Late Friday/Early Saturday Thoughts

 Greetings once again. If you caught my last entry, I have a new place to go as far as listening to music is concerned. Will that mean I've stopped listening to Spotify? Well, it's complicated. Allow me to explain.

As you may have known by now, rock legend Neil Young requested Spotify to pull his catalog of songs unless the stopped airing the Joe Rogan podcast. Rogan has been rather notorious with his anti-vaccination stance, and general misinformation about Coronavirus. So, guess what side Spotify decided to choose? The science denier and anti-vaxxer. 

Other artists are now beginning to follow Young's lead and pulling their music on the platform, and Joni Mitchell is only th beginning. Others are sure to follow, perhaps even Taylor Swift again. Along with artists abandoning Spotify, there have been calls to delete the app altogether. I'm not going to do that...yet.

What I have done though, is remove my premium subscription to Spotify. I figure if they are going to support Joe Rogan's stance on Coronavirus, then I shouldn't give my money to them. There's ten dollars a month saved. But I'll keep Spotify; I don't listen to Rogan's podcast anyway. Nor do I want to, and that's the beauty of my rationale; it's a free service, so why would I stop listening altogether? Plus, I can already boycott, and am already boycotting by refusing to listen to, Joe Rogan. I guess in a way, it's like a way of censorship. 

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This weekend isn't shaping up to be great if you're reading this along the Atlantic coast, from the Carolinas to New England and all the way up to the Canadian Maritimes. A strong nor'easter is bearing down and will wreak havoc to millions along the east coast. The Weather Channel is somehow naming this thing Kenan, but it ought to be named Karen or Kerfuffle or something else. Ideally, they shouldn't be named at all, and I KNOW I've had a rant about it before on this very blog, even so much as giving my own names for them. But I can't find it and right now, I don't feel like surfing though every post I've made to dig it up. Just know it'll be colder than a well-digger's ass tomorrow (Sunday) morning. Those poor wenches that have to brave those conditions for Gasparilla tomorrow, I hope they (and the pirates) are well-insulated for the event. 

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You know what I forgot to do this week? Post a top-40 chart from a past year. So, here's a quick flashback Friday (it's still Friday by two minutes as I type this) from Radio & Records Magazine this week in 1997:

40. Just Between You And Me by DC Talk
39. It's Alright, It's Okay by Leah Andreone
38. Fly Like An Eagle by Seal
37. All Mixed Up by 311
36. One Headlight by The Wallflowers
35. Say...If You Feel Alright by Crystal Waters
34. Discotheque by U2
33. Please Don't Go by No Mercy
32. #1 Crush by Garbage
31. Desperately Wanting by Better Than Ezra

30. Pony by Ginuwine
29. Grease Megamix by Grease Megamix
28. I Believe In You And Me by Whitney Houston
27. When You Love A Woman by Journey
26. Every Time I Close My Eyes by Babyface
25. Just Another Day by John Mellencamp
24. I Go Blind by Hootie and the Blowfish
23. When You're Gone by The Cranberries
22. Love Rollercoaster by Red Hot Chili Peppers
21. The Holy River by (the artist formerly known as) Prince

20. Barely Breathing by Duncan Sheik
19. I'm Still In Love With You by New Edition
18. This Is Your Night by Amber
17. Without Love by Donna Lewis
16. Every Day Is A Winding Road by Sheryl Crow
15. No Diggity by Blackstreet
14. Nobody by Keith Sweat
13. If It Makes You Happy by Sheryl Crow
12. Head Over Feet by Alanis Morissette
11. A Long December by Counting Crows

10. Mouth by Merrill Bainbridge
  9. Don't Cry For Me Argentina by Madonna
  8. I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly
  7. Wannabe by The Spice Girls
  6. You Were Meant For Me by Jewel
  5. Ooh...Aah Just A Little Bit by Gina G
  4. Don't Let Go (Love) by En Vogue
  3. Lovefool by The Cardigans
  2. Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton
  1. Don't Speak by No Doubt

And I didn't speak about the above songs because this was two months after a car accident should have killed me but didn't (much to the chagrin of at least one person) and I was deep in the throes of my depression. In fact, it was probably the most depressed I've been, aside from spring of 2015. How I survived the Navy while going through that, and not being sent to the mental ward at Portsmouth Naval Hospital I'll never know. I don't want to ever go back to that period of time in my life. Thanks for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for actually being good later that year to help me pull out of it.

Maybe I'll somehow find the gumption to talk about it later on. Meantime, since Championship Sunday is coming up, I thought I'd give my picks for the two games. For the AFC Championship, my heart is with Cincinnati but I'm picking Kansas City. For the NFC Championship, my heart is with San Francisco, but my head is with Los Angeles. So, for the second straight year, a team is playing at home for the Super Bowl. I'll make my pick once the game comes up after my birthday. As for how I did for the season, not too bad; I got seven of the eight division champions correct, so that should count for something even though I whiffed on my Super Bowl pick, which is probably why I wasn't too cheerful after the games last Sunday.

Well, I better wrap this up so I can get some rest before I watch Drunkfest tomorrow on my television. Too bad Gayle Guyardo won't be a part of the coverage...

OR WILL SHE?!

Until tomorrow more than likely

CT

HO-LEE S***!!!

 Hello again everyone. I was perusing around the internet thinking about writing of Orlando possibly making a play for the Rays. Unfortunately, it's an article that's behind a paywall. Thanks for nothing, Orlando Sentinel!! Well, late tonight, I got a notification from a Facebook Group that had to do with growing up in Orlando, FL. Something I probably would have done for my entire childhood had my mother not pass away and my father not become spooked and decided to flee to NC (that and taking out life insurance, but I don't want to go there). Anyway, I had posted earlier in the day about the top of the hour sounders from WXXL and WOMX FM. The former had bell chimes that went off, the latter had a catchy jingle that I remember so fondly. 

