Top 5 Steve Winwood Songs

Good old Steve Winwood...he's been around for over 40 years now playing in iconic bands like Traffic and Blind Faith as well as a long thriving solo career. To me, he's best known as the guy from the 80's who best defined the keyboard sound of a band. His keyboards had the weirdest sounds, almost like a wah-wah effect to them. Anyway, this is a totally biased opinion on Steve Winwood's top 5 songs...note they are almost all from the 1980's. A must have on your IPod.

5.) "Back In The High Life Again" - Winwood credits this song as one his favorite songs he wrote. Its a song about a man being beaten down by the world but he's going to be "back in the high life again". I like the neat banjo type guitar and its one of the few songs he wrote without a keyboard playing a major part. I don't remember much about the video except it involves Steve walking around alot, using a pay phone, dancing with a woman, and sporting a cool trench coat with sunglasses (my preferred look of the winter of 1999-2000). I like the live footage interspersed as well. Listen closely for James Taylor singing background vocals on the chorus.



4.) "Higher Love" - A mid 80's hit, this song is an almost perfect 80's song. It has the skittering drum beat in the beginning, a horn section (that might be a keyboard), a great chorus, some cool key changes, and Chaka Khan on background vocals. It almost sounds like 4 different songs in one in the way it changes it so much. It doesn't get much better than that. The video is pretty crazy in that all of these half naked people are dancing around Steve including Chaka Khan who comes along and almost grinds on him at some point. Steve's got some pretty smooth moves too.

I can't embed this song onto the website so you have to click the link if you want to see this one:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdTHa8m1EFo&feature=related

3.) "The Finer Things" - Another almost perfect song. I love the keyboard buildup in the beginning as well as the so bad its good drum machine. The vocals and lyrics during the verses are great and the song has a simple message. There is a line in the song that sounds like he's singing, "I will let you into my brain" but that can't be right. I'll still sing it when I listen to this song in the car. The video is from a concert video he did but it gives you an idea of what a genius playing the keyboards looks like. Listen for the signature keyboard sound during the intro around 20 seconds in. I like how he wanders the stage and how it seems he doesn't know what to do with his free hand not holding the microphone. Sometimes he waves it around, sometimes he snaps his fingers, and my favorite is when he does a fist pump.





2.) "Valerie" - This is a tough choice between one, two, and three but I'll put Valerie at number two. This song is actually from 1982 although it sounds like its from the late 80's. A pretty simple song that has a great keyboard hook and Steve singing very high on the chorus. There's a club version of this song out there that I've heard the few times I venture into a club these days. The video is just Steve standing around with the wind blowing his mullet back and then he decides he might as well play his keyboards. AWESOME keyboard solo starting around 2:42 with that weird keyboard sound. As a bonus you get two Steve Winwoods for the price of one around 3:35 and the freeze frame at the end. Gotta love the early 80's special effects.




1.) "While You See A Chance" - Probably not his best song but this is the song that got me into his other songs. This song is the gateway drug to the music of Steve Winwood I guess. Anyway, it also has a slow almost church organ like buildup with a few random keyboard notes thrown in (listen closely at :05). I love the keyboard riff that starts at :37. What puts this over the edge is the video. What in God's name is going on here? It looks like Steve is trapped in an Atari game with weird colors, shapes, lights, and shadows all around him. Even better are the creepy guys all dressed in black climbing a pyramid. The message of this song has nothing to do what's going on behind him. Its a rare video where he's not sporting is super cool mullet. Still this is a great song with some great chord changes. This would be the perfect video if the two people in black kidnap Steve at the end of the video.

The NBA on NBC intro

Now this is what Bob Costas was made for...setting the stage for a major sporting event. Combine this with one of the greatest intros of all time involving one of the biggest NYC events of all time (Game 7 between the Knicks and the Rockets) and you have this liquid goodness. Although this particular clip is over 9 minutes long...all you need to know is the first 2 and half minutes...trust me on this one.

I still get chills watching this...even the background music is great and I love the old clips. Bob Costas summing up perfectly with his "one game, one winner, one NBA champion" rap is awesome. I always loved when paused when he says "Game 7....next" and then the intro music kicks in. This would be great intro music to a wedding. They don't have intros like this anymore.





Random trivia: John Tesh wrote the intro music.

Now if I can only find the "Miller Genuine Draft Classic Moments" music. That always pumped me up...

U.S. Politics is a Cult (and the Mets Bullpen Sucks!)

I'm currently watching Hillary Clinton speaking at the Democratic National Convention and the propaganda nonsense that is going on is unreal. First Hillary gets a huge standing ovation that she soaks in for a good 3-4 minutes....she literally just stands there and smiles. Close ups of people in the crowd are seen crying. There are shots of Bill Clinton looking on proudly and almost looking like he's in tears. Random standing ovations by VP candidate Joe Biden. What is going on here?!? No points are being made...its all just story telling and grandstanding while taking shots at the Republican party.

Ugh....

Sorry to vent...part of it is that the Mets are in another close game in the 9th...and right on cue, the Phillies just tied it.

Not going to sleep well tonight...

Dancing With The Stars Cast

Let's take a closer look at this season's Dancing With The Stars cast. I'm judging them by their relevancy, both past and present, and if I have any interest in watching them dance. In no particular order.

