When I’m alive, I gotta divide four songs

That and other statements clarified below.

KKCK:

David Guetta w/Kelly Rowland “When Love Takes Over”
What was the last dance track, non hip hop/rap division, that we had on?  Cascada?  Ian Van Dahl?  Darude?  Real McCoy?  Rednex?  Okay, maybe I went back a bit to far there.  Hopefully this track gives Kelly Rowland the shot in the arm her post-Destiny’s Child career needs.  To me, she’s always been the most under-rated member of that group. 

Metric “Help, I’m Alive”
This band is selling CDs like crazy in their native Canada, but not so much in the states yet.  Most Canadian artists do quite well on KKCK, so why not give them a shot?  Emily Haines has one of those voices I’d follow off a cliff, much like Fiona Apple or Becca from Rebels Victorious.  This could be a sleeper hit for us, or a non-event.  Our listeners are hard to predict when it comes to bands like this.

Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling”
Imagine the most average sounding Black Eyed Peas song possible.  Or, listen to this one.  Why play it then?  These days B.E.P. can toss radio whatever and it will go top ten.  Yet some of their pre-Fergie tracks, like “Weekends”, remain in obscurity.

Linkin Park “New Divide”
I could say the same thing about this track, but it’s a bit above average for a Linkin Park song of the slower variety.  Plus, it’s tied into the new Transformers film, which means it should shoot up the charts fast, and disappear the weekend after the movie opens.

Pick to click: David Guetta w/Kelly Rowland

We’ve had a bit of a switcharoo at work on some shifts.  The biggest change for me was the sudden addition of 10 to 2 PM on our rock station, KARZ.  KARZ and I have had a long and complicated history, going back to her days as KBJJ.  Sitting in here for my prod time, hearing the liners and music, is really putting me in a bad mood.  In the past, every time I’ve been entrusted with something meaningful on KARZ, it has been taken away from me.  In the weeks leading up to the change, I’ve been trying to brainstorm and think of things I can do, but in the end I threw up my hands and said “what’s the point?”.  Granted, this new shift has also taken away my usual time working on commercials while listening to my iPod, and that might be part of the adjustment process as well.  It might be that the music reminds me of my younger days, and not always in good ways.  Whatever the  myriad of reasons, I’ll keep doing the shift.  I’m a team player, and right now I’m the best person available at those times to do the show.  Meanwhile on KKCK, the two shows before mine are now two-headed shows.  Yesterday I debuted my new “co-host”, Mr. Head Phone Bag.  He was a bit negative, but he might be able to get away with saying things ordinarily I couldn’t.  It would seem my show is pretty set where it is no matter what, so I’ve decided to ratchet up the silly/ridiculous factor.  We’ll see how that treats me.

Last weekend was spent in Rochester rollin’ dice and reminiscing.  I finally had the opportunity to play Settlers of Catan, and I’m sold.  I would play that every day if I could, and I might have to get the computer version pretty soon.  I didn’t think a board game could mix cooperation and competition that well, but it worked great.  Even my friend Biff, who is no board game fan, loved it (and almost won the second one).  The weekend in RPGing went a bit non-traditional.  After running it on and off for years, I was finally a player in our ongoing (but dormant for years) G.I. Joe scenario.  We use the Palladium system, but if there’s a better system for running a modern army setting I’d switch.  Palladium is great, but new characters take so long to make.  Saturday night we couldn’t decide what to do, so I took charge and ran the Decipher Star Trek game.  Normally I’d run Marvel or Boot Hill, but my mental well for super heroes and the old west is pretty dry.  However, I’m overflowing with Star Trek ideas.  I think it went pretty well, and I might go with it again next time, if my DMing skills are requested.  Overall the weekend was super great, but I was seriously missing the family while I was there, especially before sleeping and on the long drive home.

Speaking of the family, things are going good.  We’ll find out tomorrow if Braeden can stop using his apnea monitor.  Since we’ve had one alarm since March, I think we’re going to be good.  He’s gotten so good at standing up, especially in his crib.  When he lets us know he wants to get up, we can always expect to find him standing and watching the door for when we come in.  Lately, he’s even started to sleep in that corner of the crib.  He’s currently sporting a scratch on his face from Logan, but a cat can only take so much before he gets annoyed, even Logan.  Kate has been doing pretty well.  Her knee is still bothering her, but we’re getting a second opinion on it tomorrow. 

Right now, I’m in the middle of the new Phoenix album.  So far, I’m thinking it’s a keeper.

A solo singer, a duo, and a four piece. What’s missing?

The number three!  Oddly enough, we have three new songs this week.

KKCK:

Jordin Sparks “Battlefield”
This song is in no way a remake of Pat Benetar’s “Love is a Battlefield”.  I wonder why no one remakes Pat Benetar songs?  I can’t remember any recent hit song that was a cover of Pat Benetar, although numerous other 80s artists have been covered, and some very successfully.  I think Jordin could easily have done that song, or maybe “Shadows of the Night”.  Anyway, this new “Battlefield” song is pretty average as far as pop ballads go.  Jordin kind of goes for it on the chorus, but I think she held back, probably at the suggestion of the producer.  That’s not how I would have gone, but I’m not a record producer.

The Fray “Never Say Never”
Remember the first Fray album’s first two singles?  We all thought “Over My Head” was mellow piano rock until the next single made it sound like a bawlz out rocker.  While their new album took everything The Fray was and amped it up, they relapse into a similar single pattern.  “Never Say Never” takes the tempo down a notch in hopes of scoring with the same crowd that shrugged at “Over My Head” but lapped up “How to Save a Life”.  Will the same thing happen on album number three?  If it does, I think we’ve found the Hot AC version of AC/DC, which isn’t a bad thing.

MGMT “Kids”
While I’m happy to see another single from these guys, I was hoping it would have been “Electric Feel”.  Now THAT is one funky jam.  “Kids” is weird but only as weird as “Time to Pretend”.  “Electric Feel” might have been a bit too out there. 