The notification was a link for what the latter station was known as when I lived there in the early 80's. And my goodness, is it so good. They've even included snippets of old commercials and so far, at least one old WFTV report from 1981, when my mother was still living. Needless to say, I'll have to tell my old OCS friends tomorrow morning about this. As much of a nostalgia geek as I am, this is right in my wheelhouse. A blast from the past that I'll be listening to probably every day.

Now if they only had a piece on the old Edge nightclub in their defunct Orlando section...

More to come...

CT

UPDATE: They have a page devoted to the Edge!!

Some Late-Night Thoughts

Greetings once again. Just another late night here at my computer desk hyped up on caffeine purveying my thoughts on this somewhat dreary Wednesday night. In fact, the weather has been so dreary here in the Banana Republic that I haven't felt like doing much of anything this week; I guess that's what the winter blues feel like. Hey, I haven't felt the winter blues in at least 25 years, so indulge me. 

Yes, I did hear about out President calling a Fox News "reporter" a stupid son of a b****. No, I don't care to make a comment on it. Those who know me well enough know how I feel about that outfit, in fact I had an earlier entry about it. Drunk Fest '22 is happening on Saturday, but even if I could attend, I doubt I would go; you think I'm spending a cold winter's day out there? Heck no!

Your boy is getting a little too old for a sub-50-degree day. I used to handle cold nights every so often at the post office, but rarely if ever did the temperature drop this low. I guess nearly a quarter-century of living in Tampa has gotten me soft to cold weather. Too bad the rent crisis in Florida may have me looking for a new place to live in the future.

One week since my Valentine's Day gift arrived at its destination, and wouldn't you know I haven't heard anything from the recipient; not even a "thank you." I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not. In fact, I'm kind of used to it. At least it's not 1996; that year a short order cook named Rachel (originally from Pittsburgh) was who I was eyeing, but right at the moment I was going to ask her if she wanted me to be Valentine, her crew barged into her work and surprised her instead...including her girlfriend. Candy, roses, and a stuffed teddy bear all bought for nothing. Pretty much sums my love life up to now. Did Larry David write my love life, because it sure feels like a sitcom, either that or it feels like Kenny on "South Park."

Yes, the NFL Playoffs were insane last weekend. No, I don't think it will carry over to this weekend though. Do I think the Russians will invade Ukraine? Sadly, yes, though not in the upcoming few weeks. Something tells me Putin & Co. will double-cross us and NATO somehow. Speaking of NATO, there's one reason Germany is so hesitant to send weapons to Ukraine to defend themselves, they don't want to freeze to death. A bunch of horseradish root to be honest. In other words, Blyat!

Well, those are my thoughts I have at the moment. I need to get some shuteye. Until next time.

CT

Flashback Friday: 1/21/1994

 Greetings for the second time today. I said that I may have a second entry today, and wouldn't you know I delivered😉. For today's edition of Flashback Friday, I had first thought about doing this week in 1987. However, in light of the news of Meat Loaf's passing, I thought I would choose a chart that contained one of his singles. Unfortunately, there's only one year that had one of his songs charted on this particular date, and that's the Radio & Records Top 40 chart from January 21, 1994. 

RIP Mr. Loaf

40. So Much In Love by All-4-One. If this had been their only hit, I probably wouldn't have that much of an issue with them. But then they had to create their own version of John Michael Montgomery's "I Swear" and I was like come on, man. By the way, I would have the same issue a few years later when Mark Chesnutt would create a country version of Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing."

39. Gangsta Lean by DRS.

38. Stay by Eternal.

37. Goody Goody by Lizette Melendez. According to Radio & Records, this was her only chart hit, but she had a huge dance smash in 1991 with "Together Forever."

36. Getto Jam by Domino.

35. Rock & Roll Dreams Come Through by Meat Loaf. This was a remake of songwriter Jim Steinman's chart song in 1981, and Meat Loaf's follow-up to his smash hit "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)." The CD "Bat Out Of Hell II" was actually the first CD I bought, seriously. News reports are saying that Mr. Loaf died due to COVID. Dammit, man.

34. What's My Name? by Snoop Dogg. "...and his name was Robert Paulson."

33. Everyday by Phil Collins.

32. Again by Janet Jackson. As I recall, this came from her movie "Poetic Justice," which also starred Tupac Shakur. Too bad I didn't get a chance to see that movie. I really didn't like living in Charleston.

31. Jessie by Joshua Kadison.

30. Understanding by Xscape.

29. Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Oh my my, oh hell yes. You gotta put on that party dress. Kim Basinger starred in the video.

28. Daughter by Pearl Jam.

27. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) by Us 3. I thought that this song would last the test of time. Guess not...

26. Now and Forever by Richard Marx. His singing career kinda fizzled after this song. He became more focused on songwriting.

25. Queen Of The Night by Whitney Houston. The soundtrack for her movie "The Bodyguard" sure had some staying power.

24. Higher Ground by UB40. No, this wasn't the dame song made famous by Stevie Wonder and remade by RHCP. But it was a decent song, nonetheless.

23. Dreams by Gabrielle.

22. Having A Party by Rod Stewart. Unpopular opinion: I never did care for MTV's "Unplugged." Like at all. I know some people preferred it, but it didn't do anything for me, and in my mind was one of the worst things musically MTV has done. I now will duck while everyone throws tomatoes at me.

21. Never Keeping Secrets by Babyface.

20. Will You Be There In The Morning by Heart. Let me see, did you invite me to come over? If so, yes.

19. I Can See Clearly Now by Jimmy Cliff. Great remake, too bad the "pop" station in Charleston at the time never played it, opting instead for the original version. Did I mention how much I disliked living in Charleston?

