Friday Nite Video (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam)

Ahhh, pure 80's music. Back when music WAS music. One of my favorites from back in the day was Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. They knew how to jam! Lisa was one of the original Latin "Hotties" with her Prince looking hair over one eye style! Lisa and Cult Jam got together in the mid eighties. Their first album release was in 1985 and was titled Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force. Was everybody who Lisa grew up with on her block in Brooklyn in the band? I mean how many band members are there here on this video? Half of them are playing a instrument of some sorts, the other half are just dancing along. Heck, I could have been in this video doing something. Lisa debates taking you home. If she did and you forgot a pillow by the looks of that top shes wearing you'd be okay. I remember riding around jamming out to this song and the other ones that followed. They were a big success releasing a total of seven albums before calling it quits. Their first two were the most successful and both of those albums went platinum. They had dance songs AND slow songs. They were pure 80's. Their clothes, their style and their songs. Lisa's got it going on in this video doesn't she? The big hair, the pink clothes and makeup. Just watching her sing and move gets me wanting to join in with the Cult Jammers! From 1985, its I Wonder If I Take You Home by Lisa Lisa and her Brooklyn neighborhood. Enjoy!

Serendipity

Serendipity is a restaurant that sits on the banks of the Indian River in Oak Orchard, Delaware. Its a artsy place that's full of old lamps and brass statues and antiques. It brings back memories of a time long ago. Its also a place where a bunch of long time friends went when I was up visiting my home state of Delaware a couple weeks ago. Friends that had been friends for a long time. Joel and Tina Wharton. Brendon and Sandy Rash. Amy Dickerson and myself. It was six friends laughing and reminiscing about old times. Old stories were retold. We laughed as hard as the first time we told them. One thing about good friends is you can go quite sometime without seeing each other but when you do it's just like you've never been apart. Old friends are like a old sweater or jacket that you've had for years and even though you don't wear in everyday you know its tucked away safely, there waiting for you. Waiting for you to slip it back on and that old comfortable feeling comes back every time you do. Those kind of friends are hard to come by. Real and true friends who never judge, are always there and are always willing to help out. Friends like that are a true blessings. They are friendships that were formed many years ago that are forged with a unbreakable bond. That bond can survive any test that's thrown at it. We six strengthened that bond that night. My childhood friend Joel. His wife Tina. My good friends from school Brendon, Sandy and Amy. We chose Serendipity but it didn't really matter where we ate. We were together. Friends till the end. I'm comforted by the fact that if I was ever in trouble I could call anyone of those friends for help and they would be there. Same goes for me with them. That's something no amount of money could buy. That's something that is priceless.

Friday Nite Video (Scorpions)

 

The year was 1984. The group, The Scorpions. They were German. They rocked hard. They had just released their 11th album titled Love at First Sting. It was a huge success. Me and my friend Brendon Rash enjoyed some good old headbanging music and The Scorpions didn't disappoint. The group was a little odd. Again, they were German. When they interviewed they were very hard to understand. They had funny names that you could read but you couldn't really pronounce them with any confidence that you were saying them right. Like the lead singer Klaus Meine. Or rhythm guitarist Rudolf Schenkehttp. How about the bass player Francis Buchholz. Get the picture? But one things for sure, they could shred some guitars. Love at First Sting had several hit songs on it including probably there best known song Rock you like a Hurricane. There was also Bad Boys Running Wild, Big City Nights and their heavy metal love/power ballad Still Loving You. Now all of you that have been reading these posts for awhile should remember back to when I was talking about the "Power Ballad". It was the love song that every rock band had to do. Still Loving You was and is still a great one. Makes you want to sing along, if only you knew what Klaus was saying. One verse says I'll fight, babe, I'll fight To win back your love again I'll win your love, I'll win your love Love, only love Can break down the wall someday I'll win your love, I'll win your love. All this builds toward the end of the song when Klaus declares he's still loving you. Who? I guess that special one in his life. But who are you still loving? A spouse? A girl or boy friend? Or is it a mystery person no one really knows you loved? Someone from your past that you once loved and now you start to realize you still do? Funny how things go sometimes. Enjoy this live version of 1984's Still Loving You.

Friday Nite Video! (Alanis Morrissette)

Hey all! Lets jump up to the 90's tonight and talk about one of my favorite female singers from that decade. Alanis Morrissette. Loved her style and music but man! Can you say wacko? This chick has issues! And why? I think its a mix of several different things. Some guy broke her heart and did her wrong. She was Canadian. Was she like the third child of five? And doesn't everyone know at least one person like her? Your always walking on eggshells around them cause you don't know if their mood will be happy, sad, mad, depressed or euphoric. You always approach them very cautiously, never knowing what to expect. Well I guess in Alanis's case it was fortunate that she had a great voice and could really belt out some tunes. She was whack but it translated into some great songs. She released her first album in 1991. Her second one came along in 1992. But in wasn't until she released Jagged little pill that she exploded on the music scene. The first release off of that album was You Oughta Know and Alanis's reputation was born. You knew she had some serious issues she was dealing with as we listened to her rip apart her ex. Most guys were thankful it wasn't US that she was so ticked off at. That album went on to become a huge success and was later on named the most successful album of the 90's. It had a whole string of hits on it but I think my favorite one was Hand in my Pocket. It had lyrics that were almost positive compared to the lyrics on the other songs. I found a great video of it where its just Alanis and a guy playing the acoustic guitar and another guy tapping away on some kind of drum. And it looks like Alanis is in a almost happy mood instead of ready to chew somebody out or mega depressed. So here it is folks. From 1995 its Hand in my Pocket. Enjoy!

family style

I'm sure that everyone that knows me by now knows that I'm going north to see my family and spend some time with them. I'll be arriving on Thursday morning and my parents will already be there and I have other family arriving over the next couple days. We all plan to go to one of these family style restaurants and I've made several jokes the last few days about all of us eating at which ever place we end up at. But today, I got to thinking, whose family are these places styled after? Whose family are they talking about? Surely for these places to be successful they must connect in some way to each family that visits shouldn't they? Take my family for example. Our family dinners go something like this. First thing we do, we all form a circle and hold hands and say a prayer asking that God bless the food we are about to receive. This can take 1 to 4 or 5 minutes. Sometimes one person will pray. Sometimes a few other family members add something. We finish and we start to eat. Eating is usually one to two hours. In between plates and helpings we laugh, tell stories of days gone by. We laugh some more, we eat some more. When we are all stuffed to the gills then we start on the coffee. No one gets up from the table. We just lean back a little so we have some breathing room. After drinking 7 or 8 pots of coffee someone will invariably pick up one of the platters and take something off of it and pass it around. Others take some. We start eating again. Tell some more stories. Then it's time for dessert! Fresh baked pie, ice cream, cake or whatever else. After that, more coffee. But that's my family. Can a family style place accompany all that? What's your families dining habits? They could be similar to ours but they might not be. What about the dysfunctional family? How will the restaurant serve and treat them? The mother sobbing, the father cursing and yelling at the kids. The kids, with their low self esteem because of years of being told they suck at everything they do, sitting staring off with a glazed look in their eyes. Or how about the family that never shares a meal together but instead sits out in the living room with the TV on watching some piece of crap reality show? Will the restaurant have a "No communicating" section set up for diners that can be served on a sofa or recliner and watch The Bachelor or Survivor or whatever else happens to be on. How about the blended families? Will the restaurant serve the mom and her kids one type of food cause that's what they like and the dad and his kids something completely different because they can't stand the type of food she and her kids grew up eating. It's all very confusing when you REALLY think about it but one things for sure. Where ever we end up Saturday night eating it will be interesting to see if their "Family Style" is like my families style.

My top ten reasons I'm thinking of staying in Lancaster PA and converting to Amishism

As some of you all know, I'm leaving Florida this Thursday and flying up to Philly. My sister Kimberly, who with her husband Nick live about a hour away outside of Reading, is going to pick me up at the airport along with my mom and dad there from Delaware. Several family members are coming up that weekend and we are planning a big blowout meal at one of the Amish family style restaurants over in neighboring Lancaster which is home to several large groups of Amish sects. I'm seriously considering staying there and converting to Amishism since I'm now a single guy and I can basically do whatever I want. Why would I do this? Here's my top ten reasons,


1-Ive always liked wearing suspenders ever since I was a kid and I got a pair like Mork would wear from the show Mork and Mindy.

