Span-less in Minnesota

Terry Ryan of the Minnesota Twins has just pulled the trigger on his first trade since officially reclaiming the title of Twins GM again. He has sent the Twins starting center fielder, Denard Span, to the Washington Nationals for a very young, low minor league pitcher named Alex Meyer. From what I have been reading around the web, it seems like most writers feel the Twins made the right move, and most rubes are blasting the team. I very much agree with the writers on this trade. Ok, yes, this trade does absolutely nothing to fix the major issue of the 2013 pitching staff for the Twins. Unless, of course, you consider that the salary Span was getting paid can now go towards a free agent pitcher, or even get piled onto the amount the Twins have available to pile onto a free agent pitcher in an attempt to get a higher grade pitcher. I have no idea if that is going to happen, but I do know the Twins do not need to spend that money on another outfielder as they already have a replacement in Ben Revere (who is actually a better center fielder, but not quite as good with the bat yet). The exciting part about this trade, in my opinion, is how this stacks the Twins rotation in 2-3 years. Obviously anything can happen between now and then, but Meyer is a potential top of the rotation pitcher, where he should be joined by current Twin Kyle Gibson. It could potentially be the first time in decades when the Twins could illegitimately have 2 top of the rotation pitchers. Add in Scott Diamond as a very solid #3 and that could hopefully be 3 guys that can take the Twins a long ways for many years to come.

Contemporary Resort Christmas Tree

This photo features the Christmas tree that is out side of the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida. You can click on the image to view it larger.

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William Drew Photography

Magic Kingdom Christmas

I took this photo while standing by where the boats dock at the Transportation and Ticket Center at Walt Disney World in Florida. This photo features the Main St. Train Station, Cinderella's Castle lit up with it's Christmas Ice lights, and in the lower right side of the photo, the new Beast's Castle in the new Fantasyland area.

You can click on the image to see a larger version of it, and feel free to "like" it to share it with your friend!

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William Drew Photography

Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

This is a short video I shot at Hollywood Studios of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. This clip features the song Christmas is Starting Now by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

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William Drew Photography

Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child of Mine

I love this song so much, it is the ring tone on my phone. "Sweet Child O' Mine" is a rock song by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 17, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart,[1] becoming the band's first and only number-one single in the U.S. It reached number six on the UK Singles Chart, when re-released in 1989.

Lead guitarist Slash has been quoted as having a disdain for the song due to its roots as simply a "string skipping" exercise and a joke at the time. In a VH1 special, it was stated that Slash played the riff in a jam session as a joke. Drummer Steven Adler and Slash were warming up and Slash began to play a "circus" melody while making faces at Steven. Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin asked Slash to play it again. Meanwhile lead singer Axl Rose was upstairs in his room and heard the 'jam session' going on downstairs and couldn't help but write lyrics. He based it on his girlfriend Erin Everly. With Steven's added drum part, Izzy's chords and Duff McKagan's bassline the harmony became the core of the song. Originally, there was a third verse to the song. However, this verse was later cut from recording as the band's producer, Mike Clink, felt the song would carry on for too long. The final dramatic breakdown was not added until Clink suggested the band add one. They agreed, but weren't sure what to do. Axl started saying to himself, "Where do we go? Where do we go now?" Clink suggested that he sing that, and "Sweet Child o' Mine" was born. In an interview with Hit Parader magazine in 1988, Duff McKagan noted:
"The thing about 'Sweet Child o' Mine,' it was written in five minutes. It was one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, 'What is this song? It's gonna be nothing, it'll be filler on the record.' And except that vocal-wise, it's very sweet and sincere, Slash was just fuckin' around when he first wrote that lick.”

Prince - Let's Go Crazy Extended Version

Prince - Let's Go Crazy - Vidéo Dailymotion

Click the link above to watch the video for one of my all time favorite songs. I freakin LOVE the extended version of this song.

