Is It Almost June?!

 Hello again everyone, it's already May 21, which means next weekend is Memorial Day weekend in the US, and we are already on the cusp of June...already. I was going to write this yesterday/last night, but I received a REALLY bad energy jolt Thursday morning and it affected me big time since then. But I'm still here, and the only thing I'll say about what happened to me is it could, and I feel should, have happened to me.

Now that that's out of the way, I can go ahead and speak about what I couldn't speak about last week, and that is what may be happening in the immediate future. The other week, my family was informed that a cousin of ours in North Carolina has prostate cancer. That means that the middle sister of mine, who lives with me, may have to travel up to NC to help out the youngest of my sisters for an indefinite amount of time, and that means I'm stuck in Florida with my eldest sister, and that means any and all plans I may have made for summer will be wiped away. Which really sucks because there were a few places I wanted to visit on my own later this summer. Like can I get a freaking break with my life?! I've spent the majority of the last five years either recovering from my stroke or frigging COVID (which is not over by a long shot, by the way) and I want to go back to how my life was BEFORE my stroke, if that's even possible.

How rude of computer to shut off on me when I only had this window and FadeFM open.

This week's top 40 flashback takes us back to 1998, when I was 24 and 60 days out from getting discharged from the Navy. I won't give little anecdotes about the songs like I do from earlier countdowns because in Norfolk, Virginia at that time you had to listen to three or four different stations to get the full scope of popular music. Anyway, here were the top 40 songs per Radio & Records magazine for this date in 1998:

40. The Boy Is Mine by Brandy and Monica
39. My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
38. Stop by Spice Girls
37. Time Ago by Black Lab
36. Never Ever by All Saints
35. I Get Lonely by Janet Jackson
34. Nice And Slow by Usher
33. Zoot Suit Riot by Cherry Poppin' Daddies
32. Have Fun, Go Mad by Blair
31. Kiss The Rain by Billie Myers

30. Real World by Matchbox 20
29. Sin So Well by Rebekah
28. No, No, No by Destiny's Child
27. Me by Paula Cole
26. Adia by Sarah McLachlan
25. I'll Be by Edwin McCain
24. Frozen by Madonna
23. This Is How We Party by S.O.A.P.
22. Heroes by Wallflowers
21. Kind & Generous by Natalie Merchant

20. How's It Going To Be by Third Eye Blind
19. Too Close by Next
18. Do You Really Want Me by Robyn
17. Ray Of Light by Madonna
16. Together Again by Janet Jackson
15. My All by Mariah Carey
14. Iris by Goo Goo Dolls
13. Searchin' My Soul by Vonda Shepard
12. The Way by Fastball
11. Everybody (Backstreet's Back) by Backstreet Boys

10. 3AM by Matchbox 20
  9. Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It by Will Smith
  8. Anytime by Brian McKnight
  7. I Want You Back by *NSync
  6. Truly Madly Deeply by Savage Garden
  5. You're Still The One by Shania Twain
  4. Uninvited by Alanis Morissette
  3. Sex And Candy by Marcy Playground
  2. All My Life by K-Ci and JoJo

and the number one song on this date 24 years ago was...

  1. Torn by Natalie Imbruglia

You know I was doing some thinking the other day, about the stuff I've missed out on in my life. I missed both proms because essentially my father was a cheap-ass stick in the mud. I missed the birth of my daughter because I was new at my job at the Post Office and couldn't take leave. I missed Y2K because I had to work. I think I've been kissed only once to ring in the new year, and she was seeing someone! The one homecoming dance at Apopka I went to, I contracted laryngitis. Countless Halloweens and other occasions, and did I mention the fiasco that was my 40th birthday? Got taken to some Dollar Store dinner theater in the touristy part of Orlando by my drunken ex-sister-in-law and her lush of a daughter in law who tried to interrupt the damn show. God I was embarrassed. So, what's the point I'm getting at? I feel I deserve much much better than what life has dealt me. I mean, just look at this year alone. Just go back and look at my earlier entries on this blog. By the end of this year, I swore to be in a relationship and be madly in love with a woman. I thought I had it in February, but it was taken away from me. Now I have to start over again and quite frankly it's getting old. 

Well, enough voicing my frustrations for this week, I have wrestling to catch up on and wondering what I'm going to write about this week. Until then, have a good one. 

CT

Live From Spring Hill, It's Saturday Night!

 Hello again, everyone. I and a lot of mutuals on Twitter are coming off a high of the Tampa Bay Lightning surviving a seven-game battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs and moving on to round two against those dastardly LOLCats from Broward County. Time to show those pissycats who actually RUNS this state...AGAIN.

