Dammit Man

 Hello, everyone. Except for you, Eric, you POS. Suffice to say this month has not been a great month for me personally. What I thought was going to be the biggest month of my entire life was anything but. First I was heartbroken. Then I was kinda robbed. Then I didn't receive any explanation for my my heart was broken. Add that to the numerous times I received the blue screen of death on my two-month-old computer, and you can pretty much say that the first month of my fifties was an utter travesty.

I think my romantic aspirations, or lack thereof, is paramount among my frustrations, but my computer has to be a close second. The only applications I added to my computer were Google Earth and Spotify, and Google Earth I uninstalled within a week because I thought that was what was crashing my computer so much. Maybe it was Spotify instead. I can't really tell because every time I turn the computer on, I get a blue screen telling me to press F1 for recovery environment, etc., and when the computer does load properly, within a minute I get the Blue screen of Death saying "critical process died."

I have gone to youtube to help diagnose the issue, but I get the same lame-ass result. I don't want to take it to Best Buy and have it looked at (I got it from WalMart for cheap online), but maybe I have too. Man, between that and the other thing, what a sucky month. Hopefully March will be better.

BonyScribe

Flashback: February 25, 1994

 Good morning, everyone. I wanted to start off with a tweet (yes, I still call them that, Squealon Muskrat) from someone I follow closely on Twitter, Dani Leigh, who is best known as a wrestling fan and her thoughts on that industry. Well, in this tweet, she began, "I know today's society looks down on venting, but I'm a big proponent of it." First off, I agree with Dani whole-heartedly on venting. Heck, some entries on this blog are just me venting; I guess it's a family tradition of ours. If anyone knows anything about the Tyner family, they will know that we can have a good vent or two every once in a while. I guess it came from my grandfather (who passed before I was born), who passed it on down to his children, most notably my father, my uncle DH, and my aunt Sadie. They of course, passed it down to my generation. While we don't rant and rave about every little thing imaginable, because that would be rather ungrateful, we do have opinions that we aren't afraid to share, and if you're an avid reader of this blog, you know that. Secondly, and I think I may have inadvertently answered this already in the last sentence, who said that venting was frowned upon? 

(from MTSsalestraining.com)

Anyway, I thought I would throw in a few rants here and there with today's flashback. This week, we're going to 1994, when I was miserable in Charleston, SC hoping to pass my nuclear prototype training. I'm utilizing the Radio & Records chart for this flashback. Here were the top 40 songs for February 25, 1994.

40. Bump N' Grind by R. Kelly. Continuing with my rant from the last flashback I did, not only did the "pop" station refused to play this song, but the urban station in town played a smoothed out slow jams version of it. I just couldn't win in this decade.

39. And Our Feelings by Babyface. Nope. Didn't hear this one in Charleston either. What feelings were Babyface talking about anyway, crippling depression? (Of course not.)

38. Gin And Juice by Snoop (Doggy) Dogg. Similar to #40, the urban station in Charleston played a totally different version. Damn, Charleston sucked!

37. Come To My Window by Melissa Etheridge

36. Miss You In A Heartbeat by Def Leppard. One thing about the 90's I disliked was the pivot musically to a more acoustic sound. Thanks, MTV. Maybe the reason you're an irrelevant network nowadays is karma from the times you forced fed "Unplugged" down out throats.

35. Ain't Seen Love Like That by Mr. Big. If I may speak like someone from Robeson County, North Carolina for a moment, "ain't remember no song like that there, y'all." Which reminds me, I don't think any radio station in Charleston at that time aired either neither "American Top 40" nor "Casey's Top 40"; I think the nearest station that did was all the way in Myrtle Beach, which was a bit too far to pick up cleanly on my radio.

34. Baby, I Love Your Way by Big Mountain. A mere five years and change beforehand, dance group Will To Power remade this as part of a medley along with "Freebird." They really don't do a lot of remakes anymore, then again, I stopped listening to modern music about seven years ago.

33. Getto Jam by Domino. Didn't hear this one until some years later.

32. Queen Of The Night by Whitney Houston. Talk about staying power, this song came from the soundtrack to the movie "Bodyguard," which was nearly two years old.