"Let's Go Crazy" is a 1984 song by Prince and The Revolution, from the album, Purple Rain. It was the opening track on both the album, and the film Purple Rain. "Let's Go Crazy" is one of Prince's most popular songs, and is almost always a staple for concert performances, often segueing into other hits. When released as a single, the song became Prince's second number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and also topped the two component charts, the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[2] and Hot Dance Club Play charts,[3] as well as becoming a UK Top 10 hit. The B-side was the lyrically controversial "Erotic City". In the UK, the song was released as a double A-side with "Take Me with U". Common to much of Prince's writing the song is thought to be exhortation to follow Christian ethics, with the "De-elevator" of the lyrics being a metaphor for the Devil. The extended "Special Dance Mix" of the song was performed in a slightly edited version in the film Purple Rain. It contains a longer instrumental section in the middle, including a solo on an apparently out-of-tune piano and some muddled lyrics, repeating the track's introduction.

In 2007, Stephanie Lenz, a writer and editor from Gallitzin, Pennsylvania made a home video of her 13-month-old son dancing to "Let's Go Crazy" and posted a 29-second video on the video-sharing site YouTube. Four months after the video was originally uploaded, Universal Music Group, which owned the copyrights to the song, ordered YouTube to remove the video enforcing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Later in August 2008, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose, California ruled that copyright holders cannot order a deletion of an online file without determining whether that posting reflected "fair use" of the copyrighted material. Lenz notified YouTube immediately that her video was within the scope of fair use, and demanded that it be restored. YouTube complied after six weeks—not two weeks, as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act—to see whether Universal planned to sue Lenz for infringement. Lenz then sued Universal Music in California for her legal costs, claiming the music company had acted in bad faith by ordering removal of a video that represented fair use of the song.

The Minnesota Twins have played the song when a Twins player hits a home run since they moved to Target Field in 2010. Likely a nod to Prince's Minnesota roots

Jack White - Sixteen Saltines

"Sixteen Saltines" is the second single on Jack White's 2012 solo album Blunderbuss. It was when White first played this song on Saturday Night Live that the album had a surge in popularity.

Celebrate the Magic Video

I just spent Thanksgiving week at Walt Disney World with my camera, and for the first time I utilized it's video capabilities. This video here is one I shot of their new castle projection show called Celebrate the Magic. It's a 10-minute video, and it is truly amazing how they are able to project shows like this on the castle that make it seem to come alive.

Celebrate the Magic is a new nighttime spectacular at the Magic Kingdom park of Walt Disney World, that premiered on November 13, 2012. It replaces the The Magic, the Memories and You display, a similar show that ran at the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland from January 2011 to September 4, 2012. Celebrate the Magic takes place on Cinderella Castle and includes a contemporary musical score, pixel accurate projection mappings, pyrotechnics and lighting.

Tinker Bell introduces the show as she appears flying over the castle's turrets. The castle is transformed into a paper canvas as Walt Disney appears sketching Mickey Mouse in his iconic Steamboat Willie appearance. Tinkerbell enchants a paintbrush, which then becomes the host of the show. A kaleidoscope featuring images of Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy are projected followed soon after by short clips from Cinderella, Pinocchio and The Princess and the Frog. The show then progresses into longer, classic scenes from Disney films, including; Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Wreck-it Ralph, The Lion King, The Jungle Book, Toy Story, Pirates of the Caribbean and Brave. The show's climax features a fast-paced montage of characters and scenes from such other Disney films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mulan, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, Pocahontas, The Sword in the Stone, Up, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hercules, 101 Dalmatians and Tangled. During the montage Walt Disney appears again, via archival footage, reciting one of his most famous quotes; "I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse". The show then proceeds into a synchronized fireworks finale.

Similar to its predecessor, Celebrate the Magic will showcase sequences from that will be appropriately themed to seasonal parts of the year. The show premiered with the original Christmas segment from The Magic, the Memories and You. The summer months will show films such as The Little Mermaid and Lilo & Stitch, in addition to segments featuring Disney Princesses for Valentine's Day and Disney Villains for Halloween are also planned to be shown.

I Almost Died.

