Another day in 5ville

Let’s see who the songs about town are.

KKCK:

Cartel “The Perfect Mistake”
I’m happy to see Cartel get a second chance at success, but I’m not sure if this is the song to cement their presence.

OneRepublic “Secrets”
This one might be a bit to orchestral at the beginning, but it still fits what they do.  I’m guessing somewhere in the #15 peak range.

The Script “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved”
I’m still not sure what to think of this band.  This song isn’t helping.

Tino Coury “Diary”
Oh snap Tino.  I could have told you not to read your girl’s diary.  No good ever comes of that.  You either find out she’s in love with somebody else (like you did) or she doesn’t mention you at all (happened to me once…not sure which is worse).

Maroon 5 “Misery”
The new Maroon 5 album was produced by überproducer Robert John “Mutt” Lange.  Game over.  Get ready to hear lots and lots of Maroon 5 over the course of the next year.

Pick to click: Maroon 5

Tonight I was hoping to write something about Toy Story 3, but the theater was sold out.  I’ve never had to switch plans because of a movie being sold out before.  I can’t even wrap my brain around the fact it happened, and almost a week after the movie opened, and on a Wednesday.  I can speak to those on the fence about The A-Team.  If you enjoyed the old show in the least, even as a kid, see this movie.  The actors nail all the characters, and it feels modern without being done as a “modern, edgy take”.  It’s two hours of pure fun at the movies, and I can’t even think of a movie I’ve had more fun watching in the theater in recent memory.  It’s worth at least matinée price just for the guy who plays H.M. Murdock.  He steals every scene he’s in, and in a good way.

*******

I’m sorry for not finishing this until late Friday/very early Saturday.  I had all the best intentions to finish this earlier.  Thursday was spent with Kate and Braeden, and today’s plan was to finish this after the Weekend Warm-Up, but severe weather had other plans.  This day has me so frazzled and out of phase that I don’t think I can communicate anything very effectively.

Oh, I will say it was beyond awesome to turn on Comedy Central, and hear the theme to “Futurama” knowing what would follow would be a totally new episode.

There is also new Sarah Harmer in my ears.  It sounds good, but nowhere near as good as my son saying “I love you” for the first time today.

These are the days of our lives.  Live them.

3 songs and…wait, a what?

Wait and see.

KKCK:

Miranda Cosgrove “Kissin U”
The star of “iCarly” hits the scene with…a very by the numbers pop song.  It isn’t a bad song, it’s just iBlandy.

White Tie Affair “You Look Better When I’m Drunk”
Thanks for playing White Tie Affair, but the best song ending in “…When I’m Drunk” is and always will be “You’re Pretty When I’m Drunk” by the Bloodhound Gang.  Please enjoy your consolation prize of actually having a song that actually gets played on the radio.

Goo Goo Dolls “Home”
This longtime KKCK band is having a hard time getting traction behind this song for some reason.  It might lean a bit too much on the over-produced side of things, but that hasn’t stopped them from success in the past.  We’ll give this one a go and see what happens.

Pick to click: Miranda Cosgrove

After 500 or so of these, I think I’ve earned a week off.  With that, I’ll let my wonderful wife Kate take over from here.

Hi! I’m Kate:) First of all I want to thank Russ for letting me do a part of his blog this week! Now I’ll just tell you what new is happening.

I’ve started watching a show called Pretty Little Liars and am really enjoying it so far but finding time to sit down and watch it is difficult with an almost 2-year-old:) I have also been recording lifetime movies on our DVR lately and when B naps I watch them while I clean and do all the daily chores I do while he naps. Another show I’m really into is called Happy Town and I am SO bummed that they are canceling it!

This past week or so I have been really focusing on myself and my family. I have started doing a lot more activities with B and have been walking to the park and going all over town with Braeden. I am sick and tired of being so overweight. So far I have lost 20 pounds. It’s not much, but it’s the start of something great! I have been watching what I eat a little but mostly just trying to work on portion control. We have been spending every day outside lately. Met lots of new people and have even started going to a really cool playgroup called ECFE. They put on play groups every Tuesday night and Wednesday mornings. B and I really enjoy it! Russ comes with Tuesday nights and on Wednesdays I go with just B. We recently picked up some art supplies so we can start doing more arts and crafts around the house which will be really nice especially on rainy days!

I have also been trying to save our family money so that I can continue to be a stay at home mom. Coupon clipping has become a whole lot of fun for me! Especially with the new wireless printer we just got! I can print stuff downstairs on my laptop if I want to! (The printer is upstairs) I also found out about this website called swagbucks. It’s really quite neat! http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Kate1986 If you haven’t heard of it you should check it out. I’m not trying to spam the hubbys blog but it’s really a cool site! I’ve only been on for about 2 weeks and already have 4 $5 amazon.com gift cards! I get nothing for you signing up on my referral link but if you enjoy the site and use it and earn points searching I earn those points too so it helps me out:) Theres no scam here like most other places I’ve seen. It’s free shipping on prizes and no silly fees or anything. It’s easy to earn points, you just use the site like you would use google or amazon or any other search engine. I think you can win up to 3 or 4 times a day searching. What I do is in the morning, noon, and before bed I search random things. I do about 10 and if I haven’t won by then I try a bit later. They also put out special swag codes to earn points that they put in their blog or on their toolbar. You can also earn points for doing daily polls and things like that. If you look at the bottom of the page there is a FAQ section that will answer most questions you might have. If you do have a question, please comment and Russ will let me know:) I also do all the online shopping I can through them. I always use Diapers.com for our diapers and by going through the swagbucks website I earn 2 swagbucks for every $1 I spend so that cool!!