1.) Susan Lucci - I had a crush on her in junior high when I got bronchitis and started watching "All My Children" because nothing else was on during the day. She was also in some sexy TV movies too playing the temptress or the precursor of a MILF today. I guess she is still relevant today and it will get a lot of middle aged women to watch. I look forward to seeing her. She wears a lot of makeup I bet now and her face has been pulled back more than Eddie Guardado on the waiver wire.

2.) Toni Braxton - I also had a crush on her in early high school when she was popular. Had a couple of cool songs I liked ("Another Sad Love Song") and a few I didn't like ("Breath Again"). I bet she still looks good and that's the only reason I'd be interested in watching her perform. If she's hit the wall, then forget it.

3.) Lance Bass - I did not have a crush on Lance Bass when he was popular. I'm sure he's going to do well since he made a career out of being a dancer in N'Sync. To me, he'll always be the guy who tried to launch himself into space. I have a little bit of interest in seeing how he does since he's barely still relevant (see Tropic Thunder) and it will be interesting to see shots of his boyfriend applauding in the crowd.

4.) Cloris Leachman - Yes! You might not know her face but she's been in a ton of movies over the years including a personal favorite "Beerfest". For anyone under 30, she's best known as the woman who replaced Mrs. Garrett on "The Facts Of Life". She's almost 80 years old and it will be interesting to see who dances with her. I'm sure who ever gets paired with her is going to be pissed off. I'm excited to see her.

5.) Kim Kardashian - Well, I guess you need somebody to bring in the MTV crowd. I'm not sure what she's done in life other than pose in Playboy and have Bruce Jenner as a father-in-law. I definitely am married after reading that last statement because if I was 17 years old, she would be the one I'd be most, ahem, "excited" about watching dance around. It should be interesting to see who she gets paired with...maybe the young blond guy who ended up with Shannon Elizabeth last year.

6.) Ted McGinley - Ted McGinely is a like an old friend from high school. He pops up from time to time and when you see him, its like nothing has changed much. Most famous for his role in "Revenge Of The Nerds" and later on playing the guy who replaced Steve in "Married With Children", it should be interesting to see how he does. He seems to be like the Steve Guttenberg of last season.

7.) Brooke Burke - She was pretty hot in the 90's though I don't think I've seen any pictures of her in at least a few years. She was always on random infomercials and hosted that show "Wild on E" which was a precursor to "Girls Gone Wild". Anyway, I bet she's jealous of Kim Kardashian since that's who she pretty much was 10 years ago.

8.) Warren Sapp - Ugh, this should be interesting. I never liked this guy (probably because he was at Miami while I was at Boston College) and he showboats a bit too much. He probably couldn't get a job as a broadcaster so he latched onto this to keep his name in the spotlight. Good luck making it past week 4.

9.) Misty May-Treanor - This works out good for her since she just won the beach volleyball gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. She's the dark haired of the two players. She might do very well since she's the most relevant person on the show right now since she's had the most recent success. I couldn't tell you if she was good looking or not although she must have a good enough body to wear the skimpy outfits they had in Beijing.

10.) Maurice Greene - I know he's a track star who won some medals in the Olympics. I have NO idea what he's been up to since then. He's the kind of guy that could steal this thing though.

11.) Rocco DiSpirito - A washed up reality TV star who is still clinging to his 15 seconds of fame. Not sure if he still runs any of his restaurants, his best hope is to get paired up with the hot blond girl, Julianne Hough.

12.) Cody Linley - I have no idea who this person is except for the fact that he/she is from the Hannah Montana. I'm assuming this a guy but I'm not 100% sure.

13.) Jeffrey Ross - This guy is pretty funny, I've seen him do those celebrity roasts. I have a feeling though his humor won't translate well over to 50 year old women that watch this show. He's the Adam Corolla from last year and will need his humor to carry him through a few weeks.

That's it! My random prediction of the top 3 are Ted McGinley, Misty May-Treanor, and Maurice Greene. We'll see what happens

Tidbits

I apologize for the late post today as I was swamped at work. Nothing specific today, just some random observations and thought from the past few days.

1.) Expect the site to update more at night rather than the day. I travel a lot around with my job so I won't be around much during the day as much. Just have some patience and I'll do my best. I will update it every weekday. Weekends are just bonus posts.

2.) Regarding the Little League World Series, the TV coverage seems to spend more time on the kids crying when they lose, than the cheering when they win. I sort of have a morbid fascination about them crying though. Think about it, these kids are 12 years old, probably are the best athletes at their individual junior high schools, have never faced any kind of adversity, and hence think they are the king sh*ts around their town. Now, not only are they taken down a peg, but it happens on the biggest stage and on live TV....yee hah!

3.) Watched a little bit of one of the Planet Of The Apes movies this weekend...I forget the name but its the third of the five that came out in the 70's. One of the more depressing movies ever as two of the apes from the first two movies travel back in time to Earth and treated like slaves and stereotyped. The best scene is when the female ape passes out when she sees a stuffed gorilla in a museum. Also features Ricardo "The Wrath Of Khan" Montalban a circus ringmaster who helps the apes out. The movie ends terribly when the two apes are gunned down but their baby lives survives (hence two more movies) . I think it was rated PG too!

4.) Rock Band is the greatest game ever invented. I can go on and on about it but I've showed it to probably 20 people over the past year and every single one of them sort of gives it a "c'mon are you kidding me?" look when I take it out. By the time we start playing though, you can't stop. The average Rock Band "jam" session I've played with people usually lasts 4 to 5 hours. A must purchase.

