In the spirit of full disclosure, this post was sponsored by Kmart. But even so, the following opinions are mine.
Some of my younger readers here on RetroBlog may not remember Kmart Bluelight Specials but back in the day, in-store specials would be announced at random times throughout the day with a siren and a blue police light. I distinctly remember shopping at Kmart with my parents when I was little kid and being fascinated with that cool blue light going off. Well after a long absence from its stores, the Blue Light Specials are back! With so many discount stores competing for shoppers, Kmart is wisely bringing back something immediately recognizable and something that has been long associated with the store. Plus, I love the concept of “being there at the right time” in order to take advantage of a great deal. As a matter of fact, Kmart has lined up over 40 BlueLight Specials that will become available at various times throughout the day this coming Saturday (August 1st). The specials will span their whole line of products including patio furniture, grills, school supplies and even jewelry. I’m actually going to check out their sale on grills. My old grill out on my patio is on its last leg and with some upcoming get-togethers planned, I’ve got to get myself prepared. Check out kmart.com for the saturday BlueLight Specials and for those on twitter, follow @kmartdealsnnews for updates and even more specials!
I love how William Shatner can make anything sound like Beatnik poetry. The man is a master at voice-overs. I still think of his Ben Folds produced Has Been record as pure genius. And apparently Conan O’Brien thinks so too. Check out this recent clip of Shatner on the Tonight Show reading Sarah Palin‘s bewildering tweets as poetry!
OK, here’s the latest update on the upcoming Todd Rundgren concert dates where he’ll be performing A Wizard a True Star live.
Sun 09/06/09 Akron, OH at the Akron Civic Theatre
Mon 09/07/09 Akron, OH at the Akron Civic Theatre
Wed 09/09/09 Stamford, CT at the Palace Theatre
Thu 9/10/09 Bethesda, MD at The Strathmore
Sat 9/12/09 Chicago, IL at Park West
Sun 9/13/09 Chicago, IL at Park West
Tue 9/15/09 Minneapolis, at the State Theater Fri 10/02/09 San Francisco, CA Speedway Meadow, Golden Gate Park *still unconfirmed*
Sat 02/06/10 London, United Kingdom at Apollo Hammersmith
Mon 02/08/10 Amsterdam, Netherlands at Paradiso
Apparently the limiting factor with these initial AWATS shows (besides concert promoters being a bit gun-shy in this state of the economy) is keyboardist Roger Powell’s work schedule. That’s right, Powell currently has a full time day job so he can only participate within a certain window of time.
Oh well, so… catch these shows while ya can. As mentioned previously, future AWATS shows all depend on the popularity of these initial dates so go out and support Todd and the band!
the AWATS live band: Jesse Gress – guitar
Kasim Sulton – bass guitar
Roger Powell – keyboards
Greg Hawkes – keyboards
Prairie Prince – drums
Bobby Strickland – sax
and of course Todd Rundgren
Here’s Todd and Utopia performing “Just One Victory” (a song off of AWATS, of course)
In this day and age, it’s simply inevitable that we’d all end up having an unsightly pile of remote controls in our entertainment room. What DOESN’T come with a remote nowadays?? Our televisions, stereos, VCRs, Tivos, DVD players and even our cable boxes all come with a separate remote control device. I’ll admit that the remote does come in handy and it’s something that I really can’t do without. BUT when there’s SO MANY, it truly gets difficult to keep track of them all. Yes, I sometimes get a kick out of watching my dad go through remote after remote after remote just turn on my TV whenever he comes over to visit but honestly, it gets old after a while. I’ve tried the “universal remote control” route in the past but those things never have the capability of performing ALL the specialized tasks for each specific unit. So EVEN WITH the universal remote, I’ve had to keep the other remotes on hand in order to use a particular function on one of my components.
Well, it just so happens that the folks over at Yamaha have come up with a NEW way of consolidating all those remotes into one single controller. It’s called the Yamaha neoHD and it’s the next logical step beyond your typical universal remote. The remote itself is simple and elegant which helps keep things confusion and frustration free. The user interface is menu driven which is displayed right on your big screen TV. That’s right, controlling all your various audio/video equipment can be done without having to squint at those tiny little buttons on a remote. And the cool thing is that the neoHD has the ability to “learn” unique tasks on those pesky remotes that those other universal remotes weren’t able to perform.
