Damn You, Casey Kasem!

Here's a fun, Facebook-y, quirky thing to get your mind working in the morning (and possibly cause serious debate at the dinner table later this evening): What are, in your own estimation, 20 songs you cannot live without - the ones you can listen to over and over, and never get tired of?

For music lovers (like me), this can be quite the challenge. So pardon me while I bang my head against the wall and burn through a few dozen legal pads of scribbled notes, because coming up with only 20 is probably the biggest challenge here. Heck, I could probably choose 20 alone by Tom Petty, or The Beatles, but where would get me? What purpose would that serve? And how many more rhetorical questions would I be remiss in not asking?

This actually took more than a few minutes to compile - more like, a few days? - and even longer to rationalize with myself that these songs were the right ones. I mean, I am sure there are a few compositions that are pretty pissed off at me now, and would love to put my head on a stick - if, of course, songs could actually do such a thing. Lucky for me, I suppose, this isn't possible.

So ... here we go!

1: "The Waiting," Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Choosing a TP song was definitely a challenge, but I went with this track from Hard Promises (over "Learning to Fly" and "You Wreck Me," very worthy runners-up). A catchy tune that speaks volumes about the quest for love, and finally finding the right one, with an all-too-true mantra about life in general: The waiting is the hardest part.

2: "The Star-Spangled Banner," Branford Marsalis & Bruce Hornsby: From Ken Burns' Baseball soundtrack, this sax-and-piano instrumental duet is the perfect mixture of melodic harmony. It doesn't strive to mock, make noise, or fail in an attempt to hit the high notes. It is hauntingly perfect, and for me to list this over Karen Newman's version speaks volumes.

3: "Life is Beautiful," Achinoam Nini (Noa): Yes, this is the theme song of Life Is Beautiful, Roberto Benigni's Oscar award-winning film. Noa also wrote the lyrics to the song, together with long-time collaborator Gil Dor. (What, you've never heard of her? You're probably not alone. It's difficult to find this Israeli singer's CDs here in the good ol' USA; in fact, I've had to special-order her collection from Israel).

4: "Voices Carry," 'Til Tuesday: I have always loved this song, in part because of the gritty guitar riff, in part because I wanted to be a white knight and kick Aimee Mann's loser boyfriend to the curb (if you've ever seen the video, you know what I'm talking about ... and if you haven't seen it, look below!).

5: "Ballroom Blitz," Sweet: The song that fellow Central Michigan University Chippewa alums Brian Sowa, Mark Wiecek and I danced to countlessly when at our favorite 1960s-themed nightspot, Wooly Bully's. I have no clue when or why this song became "our" song, but it is, and probably always will be.

6: "Call and Answer," Barenaked Ladies: Catchy and powerful lyrics, but not too wacky-crazy or over-the-top (like many BNL songs can be); mellowish, but really cool when factoring in the acoustic guitar.

7: "Imagine," John Lennon: The ultimate optimistic, utopian song. Can you picture a world without borders, without bias, without prejudice? Now, can we make it a reality?

8: "The River of Dreams," Billy Joel: A very biblical, spiritual song. It's about faith and searching for a greater meaning to life ... basically, it's a deeply philosophical song.

9: "Nutbush City Limits," Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band: You can take the Detroiter out of Detroit, but you can't take Detroit out of the Detroiter. What makes this April 1976 cover of the Tina Turner classic special to me is Seger's commentary to the Cobo Hall crowd at the 2:44 mark of the song (re: the Rolling Stone article). Still true today, Bob, still true!

10: "Atlantic City," Bruce Springsteen: A dark, depressing, bleak song about the Philly mob who had all the concrete contracts to build the hotels and casinos in Atlantic City, this song - and album - stuck a chord with me the moment it was released. Nebraska became my favorite Springsteen album, and remains so today.

11: "Soul Food To Go," Manhattan Transfer: The most powerful jazz volcalese group today, and possibly ever. The versatile quartet recorded their approach to Brazilian music with a definitive jazz slant, and the result was magic.

12: "The Fighting Chippewa (Central Michigan University Fight Song)": How could I live without a fight song? Seriously! Fire Up Chips! (And yes, I was at the game where this was videotaped!)

13: "Anniversary Song," Cowboy Junkies: The fact this was the bridal song for my brother Charles and his wife Elisabeth has no bearing on this choice; it does, however, mean they have excellent taste in music! As lead singer Margo Timmins told the audience at one of the shows Jeff Falcon and I attended, "This is our lone upbeat song." It's true. Cool sidebar: The Junkies are one of the few - if not the only - established bands that stays after concerts and meets with fans, often for several hours.

14: "Romeo and Juliet," Dire Straits: The most amazing song about Shakespearean lovers. Ever.

15: "I'll Never Fall In Love Again," Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach: From the second Austin Powers movie. The film version is only 87 seconds long; the full version is much better. A song about the dangers and disappointments of falling in love, and the ultimate realization that it's better to try, try again.