5.) Caught bits and pieces of the Olympic closing ceremonies last night. As a huge Led Zeppelin fan, it was great seeing Jimmy Page play Whole Lotta Love. On the flip side this terrible singer Leonna Lewis was singing it. Plus the sound was awful. Poor Jimmy.

6.) Quick NFL prediction. I see the Pats and Colts back in the AFC title game while Dallas takes on a resilient New Orleans in the NFC side.

7.) Bela Karolyi needs to stay on TV somehow. Here's video of him getting excited over turtles having sex...I'm not making this up. Take a look.



8.) Top 3 Daytime Court Room shows growing up.

----3.) The People Court - You don't mess with Judge Wapner
----2.) Divorce Court - From what I remember, it always showed couple screaming at each other. Being a little kid, I couldn't understand why Mommies and Daddies could hate each other....so naive.
----1.) The Judge - If you don't remember this show, I'm going to a post on it the next couple of weeks. I had always thought this show was real.

9.) Must see TV tonight is the Democratic National Convention only to see a tribute to Ted Kennedy. I'm not a huge following politics but from a pop culture standpoint, Ted Kennedy is lampooned by everybody from Howard Stern to Family Guy to my old high school history teacher. With him sadly diagnosed with brain cancer, it will probably the last time you'll have a chance to see him...at least alive.

10.) Let's end it with a classic 80's song..."Drive" by the Cars. I actually have a concert of them doing it live and the guitar player just stands there since the entire song is synthesizers and a drum machine. The guy who sings this song, Ben Orr, is one of my favorite singers and he sadly died a few years ago. Anyway, keep your eyes open for the super model Paulina Porizkova, who was on Dancing With The Stars last season. To me, she's always known as the hot chick from the Tom Selleck movie "Her Alibi"

Awfully Bad Songs - "That's What Friends Are For"

Its the winter 1985-86 and you turn on the radio and you hope to hear something by Huey Lewis and The News, maybe Hall and Oates, you'd even take Billy Ocean...chances are though, you instead heard that familar harmonica intro to one of the worst songs ever created. Today I give you "That's What Friends Are For".

I vaguely remember the background for this song. It was written for charity which meant that Dionne "Psychic Friends Network" Warwick was all over it. She recruited some of the hottest acts of day...well if it was 1976 and not 1986...in Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, and a cocaine fueled Elton John. Each of them traded verses of the song saving Elton John's total bombast towards the end. Let's take a closer look at this video shall we?






I'll admit its hard to not stop watching Elton John. His mannerisms are so jerky and he appears completely into the song which is great, but at the same time he had to be high on something or at least jonsing for his next fix. Gladys Knight (who sang Midnight Train To Georgia) looks very mousy, timid, and completely overwhelmed by her the two grandstanding singers to her left. Dionne Warwick's ego is bursting out of her head and Stevie Wonder just plays the same damn harmonica line and sings a few lines here and there.

After putting this post together and hearing this song a few more times...I actually love to hate it even more than before.

Top 10 Candy/Candy Bars of all time - Part 2

Alright, let's go right to the top 5. Again, this is my opinion as I'm sure all of you have fond memories of your own favorites. At least I'll give you the rationale behind my decisions. As for the person who threw their favorites out in the comment posted yesterday, I will address those in the near future, I promise. All good choices by the way.

5.) Charleston Chew - Definitely the longest candy bar (with a little less girth than the others mentioned), you could eat a Charleston Chew many different ways. My favorite way was frozen. Maybe not as popular today but I have fond memories of this candy bar. When I was 5 or 6, my Dad and I would go fishing and we'd each buy a Charleston Chew and put it on ice. When we caught our first fish, we'd eat them. It was a nice reward and I'll always have a soft spot for this nougaty treat. I'm tearing up as I write this.

4.) Reese's Peanut Butter Cup - The peanut butter within this treat was the crack of candy bars...was it really peanut butter? It was so good and another candy that almost tasted better frozen. Friendly's had the best move ever by making a sundae out of it (on the flip side, a sundae revolved around a Jim Dandy was a terrible one). Even better, around Easter time you can get the egg shaped peanut butter cups which has even more peanut butter in them. No wonder my cholesterol was over 300.

3.) Skittles - Skittles introduced me to the colors of the rainbow (minus the blue). Every now and then my Dad would bring me home a bag of skittles (my parents gave me a lot of candy looking back) and the first thing I'd do is sort them on the floor by color. Then I'd see what color was featured the most and the least...and I would keep track of this over the course of a couple of years. I think at the end I had eaten 1200 yellow Skittles but 975 purple ones. This was my precursor to keeping stats in fantasy baseball. Skittles was NOT a candy to eat frozen as I broke a tooth on one of them and that was not fun...at least I got a dollar out of it which allowed me to buy another bag.

2.) Fun Dip - If the peanut butter in a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was considered crack, then the powder found in a Fun Dip is considered the purest cocaine you could find. You could eat this many different ways. Featuring the "Lic-A-Stick", you'd wet the stick with your saliva and then dip it into the powdery goodness and repeat the step until the powder was gone or your stick was dissolved. The most extreme way to eat it was to pound the sugar powder down in one shot and then eat the stick. For maximum hyperness, you could find a three pack of fun dip featuring two Lic-A-Sticks.

