Chuck Taylors and The Pillows

Have Yourselves a Merry Little Christmas

I know you are all thinking this is kinda early to be wishing you a Merry Christmas, but this may be the last time I communicate with you until I go back to school on January 10. I've realized that when I blog over the break, my posts are spread much further apart and they are less inspired. I guess when I am at school I go out and make life experiences on my own terms and when I'm home and my life is more on my families terms, my life is not near as exciting. My life isn't my own when I'm home, don't get me wrong I love my family, but very little I do goes un-noticed, while I can do almost anything I want at college. I have had some holiday fun over the past few days, however, my grandma and I made gingerbread cookies, we made men, Christmas trees, Santas, and Holly. It was really fun, I wonder why we never did it before, we really should make it an annual thing, it gets you into the spirit. I am really looking forward to the holidays and being home, but I'm also looking forward to going back to school. I will address you guys again after the holidays and don't worry, I'm not abandoning you, I'm leaving you with my friend, Rachael. She is a former blogger and you're in good hands. Also, don't think for a second that I won't pop in if I see a great movie or listen to some great music I can tell you about and review for you. Til' then, Later Days.

I've Been Published. . . .again

Being published in a newspaper is not something new to me, I was in the local paper on a regular basis, but I've never been in a major newspaper. Now you all know my stand on gay marriage, I've wrote about this time and time again on here. So, I wrote a letter to the editor to a major paper in my area, the Herald Dispatch. It has circulation all throughout the tri-state area. Then I got a call one day to confirm I wrote a letter to the editor and they published it. Here's the letter I wrote:

People must fight for gay marriage

Many states have passed a bill discriminating against gays and denying them the right to marriage. I would like to ask the people of West Virginia to not allow this state to remain one of these.

I would like to ask the residents of Huntington to write our congressmen and let them know that we feel this is wrong. All I’m asking for is help. This is an issue bigger then any of us, and we need to do something about it.

If we let people see that West Virginia is not willing to sit back and allow discrimination, we will open people’s eyes and allow them to see a different side of the state.

Thanks you all for your help. I can’t do this alone.

Terry Bartley
Huntington

In case any of you don't believe me, don't ask me why you wouldn't I just couldn't think of any other reason to post a link, here's a link to the official site of the paper with my letter on it. It is really pretty cool, my voice might actually be heard. Later Days.

I Love Kevin Rose Even More

If you guys have ever been here before, you'll know that I am a huge fan of Kevin Rose. If it wasn't for him I probably would of never learned html or java script, and I never would of been near of interested in computers as I am. I may not even have a blog if it wasn't for him. I would go so far as to call him my one solid role model, he is my main example of what I want to be when I'm out of college. I discovered him on a little show call "The Screen Savers," on a little channel called TechTV(then ZDTV). Not too long ago, TechTV was bought up by the media conglomerate, Comcast. They pursued by merging the station with their own video game network, G4TV. At first I thought this was a good thing, the shows I love get more support from a big company, then all us old TechTV fans learned fast that they didn't buy it to help it. I'm assuming they bought this channel to get the viewers that TechTV has gained over the years and eventually assimilate all the shows into their own. I was a little upset when some of my favorite shows were immediately canceled, but they still kept my two favorites, "The Screen Savers," and "X-Play." Very, Very Recently, "The Screen Savers" was changed drastically, the majority of the hosts were fired and they revamped it into something different. The new show is not the same, I understand that. I do kinda enjoy it, I'm part of their target audience, but I'm also the target audience of Maxim and Spike TV, not exactly the audience you want for a show about technology. Now, I can only watch "The Screen Savers" as a guilty pleasure, like a Spike TV show hosted by Rossi Morreale (but wait, G4TechTV fired him too). I can't watch the show the same way, but with what they turned it into, I don't think I'm supposed to, I really just have to realize that the show I grew to love is gone and I will only watch this new show to see my role models(Kevin Rose and Sarah Lane) and fulfill my guilty pleasure. Now, the reason I love Kevin more now. He actually said this on his blog. He told us that this is not the same show and he understands that it doesn't have what we want. He said in his newsletter that he will try to give us the content we demand. That is really awesome for him to say, I don't know if I could say the same about a show I was a contributer of. Anyway, don't throw Kevin or Sarah any smack, their trying to do what they can, you just can't do much when you're not given much. Don't diss the new hosts either, no matter how bad they are, they probably didn't want to be on a show about computers either. Honestly, I think Kevin Pereira is a talented host, just not for a show like "The Screen Savers." I don't know myself, but I would guess G4 just threw him on the show and he has to live with it. He is also doing the best he can. I know I'll probably get some hate mail from old hardcore fans of the old series, but I understand how you feel, I feel the same way, I just understand that this isn't the on-air talent's fault, any complaints should be forwarded to the higher ups at the network. Thanks Kevin for believing in the fans and never change, Later Days.

Blade: Trinity

Hey everyone, I went to see the new Blade movie last night and it was really good. Now, I've never really read a Blade comic, so I can't say how accurate it was to the already established universe, but I have watched the other movies. I would say it is the best of the three. This third installment introduced a new element to the Blade universe, comic relief. This is something the other movies lacked. The element was executed in the form of a character named Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds). This is probably the best thing about the movie, it has more then non-stop action to it. It has certain elements when it seems like it is more then just a run-of-the-mill action movie. There are some touching moments with Blade, some witty rhetoric between Hannibal and the villains, a horror moment with a little girl named Zoe (Haili Page), and of course some really cool fighting scenes. Jessica Biel's character, Abigail, seemed almost pointless. She fought well and helped Blade out many times, but the only element she contributed to the story was the fact she was Whistler's daughter. When you have a talent like Jessica Biel, you should give her more then a handful of lines. The whole Dracula thing seemed confusing, but as a whole, it was a good movie. If you are looking for a little action over your Christmas break, "Blade: Trinity" will give it to you. Later Days.

Juries Tomorrow

Even though finals are this week and the results of these tests determine the grade I will be getting in my classes, that's not what I'm worried about. I am worried about, however, juries. I have juries tomorrow and anyone here who is not a music student has no clue what I'm talking about. At juries, music students perform in front of all the music professors in their selected field of study. I'm singing. More specifically, I'm singing a foreign song I learned two weeks ago and two other song I learned in voice class all term. I'm really nervous, I haven't been nervous until this year, it just kinda hit me. Is that normal, tell me what you think. Is it okay to be really nervous about trying out for the music minor. I know it sounds weird, but I really love music and even though I'm a journalism major, I really want to minor in music. Have any of you ever been like this. Later Days.

Finals Week

An inevitable part of any college experience, a week full of final exams. I really don't know what to expect, since this will be my first finals week ever, but I will have my first test in about an hour in a half. I'm trying not to stress out too much, because I really think they will pretty much be like all the other exams I've taken this year, they just try to scare them by calling it a final. Anyway, I probably should get back to studying, it would not be good to fail my finals. Later Days everyone.

LeAnn Rimes Live!

Last night I went to my very first live show from a famous artist. It was really good. LeAnn Rimes performed many Christmas songs, and since I'm a Christmas freak, I loved it. She is a really good performer, I'm really considering buying her Christmas Album. For someone so young, she has an awesome voice. If any of you get the chance to see her in concert, go, you won't be disappointed. She sang with a live orchestra and no back-up vocals, which pretty much guaranteed she was not lip-syncing. She was very awesome, especially since she was really live. It was really fun to hear some of her classics, like "How Do I Live," and "Can't Fight The Moonlight," with an orchestra. So, like I said, if she comes to your area, go. Later Days.