A Taylor Swift Post That's Not About Taylor Swift

You may have heard of a singer named Taylor Swift. She is currently taking her talents to Australia as part of her Eras Tour. Singer Rita Ora, her husband filmmaker Taika Waititi, and singer (and Sean's Ramblings favorite) Katy Perry attended Swift's Sydney concert which took place yesterday/today/tomorrow (I don't know the time difference between Sydney and the Eastern time zone of the US). So why I am writing about this? Check out Rita Ora's hat for the show.

Clearly, Rita Ora is excited about the Pirates signing Mitch Keller to an extension!

For more Celebrities in Pittsburgh Gear posts (this is my second this week!), please click here.

Photos from The Era Tour Twitter page (here and here), the Taylor Swift Updates Twitter page, and a screenshot of a brief video of Ora and Perry by Cooper.

Random Ramblings

* Ziggy turned 12 on Saturday. To celebrate, he meowed a lot fairly early in the morning, and then proceeded to urinate on a bathroom rug. I'm still not exactly sure why. His litter box was clean, so I suspect that he was a little spooked by a toy near his litter box. I moved some things around in the basement, and he successfully used his little box again not long after I did that. He's definitely getting older, but I think (or at least hope) that this is an isolated incident. (Ziggy might be a little embarrassed, so he's hiding from the paparazzi!

* The Democratic National Convention begins tonight. While I saw a list of speakers posted online last week, I honestly had no idea that the convention is this week. I mention this because I think Katy Perry, Demi Lovato, and Ariana Grande should reunite to introduce Kamala Harris. 

Bonus points if Katy Perry can wear the Dumbo costume she wore during a Disney singalong back in May.

  

* I don't want to jinx anything, but I wrote a blog post to appear on a website that's not Sean's Ramblings. Even though there's no money involved, it might turn out to be a regular thing. It's very, very subject specific, but I'm excited about the opportunity. It sounds like it's going to happen later this week, so I'll let everyone know on my Facebook and Twitter pages if/when the post is published.

* Baseball writer Peter Gammons wrote a tweet about the historically bad Boston Red Sox pitching staff which included this, "And next June's draft order will not be in order of the 2020 finish, but a combined formula based on 2019-2020." As a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, this is depressing. The Pirates are awful with a 4-14 record. In a typical year, this pace would allow them to get the #1 overall draft pick. However, in 2019 they were 10 games better than the Kansas City Royals, 12 games better than the Miami Marlins, and an incredible 22 games better than the Detroit Tigers. While I don't know how the formula works, it seems like the Pirates could finish 4-36 while the Tigers could 20-20, and the Tigers would get the better pick. 

* I've now watched the first two episodes The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Breaking news: It's really good. Who knew? (Other than all of the Emmy voters.)

45 Years Old: 45 Questions Answered (Part II)

In honor of my 45th birthday, I created blog posts where I answer 45 questions asked by friends. The first part is available here, and this is part two. Will there be a part three? We'll see.

11. Who is your all time favorite non-Pittsburgh athlete?

Even my all-time favorite non-Pittsburgh athletes who you wouldn’t associate with Pittsburgh have Pittsburgh ties. The two that stand out for me are Jason Taylor and Larry Fitzgerald. Taylor is from Pittsburgh and played football and basketball for my high school, but most people associate him with the Miami Dolphins. Fitzgerald is Mr. Arizona as a member of the Cardinals, but he attended the University of Pittsburgh and is one of the greatest wide receivers in college history. So that rules them out.

Therefore, my favorite non-Pittsburgh athlete who doesn’t have any association with Pittsburgh is Tony Gwynn. What a player and what a person. I wrote a blog post about Gwynn (of course I did), but I’m happy to write about him again. As a kid, I always knew of Gwynn as a great hitter as he regularly appeared at the top of the batting average standings when I looked through the Sunday newspaper. However, I rarely saw him play since it’s not like the Padres were on TV much and their games started after 10:00 PM. When I moved to San Diego in 1997 near the end of his career, I saw how revered he was out there, and how much he was respected by everyone in baseball. During the 1999 All-Star game, baseball and the Boston Red Sox honored Ted Williams only one of the greatest baseball players of all time. What’s amazing about the video below is how all of the players gather around Williams, and how happy Williams was to see Tony Gwynn (around the 3:50 mark). Williams lived in San Diego and he and Gwynn got together and talked about hitting (and presumably other stuff). How cool would it have been to listen to those conversations?



Gwynn also did so much in the community and received the 1999 Roberto Clemente Man of the Year award. After his playing career ended, he went back to become the head baseball coach at San Diego State, his alma mater. How many Hall of Famers to that?

The two biggest travesties of the 1994 baseball strike was that it cost the Montreal Expos a legitimate chance to win the World Series (which presumably would have kept the team in Montreal) and Gwynn was hitting .394 and had a chance to hit .400.

Gwynn died way too young at the age of 54 in 2014.

12. What do you love about living in Northern Virginia?

Opportunities for fun, free events and diversity. There are so many free concerts and events, particularly for kids and especially during the summer. Plus, we’re right next to DC, so we can visit any of Smithsonian museums for free or attend free events for kids at places like The Kennedy Center and The National Theatre. We don’t take advantage of this stuff nearly as much as we should, but I know people in other parts of the country and world don’t have these opportunities. Still, we attend at least one free show or concert a week each summer. We’re also in a very diverse area with people from so many different countries and cultures. My kids’ elementary school had a family heritage night last fall with student and family-led displays, performances, food tastings, and more. It was such a cool event with so many different nations and nationalities represented.

13. What do you hate about living in Northern Virginia?

Traffic and the cost of living. What should be a 20-minute drive can easily take 45 minutes (or more during rush hour). Even when you think there wouldn’t be traffic like on a random Wednesday morning at 11:00, there could be due to an accident or construction. The cost of living is also frustrating. A friend in the Nashville area recently posted on Facebook a real estate listing for the house next door to her. It’s amazing! So much space with 5 bedrooms and a big yard. The cost is around the same as the value of my home, but we definitely don’t have 5 bedrooms and a yard. We have also spent SO MUCH MONEY on daycare, preschool, and before and after-school care for the kids. It’s a good thing there are free community concerts and museums nearby!

14. What is your favorite place on the Ithaca College campus?

What’s funny is my favorite spot on campus is a place where I spent very little time. The Dillingham Fountains. If you’re at the right place on campus, you can see the fountains and Cayuga Lake. The problem is that the fountains were turned off for most of the school year to make sure that the pipes wouldn’t freeze. In Ithaca, New York, that could be October through April or nearly the entire school year. There were also cool lights to go along with the fountains, but I feel like those only came out during special occasions.

15. For your 45 questions: 1975's top three films were: Jaws; The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Which one would you pick to define 2020?

I really hope that I’m wrong, but I think the answer is going to be "Jaws." In Jaws, the Amity Island mayor decided to keep the beaches open even though there was already a shark attack and seemingly no action taken to ensure that there wouldn’t be future attacks. The beach needed to be open for July 4th! And what happened? More people got attached by sharks. The White House and the Centers for Disease Control created Guidelines for Opening Up America Again. One of these guidelines is that “states should have a “downward trajectory” of cases over a 14-day period before reopening.” What happened? Most, if not all of the states, failed this test before reopening. I also worry that officials will stop counting or under-report COVID-19 cases or deaths in order to make it seem like things are better in their area that it is. This already happened in Nebraska. Or you get Georgia who made it look like cases were going down by putting dates out of order. For example, May 5th was followed by April 25th.

Again, I hope that I’m wrong, but I think there are going to be a lot more shark attacks in 2020.

16. If you could go back in time, would you change anything in your life?

This is a variation of the “what is your greatest regret” question from part one of 45 questions. The only thing I can really think of is that I would have bought stock in Apple, Amazon, or Google or some other company or made big and correct wagers on sporting events. I don’t think I’d be comfortable having Bill Gates or Warren Buffet money, but it would be nice to have been successful in these endeavors so that we’d be comfortable financially. Like really, really comfortable financially. And yes, this answer is basically plot points from the movies Frequency and Back to the Future 2.

17. & 18. If you could time travel, would you go back or forward and what would you be most interested in seeing?

I’m counting this as two questions. It would be cool to go back to game 7 of the 1960 World Series to see Bill Mazeroski of the Pirates hit a 9th inning series winning home run against the Yankees.

Traveling forward, I don’t know if I’d want to go to January 2021 to know the result of the November 2020 election. I mean, if Donald Trump loses, do we think he’s going to handle it well? Will there be a peaceful transition of power? I guess it would be nice to know when there will be a successful COVID-19 vaccine and to see when everything is going to be back to normal.

19. What is your favorite memory of being 23?

In December 1998, I helped organize and create a Kosher Pickle Taste Test at San Diego State University. It was a lot of fun and a huge success and also inadvertently started the tradition of having pickles at Hanukkah. I’m still waiting for this to catch on across the country and the world, and I think this is the year it’s going to happen.

20. What’s the thing you are looking forward to most about being 45?

Since I think I’m going to spend much of being 45 at home, the answer is spending a lot of time with my kids. (This might also be on the list of what I’m not looking forward to being 45.) It will be interesting to see how they grow. I dread doing potty training with Luigi, but it will be so nice not to change diapers anymore. I expect that Pedro Tulo will be reading much more. Maybe The Moose will learn to ride his bike? They’re all going to grow and learn, which should be fun to see.

21. In honor of Michael Jordan and the last dance would you rather be 23 or 45?

I liked being 23. I lived in San Diego, and while I didn’t have much money, I didn’t have many expenses or worries. In normal times, though, I’d still probably go with 45. While my kids can definitely be frustrating and I worry about them, it’s really cool being a dad. However, seeing that I’m probably not going to travel anywhere, eat out at restaurants, or even go the grocery store without wearing a mask for a good part of my 45th year, I’ll go with 23.

22 & 23 What's the age that you liked being the most and the least?

I think 45 is going to be the one I like the least. Again, while it will be exciting seeing my kids grow, I don’t know when I’ll be able to see my mom. Or go out to a concert or sporting event. Or coach my kids’ soccer teams. See a theme here?

The age I liked the most? Probably 25 which is odd to say since I had some tough times then. I couldn’t stand my supervisor at my primary job and often struggled to keep motivated during graduate school. I just wanted to be done. I mentioned “primary” job since I also had at least 2 other jobs at that time. However, as a 25 year old, I went to Israel for 10 days followed immediately (with a 4-hour stop at Newark Airport) by spending the summer in Lancaster, England. I made side trips to Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, London, and more. Then, after returning to the US, I met friends in Vegas and attended a wedding in Montreal. I also started dating my girlfriend who is now my wife. Just before I turned 26, three friends and I drove from Columbus, Ohio to Buffalo to see the Penguins win game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals (the Darius Kasparaitis overtime goal game) and then immediately back to Columbus. Such a cool experience!

24. Who are your celebrity crushes, then…?

Alyssa Milano and Debbie Gibson. And yes I wrote about both of them here and here.

25. …and now?

This one is much tougher since I don’t know all of the latest stars. I probably would have said Katy Perry a few years ago, but not so much now and it has nothing to do with her dressing up in a Dumbo costume during the recent Disney singalong.

I’ll go with Anna Kendrick who is very talented and also seems to have a great sense of humor. I enjoyed reading her book too. I'm also a fan of fellow Pittsburgh Steelers fan Sofia Vergara.

26. & 27. What do you like/dislike the most about being part of Gen X?

This might be the hardest question on here. I don’t have a good answer. I think it’s nice that us Gen X folks connected to a time with “old” technology (like rotary phones or televisions without remotes) but also know how to use computers. We’re not getting told that we and need to die like Baby Boomers to help the economy, but we’re also not Millennials who are told that we spend too much money on avocado toast. We’re just here doing the best we can trying to help our parents and our kids.

28. What is your favorite blog post?

How can I pick just one out of over 3,000? It’s like picking my favorite child. I mean that answer changes on a minute-to-minute basis. Some of my TMI Thursday posts were fun. I feel like I had some great posts about my kids and being a dad. Interviewing Chris Wright, the former Pittsburgh Spirit and Minnesota Timberwolves General Manager, was a neat experience. Actually, just because of who asked this question, this is my favorite blog post!

29. So what’s been your favorite hockey trip so far?

For over a decade now, a friend and I have taken an annual-ish road trip to see NHL hockey games across the United States and Canada. At this point, we’ve seen nearly 2/3rds of the NHL teams/cities. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ve tried to chronicle some of our experiences over the years. While it’s hard to pick a favorite trip since they’ve all been fun, I think I’m going with our 2009 trip to Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto. The negative was that it was freezing in Montreal (temperatures were in the negative teens) and the crowd at the Maple Leafs game was the quietest at any that we’ve attended. Why am I bringing up the negative? I don’t know. The crowds at Montreal and Ottawa were outstanding. We got to see the Hockey Hall of Fame with the Stanley Cup in Toronto, toured Canada’s capital, and ate some really good steak in Montreal. We did so much driving, got stuck re-entering the United States from Toronto, surreally watched the news seeing that Sully landed a plane in the Hudson River, and then I stumbled into people attending Obama inauguration parties when I returned to DC. What a trip!

30. If you could attend any major sporting event regardless of who is in it, what would it be? Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup Final, Masters, Indy 500, Kentucky Derby, Championship fight, etc.?

The “who is in it” is the key here. The Steelers in a Super Bowl or the Penguins or Pirates in a game seven would be at the top of the list. Ithaca College somehow making it to the Division I NCAA Final Four despite being a Division III team would be the dream scenario. Since I don’t have a significant rooting interest in this scenario, I’d pick the World Cup final. Unlike the other examples in the question, this only happens every four years. It has the biggest worldwide television audience of any sporting event, and you’ll have people from all over the world in attendance making it a really unique experience.

31. If you could get tickets to any one Summer Olympic event, what would you go see?

The men’s 100 meter dash but with an asterisk. This might be the most exciting athletic event in all of sports, but I’m also not spending a lot of money on a 10-second race. There needs to be a several hours of qualifying races and/or other track and field events, concluding with this race.

32. If you could get tickets to any one Winter Olympic event, what would you go see?

The women’s hockey gold medal game gets a slight edge over the men’s hockey gold medal game. While I can see many of the men’s players in the NHL, the women’s game is truly the biggest event in the sport. Plus, there’s an excellent chance that the game would feature the American and Canadian teams, and they’ve had quite the rivalry over the years.

33. Your wife tells you that she’s taking the kids out all day and you have the entire day to yourself. What would you do?

To dream, the impossible dream!



Obviously, the answer is before the coronavirus. For most of the day, the answer would be nothing. I would sleep in. Maybe I’d read the newspaper. I’d sit on the couch and watch whatever is on my DVR. At some point, definitely after lunch, I’d probably go out to see a movie since I rarely go to the theater. For the evening, it would go to a trivia night or a sporting event with friends. This sounds like a fantastic day!


So as you can see, I've only answered 33 of 45 questions. I’m still 12 questions short. Will there be a part III? Please ask some questions, so the answer will be yes!


Anna Kendrick photo from her Instagram page.

Kamala, Katy, Ariana, & Demi

My friend Josh recently included this picture as part of a post regarding his 2020 Democratic Primary Fantasy League.

This is Presidential candidate and California Senator Kamala Harris with pop musicians Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, and Demi Lovato. I would have loved to have been in the room to hear the conversation between these women. And actually, maybe I was. Here is a brief transcript of that conversation.

Katy Perry: Senator Harris, we’re so excited that you’re here to meet with us today.

Kamala Harris: Oh please just call me Kamala. I’m honored to be meeting all of you. You know how important it is to get young people out to vote and to engage in our democratic process, and I appreciate you encouraging your fans to do this.

Perry: The three of us talked about it, and we want to endorse you to be the next President of the United States. However, we want to know that you’re real. What we mean is that if you want us to encourage our fans to vote for you, we need to know that you know us and aren't just pandering.

Harris: Yes, I know that you have a cat named Kitty Purry. That’s wonderful.

