Check out all the latest concert information here: http://www.1055triplem.com/pages/3644047.php
Kitty Dunn
Despite the fact that she swears she's not a "morning person," Kitty has been doing her best to wake up Madison since the early 1990's. Although she has a background in more mainstream journalism, Kitty likes to add a touch of wit, sarcasm and a true love of the ridiculous side of life to her reports these days. In her free time, Kitty likes scouring yard sales and second-hand shops for bargains, going to concerts, and riding her bike. She'd also love to throw back a microbrew with you one of these days.
I already have hoarding tendencies, so it's probably not a great idea to start a new collection.
But this one is so awesome. I was inspired by a new feature on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she celebrates very bad album art. So while making my rounds of thrift stores, I decided to look for some bad covers to send to her.
I really hit the jackpot at Resale Records on Commercial Avenue. All Eric sells is records, and recently he was having a sale of $1 albums. There were some really awful ones! In fact, they were so bad I have to keep them.
I'm happy to share my collection with you. What do you think of these?
I think they're so horrible they're cool! I do have a couple of questions however.
First, How did those birds get so talented at such a young age? Songs they cover include "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Ol'Man River." I would have thought the later would be out of their vocal range.
Second, has PETA seen that Jack Jones cover?
I will share more album covers with you in the future. That's a promise!
When I got a press release in my email box announcing Paul McCartney will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I was fairly surprised that he didn't have one already.
Fellow Beatles John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all have stars. Heck, even Roseanne and Slim Whitman are immortalized there.
So what took Paul so long? I don't think he would have trouble coming up with the $30,000 nominating fee. If you're going to get a star, you first have be nominated, and also have to agree to make a personal appearance at the ceremony. And what do you know? Paul's ceremony is set for next Thursday, two days after his album of standards, "Kisses on the Bottom" comes out. How convenient!
I rather enjoyed the press release from the fine folks at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as it gave the highlights of Paul's career, noting how he changed the world forever with the Beatles, his solo work, his philanthropic activities and being knighted by the Queen. But my favorite part was at the very end.
"2012 and, as ever, brings an infinite set of new possibilities for Paul McCartney. If any new musical frontier awaits—be it an entirely new musical medium or genre, a city or song he’s never played before, or something the cleverest among us has yet to imagine--rest assured Paul is already on his way there…"
When Norah Jones gets tired of her usual silky pop, it appears she need to let her country soul shine. That's when she gets together with some of her pals as The Little Willies.
(In addition to Norah Jones, the Little Willies are Lee Alexander, Jim Campilongo, Richard Julian and Dan Rieser.)
Their follow-up to a 2006 album is called "For the Good Times." And if you've heard of the Kris Kristofferson classic that is the title of this album, this record might be right up your alley.
I like older, traditional country music. Think Hank Williams, Sr., not Jr. I appreciate country rock as invented by Gram Parsons, and don't even mind a little bluegrass now and then.
And I loved this record! I'm not familiar with all the original songs the Little Willies chose to cover, but that didn't matter one bit. The singing is pure smoke and honky tonk, without being corny. The musicianship is exquisite, and the harmonies spot on.
My favorite song on the album is "Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves," which conveys an incredible urgency in its minor tones. Loretta Lynn's "Fist City" is great, and "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time" is pure fun.
The album closes with a heartfelt cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene." I think Dolly would approve.
I don't recall too many times that the weather was this gorgeous on January 31.
With the high temp hitting 50 today, I say it's time for an old fashioned 50-Degree Party! Now what this meant when I was in college..was bring the couch out onto the lawn (or at least the front porch), stick the stereo speakers in the window, dig the frisbee out of the back of the closet, and appreciate the warm weather, while it lasts!
Did I forget to mention beer? Somebody has to run to the liquor store and get a quarter barrel (we didn't call them kegs back then). For some reason it was usually Point....or sometimes even that spring nectar, Point Bock!
Because the sun still goes down early, the partying had to be pretty condensed in order to take advantage of the nice weather. Then it would probably move inside or down to the bar.
And it was best to remember to bring the furniture back in the house. There was always the possibility it would be covered with snow in the morning.
