I sent this out to our mailing list, but wanted a venue so all could read. Fond Christmas memories from Brent Skinner, and myself. Enjoy. More lyrics coming.

Brent Skinner Shares

One of my favorite memories involves my Granny. She bought all of the grandkids an Atari, along with Pac-Man. This, turned out to be a big hit, but we noticed that Granny was really good....I mean really good. She later insisted that we leave the Atari at her house so "we could all play together." We later found out that she stayed up all night long the night she bought it, because she was addicted to the game. She continued to play the game non-stop and was really good. I guess the best gifts are the ones that you get yourself.


Josh Johnson Shares

Jordan is actually 5 years younger than I am. This led to some typical older brother/younger brother cruelty growing up, but one Christmas...I took the award for biggest dickhead ever. Maybe it was jealousy that Jordy was getting what seemed like everything he wanted, or maybe its just my cold, cold heart, but one year I went around finding pieces of trash and wrapped them up putting "To Jordy, From Santa" on the package. Needless to say, on Christmas day, lil' Jordy was thrilled to find his stack of presents towering towards the sky. His glowing face, soon turned to tears as he opened his first gift: and empty 2 liter Dr. Pepper Bottle. This continued until he left the room crying. For some reason, Christmas hasn't really worked out for me since then.

Tyler Read's Newest Album "Hallelujiaville" is out now at Itunes, AmazonMp3.com and Tylerread.bigcartel.com. Go to Myspace.com/Tylerread to preview some of the new songs. Happy Holidays.

So I'm writing this as two things are going on: 1. My soul mate is watching So You Think You Can Dance, and 2. Nacho is telling me to listen to more Simon and Garfunkel. I think this is a completely appropriate time to talk about the lyrics to the opening track (kinda) on our newest album.

Avalanche is a song for dudes. I say that because dudes care about guitars and riffs and such. I, being a dude, am pretty excited about the outcome of this track. We demo'd this with a guy by the name of Rick Beato in Atlanta (who is an encyclopedia of musical knowledge), and it came out as a friend put it..."like an episode of Lost." We showed it to our dear friend, Elvis Baskette, and he tweaked the arrangement to where it is today. I really like this newest arrangement, but maybe one day we will show you the older version. Another buddy asked if it was a Thin Lizzy cover when we sound checked it before a show. I say success!

"Avalanche"

Yeah, Ive got your number
Yeah, I dont know your name
Caught in a landslide under
You don't remember my face

Every little thing I do
Doesn't mean anything to you
Every little thing I do
Doesn't mean a thing (doesn't mean a thing) to you

Yeah the times are now ending
Believers, come lift up your hands
Left me in a landslide under
Left me in an avalanche

Every little thing I do
Doesn't mean anything to you
Every little thing I do
Doesn't mean a thing (doesn't mean a thing) to you

Some people ask for permission, but I'd rather ask for forgiveness
the sand in the hourglass slipping and you're running out of time

This song pretty much spells it all out, but a thought that floats through my head in this song is: "If the world was ending, would I be doing the things that I am doing now?" Maybe John Cusack would have the answer, or Will Smith.

I'm going to be honest, the idea of fantasy sports doesn't do it for me. I can easily see how most males can get into this relatively new phenomenon, but I just can't do it. Too much work. It also requires too much devotion to a particular sport. I do spend quite a bit of time at NBA.com, but this is in passing and relatively small in terms of my time budgeting. At my current workplace, people are completely obsessed with Fantasy Football.

I don't really follow football (because of reasons that are mostly linked to the way I grew up, which was in a environment where there was usually no mention of the game) so I tend to be on the outside of most conversations. Strangely, I have countered this with an extreme interest in random sports facts:

I know now that there are 12 (actually 13) major markets with all 4 (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL) major sports teams. I know the smallest market to have all 4 (Denver), and the largest to not (Los Angeles...weird right?). I now know that of all 4 year colleges and universities, the 4 most common mascots are ranked accordingly: 1. Eagle 2. Tiger 3. Bulldog 4. Panther. It seems predatory animals are big when it comes to solidifying your sports program into a cohesive identity. It also makes me wonder (granted, sometimes its pretty obvious) why there is all of the hullabaloo over teams with Native American identities. Maybe it's the cheapening of their culture, but sometimes it seems teams have a deep connection with people groups of a specific regions (like the Florida State Seminoles). The University of Louisiana has its Ragin' Cajun's, that is more or less the same scenario...regional culture group used to be the solidifying image of the University.

Ok, let me stop and explain that the caricature of these people groups is what seems to be the problem, and when it comes to mascots, caricatures happen more than a Lohan/Ronson scratchfest. So maybe there is no 100 percent politically correct mascot when it comes to people groups, (Vikings anyone?) but I would say that these mascots were originally chosen to help teams go to "war" with their opponents. Native Americans are pretty bad ass when you think about it. I was a Choctaw during my tenure as a college student, but a Pioneer as a High Schooler....what a strange turn of events. Maybe I am Kevin Costner.

I saw "The Informant" and was mildly entertained.

"Its Always Sunny..." comes on tonight. I am excited.