memes ahoy...

More Aspeny goodness... no, I'm not sure "Aspeny" is a word either...

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I remember when I first starting blogging I had asked someone (I can't remember who) what posts I should try to address in the beginning... I remember that they said under no circumstance do people care about what music you like, what books you enjoy, what tv shows you watch.. etc...

Well, obviously being TVGuy I ignored the last comment but tried not to get into things that were overly subjective (like music) over the 2 years or so that we've been here...

...Until now...

I've received a few Musical Memes from time to time... I never fill them out because...

Well... what songs people like is pretty much the most subjective thing one can say about themselves... there are no wrong answers ever.. ( I accept that Prince, Barbra Streisand and Josh Groban are all supremely talented people, they just aren't my cup of tea.. now Britney Spears, I just don't accept...)

But whatever you put down is only going to have some people scratching their heads.... but after a bit of thought I decided to give it a go...

I modified it a bit but it was basically four questions asking what music was in my Ipod...

and thusly, we begin...


Question 1

10 Songs That Have Attained "Never Delete Under Any Circumstances Status" That You've Probably Heard...

(a.k.a. 10 of my 25 or so favorite songs from Mainstream Artists...)

...in no particular order

1. Bruce Springsteen, "Tunnel of Love"

2. Five for Fighting, "100 Years"

3. Indigo Girls, "Love's Recovery"

4. Peter Gabriel, "Secret World"

5. James Taylor, "Millworker"

--my favorite recording artist of all time is JT.... picking one song of his for this list is just basically impossible... but I'll go with this one just for argument's sake... and its not as well known as most of his hits...

6. Sarah MacLachlan, "Possession"

--If James is my Number One, then Sarah is my Number Two... although that sounded vaguely disgusting so let's move on...

7. Shawn Colvin, "I Don't Know Why"

8. Sheryl Crow, "Always On Your Side"

9. Tom Petty, "A Higher Place"

10. U2, "Pride" (In the Name of Love)

Honorable Mentions: Bruce Hornsby, "Swan Song" - The Verve, "Bitter Sweet Symphony" - Indigo Girls, "Hope Alone"

Question 2

10 Songs That Have Attained "Never Delete Under Any Circumstances Status" That You've Probably Never Ever Heard Of...

(a.k.a. 10 of my 25 or so favorite songs from Lesser Known Artists)

1. Beth Waters, "Blue and White"

2. Nicole Nordeman, "I Am"

3. Amanda Marshall, "Birmingham"

4. Josh Kelley, "Amen"

5. Jude Cole, "Raining on the Moon"

6. Chantal Kreviazuk, "Time"

7. Garrison Starr, "Sing"

8. Lisa Loeb, "Fools Like Me"

--yeah, she's better known than the rest on this list.. but I don't care because this song is quite good and I had to mention her somewhere...

9. Maren Ord, "Perfect"

10. Mindy Smith, "Raggedy Anne"

--yeah, she's a country music artist...kinda.. is she? maybe folk/pop? Hard to classify, but I don't care. I love almost every song on her debut album and she's amazing. And her 2nd album is just about as good.

Honorable Mentions: Umbrellas, "City Lights" - Bethany Dillon, "Beautiful" - Peter Bradley Adams, "Gather Up"


Question 3

Top Ten Artists Who Hog My Hard Drive

(a.k.a. Who appears most often in my Itunes folder, by number of songs... let's just say anyone who has 15 or more gets mentioned...why leave anyone behind is my motto...)

