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Recent Rants
Tuesday Tunes Random Ten Hump Day Hunt Tuesday Tunes Top Five On Friday Hump Day Hunt Tuesday Tunes Random Ten Happy Birthday Hump Day Hunt Thursday, August 31, 2006
 Happy Birthday, Rudolf! Happy fifty-whatever birthday to my favorite "c'mon you really don't expect us to believe you're a" blonde!  That's a lovely body you've got there. I'd surely never throw you out of my bed, but quite frankly, I prefer your brother... What can I say? I like my men to have a heart.... Oooo... You're as cold as ice! 
| Wednesday, August 30, 2006
 Hump Day Hunt It's the time of week for another meme from the photography loving Foto Pherrets. In Mama Pherret's (Who is she anyway?!) neck of the woods, school is back in session. All of the little pherrets are busy getting an education, so... Our word for this week is: Smart  Every smart kitty knows that the best place to get a drink of water is straight from the kitchen sink!
|  Take Me Back Tuesday (On Wednesday) Blogdrive was deader than spam yesterday, so Take Me Back Tuesday is a Wayback Wednesday today... Do you buy just released CDs in the store or preorder them online? I don't just pre-order them online, I often import them from coutries where they've been released before they hit the streets in the U.S. Do you remember a particular CD that was extremely hard to find when it had been recently released? If I hadn't pre-ordered Michael Schenker's Tales Of Rock 'N' Roll online (Release date, August 1, 2006, I received it in the mail on July 31!), I probably still would not own a copy of it. I have yet to see a copy of it in any store. To what extent will you go to buy a CD that you just have to have? I'll have to get back to you on that. I'm still trying to find a copy of Kelly Keeling's Giving Sight To The Eye... Have you ever bought a CD on a whim, without knowing the artist, just because you found something pleasing about the album art or that you've only heard one track. Did you end up discovering a new artist, or did the CD find it's way into a Used CD store or the back of your closet? Let's see... I bought my first Nickelback CD merely because Matthias Jabs said that he liked them. I paid $30+ to import a Vanilla Ninja CD from Germany merely because my friend in Minsk said that they were good... Any regrets? No way! Have you ever purchased a download just because you couldn't find a song any other way? I do not download anything unless it's free. My dial-up connection is to unreliable to do such a thing. I don't want to pay money for something and end up with nothing but a broken download.
| Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Because I'm bored, and there is nothing better to do than take silly quizzes!
What Does Your Birth Date Mean?
| Monday, August 28, 2006
 Manic Monday Maladies Do you get sick often? What illness do you come down with the most frequently? For all of my nasty habits, I'm a damned healthy person. I rarely ever get anything worse than a bad case of the sniffles. Do you believe in "alternative" medicine? If so, what aspects of it appeal to you? I believe in alternative medicine more than I do in "real" medicine. It seems to me that doctors today are little more than legalized drug pushers. If something is ailing you, or even just annoying you, they've got some sort of chemical that you can pump into your body to cure it. Baldness... toenail fungus... unwanted facial hair... sudden frequent "urges"...impotence... They've got a drug for you! But, beware of the side effects! There has got to be a better way!
|  Monday Madness 1. Do you do dishes by hand or do you use a dishwasher? Tee hee! I have a dishwasher. His name is Michael!  2. How many people have your cell phone number? Too many! All of my friends, family and co-workers, and several of my customers who got fed up with talking to my rude boss about matters that are more easily taken care of by me directly. 3. Do you shower in the morning or at night? I shower only when I am away from home. There are only bathtubs in my home.  As for bathing, I usually do that when I get home from work in the afternoon. Work makes me feel cruddy... 4. Do you ever have a song 'stuck' in your head? All of the time! Currently on the mental loop: Blinded By Technology - Michael Schenker Group. 5. Do you pay your bills when they arrive, or do you wait until closer to the due date to pay them? Truthfully... I'm lucky if they get paid by the due date! 6. Are you obsessive about anything in particular? What? Me obsessive?! Never!  7. What one thing would you say you have a zero tolerance for? Stupidity... Stupid people shouldn't breathe (or breed)!
