Home of the "Change Thing"

If you thought I was gone from the "Land of the Steve" for good, you were wrong. I was not gone for good. Or gone for bad for that matter. If that doesn't make sense to you don't worry, it doesn't make sense to me either. Why am I back? To solve what may just be the greatest mystery known to man. That of course is the mystery of the "Change Thing."

We all have them in our cars. We all use them to hold our change. Yet, we have no name for this great holder of change. How can that be? We must come up with a name for this unsung hero of the world. Before we can come up with a name for it we must first learn where it came from. Here is a brief history of the "Change Thing." This is all true. Just trust me that it's all true.

The year was 1938 and the automobile business was booming. Deep in a factory worked a man in his mid-thirties named Marcus Jameson. He was a young Irish man who loved his job working on automobiles. He also loved smoking and collecting coins. Little did he know that one day those two things would collide in a way that would change the world forever.

After a busy day at the factory Marcus decided that it was finally time that he owned an automobile. He saved for two whole years hoping that this day would finally come. Instead of going home to his sweet Patricia, he went straight to the car dealership. He looked up and down each one until he finally found the perfect automobile. It was a 1938 Plymouth and it was perfect. It had everything he ever wanted, it even had an ashtray.

Marcus couldn't wait to get that thing home to show his wife and his two year old son, Christopher. He was so excited that he decided to take the whole family out for an ice cream. Marcus got chocolate, Patricia got vanilla, and Christopher got chocolate. They ate the ice cream and talked about nothing but the new car. It was the greatest moment of Marcus' life to that point. When they finished eating the ice cream they got back in the car. At the very moment he sat down, change started falling out of Marcus' pants pocket. He scooped up the change and threw it in the ashtray for he had no other place to put it.

The next day Marcus drove to lunch smoking a cigarette as he went. It wasn't until he went to retrieve the change from the ashtray that he noticed it was all covered in ash. "This is unacceptable!" shouted Marcus. He know what had to be done. He knew he needed to have two separate things in the car for ashes and for coins. The next day he pitched the idea to the owner of the automobile factory he worked at. Next thing he knew, every car he worked on had both a place for ashes and a place for coins.

The tragedy of this story is that in his haste to invent a place to hold his change, he failed to name his wonderful idea. Forever it has been known as the "change thing." I have recently set out on an adventure to find the true name of this thing. All my searches have proved fruitless. Therefore, I have decided that I, Steve Jennings, will name this.

Here are some ideas I have already:

The Change Buddy
The Coin Pal
The Penny Pocket
The Doubloon Saloon
The Coin Cubby
The Nickle Nook
The Chamber of Change
The Coin Cavern
The Penny Pit
The Nickle Nest
The Copper Chasm

One thing is for certain. I will find a suitable name for the "Change Thing." You can count on that.


To Be Continued...


What I'm Listening To:

"Myth" by Beach House

Home of the Theo

The Chicago Cubs have not won the world series in 103 years. Some people say it may be because they are cursed by a tavern owner and his pet billy goat. That's ridiculous. Curses are just as real as ghosts. If you believe the reason why the Cubs haven't won in over a century is because of a curse you are a lunatic.

The reason they haven't won in over a century is because of terrible front office moves and even worse luck. Yesterday they made a move to fix at least one of those problems. They made their first move of the off season by bringing in Theo Epstein from the Boston Red Sox to be their General Manager/Position to be named later. If you don't know who Theo Epstein is you must not watch a lot of baseball.

Theo Epstein took over as Boston's GM and two years later won the World Series. Boston's first World Series win in 86 years. Three years later his Red Sox won yet another championship. He is widely regarded as a baseball genius. Now he is at the helm of the Chicago Cubs.

If anyone is going to end over a hundred years of misery it's Theo Epstein. He is a great GM with an even better track record of winning. He is by far the best candidate to take over a struggling Cubs team. Especially after two years of the team making themselves difficult to watch. All the guy does is post one winning season after another. He does however have a lot on his plate right away with the Cubs.