18. Life (Everybody Needs Somebody) by Haddaway. In my opinion a better song than "What Is Love?"

17. Because Of Love by Janet Jackson.

16. The Sign by Ace of Base. Bet you have that tume in your head now. You're welcome.

15. Mr. Vain by Culture Beat.

14. Can We Talk by Tevin Campbell. No. Next...

13. Miss You In A Heartbeat by Def Leppard. They actually had two versions of this song; an electric version and the more popular stripped-down ballad version.

12. Said I Loved You But I Lied by Michael Bolton. Man, I feel this...hard.

 

11. The Power Of Love by Celine Dion. I had mentioned this song in an earlier post. 

10. Choose by Color Me Badd.

9. Amazing by Aerosmith. Their second hit to have a video starring Alicia Silverstone..........sorry, my jaw hit the ground thinking about her.

8. Found Out About You by The Gin Blossoms. You know, before the days of the internet and social media, I don't know how that was possible.

7. Because The Night by 10,000 Maniacs. See #22...

6. Please Forgive Me by Bryan Adams.

5. Linger by The Cranberries. You can tell by listening to this song that they were Irish.

4. Shoop by Salt-n-Pepa. Oh, you want the bow-legged dude. K.

3. Breathe Again by Toni Braxton.

2. Hero by Mariah Carey. Remember that station I mentioned earlier? They overlaid clips of Michael Jordan's "retirement" press conference over this song. 

...and the number one song on this date in 1994 was...

1. All For Love by Bryan Adams, Sting, and Rod Stewart. No, I didn't see "The Three Musketeers" either.  

This concludes my flashback Friday for this week. One loose end from my last post that I overlooked; among annoying commercials, I neglected two Taco Bell ads. "This is the move right here." Uh, no it isn't, and "you give off serious Libra vibes." Well, this Aquarian thinks you're full of sh*t. The other commercials where the bell rings out of nowhere and whoever stops what they're doing to go to the Bell is quite hilarious though.

*Bell rings*

Damn, I better go grab a taco. Until next time...

More to come

CT

Friday Thoughts

 Greetings everyone. I know I said I would post yesterday, but I wound up sleeping most of the day (thank you, chronic depression). There was another snafu involving me and Valentine's Day, more on that later. But there are other things I wanted to write about today...

Mitch Please...

In case you didn't catch this yesterday, Bitch Mitch McConnell put his foot in his mouth...again. In a statement to reporters yesterday, he said, “The concern is misplaced, because if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans.”

I'm sorry, what?? So, McConnell is implying that African Americans are not the same as Americans? Are you fricking shitting me?! Hopefully, for his sake, it was a misquote on his part, but part of me kinda doubt it. After all when he was Senate majority leader under the Obama administration, he did anything and everything to prevent Obama's agenda from passing in the Senate. And don't get me started on the Merrick Garland situation. Mitch, to me you're a crusty old cracker from the days of Jim Crow and segregation, and you SHOULD have been voted out in November of 2020. To coin a popular phrase, Mitch please.

Another Valentine's Day, Another Snafu

Remember the early Valentine's Day present I wrote about the other day? Well, it arrived at its destination. But there's problems galore. First, the recipient has been under the weather due to COVID this week, and she didn't receive her gift yet. Furthermore, a pesky ex-boyfriend of hers is trying to get back into the picture, and worse yet, his birthday is today. Does anything like this ever happen to anyone else? Think about it, you actually put in effort to woo someone, and this kind of thing happens? I ought to tell you all what happened to me in 1996, that was a Larry David production right there it was so hilarious in retrospect. Maybe come the actual Valentine's Day I'll tell you all that story, but gosh almighty why does that thing seemingly always happen to me???

Annoying Ads...

Is it just me or are there a plethora of annoying television ads floating around these days? Especially if you live in Central Florida and/or you watch Bally Sports. First off, you have any and all commercials for auto insurance. Geico gecko? Annoying AF. Progressive? Doubly annoying AF; I don't know who in that outfit is more annoying, Flo, Jamie, or the actor who portrays that doctor trying to prevent homeowners from becoming their parents. State Farm? Not as annoying, but imagine the ads if both Kansas City and Green Bay reach the Super Bowl (their respective starting quarterbacks are both spokesmen for State Farm)? Liberty Mutual? Forget it, except for this guy:

Then there's the ads for Spectrum mobile, which if you have Spectrum cable service, you're unfortunately bombarded with. The spokesperson is annoying enough, including the Vincent Van Gogh look, but he tops off his annoyance with his "huh, 29.99!!!" towards the beginning. It makes me wish I had a different cable provider. There are all commercials for RP Funding and Morgan & Morgan, which I think I've spoken about on this blog before or on Twitter. 

Then you have a certain ad from Toyota that is cringeworthy at best. It's the one that begins with a car phone ringing, followed by "this is James." "JIMMMMMAYYY!!!" That isn't even the worst part, it's the creepy hipster dude who asks, "James (such and such) from (so and so) High School?" I try to flip that channel before it reaches that part. Bally Sports for some reason has brought that spot from the dead recently, and I'm not okay with it. Hopefully, they don't try to bring back that awful Hyundai ad where people are singing along badly to "Sweet Caroline."

Another thing that annoys me, dudes named Devon. 

2022 Can Stop Already

Overnight, news broke that Meat Loaf, who shot to prominence with his album "Bat Out Of Hell," died overnight at the age of 74. Just a few minutes ago, news broke that comedian Louie Anderson died at the age of 68. What the heck is going on? The second great celebrity rapture (remember 2016?)? In the first three weeks of this year, we've lost Betty White, Bob Saget, Sidney Poitier, and now Meat Loaf and Louie Anderson. Jiminy Christmas, enough already, 2022!

Gen Z Woodstock

This October in Las Vegas, a massive music festival is set to take place featuring a boatload of emo bands and artists. Now this festival is being organized by LiveNation, who unfortunately organized the AstroWorld event last fall, and we all know how that turned out. Ideally, this would be like a Woodstock of sorts for the younger generations, but given this is a LiveNation event, I wouldn't hold my breath on it happening.

