Kash (or, Money with Eyeballs)

I have to disagree with this blog post. I love Kash. I can't stop laughing at the money with eyeballs. I also love 80s music, so hearing "Somebody's Watching Me" is also amusing.

To each their own. I'm still laughing. I'm looking forward to seeing where Kash ends up next.

Weekend

I've had a good, albeit short, weekend. It took most of it just to get the tree decorated. I somehow haven't been as interested in decorating this year as I usually am. I did, however, seem to be much less stressed about presents this year, so overall that is a win.

Friday night John and I went to see a musical version of Narnia. Most of the songs were not memorable, and they changed or removed items that were in the book; I wouldn't care to see it again. The children in the audience seemed to enjoy themselves, so that was at least a good point. After having now read the book, seen the movie, and watched a musical version, I can say without a doubt that the book is the best. The movie and the musical both make Edmund's "acting out" so over-the-top that I wanted to smack him. In the book, Edmund really isn't that bad. I enjoyed the book, and would read it again, preferably over watching the movie.

I wrapped some presents on Saturday. Still have more to wrap, but I am not as interested in that action this year either. I need to wrap John's presents, but he's usually home, so I guess I'll just have to shut myself away in the basement and tell him not to come down.

Today was a small milestone for me: I finally got to light an Advent candle at church. I have always wanted to light one, and this year I spoke up and requested it because mass this morning was being said for my grandparents. The wreath was higher than I thought, so I couldn't fully see the top of the candle, but luckily hit the wick and lit it without problem. Following mass was a family Christmas party which I really enjoyed. I don't get to see my family as much anymore, compared to when my grandparents were alive. We had food, conversation, and a Yankee Swap where I got some Belgian chocolate fudge and choc covered almonds. Looking forward to trying that fudge, and I like almonds. John almost walked away with some movie money, but got traded for a lotto ticket and an ornament. He did end up winning $3, though, so not a bad deal at all.

We watched Office Space tonight, which I had never seen. It was funny, though it did feel a bit long in parts. Jennifer Aniston, who I usually can't stand to watch as anyone other than Rachel, was decent. The fact that they used a Mac that shut down to a C:\ bothered me, but I understand the point of making it generic office computer.

I have 2.5 days of work left and then I am off until Jan 2nd. I am really looking forward to the break. I barely had any time off this summer, so having this week off that already includes 3 stat holidays is a real treat. I hope to enjoy lots of reading, movies, and I am already booked to setup and install a PC for someone on Boxing Day.

Should have stayed home today

It started on my drive in to work. There was some snow in the air. An hour later, my car was covered. We have about 15cm (6") down since about 9am this morning. I am not looking forward to driving home tonight. The wind is supposed to pick up, and along the coast it may change to a mix of freezing rain and snow. I just want to get home safely and not venture out again until tomorrow.

Radio experiment: results

I finished tracking 5 days' worth of songs on Saintjohnradio.fm. I wasn't able to catch every single song, nor was I able to write down all that I heard because there were some that I didn't recognize or couldn't google. Here are my findings:

Total number of songs tracked: 388
% of those songs which were CanCon: 44% (surprisingly lower than I thought)

Top played artists:
Pink Floyd 14
Rolling Stones 13
Led Zeppelin 13
Kim Mitchell 13
April Wine 12
Beatles 12
Bryan Adams 11
Rush 11
Tom Cochrane 10
Elton John 9
Blue Rodeo 8
ZZ Top 7


Most played songs:
Gimme All Your Lovin' by ZZ Top: 5 times
Just Between You and Me by April Wine: 4 times

Standing in the Dark Platinum Blonde 3
Magic Power Triumph 3
Try Blue Rodeo 3
Hey You Pink Floyd 3
New Orleans is Sinking Tragically Hip 3
Easy To Tame Kim Mitchell 3
Good Times Tom Cochrane 3
Eyes of a Stranger Payolas 3
Feel It Again Honeymoon Suite 3
Voodoo Thing Colin James 3
Nova Heart Spoons 3
Rockland Wonderland Kim Mitchell 3
I'm an adult now Pursuit of Happyness 3
Go For A Soda Kim Mitchell 3
Working for the Weekend Loverboy 3
Show Me The Way Peter Frampton 3
Someday Glass Tiger 3
Sinking like a sunset Tom Cochrane 3
Angel Eyes Jeff Healey Band 3
All Of My Love Led Zeppelin 3
Diamond Mine Blue Rodeo 3

With all of these artists, why in the heck didn't they play any: Queen -- not a single song by Queen all week. I did hear Another One Bites The Dust today, though.

Songs repeated during the same day:
Carry On My Wayward Son Kansas 12/12/08 2
Gimme All Your Lovin ZZ Top 12/12/08 2
The Joker Steve Miller 12/11/08 2
Time Pink Floyd 12/10/08 2
Try Blue Rodeo 12/11/08 2

Most ironic song: How Many More Times by Led Zeppelin

Radio experiment: halfway through Day 3

I've heard 4 Pink Floyd songs today, two of which were the same song. They played it this morning and this afternoon. Seriously?! I thought maybe I wrote it down incorrectly, perhaps it was the end of the list from yesterday, but no.

I haven't run across a song that has been on all three days (yet), but I'm getting lots of repeats today.

Just heard the 8th Rush song since I began, and it was the first Rush repeat.

Once I have a week's worth of data, I'll post some statistics.

Radio experiment: start of Day 3

The station I'm following is Saintjohnradio.fm (the former Pirate) at 103.5.

It's the start of Day 3 and I already have some repeat songs:

• Going to California by Led Zeppelin
• Rose Colored Glasses by Blue Rodeo
• Fantasy by Aldo Nova
• Just Between You and Me by April Wine
• Gimme All Your Lovin by ZZ Top

I've heard 6 different Rush songs, so I'm convinced I'll hear a Rush repeat today. They love Rush on this station. I've also heard multiple songs by Glass Tiger, Bryan Adams, Colin James, Elton John, Kim Mitchell, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Tom Cochrane. Repeats are sure to follow the rest of this week.

Radio experiment

When we moved into our new office, my co-worker and I found it a little too quiet and decided to get a radio for background noise.  Most local radio stations are so repetitive that it became more annoying to keep hearing the same songs than silence.  However, we did come across a local station that had changed format in the last couple of months.  When first tuning in, I thought it was great – I must have hit upon a good programming day.  Any station that plays Notorious by Duran Duran will pique my interest.

 

We’ve been listening to this station for a few weeks now, and I have noticed an odd pattern.  While they do play songs not normally heard on the top 40, light rock, or classic rock stations, they seem to be just as repetitive.  I’m fairly sure that they play Tom Sawyer by Rush every day.  While I don’t have any like nor dislike for that song, I find it odd that they would play the same song by Rush with such regularity.  Rush has a large catalog of music, why not spread it around?  Another example is Nova Heart by The Spoons.  I’ve heard this quite a few times now, but where are the other Spoons songs they could be playing?

 

They play a large amount of Canadian Content, which makes me curious if they are under a different set of rules.  Since they are a smaller station, do they have to play more CanCon that the others?  Or do they just love resurrecting Canadian 80s songs?  While I’m happy to hear some Blue Rodeo and Glass Tiger, I am not sure how much more April Wine I can take.  SJers seem to love April Wine, as evidenced by the number of times they’ve played here.

 

I’m gathering evidence by starting to track the songs being played.  It should be interesting to see how often things really are played.