Pick to click: The Fray

Last night I went to Terminator Salvation.  It was better than T3, but not by much.  McG should stick to Charlie’s Angels movies.  If there’s a movie franchise I can list as a “guilty pleasure”, it’s the Charlie’s Angels one.  Hopefully Drew isn’t stringing me along with those rumors that she wants to do a 3rd one.

The new Tori Amos CD was decent.  It wasn’t as adventurous as her last, but it does what it does well, which is sound like a Tori CD.  I’m still hoping to pick up the new Carbon Leaf soon.  I never thought a Rooney song would get stuck in my head, but their theme song for “Iron Man: Armored Adventures” is way catchy.

Speaking of “Iron Man: Armored Adventures”, has there ever been a better point in time for comics-inspired cartoons?  “Iron Man: Armored Adventures” is really winning me over.  “Wolverine and the X-Men” might be the best X-related series ever.  “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” has somehow made a fun Batman show without making Batman himself a campy character.  New episodes of “Spectacular Spider-Man” start up in a month or so, and that show is arguably the best Spider-Man show ever made.  I can’t think of the last time that many good comic-inspired shows were on at once.  The early 90s came close, but I don’t think the old Fox versions of “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” hold up as well, and the first season of “Iron Man/Fantastic Four” was awful.  Luckily “The Tick” made up for that.

Braeden is close to walking!  It’s crazy to see him starting to stand on his own.  Even though it is way earlier than I’d like, it’s always a treat to find him standing up in his crib, waiting for somebody to free him for the day.  He’s been such a happier baby since he started being able to get around and do some things himself.  I’ve never understood why parents said “they grow up so fast” until now.  Just thinking about the last eight months makes my head swim.  Even after saying that, I wish he’d grow a bit faster.  I have so many games to teach him, cartoons to share with him, and action figures that need more action.  I was going to sell all my old Toy Biz figures on eBay, but now I think I’ll save them to see if he takes an interest in super-heroes.  I have a mostly complete collection of the Transformers “Robot Heroes” and G.I. Joe “Combat Heroes” still in their packaging, but I’ve told Braeden on several occasions that when he’s three he can open them all up if he wants to.

This past weekend we spent a chunk of the weekend with Kate’s family in Iowa.  I had a good time like I always do, but I always feel out of place.  They’re very outdoorsy, and I’m not.  The odd thing is, I could have been that way if my dad hadn’t passed away.  He was a big-time hunter and fisherman, while my mom and step dad were only into fishing (something I have no skill at whatsoever).  I know Kate’s family wants him to get involved with all of that, and I don’t have a problem with it.  It’s just I don’t know how into it I’ll be, and I hope that doesn’t color how he feels about it. 

I think this is a good place to stop.  Have a great rest o’ the May.

Six songs strike again!

Will the horror ever end?

KKCK:

Pop Evil “100 in a 55″
The name of this band might sound odd on a pop station, but this rock ballad is right out of “Rock Ballad 101″ final exams, and it’s an A+.  If more CHRs jump on this, it’s a career changer for them.

Keri Hilson w/Ne-Yo & Kanye West “Knock You Down”
I’m still not blown away by Keri Hilson’s voice, but adding Ne-Yo AND Kanye West?  That makes the song hard to ignore.  I will admit to liking this song.  Well, I admit to liking the Kanye parts.

Taking Back Sunday “Sink Into Me”
Way back when, KKCK gave TBS a shot with “Make Damn Sure”.  They’re back with their “new” sound, which is their old sound after a Red Bull or two.  I think the song is missing a loud “WOO” in one spot, but then it really wouldn’t be a TBS song.

Franz Ferdinand “No You Girls”
I thought “Lucid Dreams” would continue our tradition (so far) of playing the lead single from every Franz album.  Somewhere along the line, “Lucid Dreams” got a lot longer and weirder.  “Ulysses” was the next single, but it really didn’t grab me.  As luck would have it, “No You Girls” is now the “official” first single that’s really the third, so we’ll take it with an asterisk.  I don’t think this song is as good as the original mix of “Lucid Dreams” (the new version sounds really keen on headphones), but it is a better single than “Ulysses”. 

Jonas Brothers “Paranoid”
So, this is new, “more mature” sound of the Jo-Bros.  Less vocal harmony = mature?   

D.K. “Gettin’ to the Guap”
This rapper is currently residing in our fair city of Marshall, and he was kind enough to drop off some home recordings.  I read an article a few days ago about how home recording studios are putting big time studios out of business, and his stuff only strengthens that argument.  He’s won over our listeners, and hopefully we can help him win over a few more.  He has this song and others posted at his MySpace site.

Pick to click: Pop Evil

Marshall has been stupid hot and windy lately.  I’m not a fan.  Luckily, we’re back to room temperature outdoors as of tomorrow.

Knight Rider and Terminator: TSCC are dunzo.  The only show I’m tempted to pick up in the fall is the “V” revival, but barely. 

Things in my hood are 98 % good.  The other two per cent is just random crap in my head.  I’ve had some weird bouts of nostalgia lately.  I’d almost call them “trivial regrets”.  Once or twice a day I randomly remember something that happened in the past that I wish I’d handled/done differently, but it’s usually something that has had zero to .5 % impact on my life.  I’m a big believer in the “no regrets” philosophy of life, but my brain likes to rebel on that sometimes.  It just picks weird ways to do battle. 

Kate has been better, but she’s a real trooper.  She’s had a few migraines of late, and now her surgically repaired knee is looking more and more like a malpractice suit in the making.  Then yesterday she threw out her back something fierce.  It isn’t helping that Braeden is entering his “touch everything I’m not supposed to” phase.  Braeden met up with some of Darth Vader’s finest in Sioux Fallsrecently, which was a blast.  He’s also entering a phase a friend of mine’s son went through that he called “baby bonk”.  To Braeden’s credit, he’s inherited his mom’s hard head. 

