End of the World Playlist

As many of you are aware, the world is going to end on December 21.  Or maybe it won't.  Who knows.  Therefore, this could be the very last blog post I ever write.  Or all the mass hysteria and panic which may ensue this week could all be for nothing when we wake up on December 22.  Either way one thing is sure; I get a chance to put together a rather unique playlist.  And even if the world doesn't end this week, I'm sure there will be another Armageddon panic down the road when I can break it out again.

When thinking about what songs to include on this playlist, I thought about what songs best represented the end of the world.  Others suggested putting songs on there that represent happy memories from your life or your favorite songs that you would want to hear one last time.  I didn't go that route.  So without further ado, here is my list, in no particular order.

First, no end of the world playlist would be complete without a song about, well, the end of the world.  So as cliched as it may be, R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as we Know It" makes the list.

Next up, we "The Final Countdown" by Europe.  Again, it's pretty self explanatory, but let the countdown begin.

"Live and Let Die" by Wings is my next selection.  What is considered by many to be the best James Bond theme song makes the cut based on theme.  The live performance I've included here even has explosions and fireworks, which could very well happen as the world ends.

I'm going to go with another theme based selection next with Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun".  This video is really creepy, by the way.

Let's switch it up and bring in a little hip hop flavor.  Bone Thugs n Harmony's "Tha Crossroads" represents what I'm sure many of us hope will happen after the destruction.  Plus it's just a cool song.

Let's keep with the theme of making it to heaven and go with "Knocking on Heaven's Door".  I'm going to use the Guns n Roses version of the song because I like it better.

How about one more heaven song?  This one has a little different feel, but I'm sure it represents the way many of us might feel as the world comes crashing down around us.

And then of course there is this song.  Judgement day, doomsday, it's all the same.  And while I don't think robots are going to take over the world and wipe out humans, you never know.

Next, let's go with another hopeful song, "I Will Survive".  I realize it's a song about surviving a breakup, but still, you know people will be singing it if the world does start to collapse.

We can follow that up with a little Destiny's Child expressing the same survival motif.

This seems like a good place to put another song that is really only appropriate by title.  But, again, I can picture people belting this out during the fallout.

And how about a song for those positive thinkers out there who may think the end of the world craze isn't going to be that bad.

Ok, let's wrap this up and finish off my list without the videos, since I'm sure anyone who's still reading this post has already given up plenty of their time.  So here goes, the rest of my list.
"In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins because, well, I assume there would be something in the air that signal the end is near.
"People Get Ready" by The Impressions, partly because of the title, but also because it has a message of hope and positivity (not sure if that is word, but I used it in a sentence, so it's all good).
"Hell on Earth" by Mobb Deep for obvious reasons.
And honorable mention to songs such as "Stairway to Heaven" and "Highway to Hell".

I hope you all enjoyed the list, and the videos.  Feel free to tell me why certain songs on the list are bs, or let me know which songs you would include.

Random Thoughts about Song Titles

I was listening to "Safety Dance" the other day and I had to remind myself that it was Men Without Hats that sing it, not Men at Work.  That got me thinking a little bit.  Wouldn't it make sense that Men at Work sing a song called "Safety Dance"?  I mean, when I think of the phrase 'men at work' I think of construction workers.  And what's the number one priority of construction workers?  Why, safety of course!  (Or as my camp directors are fond of saying, risk management.)  So it would be quite easy to mistake Men at Work as the singers of "Safety Dance".  But it's actually Men Without Hats.

I know what you're thinking now.  So what songs does Men at Work sing?  Well, one of their most popular songs is "Who Can it Be Now?".  That seems like a great question to ask when dealing with men without hats.  After all, if they had hats maybe you would know who they are.  But they don't, so you're left wondering who it could be now.  Therefore, it would make sense that Men Without Hats sing "Who Can it Be Now?"  But they sing "Safety Dance".  And Men at Work sing "Who Can it Be Now?"

These are just some random thoughts I had about song titles.  I hope you enjoyed it.

What's the deal with bumper stickers?

As I was driving home from work today I ended up behind someone who had a pair of Obama/Biden bumper stickers on his car.  That got me thinking.  What is the purpose of political bumper stickers?Are they trying to convince others to vote for that candidate?  I mean, do people really see political bumper stickers on the back of a car and think to themselves, "You know, that guy supports Obama.  I think I will too!"?  Or is it purely to show your support for a candidate?  Because if it is, I have to think there are better ways to do it.  A bumper sticker is a pretty permanent show of support.  Four years later, you just look silly.  But to each his own I guess.

Triggering my inner actor

I have been searching for months for a new topic to write about, and as of today, I'm still searching.  But I really had the itch to write, so I'm reaching for something here.  But I know today's topic is something everyone can relate to.  Do you ever hear a word or phrase and automatically think of a line from a movie and instantly have to recite it out loud?  I thought so.  Well, I do it all the time, so I thought I'd share my most commonly quoted lines.

1. "Forrrrrreeeeeeevvvvvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrrr" - Every time I hear the word 'forever' I can't help but quote The Sandlot.  And usually when I do, countless others around follow suit in a chorus of 'forevers".  For those of you who may be lost, watch here:

 Of course, unless you remember the movie well and know that this scene is from the flashback when the boys tell the story of the Beast, you might not recognize it as being from The Sandlot.  But it is, trust me.

2. "Power" - This one is a little more obscure.  When I hear the word power I immediately think of Griff Tannen chasing Marty McFly in the future in Back to the Future II.  Like I said, obscure.  But watch:

I will say that when I repeat the line, "Hoverboards don't work on water.  Unless you've got power," I don't follow it with that ridiculous laugh.  But I do say it in that ridiculous voice.

3. "Paper Jam" - I know there are multiple people who know this one.  Office Space is a cult classic, one that everyone who has a job, whether in an office or not, can relate to.  And the dealings with the printer make for an easily repeatable movie line.

We have all been there and I'm sure we have all wanted to take our printer out to a field, blast some Geto Boys, and know that it does feel good to be a gangsta.

4. "What did you do?" - This is another obscure one, but when I hear this question asked, I immediately go into a mini Ghostbusters monologue.  And everyone who knows Ghostbusters, knows the answer to the question is, of course, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Most people don't get it when I say, "What did you do, Ray?"  They wonder why I'm calling them Ray.  But there are a few, and you know who you are, who follow my question with, "It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man."

5. "One, two, one, two" - This one is a two for one.  Haha, get it.  I totally accept pity laughs.  So depending on how this line is uttered is what I think of to recite.  If I hear it as it is written here, I immediately think of one of my favorite poems, The Jabberwocky, and the line, "One, two, one, two/ And through and through/ The vorpal blade went snicker snack/ And with its head he left it dead/ And went galumphing back."
And if I hear it like someone is counting, I start doing this:

But really, who doesn't? 

So those are the five lines I recite randomly most often when triggered by certain phrases.  I know you all have your own triggers as well, so feel free to share some of yours.  And hopefully, I'll get back on the writing horse and start posting more frequently.

Final Cartoon Bracket Thoughts

I realize there's been a long hiatus since my last post about the Cartoon Bracket.  It was my intention to comment on every round and give my analysis as the tournament progressed.  But, as I'm sure many of you know, life doesn't allow for your best laid plans.  So now I'm here to offer my final thoughts as the tournament just wrapped up.

In case you didn't see, Mickey Mouse ended up taking the crown.  It was a close final match with Bugs Bunny, with Mickey winning by a single vote.  I have to say that I'm quite surprised by this outcome.  At the beginning of the tournament I would not have guessed that Mickey would have even made it to the final.  My pre-tournament prediction was Bugs vs. Scooby Doo.  Apparently I underestimated the power of the mouse.  Some have accused me of rigging the tournament knowing my affection for all things Disney.  Let me refute that right now.  While I do have a love for Disney, if I were to rig the tournament it would be Goofy winning, not Mickey.  Goofy is my favorite cartoon character and I was secretly pulling for him during the tournament.  But I'm glad to see Mickey win.  He is a classic and iconic cartoon character.

I've already started thinking about next year's bracket, but if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know.  And thanks to all who voted this year!

Greatest Cartoon Character Bracket - Round 3

Welcome to the Sweet 16 of cartoon characters!  That's right, folks, we're down to 16.  Round 2 provided us with a few upsets and surprises and Round 3 promises to be just as exciting as we get closer and closer to crowning a champion.

Here's some Round 2 analysis:

• Our first #1 seed went down.  Woody Woodpecker lost to the Roadrunner, and based on his near loss on in Round 1, I can't say I'm surprised.  Personally, Woody Woodpecker would be in my Final Four of greatest cartoon characters, but I'm thinking many of you find him annoying.  He still has his star on the Walk of Fame, though.
• We also lost two #2 seeds in this round: Popeye and Betty Boop.  These are two of the oldest characters on the list and their high seed was more a result of their iconic status than anything else.  I guess icons don't get a free pass to the Sweet 16.
• Despite having a strong first round showing, the Animaniacs failed to put up much of a fight against Fred Flintstone.  I look forward to the Flintstone-Scooby matchup in Round 3.
• Foghorn Leghorn pulled off another upset, taking down Rocky and Bullwinkle.  Foghorn continues to surprise as the Cinderella of the tournament.  He'll have a tough task ahead of him in the next round, though, as he takes on Bugs Bunny.

Round 3 thoughts:

• Not a single region had the top four seeds advance.
• Three double digit seeds advanced: #10 Papa Smurf, #11 Chilly Willy, and #13 Foghorn Leghorn
• There are four Disney characters left, four Looney Tunes characters, and five Hanna- Barbera characters
• Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Snoopy, Scooby Doo have all breezed through to this round, but I think they might get tougher challenges in this round.
• Fred Flintstone and Charlie Brown are the only animated human characters left
• There are two matchups pitting the same studio against itself: Fred Flintstone vs. Scooby Doo for Hanna-Barbera, and Bugs Bunny vs. Foghorn Leghorn for Looney Tunes (Warner Bros.)

Since two more of my favorites went down in Round 2 it'll be interesting to see how this round plays out.  I predict that the heavyweights will start flexing their muscle and advance, but what do I know.  Keep voting everyone and check back at the end of the round for more thoughts and analysis.
Password: toonmadness
http://cartoonvote.info/

Greatest Cartoon Character Bracket - Round 2

Well, Round 1 is in the books and we're down to 32 characters now.  I appreciate all those who took the time to vote and I encourage you all to vote in Round 2, which runs through Friday.

Here are some observations from Round 1:

• Both Simpsons characters, Homer and Bart, were eliminated in the first round.  I'll admit Bart had a tough first round matchup against Donald Duck, but I thought Homer would breeze into the next round going up against Foghorn Leghorn.  I guess Foghorn's classic appeal was too much to handle.
• Woody Woodpecker won a close battle with Speedy Gonzales.  I totally underestimated Speedy's popularity.  In my opinion, Woody is one of the all-time greats and I think he should easily breeze into the Elite Eight, if not the Final Four.  Apparently, others don't share that opinion, as there was strong support for little Speedy.
• Barney Rubble upsets Underdog.  This was one of two 14 over 3 upsets, but Transformers over Porky Pig was not as big a shock as this.  Underdog has a balloon in the Thanksgiving Day parade for crying out loud.  I really did not see Underdog getting bounced so early.
• Chip and Dale won pretty easily over the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  If I had to predict the matchups, I would have thought the Turtles would win this matchup.  This is another example of the old school beating out a newer cartoon.  Personally, I like it.
• Sentimental favorites like Grape Ape, Hong Kong Phooey, and Secret Squirrel all lost their opening matchups.  I'm a little sad that neither of those three made it to the second round, but I will admit they were not the most popular of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

And now some Round 2 analysis:

• Pluto was the only Disney character not to advance to Round 2.  I think at least two more will bow out in this round.
• The Barney Rubble-Chilly Willy matchup ensures that a double digit seed will advance to the Sweet 16.
• The Animaniacs had a strong performance in Round 1 and I expect them to have another strong showing against Fred Flintstone in this round.
• I predict that at least one, if not two, top 2 seeds will lose in this round. 
• There are eight matchups that pair animated animals.  There is only one that matches up two animated humans.

It will be interesting to see how Round 2 plays out.  Keep voting everyone and check back this weekend for more thoughts and analysis.
http://cartoonvote.info/
Password: toonmadness

Greatest Cartoon Character Bracket

Well, March Madness is here and everyone's got bracket fever, including me.  I love watching the NCAA tournament and filling out a bracket.  But this year I thought it would be fun to create my own bracket.  So I did.

