JACKED UP TUNES, VOL 1

Big long day of travel yesterday. Up early (why is it that my insomnia goes only when I set the alarm clock? As soon as I set it, I sleep like a baby.), and out into the cold (8 degrees!), and a swift 100 mile drive to the airport. Wait around a couple hours, and then up in the air. The straight through to LAX was pretty expensive, so I figured I would save my company some cash (like $400!) and take the one stop through Memphis. Plus, I get some extra miles for the old Elite status! Anyway, buy the time I landed in LAX, I had driven 100 miles, and then flown a total of 6 hours. Then I drove through LA traffic at rush hours. Yep, that's what my day looked like.

So, one last comment on the Grammy's last night. Looks like Kings of Lean won album of the year or something like that. My wife is a huge fan of theirs, and played that album non-stop. It actually grew on my, and I'm pretty happy to see it win. Maybe I'll post something from it in te next few days.

Well, it's late, and I'm beat. I am heading to bed. Enjoy the tunes. Oh, the title of this post, and the songs, come from Jack FM, a station I pretty much seem to get in every city I visit. Have a good Tuesday!
Donnie Iris - Ah! Leah!


The Kills - The Tape Song


Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock


A Flock Of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song


Queen - Body Language

GREAT POST PUNK HITS, VOL. 2

Folks, this is a very brief update today. I've been fighting technical issues at work, trying to troubleshoot global network issues, and it's a pretty tough nut to crack. I had issues getting South Africa to talk efficiently with the US, and I finally got that issue fixed today. Now, the second half is getting India to talk efficiently with the United States, and that's the tough nut. I've tried everything I know, and got no where, except to eliminate potential issues. So the next step is to call in the network people and let them figure this out.

All this has left my brain numb, and my body pretty damned tired. I am going to try to catch a few winks, and be back at it. Enjoy the tunes!

The Flying Lizards - Hands 2 Take
The Fall - Cruisers Creek
Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
Fun Boy Three - The Tunnel of Love
Fire Engines - Candyskin

GREAT POST PUNK HITS, VOL. 1

Last night I was sitting talking with my lovely wife about various things, when the conversation somehow turned to what I used to watch on television growing up in Northeast Ohio. I can still remember some of my favorites. Every morning as a kid, before we headed off to school, we would sit and watch Captain Kangaroo. Then it would be off to school. Once I got home, there were three shows on that I never missed. The first was Ultraman, I think, which was followed b Johnnie Sako and his Flying Robot. Then of course came Speed Racer. It was a great lineup of after school television for an 8 year old boy in the 1970/71.

We lived with my grandparents in Akron, in a decidedly ethnic, eastern European neighborhood. Every Sunday, after church, I remember my grandfather would watch the Gene Carroll show, and the Polka Varieties. I faintly remember details of the shows, so I looked them up on YouTube, and sure enough, there there were. It was very nostalgic for me, and I watched and watched. It was kind of cools to see it all alive on the sceen, as if the past 38 years barely happened. Funny how that happens.

But by far, the best memories I have from when I was a kid was watching the Hoolihan and Big Chuck show. It was the best way to spend a late Friday night possible, and it was really the only time I was allowed to stay up late as a kid. the show was a local legend...anyone who grew up the Cleveland area knows all about the show. The sketches were corny and weird...the Kilbasa Kid, the Six Dollar Ethnic Man, Ben Crazy...I could go on and on. And the movies they played were equally corny...old B horror movies from the 50's and 60's. Of all my child hood memories, these are probably the best, and most cherished.

Human League - Life Kills
Gang of Four - Damaged Goods
Flipper - Sex Bomb
Echo & The Bunnymen - Rescue
Delta 5 - Mind Your Own Business

60'S AND 70'S SONGS I DIG A LOT VOL. 3

Yeah baby, it's finally here, and not a moment too soon. Freaky Friday! This has been a couple of long weeks...it doesn't seem possible that I have only been back from vacation since last Friday. I could go into all the stuff I've done in the past two weeks, but honestly, it would bore you, and depress me. And seriously, I just need to be depressed.

So, my wife is really freaked out by this whole Haiti thing. She's from California, so she knows a thing or two about earthquakes. Her kids both still live out there, and she is obsessed about what would happen is that level of quake hit out there. I keep telling her that part of the problem is that they never had building codes down there, but she is just horrified at the scenes coming out of there. I keep telling her that it couldn't happen like that here (especially in mid-Michigan), by that hardly satisfies her. I routinely hear her yelling at the TV during the day, in a fit of frustration. It's a bad situation. I definitely am learning a thing or two about survival.