I'm probably not the only one who was a little surprised that Newt Gingrich is serious about wanting the U.S. space program to colonize the moon.
While Mitt Romney took it seriously at a Florida debate, saying it would be way too expensive, I liked Ron Paul's respsonse better. He said "we should send some politicians to the moon."
But then I did some serious thinking about Newt's motivation, and I came up some theories.
1. Newt felt he wasn't getting enough mentions on the late night talk shows.
2. He always had a crush on Alice Kramden from the Honeymooners, and thought there was a chance Ralph actually sent her there. No wait, Alice would be too old.
3. He's in the pocket of the Tang lobby, and is interested in exploring new markets for the artificially flavored beverage. Evidence below.
It's Madison Restaurant Week, where a large variety of restaurants offer special 3-course dinner menus for just $25 a piece. (Some even have lunch options for $15).
Mike and I went to Captain Bill's in Middleton. I gotta tell you I was seduced right away by the menu. Here's the entree I chose..because it sounder so over the top delicious.
Captain's Salmon: topped with crab and glazed with an aged Asiago cream reduction sauce,with sautéed artichokes, and a hint of garlic and shallots. (Also available without crab).
Let me tell you, it was as delicious as it sounded. The salmon was cooked just right, and the sauce was so savory and delicious I actually wanted to lick the plate. (I resisted). The beans that were served on the side were crisp and buttery.
What about the other courses? I chose the spinach salad with hot bacon dressing, which was quite excellent. But I should have chosen the clam chowder. That's what Mike ordered and he gave me a taste. I guess they don't call it world famous clam chowder for nothing. It's even been featured on the food network! Next time I go to Captain Bill's, I'm definitely getting a whole bowl full!
For dessert, we both had the chocolate bread pudding. It was chocolatey and decadent, but not as overbearingly sweet and heavy as some bread puddings I've had.
Service was friendly, the food actually made me exclaim "I want to marry this!" So yeah, Mike and I will definitely be going back to Captain Bill's.
Find out more about Madison Magazine's Madison Restaurant Week here.
I had always hoped that Etta James would be booked for the Madison Blues Festival. Sadly, that festival went away too soon..and so did Miss Etta.
She died after a battle with leukemia at age 73.
Known for her incredible voice, most particularly for the song "At Last," James received quite a few accolades. She was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, and also made Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Artists of All Time (#62).
But most recently she made news when she criticized Beyonce, who played her in the movie Cadillac Records, for singing "At Last" at one of President Obama's inaugural balls. While she later said she was joking, she admitted she felt left out by not being a part of the celebration.
I have a feeling she wasn't kidding. Etta James was a feisty old broad..something that came out in her songs. And one of the things that made her great.
Stephen Colbert is getting a lot of attention for his bogus run for the presidency, with real ads being run by his SUPER-PAC, or I guess the totally independent Super-PAC being run by his buddy Jon Stewart.
Colbert is not the first comedian to poke fun at the system by staging a run for the Oval Office. Anybody else remember Pat Paulsen? He staged his campaign on the controversial Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour back in 1968.
It started out with his deadpan editorials he would do on the show..and then it really took off.
Several years ago I found a copy of the book Pat Paulsen For President at St. Vinnie's. To my luck, it was autographed. Admittedly, it would have been better if my name was Tony, the guy to whom it was signed. The picture above is from the back cover of the book.
Here's a look back at the first major satirical run for the office of Commander in Chief. It's narrated by Henry Fonda!! (Youtube has more segments of this documentary, if you're interested.)
Wikipedia is down today to protest proposed internet piracy laws in Congress.
Now I hate to admit it, but I do use wikipedia from time to time. Maybe even once or twice a day (gasp!)
But there was a time when it never existed. And somehow we found information! Crazy!
In my house, we had something called the World Book Encyclopedia. It was a bunch of books with articles on various topics organized in alphabetical order. Sound familiar?
Our set was from 1960, so many articles were pretty obsolete by the time I was using them for homework. I could write a pretty good paper about Simon Bolivar, but if I wanted to write about the moon landing, I was out of luck. I had to leave my house, and actually go to this place where they have a whole lot of books.
It's called a library. Do they still have those?
Anyway, sometimes if I had a question of immediate concern, I would call some one at this book place, and ask for the reference librarian. I could ask a question, and then she (usually a she) would get back to me with the answer.
I can remember calling twice when I worked here at Triple M. Once I couldn't remember what you call those glass things that have fake snow inside them that are often sold as souvenirs.
And the other time I wanted to know if the Monitor and the Merrimac were used during the Revolutionary War or the Civil War.
If you'd like to know more about those topics, you could look them up on wikipedia. But not until tomorrow.
I already have hoarding tendencies, so it's probably not a great idea to start a new collection.
But this one is so awesome. I was inspired by a new feature on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she celebrates very bad album art. So while making my...
Leonard Cohen's deep and steady voice returns on his latest studio album Old Ideas. Don't expect any hopeful and uplifting revelations from Cohen this time around. It isn't called "Old Ideas" for nothing. Here you'll find the...
The New York Giants may have been the official winners of Super Bowl XLVI, but it was a victory of Mother Nature as well. This year, the NFL along with the Indianapolis Super Bowl XLVI host committee worked to reduce the environmental impact more than...
When I posted this week's photo, I wasn't too sure I was going to get any good captions.
Well my friends, I was certainly wrong. The hard part was narrowing it down to a few. EXCELLENT JOB EVERYONE!!!
We start , as always, with the...
Paul McCartney's new album Kisses On The Bottom will be available February 7th. It's a collection of standards he's wanted to do for quite some time and includes two original songs.
The album features virtuoso pianist (and wife of...
People often ask me if I get nervous being on the radio. When I first started in this business, I would get a few butterflies in my stomach before going on the air, but not anymore. People also ask if I get nervous hosting Live from Studio M sessions...
Time to file taxes. Don't get caught with these errors. Errors made on tax returns may delay the processing of your tax return, which in turn, may cause your refund to arrive later. Here are nine common errors the IRS wants you to avoid to help...
Buying the right mattress, while it might seem like an enormous hassle, is actually one of the most important things you can do for your health. Think about it. You sleep on it everyday, for hours at a time.
"It's a delicate balance," ...
I already have hoarding tendencies, so it's probably not a great idea to start a new collection.
But this one is so awesome. I was inspired by a new feature on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she celebrates very bad album art. So while making my...
Leonard Cohen's deep and steady voice returns on his latest studio album Old Ideas. Don't expect any hopeful and uplifting revelations from Cohen this time around. It isn't called "Old Ideas" for nothing. Here you'll find the...
The New York Giants may have been the official winners of Super Bowl XLVI, but it was a victory of Mother Nature as well. This year, the NFL along with the Indianapolis Super Bowl XLVI host committee worked to reduce the environmental impact more than...
When I posted this week's photo, I wasn't too sure I was going to get any good captions.
Well my friends, I was certainly wrong. The hard part was narrowing it down to a few. EXCELLENT JOB EVERYONE!!!
We start , as always, with the...
Paul McCartney's new album Kisses On The Bottom will be available February 7th. It's a collection of standards he's wanted to do for quite some time and includes two original songs.
The album features virtuoso pianist (and wife of...
People often ask me if I get nervous being on the radio. When I first started in this business, I would get a few butterflies in my stomach before going on the air, but not anymore. People also ask if I get nervous hosting Live from Studio M sessions...
Time to file taxes. Don't get caught with these errors. Errors made on tax returns may delay the processing of your tax return, which in turn, may cause your refund to arrive later. Here are nine common errors the IRS wants you to avoid to help...
Buying the right mattress, while it might seem like an enormous hassle, is actually one of the most important things you can do for your health. Think about it. You sleep on it everyday, for hours at a time.
"It's a delicate balance," ...
Despite the fact that she swears she's not a "morning person," Kitty has been doing her best to wake up Madison since the early 1990's. Although she has a background in more mainstream journalism, Kitty likes to add a touch of wit, sarcasm and a true love of the ridiculous side of life to her reports these days. In her free time, Kitty likes scouring yard sales and second-hand shops for bargains, going to concerts, and riding her bike. She'd also love to throw back a microbrew with you one of these days. 
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I don't recall too many times that the weather was this gorgeous on January 31.
