Unique Gift Idea--90 Days to Christmas

Modern marketing is incredible. Companies track variables such as what we purchase, what websites we view, and what television shows we watch. They use this information to alert us to products we may be interested in.

With only 90 days until Christmas, the catalogs are starting to pour into my mailbox. Today, I received one of my favorites. The Solutions catalog is full of product that address common life problems.  If you need some new ideas, this is the catalog for you.

Do you have a friend with a flatulence problem? Subtle Butt is what they need! These activated charcoal pads have adhesive on one side to stick to your underwear. These pads absorb odor. As the photo below exclaims, this is a great stocking stuffer!

You can view more on the Solutions website.
http://www.solutions.com/jump.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&itemID=15748

I love the product reviews on the website because they answer very pertinent questions. I now know that  Subtle Butt is great for absorbing odor, but it does not muffle sound. On the other hand, they are very durable.

My favorite review stated: "Makes a great gift. I have given these to many friends. No one had ever received this as a gift before!"

There you have it--the most unusual gift of the season. Your friends will thank you. But, don't worry, there's no need to thank me for letting you in on this.

Turning into an Old Man

I find myself turning into an old man--make that a crotchety old man. I remember being in college and looking forward to checking my mailbox every day. Perhaps there would be a letter from an old friend, or maybe a favorite magazine.

Now my son is in college and he hardly ever checks his mailbox. He tells me that his friends rarely check theirs.

They are so accustomed to Twitter, Facebook, instant messaging, texting--the idea of sending a card or letter must seem rather quaint. They must wonder why anyone would send a card when you can just say "happy birthday" on Facebook (after Facebook notifies them of the friend's birthday).

I remember the first time I began feeling old. Windows 95 had just come out and totally changed how my computer worked. Windows 3.1 had worked just fine for me, but nooooooo, they had to update it.

Now that I have turned into that old guy, what can I do? Well, just like all the other crusty old guys, I can post on Facebook and Twitter, and pretend that someone is listening...

Throwback Thursday--Everything But The Girl

Sometime in the early '90s, I was at home listening to the radio, when I heard a song that captivated me.  A few minutes later, my wife came home and told me that she had heard this great song while driving home. 


We had both heard Everything But the Girl performing the song Get Me. EBTG, as they are also known, is a husband-wife duo. Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn have been together as a band since the 1980s. They have covered a wide range of genres, from jazz to electronic dance mixes. In England, they were known as being part of the "sophisti-pop" movement that included artists such as Sade.


Regardless of the type of music being performed, EBTG is easily recognized because of Thorn's voice. She has joked that everyone is blessed with certain talents, and hers is a voice that can make people cry. Watt is a brilliantly versatile songwriter. Check out the lyrics of Get Me below. Then, click on the videos to hear Get Me and Missing, both from my favorite EBTG album, Amplified Heart.

Get Me

I never thought I'd grow up so fast so far.
To know yourself is to let yourself be loved.

And I want to be addicted,
I want to be secure,
I want to wake up after the night before,
but do you ever get me?

Do you ever get me?

I'll press your hand against my face,
weaken my resistance.
I'll pull the sheets over our heads,
let the broken sky break above our heads.

And I want to be addicted,
I want to be secure,
I want to wake up after the night before,
but do you get me?

Do you ever get me?

Shower me with affection and I'll return in kind.
I have no hidden motive, I am blind.

I'm a stone inside a box,
I'm a spring inside a clock,
you can wear me on your wrist
and I'll tell you things ten thousand times,
but do you ever get me?

Do you ever get me? 


Words and Music by Ben Watt

Throwback Thursday--Joan Armatrading

In 1984, I was living near Philadelphia. One Sunday morning, I heard a beautiful and heart-wrenching ballad on the radio. I had never heard a voice quite like this--so powerful and vulnerable. One line in particular stood out--"If you're so strong, then resolve the weakness in me..."

That was my introduction to Joan Armatrading. I became an instant fan and sought out everything she had ever recorded. She released her first album in 1972. From 1975 through 1981, she released seven albums and one EP. She was immensely popular in Great Britain during that time, and she earned a strong following in the United States where she was considered an "album artist" who never received much airplay on popular radio here.

Despite her lack of radio airplay, Armatrading has earned many accolades during her career. In 1999, VH-1 named her as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in rock history. She has influenced many current artists, such as Tracy Chapman and Indie Arie. Her music has been covered by Jewel, Keisha White and Melissa Etheridge, among others.

Armatrading is equally talented as a songwriter and performer. Her voice highlights the intimacy of her lyrics. Love and Affection is one of her best-known songs and opens with "I am not in love...but I'm open to persuasion..."

Armatrading was born in 1950 in St. Kitts, and her family moved to England when she was 8 years old. Her music reflects her diverse background, traversing many styles including jazz, blues, reggae, pop and rock. At one point, she was even called "the female Jimi Hendrix." Her early recordings contained acoustic and jazz influences, but by 1980, she had evolved more toward rock and pop. A true singer-songwriter, she has never recorded a song written by anyone else. 

She is still recording successfully. In 2007, she released Into the Blues, an album that debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues Chart in Britain. Her most recent album, This Charming Life, shows that she's still got it. Here she is performing the title track on the British equivalent of the Today Show.