2-I think being married and making and having 20 kids would be cool.

3-I would like to change my name to Sheb Dufusstolz.

4-The idea of going to bed at 6 and getting up at 2 actually sounds pretty inviting.

5-I enjoy hearty breakfasts, hearty lunches and hearty dinners.

6-I would laugh at the "regular" people at the gas station filling up on 3.50 gas as I rode by in my horse drawn buggy.

7-I think everything tastes better with buttermilk in it.

8-I would be "expected" to smoke a pipe.

9-No more pressure of gift buying for someone since I would never celebrate any more holidays!

And reason number 10? No more of the "Disney Look" policy of clean shaven at all times and I could grow a beard down to my knees if I wanted!

Friday Nite Video (Eric B and Rakim)

Okay, we had four weeks of love songs. Time to change directions here. Let's start off the month of March with a classic from the one of the smoothest, funkiest rappers of all time. That would be none other then Rakim with his DJ Eric B. These two guys were my rap hero's back in the day! They were the dynamic duo no doubt. Rakim was the lyrical soloist, the master of rhymes. Their debut album was Paid In Full and I remember the first time I heard it. I was at a friendly get together at the home of my good friends Bobby and Angie Hastings, originally from Laurel, Delaware, then residents of the great state of Florida and now back in the state of Delaware. Anyway, I was at their place when another couple of my friends pulled up and said "Ren, get in. You have got to hear this new tape (that's right, cassette tape)". I got in and when this tape started I was blown away. Rakim rapping, Eric scratching, it was incredible. I immediately asked to "borrow" it. No, way! My friends had just bought it and they weren't coming off it that quick. I think it was the next day that I went to buy the tape myself and I remember to this day going to Tunes in Seaford, Delaware and asking the lady for a copy of that tape. They usually kept the new releases behind the counter up on a shelf. "This is a pretty popular tape," she told me. Well, no doubt. I must have listened to that tape a thousand times. It's a wonder it didn't get eaten by my tape player as much as it was in it. I would crank the volume on my pioneer car stereo and my clarion equalizer/power booster. The bass that thumped out of my 120 watts speakers would cause the glass windows to shake. Yes, I was one of those people. But at least when my windows were vibrating they were vibrating from good music! Right? lol. Every song on that tape was good. And me and all my friends could sing along word for word. I even named a dog I had Flykim, a obvious spin on Rakim. He was the dopest dog around! The video I'm showing tonight is song number one on that tape. For the first time listener, by the time this song was over you knew you were in for a special treat. This song set up the whole tape. You fellow rap enthusiasts out there will notice Flavor Flav out there dancing along. That's Flavor Flav from one of my other favorite groups Public Enemy. Also take note of the fat gold chains and the gold rings. You knew they were fly when they were sporting that much gold! And how about the big boom box the one guy has. The bigger the box, the badder you were! Eric B calmly destroys that album he is scratching on, especially at the end. So unfair to fellow DJ's to be that good. I really hope you have your computer hooked up to a good sound system cause it just isn't right to jam out with Eric B and Rakim without lots of volume and bass. Right now I'm half expecting a neighbor to come banging on my door! From 1987, it's I Ain't No Joke. Turn it up and enjoy!y!

Just My Thoughts update

Hey all. February has been and gone. It's a new month and I'm excited about the things coming to Just My Thoughts. I've changed the design of my blog up a bit. The playlist of all my Friday Nite Videos is now located on the bottom of the page so you can see all the way across it instead of where it was over on the side before. When it was there you had to slide the bar at the bottom to see the song title and the artist which was a pain. At the bottom the whole player is displayed which I think is much better. Remember, not all the songs I do for FNV are available for streaming so if you really liked a particular song and it's not on the list that's why and you'll have to pull up the song and video from the archives list on the right. Again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. ~Ren~