rickyleepotts…an opinionated realist

The 92^nd PGA Championship is now in the books. The event took place at Whistling Straits located on Lake Michigan in Haven, Wisconsin. The field featured some of the best players in the world for the last major of the season.

Highlighted were players like Phil Mickelson who is well on his way to becoming the world’s number one ranked player and Tiger Woods who is fresh off a devastating finish at the WGC-Bridgestone the previous week. Both these players, and many more, were featured throughout the week and into the weekend as the PGA handed over another Wanamaker trophy.

The trophy went to Martin Kaymer, a twenty-five-year-old from Germany. He played some great golf and managed to get himself into a playoff with long-ball hitter Bubba Watson. But when Dustin Johnson came to the 18^th tee, he had a one shot lead heading the pack at twelve under par. An arrant tee shot, landing some twenty yards right of the fairway, would later lead to a bogey finish. This would put him into a playoff with Kaymer and Watson.

Whistling Straits, designed by Alive and Pete Dye, features over 1,200 bunkers. Because of this the PGA had made sure all players and rules officials were aware of the rules of golf in regards to bunkers. If you play golf then you know there are a few rules you must follow. One of the most basic things to remember is you are not allowed to ground your club until you hit the golf ball. If you ground your club before in a bunker it is a two shot penalty. Most golfers know this, especially PGA Tour players.

On 18, when Dustin Johnson his hit tee shot way right, he would just be lucky to find the ball, let alone get a good lie. Where he hit spectators and sure enough surrounded the ball, he had a good lie. His ball ended up in a section of the course that has been trampled down by spectators all week long. The ball was sitting up and he had a shot at the green.

Dustin grabbed a club from his bag, took his stance, and grounded his club. The video shows that as soon as he grounded his club he backed off and made notice to a shadow that was affecting his thought process. He carried on and managed to hit the shot up by the green. From there he would fail to get up and down and would be forced into a playoff with the other two competitors.

Before they could even tee off, someone called his attention back to the area in which he had hit his second shot. Dustin was in a bunker. One of the many bunkers on the course, and one that had been walked in all week from onlookers trying to get a good view of the action on the course. Eventually he would suffer a two shot penalty and end up finishing in a tie for fifth place.

All day I have been hearing about this incident. Even yesterday, after they called attention to the rules violation, more attention went to Dustin than did the winner of the championship. Dustin was upset and all of the media attention went to the locker room just trying to get a piece of his story.

What bothers me is he broke a rule. Golf is one of the greatest games on earth and has a rulebook as thick as a phone book. But just the same, he broke a rule. Golf is based on tradition and the rules of golf are held very close to those players who take the game seriously. While I take the game of golf seriously, I break some rules from time to time. But I am not a professional athlete playing on the PGA Tour with a one shot lead going into the final hole of a major championship.

You might remember Dustin having thrown away the US Open at Pebble Beach earlier this year. He went into the final round with a huge lead and managed to just throw it away one shot at a time. Dustin is only twenty-six years old, so perhaps this is just another lesson well learned, but at the end of the day he broke a rule.

Dustin never once argued the violation, it was eventually left up to the rules committee. But you could tell by the way he approached the media he did not agree with the final call. I will give him credit that the area where his ball finished looked more like a waste area than a sand trap. You are allowed to ground your club in a waste area. But playing on a course with over 1,200 bunkers he might have thought to ask if he could ground his club before just assuming he was in a waste area.

I will stand by the rules of golf and by this decision. He broke a rule and had to suffer the consequences. There is no reason to keep talking about his mistake. How about we pay attention to the man that had the lowest score at the end of the week? Martin Kaymer is whom we need to be focused on here. Let’s all give a round of applause to Martin Kaymer, the winner of this year’s PGA Championship.

Did you see the tournament this past weekend? What did you think of the ruling? Was it a fair decision or was Dustin robbed of another shot at a major victory?

He might be one of the greatest performers who ever lived. He could sing, he could dance, and he entertained the world with every video he released and every concert he performed. He was known all over the world as the King of Pop, and his death was extremely unexpected. He died too young, and was just in the midst of a comeback. I never had the chance to see him perform live, and that is something I will regret for the rest of my life. The man was a pure genius in every sense of the word.

Toward the end of his life, the man got quite a bit of negative press. He had been accused, yet proven innocent, of various assault and sexual harassment charges. But regardless of what the media said, people were going to believe what they wanted. But regardless, when Michael Jackson announced that he was coming back for one more series of shows, the world went into a frenzy to get tickets for his performance. Sadly, before the first show ever happened, Michael lost his life to an accidental drug overdose. The King of Pop left this world on June 25^th, 2009. Pop music will never be the same.

Looking back on his career, I bet there are some things you didn’t know about Michael. I wanted to remember him, just a year after his death, by taking a look at some facts about the man that you might not be aware of. I loved him from the time I first heard him, I own every disc he ever released, and will continue to listen until the day I die. Get to know Michael a little more than you used to.

• Did you know that Billie Jean was the first video aired by MTV that included a black artist?
• Did you know that the infamous moonwalk was performed during the hit song Billie Jean on the Motown 25 television special? That special aired before I was even born, way back on March 25^th, 1983.
• Did you know that Michael was a Hoosier? He was born in Gary, Indiana. The childhood home where he grew up still exists. I consider it more of a memorial now than anything.
• Did you know that Michael has sold more than 300 million records? His 1982 release, Thriller, is the bestselling album of all time, with over 110 million records sold. The closest album to that is the Eagles Greatest Hits disc, with a mere 42 million sold.
• Did you know that Michael was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice? He was first inducted with the Jackson 5 in 1997, and again as a solo artist in 2001.
• Did you know that MJ owned the entire Beatles catalog of music? In 1985 he outbid Paul McCartney and paid a whopping $47 million for the published rights to the entire catalog. He then resold the catalog to Sony in 1995 for $95 million.
• Did you know that Michael loved animals? He had a pet chimp named Bubbles. He also had a boa constrictor named Muscles, two llamas named Louis and Lola, a python named Crushers, and a ram named Mr. Tibbs.
• Michael had two different surgeries on his nose alone. In his lifetime he forty-five surgeries that cost him around $1 million. He also had numerous eyelid surgery and cheek implants.
• Did you know that Batesville Casket Company produced the casket that would be Michael’s final resting place? They are located in southern Indiana.
• Did you know that Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina state anthem? The song is titled South Carolina on My Mind.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. There are hundreds of facts out there surrounding one of the most famous men in the history of entertainment. Michael is a hero to a lot of people here in the United States, and all over the world. I was sad to see him go, and I will never forget the music that he produced. I will miss him like many others out there.

What is your favorite memory of the King of Pop?

I started playing baseball before I could even walk. My dad, a long time fan of the sport and an avid player in  high school and college, got me hooked on the game at a very early age. I remember long nights of practicing until the sun went down just to get up the next day and do it all over again. But that didn’t matter; I loved the game. I loved the competition, the skills required to hit the ball and to field, and the teamwork that had to go into every game.

