Whine & Cheese

Name That Tune: The Results Post

Wow!  You guys (and gals!) were really good at coming up with songs that randomly came up on my iPod based only on the first line or two of the song. 

It sure is a bit challenging just to read the words and not hear them backed by music.

16 of 20 songs were correctly guessed!  You all most certainly got some that I didn't expect, but I do have admit I am mildly surprised that a couple of the below were not identified...

Here are the "answers" to the 4 songs that proved to be the biggest challenge:

Song #3 - Day by day, night after night. Blinded by the neon light. Hurry here, hustling there No one's got the time to spare
"Crossfire" - Stevie Ray Vaughn

Song #8 - Baby, baby why can't you sit still? Who killed that bird out on you window sill?
"Remedy" - The Black Crowes

Song #13 - Un, dos, tres un pasito pa'lante
"Maria" - Ricky Martin

Song #17 - My friends wonder why I call you all of the time... What can I say
"Kiss On My List" - Hall & Oates

You can see the rest of the answers at the original post... thanks for playing ... and congratulations to the "winners"... given all the "comments" it gave me you might see Round 2 sometime!

Name That Tune

Okay, I am officially without a lucid thought between all the car, insurance company, body shop crap... and work has been as totally insane... more so than any other week this year... so I will just go the meme route for today... since I still hate to miss a day... and you are going to be getting a big W&C break ahead!

So, I am officially stealing this one from Rick today... play along!  Here are "the rules":

Step 1: Put your iPod/MP3 player or iTunes on random.

Step 2: Post the first line(s) from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song. (Instrumental songs, obviously, do not count... I am also not counting songs where the tile is uttered in the first line)

Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.

Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly and post the title in bold after the stricken song when it is guessed.  (I will identify any unguessed songs by Thursday)

Step 5: (for those guessing the songs) Looking the lyrics up on Google or any other search engine is no fair... play nice!

Okay... here we go...

Song #1 - My love throws me like a rubber ball. Oh oh oh...
"The Sweetest Thing" - U2 (Gil)

Song #2 - I've known a few guys who thought they were pretty smart
"That Don't Impress Me Much" - Shania Twain (Gil)

Song #3 - Day by day, night after night. Blinded by the neon light. Hurry here, hustling there No one's got the time to spare

Song #4 - You don't have to be beautiful, to turn me on 
"Kiss" - Prince (Scott)

Song #5 - Spent forty-eight dollars last night at the county fair. I throwed out my shoulder but I won her that teddy bear 
"I Like It, I Love It" - Tim McGraw (Scott w/ an assist from Buckaroo)

Song #6 - Friday night I crashed your party. Saturday I said I'm sorry
"You May Be Right" - Billy Joel (Scott)

Song #7 - Let us be lovers we'll marry our fortunes together
"America" - Simon & Garfunkel (Adam)

Song #8 - Baby, baby why can't you sit still? Who killed that bird out on you window sill?

Song #9 - How can I just let you walk away. Just let you leave without a trace.
"Against All Odds" - Phil Collins (Scott)

Song #10 - Oh - thinkin' about all our younger years. There was only you and me. We were young and wild and free
"Heaven" - Bryan Adams (Scott)

Song #11 - Who loves me even though I'm crazy and nothing that I say is true? Who won my heart and soul forever?
"Nobody Else But You" - Bette Midler (Gil - very impressive!)

Song #12 - When your world is full of strange arrangements. And gravity won't pull you through. You know you're missing out on something. Well that something depends on you -
"The Look of Love" - ABC (Michael - very good!)

Song #13 - Un, dos, tres un pasito pa'lante

Song #14 - Lying beside you, here in the dark. Feeling your heart beat with mind
"Open Arms" - Journey (Jon)

Song #15 - Finally I figured out. But it took a long, long time. But now there’s a turnabout. Maybe ‘cause I’m trying
"All For You" - Sister Hazel (Jon got the song right, not sure if Del Amitri sang it as well)

Song #16 - I don’t need to be anything other than a prison guard’s son
"I Don't Wanna Be" - Gavin DeGraw (Linda)

Song #17 - My friends wonder why I call you all of the time... What can I say

Song #18 - In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream
"Born To Run" - Bruce Springsteen (Kyle)

Song #19 - Color me your color, baby color me your car
"Call Me" - Blondie (Scott)

Song #20 -Memories are just where you laid them. Dragging the waters til the depths give up their dead What did you expect to find? Was it something you left behind?
"Hemorrhage (In My Hands)" -  Fuel (Courtenay)

Hey ... I don't think I embarrassed by anything in the bunch... get guessing!!