| Sunday, August 27, 2006
 Random Ten It's time to recap my weekend once again! 10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did) The last two days before the start of school! Lots of running around this weekend. I couldn't send a fashionably challenged son off to his first day of high school... 1. Kiss On My List - Hall & Oates 2. American Woman - The Guess Who 3. That's The Way I Like It - K.C. & The Sunshine Band 4. Stars On 45 - The Stars On 45 5. This Is It - Huey Lewis & The News 6. Used To Love Her - Guns N' Roses 7. Patience - Guns N' Roses 8. Blinded By Technology - Michael Schenker Group 9. Blind Alley - Michael Schenker Group 10. Journey Man - Michael Schenker Group Songs 1 - 5 were heard while dining at Quaker Steak & Lube today. Songs 6 & 7 are from the old Guns N' Roses CD that I managed to pick up a copy of yesterday. Songs 8 - 10 were on my travel music playlist for my weekend jaunts. And now for the picture...  I just loved this display at the Old Navy in Washington Crown Center! So cute!
| Saturday, August 26, 2006
C'mon people. You knew that as soon as I discovered this blogthing I'd be posting it somewhere. DIDN'T YOU?!
What's Your German Name? The funny thing is that the name that I typed in to obtain this WAS in fact a German name, one of my commonly used usernames, engel meine...
| Friday, August 25, 2006
 Top Five On Friday Top 5 places you like to buy music...and 5 songs that you love from your most recent purchase(s). (They can be from one cd or album download or different cds.) Where I buy 'em! 1. CD Universe - They have a great stock of everything from mainstream to imports. There's not much out there that can't be found here. Their prices are right, too! 2. Wal Mart - If it's fairly mainstream and not apt to be censored, Wal Mart is likely to have it for a nice price. 3. Sundazed Music - A great place to find old music on CD and also on vinyl. 4. Flea Markets, Yard Sales, etc. - Oh, the musical treasures that some people wish to rid themselves of! A good place for rescuing unloved Scorpions' CDs... 5. Used CD Stores - Much like #4 only a bit more pricey (still dirt cheap). Another good place for rescuing those poor unloved Scorpions' CDs... What I'm Loving 1. No Turning Back - Michael Schenker Group 2. My Time's Up - Michael Schenker Group 3. Renegade - Styx 4. Dreams Inside - Michael Schenker Group 5. Fun, Fun, Fun - The Beach Boys F.Y.I. - My four most recent music purchases were: Be Aware Of Scorpions - Michael Schenker Group Tales Of Rock 'N' Roll - Michael Schenker Group Greatest Hits - Styx The Best Of The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys (Well, duh!)
| Thursday, August 24, 2006
 Ah, this oldtimer remembers the days when music came on big ol' vinyl LPs. Those were the days! So, This week's thirteen is: Thirteen reasons that vinyl albums are better than CDs. 1. Vinyl LPs were much bigger than CDs, therefore you could actually see the artwork and photography that was included with them. 2. Goodies! Because of the larger size, it was much easier to include goodies inside the packaging. Photo albums, posters, book covers, t-shirt iron-ons, etc... 3. A shrink wrapped LP was much easier to open when brand new than is a CD. 4. The RIAA never screamed about all of those analog copies I made of my LPs, 'cos they had no way of knowing that they existed! 5. Let's face it, analog recordings sound better than digital recordings. They might not have as much output, but they definitely sound better. Someone once explained the scientific reason for this to me, but my tiny mind couldn't comprehend. 6. Scratches on CDs are downright annoying, but on LPs they were signs of love! 7. The larger surface area on the cover gave performers more room to sign them for you! I refer of course to my signed copy of Gary Puckett & the Union Gap's Incredible  So much nicer than its signed CD counterpart! 8. Contrary to popular belief, with proper care, a vinyl LP will remain in good playing condition much longer than a CD. 9. You could actually read the lyric sheets included with vinyl albums. Curse my far-sighted eyes! I can't read the lyric sheet for Michael Schenker's Tales Of Rock 'N' Roll, even with my glasses on! 10. Vinyl LPs had tracklistings on the packaging AND on the actual album. 11. Twelve inch photo discs! Kewlies! 12. Because of the larger size, LPs were more difficult to shoplift, therefore the prices were lower as the manufacturers did not lose as much profit to theft. 13.Never, ever, was a vinyl LP "eaten" by a hungry turntable!