What I’m hearing about the new Green Day album seems to be a lot of “meh”, and I’m inclined to agree to a certain extent.  Following up what most people consider a landmark album is always tough.  I think they shouldn’t have rushed it out for the summer.  Some of the album sounds like it has great potential, but overall it seems lacking something.  If this was the follow up to any of their other albums, maybe the conversation would be different.  A big disappointment for me was the new advance copy of the new Elvis Costello.  The album never got out of first gear, so if you like your Costello music on the slow side only, maybe give it a spin or two.  I haven’t listened to the new Tori Amos yet, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.

Terminator: Salvation opens this weekend.  I’m hoping to see it sometime soon, but it might get pushed back to next week.  Hopefully I’ll find time to watch T2 again sometime before then.  Why not T3?  I’m still hoping that if I keep ignoring that one it won’t exist.

I’d type more, but I’d like to hit my 5 PM self-imposed deadline for once.

Four songs just beat the midnight deadline

Hey, I had about a half hour to spare.

KKCK:

Sean Kingston “Fire Burning”
Every time Sean Kingston has a new song, I think it will be the one I can’t stand.  Once I spent some time with this song, I knew that this wasn’t that song.  In fact, this one is a bit more fun that anything we’ve played from him.

Incubus “Black Heart Inertia”
This new song hasn’t gotten much CHR love yet, but it will.  Even if it doesn’t, our track record with slower Incubus songs is pretty good.  Dare I say stellar?  Bad puns aside, I really think this one could be a big hit for them.  As their last hit (a two year old song that was never a single) can attest, radio will play Incubus if the song is slow and good.  I predict this will be a song I’m totally sick of in a few months.

Daughtry “No Surprise”
In this line of work, there’s an unwritten rule that CHR jocks should watch and/or care about American Idol.  This is a rule I often break, which leaves me out of the loop until there’s a winner, or until somebody who was on the show hits the right formula.  ChrisDaughtry found that formula pretty quickly.  The guy has pipes, but after hearing one power pop rock track after another come down the pipe from him, I’ve had my fill.  I’ll give this song some props for taking a few chances, but in the end the sum of the parts equals more of the same fromDaughtry.  If you like him, then you’re set.  If not, there’s always…

People in Planes “Last Man Standing”
If there’s one thing our old MD could do like no other, he could spot a song that could cross-over from quite a distance.  That is something I need to work on.  Until then, I’m forced to go with my gut and with the data I have.  That combination led me to give this Welsh alt-rock band a go.  It stands out without sounding too out of place.  Will it work for us?  Hard to say, but the data looks promising, and my gut and ears tell me it could be a real sleeper.

Pick to click: Sean Kingston

Once upon a time there was a radio message board where there were all kinds of slap fights and flame wars about KKCK and KKLS (Sioux Falls CHR, in case you don’t know).  That board died and went away, but another message board came along, and from time to time some of those old wars of words come back up.  Now, on the old message board, I actually got involved from time to time in theseonline arguments.  Since the new site started, I’ve stayed out of the once-a-year online blah-blah.  Now, the old wars of words are back on again, and I’m more tempted than I’ve been in a while to hop on and throw down, but I haven’t.  Judging by the anonymousposting , it’s the same person who used to start all this crap back on the old board.  Whoever he/she/it is, they have one hell of a grudge againstKKCK for doing our music the way we do.  Part of me wants to defend us, and the other part of me wants to correct some errors that are just annoying (they’re puttin’ songs in we’ve never played).  I’ll probably continue to stay out of it.  That’s the prudent thing to do, right?

The blog tonight is a bit late because work was really long today.  Normally I can find enough spare time to bang this out, but today it was wall to wall prod, clients, and other stuff.  Thursday should be a better day all around.

Kate and I are pretty booked for the next few weekends.  If all goes according to plan, I’ll be in Sioux Falls Saturday, Iowa next weekend, and Rochester the weekend after that.  I’m looking forward to each trip, but for totally different reasons.  I don’t think we’re travelling much in June, so in a way that will be nice.

Braeden is doing well.  He’s pulling himself up and you can see he’s only one or two leaps of logic and faith away from walking.  He’s gotten to be pretty smiley around the house, and like his dad he’s a bit shy around strangers.  Kate has been good, other than her knee bothering her.  Hopefully switching hospitals will help in that department.  I passed the “first mother’s day” test, even though she can tell me all she wants there is no such thing.

Everybody is asking what I thought of Star Trek, so here goes.  I liked it, but I wasn’t blown away by it.  After hearing about how it was “not your father’s Trek” and all that noise, I went in expecting something that was more akin to JasonStatham than James Kirk.  I found a few parts a bit slow, which shocked the person I went with. Acting wise, all of the new crew members were great.  I’d say there wasn’t a poor performance in the movie by anyone.The science angle of the movie was a bit shaky, but that can be called a nitpick, since this movie was made for mass consumption and not the same people who can rattle off the reason Kirk/Picard/Sisko/Janeway/Archer (there have to be a few Archer fans out there) is the best Captain.  I did enjoy the passing mention of “Admiral Archer” in the movie, and I had to chuckle that “Enterprise” is the one show totally unaffected by this reset of the Trek universe.  The one thing the movie missed was the old show’s true intent.  “Star Trek”, when it was on top of its game, was a mirror that reflected current society into a prism and presented it in a way that was entertaining, futuristic, and thoughtful.  There were a lot ofmorality plays and tough questions asked on the old show, but there were also episodes like “The Trouble with Tribbles “, “The Savage Curtain” (space Lincoln!), and “Spock’s Brain” (dear lord that episode is bad).  The new movie amps up the entertainment value, but Trek goes from being a prism to being a TV screen: just watch and don’tover think it.  I think there’s a place in Trek for that kind of a story, but I’m used to Trek being so much more than that.