Last night after I finished my last entry, I decided to watch an episode of WWE "Raw" from October 9, 2000. I won't go into long-winded detail about it, because it's already on the web somewhere, but for you wrestling fans out there, long story short, "Commissioner" Mick Foley had suspended Stone Cold Steve Austin indefinitely on the previous week's "Smackdown!" because he kept interfering in matches and handing out stunners to everyone. Keep in mind that this was a result of Stone Cold and Mick Foley trying to get to the bottom of who ran him over with a car during the previous year's Survivor Series PPV (now it's called a "premium live event"). Well, at the end of "Raw," Foley found out who the culprit was; Rikishi, who happens to be cousin of the WWE(F) Champion at the time, The Rock (Dwayne Johnson). Rikishi then cuts a promo (speech for those who don't follow sports entertainment) about how he and The Rock were being held back from being ultimately successful because they were Pacific Islanders. 

That got me to thinking...Jimmy and Jey Uso, current Smackdown Tag Team champions, are the real-life sons of Rikishi, and Roman Reigns is current WWE Champion. Reigns is also a relative of Rikishi. So, here you have that promo from an episode of Raw all those years ago, compared to what's happening today in WWE. Now that is some long-term storytelling, and it's not over. A recent episode of "Young Rock" alluded to Joe Anoai (Reigns) as a little kid watching Raw and wanting a young Rock to acknowledge him, just like today. So, I and others who follow WWE are speculating that next year at WrestleMania, we will see Reigns vs. the Rock. Talk about next-level storytelling...

I haven't dug into the tragic news from Buffalo today, but gosh almighty, when will these senseless shootings stop?

The rumors are apparently true, Vladdy P has cancer. Meanwhile, in a somewhat related note, Ukraine won the annual Eurovision song contest this afternoon.

Remember the post I made about a radio station I used to listen to being back online? Well it was down for several weeks, but it's now returned as part of the FadeFM family. Along with that station, there's also a channel known as "Florida Breakbeats," which reminds me somewhat of late-night raves at the old Edge nightclub, which is now Ace Cafe. That was by far my favorite hangout (other than the old O-rena) when I was in the Naval Training Center in Orlando. Now the training center is Baldwin Park, and when I first visited in 2005, I admit I got a little bit misty-eyed. Hell, practically all of Orlando now is unrecognizable from when I last lived there some thirty years ago. Anyway, that's what I'm listening to now. 

Speaking of now, time to get my drink on. Cheers, everyone!

CT

Friday Flashback 5/14/83

Hello again, everyone, and Happy Friday the 13th. It has been a minute (actually about three months) since I posted a flashback Friday post, but my mental and emotional health had been on the fritz during that time. Although there still are things going on that I'm not at liberty to discuss, I do feel well enough to make this post at least. That said, here's a look at the Top 40 songs according to Billboard Magazine for this week in 1983:

40. The One Thing by INXS. Nobody outside of Australia knew at the time how massive this group would become. RIP Michael Hutchence.

39. I'm Still Standing by Elton John. A song that is basically a bleep you to any and all exes out there.

38. Gimme All Your Lovin' by ZZ Top. The first song off their Eliminator LP, and the first video that featured the three hotties and the "Eliminator" car, which created massive airplay on MTV and got the band a new generation of fans.

37. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me by Culture Club. One of the first music videos I remember seeing, and the first time I remember seeing a male dressed as a female, which led me to ask myself, "you can do that?" In retrospect, one of my late mother's favorite programs, "The $1.98 Beauty Show," also had drag performers (although I didn't realize it until later in life), but I was way too young to figure out what was going on.

36. One on One by Hall and Oates.

35. Never Gonna Let You Go by Sergio Mendes. This song was mainly forgotten until a few years ago when the Michelin Tire Company used it for one of their ads.

34. So Wrong by Patrick Simmons.

33. I Couldn't Say No by Robert Thomas Corral with Carlene Carter. 

32. Some Kind of Friend by Barry Manilow.

31. Welcome To Heartlight by Kenny Loggins. Not to be confused with Neil Diamond's song "Heartlight" from the year before that was featured in the movie E.T.

30. Try Again by Champaign. There's a few things I'd like to try again myself...

29. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey. This was undoubtedly one of my favorite songs that year.

28. It Might Be You by Stephen Bishop. 

27. She's A Beauty by the Tubes. Another one of my favorites from that year.

26. Family Man by Hall & Oates. This song could be one of Twitter's theme songs if you think about it...

25. Stranger In My House by Ronnie Milsap. True story; my across the cul-de-sac neighbors were related to Ronnie Milsap.

24. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. The song that changed pop music forever and lauched the vieo music era into the stratosphere.

23. Don't Let It End by Styx.

22. Always Something There to Remind Me by Naked Eyes. This song haunts me for some reason.

21. Mornin' by Al Jarreau.

20. Faithfully by Journey. Something I'd like to be, just nobody has given me a chance yet.

19. Affair of the Heart my Rick Springfield. I think as time has gone by, Springfield's work has been underappreciated.

18. Even Now by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. Just the other day, someone on Twitter asked about driving the backroads and listening to Bob Seger. I replied by asking "Shame On The Moon?" You could add this song to that list.