Nick Bares His... Soul

I have been getting a ton of Nick Lachey hits lately... mostly for shirtless shots... which, btw, can be found here and here.

But I think the increased hits has more to do with the extra press the former Newlywed-der is getting for his soul-bearing, heart-breaking personal "tell all" account of his break-up with Jessica Simpson... and, oh... if that wasn't enough, Nick obliges with another shirtless pose for the Rolling Stone piece as well...

In my opinion, Nick has become the most sympathetic figure in celebrity split-dom in recent memory... amazingly even eclipsing Jennifer Aniston...  who didn't look like she would be relinquishing the world title of "Most Offered Shoulder To Cry On."

But, Nick is certainly winning the PR battle in this one whether he intends to or not... not that I have any true basis to believe it, but he strikes me as a very sincere person, a genuinely nice guy... however, the cynic in me thinks that all this may all be the shrewdest move since Ms. Simpson played the "dumb" card.

Here are some cherry-picked quotes from the RS interview:

On the split not being a mutual decision:
"I'll tell you how I knew my marriage was over... I was told."

"I never wanted to be a divorce. I wanted us to be happy. I guess we differed on strategy.  It breaks my heart that I couldn't make Jessica happy. I wanted to be everything to my wife. I wanted her to look at me with love in her eyes, the way she did at the beginning, and have her feel like I was the most wonderful, awe-inspiring man on the planet. And when that stopped, it was the worst feeling in the world."

Dr. Phil Intervention time:
He wipes his face, eyes to nose to chin. "I'd marry her all over again," he says softly. "Because I still love her. It would be a lot easier to walk away if I didn't."

On meeting one of Jess' alleged lovers (and the not so comforting answer):
"Adam (Levine of Maroon 5) and I were in a club not long ago and he came over to me to clear the air," says Lachey. "It was a two-minute conversation. He said to me: 'Nothing happened while you guys were married.'

He looked me in the eyes and said that, so I chose to believe him. "Maybe it's naive of me," Lachey continues. "But I believe what comes out of people's mouths when they talk to me. Maybe I'm an idiot. But that's what I do."

On marriage counseling:
"On the day she filed for divorce, I drove to her parents' house and tried to change her mind. I had done the research and I had the number of the best marriage counselor in town. I thought we owed it to ourselves to try with a third party. You get to a point where there is so much animosity you can't hear each other. But she didn't want to go."

On his reported request for alimony:
"I haven't requested alimony at all," Lachey says adamantly. "I have no intention of filing for spousal support. And I've been clear with Jessica about not wanting it."

The full story is here: Nick Lachey: King of Pain.

Free Dolly Download!

Get thee to iTunes.... NOW!!

iTunes is offering a free download of Dolly Parton's Oscar nominated "Travelin' Thru" from TransAmerica. 

It appears to be a "today only" offer... so hurry!

Thanks to Towleroad for the heads up!

UPDATE:  The Dolly download is still available today (Wednesday)... so maybe it is free for the week...

iTunes Guilty Pleasure Purchase of the Day

Now I'm broken, and I'm faded -- I'm half the man I thought I would be
But you can have -- what's left of me.

Fallin' faster -- barely breathing
Give me somethin to believe in
Tell me it's not all in my head
*pause*
Take what's left of this man
Make me whole once again

Oh poor baby... Nick, I got an empty shoulder right here.  Riiiiighhht heeere....

(And Nick, the bf's out of town... shhhh!   Besides he's got more of the hots for your brother)

Christmas Music 2005

Just wanted to come back and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving... have a great long weekend and hope you are all spending it with some of the special people in your life.

After purchasing my Christmas cards for this year (hurray), it kind of got me a little bit in the holiday mood... so I decided to rip some holiday CDs.  It is really hard to believe that this is the first holiday season that we have iPods... so now we have about 4 hours of holiday music at our fingertips... which is really quite enough!  I don't know about you, but there is only so much holiday music I can take. 

If you want a W&C "blast from the past" check out this December 2003 (yikes!) post where I blogged about the my favorite and least favorite holiday music... nearly two years later it is still pretty darn accurate.

I did make a few iTunes purchases to round things out... here are the ones I thought were well worth the 99 cents:

What Christmas Means To Me - Stevie Wonder
One of my favorite non-traditional holiday songs... and Stevie is the only one that I want to hear sing it.  Just a lot of fun.

Christmas Time Is Here - Vince Guaraldi Trio
You might be going... huh?  But if you ever watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (and if you haven't, what planet do you live on?), you'll be very familiar with this one.