1.) Nerds - God bless these sweet little candies. A junior high joke you could use today "you are what you eat", these little guys were perfect for an on the go sugar rush. The only candy on this list that I still eat on a regular basis today. Coming in two flavors per box, you could mix and match or just eat one flavor at a time. CVS and most grocery stores sell the huge box where you can go crazy and eat 720 calories in one sitting. You have to try this once....put a box of nerds in the freezer overnight, then the next day put a handful in your mouth with a glass of cold milk. Enjoy the flavor as the color and flavor dissolves, leaving you with just a crystallized sugar cube when you're done....delicious.

Guest poster - Concert Review

I'll get to the top 5 candy bars a little later today but wanted to post this review of the hottest tour this summer...no not Billy Joel, not Bruce Springsteen, not even the Doobie Brothers/Chicago double bill. Its the Regeneration Tour 08'! The review is courtesy of my 80's protege "D Lep". Read on...

-----------------------

So just wanted to recap last nights concert..... we had 5th row dead center seats for the Regeneration tour with Naked eyes, ABC, Human League, Flock of Seagulls, and Belinda Carlisle. So from being that close you could deff tell who aged good and who took a toll from the drugs and bad plastic surgery...

The show opened up with Naked Eyes... I was really excited the lead singer came out and started to play his acoustic guitar and sang Always Something There to Remind Me.. kept saying that a couple of times then the rest of the band came out and started to Jam sounded awsome and better than the cd i thought... they are coming out with a new album and sounded really good but deff a good show and they ended the show with Promises Promises.

The Flock was up next I didn't know what to expect seeing the lead singer was the only original member left in the band.... They were deff on some type of drug or drunk because wow they were spacey thats for sure... I did enjoy some of there tunes (Wishing I Had A Photograph of you was played really well and I Ran was great not only because they guitarist played the rips really well but because everyone in the audience came for that one song almost....

Then ABC came on didn't know what to expect other than a weird band but infact they put on a show that was unreal they also are coming out with a new CD... they opened it up with a Look Of Love and then went into Poison Arrow.... the lead singer and i believe the key boards' were the only two originals because the rest of the band was Belinda Carlisles.... But they kept a great show going and ended it with Be Near Me..

Then came Belinda Carlisle most of the people didn't even know Human league was still to come so they thought this was the end of the show with her coming on.. She didn't age good at all plastic surgery didn't look to go either face lift not a good idea... But i must say she sounded great and sounded like she did with the GO Go's she sang two of her hits then stopped and looked that crowed and said what kind of show would this be without a song from my old band... the place went nuts she went into 4 Go' GO songs and the last two songs she sang were We Got The Beat and Heaven Is A Place On Earth. I must say she really did put on an amazing show and sounded great.. Most of the people left after her.

Then Human League came on. Personally not a big fan they were the "creepy" 80's music really weird a cross between Dépêche Mode/Duran Duran and Marilyn Manson almost kind of presence on the stage... they had 8 members on stage... the drum set was all electronic, a key boards', a Dj, and a guy who just stood there with a lap top all of these members were in black and there equipment was all in white i mean you couldn't find any other color then the guitarist. It was cool, it was like a synthesizer type guitar all cool points. the only 3 original members from 81 were the two lady vocals and the lead singer when the women started to sing he was in the back standing there like the villain from Hell Boy wearing a long silver coat with dark sunglasses and a bald head... creepy but it was a good show...

So that was that rumors of next years line up they asked some of the bands... the Bangles, Level 42, the cars Tears For Fears to name some........

Top 10 Candies - Part 1

Good old candy...as a kid, it was the ultimate treat. To some, the ice cream man meant cold refreshing Bomb Pops and Snow Cones. To me, it meant delicious sweet candy. Here were my top favorites:



10.) Snickers - Snickers is the grand dame of all candy bars. Even as other candy bars came in and out my life, there's nothing like biting into the chocolate coating to find the gooey caramel, peanuts, and of course...nougat. Tastes even better frozen. I will still eat these from time to time if I'm on a golf course and the only thing else to eat is a bag of Lays chips.



9.) Skor Bar - A sort of sister to the Heath bar, a Skor bar was essentially a piece of semi-hard caramel wrapped in chocolate. My Mom turned me on to these as a kid and it was my go to candy towards 5th and 6th grade. I haven't had one in awhile but I loved how the glazed caramel just melted into your mouth...especially when I left in in a hot sweltering car for an hour.



8.) Whatchamcallit - I'm sure I'm spelling this wrong as its a long name to fit on a candy bar, but that's what made it so good...it was an extra long candy bar. Not the longest candy bar (that's found further down the list), it still packed a tasty punch. It was more like a rice crispy treat dipped in chocolate. My wife enjoys these today. Sort of resembles a bowel movement.



7.) Runts - These hard candies fall into the jawbreaker category (which also included Dinosaur Eggs and ironically enough..Jawbreakers). Runts were still my favorite though as they looked like little fruit, tasted like the fruit they looked like, but had zero nutritional value that real fruit offers. My way of eating it would be to save the bananas for last since they were my favorite. You either loved the bananas or hated them. In fact, a little tradition of mine is to get a handful at the vending machine as I walk into Best Buy...that's right, every Best Buy I've been too has a runts machine. Go figure.



6.) Sour Patch Kids - The perfect movie candy. I love sour candy and nothing is better than these mouth puckering treats. Also found as sour worms or sour gummy bears. Like with most candy, the first few handfuls taste like heaven, then the next few are just good, and towards the end you feel sick to your stomach but can't stop eating them. I like to gather all the sour mix at the bottom of the bin at the movie theaters for extra sourness too.

Back tomorrow with 5-1.

