The Machete for Hard Rock Cafe Battle of the Bands 2012

Check out this documentary of our good friends in the band "The Machete" explaining why they deserve an opportunity to play at The Hard Rock Cafe: Battle of the Bands 2012 competition. The video is about 24 minutes long, but along with the actual interview portion, a few excerpts of their live footage is packaged towards the end.
Please vote for these guys on January 21st and check out Themachetemovement.com for more info.

Monetization

A big trend with most podcasts today is monetization. Though it's not a new idea, many podcasters are searching for different ways to get paid for what's become apart of their daily lives and have turned to unexpected sources like Proflowers and the Fleshlight.
I too have considered different ways I could monetize The Danger Tapes, but whenever I think about it I come to the same conclusion: What's the point?
Why should I stress myself out over a couple of dollars a month? From what I can conjure, companies that are willing to sponsor podcasts only pay out when promo codes are used.  I am not bashing these companies in the least bit, because I have considered using Joe Rogan's Fleshlight or Alpha Brain offer. This means of income is really for those that have an audience and though I do have a small audience, I don't think I should try to push these things onto anybody seeing as how most of the people that listen are those that I know personally.
I don't want to make my friends feel obligated to sponsor the podcast. If they like what I'm doing, sponsorship should come in the form of downloads.
What I would rather do is find a way to create something original so that I could use my network to sell it for a couple of bucks. My idea is that say I want to sell one episode of my podcast or a collection of thoughts and essays about the mishaps of my everyday life. My thinking is that I could probably make the same amount of money that I would with a bigger following through some other company.
AND to not completely close myself off to sponsorship, I have toyed with the idea of sponsoring restaurants/small businesses that I like. I think it's fair to say that the Amish had it right. I believe in the barter system and often its fair for everybody to trade goods to which they can produce. I can do the same as my network grows by having a really good burger place sponsor me and say for everybody that mentions the podcast, I get a free meal at this place in return. That isn't the exact plan that I have, but I rough idea that I do want to consider, because I would really like a free burger every now and then.
So aside from free burgers and a couple bucks here and there, the podcast itself will be free for a very long time. It's like I keep saying: I have a job that pays for bills and leisure. I don't need another job that I need to keep on top of. I'm having fun with the podcast and I'd like to keep it that way for as long as I keep doing episodes.
By the way, it's come to my attention that I need to give credit to the rest of my people -NID, Animal House, Machete, Christian Thompson, etc- because they also do what they love for free. I had to come back and edit this in because I'd feel like an ass if made it seem that I was the only one not getting paid.
 So big ups to everyone. Keep on trucking and all the good stuff.

Hat

I feel like I could be a hat guy. I see a lot of people wearing hats these days. Different types, too. Not just ball caps. I have a few ball caps, but I don't wear them too often.
A few years ago, I got into the fitted cap craze because it seemed like the cool thing to do. When I was growing up and playing Tee-ball, all we ever got was snapbacks. I hated snapbacks by the time I was out of high school and so did everyone- or so it seemed.
So here I am with three or four different New Era caps- all of them are 7 3/4 and not 5/8 because my head is slightly bigger than most- that I may never wear again, because the trend has seemed to shift back to what everybody was moving away from in 2005.
If I make this move into snapback territory, I am not going back. I don't give a shit who is wearing a fitted cap, I'm staying there. Besides, my pal Christian Thompson of Glamorous Living Kids shared some design ideas with me, today and I gotta tell you that I might be pretty happy with this final hat choice.
Other than ball caps, I've always seen myself wearing a newspaper boy hat. The only problem with that is I feel like I'm making too much of a statement.
Why can't I just wear a hat? Why do I have to look like I'm in a GQ ad?
I should be able to go run errands and looked at as a guy that just likes to wear hats. Back in the day the only statements being made by the people made wearing these hats were, "Wall Street Crash" or "Jury Convicts Capone". Nobody gave a fuck about the hat.
I suppose there is some sort of end pint, though, because have you ever seen somebody wear a hat with a feather in it? Doesn't it look like the oddest thing in the world? As hypocritical as it sounds, I just want to tell the guy, "Hey, take it down a notch. You really don't have to try so hard."

