Best Singles 2006

25. Lupe Fiasco - "Kick, Push"
24. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins - "Rise Up with Fists!"
23. All American Rejects - "Move Along"
22. the Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes"
21. the Streets - "When You Wasn't Famous"

20. Weird Al - "White & Nerdy"
19. Nelly Furtado - "Maneater"
18. +44 - "When Your Heart Stops Beating"
17. Angels & Airwaves - "the Adventure"
16. Ok Go - "Here It Goes Again"

15. Lily Allen - "Smile"
14. Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy"
13. Peter, Bjorn, & John - "Young Folks"
12. The Guillemots - "Trains to Brazil"
11. the Pipettes - "Pull Shapes"

10. Band of Horses - "the Funeral" One of the best indie pop ballads.

9. Damien Rice - "Nine Crimes" Damien continues to do well with dual vocals, piano, and his haunting choruses.

8. Cat Power - "Living Proof" Not only is Chan Marshall gorgeous, but her music and songwriting lives up to her looks. The song comes off as a soft song, but the lyrics come off much deeper.

7. T.I. - "What You Know" Hip Hop single of the year, hands down. T.I. may not have the height of other MCs, but he sure brings the goods in this song.

6. the Streets - "Prangin Out" Opening track off the new album and it's no softball, Skinner comes and hits you in the mouth with this blazing track and hard beats.

5. Justin Timberlake - "SexyBack/ My Love" I couldn't choose between the two, thus giving him a tie. Timberlake is on a different level. No longer can he be a guilty pleasure. His talent is incredible and the best part about his vocals on these songs is that he doesn't try to oversing. He puts his music ahead of trying to show others his vocal range.

4. Augustana - "Boston" I have met these guys and I really like them. I've also seen them live three times and this song still gets me. When you let yourself get lost in the verses, you do find yourself wanting to start over somewhere new.

3. the Damnwells - "Golden Days" Alex doesn't fail in his attempts at cleverness in his lyrics. "Counting down T-minus 10, 9, wait I still believe..." This is such a great song in the ways it's so smooth and sultry but still works as a pick me up.

2. Snow Patrol - "Hands Open" Lightbody's lyrics in the lastest album drops themes of opening up and being alive. "I just keep hoping, that your heart opens..." And they give a shout out to Sufjan Stevens!

1. the Killers - "When You Were Young" Flowers has turned 25, he is more mature and instead of imitating synth pop, he's imitating Springsteen. Doesn't matter as the Killers deliver on this single about heartache and hoping for things to be as they were before we got older and had worries and responsibilities.

New Diet Coke Flavor

Have an open mind....

Snow Patrol - Chicago

September 16, 2006

On an early June day, I woke up to check on the concert I was supposed to attend only to find out it was canceled. I was heartbroken and wasn't even sure if I could attend their make up date as the ticket I bought worked out perfectly to be played on a Saturday.

Several months later, the rescheduled date would be in September.... and again on a Saturday. Also, the original opening slot by Augustana would still be honored.

Possibly one of the best concert experiences I've ever had. They played at the Riviera Theatre which might be one of the best venues for sound. Gary Lightbody (singer) brought more than enough energy and emotion that filled the room. At one point, you could tell the audience was waiting for their single "Hands Open" which gives a nod to a Sufjan Stevens song: the very appropriately titled "Chicago." When that point came, Gary raised the inflection of his voice and the audience blew up.

(setlist)
Spitting Games
Wow
Chocolate
Beginning to Get to Me
Headlights
Grazed Knees
Chasing Cars
Shut Your Eyes
How to Be Dead
Somewhere a Clock is Ticking
Make This Go On Forever
Hands Open
Ways and Means
Run
You're All I Have

Encore:

Open Your Eyes
Tiny Little Fractures

Conan in Chicago

Conan O'Brien hosted his show in Chicago on May 9th-12th, 2006. This was the first time a late night talk show host visited the city since Letterman in 1989.

Conan had many guests on that had roots in Chicago. Mr. T stopped by to give Conan a tour of the city. Conan visited his old apt with his former roommate Jeff Garlin, and George Wendt stopped by several times.

Tues: Sean Hayes, music by Cheap Trick
Wed: Dave Chappelle, music by Common
Thurs: John C. Reily, music by John Mayer
Fri: Senator Barrack Obama, music by Wilco

To get into a taping of the show, you needed to email NBC for tickets. According to the Chicago Tribune, 71,000 requests came thru (and 1 request = 2 tix). The Chicago Theatre only holds approx 3800 people. I was one of the lucky people who received tix. I waited 2hrs in the rain to get inside for the Thursday taping featuring John C. Reily and John Mayer.

When Conan came out, the audience went bananas. It took quite a while to quiet everyone down. During Conan's monologue, his tongue slipped and he said the "Shitty of Chicago." He quickly corrected himself but the audience blew up laughing hysterically. Conan replied with "I guess we're on Cinemax tonight!"

John C. Reily, a Chicago native was fantastic. I loved his work in Boogie Nights & the musical Chicago. He even broke out into song during the interview and Conan joined him in singing "the Night Chicago Died." John Mayer was joined by the Max Weinberg 7 performing "Sweet Home Chicago."

La Bamba (trombone player in the band) dressed up as someone different every week: Chicago police officer, Wrigleyville Beer Vendor, CTA driver, and yes, the Empire Carpet Man.

I loved my experience and appreciate Conan making the trip here. Hopefully, he'll come back some day....

Scrubs

Zach Braff interview
http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/rmc/Interviews%202004/Zach%20Braff.htm

Donald Faison answers MY question!
http://scrubs-tv.com/rounds.html

Did you pre-order your Season 3 DVD yet??? (May 9th)
www.amazon.com

The Todd!
http://www.robertmaschio.com

Ted’s band
http://www.theblankswebsite.com/

.....And for the record: I own this poster! Its okay to be jealous.

love this joke

A panda walks into a restaurant, sits down, and orders a sandwich. He eats the sandwich, pulls out a gun, and shoots the waiter dead. As the panda stands up to go, the manager shouts, "Hey! Where are you going? You just shot my waiter, and you didn't even pay for your sandwich!"

"Hey, man, I'm a PANDA!" the panda shouts back. "Look it up!"

The manager opens his dictionary and reads:


Panda:
A tree-dwelling marsupial of Asian origin, characterized by distinct black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves.

Guilty Pleasures 2005

Quick trip down Memory Lane

2000 S Club 7 "Never Had a Dream Come True"
2001 Enrique Iglesias "Hero"
2002 Vanessa Carlton "1000 Miles"
2003 Justin Timberlake "Cry Me a River"
2004 Kelly Clarkson "Breakaway"

Now on to this year......

#6. Rachel Stevens "So Good"

#5. Bowling for Soup "Almost"

#4. Natasha Beningfield "These Words"

#3. PCD "Stickwitu"

#2. Mariah Carey "Shake it Off"

#1. Backstreet Boys "Incomplete"

Almost an epic like song had me confused to why something so good would be on a top 40 radio station. Some of the vocals sounded familiar, but I was unsure and had to stay tuned to hear who it was by. To my surprise, the dj announced it was the new track from the Backstreet Boys. I enthusiastically told my friend Erik about the song and asked if he had heard it. He said he heard the track and enjoyed it, and added "I just don't tell anyone I like it," giving a little jab at me.