Karaoke Friday - That's me

I figure I haven't been around much recently.  Well that is not entirely true, I have been reading some of the blogs on my newsfeed, I just haven't been writing all that much.  So before the clock strikes midnight I thought I might throw up another one of these entries before calling it a year.

Stolen Content - I hate when this happens

It has been a long time since I did a Stolen Content blog, and honestly I hate the fact I feel I have to do one now, but I do.  Sometimes the words of others are better than my own however, and this is one of those times.  Credit to Alexandra Petri @ the Washington Post for this.....

Chrismas list 2012 edition

Well, it has been a long time since I added to this page.  That is something I hope to change in the coming year, I want to spend more time on this, it is just a matter of better managing my time.  For now though, I want to continue with one of my own holiday blogging traditions, the unveiling of the Christmas list.

Election recap

I really haven't been all that political since moving over here to Blogger, but since we just finished off a presidential election, maybe now is as good a time as any to jump back into the fray.  So what exactly happened this past week, and for that matter the months leading up to it?  Well, let's take a look back and see.  perhaps you will agree with my assessment, perhaps not, but you are always welcome to agree or disagree in the comments section.

Reunited and it feels so......well, kinda eh

     Here it is, a Saturday afternoon and once again I am sitting in the Squirrel Cage awaiting my lunch, ideally I would not be here, I would have woke up early enough to go to breakfast instead, but between college kids partying last night, followed immediately there after by alcohol-infused yelling and fighting, my eyes didn't close for good until about 4am.  Saturday I have the luxury of going into work when I want band leaving when I want, I am only there to do a few things, mostly grocery ordering for Monday and price changes that also do not have to go into effect until Monday morning, so I realistically have until Sunday afternoon to get things done (the grocery order needs to be done by 1pm Sunday afternoon), which means that if I want to sleep in I can, though usually I would rather get up and get things done than spend most of the afternoon at work.  Because I fell asleep so late though, I woke up around 10:30am, putzed around on Facebook for a minute or three, grabbed a shower and headed out the door, getting into work around noon.

Karaoke Friday - Pandorific

     Once again I guess we have to blame Pandora for this week's selection, as I was sitting at my desk at work, trying to do invoices when this song popped on my station.  For the ever so curious, I believe my station can be found here, though it should be noted that it doesn't work outside the United States to my knowledge.  Anyway, as I was saying, this song popped up while I was trying to do paperwork, and I wanted to just jam at my desk, but I doubt anyone else working in the office would have appreciated that very much, so instead I guess I will just have to enjoy this at a significantly louder volume here in the comfort of my apartment.





Lyrics | Sr-71 lyrics - Right Now lyrics

Karaoke Friday - I shouldn't sleep in

I have been having trouble getting out of bed recently.  I am sure it is due in part to the fact that I am up late most night, but still I would like to think that my alarm could roust me, yet recently it has been having no luck, I literally just sleep right through it.  Even today when I didn't have to be up, I did get up for a little while, only to find myself crawling back into bed, sleeping all the way until noon.  So maybe that is the inspiration for this week's belated KF selection.

Every day isn't like Sunday

     Sunday morning and I am up way too early.  The one day of the week I am off and I have been up off and on since somewhere around 4am.  By 7:30 am I was annoyed enough with being up that I went ahead and decided to take in a weekend breakfast at Pamela's.  Just the usual for me; eggs, chirzo, homefries, toast and coffee.  Breakfast was tasty enough, and I did manage to get some more of my book read.  Technically it isn't my book, I bought the book as a surprise gift for Ed, who quickly read it and loaned it back to me, so I am reading it now as well.

Karaoke Friday - Now with less calories

   Usually this is the point of the week where I pick a video and go on some long winded explanation as to why I picked it.  This will be the diet version, less words from me.  I picked the song simply because I liked it and it has been a while since I have heard it.  Simple and to the point.  Anyway, onto the Karaoke stuff we do around here....

Getting to know me

     Some of you that have visited here more than once may have noted a slight change to the site, that being that I have added a warning before viewing the page.   That is not because this page is going to traffic in pornographic content, if you are seeking some nudie pictures then I suggest you go elsewhere.

That's 20

   In some ways this story started in April of this year, but in some ways in also started in the fall of 1992.  It was in 1992 that the Pittsburgh Pirates would claim their third straight division title, finishing the regular season with a 96-66 record, before losing to the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 3 in the National League Championship Series, losing game 7 of that series 3-2 after having a 2-0 leading heading into the bottom of the 9th inning.   Pirates manager Jim Leyland would win NL manager of the year, starting pitcher Tim Wakefield would be the NL Rookie of the year and outfielder Barry Bonds would be named the NL Most Valuable Player. 

Karaoke Friday - Theme music

 There are times when my mind just wanders, and I start to think of musical themes.  Maybe that has to do with my talk radio days, where I would spend hours looking for appropriate bumper music, or perhaps it would be just my old days of watching wrestling and the entrance music the performers would use when coming to the ring, but once in a while I will be sitting here thinking, "You know, if this were the case, then this song would be perfect for it."  For instance, if I were a serial killer, then Echo and the Bunnymen's "Under the Killing Moon" would be great bumper music.  Likewise, if I was a stalker, then today's musical selection would be most appropriate.  Fire up the internet, it's Karaoke Friday time.

Mirror balls

It’s Friday, which means at some point soon I will have to go about adding a video to the page. I already know what video it will be, Karaoke Friday is indeed all but locked and loaded on this end of things, it is just to the manual labor of it before it is actually complete. That bit of labor though, will have to wait, since I am not at home, nor an internet connection, which means only one thing, that is I am once again back at the Squirrel Cage, readying myself for a dinner of a Cajun chicken sandwich and French fries. What can I say, I am nothing if not predictable.

Karaoke Friday - Cattle call

For the second straight week, I am posting something that I just saw for the first time.  This one I hadn't even heard before, which means either I live under a rock, or this song just wasn't that popular.  I am leaning towards the second option.  If this was popular, then the Mayans may be right about 2012 being the end of civilization, because there is nothing redeeming about this song.  Well, it does have one redeeming quality, that being it is this week's karaoke selection.  Enjoy!!!


In the year of the lord, 1994
We conquered the floor
That was then, this is chapter four!

I cause a riot on the stage
Like a lion in a cage
Comin' down with the sound
Worth a million pounds

Zippity zippity doo dah
Zippity doo dah hey (hey!)
A wonderful day
I wanna say with no delay
Zippity zippity doo dah
Zippity doo dah hey (hey!)
Say with no delay
M.C. H gonna play, yeah!

The legend behind the cow
Come on, tonight, hooray!
This is the way
Come on, tonight, hooray!
This is my way

Zippity zippity doo dah
Zippity doo dah hey (hey!)
A wonderful day
I wanna say with no delay
Zippity zippity doo dah
Zippity doo dah hey (hey!)
Say with no delay
Gonna blow you away, yeah!

The legend behind the cow
Come on, tonight, hooray!
This is the way
Come on, tonight, hooray!
This is my way

Alright crew
Introducing Mr. Fatman Scoop! Yeah
What's up, What's up, What's up!

Fatman Scoop:
[Fatman Scoop rocks the jam
Rocks the jam once again
Fatman Scoop rocks the jam
Rocks the jam once again

Scooter's in the house, hands up hands up
Scooter's in the house, hands up hands up
H.P.'s in the house, put 'em up put 'em up
H.P.'s in the house
He makes us jump jump jump jump jump
Put 'em up put 'em up
He makes us jump jump jump jump jump
Let's go]

H.P.:
Peace

This is the legend behind the cow
Come on, tonight, hooray!
This is the way
Come on, tonight, hooray!
This is my way, yeah!

This is my way

Multiply Redux

     Saturday afternoon and once again I find myself taking up a perch here at the Squirrel Cage.  I am not here so much for the food today as I am just because this is a comfortable place for me to go when I want to be at home, but yet out of my apartment.  And right now, I really don’t want to be in my apartment.   

Three things

     I guess if anyone has been paying attention to anything that I have written here recently, then you know that Tuesday marks an entire year that I have been involved in an online relationship.  If anyone would have asked me a couple of years ago if I would ever be involved in any type of relationship, let alone one that has been tethered to the internet for the most part, I would have no doubt said absolutely not.  Thankfully that was two years ago and all things are subject to change, because even with its ups and downs, the last year has been a blessing beyond measure and only makes me look forward to years 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.

Karaoke Friday - Totally unexpected

     Here I was wondering just what I would post for Karaoke Friday, and usually a post in this category is a song that I like and have heard before.  Today wasn't the case however, the song itself I like, but am not overly so, nor did I expect this artist to be covering it.  Still, while it was literally my first time to ever hear this version of the song, I was pleasantly surprised.  On the plus side, many of you have probably heard this song before, so singing along will not prove to be as difficult as some of my Karaoke Friday entries are, but hopefully you will find this version of the song as enjoyable as I did.

One week in

     Sorry I haven't posted much recently.  Well technically I guess I have, but that is because I have been transferring stuff over from the old page to the new one.  So I guess for those that are going through what I went through on Multiply I should give you a little list of things to expect from using the export tools to bring your content from there to here.

Three things

     Will the real Pittsburgh Pirates stand up?  At one point in time the Pirates were 14 games over .500 and had a firm grasp on one of the two National League wild card spots.  Now they are just 5 games over .500 and 2 ½ games out of the second wild card spot.  With 23 games remaining, Pittsburgh has to go 9-14 in order to finish with 81 wins and break a streak of 19 consecutive losing seasons.  The problem with that?  Since July 31, Pittsburgh is 12-23.

The RNC and DNC are now over and what was the end result?  Pretty much nothing, polling between the candidates hasn’t changed all that much and there was no campaign defining moment.  Which is pretty much like every other convention season. 

The fall TV season is underway, with new shows and premieres from existing shows.  Someone wake me if there is something worthy of my attention.  If not, I can be found watching shows on Hulu instead.

Standards and practices

There are times like this, where I can’t really sort out my thoughts is any sort of coherent manner. There is so much of nothing to say, that I don’t know where to begin, and if I do find a starting point, I am not sure how the dialogue ends.

Karaoke Friday - Dance Party

I don't know what got into me this evening.  I went looking for a musical selection, one that I go put up for the Friday extravaganza, and I just got to thinking of Friday nights of years ago.  Going to a place called Metropol, the locals of Pittsburgh might remember it fondly, I know I do.  It was just the best club in town for dancing during it run of operation (it has since closed), and Friday nights they would do a thing called Panic Bar, which was a night of all alternative music (before alternative became Nirvana, Pearl Jam and a bunch of assclowns trying to sound like them) and $1.50 Rolling Rock bottles.

If you got their early enough, you could get the leftover free appetizers from the Happy Hour shindig they would do early evenings, and what happens with me when I have free snacks, cheap beer and good music playing?  Well, let's just say thankfully there is no videos of me and my chicken dance like moves out on the floor.  But then if I play this song long enough, there may be yet






Lyrics | Charlatans lyrics - The Only One I Know lyrics

Your 2012 Argonauts

     It’s a final.  As I stated in one of yesterday’s entries, the fantasy football draft was last night for the Uncle Jimmy’s league, and I am not sure what I can say about it.  I can’t say I left the draft in love with my team, but I don’t think it is god-awful either.  I had the dubious distinction of being 12^th, out of 12 teams.  I don’t want to make that sound all bad, unlike drafts in regular sports leagues, fantasy drafts are different in that the draft snakes, every other round you reverse the drafting order.  So while I would pick dead last in round 1, I would pick 1^st in the second round.  In essence I would get back to back picks, I would just have a lot of time (and a lot of players leaving the draft board) between my back to back selections.

      As for what I ended up putting together, well, it looks something like this;

Argonauts
1.	(12)	Larry Fitzgerald (Ari - WR)
2.	(13)	DeMarco Murray (Dal - RB)
3.	(36)	Wes Welker (NE - WR)
4.	(37)	Mike Wallace (Pit - WR)
5.	(60)	Jonathan Stewart (Car - RB)
6.	(61)	Ben Roethlisberger (Pit - QB)
7.	(84)	Stevan Ridley (NE - RB)
8.	(85)	Joe Flacco (Bal - QB)
9.	(108)	Owen Daniels (Hou - TE)
10.	(109)	Pierre Thomas (NO - RB)
11.	(132)	Mark Ingram (NO - RB)
12.	(133)	Santana Moss (Was - WR)
13.	(156)	Cincinnati (Cin - DEF)
14.	(157)	Matt Bryant (Atl - K)
15.	(180)	Steve Breaston (KC - WR)

     What I probably like most out of that bunch is the wide receiver trio of Fitzgerald, Welker and Walllace, what I don’t like is the depth at wide receiver and I am pretty nervous about pinning my hopes on the rushing ability of DeMarco Murray.  But that is what the finished product looks like.  Of course after the draft I was asked once again if I would like to be treasurer of the league, because we are playing for cash this year ($50 entry fee) and I have handled that role in the past (including last year).  Don’t really want to do that job, but I know I will end up doing it anyway, just because if I don’t then it leaves the league scrambling at the last minute to find one.  Oh well, far worse fates have befallen far better men.

    Anyway, that is what the team looks like, feel free to cheer them on, or root against them if you like, I am sure I will be posting updates throughout the season to let you know how I am doing, if I have a shot at winning money or if my entry fee is just a donation to someone else’s wallet.

Reprint - Fantasy Football Primer

This is a reprint of a blog that first appeared on Multiply back on August 14^th, 2011.  Some of the references, especially early on may be lost on the readers, such as the early jibberish about the Iowa Straw Poll, but stick with the entry and you will see why it is being reprinted here, at this point in time.  That of course being that the NFL season is about to kickoff, and while most people have done their fantasy football drafts, not everybody has (I still have one tonight) and sometimes every little piece of advice helps. 

As for the mention early on about blogging every day, that is in reference to a project I tried to do last year that I called Multiply 365, where I wanted to blog at least once a day, every day, for a year straight.  I came up short on that (I was in the 300s when I stopped) and it is still an idea that I have in the back of my mind to possibly attempt again, haven’t really decided one way or the other yet. 

