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With all the various cooking shows that are constantly shown on the Food Network, culinary schools across the country have experienced a surge in interest in recent years. Whether you’re a foodie or a weekend grillmaster, having a great meal is always an important part of one’s day. There’s so much depth and variety in the realm of cooking that one can always learn more. And these food related shows have opened our eyes to all of the wonderful goodness that can be created in our own kitchen.

Cooking classes offered at local schools and even higher-end grocery stores are a good place to start for those interested in expanding their repertoire in the kitchen. But what I’ve noticed recently is the rise in popularity of vacation packages built around gourmet cooking classes. As a matter of fact, I just learned about one being held at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel on October 16th and 17th.

Since my wife loves working out new recipes and interesting dishes in our home, I thought she’d might like a weekend getaway that would feature fine dining as well as tips and instructions from a professional Chef. The weekend cooking school in Branson is hosted by Chef Nathan Read and attendees get to enjoy and feast in his restaurant and learn how to prepare the meals the following day. Looking at the itinerary, I’d love to learn more about the Berkshire Pork Porterhouse as well as Bison Short Ribs. There’s an art to grilling meat and keeping things tender and juicy and I’m sure Chef Nathan would have helpful tips for me in that regard.

Now, I’ve been to Branson years ago and had a blast. I took in a couple shows and I remember checking out some of the neat museums in town including the Roy Rogers museum and Hollywood Wax museum. And the Hilton in Branson is located conveniently in the heart of the historic downtown district. While the summer months are typically the busiest, there are still tons to do in the fall. Besides working with Chef Nathan, I’ll personally take the opportunity to enjoy a relaxing weekend away from the kids.

Now that the summer tour is over, Journey fans can re-live their concert experience with a brand new 2-DVD set titled Journey Live in Manila. It’s great to see an official live release featuring current frontman Arnel Pineda. It says to me that the band and their management are proud of the current lineup and aren’t planning on changing things anytime soon.

Check out the tracklist – they’ve included pretty much all the songs that they’ve been playing the last two years including some lesser performed numbers like “When You Love a Woman”, “Turn Down the World Tonight” and “Where Did I Lose Your Love”.

Another big plus about the DVD is the fact that Arnel sang the songs during the March 14th show in the original key. Like I mentioned in my concert review of the Greensboro show, hearing these classic songs tuned-down in pitch is a bit of a let-down in my book. So it’s nice to have a live document of the band playing these songs without any compromises.

You can purchase the new DVD set at your local WalMart beginning this friday, October 2nd. Journey will also be appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show on friday to promote the new release.
**UPDATE: 30Sep09** – Journey’s Oprah appearance has been pushed back to Monday, October 5th.

Here’s the tracklist:
Disc One
1. Never Walk Away
2. Only The Young
3. Ask The Lonely
4. Stone In Love
5. Keep On Running
6. After All These Years
7. Change For The Better
8. Wheel In The Sky
9. Lights/ Still They Ride
10. Open Arms
11. Mother Father
12. Wildest Dreams
13. When You Love A Woman
14. Separate Ways
15. What I Needed
Disc Two
16. Edge Of The Blade
17. Where Did I Lose Your Love
18. Escape
19. Faithfully
20. Don’t Stop Believin’
21. Anyway You Want It
22. Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’
23. Turn Down The World Tonight
24. Be Good To Yourself
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Todd Rundgren mentioned during his recent chat on Rundgren Radio that the live dates scheduled in October will be the last remaining shows supporting his 2008 album, Arena. So essentially this will be the last chance for Todd fans to experience the entire “Arena” album live. Be sure to catch one of the shows if you can!

Sun 10/18/09 Bay Shore, NY – YMCA Boulton Center
Tue 10/20/09 Rochester, NY – German House Theater
Wed 10/21/09 Annapolis, MD – Rams Head
Fri 10/23/09 Philadelphia, PA – Wachovia Spectrum (with Hall & Oates, the Hooters)
Sun 10/25/09 San Juan Capistrano, CA – The Coach House

The Spectrum show in Philadelphia is part of the “Final Farewell Concert Series” for the Spectrum which includes major rock acts like Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam closing out the sports arena. And believe it or not, tickets for the Hall & Oates/Rundgren show are only $6!!!

