Friday Nite Video (RFTW-Love You Down)

Hey all. Well, I missed last Friday night as I was battling a bad ear infection and just felt like crap so I thought I'd post tonight what was gonna be last weeks post. The last one I did I talked about the "Power Ballad". All those heavy metal bands of the 80's and early 90's and their one "love song". I thought it would be good to talk about another big genre of music from the 80's known as the "Slow Jam". The slow jams were usually played on the R&B stations at night, after 9:00 O'clock, on what were normally know as "The Quiet Storms" Man, they were brothers and sista's singing about love, lost loves, current loves and just love in general. Nothing was better then dimming the lights, turning on the quiet storm and snuggling up with that special one. The lyrics were sappy, dripping with ohhs and ahhs, moans and groans. They were all good. Rick James, Prince, Luther Vandross, Teena Maria. The list goes on and on. 9 times outta 10 they had a jeri curl but hey, they could still wail out a song. Who's my favorite? I always did and still do love Prince but he's still going strong and I wanted to pick somebody from that era who has passed on (Rick James or Luther) or faded into obscurity. That makes me think of one of my favorite groups from that time, Ready for the World. These guys got beat up by the critics pretty bad for being Prince rip-offs and they did try to copy his look at that time but man could they do a slow song. Maybe we can put some of the more popular performers on here in the weeks to come but tonight it's RFTW night. From 1986 its Ready for the World and their song Love You Down. Enjoy!

Personal Ads I would never respond too

Here's some of my favorites I've seen. No thanks!


SWF-43 years old, recently paroled, ready to start over fresh. After my ten year probation period my record will be expunged. Two older boys but they will not be a problem as they are both serving their own sentences will no chance of parole. Go to the Lake County Corrections website and put my inmate number, 17634981276554, in to see my picture.


SWDF-39, looking for a man to give me some loving and help me with my 6 kids. My husband ran off last year and ain't paid one cent of child support. Must love kids and be a patient man. Two of my kids have ADHD and Cindy, the youngest girl, was born with a cleft lip and has a feeding tube running into her stomach which must be changed and filled daily. Please, CALL ME!!

SWDF-41, manic depressive. Looking for someone to go through life's sorrows and despairs with. Enjoys crying, finding the negatives in everything, quiet evenings at home, EVERY night. Not much of a talker. Looking for a man to join me and we both try to get through life's trials and tribulations. Age and race not important. If the line's busy, call back. I'm probably talking with one of my friends at the National Suicide Prevention Hotline.

SWF-34, well built, dominatrix looking for a man that needs to be "whipped" back into shape. Must have a high tolerance for pain and enjoy wearing a dog collar and worshiping at my feet. Bonus points awarded for licking my leather boots while I get that backside into shape! Come experience all that life has to offer and call me, Madame Misty, today!

SWF 42-fuller figured country gal looking for a guy that can keep up with me. I like drinking, going mudding in my Chevy 4x4 truck, more drinking, honky tonks and hunting. Must be okay with a women that chews and likes getting a new tattoo every few months or so. I also like attending hog calling contests and calf roping competitions. Call me or go to CB channel 19 and ask for Country Karen.

MSWFS (Multiple, Single, White, Female Singles) Hi, today I'm Julie. Call me and you get all 8 of us. Tomorrow I might be Susan. Or I could be Sara. Sometimes Kathy pokes out but she stays inside most of the time because she is really shy. We are all very nice (but sometimes Debbie can be mean). Just imagine the thrill of waking up to a different person each day! Call us!

MLWF (Married, Lonely, White Female) 46 years young, married to a 340 pound construction worker who has lost all interest in me. I need a man to come over once or twice a week to "take care of my needs". Husband works till 5:00. You gotta be out of the house by 5:30. The last guy my husband caught here he didn't beat up to bad and the guy was up and walking in three days. Call me, I'm worth the risk!

Diary of a divorced guy.

