Vince's Journey

It's about 6:30, Friday night, and I'm already in my comfy clothes for the evening. Jules and I are heading out to Vegas tomorrow morning so we're going to spend the night at home packing and get things in order. Right now there is a ridiculous show called 'Teen Cribs' on MTV so I thought it would be a good time to sit down and hammer out a quick blog. But seriously, following 'Cribs' is a reality show called 'Jersey Shore' and it looks like it might be even worse. I don't know what the infatuation is with going on television and making an ass of yourself but I guess when you think about it, I guess it's not much different than writing your thoughts on a daily blog because eventually I'm going to write something that will make me look like an ass - probably already have! But the difference is, I'm looking like an ass to about 10 people, the idiots on some of these reality shows are being seen by millions. So 'Snookie', enjoy the fame while it lasts, I hope it was worth your dignity.

On to the countdown - my brother, Rich is about 20 movies behind - hopefully he'll catch up over the weekend...

#70. Driving Miss Daisy (1989) - Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy are wonderful in this movie about an aging Jewish, southern matriarch and her black chauffeur. The story spans several decades and during that time Miss Daisy goes from wanting nothing to do with Freeman's Hoke to calling him her best friend at the end of the movie. With more and more movies taking advantage of the tremendous technological advances in film making, the actors are the life of 'Driving Miss Daisy' and Tandy and Freeman were at the top of their game in 1989's Academy Award winning Best Picture.

#69. West Side Story (1961) - The best movie of 1961, West Side Story is basically a 'modern' day version of Romeo and Juliet filled with wonderful music and dancing gangs. Almost campy, I mean would anyone seriously be intimidated by these hoods, but you still find yourself singing along with every song and hoping Maria and Tony can figure out a way to be together in the and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, their 'Someday' never comes.

#68. Do The Right Thing (1989) - With all due respect to 'Driving Miss Daisy', and my #70 ranking tells you that I hold that film in very high regard, Do the Right Thing was the best movie of 1989. A Brooklyn pizzeria is at the center of the conflict of this powerful movie directed by Spike Lee. As the summer heat soars to record breaking temperatures so do the tempers of everyone in the neighborhood surrounding Sal's Pizzeria until it reaches a point that they'll all regret. The best movie Spike Lee has ever made.

#67. The Dark Knight (2008) - I remember when Heath Ledger died and The Dark Knight was still several months away from being released. Even then, everyone was talking about Ledger's performance as the Joker and predicting he very well could win a posthumous Oscar. Being the cynical person that I can sometimes be, I couldn't believe that an actor could win an Oscar for playing a villain in a Batman movie and if he did win, it would obviously be for sympathetic reasons. Then I saw the Dark Knight and realized that Ledger may have created the greatest villain in movie history. He became the Joker and his performance was right up there with Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, Robert DeNiro in Cape Fear and blew away the previous Joker played by Jack Nicholson. The movie didn't suck, either.

#66. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) - Just an hysterical, goofy movie about growing up in California in the early 80's. Filled with valley girls, burnouts and teens filled with sexual angst, Fast Times was a surprise hit and launched the career of two time best Oscar winner, Sean Penn, who stole every scene he was in as the burned-out, surfer Jeff Spicoli.

#65. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) - I had no interest in seeing this movie when it came out back in 1980. I was not a fan of Loretta Lynn, didn't have an interest in country music and figured it would be a waste of time. About a year later, it was on Showtime and with nothing else on to watch, I decided to give it a shot. Afterall, Sissy Spacek won best actress for her performance so it couldn't be all that bad. Obviously, I liked the movie. Spacek gave the best performance of her career as Loretta and Tommy Lee Jones was equally impressive as her husband/agent, Doolittle Lynn. Showing Loretta grow from a thirteen year old bride to the 'First Lady of Country music', you cheer for her every step of the way as she rises to super stardom. I watched Coal Miners Daughter just about every time it was on Showtime that summer and even bought the soundtrack.

