fine. You're not racist. You're not misogynist. You're not a homophobe. But you voted for so someone who actively promoted that worldview, because for you, that stuff was negotiable.  It wasn't a deal breaker.  That tells me that we may get along fine at a backyard barbecue.  But I can't really trust you. You may not actually think my kid deserves less respect than yours, but you're willing to tolerate those who do.  When push comes to shove, you don't have my back.  You made that choice. That's your right as an American. But deal with the fallout. Suck it up. After all, elections have consequences.

Tina S

Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and a special guest star on the X Millennial Man Podcast. Check out her latest walk on appearance on the X Millennial Man Podcast where she discusses the best political ads ever made. We made a twitter for Tina, go follow her @TinaSeedsing. 

Ty Watches Bar Rescue: Fort One Edition

The most recent episode of "Bar Rescue" got back to its greatness this particular season. There was no stupid puns or stories of war, it was a trashy, ridiculous episode, which is what I adore about this show.

The bar they went to "rescue" was called "Fort One" in San Francisco. This bar had a lot of problems, mainly their spoiled brat of an owner. This guy was something else. He was a rich kid whose dad bought him a bar as a "gift". Also, this bar never really was on fire at first like a lot of bars on the show. They did okay at first, turning a small profit, but nothing like the other places that always claim to be "raking it in". After their okay start, the owner started to get heavily involved in drinking and buying things for patrons he deemed attractive. He was giving away free alcohol to try and get phone numbers basically. He brought on a friend that gave him a sizable loan to have a stake in the bar. After getting this money, the owner did not change, and in fact, he demeaned the friend and treated him as one of his employees, instead of a part owner himself.

On the night that Taffer and his "expert" went to do recon, what they saw, they did not like. For starters, when they are watching from their car, they despised the outside of the bar. They do not like the sign, and they claim that it is uninviting. They can't park on the street where the bar is located, so they park in a lot and go to another bar where they can watch from their monitors. One of the first things they notice is how empty this bar is. This is a huge space, I think they said 6,000 plus square feet, with a downstairs nightclub, but this place was dead. They also notice how terrible the décor and the furniture in the bar and nightclub have become. The chairs are old and creaky, the VIP room couches have ripped apart upholstery and the bar is incredibly dirty.

Taffer and the expert also see that the majority of the bartenders, and the primary owner, are hammered. They are taking shots with the paltry amount of patrons and they keep going and going. Taffer sends in 2 more recon spies, 2 attractive, young ladies, to see if the owner lives up to his reputation. As soon as the women enter, the owner makes a beeline for them, sends them to bottle service and sits with them. He orders a bottle immediately for the table. We come to find out that it is an 80 dollar bottle, but the bar sells it for 400 bucks. This is a very common practice in bars we, the viewers, are told. So, he right off the bat gives away a free 400 dollar bottle of liquor. But, he doesn't stop there. He gives them not just 1, but 4 free bottles. That is 1,600 dollars he flat out gave away. That is terrible. When his employee in charge of bottle service and his partial owner ask him to maybe charge the ladies for the bottles, he cusses them out and tells them to leave him alone.

Now Taffer makes his entrance. He doesn't go straight to the owner first, but picks the one bartender that he has seen take the most shots that evening. He goes up to the bar, the bartender has her back turned, and there is about 20 seconds of awkward silence before the bartender finally turns around and drunkenly tells Taffer that she is closed. Taffer then talks to her about how much she drank, asks if she made any money that night, asked about her family and then proceeded to tell her to go home to sober up. After this interaction, he goes to the partial owner and bottle service worker, they tell him how terrible things are, and Taffer finally asks to speak to the main owner. He saunters over drunk as a skunk. Taffer immediately begins to lay into him. He is calling him everything, and then some, and the drunk owner keeps saying things like, "you're stressing me out", or, "could you stop cursing at me like this". It was hilarious, and we all need a laugh right now.

After Taffer closes the bar for the night, he makes everyone go home to sober up and come back in the morning. The next day, they get to business. Taffer asks all the employees about what they think is wrong, and they all say it is the owners fault. The claim he doesn't care, they don't get paid and he is a blowhard. Then, Taffer and the expert do their cleanliness check, and it is a total nightmare. They find mold all over the ice machine. There is mold on the pipes. The owner doesn't know the smallest things about cleaning the stuff that makes the ice. The bottles, and the bar itself, has fruit flies flying everywhere. It is a mess. They find 2 dead mice behind the ice machine, and that is the topping on the crap cake that is this bar. Taffer excuses every employee, rubs some mold on the owners shirt and tells him to clean the place by himself.

Much to my surprise, he does everything that Taffer says with no complaints. Once the bar is finally up to standards, they get to training. Now, I do want to say, the staff at this place was great, when sober. They made quality drinks, and they made them fast. One of the bartenders in fact, was awesome. She was cranking out drinks, making them properly and did it all with a smile. So, training was not as important as getting this owner to get his head out of the gutter. They all get ready for the stress test, and I have got to say, this was the best stress test I have ever seen on "Bar Rescue". They left the rock star bartender at the main bar area, by herself, to see if she could handle it. She did incredible. She was making 5 and 6 drinks at a time, making them right and smiling all along. She was incredible. They put the 2 other bartenders downstairs at the nightclub bar, and even though they started shaky, they came through in the end. They picked up the pace and started making drink after drink the more comfortable they got. The partial owner was running everything great. He had his eye on the prize, and he kept everything running smoothly. The bottle service employee was doing a great job, and making more money than she ever had at "Fort One". Even the owner, who they made be a bar back, showed promise. He worked hard all night, he helped wherever help was needed and did not have one single drink all night. This was the best stress test ever.

When they get to re launch, Taffer tells the whole crew how proud he is, and the rock star bartender I keep mentioning, Taffer tells her that he is going to bring her on some later episodes to be one of his "experts", and she is thrilled. They turn to see the new bar, and Taffer has changed the name to "The Roc". This is actually a good name. It makes sense because of the location near Alcatraz. The inside of the bar is a hell of a lot nicer, with new furniture and a new style. It is so much better looking than when they first arrived. When they re open with the new name and new stuff, they do even better than stress test. They crush it. This "rescue" was so much more about giving this spoiled rich kid a kick in the ass than anything else, and it seemed to work.

After Taffer leaves, they do the 6 week update and sales are up, and things seem to be doing well. This was a refreshing return after the terrible episode last week. There is only one episode left this season and I will be here next week to review it for you.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He thinks we need hope in our world, and Bar Rescue is the epitome of hope. Thank you Jon Taffer. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

What's Next?

Election day is like New Years Eve for political junkies. The good stuff happens in the nighttime, we tend to stay up way later than we should, and the amount of drinking is well beyond the normal range. On the next day we are hungover, regretful, and many times confused about what happened.

The 2016 election was one of the most epic political New Years Eves in history. Once the election was over, and we woke up in a hangover, the consequences looked dire. After a quick shower, and a ton of coffee, our mind started to play through the nights events? Donald Trump is the President elect. Really? The Republicans predictable held the House of Representatives, and surprisingly continued to control the Senate. That does not seem right?  If you were a Democrat, your best option in the political new year was to keep drinking. Things look downright terrible.

If things are really terrible, we need to make them right again. Once our minds have finally recovered from the headaches and regret, only then can we start to solve our perceived problems. On New Years Day it is tradition to make resolutions, life changes, that will make our lives better. It is now the new political year, it is time for our resolutions to make the Era of Trump a personal productive one. I am going to get this ball rolling.

First up, these are the things I am going to give up in the Era of Trump.

Big Data. People like Nate Silver at 538, the New York Times Upshot, and numerous other self promoting political statisticians are useless and dangerous to the political process. Nate Silver in particular is a thin skinned, self obsessed, bullying force in our modern political discourse. He, like many others, claimed to be mathematical gurus who could read political futures. They were wrong on Trump in the primaries, and they were way wrong on the election. Silver will claim he was more sympathetic to Trump's chances. Unfortunately for him, it is obvious he was only promoting Trump as a form of clickbait. Whenever Silver was called out on his non-scientific behavior, he would throw a twitter temper tantrum. Big data is as useful as saber-metrics. It was a cute fad, until we learned that there was no real value in it. No more Upshot or 538 for me.

The Professional Left. Websites like the Huffington Post and cable outlets like MSNBC have been falling out of favor for a few years now. HuffPo is a third rate Buzzfeed wanna be with smug left leaning commentary. MSNBC is getting worse in being the crazy college kid who is "experimenting" with socialism. People like Rachel Maddow and the jamokes on "Morning Joe" have started to talk down and liberalsplain everything concerning politics. These professional left outfits have actively alienated disaffected voters by treated the middle of the country as an intellectual wasteland. The pundits on the left are out of touch, and by treating Trump as a non serious candidate, they endangered the entire country. No more wasting time being talked down to.

The Democratic Party. We have made no secret of our disdain for the professional clowns who run the Democratic Party. Around SeedSing we have even given a name to the party's incompetence, The Ohio Problem. These incompetent jabronis have failed many times, and it is time to stop giving them support. The party needs to discard the ways of 20th century politics, and embrace a modern strategy with fresh new faces. We do not need the Clintons, Bahys, and Feingolds of the world. They were great, but it is time to move on. It is time for 21st Century ideas.

What do we do next?

Do not silence your voice, yell louder. There is a saying that goes something like "If a person is in the middle of the street yelling they are crazy. If a group of people are in the middle of the street yelling, it is a movement". I want to yell in the middle of the street with a group of people. SeedSing is designed as that street with people yelling. I want the world's thoughts, ideas, and dreams. There is no word limit, no censorship, no closed commentary, just the free flow of ideas. Our country may have elected someone who embraces divisive ideas, but at SeedSing we are looking for voices who will bring hope and progress to the world. You should really check it out.

Vigilance. I do not support Donald Trump, or the GOP agenda. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan now have more power to implement their ideas on the American people. I for one believe in science, a women's right to privacy, human rights for all, and other issues the Republican congress has actively opposed. My voice will not be silent. I will not fall for the calls of unity from a group of people that have done nothing but undermine President Barack Obama. I will be stand against those who harm America, especially if those people sit in elected office.

Project 2020. SeedSing started as a launching pad for a think tank called Project 2020. The mission of Project 2020 was to find ways to elect 21st century progressive leaders in as many state legislatures as possible by 2020. If these new leaders could control the next congressional redistricting process, then we can bring true representation back to all of America. Project 2020 is not about winning the White House, it is about winning everything below the Presidency. The Republican Party has had the advantage in these races for a generation, and that has left many people without representation I am reviving the ideas of Project 2020, and we are looking for people with a 21st century vision. In the coming months we will start building a community here on SeedSing and elsewhere where these new leaders can get the support to make a run for office.

Well, I have sobered up from Election night, but the hangover still remains. It is a new political era, and I have set out my plan. Like all good resolutions, things will change according to the situation. This is a beginning, a first step. The times ahead do not look that great, but America is to great to fail. The road ahead has many obstacles, but I have a plan for what to do next. Join me.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.  

Better Late than Never on the Fantastic Film "Everybody Wants Some!!"

Any film with this backdrop will automatically get a pass.

About a week ago I finally got around to seeing "Everybody Wants Some!!". This was the most recent Richard Linklater movie. I think it came out earlier this year. I really, really enjoyed this movie. I am still thinking about a week later, so it obviously was well made.

The movie is basically a sequel of sorts to the much acclaimed cult classic, "Dazed And Confused". I heard some people, Linklater himself, saying it was a sequel of sorts to "Boyhood", but I don't buy that for a second. This movie was much more in tune with "Dazed And Confused" than "Boyhood". "Everybody Wants Some!!" takes place on the weekend before college starts at a school in Texas. The main character, Jake(Blake Jenner), is a freshman baseball player and he is moving into one of the two baseball houses the school has for the team.

From the start, we see the dynamics of new and old students in college. Jake, after driving around town and seeing lots and lots of things he likes, arrives to the house and is immediately met by two older teammates, Roper(Ryan Guzman) an McReynolds(Tyler Hoechlin). They are making a make shift water bed using the house's water hoses, and the two older teammates immediately start giving Jake a hard time. They make fun of him being a freshman and a pitcher. They claim they both dislike pitchers, as does every other position player. This is their way of "hazing" him, if you will. As Jake makes his way to his room, he meets some of his other teammates. When he makes his way to the water bed room, he runs into Finnegan(Glen Powell), Willoughby(Wyatt Russell) and Dale(J. Quinton Johnson). These guys are nicer, but kind of push Jake to the side and explain the benefits to anyone listening about a waterbed. When Jake finally makes his way to his room, we meet his roommate, an introverted loner that only wants to talk to his hometown girlfriend, Beuter(Will Brittain). He's your typical southern boy, always with a dip in his mouth and very standoffish. We also get to meet another freshman at the house, Plummer(Temple Baker), and he is so pumped to be in college, meeting college girls, getting wasted and playing baseball. He is your typical "jock" of the group.

Now that we have established the main characters, the movie is basically a mirror image for most college students of what it is like that first weekend before classes start. There is the "hazing" that I mentioned above, but it is never malicious. The players are all pretty good guys that just want these kids to have fun. There is a great early scene when 5 of the guys are driving around campus, rapping along with "Rapper's Delight", but putting their own spin on it, and telling all the ladies on campus about their party later that night.

On the first night, we get a baseball team party. It is loud, fun, hook ups happen, it is your typical college party movie scene. After the party, the next day they have their team meeting, and we meet some more players, most notably Jay(Juston Street), who has a supposed 95 mile per hour fastball, and this is where you get the whole team feeling from a sports/comedy/coming of age movie. I loved this scene. Sure, these are college students that want to party and have fun, but they are also athletes and this is an important meeting.

The next day at the house, while hanging out, you also get a sense of team with the guys challenging each other at pointless contests. There's some random little games going on, but the main thing that happens, one of the players bets McReynolds that he can't split a baseball in half with an axe. McReynolds is the star player of the team, and a sure fire first round draft pick. It was really cool to see him swing that axe and cut not one, but 2 baseballs in half. Everyone was in awe.

Later on, there are more parties. They go to a punk rock party with punk kids. They go to discos. They go to soul dance clubs. They go to a theater kids party. It was, as I said, a great representation of how, even when you are a 22 year old senior in college, that you don't really know your place in this world yet. Sure, McReynolds knew he was going pro, and Dale was probably going to be a pro as well, but other guys, guys like Finnegan, Roper, Jake, Plummer and Beuter had no idea where they would be in 1, 2 or 3 years, and isn't that what college is all about, finding yourself.

There is a great side story involving the character Willoughby, but I don't want to spoil it because it is awesome. His story is one of many reasons you should watch this movie.

"Everybody Wants Some!!" is a really, really enjoyably good movie. I had tons of fun watching it, and I think I will most likely purchase it. This movie captured college almost as perfectly as "Dazed And Confused" captured high school. That is one thing that Linklater, as a director, does really well. He knows how to tell a very good story involving growing up and coming of age. This movie was fantastic. Everybody should really check it out. You don't have to be a Linklater fan to enjoy it either, it is a really solid movie. Go watch "Everybody Wants Some". I think you'll really like it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor of SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man. He wants to know what piece of pop culture did you discover a bit late. Tell us all about it. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing

An Open Letter from Ty

Before I get into my blog today, I want my readers and readers of the site to know that I am done with politics. What happened last night is an absolute travesty and I'm embarrassed to call myself an American this morning. We turned the presidency into a popularity contest won by a bully and a predator. This is disgusting and I'm fed up. I have never, ever cared about politics, but last night was one of the worst things that I have ever witnessed. It is a true and utter embarrassment that we still have not progressed like we think in this country. So, my way to combat all the feelings, I literally feel sick, is to focus on things I love that cannot be taken from me no matter what that monster says he will do. My writings from here on out will be strictly pop culture/sports. These are the things, besides family, that make me happy. I will return my focus to sports, music, funny stuff, random things and my topic today, movies. I will also return to my greatest American band stuff because I really enjoy writing about bands I like, and dislike. Goodbye politics, you were absolutely terrible.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing

I'm Sorry

I will start with a picture of a puppy

I was wrong. For over a year here on SeedSing and the X Millennial Man Podcast I have not given Donald Trump the respect he deserves for running a winning Presidential campaign. Here, along with our community of citizen journalists, have never taken the New York businessman seriously. We have pointed out every gaffe and hateful action from the Trump campaign. We assumed that Donald Trump was going to be embarrassed on election night, and the country would not be that much different than before the election of 2016.

I was wrong. What we never took into account is the true anger, and disconnect, people feel with the Washington DC class. Many times on, this site, I have railed against the incompetence and corruption of our elected leaders. Voting for Hillary Clinton was endorsing this culture I was so very frustrated with. My assumption is that the recklessness of Donald Trump would drive people back into the comforting arms of an old and broken Washington DC system. What I never saw was the single issue rage that turned out the Trump voter. The majority of Americans have been left behind by DC, and enough of people chose the chaos of Trump over four more years of the same. Uncertainty is a better option than more of the terrible same.