31. Since I Don't Have You by Guns 'N' Roses. This was GnR's last chart hit, and as someone who wasn't a big GnR fan, good riddance.

30. Linger by The Cranberries. The Irish group's breakout hit.

29. Having A Party by Rod Stewart. See my note after #36 for my thoughts on this one.

28. Streets Of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen. From the movie "Philadelphia," this one was a favorite of mine, and I can still see the lines of people outside of Pat's and Geno's from eight years ago to this very day.

27. Shoop by Salt N Pepa

26. Mr. Jones by Counting Crows

25. Will You Be There In The Morning by Heart. Let me go ahead and answer that question, probably not. I'll get into why later.

24. Cry For You by Jodeci. No, I don't do that anymore. In fact, there's another song from later in 1994 named "Can't Cry Anymore" by Sheryl Crow. But that's not the reason I don't do that as you will see later.

23. Cannonball by The Breeders. I don't think the bass line to this song gets talked about enough in my opinion.

22. Groove Thang by Zhane

21. Life (Everybody Needs Somebody) by Haddaway. I sort of liked this better than "What Is Love" to be honest. Probably because it wasn't featured on SNL, although I think those Roxbury skits came later.

20. I'm In The Mood by CeCe Peniston. She suddenly faded into Bolivia after this single. IYKYK.

19. (Lay Your Head On My) Pillow by Tony! Toni! Tone!

18. Breathe Again by Toni Braxton. I can still remember her running through that maze in the music video for this song. Kinda like me at times.

17. Everyday by Phil Collins

16. Understanding by Xscape

15. Found Out About You by The Gin Blossoms. I CERTAINLY did, and that's the reason I don't cry for you anymore. IYKYK.

14. All For Love by Bryan Adams, Sting, and Rod Stewart. You know, I can't imagine these singers donning three musketeers' costumes (which is the movie this song is from). Maybe Sting, but definitely not Bryan nor Rod.

13. Amazing by Aerosmith. I had a huge crush on Alicia Silverstone at the time, as most young men did. It went away quick after "Batman and Robin" though, which is by far the worst movie in the entire Batman franchise.

12. Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Oh, my my, oh hell yes. You got to pit on that party dress.

11. Now and Forever by Richard Marx. Don't remember the title of it, but I think it came from a movie with Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. Update, it was from "The Getaway."

10. Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through by Meat Loaf. This was actually a remake of a song that Jim Steinman, the man behind Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell II" album, released in 1981 that reached the top 40 on Billboard. This version however was much better.

  9. Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) by Us3

  8. Choose by Color Me Badd. Unfortunately, they were still around in 1994. They're still around today actually, when they aren't fighting each other on stage.

  7. Whatta Man by Salt N Pepa f/ En Vogue. Wow whatta video for that song. Why did the sexiest member of En Vogue have to leave the group though?

  6. Stay by Eternal. If a radio station nowadays decides to include 90's hits on their playlist (talking to you, Hits 106), this song should definitely be included.

  5. So Much In Love by All-4-One

  4. The Power Of Love by Celine Dion. A remake of a Laura Branigan tune from a few years prior. 

  3. Without You by Mariah Carey. Another remake, this one from Nillson back in the 70's.

  2. Because Of Love by Janet Jackson. 

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

  1. The Sign by Ace of Base. Now made somewhat popular again thanks to a Miller Lite advertisement. Which is a good alternative to Bud Light for those of you who want to protest, well you know.

  Well, that wraps up this week's flashback. If something comes up, I'll be back here again sometime this weekend. For now, it's time to grab some breakfast and talk to my therapist via video chat later this morning. Man do I have much to tell her. For now, enjoy your weekend!

Bonyscribe.

Have We All Gone Crazy?