Most players in Major League Baseball today will play growing up, participate in summer leagues, play through high school and college, and find themselves in minor league ball for some Major League club. The better players will skip the minors all together and end up going straight to the big leagues. And the players who win the chance to play in the “big show,” as they call it, will get the chance to play ball the way it was meant to be played.

A regular baseball season is 162 games. This does not include spring training or the playoffs. The season starts in early spring, and ends in October. I wonder if that is where Reggie Jackson got his name, Mr. October? Players are on the road all the time, staying in hotel rooms and soaking in bathtubs filled with ice. It is a game that truly wears on the players and can make for a sore old man before the age of forty.

All of that aside, the game has a unique set of rules that does not really apply to other sports. The general rules are quite simple, however. You play nine innings, with the home team always getting the last at-bat in case of a tie. You play three outs per side, with a total of six outs per inning. The teams will have nine players with the option to sub at any point during the game and the pitchers will throw a similar amount of balls before they are replaced with a fresh arm.

I could spend all day talking about the rules of baseball, but I will save you by saying that there is also a set of rules that you won’t find in any rulebook. There is a certain set of rules unwritten, sometimes even unspoken. That is, of course, until they are broken. Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees recently broke one of those unspoken rules by walking across the pitchers mound after being thrown out in between second and third base., thinking he was just taking the shortest path back to the dugout. The pitcher for the other team went haywire. He started screaming and Rodriquez, and angrily threw his glove once he made it back to his dugout.

Swinging for the Fences

Back to back home runs in any game can be exciting for the fans. It does, however, make the opposing pitcher seem to be worthless and force the coach to consider pulling the pitcher. But, did you know that it is an unwritten rule for a player to not swing at the first pitch after back-to-back home runs? This is, of course, like all of these unwritten rules, not actually taken seriously by most but, like A-Rod found out a few weeks ago, the players take them seriously.

Why would you not swing at the first pitch if it were right down the middle? Well, it is just common courtesy to opposing pitcher to just not swing. Granted, most players have the mentality that they are out there to win and are going to do whatever they can to score the most runs possible. But even if it was only two one-run homers, it will make you look like a much better sportsman.

Ouch, That Hurt!

It happens in almost every game and is something that nearly all batters will face. Getting hit by the pitch is not enjoyable for anyone. Most MLB pitchers will throw the ball close to 100 miles an hour and getting hit with a little cowhide-covered ball is not going to feel good. But, as most MLB players will say, if you get hit, suck it up and take your base.

Pete Rose, one of the best baseball players ever to play the game, used to run to first base as hard as he could after he was hit by a pitch. He would also run as hard as he could after a walk. This, for the sake of being hit by the pitch, was to shake it off and not give the opposing pitcher the satisfaction. It is a macho thing to do, as most players will argue, and just part of the game.

Respect Your Umpire

When on the field, the only person you need to worry about is the umpire. The umps decide whether that last pitch was a ball or a strike, fair or foul. They are the ones that have the final decision in any rules inquiry while on the field. You will see tons of clips on YouTube or even ESPN of managers and players alike arguing with umpires after a missed call. It usually solves nothing, often ending in ejection from the game, and puts a sour taste in that umpires mouth for future games.

There are some pretty good scenes where managers, like Lou Piniella, get so upset they begin kicking dirt on the umpires, or pull out one of the bases and toss it across the field. Most of these antics happen once the player or manager has already been kicked out of the game. It helps them get the last word, if nothing else. But it is just assumed that you will treat these guys like a boss or your superior. They are the ones that eventually have the last say, so make sure you treat them with respect while on the field.

Shh! Don’t Say Anything!

There comes a time in every pitcher’s career where he will face the chance to have a no hitter. A no hitter is a game where the pitcher plays all nine innings and will throw a lot more than his fair share of pitches. A no hitter is a game where the pitcher does not give up a single hit. Now, he can give up a walk or two, and even have runs scored during a no hitter, but no ball will make contact with a bat.

Even harder than a no hitter is a perfect game. There have only been a handful of those thrown in the history of baseball. A perfect game is where no man is ever on base. No wild pitches, no walks, hits, nothing. I have actually seen two perfect games thrown, one in person. It is truly a moment in history and one that is taken very serious by players and their adversaries. As a matter of fact, EA Sports just gave away $1 million to a young man for throwing a perfect game on his Xbox 360. The game, Major League Baseball 2K10, is said to be so hard that no one can throw a perfect game. They offered this prize as a way to test their difficulty. It took this kid less than a week to win the million bucks.

But when a pitcher is getting close to a no hitter, or a perfect game for that matter, under no circumstance do you talk about it. You might hear an announcer say something about it, but no one on the field is supposed to mention it. That will jinx the pitcher and the streak will break. So the next time you see a game getting to the seventh or eighth inning with out any hits, just keep your mouth shut.

There are many more unwritten rules for baseball. There are actually so many that Jason Turbow wrote a book about it. The Baseball Codes takes a look at the unwritten and unspoken rules of baseball, and breaks down each one. He explains why these rules are put in place, and even gives examples where these rules have been broken. I am sure he was proud to see Alex Rodriguez walk across the mound in a recent game. So if you play baseball, make sure you know not only the rules of baseball but also these unwritten rules of the game.

Note that A-Rod claimed to not know of this unwritten rule that he broke. He said that he had never heard of such a thing.

Ever since I can remember I have loved the game of golf. On top of that love I have formed a deep and seeded affection for Tiger Woods. I remember this like it was yesterday. I was in Cincinnati, Ohio at a Hallmark ornaments convention with my mother and late grandmother. We were finished with the convention for the day and headed out for dinner at Chili’s. (Don’t ask me how I remember all of these details, but I do.) We walk in, sit down, and order some drinks. Just then, in the far corner, I saw the television playing some random golf tournament.

I was not a fan of golf at the time, as baseball had consumed my life. Not having been watching the golf tournament for a few minutes, I saw a long and winding putt fall into the hole. The camera panned to a tall, slim black man giving some sort of a fist pump, as he was excited that he had made the putt. He was wearing khaki shorts and a straw hat. The man that made that putt was Tiger Woods and he was playing the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

That day I went from being a baseball fanatic to being addicted to the game of golf. I began playing, hitting balls every chance I got, and eventually ended up playing in college for Marian University. Every time I think about Tiger Woods, I am taken back to that day where I saw him drain that putt. Later, in 1999 when Tiger Woods began what has proven to be one of the most successful video games of all time, they have featured the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course as one of the courses.

Recently I was given the opportunity to travel with my company down to Amelia Island, Florida for a golf conference. The conference, the annual Golf Inc. Magazine Conference, was business as usual and a long, educational few days of seminars and meetings. We were there as an exhibitor and also as a thought leader in the golf industry for the services and solutions that we offer. Where this conference was being held landed us only a thirty-minute drive from TPC Sawgrass.

We arrived on in Jacksonville on a Sunday afternoon and thought about heading over to the course. But we got in late and thought we might travel that way on Monday morning before we set up for the show. But come Monday morning, by the time we had finished setting up it was too late to go. But I wasn’t giving up hope of seeing one of the most famous golf courses in the world. So what did I do? I simply picked up the phone and called the golf course to see if we could schedule a tour of the facility for that Wednesday.

You see, the meetings were over in the early afternoon on Wednesday and we wanted to make sure to see the golf course. And we didn’t leave until Thursday morning so we had all the time in the world on Wednesday to see that golf course. I wanted to make sure I made every minute of this trip, and seeing Sawgrass would be a somewhat dream come true. Especially including the history that Tiger has there.

When I first called the golf course the Director of First Impressions picked up the phone. I explained to her that I was a blogger from Indiana and that I wanted to come see the facility. By happenstance, my company’s CEO is also a budding photographer, and he wanted to shoot some photos. She seemed interested and I was transferred to the general manager of the golf course for further clearance. I spoke with Mr. Bill Hughes and he stated that we were more than welcome to come in and see the facility. He invited us in on Wednesday at 4:00 PM to see the clubhouse, the driving range, and a few holes out on the golf course.

The rest of the week went by with us making conversation surrounding TPC Sawgrass. I, as well as the others guys in our party, were excited to see the facility. It was a long wait getting from Monday afternoon until Wednesday evening.

Come Wednesday, when the meetings had all ended, we were headed to the golf course. An hour or so later we entered Ponte Vedra Beach and found the entrance to what is known as Sawgrass. It had a guarded gate and we needed further clearance to even get in the front gate. However, my name was on a roster from the golf course and we were allowed access.

See, in Sawgrass there is more than just the TPC Stadium Course. This is also where the PGA headquarters located. Also, I would later learn, it is where five or so PGA Tour players make their home. Vijay Singh, for example, lives right behind the driving range while Jim Fuyrk also lives on one of the holes on the golf course. Being as they have year round playing conditions, it makes sense for these guys to reside on here. There were actually a handful of PGA players there when we were at the golf course. Of course, we never did get to see them, but it was the mysterious factor that made it even more exciting.

When we finally found the golf course, we traveled through a long and winding main entrance to the parking lot. We got out, stretched our legs, and make our way to the clubhouse. The first thing you notice is the sheer size of the facility. It was almost like looking at a mansion or something standing right in front of us. We snapped a few images and walked in to get started on our tour. That is when our tour guide, Mike, greeted us. (I do not recall Mike’s last name.)

Mike walked us over to the Director of First Impressions and she gave him clearance to begin the tour. We started with the clubhouse since that is where we met Mike. First he discussed the huge paintings that were all over the walls. These paintings were huge, all from the same artist, and were all donated to the clubhouse as well as to the TPC Sawgrass. They are of repeat winners of the Player’s Championship and one of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson from Tiger’s only Player’s Championship victory.

The Player’s is what most call the fifth major of the season and holds the deepest field of the year. Only a handful of people have won this event twice. That list includes Steve Elkington, Fred Couples, Jack Nicklaus, Hal Sutton, and Fred Couples. Like I said, there is also a huge painting of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson from when Tiger won his only, to date, Player’s in 2001. During that event you might remember the announcer saying, in regards to the putt he made in 17, that it was, “Better than most.”

We then made our way to the President’s Room. Here you will find a table, some chairs, and the President’s Cup. The cup sits there when the United States owns it, and last year the US won it back from Europe. It was neat to see, not as big as I thought, and was sitting among a room filled with history. Mike had said this room was filled with memories and each year the greats of the game meet here for conversation and recollection each year before the Player’s.

Then we made our way to the player’s locker room. We were told that it was private, that we were not allowed to go in there, but since it was slow and we were huge golf fans, Mike walked us back. Granted, he could have been able to take us back there the entire time, but never the less it was awesome to see. In this room there were lockers for all of the greats of the game. I found myself standing in a room that I could hope to be nothing less than a fly on the wall. I stood only inches from Tiger Woods’s locker. Yes, I touched the handle on that locker to be that one more step closer to the living the life that Tiger leads.

Then we walked down past the 19th Hole, the in house restaurant where they serve food and drinks to the general public. Here Mike said players gather after their rounds for a drink, some food, and a priceless conversation. It was neat to see a room where you know guys like Tom Watson and Fred Couples have talked about their rounds.

Then we saw the line of clubs that were all down one wall of the 19th Hole. Mike said that each year the winner is asked to donate a club to the course. The club that is donated is said to be the club that the player felt helped him win the event. In this row of sticks you see drivers, three woods, irons, wedges and even putters lined up side by side. Tiger left his 56-degree Scotty Cameron sand wedge. It was when he was still with Titleist and is actually the exact same wedge that I play. I touched the grip just to be safe. (Players are also asked to sign the club somewhere for keepsake.)

Now it was time to see the Hall of Champions. This is an underground tunnel from the clubhouse to the first there allowing players to escape the craze of fans and autographs. Also down here was the caddy area where all of the club’s caddies hang out and spend their free time between rounds. It was neat to walk down this hallway as on either side you could also see high-resolution professional photos from all of the winners of the Player’s. The club at the TPC Sawgrass puts a ton of attention into their winners and treats them with the up most respect.

Then we walked back upstairs and got the chance to see what the original Player’s Championship trophy looked like. The old trophy is huge! However, the new trophy, which I would later see on display in the pro shop, is much smaller and is made of solid crystal. A major improvement from the old black beast they used to give away.

Also in the clubhouse, right across the way from the crystal trophy is the FedEx Cup. Tiger has won this two of the three FedEx Cup events. It is nice, the folks at Tiffany and Co. created it. It weights thirty-five pounds and it is nice to think that Tiger has won, held, and kissed this trophy now twice. Note that Tiger was out with an injury the second year of the event and did not participate in any o the tournaments. (The FedEx Cup is a season long playoffs for the players and was introduced three years ago as a way to draw more eyes to the game of golf.)

Now it was time to see the golf course. We headed outside, snapped a few more pictures of the clubhouse, and then jumped on a six-man golf cart. Mike pulled away and took us to the roundabout just before the driving range. Here there is a large oval monument showcasing all of the previous winners and the flag of their respective country of origin. Also there are high flying flags of the previous winners country. There is so much history here at the TPC as well as so much homage to the players who win here.

We drove past the driving range and I asked about where the PGA players actually hit balls. This, sadly, was on the opposite side the range and out of our direct sight. The tour players spend so much time here that they wanted a place for them to have no worries about where to hit balls and to work on their games. So, as we drove by I saw a few guys on the far side of the range and it made my mind run wild with which it could be. Mike did say that Tiger likes to just show up at the golf course unannounced. I will never know if Tiger was on the range that day, but it fun to imagine one of those players was he.