OK, on to the music. This is the last, for now, of my 60's and 70's Songs I Dig Alot series. I've got a couple days of really tasty music treats lined up for the next few days. Meanwhile, I'll be heading out to Boulder, CO, again on Sunday. This time, I am going to get me some beers! Left Hand, here I come!

The Grass Roots - Let's Live For Today
The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil
The Raspberries - Go All The Way
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

60'S and 70'S SONGS I DIG A LOT VOL. 2

With all the news coming out of Haiti, it got me thinking about a show that was on the History Channel last week. The name of the show was called After Armageddon, and it was a pretty sobering look at just how quickly civilization can fall apart. In the show, an extremly deadly pandemic hits the United States, and within weeks, 100 million are dead. The show follows a family as they first try to stay in their home and ride out the pandemic, and then as they try to escape LA. Eventually they make it to Idaho, where they settle into a small town. But the real story is how fast society breaks down.

The one phrase that really struck me, and seems to be playing out now, is that society is 9 means away from chaos. It seems the average person has 3 days worth of food stored up, so three days after a disaster hits, everyone will be out looking desperately looking for limited resources of food, water and fuel. Using past disasters as a case study, they show that in 3 days, the armed gangs are the ones in charge, and a city is not a place you want to be. It really gets bad when people stop showing up for work...at that point, there is no one to keep the electricity going, no one to run the refineries. And according to the experts, once the refineries and electrical generators go off in a pandemic situation, there is a real chance they never come back on. And with out those two things, life goes back to what it was like 100 years ago.

I'm no survivalist, but it really makes me glad I live in a small, rural farming town. According to the show, one of the first things that would happen is that the small towns would shut down entry in, to protect the citizens, and what few resources were left. I could absolutely see that happening around here. And to be honest, I would be one of the ones recommending it. I believe a small town like mine could be relatively self sufficient. It would be a tough life, but we could make it.

I have a friend of mine who is a big believer of peak oil, and went so far as to buy a farm, and set it up to go completely off the grid. He swears that he could survive no matter what. I kind of believe him. My family owns a farm in Tennessee, somewhere around 1500 acres. We own the whole holler, and if something like that ever happened, I would find my way down there and live. My father was a farmer, so was my grandfather and my great-grandfather. If I had to be, so would I.

This whole Haiti thing really makes you pause and think a bit. Like I said, I'm not a survivalist, but I may just have to do a little reading on survival. I mean, what can it hurt?

The Monkees - Last Train To Clarksville
Steppenwolf - The Pusher
Del Shannon - Runaway
Mungo Jerry - Summertime
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - May This Be Love

60'S and 70'S SONGS I DIG A LOT VOL. 1

Sooo...I was watching the opening night of that annual train-wreck known as American Idol. Disclaimor: I am NOT a fan of the show. I think it's inane at best, and honestly, I really can't stand the neutered, falsetto singing wussies they pick. And if I hear one more vocal "run", I'm gonna scream. But my wife loves the damn show, so guess what I get to watch? Yep, American Idol.

You know the world is seriously upside down when everyone kisses the ass of the guest judge...non other than that talented ass clown Victoria Beckham. Seriously? This chick was in a niche girl what, 12 years ago, and suddenly, not only is she a judge, everyone kisses her ass like she KNOWS what talent is all about. Just brutal. Then to top it off, she spent the whole evening trying her best to imitate Paula Abdul. Without the drugs, of course, so not as much slurring. Gimme a freaking break. This dried up, anorexic butt assed ugly chic did nothing but irritate the hell out of me.

But you know what really pisses me off? This whole business of letting people who don't stand a chance through, simply so those jackasses can laugh at them,give them some verbal abuse, and then throw them out. To me, that's fucking cruel. Sure, some of those people know what's going on. But some of them don't. Some of them honestly think they have what it takes, no doubt pumped up by some jag off producer who pumps them up. And then they get the hammed slammed down on them, everyone thinks it's funny. Me? I think it my kid was treated like that, it would take a hell of a lot of security to keep me from ripping someones throat out. Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but I just don't like making fun of people. It's not funny, and it really doesn't do anything but make the show look pretty douche-bag'ish.

Not only that, but even the people who do get through aren't exactly the kind of people whose music I would buy. Do you think D. Boon from the Minutemen would have made it? Or would they have laughed at him? How about David Thomas from Pere Ubu? Or Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo? See what I'm getting at here? The only people who get through are generic, dime a dozen, R&B inspired, falsetto hitting wannabe's. And that's exactly who wins. Other than one or two winners, can anyone really say that the show has discovered any great talent?

