Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

We're going to the mountains this weekend to celebrate the DM's birthday and (hopefully) have a weekend of relaxation. I'm excited about it, so I'm in the mood for fun music. Let's go with a simple, repeat theme here: '80s music.

Please post links to the songs you're requesting, and feel free to respond to others' suggestions.

I'll get it started with a classic song by The Cure:

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

Because I'm obviously having trouble commenting on all of the fine suggestions from Friday Music each week, I'm going to change up the format for a while. Commenting on posted suggestions is open to everyone.

In the spirit of this free-for-all approach, today's topic will be determined by the first person to pose one. As always, please post links as well.

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

Dear Casey,

Ten years ago I was a lonely child living on a small island off the coast of Maine. I didn't have many friends in my life, so I often escaped my dreary existence through the pages of classic novels. My best friends were Tom Sawyer, Holden Caulfield, and a boy named Pip. But that all changed when I made a real friend: Abraham.

Abraham was even smaller than I was, and even quieter, but when he came to the island, I knew I finally had a friend who understood me. I'd never met anyone so willing to listen to my problems, and together we worked through them all, no matter how big. I was happier than I'd ever been in my life.

Unfortunately, my happiness didn't last. Abe had only been around for a little over a year when my mom broke the news to me: He had contracted a disease and died. I was devastated. My only friend, gone in an instant. Suddenly I found myself even lonelier than I'd been before he arrived.

The next year my father took a job inland and I transferred to a much bigger school. We moved to a neighborhood teeming with children and, for the first time in my life, I finally had a circle of friends. But to this day, I've still not forgotten my very first friend.

Casey, could you please play Queen's "You're My Best Friend" for my best friend -- and the best goldfish I ever knew -- Abraham.

--------

This week's theme is long-distance dedications. Links, please.

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

I've missed Friday Music these last couple of weeks, but I'm happy to be back -- hopefully I haven't lost all of you.

This week's topic is: Music you would listen to if you were sitting alone on a bench in the park in the pouring rain. I realize that this scenario is perhaps unlikely, but put yourself there anyway and let's see what you come up with. As always, please post links to all suggestions.

Me? I would listed to this.

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

You know what I want to listen to today? The kind of music you'd expect to hear when you feel like everything is spinning. The kind of music you'd expect to hear in a state of delirium induced by lack of sleep and excess of caffeine.

The kind of music you would think would emanate from an unexpected parade of fantastical creatures through a dreamlike forest world.

So let's make the topic: bizarre.

I have obviously been slack in my responses to suggestions these last two weeks. I think this week, I'll just open the floor up to everyone. It's a Friday Music guest-hosted by all Friday Music regulars. Hopefully you guys will help me respond to suggestions this week.

As always, please post links to all suggestions.

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

This week features a two-part topic.

1. Music by the lesser-known. Try to post up something that'll be new to most people.

2. Music by the well-known, but lesser-known music. Music by established acts, but songs that won't be making it onto Greatest Hits albums.

As always, please post links with all suggestions.

Just because I'm feeling a bit sadistic today, I'm going to lead with a little Atilla, which satisfies both categories, I think. This isn't your grandmother's Piano Man.

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

I bought a piano today. My daughter has been taking lessons for a couple of years, thanks in part to a borrowed electric piano, but it's going back to its owner. I found a solid used console piano from a local shop, and I'm pretty excited about it, as I've wanted to learn to play forever. (Oh, and she needs a piano too!) It's being delivered on Monday.

So this week's theme is piano. Make it work however you can, and please include links.

I may have already posted this at some point, but it's worth an encore:



One of these days I might just do Fiona Friday:

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

And so does my friend Wildflower, who is struggling to compile a CD of cool love songs to give out to the guests at her brother's upcoming wedding. So I told her I would be happy to ask the Friday Music set to help out with some ideas. That's this week's topic: the RtN Wedding Mix.

The good thing about her brother is that he has great taste in music, so there's no need to go dropping cheesy, typical stuff. I don't need that on a Friday and neither do you. This mix needs to be cool.

To get it going, I'll mention the two songs Wildflower has already decided to include: Rich and Chris Robinson's "Cold Boy Smile" and Elvis Costello's "The Very Thought of You." (Okay, that's the Billie Holiday version, but I couldn't find Elvis' version.)

So hook a sister up! Even if you don't know how to make links like this, please try to post at least standard links with each of your suggestions.

Three Things

1. I'm exceedingly pleased to show you the cover of our next issue of Racer X. Our cover story is by Craig Schulz -- son of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz and longtime Racer X reader -- and through him we obtained the rights to run the gang on our cover and in our cover story. It's by far the most unique, unexpected thing we've ever done on page 1, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it's received by our readers.


