If you believe that the 80's are Rock and Roll, then I have a bridge to sell you

Beauty and I went to the movies on Friday night and saw Rock of Ages with Tom Cruise. I always like those kinds of movies and I liked this one also. However, when we left the theatre, I turned to My Love and said, thank god for Seattle Grunge and Rap, because Rock was being killed by the 80's. Beauty immediately took offense and told me that I was crazy (nothing new there) and that the music was great. "How could I say nothing very good came out of the 80's", she continued.
Well, of course we all love Foreigner doing I Want To Know What Love Is, and Guns 'n Roses Paradise City, and Journey was acceptable, but really, is acceptable enough when we just left the age of The Beatles and The Stones at their prime, and Janis and Santana and Motown (yes, you know I love you Smokey). No, the 80's were the decade of Rock Disaster.
So, today, I put Beauty's words to the test. I checked out our master ipod list. This is our master list of all songs and consists of my music and the Beauty's music. There are 5,266 songs, which according to Apple would take 15.7 days to listen to. And, I don't think that includes sleeping. We have everything from Bing Crosby to Lady Gaga, and it grows and grows and grows. So, how many songs do we have that were featured on Rock of Ages, 4:

• We Built This City (Jefferson Starship)
• Paradise City (Guns 'n Roses)
• I Want To Know What Love Is (Foreigner)
• Don't Stop Believing (Journey)

Although we have 15 Bon Jovi songs (I blame this on Beauty, but in truth, I like Bon Jovi), we do not have Wanted Dead or Alive, or the other 18 songs featured in the play, although not necessarily in the movie. For those of you who don't know what songs I'm referring to, here is a complete list of the song list from the Broadway   performance of Rock Of Ages:

ACT 1

• "Cum on Feel the Noize" (Slade, 1973, covered by Quiet Riot in 1983)
• "Just Like Living in Paradise" (David Lee Roth, 1988)
• "Nothin' but a Good Time" (Poison, 1988)
• "Sister Christian" (Night Ranger, 1984)
• "We Built This City" (Starship, 1985)
• "Too Much Time on My Hands" (Styx, 1981)
• "I Wanna Rock" (Twisted Sister, 1984)
• "We're Not Gonna Take It" (Twisted Sister, 1984)
• "More than Words" (Extreme, 1991)
• "To Be With You" (Mr. Big, 1991)
• "Waiting for a Girl Like You" (Foreigner, 1981)
• "Wanted Dead or Alive" (Bon Jovi, 1987)
• "I Want to Know What Love Is" (Foreigner, 1984)
• "Harden My Heart" (Quarterflash, 1981)
• "Shadows of the Night" (Benatar, 1982)
• "Here I Go Again" (Whitesnake, 1982)

ACT 2

• "The Final Countdown" (Europe, 1986)
• "Any Way You Want It" (Journey, 1980)
• "Paradise City" (Guns N' Roses, 1988)
• "High Enough" (Damn Yankees, 1990)
• "I Hate Myself for Loving You" (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, 1988)
• "Heat of the Moment" (Asia, 1982)
• "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" (Pat Benatar, 1980)

So, my great readership, how many of these classics are on your master song list? (by the way, in this contest the lower the number the better off you are). Tell me if I'm wrong.

My new Kindle - Kobo - Nook Waterproof Cover Case

I am so happy. A few weeks ago I thought that there must be someone out there selling a case that I can enclose my Kobo Touch into so that I can sit in the Hot Tub and read. So, of course, with the help of google, I found a few.
I bought one from an ebay dealer called buybuygaga in Hong Kong, and, it arrived yesterday. Being the skeptic that I am, and fearing for the safety of my Kobo, I took a wad of paper tissues, stuffed them in the cover, sealed it and immersed the cover in a pot of water. IT STAYED COMPLETELY DRY.
Thought you might like this product, and check out the youtube video which demonstrates the product:

Getting Ready For Summer Vacation Reading: Bouchercon 2012 (Cleveland)

So, you may ask, What is Bouchercon? Well, according to their website:

Bouchercon is the world mystery convention and has been taking place annually since 1970. It is open to anyone and is a place for fans, authors and professionals to gather and celebrate their love of the mystery genre. It is named for a famed mystery critic Anthony Boucher. During the convention there are panels and discussions and interviews with authors and people from the mystery community covering all parts of the genre. There are signing events for people to meet their favorite authors face-to-face and get books signed.