The Mamas & The Papas - California Dreamin’
The Who - Behind Blue Eyes
The Byrds - Eight Miles Night
Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
The Animals - The House Of The Rising Sun

70's/80's POP ROCK

So, in case you haven't noticed, I don't really use this blog to talk about music, per se. Instead, I generally just talk about what ever comes to my mind. It might be what ever is happening at work, or what's going on in my life. Or something interesting I read. Mostly, this is really like a diary, and the music I post here is kind of the soundtrack of my life. I'm pretty sure most people who visit the site never really even read it. No matter. Whether you enjoy the music, peeping into my life, or both, as long as your happy, I'm happy.

Having said that, I read an article yesterday on some upcoming technology that promises to be amazing. Before I get into it, I have to tell you all I am a geek. I have a degree in electrical engineering, I work for probably the largest technology companies in the world. I routinely over see projects that are in the hundreds of millions to multi-billion dollars. In my personal life, I try to leverage the power of technology to make my life more convenient. One of the things I use a log is voice over IP, or VOIP. I have a nifty little Plantronics Bluetooth headsets that I can multihome (or connect) to both my laptop and my cell phone at the same time. My work provides VOIP for free through our instant messenger suite. When I'm on the road, I use it all the time for conference calls and such. It saver my cell phone bill and works like a champ. In fact, between my laptop and my cell phone, I rarely use a good old fashioned telephone anymore.

When I was heading over seas to work in Europe, I was tempted to buy one of those MagicJacks you seem on TV. It's a nifty product that I've been tempted to buy for my home. I have a couple co-workers who have one, and who love it. But the need to plug in an old fashioned telephone to it just kind of bugs me. A lot. So I've thus far resisted the temptation. That was, however, until I read this article yesterday.

Seems they now have a little product that will allow your cell phone to make VOIP phone calls, by intercepting the outgoing call, and placing it over the internet. Very cool! Now, my first thought was that this is illegal, and the cell companies will sue them into the ground. However, the MagicJack folks make a very good point. The cell companies bought the cellular bandwidth out in public, but they did NOT but the airwaves inside your home. So, for now, this seems on the up and up, and they are planning to release it in the next few months. I want to go to there!

Sniff N The Tears - Drivers Seat
Nick Lowe - So It Goes
Dave Edmunds - Dynamite
Rockpile - Teacher Teacher
Greg Kihn Band - Jeopardy

FIVE FOR FRIDAY!

I am on my way home as you all read this. This has been an exhausting week, for sure. The biggest surprise is that even though I have been doing 16 - 18 hour days all this week, I've still managed to keep the music coming! :-)

I'm one my way...my my my way...home sweet home!

David Bowie w/Queen - Under Pressure
The Police - Message In A Bottle
Squeeze - Cool For Cats
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town
Sham 69 - If The Kids Are United

ONE HOT WONDERS, VOL3

Last day of the one hit wonders for now. No worries, though, there have been a ton of one hit wonders over the years, so there will be no shortages of them for more posts in the future. I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I have some great music lined up for the next few weeks!

It's colder than hell here, and I gotta tell say, cabin fever is really hitting me hard. I live so far out in the boonies that there's not really a lot to do. Unless of course, your into freezing your ass off doing winter sports. There are a lot of people here that are into snowmobiles, and while I'm sure they have a lot of fun, I just can't imagine anything I would want to do less than jumping on a snowmobile, and going really fast in the winter time. Same goes for skiing. If I could go snow skiiing in Key West, I would so be into the sport. Don't get me wrong...I love watching winter sports, and I can't wait for the Olympics to start. But right now, I'm pretty bored, and can;t wait for summer.

Faith No More - Epic
4 Non Blondes - What's Up
Frida - I Know There's Something Going On
Nina - 99 Red Balloons
Blind Melon - No Rain

ONE HIT WONDERS, VOL 2

The worst part about January 2nd is the realization that there isn't another holiday until May. That means no day's off unless I take some vacation. I can deal with that...I usually don't take a lot of days off anyway. But still, 5 months with no holiday? Give me a break. Maybe we should invent one...I mean, it's bad enough that it's winter out, and cabin fever sets in. But to not have any days off? That's unfair.

The second day of one hit wonders finds a pretty big variety. Everything from 70's rock to 80's hair metal, to 90's alternative. I think today is a pretty decent selection, but my favorite is definitely Soft Cell's Tainted Love. I remember when that song came out...I was a senior in High School, and had just gotten a new girlfriend. This song was one of our favorites. 1981 was a pretty decent year, though I can't believe it was almost 30 years ago. If I close my eyes, I can still remember parking with her, listening to great tunes. I eventually married (and subsequently divorced) that girl, but that a story for another time!

Autograph - Turn Up The Radio
Mountain - Mississippi Queen
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen
Soft Cell - Tainted Love
Crash Test Dummies - Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm