New Year - Building A Playlist, Part I

We talk New Year’s resolutions — changing your life in myriad ways. 

Diet. Exercise. Money. The famous “Work-Life Balance” discussion. 

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Whatever we’re doing as 2023 unfolds, we all work with a soundtrack in the background. And, I’m using that term broadly here. 

Maybe the radio or streaming option opens up just on the way to/from work where a music station finds its way into the rotation alongside your “Morning Zoo” discussion of “news of the weird.” 

Maybe it’s the dog walk or workout background, as opposed to tapping into whatever your gym has on the television or your own tv.

Maybe you’re a lover of Broadway shows and musical —- you know - the actual soundtracks!

Anyway, I’m an amalgam of so many musical artists. As I write this, the ELVIS soundtrack is playing in the FOX Sports Radio studio following my Sunday show. I’ve got that - our “Countdown to Kickoff” show in the background and four televisions replete with game previews for Week 18 of the NFL season.

I promised a glimpse into my playlist and, I guess, how my brain works, while walking the dog earlier. 

So, let’s get at it. I’ve got a lot of tunes that roll in and out of the Dome. Here’s a good starter kit. 

Bowie -  Teenage Daydream

Afghan Whigs - I’ll Make You See God

Mark Lanegan - Beehive

Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero

Queen - Hammer To Fall

Lou Reed - Busload of Faith

Iggy Pop - Brick By Brick

Harry Chapin - W-O-L-D

Jeff Healey Band - Life Beyond The Sky

Mark Lanegan - One Way Street

Gutter Twins - Idle Hands

Selena Gomez - My Mind and Me

The Damned - Love Song

George Strait - I Can Still Make Cheyenne

Cream - Tales of Brave Ulysses

Sting - The Last Ship

Elton John - Have Mercy on the Criminal

Brad Paisley - When I Get Where I’m Going

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Chris Cornell - Can’t Change Me

Ringo Starr - Photograph

Eddie Vedder - Guaranteed

Jethro Tull - Life is a Long Song

Alan Jackson - Who Says?

Aerosmith - JADED

P!nk - So What?

Greg Dulli - Pantomima

GNR - Yesterdays

GNR - Get in the Ring

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah

Jimmy Buffett - A Pirate Looks at Forty

John C. Reilly - Walk Hard

Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run

Rilo Kiley - Better Son or Daughter

Afghan Whigs - Faded

Roger Waters - What God Wants, Part I

Sebastian Bach - A Bitchslap

Tim McGraw - Hellelujahville

Elvis Presley - If I Can Dream

Motörhead - The Ace of Spades

Mary Chapin-Carpenter - Stones in the Road

Keith Richards - Wicked As It Seems

The Rolling Stones - 19th Nervous Breakdown

Traveling Wilbur’s - Heading for the Light 

Being Better - Define It

Somehow I lost a chunk of this after publishing —- now pissed. I’ll try to recreate.

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It’s been too long. I have countless drafts and starts and stops to Blog entries commemorating a number of events, stressors and triumphs from the past several months. Many pages have torn from notebooks to start the next “journal,” “diary,” monologue, or whatever you’d call it. 

But, like everyone (or most, I guess), an alarm rings, an email or text comes in that warrants attention, or you’re off and pacing to any number of chores/responsibilities that make up your existence.

Each year, we hammer out a robust list of resolutions designed to make us “Better.” Whether it’s a nod to health, money, mental well-being or learning a skill, we all have something (or many) in our lives that we want to make “Better.”

I do it weekly. I put together the exhaustive list of “To-do” items. And I get overwhelmed and salty, knowing that it’s a Sisyphus situation. I’m gonna through a bunch of things. I’m gonna check some boxes, but the Sharpie’s not gonna touch each of those lines. 

Damned it all. The point of this blog is to find a little peace in the day, highlight finding the Lighter Thoughts. Jack Handey of SNL had his “Deep Thoughts,” and we’ll have some of those here. But it’s more about seeing/doing the things on your list, celebrating those triumphs and moving forward.

Friend of the show and colleague Jay Glazer talks about “fighting the grey.” In his appearances with us and his book “Unbreakable,” he speaks of rough mornings, and I can relate, to be sure. So, each day, I’m going to work - dare I say “Resolve” - to add at least one post. Short, in-depth expository or whatever - check in here. The goal is Community and talking … and embracing the positivity amid the chaos. 

So, with that in mind — What are my 3 victories today?

1. Great show on FOX Sports Radio this morning with Bucky Brooks. We absolutely destroyed a number of narratives and created some new while dissecting the NFL Division Games from Saturday and previewing Sunday’s tilts. 

(I’ll include game-watching on a larger scale here. We had all the drama we wanted, and then some.)

2. Long-ass nap. Sleep and I have been enemies since I broke my leg my sophomore year of High School (long story for another time). So, I’m learning to pause and listen to my body and foggy mind. I know it’s caused major issues in my past and still impact others, and contributes to physical and mental health. 

Nas said in NY State of Mind: “I don’t sleep, ‘cause sleep is the cousin of death.” The line was later cited by Greg Dulli in “Omertà.” 

3. I communicated with a great number of friends, colleagues and my brothers during the Sunday games. Text messages, calls and some Twitter back and forth. Add some of the 2021 Glogg and a hearty soup. And that’s a winner.

Community. Communication. Pathos. 

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How do you define “Better?”

Country Roads - Part 2

Orange Chicken, Baseball Cards & A Classic Song

I'll keep it simple for this second entry. 

I smiled while sitting in a bit of traffic this afternoon. Sure, people are clearly reverting to pre-pandemic driving dopiness. Failures to signal lane changes, last-second decisions to turn into strip malls for some fast food and "Honor Student" bumper stickers signaled the triumphant return to action for Hawthorne Boulevard. 

So, while this crowded street added a few minutes to my route, it made for a quick feel of normalcy. 

OK, I wasn't enamored with it in the moment. It delayed my final show prep a few minutes. I grabbed my water jug and brewed some coffee and sat down to compile a few additional notes. We'd gone with a quick comfort food lunch option, and the takeout included a pile of orange chicken and chow mein. Therefore, dinner wasn't on the brain. 

It's the end of a long week --- just keep the caffeine flowing.

I flipped on the television for background noise and then saw a reminder on social media that today commemorated a huge rite of spring. The new 2020 Bowman set from Topps arrived. We don't have games on the diamond yet, but fans were jonesing to celebrate the new class. The hype machine is in full effect for 17-year old Jasson Dominguez, a prospect in the Yankees organization. And the Bowman set is the traditional home for rookie cards. I loaded the Instagram page of the local shop that was commemorating the release with a huge break session. Someone pulled an autographed version of the card numbered out of /25. That'll net the owner a nice car on the secondary market.

Finally, we've been celebrating a lot of pop culture on the show during the quarantine. The re-watching of classic movies, binge-watching shows we'd missed in their first runs and the release anniversaries and stars. One of the songs appearing frequently across Tik-Tok, as I've been told, is the Kingsman rendition of "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver. I don't recall what triggered it in my head, but I started belting it out, just like Merlin (Mark Strong) in "Kingsman: The Golden Circle." It brought another pretty good laugh shortly after a heated debate on the show. 

And then we started pondering the Mount Rushmore of video games. We'll revisit that in a future blog.

Peace and love, all. Sing it loud. 

"Almost heaven, West Virginia

Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze"

(Note to self: There's a lot of country out there to traverse.)