The Cubs have many pressing questions that he needs to answer. Who will be the manager of the team? It seems about time that they give the job to Ryne Sandberg. He absolutely deserves it. What should be done about Carlos Zambrano, Alfonso Soriano, and Aramis Ramirez? They either have expiring contracts or aren't worth what's left on their contracts. One of Theo's first moves should be to get rid of all of the players. They don't belong on the team anymore and it would just be better to start over with a clean slate. Do they resign Carlos Pena or make a play at either Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder? Although he had a good season defensively saving who knows how many errors for Starlin Castro is he the answer at first? Epstein has a history of going after big name free agents so it wouldn't be a surprise if he tried to sign either Pujols or Fielder and just let Pena go.

As if perhaps already feeling the pressure of what may be in Chicago, Cardinals fans are not taking this well. They are writing it off as if it's not a big deal. There have been posts such as "What position does Theo Epstein play?" and "What was Theo's batting average last season?" We get it, you are frustrated and a little flustered that the Cubs are actually making moves to improve their team. It doesn't matter that Theo is not a player. He is bigger than any one single player. Without great GM's like Theo Epstein putting great individual players together the great players like Albert Pujols would have zero championships. So Cardinals fans, it's okay to be jealous, but stop acting like children. That is all.

Goodbye.


What I'm Listening To:


"Vagabond" by Wolfmother

Home of the Worst: TV Shows of the 2000s

This week marks the season premieres of many television series. Some are returning for another season while others are brand new. Some of these shows may be very good. Some of them will be very disappointing. This makes me think back to other shows which were very disappointing. Shows that looked like good ideas on paper but turned out to be catastrophic flops. Today I bring you my top ten worst shows of the 2000s. That means 2000-2009. These shows may have been poorly recieved, had a promising concept but failed to get viewers, or just had a terrible concept to begin with. Here are the worst television shows from 2000 to 2009.

10. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

Studio 60 makes this list because of how disappointing it was. It wasn't really a bad show, it just failed to deliver. It was a very clever concept that fell flat. With a great cast that included Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet it's hard to believe this show didn't succeed. One of the, if not the, reason why this show was cancelled is because it premiered around the same time and on the same network as "30 Rock." They both had the same basic concept but one had to go. NBC chose to cancel the less popular "Studio 60" and stick with "30 Rock." One went on to win multiple Emmys while the other is considered one of the worst shows of the 2000s. I think NBC made the right decision.


9. Meet the Browns

Can somebody please explain to me why Tyler Perry is funny? I don't get it. And why does TBS continue to pick up these terrible TV shows? I don't understand what is funny about this show at all. I don't understand why people love his movies either but that's a different subject. The combination of this show's racial stereotypes and flat jokes lands it on our list at number nine.

8. Joey

I get why this showed was made. NBC had great success with it's "Cheers" spin-off "Frasier." So why not try it again with one of the most succesful sitcoms of all time, "Friends." I get that part. The part I don't get is why they chose Joey. Of all the "Friends" cast they decided to give Matt LeBlanc the spin-off? This show did a great job of showing the world that Matt LeBlanc is not funny without Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe.


7. The Cleveland Show

Seth MacFarlane is the Tyler Perry of cartoon shows. The only difference is that sometimes Seth Macfarlane is actually funny. "The Cleveland Show" is not one of those occasions. He had great success with "Family Guy" and I was okay with "American Dad" but this crosses a line. That line is called comedy. Which is one thing this show is not. It may try to be a comedy, but let's be serious. This show is a cartoon version of "Meet the Browns." It is not funny and they focus way to heavily on the racial stereotypes. How this show is still on the air is a mystery.

6. Brothers

Theirs only three things you need to know about this show. Michael Strahan, although a great football player, is a terrible actor. Carl Weathers is a boxer and should always be remembered for just that. Finally, no matter how much they try, a guy in a wheelchair is never funny.

5. That '80s Show

"That '70s Show" was a great television show. So one would think that a similar show based in the '80s would be just a great. One would think that, but one would be wrong. It's a good thing that Glenn Howerton found success with "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" because this show was awful.

4. Viva Laughlin

Let's base a show in a casino in Las Vegas. Sounds good so far. Let's get Hugh Jackman to star in said television show. I'm liking the sounds of this. Sounds like a good show. Now, let's have the stars of the show break out in musical numbers at random parts of the show. I'm sorry, what? That sounds like an awful idea. And it was. Sorry Hugh Jackman, maybe you should stick to playing a mediocre Wolverine.