Perry: Oh, Kitty Purry is the sweetest. Anyway, to show that you’re in touch with the youth of this country, we want you to name your favorite song of ours.

Harris: Well, I really think that young Americans will care about my plans on healthcare and education and the environment.

Perry: Do you want us to call Elizabeth Warren?

Harris: Fine.

Ariana Grande: Me first.

Harris: Um, okay. My favorite song of yours is Thank U, Next. I love how you sing about growing from each of your past relationships and how that has helped you become a better you. It’s really an empowering song for women.

Perry: What about my song?

Harris: Well, Katy, I want to say Firework, but since both of us represent the great state of California, I’m definitely going with California Gurls. Us California girls need to stick together! (Gives Perry an awkward high five.)

Demi Lovato: What about me?

Harris: Oh, um, you have so many great songs that it’s hard to choose just one.

Lovato: Well, then give me several of your favorites.

Harris: Well, if I have to pick one, it would be (6 second pause which seems like hours), Party in the USA.

Lovato: That’s Miley Cyrus!

We interrupt this conversation for a choose your own adventure. There are two possibilities here. You can see what happens when I was in the room for the discussion (Ariana and I have a history) and when I was not. For the option of me NOT being in the room, continue reading below. For the option of me being in the room, skip to after the picture.

You chose the option of the four women continuing their conversation.

Harris: Fine, I can’t name one of your songs. I do know that you have had some rough times, and I’m glad to see that you’re doing well. You'll see that my plan is to increase funding for healthcare, both physical and mental. Besides, do you think that Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders know your songs? We both know that you’re not going endorse Biden.

Lovato: True.

Perry: So are you going to meet with Taylor Swift too?

Harris: I haven’t really thought about it, but I’m looking into more ways to connect with younger voters, so it’s a possibility,

Perry: Taylor and I are friends again, so I can put in a good word for you.

Harris: Thanks!

Perry: You just probably shouldn’t mention that you met with us at Scooter Braun’s house.

Harris: Why?

Perry, Grande, and Levato go through the entire ordeal which can just be summed up here. Harris tries several times to switch subjects with no success. Finally,

Harris: That’s really interesting, and I hope it works out. As President, I will do my best to make sure that Taylor Swift is not engaged in any more feuds.

Perry: Thank you, Kamala. You have my endorsement.

Lovato and Grande: Me too.

Harris: Excellent!

You chose the scenario with me in the room.

Harris: Well, if I have to pick one, it would be (6 second pause which seems like hours), Party in the USA.

Lovato: That’s Miley Cyrus!

Sean (who was hiding behind the curtain): Senator Harris. Demi’s best song is clearly Cool for the Summer or Confident and

Harris: Security!

Grande: Sean! Is that you? I’m so glad to see you. I’ve missed you so much.

Harris: You know him?

Grande: Of course. This is the Sean from the first line of Thank U, Next.

Security: Yes, Senator.

Harris: It’s okay. He can stay.

Perry: Wait, this is Sean. Wow! He’s the one who got away.

Lovato: Sean, let me give your heart a break.

Harris: I think I’m going to go now. It was a pleasure meeting with all of you. And Sean, I could use a person like you in my administration. These three extraordinary women obviously think highly of you, so I think you could be a valuable asset to my campaign and administration. I'm not sure why you were hiding behind that curtain though.

Friday Video: Snow

It seems like almost everyday, there is some news or story that is pretty unbelievable. Things that you can’t imagine are happening. Although there are still seven months remaining this year, I’m not sure that anything will astonish me more than the fact that Snow is part of hit song in 2019.

Let’s go back to 1992 when Canadian rapper Snow had a #1 song, Informer.



At least in my world, this song was everywhere. Snow rapped so fast that you really couldn’t understand what he was saying expect for "a licky boom boom down," which didn’t make any sense but seemed cool. Then, the tide started to turn against Snow, and (at least in my mind) he was done after In Living Color (hi Jim Carrey!) did a sketch making fun of him.



Fast-forward to 2017. The biggest song in the world was Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (not to be confused with Derek Jeter) featuring Justin Bieber. Although Daddy Yankee was a huge star in Puerto Rico and had some success on the mainland, Despacito catapulted him to nearly A-level status in the US. Now, Daddy Yankee has a song called Con Calma with Snow, who he seemingly brought out of retirement.



The song certainly had (and is having) success around the world (see below), but Daddy Yankee and Snow themselves didn't get the song massive radio airplay on most English stations. Enter Katy Perry on the remix.



Sadly, Snow did not appear on American Idol in this performance by Daddy Yankee and Perry.



Apparently, according to this fascinating Rolling Stone article, Snow can't enter the US:

Snow also appears in the video for “Con Calma,” but his part had to be filmed separately in Canada. Thanks to his past legal issues, including an assault conviction in 1995, Snow is currently unable to enter the U.S. without a waiver, which would have allowed him to apply for a work visa. “You’re supposed to renew the waiver and he didn’t,” says Farberman. “It’s a technical matter.”

I guess that's why he on American Idol. Anyway, Con Calma is currently in the top 40 in the US, and I wouldn't be surprised if it moves into the top 20 or even top 10 by the end of the summer. Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia, the song reached #1 in Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, and reached the top five in Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, and Slovenia.

Please let me know if you find a story more unbelievable than Snow being part of a top 5 song in Poland and Slovenia in 2019!

Friday Video: Feels

Today's video is Feels by Calvin Harris featuring Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, and Big Sean. A few things here. Pharrell may be one of the coolest people on the planet. It just seems like you're going to have an amazing time hanging out with him. I mean, he even looked cool wearing the Arby's hat a few years ago. Not many people could pull this off.