As for the musicians Todd will be using for these shows, it’ll be the usual “Arena” band minus Rachel Haden. I guess there was a scheduling conflict so in Rachel’s place will be none other than bassist Sara Lee. I’ve personally seen Sara Lee play live several times in the past, including her stint with the B-52’s and the Indigo Girls. She’s a fantastic bass player and it will be great to see her play along side the Wizard himself, Todd Rundgren.

OK, it’s time now for the Song of the Day! Since we’re on the subject of Todd’s Arena tour, I thought I’d post one of the many highlights from his Arena set.

Weakness by Todd Rundgren

I don’t keep a lot of secrets
But the ones I do will die with me
It’s not because I’m hiding something
A trusted friend I try to be

That you are my weakness, my weakness
You are my Kryptonite
The sun that shines a light on my soul…
—

Download a live version of “Weakness” [mediafire, mp3]
recorded off the live webstream of the Norwegian Wood show in Oslo, Norway, 13 June 2009. (courtesy of TR fan robznl)

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Have you seen the brand new 2010 Chevy Camaro? After being off the market for seven years, the iconic sports car is back, redesigned and looking better than ever. As your typical “family man”, I’ve been relegated to driving the kids around in a minivan the last few years. My innate desire for speed has sadly been neglected. So, I would oh so love the chance to drive a powerful new sports car like the Camaro. That’s why I recently entered Charter Communications’ Camaro Sweepstakes for a chance to win this slick lookin’ speed machine.

Just like cars, I like my internet super FAST and as it so happens, Charter offers one of the fastest broadband connections in the nation. And not only are they giving away a great sports car, they’ll also give you a $100 gift card if you bundle 3 Charter services together such as digital phone, internet and digital cable.

I think it’s pretty cool that Charter continues to come up with these neat little giveaways for their customers. I remember them giving away laptops a few months back and last year, a brand new Hybrid car was up for grabs. Charter has also embraced social networking and openly interacts with their customer base. Whether you connect with Charter on Facebook or tweet with Charter on Twitter, it’s great to know that they are actively seeking your feedback. That’s pretty rare in this day and age where customer service has gone the way of the dinosaur.

Head on over to Charter.com/camaro to find out more about registering to win the 2010 Camaro 2SS.

On their way down the east coast, Journey made a stop at the Greensboro Coliseum this past friday night. Honestly, I wasn’t that enthused about this show since I saw them last summer on a better bill (Cheap Trick & Heart). When they announced that Night Ranger was opening the show a couple months back, I was very disappointed. But with third row seats, my disappointment in the lineup quickly faded away as the music started to play friday evening. The two pronged lead guitar attack (Night Ranger’s Brad Gillis and Joel Hoekstra) made things fun to watch and Kelly Keagy’s vocals sounded strong throughout the set. Jack Blades on the other hand needs to just shut up and play. His between song ramblings brought the momentum to a screeching halt and not knowing where they were (“It’s great to be here in GreensBURGH, North DAKOTA”) didn’t help things either. But songs like “When You Close Your Eyes”, “Sister Christian” and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me” went over quite well.

As for Journey, I simply had a blast being so close to the stage and having such a great view of the band. Friday night’s setlist was pretty similar to what they had played last summer but it was obvious that Arnel Pineda is now so much more comfortable on stage with the band. I enjoyed his energy, his jumps off the drum riser and his interaction with the audience.

They performed the usual crowd pleasers, with “Open Arms”, “Separate Ways” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” receiving the biggest reactions. I personally enjoyed hearing songs that weren’t played the last time around including “Send Her My Love”, “Keep On Runnin’” and “Still They Ride”. I was also hoping for “Be Good To Yourself” and “Why Can’t This Night Go On Forever” but I guess ya can’t having everything.