3. Kath and Kim

NBC found a gem by remaking a British show for American audiences. This was not that show. After having success with "The Office" they decided to try the same formula again. The result was "Kath and Kim." It starred Molly Shannon, formerly of "Saturday Night Live" and Selma Blair. The show also co-starred John Michael Higgins, better known as "that guy from everything." It was a complete disaster and failed to live up to the huge expectations NBC had for it.

2. I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Of all the reality TV shows out there, this has to be the worst of them all. The premise of the show wasn't bad. Take a bunch of celebrities, dump them in a forest, and watch happens. The problem was what they considered celebrities. Here are a few of the "celebrities" they had on show: actor Lou Diamond Phillips, professional wrestler Torrie Wilson, former basketball player John Salley, Stephen and Daniel Baldwin, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, and ,my personal favorite, Patti Blagojevich. The wife of former Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich. Well done NBC. Way to put together the worst group of "celebrities" ever. That is why the show was so awful.

1. Cavemen

Turning a character from a commercial into a television show never works. Especially when they take one of the worst commercial characters ever and make an entire show about it. The caveman was and still is one of Geico's 247 commercial characters. Seriously, how many different characters are you going to have for your commercials? But that's not the point. The concept of the show was to focus on cavemen living in modern times. If I wanted to see that I would just watch the New England Patriots every Sunday. I'm pretty sure Tom Brady is a caveman. They should have just gone ahead and made a show about the Geico gecko. That's a show that I might actually watch. "Cavemen" not only goes down as one of the worst shows of the 2000s but also as one of the worst shows of all time.

There you have it folks. My list of worst TV shows of the 2000s. Feel free to comment. Do you agree? What shows did I miss? What are your worst shows of the 2000s? Also, don't forget to follow. Until next time. Goodbye.

An Anthem for All Awful TV Shows:

"Can't Get It Right Today" by Joe Purdy

Home of the Media: Part II

Last week I wrote about an assignment I had in one of my classes. The assignment was to document every time I used any kind of media. It has been a week and I have completed the assignment. Today I decided to follow up on last week's post. These are my observations from that assignment.

The media controls my life. That might be the truest thing I have ever said. The media runs all aspects of my life. There is very little that I do that doesn’t involve the media. I often wonder what it must have been like to live in the time before radio, television and movies. After doing this assignment I can state for a fact that I can no longer even begin to imagine what that must have been like.

Music is a great passion of mine. Although I cannot play any instruments nor do I have any great musical abilities, I still listen to music all the time. I listen to music in my car, in my room, at dinner, at bars, all over the place. I find it hard to imagine what life would be like without music. The great benefit of music is that it can change my mood like the flick of a light. When I’m feeling bad I listen to music and I instantly feel good. When I’m stressed I put on my “Cat Stevens” record and am relaxed right away. Music does what nothing else can and that’s why I love it.

Although I love music, I can’t seem to keep my eyes off the television. It’s as if my eyes are amazed by the bright colors and the technologies swirling around on the screen. I use television as source of great entertainment. Television had the most minutes of any other media for me. Keep in mind that this was a week before some of my favorite shows come back on. I can imagine that if I were to do this same thing next week that the minutes would be much higher.

The internet is by far the greatest invention of my life time. The internet just makes life easier. I use it as a source of entertainment as well as education. I learn things just by reading articles online. I will say that if it weren’t for the internet I probably still wouldn’t know what I wanted to major in. The internet provided me with the tools to write a blog which then sparked my interest in writing which then made me want to major in journalism. Thanks internet.

Music, television, and the internet are great, but the film industry blows them out of the water. Movies are the greatest thing ever. They tell stories like nothing else can. Movies evoke all different kinds of emotions. They can make you laugh, cry, or jump out of your seat. Nothing can do what movies can do. Movies ranked second in minutes but they are my number one joy in media. I cannot even begin to think of life without movies. I think it would just be boring.

In conclusion, media is my life. I hardly go anywhere or do anything that doesn’t involve the media. Some people may be ashamed or surprised by the amount of time they spend using the media, but not me. It’s 2011, the media is such a big part of today’s culture and I am going to use it all the time.

Thank you for reading. I'll be back next week with more. You can follow this blog to keep up to date with my updates. Have a good weekend. Goodbye.