 Good morning. While awaiting my computer to boot up this morning (which I'll probably have to do again later today; that's another story for another time), I was thinking about a brief conversation I had with my sister Carmel on Monday night. She was having a conversation with someone younger while she was still living in North Carolina, and she was asking the younger woman if she believed in dating and such, and the younger woman said that they didn't really believe in that. According to her, it was pretty much a hook-up culture. Now I really can't relate to what she was talking about, because I haven't been on a date in almost eight years and have been vastly unsuccessful in procuring any type of relationship for longer than that. But it got me to thinking, especially after the latest circumstance with the one I had been pursuing for the last year-plus; have we all gone insane?

It already takes an act of Congress for me to go out on my own to begin with, thanks to overbearing siblings, so I don't go out much to begin with. Plus, it seems like I fall for someone, something unbelievable and fluky happens to screw the whole situation up, like I would lose contact with somebody, or they just move away for unknown reasons. One thing I can't understand though, is why one mere month after starting a relationship with someone, they're already married? Excuse me?? Like you just got out of a year-long relationship with someone and now you're married to someone else??? Have you gone crazy?

 

Better yet, have we ALL gone crazy? Just look at some of our celebrities and our society as a whole since the turn of the millennium. People don't interact in person like they used to. Most of our shopping is done online instead of in person. There aren't many standing bookstores left. Record stores are all but non-existent. Even some grocery stores are going the way of the dodo bird. Yeah, COVID played a part, but this has been going on for about a decade now. Worse yet, people are falling more and more for propaganda and false news from all ends of the spectrum. Oh, and don't get me started on religion; my sisters are somewhat religious whereas I would rather have freedom FROM religion. And every other commercial on television nowadays is for some pharmaceutical product. 

I used to think that the "mental health crisis" in America was just a phrase. Maybe sadly, it might be our reality.

And yes, I had to reboot my computer twice just to complete this.

BonyScribe

Flashback: February 16, 1996

 Hello again everyone. The last time I did a flashback was January 25th, and I wound up getting my heart ripped out that day...again. So, this flashback, I should have a clear mind (if not a slightly bruised heart) and should follow through with a proper flashback. This week, we go back to 1996. I don't think I've done a flashback from that year before. I'll have to check to be sure. Also, I'm doing this flashback a little different from my other ones. In the past my flashbacks came from either the Radio & Records pop chart from that week or the Billboard Hot 100. This week however, I'm basing this off the Hot 100 Airplay sector of the Billboard chart. Charts back in those days, as well as radio, was rather unique. So, without further ado, here were, according to Billboard Magazine, the 40 most played pop songs:

40. Brain Stew/Jaded by Green Day. Got plenty of run on MTV and rock radio, but course, pop radio in Virginia (where I lived) wouldn't touch the song. Kinda like how a country station in Oklahoma won't touch Beyonce's latest country song (Update: after public outcry, the station caved and started playing it). Another reason that I kinda despise that state, especially after a few weeks ago. 

39. Runaway by Janet Jackson. At this point, this song had already dropped below the Top 40 according to Radio & Records. Even though I had it as recurrent, as it was below #20 with 20+ weeks on the chart.

38. Not Gon' Cry by Mary J. Blige. This one had yet to reach the top 50 on Radio and Records pop chart yet. It would eventually debut on March 8.

37. Back For Good by Take That. Big in England, not so much here outside of this track.

36. Set U Free by Planet Soul. A staple at the old enlisted club in Norfolk Naval Base. I don't think that place exists anymore...

35. Glycerine by Bush. A little surprised in retrospect that this charted because much like Brain Stew at #40, this hardly got any traction outside the rock and alternative stations in Virginia.

34. Anything by 3T. I honestly don't remember this tune. 

33. Kiss From A Rose by Seal. From I think the best Batman movie, "Batman Forever."

32. Follow You Down by Gin Blossoms.

31. I Want To Come Over by Melissa Etheridge. 

30. Diggin' On You by TLC.

29. Run-Around by Blues Traveler. I have yet to see exactly how long it stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 by on Radio and Records it stayed for almost a year!

28. Before You Walk Out Of My Life by Monica. 

27. Don't Cry by Seal. Quality follow-up to "Kiss From A Rose."

26. Carnival by Natalie Merchant. Her first smash hit as a solo artist. Faded away as the century came to a close.

25. You'll See by Madonna. I think this was her last hit from her "Bedtime Stories" album, before the "Evita" soundtrack later that year.

