Renewed faith

I have received some good response on my Pop Culture 101 column, but the best is this one I got from a high school student (my response to her is below)...

Hello! My name is Brittany and I am currently a Senior at Brush High School in Brush, Colorado. I am writing to inquire on your article about Pop Culture 101. My music teacher Mrs. Darline Miner has had your article clipped out and lying on the table in her office. It caught my attention and wanted to let you know that she teaches a History of Rock class every semester and thought that your article was very informative.

I think that there should be more media classes like your Pop Culture 101 and our History of Rock because I'm only 17 and to read that a 21-year old never heard of Paul McCartney is like a sin. LOL. As a matter of fact, I am writing to you from her office and I'm...sort-of the Teachers Aid, and we are listening to anywhere from The Doors to Ray Charles, just in todays lesson!

The class starts off at the beginning of the semester listening to the roots of Rock, like Blues and Country. Then we slowly transition our way into Elvis, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and his Comets, and The Beach Boys. Then come the 60's and 70's, Woodstock, Beatles, The Who, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, Fleetwood Mac, The Byrds, The Animals, and Cream (plus alot more, this is just off the top of my head). And by the near end of the semester we get into the 80's and 90's....like 80's rap and hip hop, theres alot but just to name a couple, Nirvana, and Bruce Springsteen.

We watch many movies too. She has a set of History of Rock dvd's that range anywhere from Chuck Berry and Elvis to Britain invades to Punk like the Sex Pistols and The Ramones. We also watch the rock opera Tommy by The Who (one of my personal favorites), Blues Brothers, School of Rock, The Wedding Singer, Wizard of Oz with Dark Side of The Moon by Pink Floyd, and probably a few more.

I hope this gives you some ideas and hopefully some interest in our class here at Brush High School. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me back! Thank you for your time!

Brittany Colerick

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Brittany,
Wow! You have single-handedly renewed my faith in the younger generation! Mrs. Miner is obviously doing a great job out there in Brush (I used to live and work in Brush when I worked for the Fort Morgan Times and the Beetdiggers will always have a place in my heart!).

I am very glad that your school has taken this bold move (I don't think this class was there when I covered Brush). Just to hear a 17-year-old talk about Bill Haley, The Doors, The Ramones and Jimi Hendrix makes me so happy. My sons are pretty much forced to listen to this stuff (Actually, the first song they knew all the words to was "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss! ... of course there's only about 12 words in the whole song... but it was still cool).

Anyway, I'm very impressed with your class and your curriculum... (although I think you meant that you watched Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and not "Dark Side of the Moon," right? Speaking of Dark Side, though, I talked to everyone here in my office. Only one other person knew the name of the album from the cover and had ever heard of the album ... I work in a warped world, huh?).

So, please pass along my sincere appreciate to Mrs. Miner and the rest of your class and I am very glad there will be some young folks out there who know who the Walrus is, what the "pompitous of love" is, what "the day the music died" is, as well as any pre-black album Metallica! Outstanding!

Now if you can get your history teachers to make sure they cover everything that is mentioned in Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" song, then you pretty much have all the basics!

Thanks for writing,
Jared

Near brush with greatness

So, first, I'll set the scene.

My Aunt Sandy comes to town to see her daughter, Darcy, in Denver. She drops me a note that she'd like to see the kids, Tracy and I (probably in that order!). So, I figured it would be fun to take them to Casa Bonita (I didn't find out until later they had been there before).

Anyway, we were there and I took the boys through the arcade while Tracy, Sandy and Darcy talked.

And then I saw him... at least I thought it was him.

Standing with his kid and his wife in the arcade was a guy who I swear was Rob Reiner. (Side note: Reiner is one of my favorite people in the world, having directed the greatest movie of all time "This is Spinal Tap" and another in the top 10 with "Princess Bride" plus I loved him as Meathead on All in the Family).

But I wasn't sure. Didn't want to feel like a moron. So, I ran back to the table and tell the women about it. I wanted Tracy to see if I'm right (she's an avid People Mag reader so I figured she's be good). She says she has no idea what Rob Reiner looks like. So, Aunt Sandy volunteers. "I know Rob Reiner," she says with confidence.

