The Antisocial Network

In the spirit of my promised semi-predictability in post topics, here's a rant straight outta left field. I hate Facebook. I hate it so much that I check it about a dozen times a day, take pictures specifically thinking they'll be the perfect profile pic, and insist on constantly advertising who I'm spending my time with all over your newsfeed. But I really do hate it, and what it's turned us all into.

I got my Facebook my junior year of high school specifically to keep in touch with the friends i made in Italy and with the idea that it'd be useful when I went to college as well. And I suppose it has served these purposes well, along with keeping me in the loop about what my entire graduating class is having for lunch. But it's also helped to nurture a form of socializing that I'm embarrassed to say I take a part in.

The days of compliments are gone. Real wholehearted vocalized compliments are going to be completely foreign to my children, replaced by liking pictures and statuses on Facebook. Or if what's shared is really good, maybe it'll earn a comment that looks like the bastard child of texting shorthand and my phone number ($w33+ p1c!). Regardless, the next generation will probably never know the unsettled feeling that comes right before you approach a girl at a party to tell her how great she looks. Why bother, just like the picture tomorrow when it hits the book.

I can't pretend to be innocent; I like half the pictures that show up in my feed it feels like. But a few weeks ago I had enough and decided to take a step back, no matter how small. I saw someone I've known posted a picture of herself from some formal occasion, and I thought to myself what a nice picture of her it was. As I was about to click the good old like button, I stopped myself. How would that like come across to her? Would she know that I thought it was a great picture of her or would she think I hit like in the midst of a drunken facebooking frenzy? Likely neither; she would've seen the notification and then clicked on another one that required a response. We've all had that compliment that made our day; mine for her would've gotten buried at the bottom of a pile of notifications.

So I texted her. Not as warm or personal as it could've been, but a step up from a digital thumbs up. And it felt good to take control of the message I was sending again, to not leave my 'like' up for her interpretation. I felt good about it and I hope it brightened her day up a bit too. Maybe every picture deserves a text instead of a like, or maybe only some do, but I do at least know you'll all start seeing my name on your phone screens more and on your notifications tab less.

-kevin

Welcome to Good Burger

Hey there. My name is also Chris. I am not a musician, though. In fact pretty far from one. I do however own a banjo. And can play Rockband bass on hard. So maybe I am a musician...

Anyway, welcome. When Kevin sent me the text yesterday that he was starting a blog I was actually excited for a couple of reasons. 1) I realized I was one of Kevin's 5 smartest friends. And 2) I ran a few sites back in my day, but never anything that was taken seriously by the masses. I'm hoping we can accomplish that here at "Blog So Hard".

My main focus on the site will be sports, however I like how Kevin mentioned that he doesn't want anyone to be confined to just a few topics. Maybe in music I'll talk about my experience at that Avril Lavigne concert I went to. Or for TV I can just talk about how I watch TBS for basically 5 hours straight. Or for video games I can bring up that I haven't played any game seriously besides any of the members of the "NHL" franchise. Or maybe I'll just stick to sports...

In all seriousness I thank Kevin for giving me a platform to voice my opinions: a place where no one can see my face. Hopefully this blog takes off so I can have a legitimate reason to drop out of school (after we sell it to Google for billions, of course). But if that doesn't happen, I hope at the very least that our readers don't feel like they are dumber for visiting our site.

Peace and love. 

- Chris G. 

Welcome To The Mothership Connection

Hey there. I'm Chris, a musician based out of NYC.

No, I'm not in a rock band.    


Well... I did perform in a few pop-punk shows, but it is certainly not my specialty. I'll be writing about my experiences gaining a reputation in the music industry as a musician who cares about music, and not necessarily about being the most famous person on the face of the earth. I love meeting and connecting with people legitimately, and gaining something from the experiences. Perhaps you'll join me and learn a thing or two as well.

The other half of me is owned by Google. I admire how they do business, I can't get enough of the products, and I love how they push technology to expand and grow.

Put these two things together and you'll see an interesting point of view of how technology can further music and maybe even some stories about music in technology.

My fellow bloggers have at the very least a listening prospective of music, but hopefully I can shed light on the other, sometimes not so glamorous side of it.

Hope you... can read.
-CSB

a warm welcome

As advertised, this is your warm welcome to our humble page.  My name is Kevin to those who don't know, and I found myself on this blog because one day I decided I have a whole lot of opinions about a whole lot of things that hardly matter, so this is the place they're getting dumped.  Whether you're reading out of pity, boredom, or the off chance you're actually interested, I hope you get a kick out of my rantings and ravings.  I'm also lucky to be joined here by a few of my good friends who have the difficult task of bringing up the quality of the writing on the page, so thanks to all of them as well.  We hope that all of us blogging together will give you all the opportunity to hear multiple takes on similar topics, as well as some very different topics being discussed at the same place.  

I hope to float around all sorts of topics in my posts, but I'll likely focus on sports, video games, and music.  I don't want to confine anyone writing on the page to just a few topics, so I'm sure the occasional color piece will crop up, but you'll know what you're getting for the most part.  I also hope to avoid writing review blogs - I've seen enough shitty movie and music review videos on youtube for a lifetime, so my writing will more likely be geared towards comparisons and opinions regarding a larger picture, not reactions to content in single albums or games.  My sports writing will probably be more about historical comparisons and fantasy advice than game summaries, and my gaming columns will likely be more about the debate over classic games versus today's games or something of the sort than rating the new Halo.  You get the drift.

Anyway, welcome aboard.  I hope since you've taken the time to read you'll consider coming along for the ride with us and at least hear what we have to say once in a while if not religiously.  We're some interesting guys with some even more interesting opinions, so you might even learn a thing or two.  

-Kevin