Halloween - Thriller

When the Thriller album was released in 1982 (along with the music videos that accompanied it) it would mark the last appearance of the Michael Jackson I grew up with. After that, much like the transformation of his character in the video into a werewolf and zombie, he began morphing into something unrecognizable as the previously standout member of the Jackson Five. But the Thriller music video was a genuine collaboration of genius between performer Jackson and director John Landis and has become the de facto anthem for Halloween.



It's close to midnight
Something evil's lurkin'in the dark
Under the moonlight
You see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream
But terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze
As horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed

You hear the door slam
And realize there's nowhere left to run
You feel the cold hand
And wonder if you'll ever see the sun
You close your eyes
And hope that this is just imagination, Girl
But all the while
You hear a creature creepin' up behind
You're outta time

They're out to get you
There's demons closing in on every side
They will possess you
Unless you change that number on your dial
Now is the time
For you and I to cuddle close together, yeah
All through the night
I'll save you from the terror on the screen
I'll make you see

[Rap]
Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'alls neighborhood
And whosoever shall be found
Without the soul for getting down
Must stand and face the hounds of hell
And rot inside a corpse's shell

[Rap]
The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom
And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller

'Cause this is thriller
Thriller night
And no one's gonna save you
From the beast about to strike
You know it's thriller
Thriller night
You're fighting for your life
Inside a killer
Thriller

Thriller
Thriller night
'Cause I can thrill you more
Than any ghoul would ever dare try
(Thriller)
Woo Hoo!
(Thriller night)
So let me hold you tight
And share a
(Killer, diller, chiller)
(Thriller here tonight)

'Cause this is thriller
Thriller night
Girl, I can thrill you more
Than any ghoul would ever dare try
(Thriller)
Woo Hoo!
(Thriller night)
So let me hold you tight
And share a
(Killer, thriller)

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Halloween - Monster Mash

I was 7 years old in October of 1962 when Bobby "Boris" Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers released "Monster Mash", a novelty song that would become a Halloween favorite. I remember being at Halloween parties and dancing to this song, and thankfully no film or video exists of that scary sight.

Alas, there is also no film or video of the original group performing this hit (at least none that I could find) but this is a cute video using Lego-people to stand in for the various characters.

Enjoy!




I was working in the lab late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
For my monster from his slab began to rise
And suddenly to my surprise

He did the mash
He did the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
He did the mash
It caught on in a flash
He did the mash
He did the monster mash

From my laboratory in the castle east
To the master bedroom where the vampires feast
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
To get a jolt from my electrodes

They did the mash
They did the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
They did the mash
It caught on in a flash
They did the mash
They did the monster mash

The zombies were having fun
The party had just begun
The guests included Wolf Man
Dracula and his son

The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds
Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds
The coffin-bangers were about to arrive
With their vocal group, "The Crypt-Kicker Five"

They played the mash
They played the monster mash
The monster mash
It was a graveyard smash
They played the mash
It caught on in a flash
They played the mash
They played the monster mash

Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring
Seems he was troubled by just one thing
He opened the lid and shook his fist
And said, "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?"

It's now the mash
It's now the monster mash
The monster mash
And it's a graveyard smash
It's now the mash
It's caught on in a flash
It's now the mash
It's now the monster mash

Now everything's cool, Drac's a part of the band
And my monster mash is the hit of the land
For you, the living, this mash was meant too
When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you

Then you can mash
Then you can monster mash
The monster mash
And do my graveyard smash
Then you can mash
You'll catch on in a flash
Then you can mash
Then you can monster mash

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Happy 13th Anniversary!

It was 13 years ago tonight at approximately 9pm that Cindy and I first met. I was working as a DJ in a club and she came in dressed in a Medieval wench dress for our Halloween costume contest and asked me to play a song for her.

Within a few months I asked the little Witch (I say that in the most positive sense) to marry me and to my everlasting joy she said, "Yes."

These past 13 years have been the happiest of my life. Here are The Shades of Blue, performing how I feel, just for you babe.

