The Jolene Live from Segovia video has finally arrived!  Check it out and tell your people.  We worked very hard and are pleased with the result so be on the lookout for the next project soon!

-Daniel and Jack

DANIELLE

“Danielle” was written and recorded in the Summer of 2009 by Break Rewind.  One of our first collaborative efforts where all 3 of us had a great impact on the final product, the song remains one of our favorites to play together. 

The narrative was inspired by an experience I had studying abroad in Madrid the Fall of 2008.

Look out for a potential video to accompany this in the near future, and enjoy!!

Feedback is always welcome

-Jack

JOLENE (LIVE FROM SEGOVIA)

A Live Recording of “Jolene” from Segovia way back in November.  Daniel and I will be using this blog exclusively for personal projects, i.e., sharing music, videos, etc.  Don’t forget to check out my new blog at jackspopculture.tumblr.com, where I muse on all things pop culture and sports.

Hope you all like it!

-Jack

So Peyton Manning is a Bronco.  It’s been a little over a week, and I guess to a certain extent it’s still a bit surreal.  From Manning definitely leaving Indianapolis a few months ago, to a possible reconciliation right before an abrupt release days before he was due a $28 million roster bonus, one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play ending up going to my hometown Broncos was a far stretch at best.

But all of a sudden a story that had a little nibble relating to Denver got legs.  Quickly.  Frontrunners that had been Washington and Miami became….Denver and Kansas City?  If it was weird to think of 18 playing for us, it was even stranger trying to picture him in a Chiefs jersey.  After a few days, some dust had settled and Peyton Manning to the Broncos had gone from being an afterthought to a legitimate possibility.  How did we get here?  And what do we think?

Well, this pursuit more than ever proved that John Elway – the greatest Bronco ever – could come out in press conferences and try and say all the right things about Tim Tebow, but in his mind had always thought, and would always think, about ways to separate himself and the organization from the circus that is Tebowmania.  It was not only a chance to get a Hall of Fame QB, but to sever ties with Tebow in a way that would, for the most part, appease the fanbase.

Elway also courted Manning in a way that somehow appealed to him.  I guess I never thought of Peyton to the Broncos being a real possibility, but when it started to realize itself, it became more reasonable with every piece.  First, there is Elway himself.  I’ve been hearing it on sports radio shows, reading about it online, and thinking about it rationally in my head, and it makes sense that two men of the caliber of Peyton Manning and John Elway would have a different conversation about football than anyone else – on planet earth.  Second, the tangible football pieces slowly start to manifest themselves into place.  The defense is immensely improved, albeit (as I’ve wrote before) with much more need for improvement.  And their job becomes easier and more bearable with a quarterback like Peyton.  The receivers can also be a strong point.  DT is a beast, and Decker is a solid possession receiver.  The tight end spot is also something we have tried to pursue in free agency, and is one position that Peyton uses to abuse defenses.  The O-line is beastly, and your blind side tackle (LT in this case) is flat out one of the best in Ryan Clady.  We also have a good running game, but it will suffer without the presence of Timmy Tebow, and I think it will suffer more than most people realize.  It is a pressing need the Broncos need to address in the draft.  Add in a “weak” (I use that word as a compliment) division, a great fan base, and apparently a gut feeling from Manning himself, and you have the Broncos introducing a 36 year old Peyton Manning as our starting QB (at a hefty, but reasonable price) last week.

Count me as one who will miss Tebow.  He was exciting, still gets a raw deal from “experts” on how he will never succeed (even though he already has), and I will root for him every step of the way because of the type of person and competitor he is.

Had to get that in there.  Sorry.

The Broncos can absolutely win the Super Bowl next year.  However, expectations must to a point be weathered.  His health.  I’ll end that with that sentence.  Can the defense continue to improve?  Will the AFC be down again.  And everything else that goes into an NFL season and the potential barriers that ruin a promising outlook.  I’ll say it again.  We, the Denver Broncos, can win the Super Bowl next year.  And that by itself is incredibly exciting.

Prediction:  I’m not going to make a stupid prediction.  I’m going to watch every week like I always do.  Angrily, near a television.

See you in September NFL

-Jack

As promised here is the podcast Daniel and I did about The English Patient project.  We each read the book and then watched the movie together.  We talk about what we like, what we didn’t, the book, the movie, and a lot of random stuff as well.

Check it out!

Alright Everyone,

We finally did it.  We recorded a podcast in the new year.  This podcast surely includes some random musings on many things, however hopefully it will also update you all on some of what Daniel and I have been doing since you last heard from us.

We also mention the project we did with “The English Patient” film/novel.  That podcast will be recorded tomorrow - Tuesday, February 21st, and hopefully be up by at least Thursday or Friday.

Please stay tuned, and thanks everyone for the support!

Jack

PS.  Shout out to DJ fergs for the track.  “Back in Barry Bonds.”  Check out all his stuff at www.djfergieferg.com

Here are some links that we promised during the podcast:

Happy Movie - http://www.thehappymovie.com/

Artist Trailer - http://youtu.be/OK7pfLlsUQM

Goyas -  http://premiosgoya.academiadecine.com/home/index.php

A fan abroad and his perspective on the rollcoaster ride that was the 2011 Denver Broncos Season

When I was 3 years old, I went to my first Broncos game.  I don’t remember it, but my parents tell me I insisted on staying the whole game, even though they offered to leave at halftime.  And so began my on-going devotion to the hometown Stallions.