16: "The Wanderer," U2 & Johnny Cash: A song about redemption - something the Man in Black was so very, very good at presenting in lyrical form. I stumbled across this one by accident when working at WBFH, and it immediately became one of my favorites.

17: "Temptation Waits," Garbage: To the best of my knowledge, this was never released as a single. A pity; I love its catchy beat and energy.

18: "Under Pressure," Queen & David Bowie: The first part of the song is about widespread poverty and society's lack of compassion for those in the trenches. The second asks why we can't love our fellow man. Combined, it's a powerful social statement about the world in which we live.

19: "Mari-Mac," Great Big Sea: How many songs do you know about forced marriages? If you need to know one, this is the one to know. I love the alliteration and tongue-twister lyrical structure of the chorus (Mari Mac's mother's making Mari Mac marry me / My mother's making me marry Mari Mac / Well I'm going to marry Mari for when Mari's taking care of me / We'll all be feeling merry when I marry Mari Mac), as well as the way the song speeds up as it progresses.

20: "Black Widow," Jefferson Starship: My friend Randy Docks turned me on to this one years ago, and it's been a staple ever since!

25 Random Things About "Moi"

As posted on my Facebook tonight ...

1: My life revolves around music. I remember religiously taping Casey Kasem's American Top 40 way back in the day (and this was before I discovered he was the voice of Shaggy in "Scooby-Doo"), and eventually I worked at the Bloomfield Hills Lahser/Andover radio station for 2 1/2 years in high school. That led to college radio, wedding DJ gigs, and having more than 1,600 CDs and vinyl albums to my name right now.

2: I'll take the open road over an airline flight in a heartbeat. I've traveled between Florida and Michigan 20 times the past 10 years (starting with the initial teaching job hunt in June/July of that year), and half have been via my 1997 RAV-4. My most recent of those trips was a 21-day, 4,000-mile drive that allowed me to sightsee and visit friends/family in South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Definitely worth it!

3: I have a difficult time tolerating narrow-minded people who think they are always right and that various opinions other than theirs are irrelevant. Especially when it's with a staunch "religious" or "political" (or both) agenda. Listen, having a belief system is good, and if you truly hold it to your heart and use it in a positive way, then that's cool by me. But don't try to push a dogmatic position down my throat. Give me some credit as a living, breathing adult capable of critically thinking on my own.

4: I lean slightly left of center politically, but don't mistake that for supporting every Democratic party cause that exists. All political parties and many politicians have proven very capable of forgetting who they represent and abusing our tax dollars in ways unimaginable.

5: I support Israel wholeheartedly, and while I'd like to believe "peace" can exist in the Middle East during my lifetime, I'm not about to throw money down on that in Las Vegas any time soon.

6: In the late 1970s, our family went on a vacation to Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and before we left, I bought what appeared to be an interesting book (about a secret post-WWII Nazi organization) for the drive north. That book ended up becoming one of my favorites of all time, and the author is one of my two favorites. The novel I bought at Perry's Drugs: The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth. (My other favorite author is George Orwell ... and yes, that is quite a contrast in writing styles!)

7: I am a night owl, which probably explains why (a) I write so many of these things when I should be asleep and (b) why i am so friggin' tired in the morning when I go to work.

8: My mailbox fills with between 250-300 "spam" emails a day. Every day. About 95 percent are filtered into the spam folder automatically. I review the folder on occasion (since sometimes an email lands there that shouldn't), and am always amazed at both the NAMES these spammers come up with and the SUBJECT LINES that are types. For the life of me, I cannot fathom ever writing an email to anyone that announces in the subject line, "It's very possible to get a larger organ!" or "Be the hottest man around with a long shaft." I mean, how the hell do they know all this about me? Did I fill out some sort of survey when I first set up an email account years ago?

9: Years ago, I watched Plan 9 From Outer Space. Well, I watched about 10 minutes of it after renting it from Blockbuster. And it's as bad as everyone says. Maybe even worse. I think I had headaches for five days.

10: Most of the time I like my job, but I've said that about virtually every job or position i've ever held. As a teacher, though, I think I could get a lot more actual work done if one of the following two things were absent: either (1) political bureaucrats and their mandates (unfunded class size reduction; FCAT testing), or (2) students. Yeah, i could get more actual work done.

11: I'm holding out hope that President Obama is successful and makes positive changes in the US.

12: FARK.com is the funniest web site I go to daily. My brother Charles introduced it to me a few years ago, and instead of trying to explain it to you, I instead encourage you to check it out yourself. You won't look at news (or purported news) the same way again.

13: I'd rather have substance over style.

14: Almost every night, I go to sleep with the sounds of George Winston's December CD playing on my computer. It is guaranteed to knock me out within 45 minutes.

15: I think online dating sites suck eggs. All of them. Worthless. (Do I sound bitter?)

16: I wear my heart on my sleeve way too often, and that tends to intimidate some people.

