Time for my first blog of the New Year
I used to be on top of every hot trend and happening in pop culture. As I settle into middle age my ‘hip quotient’ has dimmed somewhat and I’m O.K. with that. Anyway, here are a few things I was admittedly late to the party for:
For a period of time last year Wendy’s did a $1 per Double Stacker burger sale. Until this money saving promotion happened, I never had eaten a double stacker. Warning, they are cheap and very easy to get addicted to. My goal is to stay away from Double Stackers in 2019. So far, so good.
The Wendy’s Double Stacker is a dangerously addictive menu item. You’ve been warned.
Last month I finally figured out how to use my Xfinity DVR which has been part of my cable package since late 2017. You’d think that a former radio geek/producer/audio file like me would be all over modern technology. Not true! Just catch me using the microwave oven, it’s like watching a monkey doing a math problem. I’ve always been a more old school writer and creative type. However, now that I’ve mastered the DVR, I’m a TV show recording maniac.
It only took a full calendar year but I am now up to speed with using my DVR.
While it came out in limited release in 2017, I only caught up to the warm witty movie “Dean” last year. It’s one that is now locked into my DVR storage. “Dean” is about a young cartoonist who is working through the death of his mother and occupies himself by trying to stop his dad from selling their home. He then finds love in L.A. Try “Dean” out, it’s an under the radar treat and one I enjoy watching over and over.
I don’t subscribe to Netflix because if I did, I’d probably be glued to my TV 24/7 and never leave the house. So contrary to the photo below, I have not yet seen the Netflix offering “Bird Box.” I have friends who subscribe so I will catch up to this movie in time. The sensory issues of the ‘don’t take off your blindfold’ plot remind me of last year’s fine thriller “A Quiet Place” and also a lesser known movie from 2015 called “It Follows.” If you want to be creeped out, find a way to watch “It Follows.”
Anyway, thanks to this Sandra Bullock starring film, people are now on social media doing “Bird Box Challenges,” walking around with blindfolds on banging into walls and falling down stairs.. Some are even trying to drive cars with their peepers covered! So now the “Bird Box” producers had to put out notices asking their fans to stop attempting such dangerous stunts.
Eating Tide pods, snorting condoms up the nose & spitting them out your mouth, swallowing cinnamon and the dance to the “In My Feelings” song challenge are just a few of the other idiotic stunts pulled by goofs with too much time on their hands. We live in a participatory world full of knuckleheads who are eager to be temporary YouTube stars and frequent patients in the E.R. Social media mongrels will sniff up the butt of the latest ‘thing’ to do and the “Bird Box Challenge” is just the latest.
I’m just glad Vincent Van Gogh isn’t around to star on YouTube, otherwise people would be lopping off their ears.
Here’s me acting like I’m locked in with the blindfolded madness of “Bird Box.”
Since leaving country radio years ago I only check into the newer offerings from Nashville on rare occasions. That explains why I missed out on Carrie Underwood’s 2015 single “Smoke Break” until late last year. I always liked Carrie’s voice and this song is without a doubt my favorite of hers. Great lyrics that anyone who’s been over worked or over taxed can identify with.
I’m only a year or so late on this next ‘catch up’ but I recently heard the music of country singer-songwriter Ashley Mc Bryde on CBS TV. Wow! She’s like a mix of Miranda Lambert, Wynonna Judd and Brandy Clark, in other words REAL country music. Nominated for a Grammy this year, Ashley Mc Bryde’s climb to stardom has an interesting back story and my next blog will address more about that. She had plenty of naysayers and I’ve got more to say on that. Until then, here’s the link to the title cut of her debut album “Girl Goin’ Nowhere.”
One more item on the music beat, one of my favorite things about surfing You Tube is finding songs that were hits for bands that were then covered by other groups. There are also plenty of unknown aspiring singers who can do justice to well worn songs. This year on my Facebook page I’m going to post up some of the better covers I’ve heard. With that said, I’ll close off this first blog of 2019 with the Jay Hawks doing up the old Grand Funk single “Bad Time.”