So what is next. My first step was to apologize. No excuses, I just need to say that I am sorry for being so dismissive. The next step is to find a way to move America forward. The Trump voters who felt left out of the system now have an opportunity to make their voices heard. The people who were anti-Trump now get to decide if they are going to work for positive change, or just pray for Trump and the GOP to feel. I promise to look for ways we can make America better than it is. I will team up with anyone that truly wants a greater America. No hate, no anger, just progress. Who's in?

Be kind to one another

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Did We Mention that you Need to Vote Today

As RD has already stated, and I'm going to state right now, go vote today. All my pop culture stuff is not nearly as important as going out and letting your voice be heard. Voting is a right handed to us when we turn 18, and now more than ever, you need to vote. Everyone who reads and listens knows who I voted for, but I do not care who you vote for, as long as you vote. Sitting this out and thinking your vote doesn't matter is dumb.

Our country is a democracy and voting is the best way to use your voice in picking, not only the next president, but governors, treasurers, any form of government in your state. There are also plenty of other issues on ballots today that will affect your city and state in the future that need to be voted on today as well. Go out and do your due diligence and vote today. Obviously, I think you should vote for Clinton as president, but you vote for whoever you want, just vote.

And let the world know that you voted too. Pass it along on social media and let people know where you voted, and let them know they have until 7pm in most states to vote. Also let them know that if you are in line, and stay in that line even after 7pm, they have to let you vote. You cannot be turned away, no matter what they try and say and do.

Also, go out of your way to thank the volunteers at your polling place. They are taking the day to help you vote. These are good people, doing thankless work. Let them know they're appreciated.

Anyway, vote, vote, vote. It is very imperative that you get your voice out via voting. I'll be back to pop culture/sports/music stuff tomorrow, but today, voting is what matters most. GO VOTE TODAY!

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He pops up on the Politics side when talks about voting, and to teach Donald Trump a little history. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

We Must Halt the Dumbening of Our Society

The most accurate thing in this photo is the uniform

So we now live in a world where a high school freshman is arrested for making a clock.  Although it impressed the science teacher, it scared the English teacher (apparently not enough to evacuate the classroom, but let’s not let logic interfere).  According to the police, said clock looked like a “movie bomb,” because their training came from Die Hard.  And then, with no understanding themselves, the left starts throwing around a word like “genius” as if any bright, curious kid who likes to play with technology is automatically Einstein.  (Apologies to Ahmed Mohamed, who may be a genius, but who might just be a talented future engineer.)  This whole pile of stupid is what happens when lay-people have no functional understanding of science and technology.

How many times have you heard a supposedly educated and thinking person say to you “Oh, I can’t do algebra” or “chemistry is so boring” without a hint of embarrassment?  These same people would never proudly declare “Oh, I can’t read at a 7th grade level,” or “Shakespeare is so confusing” because people would assume they’re uneducated rubes.  But to my ear, these are one and the same.

When did this happen?  Was it when we divided the world into jocks and nerds?   When we decided all science-types had some form of autism spectrum disorder?  (For the record, I know many socially well-adjusted science-types.)  Five hundred years ago, the model of the educated man was someone like Rene Descartes, who was a philosopher (Cogito ergo sum) but also developed an entire branch of mathematics.  Ben Franklin is as famous for being an inventor as he is for political theory.  But now, top caliber universities offer humanities and social science degrees without any lab science requirements, instead granting credit for “Biology for Poets” and other nonsense.

I’m not on this hobby-horse just because it’s a personal pet peeve.  This is important because it informs our public debate. 

Part of the problem is that lay-people do not understand the process and language of science.    I’m sure we were all taught the scientific method as children.  First, you formulate a hypothesis.  Then, you design an experiment to attempt to DISPROVE this hypothesis.  Once that hypothesis survives enough reasoned attempts at disproving it, it becomes established science.  Sometimes, new data or research methods yield contradictions to established science, and we develop a new testable hypothesis and go from there.

The words “theory,” and “law” mean something different in science than in the vernacular.  A scientific theory is not just a harebrained idea that hasn’t become scientific law.  It’s not a science bill awaiting Stephen Hawking’s signature or something.  They’re distinct concepts.  Laws are models that describe HOW things work, whereas a theory is a broader explanation for a set of phenomena.  (For instance, Newton’s laws of motion describe an object’s behavior at sub-light speeds.  On the other hand, a workable theory of gravity must pull together all prior work on the subject, from Galileo to Hawking.)

Prudent scientists are never 100% certain about anything.  But a dishonest media uses that 0.001% uncertainty as a cudgel in public debate to claim that the scientific jury is still out.  Thus, because of prudence on the part of science, we “debate” whether or not man-made climate change is real.  (It is.)  We “teach the controversy” about whether or not the earth is only 6000 years old.  (It’s not.)  Dr. Trump warns that vaccines cause autism.  (They don’t).  And we talk about whether or not these are “differences of opinion.”  (They’re not.)  These are as “proven” as science ever gets.  There is most certainly a debate to be had about policy approaches, but not about the data itself. To paraphrase the late Pat Moynihan, you are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own science.

The other factor that allows liars, charlatans, and know-nothings to manipulate the public debate is lack of mathematical literacy.  I remember years ago watching Dennis Miller discuss climate change on Jon Stewart’s show.  He mentioned that the earth’s temperature had risen 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past century, and then dismissed such a small change as insignificant to the future.  Miller made the mistake of assuming that all relationships are linear.  They are not.  A 1 degree change over the past century does not necessarily predict a 1 degree change over the next century.  More likely, this change is exponential:     

With only two data points, Miller has no reason to assume that the trend looks like the chart on top as opposed to the second chart (or some other relationship altogether).  But he doesn’t even seem to understand that he made that assumption to begin with!   It requires a functional understanding of analytic geometry to see that (thanks Descartes!).  I’m not suggesting that comedians are considered authorities on climate change.  But they and other lay people influence the debate, and as a society, we need tools to critically evaluate their claims.  And we don’t have them.

We don’t have them because we think that math and science are only done by geniuses, so “regular” people can’t possibly learn them.  Or we think that science is informed by “opinion” and that anyone’s opinion matters.  Neither is true.  For the future of our democracy (baseball, apple pie, the American way of life, etc.), we must teach our kids that science isn’t “scary” and “hard.”  Props to Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, and a host of others for trying.   The next step might be expecting educators to not immediately be scared of an engineering project.  

Science is as easily accessible as history.  We used to teach history as a rote collection of names and dates, but we don’t anymore, because context lends the subject relevance.  Scientific context and relevance should be even easier since you see it around you every day.  But you need reading comprehension to learn history, and you need math comprehension to learn science.  All are essential for an engaged public and a vibrant civic debate.  We know that we can’t leave history in the past.  We must learn that we can’t leave science in the lab.

Fight the dumbening of society.  (Is that how you spell dumbening?)

Tina S

Tina hangs out around the virtual cube farm of SeedSing and throws out world changing ideas. We assume those are home made clocks she leaves around the office. Show off your smarts by writing for SeedSing.

Second Annual Get Your Ass Out and Vote Call to Action

Just follow the signs.

Ed note: Much of this article was copied from our "First Annual Get Your Ass Out and Vote Call to Action". The names and entertainment have been updated. Next year will be a lot of the same words if you don't get off your ass and vote.

Hello All, again.

It is election day. I assume many of our good readers are well informed of the candidates and issues. You all probably woke up bright and early, presented your voting credentials, and are now wearing the "I Voted" stickers to the embarrassment of your non-voting friends, co-workers, and family. To all the good voters out there, good job, you make America proud. 

The preceding paragraph represents less than two thirds of America's eligible voter population.  In over 75 years we have seen Presidential election turnouts rate top out at 65% of eligible voters participating only one time (1976 - Jimmy Carter's victory). What the hell is the problem? Why do people not vote? Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are not inspiring a bunch of hope in the American electorate. The onslaught of the 24 hour media, and the subhuman conversation on talk radio, make elections into a quasi philosophical battlefield. Cowards like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh use their time on publicly created radio and television airwaves  to claim America will be ending if their chosen politicians do not win. The professional left (once again thanks Robert Gibbs) makes every election into a crowning of their latest political celebrity. With all of this noise, very few people actually vote.