Anyway, before my intro becomes a blog entry unto itself, the reprint of “Multiply 365 Day 225 – Fantasy Football Primer”

Laboring with a fantasy

     I know that New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day is supposed to be the time or making resolutions, promises of what we would like to do for the coming year, but I am wondering if Labor Day isn’t the day where I start to wonder if it isn’t time to start letting things go.

Three things

     After watching Penn State lose to Ohio University and Pitt lose to Youngstown State during the opening weekend of college football, one has to wonder; is Temple the best college football program in Pennsylvania?

     I watched bits and pieces of the Republican National Convention, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why Clint Eastwood was ever allowed to speak.  I have heard time and again about how the likes of Sean Penn and Rosie O’Donnell are stupid, or just Hollywood liberals who are out of touch with mainstream America.  After watching the Eastwood performance Thursday night, I would argue that the Hollywood stupidity affliction would seem to run in both parties.

     Port Authority CEO Steve Bland is a finalist for the Executive Directorship of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority in Jacksonville, Florida.  Are transit directorships like professional sports coaches, where the same names get recycled ad nauseum , despite track records of limited success?  Unless Jacksonville is looking for a way to eliminate public transportation altogether, I fail to see how Bland’s record of service cuts and fare hikes  in Pittsburgh would qualify him to be the dog catcher in Jacksonville, let alone run the Jacksonville Transportation Authority.

Karaoke Friday - The best part

The best part about doing Karaoke Fridays (yes I know it's a Saturday, get used to me procrastinating a lot) on a new platform is that in many ways I am reaching a new audience, so I get the chance to pull stuff from the past that I liked and redo it here all over again.  Like this particular number, which is probably one of my all time favorite songs, if for no other reason that the lyrics are relatively simple, yet true. 


I do believe it is time to cue my music....

"Set"ting up the future

     Back in the olden days, or at least my pre-Blogger days, I would do “Reset” blogs every so often.  All a “reset” blog was a chance to tell you a little about myself, what you can come to expect from the page and some rules of the road as it were, things that will and will not be tolerated around these parts.  Since however this is my first foray into doing such a thing on Blogger, I think we will just call this my “Set” blog and be done with it.

Random shots

Just some pics from my walk home from lunch yesterday.  Had lunch at the Squirrel Cage and decided to walk home rather than take a bus.  It was nice enough for a walk and let's be honest, I can use the exercise.  Cut through Schenley Park and hopped onto the Upper Panther Hollow Trail and snagged these pics.

For those of you playing at home

This originally was on my old blog, way back on Nov 17, 2006 but I decided I would grab it and bring it over here.  I took this quiz when I first saw it, scored a 41 though I wouldn't have put myself in that bracket (I would have put me in the 31-40 category).  Anyway feel free to indulge yourselves while I continue weeding my way through my past blogs and determining what to keep and what to throw away.

Finding things

Just going through my old site and see what I want to keep and what I want to discard when I happened up on this, it is a speech given at Georgetown University by Bill Clinton back in 2006. I liked the speech then and I like it now, it is a good break from the non stop political smear ads that are running on TV.

Karaoke Friday - This is what sexy sounds like

I think one of my pet peeves with music today is that everyone sounds the same.  I know, that tends to be one of the arguments that older people make when talking about younger people's music, but really all of the men tend to fall into one of two categories when it comes to popular music. either they can't sing and therefore have their voice pushed through so many electronic devices that the end product doesn't even sound human anymore, or they end up trying to sound like women.  And the women, well they all sound like they just escaped from the Disney channel, all trained to sing the same way and oversing on the same notes (much the same way that all of animation from Japan (I call it Japanimation) looks an awful lot like Speed Racer), and all the women/girls dressed in the same revealing costume getups, because if you are looking at their tits they you are not focusing on the fact that they can't sing at all.

While I will not be helping the guys this evening, I will pass along a little lesson for the ladies, this is what it sounds like to sing and be sexy about it. 


Mississippi in the middle of a dry spell Jimmy Rogers on the Victrola up high Mama's dancin' with baby on her shoulder The sun is settin' like molasses in the sky The boy could sing, knew how to move, everything Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for
Black velvet and that little boy's smile Black velvet with that slow southern style A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees Black velvet if you please
Up in Memphis the music's like a heatwave White lightening, bound to drive you wild Mama's baby's in the heart of every school girl "Love me tender" leaves 'em cryin' in the aisle The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true Always wanting more, he'd leave you longing for
Black velvet and that little boy's smile Black velvet with that slow southern style A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees Black velvet if you please
Every word of every song that he sang was for you In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon, what could You do?
Black velvet and that little boy's smile Black velvet with that slow southern style A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees Black velvet if you please
Black velvet and that little boy's smile Black velvet with that slow southern style A new religion that'll bring ya to your knees Black velvet if you please If you please, if you please, if you please