I'm also a big Katy Perry fan, though she is underutilized in this song. If I was a rapper, I would go by either Big Sean or DJ Seany Sean. I guess Big Sean made the choice for me. Finally, I like the guitar by Calvin Harris on this song. You really can't go wrong with Feels for a Friday video.

Friday Video: Taylor Swift

In the Taylor Swift-Katy Perry rivalry, I'm Team Katy. Despite the fact that she was awful hosting Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards (we can blame the writers, right?), I think we can all agree that it would be much more fun to hang out with Perry over Swift. Plus, Perry has a car named Kitty Purry. How adorable!

With that written, I really, really like several of Taylor Swift's songs. I've actually written about them once or twice. While I've now heard Swift's new song, Look What You Made Me Do, several times and it's starting to grow on me, this is definitely not her best work. Hearing it the first time, I didn't think it was good at all.



A few years ago, Swift wrote an amazingly catchy and fun song, Shake It Off. How did she go from that mindset to Look What You Made Me Do, where she is now no longer able to, well, shake it off? If she isn't the biggest pop star in America, Taylor is in the top 2. (Hi Beyoncé!) She has plenty of money and fame filled with commercial and critical success. Look what you made me do? No one is making her do anything. Yet, she still holds these grudges against Perry and/or Kanye West.

As a tangent, the new song features a line that the old Taylor is dead. Upon hearing this on the radio, The Moose (age 6) asked how old she was when she died and how old is the new Taylor. (He is obsessed with people's ages. During every song, he asks the age of the singer. I think I tell him that every current pop star is about 25 with the exception of Shawn Mendes who is probably 13.) Anyway, I tried to explain that Swift didn't really die and that this is her new mindset or something. I don't get it and he clearly doesn't either.

It's a holiday weekend, so I'll leave you with something happy. Here's Shake It Off:

Ideas To Conserve Water

We recently received our quarterly water/sewer bill, and while it was not any higher than usual, it still seemed to be a little pricey. I called the water authority and learned that we used about 16,000 gallons of water over the past quarter and that this is within the average for a family of four. Despite being within the average, 16,000 gallons of water over 3 months seems absurd and excessive. With the recent news of California ordering mandatory water cutbacks, I need to find a way to cut back on water usage. Here are some ideas:

- Ziggy grooms himself by licking his fur and his front paws. Why can't the kids do this?

- I'm sure that I use a lot of water shaving nearly every day, so my solution is not to shave anymore. I could have the Brett Keisel or Kurt Russell look in no time.

- Drink less water but more alcohol. (Of course, that would lead to my next post: how can I spend less money on alcohol.)

- I need to be a little less anal about how well I clean dishes, cups and silverware before they go into the dishwasher. One of the worst things in the world is running the dishwasher and seeing food still stuck on a knife when putting everything away. I have to find some type of middle ground here.

- Two words: Toilet pool

- Since I don't own a pool, I guess I'll settle with just going to the bathroom outside behind trees and bushes. Hopefully the neighbors won't mind.

- Stop using the washing machine and start washing my clothes in the river. The Potomac River isn't that far from me.

- Start taking baths instead of showers. What a nice way to end the day with a bubble bath, a glass of wine, candles a book and maybe some Kenny G music (preferably his sax solo in Katy Perry's Last Friday Night). I guess the kids can fend for themselves during my relaxing time.



While this is a good start, do you have any other suggestions?

Pittsburgh Guest Blogger Event 2014

Today’s post comes from Tyler of YinZSTER, and is part of a special day of shenanigans from other Pittsburgh Bloggers. You can see my post over on Small-Town Dad, where I write about preparing to be a new father again.

Guest blogger in the house.

There are actually 29 guest bloggers in 29 different houses today, and even one in my house at YinZSTER (what has happened to the moral fabric of our e-society?). But of all the featured blogs, I would be willing to bet that my random insertion at Sean’s Ramblings is the toughest to detect because dude is all over the map and I love it! We’ve got sports, we’ve got anecdotes, we’ve got cats, we’ve got politics, we’ve got things out of the basement, we’ve got EVERYTHING in NO PARTICULAR ORDER at Sean’s Ramblings. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I realized that this page has been producing more than one post a day for over the past nine years. That’s incredible, and very different from my approach at YinZSTER (because I’m very lazy), so I’m super excited to be featured on here. It’s a privilege.

But wtf am I supposed to write about, when I can clearly just write about whatever I want? That is, as they say, a lot of rope to hang yourself on. Should I write about how orcas are the scariest living thing on the planet? How I always perspire when I write posts (Sean, am I the only one who sweats while he writes? Or is this how you know you’re doing it wrong...)? Should I write about a cool new development in Pittsburgh, like rideshare services? Should I write about how I woke up this morning with all the lights on in my apartment, still wearing every garment of clothes from the night before while lying on top of the covers on my bed? No, right?

I fretted over this, but when it came down to it I wanted to represent for Sean, so I scoured his posts and found what I think I might be best capable of replicating with a little flair: interpretations of song lyrics. I chose three of the Top 10 songs from Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40, which is kind of fun because I don’t listen to much music that humans like. I’m just going straight lyrics here, people, as if these words were found within the pages of a poetry notebook (and, dear God, I’m glad they weren’t). I don’t recognize any of the three songs I chose, which kind of makes me question my lifestyle since these are three of the ten most popular songs in western civilization or whatever it is that Billboard represents. But oh well, that’s for another time and place.