That's all for now. I might have a Flashback Friday entry as well later this afternoon. Until next time...

CT

Keeping It 100...

 Well, we made it. No, not the alleged monster that Grover was panicking about at the end of the Sesame Street book you may have read as a kid. We've reached a milestone in this history of this blog; 100 posts. What should I write about for this particular post? Well, I could complain about why potential love interests decide to go back to her ex, but I'm not going to do that. I could post another Top 40 flashback, but it isn't Thursday nor Friday. 

No, I think I'll take a look back at my hits and misses I may have had over the course of the past six years plus that this blog has been operating. So, I think I will. Starting with my first entry in September of 2015. 

I used to do this sort of thing every so often until for I guess what came out to be a lack of time to devote towards this as well as various other reasons; forgetting I actually had a blog being one of them. But I may as well try to bring this back.

 Well brought it back I did, it was slow to start, because primarily of work commitments at the time, but over time I was able to devote more time to this blog; unfortunately, my stroke in August of 2017 had much to do with it.

 Hell, I should be dead in all honesty, but the good Lord put on his best Braun Strowman (WWE Superstar, for those who don't know) and said, "I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU!!!!" After about a week in the hospital, I came back home, my left side totally messed up. I was put on BP meds and I'm happy to say my BP is lower.

I then for some reason gave up on this blog, but in 2018 after nearly a year away, I returned, primarily motivated by a woman who I was interested in at the time. She's no longer on Twitter but since then she had a baby and as of now found love, and I wish her well. But, as I said at the time, and this still applies today, geography can be a bitch, especially when any potential love interest is in another part of the country.

Then a few months later, I had my most-viewed post to date. It was the first time I did one of those throwback Top 40 posts, and I added some personal anecdotes to it:

Tomorrow in Tampa is the annual Gasparilla Pirate Fest, or as I call it, DrunkFest 2019. It happens to fall on a significant date in Tampa history too; On January 26, 2003, hell froze over and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl. Yes, the Bucs actually won a Super Bowl. Which is something so unthought of it's like the Boston Red Sox reversing the curse of the Bambino and winning the World Series, or the Chicago Cubs doing the same, or me finding the love of my life...I guess I got carried away.

Since that time, Tampa has become a title town of sorts, with the Bucs winning their second Super Bowl the day before my birthday last year (by far the greatest birthday gift I've gotten), and the Lightning have won back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships. Not to mention the Rays won their second American League pennant in 2020. Now if only the Orlando Tragic could get their sh*t together...

And who could forget the time I added a cheesy local radio ad from the mid-90's in one of my posts?

Last year by far was my most prolific on here though. There were 45 posts I created in 2021 if my math is correct. I hope to create more content in 2022, health and COVID permitting. As I told someone a couple of months ago, I use this to try to put myself out there. This and Twitter. And yes, you'll probably get more rants about my family, my lack of relationships, news events, etc. So, with that said, let's turn to the current...

Making Waves From A Massive Explosion

If you happened to catch the world news over the past few days, you may have heard about the volcanic eruption in Tonga, which until now, was known for 80's pop group the Jets (they were from Minneapolis but were of Tongan descent), and that one shirtless dude from the Olympics. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano had actually been spewing since last month and before that in 2009 and 2015. Late Saturday night (Florida time) however, the volcano practically exploded, causing a tsunami that hit places all around the Pacific rim, including California. Thankfully it wasn't as devastating as the tsunamis that hit the Indian Ocean in 2004 or the one just off Japan in 2011, but at least two people did lose their lives from the undersea eruption. The satellite footage of the eruption looked even scarier.

This makes me wonder what would happen if (God forbid) that volcano in the Canary Islands that erupted last year would have a Tonga-like explosion. Well, this article debunks the theory that a massive tsunami would hit the US east coast, but it still has been talked about for about twenty years. In fact, I heard it talked about on late-night talk radio. However, anything that is heard on late-night talk radio should be taken with a grain of salt.

What's The Word(le)?

This year so far, I have seen these graphics on Twitter that I couldn't figure out at first. Turns out to be a game called Wordle. So naturally, I looked for it on the Google Play store, and downloaded what I THOUGHT was the Wordle app. 

Turns out, lo and behold, it was the wrong Wordle; the Wordle game everyone is playing is only available on the web. So, I played it on there and lost. Stupid me...

Early Birthday/V-Day Excitement

Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching, and excitement is building already from a personal standpoint. An early Valentine's gift is En route right now to its destination, I can't say exactly where because it would spoil the surprise, but I wrote about it on Twitter today...stay tuned. Also, I have an early birthday gift to myself coming soon, maybe as soon as today. When it comes, I'll definitely have to share it with you. OH, and remember the entry where I needed a new keyboard? It came in yesterday, and I'm back typing this blog on my old laptop. Success.

Well, that's all for today, I will definitely have more to come, probably tomorrow as it will be a Thursday, and another Top 40 from the sometime in past forty years will be spotlighted. Once again, thank you so much for reading this blog, and here's to another hundred in the future.

CT 

Flashback Friday and Some Other Stuff

 Hello once again everyone. We made it folks, the second week of 2022 has come and gone and somehow, we're still here. Before I get into my flashback for this week, a couple of things. First, I had a fall earlier on Thursday which created some panic between my sisters. They thought it was related to my diabetes or that I had another sudden stroke. I did not; I tripped over the cord of one of the old in-house speakers, that was all. I only scraped my left knee a little, and I did bump the side of my head against the floor, but other than that I was okay. My eldest sister tried to force me to use my old walker which I used as I was recovering from my stroke four and a half years ago, but I've learned to adapt to life without a walker for now. Leave it to my sisters to make mountains out of mole hills.

