Spacebook?

Today I had some free time at work and decided to browse some of my friends myspace pages. I like doing this every so often so I know what to talk about the next time I see them in person. But instead of being greeted by all their latest news, my myspace friends served me only a sobering moment. Of the 30 or so friends whose accounts I browsed through, a good 70% haven't even logged into their myspace page for at least a month, some of them even longer. Have they all grown up and no longer feel the need to log in and update their profile? Am I a loser because I log into my account multiple times a day without fail to check for messages or comments? Or maybe it's something altogether different. Maybe they've simply migrated to the newer, trendier Facebook.

Recently, several of my friends have been hounding me to get a Facebook account, but even after I spent all last week on my couch, sick, with nothing to do, I couldn't bring myself to do it. As it is, I consistently log into 4 separate social networking accounts on a regular basis. My personal myspace page, the band's myspace page, the band's private myspace fan page, and the old band myspace page (Nobody seems capable of reading the notes I plastered on every inch of the page stating that the band's name has changed and "The Livingstons" no longer exist. I still get booking requests weekly, and though most are fruitless, I don't want to miss any opportunities.) This isn't even including the band's purevolume page, Bebo page, Oaktree page or any of the other 13 pages we've set up that I never log into. One more social networking site to log into just might drive me insane.

Let's say I do sign up for a Facebook account, what do I do next? Well I have to go out and find all my friends that I'm already friends with on myspace and add them to my Facebook account. Then I've got to pimp out a completely new profile (you do that on Facebook too don't you) so all my friends (or whatever they're called on Facebook) don't think I'm a nerd. Then I've got to upload all the same pictures that I uploaded on myspace and type a whole new description of the same me that has an account on myspace. Where does it end? Do I need to set up a Facebook for the band? A private facebook fan page? A Facebook page for "The Livingstons" just in case someone comes looking for the old band?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my friends and want to keep in touch with them, but how much time should in invest in maintaining the perfect online medium?

I suppose I should just accept the fact that myspace is slowly fading away considering I predicted it would happen in a blog a couple years ago (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=5689225, entited "What I Really Think of Myspace"). Never-the- less I didn't think it would just fade away to make room for another different, but basically the same social network.

So where do I go from here? Is knowing the latest, up to the second info on all my friends important enough to double my online social networking accountage and bow to the throne of mighty Facebook? When I think about it, the times I do eventually run across a long lost "friend," it's a really good feeling. I get to see their latest pictures, catch up on all I've missed out through the years, and shoot them an email telling them how much I've been thinking of them. But then, once that minute and a half has passed, I understand why it is we fell out of touch in the first place. I care about them, but not enough to maintain a chain of more than 2 or 3 emails a year.

For now, I vote "no" to Facebook. I've got nothing against it, but I've probably got better things to spend my time doing then chasing down a bunch of people just to fall out of touch with again once the new latest and greatest network appears. I can do that on myspace for the time being, at least until their "most recent log in" prove that they really are long and lost again.


On a different note, John and Anthony are blogging again. Check their stuff out while it lasts!

101 and rising

My day started around 5:00 am at 99.5 degrees. I wish I could say that was the temperature outside, but that was measuring in at 9 degrees. I am warm in my bed and my skin aches. I'm sick? I think. I haven't been "sick" for years. Yes there's been days I've called in sick because I didn't feel good, but I haven't had a temperature in over 2 years, and I haven't had to go to the doctor for about 6. Today is an exception the the rule. I drag myself out of bed after an hour of hitting the snooze button and get ready for work. I'm going to tough it out I think to myself.

2 hours later I'm a collapsed puddle of human on my desk. I'm not going to be any good to anyone today.

I call the boss and get bundled up to go back home. My head is throbbing and I can't stop coughing. By noon my temperature is 101. This is groundbreaking. The last temperature I had (2 years ago) never reached 100. I've heard that the flu has yet to make it to the United States and am wondering if I'm the carrier of the next pandemic. I put on my pjs and melt into the couch. My faithful dog Henry falls asleep on top of me. This would be a perfect day if I wasn't infected with Ebola.

I do not feel like writing right now. I'm crabby and tired and smell bad (even though I took a shower this morning). My dog is still cuddled up on top of me and it's starting to get annoying. Art at the expense of my well being I tell myself.

