Five songs, then a lot of blah-blah

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

KKCK:

Backstreet Boys “Straight Through My Heart”
So, Backstreet’s back…again.  The last time they came back, the song that heralded their return was pure boy band mush.  This time, they come back with a song with some zing, and it’s a more welcome comeback.  It’s also a more daring choice, and I’ll give them credit for that.

Lady Gaga “Paparazzi”
In just about a year, Lady Gaga went from being a curiosity to being able to drop a single on us that will do really well no matter what I say.  Rather than just type gibberish, I’d like to thank Lady Gaga for all the material she’s given KKCK music news.  Be it crazy fashion, crazy quotes, or straight up crazy, Lady Gaga has been a gold mine.  I hope she never goes away, or at least doesn’t while I’m doing music news.

Owl City “Fireflies”
This one is starting to make a run at CHR, while also surging on the alternative chart.  I can understand the Top-40 aspirations of the song, but I’m not sure why it’s rising so fast on the alt-chart.  The first time I heard this song it immediately registered as a pop rock song.  It doesn’t sound like anything else we’re playing, which is always a plus in my world.

3OH!3 “Starstrukk”
I really don’t want to like this song.  I don’t care for the lyrics, and even the edited version makes me nervous.  Something about the herky-jerky beat is irresistible to my ears, no matter how I try to remember why I don’t want to like the song.  3OH!3 is coming off a #1 single, so the follow up is almost always a sure thing on the charts, with few exceptions.

Bowling for Soup “My Wena”
In all my years of radio broadcasting, no song has prompted an angrier caller than this one, and that includes “The Bad Touch” and “Birthday Sex”.  The song is as catchy as any other B4S hit, but the band does go a bit far with the lyrics.  I didn’t think this one would cause too many problems, but I might have misjudged the market.  At least now I can say ” ‘my wena’ got me in trouble at work, but I didn’t get fired.”

Pick to click: Lady Gaga

About a year and a half ago, I started using WordPress as a blogging site, while continuing my weekly (kinda) work blog at MySpace (and later mirrored at WP).  Eventually my WP account had swelled to seven blogs, all dealing with different things.  While I wish I had enough time in the day to update them all regularly, there just isn’t a good way to do that.  I don’t want to spend my son’s childhood at work eight hours a day, and at a computer when I’m home and he’s awake.  Nor do I wish to spend every waking second typing and miss out on spending time with my wife, who has been nothing but supportive of my writing endeavors.  About the time I started writing, I started working on a book that fit my mental state at the time.  However, the actual writing process brought me to a place where I couldn’t work on the book I had started.  I bought a small notebook that I could jot other book ideas in, and soon I had filled over fifty pages with ideas for stories, books, and other things I wanted to write about.  One of those ideas was another novel concept, and I started working on that a few months ago.  With my writing time already spread out among other blogs, the work on this new project has been slow.  The other day an old friend posted a link to a humorous article by a book editor, which detailed the best ways to not get your manuscript looked at.  There was a link to another of her works, which was a test on being cut out to be a writer.  I took the mini quiz, and I scored in the range that said I was close, but it was time to get serious. 

If you’re reading this on MySpace, there’s no cause for alarm.  I’ve been doing these weekly new music blogs since 2004, and they won’t stop.  My blogging at russ4life will now be more sporadic, and 52 Cards is going on hiatus.  Cliffhanger Theater 2 may be postponed, and the 13 Shots blog will be largely unaffected, since I rarely post there anyway.  I may delete fanwitch entirely, but I haven’t decided yet.  I get a few views there, but the bulk of my views are still at my MySpace blog.  The time has come to focus the majority of my energy on finishing the big project, and then submitting it.  The odds of anything happening with it are astronomically low, but I at least want to make an effort. 

It’s been a while since I made the sentiment, but I want to thank all the regular readers for being regulars.  It means a lot.

How to go on when the thrill is gone

How to go on…

KKCK:

Miley Cyrus “The Climb”
Well…this is the only new song this week.  By default, it is both the best and words, hottest and coldest, and dopest and illest.  The song is one of those soaring ballads, that starts quiet and sparse but gets loud and full by the end.  Miley’s voice is pushed to the limit (maybe too far) on this one, and that’s how it should be because the song is the lead single from the Hannah Montana movie soundtrack.  So…yeah.  Let’s just wrap this part of the blog up.

