John's World

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Black History Month Song of the Day - No More Drama - Mary J Blige

As we continue our digout from the storm, here's a little hip hop/soul from the genre's queen. Enjoy and Happy Sunday!

Mary J. Blige - No More Drama (Live @ Grammys... by MaryJBligeFanatics

'Where's the Beef?" - Classic Wendy's Commercials

t-shirt vortex

Don't ask me how I got on this one...I saw somebody post "Where's the Beef?" somewhere and I started remembering these old Wendy's commercials. Next thing you knew it, I'm on YouTube, looking at them again. Television commercials, like music or TV shows, and most anything else in pop culture, become associated with a time, and so they remain in your mind as happy memories of good times past. Check out some of my favorite commercials from years ago, Wendy's hysterically memorable ads from early on...

Domestic Dilettante

The Wendy's commercials of the 80's (I believe) were a laugh out loud riot. It started with these three older ladies looking for the beef within the big bun of another fast food chain. The commercial was so popular, it's coining of the phrase, "Where's the Beef?" became forever etched in American slang. Check it out...

It certainly is a big bun...

For a little while, Clara Peller, one of the three ladies in the original commercial, gained her fifteen minutes of fame doing more spots for the fast food chain. Several of them hit the air, but there's one I remember all these years later. Clara, and her two pals are going to Wendy's, but this time their going through the drive-thru. If you asked me what my funniest ever commercial was, this one would come right to my mind.

Once the "Where's the Beef?" commercials waned, a whole new memorable ad hit the small screen during bathroom breaks from your favorite shows. With this one, a whole new phrase was coined: "...very nice!" If any of you were around during that time, you're definitely gonna remember this Russian fashion show, lol...

free republic

Day wear...very nice!

Eve-ning wear...very nice!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

The 55th Annual Grammy Nominees for Pop Songs

The 55th Annual Grammy Awards will be telecast this Sunday, February 10th on CBS and I thought I'd throw a few picks in from the main category of pop music, just for fun, and also so I can throw my opinion in on some music from the past year...

Record of the Year

Lonely Boy - The Black Keyes

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson

We Are Young - Fun

Somebody That I Usedto Know - Gotye

Thinkin Bout You - Frank Ocean

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift

This one's a really difficult category this year. All six of these songs are wonderful in their own way, and they cover a wide variety of genres. The Keys' Lonely Boy is a fast-moving rock classic, Kelly Clarkson's #1 single off her eponymous album is an uplifting pop ditty, and Fun had a genuine coming of age anthem with We Are Young.

popculture

Gotye came out of nowhere to give us one of the coolest songs of the year, and Frank Ocean's Thinkin' Bout You is a modern R&B classic. Rounding out the six nominees is country music sweetheart Taylor Swift with her sugary sweet We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.

Who should win?

Like I said, this is a tough one, but I'd give it to Gotye because this particular song was very all over the place for much of the year, more-so than any of the other records on this list.

Who Will win?

Swift. She's just seems to be the darling of awards shows.

Song of the Year

The A-Team - Ed Sheeran

Adorn - Miguel

Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepson

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson

We Are Young - Fun

The songs in this category are nominated for songwriting, and since like most of you I recognize songs by the artist, that's who I listed above. I wasn't familiar with the first two songs nominated in this category until I began writing this post. The first one, The A-Team, is also written by Brit artist Ed Sheeran and it's a melodic, folksy song that's pretty darned good. The song was more of an international hit than it was here, though it became kind of a sleeper hit late in the year, peaking at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Miguel's Adorn is a smooth, silky R&B ballad that's got a really nice groove. The song is from Miguel's second album, Kaleidoscope Dream, and it peaked at #17 on the charts. Call Me Maybe...well...what can I say about that one? I'll give the songwriters credit for writing a killer hook that stayed in all of our heads for much of the year. Finally, we're down to Clarkson and Fun (see above).

concert posters

Who should win?

Having only heard it once, I might go with Sheeran's tune. It is a really good piece of songwriting and after only one listen I'm planning on downloading it. If he doesn't get the nod, I think Fun should win it.

Who will win?

My thoughts are with Ms. Kelly Clarkson, who solidified her image as a bona fide pop/rock/country/dance star with not only this song, but her entire set.

Best Pop Solo Performance

Set Fire to the Rain (Live) - Adele

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson

Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepson

Wide Awake - Katy Perry

Where Have You Been - Rihanna

Who should win?

I'm partial here to Perry, who's got such a way with pop songs...

Who will win?

I think that if Jepson wins in any category, it'll be this one.

thyPiRaTeam

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance

Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine

We Are Young - Fun

Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye

Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO

Payphone - Maroon 5 & Wiz Khalifa

Who should win?

My pick in this category would be Fun. Once again, their anthem is a great mix of songwriting, drama, and performance.

Who will win?

I think the prize will be given to Maroon 5 and Wiz Khalifa. If Swift is the darling of awards shows, so is Adam Levine in the world of pop these days.

Well, those are all the categories for pop songs. To see nominees for all of the other categories including Album of the Year, Best New Artist, and more, check out the Grammy's.

Damn That Was a Lot of Snow!

This isn't a really great picture, but you can see from inside my office on the second floor of my house that it is completely white outside. I woke up this morning to see that the snow had stopped falling sometime during the night, but I think it was enough anyway. It turns out that we got much more snow than was expected here on Long Island. Where early predictions were of around 12 to 16', we got more than two feet!

The snow was falling so hard at one point that I had gone outside to get a head start on shoveling and by the time I had gotten too my driveway, the stoop I had already shoveled was covered in snow already. Areas on the East End received higher snowfall totals than western areas, with 30.7 inches of snow recorded in Central Islip, more than two feet in Smithtown, Pt. Jeff, Stony Brook and other areas. We got just around two feet here in Patchogue. Several motorists were stranded on the Long Island Expressway and had to be rescued by police using snowmobiles. More than 10,000 are without power.

The northeastern New England states got belted the most, with one area in Connecticut getting a whopping 40 inches of snow.

Before I head out there to clean up and take my own shots, here are a few I got from Facebook: