I understand that it's the middle of September.  Really, I do.

But there's a lot of work that goes into running a Christmas music station (which lives HERE for anyone who might be interested). 

Fridays are my catch-up days, where I make sure I've answered all emails, am up-to-date on forthcoming releases (new, rumored and imaginary), and add new music that's already been released, or has been sent to me by thoughtful and considerate singers and bands (and their management).

Our on-air library is just shy of 7000 songs, which I'm sure it will hit long bef.ore we get to October.  Possibly by next week.

Anyway, that's the long reason for today's playlist, which is my Christmas List (kind of like my own private Sounds of Christmas).  It certainly gets me in the spirit as I work on all this!

J.P., Chrissie and the Fairground Boys "Christmas Soon"
Sheryl Crow "The Christmas Song"
Huey Lewis and the News "Winter Wonderland"
Mulberry Lane "Christmas In The Car"
Jim Croce "It Doesn't Have To Be That Way"
B.B. King "Christmas Celebration"
Sarah Brightman "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day"
David Foster "Carol Of The Bells"
Bob Dylan "Silver Bells"
Frankie Lymon "It's Christmas Once Again"
Jethro Tull "Ring Out Solstice Bells"
The Marcels "Merry Twist-mas"

Other than Lisa, who shares my office, I'm not forcing this on anyone else, so don't yell at me for listening to Christmas music in September!

Ken

Well, let's end the suspense.  This week was a success, as I did officially lose a couple of pounds.  It would have been more if I hadn't accidentally added a jar of Planters peanuts to my meal plan.  Who knew?  I mean, there's a heart right on it, so it has to be good for you, right?

Oh, well.  I'm still good with my plan, as the weight is going in the right direction again.  And now that the Planters menace is no more, I can get back to business.

Lots of running around today, but not on the track.  As many of you know, I also run a Christmas music station, and since we're nearly halfway through September, things are starting to get busy over there.  But I made it through the week (my day-job work week ends on Thursday nights), and I'll get back on track tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've been wrapping things up in my office with tunes from my Dire Straits playlist...

"Industrial Disease"
"Twisting By The Pool"
"Money For Nothing"
"Telegraph Road"
"Calling Elvis"
"Skateaway"
"Down To The Waterline"
"Tunnel of Love"

And now, I think I just might be ready for the weekend!

Ken

I think everyone has kind of a golden age of music.  That coming-of-age time, when music became such an important part of your life.  For most, that's probably high school.  So for me, that would be the early 80's.

It seemed like my whole world revolved around my favorite rock station.  They understood.  And what they gave me was the soundtrack to one of the most memorable times in my life.

Anyway, my 80's Playlist was on tap today.  I've been kind of falling behind this week, but I still managed to go out and get my laps in.  And here's what kept me going around the track...

Glassmoon "The Telegram Song"
Tommy Shaw "Girls With Guns"
The Fixx "One Thing Leads To Another"
Van Halen "Why Can't This Be Love"
The Rubinos "Revenge Of The Nerds"
Jackson Browne "Boulevard"
E.L.O. "Hold On Tight"
R.E.M. "Radio Free Europe"
Ozzy Osbourne "Crazy Train"

Just a word of warning to anyone that's trying to duplicate this.  That Ozzy track is a tough one to cool down to.

Since I'm writing this just before 2am, I'm guessing I won't be getting up early to get in one more round before weigh in.  Keep your fingers crossed, and we'll find out soon if this is working!

Ken

I've been trying all day to shake off that 9/11 funk I've been in.  I finally stepped away from the computer and went out to do my laps at the track.

For today's exercise, I set my shuffling device to Bruce Springsteen and let it go.

I didn't get to all the albums, but I was rewarded with a pretty good mix today.  It's always a gamble, using Shuffle, as I could have just gotten  bunch of the hits. 

Don't get me wrong.  The hits are good songs, too, but today I really wanted to go a little deeper, instead of just the ones you always hear on the radio.

Anyway, here's today's Playlist...

"We Take Care Of Our Own"
"Jungleland"
"Murder Incorporated'
"Rendezvous"
"Working On The Highway'
"Cadillac Ranch"
"Pink Cadillac"
"Racing In The Street"

I'm supposed to weigh in on Thursday, so I guess we'll find out if Bruce and everyone else has been helping!

Ken

I really try not to hate.

It’s a waste of energy.  Nothing practical gets accomplished.  And it gets in the way.  Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s not good for anybody.

I’ve suffered plenty of slights, some intentional and some not.  I’ve gotten screwed over by employers (and others), and again, sometimes it was intentional, and sometimes it wasn’t.  I’ve been treated badly, and even betrayed.

Who hasn’t?

But hate is really strong.  Personally, I feel like it’s a kind of poison, and just allowing it to fester in me, well, it tends to kill me a little.  The longer I let it go on, the worse it gets.

