Aerosmith Still Sucks

So the Aerosmith fun just doesn't stop.

For those of you that just showed up, this is the post that ignited the rock and roll firestorm. (Make sure you check out the comments - my wife left a zinger for Ben Russell.)

Yesterday, someone linked my site on an Aerosmith fan board. (My picture is on the thread. Highest of high comedy.)

Tonight, the discourse jumped up a notch as Pop Culture Gangster actually offered a fairly salient rebuttal to my assertions. Scroll past the set list for Aerosmith/Motley Crue (Ha!) concert for his comments.

Before my loyal readers come to my defense with a barrage of witty comments on his site, I'd like to point out that Mr. Gangster actually agrees with me on a number of points:

• "I actually think that Aerosmith belongs on rock's "B-list" as well."


• Referring the the "Trilogy of Suck" - "I think they kinda suck myself."


• "You gotta love blogging - it gives everyone a chance to voice their opinions."


• "I'm guessing that this guy is a bit of a 'music Nazi'." (I'm not going to deny this. In fact, I appreciate the compliment.)

That said, a few of his points merit further discussion:

• He writes - "What is funniest about his post is that he calls his opinions "indisputable facts." Dude! It is called irony! (Yes - the irony is the funny part.)


• Chris Brown and John Clark, note the artists he includes in his "B List" - Aerosmith, Kiss, Jefferson Airplane, etc. I am so right...


• With regards to the "Greatest Hits" album issue, you got me. I didn't do my research on that one. So it goes... Props to you for knowing your Dylan and your Stones. Aerosmith notwithstanding, I suspect that our tastes are quite similar.

Lastly, can we steer the dialog back to the Truckers!? This is DBT Week for crying out loud!!! They're RELEVANT (unlike other bands bantered about of late) and they're coming to Durham on Friday.

Oh yeah - Aerosmith still sucks.

Aerosmith Comedy

Folks, I would not interrupt DBT Week if I did not have something important to pass along.

First, read the hilarious comments from my first post about my hatred for Aerosmith.  "Jeff B" is a friend from college who's musical insights I truly appreciate.  "Tony K" is a complete stranger - and evidently a passionate Aerosmith fan.

Next, read this.

My favorite post:

"Is this guy serious?
How can you compare Aerosmith to Gun's?,you can't 2 different styles of music.
Plus to just cut on joey like that was way out of line.I can see that he doesn't have his facts or wits about him in the leaast.
Aerosmith means a lot of things to a lot of people,and if he thinks writing that CRAP is going to change someones point of view he needs to think again.
A lot of people stopping using drugs because of Aerosmith,a lot of people have had a great time going to Aerosmith shows and being in this fan club.
So he needs to get a grip and move on,I hear Axel's looking to complete that 10 year record maybe he could help axel finish it since he is into them anyway?
What a moron!
Slapshot"

The Lyrical Wisdom of Mike Cooley

Drive-By Truckers week continues on The Boggs Blog with a retrospective of some of Mike Cooley's rock and roll truisms.

Well my Daddy didn't pull out, but he never apologized.
Rock and roll means well, but it can't help tellin' young boys lies.

- Marry Me, Decoration Day

So it is graphically obvious that the singer was conceived out of wedlock. If I were to venture a guess, I would say in the backseat of a Camaro in a Dairy Queen parking lot. He proceeds to accidentally father a child with his girlfriend later in the song - hence the requests to "marry me" throughout the chorus.

I tried to consider the many lies has rock and roll told me, but really couldn't nail down anything concrete. I think I am more a victim of mass conspiracy.

Livin' in fear is just another way of dying before your time.

- Shut Up And Get Up On The Plane, Southern Rock Opera

This song re-creates the scene on the tarmac before Skynard boards the plane on their ill-fated trip to Baton Rouge. Seems like this philosophical nugget should be on a t-shirt or in a fortune cookie or something.

I know the bottle ain't to blame and I ain't tryin' to.
It don't make you do a thing, it just lets you.