Oh, and as part of their promotion for this revolutionary device, they’re giving all of us a chance to win the new neoHD through the Yamaha neoHD Sweepstakes . There are a couple ways to enter: either tweet the following – “I just entered to win a #neoHD b/c I have too many remotes, visit (blog.izea.com) to enter” or if you’re not on twitter, just post a comment under the neoHD post on blog.izea.com. Now that’s pretty simple so be sure to enter for your chance to win.
Got an opinion about the new neoHD? Feel free to post your thoughts here. and if you want more info, check out the Yamaha neoHD page on Facebook!
Since our kids are heading back to school this week, we took them back to the beach this past weekend for one last summer hurrah. Luckily the rain held off while we were at the beach but the visit was still cut short by the appearance of three sharks nearby. The lifeguards pulled everyone out of the water and we all stood on the shore to view a rather large one surface above the water a couple times. Even though the kids weren’t able to play in the water the rest of the afternoon, the shark sighting was still the highlight of the trip!!
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Anyway, for today’s song of the day, I thought I’d post a “summer-related” track by Neil and Tim Finn titled “Paradise (Wherever You Are)”. enjoy! Endless travels, can’t remember where I’ve been
Lying in this hammock feeling tragic
Like the ones you hear so much about
Can’t wait to tell you what I’ve seen
Skim the water, South Atlantic ocean grey
Always searching for his mate
Lonely albatross cannot find them
The ones you care so much about
They’re lost and you’re losing your way
Too much pressure, gin and tonic water
They’ll forget you
The ones you care so much about
They’ll surrender to the need
Paradise wherever you are…
- written by Neil and Tim Finn
With my kids attending a year-round school, I have to shop for back-to-school items relatively “early” since they’re heading back to class next week. Like most parents of school-aged kids, we’ve got a long list of required items needed for the beginning of the school year. With multiple kids, “back to school” shopping can put a nice dent on one’s wallet. But thanks to some great Kmart Bluelight Specials, we’re going to save some dough this time around. Check out these great prices exclusively for their special July 25th sale. they’ve got wide-ruled notebook paper for just a dollar! And one of the staples for all elementary school kids – the Elmer’s Glue Stick is on sale, a two-pack for a dollar. Besides school-related items, Kmart has much more on sale including patio furniture, grills, jewelry and swimwear. As a matter a fact, we’re planning on visiting the local waterpark before school starts and one of the bluelight specials is kids’ swimwear priced at $5. that’s awesome! I’m also going to pick up their 4 GB USB memory stick for myself for $9.99 while I’m there. Please note that those BlueLight specials are set for specific times throughout the day on July 25th so be sure to check Kmart.com for the details. You can also follow them on twitter @kmartdealsnnews for the latest deals and specials.
It was hard for me NOT to just CUT and PASTE my last Hillsong review for this review of a_CROSS//the_EARTH: Tear Down the Walls, especially since the majority of their releases are *SO* cookie-cutter like. I know, I know, praise & worship music inherently limits the songwriters to basic chord progressions in order for congregations the world over to be able to sing-along during services. But even so, I expect a little more from Hillsong United, who are touted as the most popular youth worship band in the world. The new live recording just feels like they’re filling an obligation. The songs don’t feel inspired and are pretty much by-the-book. All the elements of a Hillsong recording are here: upbeat rockers (check!), introspective contributions from Brooke (Fraser) Ligertwood (check!), bland mid-tempo strum-alongs (check!, check!), and futile attempts at another “Shout to the Lord” mega-smash (check!). Two songs from last year’s This is Our God needlessly appear here in this collection – “Desert Song” and “Your Name High”. Both songs were performed better on the previous CD. Brooke Ligertwood as always delivers the standout cut, this time called “Soon”, arranged in a low-key manner which is pretty unusual relative to Hillsong’s bombastic tendancies. Other songs that have potential to catch on with congregations hungry for new material include: “Freedom is Here”, “Tear Down the Walls”, “More Than Anything”, “You Hold Me Now”
