Best Opening Lyrics

It must have been a slow news day in Washington. Perhaps it was too hot for anything to happen. I caught a piece on WTOP radio on my way to work describing the "Top Opening Song Lyrics" according to Spinner.com. Here for your enjoyment is the list. You can click here and start at number 25 and click your way through the list and hear the first line sung by the artist.

I think there's a few missing, but I will leave this to the collected group to discuss.

1. "She's a very kinky girl" - Rick James, "Superfreak"
2. "I was born in a cross-fire hurricane" - The Rolling Stones, "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
3. "Hey, ho, let's go!" - The Ramones, "Blitzkrieg Bop"
4. "Well, she was just seventeen - you know what I mean" - The Beatles, "I Saw Her Standing There"
5. "Don't call it a comeback" - LL Cool J, "Mama Said Knock You Out!"
6. "Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?" - The Carpenters, "Close to You"
7. "In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey" - Beck, "Loser"
8. "Well, it's one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go, cat, go!" - Carl Perkins, "Blue Suede Shoes"
9. "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine" - Patti Smith, "Gloria"
10. "Tommy used to work on the docks" - Bon Jovi, "Livin' on a Prayer"
11. "Oh, I just don't know where to begin" - Elvis Costello, "Accidents Will Happen"
12. "A candy-colored clown they call the sandman tiptoes to my room every night" - Roy Orbison, "In Dreams"
13. "What's with these homies dissin' my girl?" - Weezer, "Buddy Holly"
14. "There must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief" - Jimi Hendrix, "All Along the Watchtower"
15. "She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene" - Michael Jackson, "Billie Jean"
16. "Pigs, they tend to wiggle when they walk" - Pavement, "Stereo"
17. "I was dreaming when I wrote this" - Prince, "1999"
18. "We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee" - Merle Haggard, "Okie From Muskokee"
19. "Well, I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body" - George Michael, "Faith"
20. "I am an Antichrist" - Sex Pistols, "Anarchy in the UK"
21. "Hello, Darkness, my old friend" - Simon and Garfunkel, "The Sound of Silence"
22. "Go, shorty. It's your birthday" - 50 Cent, "In Da Club"
23. "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips" - The Righteous Brothers, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin"
24. "I've been a bad, bad girl" - Fiona Apple, "Criminal"
25. "You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar" - Human League, "Don't You Want Me"

Weekend Wrapup

So my father leaves tomorrow. After a stop in the morning at the College Park Aviation Museum, I will take him to the airport for his trip back to NY. We had a very nice weekend. On Friday, we went to the National Building Museum to take in the exhibitions there. My father has a model, architecture thing. From there we had lunch at Gordon Biersch (which my father remembers we went to before - and I remembered as well, but we were already sitting down), I do love those garlic fries. After that it was off to the National Archives and the Charters of Freedom and the Public Vaults. Everybody should go - and there were lots of you there on Friday. Thanks. Go on Wednesday, it will be a great time.

Saturday we got an early start (well, sort of) and went over to Arlington National Cemetery. It had been years since either my father or I had been there and I learned that Mrs. Brave Astronaut had never been there! Well. There was even something for her there as the Arlington House was celebrating the 176th wedding anniversary of Robert E. Lee and Mary Custis. Mrs. BA has a thing for weddings.

Saturday night was the highlight of my father's visit. A trip to Wolf Trap for a concert by the Kingston Trio and the Smothers Brothers. (I've already asked you to stop laughing at me). I went willingly and really enjoyed it. You have to understand, growing up in my parents house, it was the "Make Believe Ballroom" and the "Sounds of Sinatra" rather than classic rock or god forbid, WLIR. While I expected to be the youngest in the house, I was not. Two rows behind me sat to pre-teens who looked absolutely miserable. Earlier I had spotted two late teenagers and constructed a whole back story for them. (Their parents had died tragically, but in order to receive their inheritance, they had to attend every Kingston Trio concert until they turn 25).

Today, we did a little house hunting, with the hopes of crossing off one of those items on the list at right. Then we had a nice dinner in Bethesda, again at a place my father swears he has been too, but he's old and he forgets. Now there is some lounging going on until we head off to bed. See you all tomorrow!

That's Not True - Now Get out of the way, I can't see the TV

My wife and I limit our son's TV viewing. He gets a show (1/2 hour) in the morning and one in the evening. He gets his shows off of PBS (we LOVE Curious George and Clifford) and HBO (Postman Pat and his black-and-white cat, Jess) so he does not get commercials (another benefit of TiVo and why every parent should get one when they leave the hospital).

My wife and I watch a fair amount of the tube, but again, TiVo has changed the way we watch TV. My wife commented the other day, she is not sure when shows are on anymore as we rarely watch "live TV" anymore.

From the pages of Spirit Magazine, the following statistic caught my eye. As I was flying, I was not watching TV at the time. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the typical American "consumes" 3,518 hours of media in a year (there are 8,760 hours in a year). This includes cable television, broadband, movies, books, magazines, and newspapers. A figure that computes to about $936 per person per year.

The Census Bureau broke it out as follows:

• Watching TV - 65 days
• Listening to the radio - 41 days
• Reading newspapers and magazines - 7 days
• Listening to recorded music - 7 days
• All other media activities - 26 days

What's on Your iPod?

Quite frequently, the group that I have lunch with will turn our discussion to music. There are a lot of eclectic tastes represented at the table and there is usually some call for a work radio station. It leads me to the question, what are you people listening to? A frequent addition to blogs that I read is a notation of what people are listening to or the last songs they heard, or some variation.

First of all, I am still getting used to the whole iPod generation. As with TiVo, once I had it, I don't know how I lived without it. I have a 4 gig nano (in silver). It is about 3/4 full. I have a nice Christmas playlist that has gone into hibernation until needed next December. As of today, I have 635 songs on my iPod (out of an expected 1000 songs). The majority of the songs that are on the nano are from my own CD collection. But I have also become a big fan of the iTunes free download of the week. It makes me feel hip to download what the kids are listening to. But it sort of gets negated when I go looking for songs by Paper Lace or Looking Glass.

So what are you listening to? What albums were you spinning growing up? Do you even know what a 45 is? I have only recently relinquished my cassette collection and have now more CDs than I had tapes. And now, I don't know how I live without my iPod.

Before divulging my playlists, I'll start by telling you about the several podcasts I subscribe to. I wasn't sure if I would like the podcast genre, but I greatly enjoy it.

• Time.com offered a number of podcasts that I listened to, including the All-Time 100 albums podcast, the Time person of the year, and a Campaign 2006 podcast.
• I listen to the Road to the White House podcast, which keeps me informed on the all too early presidential campaign.
• Although I read it in the New York Times magazine every week, I also download "The Ethicist," the weekly column by Randy Cohen. The Times has a number of good podcasts also.
• I download the Onion Radio News. It's hilarious.
• In that same sarcastic vein, I listen to the "President's Weekly Address." However, it has nothing to do with the current occupant of the White House.
• I also listen to two NPR programs, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and "This American Life"
• Until the beginning of February, I was also listening to Paul Harvey's broadcasts, including "The Rest of the Story." Shades of my childhood.

Coming soon, I will offer you an insight as to what songs I listen to regularly. Tell me what you are listening to.