I'm also getting a bit apprehensive about what I should do/get for Valentine's Day. No, I don't have a sweetheart, but my rationale is, if I don't attempt to make some sort of effort, someone else will come along and swoop in. Maybe it's my emotional hunger speaking to me, which is more of an emotional famine if we're being completely honest, but that's the way I have always felt. Okay, enough about that before I get too wound up in my feels...

For this week's flashback, I'm dialing it back to 1999. My first year with the postal service after my six year enlistment in the Navy, and one of the favorite years of my life. Here now are the Top 40 according to Radio and Records magazine for January 15, 1999.

40. Changes by 2Pac. This sadly was 2pac's only R/R top 40 hit after his murder, and this was the only week it charted.

39. At The Stars by Better Than Ezra. Did you know that this song and not "Good" from 1995 was their highest charting song? You do now.

38. When You Believe by Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey.

37. Crush by Dave Matthews Band.

36. Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz. I loved loved this song. Could still be popular today.

35. No Mercy by Khaleel.

34. How Do I Deal by Jennifer Love Hewitt. I'm honestly surprised that Sarah Michelle Gellar didn't record her own single.

33. Angel of Mine by Monica.

32. Fire Escape by Fastball.

31. Are You That Somebody? by Aaliyah. Her biggest hit, RIP Baby Girl.

30. Thank U by Alanis Morissette. Her debut single from the album "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" and proof that her career was kinda going off the rails a little bit. By the way, I don't think she was actually naked for the music video.

29. Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauren Hill.

28. Luv Me, Luv Me by Shaggy f/Janet. This song was unfortunately a staple long after its freshness wore out thanks to the leadup to WFLZ's morning show. How do I know? Your boy had to work those hours, at least it was toward the end of my day. So I guess you could say I heard that song...

27. Every Morning by Sugar Ray. How's THAT for a segue?

26. Father Of Mine by Everclear.

25. Believe by Cher. Now you'll probably have that tune in your head now. I'm sorry.

24. Because of You by 98 Disease Degrees.

23. Back 2 Good by Matchbox 20. 

22. Pretty Fly (For A White Guy). by The Offspring. To this day, I wonder if the kid in the UCLA jersey was a regular caller to Jim Rome's radio show back in the day, because I remember when he did "tour stops" and he made one in Tampa the weekend of the NFC title game the next year there was a guy wearing a UCLA jersey...

21. Big Big World by Emilia.

20. All I Have To Give by Backstreet Boys.

19. From This Moment On by Shania Twain. There's a reason why I utilize Radio and Records as opposed to Billboard, and I may explain it in a later entry.

18. Take Me There by Blackstreet & Mya f/Mase. No, I never watched "Rugrats."

17. Touch It by Monifah. Sounds tempting, but I have to pass; see the above paragraph. 😉

16. It's All Been Done by Barenaked Ladies. If you look at movies that have come out of Hollywood the past ten years or so, it HAS all been done.

15. My Favorite Mistake by Sheryl Crow. Very relatable.

14. I'm Your Angel by R. Kelly and Celine Dion. There's a good reason that the former's name is crossed out. 

13. You Get What You Give by The New Radicals. "Fashion shoots with Beck and Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson." Wow, that's quite the eclectic group there.

12. Inside Out by Eve 6.

11. Lately by Divine. One hit wonder.

10. Miami by Will Smith.

9. Angel by Sarah McLachlan. Hopefully this song doesn't conjure up images of that tear-jerking commercial of pets being mistreated.

8. ...Baby One More Time by Britney Spears. And the rest, is history...

7. (God Must Have Spent) A Little More Time On You by *NSync.

6. Slide by The Goo Goo Dolls. Among the greatest things to hail from western New York, are Buffalo wings, Rob Gronkowski, and the Goo Goo Dolls.

5. Jumper by Third Eye Blind.

4. Have You Ever? by Brandy.

3. Hands by Jewel. A local radio station (I won't say which one) tried to pass this off as a Christmas song one year. Really.

2. Save Tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry.

And the number one song this week 23 years ago was...

1. Lullaby by Shawn Mullins. Talk about catching lightning in a bottle. Had this song and then faded into Bolivia as Mike Tyson once said. 

Well that's this week's flashback, hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane. My next blog entry will be my 100th. I'll have to come up with something good so I can keep this blog at...💯

Until next time!

CT

About Last Night...

 

Greetings once again. For those of you who happened to watch some NHL action last night, it was quite interesting, especially for fans in the state of Florida. The Tampa Bay Lightning won their road game against the Buffalo Sabres, 6-1. Thanks in large part to Nikita Kucherov, in just his third game back from injury, notching a hat trick.

Meanwhile, in Broward County, the Florida Panthers got two goals from Sam Reinhart and 42 saves from Sergei Brobovsky in their 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. However, that was not the story...

The real story of the game involved rapper Kodak Black. During the third period, Black and his girlfriend decided to give some of the fans in attendance more than just a hockey game to watch. Video of said event was posted on Twitter and went viral, causing the NHL's twitter feed to delete a tweet that welcomed him to the game. Probably more shocking than the rather public display of affection was that it took place in the luxury suite right next door to team executives.

Now, I know that South Florida has a culture that involves banging, booty shaking music, rappers and strip clubs, but I didn't know Black was taking it to a family-friendly hockey game. Luther Campbell even thinks that you went too far. Maybe Black and his girl (fellow rapper Essence) thought that hardly anybody goes to Panther games, nobody would notice. Uh, someone in the stands did, and so did hockey Twitter. Now the FLA Live Arena will have to rename itself the FLA 2 Live Crew Arena, with some of their luxury boxes doubling as champagne rooms. Maybe next game fans will get a show from Kimberly Guilfoyle (Hey, Mar-a-lago is near by) screaming "THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!" Yeah, right. 

Dude, word to the wise: Keep your elephant trunk in your pants next time, OK?

More to come

CT

National Championship Monday

 Greetings everyone, and welcome to the National Championship. The rematch of the 2018 natty between Alabama and Georgia. Another circle jerk for the SEC, ugh. Georgia's favored by three, but Alabama will win, why?

Some house keeping before we begin this game. I got my wireless keyboard from eBay this evening, it should come in around two weeks. 

There's too many telecasts of this game across the ESPN family of networks, except the International feed featuring Sean O'Mac. 

I have no idea who sang the National Anthem, but I'm guessing since the game is in Indianapolis and given the matchup, it was probably either a country or a evangelical star. 😐 A wipeout cartoon? Really? Now the coin toss, a lot of beef there. Oh great an ACC crew officiating; this should be interesting. Georgia wins the toss and will defer...

Bama to win by at least ten btw...

Alabama is already moving the ball. As a Florida fan, I wish this would wind up a tie...wait WHAT??? Georgia with a strip sack and SCORE??

That ball is going forward, no celebration just yet, but it's an ACC crew so you never know

Yep, a missed offside call. Typical ACC...

Incomplete pass, right call. By the way, you can still see the Colts logo at midfield. Nice hurdle there, good for the first down.

Alabama continuing to move the football after the near disaster earlier in the drive. Nearing the red zone already.

Georgia showed blitz, but Bryce Young has escapability. Now third down, but the pass falls incomplete. Field goal upcoming...and it is good. A victory for Georgia in that they didn't allow a touchdown. 3-0 Alabama.

Dean Winter is back playing the Allstate Mayhem guy. Wait, why is Keegan Michael Kay doing a CarFax ad? I think in a later post, I'll talk about commercials that annoy the bleep out of me,

Georgia now with the ball, and quarterback Stetson Bennett is an underdog; heavily underrecruited in high school. And on the first play we can see why, a sack. Disconcerting signals, oh it's the clapping by the defensive player. Now Bennett has a case of the dropsies.

Now, a delay of game call. I think Bennett is a little nervous. Georgia fails to convert on third down, and the Bulldogs will punt.

These Taco Bell commercials are hilarious. I'm afraid that if I ever find myself on a RARE date, a bell would ring and my date would leave me to Taco Bell. That's the kind of luck I have...I better shut up, that isn't the type of energy I want to manifest. Speaking of which, you...I'll tell you later.

I didn't know that Vince Dooley was still kicking, he was Georgia head coach when I was born, and retired when I was in high school. By the way, the high school I attended in North Carolina? Their marching band played at his final game, the 1989 Gator Bowl.

A rare punt for Bama, Georgia takes over at the 25.

About the statement I was going to make, you know the one woman who said she cares deeply about me that I mentioned in an earlier post. I haven't heard from her in about a week. I'm not surprised to be honest. It feels like the last line in "Just A Gigolo:" Nobody cares for me...

Back to the game after that annoying "$29.99!!!" Spectrum wireless ad. If you live in a part of the country that does not have Spectrum, consider yourself lucky. 

Another three and out for Georgia. Bama gets the ball back. OOOHH, the defender got too close to the receiver making the fair catch. An extra fifteen yards, and something that isn't called much.

What is this "Uncharted" movie, and why should I watch this in a theater? You know, there should have been a Manning Cast of this game. 

Run for Alabama but a hard hit from Georgia, forces a third down and another incomplete pass

Georgia with their third possession of the quarter, can they move the ball for once??? Penalties are NOT helping their cause, questionable call though.

OH MY GOODNESS GEORGIA GOT A FIRST DOWN!!

THEN A DIVING CATCH ON THE DEEP SHOT!!

Now a third straight first down off the screen pass, this may get interesting after all. False start though pushes them back. On the last play of the first quarter the Bulldogs get stuffed for no gain.

End of one from Indy:
Alabama 3

Georgia 0

Start of the second now, and Georgia has a first and goal. Nothing doing on first and second down, and on third down, a quarterback run falls short. Chip shot field goal and the game is tied at three.

This Taco Bell commercial is rather lame quite frankly.

Let's see if Bryce Young can do something this drive, and as I type that they do. Deep drive down the middle but a nasty looking injury to the receiver. Now this by David Guarini and Dr. Pepper.

Jameson Williams had his knee bend awkward as he was trying to gain more yardage. He's with Alabama's trainer now. Meanwhile, third and six coming up for Bama. Throw underneath short of the first down. Williams is off to the locker room, as ALabama hits the field goal. 6-3 Alabama.

BASKETBALL UPDATE: Hornets lead Milwaukee 99-95 with under a minute to go. Now back to football.

Kickoff to Georgia and a big return, but it comes back for holding. Hate it when that happens. 

Offense does nothing and they'll punt...again.  

This blog post, much like this game, isn't cutting it. I'll see you all back on Twitter. Until later...

Flashback Friday: 1/10/86

 Greetings once again, and welcome to our first Throwback Thursday entry of 2022, a day late because I posted this particular entry yesterday. Therefore, instead of a Throwback Thursday, it's a Flashback Friday. Tonight, I'm going back to 1986. I was in the middle of my first year of middle school, I hadn't worn glasses yet, and the Bucs were the worst team in football. Here now were the Top 40 songs according to Radio & Records Magazine for the week ending January 10, 1986.

40. He'll Never Love You (Like I Do) by Freddie Jackson.

39. Go by Asia. 

38. Sleeping Bag by ZZ Top. I was quite fond of this song actually.

37. A Love Bizarre by Sheila E. You don't hear of any women named Sheila anymore, do we? I think I only remember knowing one Sheila in my lifetime, and she was one of my eighth grade teachers

36. Tarzan Boy by Baltimora. This song got virtually zero airplay when I lived in NC. I didn't hear about this song until a few years later when Listerine mouthwash used it as part of their ad campaign to introduce their Cool Mint flavor.