2. It appears I have a children's book out. I remember writing it (and getting paid for it), but I've never seen the cover, I've never seen the book itself ... but it's apparently for sale already. Interesting. Perhaps I'll receive a copy of it one day? I wish I could have had one of my guys design the cover.

3. I was quoted in the last issue of Rolling Stone, in a story about my friend Robbie Maddison. Of course it was in the issue with the Jonas Brothers on the cover. The previous issue featured Barrack Obama and the new issue has Robert Downey Jr. on the cover, and I had to make the the Jonas Brothers issue. Still, it was kinda cool.

Enough about me. What's up with you?

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

Here's an interesting topic: songs you think could start movies.

If you link it, they will come.

Joe

As my friend and co-worker Keith and I were flying back from Portland last night, we heard a terrible sound. I immediately knew something was wrong, and I looked up and saw an elderly gentleman a few rows up and on the other side of the plane having what appeared to be an intense seizure. I still remember the exact sound he was making. The airline hostesses reacted quickly, and within moments one of them said over the speakers: "Is there a medical person on board? We have a passenger who is having a stroke." (This on-the-fly diagnosis surprised me, and in retrospect I think she must have meant seizure.)

Soon a doctor from first-class and a couple nurses from coach appeared and went to work. Their presence made me feel a little better. The doctor barked out orders from the start: "Get out of my way" she said to someone who was tending to Joe (that was his name) before she got there. "Get me blood-pressure cuff!" She then started talking to Joe, who was obviously still in a very bad way, and she continued to try to get him to acknowledge her for what seemed like 15 minutes. "Joe? Joe? Can you hear me, Joe? Stay with me, Joe, you're going to be okay!" It didn't seem to me like anything was getting better. Joe wasn't in seizure anymore, but he also wasn't responding. To be honest, I thought he was dying, and I know I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Especially after I heard the doctor say, "He's not going to make it," though we think now she meant he wasn't going to make it all the way to Pittsburgh.

Maybe the worst thing of all was that the only person Joe was traveling with was his young grandson -- he was probably 12 or 13 -- who was seated beside him at the window. He was right there for all of this, trapped in what was probably the scariest experience of his life. I sat in my seat hoping with everything I had. I actually tried to mentally connect with Joe, to talk him into coming back. This was no place to die, and it was certainly no place to watch your grandpa die. Come on back, Joe. You don't want it to happen here.

Then a bit later he started to come around. I could tell he was eking out responses to the doctor's questions. Soon I saw the doctor raise his arms above his head, and he actually held them up for a second. This was the moment when I though he would make it. He started to respond even more, and the doctor's demeanor relaxed, which was another good sign. That's when the decision was made to land in Chicago so Joe could get more help. Keith and I were both surprised that the decision hadn't been made earlier, as this whole scenario seemed to last well over 30 minutes. Maybe my judgment is off there, but if it is, it's not by much.

So the doctor sat in the aisle seat beside Joe and the plane banked hard and descended more rapidly than any large aircraft I've ever been on. It didn't seem reckless, necessarily, but it was pretty intense, especially after the experience everyone had just had. Keith wondered if this is the type of situation a commercial pilot lives for.

We landed and obviously taxied immediately to a gate, and an emergency crew was on board in a flash. That's when the best thing of all happened -- Joe weakly stood and took a step to the waiting wheelchair. If you'd asked me 30 minutes before, I would have guessed he was done for, and here he was getting to the chair on his own. His grandson followed, obviously shaken, and they vanished out the door and I assume to the extended hope of a hospital. A hospital that seemed impossibly far away just minutes before. The airline had some paperwork to process, and relatively soon we were back in the air, on our way to Pittsburgh. We got back to Morgantown around 2 a.m.

So that's all we know about Joe. Keith tried doing a search today to find more information on him, to no avail. I'd like to think he's doing fine now. He's a pretty old guy, and he's not going to live forever, but at least he made it through this one. Attaboy, Joe.

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

But I'll be on a plane to Portland, Oregon, so I've asked my blog buddy Helen Mansfield to fill in for me this week, and she's graciously accepted. Here's a note from Helen:

This Friday, I am asking readers to build their own super group, as I did on this old post.

Doesn't matter if members are living or dead, gather your dream together.

Think Judy Garland should be lead singer for The Buggles? Cool, but give me some links so we can all get an idea of what they would sound like.

Also, give me a short play list of what you think your super group would perform.

Enjoy!

Wow, Helen Mansfield is taking Friday Music to a whole ... nuvva ... level. It'll be interesting to see what everyone comes up with for this.

