Jody Whitesides

Author: Jody Whitesides

  • When Your Birthday Horoscope Says “Turning Point” — And It’s Right

    When Your Birthday Horoscope Says “Turning Point” — And It’s Right

    Multiple things are afoot. There’s more server updates. There’s more music updates. There’s a live concert excursion. Plus it’s finally cooling down in the temps while heating up in the Politics. Plus some strange shit revolving around my birthday.

    Sometimes I read some really weird shit online. A couple of days ago while on a weekend trip with my girlfriend, I came across an article relating to Horoscopes. What caught my eye on this article was the headline. August 12th of 2025 is apparently a turning point for all the zodiac signs!

    You might ask yourself: Why did this catch your attention Jody?

    I’ll tell ya – it’s my birthday! So sing along with me: Happy birthday to you…

    Do I really believe in Horoscope stuff? No.

    Despite the fact you might be sick of hearing about the server. There’s another update. One that is fun for me, and probably even noticeable for you. I have the ability to now clone the site and test it away from the front facing one you’re reading this on right now.

    Which allows me to test major changes first, then if they work – deploy it for real. Such is the case for something I did last night. Which means you’re getting a noticeably faster experience here now. The speed increased dramatically from 700+ milliseconds to 25 milliseconds. That’s pretty substantial.

    Last week a buddy of mine came thru town and had my girlfriend and I out to a show. It was the Rick Springfield I Want My 80s tour. It was 4 old acts from the 80s singing their hits and putting on a show. As the night went on, each act got progressively better. For guys in their 70s I’ll say that John Waite and Rick Springfield are putting on some amazing shows. Compared to most older acts.

    It was an added bonus to get to spend some additional time after the show chatting with my buddy and catching up.

    Enjoying the fact that days are cooling off. It’s a nice reprieve from the heat. At some point it would be nice to get some rain. On the flip side, we’ve definitely hit maximum crazy with a shift into American dictatorship. That is wholly disappointing. Pure American Mayhem from a dickhead of a president attempting to deflect from his pedophile past.

    On a brighter note… Another week and another addition to the Do You Want to Play lineup. This time for the Washington Commanders. Oddly it’s one of the teams I remember rooting for when I was younger and they were called the Redskins.

    I have zero issue with the change in the team’s name. I have no Native American friends, or relatives (that’s right, Whitesides is not a Native American name). I haven’t a clue if it was an offensive term for our land’s ancestors. If it was, so much the better for the change.

    All I know is, if you’re a fan of the team – play it loud, and share it proud with this version of Do You Want to Play – Washington Commanders! Then make sure to send me that proof. I’ve been known to share it on social media.

  • Old Tracks, New Life: The Emotional Rework of My Musical Journey

    Old Tracks, New Life: The Emotional Rework of My Musical Journey

    Been a crazy week. Lots of things on fire. First I’ve had my creative art cap on in the efforts of getting new artwork done. Had an old family friend reach out for music advice. Several releases from the past 5 months have not been fully fixed on Apple Music. And lots of places in the state are literally on fire.

    With the on-going effort to update old releases, I’ve been working on art for all the singles/EPs that are due in the coming weeks and months. Starting in a few weeks, an old album will get removed from streaming services. Replacing it is something that has been re-mixed, re-mastered and has new art for each song.

    The eventual cycle thru all the songs will finish with the drop of the entire album. Followed by the entire album getting a Dolby Atmos release. It’s a long time in the making.

    In the interim an old family friend reached out about his daughter who wants to be in the music business as a songwriter and artist. I had a bit of a reverse deja vu moment. When I was starting out I was fortunate enough to have Rick Springfield’s bassist – a family friend and a former sponsor of my skiing, give me a leg up.

    He reached out to Jack White, Rick’s original drummer, to listen to my music and give me feedback. When Jack called me after getting my demo tape (yes it was the days of cassettes), he said it would take him a week or so.

    About an hour later I got another call from Jack. He explained that he was initially thinking it would be him saying that I didn’t have what it took to be in the music business and was going to let me down as easily as possible. Instead, he explained that he really dug my demos and wanted to help me.

    Upon meeting the family friend’s daughter and chatting with the concerned parents, I was setting it up similarly. I’m still waiting to hear the daughter’s music, but will say that she passed the initial test of a question that I ask any young person wanting to make a career of music.

    Essentially it’s become my Pay It Forward situation with this young woman, so to speak.

    There are roughly 6 releases from the past 5 months that either have missing info or their animated cover is not in the system. I don’t blame Apple Music for this issue. I’m actually laying it at the feet of the distributor. I’ve been emailing every other day – because their customer service is so fuckin slow, to ask for these things to get fixed.

    Today marks a change on that as I’ve started complaining a bit higher up the food chain. The hopeful result is that they will all get fixed prior to the first re-release.

    If you’re a fan of things moving forward and building a fire, then today’s release is definitely for you. The Los Angeles Rams version of Do You Want to Play has released. With a fire yellow vibe to the team colors, it’s apropos to the fires I’ve been building or putting out this past week!

  • The Chargers Got a New Anthem—And It Slaps

    The Chargers Got a New Anthem—And It Slaps

    The real fun is about to begin. I’ve started the process of creating the artwork for Delicate Stretch of the Seems and all the singles that will be coming out. I’d call it a very nice change of pace from dealing with technical computer stuff.

    I’ve finished one cover so far, which includes the animated version that will attend to the release. It’s the most full on one I’ve done to date. So much so that during the process of exporting the animation I was seeing issues.

    What I was seeing in Motion was not what was getting rendered. As an end user it’s highly likely you don’t give a shit about the process. On the flip side, I’m one of those nuts who cares who did what and how it was done. And this is one of those moments that would make a great nugget about how something got done.

    A phone call with Apple was involved. I had to speak with a Motion specialist from Apple. There was a bit of disconnect in that they weren’t familiar with Motion to the extent that I was using it. Uh oh. That’s a bit rough. In the end, they were able to make a suggestion that ended up fixing the situation – after about 4 failed attempts over 90 minutes.

    The best quote from the call: You’re using it in a capacity way beyond what I’m aware of. Not the first time I’ve heard words like that directed at me about something I’m creating or testing out.

    Speaking of another creation, this week it is the release of Do You Want to Play for the Los Angeles Chargers. Which means in the not too distant future, the old version will likely be going the way of the dodo bird. Not exactly sure how soon that will be, but in honor of the new Charger fans, I don’t see a need to keep the former version alive on streaming.

    If you’re a Los Angeles Charger fan, blast this one loud and proud like a lot of Angelenos do. I look forward to seeing the Chargers putting some wins in the history book and making it look good to boot.

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