Tuesday Top Ten: Favorite Duets

I was listening to some duets last week when I decided to make this the top ten for the week. I've always enjoyed listening to people collaborating together to create a good song. In the spirit of Duets I asked Lisa to work on a Top Ten of her own so we can post together. You can see her blog here:

A Pop Culture Affair

Coming up with this list was harder then I expected. There has been a lot of duets that I've loved or at least enjoyed over the years.

I started by eliminating three newer duets that I really love but either didn't seem as good as overs that I have loved for longer. If I redid the list in a few years they might sneak in then.

B.O.B and Taylor Swift – Both of Us

Kris Allen and Meiko – Loves Me Not

Tyler Hilton and Elizabeth Huett – Jenny

There were other Honorable Mentions that just didn't make my final ten:

Diana Ross and Lionel Richie - Endless Love

John Travolta and Olivia Newton John - You're The One That I Love

Bethany Joy Lenz and Tyler Hilton - When The Stars Go Blue

and this Classic

 

A Few Other songs that I eliminated because although I love the songs they are a gathering of multiple rappers rather then duets.

Northern Touch

Shake Ya Tailfeather

Welcome to Atlanta Remix

Where the Party At So So Def Remix

Bad Boy For Life

And finally this gem from Space Jam

And now the Top Ten: 

The first three sections made the list because I just felt the two voices worked so well together and I really like the lyrics. "Good For You" has two versions but I prefer the Kate Voegele version because I find her voice to be amazing.

10.  Mandy Moore and Jon Foreman - Someday We'll Know

9. Mariana’s Trench and Kate Voegele – Good For You

8. Matt Nathanson and Sugarland – Run

7. Nelly and Tim McGraw – Over and Over Again

 Similar to B.O.B. and Taylor Swift above this next one just surprised me with how much I liked the duo singing. It's not a duo that would jump to the top of my head but the song ended up being a really good song.

6.  Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley – (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life

I am a big fan of the movie Dirty Dancing and I've heard this song so many times in my life that I am constantly singing it in my heard along with quoting lines from the movie like "Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

5. Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson – Scream

In my opinion one of the best songs done by Michael Jackson since the Thriller album. Michael and Janet sound so well together and I loved the dance from the video.

4. Mariah Carey and Boys II Men – One Sweet Day

For so many school dances this song was played while we awkwardly slow danced. I actually realy liked Mariah's Daydream album and this song was one of the better songs on the album.

3. Temple of The Dog – Hunger Strike

I'm going to cheat on this song because it isn't really a duet since it was a band that was made in tribute to Andrew Wood and the band included members of Pearl Jam and Sound Garden. I'm counting it because it is one of my favorite rock songs and includes two of my favorite singers: Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell.

2.   Joe Budden and Busta Rhymes – Fire

 For anyone who partied at Al's house knows how much Al and I loved this song and would play it constantly at parties. No matter how drunk we were it would get us up and dancing like fools. 

E&A Was in the House!

1. Duets from Animated Films

I'm going to cheat again and include all duets in from animated films as the number 1 spot. When I was working on the list I had songs from Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and The Beast) , Aladdin (A Whole New World), American Tail (Somewhere Out There), Tangled (I See The Light) amongst other great duets from animated classics. I couldn't decide which to drop and didn't want to drop any of the ones in the top ten so I included all the songs as number one.

 I can do that since it is my list!

Music Monday: British Artists

Watching the Opening Ceremonies of the London Olympics made me realize how good some British Music is. So often we only get to hear American and Canadian music unless some one is able to break out and even when that happens it is often some annoying pop act like One Direction that you really just want to disappear. British Music has so much more to offer and below are some of my favorite songs.

I was going to do a write up for each selection but as I went I just kept thinking of other songs I liked and the list kept going and going until finally I cut my self off. I also just don't feel like doing a write up for them all so I decided to just post the videos and let you enjoy the songs.

I'm sure I've left off some great singers and bands but while thinking over the music these are the songs that really jumped out.

The Beatles - Penny Lane

The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black

The Who - My Generation

Kate Bush - This Woman's Work

The Police - Every Breath You Take

Take That - Back 4 Good

Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger

Bush - Glycerine

Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees

Blur - Song 2

The Verve - Bitter Sweet Sympathy

All Saints - Never Ever

Amy Winehouse - Rehab

Coldplay - The Scientist

Bloc Party - Signs

David Gray - Babylon

Dido - Here With You

Muse - Uprising

Duffy - Warwick Avenue

Adele - Hometown Glory

Four Years Ago

 

Four years ago was the day before my wedding. When you watch movies or TV or you read books the bride and groom is always showed to feel nervous or have doubts. They never feel sure of their decision and at that point you should feel certain. I know that real life is not perfect. Sometimes people have doubts the night before their wedding but I felt calm. I felt ready to call Nessa my wife. 

By the time I laid down to fall asleep I just wanted the next day to fly by. I wanted to see Nessa in her wedding dress, watch her walk down the aisle, I wanted to hear her vows and hear her say I Do. 

I didn't have a lot to do the day of the wedding. My tasks amounted to getting a hair cut and showing up in time to say I Do. I spent the majority of the day playing video games and hoping it wouldn't rain. That was my only worry the day of my wedding, I was sure that Nessa would look beautiful and I was sure that we were making the right choice because she was and is the love of my life. I made sure I was at the park where we got married with plenty of time to spare. 

I remember watching her walk down the aisle as Heavenly Day played. She was so beautiful and I was happier with each step she took towards me. 

It was a wonderful night. The greatest say of my life. I know everyone says that their wedding day was one of the best days of their lives and I hope most people are as lucky as me. To truly have that day be the best day of their lives. From Green Apples to Have A Little Faith In Me it was a great night. That includes Zack getting loose and chasing him all around Campbellton only to find out Nessa found him right outside our house.

It's been four great years and I look forward to many more great years with the love of my life.

Tuesday Top Ten: TV Shows Cancelled Too Soon

This week I'll be sharing a Top Ten with Amy on TV Shows that were with less then three seasons. Not sure why I decided on three seasons but it did eliminate some easy choices for shows with four seasons like Everwood and The OC.

You can view Amy's list at her blog found here:

Absolutely Amy

10. Veronica Mars

I considered not including this because it had a slow death after the first season. It slips in because the first season was one of the best TV seasons of a show ever. It was well written and the season long arc kept you interested. The writers just couldn't follow it up with a good enough storyline and the third season with the single episode stories just felt lame.

9. Dead Like Me

I haven't finished watching this one yet but I made it through the first season and loved what I've seen. I'll eventually finish it off. The show has a great concept behind it and the show has a really strong cast.   

8. My So Called Life

This show was before it's time. If it had been on The WB in the late 90's I think it would have lasted 6 or more seasons easily. It inspired so many teen shows after it and it sucks that they only got one season.

7. Jericho

It still pisses me off that they ended two seasons on cliffhangers even though both seasons ended with little hope that it would come back. Regardless it was a great concept that was written and acted really well. I enjoyed it well it lasted.

6. The Chappelle Show

This show should have lasted longer. It had so many great moments from Rick James to Making Da Band spoofs. I think it would still be going if Dave Chappelle hadn't lost interest in the show.

5. Reaper

Ray Wise as the Devil was great. It's too bad more people didn't give this show a chance because it had so many great moments and the cast was fun to watch.

4. Sports Night 

I'm not a huge fan of Aaron Sorkin but I really liked this show. The cast went together so well and it had a lot of touching moments while also speaking on issues in a non-preachy way. 

3. Undergrads

I found this show while I was in University so the characters and stories made some sense to me because they reminded me of people around me at the time. It's too bad that a show like this can only last one season but we are stuck with cartoons on Fox that have stopped being funny.



 2. Roswell

This was never my favorite show on The WB but Jason Katims is a great storyteller and while this is no Friday Night Lights it is a good show. There were moments that annoyed me but I can say that about a lot of shows I love. You can tell they were listening to the network in season 2 and the start of season 3 but the series started and ended really well.

1. Eli Stone

This show never got the love it deserved. Really it was lucky to not only get a second season but have the chance to make a satisfying ending. Not all shows get that chance or the writers are too stubborn to write an ending but instead trying to force a network to continue the story by writing a cliffhanger. I really liked what this was about and how the story was delivered. It did have moments where it seemed a little preachy but nothing to over the top. It was a shame that they couldn't deliver more on the story.