#64. Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Last year's best picture took the movie viewing world by storm. A story about a boy from the streets of Mumbai attempting to win $1,000,000 rupees on India's version of the 'Who Wants to be A Millionaire'. As he ascends toward the million dollar question the show's host and the police are convinced he's cheating until he explains how he knows all the answers and they realize he didn't come on the show to win the money, he's simply hoping to find the girl he's been in love with throughout his childhood. And the answers to the questions tie in to the tough and mean life this 18 year old kid has experienced. A wonderful piece of film making.

#63. Rainman (1988) Dustin Hoffman is amazing as an idiot savant and Tom Cruise gives one of his better performances as his brother in 1988's best picture of the year. Cruise learns that he has a brother he never knew about at the same time he also learns that his father has left all his money to the brother. He then learns the brother has no idea what's going on in the world, feels cheated about the money and basically kidnaps 'Rainman' from the institution he's been living in to get to the money. The brothers take to the road to get back to LA and Cruise's character is continually frustrated dealing with his brothers quirks. This movie is better every time I see it as you pick up on the little nuances of Hoffman's portrayal.

#62. Young Frankenstein (1974) - Gene Wilder, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Terri Garr and Madeline Kahn are hysterical in Mel Brooks comedic tribute to the old Frankenstein franchise. Filmed in black and white while using the set from the original Frankenstein movies, Wilder plays the grandson of the original Dr. Frankenstein who stumbles across the laboratory where his grandfather conducted his experiments in trying to bring the dead back to life. The movie is filled with classic scenes including a duet between Wilder and Boyle (playing the monster) doing a song and dance to Puttin' on the Ritz. Mel Brooks at his ultimate best.

#61. Gregory's Girl (1979) - This is another movie I discovered on Showtime. A Scottish film about a high school geek who is dealing with his first bout of puppy love. The girl of his dreams (Dorothy) happens to be the best player on the schools' boys soccer team and really has no love interest in him but she agrees to go out with him anyway. What Gregory doesn't know is Dorothy is part of a scheme to hook him up with Susan, a classmate who has a crush him. This is one of the best movies I've ever seen about those awkward teen years and the character of Gregory is one of my all time favorites. If you've never seen this little gem, you should try to track it down in your local video store, it's worth the watch.

That's all for tonight - hopefully I'll be able to get a post up from Las Vegas!

Rather than watch the Democrats and Republicans call each other names and contradict every word the opposing side had to say, I took in Ohio State's game against Iowa last night. The Buckeyes didn't play particularly well, but when it got to crunch time Evan Turner and David Lighty keyed a 20-7 run and OSU was able to pick up a key Big Ten win on the road. Evan Turner had a quiet 16 points in the game while Lighty led the way with 20. The Buckeyes are now 15-6 and should be able to go on a nice run to finish off the regular season - if they can get by with only 2 or 3 losses the rest of the way, they should be solid for the NCAA tournament. With Evan Turner back at full force, I like there chances. If they could just get Diebler shooting more consistently they would be very dangerous.

Following are the next 10 movies in my countdown of my top 100 -

#80. Dr. Zhivago (1965) - One of director David Lean's epic pictures, this was a love story with the Russian Revolution serving as the backdrop. Julie Christie plays Lara, the love interest to Omar Shariff. Unfortunately, they never have the opportunity to be together as circumstances throughout their lives continue to keep them apart. This movie lost the Best Picture Oscar to the Sound of Music and Julie Christie took the Best Actress Oscar for her other movie that year, 'Darling'.

