Month: August 2009

The Major’s Tweets

~ Chris M. Day

I finally found a purpose for my 5-year-old-plus Samsung cell phone (commonly known as ‘Junkyard Dog’). I can actually tweet with it, and I have done just that on a few of my tweets. Most of the time I simply type in my 140-character-or-less tweet via the Twitter web site, but sometimes I’m not near a computer – so I use my antique cell phone instead.

Going back to last Tuesday morning here are my TOP 5 most amusing (and interesting) tweets of the entire week – in case you missed any of them:

5.  Remembering my Grandmom (1915-2004) – http://wp.me/p837L-1fC – Some of the greatest memories of my early childhood. [Aug 29th from web]

4.  At this precise time next Monday afternoon I’ll be sailing away with @carnivalcruise waving adios a Miami. I heard that one !  [Aug 31st from web]

3.  3 out of 4 Americans agree – Tomorrow is NOT Labor Day. That would be a week from tomorrow. [Aug 30th from web]

2.  Pretty soon I will own a 2ND home – a 2-story townhouse in Clay County FL. That’s right – I’m one step closer to being Donald Trump. [Aug 26th from web]

1.  I believe that Beef ‘O’ Brady’s in Homestead has the tastiest wings in town. Prove me wrong if you dare. [Aug 26th from web]

Follow me @majorhitwaves.

Trouble In The Tropics

~ Chris M. Day ~ 6 Comments

Thanks to the continuing (and strengthening) El Niño phenomenon in the tropical Pacific Ocean conditions in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf Of Mexico remain rather hostile and counterproductive towards the development of tropical systems. One such system continues to struggle to get its act together. It’s located a couple of days away from the southern Windward Islands, and it will produce inclement (rainy and squally) weather for the Islands as soon as Tuesday night. I am forecasting it to eventually become an unorganized Tropical Depression. At this time I don’t see it becoming a Tropical Storm, but if it were to do so her name would be ‘Erika’. Any potential effects on North or Central America are still more than a week away.

Saturday Night Retro

~ Chris M. Day

I’ve got a lot of great memories when it comes to my Grandmom. While much of my early childhood was forgettable and not so happy virtually all of my time with my Grandmom is memorable to this day and very happy.

When I think of music from the 1970s (not particularly Disco – but all other forms of music) I think of listening to it on my Grandmom’s record player and FM stereo system in her living room. That system got a lot of usage out of me and my cousin John John. We played our favourite TOP 40 songs at the time, and my Grandmom played her occasional Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Lou Rawls records. Me and my cousin knew what to do if Grandmom wasn’t feeling too good. Throw on the Engelbert and be done with it.

My Grandmom also had this nice little music box that sat on her bedroom bureau. Lift it up, and it played soothing music. She loved it, and it was one of her favourite show-and-tell items whenever her grandchildren came over for a visit.

Back in 1979 during the absolute pinnacle of the Disco music era a Canadian guy by the name of Frank Mills who was a pianist, composer, producer, and arranger released an all-instrumental song that shocked the entire nation, stormed onto the hit music charts, became a TOP 3 smash at pop radio, and went gold at retail. It was so huge that over 30 years later he is still known as ‘Mr. Music Box Dancer’.

There have been many different remakes of the original “Music Box Dancer” from 1979, but this is probably my favourite of them all. It’s a 2007 techno version of the classic that remakes it but maintains its original integrity. It’s also got a cool modern music video to boot. Check it out – “Music Box Dancer” – 2007 style !

I dedicate this edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’ to my Grandmom:

EDITH AGNES DAY: 1915-2004

The Major’s Friday Night Disco Party

~ Chris M. Day

Disco Ball

A soundtrack of the 100 greatest Disco songs ever made would simply not be complete or even accurate if it did not include this rousing smash from the late Dan Hartman. He was a successful singer, songwriter, and producer, and he played many musical instruments during his shortened career and life.

Here he is as a 27-year-old with lots of energy. It’s his gold pop and disco smash from 1978 as it became 1979. Play it again Dan – It’s “Instant Replay” !