49 Shawn Colvin
48 Sarah McLachlan
47 James Taylor
33 Counting Crows
32 Five for Fighting
31 Bethany Dillon
30 W.G. Snuffy Walden
30 Nichole Nordeman
30 Indigo Girls
27 Michelle Branch
26 Beth Waters
24 Duncan Sheik
24 Jude Cole
24 John Jarvis
23 Jars of Clay
23 Peter Bradley Adams (Eastmountainsouth)
22 Mindy Smith
22 Maren Ord
20 John Mayer
19 Michelle Featherstone
17 Dave Matthews Band
17 Mannheim Steamroller
17 Alanis Morissette


Question 4

Top Ten Songs that Roast Your Chestnuts

(a.k.a. Favorite Christmas Songs)

Okay, before we go on, let me just say that even though I think (like my friend AudioSteve) that Mannheim Steamrollers' synthesizer Xmas music is just hard to listen to under the best of circumstances, I think that their Orchestral (or cleverly, "NonSynthesizer") Xmas music is arguably the greatest musical triumph of the past 2 decades.... yes, this category will be dominated by Chip Davis and his Nebraska collection of musical goofballs...


1. Mannheim Steamroller, "Cantique de Noel" (O Holy Night)

--Simply put, the best 5 minutes of music I've ever heard. Yep, Ever.

If Christmas was a person, this song would be its soul... (Wanted to see if I could write something so cheesy I wanted to cause myself harm... turns out the answer is "Yes"...)

Seriously though. Best. Christmas. Song. Ever. Well, maybe except...

2. Mannheim Steamroller, "Stille Nacht"

--the 2nd best 4 minutes of music I've ever heard. My admiration for Chip Davis' work is boundless... If Christmas had a twin brother, this song would be its soul. (Okay, I'll stop that now.. promise..)

3. Mannheim Steamroller, "Veni Veni"

--If Christmas had a dog, this song would.... okay, I'm really stopping now...

4. Mannheim Steamroller, "Traditions of Christmas"

5. Mannheim Steamroller, "The Holly and the Ivy"

6. James Taylor, "Who Comes This Night?"

7. James Taylor, "In The Bleak Mid-Winter"

--I love JT, and his Xmas album is just delightful....

8. Sarah McLachlan, "In The Bleak Mid-Winter"

--Same song. Different Artist. Both excellent.

9. Sarah McLachlan, "Wintersong"

10. She-Daisy, "Deck the Halls"

Umm.. Look, I know that She-Daisy is a country girl group... but dammit, their version of this song is really excellent. Well, at least I think so. TVGal backs me up as well... TVCat has no opinion because... well, he's a cat obviously....

(that is one odd name for a band by the way... it apparently means "little sister" in some Native American language.. and the group does have 3 sisters in it... so there.. you know, in case you were wondering...)

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While we are in "Meme Mode" here is one that returns the focus of the blog back to where it should be... yes, it's a TV meme...

1. Earliest remembered Television?

>>Definately the 1st Apollo Moon Landing... one small step indeed...

2. TV series you would want on a desert island

>>Well, I'm guessing not "Lost"... Hmm... probably the 9 seasons of "Seinfeld" because I'm guessing I'd need cheering up... you know.. being stranded and all...

3. TV that made you laugh

>>Not sure how to answer this... made me laugh but no longer does? Do they mean as a child? Is the answer "A Comedy"? Let's skip this and head to number 4 shall we?

4. TV that made you cry

>>Well this isn't any better. But clearly the recently cancelled "Viva Laughlin" fits the bill here... wait, it also made me laugh. Can I just answer everything "Viva Laughlin"? Let's see..

5. TV crap that you enjoy

>>Yep, "Viva Laughlin" it is! The very definition of "TV Crap"..

6. TV you'll never forget.

>>"Viva Laughlin"!! This is great.. can I use this answer in everyday life? Let's run some scenarios...

Waitress: Are you ready to order?
TVGuy: Umm.. yes.. I'll have the "Viva Laughlin"...
Waitress: I'm sorry?
TVGuy: Yes, the "Laughlin" please. With extra "Viva"...
Waitress: Are you trying to be funny?
TVGuy: No, I'd just like the "Viva Laughlin" please...and to drink, Iced Tea...
Waitress: I have no idea what you're talking about... When you figure out what you want let me know... but stop wasting my....
TVGuy: Look, I'd like "Viva Laughlin". I really don't understand what...
Waitress: Jackass...