What I'm Listening To:

"American Eyes" by Wildlife

Home of the Media

It has been a while since my last post, but I can assure you that I am back and better than ever. Here are some quick updates on me; I am no longer training for the marathon(that didn't last long honestly), I am still a Cubs fan although they have given me many reasons not to be, and I am going back to school. I decided to go back to get my life going in a direction that hopefully leads me far, far away from the Quad Cities. My major is journalism, appropriately. I decided that if I'm going to school for journalism that I should probably start writing again. So I am back in the "Land of the Steve" for what I hope to be a long and glorious stay.

The journalism class that I am taking is Intro to Mass Communication. In this class we have been learning mainly about media and how it works. I have learned that Rupert Murdoch is a terrible person but at the same time a genius. If you don't know who he is I would highly suggest that you look him up and read a little about him. He is just an overall awful human being.

Our latest assignment has been to document every time we use media. That includes television, movies, music, internet, books, magazines, radio, etc. Every time I participate in one of those mediums I have to write it down. I have to write down what show I watched, what band I listened to, what sites I visited, and so on. Today is day one of the one week assignment. Already I can not believe how much I use media. Almost everything I have done today has involved some kind of media. I listen to music in my car, I come home and start watching tv. Then I move to my computer and start surfing the web at the same time I'm listening to music. So I'm partaking in two different types of media at the same time. In just half a day I have already realized what an incredible effect media has on my everyday life. I'm not sure that it would be possible for me to go an entire day without using some sort of media.

The part I find to be sort of crazy is that I am writing right now. So let me try to make sense of this as best I can. I am writing in a blog, which is considered media. When I finish this entry I will read it back to myself, so therefore I will be participating in media. So technically I am the media that I am partaking in. Does that mean I should write this down in my notebook? This is almost as confusing as my post on writer's block.

I am going to end there before it gets even more confusing. Thank's for stopping by. Go ahead and follow this blog if you would like, if not then you are a loser. That is all. Goodbye.


What I'm Listening To:

"Up Up Up" by Givers

Home of the Return

As the very great Michael Jordan once famously said:

I'm Back!

After nearly a month without a post and after much demand I have made my return to the Land of the Steve. I hope you readers didn't miss me too much. A lot has happened to the Steve in the last month. I recently got a job at a video store. It's a good job, easy work but plenty of it to keep me busy. I have celebrated the birthdays of my mother and my little sister. I drove roughly 275 miles to two different destinations to pick up two different siblings and bring them home in one day. There was something else too, what was it?

Oh yeah, I also turned 21 a week and a half ago. I am all growed up now. The first night of my 21st weekend was a great time. My brother and sister(whom I had to drive roughly 275 miles to get) were home to celebrate and we hit the town like only we know how. As soon as I walked into the bar someone had a shot ready for me to take. I see someone else I know and walk over to talk to him. He also buys me a shot. Upon seeing him buy me a shot and wish me a happy birthday a random person at the bar decided he was going to buy me a shot as well. Who am I to say no to that? After three shots in less than five minutes I finally get a beer. That's more my style. I then ventured to the bar next door. As I'm walking I see someone I went to high school with. He buys me a whiskey/coke. I then walk over to my friends. As soon as I get there a bar tender walks up to me and asks me if I'm the one who just turned 21. I answered yes. She replies, "This is for you" as she hands me a Smirnoff Ice. Very clever guys. After hanging out at that bar for a while we walked across the street to a different bar. I'm not going to lie, I don't remember a whole lot about this bar. Next thing I know my dad is there to pick us up. My brother, sister, my brother's friend, and some kid named Austin pile into the car. As we pull up to Austin's house he says the quote. We are all packed in the car and talking all kinds of nonsense when he says, "So does this make me part of the family?" I look over at my dad and see that even he is laughing at what Austin just said. We arrive home and my brother starts cooking something. 4:30 comes around I decide it's probably time for me to hit the sack. What a great way to celebrate my 21st.

The next day I actually felt pretty good considering the night I just had. We go to dinner at a Mexican restaurant and I get tequila poured down my throat. Not a fan. After that we had cake and ice cream. Then I had my experience with what is simply known as "Harley's." What a place. Right up my alley, literally and metaphorically. Stayed there for a while then went to "The District." Not really my style but it was still a good time. As far as the end of the night went let me just say that when I got home my shirt was no longer on my body. That's all I will say about that.

