AT-40 Counts 'em Down

but its the long distance dedications that make one laugh.  or squirm.

tonite, a show from 2/16/80 (meaning late 70s post-disco hits were still up there, like Andy Gibb's lost hit, Desire).

but the long distance dedication from an Army Lt in Korea to his 7 months pregnant wife in Texas: Paul Anka's "Having My Baby".

THAT had me laughing for half an hour.  How the hell did they take songs like that seriously back then?  Today, that's humorous enough to be a Weird Al song.

Then the high school kid writing back to AT40 after having had his dedication to Charlie's Angel Cheryl Ladd asking her to his prom and then receiving a personal phone call from her (politely but personally turning him down)...sheesh.

Amongst the late disco, early 80s pop-rock, and (shudder) Neil Diamond, a few of the "classic rock" era songs are here this week, including Zep's Fool in the Rain (which appearantly triggered all 9 Zep albums into the top 200 charts, setting a record that would hold 'til the Beatles CDs came out), Tom Petty's Don't Do Me Like That, and Fleetwood Mac's Sara.  Oh, and Queen's Crazy Little Thing at #2...

but holding it off and reaching the #1 spot?  Do That To Me One More Time by the Captain and Tennille.

on Karen Carpenter, a personal note by Toni Tennille

yes, of Captain and Tennille fame.  Toni maintains a blog now (no RSS feed), and in a recent one gave a personal rememberence of Karen Carpenter and the events and behaviours of the label managers that she feels led directly to her anorexia that killed her (and how she hid it).

If you're in any eating disorder support communities or groups, or know someone who is, pass the link around, please.  It's a good read.

a comparison of records - senator vs. sidarth...

Mike the Mad Biologist - Why Not Sidarth for VA Senate?:

OK, I'm kidding (legally, he's too young). S.R. Sidarth is the native born Virginian who was called a racist slur by Californian transplant Sen. George Allen (R-VA). Californian transplant Allen also welcomed Sidarth to "the real Virginia." When you look at what a total screw up Allen was when he was young, and compare it to Sidarth (athlete, top-notch student, involved in community causes), this native-born Virginian (that would be the Mad Biologist) doesn't want Allen's 'kind' fouling the Commonwealth.

the only thing saving my sanity...

...from disappearing in recognition that I am so totally not ready for tomorrow, is that 3/4ths of what we need is already there, thanks to rehearsals.

However, that also means I have to keep mental track of that which is already there in order to avoid going mad (again) looking for it around the house or garage when its not even there.

Mostly all that's left is garb, evening clothes and personal props (even the rat sticks and my rat are already there).

side note - given all the crapola about the "mnemonic" for the planets having to change to remove the P-word, how about we actually teach the kids to memorize the damn planets directly?  I never had such a mnemonic (the only acronym-based ones I know are EGBDF (lines on a treble staff, but its also a Moody Blues album title), Roy G Biv (and I knew the colors before hearing the mnemonic, so the mnemonic was easy to remember) and OBAFGKM (the classifications of the stars, though I forget what each stands for now...hence why its better to remember the real thing rather than the mnemonic!) and I've kept the planet names in my head since I was 5.

three more icons...

 

gee, what you get done when it takes 2 minutes to compile and restart a server...