Pick to Click: Miley Cyrus

By the way, comments are always welcome.  However, this week I’m going to ask for them on a few topics:

1.  Is it just me, or is MySpace slowly dying on the vine?  I’m still getting a lot of random blog views, but comments are few and far between.  When I have the notice that I have “new blog posts” to read, almost all of them are singers, bands, or some other blog written by a famous person or whomever writes their blogs for them.  I double post the blog now to one of my wordpress blogs, but it doesn’t get the views that my MySpace blog does.  That’s why the MySpace blog is still my main blog, at least in my mind.  I’ve stopped listing it as my “web site” on places like Twitter, and I gave my russ4life blog as a destination in our Christmas letter (er, I mean Weevil did).  I had Facebook set to import my blogs for a while, but it stopped doing it after a while.  That was fine with me, as it usually just cropped it off and made people click on the link to get back to the original post.  I’ve started posting the new music blog at my Last.fm profile, but I only have one friend there.  I’m not sure of the general rule of thumb for adding/meeting people on that site is.  I should have joined it years ago, because I love some of the features it has.  Speaking of features, would it kill MySpace to add some new features to the blog section?  Should I slowly begin the transition to another home, or just keep pluggin’ away here?

2. Between MySpace, Last.fm, and wordpress I have eight places where I blog.  I thought separatingthem by various topic was a good idea, but I’ve been wondering if condensing them into one or two is a good idea.  I’d probably want to keep fiction and non-fiction writing apart.  Any opinions out there?

3. Animal Collective and TV on the Radio: I’m still wondering what I’m missing here.  I keep hearing how great those two bands are, but every time I try to listen I just don’t enjoy or appreciate it.  Anyone?  Anybody?

Now, back to the part of the blog where I don’t fish for comments (but hey, go nuts if you want…I’m in a comment readin’ mood).

BSG didn’t kill my favorite character…yet.  I get the feeling that at least some of the main characters are going to bite it before the end of the show next month.  I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by speculating that the Galactica herself might not make it to the end.  There was a scene in last week’s ep in the engine room, and a character  noticed what looked like either damage or metal stress fatigue.  Either way, the show has done a mostly good job of showing the Galactica getting more and more beat to hell.  Don’t forget, in the miniseries the Galactica was the oldest ship and was on her way to be decommissioned.  Aside from my favorite character (who I don’t mention anymore to avoid being spoilery) my second favorite would probably be the Galactica herself. 

Then, there’s Knight Rider.  Two episodes to go for the first season.  No word on the second, but I’d be totally shocked.  Granted, stranger renewals (Sledge Hammer comes to mind, since they ended season one with a nuclear explosion because they were so confident there wouldn’t be a second season) have happened.

There was more I wanted to type today, but the muse escaped.  I’ll have to build a better cage next week.

Thursday is not the new Wednesday (4 & more)

I’m a day late.  Decide my punishment in the comments.

KKCK:

John Legend w/Andre 3000 “Green Light”
I was all about this song about a month or two ago.  The song was huge, and now CHR is giving it a run so it can live once more.  The more I hear John Legend the more I want to hear more John Legend.  Quite frankly, I’d call it a crime this song wasn’t pushed harder and wasn’t a big CHR hit last year.  If not for the lull in new songs it might have never made it for some reason.  I’m not sure why CHR hasn’t given John more love over the years. 

Lady Gaga “Poker Face”
A few days ago I linked to a story about Lady Gaga lighting her thongs on fire.  I’ve had a hard time focusing on this song since then.  Why did it take this long for a song about poker to make it?  I bet Lady Gaga has a great poker face.  Even if she doesn’t, she lights her thongs on freakin’ fire.  Who’d look at her face when anytime a fire may start in her nether regions?

Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat “Lucky”
After a confab with the co-workers, it was decided that if Jason and Colbie had covered Britney’s “Lucky”, that would have been comedy gold.  GOLD I tell you!  Anyway, instead we get a nice duet that should nuzzle up to the top ten on the AC chart for months, and maybe a top twenty spot on CHR.  Then again, I didn’t think Jason had a #1 in him, and “I’m Yours” proved me wrong.

Kelly Clarkson “My Life Would Suck Without You”
On Kelly’s last CD, she wrote her own material and did things her way.  Now that the music business has beaten those dreams down, she embraces the American pop music machine once again, and takes on a song that should be a big hit, thanks to a combination of name recognition and solid production.  Is it just me or does she sound less than enthusiastic on this track?  Even her album cover conveys a message of “well, my way didn’t work, so back to the grind” with the way she’s pulling on her jacket, and the forced look of interest.  I could be reading into it too much, but I will probably never know.

Pick to click: Kelly Clarkson.  Congrats.  Now get back to work.

I do apologize for being late this week.  I had to catch up on a few other blogs, and we’ve had some doctor visits mixed in.  Kate’s got something kinda odd going on with her abdomen, and the doctors are so far stumped.  The ultimate frustration came yesterday during the ultrasound.  The tech couldn’t tell us what she was seeing, and her doctor won’t be able to tell her the results from the lab until Friday.  There’s a small chance it could be serious, but it most likely isn’t.  We’re just hoping it doesn’t affect her knee surgery next week.  Her meniscus is completely torn, and this seemed like as good a time as any to get it fixed.  She’s been trying to keep her spirits up, but she often claims she’s “falling apart”.  I just hope I can continue to help hold her together. 

The final ten BSGs start this Friday.  I’m not getting as excited as I thought I would.  I keep thinking of how Ron Moore ended DS9, which leads me to think it will be bittersweet at best.  I just don’t know how they’re going to wrap everything up, and I know I won’t like it.  I wonder if BSG will get re-imagined again someday in a totally different way?  Hopefully not the Knight Rider way, even though I’m enjoying the show for the sheer fact I can’t believe it’s still on.  The upcoming fight between KITT (as a Mustang) vs. KARR (now some kind of ATV/robot transformer) should be a highlight of the first (and probably only) season.

After reading all the hype, I downloaded the new Animal Collective CD.  I’m not feeling this “album of the year” buzz.  Besides, would that be some kind of record?  If an album came out that mind-blowingly awesome in January, how excited would you be to drop a CD in June?  Or even March? 

I’m going to clear out my Last.FM data later today, and re-import it.  It bothers me that I had a bunch of artists misspelled or incorrectly labeled.  The one that burned me the most was Tripping Daisy.  I had that song on my first iPod, and all this time the song was marked “Tripping Dasy”.  Granted, it is only one song, but “I Got a Girl” is worth the proper spelling.

Time for another Hot Pocket.  Have a swell post-Wednesday.

What? He posted on time and for more than 100 words?

On time but still a dollar short.  How did that happen?

KKCK:

White Tie Affair “Candle (sick and tired)”
What, we’re a formal establishment now?  Well then, let me say that the melodious sounds of the White Tie Affair are not of the most exquisite upbringing, but this ragamuffin band of youngsters blend their synthesized beats with a contemporary pop-rock sound that is delightful as music at your more rambunctious tea parties.  Smashing.

Christina Milian “Us Against the World”
When Ms. Milian dropped “AM to PM” I thought she’d be sticking around and having a solid, Pink-esque career.  Instead, she had the minor hit “Dip It Low” (with the slightly odd video of her pouring oil or something on herself) and she went on to star in such…video games as Need for Speed: Undercover.  This song isn’t bad, but it doesn’t stand out from songs of a similar genre. 

The Offspring “Kristy, Are You Doing OK?”
When did the Offspring become a comma band?  They follow up “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” with this number.  Consider that both have commas and both commas are near words starting with “K”.  Plus, “are” and “far” share two common letters.  The new song has one less letter, but one more contraction that, when removed and replaced with “you are”, brings the total of both songs to nineteen.  Plus, they both employ “are” and “you” but reversed.  The only logical theory I can offer is that Kristy is the kid who went far, and is now having trouble with fame.  True, listening to the lyrics might also solve this riddle, but how can you ignore those patterns?  It’s math people.  Oh, and the song is the closest I can recall the Offspring getting on the charts with something ballad-like

BONUS last week bits

Saving Abel “18 Days”
“Rarr!  Rawk band rock out!  Rawk band sing bout sex.  Rawk band need more airplay.  Me know!  Ballad aimed at top 40!  We play, fans make audience fire.  We get rawk groupies.  RAAWWWWK!”
I can only theorize this is the thought process behind this song.  Granted, maybe they aren’t as Neanderthal-rock as Hinder (because, you know, books are lame and for losers) but they sound enough like them for me to chuck ‘em in that bin.  If you’re into it, enjoy it.  I’m not, so let’s move on.