- Women Without Whiskey, Southern Rock Opera

Ernie Bridges, my 8th grade health teacher, tried to explain to our class how alcohol causes one to lower their inhibitions, but no one ever got it. He should have just played this tune.

If you were supposed to watch your mouth all the time
I doubt your eyes would be above it.

- Gravity's Gone, A Blessing And A Curse

While I acknowledge that there is truth to the argument, I would be remiss if I did not state that my grandmother would whole-heartedly disagree.

Saw you standing in the hallway, red plastic cup, and one of those big long cigarettes.
You asked me if I could play you some Dylan.
I said “Dylan who?” you told me to kiss your ass.

- Panties In Your Purse, Gangstabilly

Love the Dylan reference, love the "big long cigarettes", and love that Cooley wrote a song called "Panties In Your Purse" and that the Truckers put it on an album called "Gangstabilly".

Keep your drawers on, girl, it ain't worth the fight.
By the time you drop them I'll be gone,
And you'll be right where they fall the rest of your life.

- Zip City, Southern Rock Opera

Zip City is supposedly semi-autobiographical. It tells the story of a randy teenage boy's unsuccessful "pursuit" of a daddy's girl raised in the Salem Church of Christ. It is Mike Cooley's best, in my opinion:

I've got 350 heads on a 305 engine.
I get 10 miles to the gallon.
I ain't got no good intentions.

Drive-By Truckers Week!!!

The Drive-By Truckers bring their sweet sweet Southern sound to the 'Ham next Friday night. To properly observe the event, I hereby declare the next week to be "DBT Week" at the Boggs Blog.

The commemoration will feature articles that describe the greatness of the Truckers in excruciating detail and essays that will explore the cultural context of their music and the origins of my fan-dom, all in anticipation of their September 29 blowout at the Carolina Theater.

Tune in for such scholarly works as:

• The Lyrical Wisdom of Mike Cooley


• Why "Outfit" May Be the Greatest Song Ever Written


• The Cultural Implications of "Southern Rock Opera"


• Critical Analysis - Why Do I Like This Band So Much?


• A Review of the September 29 Concert


• And More!

It's going to a Southern rock extravaganza!

You think I'm dumb, maybe not too bright.
You wonder how, I sleep at night.
Proud of the Glory, stare down the Shame.
Duality of the Southern thing.

- The Southern Thing - DBT

The Red-Handed Stranger

My headline is way better than CNN's:

Willie Nelson Cited For Pot, Mushrooms 

Note that "Bobbie Nelson, 75, of Briarcliff, Texas" is Willie's sister.  She played the barrelhouse piano on "The Red-Headed Stranger", Willie's best record.

The People I Met Last Night

Lyle Lovett played the first concert of the Carolina Performing Arts Series 2006/2007 season last night at UNC's Memorial Hall. As usual, I was there, row R, seat 15.

The show was great. Lyle and his Large Band drifted from big band, to blues, to jazz, to gospel, to bluegrass, to straight honky tonk throughout the evening. The highlights included his performance of "Since The Last Time" - "I went to a funeral. Lord it made me happy seeing all those people I ain't seen since the last time somebody died." - and his witty on-stage banter. (I rank him behind only Jeff Tweedy of Wilco in terms of on-stange commentary.)

Someone asked me to describe Lyle Lovett's music earlier this week and I offered "American". Having seen him in concert, I can't think of a more appropriate description. Smart music, smart guy.

The concert was great, but the evening didn't truly kick into gear until the after-party at the Carolina Inn. My wife booked a honky-tonk-garage-country-punk band called Hank Sinatra to play the party. Seeing those guys play to a crowd of old people was hilarious. Lots of wide-eyed old people trying to digest music that was probably a little grittier - and louder - than they were accustomed to. However, once the alcohol started flowing and the band turned it down from "11" to "8", all of the big money donors started dancing and the night went well.