So I try to let go.  I don’t hate old bosses and old jobs.  I don’t even wish them ill.  Karma may step in and give them what they deserve, but even so, that doesn’t improve much of anything in my own life.  I just don’t find joy in the misery of others.  Even in those I may have, at one time, thought deserved it.

Instead, I endeavor to be positive.  It’s not always easy, but I usually feel much better than I did when I’d allow hate to creep in.

I don’t hate political parties, or their candidates.  I don’t hate opposing sports teams.  I don’t even hate my ex.  In fact, I actually hope she’s figured out some way to be happy.

But I do hate September 11th.

I get into a funk every year around this time.  I didn’t know anyone who died on that awful day.  I did know someone who lost a loved one in one of the towers, but that’s hardly the same.

I was in Washington DC that day.  I was teaching at a broadcasting school in Crystal City, which is on the other side of the highway from the Pentagon.  I was actually standing in a McDonalds, watching the Today Show when the second plane hit.

I did not hear the crash at the Pentagon.  But at that point, communication became very difficult.  There was suddenly no phone service.  No cellphones or landlines.  I was relieved to find out that this was because of the sudden and extraordinary demands placed on those services, and not further terrorist activity.

The next hour was terrible.  Reports were flooding in to local radio about more attacks in and around Washington.  I had heard two different sources say that the building where my wife worked had been hit, in addition to many other buildings and landmarks around Washington.

Police and other emergency personnel directed everyone out of the building, and directed traffic away from the city.  I couldn’t even begin to guess how many cars there were, all creeping slowly out of Washington, while the Pentagon burned in our rearview mirrors.

Cell service returned, intermittently, and I was able to talk to my wife, who was at home and hadn’t been able to make it into work that day, anyway.  I also talked to my Mom, who was in South Carolina, watching the horror on TV and scared like most of America.

For those who don’t remember what it was like eleven years ago, cell phones have come a long way.  They weren’t quite the bricks you see in sitcoms, but they were march larger than they are today.  And they didn’t text or play Words With Friends or tell you where to find the best burgers.  They only made phone calls.

I spent a couple hours in traffic, watching smoke continue to fill the sky behind me.

I’m no hero.  I didn’t do anything to help anyone that day.  I didn’t lose anyone.  I wasn’t hurt.  All that really happened was that I got stuck in some bad traffic for a couple hours.

In the days that followed, we all changed.  The skies were eerily silent as there was no air traffic.  Traveling in and out of Washington, I got to see new landmarks.  Military vehicles with big guns on trailers, ever vigilant.  Electric traffic signs popped up, warning to contact police about anything suspicious.  Soon, those signs would greet us with that day’s Terror Alert Color of the Day.

My sister came for Thanksgiving that year, and I remember picking her up at BWI, and having the uneasy feeling as I saw armed military soldiers on patrol inside the terminal.

Over the years, some of that has changed.  New security checkpoints have replaced the armed soldiers at airports.  The Color-Coded Terror Alert system has been replaced. I left Washington seven years ago, so I don’t know if there are still jeeps and trailers of weapons at different spots in the city.

I’m not afraid to fly.  Well, no more than I was before September 11. 

It’s been eleven years.  A lot has happened.  Some good.  Some not.  I get that that’s just life.

I mean no disrespect to anyone who lost someone on that day, or in any of the battles and wars since then.  I don’t mean to suggest that any of them died in vain.  I understand why a lot of people say NEVER FORGET. 

But for me, I feel like re-opening these wounds every year at this time, well, it just weakens me.  Body, mind and spirit.  And I look forward to the year when I wake up on September 12 and realize, that for the first time, that awful day didn’t get to me.

Unfortunately, 2012 is not that year.

Ken

Just a quickie with today's playlist.

I thought I'd mention that when I do put together a playlist, I almost always set it to randomly shuffle the songs, so I don't know exactly what's coming next.  For me, this helps keep the monotony at bay.  And as far as I'm concerned, monotony and exercise tend to go hand in hand.

Anyway, since today is Joe Perry's birthday (Happy Birthday, Joe), I thought I'd throw together some of my favorite Aerosmith songs, and sort of celebrate the day with him.  I'm pretty sure his actual celebration doesn't include laps around the track at a local high school, but we all can't be rock stars.

"Love In An Elevator"
"Walk This Way"
"Draw The Line"
"Sweet Emotion"
"Livin' On The Edge"
"Janie's Got A Gun"
"Same Old Song And Dance"
"Toys In The Attic"
"The Other Side"
"Kings and Queens"

I may have overdone it a bit today, but I'm pretty sure Joe wants it that way!

Ken

Change is hard.

I’m probably not the first person to say that.  Probably not even the first person to say that today.

I’ve been trying to live my life like I’ve already won the lottery.  So much of it really is attitude, apart from paying off all the bills and a certain amount of rampant consumerism.  Of course.