Then we saw a smaller secondary clubhouse, which was originally built as a place to hold the caddies in between rounds and as a snack bar in between nines. This small building was just past the 18th green and had a story all of it’s own. Mike said that the building is now used as the scorer’s tent where the official scores are tallied. After each round the players will go in, sign their scorecards, and then sign a few autographs where fans can gather outside. The second story, however, is a part of what you see on TV. NBC wanted a place to hold their interviews to the TPC build a sound proof booth on the second floor of this little building for this very reason.

Hole 18, from the green going the opposite direction, does not look like hard of a golf hole. Well, that changes when you make your way to the tee box. Standing on the tee, all you see is water. The entire left hand side is water and there are woods to the left. It is a very tough decision what club to hit, especially on Sunday.

Mike said that a ton of balls actually end up on the right hand side somewhere in the woods due to the guys not wanting to hit it in the water. The hole also plays over 450 yards and to me, that is pushing a par five. But for the players on the tour it is a typical par 4. (I guess when you hit the ball as far as these guys do; a hole of this length plays fairly short.)

We then moved on to the famed 17th hole. This is known as one of the single most famous hole in golf. This is also called the island green by most and serves as a way for the TPC to collect a range of golf balls on a daily basis. The TPC Stadium Course gets over 40,000 rounds a year and according to Mike, the average golfer will hit three balls into the water before getting one to stick on the green. Imagine that. Three balls, six strokes, and you are not even putting yet. The hole is only 137 yards too!

The course was designed by one of the most famous course designers of all time, Mr. Pete Dye.  When he got to hole 17 he did not intend for it to be an island green. But, after his wife talked him into it, the hole ended up being short and intimidating finishing hole. Even guys on the tour hit balls into the water here. Mike said the main reason for this is that the wind blows in from the right to the left but you cannot feel it on the tee. He was right. You cannot feel anything on that tee box. But after a handful of photos we moved on to the 16th hole.

On 16, a long par five, you can see nothing but trees on either side. The trees on the left, on Tiger Woods EA Sports video games, I can hit over and have a wedge into the green. But with water on the right and trees left PGA players tend to hit a three wood just to make sure they have a shot into the green. Mike actually took us over to a spot in the trees on the left where Davis Love III had hit a three wood one year when he was two shots up heading into 16. This shot was about 180 yards from the green, in the trees, and behind the water for a shot to the pin. But, Davis hit a 6 iron, through the trees, over the water, and ended up about ten foot from the cup. He made the putt for eagle and would later win the event.

Mike then proceeded to drive us around the course on our way back to the clubhouse. He thanked us for coming in and even said it was nice that we came so late as his mother in law was in town. We all laughed and he wished us a good day at the clubhouse as we said our goodbyes.

After Mike had left, we all walked around snapping even more images of the clubhouse. A couple of the guys went on a shopping spree in the pro shop while I headed back to the Director of First Impressions to ask for Mr. Hughes to come downs so that I could meet him. He did, we shook hands, and formed a relationship that I hope lasts a lifetime. I am actually looking to go play the golf course sometime later this year and have scheduled an interview with the head professional.

Regardless of the time spent at the Golf Inc. Conference and the experience of meeting some of the industries top thought leaders, seeing TPC Sawgrass made the trip worthwhile. Walking on the same fairways and opening the same doors as guys like Tiger and Phil gives me a desire to play more golf. Golf is all about tradition and playing a game that holds a set of rules a mile long. Seeing golf and how it is treated at a level like this, the absolute top level of the sport, makes being and working in this industry that much more special. Thanks to Mike for the tour, to Bill for setting this all up, and to the PGA for building and establishing a course with such magnitude as this one. This was a trip that has created memories that will last a lifetime.

I recently returned from a trip to Hawaii with my girlfriend Sheryl. Her and I traveled there for her spring break and spent seven nights and eight days traveling around the islands, seeing LOST filming locations, visiting as many beaches as we could, and simply enjoying the simple life that is Hawaii. We had a great trip, took tons of pictures, and even managed to meet some of the actors from our favorite television show LOST. The trip was perfect, as was the weather, and we will be returning there very soon for more sightseeing and sun bathing.

But, while we were there, I had the chance to experience the Hawaiian culture and to see how they use social media tools like Twitter, foursquare, and Gowalla. In the months leading to our trip, Sheryl and I became friends with, Ryan Ozawa, the guy who runs the Twitter account @hawaii. We found him just searching through Twitter trying to learn more about the islands and the culture to expect there. It did not take long before we came across Ryan’s account. Funny thing about Ryan is that he is a huge LOST fan like us. He actually runs a website called LOST Locations and a podcast with his wife called Transmission. Ryan is a geek when it comes to social media services like foursquare and Gowalla and actually invited us to a gathering of Gowalla users while we were on the island.

When we first got to our hotel, being addicted to these location based services like I am, I checked into our hotel on both foursquare and Gowalla. We stayed at the Aqua Palms Resort and Spa right across the street from the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We were within walking distance from the beach and not far from all of the shops and restaurants that make Waikiki famous. During the week I used foursquare and Gowalla religiously checking in everywhere we went. I even managed to make some online friends while I was there through these services. But, before I get too far into this I want to explain to you what foursquare is and how it works. (Gowalla is very similar to foursquare but the point of this blog post revolves around an incentive provided through foursquare.)

The location-based service foursquare is a service that allows you to check in when you go places. The service starts with you creating an account online and then utilizes the global positioning system on your smart phone (iPhone, Blackberry, Droid, etc.) to locate where you are and the locations around you. Then, once you arrive at your destination, you can check in to that location. You can link it to your Twitter and Facebook pages as well letting all of your friends know where you are.

Once you check in to that location the service will show you present until you check in somewhere else. Now, this is where the fun stuff begins. Once you have checked in, the service will tell you not only who else is there off of your friend’s list, but also will show you tweets from around the area, provide you with more detailed information about that actual location, and even show you a Google map of where you are. But what if the location you are trying to check into does not exist? You can add that location right from your phone! When you add a new location you enter the name of the location, the address (if applicable) and the category in which that location falls under. If you do not have the actual address with you note that you can go back, online, and add it at a later date and time. So, if you go to Chili’s Restaurant for example, you will want to put that into the food category under American food.

Once you add a new location you are rewarded five bonus points for adding the new location. What are these points good for? Glad you asked! Points are used to tally weekly and monthly leader boards between you and your friends as well as the service all-together. All of this is location based and you can see your current standings in the city that you are in. So when Sheryl and I checked into places in Honolulu, we were able to see where we stood compared to other Hawaiians using this service.  Foursquare also has a game that unlocks badges for accomplishing certain things while checking into multiple locations.

For instance, if you check in with a location that is tagged (you can add unique descriptor tags on the website such as, “food and beverage”, “alcohol”, “bar”, “restaurant”, etc.) with a certain keyword, you can unlock a badge pertaining to that location. We, while visiting Pearl Harbor and traveling to the USS Arizona, checking into the boat that we were on. That boat had been tagged with the keyword; “boat” and when we checked in we unlocked the, “I’m on a Boat” badge. Other badges include the “Swarm” badge (checking in with fifty other people at the same place at the same time) or the “Super Mayor” badge (where you hold ten or more mayor ships at the same time.)

