Shades of Grey

One of the biggest current songs is Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding. The song is from the movie Fifty Shades of Grey which I'm amazed is a success since it appears to be based on the paint colors available at Home Depot.

Anyway, there's one part of the song that bothers me.

Yeah, I'll let you set the pace
'Cause I'm not thinking straight
My head spinning around I can't see clear no more
What are you waiting for?

What is this person waiting for? Maybe for you to think straight, have a non-spinning head and see clearly.

This does not sound like a romantic scenario. Sure Ellie sings that she'll let the other person set the pace, but those middle two lines sound like there could be potential for, well, something from a Law & Order SVU episode.

I think we should be grateful that the person is waiting.

Friday Video (Catfish & Blowfish)

Ever hear a song but have no idea the title or artist? This happened to me recently with Kathleen by Catfish and the Bottlemen. I know absolutely nothing about the group, but I hope they perform with Hootie and The Blowfish someday.

Enjoy this cool song.

2015 Celebrate Fairfax Headliners

Celebrate Fairfax!, Northern Virginia’s largest community-wide celebration taking place on June 5-7, 2015 at the Fairfax County Government Center, announced its headliners for this year's festival.

Friday, June 5th: BUSH UPDATE: See this post to see that Kongos are in while Bush is out.

Bush are a British rock band formed in London in 1992. The band found their immediate success with the release of their debut album Sixteen Stone in 1994, which is certified 6× multi-platinum by the RIAA. Bush went on to become one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the 1990s, selling over 10 million records in the United States. (From Wikipedia)

Should it be Bush is instead of Bush are? Regardless, this is a great get for Celebrate Fairfax. Plus, there's always a chance that Bush front man Gavin Rossdale's wife attends too. Maybe Gwen Stefani will take the kids to lunch at Coastal Flats before the show and then serve as a judge at the Fairfax County Karaoke Championship during the festival. She does have musical judging experience.







Saturday, June 6th: 3 DOORS DOWN

The band rose to international fame with their first single, "Kryptonite", which charted in the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The band then signed onto Republic Records and released their debut album, The Better Life, in 2000. The album was the 11th-best-selling album of the year and was certified 6x platinum in the United States. Their second album, Away from the Sun, (2002) continued the band's success; it debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, went multi-platinum in the United States like its predecessor, and spawned the hits "When I'm Gone" and "Here Without You". Since the start of their career, 3 Doors Down have sold over 20 million albums worldwide. (Again, from Wikipedia)





Bush and 3 Doors Down may be the best 1-2 combination of bands Celebrate Fairfax has ever had.

Sunday, June 7th: THE AMISH OUTLAWS

They look like fun.



Please click here to learn more about Celebrate Fairfax and you'll be able to buy tickets (discounted tickets!) around April 1st.

I know that I write this every year, but I have no idea where else you can buy such inexpensive concert tickets while also getting admission for dozens of other performances and activities.

Randomness & Links

There's a lot of little things I want to share, and it makes sense (at least to me) to put everything together into one post.

- We're considering giving up our home phone and relying solely on cell phones. I know many people do this, but I've always had a home phone. This scares me a little including the fact that my kids will need to use my (likely brand new) cell phone if they want to talk to their relatives. I guess that's what Skype is for. (That was the original title of a Dionne Warwick song.)

- Ever wonder what the most popular breakfast cereals are in the US? The answer is Cheerios which also matches the most popular cereal in my house. Meanwhile, I've never heard of Malt-O-Meal, the 10th most popular cereal. [The Washington Post]

- I've had the opportunity to get to know some awesome people through this blog. The talented Neal Coolong is one of those people. Even though we've never met, he was extremely generous in giving his time for my Pittsburgh Sports Blogger Interview Series, and he's always supported my blog. Neal recently shared that he's leaving Behind The Steel Curtain, the best Steelers blog around, and will announce his new gig soon. More importantly, his daughter appears to be doing better. [Behind the Steel Curtain]

- Nicholas, aka Tecmo, another friend that I met through this blog and actually met once in person at a Penguins-Islander game recently celebrated the 8th anniversary of his blog Pittsburgh Sports & Mini Ponies. He doesn't post as much as he used (that sounds familiar), but his blog is always a good read. [PSAMP]

- My friend Sarah (someone who is a friend from before I started this blog) was on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour Small Batch podcast. She's really good. If you're a romance reader or know someone who is, they must check out her blog, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. [NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour]

- Inside Higher Ed regularly publishes commencement speakers. I love the fact that Ithaca College's 2015 commencement speaker, Meghan Musnicki, has a longer bio than some actor named Denzel. [Inside Higher Ed]

- Lisa of Lemon Gloria was an extra in House of Cards. There are some spoilers in the post, but I don't know any of the characters names, so nothing spoiled for me. [Lemon Gloria]

- I get jealous every time I read one of Christine's blog posts since I'd love to travel internationally. She recently visited the Seoul Olympic Park and shared lots of pictures like this one. [The Adventures of ChrisMichRob in Korea]

- Finally, I landed awkwardly attempting a diving catch during an ultimate Frisbee game at least five years ago. I was in significant pain at the time, but kept playing and felt better soon after. However, I still feel some discomfort in my shoulder when raising my arm to make certain signals as a soccer referee/assistant referee and when washing my back. It might be 30 years, but I'll probably need surgery someday.