Hank Sinatra brought Phil Lee along to sit-in. Phil is a Durham native, a seen-it-all veteran of the music scene, and a heckuva nice guy. Once the party shut down, I spent some time chatting with Phil while the band loaded out. He had some interesting anecdotes about his days in Chapel Hill in the 60s and his side job as a truck driver.

Kelly and I traded Phil a Memorial Hall bolo tie for a copy of his latest record, "You Should Have Known Me Then" - I highly recommend it. It features tracks with Gilian Welch and members (and ex-members) of Wilco.

After we closed down the Carolina Inn, we had to hoof it back to Memorial Hall to pick up a few things. Lyle Lovett's crew was still loading out and Lyle was hanging around the parking lot. I positioned myself between Lyle and the bus and waited until he made his way over.

He walked right up to me and I introduced myself and Kelly. He did likewise and was quite friendly through the course of our 5 minute exchange. One of his crew members had a minor heart attack during load-in earlier in the day, so we spoke briefly about the status of his friend.

(It wasn't until he walked away that I started hyperventilating - both because I was excited to have met such a great musician and to have shaken a hand that has touched Julia Roberts.)

I've met a number of famous - and semi-famous - people through Kelly's involvement at Memorial Hall. None have been as engaging and friendly as Phil Lee and Lyle Lovett - except for maybe Dean Smith. (Which isn't surprising - one should expect God himself to be both friendly and engaging.)

Nickel Creek plays on Tuesday. Here's to hoping my good luck continues...

Colt McCoy

I'm half-watching the Texas vs. Ohio State game while catching up on some old email.  While half-watching, I'm trying to figure something out:

Could there be a better name for a Texas QB than "Colt McCoy"? 

Seriously?  Does it get any more "Texas" than that - outside of "Tex Eastwood", "Walker Texas Quarterback", or "George W. McConaughey"?

Indisputable, Factual Reasons to Hate Aerosmith

Editor's Note: On November 9, 2004, a few Brontos (Ed, Chaz, and Joe) and I had a passionate (and pointless conversation) about Aerosmith's place in the rock and roll pantheon. I sent the following email that afternoon to sum up what I belive to be an air-tight case for Aerosmith's permanent placement on the rock and roll "B" list.
Thanks to Ed for reminding me of this conversation today.

To continue this afternoon's argument, here are some indisputable, factual reasons to hate Aerosmith:

- They wrote a song entitled "Eat The Rich." Ironic?

- The trilogy of suck - "Crying", "Amazing", and that song from the movie "Armageddon." Real rock bands don't do trite power ballads, especially trite power ballads that soundtrack God-awful movies.

- They released a greatest hits album in 1980. This is more or less a symbolic end to all musical creativity. Once a band releases a "greatest hits", they might as well stop releasing new music.

- Joey Kramer is a less-than-average drummer.

- From http://allmusic.com - "Three years later (2001), Aerosmith strutted their stuff on the halftime special on CBS with the likes of Mary J. Blige, Nelly, *N Sync, and Britney Spears. "Birds of a feather" if you ask me...

- Name 3 important Aerosmith albums from their "prime". That's right - you can't. (Because there aren't any, besides "Toys in the Attic") They don't produce albums - they produce singles. Stones, Beatles, Dylan, Led Zep, Who, Springsteen, etc. all, in the peak of their career, produced strings of entire albums full of good music.

Let's not kid ourselves - Aerosmith is a popular band from the 70s and 80s, but by no means are they "classic", or even "important".

Redeeming qualities:

• Steven Tyler begat Liv Tyler.


• That video with Liv Tyler and whats-her-name from the movie "Clueless".


• "Dude Looks Like A Lady" - while an incredibly stupid song - was perfect for the "Mrs. Doubtfire" soundtrack.


• Joe Perry is a good guitarist.

2006 Update

They still suck:

• The 2006 July 4th concert with the Boston Pops. There isn't a person on Earth that can convince me that this crap-tastic performance "rocks" or even deserved to be filmed for posterity. If the introduction from Dr. Phil (Dr. Phil!) or the fact that Aerosmith let big-money co-opt their "music" for patriotic propaganda doesn't do it for you, then just watch until the "scream" at the 2:12 mark.