Becoming the mayor of a location is simple. The first step is to check in to that location once. Then, after twenty-four hours and you have revisited the same location, and check in again. If you have now checked in more than anyone else at that exact location you will become the mayor. So, for instance, I am the mayor of my office building. I have checked in there over fifty times in the last few months and no one else in my office has checked in as many times. This is fun to see how many mayor ships that you can rack up, but at the same time this is a key element to the businesses that are on these services.

I am the mayor of Scotty’s Brewhouse here in Indianapolis. I am the mayor of the 96^th street location and every time I go there, check in, and can prove that I am the mayor, I am rewarded with a 10% discount for being the mayor. Scotty’s Brewhouse runs an incentive by giving the mayor that discount. It forces me to want to return to Scotty’s to maintain my mayor ship but at the same time it gives users a reason to use this service.

Another place that gives us a reason to use this service was the hotel that I stayed at while on vacation. When I first arrived to the hotel and checked in I saw that Amanda S. was the mayor of the Aqua Palms Resort and Spa. I figured that she was just someone like me who had checked in every time she came and went from her hotel. So, all week I was checking in and managed to check in some fifteen or twenty times before I realized she must work for the hotel to still be the mayor! I would soon find out that she did in fact work for the hotel.

I found out when I finally did become the mayor of the hotel. I got a direct message on Twitter, as my foursquare check ins are linked to my Twitter feed, saying congratulations and that I could stop by the front desk to receive a free gift for becoming the mayor of the hotel. I thanked her for the attention to detail, her speed in which she replied to my check in, and acknowledged the fact that they are actually using this service the way it was intended. They gave me an incentive to check in every time I arrived back to the hotel.

We actually began chatting a little bit on Twitter as the rest of the week went on. I was going to wait until I checked out to pick up my gift and had no idea what to expect. I assumed it was a box of chocolates or some macadamia nuts or something native to the island. So I thought nothing of it past that and waited until the trip wound down and it was time to check out.

Our flight left at midnight that Saturday so we decided to check out early and walk around Waikiki one last time before we left. When I got to the desk and checked out, the gentleman helping me asked for me to wait one second while he grabbed something for me. When he returned he congratulated me on becoming the mayor of the hotel, thanked me for using the service, and handed me a very nice robe that had the Aqua Palms Resort and Spa logo embroidered on the side. There was also a hand written thank you card attached that thanked me for staying at the Aqua Palms and for using foursquare during my stay.

What this does is not only prove that people are using this service for the way that it was meant to be used, but that using a social service like this is benefiting more than just the businesses. I was so impressed by this, as well as what Scotty’s Brewhouse is doing, that I decided to not only thank them time and time again for paying so close attention to the service but decided to share this story with you.

There are a lot of people out there that doubt these location-based services. There is fear of people knowing where you are, or the fear of sharing too much personal information with the World Wide Web. But to those who doubt these services, I respect your decision, and understand that you will not be able to benefit as I have from these incentives. I am not the first to have said it, but location based search and services like this are the wave of the future. Scotty’s Brewhouse gets it. The Aqua Palms Resort and Spa gets it.

If you are not using these services it is time to reconsider and accept the benefits that come from simply being a social being. So to the folks at the Aqua Palms Resort and Spa, thank you for making our trip not only a memorable one from the quality of the room and the service that was provided, but thank you for being a thought leader in the tools that are available to you.

For most of us, listening to music is something we simply cannot live without. You remember the days of the portable cassette player and then moving to a new generation of portable CD players. Just in the last few years we have gone from carrying around CD players to carrying around iPods, iPhones, and a variety of other media players that will allow us to listen to our collection of albums and in most cases even the radio. But is AM/FM radio all that great anyway with all of those ads and off air time? Plus most of these stations play the same songs over and over again and it gets to the point that you cannot even drive to work without hearing the same song two or three times.

Thus enter the world of Internet radio. Now, through services like iTunes and Pandora, you can listen to radio stations from all over the world. iTunes offers stations from every corner of the planet while Pandora pulls tracks from an ever growing collection of songs. Pandora, coined the music genome project, can not only provide you with a list of stations to fit your specific genre, but based on a rating and skip system can tell you what you like and suggest tracks that you will also enjoy. And if a song appears that you do not like, simply clicking the thumbs down option (next to the album cover) and Pandora will not play that track anymore, nor songs like it. Pandora is truly a smart way to listen to the radio. (Funny how they consider themselves Internet radio when in reality it is not radio at all but rather a collection of predetermined tracks.)

Pandora is also convenient. With the website allowing you access anywhere that you have a browser as well as iPhone and Blackberry application options you can carry your Pandora account with you wherever you go. But Pandora is not the perfect solution to your music listening needs. There are advertisements every few songs that do nothing but annoy. There are even ads on the side of the window that take up half the screen when all you want to do is skip to the next tune. But be careful as you are only allowed six skips a day. So be cautious if you are tired of hearing Lady Gaga as you can only hope around a limited number of times.

There are some other issues like not being able to rate songs outside of your genre even. When you create your account you can select a genre from a predetermined list or even input an artist that you like the sound of. So, when I started, I put in Armin van Buuren. He is a high-energy techno DJ and I love listening to dance, trance, and house music. So, once I entered that Pandora made the House station “my” station. If I, for example, want to venture out and listen to some Top 40 music and want to like a song I am not able to since House is considered to be my default station. But, all of those things aside Pandora truly does put services like iTunes Radio and Slacker Radio to shame. The selection is just unbeatable.

But what if I want to have unlimited skips? What if I want to listen to more than forty hours a month? What if I want to turn on Pandora while having a dinner party and not be overwhelmed with advertisements? You are in luck as Pandora offers a paid subscription service. The rate is $36 a year (yeah, that is a value in my option) and you are welcomed with a handful of incredible options. I wanted to take an opportunity to share some of those with you here. Below is a list of some the more interesting and personally beneficial options when you actually pay for your Pandora service. This offer comes to you with a slightly different name, more for branding I would assume, and is known as Pandora One. You be the judge but if you are looking to have full control over your radio the only way to do it, through Pandora anyway, is to pony up the dough.

Bringing Pandora to your Desktop

One cool thing that the Pandora subscription offers is a desktop application that allows you to run your Pandora radio station outside of a web browser. If you are anything like me you are using four or five tabs at any given time, so why waste one on Pandora? This handy application allows you the view the album cover, rate the song as a like or dislike, and even skip to the next track and pause if you are wanting to take a break from the music for a little while. This application takes up a lot less space too. If you do not want to see the application just hide the sucker in your task bar and move on with your day.

Making Pandora Your Very Own

With your paid subscription get ready to get creative. With the default Pandora website you have no control over the look of your page. You get the default look and feel and the most excitement that will come from this is the ads that pop up non-stop every few tracks. So if you are dishing out the cash for the subscription you can have pretty much total control over your design. There are skins that you can download that allow you to personalize your media player. This is where Pandora gets personal.