35. Perfect Way by Scritti Politti.

34. Sara by Starship. That's Rebecca DeMornay starring in the music video. 

33. Separate Lives by Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin.

32. Silent Running by Mike + the Mechanics.

31. The Sun Always Shines on TV by A-ha.

30. The Sweetest Taboo by Sade.

29. Everything In My Heart by Cory Hart. No pun intended, of course.

28. Everybody Dance by Ta Mara and the Seen.

27. Broken Wings by Mr. Mister.

26. Sex As A Weapon by Pat Benatar

25. Face The Face by Pete Townshend.

24. Life In A Northern Town by Dream Academy. I remember Casey Kasem on "American Top Ten" the weeks later that year stating that this song contained an oboe. The song itself reminded me of a winter's day.

23. Living In America by James Brown.

22. Goodbye by Night Ranger.

21. Kyrie by Mr. Mister.

20. Conga by Miami Sound Machine.

19. Sidewalk Talk by Jellybean. Yes, Madonna provided backup vocals for this song.

18. You're A Friend Of Mine by Clarence Clemons & Jackson Browne.

17. How Will I Know by Whitney Houston.

16. It's Only Love by Bryan Adams & Tina Turner.

15. Go Home by Stevie Wonder.

14. When The Going Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going) by Billy Ocean. Cute but somewhat cringeworthy video for this song that featured the stars of "Romancing The Stone," Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito.

13. Spies Like Us by Paul McCartney.

12. I Miss You by Klymaxx.

11. Small Town by John Mellencamp.

10. My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen.

9. Tonight She Comes by The Cars.

8. I'm Your Man by Wham!

7. Party All The Time by Rick James Eddie Murphy. Yeah, Eddie sang the first two verses...and that's it. Rick James, the song's producer, filled in the rest. Listen to it sometime.

6. Walk Of Life by Dire Straits.

5. Burning Heart by Survivor. You know, I never watched "Rocky IV."

4. Alive and Kicking by Simple Minds.

3. Talk To Me by Stevie Nicks.

2. That's What Friends Are For by Dionne (Warwick) and Friends (Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, and Sir Elton John.

and the number one song this week in 1986 was...

1. Say You, Say Me by Lionel Richie. 

"I had an awesome dream..." 

And I did, a couple of nights ago. I dreamt that a woman came up to me completely naked and asked me to dance with her. But I digress. Anyway, that's tonight's flashback. I should have more to come sometime this weekend. Until then...

CT

Technical Difficulties and Some Thoughts On 1/6

Greetings again everyone. Well, we're about a week into 2022 now, and quite frankly it sort of feels a lot like last year. But even though this year may be off to a slow start, we're all hoping things will turn around by next month (if we ever get a grasp on this pandemic), and things will be kinda like late last summer. Right now, I'm just somewhat hopeful that I am able to get a newer laptop sometime this spring. Why, you ask? Well, the keyboard on my Acer Aspire took a dirt nap, and as of right now, I'm using the on-screen keyboard for it. But I have a Chromebook, so everything's hunky-dory, right? Not quite. It doesn't run on Windows, and with version 11 out, I'd like to upgrade to a newer laptop since my current Acer is eight(!) years old. My birthday is nearly a month away (February 8), so maybe there's some hope. In the meantime, I'll try to get used to typing on my Chromebook.

I was going to do my usual #tbt segment here, but for most of the day today I wasn't in the best of moods. Reason? Today was the one-year anniversary of Dumb Donald's attempt at an insurrection and try (unsuccessfully) to overturn what was a fair election. I'd rather not talk about what that dimwit did that day. His braindead followers storming the Capitol. The chants of "Hang Mike Pence" ringing aloud. Kimberly Goofoil (sic) performing a sorry $5 table dance (like a cheap stripper along US19) while watching the video monitors of the "Save America" rally as her (alleged) cokehead fiancee, Donald Jr. looked on. The whole sorry scene should have been enough to make any rational human being sick to their stomach. But alas, some people wanted the Capitol to burn to the ground. That kind of thinking caused me to delete my first Facebook page as well as excommunicate the folks I grew up in Robeson County, NC (by the way, if you ever travel through North Carolina on I-95, make sure you're north of I-40). The whole thing seemed like it was a very poorly written finale of a TV show...

Which leads me to the next part of my rant, the media. The whole prior administration reeked of a goddamn lame ass sitcom, produced by Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, and the dolts at Fox News. And if you see any of the programming on that cable outlet, you'd think that America is failing because of the other party, when in fact, the party that they kiss ass to was ultimately responsible nominating the POS and ultimately stealing winning the Presidency in 2016. Ever play around on the radio? Ever notice that almost EVERY newstalk station (at least here in Tampa, more on that in a bit) leans decidedly Republican? In fact, Mark Levin, who's show once aired in the nightime on WFLA-AM (I haven't listened to that station since 2016, aside from Lightning hockey) would hang up on any listener who dared disagreed with him (even so much as to call them morons). And of course their usual suspects of right-leaning goofballs, Rush (may he rot in pieces), liar extraordinaire Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck. Beck especially because he launched to national prominence because of a fluke impassioned speech after 9/11. And guess which station he was on at the time? WFLA-AM. Now he runs the Blaze, which is you guessed it, a right-wing media group. If not for that fluke speech, he'd be another failed FM DJ hosting an afternoon drive show in a mid-major market. One other talking head that I think is still on that station, Todd Schnitt, better known as MJ Kelli who gave up his morning gig at WFLZ-FM to work on his afternoon gig. I know he used to have an hour of his show on NewsMax (which is worse than Fox if we're being honest), but it's no longer there. I do remember he was a fervent supporter of T**** during his campaign for President, I don't know if that is the case now (I would hope not), but he's back doing mornings on a different station, on a different broadcaster.