Happy Anniversary!




Oh how happy you have made me
Oh how happy you have made me

I have kissed your lips a thousand times
And more times than I can count
I have called you mine
You have stood by me in my darkest hour

Oh how happy you have made me
Oh how happy you have made me
Oh how happy you have made me
Oh how happy you have made me

In our years together
We have had stormy weather
But our love has been so strong
That somehow we carried on

Oh how happy you have made me
Oh how happy you have made me

Girl you brought joy in my empty life
And all that was wrong you've made it right

Our love
Our love
Our love

Oh how happy you have made me
Oh how happy you have made me

Oh how happy, Oh how happy
Oh how happy, Oh how happy
Oh how happy

You have made me
You have made me
You have made me
You have made me

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Takin' Care Of Business

Today was a "mostly at my desk" day doing paperwork and preparing an agenda and collateral documents for a large conference call this coming Wednesday, so I took advantage of the seat time to listen to music on my iPhone using the stereo Bluetooth headset so no one could hear my tunes.

Everything was fine until, apparently, I got into the music a little too much. Foot tapping, arm waving, air-guitaring and head shaking to Takin' Care of Business by Bachman Turner Overdrive earned me some funny looks and is NOT a good idea in a big government agency office.

Taking care of business and working overtime
Work out!

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Hit The Road Jack - Albany Georgia Visit

Tuesday morning I had to drive 3 1/2 hours from Atlanta to Albany, Georgia for a visit with an elected official's staff. I had lunch in Albany and while there used part of my lunch hour to take a photowalk in the city's beautiful Veteran's Park and the Ray Charles Plaza. In case you didn't know, the late Ray Charles was born in Albany, and the city has a unique shrine dedicated to their favorite son. As you can see in the photos below, part of the plaza has a giant-sized piano keyboard.

"Albany, Georgia October 2009"

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The walk was a nice break before climbing back into the car for a 3 1/2 hour trip back to Atlanta. By the way, the first part of the title of this post "Hit The Road Jack", was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks beginning the week of October 9, 1961, just over 48 years ago. I think my very favorite version of the song is from the 1989 movie "The Dream Team" where Peter Boyle and some of the other patients at a mental health facility sing it during a bus trip to a baseball game. If you don't crack up when Boyle sings the chorus, I just don't know what will ever make you laugh.

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Shazam!

No, I'm not referring to the magical word that transforms young Billy Batson into Captain Marvel. Nor am I talking about Gomer Pyle's favorite word of exclamation.

I'm talking about another app that makes me love my iPhone.

If you're not familiar with it, Shazam is a "music discovery engine" application that allows you to hold your iPhone or other handheld device where it can hear a song playing and in about 20 seconds it will identify the song, singer, album AND offer you a link to download it if you so choose, and much more.

I've had the application on my iPhone for a while, but didn't try it out until the other night when I was "holding court" in the hotel bar, getting soused with beautiful women hanging on my every word as I told wild, outlandish stories and regaled them with my life of action and intrigue.

Ok, that's not entirely true.

I WAS in the hotel bar, which is also a restaurant, but I was sitting alone having dinner and reading a magazine. See how exciting my life really is, lol? Around me people in groups or couples were talking, the TV's were on and on top of all that the bar was playing music over it's sound system. I was checking Facebook and Twitter when I thought, "Hey, what's that song they're playing? Wait! I have an application that is supposed to be able to tell me." So I opened up Shazam, clicked the "Tag This" button and then held the phone and watched it listen to and record the sound, send the clip to Shazam's database, and return the name of the song, the artist singing it, the album it was on and links to buy it on iTunes, watch a video of the song on YouTube, tweet the tag, read a biography of the artist, look at the artist's discography and read the lyrics. Wow!

I did it 5 different times with 5 different songs and it identified 4 of them. I'm pretty sure it was just too noisy in the bar for it to recognize the one it couldn't identify. But in spite of all the noise and warring sounds, Shazam successfully tagged 4 out of the 5.