If I want mindless, check your brain action, I’ll be good this year.  I’m psyched for Terminator: Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Have a good rest of the week.

Three songs that aren’t too taxing

In an unrelated story, I had my taxes done months ago.  Seriously, why do people wait so damn long?

KKCK:

Paula DeAnda “Roll the Credits”
In most theaters, most people leave when the credits roll, which makes this song title a bit odd.  The song sounds like something that might play over the credits of a bad Lifetime movie.  If that’s what you’re into, by all means check this one out.

Rise Against “Audience of One”
If you want a radio friendly rock track from Rise Against, this is probably it.  Pros: long intro to talk over.  Cons: none.  The only thing close to a con is that I have no idea what to say about it, and songs that evoke the emotion of “meh” aren’t usually long for this CHR world.

Cage the Elephant “Ain”t No Rest for the Wicked”
Here’s a song that causes one to often say, “what was that?”.  It sounds new to CHR because it also sounds so old.  I didn’t expect this bluesy number to work its way over, but it is a pleasant surprise. 

Pick to click: Cage the Elephant

Hey.  How the heck are you?  What’s been going on?

Easter weekend had all the right intentions, but in the end it was mostly hit with a few misses.  I pre-recorded the Shag so I could have a true “weekend off” but of course the computer flaked out and some of the show didn’t air.  Kate had an appointment in Sioux Falls on Friday and work on Saturday, so I spent the better part of two full days with Braeden.  I don’t think I’ll ever stop questioning pretty much everything I do.  He’s learning something all the time, and that thought is actually quite daunting.  He’s still super cute, but there are a few things he’s not doing yet.  He’s not easy to make laugh, and considering it’s me trying that isn’t too surprising.  He also doesn’t hug me when I hug him.  Half the time he tries to push himself away.  Granted, he’s not even seven months old yet, so maybe that stuff will come in time (I’m pretty clueless about child development).  He is always happy to see me when I get home from work, and I’ll take it.

Over the weekend I had two really strange dreams about death.  One was a really vivid dream about needing to have Weevil put down due to old age.  What really got me about the dream was the end, where I held him while his purr slowly grew quieter and quieter until he was gone.  The next day I had a dream all my friends died one by one.  The last two nights I haven’t remembered my dreams, and for that I’m glad.  The friend dream was weird and didn’t seem as real, so the Weevil dream is the one that really threw me for a loop.  I spent the better part of getting ready for Easter in Canby wondering what the point of it all is.  We make friends, form relationships, love…but tomorrow is never promised.  Weevil probably has a good decade or more left in him, but all I could think about was that when his time comes, it will be that much harder to let him go.  If we like and love, it’s so hard to say goodbye.  If we pull into a shell, the loneliness is unbearable.  I had these thoughts mostly out of my mind by the time we got to church, but I can count on one hand how many times I’ve thought about how depressing this Earthy existence is, or at least how depressing it can seem when sadness is casting shadows.  I’m feeling much better now.

Thursday my show will be recorded live before a studio audience so we can take Braeden to see a specialist in Sioux Falls.  I’m hoping to pick up the new Silversun Pickups.  I’ve had a blast listening to new stuff lately, but I’m always eager to hear suggestions.

Have a good Wednesday.

Wednesday? Has it been that long?

Hey there.  How the heck are you?

KKCK:

Soulja Boy w/Sammie “Kiss Me Through the Phone”
It is now official: Soulja Boy has been upgraded from “one hit wonder” to “two hit wonder”.  This song will be top ten by next week if trends continue.  After “Crank That” I didn’t want to like a Soulja Boy song, and I don’t really like this one.  That being said, I don’t dislike it.  In fact, as far as rap/R&B songs go, it might be slightly above average.  I’d say more, but the whole bit about kissing through the phone is a bit odd to my ears. 

The Killers “Spaceman”
After a single that tried to straddle Sam’s Town and Hot Fuss, we have a single that puts both feet on the Hot Fuss side.  It also has a bit of something new to it.  My enjoyment of the song is somewhat ruined by Chris Parnell and Tracy Morgan.  When I see this song I think of Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan on “30 Rock” yelling “CALL DOCTOR SPACEMAN!” who is occasionally played by Chris Parnell (and if you don’t watch “30 Rock”, all the characters besides Tracy pronounce Spaceman “spa-CHem-en”).

HiFi “She’s My Girl”
If young Everclear got in a time machine and jumped to 2009, got signed to a small label, spent some studio time with a slick pop producer, and tried to write a hit pop-rocker for CHR, this would probably be the result.  If the sound of that appeals to you, check it out.  I think it’s pretty keen.

Pick to Tell ‘em: Soulja Boy

Things are going well at the household.  Last week things were a bit on edge.  Before Braeden was born, we invested in what’s called an AngelCare monitor.  It’s both a monitor and a movement sensor that detects the slightest movement, including breathing.  Last week during one of Braeden’s naps, it went off (an alarm sounds after 20 seconds of no movement).  Kate rushed in and Braeden appeared not to be breathing, but once she picked him up he let out a gasp, and all was well again.  The next day during another nap, the warning (10 seconds w/o movement) chirp sounded.  I rushed in, but he appeared to be breathing normally.  We took him in, and their best guess was that it might be sleep apnea.  Some dear friends of ours lost their little girl to SIDS a few years ago, so for a few nights we didn’t sleep all that well.  It has been a week, and so far the alarm hasn’t gone off again.  If I never hear that alarm again I’ll be beyond happy.

