So, I got this comment on my post from yesterday from someone named Mandy.  She said this:

“when you talk i wish that violence was alright.”

Now, I’m not sure really what that means, but I don’t think it’s a nice thing.  Not to mention the obvious lack of care in refusing to capitalize the first letter of a sentence and the “I”.  Oh Mandy.  You came and you gave without taking.  And I sent you away.  Oh, Mandy.  Maybe it’s because you love Myspace.  Maybe it’s because you hate me.  Maybe it has nothing to do with me and it’s just the sonic waves of my voice that literally make you wish that violence was alright.  I don’t know what it is Mandy, but what I do know is this.  Yesterday is a dream I face the morning, crying on the breeze, the pain is calling, oh Mandy.

Please don’t hurt anyone today.  Violence is never alright.  Even if it’s induced by reading a website that you willingly went to.

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So, according to this article Facebook has finally dethroned MySpace.  But we all knew that was going to happen right? Now here’s the funny thing to me.  The only two Social Networking sites that are shrinking are MySpace and AOL Community.  Hmmm.  MySpace and something I’ve never heard of.  Now, I’m not saying that MySpace is going away forever.  I mean, sure, they have millions of dollars and researching and all that, so I’m sure they will be around for a while, but it’s interesting that it’s actually shrinking.  Going down.  Loosing ground.  I love it.

As someone who has never liked the cheap, trashy, Windows feel of MySpace I’m glad to see that there might be a time soon where people don’t ask me if having a MySpace can replace them having a ‘real’ website.  In fact, according to that same article, the only thing that MySpace is “winning” at is showing more ads.  Makes you really want to go there doesn’t it?  I’m excited to see what MySpace pulls out to actually compete with the competition, but really I’m excited to begin to have to think less and less about it.

Now, I know what most of your answers are going to be, but is there anyone out there still using MySpace?  Anyone who goes to it daily and says hi to all of your indie hip-hop artist and amateur porn star “friends”?  I don’t.

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I discovered music after the 80’s, but there’s part of me that’s starting to love it.  The hair, the screeching guitars, the high pitched screams.  Now I know there’s probably a lot of you out there that are 80’s music fans and most likely it’s just what we all grew up on. I mean, you might think Pearl Jam sounds like a pissed off teenager singing to the sound of a refrigerator hum, but to me, it’s when represents music made for my generation.  But I think today’s music is taking a shift back to the 80’s but without the annoying vocals.  You know the vocals I’m talking about don’t you.  How many 80’s band lead singers sounded the exact same as this guy?

What I love about this song though, is that keyboard riff. Seriously, who can’t love that? Doesn’t it make you want to climb a mountain or something?  Da Da Daa Dun, Da Da Da Da Duh, Da Da Daa Dun, Da Da Dun Da Da Duh Da. It’s great. And no, it’s not from a Rocky movie, but maybe it should be.  The cool thing about today’s music is that it’s taking everything that is cool from a song like this, (ie. that sweet keyboard), adding to it, and giving it a fresh sound.  New drums, new vocals, and new grooves.  So, maybe the 80’s are coming back a little, and I’m cool with it. In fact I love it.

So let’s hear it.  What’s your jam?  Name one of your favorite high school bands.  What will you look back on and always remember as the time you discovered that there was music made for you?

Ready.  Go.

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Last night I had the chance to see Jars Of Clay play a hand full of songs for some TV / Film Showcase thing that was going on in Nashville.  Now, I’ve seen these guys probably four or five times live, and every time they bring it.  Last night was no different but with their new stuff it was even better.  Yes, I know.  I’ve said it before.  Somehow these guys manage to outdo themselves with every record and there aren’t many bands out there that can actually do that.  I don’t know how they do it, but I’m glad they do.