Baby It's Cold Outside - Nick & Jessica
Ok, this is just me fantasizing being Jessica... but the song would be much shorter. 
Me:  I really can't stay
Nick: Baby it's cold outside
Me: Umm... I got to go away?
Nick: Baby it's cold outside
Me: Ok, I'll stay
UPDATE:  Whoops!  It's was just a joke Jess, didn't mean to break you guys up!

O Holy Night - Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Josh Gracin
This is probably my all-time favorite holiday song... so I always love to hear different version of it, though my intention was not to buy 3 more versions of it.  These are all very different.... Josh Groban's version is simply sublime, Celine of course divas it up, and a country take on it from Josh Gracin (and iTunes exclusive).

Do You Hear What I Hear? - Linda Eder, Whitney Houston
Again, one of my favorites.  Eder is well-known for her Broadway work, so you might not be too familiar with her (I know I'm not), but love her take on this one... think Streisand (who she is often compared to) meets Gospel meets 'The Lion King.'   Also, like the "classic" Whitney version and would recommend her "Joy To the World" as well (already had that one on a holiday compilation CD).

All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
I am not a big fan of Mariah... even less so as the years have gone on... but she totally kicks ass on this one... just joyful and toe-tapping.   Probably my favorite Mariah tune, holidays or not.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving and probably not see you back until next week!

Musical Endings and a Beginning

Ok, I still not quite ready to shut up about SFU... have probably listened to Sia's "Breathe Me" about a half-dozen time since downloading it yesterday afternoon... including just a few moments ago.

The lyrics are really nothing fancy at all ... and it doesn't really strike me on a really personal note (I am starting to think I am fairly low on the "angst" scale when it comes to life)... but I think it really suited for many (most?!) of the characters on SFU... not knowing what do to with their lives... or repeating the same mistakes.  Here are the lyrics:.

Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And the worst part is there's no one else to blame

Be my friend, hold me
Wrap me up, unfold me
I am small, and needy
Warm me up, and breathe me

Ouch I have lost myself again
Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,
Yeah I think that I might break
I've lost myself again, and I will, I'll say

Chorus x2

And in my usual "random" iPod mode... after queuing up "Breathe Me" ... the very next song up was Heather Small's "Proud" which just happened to be the closing song for the also recently-ended Queer As Folk.  "Atlanta Todd" will probably be... well.. proud... to know that he probably spurred on some additional sales for the song... which I agree should be up there as a gay anthem.  Todd was nice enough to do the lyrics for that one... check it out here.  But as opposed to "Breathe Me" which is just haunting me at the moment... this one is very empowering and uplifting...

Finally, in my musical triad... not an ending, but a beginning.  In one of her first releases since being treated for breast cancer, Melissa Etheridge has an exclusive track on iTunes... a cover version of Tom Petty's "Refugee."  You are pretty much guaranteed raw emotion from Etheridge any time you turn her music on... but after all that she has been through recently... the emotion seems particularly amped up.  Her version starts a bit slow/stark... but builds up to a rocked-out, emotional finale. 

I find the cover art (to the left) for the single to be particularly powerful... with Etheridge bowing her newly re-grown hair to the camera... seems almost respectful and defiant at the same time.

Independence iMix

Ok, time to distract myself from the news from the Supreme Court this morning... it really says something that I am troubled by a Reagan appointee leaving!  So instead let's break out into a little song ... though right now "Sandy" from Grease is running through my head (I sit and wonder why-y-y oh why, oh why you left me, oh Sandy Sandy, Sandy).

Scott-O has already beaten me to the punch with a bit of Independence Day music, but there's still room for more right?   This morning I decided to put together a little iPod mix for the pool this weekend... with the holiday, of course, providing inspiration.

I avoided the overly schmaltzy... so you will not find any Lee Greenwood or Celine's version of "God Bless America" (though sheepishly I admit we have those)... some lack true inspiration (i.e. Idol Carrie Underwood's "Independence Day"), some get there because of their lyrics (i.e. "The Remedy" - Cause you were born on the fourth of july, freedom ring)... others because they honor this great land of ours by naming a state or city... and a whole bunch are just about independence... or as I like to call it the "I'm not taking any more of this/your shit" genre.