I created a Greatest Cartoon Character Bracket.  I'm pitting 64 of the all-time greatest cartoon characters against each other to see who really is the greatest.  I'll admit it was quite difficult narrowing down the list to 64, and seeding them was even more difficult.  Some of you will undoubtedly be upset that one of your favorites didn't make the list, and you're entitled to your opinion, however wrong you may be.  I looked very closely at nostalgic appeal and iconic impact, so the list is comprised of mostly older characters.  Those of you who know me well shouldn't be surprised.  I then went through an extensive seeding process that will remain secret to protect the sanctity of the bracket.  But ultimately, I tried to prevent matchups of characters from the same studio for as long as possible.  That proved quite difficult with the amount of Hanna-Barbera characters in the field.  I think it came out pretty fair though.

Here is where this bracket is different from others.  YOU get to vote.  Thanks to my good friend, Steve Turri, we have a website devoted to the bracket where users can pick who they think should win each matchup.  Each round will last four days and winners will advance until only one is left.  I will provide commentary and thoughts throughout the tournament through this blog so check back often to hear what I have to say, or to procrastinate from doing something more important.  But here's all you have to do to vote:
Go to this site: http://cartoonvote.info/
Enter the password: toonmadness
Keep coming back to vote in each round.

I hope you all enjoy!

Best Songs of All Time

I realize it's been quite a while since I've posted anything.  I just haven't exactly found the inspiration to write anything.  But as I was listening to music at work today, I started thinking about which songs would be my top five of all time.  So I decided to make a list.  I don't really have specific criteria for how I created this list other than the fact that I chose songs that are easy to listen to and which evoke some sort of emotional response.  Those who know me well know that I am a big fan of hip-hop and 90s music, so you may be surprised to see neither of those two genres represented in this list.  But as much as I like hip-hop, I couldn't justify putting any hip-hop song in the top five.  Nothing evokes that strong an emotional response or has the melodic harmony to outweigh any of my picks.  But maybe I'll do another list of top hip-hop songs to recognize those as well.  I realize there will be some disagreement, but I've included the songs for you all to listen to before you pass judgement.  So without further ado, here are my top five songs of all time:

5. "Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys had a lot of great songs and I debated over which one should take the fifth spot on my list.  Ultimately, it came down to "Surfer Girl," "Sloop John B," and "Good Vibrations."  I went with "Good Vibrations" because, well, I just did.  It's a great song and I felt it deserved a spot on my list.

4. "Just My Imagination" by The Temptations
This is my favorite Temptations song.  I think it is just plain amazing.  Plus, everyone can relate to it.  We've all been lost in a daydream before or let our imagination go crazy.  The Temptations are another group that had a slew of hits, but this song is the most harmonious and melodic.  I don't really know if I'm using those terms correctly, but, again, my list, my rules.

3. "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips
Very few songs tell a story like this one.  You can feel the emotion in Gladys Knight as she sings this song.  Add in the smooth background vocals of the Pips and you have a musical masterpiece.  I get goosebumps everytime I listen to this song.

2. "Trouble Man" by Marvin Gaye
Any list of top five songs of all time could easily consist of five Marvin Gaye songs.  "Ain't no Mountain High Enough" is my favorite song of all time.  "What's Going On" and "Mercy Mercy Me" are both powerful songs in their own right.  But I chose "Trouble Man" because of its diversity.  There is so much going on in this song and it all blends together perfectly.  Then you add in the powerful lyrics and you have perfection. 

1. "People Get Ready" by Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions
Everything about this song is beautiful.  The lyrics, the melody, the composition, all of it.  You can't help but have an emotional response when listening to this song.  It delivers a great message and does so in such a harmonious way that I challenge anyone to find a more well put-together song.  All I can really say is just listen.

Again, I realize that there may be some disagreement with this list, but that's what makes this fun.  I welcome your comments and thoughts.  Let me know which songs you think I should have included or if you think I nailed it on the head, which I think I did. 

What's the deal with hotel pillows?

I recently returned from a trip where I stayed in three different hotels over three consecutive nights.  All three hotels had crappy pillows.  This strengthens my theory that all hotels have inadequate pillows for my sleeping needs.  Now I realize that this is just a personal preference as some people might like flat, mushy, unsupportive pillows.  But why do ALL hotels think that ALL people like the same type of pillow?  That's just not considerate.  Hotels should provide a variety of pillow types in each room.  They already put four pillows on each bed, so why not put four pillows of various firmness so guests can sleep more comfortably on a pillow that suits their needs?  I don't want to be that guy who brings his own pillow when he travels, but these hotels are leaving me no choice.  I know there has to be some of you out there who feel the same way I do.  If so, join the fight for pillow equality.  No more sleepless hotel nights because of pillow inadequacy.