24. Roll To Me by Del Amitri. If I'm not mistaken this was one of a handful of one-hit wonders from the mid-90's.

23. Til I Hear It From You by Gin Blossoms. Just as "Runaway" at #39, I had as a recurrent song, it was listed on Radio & Records because back in February 1996, their recurrent rule was at least 26 weeks in the top 40 and under position 25.

22. Hook by Blues Traveler. Kind of a humorous video to this song.

21. Only Wanna Be With You. Yeah, the Dolphins made Darius Rucker, and plenty of others in South Florida, cry this season.

20. California Love by 2Pac (f/Dr. Dre & R. Troutman). Arguably 2Pac's signature hit. Didn't get enough run on pop radio.

19. Ironic by Alanis Morissette. Was it just me, or did I have the feeling that Alanis was a little unhinged going off of the video for this song?

18. Tell Me by Groove Theory. Another hit that I thought didn't get enough run on pop radio.

17. Hey Lover by LL Cool J. I just did a compare/contrast with the two media markets that I spent the majority of my time in (Norfolk, VA and Raleigh, NC) and no wonder that my music listening experience in the 90's was whack. On Z104 (NOR), this song got 30+ plays for the week, while it received zero on G105 (RDU). Conversely, "Ironic" had a similar number of plays during the week in Raleigh, while receiving zero in Norfolk. Also, "Hand In My Pocket" was G105's number one song for the week, Z104 was listed as CHR/Pop, but were anything but. If anything, they were rhythmic/urban.

16. Fantasy by Mariah Carey. Another thing about G105, that station refused to play this song, but would instead play the song that "Fantasy" is sampled from, "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club. Seriously. I swear I had to have been around the two WORST markets for pop radio in the mid-90's. No WONDER I was miserable while I was up there! 

15. Sittin' Up In My Room by Brandy. Another song that G105 ignored. 

14. 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. Another song that Z104 ignored that you could only get on the rock station. You starting to catch my drift as well as sense my frustration?

13. The World I Know by Collective Soul. As you may have been able to tell with the last few songs, the world I knew at the time (at least from a music standpoint) was not a fun one.

12. Wonder by Natalie Merchant.

11. As I Lay Me Down by Sophie B. Hawkins. Unfortunately, this (and not "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover") is Hawkins's signature hit. Reason, the original video for "Lover," which suddenly went away when Hawkins came out. Damn.

10. Wonderwall by Oasis. Probably the greatest singalong song of my lifetime, even though I never sang it while intoxicated.

  9. Be My Lover by La Bouche.

  8. Nobody Knows by Tony Rich Project.

  7. One Of Us by Joan Osborne. I may have mentioned this in a prior entry years ago, but the spoken word intro to this song sounds like it came from a woman I used to know from Lake County, Florida.

  6. Exhale (Shoop Shoop) by Whitney Houston. Again, another great song that G105 ignored. Seriously G105, were you racist or something back then???

  5. Breakfast At Tiffany's by Deep Blue Something. Another mid 90's one-hit wonder.

  4. Time by Hootie & The Blowfish. Another song I used to sing along to.

  3. Name by Goo Goo Dolls. A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio. Somewhat prophetic words there.

  2. Missing by Everything But The Girl. Kind of describes my life; everything but the girl.

...and the most played pop song according to Billboard Magazine on this date 28 years ago was...

  1. One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men. I think until recently (within the last five years), that held the record for most weeks at number one on the Hot 100 chart.

Hope to have more entries for y'all this weekend. Enjoy your Friday everyone.

BonyScribe

Bah Humbug...