I chose:

• “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. Last week, my good friend Emily scolded me when her coworkers at Branding Brand made a music video that mimicked the video for this song, because she could tell I had never heard the song, or of it, or seen the video. But I do know the guy has a weird hat.
• “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry. Katy Perry is pretty hot, and some of her older songs are guilty pleasures of mine. She has done a lot to surmount the obstacle of being one of those Katy’s who ends her name with a “y” instead of an “ie”.
• “Counting Stars” by One Republic. This is the only one that Sean didn’t touch in his recent post. I had a really great night in February that ended with One Republic songs being played on repeat at The Livermore in East Liberty (lovely place). I don’t know if this was one of them or not, but it doesn’t really matter though because I’m glad to be reminded of that night.

Ahem

“Happy”

Verse 1
Pharrell: It might seem crazy what I’m about to say
Tyler: *braces himself for the craziest thing ever*
Pharrell: Sunshine she’s here, you can take a break
Tyler: *slumps in chair*
Pharrell: I’m a hot air balloon that could go to space
Pharrell: With the air, like I don’t care baby by the way
Tyler: Holy sh*t, none of this is going to make any sense, is it?

Hook
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do

Tyler: I put some serious thought into “if you feel like a room without a roof” and I’m really struggling with what he’s going for here. It sounds like a terrible thing to be missing the most critical component of your design, but that doesn’t fit into the context with the rest of the lyrics. Put another way, I take this as “clap along if you feel super insufficient to serve the only task you are capable of doing – because I’m happy”. Right? Clap along if you feel like a skateboard without wheels, clap along if you feel like a television with no screen, clap along if you feel like a toothbrush with no little brushy things part. These should be lyrics to an R.E.M. song. It’s actually totally sad, if you think about an image of someone who feels this level of despair and is clapping their hands to this song with a long face…

Verse 2
Pharrell: Here come bad news talking this and that, yeah,
Pharrell: Well, give me all you got, and don’t hold back, yeah,
Pharrell: Well, I should probably warn you I’ll be just fine, yeah,
Pharrell: No offense to you, don’t waste your time here’s why:
Tyler: Really? Nothing can bring you down from this temporary mood? Mr. Williams, your entire family was killed in a horrific accident.

Bridge
Pharrell: Hey, come on
Pharrell: Bring me down can’t nothing bring me down
Pharrell: My level’s too high
Tyler: The other vehicle was full of puppies.
Pharrell: Bring me down can’t nothing bring me down
Pharrell: I said (let me tell you now)
Tyler: The lone survivor was a serial killer driving the puppy car
Pharrell: Bring me down can’t nothing bring me down
Pharrell: My level’s too high
Tyler: Mr. Williams the serial killer is en route to your last known address
Pharrell: Bring me down can’t nothing bring me down
Pharrell: I said

And then he goes on with more of the same incoherent babbling. Conclusion: I suppose if I had the Number 1 song in the world with this style of writing, it’d be hard to bring me down too.

“Dark Horse”

I’m just gonna skip the Juicy J. lead-up stuff, but he does finish that part with “Let’s rage” which I like.

Katy: I knew you were, you were gonna come to me
Katy: And here you are but you better choose carefully
Katy: Cause I, I’m capable of anything
Katy: Of anything and everything
Tyler: Where’s the like button?

Katy: Make me your Aphrodite, make me your one and only
Katy: But don’t make me your enemy, your enemy, your enemy
Tyler: What if this was some chick’s online dating profile?

Katy: So you wanna play with magic. Boy, you should know what you’re falling for.
Katy: Baby do you dare to do this? Cause I’m coming at you like a dark horse.
Katy: Are you ready for, ready for a perfect storm, perfect storm?
Katy: Cause once you’re mine, once you’re mine there’s no going back
Tyler: Dear bro who this song was meant for, you’re courting a praying mantis.

Katy: Mark my words, this love will make you levitate
Katy: Like a bird, like a bird without a cage
Tyler: Caw-caw!
Katy: But down to earth, if you choose to walk away, don’t walk away
Katy: It’s in the palm of your hand now baby
Katy: It’s a yes or no, no maybe
Katy: So just be sure to give it all to me.
Tyler: Where can I sign up? You don’t sound crazy at all.

And speaking of not crazy, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Juicy J!

Juicy J: She’s a beast, I call her Karma, she eats your heart out like Jeffrey Dahmer
Tyler: Wow, little intense there brother. But at least you left out the part where she tries to zombify you by injecting acid and hot water into your skull, like Jeffrey Dahmer.
Juicy J: That fairy tale ending with a knight in shining armor, she can be my Sleeping Beauty I’m gon’ put her in a coma (woo!)
Tyler: WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!
Juicy J: Her love is like a drug, I was tryna hit it and quit it, but lil mama so dope I messed around and got addicted.
Tyler: So romantic. Maybe if I applied more cannibalism, coma-induction and drug abuse into my courtship practices I wouldn’t be blogging on Friday nights.

I’m done. Get me out of this song.

“Counting Stars”

This post is already too long for me to write about “Counting Stars”, which is just another way for me to say, “Mannnn these lyrics are terrible.” All you need to know is the lyric “No more counting dollars, we’ll be counting stars”. Ugggghhhhhh. Alright, One Republic, how many stars did you count? I have a nephew who can count to 100 – can you get to that many? There is absolutely no point to this song. It’s trying to do the whole, man I got all this money but it isn’t fulfilling at all so let’s just marvel at nature thing, but it fails miserably. Moving on.