What the hell is wrong with you people? The national (and most state) Democratic Party has totally given up on local elections so they can win the "Best in Show" ribbon that is the Presidential election. Way to go Democrats, Obama won two elections. How has that worked out? We have the psychopaths of the tea party in congress now, non-stop obstructionism, and a Republican Senate who promises to never give a hearing to a Supreme Court Justice if their party is not in power.. The Democratic Party's lack of developing any local candidates, and supporting them, has led to people in Washington DC much worse than Donald Trump. The mighty party of the people has completely failed at building a strong stable of candidates, and left the power to the most self serving political movement in American history.

The people who are on your school boards, city/town councils, and municipal courts have a ton more power over your lives than anyone who is elected to Washington DC. Your kids go to schools run by the philosophical whims of the school board. Your emergency services are managed by your city councils. Your home values are dictated by the people elected today. Yet nobody seems to care. We all get excited to vote for history (Obama) or vote to take our country back (Donald Trump), but we care not to vote for the person who will give the next generation a chance to thrive. What is wrong with us? The election you do not participate in today will elect the crazy person to your school board. That person will next move on to win a city council race you refuse to vote in. Next thing you know, that crazy person is being featured on "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" as another crazy right winger who belongs in the 1800's. They got there because we refused to stop them from winning their first election.  We elected them by not participating.

Wake up and get your ass out to vote. I know that levies, school boards, and trustees do not excite our electoral urges. Maybe you got up to vote against Hillary or Donald? Make sure you look down that ballot and make your mark against other names and issues. Grow up. Your home values, your kids education, and the overall future of our society depends on who wins this November 8th, 2016. If you decide not to vote, I will blame the next Trump/Clinton on you. 

Vote

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Not voting gives us leaders like Matt Bevin in Kentucky. The Bluegrass State would like a do over. Be a thought leader of tomorrow and write for SeedSing. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Hillary Clinton vs Donald Trump is the Least Important Choice on Your Ballot

Somehow we got to use this picture again.

Who is ready to do some voting?

At long last, the greatest election in American history is coming to an end. Jay Z has sung, Ted Nugent has grabbed his crotch, the most important voices have told you who to vote for. It is now the general public's turn. On election day, less than two thirds of eligible voters will make their choice. Hillary or Donald will emerge victorious in the days after the election, and America will enter a new era. The choice of the people will be ready to lead.

Unfortunately we are all already know what will come after the election. Trump will lose, and he will throw a temper tantrum. If in some weird way Trump does win, the Clinton supporters will lose their minds and accuse people of election fraud. The new President will be deligitimized immediately by the opponent's partisans in the media. The idea of respecting the outcome of an election is long gone. The new President will have an incompetent group of partisan hacks in the US Congress who will do everything in their power to stop any meaningful idea from the executive branch. The millions of people who vote for the loser between Clinton and Trump will feel left out of this new America, and they will react poorly.

The thing is, we have ourselves to blame for this dangerous division. The supporters of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have made the election only about themselves. Clinton does not do rallies with down ticket Democrats, and Donald Trump has flat out refused to endorse some very powerful congressional GOPers. The media, national and local, spends 99% of its time on Trump and Clinton, and the other 1% on other races. The public is uninformed, and not curious, about any thing outside of the freakshow that has been the 2016 Presidential campaign. That attitude has created a broken America.

This is a huge problem. Barack Obama won in 2008 and 2012 by a wide margin. He is the first President since Eisenhower in 1956 to win over 51% of popular vote twice. What do we remember from Obama's eight years? We have the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare if your nasty. We also have a ton of Republican obstructionism. That is pretty much it. There was the increase in LGBTQ rights, but that came from the courts. Obamacare and Republican obstructionism is pretty much what we saw over eight years. There has been a record number of votes to overturn Obamacare, all failed. We have now long past the record for the most amount of time a Supreme Court appointment has gone without a hearing. If Obama is so popular, how can Congress keep being do nothing obstructionists and get away with it?

Obama, like Clinton and Trump today, never made their supporters care for the down ticket races. It takes a whole lot of money, and personpower, to run for President. The hording of resources is what we have called the Ohio Problem (you can read all about on this fine website). The general electorate, or less than two thirds of it, get excited to vote for President, and forget everything else. Midterm elections struggle to get half the amount of voters in Presidential elections. There is very rarely times where people are excited to vote for the Senator, or school board member. That lack of excitement has given us a popular President, and a Congress more concerned with partisanship than with doing actual work. The most important races, the people running who can actual affect your life, are being pushed to the side for the dog and pony show of modern Presidential campaigns. 

In 2000 many people thought George W Bush was way less qualified to be President than Al Gore. In 2008 Hillary Clinton and John McCain made the case that Barack Obama was a celebrity, not a seasoned politician. The press liked the camera friendly Bush, and the dynamic Obama. The people followed the press. The American people elected the popular kids over the hard working salutatorians. The idea of celebrity was overshadowing the solid resumes of the DC lifers. People wanted to be part of a movement, they wanted to join the cult of personality. The experienced workers were squares who most of the electorate ignored.

While these media friendly neophytes were winning, the public forgot about the people who actually make laws. In the last two decades, a freshman member of the US Congress has more power than the President. Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have stopped legislation supported by both parties. Members of the House of Representatives you have never heard of are currently blocking vital federal funds from solving the water crisis in Flint, Michigan and containing the Zika virus outbreak in Florida. The most powerful members of our government were being reelected with no competition from the opposing party. Even in the swing state of Ohio, the Democratic party has ceded the election to a man who was once the Budget Director and trade representative to George W Bush. Hillary Clinton is working hard to expand the Democratic Party's electoral college map, but her hording of state resources are allowing the GOP to keep a stranglehold on Capitol Hill. Her supporters believe electing Hillary will be enough. It won't be.

How the Democratic Party keeps missing the lessons of 2012 are baffling. Hillary will probably win, and the Republican party will still control Congress. Senators John McCain, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee have promised not to hold hearings for any Supreme Court appointments for the next four years. That is unconstitutional and anti-American. Nationwide, people running for office as Republicans have promised to waste more taxpayer money by have a thousand more showboat votes to defund Obamacare. By ignoring down ballot races, the Democratic Party is embracing gridlock and giving up any chance of change until the next election.

This needs to be the next election. We have made the case for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, but their victory is unimportant. Many people have expressed their frustration that both candidates are terrible. Then don't vote for the President, or vote third party. Who cares? Trump will not have the power to do what he wants to, and he will act the child he has been his whole life. Clinton will not have a Congress that will work with her, and she will use the office to enrich her family and her donors. Ok, they stink, but there are other people on the ballot. The person you elect to the US House, the Senate, your state legislature, town council, school board, they have real power. Your taxes are decided by these people. The education your child receives is in these peoples hands. Feel like you do not know who these people are, check out your local ballot. Think you don't know these people, Google them. If you plan on going to vote for Hillary or Donald anyway, it doesn't hurt to take time and vote for the people who really matter.

We get our chance to end this nightmare tomorrow. Clinton V Trump will not be listed as one of the more inspiring Presidential campaigns in US history. The good thing is we have a moment to take power back. Sure there all third party candidates like Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Evan McMullin, and Cthulhu, but we should focus on the not as well known names lower on the ballot. When we focus on getting a working Congress, a school board who thinks of children over partisan interests, and judges who focus on the law over special interests, then we will have a government who has real hope and change. 

Go out and vote.

RD  

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Be a thought leader of tomorrow and write for SeedSing. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Stink of the Packers is Coming from Aaron Rodgers

This picture seems to come up whenever we talk about the Packers at midseason

Waking up this morning I read a story on Bleacher Report that had Aaron Rodgers saying that he was upset with the Packers sense of urgency, and the way that some of the players conducted themselves after they lost their second straight game, to the Colts, and now stand at 4-4.

Look, I agree that most of that team, my team, has no urgency and they do not seem to care about the outcome of the game. But, with that being said, I think it all falls on their leader, quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The fact that he is blaming everyone except himself is laughable. I watched the majority of that game yesterday, and he looked as aloof and uncaring as anyone on the team. He had no sense of urgency. When they got down 14-3 quick in the first quarter, he approached each play as if the score was tied, or the Packers were winning. He looked very ho hum and kind of disinterested yesterday.

That game wasn't just an outlier, Rodgers has looked that way the entire season so far. He has been the main guy with no sense of urgency. Earlier this year, while playing the Bears, the Packers defense kept doing what they needed to do, getting stops, but the offense, led by Rodgers, would go out there, run 3 stupid plays, and punt the ball. They were even down in the third quarter of that game before the Packers realized that they are much better than the Bears, and they eventually pulled away. But yesterday, earlier this year against the Cowboys and Vikings as well, the Packers have looked mediocre at best. I say again, that goes on the leader of the team, Aaron Rodgers.

I'm a huge Aaron Rodgers fan, but he has looked pretty, for his standards, average this year. People will say the line is the problem, or the receivers aren't getting separation, or they have no running game with Eddie Lacy out. Whatever. All those things have been true for three years now, but this is the worst the Packers have looked in that three year stretch. I don't know if it is Mike McCarthy's play calling, he needs to be fired, if the receivers are really this average, or if Rodgers has just thrown in the towel on this season so he can do more TV appearances and commercials. I'm embarrassed to call myself a Packers fan right now, and it is mainly because of the play from Rodgers. He has been holding onto the ball much too long. The line has been giving him time, but he has taken far too many sacks, or just thrown the ball away too much.

You watch ESPN, and they will chastise the line, not Rodgers. Then, others will say the receivers aren't getting open, which is true to an extent, but that was never a real problem until late last season, and all of this season. Rodgers used to be able to fit the ball into the smallest of windows, but his ball doesn't have the same zip that it used to have. I also do not think he trusts the receivers like he used to. The guys are good, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams and Richard Rodgers are all decent, but for some reason, Rodgers is afraid to throw to them in tight windows. He looks like he'd rather take a sack or throw the ball away then take the chances he took 2 and 3 years ago.

Then there is the running game. Look, I know it is rough. Ty Montgomery has become their lead back, and he is a slot receiver, but that cannot be why they are so bad this year. Montgomery has actually looked pretty good running the ball out of the backfield. Eddie Lacy wasn't setting the world on fire, but he was capable of making the run game a threat. I feel like Montgomery is doing the same thing right now.

Rodgers won't go on a post game interview and praise the fact that a slot receiver has really stepped up in the run game for the team and is doing well, he just wants to talk bad about everyone but himself. This is the first time that I can say that I have seen Rodgers be selfish. He has always seemed like a team guy, but this interview made me very angry. I get that they are struggling right now, I watch them every Sunday, so I know, but to throw your whole team under the bus, that is cowardly. These superstar players never do this publicly either, well, at least not the real superstar players. You never see Tom Brady publicly blaming his teammates. Michael Jordan handled his business behind closed doors famously. Mike Trout hasn't come out and complained once about being on a terrible Angels team. And I do not know many hockey players, but I have never heard any stories about guys like Wayne Gretzky or Mark Messier calling out their teammates publicly. Rodgers should have handled it like those guys, namely Michael Jordan. To air stuff out for the mass media, in public, is a shameful and a me first take on your team.

I am upset, obviously. The Packers are tanking and their best player is blaming everyone but himself, even though he probably has the most problems on this team right now. This Packers season has not gone to plan, and to hear Rodgers say this stuff this morning has made it even worse. Hopefully they can turn it around, but I do not see that happening, not after these remarks from their "leader".

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Not long ago he thought the Packers could turn it around. Read what he had to say. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Case for Hillary Clinton

The combo for the case was in one of the 3000 emails

In case you live under a rock and still find time to read SeedSing.com, there is a pretty contentious race going on for the Presidency of the United States. New York businessman Donald Trump is running against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. There are a few other people on the ballot, but they have no chance whatsoever, so we will not name them here.

Are you one of those undecided voters? Really? What is wrong with you? Well we are going to give the undecided, and the determinedly decided, voters a look at why each candidate deserves your vote for President of the United States. Enjoy, and make damn sure you vote on or before (if allowed in your state) November 8th. 

Why Hillary Clinton should be President of the United States

Time for some real talk.

Hillary Clinton will walk into the election on November 8th with almost enough electoral votes to win the Presidency. If you take, Ohio, Iowa, and Florida, all states won by Obama in 2012, and give those votes to Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton will still have over the needed 270 electoral votes. This huge advantage is not because Clinton is a transcendent candidate, it is because the Democratic Party nominee will always have this advantage until the GOP can figure out how to grow voters. Complaining about immigration, and offering no credible solutions. Voting constantly to defund Obamacare, and offering no real alternative. Claiming white christian men are the real victims, while ignoring every other demographic group. These issues are keeping the national Republican Party isolated from the majority of Americans. How and why the GOP can win everything except the Presidency has been a mystery to many. We have discussed how the GOP has been so successful at the local level, and so very bad in Presidential elections. While the Republican Party rests on the success of their small ball approach to elections, and not evolve to bring in new voters, the Democratic Party will continue to win ever single Presidential election. Most of these victories will be by a wide margin.

Being gifted this Electoral College advantage is why Hillary Clinton will be elected President of the United States, but it is not why you should vote for her. The contrast between Clinton's centrism, and Trump's populism is almost nonexistent. There are many issues where the candidates are on the same page. They will both work with a pro business Congress to bail out Wall Street when there is another economic downturn. Both candidates will acquiesce to any recommendations the Pentagon makes in concern to our continued military operations in the Middle East. Like every recent Presidential campaign that preceded them, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have claimed to be the change candidate, but when it comes to the big issues they will not have the Constitutional powers to make the broad sweeping changes promised on the campaign trail. The economy, gun rights, foreign policy, it will all stay the same under a President Clinton or President Trump. Sorry, but those are the facts.

Where Hillary Clinton does separate herself from Donald Trump is in the areas where the Republican Party is falling behind on the national stage. The GOP, led by Trump, has taken a very hard stance on immigration. Talk of loyalty tests, banning entire groups from entering the country, and the constant defense of racist leaders, and their racist ideas, has hamstrung the Republican party with many minority groups. Immigrant groups like Latinos, and Muslims, are growing, while the old middle class white man as a voting group is shrinking. While Fox News, and other thought leaders of the Republican Party, continue to demonize these growing groups, the GOP will continue to lose voters. Gaining these groups is creating a permanent fire wall of supporters the Democratic Party can count on for generations. If these groups turn out, there is no way the Democratic candidate can ever lose the Presidency. The Clinton campaign is counting on these voters to put them over the top.

Many people wonder why the majority of minority groups blindly support the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton, along with majority of the Democratic Party, has not been demonizing Muslim or Latino immigrants . Along with African Americans, the immigrant community sees the Democratic Party as their only choice in a national election. Clinton has highlighted the struggle of the people who come to America for a better opportunity. She has put on display the heroism of immigrants who have given it all to defend America. The GOP has tried to present a case to American minority groups that the Democratic Party does nothing to help the true struggles immigrants face, but it sounds hollow when in the same day Donald Trump is turning Muslims, African Americans, and Latinos into people all Americans should fear. By acting gracious, and not suspicious, the Clinton campaign is adding voters with almost all minority groups in the United States. Alienating these voters is killing any future the Republican party hopes to have at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare if your nasty, is another area where Clinton is focusing on solving a problem and Donald Trump is only concerned with creating division. The Affordable Care Act is not a very good piece of legislation, but it has areas that almost everyone agrees on. People should not be denied healthcare because of a preexisting condition. No matter of income level, every American deserves adequate access to good health. The mythical GOP plan that has been presented as an Obamacare replacement has included both of these provisions at one time or another. Hillary Clinton has been involved in reforming America's healthcare system for over twenty years. She wants to create a solution, not have endless defunding show votes that accomplish nothing. Donald Trump, and the Republican Party, continues to treat Americans health as a commodity where there is money to be made. Hillary Clinton may not have evolved to the point where access to good health should be equal, but she has devoted a large part of her life in trying to gain access to good healthcare for all. Her leadership on this vital issue is a comfort to a nervous electorate.

Donald Trump likes to criticism Hillary Clinton for being in politics for so long, and not accomplishing anything. If Mr. Trump, and the Republican Party, had read the United States Constitution, they would understand that a former private attorney, First Lady, US Senator, and Secretary of State does not have the unilateral power they all believe she did possess. If one was to have an unbiased look at Clinton's actual record of accomplishment, they would come away impressed. Clinton has made her mark on both US domestic and foreign policy. People may not agree with everything she has accomplished, but the record is long, and even Republicans will see some good. Trump likes to say she created ISIS, any thinking person can see the lie in that statement. The Republican Party has tried, and tried, and tried to trip up Secretary Clinton on Benghazi. They have failed and embarrassed themselves. Hillary Clinton's long political career has not only created an unparalleled list of accomplishment, but it also created one of the craftiest political fighters in US history.

