World Cup 2010

So the World Cup is going to be starting in another week's time and I was just wondering if anyone here is gonna be following it? Which team(s) will you be supporting other than that of your home country?

I'm really looking forward to it, though I'm not sure I'll be supporting England - our team is a bit of a joke, to be honest...

29-12-09 Twitter Q & A With David Cook

This hasn't been posted yet, so I thought I'd put it up.

Holiday Vlog - 14/12/09

Short but sweet:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwKTMXDoMw4

24-11-09 Twitter Q & A With David Cook

5 Questions With David Cook - Detroit Free Press

Link

David Cook is on the last leg of what has become a marathon tour, and he's got his eye on the future.

Cook, 26, the rocker who won "American Idol" in 2008, is already hard at work on a follow-up to his successful post-"Idol" debut, a self-titled album that has sold well over a million copies.

The Blue Springs, Mo., native and his band, the Anthemic, will bring their Declaration Tour to the Colosseum at Caesars Windsor on Saturday. And he just might test out a new song that he hopes will make the new album, due out next summer, he says.

On that sophomore effort, Cook wants to show more depth and to collaborate more with other writers. He doesn't have a producer on board yet, but he promises there will be more "riff-based guitar and more piano." To that end, Cook -- a guitarist -- is trying to beef up his piano-playing skills. "The goal right now is to try to get it to where I can play it live."


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QUESTION: You've been on the road since Feb. 13 for a tour that originally was supposed to run through the spring. Did you anticipate you'd still be on the road today?

ANSWER: No. It's a testament to the demand, which is great. To have a record out that's done so well ... how many people can say that? We've been extremely blessed to be on the road this far. The one thing I really wanted to harp on with the tour ... I wanted to come out and do the record justice with good shows. I didn't want to come out with all the bells and whistles. I wanted it to be an accessible rock show.


Q: When does work begin in earnest on the new album?

A: The day we get off the road. I am legitimately kind of enamored with the record process. As such I can't wait to get started. I'm excited. With the last record, it was tough because I was on the road (for the "American Idol" summer tour in 2008) for a lot of the record process. We used a lot of technology to keep me involved. I'll be in the studio and be a little more hands-on. I'm looking forward to that.


Q: You recently took in a Bruce Springsteen concert in New York, where he played his entire "Born to Run" album. Afterward you said you were in awe and had a lot of work to do. What was so awe-inspiring?

A: They played three hours and 15 minutes. Not long before that show we had done a show in San Diego for an hour and 45 minutes and I thought I was going to die. So to see someone like him put that much energy into a show ... that was incredible. You can't possibly walk away from that not feeling like you've learned something.


Q: Not many artists come out and greet their fans after shows, but you do that pretty regularly. Why has it been so important for you to stay connected to fans?

A: Without them we don't have places to play. We don't have anything. I feel like if I were in that position I would like to know I was appreciated. It's part of the relationship. We want people to feel like they got more than just the collection of songs for the ticket price.


Q: Of all the other "Idol" alums, you have connected more with Carrie Underwood; you'll be on her Christmas special on Dec. 7 on Fox. Why have you two become such fast friends?

A: We both kind of lived in the Tulsa area for a while. She's from Checotah and I lived in Tulsa. I don't know. It's one of those random things. We're two people who met each other who happen to get along. She's been amazing. She's made herself available. Someone of her stature has no reason to do that. She calls me Cookie, and I call her Ms. Underwood. And it'll probably stay that way until I reach her level.

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Here's what else David Cook had to say on other topics during a Nov. 6 interview:


On his loyal, hard-core fans, some of whom have criss-crossed the country attending dozens of shows:

Cook is at a loss to explain it, but he says he appreciates the support. "I think sometimes things just happen ... We don't take our relationship with our fans very lightly at all."


On when he began recognizing some of these hard-core fans:

"Week one. That's the coolest thing about it. We know some fans by name. That just solidifies the bond that hopefully is going to last a long time."


On how surreal it is to now be friends with one of his music influences - Raine Maida, lead singer of the Canadian band Our Lady Peace. Maida - and Maida's wife Chantal Kreviazuk - collaborated with Cook on several songs for his current album. Cook recently sang a song with Maida's band during a Halloween concert in Kansas City. And they appeared together in a Yahoo video that captured the two golfing with Rob Cavallo, the man who produced Cook's current album:

"It's a little weird. For those who saw the Yahoo video - he talks a little bit of trash about me. It's kind of tough for me to reciprocate," Cook jokes. "Raine is just a chill dude. His wife said something very flattering - he may not find it flattering - but she said 'I see a lot of you in Raine.' I don't know. That's huge for me. But Raine may hate that."


On whether fans might get their wish for a third single to be released from his current album:

"I'd be surprised if we did. But again, I've learned to never say never."


On surprises he has in store for the last leg of the tour, which ends in early December:

Cook already debuted a new song called Make Believe to a St. Louis audience Tuesday night. He may have something else up his sleeve, though. "We do have the one year anniversary of the record coming up," Cook says, referring to the release Nov. 18, 2008 of his current album. "We do want to do something special for that." For the record, he plays a concert Nov. 18 in Hammond, Ind.


On his never-released song "One Second to Change Your Life," which was used during a montage during World Series highlights on ESPN:

"It's a song we wrote for the record, but it didn't fit the flow of the record for whatever reason. It was just kind of sitting there in limbo." The folks at ESPN, he said, "asked if they could have a crack at it." That's something the baseball-loving Cook got a kick out of. But as far as the song potentially making it onto his second album: "It could be an amazing song. But it has to fit the record."


On whether he and his band will be producing more episodes of Pork Beans, a random collection of videos that have captured behind-the-scenes hilarity. The most recent one featured Cook interviewing a plastic chicken:

"We've actually got a few ideas up our sleeves," Cook says. "The ideas have gotten more and more elaborate."


On why he joined Twitter (he's @thedavidcook) after months of resisting the social networking site:

"I got beat down. I stopped looking at it as something I had to do." And as soon as that happened, Cook began seeing twitter as a different way of connecting with people, and sharing. If he's listening to new music, he likes the ability to instantaneously be able to tweet about it. "It's immediate, which is cool." But he says he still won't be tweeting about what he had for lunch or other mundane matters. He will, however, get involved in twitter wars with his younger brother Andrew Cook, the most recent of which had the brothers trading insults via twitter even though they were together in Kansas City. Cook, of course, blames his brother. "You have to defend yourself," he said. "If you look back at no point have I started any of these twitter battles, or wars."


On how his raw foods diet is going:

When he came back to the tour after a two week break Nov. 3, Cook told listeners at an acoustic gig that because he'd gorged so much on bad food during the break, he had started a raw foods diet.

"It's going decent," Cook said, describing his version of a raw foods diet as including lots of fruits and vegetables and occasionally some fish and chicken. He hopes the diet will be a trigger to keep him eating healthy.


On his 2010 tour plans:

"The goal right now is to get a record out by the summer, and then we'll be out on the road."


On who he'd love to go on tour with:

Cook lists Bruce Springsteen, Our Lady Peace, Ben Folds and Switchfoot. "The list goes on and on," he says.