Reason I bring all this up was that some twenty years ago, WFLA (as well as many other stations that were owned by what is now iHeart media) switched their news affiliation from ABC to FOX. In the days and weeks after 9/11, they seemed to be a lap dog for them President Bush. It was so nauseating that at one point, on a message board (remember those things?), I had critical of WFLA and their decidedly Pro-America agenda (war with terrorists, Patriot Act, etc., think of the theme song from "Team America: World Police), so much so that I even accused them of soliciting propaganda. I was practically laughed off the message board then, but some twenty years later, to quote Bruce Willis in "Die Hard," I hate it when I'm right. 

This is just my opinion, but in retrospect it seemed that the 2016 election and ensuing administration was a planned takeover of America by the media that has been in place for a long time, at least twenty-six years (if not longer). Roger Stone in part created Fox News because of Richard Nixon's resignation, and this was his way I imagine of creating a news outlet based on conservatism, which is not all that great quite frankly. So far, his plan has somewhat come to fruition, to the overall detriment to the country. As a kid, I was a fan of Reagan, mainly in part because my stepmother was raised in the same general vicinity (NW Illinois). I didn't know much about politics as a kid, and I still don't now, but I realize as a middle-age man that his legacy of what makes America wasn't exactly what our Founding Fathers had in mind. I thought the goal was to create a more perfect Union; you can't really have that without diversity and inclusivity.

I'm not letting CNN or MSNBC or Vice News off the hook lightly by the way. Some of their programming is nothing more than performance activism used to advance an agenda. Instead of reporting the news, they're somewhat trying to create it. What happened to "just the facts, ma'am/man?" I mean, why does one of America's more divisive civil rights leaders have his own show on the weekends? I guess I long for the days when CNN actually reported news, not just here in the USA, but around the world as well. IN any event, I wish the media would get its shit together, or we'll wind up with another January 6 on our hands.

My TBT segment will come later on Friday.

Until next time.

CT

My First Entry of 2022...

 Greetings again, and Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a safe and healthy Christmas holiday. Mine went well for the most part. Sadly, my sisters had to put down our last remaining animal, as Ginger kitty crossed the rainbow bridge on New Year's Day.

The end of 2021 was, to be quite honest, a bummer. Two larger than life personalities, John Madden and Betty White, both passed away. Mrs. White, who was just two weeks shy of turning 100, was loved by EVERYONE, and late Saturday night, NBC aired a rerun of her hosting "Saturday Night Live" from May of 2010 in her honor. I remember her from the days when reruns of Mary Tyler Moore (who we lost last year) would air on TV when I was a little kid. Then as the voice as the nanny on "Muppet Babies." Then, of course, "The Golden Girls." She was a national treasure who aged like a fine wine, and she'll never be forgotten. 

Mr. Madden was also universally loved. For some, it was him as head coach of the Oakland Raiders, to people like myself, it was as the preeminent color analyst on NFL telecasts on CBS with Pat Summerall, and later FOX then ABC and NBC with Al Michaels. To others, it was the name of arguably the greatest video gaming franchise in history, and to pretty much everyone, it was a pitchman for Outback Steakhouse, Miller Lite, Dr. Pepper, and BOOM!! Tough actin' Tinactin (spray for athlete's foot). He's the main reason I and many others among Gen X became football fans, and quite possibly the reason the National Football League is the juggernaut that it is today well into the 21st century. Needless to say, he was an American icon. 

One quote of his that I've seen on various tributes on YouTube to him was during a 1994 game where he and Pat were covering the Dallas Cowboys, and Madden used the telestrator to show Troy Aikman's lack of facial hair. He then said, "when the going gets tough, quit." I seriously doubt that he would actually give that kind of advice when it comes to football, but SPEAKING OF WHICH...

A Mental Day in the NFL Yesterday

If anyone caught football highlights yesterday or even saw the least bit of sports news yesterday, you probably saw that Antonio Brown, embattled wide receiver who was playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, had one of the most bizarre moments in league history. After refusing to enter the game with Tampa trailing 24-10 to the lowly New York Jets midway through the third quarter, Brown appeared to toss his pads to the ground, took off his shirt and gloves, then motioned to the crowd in the end zone before jogging into the locker room, getting a police escort out of town, never to be seen again at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. After the game, in which Tampa came back in dramatic fashion to beat the Jets 28-24, Bucs coach Bruce Arians stated bluntly that he was no longer with the team. 

However, it came to light this morning that Brown apparently had an ouchie regarding his ankle (he didn't practice all week leading up to the game), and supposedly Brown, who was already on thin ice with the Bucs, didn't want to risk further injuring his ankle. Last week in Charlotte against the Carolina Panthers, Brown caught 11 passes for 101 yards. Also, Brown had several incentives in his contract totaling $1 million had he continued to play in the game. Which makes the whole situation even more ponderous. In any event, Arians booted Brown off the team on the spot. Brown then had his temper tantrum, was tried to be talked down from the ledge by fellow receiver Mike Evans, then stormed into the locker room.

THIS JUST IN...as I was taking my lunch break, Arians says that he wasn't injured after all, and that he cares about his well being. Hmmm. Many people have speculated that Brown has CTE and that a vicious hit in the 2015 AFC Wildcard Game from former NFL player and notorious head hunter Vontaze Burfict helped play a part in doing so, but whatever the case, hopefully Brown can finally get his mind right.

Have I Found My Human? Probably Not...

Received a DM on Twitter this weekend from someone who I've been fond of for a few years now. I kinda spilled my guts to her, which is something I don't really do to be honest. Her reply wasn't all too surprising given that we're only friends and nothing more (insert sad face). but then she said that she cared about me deeply, which is something I don't think I've ever heard from someone outside of family before. I mean good grief, I know I'm a bit awkward, but that really meant something to me; it sucks because she's in another part of the country. But it got me to asking, "have I finally met my human after all?" 🐴 

Dammit I wish I didn't suck with this issue.

Well anyway, that's what I wanted to say to start off 2022. Now I'll guess I'll go on Spotify and listen to Taylor Swift's "22." Until next time and as always...

More to come...

CT