This is usually the point where the Trump supporters will point to the corruption that has followed Hillary and Bill Clinton their entire political careers. There have been a lot of news stories, hit pieces, and congressional investigations, yet Hillary Clinton has never been indicted or charged with any crime. None whatsoever. While the GOP has gone after Hillary Clinton, she has swatted every single attack down. The email scandal has been going on since before Clinton announced her intention to run for President, yet their is still no smoking gun. Foreign entities have tried to derail Clinton's campaign, they have all failed. Former President Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and many other administration officials, kept government information on private email servers and deleted millions of communications when investigators came knocking. Surprisingly there have not been endless investigations by the the Republicans in Congress who claim they are just trying to protect Americans. While the Bush administration has gotten away with deleting millions of emails concerning government business, Hillary Clinton has constantly been hounded about 30,000 communications that no one can find. Most Americans see the double standard, and Donald Trump is losing the argument.

Hillary Clinton has spent most of her adult life working in the Washington DC machine and slowly climbing her way to the top. On the campaign trail people like to see an outsider running for President, but we have always preferred the comfort of knowing that our President knows Washington DC. Hillary Clinton definitely knows DC. Voting for Hillary Clinton is like walking through a haunted house attraction. How everything works is hidden from your view. The secrets of the house are closely guarded. You have an idea what to expect, but there will be a few scares. In the end you will be right back where you started. Nothing has really changed. On the ride home you are left wondering if it was all worth it. 

Go out and vote.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is not embarrassed about writing what is not in his heart. Why does he have no shame? Because journalism has no shame. Be shameless and write for SeedSing. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

KD May Have Won the Game, but He Lost a lot of Respect

Does KD need this for the game?

Last night the Thunder traveled to Oakland to face the Warriors. This is one of the first times in my life that I can remember caring about an NBA game this early in the season. I mean, as an NBA fan, how could you not be excited for the first matchup between Russ and KD?

The game happened and the Warriors crushed the Thunder, but that's beyond the point of my blog today. If anyone thought the Thunder had a chance to beat the Warriors in Oakland, you're lying, unless your name is Russell Westbrook. KD played out of his mind last night, but I came away embarrassed for the way he carried himself throughout the game. He kept acting like that guy that doesn't want to fight, but keeps telling people to hold him back. He has been firing back handed comments in Westbrook's direction all offseason, but going into the game last night, he said some nonsense about how they'd always be friends. I think Westbrook would disagree with that statement. So, instead of going at Westbrook and talking trash on the court to him, he would talk to guys that don't really matter, Enes Kanter and Jerami Grant, and yell and scream after every shot. We all know that you're a good basketball player, but when did you become a punk KD? You have never been a trash talker, but you join the best team, the team that beat you in the West Finals after you had a 3-1 lead, and all of the sudden you're a shit talker? That doesn't make sense to me.

This new persona of his is really off putting. He's a shit talker that gripes about people calling him out for his decision. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, get used to everyone outside of Oakland not liking you and rooting against you KD. You made this choice. You picked to be the villain. You chose to hitch your wagon to a championship team, instead of building one in OKC. You left OKC high and dry. Luckily, Westbrook stayed, so they'll be competitive, but you left and barely told anyone in the Thunder organization.

I guess this is my long winded way of saying that I have lost a ton of respect for KD, especially with everything he's done since he signed with the Warriors. He bitches and moans about everything now and wonders why people root against him. It's baffling that he is this unaware of his profession and his choices. You're a great basketball player, but you've turned into a poser. You are not tough and not a shit talker. You are a ring chaser, a follower and the third best player on your current team. Watching him shit talk everyone but Westbrook last night showed his true colors to me. He will go after marginal NBA players, but put stars like Westbrook or LeBron in front of him and he shrinks.

KD is great, but I do not respect him and his decision. I will be rooting incredibly hard against the Warriors and KD for the rest of the season. And this isn't the first time, or the last time, I will be talking about KD and the Warriors this year. I guarantee that. The hate will be coming hard this NBA season, especially for KD.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. It may be early in the NBA season, but you should not be late and hearing Ty give his NBA season preview on the mini-X Millennial Man. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

It has Now Been One Day Since the Chicago Cubs Last Won the World Series

The last one standing, finally.

What an epic, epic game last night. Even I, an admitted outsider baseball fan, was swept up in the final 4 innings of that game last night. I waited out that short rain delay, even though I was very sleepy, just so I could finish that game. This has been the year of teams breaking long droughts, I won't say curse because curses aren't real. Also, good for me, because one of my predictions actually came to fruition. I know it wasn't all that far fetched to pick the best team in the MLB to win the title, but after the Warriors, Panthers and Oklahoma Sooners made me look like an idiot, at least I picked the Cubs correctly.

I'm not going to try and demean or make this title seem less worthy than it is because I'm a Cardinals fan. The Cubs earned this championship, even though Aroldis Chapman and Joe Maddon did everything in their powers to blow it for this team. Chapman should have been pulled much earlier when he wasn't hitting the strike zone, and Maddon shouldn't have put him in for 8 outs remaining in a game that the Cubs lead by 7 runs in game 6. But, Ben Zobrist came through in the clutch when this team needed him most. Zobrist proved to be the best of any addition the Cubs have made in the past 2 years. He won a World Series last year, with the Royals, so who better than a guy that was just there to come through for them. Some may say, what about what Jon Lester did in relief? He was great, but he did not provide the hit that clinched the win for a team that hadn't won a title in 108 years. Zobrist was the main acquisition, on a team filled with players that played elsewhere in the past 2 years, that truly lived up to the moment. As I said, Lester was fine, but he looked shaky in his starts early in the World Series. Jason Heyward was non existent throughout the playoffs. Dexter Fowler was great, but not really until last night. John Lackey got beat up in his lone start. This was all on farm talent, think Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber and Javy Baez, and Ben Zobrist. He was the undoubted MVP of this World Series. Yeah he was 0 for 4 going into that at bat in the 10th, but he came through, as he is expected to do.

Lets step away from the Cubs for a second and bask in the glory that was this game 7. The Cubs came out on fire, with Fowler hitting a leadoff homerun. I thought that would be enough, but they piled on 4 more runs to up their lead in the 5th inning to 5-1. But, the Indians would not die. They kept chipping away, cutting the lead to 5-3 near the end of the 6th inning. The Cubs added another run, so I figured, with a 3 run lead and all the great relief work Lester did and David Ross hitting a solo homerun in his final game, the Cubs would cruise in the final 2 innings and close it out.

But, the Indians, with their never give up attitude, kept plugging away. Maddon decided, against his better judgement, to put Chapman in, and he looked shaky from the start. He couldn't get the ball over the plate, and the Indians hitters were making him throw a lot of pitches, just waiting for the mistake. They got an RBI double, then Rajaie Davis came up, worked to a full count, and smoked a fastball over the left field wall to tie the game in the 8th.

All the momentum shifted, I thought the Indians would seize the game from there, the Cubs fans they showed on TV looked defeated. The Indians then came out, gave up a leadoff hit, let Heyward get all the way to third on a throwing error during a stolen base, but the Indians got out of the jam.

Then, they did nothing in the bottom of the ninth.

Then, as we were getting ready for extra innings, they had a rain delay.

A RAIN DELAY IN GAME 7 OF THE WORLD SERIES!

It was crazy! Luckily it was short, and the Cubs took back that momentum, with Schwarber getting a leadoff single in the tenth, The Indians tried to work around the front half of the Cubs loaded lineup. They got Bryant to fly out, but the guy that was pinch running for Schwarber excellently read the ball and tagged up to second. They walked Rizzo to face Zobrist. Zobrist looked outmatched, but took a 2-2 outside fastball to left field, and at that moment, I knew the Cubs would close it out. They added another run, then gave up one run in the bottom of the 10th, just to make it interesting, but they finally closed it out on a weak grounder and ended the longest championship drought in professional sports history.

Good for you Cubs, and Cubs fans. You finally know what it feels like to be a champion in baseball, even though the White Sox won the World Series 10 years ago, but the White Sox are not the Cubs. The Cubs are way more important to that city than the White Sox, that is a fact.

This was an epic game 7, and a part of me is happy for the Cubs fans. It is a really cool thing to see your team win a title. Especially when it has been this long since the last one. And, sorry Indians fans, but your team choked. They had everything in front of them for 3 games, controlled their own destiny, and they couldn't close it out. Classic Cleveland baseball.

This has definitely been the year of breaking droughts and trends. The Cavs won the NBA title, the Cubs are now World Series champs, so I guess that means a team like the Arizona Cardinals (now the holders of the longest championship drought in American sports), since the Browns have no shot at even having a winning record, as the Super Bowl favorites, even though they are far from making the playoffs. This should also mean that some college teams that haven't won a title in decades, like former dominant teams; Navy, Michigan, Florida, Washington, Indiana or even Georgia, may win a title in either football or basketball this year. And with pro hockey, I think the Saint Louis Blues have never won a Stanley Cup, so they should probably be the favorites to win it this season, but I know nothing about the NHL. Nothing. But hey, droughts are ending, apparently that is the trend, so if the Cavs and Cubs can win, so can all the other teams I mentioned, they just need a shot.

