back from the dead

for those of you who care (anyone, anyone?), woxy looks to be back in business. one week and change after they went dead over the air, they have been resurrected. i know that i have given you scattered and confusing updates about woxy in the past (here and here), but this one is more positive in nature. by that i mean that a great idea and good work has been rewarded, in short...the good guys won for a change. if you still have not become acquainted with their programming, i strongly suggest that you take this opportunity to do so...if you love music, you will not be sorry that you did.

woxy.com

balls on wolf blitzer's head

jon stewart on cnn's latest initiative

damn if that jon stewart isn't one funny dude...especially when he is more or less calling a spade a spade. the state of journalism in 2006 is pretty scary. maybe i can muscle in and make mfd the most trusted name in news.

natty nits

click to enlarge/print and use as wallpaper for your bedroom
i have been feeling kind of bad for old joepa, as he has had a rough week. first he gets "the trots" (or in his case "the sprints across a football field while a game is in progress), then his team implodes 2 minutes from an upset of number 1 on the road, and then to top everything off he gets knocked down and bruised by two of his players at practice. with that in mind, you should never forget that the boy has 50+ years of grace, charm, and success to his name. gq magazine featured joe and my beloved nits in their september issue, calling them "the stylistic consciousness of america". remember respect your elders, especially when they are the greatest college football coach in the history of the game (that's right i said it. so what if i bitch about him non-stop, like it is my job...we only hurt the ones we love.)

kafkaesque

kafka•esque
adj.
a description used to denote mundane yet absurd and surreal circumstances of the kind commonly found in franz kafka's work.

it is all too fitting that in a week where joepa was forced to leave the sidelines of a game in progress to tend to "g.i disease" and then upon his return to duty finds himself getting knocked out in practice when two players ran into him, that the bruised and battered nits square off against the wildcats of northwestern and their quarterback mike kafka. not unlike the german language works of the austrio-hungarian author, this season has been one of bizarre twists and maddening illlogic. at 2-2 the nits must undergo their own metamorphosis, and get their season on track and win games such as this, where they have a clear advantage in talent.

psu needs to start playing like it is capable and begin building both the chemistry and momentum that should take then into bowl season and carry through to what should be a very promising '07 campaign. clearly at a crossroads, the nits are facing a trial of sorts, and with their backs to the wall come out defending their honor. nits 38, wildcats 17.



go state...beat the wildcats!

difficult feelings

it is interesting the things that are revealed in one's dealings with art. sometimes we can glimpse into the thoughts, beliefs, and ideas of the artist whose work we are interacting with. however, the most profound works cause us to look deeper into our own emotions and convictions. such is the case with paul greengrass's flight 93. by no means did i think that watching this film would amount to simple entertainment, but i was in no way prepared for the maelstrom of feelings that would wash across me during the film. anger, sadness, guilt, confusion, hope, each emotion coming to the forefront seemingly moment to moment, all while watching a story whose tragic result i knew all too certainly. for me, flight 93 is a profound and human retelling of an event whose full impact on my own life has yet to be fully realized.

flight 93 trailer

whatcha' gonna do!

i came across these today while i was surfin the old interweb


...and boy was i blown away. it was if someone had created a magic potion that contained all the things that i love: wrastlin', concentrated sugar, hogan knows best (my new favorite tv show), and tacky & terribly effective product design.

i need to get my hands on this stuff. i am going to drink a case worth and see if i can grow one of those rad, hulkster moustaches.

break out the bread & honey!

happy new year!

go out and party like it's 1999.

up, up, down, down...

left, right, left, right, b, a, start.

why can't everything in life be as radical as contra?

younstown state part deux

i have a bad feeling on this one. as a lifelong psu fan and apologist, i have often worked tirelessly to rationalize and explain the nits winning every week, despite an avalanche of information, history, etc. that would suggest otherwise. before the season started i thought this team would finish their first four games 3-1 (with a win in south bend against a moderately talented notre dame team). with a woodshed beating already layed upon them, this penn state team looks ripe to face michigan oct. 14, 3-2 and with only two wins against d-1 competition*.

joepa has never shown a willingness to abandon the conservative gameplan and this week that is not going to cut it (it very rarely does in the big ten). penn state has not won in the horseshoe since 1978 and has yet to score more than 10 points (yes, that's right i said 10 effin points) against ohio state on the road as a member of the big ten.

penn state will have to craft an offensive gameplan that balances the big play talent they have (dwheels, butler, wallace) with a solid running game if they want to hang on to the ball and put some points on the board. for the big plays to work, jaypa and galen need to avoid their tendency to utilize these plays in the most painfully obvious ways (i.e. dwheels lined up in the backfield with wallace coming across the field in motion for the end around on second and 10). defense is the same, need to bring pressure and avoid letting ginn find one on one coverage, so that we can minimize our appearances on sportcenter having white clad nits running around helplessly while ginn prances down the sideline.