Listing without Limits

With the way Pandora is currently setup, if you are not paying then you are limited to so many hours a month. Forty to be exact. So if you have a full time job and are allowed to listen to music while in the office (like I can) you will use that time in a couple of weeks, tops. Plus, I have Pandora on my iPhone. Because of that my account is linked to my phone and the hours are the same. So if I use the website for twenty hours and my phone for twenty then I have, according to Pandora, used my forty hours. They are linked and this proves to be a big issue when I am in the mood to listen to some radio. The paid subscription, however, has no time limits and you can listen all day every day for the entire month. For the entire year for that matter. Pay for the enjoyment of unlimited listening with Pandora.

Higher Quality Streaming

The audio quality coming from Pandora is pretty solid. You get what I consider almost CD quality sound from the service when you are taking the free route. But, if you decide to pay for your service, expect a much higher quality of sound to pierce your eardrums. With the paid subscription you will begin receiving 192k bits per second audio. To the normal individual that might not prove to be that big of a selling point, but to ears like mine I need to hear what the person producing this track heard. The better the sound quality the more enjoyment I can get out of a song.

No Advertising

The single best feature about the paid subscription to Pandora is that you get no ads. No more commercials every few tracks that fan inhibit your mood. No more huge banners popping out all over the screen. No more being bothered to rent your next DVD from Netflix or to watch the latest and greatest late night TV sow on NBC. Ads are a thing of the past when you pay for your service. This, to most, should be worth the $36. Please remember that this is $36 a year, not a month. You get 365 days of ad free listening power for a small price to pay.

Longer Timeout Periods

If you are using Pandora right now, for free, then you are well aware that you are to interact with the service every handful of tracks before it will ask you if you are still listening. You can be ten minutes into your day and then the music stops. You wonder why, open the tab, and see a message from Pandora asking you if you are still listening. You hit yes, and carry on with your day only to have to do the same thing in another half an hour or so. It gets annoying fast with the free service. But, if you pay for your service, you will not have up to five hours of idle time before you are required to interact with Pandora. So, enjoy your time sitting back with ad free unlimited skips music. It truly will make your listening experience that much better.

These are only a few things that make Pandora One that much better than the free version of the service. If you listen to the radio at work, and you favorite the stations on Pandora, it might be time to seriously consider some investment into their subscription services. The experience will be better just from the features that you will be able to take advantage of. So pull out your credit card, follow the on screen directions to activating your account, and get to dancing as you are on your way to higher quality unlimited skipping ad free music.

I came across a show the other day that grabbed my attention. It comes from the man that almost ate himself to death in the film Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock. The show is titled 30 Days and Morgan puts himself in situations for thirty days that he would normally not find himself in. He does the research, he plans the topic, and then is filmed for the thirty days breaking down how his mind and body react to the living this life style for an entire month. The show is quite good and it allows the audience a chance to see life on the inside.

The episode that stood out to me most was the season finale of the second season. Morgan put himself in jail for thirty days. His girlfriend, of course, did not take this too lightly, but she knew he had to go for the sake of his show and for the sake of what makes Morgan, Morgan. So he was picked up at home and for an entire month was treated like a criminal. He would eat with these guys; he would sleep with these guys, get time in the “yard” with these guys, and even shower and use the restroom right alongside convicts.

At first it was a little scary for Morgan. I mean, going from being able to do whatever you want whenever you want to now being thrown behind bars is a major life change. From the moment he walked into the prison he was told that he would be treated just like all the other inmates. He would get no special treatment, no extra protection, and would not be pulled out of any fights or altercations if he found himself in one. Morgan was on the inside all alone.

The episode was actually quite educational. There is not a lot that you can see in forty-five minutes that takes place over a month’s time, but I felt they did a good job breaking it down and showing the highlights. You learn a lot during that time, however, and get to see how smart prisoners really are. For instance, the bathrooms in these cells are literally just sitting out in the middle for everyone to see. So if you have to use the restroom you are going to be showing off for the rest of the guys around you. But these prisoners have developed a technique to show when they are in fact on the John. When someone goes to the restroom they throw a sheet up to cover the cell. Then the inmate will write and place a note on the outside of the cell to let guards and cell mates know they are using the restroom. It is clever and it works.

Part of the reason for this system, however, is due to the fact that jails are overcrowded. The cells are meant for two inmates, at most, and all of them are housing three at a time. A pair of convicts will get a bunk bed while the other gets a thin mattress and is forced to sleep on the floor. Now, the prison that Morgan visited was not maximum security, where I feel things might be a little different, but the inmates were only allowed very few hours of daylight a week. They were kept inside and not given very much freedom at all. But tensions do run high around any prisons.

So as Morgan goes along he decides to make things even worse for himself. Not only is allowed a handful of visitations while he is in the pen, he decides to put himself in solitary confinement for seventy-two hours. This, from the way he described it, has to be one of the worst forms of punishment that a prisoner can go through. I have always thought that this would be the easy way out. You get your own room, three meals a day served to you right there, time to shower and work out all by yourself, and no worries about getting into arguments or fights with the other inmates. But, when Morgan said that the prisoner is not allowed any books while inside of solitary confinement, I quickly changed my mind. You see, if I was in prison (for whatever reason) and I had nothing to do but wait, I would read. I would read magazines and books and try to learn as much as I could when I was on the inside. I would also begin taking college courses, as they are offered in most prisons, and try to get as far as I could in my personal education as possible. But, if while in “the hole” as they like to call it, you cannot read I would not want to be anywhere near that.

Morgan explains how being locked up by yourself, even for seventy-two hours, can do a lot to a man. He began talking to himself and was just acting silly trying to find ways to pass the time. The human body can only sleep for so many hours a day and you could tell that boredom set in very early with his time in that holding cell. But I have a feeling the whole situation would be an issue. Being in jail, having to follow someone’s rules about when you eat and sleep, and not being able to make phone calls whenever I wanted, having no Internet access, and not being able to watch TV that you want. I would simply go insane after a few hours, let alone a few years. Just try to imagine living a life like that, never mind the fear of being disliked, for years at a time. There are guys that get five, ten, twenty or more years in prison. Is that justice? That depends on their crime. But I am not sure how I would handle a situation like that.

The show, if even only for an hour, put you in a pair of shoes you might not have understood before. I now know what it is like to be a convict behind bars. I know what a prisoner goes through, what kind of food they eat, and what sort of activities they can take advantage of. All things said and done I do not want to be in jail. It looks to be a pretty lonely place. But if it was not for Morgan Spurlock and his show 30 Days I might never know what it truly was like behind bars. This is just one episode in his collection of now two seasons and if this one shows anything for the future of this show, I can see this lasting for a long time. So check out 30 Days if you want to live your life in someone else’s shoes; if only for an hour at a time.