Okay, enough spamming you with the swagbucks stuff:) But please, check it out if you haven’t yet!! Other than the things I talked about there’s not much else new. Russ and I are happier than ever and Braeden is still the worlds cutest kid:) We are just enjoying life and our family and summer! Hopefully Russ will let me take this over once in a while as I really enjoyed this:) I hope all of you are well and I hope to write to you all again soon!

The Shag vs. The Hotspot on new music day

Two songs from each library were called up to the big club playlist this week.

KKCK:

Taio Cruz “Dynamite”
This song keeps up the pace “Break Your Heart” started, which I’m enjoying.  I’d wager a good chunk of my next paycheck that his next single will be the slow jam he’s saving up.

Ne-Yo “Beautiful Monster”
I dig, dig, dig, DIG the beat of this one.  The electronic stuff in the background reminds me of the days of MTV’s AMP and the better songs of the late 90s techno craze.

Green Day “Last of the American Girls”
This song is so poppy I’m surprised it took this long for it to be a single.  I’m worried the album might be to old now to warrant serious CHR consideration.

30 Seconds to Mars “This Is War”
I can understand why some bands always do well for us, but there are a few I don’t get.  30STM is one of them, but their songs always grow on me, and I’m sad to see them go in a few months.

Pick to click: Ne-Yo.  The Hotspot wins this round…

Last night I was at one of the parks in town with Braeden (or Russ 2.0 as I sometimes call him online) and I found myself leaning against a tree watching him climb up a set of steps and go down a slide all by himself.  They say having kids really changes your perspective, and that’s always been something I didn’t believe.  Now that I’m almost two years into fatherhood, I feel foolish for doubting it.  For those fleeting moments, it was like a wave of peace and calm enveloped me inside the sappiest father’s day card ever.  Later we sat on a bench and shared some Goldfish crackers, which will go down as one of those insignificant things that will stick with me forever.

The flip-side of that was later that night, when I found myself getting overly emotional.  Tomorrow I’ll be attending my third funeral in five weeks, all of them for the mothers of old friends of mine.  My own mom is a spry 77, but she’s also a lifelong smoker who has had scares with her bladder and aorta.    I still have trouble with my dad’s passing, but when my mom passes away I have no idea how I’ll actually be able to function for a while.  I honestly don’t know if Kate is prepared for the shape I’ll be in, and I know I’m not.  I could have 1,493 comments telling me not to worry about  it because it might not happen for years, or that I should focus on life, or [insert reason here] but at times all the reasons in the world don’t get my mind off thinking about death.  I’m starting to think some of this might stem from my own worries about mortality.  That’s a blog for another day.

The rebirth of the Retro Show is still on course for the 19th of June, but my teaser for it is only saying “coming soon” for now.  I still need to get all the liners produced, and then put the show together by next Saturday.  I’m excited to hear how it goes over, but the reality of the new work I’ve found for myself is setting in.  This much is clear: my focus needs to tighten up a lot.

Our new electric lawn mower arrives tomorrow.  I’m really curious to see how it works.  Everything I read about it made it sound like the best one for the money, so here’s hoping I did some good research.  There’s no cord, but it needs to charge for eight to sixteen hours.  I’ll hopefully have a review for it next week.

For the most part, I can always find what I’m looking for at the CD shop here.  However, I was very let down to see they didn’t even order the new Against Me! CD this week.  I didn’t want to get it on iTunes, but since I’ve been talking about featuring it on the Shag for months, iTunes it is.

Next week, more music and less Debbie Downer crap.  That’s to goal anyway (I should mention I actually find the Debbie Downer skits and Rachel Dratch quite hilarious).

Better late than later still

So much for my on time streak.

KKCK:

Sara Bareilles “King of Anything”
You loved her piano flavored “Love Song” a few years ago, and if you liked the overall sound of her album this one will fit right in.

Colbie Caillat “I Never Told You”
Her new album seems a bit peppier than her last album, and while that isn’t helping her songs do better it is  helping me like them more.  I have an odd hunch I’m not in Ms. Caillat’s demographic.

Three Days Grace “The Good Life”
3DG is probably the epitome of a band that critics can’t stand that people like anyway.  I can’t think of a song of theirs that didn’t do well on KKCK.  I might have waited a bit too long with this one.

D.K. “Just Doin’ Me”
The pride of Marshall has a new song, and the beat and music bed really threw me off.  I love his rhymes but I’m still not sold on the fuzzed out organ.  That’s just my two cents, and I know his CD sells for more than that (and he’s sold a solid amount of those).

Pick to click: D.K.

This week has been a bundle of stress.  I had a crazy work week, and that was in spite of taking two days off (one for a funeral, and one to just enjoy life for a day).  The rebirth of the Retro Show is still on pace for Father’s Day weekend, but if I get my butt in a higher gear I could relaunch it by next weekend.  If things don’t go my way, it might not happen until the last weekend in June.  It will happen in June, that much I can say for sure.

I’m running on fumes.  It’s time to let the engine stall out and hope I can get fueled up sometime tomorrow.