Shazam! Your magic word for exclaiming when a song is identified for you.

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I Want You Back - 40 Years Later

On October 7, 1969, producer Berry Gordy and Motown Records released "I Want You Back", the first single off the inaugural album of The Jackson 5 entitled "Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5." The song was an instant hit, going to number 1 on the U.S. charts (knocking the Beatles’ hit "Let It Be" out of the top spot), and selling over 4 million copies around the world. In December of that same year, when the album was finally released, it landed in the number 5 spot on the U.S. charts, but "I Want You Back" would be the only singles hit off their first album.

I was 14 years old and I remember the local rock n' roll radio station played it as often as I suppose the FCC would allow. I bought the 45 single and then the album. I wish I still had them today. That song, which kicked off a string of number 1 hits for the brother group, is probably my favorite Jackson 5 song of all time. The first piano chord riff grabbed my attention and the following bass guitar line held it throughout the song while Michael sang like few 11 year-olds ever would.



Today, 40 years later, the previously unreleased Jackson 5 song "That's How Love Is" went on sale exclusively through iTunes and is the first single from "I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters", a Jackson 5 album collection of 12 tracks recorded by the group between 1969 and 1974. They've been sitting in the Motown vault all these years (along with enough songs for 4 more albums), deemed unworthy of release until now, following the death of Michael Jackson. The album is scheduled to be released on November 10, 2009.

I'll admit I'm torn. I stopped caring anything about Michael Jackson following the accusations, not once but twice, of child molestation. But I still like listening to Jackson 5 songs and some of MJ's earlier stuff. I would probably like the style of these unreleased songs. But do I want to feed the machine?

What do you think?

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Mary Travers 1936 - 2009 R.I.P.

Peter, Paul and Mary were an indelible part of the music scene in the 1960's, a vocal part of our nation's cultural change and a significant part of my own childhood memories and thoughts. Mary Travers passed away yesterday at the age of 72 due to complications from chemotherapy after going through a bone-marrow transplant that successfully defeated the leukemia she had been diagnosed with in 2005.

Almost exactly a year ago I posted here about the effect that their song "Puff (The Magic Dragon)", had on me as a child. But that song from the trio was not the only one of theirs that shaped the years I was growing up. Songs like "Blowin' in the Wind", "If I Had a Hammer", "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "I Dig Rock and Roll Music" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" are strong threads in the tapestry of my memories.

Mary Travers sang the songs of change and the songs of my childhood. It was a time of protest because of the Vietnam war; a time of the painful birth of the civil rights movement. Change is sometimes traumatic, but her voice helped ease the truth of that needed change to many. Perhaps our parents would not understand, but we would and we would carry that understanding through our lives.

"I have no idea what it will be like to have no Mary in my world, in my life, or on stage to sing with. But I do know there will always be a hole in my heart, a place where she will always exist that will never be filled by any other person. However painful her passing is, I am forever grateful for Mary and her place in my life." - Peter Yarrow

"I am deadened and heartsick beyond words to consider a life without Mary Travers and honored beyond my wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career." - Noel Paul Stookey

Memory moves us past each other
Time is a ribbon without end
Love is the lesson we keep learning
Death but a moment we must spend

But A Moment - Mary Travers and Noel Paul Stookey

Rest In Peace, Mary Travers.

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Music While Writing?

The June issue of The Writer magazine had a small sidebar article on writers listening to music while writing. It made me think about the presence and effect of music when I'm writing.

I like to listen to music while writing. If I'm writing something non-fiction I can listen to just about any of the songs on my laptop or, when I'm home from the road, the CD's I own. What I mean to say is anything with lyrics in songs I enjoy. Admittedly though, there are times when I get SO into what I'm writing that I don't consciously hear the music or songs. I have had occasion to suddenly realize that I slid right through several songs and never realized they had played until I looked at my playlist.

But when I'm trying to create something fictional or especially if I'm writing dialog, I switch to either music only or to no music, no sounds at all. Complete silence. I need to be in my own head to "hear" my characters and what they are thinking or saying. But sometimes I listen to music that I think my character would listen to, in an attempt to get inside their (actually mine, of course, lol) head. Sometimes I listen to music that I feel helps set the "mood" for my scene setting or to get ME in the mood for the scene I want to write.

Do you listen to music while writing?

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"Thriller" In Lexington

Last Thursday night the Mecca Dance Studio, a 200-student dance school in Lexington, KY, performed their version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video in Cheapside Park near downtown Lexington as a tribute to the late artist. After getting off work, I drove downtown to see what I might see. I got to take a few dozen photos (though only a handful are viewer-worthy) which you can see by going to my Flickr site here.



I also had the opportunity to use my iPhone 3G S to take some video for the first time. I've embedded it below and I didn't think it was all that bad, but I DO wish the iPhone 3G S had some zoom capability. The paper mache Michael is kind of creepy, but the performance was good and everyone on "stage" obviously had a good time. As you can see, the crowd filled the park area.

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Cindy's Atlanta Weekend Visit Part II

Note: Part I can be found here.

We left the hotel at 5pm in order to meet four co-workers of mine who were attending the performance with us, for a nice pre-event dinner at Pittypat’s Porch, a renown eatery about a mile from The Fox Theatre. Fans of "Gone With The Wind" will recognize the name of Aunt Pittypat as a character from the book and movie who would only prepare her best recipes when Scarlett came to visit in Atlanta. The menu is Southern-style cuisine and so is the service. Both were excellent and we spent about an hour and a half eating, talking and visiting. Cindy and I had our first ever Mint Julep. It was good, but too sweet for our tastes.

After dinner we drove to the theater through suddenly backed up streets, found a parking space and made it inside about 5 minutes before the curtain went up on an absolutely fantastic show you MAY have heard of...The Jersey Boys.

The Jersey Boys, winner of the Tony Award in 2006 as Best Musical, is the story of how Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, four blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the New Jersey tracks, came to be, using more than thirty of their musical hits to frame the history of this amazing group. Unless you're already an expert on matters pertaining to them, I can guarantee you're going to learn something, probably several somethings, about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

From the opening chords of the French version of "Oh What A Night" to the final note of "Who Loves You?" at the end of the performance, this production is more than just an excuse to showcase the group's musical history. Their personal history is presented as well in a true storyline that will leave you laughing, singing, quiet with reflection and stunned at the tragedy, before bringing you back to laughing and singing at their personal and professional triumphs as the play concludes.

As great as the music is, this would not be the smash hit it is without the guys who portray the group. Matt Bailey is the handsome, sometimes lawbreaker Tommy DeVito; Steve Gouveia is the quiet, little-bit-odd Nick Massi; Josh Franklin is the quiet songwriting genius Bob Gaudio (who also wrote this play); and finally the spectacular Leo Bwarie is the almost four octave range voice of the signature sound of the group, Frankie Valli.

It is Bwarie's stand-out performance that makes this show as great as it is. He captures the early innocence and naivete of Valli in his youth, shows both the heart of gold and sometimes feet of clay that Valli possessed, and made the role come alive with his singing and dancing, even eliciting a collective "Ooooohhh" from the ladies in the audience and an "Owwww" from the men when he did a perfect standing split.

But it does, after all, come down and back to the music. For most of us, it was the music of our youth and the feelings of nostalgia are hard to deny. I was 7 years old and a big fan of rock and roll in 1962 when their first charted hit "Sherry" was released, followed by "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like A Man" and "Candy Girl." In 1964 they released "Dawn", "Ronnie", "Save It for Me", and "Bye, Bye, Baby." Over the next few years hits like "Let's Hang On!", "Working My Way Back to You", "Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" and "C'mon Marianne" were all top 40 songs for the group, so you can see how their music would have suffused my life as I was growing up. The play features all those songs and more.



