Coco: A Lesson in Humility, Dignity & Class

It's always inspiring to see or hear about a person you admire achieving their dreams. It makes you feel like there is a little bit of justice in the universe. In this case, Conan O'Brien got his dream job as the host of The Tonight Show.

Having been a fan of Conan for years now, it was pretty cool to see him reach such heights with his clever, albeit silly and sometimes downright retarded, brand of humor and wit. He was the funniest and most consistent late night tv host in my opinion.



As you probably know Friday marked his last night hosting The Tonight Show after only 7 months on the job. NBC's decision to bump Leno back to his original time slot had forced Conan to move his show back again or leave. Conan respectfully and graciously chose to leave.




Although the last week of The Tonight Show pulled out all the stops in making light of the situation by throwing everything they had at NBC, his final show was a 1st class lesson in humility, dignity & class as he candidly and openly spoke about the truth to the terms of his parting with NBC. I know tv feels fake and Hollywood seems like the furthest thing from reality but for a brief moment Conan let his guard down completely and even choked up in telling the audience how grateful he is of everything he has and even for his brief stint at his dream job. He was vulnerable and human.

It would have been easy for Conan to take the low road, it's almost expected nowadays. Trash NBC, whore himself out to every news rag possible and cry about how unfair his situation is. The fact that he remained positive and then nailed the issue with a dose of class in his last tv appearance as host of The Tonight Show is something I believe should be highlighted. Take notes.

Although none of us will ever walk away from a job with 45 million dollars, you can still take something away from Conan and company.

"Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism. For the record, it's my least favorite quality. It doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get, but if you work really hard, and you're kind, amazing things will happen. I'm telling you, amazing things will happen." -Conan O'Brien

Bravo Conan, bravo. I will follow you wherever you go from here.

Stay +

-Brian

Beyond the bend-

only the good die young.

Things I thought i'd share...

This is not a pipe.

Poems are nothing more than frantic scribbles of ink on a bar napkin

Little lines left in a creased black notebook.

Nothing more than a drunken mumble,

A sound overheard in a rotting little bar on the west side,

All to be forgotten in the morning.

They are dead.

They don't carry anything at all

And never will.

They rest like cold stones

They are bloodless.

But with the right mind

They can be salvaged and used

Each one,

To build an empire,

A fortress of love

Of pain and suffering

Of influence

Even though the hollow men that write them,

All those desperate, lost masons-

Are all sad fucking liars.

Check out the record "Canyon Joe" by Joe Prudy and "Wildflowers" by Tom Petty. My good friend Chris showed me "Canyon Joe" today while we hung out in West Providence, and I stumbled across "Wildflowers" again when I was running some errands with my roommate Mike. Joe Prudy writes some really great folk/alt country stuff with great lyrical content.

And, if you live in a town with a Wal-Mart... Please check out the book "Why Wal-Mart is Destroying America" or if you've got a minute right now, check out this website http://www.greaterthings.com/News/Wal-Mart/index.html

I found this book a long time ago, and just recently read it again. I was raised in a pretty small town on the south coast of Mass called Wareham. Unfortunately, Wareham has killed off most of its small independently owned businesses because monster corporations like Wal-mart were brought in with the hopes of attracting people from beyond the towns limits. So this book hit close to home... and might with you too.

take a few minutes to check that stuff out!

thanks for reading!

alex

By the Grace of Stranger's Kindness

Our lives on the road are kept afloat by the grace of stranger's kindness. We rely on them for shelter, food, showers and overall sanity from life in the van. It still amazes me how kind and hospitable people can be who have known us for merely a night. It makes it a little less lonely on tour when people let us into their homes and their lives. It creates an experience that is fueled by our music but has little to nothing to do with it after the show is over. It sure beats sleeping at Walmart in the van with the most human interaction coming from the cashier's staring at us as we stumble in at 5am to brush our teeth and shower in their sink.

We get to meet new company on a daily basis and each day brings a new experience. Sometimes amazing, sometimes awkward, sometimes ridiculous but always new and different. If it weren't for these stranger's and new friends, life on the road would be a lot less fun and comfortable. It feels like the last hope of the indie/underground music scene being a community. The internet has made things more and more impersonal and people are more self restricted than ever to interact with other each other at shows. It's good to know that we are part of it and appreciate the good times and generosity so many people have shown this band these past few years. We try our best to reciprocate equally and you are always welcome in our homes.

Thank you.

-Brian

SUITCASE CONTEST: WIN AN XBOX & RARE TIA STUFF

Hey everyone!

To celebrate the This is New England Tour and the upcoming holiday season, we put together an extra special contest for you all. We took an old suitcase we used on tour and filled it to the brim with all sorts of TIA goodies and rare pieces of the band's history. A 7" test press, old tour passes, retired/broken gear, rare concert posters and much more. To make the deal even sweeter we're going to take you and a friend out for pizza and a show of ours in 2010 and we'll also throw in an Xbox 360. Pretty sweet eh?

To enter the contest all we ask of you is to help us get more people to listen to our new album "The Sound of Human Lives" which came out this summer on Equal Vision Records. We have a link to stream the entire album for free that you can post as a status update on Facebook, Tweet the link or you can change your default Myspace photo to our banner and add our songs to your profile player. The more things you do to help us, the more times you are entered to win. It's pretty simple to do and doesn't take much time at all. Make sure you fill out the entry form here to be entered: http://www.thereforeiamrock.com/contest

Come see us on tour right now with Vanna & A Loss For Words on the 1st annual This is New England Tour!

We appreciate your help and support and good luck!

Much love,

Alex, Brian, Travis, Chris, Jim
THEREFORE I AM

If we played stoner metal we'd be called High on Food

First day off on the This is New England Tour and after a fun night partying with people we met at the show and waking up to little toddlers running around...we decided to head to Cracker Barrel. Between Vanna and us we had a table of 12 and the old people who are probably there daily were not happy about it. We're not that crazy looking or anything but we still get looks like we are aliens when we go into places like that which makes me wonder what it's like to be in really ridiculous looking bands like ICP or Marilyn Manson. I can only dream how much fun that is. Our servers were delightful and the biscuits and gravy were flowing like water. Cracker Barrel, TIA gives you two thumbs up! I am now high on food and starting to get blurry vision but I feel like 10 bucks. On our way to Michigan to hang at Evan from Vanna's mom's "roll n tumble" exercise studio...this will be a great one.

All good thing,
-Brian