Anyway, this is as good a place as any for me to thank Sean for the spot on his page. I look forward to checking out the posts on here in the future, as should you Mr./Ms. Sean’s Ramblings Reader. Like I said at the beginning, I chose the writing style of his that I thought would be the most fun, but there’s lots of cool day-to-day stuff on here and the guy really shoots from the hip. I enjoyed the opportunity, and also have to thank Alexander FIV for hooking us all up. See you around the block, Pittsburgh bloggers!


I hoped that you enjoyed this special April Fool's Day post as part of the 2nd annual Pittsburgh Guest Blogger event. You can also find plenty of other special guest blog posts by checking out #PghGBE on Twitter.

Rap On The Radio

There's a radio station in DC with the tag line, Today's best hits, without the rap. My question is, in 2014, what is the problem with playing rap on the radio? Look, no one expects this station to abandon its current play list of Katy Perry, Maroon 5, OneRepublic, Bruno Mars and Lorde and start playing Wu-Tang Clan and Odd Future. (You didn't expect an Odd Future reference from me, did you?) However, would the audience revolt and the universe explode if the station included the Juicy J portion of Katy Perry's Dark Horse? Are they worried about losing sponsors if they played Same Love by Macklemore?

Meanwhile, one of this station's competitors (who plays virtually the exact same songs) recently changed its tag line to All the Hits and are slowly figuring out this rap thing. Although they also seem to be against Juicy J too, this station is okay playing the T.I. portion of Blurred Lines and Ludacris' rap in an Enrique Iglesias song. They also play Drake's Hold On We're Going Home since Drake sings rather than raps on this song, so I guess that makes it okay.

Any thoughts on this or am I simply listening to the radio too much during the day?

The Return of Sean Analyzing Song Lyrics

Since I refuse to write about snow, I thought I would share some thoughts about current songs. Enjoy!

Aloe Blacc - The Man

You can tell everybody
Yeah you can tell everybody
Go ahead and tell everybody
I'm the man, I'm the man, I'm the man

That's a little arrogant, now isn't it, Aloe? And what makes you think people want to go around telling people you're the man? What would happen if Aloe approached you about this at a party?

Aloe: Hey Sean.
Sean: Hello.
Aloe: Go ahead and tell everybody I'm the man.
Sean: Um, yeah, I'll get right on that.

Katy Perry - Roar

I've got the eye of the tiger.

Katy Perry - Dark Horse

Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse.

Someone visited the farm and zoo while writing their latest album. Either that or read a lot of kids books.

The Juicy J portion of Dark Horse

She's a beast.
I call her Karma.
She eats your heart out
Like Jeffrey Dahmer.

I'll take 20 year-old references that most fans of this song won't understand for $400, Alex.

Pharrell Williams - Happy

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof.

This is a good thing? Won't you get wet when it rains and cold when it snows?

That concludes the latest edition of Sean analyzing song lyrics.

2013 Song of Fall

It seems like every year, music sites and companies declare the song of the summer. Last year, you couldn't avoid Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe which was the undisputed 2012 song of the summer. According to Billboard, Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell was the summer song of 2013. However, have you ever heard of anyone talking about the biggest song of the fall? Although fall only started last week, I'd like to formally declare Royals by Lorde as the Fall Song of 2013.



I'm sure that folks will say that it's too early to declare a song of fall. Others may argue that Katy Perry (Roar), Lady Gaga (Applause), Miley Cyrus (Wrecking Ball), Bruno Mars (Gorilla) or Avicii (Wake Me Up) deserve this title. I disagree. Lorde and Royals didn't have the hype of the first four songs/artists. Actually, these first four artists could release songs of them singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and they would reach the top 10. Anyway, Royals has been building slowly and it somewhat reminds me of Goyte's Somebody That I Used To Know in that it doesn't sound like anything else on the radio. Oh, the song is also now receiving airplay on nearly all radio formats.

So join me in congratulating Lorde for Royals, the 2013 Song of Fall.

Baby You're A Firework

Even if you try to avoid pop music, you know Katy Perry. Her songs appear everywhere and she starred in her own film Katy Perry: Part of Me last summer. She has also been a regular tabloid feature for her relationship with John Mayer and her brief marriage and subsequent divorce to Russell Brand. You may also remember her from her appearance at the 2013 Grammys for her, um, dress.

So let's say that you're a Katy Perry fanatic. You follow Katy Perry on Twitter, attend her concerts, download all of her music and even see Smurfs 2 since she is the voice of Smurfette. But that's not enough. How do you stand out among the rest of the Katy Perry fans? One way is to get a personalized license plate like the one I saw in Northern Virginia last week. While I wasn't able to take a picture since I was driving, the license plate read KTY PRRY.

For the sake of the person who has this license plate, I certainly hope Perry doesn't turn into Amanda Bynes because that would be embarrassing to drive around with KTY PRRY on his/her car!

Of course, maybe this car owner is a cat owner who loves his/her kitten named Purry.

Random Ramblings

- Today is the last day to purchase the Super Early Bird discounted tickets for Celebrate Fairfax. It's only $7 for a ticket to see the Summerland Tour (Everclear/Live/Filter/Sponge), the B-52s or the Spin Doctors.