I'm Sick

Maybe.
I just took a small dose of Tylenol PM because the tiny space between my nose and throat is starting to burn. I know the medicine won't actually do anything but halt symptoms that I don't have, but I figured cringing over the taste was worth a good night of sleep.
This stuff does taste like shit though and of all of society's medical advancements, the taste of cough syrup has to be last on a long list of things that can improved. It's been a while since I've taken nighttime medicine, and for the longest time I would say that I was trying to shake my cold naturally. But that's all bullshit and the reality is I'm just a little kid that doesn't want to swallow a tiny plastic cup of high fructose corn syrup with a bit of Acetaminophen in it.
Anyways, I bought the new Black Keys album, yesterday. The only song I know is "Lonely Boy" and that's it. I haven't listened to it, yet, because my "stuff to listen to" list is always growing.  Amongst many different podcasts, mixtapes, and the Gorillaz album that I've been listening to for the last few months, I really have a hard time listening to everything when I have work. On top of that, there's also video games, movies, television shows that need watching, and bookcase stuffed with books that I keep meaning to get to.
It's becoming difficult to be a full time nerd. That or I need to be organized with the way I consume media. Whatever it is, I need to take advantage of this medicine before I actually become completely sick.

Black Friday

I survived madness.
If you've ever wondered what a zombie hoard looks like, then I recommend you check out Black Friday at any mall or Wal-Mart that has a midnight opening. It's a lot like something you would see on The Walking Dead- horrific gashes, bloody fingernails, and really, the only thing missing was farm girl/ Korean nerd sex.*
I used to really like Black Friday, though. As a home-schooled teen, I had little social interaction and a big love for DVDs and video games. Black Friday fulfilled that love with cheap games and 50% off all HBO boxed sets. As I got older and wiser about what's available online, I've been able to shake the need to buy waffle makers on the cheap.
With that, I vowed to make an honest attempt at not buying myself anything before Christmas, this year. I pushed myself to go the distance and opted for people watching outside of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. I also produced a small podcast using my phone.
God, that Soundcloud app is great.
But, as much as I tried, I couldn't fight the urge much longer. I broke down, but stayed frugal by purchasing a pair of gloves. However, I can justify a pair of gloves, because of a circulatory system that doesn't fare well in the cold, desert nights. I can proudly say that I shopped out of actual necessity.
That night, I didn't encounter anybody with mace, although it didn't seem like a bad alternative after standing in line for my girlfriend at Express. It doesn't sound bad until you realize that there are flood lights piercing your iris at every section of the store.
The night was over when I emerged from Express an hour later. I was dazed, a little greasy, and I knew that I needed sleep- not clothes at 40% off.

*It may have not been a from a farm girl, but I sure a some Korean kid got lucky behind a Gamestop somewhere in America.

I Feel Like I Should Be Buying Things

Last night, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 came out. I saw the lines outside of Best Buy and thought, "That could be fun," however, I wasn't thinking that about the game itself.
I looked at the people, sitting outside the store, bundled in blankets and multiple sweaters and I felt like I needed whatever they were standing in line for. Of course, I knew what they were waiting for, but the line could have been anything and I would have felt some need to bundle up and wait in front of that store.

I'll buy it and it'll probably sit on my shelf for a month.

It's really the only reason I don't go to midnight releases for games anymore. I've been to three in my life; one for the release of Halo 3, the others for Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Batman: Arkham Asylum. Each of those times, I knew I really wanted to own the game and that I would stand in line for an hour and half at a time when I could be relaxing at home. I usually never leave a store until 1 AM, so when it was my turn to get my copy of the game, I bought it and went home happy. At that point, after waiting for a while, I'm usually too tired to play.
You would think that'd I'd be disappointed at this, but I never felt that. I usually felt pretty content that I was able to purchase the game at all. Now that I look back on it, it was never about the game, at all. I realize that I was merely serving the need to be a consumer and it's one that I feel all too often. For instance, I heard that Best Buy might open at midnight on Black Friday. I don't actually need to buy any gifts that won't be on sale throughout the month of December- or that I could find online for cheaper- but I might go for the sake of going.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Whatever it is, I really do want to play Call of Duty: MW 3 and Battlefield 3; I really just need to figure out which one I want to buy first.