One big change I want to make is to simply take better care of myself.  If I suddenly had millions, it would be kind of stupid to drop dead before I was fifty because I was too stupid to put down the bacon and go for a walk.

It’s not really as simple as that, but that’s the ‘gist.  When you see puddles and mud, you don’t need someone to tell you that it rained, right?

Part of my problem is that a lot of what I currently do, pre-lottery-winning, involves lots of writing, editing, uploading, downloading and social-media-ing.  A good chuck of my day is spent at my desk, busily working away on my computers.

Since both computers are really busy, I can’t listen to music on either while I’m working.  So I’ve had the TV on, kind of like wallpaper – not really watching, but a bit of a pleasant distraction while opening files (or downloading/uploading).

The problem with that, for me at least, is that watching any kind of commercial television means you’re going to see a lot of, well, commercials.  So whether I’m watching a block of “Friends” episodes on TBS or just keeping an eye on the news on CNN, I get somewhat bombarded by ads.

A lot of these ads are for food.  And it isn’t just one Pizza Hut commercial; it’s one Pizza Hut commercial every ten minutes. So after five or six hours of work, I am dying to go get a large Meat Lovers Pan Pizza (for only ten bucks).

Now if I won the lottery, I mean WHEN I win the lottery, I’ll still be doing stuff on my computers.  I’ll still want to run my Christmas station and my record label.  And I’d like to write more.

Obviously, I’d run the risk of the exact same problem.

I’ve solved this with my Smartphone.

Music is very important to me.  Since there are apps for almost everything now, I’ve played around and found a few that I really like.  And I’ve taken the time to make some pretty big playlists (I think I have twenty or so).

Now the TV is off, most of the time, and instead I fire up my music.

I know lots of people listen to music while they work, so this is not some earth-shaking revelation.  Hardly a sport that’s restricted to the wealthy, like polo or calico (or running for President).  For one, it lasts more than fifty minutes.  Though I can use my hands and my feet, if I want. 

I have shelves of records and CDs, but I had been feeling like I’d lost them, since I spend so much time on the computer and can’t really listen to them.  But now I can again. 

You don’t have to own lots of records and CDs to do this.  There are plenty of LEGAL streaming services out there.  And if you want, you can listen to almost any radio station.  I’ve lived in lots of places, and it’s been a little fun to track down some of my favorites, though a little strange hearing traffic and weather for somewhere on the other side of the country.

This is all just the tip of the iceberg.  Taking away the daily bombardment of Pizza Hut ads is just the beginning.  An important step, but still, just a start.

Exercise.  My Kryptonite.

I can make better food choices, and cut out (or at least cut down) all the garbage, but if I don’t get some exercise, it’s only half the solution.  Maybe not even half.

My main problem with exercise has been the boredom.  We’ve got such an A.D.D. world, or maybe I’ve just developed such an A.D.D. lifestyle, that treadmills and exercise bikes get tedious, not because of the monotonous activity, but because I need other simuli.  Without it, it becomes all too easy to boomerang right back to where I was.

Music to the rescue, once again.

I’ve started taking my smartphone with me, and I head out to our local high school’s football field (there’s a track around it).  I fire up one my playlists and find it easy to get through a good half hour (if not more).  And since I have so many different playlists, I’m able to keep it from being so repetitive (while I go lap after lap around the same track).

Another obvious, simple solution.  And hardly original.  I’m not the only one who exercises to music, of course.  And this may not work for you.  But it sure does for me.

In fact, I’m going to try and start posting more often, including that day’s exercise playlist.  You’re welcome to use it yourself, of course, or post your own.  Some of the artists I like may not be your cup of tea.  Or I might have missed something that works particularly well for you.

Or, we might just get a kick out of seeing what we’re all listening to.

Today’s tunes come from my 70’s Playlist.

Status Quo “Rockin’ All Over The World”

The Doors “Roadhouse Blues’

Five Man Electrical Band “Signs”

The Who “Love Ain’t For Keeping”

Styx “Rock and Roll Feeling”

Mountain “Mississippi Queen”

David Bowie “Young Americans”

Queen “You’re My Best Friend”

Electric Light Orchestra “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head”

Supertramp “Dreamer”

I find using this kind of thing also helps me keep track of my progress, without trying to remember which lap I’m on or even how long I’ve been at it.  Ten songs is typically long enough.  Except when I use my Beatles or Beach Boys Playlists, since most of those songs are pretty short.

Again, I get that this is not some trend-setting discovery.  I’ve just incorporated something I really love into more of my day, which makes the parts I don’t necessarily like that much, a lot easier to take.

I think, for me, that would be what I’d want out of winning the lottery, anyway.

Ken

P.S. – Hi Marvin!  It’s all there (Puddles, mud, Calcio Fiorentino Game rules and boomerang)