- Remember my list of the most famous Ithaca College graduates? There are a few more folks to add to the list. Ben Feldman, an Emmy nominee for playing Michael Ginsberg on Mad Men, Jeremy Jordan, a Broadway star who is on this season of Smash, and John Ross Bowie. You may not know JRB, but you know his character Kripke on The Big Band Theory.

- I have a challenge for you: If you're in a car in a metropolitan area, turn your radio to any FM station and hit the scan button. Can you go five minutes without hearing a Kelly Clarkson or Katy Perry song? As an added challenge, can you go two minutes without hearing a Clarkson, Perry, Maroon 5, Rihanna or Taylor Swift song? I think both are impossible unless you're in a tunnel. (These performers plus Bruno Mars, Train, Pink, fun., & Lady Gaga seemingly covers every song on the radio.)

- The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Kurt Yacko. Now they need to sign Wakko and Dot!

- I found out that my 20-year high school reunion is during the same weekend as a work meeting. I guess I'll have to wait for the 25-year reunion.

- Kate of Yinzpiration won the Pittsburgh Bloggers March Madness Bracket Challenge. (I lost the tiebreaker.) Since Kate won, we're writing about her favorite Pittsburgh non-profit, Pulse. I know nothing about Pulse, so read all about the organization from I Heart Pgh's description.

Have a good Friday and weekend!

Cool Video

If you’re a fan of Katy Perry, a cappella groups and/or elementary school choruses, the video below is for you. Even if these three things are not among your “Likes” on Facebook, this is still a cool video/song. Ithacappella, the all-male a cappella group at Ithaca College, joined forces with the PS22 Chorus, an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in Graniteville, Staten Island along with former PS22 Chorus member Adiza, who is now a member of Ithaca College's all-female choir, Premium Blend. Check out the result:



PS22 Chorus has more information about this collaboration and other videos on its blog.


Unrelated to the video, I'm still looking for suggestions about my questions from yesterday's post. Any help is appreciated.

My Top Songs of 2010

Most people put together their best of the year lists in mid to late-December. Not me! Who cares if we're already into the second week of January 2011? I thought I would put together some of my favorite songs from the past year. Yes, I realize that some of these songs may have been released in 2009, but I'm counting them as 2010. If you don't like it, make your own list!

Wiz Khalifa - Black and Yellow



The Black Keys - Tighten Up



Cee Lo Green - F**k You (very catchy and multi Grammy-nominated song but NSFW, if you couldn't tell by the title)



Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart (featuring Ludacris); I also like his follow-up hit, Dynamite.



Ke$ha - Tik Tok



Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man (NSFW due to one work in the chorus)



I'm sure that I could include more songs, but six videos in one post is probably four or five too many. Pink's Raise Your Glass, Animal by Neon Trees and anything by Katy Perry (including if she wrote a song of her reading the phone book and made a video of it) also deserve recognition.

Sean Analyzes Popular Song Lyrics

Although I’m in my 30s, I like to keep track of music that the kids listen to these days. You know, I think this Lady Gaga could have a future. Only a few people know of her now, but she could be the next big star. Anyway, here are lyrics of songs from this year and my thoughts about said lyrics.

Mike Posner – Cooler Than Me

I used up all my tricks,
I hope that you like this.
but you probably won't,
you think you're cooler than me.

So let me understand this, Mike. You used all of your tricks, but the girl still doesn't like you, and the reason is because she thinks that she is cooler than you? Maybe it's you. Maybe you're a jerk and that's why she doesn't like you. Try to be yourself and that could help. Of course, maybe she is cooler than you.



Taylor Swift – Mine

Braced myself for the goodbye
Cause that's all I've ever known
And you took me by surprise
You said I'll never leave you alone

I think Taylor (we're on a first-name basis) wrote this as a romantic song, but this last line sounds a bit, well, stalker-ish.

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

I'ma get your heart racing
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

Teenage dream? No Katy, you're the adult dream for many folks.



Flo Rida - Club Can't Handle Me

You know I know how
To make 'em stop and stare as I zone out
The club can't even handle me right now

I have no idea what the first two lines mean, so I'm just focusing on the last sentence. You know what the club can't even handle me right now means? It means that that he was an uncontrollable drunk and the bouncers kicked him out. The club can't handle him is a fancy way of saying that.

I hope you enjoyed the first edition of Sean Analyzes Popular Song Lyrics. Please join us again whenever I can figure out the lyrics of more songs.

Katy Perry Sesame Street Controvery (Friday Links)

Katy Perry's appearance on Sesame Street will apparently not air. Lisa de Moraes has a great recap of this, but I think there's one thing that everyone is missing. This is all about ratings. Sesame Street's ratings have been down lately, so the increased attention is just what the show needs. The last time I remember hearing about Sesame Street was the contract dispute between PBS and Oscar the Grouch many years ago. The Katy Perry controversy is just what the show needs to increase attention and advertising dollars. [The Washington Post]

By the way, here's the video of Katy Perry and Elmo:



I'm not sure how to describe this, but this is a funny story about a child who needed tooth surgery but also wanted to attend a party. [Hyperbole and a Half]

A season recap of your AA Eastern League Champions, the Altoona Curve. [Pirates Prospects]

Check out Outsourced to see Anisha Nagarajan of Squirrel Hill and later Fox Chapel. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Congratulations to Igloo Dreams for reaching the five year blog anniversary. [Igloo Dreams]

A cool story about Pittsburgh Pirate Neil Walker. [Raise the Jolly Roger]

HBO plans to air a 24/7 series about this season's Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals. [Empty Netters]

Have a great weekend!