Okay, maybe it's not a viable option outside of this meme... let's continue...

7. Favourite nerdish program

>>It's "Viva".. okay, that doesn't really work either... maybe "Star Trek" or "Doctor Who"? Is that "nerdish" enough? Who uses the word "nerdish"?

Is it even a word? Let's find out..

Main Entry: nerdish
Part of Speech: adj
Definition: somewhat like or typical of a nerd; also called nerdy, nerdlike
Example: Silicon Valley workers used to be considered nerdish.

Guess so.... was it nerdish of me to look that up? Might be...

8. Favorite current program

>>There just isn't any possible way I could answer that... Let's just throw out "24", "Lost", "The Office", "Smallville" & "Numb3rs" and continue...

9. Favorite all-time program

>>This I can answer demonstratively, and the answer is the 80s CBS crime drama "Wiseguy".

No, I don't care if you've never seen it (or heard of it). This has been my answer to this question for 2 decades... although I probably should revisit it on DVD at some point to see how much it has aged...

10. One TV show/series you have been meaning to watch

>>Umm.. er... let's see... probably "Battlestar Galactica" at some point which I understand is terrific...

Wait, that's it? No more questions? Damn... this means my window of using "Viva Laughlin" in a sentence is winding down... And as the only person in America who saw both all of its historic, wonderful episodes I guess I say to you then in the words of Hugh Jackman, the enigmatic producer and star of this landmark series...

Have a Very Merry Viva Laughlin Holiday season!!

Yeah, that doesn't sound right either... can we just forget I brought it up at all? Thanks...

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New in Theaters This Week

>>"Lions for Lambs" (Tom Cruise, Robert Redford); 2 and a half hours of people sitting around saying "War is Bad".... no thanks...

Rating (out of 1oo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 27
Metacritic: 47
Nat'l Society of Film Critics: 51


>>"Fred Claus" (Vince Vaughn, Paul Giametti); A movie about Santa's brother. It's still early November, right? I'm not hallucinating that a Christmas movie is coming out before the 10th of November?? Hmm.. maybe "Lions for Lambs" doesn't sound so bad after all...

Rating (out of 1oo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 25
Metacritic: 43
Nat'l Society of Film Critics: 48


New on DVD This Week

>>"Deck the Halls" (Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick); No way in hell I'm ever seeing this... if someone ever does, please let me know the level of excruitiating pain it bestowed upon you... thanks...

Rating (out of 1oo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 07
Metacritic: 28
Nat'l Society of Film Critics: n/a

>>"I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" (Adam Sandler, Kevin James); I now pronounce this film "Unwatchable" and "Crapola"... I didn't like James in "Hitch" and I'm certain I wouldn't like him here...

Rating (out of 1oo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 14
Metacritic: 37
Nat'l Society of Film Critics: 51


>>"Stardust" (Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer); I really want to see this film. TVGal, please put it in our Netflix queue....

Rating (out of 1oo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 74
Metacritic: 66
Nat'l Society of Film Critics: 61


>>"Sicko" (Michael Moore); Mr. Moore takes on the health care industry... I think you can figure out the rest...

Rating (out of 1oo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 93
Metacritic: 74
Nat'l Society of Film Critics: 80


>>"Ratatouille" (animated); a magical children's film about a rat who dreams about becoming a chef... doesn't make any sense to me either but it's apparently quite good...

Rating (out of 1oo)
Rotten Tomatoes: 97
Metacritic: 96
Nat'l Society of Film Critics: 83

Until next time....

___________________
Remy: We're thieves, and what we're stealing is, let's be honest, garbage.
Django: It's not stealing if no one wants it.
Remy: If no one wants it, then why are we stealing it?
--"Ratatouille" (2007)