• Tom Hamilton, the bass player, looks like Dauber from the TV show "Coach".


• I heard "Love In An Elevator" today on the radio. God - please make it stop.

Redeeming Qualities:

• They appeared in a cool Saturday Night Live Wayne's World skit. "Aerosmith is in my breakfast nook! Aerosmith is sitting in my nook where I eat my Nut and Honey Crunch every morning."

My Very Excellent Mother...

...Just Sat Under New....?

It is a sad day my friends:

Pluto Gets the Boot

"After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930."

(I've always wanted to take some time away to discuss the essence of the cosmos.  Sounds like a hoot.)

My wife Kelly summed it up well in an email to me:

"Now what's it gonna be? My very eager Mother just served us nothing?????? Pluto will always be the cold icy planet so far, far away."

(Tear.)

A Great Week at Slate.com

The good people at Slate.com have served up some tasty morsels over the past week:

• Johnny Cash, Cornball. "These days, it's hard to find anyone who isn't a Johnny Cash fan."
  
  
  
  • Amen! (At least to the first line of the article anyway.) As a serious Johnny Cash fan well before "Walk The Line", I can admit that the writer makes some good points about the parts of his career that weren't depicted in the film or reflected in his "American Recordings" series with Rick Rubin. That said, while clips such as this (from an old Colombo episode) are indeed corny, I would stop short of calling the Man In Black a cornball.
  
  
  
  


• Search History. "The records of AOL customer 16006693."
  
  
  
  • This one speaks for itself.
  
  
  
  


• Once a Boob, Always a Boob?. "George Allen's biggest problem isn't racial insensitivity."
  
  
  
  • I already referenced this one in a previous post. Just wanted to call attention to Jon Stewart/Rob Corddry treatment of the issue. Pretty funny.
  
  
  
  

A Typical Mullet

Aren't you happy to not be this person?

For the record, I found this Wikipedia entry through a Slate.com article.

Read the article, then watch the video clip.

A typical jackass.

The Gram Parsons Manifesto

I satisfied 2 burning obsessions today.

After a lifetime of hope and want, I finally got my first pair of Air Jordans. What a great feeling! Opening the box and lacing them up was like the first day of school, the first day of basketball practice, and tip-off at the Dean Dome all rolled into one. I always wanted a pair as a youngster, but my folks never had the cash to pay $100 for a pair of shoes, especially knowing that I would destroy them and/or outgrow them in 6 months.

I'll let this soak in for a bit and will then pen a post outlining the psyche of a 26 year old man so easily excited by Nike Air Jordan basketball shoes.

If getting a pair of iconic basketball shoes was already enough, Netflix sent me the new Gram Parsons documentary, "Fallen Angel". (I watched the film while wearing my new Jordans, eating leftover Pepper's pizza, and drinking a PBR in a can. Truly a transcendental hour and a half.)

Gram Parsons was a musician from the late 60s and early 70s that, in a sense, defined a genre of music. Many call it "alternative country" or "country rock". Gram described it as "Cosmic American Music". (Note the tag line on myblog.) Whatever you want to call it, I think he made some of the best music ever recorded.

His music is timeless and his story is fascinating. Some of the highlights:

• His father was named Coon Dog Conner. I'm not making this up.


• His mother's family ran a huge citrus plantation in Florida. Gram grew up with everything he could ever want, but had a pretty screwed up family life. (Coon Dog committed suicide, leaving a note that supposedly said only "I love you Gram".)


• He met Elvis as a 10 year old.


• Throughout his career, he lived off of his substantial trust fund. He would show up in a limo to play a gig in front of 15 people.


• Gram went to Harvard to escape the South and start his music career. He sent numerous heartfelt letters to his sister, expressing his love and such. Given the family situation, he very much felt like the family protector, especially the protector of his sister. (QuentinCompson anyone?)