Anyway, congrats Cubs. You guys were the best team in baseball, and you proved it by winning the first of what will be many titles, if this team stays mostly intact. The Cubs have the best roster, and for the most part, they are young, so baseball fans, get used to seeing this team in contention for a long time. Congrats, and keep celebrating.

But, to end on a sour note, because that is what I do, ESPN will not be watched that much in my house for, at least, the next 6 months, because this Cubs title will be all they talk about for months on end. Even when the NFL shifts to playoff mode, the college football playoff comes along and the NBA gets deeper and deeper into its season, ESPN will still bring up the fact that the Cubs won the World Series. It will be insufferable.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He also forgot to mention the greatest sports person of the 21st century, Theo Epstein. The man is some kind of god. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Case for Donald Trump

The case is filled with lead and swings in the general direction of the candidate.

In case you live under a rock and still find time to read SeedSing.com, there is a pretty contentious race going on for the Presidency of the United States. New York businessman Donald Trump is running against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. There are a few other people on the ballot, but they have no chance whatsoever, so we will not name them here.

Are you one of those undecided voters? Really? What is wrong with you? Well we are going to give the undecided, and the determinedly decided, voters a look at why each candidate deserves your vote for President of the United States. Enjoy, and make damn sure you vote on or before (if allowed in your state) November 8th. 

Why Donald Trump should be President of the United States

With the current state of the national political climate, any Democratic candidate has a huge electoral advantage over their Republican counterpart. It is the facts of math. Mitt Romney in 2012 and John McCain in 2008 were blown out in the electoral college vote because of the Democratic Party's advantage. In order to win the election, Donald Trump will have to get a state, or two, who have leaned towards the Democratic candidate for nearly a decade. Trump has to gain votes that Romney and McCain could not. Being so unpopular, how does Trump gain these voters?

The fact is that the only way Donald Trump will win the US Presidency is if enough people vote for him because he is not Hillary Clinton. To this vital group of people, who can swing the entire election, the case for Donald Trump is that he is not Hillary Clinton. That is it, these people want to find a way to keep Clinton out of office.  The anybody but Hillary crowd need to break for Trump. If that happens, than the Republican nominee may have gained the voters the GOP have been searching for over the last two elections.

Why does Donald Trump deserve the lion's share of the never Hillary voters? To begin with, Trump is definitely not like Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump is not like any politician in modern memory. The election of Donald J Trump to the Presidency of the United States would be shocking. For years, many people have run for elected office claiming to be outsiders. Trump is genuinely an outsider. He has ran as a third party candidate. He has been registered as a Democrat longer than he has been a Republican. The talk of being an outsider is never right, except when it is Donald Trump doing the talking. For people saying that the problem with politics is politicians, Trump is the messiah they have been waiting for.

Donald Trump has also put a great amount of effort into running for President. While most of the Republican field took the electorate for granted, Trump was always on tv, and at rallies, making his case. When the fundraising has been a little light, Trump has put his own money up. Hillary Clinton has run a very low key, and low energy, campaign, while Trump is a force that never stops. His constant presence has had many consequences, but no one can deny his effort. Being a figure who has taken advantage of other people's hard work, it is shocking how much energy Trump has put into his 18 month run for the President. Donald Trump may be accused of a lot of bad stuff, but being a lazy candidate should not be one of those accusations.

If Donald Trump is elected to the Presidency of the United States, it will end the Clinton Dynasty. The Democratic Party has been crippled at every level because of the hording of resources and manpower done by the Hillary Clinton campaign (just take a look at the Ohio Problem). The constant defense of the sins of Bill Clinton has caused the Democratic Party to lose the moral high ground. Any Trump accusation is turned around to make a similar, if not worse, accusation against former President Clinton. True or not, there is an unfortunate history of Bill Clinton and infidelity, and the left wing never condemns the former President. The mainstream media, along with the entire Republican Party, has spent decades litigating Bill and Hillary Clinton. Many people are tired of the overzealous investigations, and the same amount of people are tired of the general corruption that follows the Clintons. Make no mistake, there are plenty of scandals surrounding Donald Trump, but they are new scandals. The nation does not have the same kind of fatigue concerning the Trump scandals. There will be plenty of media, and maybe even a few congressional, investigations into a possible President Donald Trump. That does not matter. What is important to the nation's psyche is that we are finally investigation someone not named Clinton.

There is also no way of knowing what a Donald Trump Presidency would look like. I know many people find that frightening, but to others it will be an exciting breath of fresh air. We know what we get from a Hillary Clinton Presidency. She will help Wall Street, not fix Obamacare, continue the terrible foreign policy Bush II started in the Middle East, protect her big campaign supporters at the expense of everyone else. Hillary Clinton will act like every President before her because that is what the system rewards. Trump is an unknown. He says a lot of things like building the wall, and tearing up trade and defense treaties, but he does not have the unilateral power to do these things. Congress will definitely not follow the currently laid out Trump plan. How will President Trump react to this? The last time there was such an unknown, and feared, person in the Oval Office his name was Teddy Roosevelt. History has judged President Roosevelt quite well. Could Trump take his unknown qualities and change America for the better? 

Do you want an unknown quantity, who is very high energy, and will finally kick the Clinton machine to the curb, then Donald J Trump is your man. His language may be rough, his past is filled with landmines, and his business acumen is questionable, but he is definitely not a part of the same DC machine that has given us our current broken government. Voting for Donald Trump is like diving into the old quarry late at night. You have no idea how far down it is, how deep the water is, and if you will actually survive, but it sure gets the heart racing. It is up to America to decide if we want to make that jump. The only thing we risk is death, paralysis, or one hell of thrill. Leap at your own risk.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is not embarressed about writing what is not in his heart. Why does he have no shame? Because journalism has no shame. Be shameless and write for SeedSing. 

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

The Drought Will End Tonight for Chicago or Cleveland

One last time

Tonight there will be a game 7 in the World Series. This is a great thing for baseball. To be honest, I have not watched much, if any, postseason baseball. As I stated in other posts, since the Cardinals aren't in the playoffs, college football is in full swing and the NBA has started, I have totally checked out of this particular World Series. I am not a fan of either the Cubs or the Indians. Honestly, I could not care less who wins. But, game 7's are always exciting. I will probably watch little to none of the game, but I will be following it on my phone, checking the score every 30 minutes or so. One beleaguered franchise, that fans have been waiting a long, long time to bring home a title, will win it all tonight.

That intro is my long winded way to get to what I really want to talk about for this particular post. Both of these MLB franchises, for the past 60 plus years, have always found a way to lose games that they should win. The Cubs, back in the Mark Prior/Kerry Wood days could not close out any NLCS. Blame Steve Bartman all you want, but they blew that game 6. They had many chances to win, but they choose to blame Bartman, while dozens of other people were trying to catch that ball that Alou had no chance to catch anyway. The Cubs also had decent teams in the 80's and 90's, with players like Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Sammy Sosa, and so on and so forth, that never made it to the promise land.

The Indians are another team that have never been able to close it out. In the 90's, with Albert Belle leading this team, they couldn't get past the Marlins. Try as he might, Omar Vizquel could not bring a title to Cleveland. The Indians are another team that has had all time great players that can not finish it off when it matters most.

That all changes tonight. But, I ask, which team will continue to be the team that cannot close the deal? Will it be the Indians? They had a 3-1 lead just a few days ago. They were shutting down this excellent Cubs lineup. They were stealing bases and small balling the hell out of the Cubs. Everything was going their way. Sure, the game 5 loss seemed preordained, but last night's throttling was surprising. I know the Cubs have a better lineup and had last years Cy Young winner on the mound, but to get beat 9-3, in a possible clinching game, that should scare Indians fans. The Indians got dismantled last night. They were beat from the start. But, was this their way of reverting to what is the norm, or is it an aberration? I guess we will find out tonight.

Then, there are the Cubs. They came out of the block slow. Corey Kluber absolutely shut them down in game 1. The Cubs could not do anything. Kluber outdueled Jon Lester as well. Lester is probably the Cy Young winner in the NL this year, but Kluber won it in the AL last year. Then, game 2, the Cubs bats woke up and they won handily. I thought this was when they would take over and win the next 3 and end there 108 year drought. Well, the opposite happened. The Cubs, returning to Wrigley Field, got completely shut down for the next 2 games. They had Kyle Hendricks on the mound during one of the those games, he pitched an absolute gem, but the Indians got one run and that turned out to be all that they needed. The Indians controlled the first 2 games at Wrigley. I turned from thinking that the Cubs would roll to thinking that the Indians would roll. 