Last Saturday I had the day off.  I was in a great mood.  Things were going all the right ways.  I put Braeden down for a nap, and fired up the cathode ray tube.  After browsing the selections on the DVR box, I watched the newest episode of Battlestar Galactica, “Someone to Watch Over Me”.  The rest of my day was pretty much ruined.  I’m not saying I hated the episode or the direction it took.  The episode was good and the directions (mostly) made sense.  What happened on the episode actually bummed me out.  I found myself worried about the characters on the show, and it made me think about things I’d rather not think about.  If turning your mood around for those reasons doesn’t indicate quality television, I don’t know what would.  In happier TV times, I’m still loving Terminator, and I’m glad to see viewership is going up (because of the hype about the new movie perhaps)?  I’m a few episodes behind on Dollhouse, but from reading my Twitter feed I’m not missing too much. 

It is probably too late, but I was thinking of doing a post called the “russ-cars” since I skipped the Oscars this year.  My awards would be easy to do because I only saw five movies at the theater last year.  There’s a movie challenge if I ever heard one, especially considering the five movies I saw:
Iron Man
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
Quantum of Solace
X-Files: I Want to Believe
Like it or not, the X-Files film probably has to win at least one of ‘em.  I remember doing year end movie top ten lists, back when there were ten movies a year I wanted to see.  The motion picture industry is losing me, but this year I might actually see at least six:
Star Trek
Terminator: Salvation
Transformers 2
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Up
Am I forgetting any?

I’ve really been into Twittering lately, which means that it probably isn’t cool anymore.  If you follow me at http://twitter.com/russ4life, I’ll probably follow you back.  I haven’t written much blog wise lately.  After a few days, not posting to Cliffhanger Theater isn’t as weird as it was the day after the story ended.  I’m hoping to get to some other blogs about music here, about South Dakota over at russ4life, and maybe do a few Facebook “iTunes on shuffle” survey-things I’ve been putting off.

For some reason I woke up extra tired today.  I’d better save some energy for my show.

Two new songs for the price of none

You can’t find a better deal! Well, you could…but stick with me here.

KKCK:

Lily Allen “The Fear”
I remember all the hype behind Lily Allen the last time around, and her album, at least to me, was a bit “meh”.  I’ll check out the new one because this song changes up her formula in a way I like.  That and Mr. Dewey liked the album, and more than half the time I’ll agree with him.

Carolina Liar “Show Me What I’m Looking For”
This song reminds me of another time in music, but I can’t think of when.  Maybe it was earlier days of Coldplay, when we were all over Travis songs.  The song is pretty nondescript, but the added bells in the chorus take it to another time and place.  They almost sound British at times, which isn’t a bad thing.

Pick to click: Carolina Liar

Today I was working on a commercial for HyVee, and a Bjork song popped up on my iPod.  It sent me right into a “Bjork mood”.  I haven’t had one of those in a while, and I never know what they mean or why I get them.  Right now I’m listening to my favorite Bjork CD, Post.  The song that put me in the mood was from Medulla, which used to be my least favorite Bjork CD, but over the last year it has really grown on me.  For my money, Postis best listened to one of two ways: on headphones or in a car late at night.  A third way might be while playing “Golf” on the NES in a dorm room, but that’s more a college flashback.

Battlestar Galactica crammed so much information in last week’s episode I felt like taking notes.  Seriously, we want answers BUT NOT ALL AT ONCE.  Damn.  In BSG’s defense, with only five more episodes something like this was bound to happen. 

I’m late to the party, but I’ve found myself hooked on the show “Making Fiends”.  It was a quick hook, since there are only six episodes Nicktoons is showing (supposedly they have 20 done, but aren’t showing the rest for some reason).  The show is based on a web-toon, and I’ll probably start watching those soon.  I never imagined liking anything from a Nickelodeon network, as I’ve been a big Cartoon Network guy for years.  Lately, CN’s new shows haven’t grabbed me.  Nicktoons runs the hell out of a show called “My Life as a Teenage Robot” that I’m borderline hooked on.  Their new “Wolverine and the X-Men” show is turning into the best X-Men show yet, and their new Iron Man show starts in April.  CN gets points for their new Batman show, and for renewing “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”.  This winter they’ll have the new “Marvel Super-Hero Squad”, a show based around those highly stylized action figures you can find in a two pack that look like they’re made for three year olds.  I’m curious to see how that works, and if they use Punisher and Ghost Rider (I have their Super Hero Squad figures guarding my computer). 

Baseball is starting to fire up again.  I could write a rambling screed about A-rod, but I’m trying to focus on the actual playing of the game.  It should be an interesting year around the league.  MLB Network is making me a bit more of a fan, if that was possible.  This weekend they’re rerunning a bunch of games from the 1980s, when my card collecting was at its peak.  One of the games is Ryne Sandberg’s two-homer game against the Cardinals in 1984.  I really hope they use the WGN feed for that. 

I’m starting to worry I’m developing acid reflux.  I’m waking up at night on the verge of vomiting, even when my stomach is empty.  My throat actually hurt this morning, and the feeling was akin to a burning sensation.  I shouldn’t be surprised, as this ol’ bod has 35 years on it.  Things are bound to start going wrong.  I swear I only drove it on Sundays.

I finally watched Joss Whedon’s new show last night, and it left me with a bit of a “meh” feeling.  I’m curious to keep watching, as the episode got better as the show went on.  I’m trying not to get attached, as FOX has it on a Friday night, which is pretty much a death slot.  I’ve started hoping that the guys behind the Terminator show wrote their season finale as a series finale.  The show was down almost two million viewers in the show’s new Friday night slot.  I’d go on a rant like I used to when I was trying to save Veronica Mars, but the demise of that show left me a bit jaded.

Things are going swell at home.  Braeden is starting to wake up more at night, which we’ve read can happen at this age.  He decided to arise at 6 AM this morning, after a nice few weeks of 7:30 AM sleep.  He’s laughed a few times in front of me, and he almost slithered this morning for me.  My brother and I walked before we could crawl, and Braeden looks like he isn’t getting the hang of crawling as much as he loves being in a jumper.  Kate has been such a stellar mom for the little guy.  He reacts to her in ways he never does for me.  Sometimes I still look at him and think to myself I have no idea what I’m doing.  For a long time I’ve wanted children, but at the same time I spent quite a few formative years without a father figure in the picture.  I know I whine about this about once a month on the blog, but I’m still nervous about the situation. 

