Guest posts policy

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . April 24, 2012 . 2:52PM

Blueshelled.com does not accept unsolicited guest posts. I prefer to do the writing on my site myself unless I believe that someone else has something to add that I just cannot say myself. Thank you for respecting this policy.

That’s my boy

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 5, 2009 . 10:11AM

Please welcome my guest blogger, LEON!
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Until recently, I have never really been a Beatles fan. I always associated The Beatles with the bee bop music they did in the late 50s, and I disliked it. Then recently we got Rock Band: The Beatles and that all changed. I realized that I knew dozens of good songs from the 60s (mostly from movies and the like) that were Beatles songs and I just never knew it.

As a consequence of my not being a fan of the Beatles, and my wife not listening to them very much, AJ was also never really exposed to The Beatles until Rock Band came along. Instantly, he was hooked. He bee bopped along with the music and shook his groove thang all night long while we played. Eventually, he asked something he’s never asked about a band before: “Dad, can we go see the Beatles play?” The following conversation then ensued:

Me: “No, buddy, they’re not making music anymore.”
AJ: “Why not?”
Me: “Well, two of them are dead now, but before that, they broke up.”
AJ: “How did they die?”
Me: (Not exactly remembering at that moment how George Harrison died) “Well, one of them got shot.”
AJ: (in horror) “WHY WOULD SOMEONE SHOOT ONE OF BEATLES?! THEY’RE SO NICE!!”
Me: :blank stare: “Honestly, I have no idea.”

I will tell you that since that conversation, I have had to learn about the history of The Beatles, because there has been a neverending blitz of questions from AJ about The Beatles: which ones are alive, which ones are dead, how they died, whether the ones who are still alive are still singing, and most importantly whehter we will ever get to meet any of The Beatles. I’ve had to repeat most of this information four or five times; AJ wanted to learn it well enough so that he could tell other people all about The Beatles as well, and I have caught him more than once telling other people “did you know” facts about the Beatles.

Now here is how I know AJ will have good musical taste for the rest of his life: on Saturday, we went out trick-or-treating on a street here in town where all the houses were decked out in Halloween garb. One of them had a KISS cover band, complete with costumes and make-up. We stopped to watch them for a couple minutes, then proceeded down the street. As we were walking away, AJ turned to me in disgust and said, “Why do people dress up like KISS?? They’re not popular.” Then he shrugged and said dismissively, “They’re dead anyway.” I informed him that they were not dead, and he shrugged again and walked off. I haven’t heard a question about KISS since.

That’s my boy.

Was that Halloween or a Slut Storm? Or, My Excuse To Talk About Having Babies With Taylor Swift

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 3, 2009 . 10:45AM

Note: This is not a post from me, but from my guest blogger, Brandon Kiser! Please make him feel very welcome
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Halloween has come and passed and chances are you’ve seen your fair share of police officers, nurses and witches for the year. Meanwhile, young (and some not so young) women across the country need to put on the most provocative Halloween costume they can find or muster to celebrate. I’m sure you’ve noticed if you went to any parties, live anywhere near a University or even have teens yourself. Halloween has become an excuse for women to dress up like promiscuous objects and an opportunity for men to oogle.

It’s hard to say exactly when the “slut ‘stume” craze started or when it will end. Perhaps it started when the whole horror movie thing began, and it makes sense. The most prominent scenes in horror films usually consist of a scantily-clad women being chased by a killer who miraculously catches up by walking at a slow even pace. And why do they include these scenes in horror movies? Because Dudes like it. Women likely picked up on it and ran with it by becoming short skirted nurses, cleavage showing police officers and strangely attractive witches.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m a dude and I like the “entertainment” just as much as anybody else – but seriously, the whole idea make no sense. Women are women, they are going to look good in anything. Plus, ladies shouldn’t do anything at 20 that they’ll be afraid to show their kids pictures of when they’re 30. Just sayin’.

Listening to the radio the other night I heard that Taylor Swift, the ideal woman (yes, I’m being slightly facetious here) and her friend decided in Junior High that instead of doing what all the other girls in her school did on Halloween they would take the alternative Halloween route. Instead of using Halloween as an excuse to act like a porn actress, they would dress completely opposite – as Chewbacca. Because the first thing every guy wants to see Taylor Swift in is a hairy alien Star Wars suit. Oh yeah.

But maybe it’s just another turn society is taking that is the result of peer pressure and lackluster parenting. Either way, if (when!) I have kids with Taylor Swift, they’re going to dress as Chewbacca and LIKE it.

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Brandon Kiser is a teenage web and politics junkie lining in KY. He blogs at The American Kiser (americankiser.blogspot.com) and, at launch, will write for the conservative news site 73wire.com. Like every other cool cat nowadays he tweets using the shocking pseudonym @BrandonKiser .