Author: Jody Whitesides

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.”

Groggy morning. I was fortunate enough to be up late to catch the opening of Star Wars Episode III last night. But before I get to that…

I got a review 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.”

Not too shabby eh?

I want to say thank you to everyone that has been using the new ePostcard feature I’ve added to the website. I really appreciate it. All I can say is, keep on sending.

Movie Pick of the Week: Star Wars Episode III ‘Revenge of the Sith’. Ok, call me a geek. Although I’m not the most hard core Star Wars nut, I certainly can hold my own. This time around, I’m fortunate enough that my girlfriend was able to get myself and a friend into the opening night! I felt like a giddy little kid. There were people there that actually had costumes and light sabers, hey it’s Star Wars. The lights went down and Lucasfilm LTD came on the screen and the room filled with cheers. Lucas has certainly gone for the more-is-more is better in this movie. He threw the kitchen sink into tying up the entire story line. Obviously we all know what happens by Return of the Jedi. But the real questions became, how did it get to A New Hope. How did Darth Vader become Darth seems to be the biggest question. In terms of cheesy-ness, there was one scene that was so bad that it made people laugh, outside of that, it’s standard Star Wars fare. I’d have to put this on the level of the Empire Strikes Back which is my favorite episode. The special effects are certainly cool. Knowing how things came to be for A New Hope was gratifiying. Although I came across three flaws in the story-line, based on things said in episodes IV, V, & VI, it’s still a great closing chapter. Overall, if you’ve seen all the other Star Wars movies, you’ll want to complete your saga.