A few weeks ago I had the chance to catch up with an old friend of mine in Chicago. J.J. and I used to play in a crummy cover band back in our college days. Unlike me, who has basically given up the dream of making it as a musician, J.J. is still gigging regularly with a handful of bands in and around Chicagoland. I don’t know how he finds the time and energy to put in the various bands but he seems to manage just fine. J.J. is rarely home and is usually out either rehearsing, recording or playing live somewhere. But while visiting him, he was in the middle of searching for a new apartment. So, instead of the enjoyment of witnessing a recording session or a live band rehearsal, I hunted for apartments with good ol’ J.J. Apparently he wanted to be located closer to the rehearsal space that his main band works out of. He was showing me this cool new iPhone app that he has been utilizing in his search for a new place. The MyNewPlace app is free and is available at http://www.mynewplace.com/iphone. You can also find MyNewPlace in the iPhone app store. The helpful app can access a database of over 6 million apartments and rental homes nationwide and you can easily locate potential homes while on the go simply by using the GPS function in your iPhone. While tagging along with J.J. as he checked out a couple of places, I saw that he took detailed notes as well as photos which were conveniently saved right into the app. Another neat feature is the built-in Facebook Connect feature which automatically updates your facebook account every time you check out a new place. You just never know if any of your facebook contacts has personal experience with some of the apartments your interested in.
Thanks to the MyNewPlace app, J.J. ended up finding the perfect place just five minutes away from his rehearsal studio. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to watch ol’ J.J. in action this time around but still, it was nice catching up with him nonetheless. The man is “living the dream” and I wish him continued success in all his musical endeavors.
Paul McCartney performed at the new Citi Field in New York City friday night to a sold out crowd of 42,000. It was rainy and hot but the crowd didn’t mind so much as it enjoyed a 2 hour and 40 minute set which included a special appearance by Billy Joel for “I Saw Her Standing There”.
McCartney’s set is Beatles heavy and is pretty much the standard fare that he’s been playing for the last few years. Nice additions include “Highway” and “Sing the Changes” from his 2008 release, Electric Arguments. I guess in a stadium setting Sir Macca has to go with the crowd-pleasers so I understand the fact that he doesn’t include a lot of his past solo/Wings material. But before he “retires” I really hope he finds a way to perform some of his much neglected back catalog of post-Beatles songs including personal favorites like “Wanderlust”, “Pipes of Peace”, “Take it Away”, “Keep Under Cover” and “Listen to What the Man Said”.
I DO have to mention that his live band (which he’s used since 2001) is absolutely on fire and sounds SO much tighter than it did back in the early 2002 shows.
Sir Macca continues on with the following U.S. dates - FedEx Field, Landover, Md., Aug. 1
Fenway Park, Boston, Aug. 5-6
Piedmont Park, Atlanta, Aug. 15
BOK Center, Tulsa, Aug. 17
Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Dallas, Aug. 19
With all the recent buzz surrounding the BluFrog contest where some lucky folks will be winning some really cool prizes, I thought I’d go ahead and try out a BluFrog Energy Drink. Like a lot of folks, I’ve had my share of Red Bull in the past but I have to say I like the taste of Blu Frog so much better. Blu Frog goes down smooth with no lingering aftertaste and best of all, it’s all natural with no artificial colors or flavors. It’s more of a nice tasting fruit drink than some sort of heavy carbonated soda and not only quenches your thirst but boosts your energy levels without overdosing you with caffeine. Oh and check this out – compared with other energy drinks out on the market, Blu Frog contains less sugar, less carbs and less calories! Knowing all of that, Blu Frog is obviously the best choice out there.
And as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, don’t forget to enter the It’s a Blu World contest for a chance to win exciting trips to New York City, the Winter X Games in Aspen or Lollapalooza in Chicago. I really liked the way they incorporated all the various social networking platforms in the contest. Not only did it make it pretty simple to enter but it also kept it fun by allow us to tweet or blog about it.
Oh and check out this youtube video for a neat way to earn some extra cash just by sharing Blu Frog with your friends!
Apparently he wanted to be located closer to the rehearsal space that his main band works out of. He was showing me this cool new iPhone app that he has been utilizing in his search for a new place. The MyNewPlace app is free and is available at 
