Lots and lots of phone work going on, getting things together to start the “Practical Insanity” campaign. In the meantime I wanted to make you aware of something cool. Have you heard of Podcasting? It’s one of the new net rages where you can download a broadcast in mp3 format then transfer it to your MP3 player, such as the iPod – for which the term was coined after. The reason I mention it is this, I’ve just finished the music for particular Podcast known as “The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd”. It’s a rather fun Podcast that is based on the old fashioned serial radio show style. Its funny, educational, and different from just about any Podcast out there. Each episode is about 5 minutes long and you can listen to any of them freely at the website. Or you can now use the new version of iTunes software (v4.9) to subscribe to the Podcast, yes its still free.

I’m finishing up with the master disc for “Practical Insanity” and finalizing the artwork today. Getting it all together so that I can send it off to be duplicated in the next couple of weeks.

Movie Pick of the Week: War of the Worlds. This is an odd summer blockbuster. First, I think I know why Tom Cruise has gone off the deep end in all the recent interviews. I think the character from War of the Worlds stuck with him and he hasn’t shaken the role yet. Storywise this movie seems like a string of events with no rhyme or reason. But then if the world was actually being attacked by a methodical group of aliens I guess this would be how you’d go about attempting to survive. Initially it took me a little while to get into the story, in fact for me it didn’t start to flow until the first alien hit the screen. Once that happened it was a roller-coaster ride all the way to the end. I was mezmerized from that point on. That is until just before the end of the film where I was begining to wonder – is this gonna end? I think Spielberg must have been listening as the movie ended roughly a few mintues after that. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, and there was one surprise that made me think – Lame! The special effects were pretty amazing, especially considering I never thought about them. The weirdest thing about the movie is the fact that its not filmed in widescreen/cinemascope outside of that, the movie was worth the price of admission and I’d recommend going.

Quietly working on new material while I’m waiting to hear back from some people on the possible touring and promotion of “Practical Insanity”. In the meantime I’ve been plotting out my Christmas CD concept and even working on demos for the next non-holiday release called tentatively titled “Dirty White Slave”. Yes, there is a story behind that title, but I’ll hold off on saying anything about until much closer to the actual release date. Expect “Practical Insanity” sometime in the near future.

Another thing I’m excited about is getting into NACA and APCA. I’ve already got one showcase coming up in November and I’m submitting for more this fall through both organizations. At the very least I’ll be making the rounds at college/university campuses later this year and into 2006.

***** (The area between stars constitues an update to the news after it was posted)
I’ve come across a nifty new little site called Audioscrobbler.com I have absolutely no idea what the word scrobbler means, but here’s the idea behind the site. It’s like a cross of Friendster/Myspace and iTunes. You create a little profile, download a small application (plug-in for the music player you use), then proceed to play what music you listen to on your favorite music player on your computer. It keeps track of what you listen to then sends that information to your profile. What happens is you can then find out what your friends listen to, or discover new bands by finding out what other listeners listen to. It will even suggest artists to check out.

I just downloaded this and have been trying it out. I recommend it and hope you’ll play some of my tunes while you are using it.
******

Movie Pick of the Week: Batman Begins. Let me preface by saying that I’m not a huge fan of the Batman series. I always felt that they never picked a great ‘Batman’, and they were never quite edgy enough. Hell some of them were downright dopey. So, I got to attend a special midnight showing of Batman Begins on Tuesday night in IMAX. In a word: WOW. I think they’ve finally stumbled onto a great concept for Batman. Christian Bale made for a great Bruce Wayne/Batman. Liam Neeson was effective as a villain. Michael Cain whom I thought had quite acting was a good Alfred. Katie Holmes, despite her recent publicity stunt with Tom Cruise, wasn’t believable as a prosecuting attourney. And a long lost Rutger Hauer was there, but didn’t seem to make a super effective impact as a kniving CEO. Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman played characters a little of nature but they were good. I felt that overall the story worked out quite well. There were a couple of hokey moments but for the most part it was captivating. The special effects were cool. And Gotham really became a city that felt like Gotham. I’m now a Batman fan, provided they can keep up the level of quality they introduced in this one. I’d recommend this one. And if you get the chance, see it in IMAX.

What a wild a crazy weekend. I spent some time off with some friends out at the Colorado River on the border of Arizona and California in a town called Parker. Actually it’s been sort of an annual thing for the past 6 years I think, at least for me. Some of them have been doing it for a while longer. Anyway, it was as usual, eventful. In fact just a couple of blocks from starting out, the boat trailer got a flat tire. Yikes. Without boring you with all the details, I got a nice sunburn, learned to wakeboard and wakesurf, and got stuck for an extra day out there when my ride’s car broke down on the way home. The bonus was playing some black jack and winning some money at the Blue Water Casino.

In music news, I’m currently in talks with several PR and Radio firms. I’m working on getting Practical Insanity released with or without the Business Plan Funding. So far the reaction from all the firms I’ve talked to have been highly favorable. I’m going to be weighing their strategies to see whom I like best. So stay tuned.

I’ve also started mapping out the songs that will make up the first two (out of 3) of the Christmas CD’s that will make up my first Christmas release. I spoke about this back in December or January, so check out the archives for the story on that. But at least it has gotten started. As well, I’ve also been demo’ing new songs for the follow up to Practical Insanity. Geez, do I ever stop?

Movie Pick of the Week: The Longest Yard. Here’s a simple review of a simple movie. Don’t expect cinematic greatness. In fact, don’t go in expecting anything at all. Think in terms of mindless entertainment and you’ll likely have a good time watching this movie. I liked Adam Sandler, I didn’t really get why Burt Reynolds was even in it. Chris Rock was being restrained from really being Chris Rock, and some of the dialog was kinda cheesy. Otherwise there are funny, laugh out loud moments and I did find it fun.

In case you missed the Music Connection Review, here is the repost from the previous news entry: In the latest issue of the Music Connection Magazine. I received some kind words and a total of 7 out of 10. Quoting from the Music Connection:
“Whitesides is a singer/songwriter whose performances and material show lots of skill and craft without scrificing heart or conviction. the lyrics for All The Things and Days of Our Lives have a knack for depicting the imagery of everyday life in interesting ways. Electric guitar licks lend a hard rock backbone to the tunes, while the artist’s soulful voice acts like fine-grain sandpaper that gives his rough-hewn subect matter some compelling contours.”