From what I saw, “Higher Place” didn’t go over well with the arena-sized crowd along with “Wildest Dream”. I honestly don’t know why they keep “Wildest Dream” on the setlist because it’s not strong melodically and there are better choices off of Revelation, in my opinion, including “Where Did I Lose Your Love” and “Turn Down the World Tonight”.

Another thing they should lose in the set is Jonathan Cain’s harmonica jam. It’s definitely a time waster in my book. Also the “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’” encore is just lame. A good chunk of the crowd headed for the parking lot during that song including yours truly.

But overall, I still enjoyed the show. Pineda is a joy to watch and Deen Castronovo is just a monster on drums. Oh and Castronovo sounded phenomenal singing “Still They Ride”. and of course I could just go on and on about Neal Schon. He’s simply amazing.

I do have to admit though that the band performing these songs a half-step lower is sort of jarring at times. I’m not sure if the general audience notices that they are performing these classic songs in a lower key but it’s definitely noticeable to me. Is this because I’m a musician and I can hear the original notes in my head or do fans also notice this too? I totally understand the need to lower the key to help preserve Pineda’s voice but some of the energy or spark gets lost when things get tuned down. maybe it’s just me?

Not sure if I’d see them again next summer. Will they have new material ready by next summer? and will they go out with a stronger “packaged” tour like they did last year? I’ll be interested in seeing what they decide. …but I can tell you this.. if the setlist stays the same, you can definitely count me out.

**UPDATE: 22Sep09**: According to Neal Schon’s blog – the band will be working on new material in 2010 and won’t be back on the road until 2011!! So, catch Journey live while you still can! There are only a few more dates left on the 2009 tour.
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Isn’t it time to find your bliss? With all the gloom ‘n doom about the lagging economy and President Obama’s health care plan, we all are in need of experiencing some good old fashioned bliss. Do you even remember the last time you ever felt that way? I know I don’t. Well I guess it doesn’t help when I stare at my ugly furniture each and every day. My ripped up ol’ ottoman doesn’t really help me in achieving my bliss.

As a matter of fact, LG, the maker of the sleek new smartphone called Bliss suggests that we should lose the ugly and follow our bliss. Why hold on to something that brings us down everyday? Let’s set ourselves free of these “stumbling blocks” so that we can make room for some joy. And to help us along in our journey to find our bliss, LG has recently set up a FaceBook page for us to share our photos and videos of our “ugly” objects and get a chance to win a brand new LG Bliss phone.

The contest is pretty simple to enter since it’s on FaceBook and we all know that everyone including their grandma has a FB account. And while you’re on the LG Bliss page, be sure to browse through the “Gallery of the Utterly Ugly”. There are already some outrageous examples of some ugly items!! yikes! Share your own photos of what you think is ugly and who knows, you might just become one of the 55 winners in the contest. The contest ends November 6th so get your photo posted on the LG Bliss Facebook Fan Page today. Photos can range from outdated fashions or furniture to low-tech electronics and even weird looking plants. Oh and put away that photo of your “freaky looking” Uncle Larry. No photos of people will be accepted. Also photos of violent, indecent or illegal activities aren’t acceptable either. More details are available on the LG Bliss facebook page.

happy friday, everyone! To celebrate the weekend, I thought I’d share some tunes. Usually when I share some mp3s here on retroblog, I’d have some sort of theme and label it a mixtape but for the “free for alls” I’m going completely random. enjoy!

Rush – Time Stand Still – one of my favorites off of the “Hold Your Fire” album.

John Hiatt – Bring Back Your Love to Me – I love the vocal harmonies on this one.

Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band – Something About You – a level 42 cover by Paul Shaffer and company.

Paul Anka – Mr. Brightside – a big band remake of the Killers’ song.

Sarah Brightman – Only An Ocean Away – I can only take Sarah in short bursts. Her voice can sometimes be a bit grating. but it’s still a good song.

