End of the World Playlist - Help Needed

So, it turns out that the rapture prediction was wrong.  Who would have thought?  However, apparently the October 21, 2011 prediction for the end of the world is still on.

That got me thinking what my End of the World Playlist should be.  i realized very quickly that the end of the world is not a popular topic in pop music.  Most of the song would be kind of depressing too.  There is a difference between end of the world and one night to get the girl.  So maybe some of these will be stretches.  i could definitely use suggestions. 

My Playlist So Far...
* "It's the End of the World" - R.E.M
* "The Final Countdown" - Europe
* "Armageddon It" - Def Leppard
* "Praying for Time" - George Michael
* "If Today Was Your Last Day" - Nickelback


Other Songs i thought of that may not fit
* "There Will Never Be Another Tonight" - Bryan Adams
* "Save a Prayer" - Duran Duran
* "This Could Be the Night" - Loverboy
* "The King of Wishful Thinking" - Go West
* "Things Can Only Get Better" - Howard Jones
* "Turn Back the Clock" - Johnny Hates Jazz
* "Baby It's Tonight" - Jude Cole
* "Pop Goes the World" - Men Without Hats
* "All I Need is a Miracle" - Mike + the Mechanics
* "Let Go" - Nick Lachey
* "C'est La Vie" - Robbie Nevil
* "Big Boy Now" - Richard Marx
* "Crash and Burn" - Savage Garden
* "It's Not Over (Til It's Over)" - Starship
* "Celebration" - Kool and the Gang
* "Another One Bites the Dust" - Queen
* "Saved by Zero" - The Fixx
* "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" -Wang Chung (or "Let's Go")

The End of the World is Coming? - Awesome

So, making the headlines this week is a somewhat obscure (but not as obscure anymore) 89 year old preacher Harold Camping (Family Radio Network) who has made the claim that the "rapture" is happening tomorrow based off of a mathematical formula.  However, mathematics is a cursed and evil field, so who knows.  He also goes on to state that the world will meet it's end on October 21.  Come on 4PM PDT

i guees we may not have to wait until 2012 afterall.  That would really cut into ticket sales of an inevitable 2012 sequel.  Is it sad that i really, really want this to be true (at least the end of the world part - but could it wait until after Halloween)?  This would be awesome if true.  As someone who has largely given up on life - this offers me hope.  Not hope of heaven (i'm with Hawking on that one), but the sweet release of oblivion. 

Why am i suddenly in the mood to watch Armageddon?  Everybody have fun tonight - it could be the last night with your loved ones.  Though if you want to bequeath assets unto me, i'm open to that.  i personally can't wait for the really fun party on October 20 if this prediction is correct.  Yes ladies who aren't "raptured" - party time, excellent.  You aren't getting into heaven, so you have nothing to lose.  Ok enough psuedo lechery talk... for now. 

So everyone out there... play the 1981 Blondie song "Rapture" at 4 PM PDT 

The NHL as a Cautionary Tale

If you ran a league that was a small time league that wanted to expand its presence, say in the US market, what would you do?  Would you go on an expansion/moving rampage to get more teams in "key markets"?  Would you care if the teams added were on long-term financially dubious terms (as they are trying to sell their product to an indifferent market)?  Or would you just take the franchise fee revenue and assume that everything would work itself out.  Would you try to make the game more appealing (and less boring) to an audience that sees the game as Chandler Bing said in friends (paraphrased) -  a bunch of ticked off, toothless Canadians with sticks? 

That is the problem that the NHL faced.  They wanted to be one of the big (and rich) sports leagues.  Unfortunately, for them, they picked a relatively boring "sport" with very limited marketability.  Yes, in the US marketability matters a lot.  The goal was to raise their profile in the US market.  They did this by over-expanding and moving teams.  The league didn't exactly do a good job of picking the winners.  Adding teams in bigger market cities like Dallas, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Atlanta, San Jose, Phoenix, etc. may have seemed like a good idea at the time.  However, inevitably some of the teams will struggle to "convert" those massive populations to actually watch their brand of entertainment.  When the fans don't come the teams will struggle.  Some teams actually did well.  More than a few teams are struggling with long term viability.   Since contraction is usually taken off of the table, some of these teams will have to move - most likely to Canada (where the rabid fan base is). 

In a way, they were overlooking their core base - Canadians (the plain girlfriend) for the US (sexy, intriguing debutante).  So they did have sort of an identity crisis.  At the same time, you had the rise of the European leagues (where it doesn't matter as much if the player actually speaks English). 

They can try to open up the game as much as they want, but it will never play well in the US (outside some of the "M" markets -  like MN, MA, MI).  For one, the game structure does not lend itself to television (with two 20 minute breaks per game).  There is too much time to switch off the camera.  Also, the game televises terribly (the camera angles kind of suck).  So, it basically is soccer - a niche sport in the US.  Yes, there are rabid fans in each market.  However, the rabid fans are the only ones you can really count on coming back for more.  However at least some soccer (football in most countries) matches wouldn't get beaten in the ratings by dogs playing poker on ESPN 2.      

This is one instance where they were probably better off keeping what interest the had without poisoning the game in potential future markets - the league was probably going to expand eventually, but they did too much, too fast.  Ironically, at the same time, the NBA was seeing its popularity dip. 

i'm in the 13th largest media market in the US and am kind of glad we don't have an NHL team.  Now if we could only get rid of the junior teams too... 

Happy Friday the 13th

For some reason i have always looked at Friday the 13th as kind of a lucky day.  Well, if i had any luck but bad. 

i am not making a referenece to a horror movie - though sometimes it seem like it would be awesome to be one of Freddy Krueger's vicitim.

The Truth, the Truth and the Truth

So, sometimes the written word is not exactly the best way to convey things.  This is going to be unusually deep for me.  i'll get to the point - the truth is something that should be a universal Boolean true or false, but things in life are rarely that obvious. 

Truth can be an absolute - like a true/false test based off of accepted facts (which are true because they are universally held - even if they're false).  The truth can be a Lionel Hutzian "truth" which is more along the lines of statements based on truth but largely distortion (much like movies "based off a true story").  The other truth in the title may have been extraneous, or is it? 

A big potential problem occurs when perception = reality.  That is to say that perception is accepted as reality.  In this scenario you can have all kinds of willful distortion.  Politics and advertising live in an intersection between Lionel Hutz and perception = reality.  In that instance, the real reality is largely overlooked.  Why?  Because they want you to believe what they say is reality - so they can make you do or believe something. 

This could be something like 10 million people go to sleep tonight hungry - it may be factually correct, but it is lacking context.  In a country of 310 million people, 10 million is more acceptable than a smaller country (say 50 million population). 

Then the whole question comes up about what level of lying is acceptable in a given situation.  If you had a wife and she asked you if a dress makes her look fat answering the affirmative is an evolutionarily stupid response (assuming you want to be given the option to ever mate again).  Some times the questions themselves are badly worded and a Boolean answer would be grossly misleading.  i guess that depends on what the meaning of "the" is. 

After all, as i saw in some show on cable that i don't watch... "the best way to convince someone that you're not lying is to tell them you are". 

Do i sense a segue into another series of posts.  My psychotic powers give me the answer - "reply hazy try again". 

President Barack Obama to Destroy Earth - Yes He Can

This is just a test, this is only a test, if this is true then it is.  He has never yet conclusively proven that he is not an alien bent on the destruction of the world.  i am still waiting on him to prove he doesn't have horns - he said he didn't, but i'm not so sure.  Maybe his mom was just an alien (little green man, not Mexican) with a green card. 

Ok, maybe he doesn't want to destroy the earth, but his policies would make much more sense if he did. 

i am curious what having certain combinations of keywords = hits.  This sounded like a good attempt.  Yes, i am feeling strange today. 

Personally, i have to wonder how the guy has so many people apparently under mind control.  i don't see him as charasmatic (actually his voice and appearance really bug me).  Maybe the back-masking conspiracy theories are correct and he has Satan to thank (Yes we can - backmasks, sort of, to thank you Satan).

Someday i may come up with a real post, until then you get this.  This is not a good sign. 

Results of the Poll and other stuff

My first experiment with polls is over and it went exactly as well as i predicted - no votes.  i should have thought that most of the hits i get will likely be one and done (with a few "regulars").  That is just the nature of the Internet.  Though i probably have more hits on Blogger than my Windows Live Space got in 2-3 years (and with Blogger i don't have to put up with the hard-sell porn/cam "friends") 

Maybe i'll try poll experiment 2 later.  i'm up to trying new things here.  However, there is always the threat of me running out of ideas for content.  You wouldn't want me to have to do another post like that one (i could do one a day for over 2 years though, even filtering out the NC-17 ones). i changed the background image.  It took numerous tries at cropping and i still messed up (not tall enough).  A 300 KB size limit really reduces my options.   

So, i noticed that i used the word "stuff" more than i thought i did.  Apparently, i also like to start sentences out with the word "so".   

Do Not Read This Post - Nothing Good Can Come From It (WTMI)

This is a post that comes from a time when i can't sleep.  i have been kicking around the idea of doing this type of post for a couple of weeks now.   Probably because i don't post enough as it is (sarcasm).  This will fall apart in a hurry (as i don't tend to have a constant grasp of what i'm going to say).  i know that in the past i have called people like Ke$ha hack lyrical writers - now i get to prove i'm much, much worse.  i have no clue how to write music.  This is a one 5 or so minute session with only 1 slight edit.  The spacing on Blogger is kind of messed up. i think this is the first and last one of these i'll do here.

So, just pretend you never saw it, OK?  Turn back now, you cannot "unread" what you might see...  you have been warned.

Katie (My Alternate Reality)

Going back in time in my mind
For the 100 thousandth time
Reminiscing on all the love that can never be
That's when i think back to you, you and me

So many words i wished i would have said
But i knew you didn't want to hear them anyway
You made it perfectly clear, clear to me
There was no future with you
But maybe, maybe

In my alternate reality
i would like to think, at least inside my mind
There's still a place the sun can shine
Where we are still together for infinity
Katie
In my alternate reality, in my alternate reality

I spent so much time trying to get you off my mind
But that is easier said than done
I know, i know for you i was never going to be the one
Maybe there's a place somewhere
Where it would turn out for me, out for me
Where you could have been my destiny

On the day you said goodbye
I tried my hardest not to cry
At least not on the outside
I tried to keep you for at least a little while
But i knew you were leaving

In my alternate reality

i would like to think, at least inside my mind

There's still a place the sun can shine

Where we are still together for infinity

Katie

In my alternate reality, in my alternate reality

Katie, you'd still be here with me

Living every dream (every dream)

In my alternate reality

Background (Way Too Much Information)

Katie is a real person (the first person i had a date with - sorry no Heath Blizzards).  She was one of those people who just screamed "marriage material", but she made it clear that she had no interest in me to fill that role.  i guess i kind of had a crush on her - we hung out together in the TV room - sexy, no?  i guess it's fitting since i started writing this type of drivel starting with that summer (and loosely about her).  For the record - i hate sun (it is just a commonly used metaphor).

3 years later it really accelerated when i fell hard (really, really hard) for Ms. Wrong - what was i thinking, falling for a Calivermin.  "Writing" has been a little off and on since then (mostly off - it's hard to write about feelings you don't actually have) - you think i would have gotten better.  Nope, if anything i've gotten worse.  i have no concept of form or cohesion - all i usually have is a title or a decent line or two.  i used this as a way to deal with unfamiliar feelings and emotions. Sometimes i'll see a movie or hear a song that will spark brief "writing" outbursts.   Ok, so i have written over 900 of this kind of really bad thing since i started.  As Joseph Konrad would say (or was it Kurtz), The Horror! The Horror!

The Vancouver Canucks are Cheaters and Sports Fanaticism

Yes, the Vancouver Canucks are big time cheaters.  They are bigger "bad guys" than Chicago.  Though, it is not like they have had one of their players break another player's neck in a while.   The Canucks cheat in every single game they play.  In fact, i would say they have never won a game in which they haven't cheated in some manner in their franchise history.  It is just that some times you hear stuff from really, really biased sources.

Lose Canucks Lose             - if nothing more than making my alleged brother less happy. 

That brings me to my next topic... Sports Fanaticism.  i don't understand this at all.  i am referring to stuff like saying "we" when talking about a team and having some kind of emotional connection to a team.  If you don't own or play on the team, there is no "we".   Of course, i don't get the concept of claiming others success or failures as your own.  i also don't get the concept of a team as a source of "civic pride" either.   

i don't get how people can get so "invested" in a game of which they are just an observer (usually miles away).   Sports is just a form of entertainment like a movie.  Although the game isn't scripted (though sometimes it seems it might be).   It really doesn't matter who won (unless you have money riding on the outcome).  Of course, i have never felt i fit in with any group ever. 

Blog: Added Polls

Ok, so i've added the widget (or whatever it is called) for polls to the upper right side of the page.  Why did i do this?  Well lately i've been in kind of a funk where i don't feel like doing anything. 

i am using weekly polls as a way to fill up a post a week.  So, like if you could vote in them it would be kind of cool.  If nobody does, the posts wil be pretty strange.  i'm not sure if membership is required to vote (google account).  In the future some of them could get really strange.  i'm still playing around with formats, widgers and stuff - as someone who has limited technological ability.  Any suggestions - that is what comments are for (they are open to everyone). 

A Klondike bar is vanilla ice cream coated by a thin layer of chocolate.  The poll was based off of their advertising tag line - "What would you do for a Klondike Bar".  i get a few more international/non- North American hits than i was anticipating - which is actually kind of cool. 

Passable Albums of the 2000s: My Whole List

Well, we've gone from awesome 80s to decent 90s - now its time for passable 2000s.  i will define 2000s as 2001-2010.  Known to me as a terrible decade (and the next one just might be worse).  Well, here are some of the albums in the 2000s that were adequately satisfactory.  It might be easier to just list singles i liked.  i do kind of like sappy love songs - especially those i can sing along to.  As always, suggestions can be made in the comment section (i think it works).   

As for singles, i occasionally like them: i really like stuff like - "If You're Not the One" by Daniel Bedingfield, "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble, "Fireflies" by Owl City, "Breakeven" by The Script and some of the Lifehouse and Nickelback crossover stuff. 

Ok here is my list of passable CDs:
* Darren Hayes - Spin - not nearly as good as his Savage Garden stuff.
* Gary Barlow - 12 Months 11 Days
* Jason Mraz - Waiting for My Rocket to Come
* John Mayer - Room for Squares,  Heavier Things
* Lifehouse - Who We Are - i don't own the album just 6 songs from it as MP3
* Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane,  Hands All Over
* Nick Lachey - SoulO
* Richard Marx - My Own Best Enemy

* Take That - Beautiful World - their album with Robbie Williams sounds horrible from the clips i've heard (i hate the sound). 

Decent Albums of the 90s: Bonus Post

Here is the last part of my series of 1990s albums that are at least somewhat listenable.  i made my list (through individual posts) of my top albums of the 1991-2000.  Here are some that i left off, for whatever reason - maybe they just weren't decent enough, maybe i've never owned the album, etc.  Maybe some of my post should have been here instead - probably a few.

If you have any suggestions for decent 1990s albums, that is what the comment section is for....

Other Decent-ish 1990s Albums:
* 98° - 98°
* 98° - Revelation
* Backstreet Boys - Millennium
* BB Mak - Into Your Head
* Britney Spears - Oops I Did It Again
* Edwin McCain - Messenger
* Glenn Medeiros - Captured
* Jessica Simpson - Sweet Kisses
* Jon Secada - Heart Soul & A Voice
* LFO - LFO
* Michael Bolton - Soul Provider
* Michael Bolton - Time Love and Tenderness
* NSYNC - NSYNC
* Richard Marx - Paid Vacation
* Right Said Fred - Up
* Savage Garden - Affirmation
* Sky - Piece of Paradise
* soulDecision - Nobody Does It Better
* Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want
* Westlife - Westlife
* 2Ge+Her - Again
* Various - On the Line Soundtrack 

Decent Albums of the 90s: Spice Girls - Spice

So the end of this series of posts on what i consider to be decent 90s albums is coming to a close - what next, passable albums of the 2000s .... maybe.

This post mentions another brief musical sensation.  This one had to be imported from the UK and sell "girl power" - whatever that is.  i am, of course, talking about the Spice Girls.  i guess there is something to be said for assembling a group of females that sells to the younger female demographic and also seem somewhat appealing to the males too.  i found Baby and Ginger to be the most intriguing of the group.  This group was masterminded by Simon Fuller - the creator of the Idol series.  The singles off of this album were decent, however the filler material leaves a lot to be desired.  Oh yeah the album, it was released in 1996 and called Spice.

Notable Singles:
* "Wannabe"
* "Say You'll Be There"
* "2 Become 1"

Other Singles:
* "Who Do You Think You Are" / "Mama"

The Rest of the Album:
* "Last Time Lover"
* "Love Thing"
* "Something Kinda Funny"
* "Naked"
* "If You Can't Dance"

Decent Albums of the 90s: Britney Spears - Baby One More Time

Welcome to my ___ post on decent albums of the 90s.  We are nearing the end of the tunnel and light is visible - let's just hope it is not just an oncoming locomotive.  On second thought, that might be a bad analogy considering how the new millennium makes me feel like i've been hit by a train, and dragged over broken glass for a time zone or three.

Eventually i had to get around to this album...  Britney Spears was a female phenomenon when she hit the world with this album in 1999.  The album is Baby One More Time (i don't like ellipses in titles, so i'll leave them out here).   i am not exactly sure why she became the pop sensation she did - she really was not the most talented.  i guess it was the mix of decent songs and being jail bait.  She did get some of the better songs out of Sweden.  However, i couldn't listen to anything she has done since her second album.

Notable Singles:
* "Baby One More Time"
* "Sometimes"
* "(You Drive Me) Crazy"
* "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart"

Other Singles:
* "Born To Make You Happy"

The Rest of the Album:
* "Soda Pop"
* "I Will Be There"
* "I Will Still Love You"
* "Thinkin' About You"
* "E-Mail My Heart"
* "The Beat Goes On"

Decent Albums of the 90s: Jon Secada - Jon Secada

Welcome to part ___ of my series on 90s albums that weren't totally awful.

This post might mention a former background singer for The Miami Sound Machine, or maybe it won't.   Before Ricky Martin or Mark Anthony crossed over there was Jon Secada.  The self-titled debut album (at least in English) was released in 1992 and sold a few million copies.  One of the things i could tell was that  Jon Secada had a pretty good voice.  Jon Secada also had a decent follow up to this album.

Notable Singles:
* "Just Another Day"
* "Do You Believe in Us"
* "Angel"
* "I'm Free"

Other Songs i Kind of Like:
* "Dreams That I Carry"
* "One of a Kind"
* "Time Heals"
* "Do You Really Want Me"
* "Misunderstood"
* "Always Something"

The Two Spanish Language Versions:
* "Otro Dia Mas Sin Verte"
* "Angel" (Spanish)