All-American Rejects “Gives You Hell”
Ever since “Swing Swing” I’ve been expecting this band to release a single I didn’t like.  The thing is, they don’t.  This song has a great chorus to sing along to when you’re in the mood to sing a song with a certain someone in mind who you aren’t wishing good tidings towards. 

Alter Bridge “Watch Over You”
If ever this band did a song that Creed could do, this one is it.  However, hearing Myles Kennedy sing it instead of Scott Stapp makes me not hate it.  So…I don’t know what else to say.  Awkward.

Pick to click last week: All American Rejects
Pick to click this week: White Tie Affair

I’m currently trying to pick my top 20 albums of 2008.  Much like 2007, there were a lot of good songs, and a lack of good, cohesive, solid front-to-back albums.  There’s always the chance I missed the best album of the year, but I’ll try to stand by my choice in the coming years.  For the readers at wordpress, here’s a look back at my choices over the years:

1992 AC/DC Live
1993 Anthrax [sound of white noise]
1994 Dangerous Toys Pissed
1995 Warrant Ultraphobic
1996 Sheryl Crow Sheryl Crow
1997 Megadeth Cryptic Writings
1998 Rob Zombie Hellbilly Deluxe
1999 Marvelous 3 Hey! Album
2000 Sarah Harmer You Were Here
2001 Josie and the Pussycats Josie and the Pussycats: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
2002 Reverend Horton Heat Lucky 7
2003 Evanescence Fallen
2004 The Wildhearts The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed
2005 Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine
2006 MC Lars The Graduate
2007 Rilo Kiley Under the Blacklight

Read into that list what you will. 

Inspiration has been striking me a lot more lately, which sucks because I bruise easily.  I mean blog easily.  I mean I’ve started a new project, sort of.  The picture that inspired this new undertaking can be found at 52cards.wordpress.com.  Like Cliffhanger Theater, this one will be a year long project, but with weekly updates instead of daily ones.  I’m working on the first post, which should be up sometime tomorrow.  My top album of 2008 should be up here a bit later. 

If you don’t stop by later, have a great New Year’s Eve, and a great 2009.  If you do, just scroll down and read this line again.

Last week, this week, and Thursday?

I’ll go back and do a bit o’ commentary on the new songs from last week tomorrow, along with some words on the new songs.

Thursday I launch my big blog project for 2009.  Early discussion and a preview is available now.  Do take a gander at the image I’ve posted.  I’d like to hear what the first, second or even third thing you think of is.

Four are usually not fantastic…

…but we give this week a B+ for effort.

KKCK:

David Archuleta “Crush”
It cranks up the intensity bar set by David Cook.  Well, maybe 1/4 turn.  He has more of the “Idol” voice I expect to hear when I hear one of these songs.  Curiously, his song seems to be rising faster than David Cook’s song, which has been out for several weeks now. 

Shwayze “Corona and Lime”
Patrick Swayze jokes aside, this song really took me by surprise.  Once a week we get some CDs called “Hit discs” which contain all the major songs going for adds in a given week.  This song was tucked in with the “Urban/CHR Rhythmic” tracks, and fairly deep into that section.  Usually those songs are the rap songs like Three 6 Mafia and T.I.  This song has a real smooth flow and a chorus that is hard not to sing along to, and the song is in no way daypartable, unless the station is one of those “variety without rock and rap” stations, in which case this might be a night only track.  Since our variety tends towards “more rock and some rap” the “Corona and Lime” can flow all day.

Apocalyptica “I Don’t Care”
You’re right.  I don’t.  I’m more interested in a band that rhymes with Apocalyptica that’s feeding their new single tomorrow.  No offense is intended toward the band, but their choice of singer (dude from 3DG) didn’t help me like this one.