So here's the playlist:

America - Simon & Garfunkel (also Josh Groban version)
American Honky-Tonk Bar Association - Garth Brooks
American Idiot - Green Day
An American Trilogy - Elvis Presley
Believe Me Baby I Lied - Trisha Yearwood
Black Water - The Doobie Brothers
Brave and Crazy - Melissa Etheridge
Breakaway - Kelly Clarkson
Callin' Baton Rouge - Garth Brooks
Don't Phunk With My Heart - Black Eyed Peas
Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac
Fighter - Christina Aguilera
Goodbye Earl - Dixie Chicks
He Thinks He'll Keep Her - Mary Chapin Carpenter
Heads Carolina, Tails California - Jo Dee Messina
I Don't Wanna Be - Gavin DeGraw (also Bo Bice version)
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty
Independence Day - Carrie Underwood
It's My Life - Bon Jovi
Kentucky Rain - Elvis Presley
Land Of Hope And Dreams - Bruce Springteen
Midnight Train To Georgia - Gladys Knight
Miss Independent - Kelly Clarkson
My Give a Damn's Busted - Jo Dee Messina
Nasty - Janet Jackson
New York State Of Mind -  Billy Joel
Papa Don't Preach - Madonna
Phildelphia Freedom - Elton John
Proud Mary - Tina Turner
The Remedy - Jason Mraz
Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
Strong Enough - Cher
Sweet Southern Comfort - Buddy Jewell
That Don't Impress Me Much - Shania Twain
The Rising - Bruce Springsteen
Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley
Walking In Memphis - Cher
You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette

Whattya think?  I am sure there be some strange combos once we hit "shuffle."

Have a great 4th of July weekend!

Loser!

Ok, I am officially an iTunes/iPod addict... it taps into my impulsive side... but how could I not buy one of the brand new CDs just out today... American Idol 4 - The Showstoppers?!?  [I know it is a link to Amazon, but I got it off iTunes]  Heck, for $9.99 is was even a bargain off the $.99/track price, so what not just get the whole thing.  Ok, "L" on my forehead... for buying it... but I am sure you'll get over it!

They did a fairly good job with song selection... here is the rundown....

1. Independence Day - Carrie Underwood
2. I Don't Want to Be - Bo Bice
3. Best of My Love - Vonzell Solomon
4. House Is Not a Home - Anwar Robinson
5. You Don't Have to Say You Love Me - Nadia Turner
6. Part-Time Lover - Nikko Smith
7. My Funny Valentine - Constantine Maroulis
8. Total Eclipse of the Heart - Jessica Sierra
9. Everytime You Go Away - Anthony Fedorov
10. Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Scott Soval
11. Knock on Wood - Lindsay Cardinale
12. God Bless the Child - Mikalah Gordon
13. When You Tell Me That You Love Me - Group

The few quibbles I have are Bo's "I Don't Wanna Be"... thought he did a good job on this one, but I am really still quite deeply in love with the original... would have liked "Vehicle" or "Remedy" better.   Anwar... didn't like this one so much... any of his really early stuff... or heck even "Ain't Nobody."  Oh Constantine... I really would have liked "I Think I Love You"... it was cheesy-rific!

But good choices for the ladies... Carrie, Vonzell, Jessica... and most certainly Nadia.  Now Lindsay and Mikalah might put a different spin on the "showstopper" tag... but oh well.... and could have done without the group sing... but it is nothing that a little shot of insulin can't cure.

iPod Vacation Mix

There still seems to be a lot to do for our vacation... well, not really... but I am one of those people who tend to worry about what I am forgetting.  With this trip, I am a little more concerned than usual (which is saying ALOT!) since we are going to be pretty isolated... no Walgreens or 7-11 around the corner... and our travel agent reminded us "common" items like sunscreen or a roll of film can run you $25 US at the hotel (or even a local grocery store).

I also am not Mr. Priority... so it is no surprise that I have already created a "vacation mix" for our iPods!  I am pretty good a making music mixes... back in the day, my cassette tapes were lovingly (and painstakenly) put together... the age of burning your own CDs made the task much easier... and now with an iPod it is simply ridiculous (or should I say ridiculously simple)!

So here is just a small sample of what I put on the "vacation" playlist.  As you can see, I am quite the child of the 80s... and well, gay!   

"Heaven Is A Place On Earth" - Belinda Carlisle
"Soak Up The Sun" - Sheryl Crow
"Changes in Latitudes, Changes In Attitude" - Jimmy Buffet
"Walking on Sunshine" - Katrina & The Waves
"A Change Will Do You Good" - Sheryl Crow
"Holiday" - Madonna
"When The Sun Goes Down" - Kenny Chesney
"The Tide Is High" - Blondie
"Waterfalls" - TLC
"You Are the Sunshine Of My Life" - Stevie Wonder
"Breakaway" - Kelly Clarkson   
"La Isla Bonita" - Madonna
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" - Eurythmics
"Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" - Jack Johnson
"Message In A Bottle" - The Police
"Beautiful Day" - U2
"Drift Away" - Uncle Kracker

We have a few more Jimmy Buffet tunes as well (if those aren't "island-y" songs I don't know what is)... and I am thinking I should add another song by Kenny Chesney-Zellweger... "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem" seems appropriate.

So I am taking suggestions... what would you add?