Nov 17, 2010

Dear Diary,

Today started out like any other day. My alarm went off at 4:15. I hit the snooze button twice, giving me 14 extra minutes before I had to get up. I made my way to the kitchen to put on my coffee. I was excited! Yesterday I had bought a new can of coffee at the Walmart. Master Chef, a brand I was unfamiliar with but it was on a price roll back. 2.38 for a 2lb can! It stated on the label it made 48 pots of coffee. At twelve cups per pot that's 576 cups of coffee! Divide 576 cups into 2.38 and that's 0.00413 per cup. Or 1/4 a cent per cup. Certainly affordable enough. My regular brand "Folgers" is one of the many cutbacks I've been forced to make in a effort to reign in cost, trying to adjust to a one income household verses a two income one. Not a big savings but factored in with all the other changes it all adds up! Other things like lighting candles at night to save electricity, driving below 50mph to save on fuel costs, canceling cable TV and watching old re-runs of Hee-Haw and Gunsmoke on the Internet. It all adds up. As I wait for the coffee to brew I suddenly become aware that the front window shade, directly behind me, is partly open from last night. I realize I'm wearing the pair of underwear with the big rip in the back. The pair that exposes most of my left buttock cheek. My "comfortable" underwear. I had bought a new 5 pair pack a couple of years ago and I just didn't like them. Too tight and constrictive. Too supportive. I preferred my older, well worn, broken in pairs. Briefs but with the support of boxers with the well worn fabric up front. Heck, if you scratched yourself to hard up front there you could rip the fabric and poke your finger right through them. I really have to be careful with them. I ran over and shut the blinds. Soon my coffee was done brewing. I choose my favorite coffee mug, my White Star Travel Company mug given to me by my brother-in-law Nick. This mug was part of a ten dollar box of goodies I had received from him for Christmas about twelve years ago. Still my favorite mug! (That's NOT the White Star Company that owned the Titanic FYI) As I pour my first cup I noticed this coffee seemed to be a little thicker, a little darker, it seemed to have a heavier consistency then most coffees. I added my normal dose of milk and the blackness didn't change. I added some more and the color did seem to lighten a little. I slowly took a sip and grimaced at the taste. My bowels immediately sensed something was wrong, like a foreign substance was trying to invade. It's taste was a mixture of burnt wood ashes and warm urine from a old, disease ridden horse about a week away from the glue factory. I swore I could feel my facial stubble growing. I added more milk. Nothing happened. This was a coffee so strong and black that puny, light skinned African Americans would be jealous. I bit the bullet and quickly finished that cup of joe, looking forward to brewing that 48th pot of it. As the caffeine started to kick in I began to think of the upcoming day. Work of course, 6;30 to 3;00. Maybe today I would stop at the grocery store on the way home and buy a nice steak, do a cheese au gratin potato casserole, steam some fresh broccoli. After dinner I could finally start that exercise regimen that included walked around the neighborhood two times (2.3 miles), then swimming 7 or 8 laps around the Olympic sized swimming pool. Maybe I would go door to door at my apartment complex knocking and introducing myself and offering to be of any assistance I could be for whatever? Maybe I would start writing that book of poetry I had been putting together in my head. I'm happy and whistling as I shave and shower, preparing for work. I pack my lunch before I leave (remember, save money). Ham and cheese sandwich, chips, a orange, my "dessert", a chocolate Little Debbie cupcake. Work went well. We had a new girl working with us no one had ever seen before. Everyone wondered, is she nice? Single? Full-time, Part-time? Not bad looking but certainly no beauty pageant winner. Miss Congeniality maybe, but no top three winner. Near the end of the day someone said they heard her talking about her husband and four kids. Oh well, so much for that. I left work and on the way home I decide against the steak dinner. I remembered that the pizza place down the road is running that special One large, two topping pizza for ten bucks. Ten dollars and it's done. No preparing, cooking or cleaning up afterward. After I get home and have a few slices I then decide to postpone the exercise program. I'll try to start that tomorrow after a more healthy dinner. I also think it's probably too late to start going around knocking on the neighbors doors and introducing myself. Who goes around knocking on peoples doors at dinner time these days? Jehovah Witnesses? People with bad intentions? Someone with pictures of starving animals in some third world country wanting a donation so they could purchase half a bowl of food scraps to ease the poor animals suffering. People might think I'm half loopy doing something like that at this hour. I checked my email. Just the regular spam ones that seem to come everyday. Invitations to get in on class action lawsuits against the asbestos companies (do they still exist?). Work at home offers that promise to pay 5,000.00 a month part-time. Offers for cheaper car insurance then what I'm paying for now. The latest hot electronic gadgets for a third of their normal price. Cheap diplomas I can receive by taking just one one hour class on-line a week. Hot and horny single women living within a five mile radius of me, willing to do anything to be with a man. Any man. I deleted them all and checked the GoldenYears.com website. Tonight they were going to show a two hour blooper special on that old game show Match Game. That Charles Nelson Reilly was quite the ham! Anyway, it's getting late. I'd better hit the sack now. Tomorrows another day.