Linkin Park “Leave Out All the Rest”
Since I work at a Top-40 station, I have a great working knowledge of Linkin Park radio tracks.  Sure, I have their three studio albums as well, but their radio songs are fire-branded into my brain.  Where does this one fit in?  Well, I think it has less oomph than “In the End”, but in a good way.  “Numb” isn’t even a good comparison, as the song has about as much in common with that as it does “Somewhere I Belong”.  “What I’ve Done” burned the whole album for me, but this song should have been released sooner, as it ranks a bit ahead of “Shadow of the Day”.  It still pales to what I consider LP’s best radio friendly track, “Breaking the Habit”.  Originally I was going to do a bit about how all their songs sound the same, but looking at their list of radio hits, there is a lot of variety here.  I’ll have to save that rant for the next Nickelback album.

Pick to click: Shwayze

This.  A thousand times THIS.  How much of my soul do I have to sell to get this to happen?

This past weekend was one of the better weekends I can recall.  Kate and I had a free night in a hotel in Sioux Falls, and we found pretty much everything we needed for baby that we didn’t have yet.  It was also a breakthrough weekend of sorts for me.  It’s been my practice in the past to bottle up things that bothered me, until the contents were under a great deal of pressure and led to some kind of angry outburst (almost always when I’m alone).  Every woman I’ve dated has done something that bothered me at some point, and I never said much of anything because…I was afraid of losing them.  Even being married to Kate for over a year hadn’t changed this habit.  I still had a fear that if I voiced something that annoyed/angered/bothered me at the time, it would do more harm than good, and I’d end up alone again.  It sounds silly to think that one goof would cause me to think that way, but that’s how my brain works for various reasons.  Anyway, Kate did do something that annoyed me at B&N, and I actually said something while it was still fresh in our minds.  Shocker here…we’re not separated.  In fact, she thanked me for saying something and apologized for what happened.  I’m not saying I have a lot to complain about, far from it.  It was just a big leap forward for my brain to know it doesn’t have to bottle everything up, and to know I can voice something and not worry about being dissed and dismissed. 

This fall is going to be crazy everywhere in my brain.  My life is getting that “big change” only a child can deliver, but there’s a distraction wherever I look.  Shirley Manson on the new season of “Terminator”.  New albums are dropping from Metallica, AC/DC and Guns n’ Roses (I want to believe!).  Never mind what’s shaping to be a monumental election, and a Yankees free post-season.  I’m supposed to keep an eye and ear on all this and know which side of the diaper goes where?   I don’t think my life has ever been this nuts, and the emphasis is on nuts, because I can’t wait for it all to hit me at once. 

Finally, we have Rob Schrab.  If you are a fan of Rob’s work and have never read Scud: the Disposable Assassin, you fail at everything.  I have been waiting for ten years to see how the story ends, but I’m re-reading the first twenty issues in the book first.  Anyone posting spoilers in the comments gets de-friended .

3 isn’t inspiring any subject material

So let’s get to it.

KKCK:

Estelle w/Kanye West “American Boy”
Once in a while a song comes along.  This song stands out from others by the unique ability to make me want to do things, unspeakable things.  I believe the proper term is “dancing” but nothing I do resembles such an activity.  Yet, the beat and music behind Estelle’s unique voice cause my so-called “booty” to “move”.  It is a phenomenon that is hard to control, and for the most part I’ve experienced without witnesses, not counting cats.  This might explain the cat vomit clean ups so far this week.

Saving Abel “Addicted”
We’re playing the “amended lyrics” version, so it went from borderline PG-13/R to mostly PG.  It’s like seeing a movie on TV when you’re a kid, and you know there are swears and scenes cut out.  Then, you get older and rent the film on VHS or DVD, and realize you weren’t missing much, and the movie wasn’t that good anyway.  If this song was an action film aimed at a male demographic, it would be a Spike original film written by one of the better writers of SciFi original movies, and would star somebody you swore you remembered from some show that was cancelled pretty quickly.  SciFi keeps making stuff like “Mansqito”, so if you’re in that percentile, enjoy the song.  I’ll pass if that’s cool with you.