| Wednesday, August 23, 2006
 Hump Day Hunt It's time for the weekly photo meme from the folks at Foto Pherrets The Beach Boys sang: "She'll have fun, fun, fun, 'till her daddy takes her T-bird away..." Our word for this week is: Car  Lookie! This mailbox on my route looks just like a car. Well... really a firetruck!
| Tuesday, August 22, 2006
There are scads of photos sitting around on my computer, just waiting to be seen, yet my photoblog has not been updated for ages. Why is this, you ask. It could very well be because the Blogger image uploading tool just isn't working! It's been well over a week since I've been able to get an image to upload properly. The images upload, it seems, but they don't insert themselves into the post... A little bit of ingenuity and I can figure out the filenames. Sometimes this works, others it doesn't. Still, writing all of that HTML is a major pain, especially when it doesn't always work! I'm in charge of a photo meme. I want this problem fixed, NOW! Flickr images take forever to load for dial-up users, and images uploaded to other image hosts require lots of resizing to fit on a blog if they were taken with a digital camera. Alas, the people at Blogger don't even seem to think that this problem is an issue! ARRRGH! Let's see if I can get a bit of prettiness to upload...  Woo Hoo! Kelly is there! Perhaps this issue has finally been addressed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
| Monday, August 21, 2006
Manic Monday The Good, The Bad and The Ugly OK, I understand the good and bad part of this one, but the ugly... 1. If you were to pick the one thing that always makes you smile, what would it be?  There is nothing that ALWAYS makes me smile, but #2 son, Michael, is pretty damned good for sending me into fits of hysterical laughter. Just look at that ornery grin! 2. If you were to name the most clear proof that evil exists in the world, what would you say? There is so much evil in the world that it is difficult to choose a single thing as an example, but to me, the greatest evil is that of committing acts of hatred in the name of God. I know of no god, no matter the name that s/he is given, that demands hatred. The holy writs of all major religions speak of love, harmony, and tolerence. To go to war, persecute nonbelievers (A.K.A. sinners), or commit acts of terrorism in the name of ANY god is sacrelige in the worst degree and the clearest example of pure evil that I can imagine. 3. If you could trade your derriere for that of someone else, whose would you want? What?! Trade in my tushie?! I worked hard to shrink my backside down to a size 6. I like my tiny hiney. I think I'll keep it!
| Sunday, August 20, 2006
Random Ten It's time to recap my weekend once again! 10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did) It's been a while since I've had a lazy weekend to just set my Media Player on shuffle! Woo hoo! Here's some of this weekend's weird mix.... 1. Demolition Man - Def Leppard 2. Pilot Of Your Soul - Michael Schenker Group 3. What U Give U Get Back - The Scorpions 4. Clear Blue Skies - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 5. Don't Stop At The Top - The Scorpions 6. Another Piece Of Meat - The Scorpions 7. Desperately - Slaughter 8. Daddy's Girl - The Scorpions 9. Cloud Nine - George Harrison 10. I Don't Know (Demo Version) - Paul Revere & The Raiders Gotta love the weird mixes that Media player comes up with! And now for the picture...  One boring weekend + One camera phone = Photos of anything that catches my eye!
| Saturday, August 19, 2006
Oh the things that you can do when you're bored and your cell phone just happens to have a camera feature! These are my dogs...  J.J. is looking so sad because he has been banished from the house while we are eating dinner. If he'd learn to behave and not pick fights with other dogs who are more than twice his size, this wouldn't have to happen to him.  My Lady has a good shot at becoming a model for those people who make those "The Dog" plushies, don'cha think?!