Suffice it to say we were "dancing" in our seats. The music, especially if you grew up with it but even if you didn't, is infectious in every way. You sing along, you hum, you clap, you wiggle your butt in your seat. You could be a contestant on "Name That Tune" and be the person who names the song in one note, because as soon as you hear that first note you KNOW what song is coming. It was pretty incredible to see 5,000 people on their feet clapping, swaying and singing along to the chorus of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"

I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.

This is a play I would gladly pay again to see, and I don't say that about many such shows.



The Fox Theatre is a beautiful venue. The decor is stunning, the acoustics are vibrant and the seats, ah the seats are SO comfortable. Even my wide-load posterior fit without the usual need to squeeze. This theater began it's life 80 years ago as the headquarters for the 5,000 member Shriners organization before becoming a movie house in the 1940's through the 1960's.

It was in danger of being destroyed in the 1970's when Atlanta's downtown growth was exploding. But a preservation group prevailed, restoration was undergone and today, in addition to being designated a National Historic Landmark, The Fox Theatre is one hell of a venue for live performances like "The Jersey Boys."

I bought the play CD, the original group "Very Best Of" CD, the original group live performance DVD and a T-shirt for Cindy. After saying our goodbyes to my co-workers, Cindy and I got in the car, popped in the original group CD and sang songs all the way back to the hotel.

Indeed, "Oh What A Night!"

If you have the opportunity to see "The Jersey Boys" I strongly urge you to do so. You won't be disappointed.

To be continued...

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Who Loves You?

We just got back to the hotel from the Fox Theatre in Atlanta where we were witness (along with almost 5,000 others at this sold out show) to one of the most awesome stage performances in the form of The Jersey Boys.

I'm worn out from singing along, tapping my feet and clapping until my hands and arms were sore, so I'll leave this tonight and try to write a better review later.

Damn! it was good!!!

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Going To See "Jersey Boys"

When I first arrived here 2 weeks ago, my immediate boss said something about going to see "Jersey Boys" while it was being performed here in Atlanta at The Fox Theater. Before I left Orlando there were ads on TV for their current performance run at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre and I had thought that if I was home I'd like to take Cindy and go see the show. Then when I got called up here I put it out of my mind. That was, until I found out they would be performing shows here in Atlanta while I was in town. I mentioned to my boss that I'd love to see them as well.

My boss capitalized on my interest in going by having me do all the "leg work" of finding the best seats on nights that a group of us could go, which eventually turned out to be Saturday, June 13th, the 8pm show with four of us going. We bought the tickets today, putting them all on my boss' credit card so she could get the points. That's why she's the boss.

By the way, Ticketmaster has a REAL racket going and they certainly don't make it easy to buy tickets. Between the high "convenience" charge, the facility charge and the "delivery charge" ($2.50 so you can print your own ticket using your ink and your printer!) it feels like a mob shakedown. In addition to that you have to jump through hoops to actually purchase a ticket, by filling in verification forms and being forced to fill in order information under the gun of a timer clock that will release your ticket choice back to the system if you don't complete the order in the amount of time they give you. Talk about performance anxiety! But, since we all work 10-12 hours a day 6 days a week, no one has the time to go in person to make the purchase so we had no choice. Still, paying an extra $16.50 above the price of each ticket seems somewhat exorbitant and, given ANY other choice, I will always bypass Ticketmaster.

Anyway, our entourage consists of my immediate boss here in the office, her immediate boss here in the office, our boss from the regional office and me, the only male in the group. You can be sure that I'll be angling for the seat at the end of our group.I tried to get my friend and co-worker Valerie to go, but she would have none of it. So I'm on my own with management.

But, as a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons fan, I'm definitely looking forward to the show.

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A Busy Saturday

We began the day with a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel with Cindy's mom and dad, then over to Jeremy and Wendy's to see the wedding event photos/DVD and pick up the souvenirs they brought us from London.

Back home we spent most of the rest of the afternoon tearing down the special table I had made for Cindy a couple years ago to make her candles on and cleaning/rearranging the area in preparation for getting the house on the market later this year.

Now we're on our way out the door for an early dinner in downtown Orlando and then over to the Arena to enjoy the Celtic Woman concert, compliments of Jeremy and Wendy who bought the tickets as an early Mother's Day gift for Cindy.

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Cold Kentucky Rain

I was driving from Frankfort to Elizabethtown last Wednesday for a meeting. It was cold and it was raining. So, of course, the radio station I was listening to played this song:

Seven lonely days
And a dozen towns ago
I reached out one night
And you were gone
Don't know why you'd run,
What you're running to or from
All I know is I want to bring you home

So I'm walking in the rain,
Thumbing for a ride
On this lonely Kentucky backroad
I've loved you much too long
My love's too strong
To let you go, never knowing
What went wrong

Kentucky rain keeps pouring down
And up ahead's another town
That I'll be walking through
With the rain in my shoes,
Searching for you
In the cold Kentucky rain,
In the cold Kentucky rain

Showed your photograph
To some old gray bearded men
Sitting on a bench
Outside a general store
They said "Yes, she's been here"
But their memory wasn't clear
Was it yesterday,
No, wait...the day before?

Well I finally got a ride
With a preacher man who asked
"Where you bound on such a cold dark afternoon?"
As we drove on through the rain
And he listened I explained
And he left me with a prayer
That I'd find you

Kentucky rain keeps pouring down
And up ahead's another town
That I'll be walking through
With the rain in my shoes,
Searching for you
In the cold Kentucky rain!
In the cold Kentucky rain!
In the cold Kentucky rain!

"Uhh thank ya very much ladies and gentlemen, thank ya very much."

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Band From TV

Last night on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno "Band From TV" made what I believe is their first appearance on television and it was spectacular.

If you're a fan of shows like "Heroes", "Desperate Housewives", "House" and others, then you should love that some of your favorite actors and actresses from those shows have formed a musical group, known by the clever name of "Band From TV", along with some fellow musicians who jam with them and stars from other shows who sometime join them at concerts.

The regular lineup includes a powerhouse of well-known and acclaimed actors including: Greg Grunberg of "Heroes" (drums); Adrian Pasdar, also of "Heroes" (guitar); Teri Hatcher of "Desperate Housewives" (vocals) who I did not see in last night's performance; James Denton also of "Desperate Housewives" (guitar); Bob Guiney who appeared on "The Bachelor" and is currently seen on TLC's "Date My House" (vocals); Bonnie Somerville who is starring in ABC's new fall series "Cashmere Mafia" (vocals); Hugh Laurie, star of "House" (keyboards); Jesse Spencer also of "House" (violin); and rounding out the band are accomplished musicians Chris Kelley, Barry Sarna, Jon Sarna, Chris Mostert and child-star turned bass player Brad Savage.

They have a CD/DVD available of a live concert performance available exclusively on Amazon, titled "Hoggin' All The Covers" which promptly went on my Amazon Wishlist.

Even cooler than all this talent coming together for some musical fun is the fact that the majority of proceeds from concerts and CD/DVD sales go to charities that the performers support.

Here's a video of last night's performance from YouTube.

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The End Of The World As We Know It

My friend ZenGrrl and I were discussing upcoming movies at lunch today and she asked me if I had seen the trailer for 2012 and when I indicated that I didn't think I had she gave a description which stopped short of being a spoiler. When I came home and watched the trailer online, I realized I HAD seen the trailer at the last movie Cindy and I went to see. The film is one of my favorite genres, the "disaster" story, and deals with the Mayan Doomsday theory that the world will end on the last day of the Mayan calendar, December 21, 2012.

At some point over this past weekend, Cindy and I were discussing the news that Yellowstone National Park sits on a massive volcano and that recent small earthquakes may indicate a massive eruption is imminent. Scientific theories postulate that such an eruption might very well blanket half of the country in volcanic ash. In researching that news, I came across Armageddon Online, a website dedicated to all the various and sundry ways that life on this earth may come to an end, both natural and man-made. Despite its name, I've not seen any indication in the content that the site is anything but a science based source of information.

It can be quite depressing to peruse the different ways this world may expire.

But as the R.E.M. song says, "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine."

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Top 10 Word Of Jeff Posts For 2008

I thought it might be fun to review my blog statistics and see what the top posts were for 2008, in terms of page hits. In case you may have missed them or are a new reader, here are the Top 10 Word Of Jeff Posts For 2008:

10. By Grabthar's Hammer

9. Top 10 Science Fiction Authors

8. Top 10 Movie Theme Songs

7. Sunny 105.9

6. Saying Goodbye To Missouri

5. The Facebook/YouTube Virus

4. The 100 Worst Christmas Songs

3. Angel At The Fence - A Hoax

2. What Does "Des Moines" Mean?

And the Number One Word Of Jeff Post For 2008...

1. Cindy Hard At Work

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Who Is Your Celebrity Best Friend?

As it is wont to do, my mind was wandering the other day and it wandered upon this little question lying in the overgrown weeds and wildflowers growing next to the tracks of my train of thought; Which celebrity would you like to have as a best friend?

These days we all know a lot more about the lives of celebrities than we probably need to know. Between People Magazine (and all its clones), newspapers, websites and TV shows galore, there's a pretty good chance that, with a little thought and research, we could come up with enough information about a particular celebrity to make a decision as to whether we would want him or her as a best friend. I say that with the caveat that, obviously, none of us can ever really know what another person is like on the inside or what their life will ultimately consist of until it is ended.

But let's try it anyway - shall we?

For the purposes of this little question, "celebrity" will mean:

A. An actor, TV personality, sportsperson, athlete, musician, corporate leader, author or politician of either gender. It will not mean "flash in the pan, trying to get more than their allotted 15 minutes of fame" people like "Joe the plumber." types. And I don't have anything against "Joe the plumber" (other than his political stand, and his actions, and his thoughts, and his words), but that is not the type of celebrity I'm referring to in my question.

B. Also, unless you typically base your best friend choices on only one aspect of their being, such as looks, political view, philosophy, vocabulary, etc. please try to make your choice based on an informed decision about the person, in other words knowing a broad range of information about the person and how they think, behave, treat other people, etc.

C. Not a dead or historical person. Unless you're into necrophilia, please confine your choice to those who are among the living. Otherwise, I might have considered Randy Pausch, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln or Aristotle.

D. Finally, not your current best friend, spouse, parent or sibling, unless they happen to be a celebrity.

While you think about your choice, let me share with you some who fell into my consideration (in no particular order, so don't try and draw anything from that) and then who my final choice ended up being.

10. Bill Clinton - Yeah, he's one of those guys you either love or hate, I happen to think he is a great leader and politician; tarnished (like most of us are), but great. Intelligent, compassionate and passionate about what he believes in.

9. Neil Gaiman - comic book writer, author and screenplay writer; from his blog and interviews he seems to be kind, friendly, intelligent and a person who would be a fantastic conversationalist. I love his writing. Plus, he wears all black, something I hope to do when I'm retired.

8. Harrison Ford - If he were my best friend, my daughter would spend more time around me because she thinks he's great. Ok, that's only part of the reason. He's always seemed to be level-headed in spite of the chance he had to get a big head from all the publicity of Star Wars and the Indiana Jones movies. He's quiet-spoken (like I try to be) and gives thought to answers without blurting out something. He seems genuinely nice. Plus, If he were my best friend, my daughter would spend more time around me.

7. John Walsh - Father of murdered 6 year-old Adam Walsh. My own children were 6 and 3 1/2 when Adam Walsh was abducted and decapitated in 1981. If I contemplated such a heinous thing happening to one of them, I believe I would have gone insane. Mr. Walsh took that agony that any loving parent would have felt and turned it into something immeasurably good and lasting. His actions changed laws and procedures dealing with missing children, and his show "America's Most Wanted" has been responsible for the capture of over 1,000 felons. I'm not sure I would have had the strength of character to move beyond such a horrific event and make something so positive out of it like he has done. He is a great inspiration to me, and no doubt to others.

