Ok, ok, so the look is the same. But we got a fancy new header to top Scene & Heard off every single day! W00t! And yeah, I know... there aren't any subways in Pottstown, Phoenixville, Royersford, Reading, or anywhere around here. But I'm the blog from the underground in these parts, so it fits. Right? Plus, it looks too cool to not argue for the strong case it makes.

And stay tuned, that's not all that's been under construction here. Starting this Sunday, I'll post one Christmas song a day until Dec. 25 in a little something I'd like to call the 12 Songs of Christmas mix.

PLUS! With the 2008's curtain coming to a close, I'm getting help from some fellow Mercury staff for our favorite movies and music of the year to share with you. Expect lots of mp3s and YouTube clips to come.

Hi, I'm the guy who blogs here. Remember me?

Pale, scrawny, lame, has an affinity for cute bassists in British punk bands? Yea, hi.

Well, allow me to apologize for the long and painful absence I've left you in. I know it's been hard. But these trying times of un-blogging from Scene & Heard's HQ have been caused by me living some good ol' fashioned life. Don't cry for me, Argentina.

When I started blogging, oh, about a year ago here at The Mercury, it was right after I had suffered a big loss in my personal life that left me in a state of pouring out, instead of soaking in. I wanted to get everything outside of me, and put it all over notebook paper, HTML, etc. The soul needed some emptying and cleansing. Everything inside me was coming out and I was taking nothing new in, and that was that.

So I finally got over the overly dramatic this summer, and decided it was time to be a sponge again (see spongebob). Suck everything back in! New and old and exciting and wild. Which has an enormous effect on getting your blog on. So instead of sharing, I've spent my days consuming. I disappeared on a random and solitary road trip up through the Northeast part of the country, just driving around and listening to music and sleeping in my car. I bought dozens of cheap used CDs. I dug up all the old mixes I had from my college years and re-discovered the joy of what brought me to music in the first place. I rekindled some good friendships gone bad. I played best man to my best friend at his wedding, and gave a speech that apparently went over well (An older guy came up afterwards and said, "It's speeches like that that actually give me some faith in your generation. Thank you.").

In other words, I've been selfish. Keeping all of the finer fruits of life to myself. And now I'm full of all the good stuff again.

So you know what that means? Lots of good blogging ahead. And I know I have ushered in these sentiments for the past 5 blog posts or so throughout the summer, but it's true this time. It really is. I plan on making this blog more of an mp3 blog, where I share with you the music that I'm going through and defining life through, but with all the good stuff from before too. Which means I'm reinstating "YOU TUBE MONDAYS" and "TOP FIVE TUESDAYS" as well.

So, in short. I'm back.

If you're looking for the "Listening In" blog, this is it.

But up here in the control tower of Mercury blogland, we decided that "Scene & Heard" is a much more appropriate (and sleeker) title for the business we deal in. Plus we like when words have two sides to their sword. We have fun with puns, and Listening In didn't really pun things up enough, ya know? So Scene And Heard is the name, and filling you in on all the music, movies, and area hot spots we love is our game. Thanks for listening..