Brazil, Brazil, Brazil (Express Fail)

Today's Washington Post Express features three stories about Brazil regarding a tragic bus crash, a massive march against the country's leader and people taking showers on pages 8-9. Guess which story had the most written about it by Express?

Keeping clean is important!

Please click here for past Express Fail posts. It's shocking to me that it's been about 18 months since my last Express Fail post.

I Love(d) Rax Too

Growing up, my family went to the Rax restaurant on Penn Avenue in Point Breeze/Wilkinsburg seemingly every week or two. While their signature item was Roast Beef sandwiches, the fast food chain also had a salad bar and a wide variety of other menu options. According to Wikipedia, Rax had over 500 locations in 38 states in the 80s, but is down to 14 as of March 2013 according to this Columbus Dispatch article.

However, according to this person's license plate, Rax is always in his/her heart:

Of course, maybe this plate belongs to a woman who loves Richard Adam Xavier.

Just for fun, here are two Rax commercials:





I miss Rax.

Trivia Tuesday

No time for an introduction today. Answer the questions from the picture below.

As always please leave your answers in the comments section and don't use the internet for assistance. Good luck!

This week's trivia is brought to you by the fine folks at Trivia Kings.

How To End A Conversation (or People Are Stupid)

After a one-year hiatus, the annual hockey road trip returned for the 2014-2015 season last Thursday. While I'll write about the games and trip over the next few weeks, let's go back to Thursday when this happened:

As a result, every school district in the Washington DC area closed as did the Federal Government. My original flight from Washington National to Tampa scheduled for 11:00 AM was cancelled. I was rescheduled for a 2:20 flight which would get into Tampa at 6:30 (after a stop in Atlanta) giving me just enough time to rent a car to get to the Lightning-Maple Leafs game. However, after the plane arrived late, a mechanical problem needed fixed, the runway closed to be plowed and the plane got de-iced, the 2:20 flight left 2 hours late.

When we arrived in Atlanta, the 4 passengers continuing to Tampa (including me) were instructed to stay on the plane. As we waited for the Atlanta folks to board, I started talking to the flight attendant (who I learned had worked at Hooters in her previous life and once drove NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders in her car) and another passenger. The other passenger seemed like a nice woman who was heading to Florida to see the Baltimore Orioles spring training. When I mentioned that I was originally from Pittsburgh and went to Spring Training a few years ago, she said something to the effect that she was disappointed I was from Sh!tsburgh.

I know that I get defensive about my hometown, and I may celebrate the accomplishments of current and former Pittsburgh residents a little too much (Michael Keaton got robbed for Best Actor!). However, when is saying Sh!tsburgh to someone, particularly to someone you just met, ever appropriate? Did she want me to agree with her and trash my hometown? Did she want me to declare my love of the Orioles (though I did say that I liked Camden Yards) and state that Baltimore or DC is significantly better than Pittsburgh? Instead, I quickly ended the conversation and said I needed to use the restroom.

In case you're wondering, I arrived at the Amalie Arena in Tampa with 15 seconds left in the 2nd period, but that's for a future blog post.

Maybe A PG-13 Dinosaur Train?

During my recent haircut, the barber/stylist was making conversation, and somehow, the topic of my kids came up (as in my wife is watching the kids right now as I'm out gallivanting around town getting a haircut and going to the grocery store). It started with the typical stuff like gender, age, do they like snow, and then this happened:

B/S: What does your 3 year old like?

Me: Mostly dinosaurs and trains.

B/S: Awww. That's cute. Has he seen Jurassic Park?

Me: Um, no.

Now the barber/stylist is probably in her 20s and clearly hasn't spent much time around young kids. Dinosaur Train is much more of my son's speed than Jurassic Park, a PG-13 movie with scenes like this.





I mean, sure I let my infant watch Game of Thrones, but I don't think my 3 year-old is quite ready to see Jeff Goldblum in a movie.

Maroon 5's Sugar Sounds Like Michael Jackson's Beat It

I don't understand Maroon 5. I mean, I understand that they have a string of catchy pop hits, but they're as big as they are solely because of Adam Levine. Having a charismatic lead singer appear weekly on The Voice and get People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive does good things for a musical career. In my mind, Maroon 5 is Lifehouse without Adam Levine being Adam Levine. That's not a knock against Lifehouse either since I think their best songs are better than Maroon 5's best songs.

Anyway, I heard Maroon 5's latest song Sugar on the radio recently (yes, I still listen to the radio) and thought one part sounded a lot like Michael Jackson's Beat It. Apparently, Ben Schuller, as seen in this video below, agrees with me. Specifically, check out the part around the :23 second mark.



This isn't quite a Sam Smith-Tom Petty situation, and I'm not a lawyer or play one on the internet, but I think the Jackson family has a case to get some royalties here.