Music Monday: Songs that are stuck in my head now 2

A few months ago I posted a few songs that are stuck in my head and I was listening to on repeat. I am going to revisit that with a few more songs that I keep listening to recently.

It doesn't take much to get a song stuck in my head. I'm not a snobby type who refuses to listen to a certain type of music to look cool. I'm listen to anything I enjoy and I tend to listen to it over and over again. 

Jessie J - We Found Love

 Shine a light through an open door
Love a life I will divide
Turn away 'cause I need you more
Feel the heartbeat in my mind

It’s the way I’m feeling I just can’t deny
But I’ve gotta let it go

We found love in a hopeless place

 

David Guetta Feat. Sia - Titanuim

I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down but I won't fall
I am titanium

Kris Allen - Out Alive

 We can run
We can hide
We can show off our guns and put on a fight
If it's love
Hold on tight, hold on tight
Maybe we'll make it out alive
Maybe we'll make it  

For some reason I couldn't find a studio version that would add to Blogger but this is one of the better live versions. 

Fun. - Some Nights 

This is it, boys, this is war - what are we waiting for?
Why don't we break the rules already?
I was never one to believe the hype - save that for the black and white
I try twice as hard and I'm half as liked, but here they come again to jack my style

Spiderman Vs. The Amazing Spiderman

I got around to seeing The Amazing Spiderman yesterday and then came home and before going to bed watched the first Spiderman movie. Since I'm a geek and have both films fresh in my mind I figured I compare the two rather then just doing a Quick Take on the new one.

I have decided to not compare special effects since both have good effects for their times and newer movies obviously have the advantage of better technology. I decided to base the comparison on main actor and actress, villian, music, and story.I won't go into the endings as that would contain spoilers which I hate throwing at people who have not yet seen the films.

Actor

Although he was never bad in the role I didn't really buy Tobey Maguire as Spiderman/Peter Parker. It's not that I don't like him as an actor. He was awesome in Pleasantville. But I just didn't enjoy his "Aw Shucks" demeanor in this role.

On the other hand I felt Andrew Garfield was a perfect choice for Peter Parker which made him the better choice for Spiderman. He displayed the geekiness of Peter while seeming cooler when in the Spiderman costume. You could really see the confidence Peter got when he became Spiderman. 

Winner: The Amazing Spiderman

Actress

I'll start by saying that I am not a fan of Kirsten Dunst. If it wasn't for Halle Berry in Catwoman and Kate Bosworth in Superman Returns she would be the worst Superhero Movie casting ever. I just felt she dragged down any scene she was in for this film.

On the other hand I am a huge fan of Emma Stone. I think she is this generations Julia Roberts. The downside to casting her is that no matter who she plays you still think of her as Emma Stone at this point. While she is a great actress  she never gets you to forget she's Emma Stone. But she didn't drag down ever scene she was in.  

I also felt the chemistry between Emma and Andrew was better then Tobey and Kirsten.

Winner: The Amazing Spiderman

Villain

While both William Defoe and Rhys Ifan are amazing actors and did great jobs in each film WIlliam Defoe wins hands down. The entire movie you know he's the villian and he encompasses the role so well. The confusion in being Green Goblin and letting him take over could be seen in every facial expression. 

The Amazing Spiderman is more of an origin story so the villain, while played well by Ifans, is more of a background player similar to Batman Begins, leaving the more well known villain for the sequel.  In Spiderman Green Goblin is front and center for the majority of the film. 

Winner: Spiderman 

Music 

In the last ten years the need to have a hit soundtrack seems to have died. The Amazing Spiderman focuses more on a having music to play over the story then pushing a hit song by Nickelback. The one song that really plays over the movie is a Coldplay song that while good doesn't really tie into the marketing for the film. For it's time the Spiderman soundtrack was a great album even if you aren't a Nickelback fan (I'm sure everyone is a Nickelback fan in secret. How else to explain their popularity)

Winner: Spiderman

Story

While both films have very similar stories and follow the same path of getting powers, learning powers, falling in love with girl, defeating villain, choosing to not be with girl I liked the slower pace of The Amazing Spiderman. They spent more time on Peter learning his powers which while it made less time for the villain it also made the movie a better origin story. With Spiderman he learns his powers fairly quickly which allows the film to spend more time with him as Spiderman which wasn't the wrong choice as both films have great stories. 

The newer film also left more questions open at the end. Without going into details I liked what they did to keep you interested to in the next film. Movies based on Marvel comics have become notorious for adding extra scenes in the credits to promote the next film and The Amazing Spiderman did not disappoint. 

Winner: The Amazing Spiderman (barely)

While both films are great ways to begin a saga The Amazing Spiderman left open so many doors for sequels. There are also so many characters and storylines that are left to explore because the film choose to devote more time to letting Peter Parker develop the powers before really becoming Spiderman and fighting a major villain. 

I'll never consider Spiderman a bad film (unlike the third sequel) but I felt The Amazing Spiderman was the better of the two films. 

Winner: The Amazing Spiderman 

 

  

 

Tuesday Top Ten: Summer TV

Since it's summer and in recent years there have been just as many good Summer TV shows as during the Fall I thought I'd use this weeks blog to list my top ten current Summer TV shows. I'll be sharing this weeks list with my friend Lisa who I have discovered from GetGlue has similar tastes in Pop Culture as myself. 

You can find her Blog here: 

A Pop Culture Affair 

I'm going to start with a few Honorable Mentions of shows that I've recently started enjoying but have not watched them enough to include them in the top ten. 

Eureka

Covert Affairs

Franklin and Bash

Warehouse 13

Falling Skies
Suits

 

10. Wilfred

I wasn't sure about the show when I first started watching but I have grown to love the show. I talk to my dog all the time so it's nice to see a show where the dog actually talks back.

9. Episodes

I had mixed feelings about this because I have never been a big fan of Matt LeBlanc but he is actually really funny playing a caricature of himself. This weeks in the same way that James Van Der Beek works in Don't Trust The B- in Apt 23 except this show has more going for it overall. 

8. True Blood

This show is hit or miss for me. There are seasons I love (Seasons 1 and 3) and seasons I hated (Seasons 2 and last season) but I always still get around to watching the show although I don't ever really feel like re-watching the earlier seasons.


7.  America’s Got Talent

I enjoy this show because you can see so many amazing things that people can do. Of course you also get the stupid talents like guys who can take kicks to the balls. When you can see someone you looks like a train wreck come out and blow you away. Like this summer with the Goth kid belting out opera music. It was unexpected and wonderful. Likeing this show also gives me a reason to post this video:

 

6. Big Brother

This one always depends on the cast but if you get the right mix of sane and insane housemates then it is great for guilty Summer TV. I do always wish they would replace Julie Chen with another host but the show is usually a good time killer regardless.

5. Teen Wolf   

This show is better when watching many episodes at once. When I first started watching the show last summer I lost interest watching it weekly and just stopped watching. I gave it another try and really enjoyed the show but now I am experiencing the same thing where if I watch it weekly I loss interest so I just decided to let the episodes build up on the DVR and then watch all at once.

4. Awkward

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this show. The main characters can get annoying at times but the supporting characters are great. It definately feels like it should be a hour long show rather then half hour because 22 minutes of airtime flies by. The show did a good job and establishing a love triangle that people can easily choose sides in similar to Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill. 

3. So You Think You Can Dance

  
The show gets so much better once the audition episodes are done because by then you have favorites but people with lack of screen time have the chance to steal the show. It's produced so much like American Idol where you can tell who the producer favorites are and I like to cheer on the underdogs.  The show also does a great job of showcasing so many different styles of dance that are fun to watch like Bollywood which I've gained a love for since I've been with my wife. 
 

 2. Rookie Blue

I love the fact that this show is filmed in Canada and they don't try to make it seem like America. They even show our colored money which is awesome. While the show often lacks the season long storylines I like in most TV shows it does a great job with the relationships between characters and the acting is actually good for a Summer show on Broadcast TV.

1. Hell’s Kitchen / MasterChef

My wife got me into watching Gordon Ramsey shows and I quickly fell in love with ever insult he tosses out during Kitchen Service. I always find it amazing how poorly most of the career chefs  do early in the season, at this point chefs should know that they better make sure they can properly cook a scallop or beef wellington. It's like the people who go on Survivor who can't use a flint.

I actually just started watching MasterChef this Summer but I actually like it better then Hell's Kitchen this summer but I think it's because I don't really like any of the cast on Hell's. Like any reality competition show it really comes down to having a good cast.