6. Al Gore - He was robbed of the Presidency in 2000; but instead of going off and hiding, he returned to his first love of ecology and the environment to make an even greater impact on our country and the world. I admire his intelligence, passion and dedication.

5. George Clooney - I like the way he thinks, talks and comports himself. I like his quiet philanthropy and his charitable work. And I like to watch him act.

4. Bruce Willis - He's a man of few words (like me), seems to treat people well and is an action-movie hero (unlike me). Anyone who can take some of the outlandish scenes in "live Free or Die hard" and make them almost believable has my admiration as an actor. He seems like the kind of guy who is never ruffled by anything, including having his gorgeous ex-wife being in a relationship with a guy almost young enough to be her son.

3. Oprah Winfrey - she's intelligent, caring, capable, principled and seems to be very loyal to her friends. And she's the richest woman in America. How could you go wrong with that?

2. Ellen Degeneres - she's incredibly funny in a low-key manner, intelligent, seems to treat people well and has a kind of self-deprecating humor that appeals to me.

BONUS CONSIDERATION. Brad Pitt - An excellent actor, a very cool guy who is a friend of one of my other choices (George Clooney) and has my great admiration for his charitable housing work in New Orleans. PLUS he's set up house with the incredible Angelina Jolie!

And my top choice of a celebrity to be my best friend...

1. Will Smith - Admittedly, I never cared for Mr. Smith's early career persona of musician The Fresh Prince portion of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, or his role as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the TV sitcom of the same name (but in all fairness I'm not a huge fan of many sitcoms). In fact, his first few movie roles such as Made in America, Six Degrees of Separation and Bad Boys left me with the impression that Smith was just another mediocre musician trying to make the crossover into film without any real talent to justify his casting. In other words, the only reason he was cast was because he was part of a "hot" musical act. And that may have been the case back then, but Mr. Smith made sure he took it even further to prove he was not going to be some "flash in the pan" whose name would be quickly forgotten.

Today, I would happily watch ANY production in which Will Smith is the star. Movies like Independence Day, Enemy of the State, I, Robot and I Am Legend are among my favorite films, but my choice of him for my celebrity best friend is not limited to his obvious mastering of the craft of acting.

I cannot recall a single interview with Will Smith that I have ever seen or read in which he was not courteous, funny, thoughtful and just plain nice; a niceness that comes through in every red carpet photo op, interview, press conference and outtake or deleted scene from any of his blockbuster movies on DVD. And it was actually an interview I read this past week that revealed the secret behind that attitude and clearly explains why he is the overall nice person that he is:

"I learned to live by a principle that my grandmother taught me. I once asked her why she was always smiling, and she said it was because she knew what she was here for, which was to make everything she touched a little better. And then she touched me."

What a fantastic attitude and life philosophy! There is no doubt that Mr. Smith has learned to live by that principle and thus he helps to pass it along to those he comes in contact with. So, if I had to pick, Will Smith would be my choice to be my Celebrity Best Friend.

And just think, if he was, we could re-form DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince!

Who Is Your Celebrity Best Friend?

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The 100 Worst Christmas Songs

Entertainment Weekly has put up their list of The 100 Greatest Down-and-Out-on-Christmas Songs and I felt vindicated to see that the Christmas song I hate to hear the most was listed in the number one position.

Granted, I used to enjoy "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" but that all changed during the holiday season of 1999 when my grandmother and father, respectively, passed away. After that, the words "Through the years we all will be together, if the Fates allow" never failed to cause me to choke up and when that didn't change after two subsequent holiday seasons, I decided to never voluntarily listen to the song again. If it comes on the radio, I change the station or turn it off; if it is played over a store Muzak system while I'm shopping, I hum something different and if someone around me starts singing it, I punch them out to shut their mouth. Ok, I don't really do that last one.

Is there a Christmas song YOU consider to be the worst?

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