Bouchercon also has the Anthony Awards which are also named after Anthony Boucher. These are voted on by the attendees and given out during the convention.

And, this year from October 4, 2012 to October 7, 2012, it's being held in Cleveland, Ohio, a mere 4.5 hours drive from home. Wow, this could be a road trip. So, I check my calendar, and what's the problem. It's Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend. Oops, maybe next year.

Nevertheless, if you're like me, and you're always hunting for new reads, here are their postings for Best nominees:

2012 ANTHONY AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST NOVEL

The End of Everything—Megan Abbott [Reagan Arthur/Little, Brown]

Hurt Machine—Reed Farrel Coleman [Tyrus]

The Drop—Michael Connelly [Little, Brown]

A Trick of the Light—Louise Penny [Minotaur]

One Was a Soldier—Julia Spencer-Fleming [Thomas Dunne/Minotaur]

BEST FIRST NOVEL

Learning to Swim—Sara J. Henry [Crown]

Nazareth Child—Darrell James [Midnight Ink]

All Cry Chaos—Leonard Rosen [The Permanent Press]

Who Do, Voodoo?—Rochelle Staab [Berkley Prime Crime]

The Informationist—Taylor Stevens [Crown]

Purgatory Chasm—Steve Ulfelder [Thomas Dunne/Minotaur]

Before I Go to Sleep—S.J. Watson [HarperCollins]

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

The Company Man—Robert Jackson Bennett [Orbit/Hachette]

Choke Hold—Christa Faust [Hard Case Crime/Titan]

Buffalo West Wing—Julie Hyzy [Berkley Prime Crime/Tekno]

Death of the Mantis—Michael Stanley [HarperCollins]

Fun & Games—Duane Swierczynski [Mulholland]

Vienna Twilight—Frank Tallis [Random House]

BEST SHORT STORY

"Disarming"—Dana Cameron, EQMM June'11, p.24

"The Case of Death and Honey"—Neil Gaiman, A Study In Sherlock, p.167 [Bantam]

"Palace by the Lake"—Daryl Wood Gerber, Fish Tales: The Guppy Anthology, p.184 [Wildside]

"Truth and Consequences"—Barb Goffman, Mystery Times Ten, ~p.128 [Buddhapuss Ink]

"The Itinerary"—Roberta Isleib, MWA Presents The Rich and The Dead, p.189 [Grand Central]

"Happine$$"—Twist Phelan, MWA Presents The Rich and The Dead, p.276 [Grand Central]

BEST CRITICAL NONFICTION WORK

Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure—Leslie Budewitz [Quill Driver/Linden]

Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets from Her Notebooks—John Curran [HarperCollins]

On Conan Doyle: or, The Whole Art of Storytelling—Michael Dirda [Princeton University Press]

Detecting Women: Gender and the Hollywood Detective Film—Philippa Gates [SUNY Press]

The Sookie Stackhouse Companion—Charlaine Harris, ed. [Ace]

I've already downloaded Megan Abbott's new book onto my Kobo, and, I'm in the process of hunting out the others. I'm getting ready for summer.

So you ask, what else am I reading. Well, to be exact, here are the books that are already loaded and ready to go on my Kobo:

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon

Angle of Investigation, Michael Connelly

Calico Joe, John Grisham (already finished it; not my favourite Grisham)

Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell

The Confessor, Daniel Silva

The End of Everything, Megan Abbott

Insurgent, Veronica Roth (listening in car with Beauty, she thinks it's great; too girlie for me)

Nemesis, Joe Nesbo (almost finished)

Shock Wave, John Snadford

The Girl Who Disappeared Twice, Andrea Kane

The Other Daughter, Lisa Gardner

The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Michael Chabon (in progress)

Three in Death, J.D. Robb

Am I ready for summer or what!!!!

Behaving Badly in a Public Swimming Pool

This absolutely hilarious picture and caption come from an online article written by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff (Shine by yahoo.ca). Basically the article states that the Water Quality & Health Council, a scientific research group sponsored by the American Chemistry Council, has concluded that one in five adults admit to urinating in public pools. The article can be found at http://ca.shine.yahoo.com/blogs/healthy-living/swimming-pools-public-toilet-bowls-many-survey-193700688.html . It's actually rather disconcerting, but the picture and caption are too funny not to share.