So, I almost died Monday night. Not in the “I laughed so hard I almost died” way, or the “OMG, my fart smelled so bad I almost died” way. In the “my heart almost stopped beating and I turned purple” way. There was an issue with carbon monoxide at my job, and I took the brunt of it head on. At one point, during the night, I started feeling light headed, and a little fatigued. My thoughts then were I hadn’t had anything to eat in almost 8 hours and had been working hard for most of those hours. I was finished with my work, and was starting to bring all my equipment back to the van that was in the loading dock. Each trip I took out there, I’d come back in feeling more and more light headed and fatigued. I drank a glass of water a couple of times, and it made me feel better, and that just reinforced my thought that I was feeling that way just out of sheer hunger. The last task I had to do was roll up the 300+ feet of hose onto the storage wheel in the back of the van. As I was doing so, everything started getting worse and worse. My heart was beating ungodly fast. My arms felt fatigued like I had just done a crap load of curls in the gym. My vision was getting blurry. I stopped rolling the hose for a while trying to catch my breath and slow down my heart. Now, I was doing this job alone, but there were two people “watching” me as this was in a high-security building and they had to be in the same room as me the whole night. At this time I was at the back of my work van, they were at the opposite end of the loading dock. I started trying to roll up more hose, and the dizziness, the lightheaded feeling, my heart racing so damn fast, all my limbs going numb, my vision going blurry. I realized that I was going to black out, and turned to start walking to the door, thinking some fresh air would help (again, I was still thinking this was all hunger related, little did I know how much I really really needed that fresh air). But as I turned, I realized there was no way I could walk that far. I was that weak, that dizzy, that close to blacking out. I turned the other way, thinking I could walk to the other side of the van and get the attention of the other two guys. Everything was shutting down so fast on me at this point. I was slipping under so fast. There was nothing I could do except completely understand how fast I was slipping. Everything was going dark. It was literally the scariest feeling I have ever had in my life. I managed to yell out one of the names of the other two guys. They both came over. I could only make out the shadow figure of one of them coming around the van, even though it was a situation I should have seen him clearly. I don’t remember anything after that. By the time the 2nd guy came around, he said I was purple, and my eyes were rolling back in my head. I was still standing somehow. The first guy sat me down on the back of the van. The 2nd guy got me back on my feet and started slapping my chest to get me going. They got me outside and that is when I “came too” again. We were right across the street from the hospital, so after I got some of my strength back we walked over there, and that is when the other two realized they were lightheaded and dizzy too. I know, probably should have called 911, but we were all a wee bit messed up at this point. The hospital got me back to a bed right away. Got me on some oxygen. Drew some blood to test it for how much carbon monoxide I had taken in and other tests. Gave me an EKG. When they drew the blood, it was probably 90-minutes after I blacked out and turned purple. When they gave me the results, they told me a normal person has a CO rating of 2-4 in their blood. A smoker has around 11-14. I was at 23. TWENTY THREE!!! They upped the oxygen, and kept me around for a few more hours before doing another blood test. They were debating putting me in a hyperbolic chamber, and some other measures to get me back to normal. At 3 AM my level had dropped down to 6. I was cleared to go home. And home is where I am sitting right now, lucky to be here. Lucky to feel zero effects of the day. If I hadn’t managed to call out to the guys that were watching me, there is no way I’d be sitting here typing this. I’d be dead. If my company had their crap together, they would have called in ahead of time that I would be there, and those two guys wouldn’t have been there TO come save me as I would have been cleared to be there alone. It all happened so fast. I still have no recollection of the one guy slapping my chest, or how they got me outside. I’m just so very thankful that I am still here with all of you, because it very easily could have turned out much much different. I am alive.

Epcot's Illuminations Photography

This photo of Illuminations was shot while standing on the 2nd floor balcony at Teppan Edo restaurant in the Japan Pavilion. Illuminations is a fireworks and water fountain show at Walt Disney Worlds Epcot theme park.

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William Drew Photography

Mackinac Bridge Postcard

This is a beautiful, post-card worthy photo of the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan.

William Drew Photography

Beauty on a Bridge

Standing on the new Lowry Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis that spans the Mississippi river, I took this photo of another photographer who happens to be very beautiful.

William Drew Photography

Wishes Fireworks from the Transportation and Ticket Center

I have always spent my first night at Disney World watching (and photographing) the Wishes fireworks from the Transportation and Ticket Center across the Seven Seas Lagoon from Magic Kingdom. They have the music playing at the TTC, so you get the full effect of watching the fireworks and hearing the soundtrack. And, to be honest, it is the best place to get the full effect of all of the fireworks.

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William Drew Photography

Bruno Mars - Locked out of Heaven

The fact this new Bruno Mars song evokes thoughts of early Police songs is a good thing in my book. This song totally kicks ass and Bruno is rapidly building an excellent library of songs. "Locked Out of Heaven" is the first single from his upcoming album Unorthodox Jukebox. In the recently released video, Mars and his band belt out the upbeat track in a dingy club, but the real attraction here are the grainy visuals filmed in fake fuzziness, giving the clip a retro feel. Unorthodox Jukebox is set for release on December 11th.

Guns N' Roses - November Rain

This is another of my all time favorite songs. "November Rain" is a power ballad by American rock band Guns N' Roses, written by lead singer Axl Rose and released as a single in June 1992. It appears on the album Use Your Illusion I. It features a sweeping orchestral backing and is one of Guns N' Roses' longest songs.

According to Tracii Guns, former L.A. Guns guitarist and founding member, Rose had been working on the song since at least 1983. In an interview, he said the following about "November Rain": "When we were doing that EP for L.A. Guns, like '83? He was playing "November Rain" on piano. The guitar solo is amazing. Way back then. It was the only thing he knew how to play, but it was his. He'd go, "Someday this song is gonna be really cool." And I'd go, "It's cool now." "But it's not done", he used to say. And, anytime we'd be at a hotel or anywhere, there'd be a piano; he'd just kinda play that music. And I'd go, "When are you gonna finish that already?" And he'd go, "I don't know what to do with it.”

Another Panama City Beach Sunset

I took this sunset photo while standing on the beach in Panama City Beach, Florida. I was out in front of the Long Beach Resort condo's. It is now my favorite of the sunset photos I have taken through the years.

Baby Blue Cinderella's Castle

This is one of my favorite photos of Cinderellas Castle as it is bathed in baby-blue light, highlighted by the bright red bush in front of it.

Minneapolis Reflection

I took this photo of the Minneapolis skyline while standing on the new Lowry Avenue Bridge that spans the Mississippi river. The beautiful skyline is reflected perfectly in the river in this photo.

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William Drew Photography

Panama City Beach Sunset

A beautiful sunset bathed in red light is what I was able to photograph on this day in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Steamboat Willy Mickey Mouse

I took this photo during the Fantasmic show at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios theme park. Actually, when I took this photo, the park was still called MGM Studios. The photo features the Steamboat Willy version of Mickey Mouse, so he is driving the steamboat and appears to be in black and white.

Lowry Avenue Bridge with Reflection

This is a very beautiful photo of the newly completed Lowry Avenue bridge that spans the Mississippi river in north Minneapolis. The lights in the arch change color for different events or holidays, so I will have to come back and get photos of the different colors in the future. You can click on the image to view it larger, and click the "like" button to share it with your friend!

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William Drew Photography

Lightning Strike and Lowry Bridge

The city of Minneapolis recently completed construction on a new Lowry Street Bridge that spans the Mississippi River in northeast Minneapolis. This bridge is certainly an eye catcher. As I was out photographing it, a very brief and small thunderstorm passed just north of us, which put the storm directly in the background of the bridge I was shooting. This shot captures one of those lightning strikes.

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William Drew Photography

O' Christmas Tree

During the Christmas Wishes fireworks show at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park, they bathe Cinderella's Castle in green and make the fireworks resemble a Christmas tree.