Has anyone who reads this written a novel or something similar?  My year long blog project is set to end next week, and after that I’ll take about a week break and then start working on a novel I’ve been plotting out.  I don’t have any really specific questions.  Just some general comments about how other people have approached the subject would be helpful. 

On that note, I’ll call it a day.  Have a good rest of the week everyone.

Godzilla vs. Snot-zilla (oh, and songs too)

Sorry for the title.  With the cold I have I feel like a snot-zilla.  It does beg the question: is “Godzilla” the second best Blue Oyster Cult hit, or does that title go to “Burnin’ for  You”?

Think about it.  Then, think about these.

KKCK:

The Fray “You Found Me”
Am I the only one who finds it funny that ABC is using this song to promote “Lost”?  If you dug the Fray’s piano rock the last time around, this song won’t do much to change your mind.  This song actually sounds like a second album song, as the band’s sound is more…well, just more.  Everything seems bigger this time around, and that’s not uncommon for a young band.  This is probably the most time and money they’ve spent on an album, and the pressure to get it right with a fickle audience has caused many a band to press.  The Fray don’t deviate from their sound, but rather they just make it a bit bigger and more sweeping without totally ruining how they sound.  This should be a big hit, but I’ve been wrong before.

Lesley Roy “Unbeautiful”
This new Irish singer has been a project in the works for a few years, and now Jive is reaping some return.  Her wiki entry links to a Starpulse article that claims her sound is a mix of Avril Lavigne and Melissa Ethridge.  I get more of a Dar Williams with Lucinda Williams, or at least Lucinda’s smoking habit (does she smoke?  her voice tells me yes but really I don’t know).  The song gets points for tripping my spell-check as well, as “unbeautiful” hasn’t made it into the lexicon like “meh” or “truthiness”.  Upon spell-checking, those words aren’t found either.  Get with it wordpress.

Pink “Sober”
Here we have a star lamenting the end of her hard partying ways.  Oddly, it isn’t Britney.  What I really love about Pink is that she’s not afraid to tackle subjects and concepts her contemporaries avoid.  The song isn’t a mover like “So What” but it doesn’t tread into mushy ballad-land either.  It’s a slower pink song, and those tend to do very well.  Here’s hoping Pink sticks around a while.

Pick to click: Pink, just barely over the Fray, who are just barely over Lesley Roy.  This was a good week.

Have you seen this story at CNN about “Tivo Guilt”?  Isn’t it amazing that technology both solves old problems and somehow creates new ones?  I’m totally there as far as Tivo guilt (though technically mine is Moxi guilt).  I’m three weeks behind on “Terminator: TSCC” and Kate asked why I’m still recording it if I’m not into it anymore.  The thing is that show is my second favorite show (“30 Rock” FTW) but I tend to put it off until the weekend, and the last few weekends I’ve been so tired after the Shag I just go to bed.  If I let it slide much longer, I’ll have four episodes in the DVR.  That’s a time commitment akin to watching the first two Terminator movies.  It doesn’t help that I record two shows that are on four nights a week (Daily and Colbert) and two shows that are on five nights a week (“X-Play” and “Late Late Show w/Craig Ferguson”).  The article hits the nail on the head about TV becoming almost a chore because the box only has so much space.  If the hard drive was bigger I have a feeling the problem would only get worse, because the urge to “watch it later” would be stronger.  I have most of the weekend off, and we specifically planned for a weekend where we didn’t have any plans, so hopefully I’ll find out what John, Sarah and Cameron have been up to.

Since Thanksgiving, the only real update on my front is the cold.  Kate does not have it yet, which is really odd.  We’re totally screwing up the order in which illness is being passed around.  I just checked, and Kate is still being an all-star mom.  Braeden is another story.  He cries.  A lot.  A lot lot lot.  Sometimes he’ll be happy giggly baby and then he goes right to screaming his head off.  It has been the cause of some stress and frustration for Kate and I, because all we want to do is make it better, but it seems nothing does.  The doctor thinks it could be acid reflux, so we’re trying some baby-prevacid or something like that.  The kick in the pants is that Kate’s friends who have babies don’t have this problem (seriously…to a person they’re all raising little angels or something).  She needs to hear from some people who raised little banshees.  The real irony here is that I do know of one mother who had a baby who screamed all the time.  My mother was that mother.  For years my mom has told me she could not wait for me to have my own kids, and she laughed a bit maniacally each time she said it.  It turns out I was a lot like Braeden in the crying all the time department, but I’m at work eight hours a day.  Kate is the one who’s getting what I deserve, and that is totally not fair.  Sure, I get a few hours of “wahhhhh!” when I wake up or get home, but it really isn’t right that Kate has to deal with my bad baby karma.  Parents of banshees, help me out.  We can’t be the only ones raising an air raid siren.