Lifehouse “Broken”
Sometimes, a song title will remind me of another song.  Gavin DeGraw’s “In Love with a Girl” always makes me think of “Fell in Love With a Girl” by the White Stripes.  I dig the White Stripes, but I’m pretty noncommittal about Gavin DeGraw.  I thought that was as bad as it would get.  That is, until “Broken” by Lifehouse.  Everytime I see it, “I’m Broken” by Pantera rockets into my head.  “Broken” isn’t quite the anti-”I’m Broken” but it might be in the same general area.  The Lifehouse song is one that the ladies usually call for, or the guys call it in for them.  At least that’s what I tell myself when deep voiced dudes call for Miley Cyrus.  *shudder*

Pick to click: Estelle w/Kanye West

My shoulder feels like Mr. Spock gave me the Vulcan neck pinch for a good six hours.  Once in a while I sleep on my arm/shoulder/neck funny, and this is the result I live with for a good week or so.  What always gets me is that I never sleep that differently, so I have no idea why it happens when it happens. 

Thank goodness Mythbusters has new episodes starting next week.  It might wash the taste of “I Survived a Japanese Game Show” out of my head.  That show had a neat idea, and parts of the show are quite good.  I’m not sure if this is a problem with other reality shows (since I rarely watch any) but it is now to the point where none of the contestants left are really even likeable.  I think there’s one left named Bilenda or something like that, and she inspires “meh” while the rest are just annoying and spiteful.  The two hour finale is next week, and I’m very okay with that.  Thank goodness for DVR, as we now just fast forward all the interviews and just watch the Japanese game show elements.

Speaking of game shows, the new GSN series “Catch 21″ isn’t too bad.  The host is Alfonso Ribeiro, who you may remember as Carlton from “Fresh Prince of Bell Air”.  I never would have thought of him as a game show host, but he does a really good job.  It isn’t quite a show worth DVRing, but if it’s on and nothing else is, you could do worse.  If you don’t like product placement, be warned. 

I’ve read a lot of negativity towards the new X-Files movie, and the friend I went to it with called it “the worst movie of the year, worse than Space Chimps” (which prompted the response “you saw Space Chimps?).  I enjoyed the movie, which is odd since I’ve seen all of three or four episodes of the show.  The few episodes I’ve seen I enjoyed, but I watched them midway through the run, and I was so hopelessly out of the loop I decided to just wait and watch them all on DVD someday when I’m retired.  I enjoyed David Duchovny’s dry delivery and Gillian Anderson’s conflicted storyline, along with what little bit of Mitch Pileggi’s Skinner that made it into the movie.  Fans of the show probably have more of a beef with the movie, but I enjoyed the first X-Files movie without watching the show, so as a fan of X-Files movies, I wasn’t let down. 

The ol’ homestead is almost ready for the new tenant, a.k.a. the baby.  Kate has the living room nearly baby-proofed, and if he/she (I’m holding out hope the ultrasound tech goofed up) was to arrive now, we’d have everything we need, and almost everything we want.  Everyone says that the nine months go by fast, and Kate would agree.  I actually don’t think they did.  For me at least, time seemed to go slower.  Does this mean I lose my “make fun of Kate having no patience” cred?

This Saturday the Spooncat-ish group The Radio Specialists take to Phillips avenue for the annual steak-out, and I hope to be there to enjoy some tunes, and maybe this year some steak.  I need to get in touch with the guys and ask exactly how one does that. 

Until next time…

Clouds and rain? Here are three songs that won’t change that.

[It is time for this week's MySpace blog simulcast]

I wouldn’t want to anyway.  Seattle weather for the block!

KKCK:

Plies w/Ne-Yo “Bust It Baby (Part 2)”
This summer…get ready…for the ultimate hip-hop big budget team up.  Plies…Ne-Yo…in a sequel so big..it…okay I’m done.  I’m not watching any more summer movie trailers.  I have a hard time believing that the busting was such that a sequel was really necessary.  The good thing about this song is the copious amount of Ne-Yo in it.  To me anyway, Plies sounds like he’s had too much syrup or booze or some mix of both.  I expect to hear drunk-sounding vocals in concert, not in the studio.  Heck, Dave Mustaine can’t remember recording a few of the early Megadeth albums and he at least sounds sober on them.

Safetysuit “Someone Like You”
I get the safety angle here.  The song is equal parts mid-90s power rock and mid-00s power rock.  I don’t like to bust a band’s balls for not being original, but these guys bring nothing new other than their name.  Even their wikipedia page is boring.  Now, the suit angle would be different, but not really that different thanks to the Hives.  On the plus side, the song is doing well, and there isn’t anything about it that’s bad.  It’s a vanilla cone of alt-rock, and some people like those.  I prefer my vanilla cones to be the real kind, but that’s just me.