If I die, give my guitars to at risk kids, my record collection to the cast of "High School Musical" and bury me with my limited edition Neil Diamond scented candles.

Television

Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy ..--..--..--..Television The Drug Of The Nation..--..--..--..--.. One nation under God has turned into one nation under the influence of one drug [chorus:] Television the drug of the Nation Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation (2x) T.V. it satellite links our United States of Unconsciousness Apathetic therapeutic and extremely addictive The methadone metronome pumping out 150 channels 24 hours a day you can flip through all of them and still there's nothing worth watching T.V. is the reason why less than 10 per cent of our Nation reads books daily Why most people think Central Amerika means Kansas Socialism means unamerican and Apartheid is a new headache remedy absorbed in it's world it's so hard to find us It shapes our mind the most maybe the mother of our Nation should remind us that we're sitting too close to... [Chorus:] Television, the drug of the Nation Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation (2x) T.V. is the stomping ground for political candidates Where bears in the woods are chased by Grecian Formula'd bald eagles T.V. is mechanized politic's remote control over the masses co-sponsored by environmentally safe gases watch for the PBS special It's the perpetuation of the two party system where image takes precedence over wisdom Where sound bite politics are served to the fastfood culture Where straight teeth in your mouth are more important than the words that come out of it Race baiting is the way to get selected Willie Horton or Will he not get elected on... [Chorus:] Television, the drug of the Nation Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation (2x) T.V., is it the reflector or the director ? Does it imitate us or do we imitate it because a child watches 1500 murders before he's twelve years old and we wonder why we've created a Jason generation that learns to laugh rather than to abhor the horror T.V. is the place where armchair generals and quarterbacks can experience first hand the excitement of warfare as the theme song is sung in the background Sugar sweet sitcoms that leave us with a bad actor taste while pop stars metamorphosize into soda pop stars You saw the video You heard the soundtrack Well now go buy the soft drink Well, the onla cola that I support would be a union C.O.L.A.(Cost Of Living Allowance) On television [Chorus:] Television, the drug of the Nation Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation (2x) Back again, "New and improved" We return to our irregularly programmed schedule hidden cleverly between heavy breasted beer and car commercials CNNESPNABCTNT but mostly B.S. Where oxymoronic language like "virtually spotless", "fresh frozen" "light yet filling" and "military intelligence" have become standard T.V. is the place where phrases are redefined like "recession" to "necessary downturn" "Crude oil" on a beach to "mousse" "Civilian death" to "collateral damages" and being killed by your own Army is now called "friendly fire" T.V. is the place where the pursuit of happiness has become the pursuit of trivia Where toothpaste and cars have become sex objects Where imagination is sucked out of children by a cathode ray nipple T.V. is the only wet nurse that would create a cripple [Chorus:] Television, the drug of the Nation Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation (4x

First thing's first...

Well, there's not better way to ring in the New Year than with a big change. I don't think I'd have it any other way.

I posted a blog a while back mentioning that Jared had quit the band and that my friend Todd had decided to join as the new singer. Well after giving it a whirl for several months, and putting on several thousand miles in our van, Todd has decided FOA is not where he needs to be at this point in his life. He's going to continue playing shows with us for a little while longer, hopefully until we're able to find someone else. I'm not upset in the slightest about his decision. Actually I'm happy about it. I think we were all beginning to understand that we weren't the ideal match for each other. This ministry requires an extreme amount of commitment and time away from home, and it wasn't meant for him. Todd will continue in his ministry at King of Kings Lutheran church and FOA will find another lead singer. I think we will all be more effective this way.

If there are any youth pastors or promoters reading this, have no worries. We will continue to play shows as scheduled. I'll be calling you all personally to fill you in when I have more info. Todd didn't leave because we couldn't get along or because his heart wasn't into ministry. This just wasn't the right ministry for him. We will make sure that the next singer, whoever that may be (and we have some exciting candidates at this point) has an extreme passion for youth and for ministry and will be able to live a life on the road. We will be unwaivering in this resolve. The next singer will be THE permanent singer for FOA.

I'm excited about the possibilities and will update everyone when we get something established.

Happy 2008!