• Gram played with the Byrds. He was the "country" influence behind "Sweetheart of the Rodeo" - the original alt-country record.


• Gram ditched the Byrds to hang with Keith Richards and the Stones. Gram was supposedly the "country" influence behind "Exile On Main Street" - the best Stones album far and away. The Stones also let Gram record "Wild Horses" for "Burrito Deluxe" before they recorded it for "Sticky Fingers".


• He gave Emmylou Harris her big break as a back up singer on his solo albums "GP" and "Grievous Angel".


• He recorded his solo albums with Elvis' band.

As the story too often goes, Gram lived a reckless life and died at 26 from a drug/alcohol overdose. The story that follows his death is the stuff of rock and roll legend. If you don't know it already,Google it or, better yet, watch the documentary. This post is long enough and I haven't even started to bring it home.

Why write all of this? For one, the world needs to know about Gram Parsons. If I had to pick between Gram Parsons and Netflix, I would pick Gram Parsons. If Nike made Air Parsons, I would own every pair.

For two, of all of the "tragic rock star deaths", I think his is one of the most unfortunate. He was making music that no one else was making at the time. The fact that his story and his music passes through The Byrds, The Stones, Emmylou Harris, and, indirectly, The Eagles speaks to the scope of his influence.

And he did all of this before he died at 26! In my opinion, he should be mentioned in the same breath as Jimi Hendrix as someone that God put on the Earth for the sole purpose of defining a musical moment.

If he doesn't die at 26, I say he ends up being in the Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen conversation as folk artist that embodies all that is beautiful and true in American music.

Netflix Is God

I logged into my Netflix account for the first time in a while last night. (Kelly and I have been on a steady diet of West Wing - so not a lot of queue management going on.)

2 things caught my eye as I browsed through some of the latest interface changes:

- My Mom and Dad have both "This is Spinal Tap" and "The Big Lebowski" teed up in their queue. I could not be prouder to be the son of Tommy and Lisa Boggs.

- The new "Friends" features:

• The "Notebook" feature aggregates all of the note/review exchanges with my friends. I'm curious if a "LOTR sux, Star Wars rules!" and "Napolean Dynamite is AWESOME" crowd develops out of Netflix that will mirror the "Hey Bro! We were soooo wasted last night!" and "Oh my Gah! Your (sic) so hot!" crowd of MySpace. I hope not. I think we're safe as long as my 14 year old cousins don't get Netflix accounts.


• "Taste Similarity" compares my "taste" to that of my friends. According to this feature, my tastes are 84% similar to Joe. However, Joe only gave "The Big Lebowski" 4 stars. Clearly, this feature is crap.


• The sliding bar view that displays viewed and queued movies is very Apple-esque. Which is good.

The beauty of the Netflix "Friends Community" is that it actually generates real conversations with my "friends". For instance, DJ rated "Schindler's List" 4 stars and I told him he was an idiot. (I'm only 72% like DJ.)

To me, this is the true measuring stick of any product/service, really. Do people talk about it with their friends? Do you tell your wife about it when you get home? Do people take photos of the company mascot on their family vacation? Do people blog about it when their wives are dying to watch the next episode of "The West Wing"?

The Blog Must Go On

Kelly and I are in San Francisco on vacation.  Still, I thought I'd take a few minutes to jot down some random thoughts for the fans back home:

• Kelly and I biked from San Francisco to Sausalito to Mill Valley to Tiburon today.  Great views, good food, sore legs.


• I had my first In-N-Out Burger today.  Pretty good.  Just not as good as DJ thinks.  I must say that the 3 choice menu was refreshing - hamburger, cheeseburger, double-cheeseburger - that's it.  I also enjoyed opportunity to say "NEAR the In-N-Out Burger" about 100 times.


• Lastly, this article about the withering baseball card market is hilariously true.  The author and I are kindred spirits I do believe.

That's all for now.  The primary goal for tomorrow:  take a picture in the park shown at the end of the Full House opening credits.