Adele “Chasing Pavements”
Some have called her the next Amy Winehouse.  Amy, if you’re still alive and they’re looking for the next you, they don’t expect  you to live very long.  I hope Adele avoids flashing the camera, getting arrested, addiction, racist rants, more addiction, stumbling through concerts, and more addiction.  She still lives with her mom, so unless her mom is Amy Winehouse she’ll be okay.  I don’t disagree with the comparisons to Amy Winehouse, but she owes her music more to the style of Duffy with less of the slick production of Duffy’s slower songs. 

Pick to click: Plies with Ne-Yo

If  you pick one show to catch up on via DVD and/or torrenting, make it Battlestar Galactica.  Sure, some episodes, like the first chunk of season four, are a bit slow and nothing seems to happen.  Then you have episodes like last week that take all the slow plot threads and give them a yank that leaves you with a threadbare Colonial uniform.  [minor spoiler alert...stop if you don't want it NOW]When Adama and Roslin saw each other again, after what they had each realized each other, it was one of the most real, heartfelt, emotional moments of any TV show I’ve ever seen.  Of any movie I’ve seen.  Of any anything I’ve ever seen.  I’m not ashamed to say it almost made me tear up a little.  Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell will probably not win Emmys because the show is science fiction, and that is damn, damn shame.

I wrote another blog about my feelings on AC/DC going the Wal-Mart route, but I posted that here.  I revised and reread it a lot, but I’m still not sure I’m happy with it, nor am I sure it says everything I want to say.  This is what happens when I get the idea to post something I whipped up with a font download and MS Paint before figuring out what I’m going to write about.

Things at the household are going well.  Almost all the stuff I had in the nursery room is now elsewhere, and the few things that are left won’t take up much room.  We’ve finally got Mac off to the vet to get fixed, so we’ll be dodging the loud heat-meowing from now on.  Eileen hasn’t been fixed, but she’s easily distracted(aided by the fact she’s not as smart as her dad, who won’t win any “smartest cat” awards) when she’s in heat.  Since both boy cats have already been clipped, there’s not a kitten concern.

Kate has been packing for her eventual hospital stay in a few months.  I’ve been thinking about what to pack as well.  I know that there will be some time for me at the hospital to hold and comfort the new arrival, and I know the mom suites at hospitals these days have a DVD player.  So, I’ve been debating what to imprint on the young un’s psyche at an early age.  G.I. Joe or Transformers (I’m leaning “Revenge of Cobra” unless I get some of the new show on DVD)?  Batman or Superman (I’m leaning towards Supes here, since his show actually has an origin story, where the Bat-show didn’t)?  Star Trek or Star Wars (probably Trek)?  I’m pretty sure one of the first things he’ll get is “The Trouble with Tribbles”, since that is widely regarded as a Trek classic, and it doesn’t have any awkward moments where Kirk gets it on with anyone.  Also, he’s due in September, so I won’t be watching the baseball playoffs alone this year.  I wonder if he’ll be drawn to the World Series winner when he’s older.  Oddly enough, one of the first baseball teams I liked, when I was old enough to buy one or two packs of cards, happened to be the Oakland A’s. 

I sometimes think I’m going to talk to the little guy so much his first words will be “shut up”.

Speaking of shutting up, I’ll sign off for the week here.  Write at’cha later.

One song for each of the final five…that we know of…

(quick reminder…this is a double post I share with my MySpace)

The fifth gets a song of his/her choice once revealed.

KKCK:

Foo Fighters “Let It Die”
Dave Grohl takes a lot of heat in some music circles for what he’s done post-Nirvana.  I don’t get it personally.  I’ve enjoyed most of the Foo’s output, and in the last few months I’ve gone back and re-listened to their entire catalogue, and liked most of what I heard.  It won’t change the world or save the whales or whatever, but most of it is solid “background rock”.  One needs that now and then.  This song fits that mold, although the slow build and power chord crunch that come in might make you wish you hadn’t turned up your headphones for the quiet part.  Ouch.