I took her back to the arcade and pointed to the guy wearing the blue hat across the room.

"No way," she says. "That's not him. His hair is more gray than that." She said it with such conviction I felt stupid for even thinking he could have been him.

You know where this is going. Click here.

Of course, it was him. He was here for the NBA All-Star Game (Casa Bonita is just a few miles away from Pepsi Center). The kid in the picture next to him was the same one from the restaurant... The picture is from the Denver Post website.

I still love you, Aunt Sandy ... I'm just not sure I trust you anymore... at least when it comes to celebrity sightings!

Pop culture 101

OK, I'm working on my column and I need help...

The idea started when the 21-year-old receptionist in our office said, "Who was that guy performing at halftime at the Super Bowl?"

"You don't know who Paul McCartney is?"

"Nope."

This is just sad, so I'm going to do a column on how our schools (or at least parents) need to be teaching Pop Culture 101 so we can all speak from the same platform of knowledge...

So, what things do you think should be taught in this new curriculum? Here are some of my ideas but I need a bunch more for a column... please help!!!

* The Breakfast Club -- mandatory viewing with a short description of what "The Brat Pack" was.

* The Twinkie defense -- I realize this may have a Bay Area slant to it, but the whole Harvey Milk thing was so strange, it's a term I still hear all the time (by those over 30)

* Willy Wonka (the original) -- just for the Oompa Loompas (because I'll bet the Johnny Depp flick won't have orange-faced little people singing "... doopity-doo.")

I have a bunch more, but I could use more... Anything? ... Bueller? ... Bueller? (see, there's one!)

Back on track

OK... I swear, I'm back... too much other work stuff, travelling, stupid stuff...

This morning I got up early to work on the novel (using the OUTSTANDING edits by my good friend Mr. Anderson). Editing is not nearly as much fun as actual writing. In fact, it's downright painful. But I will get through it. I swear ... I'm back and this sucker will be ready for agents to fight to the death over ... by April!!!

I swear ...

Empty praise

Parents today are told we are supposed to support our children with praise. This builds their tiny egos (anyone who has a five-year-old knows their egos are anything but small!).

Anyway, this morning, Alex and Andy were working on their house. Their house is a huge refrigerator box Tracy brought home for them to decorate. I didn't know what they were working on, but I enjoyed listening to their discussions.

A problem arose when they wanted to draw something in white on the inside of the box.

"Why don't we use chalk?" Andy suggested ... very proud of his idea.

"We can't do that. It'll smear all over." Alex slammed the idea fast.

Seeing an opportunity to maintain his "fragile" ego, I said, "Well, Andy, he's probably right that it would smear, but that was a really good idea."

Andy basically ignored me and he thought for a little longer... "I know, we can cut out some white paper and draw on that!"

Alex loved the idea and told him what a good plan it was.

Andy was thrilled.

He's only 5 but he understands clearly sees empty praise when he hears it. And I guess he knows a 7-year-old would never give it!

Dogs

I recently received a copy of a book called "Life is Good: Lessons in Joyful Living." The interesting part is it's written by a dog. My favorite author, Dean Koontz, "edited" the book written by his adorable Golden Retriever, Trixie.

I gotta admit that my first thought was that this was pretty strange ... maybe Dean is getting a little too obsessed with his dog (he didn't have one for years and he finally got Trixie, a retiree from Canine Companions -- which gets the proceeds from the book).

But I was wrong. When I was a kid, my family always had a dog. First it was Scruffy and then Chablis (my parents have had two dogs since I moved out, including Sidney, the blue-eyed psycho dog!). Having a dog around the house is just one of the best things. If you've had a crappy day, there's nothing better than rubbing a dog's tummy (now that my kids are a little older, they won't let me do this to them anymore!). The world just doesn't suck when you are petting a dog.

Anyway, because of my darn allergies, I can't even be around dogs anymore ... unless I don't feel like breathing. So, we don't have a dog anymore.