17. Time (Clock of the Heart) by Culture Club. 

16. Mr. Roboto by Styx. Another favorite from that year. But nobody spraypainted "Kilroy Was Here" anywhere in Orlando from what I remember.

15. Straight from The Heart by Bryan Adams. His debut track. I thought it was "Cuts Like a Knife" but not so. Guess my memory is slipping a little bit. Uh-oh.

14. Rio by Duran Duran. This song is geographically confusing. Listening to the lyrics, you'd think they were talking about the Rio Grande, but watching the video and listening to the music, it sounds like they're taking about Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Or could they have been singing about the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul?

13. Photograph by Def Leppard. I used to have a picture of my third grade class from Orlando Christian School. I lost it with half my other stuff when "Hurricane Denise" disrupted my life about a decade ago. Damn.

12. My Love by Lionel Richie.

11. I Won't Hold You Back by Toto. As a little kid, my one sister and I would try to sing along to the lyrics. Nowadays, I cringe when this song plays.

10. Der Kommissar by After the Fire. America's first look at Falco, God bless his soul.

  9. Solitaire by Laura Branigan. A vastly underrated song in my opiinion.

  8. Little Red Corvette by Prince. Baby you're much too fast. Yes you are...

  7. Flashdance...What a Feeling by Irene Cara. According to my numbers, this song actually rated higher than "Every Breath You Take" on the Billboard charts. I think I mentioned how I do my song ranking system in a previous blog post several years ago, I'll have to dig it up sometime.

  6. Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners. I thought when this song came out, this band would be the "next big thing." Alas, it was a mere one-hit wonder.

  5. She Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby. Good Heavens, Miss Okimoto, you're beautiful!

  4. Overkill by Men At Work. When tis song came out, I swore in the final chorus, Colin Hay, the lead singer of MAW, sang "I gotta go dookie!!" It was later in life he was actually singing, "I'm diving in too deep!!" Don't you just love how kids minds work. 😆

  3. Jeopardy by Greg Kihn Band. Before the iconic reboot of the classic game show, "Jeopardy!" there was this hit song, and subsequent parody song "I lost on 'Jeopardy!'" by Weird Al Yankovich.

  2. Let's Dance by David Bowie. My first exposure to David Bowie; I was too young for the Ziggy Stardust era.

and the number one song 39 years ago this week in 1983 was...

  1. Beat It by Michael Jackson 

Such an iconic video. Just like "Billie Jean" and of course his masterpiece, "Thriller."

Well, I'm off to watch "Smackdown" and go on Twitter. Until next time.

CT

The Fish Are A Bitin'

 Hello again everyone. Back on here after a few weeks away from the laptop and ready to type. I've noticed something quite disturbing going on lately. No, it isn't the whole Roe vs Wade debacle that's taking place. No, it isn't Governor Ron DeSantis being a royal d*ck once again. No, it isn't the loathesome Broward County LOLCats on the verge of winning a series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since I was in the Navy. It's the insane number of catfish that has been trying to get up with yours truly the past couple of months.

After my failed attempt to land a girlfriend a couple of months back, I have received a plethora of friend requests on Instagram. Fortunately, I set my profile to private so I can screen these requests. Most have no sense of typing in proper English (which leads me to think that they aren't who the picture describes them as, they're posing from overseas, likely south Asia). And another thing, why are they more often than not pretending to be Angie Varona? I mean come on! I don't know her, and she sure as hell doesn't know me. And what did she do (other than the obvious) to attract the attention of every catfish scammer this side of Miami??

It's not just Insta either. Some catfish have infiltrated Twitter and are doing the same thing, in my DMs. Like who are these people? Nine times out of ten I just ignore them. The one time I do, it's someone usually who isn't active on Twitter other than posting the occasional (and sometimes NSFW) thirst trap. Most of them don't seem (to me at least) very intelligent. 

Same thing on Facebook, too. One I encountered there claimed to be from Indio, CA and went by the name of "Selena Pickens." Turns out "Selena" was using a picture of a Russian supermodel, who's more than likely NOT in Indio, CA. SMDGH.

Look, here's the thing. There maybe one or two I'm kinda interested in, and that interest for now is VERY casual at best. Remember, I'm playing with the deck stacked against me so to speak because of my disability as well as other factors (cough *sister* cough). As for the one I was interested in a couple of months ago? Well, I could hope and pray that she breaks up with her bf, but the chances of that happening are slim and none, and Slim is leaving town. Do I get lonesome? Yes and no. Would I love to have a woman to do all sorts of fun things with? Absolutely. But realistically, I just don't see that happening right now, so I'll just be content with Tweeting about sports, (COME ON BOLTS!) wrestling, 80s music and hashtags, as well as some politics (yuck). If something happens, it happens...

Maybe I should inquire about getting a Boston Terrier...

Until next time

CT

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