Coldplay “Viva La Vida”
Russ 2000 “Man, I am so sick of ‘Yellow’ by Coldplay.  This song sucks”
Russ 2008 “Hello me, it’s me again!”
Russ 2000 “Ahhhh!  Wait, nice Megadeth reference.”
Russ 2008 “I’m here to tell you that you will start liking Coldplay in the future.  I’m from 2008″
Russ 2000 “So, I like this p.o.s. song in eight years?”
Russ 2008 “Well, no.  You, we, I, however you want to say it, are still sick of it.”
Russ 2000 “So…you came back in time to tell me I’ll like Coldplay in eight years?”
Russ 2008 “Actually, you started to like Coldplay a few years ago.  I’m here to say that in 2008 you might actually buy their new album, thanks to the hook of ‘Violet Hill’ and the groove of ‘Viva La Vida’.”
Russ 2000 “Whoa, you just blew my mind.”
Russ 2008 “I know, when I was you I wouldn’t have believed it either.”
Russ 2000 “No man, I just noticed how much weight I’d gained.  Hey, is…is that a wedding ring?”
Russ 2008 “Yep.  In eight years you are married.”
Russ 2000 “To Rachel Leigh Cook, right?”
Russ 2008 “Was I really that obsessed?  Anyway, you’ll get over her thanks to a movie called…you know what, I’ll let you find out.”

Detla Goodrem “In This Life”
She has ruled the chart roost in Australia for a long time, and now she’s got her cross hairs on the U.S. market with this solid but not spectacular pop song.  I was hoping this was a cover of the Canadian hit/United States flop that was “In This Life” by Chantal Kreviazuk.  Instead, this is a new song, and while it isn’t bad, I still prefer the one by Chantal Kreviazuk.  Also, what is it about people with odd names doing a song called “In This Life”?

Sara Bareilles “Bottle It Up”
The song itself has some moments, but I don’t think it’s her strongest option post-”Love Song”.  Personally, I would have released “Fairytale”, which is a rather amusing take on a lot of happy endings.  I’ve been told I bottle up emotions (mainly anger) too much, but lucky my body the soda can doesn’t get shaken too badly on most days.

Pick to click: I’ll make the odd pick of Delta Goodrem

Battlestar Galactica is finally paying dividends on the previous so-so episodes.  There was a ROTFL moment last week, but I don’t know if it was supposed to be.  With Col. Tigh’s back to Adama, he remarks how Tigh “isn’t the man he was a few years ago” and Tigh’s look was priceless.  I’d give Michael Hogan the Emmy just for that.  He is by far one of the most underrated actors on TV today.  Mark Sheppard came back to play Romo Lampkin, and he slugged it out of the park as well.  My Galactica watching friend is going to be away for a few weeks, and I’m not going to wait for him to come back before I watch next week.  There’s no way I can wait that long now.

I’ll be honest.  I’m a bit pressed for time today.  Luckily, things are going smoothly more often than they aren’t.  I still need to do a post-vote blog at the blog I do my South Dakota rambling on.  In other writing news, I talked about grocery stores at my Farmington blog, and this Saturday will be post #100 at Cliffhanger Theater.  I’ve stayed on one post a day since February with it, and while post 100 is a good jumping on point, I won’t be mentioning it a lot in the next few months.  I’ve started reading books about writing and fiction, so by the time I finish those I’ll be lucky if I don’t scrap it and start over. 

thoughts on a letter to my son (or daughter)

For mother’s day, I bought Kate a baby book for pictures and other things. It has a pouch in the middle to write a letter to the kid before he’s born, about what I’m thinking, feeling, expecting and whatever else I feel like adding in. I’m not sure how other people who by this book feel about the task, but I’m taking it quite seriously. How old will he be when he reads it? Five? Fifteen? Twenty-five? Will I be old and bitter? Old and lonely? Old and happy? Just plain old? Will I even be alive? Do I mention the months after we found out? Do I mention all the name-arguing? Do I mention how nervous I am? Should I talk about my own father, step-father, or how little I think I know about what the heck I’m doing?

///###\\\

I wrote that last night in the nursery.  Today, in my sleepy haze at work, I realize so clearly what I should write.

I should write everything I remember my father saying.

I should write everything I wish he’d said.

I should write everything I knew he would have said.

I should write all the unspoken things between myself and my step-father.

Most of all, I should write.  A lot.  I hope that pouch can hold it.