#79. Being There (1979) - In the beginning of the movie, Chance the Gardener is basically a simpleton (with no knowledge of how to do anything but care for plants) who finds himself evicted from his home when his aged, employer dies. Basically reduced to living on the streets of Washington D.C., his 'luck' changes dramatically when he's hit by a limo carrying the wife of one of the president's most powerful advisors. Mistaking his continual references to plants and seeds as insightful advice about the nations economy, Chance becomes known as Chauncey Gardener and is soon a respected expert on how to fix our nation's tremendous financial woes. Peter Sellers is wonderful as Chance/Chauncey and the supporting cast of Melvin Douglas, Shirley MacLaine and Jack Warden are terrific. Plus, the outtakes during the closing credits are worth the price of admission.

#78. Airplane (1980) - A zany, skit filled comedy about an illfated plane and the less than confident pilot who is the only person with the ability to land it safely on the ground. This one is corny but it spawned an entire genre of this type of comedy and while resurrecting the career of Leslie Nielson who steals the show as a no-nonsense doctor. This movie could make the list simply by having a scene where June Cleaver speaks jive but there are many, many other hysterical scenes including several with Lloyd Bridges proclaiming he picked a bad week to give up smoking, drinking, sniffing glue and several other terrible vices.

#77. Life is Beautiful (1997) - Roberto Benigni's masterpiece about a man trying to protect his young son from the horrors of being in a WWII concentration camp by telling him it's all a big game. Benigni won the Oscar for Best Actor, the only actor to do so from a foriegn language movie. A touching, emotional and heartbreaking film.

#76. The Bad News Bears (1976) - One of my favorite movies from my youth. Having played quite a few years of little league baseball myself, this movie was dead on in its depiction of the iwn at all cost approaches many youth coaches had in those days, and still have today. Jam packed with great line after great line, it also provided a feel good ending even though the Bears were not able to win the championship game. My favorite Walter Mathau performance of all time.

#75. Mary Poppins (1964) - I experienced this movie as a child and many, many, many times as a parent and it is one of my all time favorites. We used to put this on when Judd was little and he would watch it from start to finish; he knew the songs, got up and danced to some of them and he was only about 3 years old at the time. Keep in mind this movie was almost 3 hours long - it had to be pretty amazing to hold the attention of a 3 year old for nearly 3 hours, day after day after day. Julie Andrews' performance is simply magical and I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Mary Poppins.

#74. All That Jazz (1979) - Musical loosely based on the life of Bob ,one of the all-time great broadway choreographers and directors. Fosse had few rivals and was a showbiz legend but he also worked too hard, partied too much and kept himself coherent by popping all kinds of prescription drugs. Looking back, the movies' ending is somewhat eerie as the Fosse character dies at the end and is zipped into a body bag...several years later Fosse followed the same script, dying of a massive heart attack.

#73. Jerry Maguire (1996) - Story about a win-at-all costs sports agent who finds his heart and integrety but realizes the only person who has any faith in him is a single mother who works as a secretary at his agency. After calling out everyone in the sports agent industry, Maguire is asked to leave his firm and winds up with only one client, an up and coming wide receiver who only wants Jerry to do one thing; 'Show him the money'. One of Tom Cruises better performances and Cuba Gooding Jr. is over the top as the wide receiver. This movie also featured many of the top athletes of the mid-90's and the first memorable performance of Renee Zellweggers' career.

#72. Titanic (1997) - Until about a week ago, this was the top grossing film of all time, being recently surpassed by another James Cameron movie, Avatar. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winselt star as the lovers from entirely different worlds but the real 'star' of the movie was the tremendous special effects which made it feel like you were actually watching the supposedly, indestructible ship sink into the frigid Atlantic Ocena on that fateful April night almost 100 years ago.

#71. Saving Private Ryan (1998) - The opening 30 minutes of this movie are the most gut wrenching and horrific scenes ever filmed. Spielberg earned his second Best Director Oscar for his vivid recreation of the invasion of Omaha Beach during World War II. Just an incredible piece of film making and I'll never understand how Shakespeare in Love beat this film for the 1998 Best Movie. When I left the theatre the day I saw this movie I had a renewed appreciation for the courage, honor and patriotism displayed by the brave men who fought in WWII. I can't imagine going through that type of hell and thanks to them, I never had to.