Beacon Lit on the Split Rock Lighthouse

This is one of my photographs of the Split Rock Lighthouse as the beacon was lit. Tonight, they are lighting the beacon for the anniversary of the Edmond Fitzgerald sinking. I would love to make the trip up there to photograph it again, but the weather will be unsavory for taking photos for those of us that don't have weather proof camera gear.

Gorilla Watching Honey Boo Boo

I'm not sure what TV shows they play for the Gorilla's at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom, but this guy sure looks upset at what he is watching. And yes, I know there is no TV there, just having fun.

Gorilla Scream

Actually, this silverback gorilla was caught in the middle of a big yawn.

Minnesota State Fair Midway

While I love visiting the Minnesota State Fair every year (multiple times each year), it is not exactly the most beautiful of places. But in this photo I did manage to find some beauty. This photo features the Midway area of the fair, where all the carnies gather. The giant swing ride featured in this photo is not at the fair anymore. But the look of this photo, with the very colorful dusk sky in the background is a very beautiful site to look at.

The Beautiful City of Minneapolis

This just might be one of the most beautiful photos of this beautiful city of Minneapolis. I took this photo from the west bank by the University of Minnesota Campus, looking over the Mississippi river, and the 35W bridge. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful dusk sky as a back drop.

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William Drew Photography

Fall Colors at Jay Cooke State Park

A colorful and vibrant photo showcasing the beauty of fall in Minnesota. I captured this shot at the Jay Cooke State Park in northern Minnesota. The reflection is captured in the St. Louis River that eventually runs into Lake Superior. Jay Cooke State Park is a Minnesota state park located about ten miles (16 km) southwest of Duluth, just outside the small town of Thomson. Jay Cooke is situated on the St. Louis River, which enters into Lake Superior through the Duluth/Superior Harbor, so it is considered by many to be the southernmost of the Lake Superior State Parks. The St. Louis River is a river in the U.S. states of Minnesota and Wisconsin that flows into Lake Superior. The largest U.S. river to flow into the lake, it is 179 miles (288 kilometers) in length and starts near Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. The river's watershed is 3634 square miles (9412 km2) in area. Near the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin, the river becomes a freshwater estuary.

Disney's Boardwalk and Lighthouse

I took this photo while taking a nice little walk around the Boardwalk area at Walt Disney World. It features the lighthouse from the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts and has the Boardwalk area in the background. The palm trees in the foreground add to the beauty of this shot and makes it one of my favorites.

You can click on the image to see a larger version of it.
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William Drew Photography

Sleeping Beauty Fireworks

This photo was taken during the Disneylands Summer Magic fireworks show at Disneyland in California and features a single firework streaking above Sleeping Beauty's castle.

Japan Pavilion at Night

This is a 30-second exposure of the Japan Pavilion at Walt Disney Worlds Epcot center. The building in this photo features the Teppan Edo Restaurant. Teppan Edo is a Japanese restaurant in the Japan Pavilion in Epcot Theme Park where the spirit of authentic Japanese cuisine is celebrated through the culinary talents of Teppan Chefs cooking traditional dishes on grills at your table. Be entertained in the communal ritual of Teppan-yaki style cooking in one of the 6 picturesque Teppan Edo dining rooms as skillful chefs chop and stir-fry fresh shellfish, meats and vegetables at your table, served with Udon noodles and steamed rice. Or dine on sushi, croquettes and other authentic dishes.

5%

Sending out a little hope for change. I know he is not going to win, but please give a thought to voting for Gary Johnson tomorrow. Yes, he is not going to win, but if he gets just 5% of the vote, it gives the Libertarian Party equal matching funds from the Federal Government. It gives the Libertarian Party automatic access to be on the ballot in every state (right now, two states will not put Johnson on the ballot).

In other words, it will give US 50% more choices going forward and we will not be stuck with two bad choices like we have right now.

So please, vote Gary Johnson.

No Offence, But Your Offence Is Terrible

On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings took on the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. It was a game I was hoping the Vikings would win, but was not expecting it as it is tough to win in Seattle (Just ask New England and Green Bay). This second-half of the schedule for the Vikings is going to be a tough one, and if they can't find a way to move the ball through the air, it could be a VERY long 7-game stretch.

There are a lot of people piling onto the "Bench Christian Ponder" bandwagon after he failed to even reach 100 yards passing for the 2nd time in 3 games. But how much of that blame goes to Ponder? We have exactly one wide reciever that can get open, and his name is Percy Harvin. The rest have not been able to do anything other than get pass-interference calls (Thank you Jerome Simpson for all two of those). So who exactly is Ponder supposed to throw to? There is also the issue of the offensive line not being able to block what the opponents are throwing at them, giving Ponder no time to figure out where to throw the ball. And then finally, we have Bill Musgrave and Leslie Frasier. These two guys need to figure out how to get this passing attack going. It has appeared that there has been zero plan of a)How are we going to attack this defense, and b) what is our identity over these last four games. The opening four games of the season, we had good plans, and they worked. Lately? It's like they completely forgot how to game plan. And then that brings us to Ponder. Yes, he has no WR's to throw to, yes, he has no time to even think about throwing it to them, and yes, the coaching staff has failed miserably in how to fix these issues. But there HAS been times where Ponder DID have open receivers and DID have time to throw it. And he missed.

The Vikings right now have possibly the two best offensive players in the league right now in Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin. Adrian is easily the best runningback in the league. And Percy is the best weapon in the league. Opponents have to defend Peterson, which should be leaving the passing game wide open. Why is that not happening? Even with the defense stacked against Peterson and leaving the WR's alone, we still see AP blowing up and putting up numbers that can only make you shake your head in amazement. And our offence can only put up 44 net yards through the air despite no one defending it. This shouldn't be too difficult to figure out. What is going to be difficult is figuring it out while playing a schedule that has us facing Detroit, Chicago twice, Green Bay twice, Houston, and the Rams.

I'll be very happy if we can sneak 3 more wins out of the season. Anything more than that will be a complete shock, and perhaps a sign Fraiser, Musgrave, and Ponder have figured out that the football does travel through the air.

Cinderella's Christmas Castle and Fireworks

I took this photo a few years ago while at Walt Disney World in December. I have to tell you, the christmas lights they put on Cinderella's Castle during December are breath-taking. I have yet to see a photo that does it justice. Anyway, I snapped this photo while the Christmas Wishes fireworks show was going on at the Magic Kingdom theme park.

You can click on the photo to see it in a larger view. And while there, please click the 'like' button to share it with your friends.

Dessa - Alibi

This is a live recording of the song Alibi, by Dessa. The song appears on two of her albums, the most recent version being on the album "Castor, the Twin".

Castor, the Twin is a studio album from Dessa, a member of Minneapolis indie hip hop collective Doomtree. It was released on Doomtree in 2011. The album features new arrangements of her previously released songs. The original production has been replaced with live instrumentation on piano, vibraphone, mandolin, viola, double bass and timpani. The final track "The Beekeeper" is an advance single from Dessa’s next album due in 2013.

Prince - Little Red Corvette

Oh, how I love this song. Prince's Little Red Corvette. It has been a song I have played incessantly for 30 years now. The version in the video above is his performance of it at the Montreux Jazz Fest in 2010. I remember reading and hearing about how back in 1982/83, when Prince's 1999 album first came out, John Mellencamp would stop his concert, grab a boom box, set it on a stool on the stage and play this song to the crowd.

"Little Red Corvette" is a song by the American musician Prince. Released as a single from the album 1999 in 1983, the song was his biggest hit at the time, and his first to reach top-10 status in the U.S., peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It was also his first single to perform better on the pop chart than the R&B chart, due to the pop/rock format of the song. The song combines a drum machine beat and slow synth buildup for the verses and a full rock chorus. Backing vocals were done by Lisa Coleman and the classic guitar solo was played by Dez Dickerson. In the song, Prince narrates a one-night stand with a beautiful but promiscuous woman (the "Little Red Corvette" of the title); although he enjoys the experience, he urges her to "slow down" and "find a love that's gonna last" before she destroys herself. In addition to the title, he uses several other automobile metaphors, for example comparing their lovemaking to a ride in a limousine.

