It’s Only Change…It Doesn’t Matter Who You Are

When I started Professor Barnhardt’s Journal in October of 2002, it was a web magazine. It was updated weekly and had features and essays and interviews and even large theme issues: (why I write, favorite movies, words of wisdom, etc). I wasn’t the only one who contributed to the site (my contribution was mostly the editing), I actually had contributions from some very cool, very nice folks, and it was rather awesome.

Then a few years ago I decided to change it to more of a regular blog format. It was an easy decision, really, because I was just too busy with other things to organize the publication of a web magazine – even a monthly web mag or one that had a new issue every couple of months, which is what PBJ had become – so a change to a blog format where I would post quick bites whenever I could made sense. It actually saved the site because it would have just died if I hadn’t changed it.

But I don’t want PBJ to be a regular blog anymore, so I’m going back to the magazine format.

It won’t be updated as much as it is now, but I think the content will be more interesting, with more great writing from other people. I mean, really, a blog is fun, but do we really need another site that just links to the interesting content of other sites or posts a YouTube video? (No.) So get ready for more essays, more features, more interviews, and more of the meaty theme issues that made PBJ what it was in the early days.

As for frequency, I really don’t know yet, but it won’t be a daily thing, that’s for sure. I’m shooting for weekly or possibly monthly.

The relaunch date is up in the air too (as are all of these plans, really – I could decide anything at this point), but you can check out the PBJ site and I’ll post an update there when it’s coming (or you can just stay on that page for the next few weeks and constantly hit the reload button until something new appears). I’ll give you a heads up here too, of course.

(Bonus points if you can tell me what song the post title is from without using Google.)

Dude Looks Like A Lady

So Steven Tyler sang the Star-Spangled Banner at the Patriots/Ravens game, and yes I made a joke about it on Twitter. But then I got to thinking: did he really do that badly?

The answer, of course, is yes. And no!

Here it is. Yeah, it’s all screechy and flailing and WTF, but that also describes a lot of Aerosmith’s music. It just sounds odd because there’s no music, no effects, nothing for the vocals to run parallel to. You have to focus on the voice and that’s all. Hey, just like American Idol!

Tyler doesn’t have a very good voice, but he has a very good voice for rock.

Idol followed the game and Tyler’s performance could actually be used as a criticism of that show, where singers sing with no music and no effects. Sure, the really good singers stand out and the really bad singers deserve to be voted off the show, and they’re looking for a certain type of singer. But I think people like Tyler would fall somewhere in the middle. So would most rock singers. Tyler isn’t Whitney Houston or Josh Groban or James Taylor. You know what you’re going to get when you ask someone like Tyler to sing something like the National Anthem, or at least you should know.

We should be talking more about what Tyler wore to sing the song. Is there anyone else that defines the embracing of rock and roll as your lifestyle, even at the age of 84? I think not.

Not sure why I’m here writing about American Idol and football, two things I don’t really care about, but there it is. (Tomorrow: extreme makeovers and particle physics!)

But it finally snowed! And it’s cold! It’s almost like it’s winter or something.

Hey, Hey Paula

My take on the whole Paula Deen controversy.

Secrets

For those of you who can’t wait for Mad Men to return, here’s something to excite you and/or drive you crazy.

A rather intriguing title for the site, “Secrets Are Back,” eh?

Nothing To See Here

A busy day and night, as I have a few articles due this week.

I do have an intriguing video up at Professor Barnhardt’s Journal, the very first episode of NBC’s Today, which the network put online in honor of the show’s 60th anniversary a few days ago. Enjoy! More tomorrow.

Thanks!

A big thank you to everyone who subscribed to “The Letter.” And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, scroll down a bit to the previous entry and find out!

Also: a new Random Links over at Professor Barnhardt’s Journal, featuring the Pillsbury Bake-Off finalists, a defense of the multi-camera sitcom, and a bunch of killer bees. Have a great weekend.

Introducing “The Letter”

I hear that print is where all the big money is these days, so I’m starting a monthly newsletter.

Actually, take the news out of that word. It will be a letter, mailed every month via snail mail, delivered to your front door by a person wearing a blue uniform! Yes, it’s 1959 all over again.

I hope mail never goes away. There’s something about getting a letter delivered to you, something you can hold in your hands, that is incredibly special, especially in this age of texting and Skype (as Andy Rooney says in the video below). I still send out thank you cards too (I’m trying to single-handedly save the USPS). We surf the web, e-mail, text, and IM each other all day long, so it’s good to actually get and read something in print once in a while, isn’t it?

(Note to people in their teens and 20s: “letters” were like blog entries that you couldn’t click on. And wait until I tell you all about landline phones!)

So what I’m trying to do with this monthly print letter is bring back a little bit of letter-writing to my world and the world of my readers. You probably don’t get many letters (bills don’t count) from people, right? Now you will!

And these letters will have content that won’t be on this website or any place on the web. It will only be found in print. Yes, a print letter. This is how I plan to make my millions.

The cost is only $12.00 for the entire year (this website and Professor Barnhardt’s Journal have always been free and are still free). But here’s a special deal for you if you’re reading this: until this Sunday at 11:59PM, if you order you can get the entire year for $6.00! I was horrible at math in school, but I’m pretty sure that’s close to 50% off, isn’t it? $6.00 for the first year! What a deal! (Note: if you ever donated money in the past, you’re already getting a year’s subscription.)

Besides the letter, I’ll include some other surprises too. I’m not sure what I’m going to write in each letter every month. I guess it depends what’s on my mind and what I want to do.

Click on the “Donate” button on the right and start your subscription today, via PayPal or your favorite credit card. It’s all safe and secure. And don’t forget your zip code!

And a hearty thank you. The first issue will go out the last week of January. Any questions, send me a (gasp!) e-mail.

This Morning

I had planned to have a complete rundown on the print publication I’m starting this month but I’ll have it Wednesday instead.

In the meantime, here’s my take on the new, Charlie Rose-ified CBS This Morning, which debuted, well, this morning.