| Friday, August 18, 2006
Top Five On Friday Top five songs to help you vent your frustrations Metal music is great for venting frustration! 1. My Time's Up - Michael Schenker Group "My time's up. Find someone else to keep you satisfied..." I'd like to dedicate this song to "the estranged one." 2. Du Bist So Schmutzig - The Scorpions Yes, singing loudly in German is a great way for me to vent my frustrations. So what if I have little to no clue as to what I'm singing! 3. Bang! - Gorky Park I'm certain that you can see from the title alone why this song is good for venting frustration. 4. The Mess I've Made - Michael Schenker Group Let's face it, when I'm feeling frustrated, it's usually because of some mess that I've made! 5. Hate To Be Nice - The Scorpions Does anybody LIKE to be nice when frustrated?!
| Thursday, August 17, 2006
I'm feeling a bit silly this week, so I've designed my thirteen to reflect That... Thirteen fictional characters that I'd "do" in a heartbeat if they were real! 1. Data (from Star Trek TNG) - As soon as they install his lust chip! 2. Captain Jack Sparrow (from Pirates Of The Carribean) - Of course, I'd probably have to wait in line! 3. Johnny Smith (from The Dead Zone) - I refer to the character from the movie and book, not the bastardised version in the TV series. 4. Anakin Skywalker (from Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith) - I'll willingly turn to the dark side for him! 5. Treize Khushrenada (from the animé series Gundam Wing) - Such a noble leader and so gorgeous all well! 6. Dracula (from the movie Van Helsing) - It seems to me that he is in need of a new bride... 7. Lestat (from Ann Rice's vampire series of books) - Yes, I have a certain fascination with vampires! 8. Captain James T Kirk (from Star Trek TOS) - I love the way that he always did whatever he damned well pleased. 9. Han Solo (from the original three Star Wars movies) - Move over Princess Leia! 10. Vicious (from the animé series Cowboy BeBop) - He's so bad! He needs some good lovin'. 11. Jack McCoy (from Law And Order) - This fictional assistant DA really turns me on! 12. The Cat (from the Brit-com Red Dwarf) - Here kity, kitty! 13. Milliardo Peacecraft A.K.A Zechs Merquise (from the animé series Gundam Wing) - Oh, to run my fingers through that long beautiful platinum blonde hair!
| Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Hump Day Hunt It's time for the weekly photo meme from the folks at Foto Pherrets If it's not down, it must be this week's word: Up  Look at all of the people going up on the Wave Swinger at Kennywood!
| Tuesday, August 15, 2006
 Rock 'N' Roll Royalty A certain meme asked the question of musical royalty today. A fair question, but excuuuuuuse me! Only artists can be royalty, not songs and albums... We've all heard Elvis being called "The King" and Aretha Franklin has been dubbed "The Queen Of Soul", but my idea of who is musical royalty is just a bit different... The Kings & Their Court There should be no doubt in anyone's mine who the real kings of rock 'n' roll are...  The Beatles They were musical groundbreakers, world reknowned! Ask just about any popular artist today and you'll be told that they were an influence. For this these four guys get to share the king's crown!  The Scorpions These guys get to be crown princes because of being one of very few German bands to hit the big time and stay there.  The Monkees The pre-fab four also get to be princes of rock 'n' roll for teaching us to love music videos long before we even knew what they were!
| Monday, August 14, 2006
What could be a better cure than a lovely, unmarried and straight man? Ah, it's nice to know that there is still at least one piece of male fluff out there spreading the love around. I refer to Kelly Keeling...    I wonder how he feels about slightly older ladies, 'cos I'm fairly certain that I'm a few years older than he is...