Thirty down and 70 to go - tune in tomorrow for the next ten.

On Saturday, Jules and I are heading out to Las Vegas. She has a trade show and I'm tagging along for a mini-vacation. We're planning to go to the Hoover Dam and we'll also be seeing The Beatles' Love show which I'm really looking forward to to. I'm sure we'll also be doing a littlew gambling, as well. Jules will be there for a week while I'll be heading home next Tuesday. Anyway, we're looking forward to getting away for a few days and when Jules returns, she'll be starting her new job at Cincom.

Not much else in the news. The president will making his State of the Union address tonight which is why I'll be tuned in to ESPN or the Big Ten Network to watch Ohio State play Iowa in basketball. I went to the Dayton/Rhode Island game last night and the Flyers lost a heartbreaker on a 3 point basket in the final seconds - there weren't many happy folks at old, UD Arena last night. Which reminds me, I have to say for a basketball facility that is approaching 40 years old, the UD Arena has held up tremendously well. They did some renovations several years ago and they did a wonderful job. I used to go to many UD games when I was in high school and they've really done an outstanding job of preserving the arena.

Now on to the movie countdown but before I start, next Monday I will make my predicitons for this year's Academy Award nominations. Keep in mind there will be 10 films nominated for Best Picture this year; personally I'm not sure there are 10 films worthy of being nominated but that won't keep me from trying to predict which films they will be. Here are the next 10 films in my countdown...

90. The Sixth Sense (1999) - Bruce Willis plays a child psychiatrist trying to help a young boy with a very eerie problem; he see's dead people. I didn't think this film was overly scary but it does include a tremendous twist to the plot which took me entirely by surprise. A wonderfully crafted thriller by M. Night Shyamalan and Haley Joel Osment is tremendous as the tortured boy. Unfortunately for both Shyamalan and Osment, neither has come out with a movie since to rival 'The Sixth Sense' and in Haley Joel's case his sister (Emily) has gone on to far greater stardom playing Miley's Cyrus' side kick on Hannah Montana.

89. The Color Purple (1985) - Stephen Spielberg's film adaptation of Alice Walker's pulitzer winning novel of the same name. Set in the early 1900's, Whoopie Goldberg plays a black woman who suffers from a life-time of mental, physical and sexual abuse until she befriends a woman who provides her with the courage and confidence to fight back. I'm a sucker for tearjerker movies and this one delivers, not in a sad but triumphant way. I've often thought Whoopie Goldberg got the Best Supporting actress award for 'Ghost' as a payback for her not winning for her portrayal in The Color Purple. In my opinion, one of Spielberg's best movies.

88. Moonstruck (1987) - Romantic comedy starring Cher in her Academy Award winning role. This film features great supporting performances by Vincent Gardenia, Danny Aiello, Nicholas Cage and Olympia Dukakis who took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Norman Jewison directed this cute and quirky little film that I thought should have won best picture over the tremendously boring, The Last Emperor.

87. Chicago (2002) - Renee Zellwegger and Catherine Zeta-Jones play the infamous Roxie and Velma in this screen adaptation of Bob Fosse's Broadway hit. Both actresses were great in their roles as the murderous vixens and Richard Gere proved he could sing and tap dance as the attention-seeking lawyer, Billy Finn. Some plays don't translate as well from stage to screen but I felt Chicago was far better on the big screen. Queen Latifah steals a couple scenes as the warden at the female penetentiary. One of my favorite musicals.

86. My Life As A Dog (1985) - This is one of only two foriegn language films on my list. By the Swedish director, Lasse Hallstrom (perhaps better known for directing the Academy Award nominated, The Cider House Rules) this film tells the story of a 12 year old boy who is sent to live with relatives when his mother becomes terminally ill. A cute, poignant story that puts a smile on your face.

