I’m going to do my best to post my favorite album picks every week. We’ll see how that goes.

This week I start it off strong with an album, that I can’t stop listening to, by supergroup Monsters of Folk.

The band is made up of some of my favorite musicians and, just by listening to this album, has introduced me to some new favorites. Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, from Bright Eyes, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, and singer-songwriter M. Ward make up this amazing band. If you’ve ever heard of any of these guys, then you will love this album. If not, then you need to listen to it and check out all of their respective projects. Trust me, its well worth your time.

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If you’re like me, and thats pretty scary, then sometimes you like to push things to the max. Sometimes I like to see how far I can take things…just to see what the breaking point is. Crazy huh?

Anyways, I’ve been running my car really low on gas these days. What can I say?! I stay pretty broke…maybe I’m trying to push myself to the edge, just to see how far I can stretch the pennies I do have.

So yeah, the photo above is my car’s way of telling me that it’s hungry and I just keep saying, “Just a few more miles…just a few more.”  Wonder if I can make it home today…its only 23 miles…

- Jared

Hello there friends. Its been a while and I thought that I’d give you an update on whats been gong on…

There will be a third season of the podcast. Its just taking a while to get it going. We’ve recorded one episode…it just needs to be edited. The episode will have local Memphis artists, Tiffany Harmon, Other Stories, and Emily Anderson. Look for it soon.

I’ve been busy working on my directorial debut. Its a film about two detectives, in a small town, who take on a 20 year old cold case and as they go through it, their every day lives wrap around it and inadvertently solve it. The film is titled One Degree Below and was written by my friend, Evaristo Scarsanela Jr. Hell of a name, right?

Anyways, the script is done and I’m in the process of doing my revisions. After all of that is done, I’ll send it to my Line Producer, an amazing man by the name of Trevor Allen, and he will do the budget, schedule, and get the proposal going…then we try to hunt for investors.

Money is the biggest factor, when making a film. If you don’t have enough, you can’t get good actors and your film comes off as cheap and hokey…I don’t think that we’re going to have any problems getting our budget. We just nee to make it happen.

Aside from all of that, I’m just trying to get my life in order. For a long time, I was focused on other people and things making me happy but that’s not how it works. Your life is in your own hands and you have to reach out and take it, but that’s hard to do.

GET UP OFF YOUR LAZY ASS AND MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!

And that’s what I’m doing.

Ive been writing a lot lately: music, stories, and just random poems and short hand stuff…anything that will unclog all of this crap out of my head. So yeah, I’m in a really creative mood, at the moment, and I plan on taking full advantage of it.

For example, I was driving home the other night and I came up with a really cool idea for a film. I had my iPhone with me and I recorded myself brainstorming about the idea and this is what I came up with…

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/sualpodcast/Film_Idea_-_Aug_27_2009.mp3]

So, that will be the next think that I’ll be working on, after One Degree Below. Don’t think about stealing it, ’cause I’ve already sent in a treatment and outline to the WGA.

Look for the new podcast, out soon, and One Degree Below. I’ll be posting more blogs about it, as we go.

Until next time,

Jared

If you’re like me, then you are a text whore. I live on my phone. For example, I’ve answered about ten texts since I started writing this review.

“How do you ever get anything done?,” you ask.

I have no idea.

I’m a social networking whore, as well.  I like anything that connects me with other people, and today’s app does just that.

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So yeah…I’m at a small outdoor fest in Holly Springs, MS, called The Fools Ball. It’s a three day weekend full of local rock and a non stop party. Music, drinking, and camping…sounds fun to me.

A three day event that only costs $20. Plenty of cute girls and endless types of “fun” to be had.

I was very surprised to see that so many people here are into NOS. Every time I turn around, I see a handful of people with balloons. Very interesting.

So yeah, who knows what tomorrow will bring. We shall see.

Check out these pics of the giant bonfire and fire dancing

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We all know that the iPhone is an amazing tool, but what would make it even better?

Have you ever been talking to someone about a song and had to tell them, while searching through your iPod, “No I don’t have it on me, but its in my iTunes at home?”

We’ve all been there but what if you having that particular song, at that particular moment, is the key to gaining that special someone’s attention? Who knows? It worked for Natalie Portman in Garden State…

You say, “How am I supposed to do that, Jared? I can’t carry my whole music library with me.”

I say, “Bullshit. You ever heard of Simplify Media?”

You reply with, “huh?”

Simplify Media is a must have app for the iPhone. Not only do you get to carry your whole music library wherever you go, you get to carry yours and 30 of your friends as well.

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If you have an iPod Touch or an iPhone, I bet you’ve downloaded an app or two.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about or if you’ve been living in a cave for the past six months, go here and learn and then come back.

Everyone on the same page now? Good.

I’ve downloaded tons of apps on my iPhone. I’ve tried the free ones and the paid ones. I even jailbroke my iPhone and fooled around with all of the cool mods that are available in Cydia, which is a must-do but I’ll save that for another time.

There are hundreds of apps out there but most of them are bullshit. Sure, some of them are funny. I mean, who doesn’t want to be the cool kid at school who has a fart machine or a “Thats What She Said” button on hand at all times. You can be the life of the party…for at least ten minutes. Any longer than that, someone is going to come after you with a chainsaw. Trust me. I know.

So, I’ve decided to do a weekly app review, that will hopefully help you weed through the crappy apps and find the cool and useful ones. I’m going to start off with one that I’ve been playing with for about a week now: Distant Shore.

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Had a great one today. Well, not great but good enough.

Blueberry pancakes and old friends…not too shabby.

Work was good.

I lent an ear to a co-worker that is going through some relationship problems. Oddly enough, I could relate.

Do you ever have the music, that’s around you, soundtrack your life?

Matt calls it “the iPod God.” Hes always like, “the iPod God favors me today!”

What that means is, random music that fits your situation at a cretin time. Like when you are with someone in a car and the music that is playing on the radio is echoing what is going on between you and that person.

This happened to me today.

It didn’t happen with my iPod though. It was the music that was playing in the Hard Rock. I would be thinking about something and a song would come on that would echo what I was thinking about. It’s a weird thing. Ever happen to you?

I will end this post with a picture. This is a Hard Rock iPod dock, that I am getting as a present. It makes me happy.

- Jared

So, how do you know anything for a fact? Really? What do you know to be a fact?

Does she love you?

Do you love her?

Is this what you want?

I am cursed to question everything. I think I get this from my dad. He is the kind of person that will think about a conversation, days after it has happened.

I am a completely over analytical person.

Why did she say that?

What does that mean?

Maybe Matt was right…

Anyways, there’s only one thing that turns that part of my brain off…

Cheers!

- Jared

Ah, New Years…a time for fresh starts and optimism. I wish that were so in my case.

I’ve heard people say that whatever you were doing, at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve, will set the pace for the year to come. For my sake, I hope that this isn’t true.

Most people, on New Years Eve, spend the time with family and friends. They have drinks and crazy parties, where they tell people their “new years resolutions,” and say empty phrases like, “things are going to be different this year,” or “I’m going to quit smoking and lose 60 pounds!”

Are things going to be different?

Can things really change for the better?

Can people quit smoking and lose those 60 vanity pounds?

My New Years was spent “working” at the Hard Rock Cafe, in Memphis. I was surrounded by hundreds of people bringing in the new year, with a beer in each hand spouting complaint after complaint about the admission price or this or that, all the wile wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

I just wanted to be somewhere else.

Here. Look at me.

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