But this Dean/Trixie book actually captures the joy and fun of a dog ... without the need for antihistamines. Forget Plato. Forget Homer. I think Trixie may be the best philosopher of our time. Here are just a few samples:

To live joyfully, learn to love sleep. (She goes on to encourage frequent dog-naps.)
Laugh til your face hurts.
Life is good if you go to movies (I couldn't agree more)
Joyful life means thinking of yourself as a movie star ... but don't act like one.
Be proud but not arrogant. Be beautiful but not vain. Be strong but gentle. Be loving, be humble, be as much like a dog as you can... and be happy.

Yes, it's simple but I gotta admit, it worked on me.

The Birds

OK, Mr. Anderson thinks I should write my column about the birds. But I know the Trib is working on a story on the birds, so I'll just write about it here...

It started on Tuesday as I was driving west to pick up Andy from school. The sun was starting to set and I saw this funky black floaty thing in the sky. I'm not sure how I didn't wreck. Anyway, when I pulled into the school, several other people were looking into the sky. That's when I figured out the black shape was actually thousands of small black birds (I later found out they are starlings). The birds didn't just stay in one shape. Nope, they flew in large clusters and then morphed together to make amazing geometric designs. My friend, Andy Segal, was there picking up his son and we watched the birds for about 20 minutes. "It looks like a screen saver," he said. That's the best description I have heard yet.
The birds apparently go out every night about 5 p.m. and do this amazing aerial dance. It is just amazing to see all these birds flying together. And then, all of the sudden, they turn and all you can see is their white under-bellies and it's almost like they disappeared.
Want proof it's amazing? Well, some guy was driving in the area and was so blown away by the birds that he wanted to take a picture with his camera-phone. Unfortunately, he didn't pull over to do this and he ended up rear-ending this poor woman in a rather brutal crash. See! The birds are rebelling! They are trying to take us out one-by-one.
Oh, well, it is really cool.
See... not much for a column, huh?

Monster mash

So, last night I FINALLY got to see Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster." If you haven't heard of it, it's an amazing documentary about Metallica making their latest record (although it's on CD, they still call it that... strange) "St. Anger."

It's a great look at one of my favorite bands of all time. When I was going to high school in California, Metallica reigned supreme in the Bay Area. I saw them six times in concert in various venues and they were always incredible.

But watching this movie was a real eye-opener as well. What I remember about Metallica is that the members were all about my age. That was probably part of their appeal to me. So, now, most of the guys in the band are married and have kids, too. So, they are in the studio, recording some of the hardest, loudest music they have ever made, and their kids are crawling all over the control room.

It was probably not one of the intended themes, but I was just blown away at how these guys were able to be regular dads (going to ballet class!) and still be able to do their music better than ever. Every dad who thinks a kid is going to ruin his life's goals needs to see this. Sure, these guys aren't the perfect fathers (one misses a son's first birthday to go to Russia to kill a bear!), but they are very loving and realize that family comes first. With a family's loving support, anything is possible.

That time again

Every other week, I start looking at my kids and thinking, "OK, do something funny so I can write about it in the paper!"
You'd be surprised how often it works!
Anyway, I think I'm going to do my column on silliness -- the need to be stupid and silly and just enjoy my kids even with all the hectic things going on in our lives... Not sure if it'll work as a column, but I'll try. Wish me luck!

A friend indeed

Happiness may be a warm puppy (although that means I'm allergic to happiness!), but I have figured out friendship is a 240-page manuscript.
Technically, it's editing a 240-page manuscript.
My good friend Eric Anderson recently took on this task to help me meld my novel from the mess it was to something I might be able to publish someday. Eric took the task seriously and offered outstanding comments on everything from character continuity to timeline.
Coming from newspapers, I understand the need to have others look at your work to help edit it. My wife faithfully edits my regular columns (although I probably too often ignore her suggestions!).
Eric saved me from a number of embarrassing mistakes and rightfully questioned some of the motivations of characters and plot points. His input to this has been unforgettable. Hell, he was the one who got me into Nano in the first place.
Eric keeps saying that editing my book will help him edit his own. I truly hope this is true. Eric has always had keen insight into issues and a great flair for the English language and I can't wait to see the results of his months of labor.
Thanks, EA!