Dishwasher Update II

The Kenmore QuietGuard 5000* is functioning leak-free. I replaced the elbow connector mentioned previously and it worked like a charm.

I haven't bolted into the counter just yet because I'm paranoid that I'm going to have another leak. Also - I don't want to do everything all at once. This leaves me something to do this weekend when I'm milling around the house in search of a diversion.

To recap - I would have paid Sears $130 to have Mongo come out to install the dishwasher. Instead, I paid $3 for an elbow connector, $3 for some teflon pipe sealant, and $15 for a hacksaw that I unfortunately didn't get to use.

*I added the "5000" - thought that the name needed a little umph.

Dishwasher Update

I know there are many, perhaps dozens, perhaps even scores, of Boggs Bloggers on pins and needles awaiting the latest with the dishwasher.

I am happy to report that it is installed and functional.

However, there is a small leak around one of the pipes. I think I damaged the threads on the elbow connector while dismantling the assembly last night. I'll make another trip to Home Depot later this week to purchase a replacement connector and finish the job.

Also - much to my dismay - there was no hacksawing involved.

I'll post a recap - complete with a pictorial - when the work is done.

How To Install A Dishwasher

My dad Tommy and my brother Evan are both pretty handy when it comes chores around the house, fixing broken things, etc.

For whatever reason, that gene didn't end up in the mix for me.

I suppose I'm serviceable. I've installed a few light fixtures, painted lots of walls, fixed a few squeaky spots in the floor, and once replaced the starter on my old truck. However, it is always a struggle and I always seem to end up in pain, embarrassed, or cursing - usually all three.

Tonight, I began a fairly significant undertaking. Our dishwasher died about 2 months ago. I'm not exactly sure why it broke or how it is broken - it just stopped working one day. It is about 12 years old, so I guess it was about time for it go to.

We bought a new dishwasher this weekend and I'm attempting to install it myself. Why?

• It would cost $130 to have some mongoloid from Sears install it.


• I'm just as smart as they are.

Step 1 - remove the old dishwasher. Enjoy the pictorial below.

Behold my old dishwasher. It took about 45 minutes to figure out how to jigger it away from its little cubby hole. Note the pile of dirty dishes on the counter awaiting the new Kenmore - scheduled for pick-up at Sears tomorrow evening.



This is where my dishwasher used to me. Much like the Internet, I find it easiest to conceptualize dishwashers as a series of tubes:

• At the top left, you'll note the drainage tube. This is where the waste water goes.


• At the bottom left, you can see the hot water tube. This is how the hot water gets to the dishwasher to clean the dishes.


• Lastly, on the bottom right, you can see the electricity tube.

The electricity tube was the hardest nut to crack. Just before I knocked a hole in the sheet rock under the counter - both out of frustration and to find the plug - it dawned on me that it would be best just to un-couple the wires in the connection box. Here is a closer look at the electricity tube, with wires exposed:



I'm pretty sure this is the broken part. It is called the supply valve. I'm leaving it in a pot overnight because it is dripping water. (I tried to detach and was unsuccessful.)



Tomorrow, I'll hacksaw the pipe, attach an elbow connector, reconnect the pipes, tubes, and such to the new dishwasher, and that will be that. The machine does the dishes, I watch the TV - just like it is supposed to be.

Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!

Farmer's Market Wisdom

Thanks to Seth Godin for writing about the farmer's market. I've started many a blog post about lesson's learned at the farmer's market, but, for some reason, never published my thoughts. Now I feel empowered!

My wife and I go to the North Carolina Farmer's Market in Raleigh just about every weekend. We buy fruits, veggies, and plants and spend our weekend eating well and tending to our gardens.

Thing is - we have both a produce stand and a nursery within one mile of our home. The people there are nice, the prices are reasonable, and they sell more or less the same produce that we buy in Raleigh. So why do we drive 20 miles down the interstate for our green beans and coreopsis?

Because of the lovely farmers from Johnston County that sell me their corn, peaches, strawberries, and whatever else. (Spoken in my best Southern accent - "Ya'll want some corn? Hand-pulled this morning from Johnston County!")