Random Thoughts

Just some random thoughts today:

1.) Saw the movie Tropic Thunder last night. Definitely the funniest movie I've seen in awhile even funnier than a solid Will Ferrell or Ben Stiller movie. Much better experience than Batman mainly because I could see the entire screen. Highly, HIGHLY recommended. What I don't recommend is if you're a guy on a date watching the movie, to not rest your head on your girlfriend's shoulder. The guy in front of me did it and it was pretty corny although it did allow me to see the screen better.

2.) I sadly haven't been able to catch up on the Olympics the past few days but it appears tonight is the last night of gymnastics which is a shame. I'm going to miss the announcers saying "she is ready to mount the beam"...easily the most filthy thing heard on TV the past few years. Enjoy it while it lasts.

3.) Saw a random episode of Saved By The Bell this morning in where Zack, Slater, and Lisa get drunk at a toga party (in high school) and get into a car accident. If you could see the amount of people at the party (about 20) versus the number of beers seen (literally 12 in all), they must not have had any tolerance. It was sort of meant to be a "special episode" but in the end Zach gets grounded, Slater blows his shoulder out, and Lisa loses her Homecoming Queen title and damages her Mom's car. I'm not sure where I'm going with this but this show took a different direction when they added Tori and took away Kelly and Jesse .

4.) I joined Facebook the other day and I have to say, its pretty neat. Facebook is like a polished escort compared to Myspace which is more like a seedy Atlantic City hooker (not that I've had either). Its very simple, easy to find people and a good way to stay in touch with people. Already, I'm friends with my old next door neighbor, a cousin of mine who I haven't seen in years, and a girl I went to Catholic school with over 20 years ago. Its free to register, fairly easy to navigate, and so far I haven't gotten any spam in my mailbox.

5.) For God's sake do not watch the movie Enchanted. Even if you have small children, do not watch it. Its a Disney movie that starts off animated and then the animated princess ends up in the real world where the movie then shows real people. Terrible humor, very corny, filled with overacting. I did like the songs but that's because it meant the actors weren't speaking. I dare you to give this movie more than 10 minutes on the cable networks when its airing (That's how I stumbled across it). This movie isn't just a load of crap, its a piece of corn found in the load of crap.

6.) Random video today...some of you have probably seen this but its a trailer to the movie Big, starring Tom Hanks, except its portrayed to be a horror movie instead. Enjoy...

He's Baaaaack

Looks like Chris "Mad Dog" Russo is landing at Sirius. He'll have his own "Mad Dog" channel and will be on from 2pm-7pm weekdays. Here's his first rant.

Russo
Uploaded by bsap11

I'll post more later...

Classic TV Shows - Just The Ten Of Us

Ahhh yes, "Just The Ten Of Us". This show was a spin off from Growing Pains and featured an overweight bald gym teacher who managed to have 8 kids with his skinny blond wife. I guess safe sex was not a message promoted by the ABC network at this time. Anyway, it was a good excuse to move a family entrenched in NY out to California. The show ran in the late 90's and was part of the old TGIF programming but I remember watching it on USA after school.

In any event, I don't remember much about any of the plots of this show...all I cared about is how good the daughters looked especially the blond and redhead ones named Julie and Cindy. As with most sitcoms they had annoying child actors (who'll I'll point out later in the below credit sequence).

The Holy Grail episode of the series was when the family goes to the Caribbean and the girls are prominently features in bikinis. Believe me when I say that my 13 year old hormones were going crazy.

Anyway, follow along with the credits for some further insight...




:05 - Time to pack up the van and head out west. It looks like they are leaving NYC based on the shot of the Twin Towers in the background. I hope they have a much bigger trailer than the one they are towing to bring all of their stuff out 3000 miles to California.

:12 - Now they're cruising along the country passing through such iconic cities like St. Louis, the Rocky Mountains, the plains, and finally California. Taking a step back, how torturous must that ride have been with TEN PEOPLE JAMMED INTO THE VAN INCLUDING TWO INFANTS. I'd shoot myself by the time we'd hit Philadelphia.

:22 - The beginning of the character intros. First the Dad and Mom. Apparently this guy was a comedian because he doesn't lack the sex appeal of most TV Dads at the time. The Mom isn't that bad looking so you have to wonder if he has some damaging information from her past that makes her stay with him and have 8 children.

:27 - Ah yes, sweet Heather Langenkamp. You might remember her better as Nancy from the Nightmare on Elm Street Movies.

:30 - Jamie Luner...once again, I reference the episode that they go to the Caribbean as one of the best TV moments ever.

:32- Brook Theiss - Apparently she was in Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4. On some episodes she looked good, others she didn't but that was probably due in part to her frizzy 80's hair.

:35 - Jo Ann Willette - She played the geeky sister and paled in comparison to the other sisters (plus she had a terrible name in Connie), but I bet she looks the best out of all them today. Just a hunch.

:37 - Hah, this actor must have been going crazy working with all of these hot women. He looks like he's 14 years old so I'm sure he's still going over those days when he a caught a glimpse of the sisters changing in the wardrobe room...or at least I assume that happened.

:39 - This child actress has the face and mannerisms you want to punch. I did not like when they focused any storylines on her as they took away valuable screen time from the four sisters.