 Hello again, everyone, and welcome to my hell. In case you haven't read the date on the calendar, it is now February 14, 2024. Valentine's Day. A date I can say with very little uncertainty has been historically bad. Of course, I have to preface this by saying that I've been perpetually single, which isn't really a bad thing (think of all the money I didn't have to spend on candies or chocolate). Yes, I have had flowers delivered for crushes before, but nothing came of it. I think in my lifetime so far, I've had two, maybe three Valentine's Day that were good. One was back in 1988, when I was 14 and didn't know what love was to be honest. That one thankfully didn't work out. Nor did the time I sent a dozen red roses to an old schoolmate of mine. The third was when I was off from work, and I really didn't care if I was with someone or not. That was probably the best Valentine's Day for me because I wasn't looking forward to it.

Come to think of it, maybe that's the state of mind I should have had all this time instead of chasing after old flames only to get burned by the fire. One old flame fizzled because (at first) she wanted me to get better (I had just had my stroke). Then she didn't like my political stance (left of center) during the 2018 election. I haven't heard from her since. The latest one? Heck, I don't know what her issue is. I guess you could say she's snowed under. Oh well.

You know just talking about this makes me kinda sick to my stomach, so instead of celebrating today, maybe I should just go to sleep. My dreams are much better than my reality anyway. So, to all of y'all out there, bah humbug...I mean, happy Valentine's Day.

BonyScribe

Some Fiftieth Birthday Wishes

 Hello everyone. I'm sitting here as my 50th birthday is about to wrap up, but not the celebration. Tomorrow for me personally will be big, if not petty, as I encounter my now former love interest for a few moments to properly celebrate my birthday. Then, after an off day, I'll chill and watch the Super Bowl with my sisters. I kind of hope San Francisco wins, one because I'm sick and tired of Kansas City winning all the time (I mean they are the new Patriots) and two I'll mention below. But for now, I want to put out some wishes I have for these upcoming next twelve months.

First, I just wish that people would stop lying to me. I think you know who this is directed to. Bend over backwards as much as you can to treat someone sweet and ensure that they are the one you're seeking, only to be sold a bill of goods so that I would continue to look like a sucker and a fool. I know that everyone plays the fool, as Aaron Neville once sang, but gosh almighty, what this woman did only gave me false hope, and that's about as low as one can go. Others now know about the situation and are quite sympathetic towards me. Tomorrow, I hope she realizes how bad she fucked up. Then again, she probably has no feelings, because gingers don't have souls.

Another thing I wish to see is the end of media-generated political propaganda in our country. Yes, from both sides. I'm sick of hearing about Biden's old age hindering his ability to govern, and I'm just as sick of hearing how much the US should support Israel when in fact, they have been targeting civilians in the ongoing (and never-ending) conflict against Palestine. This is an argument you can't win either way. If you say you condemn Israel, you're anti-Semitic. If you support the Netanyahu regime, you're pro-genocide. Either way, you're screwed. At this point, if I were president, and I don't want to be, I wouldn't give either one of these fuckers a penny. Now humanitarian aid? Yes. But that's it. Strongly condemn the actions of both sides and try to work with the UN to find a cease-fire and peaceful solution, if there is one. But what about Ukraine? I think there should be funding for their defense, because Putin is a global danger and will be until he croaks. Same thing with Li Jinping over in China. By the way, China's economy is tanking right now, which leads me to display this GIF from Dave Chappelle:

Oh, and one other thing, in the words of the late George Carlin, "fuck Tucker."

Now, for the second part of as to why I'd like to see San Francisco win on Sunday. 2024 has seen some rather interesting parallels to 2020, and we're a mere five weeks into the year. Not only are we getting a San Francisco-Kansas Super Bowl, but in all likelihood the presidential election will be Biden vs. Trump...again. Clemson men's basketball won in Chapel Hill for the first time ever in 2020. They just did it again this week for the second time ever. That isn't all though, check out this tweet from NFL Memes. So, I'm thinking that if Kansas City wins, the incumbent president will lose the election, and I don't want four more years of a goddamned clown show like we had in from 2017-2021. And another thing, we better not have a p(l)andemic like we had in 2020.

But more than anything, this upcoming twelve months, I want to finally have at long last a worthwhile girlfriend, one who won't lie to me or lead me on path to a dead end street. Someone beautiful both inside and out. I deserve it more than anything. 

BonyScribe