| Sunday, August 13, 2006
Random Ten It's time to recap my weekend once again! 10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did) Another weekend, another amusement park! This week it was Kennywood.... I also picked up a cheap Beach Boys hits collection on my payday excursion to WalMart. This weekend's list is a smattering of songs from the new CD, songs heard in the park, and travel music... 1. Cherish - Madonna 2. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson 3. Brown Eyed Girl - BAD reggae cver by an unknown artist 4. Last Kiss - another bad cover by an unknown artist 5. Barbara Ann - The Beach Boys 6. Help Me, Rhonda - The Beach Boys 7. California Girls - The Beach Boys 8. Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys 9. Life Vacation - Michael Schenker Group 10. Three Fish Dancing - Michael Schenker I guess that it's fairly easy to tell which songs fit into which category! And now for the picture...  Taken by my camera phone, this picture is of the creepy guy at the entrance of one of my favorite coasters at the park.
| Saturday, August 12, 2006
 I'm Frustrated I'm quite fond of the guy who did the vocals for Michael Schenker's The Unforgiven album. That would be Kelly Keeling, for those of you not familiar with it. Kelly has a very interesting voice, to say the least, and is oh so pretty to look at...  Now how someone named Kelly WAYNE Keeling from Baton Rouge, Louisiana ended up doing vocals for Michael Schenker is beyond me, but, well... I guess that not everybody down there is a good ol' boy after all! I was pleased to discover that Kelly released his first solo album last May.  Alas, CD Universe has never heard of it. The purchase links on Kelly's site (to Amazon.com) are all deader than spam.  I'm at my wits' end! Illegal downloads, anyone?!
| Friday, August 11, 2006
Top Five On Friday Top five songs that you liked as a child that you still like now. First let me define for you my standard for being a child. Legally, you are considered to be a child until you attain the age of eighteen, so all of these songs were released before November 20, 1979... 1. Cocaine - Eric Clapton 2. Let It Be - The Beatles 3. Indian Reservation - Paul Revere & The Raiders 4. Ohio - Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young 5. Daydream Believer - The Monkees Lucky me! I was able to give all of these songs a home on my hard drive! Now you can too!
| Thursday, August 10, 2006
I'm feeling really cranky today, so this week's thirteen is: Thirteen things that you can do to really piss me off 1. Ask me to lend you money. 2. Drop by and tell me about all of the Scorpions concerts you have been to. 3. Ditto for Michael Schenker shows, although this one may not work after November... 4. Write a bad review about an album or performance by an artist that I like. 5. Make trouble for someone that I care about. 6. Tell me the many reasons that I should quit smoking. 8. Put the tickets for a concert that I want to see on sale at least five months in advance and on the day BEFORE payday! 9. Force me to listen to those gawd-awful "adult contemporary" radio stations. 10. Touch one of my guitars without my express permission. 11. Ask me to censor my foul mouth. 12. Claim that you are sharing something and put all sorts of conditions on your so-called sharing. 13. Say that you'll give me something for free, then ask for money for shipping, etc. If I have to give you money, it's not free! Oh, the idiosynchracies of my addictive personality...
| Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Hump Day Hunt It's time for the weekly photo meme from the folks at Foto Pherrets If you're not outside, this week's word must apply... Our word for the week is: Inside  The center of the Paratrooper ride at Idlewild Park, photographed from inside one of the cars.
| Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Take Me Back Tuesday It's a sleepy theme this week...  What music is most likely to put you to sleep? Something by Chopin would probably do the trick quite nicely, but if I want to have sweet dreams, I can in fact, fall asleep to The Scorpions! Name a few sleep related songs. Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton Sometimes At Night - Gorky Park Lonely Nights - The Scorpions Nightmare Avenue - The Scorpions Dreams Inside - Michael Schenker Group Bedtime Stories - Justin Hayward If one famous musician could sing you to sleep, who would it be? And what song would he/she be singing? There will be no singing in my bedroom! I want Michael Schenker to play me sweet melodies on his guitar. At The End Of The Day would be appropriate...  Somehow I doubt I'd be sleeping much with him in my bedroom though... What songs could produce nightmares if you listen to them before bed? Anything by one of those wailing banshees that they are so fond of playing on the radio station from hell, Sheryl Crow, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, etc... |