Currently I am not blessed with the financial freedoms to be able to afford cable television.  I get all of my TV viewing from online sources such as Hulu.  However, not too long ago you could find me any time of the day sitting on my bed watching the Nickelodeon classic SpongeBob SquarePants.  The show is about a witty sponge, whose name is Bob, and his daily musings with guys like Patrick the Starfish and Squidward Tentacles.  Any number of episodes involves SpongeBob and his day job as a chef at the Krusty Krab.  He deals with anything from a micromanaging boss to an array of awkward and demanding customers.  But the little sponge loves his job and, from the feeling I get from the show, would not trade it for the world.

But SpongeBob has a lot of history.  He is not just the star of a midday kid’s show on Nickelodeon but he is a legend in his own right.  I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss some of his history as he is often mistaken as a simple cartoon character.  Just as Bugs Bunny is more than an animated form of entertainment, SpongeBob SquarePants is an instant classic in not only our youth but also in adults alike.

When looking at where Mr. Bob came from, you can thank the one and only Jacques Cousteau.  He is known as the man behind the invention of SpongeBob. Well, sort of. After finding inspiration in Cousteau films, SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg went to earn a higher degree and earned one in a natural resource planning with an emphasis in marine resources. He taught marine biology at the Orange County Marine Institute for several years before pursuing his second love.  He had always had an interest in animation. You wouldn’t think that marine biology and animation necessarily go together, but Hillenburg married his two careers and came up with the squishy yellow guy that made him famous. Hillenburg knows the combination is a strange one as he is known for saying, “When you set out to do a show about a sponge, you don’t expect the kind of appeal that he’s had.”

Did you know that SpongeBob was originally called SpongeBoy?  Bizarrely, the name was already copyrighted.  Of course it was not copyrighted as a fiction cartoon character under the sea but as a mop. I think it’s safe to assume that SpongeBoy hasn’t reached the household name status that SpongeBob SquarePants has. Hillenburg wanted to make sure that the word “Sponge” was retained in Mr. SquarePants’ name so children wouldn’t mistake him for a large chunk of cheese living under the sea.  And from the looks of it I can see why some people would mistake him for a chunk of cheddar.

I might not be the biggest supporter of the leader in the White House, but he does enjoy some quality time with the Bob.  President Obama told TV Guide in 2007 that his favorite cartoon character is “SpongeBob SquarePants.”  He said this because SpongeBob is a show he watches with his daughters.  So regardless of whether his daughters are the actual fans of the hit TV show or he is truly an under the sea kind of guy, I must admit that I finally can agree with something that Obama has said.

Did you know that Mr. Bob lives in a pineapple?  In the theme song you can even hear them say, “Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”  The answer is SpongeBob SquarePants.  So why does SpongeBob live in a pineapple? If you pay attention to the show, not only do nautical and sailing motifs come up on a regular basis, Polynesian references are often thrown into the mix as well (surely you’ve noticed Squidward’s Easter Island head home). Pineapples are used commonly in tropical decor, but the creator also imagines that SpongeBob would just like the way living in a pineapple would smell.  I truly enjoy a fresh pineapple from time to time and I can only imagine the scent that it would exude if I were to live in one.

There are other characters in the show that you should pay attention to.  SpongeBob’s neighbor, Squidward, is one of them.  He has a piss poor attitude about life and hates living next to Bob.  He is easily annoyed as well which does not help the fact that he also works with SpongeBob.  But if you’ve ever paid close attention, you have probably noticed that Squidward lacks the proper number of tentacles to be a squid or an octopus (the show has referred to him as both over the years so no one really know what he truly is supposed to be). The animators believed that giving Squidward more than six legs would just weigh him down too much visually, so they chose to go with inaccuracy over bad aesthetics. But that makes sense since SpongeBob is clearly a kitchen sponge, not a sea sponge. (Are you starting to see that I watch a little too much of this television show than I probably should?)

The last piece of SpongeBob trivia that I will leave you with is one that a lot of his fans are sold on.  There is a large population of followers out there that think SpongeBob is gay.  (Please ignore the fact that I drive a Smart car, that I enjoy wearing pink shirts and ties, and that I love techno music.) SpongeBob is not gay however much you keep telling yourself that. According to Entertainment Weekly, SpongeBob seems to have a loyal following in the gay community because of his “flamboyant and tolerant attitude.”  SpongeBob came under fire when two Christian activist groups singled him out for holding hands with his best friend, Patrick. Evangelist James Dobson claimed the video was a “pro-homosexual” video. “I always think of the characters as being somewhat asexual,” he said, adding, ”I do think that the attitude of the show is about tolerance. Everybody is different, and the show embraces that,” he says. ”No one is shut out.”

If you have not seen the show I highly encourage that you take a half an hour out of your day today and try to catch a rerun on Nickelodeon.  You will surely be able to find some time in your schedule once you see how funny this show is and how closely you can relate to it even though it is intended to be a show for children.  I watch it every chance I get, and I even have started thinking about collecting his memorabilia.  But with my Rickey Henderson, Tiger Woods, and beer cap collections, adding one more might be a little too much for me (and my girlfriend) to handle.  So get out there and catch some SquarePants the next chance you get.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

Hugh Jackman has been pretty busy over the last few months.  Just a few weeks ago the latest film from the X-Men series was released on DVD where Jackman plays the famed Marvel character Wolverine.  The film had some increased exposure before it was even released on DVD as it was leaked, in DVD quality nonetheless, to the general public and was downloaded over a million times before the film even hit theaters.  Skeptics say that it hurt ticket sales, but I would beg to differ.  Nothing compares to watching a film, especially one like this, in the theater.  The sound is better, the picture quality is better, and it provides a better experience overall.

Outside of the release of this film Jackman finds himself in another form of entertainment.  Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman both star in the Broadway play titled, “A Steady Rain”.  During a recent preview of this performance Jackman stepped right out of character, stopping the play all together, to set a rude audience member straight.  During the middle of one of the scenes a cell phone rang causing Jackman to become upset enough to stop the acting and start the preaching.  Jackman was caught on camera, as the video can be seen online on various websites, and told the rude individual, “You want to get that?”  He then proceeds to tell the person, “Come on, just turn it off.”

Of course the producers of the play refused to comment on the actions of Jackman.  The interruption came at a time during the play where Jackman’s character, ironically a policeman, is seen remembering events of the past.  (I am not sure how a scene where someone is simply remembering thoughts from the past can be called intense, but then again I have not seen the play so I cannot comment.)

The funny thing about all of this is that after the interruption, and before the play started up again, a voice came over the loud speakers telling the audience members to turn off their cell phones.  This was too little too late in my opinion.  They did finish the rest of the play without any further interruptions.

I think that Jackman might have gone a little over the top on this one.  Sure, when you go to a play or a movie, or anything in public for that matter, it is just courteous to turn off your cell phone or put it on vibrate.  I personally always have my cell phone on vibrate.  I am not sure I have even heard the ringer on my phone; as it is always on vibrate.  And yes, I understand that people can forget to turn it off or to vibrate, but is it really worth stopping the play, therefore hurting the experience for everyone else (regardless of approval) to tell one person to shut off his or her phone?