A wee-bit early

Just saw this story... kinda freaks me out since I'll be coaching Mighty Mites this year...

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- At this rate, sonograms will become a soccer recruiting tool pretty soon.
Jean Carlos Chera, a 9-year-old who is 4-foot-6, is attracting interest from Manchester United and other top European teams. Chera, who weighs 77 pounds, currently plays for the youth teams of Associacao Desportiva Atletica, a small club in the southern Brazilian state of Parana.
"Seven or eight European clubs have already contacted us to know more about Jean," team president Adilson Batista Prado said in a telephone interview Thursday. "They want to know what he is all about, and I tell them he's a phenomenon, probably the best player to come out of Brazil."
Prado and team officials would not identify all the clubs interested in Jean, but confirmed that representatives of Manchester United have asked for videotapes of his matches.
Prado said teams from Portugal, France and Germany have made contact, and local media identified FC Porto as one of the teams.
The club said the European clubs haven't made official offers yet, but some have asked for permission to send representatives, and others have invited the midfielder and his family to go to Europe.
"He still needs to be a kid," said Prado, who does not allow Jean to talk to reporters.
Jean began to attract attention after the club put videos with highlights of Jean's matches on its Web site. In the videos, Jean is seen scoring goals from midfield, dribbling past several defenders and playing among 13- and 14-year-olds.
After the videos were posted, the site's page views nearly tripled and some of them had to be removed to keep the site from crashing, the club said.
Two years ago, Manchester and Inter Milan were among top clubs that expressed interest in then 14-year-old Freddy Adu, who signed Major League Soccer instead. European clubs generally are not allowed to use players from outside the European Union on their first teams until they turn 18.

Here's Johnny

I was flying back home from California on Sunday when I heard Johnny Carson died.
Usually when I hear about celebrity deaths, I get this "ahhh" feeling. But for Carson it was different. He was practically a member of my family.

I remember when I was a kid and I would go out to visit my grandparents in Oklahoma. They would let me stay up late and watch Carson with them in their big bed. I was allowed to watch through the third commercial break which meant I usually got to see his monologue, any opening sketch and his first guest.

Through college, I always watched Carson (and then stayed tuned for Letterman).

When I was in high school, my family went to Southern Cal to see Phantom of the Opera (before it was a movie, it was a play!). We visited Disneyland and we had one day to try to get in the audience of some show. We all agreed it had to be Carson.

We stood in line for hours, but it paid off because we got in. The guests that night were Tony Danza and Chris Isaac. I was blown away by how small the theater was for the show. It looked so much bigger on TV. There was Doc. And Ed.

During the commercial breaks, Johnny usually talked with his producer while he smoked a cigarette. But during one break, he came out to tell the audience a joke. I don't remember what the joke was, but I do remember it involved something like an elephant in a bar and it was very dirty.

I was shocked to see Carson swear, but it was a very funny joke.

After the commercial break, Carson came out as Carnac the Magnificent. After a couple jokes, he held the envelope to his head and said, "An elephant in a bar..."

The audience just screamed laughter. We couldn't believe he would tell the dirty joke on the air and it was just hysterical. Of course, he didn't do the dirty joke. It was some silly thing. But the audience was cracking up. I loved the fact he shared that with us as an inside thing. It was wonderful.

He will be missed.

Cranky

It's pretty easy to tell when the boys don't get enough sleep or something's bothering them. They usually get really cranky and start crying for no real reason. The other night Alex was inconsolable over losing a cheap, magnetic dart for this free toy he got from the barbershop. Andy was freaking out full-bore when he spilled too much glue on an art project he was doing.

I know this isn't really a revelation, but what I thought was interesting is that adults are very similar. Folks around the office or some of my friends or me... we're all the same. Cranky.

So much for growing up, huh?