Link and let link, I always say. Link and let link.

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

This week's topic is: goodbye.

Everyone is encouraged to post music suggestions that somehow fit this category. Please include links to your suggestions.

We'll be on a family vacation starting this weekend, so I'm not sure when I'll post comments on the suggestions, but I will at some point.

I'll start with this classic:

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

Only it's Wednesday. But Friday is a holiday and most people probably won't be near a computer, so we're doing Friday Music on Thursday. Got it? Great.

My buddy Crusseldrums and his wife are expecting their second son any day now, so in honor of their growing family, this week's topic is: children.

Remember, it's linkin' park up in this joint. If you don't know how to make text into a link, just paste the URL after the suggestion.

We start with a rock anthem for the ages.

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

I went out for drinks with some friends last night and Mungerphut suggested a great topic for this week: The Elements--earth, air, fire, and water. So let's see what music you guys come up with for that.

You can link if you want to, you can leave your friends behind. 'Cause your friends don't link and if they don't link, well, they're no friends of mine.

What's All This Business Stuff, Anyway?

My friend Molly sent me an interesting question on my Facebook dealio last night.

Okay Bryan, what is this TSGB about? I haven't grasped the concept. Is it a place to network?

So I've been asking myself -- really, really asking myself -- just what the hot new phrase "That's Some Good Business" is really all about. The answer isn't a simple one, and perhaps it's best to start with a few things that TSGB (pronounced, roughly, tisgebuh by the kids) is not.

• TSGB is not just the first line of a bitchin' haiku
• TSGB is not just some catchy sticker slogan thought up by some businessman in a suit. (I almost never wear a suit.)
• TSGB is not just a widely-accepted generational catch-phrase -- it spans generations and has the shelf life of a Twinkie.

So I guess the simple answer is: That's Some Good Business is the hottest new phrase on the streets of the United States of America -- nay, the world. In fact, it's been translated into numerous languages already, much like the Bible and Baywatch. Following are some examples.

• Dutch: Dat is één of andere goede zaken!
• French: C'est quelques bonnes affaires !
• German: Das ist irgendein gutes Geschäft!
• Greek, even!: Αυτή είναι κάποια καλή επιχείρηση! (for you, Olive!)
  
• Italian: Quello è un certo buon commercio! (for you, Zee!)
  
• Japanese: それはよいビジネスである!
• Portuguese: Aquele é algum bom negócio! (for you, Devil Mood!)
• Spanish: ¡Ése es un cierto buen negocio! (for you, Dora!)

But it's more than just a catch phrase that defines goodness for people across the globe, Molly. It's a lifestyle. It's a cosmic connection with the idea that this world doesn't have to suck. It's a reminder that there are still people out there who believe in giving credit where credit is due, and they're enthusiastically slapping TSGB stickers on the backs of their cell phones to make sure that, while they're carrying on phone conversations, and as long as they're holding their phones in such a way that you can still see the sticker, the whole world knows how they feel. It's like one big celebration, Molly, where we, the warriors of the TSGB tribe, shout at the top of the highest mountain, as if life were one big retro Coke commercial:

THAT'S SOME GOOD BUSINESS!

That, my friend, is what TSGB is all about. I hope that clears things up for you.

If anyone would like to join the That's Some Good Business Facebook group, where you'll be sure to never miss the hottest news about the TSGB movement, you'll be welcomed with open arms. There are no obligations (beyond the initial contractual agreement to supply me with 25 percent of your annual income and a $20 gift card to iTunes), so I hope to see you all there.

Volcano

Friday Music

It's Friday. I need music.

And so does Teoh, who returns for another round of hosting RtN's weekly playlist. As always, the guest chooses the topic, and Teoh got a little crazy with this one. He said:

"I'd like to mix it up and see people's playlists consist of one each of:

- songs about money
- rock chicks who look scary in their music videos
- the whitest rap, like, ever
- music made famous by a commercial"

Interesting -- this one is pretty out there. As always, linkidy link link link.

The Feet is Opening the Pack

Today I asked our new intern Alissa if I could have a piece of gum, and she said sure, but the unopened pack was giving her a bit of trouble and she said, "The feat is opening the pack."

This instantly almost made my head explode, as I envisioned referring to one's own feet in the third person and as a singular entity.

"The feet is opening the pack!"

I almost died.

NuTsie

You know what rules? NuTsie rules. It's a lot like Pandora or the other "playlist" sites that are out there, but on NuTsie, when you want to listen to, say, Joseph Arthur, you can listen to all Joseph Arthur. It's a great resource and it'll make for a handy site on Fridays.