There is something elemental and timeless about buying corn from the farmer that sowed it in his fields, cultivated it, harvested it, and then loaded it into his truck and drove it to the market in Raleigh.

Yes - the produce is fresh, delicious, and usually pretty cheap. For Kelly and me, however, it is the authenticity of the exchange that attracts us to Raleigh every weekend. No slick sales pitches. No elaborate distribution channels. Just real people trying to make a buck.

I share an odd sense of similarity with these folks because of my sales experience at Bronto. I was with the company early enough to feel as though I had helped cultivate the fields, harvest the crop, and take it to market.

Like the Johnston County farmers, we had a home grown "product", a handful of customers, and a few employees. Given the size of our operation and my familiarity with everything that was going on around me, it was easy to convey authenticity with a sales pitch strangely similar to those that we hear in Raleigh on Saturdays:

• "home grown"


• "organically grown"


• "Tell your friends about us!"


• "We added this new feature today! We're adding this feature tomorrow!"


• "Ya'll come back!" (Yes - sometimes I'd pull out the Gaston County charm if I thought the angle would help me hook a fellow Southerner.)

Simpler times, of course. Now were a larger company - still an "organic" company with a home grown application, but with many more customers and employees.

Do we carry the same authenticity of the past? Of course - even though it gets harder to do as our company and customer list grows.

How do we insure that this authenticity continues? By insuring that everyone has an intimate understanding of and a personal investment in the product that they're selling, supporting, developing, or marketing. Everyone needs to harvest the corn from time to time.

Shenanigans!

The shenanigans I just called was for MarketingSherpa.com's annual marketing blog Reader's Choice Awards.

Chris Baggott of ExactTarget was the winner in the email marketing category.
You might think I'm crazy, but I'm going to ask anyway:

Am I reading the same Chris Baggott blog as everyone else?

ExactTarget is without question a leader in the email marketing space. They have a great product, lots of good customers, and, as founder of the company, Chris is obviously astute. On the other hand, at least for me, the blog isn't quite up to par.

Case in point - check out the posts that are nothing more than press releases. A pretty weak effort in my opinion.

Or check out this particularly stirring post. (Yes - it is a blank post.)

Also, note that (potentially below-the-belt shot coming...) MarketingSherpa uses ExactTarget to send their email newsletters. I suspect in a trade exchange in which MarketingSherpa helps promote ExactTarget. Nothing wrong with this - just awkward given the circumstances.

That said, the blog boasts plenty of good content and I certainly do not contend its consideration as a top email marketing blog.

However, for the sake of comparison, take the MailChimp blog - which wasn't on the ballot. For me, it is much better - even if it is produced by a low-end provider. It is fresh, practical, and the right blend of high level articles, tactical how-to's, and the obligatory marketing fluff.

The ExactTarget blog just isn't all that - and it certainly does not come with a bag of chips. Call my beef with "victory" what you will - cynicism, sour grapes, boredom, whatever. I call it shenanigans.

Father's Day Buzz Cut

As long as I can remember, my dad Tommy has jokingly fancied himself a barber.

He bought a Wahl clipper set a number of years ago - complete with a hilarious how-to video. Ever since then, he's incessantly begged to cut my hair and my brother's hair. ("You need a haircut boy!")

In a moment of weakness, my mom let my dad cut my brother's hair.  If I recall correctly,  mom had to take Evan to our regular barber to clean up my dad's mess.

Fast forward to a year or two ago - my hair was especially shaggy on Father's Day weekend.

My dad's Father's Day gift? The opportunity to give me a buzz cut. Note how he took the liberty of leaving me with a mullet:

This was easily one of the best gifts I've ever given my father. We laughed like crazy the whole time - mainly because he was so meticulous throughout the process and my brother kept telling him everything he was doing wrong. ("Shut up! I'm a professional!")

I reprised the gift with rousing success this year. Happy Father's Day, Dad.