:42 - end. In order, various mini-clips of things like:

* the family throwing what looks like a party for the little brother and old sister winning some kind of medal

* one sister tackling the other because she used her last tampon

* one sister seemingly trying to smell the other sister...this may tie back into the douche commercials from last week

* the youngest face I want to punch sister torturing her brother who's carrying a big box of his older sister's underwear to sell on the street

* the mom explaining how she can't deal with the dad's pants being hiked up to his breasts

* the girls hugging the dad as he appears to be in a hospital bed....if you look closely you can see his massive erection

* my favorite shot of the four sisters acting like the Bangles...I especially love that little move they do at :55

* Mom and dad beginning to work on child number 9. God help the tax paying citizens of California if this family ever goes on welfare.

* The obligatory shot of the cast waving and pandering to the audience. Some one needs to teach the punch faced child actress how to wave properly.

LT trains old school.

Its almost football season and who better to take it back old school than Kimbo Slice. I think I might have to try out this training regimen, but don't have two rusty air conditioners floating around. I love it when Kimbo tells LT to duck at 1:10 and opens the freezer door.

Anyone know the song they play at the very last part? (I want to see LT run that gauntlet)

Enjoy...

Grown Men Crying

Sorry about the delay today...I've been having problems attaching videos to the blog for some reason. All is well now.

I'm still in shock over the end of the Mike and the Mad Dog show. If you live in NY and have a remote interest in sports this is big news. Below is video of today's show of Mad Dog calling in to say goodbye and he starts crying about 40 seconds in. Mike then gets teary eyed and tells a lame story which shows you what the show is going to be like going forward with Chris Russo (the Mad Dog).



His crying reminds me of one of the most unforgettable "grown men crying" moments in all of sports...Mike Schmidt's retirement press conference. I love how his voice breaks when he says "dream come true" at 24 seconds in. Even better, I love his pose at the end when he dries his eyes, leans towards his locker, and crosses his legs. Classic.




Have a great weekend...I might post here and there over the weekend as I'm hooked on the Olympics.

RIP Mike and the Mad Dog

Quick bonus post on top of Joe Namath.

The picture says it all...

A part of my childhood just died.

Joe Namath - Then and Now

If you're over the age of 50, then Joe Namath is a living legend to you. He guaranteed one of the biggest upsets of all time and took the sports world to Hollywood with his good looks and charm to go along with a great arm. If you're under the age of 40, you probably know Joe Namath as an ambassador to the New York Jets, as a football announcer for Monday Night Football and NBC, and seen in bit TV parts and movies.

To those of us 30 and under, you probably know Joe Namath as the guy who got completely hammered on national TV and tried to kiss Suzy Kolber a bunch of times. That's the Joe Namath I forever will know and love.

It wasn't all that bad for Joe Namath in the past 15 years. The first video from 1992 shows him shilling video cameras for the old electronics chain store here in the NY known as The Wiz. He looks healthy, sports a nifty brown toned turtleneck/sweater combo, and is at the peak of his pitchman powers. Of course $899 for a cheap looking video camera seems pretty expensive for 1992.

Now contrast that with the second video from 2003. Oddly enough, I was at this game and Joe came out on the field at halftime as they were honoring the greatest Jets of all time. This interview actually happened before the halftime ceremony with a minute left in the first half so he must have been bombed during the ceremony as well. Here are some highlights from the second video:

:12 - Transcription of what Joe is saying here. I'm writing the words like I hear them: "I believe, uh, everything that anyone else that has washed, uh, Chad plaaay, impresses me the same thing that impresses them. He's a qua-la-tee, classy quarterback that has a touch on the football. He's not a throwing he's a passer. His mind is aHEAD of what the defense is and if the Jets can supposrt him they will win the championship." I love the passer not a thrower comment and how he shrugs his shoulder.

:53-1:00 - The greatest seven seconds ever held in an interview. Suzy Kolber finishes her question, Joe has this devious smile, asks to kiss her, and then has the greatest enunciation of one of the greatest words of all time...struggling. I must have seen him say ten times putting this post together and I laughed every time. Classic.

1:12-1:23 - Joe completely contradicts himself by saying that Jets are looking to next season but making some noise now. Then another kiss comment.

1:24 - One of the greatest "yeahs!!!" you'll ever hear.

1:33 - end: The ESPN annoucing team says he's a happy guy with fellow drinker Paul Maguire stating "oh yeah he's happy".

Update

Quick update to the post regarding the Olympics.

Apparently the the black tape thingee on Kerri Walsh's shoulder is not an alien symbiote but some called "kinesio tape" which supposedly helps her shoulder after having surgery on it a year ago. You can sort of see it in the above picture. I saw it again last night but this time it was blue.

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

Classic Amazon Purchases

Let's go right to it: October 17, 2000. The Yankees were wrapping up their 4th World Series in five years and Al Gore was about to get f'ed in the Presidential election...oh how long ago that seems.

In the meantime, I was enjoying my new digs moving from Allston, Massachusetts over to Brighton, Massachusetts. It was a much bigger place which meant more room to store more meaningless crap...including these gems:

Taken from my "order history" off the amazon.com website.

1.) Jurassic Park (1993) - DVD: One of the better movies of the 90's although I'd like to see if it holds up as well as it did back when it released in 1993. I remember thinking that the dinosaurs in it looked pretty darn real but didn't need to see Laura Dern have an orgasm going through the triceratops diarrhea. I also liked how the guy who played Newman from Seinfeld was in it and still silently do the "Uhhh uhhh uhhh" thing he leaves on his computer when they try to hack into it. If it sounds like I haven't watched this movie since 1993, you are correct. This DVD has been collecting dust for almost 8 years now. I think I might have to actually watch it on the next rainy day.