I do get upset, for instance, when I go to the movies and someone is talking, or sending a text on their phone illuminating the entire theater.  But I do not make an effort to tell that individual to put it away.  He paid just as much to see the movie as I did so I have no jurisdiction over his actions.  However, in this case, Jackman is the star (or Daniel Craig if you are a fan of his work more than Jackman’s) and he has the say on what happens on his stage and in this case even off stage.  I imagine that if you were on the set of a movie filming the next action thriller blockbuster with any given actor and a cell phone went off you might get the same reaction from the director or actors on set.  Look at the tangent that Christian Bale recently had for someone just walking through the back of his set.

“A Steady Rain” is a dramatic play that is about the relationship between two policemen.  The play opens this week but only for a limited engagement through December. 6^th, 2009.  Jackman has some experience on Broadway as a matter of fact.  Jackman won a Tony Award in 2004 for his performance as Peter Allen in the musical “The Boy from Oz.” However, for Craig, having done nothing since the latest James Bond flick is making his Broadway debut.  I am curious to see how this goes for these two super-star on screen actors.  If I ever do make it out to see the play I will make sure that I need to keep my phone off, that’s for sure.

If you have not already seen the video you have probably heard about what Kanye West did last night during the acceptance speech of Taylor Swift’s video of the year award on the Video Music Awards presented by MTV.  Taylor Swift won the female video of the year and was as shocked as anyone at the decision.  In the video, which you can find all over YouTube (maybe) and various news websites (take your pick) you will see her surprised face as soon as they announce her name.  I am not sure why she is so surprised as she continues to climb the charts.  I do not understand that at all.  I am not a huge fan of female voices to begin with, but her voice just makes me want to cut myself when I hear it through the airwaves.  Granted, I am a hypocrite as I have all over her albums (can I still call them albums) but that does not mean I have to like her voice.  She does not write hardly any of her own lyrics and she is too young to be that good at playing the guitar.

Before you all hang me for saying I do not like Taylor Swift I would like for you to give me a list of at least three of her songs that you know all of the lyrics to.  Exactly, you can’t.  To protect myself from further hatred, and to retain some readers while doing it, I will give my respect for how she, or her management, has handled her sudden success.  Just because I do not like it does not mean it does not have potential and talent.  There I said it.  Now can we carry on?

So last night while Taylor was giving her fighting back tears acceptance speech as Kanye walks right up, says excuse me (how nice of him) and yanks the microphone right out of her hand.  He then goes on to talk about how Beyonce had a video of a lifetime and making claim that she should be the one holding that trophy, not Taylor.  He goes on to repeat himself a few times and then apologizes to Taylor, and hands her back the microphone.  He gives her permission to finish her speech.  She was not allowed to finish and was escorted off the stage.

On the surface, this appears to be a publicity stunt for Mr. Fish Sticks himself.  He just released a new album that got a lot of critics up in arms for the computerized overtones that saturate the album.  But at the same time he did not get a lot of feedback and it only sat on the charts for a few weeks; the top of the charts anyway.  And as much as folks try to debunk the fact that I thought it was a publicity stunt, no one will ever admit it even if it was.

First off, before I even talk about why I think this was a good thing for Kanye’s career, I want to talk about how funny this was.  The look on Taylor’s face when he grabbed that microphone was both shock and surprise and I am not sure she even realized what he is doing until it was all over.  She is young, very young actually, and could possibly pull the “I had no idea what was going on” card if she wants.  I am interested to see how her camp reacts to this.  Kanye’s people have already claimed he has officially apologized to her for making an ass of himself (I have heard him called so many names today it would make your head spin) on national television.

But that right there is why this was genius.  Sure, he got the chance to perform on the VMAs, but that was not enough.  Kanye is a man that craves attention and is one that will do just about anything to get it.  If he makes an ass of himself, sure, but he is all over national television doing so and you know people will be talking about it at the water cooler the next morning.  And that leads me to my next point.

I will again have doubters with this, some might even call it an attempt to get fifteen minutes of fame, but that is all he needs.  He does not need months or years of exposure because of this because he has already, within a few short hours of this even happening, become a trending topic on Twitter.  The video was taken (for the time being) down from YouTube due to what they call copyright infractions.  (That is a lot of crap if you ask me.  It was on MTV.  What copyright are you breaking in posting something that anyone and his or her brother can watch.  What is to say these folks did not tape it on their VCR and post it for everyone that missed it to see?)

Kanye not only grabbed the social media crowd with it being all over Twitter and Facebook (and my blog) but he also got national media coverage from folks like MSN, The New York Times, and CNN.  It is either a slow news day or his actions were worth talking about as it was, for the most of the day, the number one news story on CNN.  I am excited to see how guys like Letterman and Bill O’Reilly take this and turn it into a headline.

So needless to say, Kanye got some attention whether it was meant to be harmful or not.  But here is my case as to why I felt this was a smart thing to do.  (Could he have handled it differently?  Sure.  Could or should he have waited until she was finished speaking before he made his voice heard?  Sure.  But did he have a right to be upset?  Yes, absolutely he did.)

Kanye not only got some media coverage and some online content being generated about him but he also got his opinion across for being such a hard working man in show business.  Kanye is not just a singer but he is a performer.  He is an entertainer.  I highly doubt he has ever written a single line of lyrics or played an instrument outside of a microphone, but he knows how to sell tickets.  I had the chance of seeing him perform a few years ago, before he was considered “big” and was just a stage-by-stage rapper, and even when no one knew his name he was good.

He is a very talented individual.  He is so talented that you might even see an Eminem style coming from him next.  If he releases a comedy album next I would not be surprised at all.  He has done the hardcore rap scene, and it worked.  He then went to a more at home radio friendly rap, and it worked.  He then went to an electro-pop sound that has you dancing and wondering if that is actually Kanye or his laptop singing.  It worked.

To give Beyonce some credit, she had a great video up against Taylor Swift.  If you have to ask then stop reading and use this new little tool called Google to find out what video I am speaking of.  (You might even find Justin Timberlake trying to copy her sweet dance moves.)  The video, in most circles, was better.  But does that excuse Kanye?  No, of course not.  But I will stand by the fact that he was doing this as a publicity stunt and as a way to put a foot down for hard working musicians.  (Not saying that Taylor is not hard working.  But Beyonce has more than just a pretty face going for her.  Just saying.)

The last thing that you are going to hear about this is that people are going to say it was a racial thing.  Kanye is not a racist.  He might actually be the whitest black guy that I know.  I mean, I don’t know him personally, but if I did I would text him and give him a high five for his actions last night.  He would never put himself in the position to be called a racist and would never allow folks to look at him in that light.  Just listen to his lyrics and you will know he is not a racist.

So to all of the people out there that are mad at Kanye for what he has done, get over it.  There is nothing you being upset will change.  He has a voice, and the freedom of speech, to make his thought process known.  I will agree that he could have handled it differently.  But the point of this entire fifteen minutes of fame is that he is getting attention in both blogs and 140 character status updates.  So in the eyes of Kanye West he wins whether he is holding a moon man or not.