Swampland.com

Guilty Pleasures

A wise man once said, “Man does not live by Southern Rock alone.” Well, there have been times when I would argue that point, but the truth is, as much as I love my Southern Rock and Outlaw country music, I have a wide variety of interests, many of which may come as a surprise to some.

I call these my “guilty pleasures.” Just a few of the left of center pastimes I have been known to indulge in when not listening to One More from The Road or Eat a Peach.

My most recent guilty pleasure is a television network I had no idea existed until a couple of weeks ago. Current TV is something fresh on the boob tube for those of us who feel we may go berserk if we see another so called reality show.

Current utilizes young reporters who dive right into the middle of the most current news stories. There’s also comedy and lots of tie ins to the internet and Google. The shows cater to today’s short attention span, presented as podcasts. It’s all very good. In fact, I never took the TV off of that channel all last weekend.

Most of you know my story about being a KISS fan back in high school, from the time they started their impressive money making run. After all these years watching Gene Simmons in character onstage, it does my heart good to watch him at home with his family on Gene Simmons Family Jewels, being treated by his teens just like I am by mine. No matter how big a star Gene is, the kids always bring him back to earth. Favorite Episode: The one where Gene and daughter Sophie visit veterans in the hospital.

Because my wife is an astrologer, I have gotten hooked on two pretty nifty websites. Soulgarden.TV is a state of the art daily live horoscope that would be right at home on Current TV. The show’s creator, Christopher Weteki, is an absolute professional. Get your daily readings absolutely free.

Speaking of stars, Eric Francis, creator of Planet Waves, offers his own astrological advice and commentary. The thing I love about Eric is his writing. He is quite prolific, and writes in an investigative style that I really like. He is heavily into finding the truth, which I can really dig. Oh, and he is an amazing photographer, with plenty of examples on the site.

The movie Zeitgeist. Stemming from my love of The X-Files and conspiracy theories, this movie blew my mind. The website shows the movie absolutely free 24/7, and there is a downloadable companion book in PDF format. How 21st century is that?

Stephen King. My favorite author. I have read virtually everything he (and his alter ego Richard Bachman) has written, and nine times out of ten, I love the stories. It blows my mind that anyone can write that much, but he does and does it well. Favorite book: “Misery.”

Kate Bush. Ever since her first album in 1979 I have been a fan of this British pop singer. When I want to totally cleanse my musical pallet, I will play some Brian Eno and then a Kate Bush record. Favorite Record: “The Kick Inside.”

Snopes online. What a great site. Find out if an urban legend or e-mail scam is for real or not.

Comics. I love ‘em. Always have. From Superman and Batman to X-Men to The Fantastic Four. I love the comic based movies as well. Favorite Comic: 1970’s Howard the Duck. Movie: Blade

Batman. Of all the comics, the Caped Crusader has been my favorite since I was a kid.Some of the comics are better than others, same with movies. Favorite Bat Comic: “The Killing Joke.” Favorite Movie: Michael Keaton in the first one, although I am waiting with baited breath on this Summer’s The Dark Knight. The late Heath Ledger may have created the definitive Joker.

Other than these, there’s a lot of time that I spend on this very Mac, surfing MySpace, YouTube, Amazon, hollywood.com and about a zillion other sites. I’m always looking for something fresh and new, but I can always be sucked right un by nostalgia.

That being said, it’s back to work. In the words of the guy on the right, "Let's put a smile on that face!"

Keep it Real. Keep it Southern.
Buffalo

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