2.) A View To A Kill (1985) - DVD: Although not a major fan of James Bond films I am a huge fan of Christoper Walken and he plays the bad guy in this film. Most Bond fans say this is the worst film of all Bond movies and I sort of see where they're coming from. Roger Moore was pushing social security and the action scenes were getting way over the top. On the plus side it has Grace Jones in it who I think more of that "In Living Color" sketch where they impersonate her going on a blind date yelling "Do you find me sexy Harvey!?!?!". It also has a super cool Duran Duran theme song that features the most annoying drum sample ever. But I digress. Not recommended but if you like goofy Christopher Walken facial expressions and mannerisms, I'll lend it you for a bag of sea salt and vinegar chips.

3.) Baseball: A Film by Ken Burns (1994) - DVD: This has to be one of my most prized possessions. Its a 9 DVD box set that features the history of baseball. Each disc covers one "inning" that spans a decade of the sport. Unlike 90% of my collection, I've seen this entire series four or five times now. Growing up in the 80's with the likes of Von Hayes, Dale Murphy, and Dan Quisenberry, its a fascinating look back at the complete history of the sport told by some of the old writers and players who witnessed it. Its probably the most I ever spent on a DVD ($125.99) but its worth it if you can find it used out there. It also makes a great Father's Day gift. Trust me on this one.

4.) Body Shots (1999) - DVD: I am ashamed to say I own this movie. Its about a group of 20 year old somethings who meet at a club and things happen all over the place. It was about relationships although the kind of things they were going through were way beyond my comprehension and foreign to me (sex in an alley with a complete stranger, couples living together, wearing suits to a club). Of course the main draw to the movie was seeing Tara Reid naked but even that is a minor disappointment. The move climaxes with a "was she raped" or "she consented to having sex" finale that is sort of interesting but really, this movie was a waste of the $19 I paid for it. It does have a pretty neat cast though...Amanda Peet, Jerry O'Connell, Ron Livingston, Tara Reid, and the blond science technician from CSI Miami. I'm sure they leave that off their resume when applying for film roles...well everyone except for Tara Reid.

In case you were wondering which version I have based on the picture above...its the unrated version.

Olympic Thoughts

Few programming notes before diving headfirst into a two foot pool of water:

1.) Added some things to the site like lists and book recommendations to the right hand side of the window. Nothing too exciting there but it jazzes the place up a bit.

2.) I just reached 500 hits...thanks to all who have been here and keep coming back.

Some Olympic thoughts:

1.) I thought the Opening Ceremonies were pretty neat. Nothing like kicking back with a few drinks with some friends to watch a ton of countries come together in one place. Highlights for me included the neat drum light countdown in the beginning (Matt Lauer called it "intense"), the Olympic rings being brought out of the floor (its hard to explain), and the various countries coming into the stadium. A friend and I were trying to do the math in terms of how many athletes there were based on the number of people in the country. For example, the United states had 304 million people with 640 athletes (1 per 475,000 people) while I believe one of those Caribbean countries like Nivas or St. Kits had 4 athletes based on 20,000 people (1 per 5,000). China was out there with only 615 athletes and over a billion people in population.

2.) I only caught a glimpse of that men's 4x100 relay swimming event where the Americans came roaring back to win but its one of the better sporting events you'll ever see. Speaking of which, why don't they have swimming races for horses, dogs, or other land based animals? You can have the Atlantic Derby instead of the Kentucky Derby. I assume horses know how to swim right?

3.) Bob Costas's interview with George Bush was the most absurd interview I've seen in awhile. I used to love Bob Costas when he called football and basketball for NBC but he's evolved into this elder statesman using words like "galactic", "adversity", "emotion", and "arduous". Only Jim Lampley and Brent Musberger are allowed to speak like that.

4.) I caught some of the woman's volleyball game last night and can't figure out what that black stuff is on Kerri Walsh's shoulder and arm (She's the blond American). It looks like tape but then it looks like its part of her skin. It sort of reminds me of the villain "Venom" from Spiderman 3 in that it might take over her entire body, cause her to grow really big fangs, and develop a bad attitude towards people named "Peter Parker".

5.) The woman's Chinese gymnastic team looks like they are 10 years old. Let me know if you think I'm wrong. They can't be more than 4 feet tall.

6.) My wife and I had a debate last night about when somebody says their hotel or resort they vacationed at has an "Olympic sized" swimming pool. The pools used in the Olympics are 50 meters. I can't remember ever seeing a 50 meter pool but I say its 50 meters while my wife says 25...can you settle a bet? On the line is who gets to tar the driveway the next time its needed.

7.) Unless my ears deceived me, I definitely heard the NBA on NBC theme song during the men's basketball game. That is a future post for sure as no one and I mean NO ONE could get me pumped up for a basketball game like NBC and a Bob Costas voice over setting the game up.

"Can the Knicks finally overcome Michael Jordan and his Bulls or will Chicago be looking at further enhancing their already growing legacy. We'll find out....next"

Classic Commercials - Summers Eve / Massengill

While watching a lot of TV growing up, I saw tons and tons of commericals...there was no DVR or fast forwarded in my youth. There were two particular commercials that I recall having no idea what they were talking about. One was simply a song showing a woman all happy, walking on the beach and looking totally relaxed. The other was a conversation between a mother and a daughter about something my 8 year old ears had never heard before...I know you've all heard it:

"Mom, do you douche?"

