Category: Music

Categories
Music

The 800TH Hit

‘Saturday Night Retro’ used to be a regular series on this blog. Now it’s the name of the blog. It was inspired by a popular series on my former hit music-based web site (‘MASSIVESMASH.COM’) known as ‘The Major’s MASSIVE Memories’.

Yesterday I added the 800TH hit to my iTunes collection. This past week I quietly celebrated my 5TH anniversary with iTunes. (The date actually came and went without me even realizing it until just now.) So that’s 800 hits in 5 years – or an average of 160 hits per year – less than one every two days. I’m very meticulous as to which hits get added to my iTunes collection. Each one is added for a reason. Mainly that reason is that it’s one of the greatest hits ever made according to me. My iTunes collection is essentially ‘The Music Of My Life’. It spans six decades from the 1960s to the 2010s. 617 of the 800 hits (over 77%) are from the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. My admiration of classic hit music – particularly classic rock – from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s is fairly new, and it’s slowly building within my collection.

521 of the 800 hits were purchased directly from the iTunes Store at $0.99 or $1.29 a pop. The remainder were imported from my CDs of the 1990s and 2000s. If only there was a way to somehow import all of the great music that I still have on cassette singles of the 1980s !

Listening to all 800 hits one right after another would take approximately 3,200 minutes (based on an average length of four minutes per hit). That’s over 53 hours of non-stop hits with no repeats. Of course that’s impractical. I’ve actually got a special smart playlist known as my ‘HOT 275’. It’s the best of the best – the cream of the crop – the best 275 hits of them all – and it’s on one of my four iPod Shuffles – the one that goes to work with me. It’s my workplace jukebox. It’s my own personal hit music station that I control. Hit after hit. No radio station can match my ‘HOT 275’.

Categories
God History Life Music Radio

The Music Of My Life

Saturday February 19TH 2011
Volume 3 / Number 15 / Edition 112

As of this writing I’ve got 607 songs within my iTunes collection. I often refer to it as my coveted iTunes because it takes a special kind of song to make it onto my constantly evolving hit music hall-of-fame. It’s the music of my Life, and it’s what I listen to at home, at work, and at play.

I joined the iTunes revolution during the Summer of 2007 – a few days after my 40TH birthday. My brother and his wife bought me my very first iPod Shuffle, and they had it shipped to me back then. That was by request, as I was looking for a nice yet simple-to-use music player to store the music of my fantastic journey – the music that was playing on The Call.

Nowadays I’ve got 3 iPod Shuffles that I utilize daily. That original 1GB 2007 model is now my ’50-50 MIX’ – half music of my journey and half music of my life (going back to the late-1960s). It’s split right down the middle – 120 Christian and 120 Secular. It’s my ‘go-to’ Shuffle for the workplace.

My 2ND iPod Shuffle – a 2GB 2008 model personalized with my name on it – contains all of my Christian songs only – all 286 of them to date – pop, rock, and hip hop. This is a music genre that I didn’t even know existed before my journey began during the Summer of 2006.

And then there’s my 3RD iPod Shuffle – a 2GB 2010 4TH Generation model that my brother and his wife bought me as a Christmas gift just a few months ago. It’s got 40+ years of mainstream pop, rock, and dance hits on it going all the way back to the late-1960s. It’s the music of my life, and it’s the songs that I’ve chosen to represent its soundtrack.

Once upon a time I regularly presented ‘The Major’s MASSIVE Memories’ on my web site. Nowadays I’m creating fresh new memories on this journey to go with my lifetime of memories. My coveted iTunes is its soundtrack, as my new Life continues to move forward further into His light.

Categories
Advertising Food History Life Music Television

Kellogg’s Honey & Nut Corn Flakes

Saturday January 29TH 2011
Volume 3 / Number 14 / Edition 111

Debuting in the U.S. about 31 years ago in 1980 was this delicious breakfast cereal from Kellogg’s. It was introduced to the market with a successful and long-running advertising campaign complete with its memorable jingle. It was probably one of the last great cereals that I enjoyed eating early in the morning before school. Right about the time that I entered High School I pretty much stopped eating cereal in the morning. It was a matter of time. Every morning I had to wake up, dress, deliver 100+ newspapers all throughout my neighbourhood, get ready for school, and then walk there (about a mile away).

It’s been about 30 years since I last enjoyed a bowl of cereal with milk. I don’t really miss it nowadays since I’ve gone so long without it. But if I bought a box of cereal and a gallon of milk tomorrow then perhaps I may just enjoy it all over again. Or maybe not. It would probably clash with my black coffee.

* Today Honey & Nut Corn Flakes is known simply as Crunchy Nut.

Categories
Astronomy Blogging Health Home Music Travel Weather

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon

Time: 6:07 AM – 6:51 AM
Sky: Mostly Clear
Temperature: 61°F / 16°C
Dewpoint: 61°F / 16°C
Relative Humidity: 100%
Winds: E 6 MPH
Barometric Pressure: 30.15 Rising

Sunrise occurred at 7:08 AM, so this 1ST walk of 2011 began a full hour and a minute beforehand. It began between what is known as astronomical twilight and nautical twilight. It ended during civil twilight. It was the twilight of a brand new day in this very young year of 2011.

As is usually the case my neighbourhood of the past 15½-years was peaceful and quiet at twilight. The serenity was overwhelming on this Sunday morning. As Switchfoot‘s lyrics suggest – This is home. Now I’m finally where I belong – where I belong. Yeah this is home. I’ve been searching for a place of my own.
Now I’ve found it. Maybe this is home. Yeah this is home.

This was a 43½-minute / 2.3-mile walk, so that brings me to a little over 13 miles – or just about halfway to my goal of a marathon (26.2-miles) of walking during this winter season.