Tenacious D – Beelzeboss – the clean version. – I think it’s funnier to hear these guys replacing all the cuss words with stuff like “you mother truckers”. heh.

I told you these would be completely random!!

Since I was one of the many that wasn’t able to physically make it to one of the 7 U.S. AWATS shows, I had to settle for watching the shows online via live webcast. I was initially a bit wary about plunking down money for a “glitchy” feed or other streaming-type issues but thankfully the live webcasts were very well done and practically glitch-free. Kudos to Todd (along with Todocast and NewTek) for providing fans an alternative way to see the shows.

Now that I’ve seen it, I can understand why he arranged for the broadcasts. The man went the extra mile this time around in terms of stage presentation. After years of seeing him on low-budget-no-nonsense tours, the AWATS shows were a refreshing surprise. Not only were there multiple costume changes but also video screens, smoke-machines, lasers and a stellar backing band. OK, OK, this is nothing when compared to something like U2’s 360 Tour but STILL a truly welcomed treat for us Todd fans.

I caught the two Chicago gigs via webcast this past weekend and it was well worth the $20. It featured multi-camera views of the concert and good sound right off the soundboard. Todocast also provides the webcast as an archive so for those that didn’t catch the show live can still watch the shows after the fact. I haven’t personally checked out the archives but from what I understand, a “1 meg” archived stream is available for viewing which is an even better quality stream than the initial live broadcast (which was at 700K).

Both shows were great to watch but if I had to pick, I’d say the Sunday show (Sept 13) was the stronger of the two. Todd had some guitar issues at the end of the AWATS set on Saturday that sort of dampened the mood a bit. No guitar issues on sunday plus the opening Utopia set was tighter as well.

So if you haven’t seen it yet, you still have time to watch the pay per view from TodoCast. I believe the “1 meg” archive just got posted today and will be available “on demand” for approximately a week.

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The Outfield recently updated their official website and unfortunately it seems that they went for a “retro 90’s” look & feel. You know, the outdated basic HTML/frontpage look. blech. Definitely unprofessional, in my opinion. but what do I know since my blog isn’t all that fancy either. but at least retroblog doesn’t look like something from the GeoCities days!! heh.

Luckily for fans, there’s another Outfield site that has a lot more to offer called OutfieldFanZone.com. The site looks a bit more pleasing to the eye and even features downloadable mp3s of the band’s live recordings absolutely free, including “Live in Brazil (the official bootleg)”! The live tracks are pretty nice collectables for fans but honestly, I prefer their studio work over their live performances. They’re more a studio band than a live act, if you ask me.

purchase music by The Outfield on CDUniverse.

David Foster recently announced that he’ll be doing a 10-date tour modeled after his popular PBS special (and DVD release) David Foster and Friends. The tour, which kicks off Oct. 21st in Chicago, will feature vocalists Philip Bailey (of Earth, Wind and Fire), Charice, Michael Johns (from American Idol) and Peter Cetera (former lead singer of Chicago). Foster will also be conducting a talent search through the NameDrop website and will be selecting two finalists from each city to perform with him on stage. Winners from each city will then all compete at the final stop of the tour in Vancouver on November 8th.

here are the tour dates:
Wed 10/21/09 Rosemont, IL Rosemont Theatre
Fri 10/23/09 New York, NY WaMu Theater At Madison Square Garden
Sat 10/24/09 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
Sun 10/25/09 Boston, MA Agganis Arena at Boston University
Wed 10/28/09 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre
Fri 10/30/09 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum
Sun 11/01/09 Hollywood, FL Seminole Hard Rock Live
Thu 11/05/09 Universal City, CA Gibson Amph. At Univ. CityWalk
Fri 11/06/09 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion At San Jose
Sun 11/08/09 General Motors Place, Vancouver, B.C.

Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster.

Here’s Peter Cetera performing with David Foster back in 2002:

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