During the Broncos first Super Bowl of my lifetime (I was 9), I was so excited/nervous that my dad was afraid I was going to throw up.  Spoiler alert:  we won.  And again the next year.  By the Grace of God, I was able to attend the parade a few days after the 1st Super Bowl win in Broncos history.  Soon after, I was also able to attend the private party to celebrate the win at one of my dad’s restaurants in downtown Denver.  I got to hold the trophy and meet John Elway.  Already a fan for life, it was nothing more if not a confirmation that during football season, I live and die by what happens during Broncos games on Sundays.

And so I come to the 2011 Denver Broncos.  No, we didn’t win the Super Bowl.  Or even make it to a conference championship game.  However, these Broncos have restored the faith that had inexplicably been on the precipice of collapse.

Kyle Orton is a decent quarterback.  Kyle Orton is not a winner.  Kyle Orton is not a leader.  And Kyle Orton is terrible in the red zone.  Moreover, Kyle Orton was at the center of a Broncos culture that had fostered the most apathetic fanbase in Broncos history.  Orton and Josh McDaniels (a unanimous choice for worst Broncos coach ever) did their best to threaten a sell-out streak dating back to the early 1970’s.  Bronco fans are some of the best on the planet, but simply put, we were over it.  We had lost control to an ego-maniacal douche of a head coach and a quarterback who had the perpetual look of someone who could give a rat’s ass about the outcome of the game.

That’s why on Sunday, October 9th, 2012, when Tim Tebow relieved Orton at halftime against the Chargers, it accomplished a few things.  John Fox saved his long-term job security.  Granted, we still can’t be convinced that Tebow is “the” guy unequivocally.  However, staying with Orton would have meant being content with mediocrity and an eventual rebuilding project.  The move also put the Broncos back on the map nationally, as the legend of Tim Tebow began to take shape.

Tim Tebow is a below average passer.  Tim Tebow is a winner.  Tim Tebow is a leader.  Tim Tebow is a fighter, and a special human being.  It wasn’t all Tebow, but his becoming the starting quarterback against Miami on October 16th turned an incredibly dull season into one of the most exciting in recent memory.  He gave us something to believe in.

A porous defense turned stout.  A stagnant running game became the best in the league.  The apathetic home crowds transformed into uncontrollable lunacy that would have made the old Mile High proud.  The drawbacks were also certainly evident.  Early deficits turned into late game nightmares.  The best run game was partly a compensation for the worst pass offense.  An improving defense occasionally lapsed into troubling old habits.  But the intrigue and 4th quarter heroics week in and week out kept us on the edge of our seat.

It’s hard to pinpoint the words to describe the experience of being a Broncos fan in 2011.  The ups, the downs, the jubilation, the sudden incapacity to breathe.  These all came to a head in the Wild Card playoff round.  After a regulation controlled by the Broncos in almost every aspect, the score nonetheless was tied to force overtime.  One play.  80 yards.  Touchdown.

And that was it.  The crowd reacted in disbelief to the first playoff win since 2005.  Even a blowout loss the following week in New England is still somewhat overshadowed by the signature play of the season.

Even so, much work remains to be done.  The defense might as well have stayed home against New England.  Tom Brady made a defense with the defensive rookie of the year (VM) and the best cornerback of all time (CB) seem worthy of acquiring the first pick in the draft.  The wide receiver position remains weak.  The running back foundation lies with the aging knees of Willis McGahee.  And at the risk of beating a twice dead horse, Tebow must improve as a pocket passer.  A lot.

But here we stand, more optimistic than ever.  Now with Bronco Nation reassembled, we head towards the offseason looking to build on a division title.  It was quite the journey, and we can only hope Tebow and friends still have some juice in the tank to take us on another ride next year.

BLEED BLUE AND ORANGE.

And a final Tebowing entry as we say goodbye.  For now.

This summer I lost a good friend of mine.  As we are approaching and experiencing the holiday season, I thought it to be a good time to remember him in writing.  The timing of his death was both awful and (without making light of the situation at all) somewhat fortunate in terms of my location.  I was coming back from Madrid to spend the summer in Boulder with a plane ticket purchased well in advance, and because of this I was able to attend his funeral with others that were feeling the indescribable emotional pain I was afflicted with for an extended period of time.

The necessary emotional catharsis that I experienced was really rough at first.  I didn’t have a job this summer, I didn’t have a car either, and for the most part I was left with me, myself, and I to think and reflect about him and the times we shared.  

For whatever reason, as time wore on during the summer, my feelings about the whole thing hadn’t begun to resolve themselves, and I think it worried my parents.  For this I want to tell them I’m sorry I wasn’t able to talk about it more openly, that I bottled everything up, that I wasn’t all there part of the time.

The truth is, I’m still scared because he was a great friend, and a great person who touched a lot of lives, and the manner of his passing could happen to a lot of young people my age.  It just happened to be him, and I hope that I can learn from it, that we can all learn from it in some way; and I aspire to be the type of inspiration that he was to others.  He was loving, jovial, and he cared more about those around him than he cared about himself.

I want him to know I’m still thinking about him, and I’ll never forget him.  I hope that this holiday season everyone is able to see the joys of family and friends, and take comfort in the love that surrounds you.  

Jack

La Mezquita

Cordoba, Spain

Daniel and I have recorded our 3rd podcast, one dedicated to road trips - a couple we have taken this year together, and our thoughts in general.  We even throw a little bit about the Broncos in there at the beginning.  The photo above is of the “Mezquita” in Cordoba, Spain - mentioned in the podcast.  Thanks for listening!

Jack