Friday Nite Video (Skid Row-I Remember You)

Hey ya all. It's Friday Night. Speaking of Friday Night, does anyone remember the show Friday Night Videos? It came on late at night on, of course, Friday Night. It was a half or hour long show and they would show new release videos and some current one's that had been out for while. I believe this was before MTV but I could be wrong. We never had cable at the house so I'm not sure if it was before or after. Anyway, this week has to do with the 80's metal "power ballad". Every big hair band in the 80's and early 90's had one. You had bands such as Poison, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, Guns N Roses and about hundred more and they all had two things in common. BIG hair and a "love song". The metal ballad as it was called. I think these softer side songs can be traced all the way back to one of my favorite bands (see my first old school post) Kiss. With Kiss, here were these fire breathing, blood spewing monsters of Rock performing with explosions and pyrotechnics all around them, then the lights would grow dim and Peter Criss would perform Beth. People were confused. It didn't make sense. It was hard to understand. You mean these guys actually feel emotions like everyone else does? Peter Criss pouring his heart out, lamenting the fact he's out with the boys and his girl is home alone. It was and still is a great song. If I'm in the car riding and Beth comes on all conversation must cease! I take off my imaginary hat (I don't wear one) and I get teary eyed as Peter sings. Fast forward to the 80's and look at all those metal bands that were so popular back then. They all copied Kiss and put out their "Love song". These bands would have concerts and the fans were out of control. All during the show fans were ripping chairs up and beating other concert goers over the heads with them. People would rush the stage to get as close as possible and every now and then some unfortunate person would get trampled and killed. Drunken fans would fight. Women were groped. But when the band started performing their "Love Ballad" suddenly all the rioting and fighting ceased. Fans that had been going at it would take pause and everyone placed a arm around the person next to them while holding a lighter up in the air with the free hand. Suddenly, enemies became friends. People became humans again. The "Power Ballad" was being performed. Which one is my favorite? Besides Beth, the all time classic, I gotta go with a song a little later after that one. If I have to pick just one to post on here it would have to be Skid Rows I Remember You. Skid Row was one of many big hair bands from the 80's. This song was from their first self titled album, Skid Row. From 1989, I Remember You. Enjoy!