The Star and Mayor Ford. Forget That, Let's Talk Rolling Stones

It's a mad mad world. Once again Toronto elected a very strange choice as their Mayor, and once again that Mayor is dominating the news for very strange reasons.
BUT, that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about Patrick and I, and what we learned while rehearsing for our upcoming yearly vocal performance at the Trapper Piano Recital.
Like all rehearsal sessions, it starts out with us performing the song and Big Mo, our producer, smoothing out the rough spots (primarily the vocals, no sense messing with the choreography, we only have one dance routine in total that we do well(?)). After we're done, Pat and I usually spend the next 2 hours picking impromptu tracks off of Pat's vast karaoke collection, and performing for the crowd (usually less than 3 people once they hear us sing). When we finished singing Gimme Shelter, Pat looked at me and said, "wow, I never knew those were the lyrics". And neither did I. It's an anti-war, anti-violence, general commentary on the state of the world in the late 1960's. Like probably most us, Pat and I thought it was a song about drugs.
 So, for all of you who need to know, here are the lyrics, and The Stones singing it for us




Gimme Shelter  (M. Jagger/K. Richards)
Oh, a storm is threat'ning 
My very life today 
If I don't get some shelter 
Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away
War, children, it's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away 
War, children, it's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away
Ooh, see the fire is sweepin' our very street today 
Burns like a red coal carpet, mad bull lost its way
War, children, it's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away 
War, children, it's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder! 
It's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder! 
It's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away
Rape, murder! 
It's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away
The floods is threat'ning my very life today 
Gimme, gimme shelter, or I'm gonna fade away

War, children, it's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away 
It's just a shot away 
I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away 
It's just a kiss away 
It's just a kiss away 
It's just a kiss away 
It's just a kiss away 
Kiss away, kiss away

The Alberta Election: What Did We Learn?

Once again, the pollsters were wrong. Why this time? I'm glad you asked. Let's look at what happened during the last few days leading up to the election. On Saturday, based on poll results tabulated just after the Election Debate, the pollsters had the Wildrose up 41 percent to 32 percent for the Conservatives. By election time, the results had shifted 12 points resulting in a Conservative victory and a second place finish for the Wildrose.

Was there really a shift or did the pollsters have it wrong? My opinion, there really was a shift. For anyone who watched the debate on Thursday night, just 2 days before the release of the final polls, I suspect that you were just as shocked as I was when you heard the answer from Danielle Smith, leader of the Wildrose Party, when she was asked about climate change.

Wildrose leader Danielle Smith stated, to quote from The Canadian Press:

"There is still a debate in the scientific community," said Smith before being drowned out by a chorus of boos and catcalls from hundreds of people who attended a leaders debate outside CBC's downtown studio.

"And we're going to continue to watch the debate in the scientific community," she said raising her voice to be heard.

I was absolutely floored when I heard this. My dear friend, The Vickster, an avid supporter of the Reform Party, even conceded a few years back that climate change was real. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think even the American Republican Party now concedes the point. And Wildrose doesn't?

When I heard her statement and I heard the audience reaction, I turned to the Beauty and said "there goes the election". After the gay comments and the White is Better comment, I think that this was the straw that broke the camels back. 

This morning on the radio, I heard John Moore say that the lesson that Danielle Smith failed to learn from Stephen Harper was how to reign in the crazies and give the rest of the country comfort that they could be voted for. That's easy to say when your not #1 amongst the crazies. It wasn't a party yahoo who made the crazy remark in Alberta, it was the leader.

Crazy is as crazy does.

The Ballad of Mitt Romney and the Family Hound

Hope you all enjoy this one. It happens to be the first song (the Jed Clampett version) that I ever learned on banjo, and, trust me, it wasn't pretty.




Come and listen to my story bout a man named Mitt
Who decided one day to take the family on a trip
Now the family car, it only seated six
And that meant the dog was in a big fix

The roof that is, in a case and all, no fun at all

Well before you know they all jump into the car
And Mitt Jr. says, I sure hope we’re not going far
Mitt tells them all they are Canada bound
And this causes stomache problems for the family hound.

Loose bowels that is, oh oh

Now it’s time to think about the way that his mind works
He’s already proven he can be a real big jerk
He can’t plan a vacation for 6 people and a hound
So how can ever make the country fiscally sound

That’s the big question. No answer from these parts, that’s for sure