Then, game 5, with the Indians having a chance to clinch, happened. Like I said, it was a predictable outcome. The Cubs came to play. So did the Indians, but the Cubs roster is better, and in a tight game, they pulled out the win like they should. So, maybe the Cubs were turning it around, but I thought that it would come to a close last night, even with Arrieta on the mound. As I have already said, that was not the case. The Cubs bats woke up and they crushed the Indians last night. So, the Cubs turned on what they normally do, choke, and now the pressure is on both teams.

This all leads to my final thoughts. Which team will exercise the demons tonight, and which team will continue to be the underachievers in big games? The pitching matchup will be great. The Cubs bats seem to have woken up, but will they do the same against a 3 day rest Corey Kluber? I wish I could answer that Cubs fans. Will the Indians wake up and continue to steal bases, play small ball and shut down the Cubs like in games 3 and 4? Again, I wish I could answer that Indians fans. This has been a great ending to the baseball season, again, I have barely watched any baseball all year. But, this should be exactly what the baseball apologists and purists should have wanted. We have 2 teams that have not been this far in a long time, and one of them will come away as champions tonight and themselves and their fan base will breath a huge sigh of relief and party the night away.

I know that the game is in Cleveland, but I have picked the Cubs in every prediction post and podcast on this site, so I have to pick them tonight. I think the Indians will revert to their choking ways, blow their 3-1 lead, and the Cubs will be celebrating on their field around midnight tonight. The game will be a lot closer than last night's game. Maddon putting in Chapman, who is a domestic abuser, for an 8 out save last night might have killed his arm, but I do not think that will matter. This is the last game of the MLB season, so all will be left on the field tonight and the Cubs will exercise their 108 year drought. That is my outsider view of what will happen tonight.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is so very wrong on picking the Cubs. Cleveland is a city of champions, Indians all the way. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Ty Watches Bar Rescue: Brickhouse Bar and Grill Edition

This past Sunday, "Bar Rescue" turned in one of their worst episodes that I have seen in awhile. Taffer and crew headed to the "Brickhouse Bar and Grill" in Colorado to help save it. From the start, I was not very happy with this episode. The great thing about this season is the fact that it has been so different from the other seasons. This season has not taken itself seriously, or when they do, it is with a coy smile as if to say, we know what we are doing. There have been some home run episodes in earlier seasons, like "The Landing Strip", "Piratz Tavern" and "The O Face Bar", but most early episodes are filled with "redemption" stories and cliché after cliché. It can be pretty off putting. That was the case with "Brickhouse".

The episode opens with your typical sad, my bar is failing, can you help me Jon Taffer type story. But, we come to realize that the guy running the bar is a member of the army that gets deployed a bunch. I have no problem with the troops, they are doing the US a great service that I could never bring myself to do, but to constantly talk about the fact that you are an army guy, so you need help more than others, stop with that. The bar is not failing because you get deployed, it is failing because the owner likes to get drunk on the job, not charge anyone and hit on patrons in front of his girlfriend, who also works for him. I do not like when people use outside excuses as to why their company is failing. That is some Donald Trump type shit, and Trump is a colossal failure when it comes to pretty much everything in his miserable life. But, this owner used his army and deployment as the only reason his bar was failing. That was a terrible excuse.

Unfortunately, "Bar Rescue" and Jon Taffer didn't really tell him that he was the problem, they kind of ran with the army stuff, because it makes for "touching" TV I guess. Taffer, when talking and berating this guy, kept using military terms and telling him that he needed to run his bar like he runs his platoon. What a bunch of crap. A bar is not a war zone Jon Taffer. I hate, hate, hate when people compare everyday stuff in life to something as horrific and terrifying as war. I don't like when athletes are called "warriors" or "heroic". I don't like when a field or a company is compared to a "battlefield" or a "platoon". It is all nonsense. Athletes are not warriors or heroic, they are athletes. The same can be said for a business owner. He is only a warrior or heroic when he is on the literal battlefield, not when he is running his bar into the ground. But, that did not stop the "Bar Rescue" crew from running this comparison into the ground. Every time the owner got yelled at, or had a nice little sit down with Taffer, everything was compared to his military record. I COULD NOT CARE LESS about his military record. I wanted to know why his bar needed to be rescued. I wanted to know what he was doing wrong. I wanted Taffer to berate him for getting drunk on the job and treating his girlfriend like garbage. I wanted to know why their systems were so terrible. I wanted to see the experts get into it with the employees.

The things I love about "Bar Rescue", we only got a very, very little bit of this. The small bits of good stuff was not enough to get the bad taste of this episode out of mine, and my wife's mouth. The stress test was not nearly as gleefully terrible as it could have been because, any time they ran into a problem, Taffer would yell at the guy and tell him to run this bar like he runs his army unit. What a pile of crap. During training, they kept talking about making cocktails and food that was affordable, but also appealing to an army man. I'm sorry, does every patron at this bar have an army background? I don't think that everyone in the whole state of Colorado is in the military, but this episode tries to make it seem that way. The training was filled with army related puns and it was so, so stupid. After training and the crew fixing up the bar, Taffer renamed it "Garrison's Tavern", I have no idea what this has to do with the military or the people that work at this place, but the people at "Bar Rescue" sure tried to make it seem that way.

After re launch, they of course were firing on all cylinders, and Taffer was praising the owner for running the bar like he runs his army unit. They would not stop the army talk, hanging on to it all the way to the end. It was infuriating.

This was a very lackluster episode lumped into what has been a pretty great season of "Bar Rescue". I guess they can't all be winners, but this was a humongous step down. I loathed this episode, and I hope with the final 2 episodes this season, they stay away from this type of crap. As I said, stop comparing everyday life with scary situations like war. It comes off contrived and superficial. It is also very patronizing to people in the army who fight for their lives everyday. A rescue on "Bar Rescue" will never be as scary or hard as life in the army. This was a bad, bad episode. Do not watch it, unless you want to be frustrated by terrible writing and bad war puns.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Something else Ty really hates are the shenanigans of men's rights activists. Hear all about his anger towards these terrible people. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Happy Halloween from SeedSing

The end of October is upon us. The trick or treaters are getting ready with their store bought costumes to come fleece the neighborhood of it's fun sized candy bars. In honor of the holiday, we here at SeedSing want to present a treasure trove of Halloween related content. Read, and listen, if you dare.

The Monsters Live on Chalie Brown's Street. 

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown has been a Halloween staple for fifty years. The show has delighted generations of readers and views. What is hidden in this classic is a horror story of children without supervision, and the monstrous adults who feel like it is ok to bully a bald, and maybe depressed, kid. There are monsters hiding everywhere.

Treehouse of Horrors is One of the Only Good Things about Halloween

The Simpsons has been going strong for over twenty five years, and in that time the show has presented a triumvirate of Halloween stories every year. Revisit some of the greatest THOH episodes and see what the greatest show on television does with our spookiest of holidays.

Ty says Boo-Urns to Halloween

Pop Culture editor Ty is not a big fan of Halloween. Nothing gets him more annoyed than the terrible puns associated with the holiday. He does not care for "spooktacular" savings or listening to the dulcet tones of "Rocktober". Oh, and adults dressing up, that is not Ty's favorite thing either. Maybe next year the Halloween fad will fade away.

The X Millennial Man Podcast Episode XVII: Strip Clubs, Hangovers, and the Innocence of Halloween

Ty and RD talk about the scary real life consequences of Halloween. Did you know that strip clubs do not always let you enter when you have a mask on. Even on Halloween. Many adults like to dress up and drink on Halloween too. Most of the time, these adults end up forgetting the night's festivities and spend All Saint's Day praying in front of the toilet. Who says kids get to have all the holiday fun.

The X Millennial Man Podcast Episode LXVII: Trolls and the Other Monsters Who Live on the Internet.

The X Millennial Man was doing some internet research on Mad Max: Fury Road, and we learned that there are some men who are not happy with the movie. It seems these fellows do not like a movie that portrays women as strong, or stronger, than men. It also seems many of these upset men can not find dates. In order to express their frustration, these gentleman go to the internet and write about their troubles. It is frightening. Join Ty and RD as they read some of these tales of MRAs and MGTOWs.

We hope you enjoy a cavalcade of Halloween scares. If you really need a good fright, go ahead and read anything we have written on Donald Trump. That will keep you up at night. Have a fantastic All Hallows Eve. 

The Writers of SeedSing

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.