Prince got the idea for the song when he dozed off in Lisa Coleman's pink Edsel after an exhausting all-night recording session. The lyrics came to him in bits and pieces during this and other catnaps. Eventually, he was able to finish it without sleeping.

Stevie Nicks got the idea for her 1983 song "Stand Back" from "Little Red Corvette." She heard Prince's song in her car, wrote "Stand Back" that night, and called Prince, who came into the studio and played keyboards.

Marc Broussard - Home

I have been a member of the website last.fm for almost 6 1/2 years now. It is a website that tracks everything I listen to on my media player, and this song by Marc Broussard called Home is the song I have listened to more than any other song over that time. I first heard this song sitting in the back of my best friends car as we drove over to St. Paul to play some football with a bunch of friends. This song is an absolute classic. I just wish Broussard had some others songs that I enjoyed.

Foo Fighters - Wasted Light album

Over the last 12-months, there is no album that I have listened to more than the Foo Fighter album Wasted Light, according to my account at last.fm. I am posting the video to their song These Days as it has so far been my favorite from the album, although it is an album that has MANY songs that I absolutely love. The tracks I Should Have Known, Walk, Rope, Arlandria, and Dear Rosemary also get played on heavy rotation in my media players.

Wasting Light is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band Foo Fighters. It was released on April 12, 2011 on RCA Records. As frontman Dave Grohl wanted a record that would capture the essence of the band's earlier work and lack the artificiality of digital recording, the group recorded in Grohl's garage in Encino, California with only analog equipment. The sessions were supervised by producer Butch Vig, with whom Grohl had worked on Nirvana's Nevermind. Since the old equipment did not allow for many mistakes to be corrected in post-production, the band spent three weeks rehearsing the songs, and Vig had to relearn outdated editing techniques. The band went for a heavier and rawer sound to contrast with the musical experiments in the previous albums, and most of the lyrics were written as Grohl reflected upon his life and possible future. Guest musicians include Bob Mould, Krist Novoselic, and Fee Waybill.

Bruno Mars - It Will Rain

This song, It Will Rain by Bruno Mars is the song I have listened to the most over the last year as tracked by my account at last.fm. It is a song that I instantly fell in love with the first time I heard it, and the song continues to be an absolute favorite of mine.

"It Will Rain" is a love ballad co-written and produced by Bruno Mars and his songwriting and production team, The Smeezingtons. The soundtrack disc hit stores on November 8th, 2011. Bruno described the new song as "think of the darker side of love". The agony and torment of heartbreak in the lyrics describe the universal emotional pain of relationship bonds like oxytocin relationships, sexual arousal, bonding and romantic attachment and behavioral addiction, being ripped apart that results in depression. The music video for "It Will Rain" premiered on November 10, 2011 on MTV. Bruno Mars falls for a girl in the clip and it shows the pair going through different emotions like love and anger. It also features footage from the film Breaking Dawn: Part 1, the fourth film in the Twilight saga. The video for the song was then uploaded on YouTube by Mars' label Elektra Records. Although some reviews were mixed, for example Rolling Stone, which gave the song three stars out of five, saying it "sounds a little bit like "Wild Horses," and "a lot like Mars' next radio juggernaut", the song was highly popular and successful. Mars and his label Elektra Records celebrated the singer’s fourth #1 single on the Billboard Top 40 chart with this song.

4th Day of November, We Need a Purple High

All The Critics Love U in Montreux by fonkdoc

It is November 4th, which ALWAYS brings a Prince lyric to mind from his song All the Critics Love U in New York off of his 1999 album. The song is 30 years old now, and here in this video, we see Prince making it new again in a live performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

Mickey Mouse

It all started with a... I took this photo of Mickey Mouse during a parade at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park. I have always enjoyed watching the parades from the end of Main St. USA so that I am looking directly down the street towards Cinderella's Castle. Standing there has always given me the ability to get photos like this one here.