Now here’s the thing.  With every record taking a musical step up, brilliant lyrics on literally every record and the ability to adapt to ‘cultural’ musical relevance there’s no reason these guys shouldn’t be massive.  Am I right?  And not to knock the Jars guys at all, because they are easily one of my favorite bands out there, but sometimes I fell like they are a little misunderstood.  People don’t “get” them for some reason.  And it’s not just me.  Every artist that I know, and every artist that I have toured with loves them and completely respect them as musicians.  So what is it?  Is it that they are to ‘arty’?  Too smart?  Too introspective?  Too honest?  What do you think?  What’s stopping them from dominating the music world?

Either way, I’m continually blown away by these guys and one day I hope to have them on the SkörInc roster.  So if any of you out there know how to make that happen let’s hear it.  And if you haven’t, go get their new record today.  Then listen to it over and over and over.  You’ll thank me.

If you don’t have an answer for all of that, let’s hear your favorite Jars record so far.  I think I’d have to go with “Who We Are Instead”, no question.  That record blows me away every time I put it in.

Ready?  Go.

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So I got it.  I noticed a couple cool things.  The obvious.  Copy and Paste.  Another cool thing, is the Area Code recognition.  So now when someone from 815 calls me I know where that is instead of asking the people around me where 815 is.  I like that.  Other than that I haven’t really had a chance to ‘dive in’ to all the glory that is 3.0.

Now, I heard that there were a ton of updates, and it’s a really big deal and I should know more about it, but I don’t.  And I also know there are a ton of iPhone nerds that read this blog, so here’s the thing.  What updates are you most excited about?  What should I know about that I probably don’t?  There’s got to be more than Copy and Paste.

Ready?  Go.

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I used to be a bigger shoe fan than I am now.  I used to go to Salvation Army or Goodwill and find some shoe that fit good enough, and would wear that for a while then find something new.  I never really got into the ‘expensive’ shoe thing though, simply because I could never justify it.  Although I did have a sweet pair of Nike 180 Pumps when I was in eighth grade.

Now that I’m older my shoe interest has dropped drastically.  With my frequent visits to airports I have resorted to things that don’t tie.  Black Vans,  and Flip Flops, and of course, the old standby, the Converse Chuck’s.  Pretty simple but they get the job done.

All together I think I have six pairs of shoes.  All for a certain purpose.  My Chuck’s for daily use, flip flops for summer, trashed Vans for yard work, black boot things for dressing up, my non-space athletic shoe and Uggs.  Yeah, I have Uggs.  Call me Brittney Spears or whatever, but they are crazy comfortable and amazing winter shoes.

Not bad huh?  I mean sure it’s more than some people and I know there are people in the world with no shoes and all that.  And I completely agree with anyone in the comments that says that we should give shoes to people that need them.  But here’s what I want to know.  And I want you to be honest.  How may pairs of shoes do you own?  Total.  Not something like, “Well, I don’t really wear those except for once a year, so they don’t count” type of thing.  I want a total.  And I know there’s some readers on here with some collections.  Especially you worship leaders. (Kidding.  Don’t freak out).

So let’s hear it.  How many (total) pairs of shoes do you have right now.

Ready?  Go.

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Welcome to Tuesday.  Most of you already know about Positive Post Tuesday, and most of you have already been involved in it to some level.  Well, I’ve been thinking more and more about taking it to the next level and I wanted to start with some different things.  Originally we were using the Mr. Linky thing and that seemed to go okay for a while, but they have changed up their format and I think we can really start stepping it up.  First up, I’ve created a Twitter account specifically for Positive Post Tuesday.  Here’s how that will work.  Instead of writing on your blog and posting the link to the Mr. Linky on my blog, you will now just Tweet your link as a reply to @positivepost.  Also make sure to finish out your Tweet with #ppt.  What I will do is then re-Tweet your link from the Positive Post Twitter Account.  Make sense?  This is the first of several changes that I’ll be making to Positive Post Tuesday, so make sure to spread the word and lets make this bigger than ever.

Now, if you’re here and haven’t heard of Positive Post Tuesday allow me to explain.  It’s pretty simple.  Write something nice (or positive) on your blog, Facebook, Myspace, Live Journal, or whatever other online documenting system you may have and share the positivity.  Sounds easy right?