i can't remember having this little faith in a penn state team in a long time, and that includes the pitiful teams of the early 2000s. nits see a virtual replay of the notre dame game in columbus without ever really being in it...nits 9, buckeyes 45.

go state...beat the buckeyes

*it looks like the minnetonka game will be moved to november 25. 3-2 is based on wins against akron, youngstown state, and northwestern (not a given by any means) and losses to notre dame and ohio state.

time flies

were one year old.


sing it with us.

thanks for visiting. it has been a lot of fun.

we hope that you have enjoyed it as much as we have.

peace out.

drink the kool-aid

well, it is a little tough to muster the enthusiasm to commit my thoughts on this weekend's psu/youngstown state clash to virtual paper, but alas i soldier on. what's done is done, south bend is in the rear view mirror and the focus needs to be solely on the #4 ranked penguins (d-1aa at full d-1 prices!).

i would imagine that a little home cooking and a slight edge in personnel should aid the nits to a victory, but more importantly this team needs to show what kind of heart they have. joepa has likened them to his 82 national championship team that got blown out early by alabama and rallied to win it all, so it should be interesting to see who steps up. humbling loss and poor individual play by several key players should give us a clearer image of what lies ahead in 07.

i tell you, i have had a blue mustache on my upper lip from all the psu kool-aid i have been drinking for the better part of my life, but it is starting to taste a little funny. time to stop making excuses and rationalizations about what could or should be. this program is starting to look a lot more like a fringe player on the national scene (wvu every couple of years) and not the tradition rich, powerhouse that we all know them as. the road to redemption begins in state college this weekend, nits win 38-17.

go state...beat the pengiuns
(follow link to psu blitz/right click to download)

tossed salad?

are we supposed to believe that the editors at cnn were not aware of the double entendre at work here? slightly funny, somewhat disturbing.

quick thoughts...

•joey porter's mock "roll" sack celebration was the highlight of the year. there is no need to watch another minute of nfl football 'cause you aren't gonna top it.

•love the coor's light coach interview spots.

•why does nbc have #4 notre dame vs. penn state as their promo? where the hell is the #19 ranking with penn state. arrogant bastards.

•good work by sweden. 2 games, maximum points, and on top of group f. get some.

clean yourself up chuck!

not much to say here. i hate notre dame. the faux tradition that gets trotted out every couple of years when it looks like they are going to turn the corner, touchdown jesus, rudy...it all makes me sick. on that note, i am anxious to see saint joepa take his disciples into south bend to face fat charlie and the irish. neither team showed too much last week, penn state didn't have to and notre dame had nothing to show. this week is different as the national spotlight will shine on this game and both programs would love to make a statement with a win.

fresh off their impressive debut in the slop at state college, am & crew should be able to stretch the domer's secondary with the passing game, but not without a better effort from hunt & the running game (not to mention the non-existent tight end play).

it would be so sweet to have yet another heisman campaign come to end at the hands of the mighty nittany lion defense and to do so bradley and his boys will have to stop a balanced (but not as spectacular as everyone thinks) notre dame offense. look for poz to reassert himself as the leader of the best linebacker pack in the land with a monster game that will further cement his legend in psu lore.

when the dust settles and all the rosary beads have been worn down to nothing, psu will rise above the sacred ground of south bend and finally put an end to notre dame hype (for this year at least) with a 20-17 win.

go state...beat the irish
(follow link to psu blitz/right click to download)

i hate notre dame...

...and so should you.

''to tell you the truth, i hate notre dame. always have, always will.''
-keith dorney, psu offensive tackle, 1975-1979

don't believe me and keith that the golden domers are no good? chew on this:

-the arrogance, despite not winning a bowl game in 13 years.
-this guy!
-nbc/notre dame football
-god is not a football fan you jackasses!

feel free to chime in if i forgot anything.

rip croc hunter steve irwin.


damn that dude was entertaining, sorry to see him go.

jeff buckley - last goodbye
(a little musical tribute to the ol' croc hunter)

help a brother out.

early accolades and observations

congrats to dan connor on picking up where mr. posluszny left off last year, big ten defensive player of the week. connor becomes the fourth different nittany lion to earn big ten defensive accolades the past two seasons. here's hoping that connor and the nits d, bring their a-game to south bend next weekend.


anthony morelli looked the part of western pennsylvania quarterback/savior/legend in the making. i am not insinuating that his stats warrant legendary status by any means, but a quarterback starting his first game, on the heels of a heisman caliber quarterback's graduation, in the rain, against a gimmick defense, could have easily folded. morelli looked poised as a pro in the pocket and he showed that he is in possession of a cannon for an arm. high marks for game one, lets see if he can do it on the road against fat charlie and co.