I’m contemplating what to do with my blogs in January.  Russ4life isn’t changing, and my MySpace blog isn’t going away (it would be nice if they would add some new freakin’ features…the blog interface is almost the same as it was the day I signed up, and I lost count of how many wordpress updates have happened since I signed up).  Cliffhanger Theater will come to an end in February, as the story will finally be done.  I’ll either start a new one but not a daily one, and the characters will be different.  I might go back to some of the characters someday.  I’ve found myself getting so attached to some of them.  I’ve spent a little time out of each day with them, and now that the story is building to a conclusion I’m having trouble deciding who gets to make it to the ending.  I thought of doing a “Cliffhanger Theater: Director’s Cut” where I go back and actually clean things up, proofread, and fix bad dialogue.  Kate wants me to condense it into something I could try to get published.  One Month in 1984 will probably get one more entry, and then it will probably get rebooted.  I feel I’ve purged my brain of all of my thoughts on my time in New Mexico, and after wrapping it up sometime soon I’ll start the blog over with a new focus and theme, but I’ll keep the URL the same just in case I manage to get back to Farmington someday.  Verbiage Dump has settled into a nice mirror for my MySpace blog, and a place to stick other odds and ends about music.  KKCK Music News is still around until KKCK’s website comes back.  After that, I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, since everything I do there I’ll be doing at the KKCK site.  One blog I have a link to at Russ4life that is inaccessible is 13shots.  That was my original book idea, and I would still like to write it someday.  The problem is that when I started, I was dealing with a lot of sadness that I’ve carried around for a long time.  When I started working on Cliffhanger Theater, the purpose was to get practice writing in hopes of making 13shots better.  Writing on a regular basis has actually brought me out of the cloudy skies, so my head isn’t the right place to write 13shots right now (it will be a very depressing book in spots).  The time may come again someday where I’ll be in the right headspace to work on 13shots, but until then I’ll keep it hidden so I have the basic structure ready to go.  Originally I wanted to do some fanfic, but I’ve had plenty of original ideas since then.  I might use the One Month in 1984 URL for some of that, but I’m still deciding. 

Hey, two long blogs two weeks in a row.  How ’bout that?

A day late and a turkey short

Who’s up for bologna on white?

KKCK:

Beyonce “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
I’ve never been the biggest fan of Destiny’s Child or Beyonce, but I wouldn’t describe myself as an anti-fan either.  The fast songs I tend to like longer (“Crazy in Love”, “Ring the Alarm”, “Survivor”) more than the slow ones (“Irreplaceable”), so I was quite happy to get this one to play along with “If I Were a Boy”.  “Single Ladies” doesn’t have the raw emotion and raw sound of “Ring the Alarm” that I found so refreshing, but “Ring the Alarm” wasn’t a big hit, so doing a song with more in common with “Crazy in Love” makes total sense.  If you didn’t see her bit on SNL with this song, involving Justin Timberlake, Andy Samberg and Bobby Moynihan, get thee to NBC.com now.

Pussycat Dolls “I Hate this Part”
MTV writer, musical Bon vivant, and blogger James Montgomery listed PCD’s album as one of 2008’s “top turkeys”.  I haven’t heard enough to make that assumption, but this song is akin to that can of cranberries.  Some people like it, but one sometimes wonders if it is really necessary.  I could make a joke about how “berries” are better if they’re “fresh” and “real”, but that seems a bit over the top.

The Airbourne Toxic Event “Sometime Around Midnight”
Step one: Watch me at every party/bar/gathering I went to in college
Step two: write a song about a guy who totally whiffs because he didn’t go for it
Step three: profit make ‘em open the box playlist on KKCK?
At first I didn’t care for this song, but if you give it time it just might grow on you.  I can’t remember the last song we played that didn’t have a bona fide hook, or one that didn’t have a chorus at all.  Sadly, this band suffers from a disease called “Brit-itis” which makes them sound a bit British (or a lot British in parts) even though they hail from Los Angeles, California.  Do I really need to put the California part in?  Is there a Los Angeles, U.K.?

Pick to click: Beyonce

I apologize for my Wednesday blog being late this week.  Work was rather busy, and will only be busier on Friday.  My Wednesday night was spent talking to an old friend who I hadn’t spoken to in quite some time, and baking a pie.  Some of you might be bored with this story, so here’s the short version.  I said “how hard can it be” in regards to making pecan pie, so I was tasked with making said pie for Thanksgiving.  I’m not sure where pecan pie ranks in terms of pie difficulty, but as far as a first time pie-maker goes, it wasn’t as easy as I thought, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought either.  I made the decision to go for broke, so I found a recipe on Foot Network’s website that included making the crust from scratch (everyone told me to go with a frozen one).  I made the crust on Tuesday night, and let it chill overnight (the instructions said at least an hour, so I thought 24 hours would be even better).  The problem with the overnight chilling was that our fridge seems to be a bit on the cold side, and the dough got a bit dry and sticky.  I had to wet it down a smidge and really flour the rolling area before I had the right size and consistency.  Just making the crust brought back a lot of smell-induced memories from my childhood.  My mom isn’t the greatest cook ever, but she is a heck of a baker.  Her apple pies are the stuff of station legend.  Anyway, once I had the crust frozen for 30 minutes, I threw it in the oven so I could start on the filling.  The pecans I bought weren’t toasted, so those got a quick trip in the toaster oven.  While those toasted, the corn syrup, brown sugar and butter got their boil on.  The pecans were supposed to be chopped, but there wasn’t time.  So, chopping gave way to a bowl and a potato masher.  The pecans, vanilla and bourbon (Jim Beam black label) went into the filling mix, and the crust was taken out of the oven.  The instructions told me to place the crust on a sheet pan rather than bake it inside the pie pan, but somewhere along the line my crust had developed a crack, so Kate helped me get it back in the pan when the leak became unfixable.  45 minutes later, the pie was out of the oven and it looked ready to go.  The moment of truth is later today, and then I’ll know if I can attempt a pie I’ll actually like.  That’s the twist ending: I don’t even like pecan pie.

Braeden and Kate had doctor appointments yesterday.  Kate is in great health, and Braeden is freakin’ huge.  After two months, he’s 25 inches and 15.6 pounds.  A friend of ours has a four month old that isn’t that big yet!  I keep joking we’re raising a pro wrestler or a linebacker, and I’m starting to wonder if I should stop joking about that.  He’s stating to get very giggly and smiley, and soon he won’t be napping so much.  That’s when I can start regaling him in tales of the Cybertronian War, the principles of the Federation, the threat of COBRA, and why he shouldn’t pick the Yankees as his favorite baseball team.  Maybe I’ll work in the alphabet somewhere if I have a chance.