Stupidity

Sometimes I am just overwhelmed at how dumb some people are.
There's a couple Christian groups who are now mad at Spongebob (and a couple other cartoon characters). Now, the fact that a group is mad at a cartoon is dumb enough. But these people are upset because these characters were in a video together promoting people working out their differences and loving each other. Here's the story.
If people stopped worrying what other people were doing, think about how much time and energy we'd save. (I know it's not an original thought, but things like this really make me sick!)
I say Spongebob for President ... and Tinky-Winky as a non-speaking vice-president!

Mirrors

There are moments when I look at my kids and I see Tracy or my mom or my dad -- even my grandparents. But when I glance at them and see myself, I have to admit it's a little disconcerting. Andy says, "Dude" all the time. Alex has a biting sarcastic sense of humor. It's simply amazing what little sponges they are, but they are sponges that retain their own unique shape which is what makes them so incredible.

Column ideas?

Some weeks I have a good idea for a column... NOT THIS WEEK!
Anyone got any thoughts?

PR/Marketing in action

The other night I saw an example of some of the best PR/Marketing I've ever seen.

On the news, the No. 2 story for the night was about the increasing number of injuries from the rodeo during the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver. They said the stock show officials announced this and explained the reason for the increase is because of the outstanding bulls and broncs for this year's rodeo... like it's a bad thing.

Of course, to anyone who enjoys rodeo (not me) this is just awesome. It's like practically guaranteeing that if you go, you will see someone get injured. It's like NASCAR promising a brutal wreck.

So, inspired by this brilliant marketing move by the rodeo, I have decided to send out a few press releases to help with my book sales...

"Fathers who laugh more likely to do the dishes, study says..."

"Men who read 'Fumbling Thru Fatherhood' 83 percent better in bed..."

"Author Jared Fiel promises personal injury to himself if book sales jump..."

Any other thoughts?

Exercise

Because of my current post-holiday eating frenzy size, I am presently in danger of being declared my own country. So, I know I need to exercise more (eating less is an obvious, but not palatable choice).
About a year ago, I got an exercise DVD and I used it quite a bit and actually started losing weight.
But, that faded quickly.
Now I am going to start playing racquetball twice a week (once in my Aims class and once with my friend Dan) and this morning I dusted off the ol' DVD so I could work out.
What I realized was that after watching a guy in a leotard telling me to stretch, I wasn't really that hungry for breakfast anyhow. Funny how that works.

Make Love, Not War

According to CNN, the Army gave up on plans in 1994 to develop an aphrodisiac bomb that apparently would have been so powerful, it would have made the enemy so lusty that they would have thrown down their guns and started having homosexual sex on the battlefield. "OK, Frank, we have got to take that hill ... but, you know, you're looking pretty cute in those fatigues..."

As any guy who had dreams of Spanish Fly and other magazine remedies solving their issues with not getting women knows, no such aphrodisiac exists.

This whole thing just makes me laugh, but I guess I have to salute the Army trying to find ways to beat the enemy (no pun intended ... OK, yes, it was) without killing. But who thinks of this stuff, anyway? Cool gig, if you can get it!

Playing games

The boys are at a really fun age right now.
Alex has developed a love for games. And we're not talking Candyland anymore (thank God!).
Nope, first he got into dominoes which is one of our family favs. He wanted to play every night. He taught Andy as well and Andy is really fun when he wins because he does a little victory dance, shaking his butt while standing on his chair.
And then Grandma Ruth (a.k.a. Babysitting Grandma) taught them Monopoly. Yes, they are only 7 and 5 but they really love Monopoly. We now have to have regular Monopoly games (we still haven't actually ended one, but Alex thinks the winner is the one with the most hotels ... guess I'm raising a Trump Jr.).
On Friday, I had some friends over for a poker game and we left the table and stuff out. So, the boys were interested. My buddy Donovan taught them how to play and now that's the game-du-jour.
Of course, my sons are naturally very enthusiastic about games -- which doesn't really mix with poker ... "Oooooh, that was AWESOME!" Alex said as he looked at his cards.
So much for that game.