17: Along with music, following sports is a passion of mine. I am a HUGE Detroit Tigers and Red Wings fan, and had a perfect professional football season this year when Bubbles the Lioness went 0-16.

18: I am the West Palm Beach area alumni coordinator for Central Michigan University. I am also the Vice President of Individual Events for the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League. These two titles are not related.

19: My debate program has afforded me the opportunity to do much traveling within the continental US. In the past seven years, I have visited Washington DC, Boston, Raleigh-Durham, Atlanta, Houston, Milwaukee, Chicago, and a few other places for tournaments.

20: However, my passport has yet to be stamped. (When I lived in Detroit, in the pre-9/11 days, we didn't need a passport to cross the border into Canada.)

21: Debate students are continually devising new nicknames for me. The most recent one is "The Notorious PLG." Sounds like I'll have to put together a movie about being a white rapper from the Detroit suburbs who ... what do you mean it's been done already?

22: I have worked at a local weekly newspaper the past four years part-time (and full-time during the summers). I'm also a photographer on the side.

23: I am lactose-intolerant, yet still eat pizza.

24: Stupid people and idiot drivers need to be put out of their misery. That way, they are out of my misery, too.

25: Despite living in Florida for nearly 10 years, I still bleed Detroit.

2008 Road Trip - Entry 7

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3: The USS North Carolina is an amazing sight to behold. At the time of her commissioning on April 9, 1941, she was considered the world’s greatest sea weapon. Armed with nine 16-inch/45 caliber guns in three turrets, and twenty 5-inch/38 caliber guns in ten twin mounts, the North Carolina proved a formidable weapons platform. Her wartime complement consisted of 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men, including about 100 Marines. During World War II, the North Carolina participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific area of operations and earned 15 battle stars. She was was decommissioned June 27, 1947, and dedicated on April 29, 1962 as the State's memorial to its World War II veterans and the 10,000 North Carolinians who died during the war.

I'll say this much about life in the Navy: Being inside a battleship is exhausting physically (there's a lot of moving around in cramped quarters), and the heat index inside a large metal box (which is basically what a battleship is, albeit a floating one) is equally taxing.

After leaving the USS North Carolina, I decided to visit another ship the following day: The USS Yorktown, a mere 175 miles south. To do so, I ended up driving through Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, which is the midway point between the two. Having never been to Myrtle Beach, I wasn't sure what to expect. From the driver's seat, it looks pretty flashy! (No, I didn't stay in town, so I can't comment on anything else other than the initial look.)

Having decided to stay overnight in Charleston, South Carolina (minutes from the Yorktown), I had to incorporate the trusty TomTom to find a gas station (because apparently late at night, along US-17, between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, is nothing remotely close to civilization). TomTom worked wonders again, locating a gas station that was not only still open, but reachable while the RAV-4 was on fumes. Whew!

MONDAY, AUGUST 4: The USS Yorktown was built in an amazing 16-½ months at Newport News, Virginia. Yorktown was commissioned on April 15, 1943, and participated significantly in the Pacific Offensive that began in late 1943 and ended with the defeat of Japan in 1945. And like the North Carolina, it's a huge monster piece of work! Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, the Yorktown was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier, and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier. Hence, the USS Clamagore (a submarine) is also on-site. The Yorktown was recommissioned too late to participate in the Korean War, but served for many years in the Pacific, including duty in the Vietnam War, in which she earned five battle stars. Late in her career, she served as a recovery ship for the Apollo 8 space mission, was used in the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!. The Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970, and in 1975 became a museum ship.

By the way, what I said yesterday about being inside a battleship being exhausting physically, and that whole "heat index" thing? Yeah, about that ... a submarine is worse. Even more cramped, and when under water (which i was not), the airflow is extremely restricted ...

While at the Yorktown, I spoke to David Traill, who suggested meeting up at NASA the next day and doing a tour together. I was all for that (hey, they have educator discounts!). Onward and upward (or, better, southward) ...

TUESDAY, AUGUST 5: Last day of the 4,000-mile-long trip! Met up with David Traill at NASA. Definitely a great way to wrap up three weeks on the road! From a guided bus tour of the facility to the Shuttle Launch Experience (a one-of-a-kind shuttle launch simulator), a tour of the US Astronaut Hall of Fame, touring the Apollo/Saturn V Center, and even having a sit-down with NASA experts to discuss potential lesson plans and ideas, it was an amazing experience all around!

This wasn't the first time David and I have been to NASA; he's been numerous times for shuttle launches, and this was my third visit. But it was definitely the most educational, and most fun, of my visits. As you can tell from the photos of both myself and David, these space vehicles are amazingly huge! I mean, battleships and destroyers are mammoth vehicles, but we sort of know that in advance; shuttles and other space vehicles are much larger than they seem on television.

After the NASA experience was done, it was time to drive back home, unpack the RAV-4, and sleep in my own bed for the first time in 20 days. Home again, home again, jiggity-jig!