Why The Force Awakens Lightsaber Handoff Is Significant

After seeing The Force Awakens in theaters for a third time, I found myself thinking more and more about that last scene—the one where Rey and Chewie ride out to recover Luke from his self-imposed exile, trusty droid in...

Chris Miller's Analysis Of The Force Awakens series

Chris Miller (AKA Darth Hound) is several features into an insightful series on The Force Awakens and its characters on The Star Wars Report. According to the Visual Dictionary and the novelization, Snoke sees Kylo as the perfect embodiment of...

BF 3: ...Very Long, Political Flashbacks

Mike went all out on the production of this one. The first few seconds are the best! In the third episode of Bantha Fodder, Mike and Jacob chat about Star Wars viewing orders—primarily the advantages and disadvantages of Machete...

Anderson .Paak makes his TV debut

At some point, years after I loaded her MP3 player up with key tracks from Bayside and The Starting Line, my sister has officially become more savvy than I when it comes to emerging musical trends. I owe my love...

Not Safe To Drink: Music for Flint Water Relief

Like many, I've been woefully behind on the events happening in Flint, Michigan. I'm just a state over, but only recently heard about the awful situation those in Flint are dealing with regarding the complete contamination...

Missaligned 16: Jacob Tender

This week, we bring you a new interview with Jacob Tender! We discuss the best ways to handle PR, anticipated releases, and get nerdy about podcasts.

Perfect LP: Mansions

The folks at Modern Vinyl asked me to write about Mansions some more, so I did. A few thousand words spewed out over the course of 7 hours and 10 loads of laundry. Perfect LP is a feature in which...

BF 2: That's A Lot Of Ds

We're rolling along now with Bantha Fodder. Two episodes in and we're catching our stride. In the second episode of Bantha Fodder Mike and Jacob talk about re-watching Star Wars, both in the theater and at...

My Reading Dilemma

In 2016, I’m making a greater effort to get back into reading regularly. There was a time that I was consistently bookmarked somewhere in the pages of an adventure novel, but that time has long since past. With the...

BF 1: Chained To A Giant Slug

I've begun podcasting about Star Wars with my friend Mike Comite. Episode 1 is available now on iTunes. In the first episode of Bantha Fodder, Mike and Jacob dig into each other’s past and discuss their “first...

'The Force Awakens': My Initial Examination

This review contains spoilers. Reading beyond this paragraph means you’ve either seen the movie and care to read insights into the plot of The Force Awakens, or you simply want to ruin a possibly phenomenal movie-going experience for yourself....

My Favorite Things 2015: Music

Here we are yet again. The year has come to an end and music has been released, now on Fridays, for me to rank as my favorite.

Claudio says "Hello" to his mother

Claudio Sanchez, singer of Coheed and Cambria: For my mother, who told me the new Coheed record is just as good, if not better, than the new Adele. :) Honestly, what else is a mother suppose to say to her son....

"Anyways," The Starting Line returns

It’s been a week more than three years since The Starting Line played St. Andrew’s Hall in Detroit for their Say It Like You Mean It anniversary tour. It was at that show that I came to terms...

Facebook Hiatus

If you have an account on Facebook, you may have come around to the idea that maybe it’s not as great as you once thought it was. UI changes and algorithms aside, the use of Facebook has diminished greatly...

My Body Sings Electric debuts Side A of the Franklin Tapes

While presiding over web content at Substream, I came into contact with a guy named Brandon Whalen. Brandon wrote a number of humor pieces for the site—some of the best pieces I published during that time. I came to...

Tilian shares visuals for "Satellite"

Tilian has a new song on the market from his upcoming album, Perfect Enemy called "Satellite." The album is available for pre-order now on iTunes and Merchnow. The music video was animated by John Howe who is also...

Rdio files for bankruptcy, Pandora buys pieces.

Rdio has withdrawn from the streaming race by filing Ch. 11 and selling its assets to Internet radio giant Pandora. In a blog post yesterday, Rdio announced the acquisition. We’d like to update the entire Rdio community regarding today&...

Introducing Bohnes, Alexander DeLeon's new project

So long, The Cab. Hello Bohnes. As he teased to some of my friends and I on Twitter just a week ago, Alexander DeLeon is back with a new project and he's going all in. This follows a...

The one thing that I need

As I continue packing to move in with my girlfriend, I'm taking it upon myself to remember what's most important—what to leave behind and what to bring with me as I start the next chapter...

Podcasts I listen to

Inspired by Zack's recent posts regarding the podcasts he listens to, and the Top Four favorites of Tiffany and Marco Arment, I'm listing mine out as well. Hopefully, it serves as a starting point for those...

Runaway Brother has a music video for 'Catch'

I don't know it's a matter of being speechless or simply running out of things to say but—like I've said for almost 5 years—Runaway Brother is the best band in Cleveland. It&...

Punchline wants to know how you sleep

Chris Payne, Billboard: Punchline has never been a household name, but for the Pittsburgh band, it’s not for lack of effort. They emerged with the powerhouse label Fueled By Ramen in the mid-2000s, and never quite caught on like...

An interview with Lydia

“I think I’m going to shotgun a Redbull. They don’t affect me like they used to,” said Lydia guitarist Justin Camacho as I walked into the green room of Musica, Akron’s coziest music venue. “Damn, you got...

Podcast Recommendation: Limetown

Serial was a phenomenon, an unbridled success in podcasting. Produced by the team that brought us radio-ready American Life broadcasts, the series captured the attention of thousands whether they were familiar with the podcasting medium or not. The lasting effects...

Sorry, Internet: A Podcast

Thomas Nassiff (formerly of AbsolutePunk and Fuse) has recently started his own blog with a killer URL. His blog is sorryinter.net and he now has a podcast to go along with it. No stranger to the medium, Thomas has...

31 Days Of Halloween: 'Alien 3'

As is tradition, I lent my love of horror and science fiction to Under The Gun's 31 Days Of Halloween. My piece on Alien 3 was published this week. This year's series is dedicated to the...

Top ten songs for a brand new old band

Mike Comite a happy birthday today, he returned the well-wishes with a gift for me. "Ever listen to superdrag?" I hadn't, but like all of Mike's recommendations, I looked them up. He suggested Head...

Day Jobs: The Lives of Musicians & Creatives In The Workforce

This piece was published at AltPress on September 15, 2015 as part of my short-lived column on morality and creativity in the music industry. The day job: a time-consuming soul sucker that financially fuels the creative person. Many of us...

Official photo released for the cast of 'Star Wars: Rogue One'

Lucasfilm announced this afternoon that principal photography had begun for Rogue One, the first anthology film to begin the process. Thing is, we're not calling in an anthology film anymore. The spin-off movies—those that don't...