they didn't come in with the fan fair of dwheels and jking, but aj wallace and chris bell look like they could contribute the same kind of energy and have the same type of impact. wallace finally gives psu a legitimate threat in the return game and bell gives morelli a huge target to throw to. you have to like the fact that they saw valuable time in the season opener.


is it me, or should joe be able to buy himself a raincoat for gameday? that old cooter was water logged by kick-off and the rain never let up the whole game. i don't think anyone wants to see the old boy go down on the sideline with pneumonia.

the norwegian job

i guess movies like the italian job and the thomas crown affair are cool and sh*t, you know...steve mcqueen and michael caine (you didn't really think that i was talking about that marky mark & pierce brosnan drivle, did you?) stealing priceless works of art and getting some sweet bird on the side. that being said, movies are movies and in the real world art should remain in public where people can learn from it and appreciate it. one of contemporary art's most iconic works, edvard munch's "the scream", as well as "madonna" (a personal favorite) were returned to the munch museum in oslo, norway some two years after being lifted by masked thieves in plain day.

Two stolen Edvard Munch masterpieces are recovered in Norway

having spent a good time admiring munch's work (mfd 2/06), i can say that "the scream" to be my favorite work by the artist, but one can not deny the cultural significance of a painting that has been absorbed into the popular culture to the degree that munch's work has. if you ever have the chance, i would strongly encourage experiencing munch's oeuvre as he was a profoundly troubled and emotional man who used art to explain and rationalize much of what he felt (which was considerable).

woxy rip

i have just been made aware of a rather sad bit of music news...former traditional radio, turned "internet" radio station woxy is about to become nothing at all. that's right, this bastion of great, independent music is set to shut it down this month. while my history with woxy is not as long as some, i can say with certainty that their services will be missed. can't say we didn't try to warn you that this was coming (mfd 2/06).

woxy explains their situation:

Listeners, fans and friends,

This sucks.

This is the moment all of us hoped would never come. After plugging away at this for the past two years, it's become pretty clear that operating woxy.com as a stand-alone Internet "radio station" is not going to cut it. Our operating costs are higher than you might think, and the revenue we were able to generate from advertising isn't close to supporting what we're doing. Even membership revenue wasn't enough to get us there. When your business doesn't make money, you eventually go out of business.

With this in mind, we've been looking for either a significant partner - someone with a larger plan into which woxy.com could be plugged - or an outright buyer. That search hasn't been fruitful. We're still willing to entertain offers and explore possibilities (email bryan@woxy.com), but our time is short. We thought it was time to share our situation with you ... to give you a heads-up.

You might be saying, "What can I do to help?" Unfortunately, unless you have significant investment capital and a way to profit from the wonderful programming we create, you can't. As of today, we will no longer be selling or renewing memberships or accepting contributions. Please don't send us money ... it will just mean we have to send it back to you.

Now is a good time to say THANK YOU to our incredibly patient, generous and kind angel investors. Without them ... well, we wouldn't have had the chance to even be in the game. They've enabled everything we’ve accomplished over the past two years, and for that, they are saints to indie rock lovers everywhere.

We did investigate an alternative: stripping our operations to the absolute bare minimum by cutting back to one staffer, no more DJs, no more Lounge Acts, etc. We decided it wasn't worth it. It wouldn't have been true to what woxy.com is, and it wouldn't have honored the legacy of 97X.

While woxy.com may have failed in a business sense, we're pretty proud that we managed to put out some of the most passionate, unique and interesting programming on the Internet and elsewhere. We showered love and airplay on countless bands who otherwise would have received none, garnered national press attention and hosted nearly 200 live Lounge Act performances. Not too bad for a little, four-person Internet radio station from Cincinnati.

A radio station is only as big as its listeners make it. We're not BS-ing when we say that you guys, our supporters, are the most amazing people on the planet. THANK YOU. The dedication and enthusiasm you've shown for what we do is staggering and inspiring. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to become a member, generously made a contribution, emailed (spammed) your friends, spread the gospel of woxy.com and - most of all - listened.

Barring something exceptional happening in the next two weeks, we will silence our broadcasts on Friday, September 15th.

Sometimes no matter how hard you try and how special the thing you do, it simply isn't enough to beat the odds. It's the cold reality of business that not even we could escape. When September 15th comes, we'll meet it proudly with heads held high and celebrate the past two years of woxy.com and the spirit of 97X. For those lucky enough to have been part of it, The Future of Rock and Roll will forever be in our minds and hearts.

So enjoy these last two weeks with us. Shall we rock?

Eternally yours,

Bryan Jay, Mike, Shiv and Barb

if only i was charging for premium access to mfd, i could cut a check to keep the lights on over there at woxy. shucks.