DAN HARTMAN: 1950-1994

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

~ Chris M. Day

– Today – just like every Thursday – was another hectic day at work for me.
– I was facilitating briefings in our conference room for a good three hours.
– The way we do it it’s like “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” combined.
– I loved every single second of it.
– Today is the birthday of one of my earliest friends as a little kid.
– I think that she would have been 36-years-old today.
– I knew her as a 2-year-old.
– I lost track of her over 30 years ago.
– It’s weird how I remember dates like that.
– Numbers are my favourite toys.
– The heavy vehicular traffic has returned to Homestead.
– So have the bad drivers.
– Actually they never left – they just multiplied themselves.
– This morning and this afternoon I encountered lots of slow drivers.
– That’s very unusual since 8 out of every 10 motorists drive faster than me.
– I only check my old-fashioned USPS mail about twice per week.
– I’ve been doing that for awhile now.
– It seems to work out just right.
– I don’t get nearly as much junk mail as I once did.
– There’s a strategy involved in receiving less junk mail.
– I should write a book on it.
– Actually there’s plenty of tips online on how to weed out your mailbox.
– I also receive very few telemarketing telephone calls nowadays.
– Once again – strategy – and common sense.
– I only answer the telephone from people and numbers that I actually know.
– I essentially ignore the telephone after 8 PM at night – even if I know the person.
– I generally make zero outgoing calls.
– That’s on my old-fashioned standard telephone line.
– I only use my cell phone for text messages and now Twitter tweets.
– Some people spend many hours every day talking on the telephone.
– I may spend 15 minutes per week tops talking on the telephone.
– If I lost my cell phone tomorrow I wouldn’t look for it.
– I probably wouldn’t even replace it.
– I can live without a cell phone.
– You can probably tell that I despise telephones in general.
– I’ve had many traumatic experiences via the telephone.
– I’ve been hated-on via the telephone.
– I’ve been abused via the telephone.
– Well these are my ‘Mini Thoughts’ for this Thursday night.
– These are as spur-of-the-moment spontaneous as it can possibly get for me.
– Friday and Saturday are music nights here on the big green blog.
– I’ve got another Disco smash for you on Friday night.
– On Saturday night it’s one of the most unique ‘Retros’ I’ve ever done.
– Be sure to catch the memorable music fun this weekend.
– You won’t regret it pal.
– Until next time my friends – may the good news be yours.

My Fantastic Journey: It’s In The Lyrics

~ Chris M. Day

2 Kings 1:9-12 (NLT, 2ND Ed.)
9  Then he sent an army captain with fifty soldiers to arrest him. They found him sitting on top of a hill. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king has commanded you to come down with us.”
10  But Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men !”  Then fire fell from heaven and killed them all.
11  So the king sent another captain with fifty men. The captain said to him, “Man of God, the king demands that you come down at once.”
12  Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men !”  And again the fire of God fell from heaven and killed them all.

It’s in the lyrics:

Those are The Dreampilots out of Oslo Norway, and that’s their TOP 3 MASSIVESMASH entitled “Comedown”. That’s probably one of the most amusing music videos that I’ve seen in quite some time !

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

~ Chris M. Day

1.  Yesterday afternoon immediately after work I got in my Saturn, zoomed down Biscayne Drive, hopped on the Turnpike, and cruised on in to Homestead‘s LongHorn SteakHouse during a raging thunderstorm. I figured that the joint would NOT be jumpin’ at 3:45 PM on a Monday afternoon that was the first day of school. I was right. I was one of less than a dozen customers eatin’ good in the neighbourhood. I jammed to hot country music as I ate my delicious grub.

2.  As usual I received great service and great food there during my LuDinner. A ‘LuDinner’ is the longtime term that me and my brother utilize to refer to a late Lunch / early Dinner. It is eaten in lieu of both Lunch and Dinner at their regular times respectively. It is usually eaten sometime between 2 PM and 4 PM. It must always be a MASSIVE meal. LuDinner on Thanksgiving Day is generally mandatory.

3.  It’s been rather wet here in Homestead over the past several days with 2 (east) to 4 (west) inches of rain across the region causing temporary flooding in the usual areas that are prone to poor drainage (such as my entire neighbourhood). It’s turned everything green again after a slight brownage due to a recent lack of rain. Expect above normal precipitation for the remainder of 2009 due to El Niño.

4.  ‘My NFL Weekend Game Picks’ will NOT be returning for a 3RD season here on the big green blog. The twice-weekly blog series has officially been cancelled. I couldn’t fit it in to the new Fall schedule. Alas I have too many hit series on my hands. One such hit series was an instant out-of-the-box smash just yesterday – ‘The Major’s Tweets’. It’s where I blog my TOP 5 most memorable Twitter tweets of the past week. I plan to feature that gem every Monday. 🙄

5.  I saw something rather unusual this past Saturday night. I saw a nationally-televised game from start to finish featuring my beloved Washington Redskins actually lookin’ good and beatin’ up on a Super Bowl Champion team (the Pittsburgh Steelers). Yes I know – Pre-Season – but it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to celebrate a Redskins win LIVE on television. I may not have many moments like that during this upcoming season, so I took in that moment on Saturday night.