cell phones

Anyone that knows me well has been aware of my on going battle with Verizon. The short version for those of you that don't is this. I have been due a upgrade for about a month now with Verizon, my cell phone provider. Now the phone that I have been using is a old flip-phone I had two or three contracts ago. That is because I gave the phone that I had to my daughter Emily after her's fell apart due to texting and heavy usage. I called Verizon and begged them to allow me to upgrade early but their answer was no. So, I was faced with either buying her a new phone at full retail price (wasn't happening) or give her my old clamshell (flip-phone) or give her my current phone and I use the old flip-phone. I weighed the choice's and I just couldn't bring myself to say "Here's your new phone Em until we can upgrade you in six months" and give her the clamshell. She would have been taunted in school. Teased everytime she had to pull it out. Ashamed to use it in public. Her friends would be texting on full qwerty keypads and Emily would have been tapping out T9. As a parent you don't want to think of your kids being at a disadvantage and being "behind" their peers. My other choice, give her mine and I use the flip-phone. Now let me tell ya friends, that was a struggle! I loved my phone. Everything about it. It was my friend, my companion. I didn't leave the house without it. It was always in my hand or within close reach. It did everything and I loved it. There was NO way I could part with my friend!! But then the image of Emily on the playground at school trying to text a friend with my old flip-phone would pop in my head. Emily struggling to tap out a basic message and all the other kids laughing and pointing at her while Emily's face flushed with embarrasment. As her father I just could not allow myself to subject my girl to that so I did what any father (I think) would have done. I gave her my Samsung Rogue. I was sick! I was losing my friend. As I boxed it up to send to her I think I cried. My hands were shaking! I was in total dismay and shock. My phone had become like a drug and I was giving it up cold turkey. Needless to say, Emily was VERY happy. She had always loved my phone and wanted one just like it. Now she was getting it! She did feel bad about taking it and didn't want to at first. She said "Dad, I can't take your phone, you love your phone". I swallowed the lump in my throat and said "Thanks Em, but it's yours". So I got the flip-phone that should not have been in my closet stored away but instead on display somewhere in a early cell phone exhibit. My face was the one flushing with shame whenever I pulled it out to make a call or tap out a T9 text. Friends at work laughed at me, teased me about it, some felt sorry for me and tried to give me older but not THAT old phones they had (Thanks Mike :). I was back to the basics. Anyway, back to the point I'm at today. I became eligible to upgrade my phone a few weeks back and I was looking at the Verizon website oogling and drooling over the newest phones they offered. But looking at the phones, I noticed that all they nicer phones REQUIRED the customer to purchase a data plan with the cheapest one offered at 9.99. I called and spoke to a company rep and they said that was the new Verizon policy now. Any "smartphone" required that you buy a data plan to go along with it. Well, the Whaley temper flew into me and I let that girl have it. I told her exactly what I thought of that decision and my days with Verizon were over! I calmed down some after we hung up and did some research. She was correct, that was indeed Verizon's new policy. I emailed corporate, I called back and spoke with other customer service reps. But that was the new policy and I could only complain. I looked at other companies and Verizon was the only one that had coverage up where my kids are so I was stuck. But something funny had happened during the months I had been using my old phone. Once I had gotten over the shock and pain of losing my phone that did it all I discovered that I didn't really NEED a phone that did it all. My old phone did exactly what a phone should do. Great reception, didn't drop calls and other then taking a little while longer to text, it did that okay too. I'll admit, I'm the first one drooling when the new phones come out that "do everything". I went to a Verizon store a couple of weeks ago and was getting the sales pitch for the new Droid X. As I held it I started getting that old feeling back, kinda like reuniting with a old flame. I gotta say, it's a nice phone but do I really NEED a phone that does all that? No, I don't. Using my old flipper got me to thinking back before I had a cell phone. Man I cursed those things. I cursed people that used them out in public. I would tailgate and blow the horn at someone driving in front of me that was talking on one. I swore I would never have one and I held out for along time. I remember when I got my first one my kids were in shock. Dad has a cell phone! Can you believe that? I had rallied so against them and then I joined the ranks of the cell phone owners. I'm the guy now riding down the road talking or texting. Well, anyway, I finally ordered my new one yesterday from the Verizon website. It was free with a two year upgrade. No bells or whistles but it does what it's suppose to do I guess. And whats better, no data plan!! And who knows, maybe after this one I can quit completely.

Friday Nite Video (George Strait-Baby's Gotten Good at Goodbye)

Hello peeps. It's Friday night and you all know what that means. It's time for my Friday nights video pick. I've up to this point covered several different kinds of music except tonights. Tonight is country music night. I gotta confess, I used to listen to ALOT of country music. I don't listen to ANY of it anymore. Why? Too darn depressing! Since my life BECAME what most country songs touch on I just can't listen to it anymore. You know, the wife left, the kids left, the dog left, lost the house, etc,etc. You get the idea. If it's someone that just came out within the last few years then I don't know who they are. Period. Done with it. Upbeat and positive for me now haha. Anyway, I always did enjoy George Strait. He was one of my favorite performers. He's had so many number 1 songs(57 of them so far) it's hard to list a favorite. Tonights video would have to be one of my all time favorites by King George though. It's from his 1989 album Beyond the Blue Neon (which I had). It's Baby's Gotten Good at Goodbye. Enjoy!