So that’s the start of this little campaign I’m calling ‘Be Nice’.  I’m glad you all are a part of it.  Spread the word, tell your friends, and let’s start being nice.

Ready?  Go.

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Well, like the rest of you I’m sure, I was caught up in the exciting ‘vanity’ frenzy last night just around midnight.  I was on bus internet and an hour early, because I wasn’t actually sure what ‘midnight’ Facebook was referring to, but caught wind of it on Twitter, and nabbed up Facebook.com/brodyharper.  And everything is right with the world.

So here’s the question.  And sorry this is such a short post, but my internet has been spotty all day here in ‘Nowhere, MN’.  Here goes.  How many of you got the name they wanted or close?  In fact, how about in the comments everyone leave their shiny new Facebook URL so we can all check them out.  Sound good?

Ready?  Go.

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Broadcasting things live is a tricky thing.  There’s always this element of the ‘unknown’ and I think that’s what freaks some people out.  I think that’s what causes people to shy away from it and decide to not do it.  There’s also this element of making yourself subject to the public in real time.  Where all you can do is react to people and what the decide to do.  I think this freaks people out too.

I don’t know how many of you showed up to Jonny Diaz’s Live Chat last night, but if you did you noticed the “one chatter”.  You know the one.  The fifteen year old hiding in his mom’s basement typing the most offensive things he his middle school brain can think of to try to get a reaction from the rest of the chatters.  Now, most of you know, this stuff happens.  If you’ve ever been on any sort of live chatting thing, there’s always some scholar that throws out obscenities to try to get a reaction and it’s pretty easy to ban them from the chat.  However, last night was a little different.

Due to some technical issues beyond my control and the flippant attitude for customer service expressed by Ustream I was somehow blocked out from being able to ban Mr. Offensive Chatter.  What should have taken two clicks of a mouse turned into three phone calls and creating a whole new account to simply log in and block him.  The problem?  It’s a game now and he’s trying to be more offensive.

So, ten minutes and several comments later, I was finally able to ban him from the chat with no help from Ustream or even an, “I’m sorry this happened.”  Not scoring points for Ustream.

So, bottom line.  If you were offended, annoyed, distracted, or whatever else last night during the chat I apologize.  Some time this stuff happens and we’ve got to just roll with it.  Next I’ll be writing an email to the co-founder of Ustream to ask him if he thinks I should switch back to Mogulus for our live broadcasts.

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I’ve got plans for you tonight.  It’s time once again for Blog Nation to step it up and start calling, texting, emailing and tweeting their friends.  Tonight at 7:00 PM Central Time Jonny Diaz will be doing a Live Q&A time as well as taking song requests, and basically just hanging out.  Much like the intimate times from The Roadshow with the different artists, you will be able to chat with Jonny and with everyone else watching, only this will be from Jonny’s house.

Now I know what you’re saying.  ’I didn’t realize Jonny Diaz was a SkörInc artist’.  Well, he’s not.  But he is today.  Today we are bringing him along side Blog Nation and joining forces.  After all, isn’t that what this whole thing is about?

A few weeks back INO Records contacted me and told me they were wanting to do a Live Q&A time with Jonny and asked me to be involved.  I’ve heard Jonny’s music for a while now and was honored to be asked to help out.  So now it’s up to the amazing people of Blog Nation to spread the word to make this a huge success.  And I know you people can do it.  My summer haircut is evidence of that.

So here’s what I’m going to ask you to do.  I need you to blog about tonight’s Q&A time with Jonny Diaz.  It’s at 7PM Central Time.  (8PM Eastern) over at JonnyDiaz.com.  Blog about it, Tweet it, Facebook / Myspace blast it, and more importantly show up tonight to hang out.  And if you haven’t checked out Jonny’s music, you’ve got all day to do that.  Sound like a plan?

Where are my Jonny Diaz fans?