Entries Tagged as 'Media'

My Five Best and Worst Songs List

Waiting for Stanley tagged me to provide my my best and worst songs. Since my musical tastes are extremely varied, I decided to list my favorites (and others songs that make me absolutely cringe when I hear them) by decade. These songs I could listen to over and over again without getting tired of them.

So, here you go:

Best:

1960s: “A Day in the Life” Lennon/McCartney The Beatles: The song blew me away the first time I heard it for its composition and for its arrangement. Plus, when I was younger, the whole urban legend about Paul McCartney being dead had its appeal. The song contains the longest E Major chord that I have ever heard and it is the last chord you hear.

Simon and Garfunkel would have worked for me too.

1970s: “Bohemian Rhaposdy” Freddie Mercury Queen: Before Wayne and Garth showcased this song and elicited its revival, the first time I heard it was a live recording on a Queen album called Queen Live Killers. I know it’s from A Night at the Opera, but I heard it on the live recording first and that’s when I was hooked.

I could have put “Hotel California” by the Eagles on my list as well as anything by Steely Dan. It’s also difficult leaving out anything by Chicago (the early stuff, not the love ballads that the band morphed into later on).

1980s: “Tom Sawyer” Lee, Peart, Lifeson Rush: My first Rush album (and not my last). “Fly by Night” almost made the cut here, but “Tom Sawyer” is a staple for me.

There is another song from this decade that is on my list: “Synchronicity II” Sting The Police. The hard hitting percussion from Stewart Copeland and the lyrics of the song (along with the arrangement) was (and still is) gold. I tried to find the other video that went along with the song, but I only found this one (along with an assortment of concert footage). The other version of the video is better…

I could put anything by Toto in this decade too.

2000s: “Beautiful Day” U2. I could have picked several U2 songs, but settled on this one for this list. The song rocks and I can’t write anything else about it.

Worst:

1960s: “MacArthur Park” Donna Summer: Okay, I still don’t get the cake and the recipe, and the junk that goes along with the song. It’s not even quirky nor is it that well done. To me, it’s just plain awful.

1970s: Anything by ABBA…you pick it, and I’ll find a way to complain about it.

1980s: “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” Wang Chung. This was close. “Sunglasses at Night” by Corey Hart and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by that pop supergroup Wham almost got in there.

1990s: “mmmmBOP” by the Hansons. Note, it’s not like the hockey version of the Hansons, those guys are good (and if you would like to look at stuff to buy related to the movie, you can click here). The musical Hansons, however, were not.

2000s: “Bye Bye Bye” N’Sync. Put anything these dudes “performed” and it would make the worst of all time for me. Prepackaged music at its best.

There you are and there you have it.

Blogs to tag? If they want to play and haven’t been tagged yet: Army of Ohio, Bolts Blog and The NHL Arena Blog. Also, if you want another perspective on some good music, my brother might play along too: Tales of an Introvert.

Nick Vachon as Clark, the Canadian Hockey Goalie

Yesterday, I linked to a post (found in Having Hockey Withdrawal) by Anaheim Duck Fan who shared a video about a hockey player who misses the game of hockey so much that during the off-season, he decides to try baseball in order to pass the time. If you haven’t seen it, it’s very funny and worth the five minutes.

After my wife read the comments from Anonymous who wrote, “i think that’s rogie vachon’s kid!”, she did a little research.

Yes, in that video, it is Nick Vachon, son of Rogie Vachon who has the unfortunate distinction of playing only one game in the NHL with the New York Islanders and did not score a point. (It should also be stated that I’ve never played in the NHL, so he has accomplished more than me.) The left winger was drafted in the 12th round of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs and spent most of his career in the AHL with the Utah Grizzlies, the Long Beach Ice Dogs, and the Springfield Falcons before calling it a career in 1998.

He also played three seasons with the Phoenix Roadrunners while they were a part of the IHL from 1994 to 1997. Vachon played with Yanic Perreault before Perreault went to the Los Angeles Kings in 1995. During the 1994-1995 and 1995-1996 seasons, the Roadrunners made the playoffs only to lose in the conference semifinals and quarterfinals respectively.

Besides the role of Clark, in Clark the Canadian Hockey Goalie, he has appeared in the movies S.W.A.T. and The Patriot.

Having Hockey Withdrawal?

For those of you missing hockey right now, you are not alone.

Anaheim Duck Fan has a great video that is worth viewing and during the off season it seems that there is one hockey athlete that misses the game as well.