Scary Movies

I like scary movies. Always have, probably always will. Why? I'm not sure but I think it was instilled in me as a little guy. For those of you that don't know, I have two older brothers, Greg and Kirk. A older sister named Joy. And a younger sister named Kimberly. Now the one older brother Kirk, seen below with my sister Joy, used to take delight in coming home on the weekends and dragging me out of bed (without my parents knowledge) to watch the late night horror movies that would come on. I remember Chiller Theater that would come on on Friday nights quite well! That's where I first saw the movie Psycho with good old Norman Bates. What a great movie for such a little kid as myself to watch, right? Well, this went on for quite some time and I noticed after awhile that I started LIKING the movies. I saw all the old Hammer Studios classics. A lot of the old black and white classics too! I remember the older siblings would go out to see the newest horror movie that would be playing at the local theater and I would beg for them to take me. No way! I was too young. The dreaded words every kid hated to hear. Anyway, as time went on I keep enjoying whatever scary movie would come on the tv. Remember, this was before VCR's, computers or any of the other things we enjoy today. We watched whatever came on. My favorite one's were the Christopher Lee Dracula movies produced by Hammer Studios. He made five of those and I own four of them today on DVD (the fifth one has never been released). I would also beg my mother for one of the old Famous Monsters of Filmland magazines that came out back in the day when ever we went somewhere that sold books and magazines. They always focused on the old black and white classic monsters from Universal. Dracula, Wolfman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the classics! Remember being in school and getting the weekly reader papers that allowed us students to purchase books from? My picks were always scary stories or old movie monsters books. Even today I love a good scary movie. I guess it all goes back to my younger days when my brother Kirk would drag me outta bed to watch whatever with him. My son Lorenzo shares the same interest in scary movies as I do. I would let him "stay up" when he was young to watch something that was on TV late when he to should have been in bed. We both like to go to the movies and get the daylights scared out of ourselves and when it's all over we laugh and say "Wow, good movie"! I guess like father like son.

Friday Nite Video (Pink Floyd-Take it Back)

Hello peeps! Its friday night and that means it my OLD SKOOL VIDEO PICK!!!! This week goes out to a band in a class all to themselves. Pink Floyd. One of my all time favorite bands. How would you classify the music these guys make? Rock? Jazz? Psychedelic? These guys cover all the above. I have two older brothers who are twelve and ten years older then me. They were into early Pink Floyd and I remember playing their PF albums on their stereo when they weren't home.I remember thinking "Wow, these guys are really out there". My brothers had the typical early 70's stereo with the big floor speakers at opposite ends of the room and the sound effects on their albums was incredible. Pink Floyds The Dark Side Of The Moon album stayed on the billboard top 100 list for like a decade. It was and remains one of the most popular albums of all times. Fast forward to 1994. Pink Floyd had just released the album The Division Bell in 1993. Soon after, they announced a concert tour. I and my now ex debated buying the expensive tickets but we did. Wow, what a show! The tour was named the Pulse tour and it was a once in a lifetime experience. We saw them at the old veterans stadium in Philadelphia and we were right on the field not far from the stage. These guys played for three hours! If I never see another concert in my life I can say I was at one of the best ever. It was worth every penny we had spent to be a part of that. The song I picked for this week is from The Division Bell album titled Take it Back. It's also a live version from the pulse tour that we attended. It was soooooo hard to come up with just one song from these guys, I love so many. Anyway here it is. From 1994, Take it Back. Enjoy!

Friday Nite Video (Public Enemy-Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos)

Okay peeps, this week we crank it up a little. Unless you've known me for a very long time, most people don't know I like rap music. Love it really. Not so much the stuff out today but REAL rap. Rap from back in the day. I remember when I heard the first rap song ever recorded, Rapper's Delight, by the Sugar Hill Gang. Wow, it was amazing when that came out. A "new" style of music that included talking and rhyming to music. It was a hit and rap music was born! Sugar Hill gang had several my songs to follow up Rappers Delight. Then other rappers started cashing in on this new craze of music. RUN-DMC, LL Cool J, Whodini and others came on the scene and were very successful. Rap was fun, light and rappers loved dissing other rappers. Throw your hands up in the air and that kind of stuff. But then the group Public Enemy come on the scene and these guys were mad! They rapped about serious issues affecting young, mostly black, people of the time. Their songs dealt with social injustices that had been and were still happening at the time. They sang songs that dealt with very political issues. Lead man Chuck D was their voice. Colorful Flavor Flav was like a clown dancing around stage with them, always with a big clock hanging around his neck, asking "What time is it". Their music was featured in Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing. In the background while Chuck D and Flavor were doing there thing was the S1W's, a group of militant "soldiers". The whole thing just added to a in your face presence these guys had. In 1989 they released It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. That album brought PE from the back burner to full fledged Rap stars. It sold millions of copies and is still considered one of the most ground breaking rap albums of all time. I know I wore my copy out. Me and my friends knew all the words by heart to all the songs. I had my leather Pubic Enemy Logo necklace I wore. PE was just the bomb! I loved all the songs on that album. They covered so many social ills on it. But I think if I had to pick my favorite one it would be the one I chose for this weeks video of the week, Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos. Watch it and see what YOU think. PE in the house Boy!!! Enjoy!

Autumn

When the sun sets early for the day,
dropping out of sight too soon.
The air changes too, coolness comes out.
I breath in deeply, feeling the coolness deep inside me.
Dried up leaves swirl around in a whirlwind before they break
away and disappear around the corner, out of sight.
Kids run around playing games before the night,
comes early and sends them inside all to soon.
The darkness that comes seems heavy,
covering everything like a thick blanket.
Lights struggle to penetrate it's thickness.
I can hear the bare branches of the tree outside,
scratching against each other every time the wind gust up.
Everyone settles in for the night.
Soon the sun will rise and the darkness will leave.

10 random things I like

1-A good meal
2-A good movie
3-A good book
4-A beautiful sunset
5-Riding to nowhere in particular
6-Dressing up for special occasions
7-A women who likes to dress up for that same special occasion
8-People that exert self confidence
9-A woman who is beautiful because of who she is inside
10-Friends that are there anytime that can be counted on

Friday Nite Video (Kutless-Promise of a Lifetime)

Okay, this weeks pick is not really that old. It certainly can't be called old school cause the song is only three years old. But, looking back on when I first heard the song "Promise of a Lifetime" by Kutless, it seems like a very long time ago. Flash back to March 2008. I had just been told some stuff that completely changed my world. Everything that I was and had been up to that point was suddenly gone. Changed forever. Every clique you can imagine came into play. Sucker punched in the gut, the wind gone from my sails, everything turned on its head, you get the idea. I was reeling. I really didn't know if I was coming or going. I was in a tailspin and I was sinking rapidly. Then one day I was driving somewhere in my truck when I started playing with the radio. It stopped on one of the local christian radio stations and there was some talking going on and then this song came on. I really almost had to stop my truck. It was amazing! It was like these guy's were singing this song just for me! The words hit on just what I was feeling and going through. The song talks about whatever this life throws your way can be gotten through with the help of God almighty. There are trials and tribulations to this life but if we ask Christ into our hearts he promises to never leave us. I had done that as a teenager but never had I felt his presence as strong as I did that day when I first heard that song. Yes, my troubles were and still are here. But I know everything will be all right and brighter days are ahead. I think we have to go through some storms to enjoy the "good" weather when it's here. Kutless never did release a video of this song. The one I'm showing is one that someone put together to the song. If you wanna see the band doing some of their other songs put their name in YouTube and check them out. They are a cool band. Anyway, here's my pick for this week, Promise of a Lifetime by Kutless. Enjoy!

Friday Nite Video (Prince-Beautiful Ones)

This week I just gotta go with a video from one of my favorite artist that just happens to also be from one of my favorite movies. The artist is Prince and the movie is Purple Rain. PR came out in 1984 and it was unbelievable. I had been a Prince fan before that and liked all of his earlier stuff. The album before PR was 1999 and it was great. We would listen to that riding around in our cars (on cassette tape of course). We would party like it was 1999 and sing along while pretending WE had a little red corvette BUT when Purple Rain came out it was like nothing we had ever seen. Prince and the Revolution took the world by storm back in 1984. He defined coolness. Girls loved him. Guys wanted to be like him. Every song on that album was a hit. We went to the movie. We knew the words to the songs by heart. That was a magical time then. Prince continued to release albums and with each album he released he seemed to change his image. His follow up movie Under the Cherry Moon was paned by critics but I liked it. Everyone wanted Prince to remain the royal purple one but he refused to be put in that box. Purple Rain was but one of his many musical directions he took and he's still going today. My video pick is my favorite song from Purple Rain. The Beautiful One''s. I don't think I have ever seen a performer put so much emotion into a song as Prince does this one. You can feel the frustration he's feeling. You know he loves her. He just wants to know if she feels the same. Enjoy.