Over the past four days four albums have found their way into my head.  Guns n’ Roses finally dropped Chinese Democracy, and lo, it was good.  Ten year wait good?  Well…maybe not ten year wait good.  I need to give it a few more listens before I can quantify how many years worth of wait it was really worth.  I’m just happy it is finally out and the saga of it coming out is over with.  Maybe Axl can relax and get the next one out in just five years.  Kanye West’s new CD is out and…yeah.  Look, auto-tune is fine.  If I want auto-tune, I just need to hear any song with T-Pain, or I can buy a freakin’ T-Pain album.  I liked about half of the album, and there was one song that I liked even more than “Love Lockdown” but at the moment I can’t remember what that song was called.  Next up the Killers returned with Day and Age.  I think this one will have to grow on me, much like Sam’s Town.  Actually, I think the only Killers CD that I liked right away was Sawdust, which was a b-sides album.  Brandon Flowers, make with more b-sides please.  It was looking like G’n'R was the winner, but then Ludacris stepped up and took care of business.  Here’s how good this album is.  I was starting to listen to it while cutting commercials for HyVee, and I had to shut it off because I was laughing too much.  Ludacris exercised a few demons on Release Therapy, so now he’s back to his humorous ways on Theater of the Mind.  The CD was the soundtrack to my pie-making, and if good music helps you bake this pie should be outstanding.  Since I made the pie, I’ll settle for edible.

Other things I’m really liking in November: Kate, Braeden, our cats, Quantum of Solace (better than Casino Royale IMHO), Knight Rider, Terminator: TSCC, the Star Trek trailer, work, gas prices of late, Night Court reruns on TV Land and Arbys.

Things I’m not fond of: worrying about the budget, waiting for BSG to come back, the new Star Trek trailer, and how much Arby’s costs.

The wee one is demanding sacrifice!  Or, at least his bottle.  Happy tryptophan overdosing day.

How come concession speeches don’t have concession stands?

How about a blog with almost nothing about the election?

KKCK:

Kanye West “Love Lockdown”
When I heard that Kanye’s next CD was going to be almost all vocoder singing, and no rapping, I was really worried that it would be like another Medullaby Bjork (an album that gets away from what the artist does well).  Then, it dawned on me that while my initial reaction to that CD was bad, I’ve really grown to like it.  Then I heard this song, and my worries were gone.  That drum beat is crazy-intense-groovy-good, and the vocals work in a weird way.  Now I just have to wait for 808s and Heartbreaks, and maybe wait long enough to get a free copy, unlike the last album (I bought it Tuesday, free copy arrived Wednesday).

Brandy “Right Here (Departed)”
Where have you been Brandy?  Your TV star ballad cred got a work over with the herky-jerky “What About Us”, then you kinda vanished.  I thought your comeback would be more along the lines of “Almost Doesn’t Count” or the forgettable “The Boy is Mine (with Monica)” (hey, what happened to Monica?).  Instead, you try to woo us back with a song that has the radio appeal of your ballads but with an uptempo beat.  Well played Brandy.  I’ve never been a huge fan, but this song should be just what you need to pad your chart stats.

Anberlin “The Feel Good Drag”
This week’s songs break into three camps.  The “duhs”, the “huhs” and the “hurrs?”.  This would be the middle “hurr?” song.  Anberlin is a band I thought would crack CHR eventually, but this wasn’t the song I thought would do it.  Anberlin give this number a more timeless hard rock sound, and it’s a song that could have been a rock success pretty much every year since 1992.  The only slants that show are a slightly “emo” rock vocal and an almost metal riff that proves to be a mental sticky note, or series of notes.

Slightly Stoopid “2 AM”
Reggae inspired folky rock that tries to channel mellower Sublime with vocals that almost remind me of Akon?  Uh, okay.  The lyric content of this one could be trouble, since the word “weed” didn’t get edited, and it pops up a fair amount.  The band also didn’t provide a decent edit for time, and it clocks in at close to five minutes, with the last two minutes being music w/o lyrics.  If the song keeps moving upward, I’m sure a shorter (and maybe more edited) version will float our way.  I’ve never been into songs like this, but the curiosity calls that came in tell me some listeners are, and it was as clear as sending “smoke” signals.

Guns n’ Roses “Chinese Democracy”
The second “huh” add of the week isn’t that much of a huh, really.  Regardless of how many CHRs are playing the song, KKCK has never shied away from playing G’n'R in the past, and the release of Chinese Democracymay be a once in a lifetime album release event, in that no other album has gestated this long with people still waiting.  We can argue all day and night about whether this song sounds like G’n'R or not, but at worst the song is catchy, new, and the guitar riff at the beginning makes the song stand out on a CHR station.  Axl, we stand with you.

Pick to click: Kanye West

No more election commercials!  w00t!  Now, I can get back to reading about things like Knight Rider (still getting better) and Battlestar Galactica (the end begins in January) and 30 Rock (ratings are up but they still aren’t as good as they should be) and Transformers Animated (seriously, when are we getting new episodes).  Oh, and music, movies and other stuff that really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.  Plus, now I get to share all my nerd-dom with Braeden.  Will he rebel and like NASCAR, NFL, and country music?  Or, will he embrace the sci-fi, the D&D, the toy collecting, Spooncat, They Might Be Giants, and baseball?

Ask again in a few years.

This concludes the music blog for the week.  I wanted to write about politics, but I know that tensions among some are still high after last night.  I love talking (and to some extent arguing) about politics, but if you’re sick of ‘em, here’s the deal.  I’ll write that blog later and post it separately (for the Verbiage Dump readers, it will be here and here).  So, if you are sick of reading about it or don’t want to read about it, just skip the next one. 

Disclaimer out.