Ironically enough the term "douche bag" became quite popular as an insult starting around junior high although I bet no one could fully explain what the contents of a douche bag actually were or what a douche bag actually looked like. I sort of still don't know today nor do I want to.

In any event, I give you two classic commercials. The first one is Summer's Eve. I love the jingle for this one and the little pose the actress does at the end where she rests her head on her knees. The second is the immortal one for Massengill. God help all of you future mothers when you have this coversation. At least you'd be wearing matching turtle neck sweaters and be on a beach somewhere. Must be Nantucket in the full.

Hiatus

I'm off again after today to finish up vacation. From one end of New York (1000 Islands) to the other (Fire Island). I added a video bar to the top of the page and will try to figure out how to update it frequently. This video is great if you are 1.) a Giants fan and 2.) loved Tecmo Bowl growing up.

Again, give me some old toys, movies, tv shows, songs, etc. to write about. I have a lot of material I want to go through but if somebody throws me an idea, I'll give you my take on it.

Until next week...

Rules of the Road

An unofficial official post for this week...

I'm halfway through my vacation and its going by too fast. Its actually going by so fast that I need to go to work for a few hours tomorrow. In any event, I just drove about 1200 miles over 20 hours in the past 4 days and came up with the following observations.

1.) If you are from the northeast area and you do not have an EZ Pass, you are a moron.

2.) The same top 40 hits are played at least once every two hours. I think I heard that "I Kissed A Girl and I Liked It" song about 15 times over the weekend. And you wonder why today's music gets burned out so quickly...they beat you over the head with it.

3.) A little tip in case you haven't figured it out is when you're filling your gas tank: if the pump doesn't have the latch that allows the gas pump to pump gas while you wait, try the following. Take your gas cap and wedge it between the gas pump handle so it keeps the gas pumping. It was pouring out Saturday and the gas station didn't have a cover to keep you dry and this tip came in very handy. Be careful you don't drive away with the pump still in your tank though. I actually did that once, and nearly caused a fuel spill.

4.) The most depressing sign ever is a sign about 60 miles outside of Syracuse that says "New York City - 350 miles"...that was mentally grueling knowing you were at least 6 hours away of 60mph driving to get to New York.

5.) I've never tried this but a friend of mine told me that if you ever get pulled over by a cop, you should raise your arms up (like when a cop yells "freeze") as he approaches your car window. Supposedly its the universal sign of respect to a police officer. I've never heard of this nor tried so if anyone wants to try it out the next time they get pulled over, let me know how it goes. I wouldn't be surprised if the officer arrests you or asks you why you are acting like that but who knows.

6.) On a side note, I was out on my cousin's boat last weekend and thought that a great name for a boat would be "Drunk Driving". If anyone puts that on your boat, please take a picture of it and I will post here.

Tid Bits

No specific topic today. Just some rambling thoughts...

1.) Was watching a 1982 Van Halen concert the other day. It reminded me of how confused I was around 1985 when they would show Van Halen videos with David Lee Roth like "Jump" and "Hot For Teacher" along with David Lee Roth solo videos like "Yankee Rose", "Living In Paradise", and the "I Ain't Got Nobody" aka the "Booosey Booosey Bop, diddy bop" song which sounded EXACTLY like Van Halen songs. I was only seven at the time but it blew my mind to try and find out what was going on and how David Lee Roth could be in two different named bands where one was named after guys in the other band. It still sort of confuses me.

2.) Embarrassingly enough, around that age, I thought you had to be quiet while you were watching golf on TV because I believed the players could hear you through the TV. A lot of things make little sense to you when you're 5-8 years old.

3.) The Police play their last ever concert next week at MSG. I have to admit, as awesome as their reunion is and as nice as their reunion tour started off, it has completely become a cash in experience for them. They only play for 90 minutes, play only 13 songs before a 5 song encore, and the ticket prices are insane. I saw Pearl Jam, Genesis, and Rush play for 3 hours for half the cost.

4.) Although I'm not a huge Red Sox fan, it was interesting to see Manny Ramirez be traded to the Dodgers. The Red Sox definitely lost some of their nationwide appeal as he and David Ortiz were the face of that team.

5.) Caught 10 minutes of an episode of "Clarissa The Teenage Witch" this morning while getting ready for work. It featured a random cast of people. Besides Clarissa herself was the actress who played Punky Brewster, the guy who played both DJ Tanner's boyfriend in "Full House and Blossom's boyfriend in "Blossom", and washed up comedian Caroline Rhea. Its on Fox Family every morning from 8-9am on the ABC Family channel followed by Step By Step. I might have to start DVRing these shows.

6.) Top 3 TV Uncles:

a.) Uncle Joey from Full House (can't stand his Popeye impression though)

b.) Uncle Jesse from Dukes of Hazard (the actor's name was awesome too...Denver Pyle. I'd love to name my kid "Denver"...or even better a Long Island town like "Quogue").

c. Uncle Ned from Family Ties (played by Tom Hanks, he was my first exposure to alcoholism when he slapped Alex Keaton in the face and drank pure vanilla extract...this was a family show too).

That's all for now. I'm off on vacation next week heading up to the good old North Country of the 1000 Islands. They're a little behind the times up there as there is no internet access much less paved roads in some areas. I'll try and put together a post towards the middle of the week but we'll see what happens. Otherwise, we'll be back to our normal schedule the week of August 11th. Let me know if there are any topics you'd like me to discuss...I appreciate any feedback positive or negative.