I wake up Sunday, it is Easter, I feel like death. I couldn't wait to stuff as much of my grandma's cooking in my mouth as I could. Once I ate I was feeling much better. Still very tired, but not hungover. I even found enough strength to participate in the annual game of "Annie Annie Over," if you have to ask what that is you don't need to know. It was a great weekend and I thank all of my friends and family members who could make it out. You all made it one of the best weekends of my life.

I think that is all the catching up that needs to be done for now. So I am done for now. Thank you for reading. I'm glad to be back and I promise my next post won't be a month from now. Have a great day. Goodbye.


Random Song of the Day:
In case you forgot, this where I pull up my iTunes, hit shuffle, and whatever song comes up first is what I post here. It is a flawless system for choosing songs to post.

Today's random song of the day is...

"Tighten Up" by The Black Keys

Home of the Playlist

Yesterday I wrote about how I am going to attempt to run a marathon. If you missed it you should stop here and go read that. I started a training schedule put together by a guy named Hal Higdon. First three days are all three mile runs. Today was day two.

Day two went much better then day one. I ran the entire first mile(high five myself). That may not seem like a big deal but for me that's huge. I started the second mile walking. That quickly turned into running. I picked up my speed. I picked it up again. I was completely zoned in like those people you see on Nike commercials. I continued strong into the third mile. That didn't last long. I walked for about a minute before I started running again. I noticed I only had about a quarter mile to go. I cranked up the speed and next thing I know I'm done. Three miles ran in 29:47, not great but very good for me. I was very satisfied and I felt great. I walked around for a few trying to catch my breath. Much like yesterday I felt much better then I expected I would.

That's all about the running. Today I'm going to talk about a different part of my training. The music. I have compiled a playlist of 50 songs that I listen to while I run. The song choices were based on tempo. I needed songs that are up-tempo and have a good beat that I can run along to. After all, with great training comes great playlist. Here are those 50 songs in no specific order.

"We Used to Wait" by Arcade Fire
"The Fire Inside" by Bob Seger
"Float On" by Modest Mouse
"No Sleep Till Brooklyn" by Beastie Boys
"Trick of the Light" by The Who
"I'm Shipping Up to Boston" by Dropkick Murphys
"Walcott" by Vampire Weekend
"Limelight" by Rush
"Ice Melts" by Matt & Kim
"I Want You to Want Me" by Cheap Trick
"God's Gonna Cut You Down" by Johnny Cash
"The Leaving Song Pt. 2" by A.F.I.
"Block After Block" by Matt & Kim
"Run This Town" by Jay-Z feat. Rihanna & Kanye West
"My Body" by Young the Giant
"In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins
"Electric Feel" by MGMT
"Wake Up" by Arcade Fire
"Olympia, Wa" by Rancid
"Bro Hymm Tribute" by Pennywise
"Rum is for Drinking, Not for Burning" by Senses Fail
"Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins
"The General Specific" by Band of Horses
"Ma-Ma-Ma- Belle" by E.L.O.
"The Show Goes On" by Lupe Fiasco
"Cousins" by Vampire Weekend
"Time to Pretend" by MGMT
"Up Around The Bend" by C.C.R.
"Jump Around" by House of Pain
"Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who
"Send Me On My Way" by Rusted Root
"Sirius" by The Alan Parsons Project
"Fall Back Down" by Rancid
"Cameras" by Matt & Kim
"Fire It Up" by Modest Mouse
"You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by B.T.O.
"Howlin' For You" by The Black Keys
"You Make My Dreams" by Hall & Oates
"Tripping Billies" by Dave Matthews Band
"Sweet Disposition" by Temper Trap
"Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
"Miami" by Foals
"The Boys of Summer" by The Ataris
"Ready To Start" by Arcade Fire
"Journey to the End of South Beach" by Rancid
"Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band
"Baba O'Riley" by The Who
"All That's Left" by Thrice
"1901" by Phoenix


That's my playlist. If you are also participating in this marathon I would suggest you listen to some, if not all, of those songs while you run. To me running isn't the same without some music to run along to and get you pumped up. If you have songs that you like to listen to while you run I would love to know what they are. Just simply type them in the comments box and click the button to post them.

That's all for me today. I leave you with my favorite song to run to. Have a great day and good luck to anyone else who have accepted this challenge. Goodbye.


My Favorite Song to Run to:

"Wake Up" by Arcade Fire