85. Platoon (1986) - A story told from the viewpoint of a young grunt (Charlie Sheen) who has been sent off to Vietnam and the conflict between two of his superior, brilliantly played by Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe. This was a difficult movie to watch due to the excessive violence and continual reminders of how horrible war is. Plus it painfully illustrates how even the 'good guys' can crumble under the pressures of combat.

84. The Princess Bride (1987) - I was glad to see this on Riches list. A movie within a movie, Rob Reiner brings this fairly tale to beautiful life as a grandfather (Peter Falk) reads the story to his sick grandson (Fred Savage). The cast is perfect and create some of the funniest, fairy tale characters of all time. Probably my favorite Rob Reiner movie, he proves that making a movie that children and adults can equally enjoy is not....Inconceivable!

83. Animal House (1978) - Comparing Animal House to some of the current day movies like 'Super Bad', 'Old School', the 'American Pie' movies and even 'The Hangover' makes this 1978 classic seem rather tame. But make no mistake, Animal House was as funny as movies got back in the 70's and it set the stage for movies like the ones just mentioned. Animal Hose set the bar and provided lines and scenes that we still recite and talk about 30+ years later. "Thank you sir, may I have another!"

82. M*A*S*H (1970) - Before it became a painfully boring sitcom after the departures of McLean Stevenson (Henry Blake) and Wayne Rogers (Trapper John), M*A*S*H was an hysterical movie directed by Robert Altman. Starring Donald Southerland and Elliot Gould as Hawkeye and Trapper John; doctors living in the Hell of war and making it tolerable by making it untolerable for Hot Lips (Sally Kellerman) and Frank Burns (Robert Duvall). The only actor to appear in both the movie and the tv series was Gary Burghoff as Radar. The movie also includes one of the funniest football games ever filmed - great movie.

81. Billy Elliot (2000) - I originally saw this movie back in 2000 when it first came out and watched it again this past summer. It tells the story of a young boy whose father sends him off to boxing class only to have him stumble across a class of girls taking dance lessons. He soon discovers he'd rather dance than box which causes a tremendous dilemma for the widowed father who also happens to be dealing with his union being on strike. The language is a bit rough and at times it's difficult to understand the characters due to their heavy British accents, but I love this movie because it's about a father who shows the true love he has for his son by doing whatever it takes to help him achieve his dreams and build a better life for himself. More impressive is the fact that the characters seem real; you believe the father, you believe the son and nothing is sugar-coated . This is a tremendous movie that was adapted into a Broadway musical with songs written by Elton John.

Look for the #80 - #71 tomorrow evening...

Alright, I admit it; Peyton Manning is unbelievable. I've never liked the guy because I've always felt he's gotten a free pass by being Archie Manning's son but after yesterday I give up - the guy is amazing. He was putting passes in spots that only his receivers could catch; the coverage was pretty damn good and he continually threaded the needle - he was simply unbeatable. I don't see any way that the Saints can win the Super Bowl short of knocking Manning out of the game early. I fully expect the Colts to win and when they do, Manning will be my #2 QB of all time behind Joe Montana. I surrender Peyton - you are great.

Now it's time to begin a new countdown - my top 100 movies of all time. Obviously a key criteria is that I have to have seen the movie in order for me to list. There are quite a few classic movies that appear on most top 100 movie lists that I haven't seen - 'Lawrence of Arabia' would be a prime example. Now that I have Netflix I hope to catch a lot of these old movies and as I do I'll adjust my list. Obviously my #100 movie may not be there for long. Judd and Rich have already said they're going to play along - this could get very interesting.

#100. Finding Nemo (2003) - Pixar has had a remarkable string of hits and this story about a father clown fish trying to find his lost son, Nemo, is one of my favorites. The animation is amazing and Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneris provide the lead voices for this heartwarming and clever film.

#99. A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (1966) - This was a pretty racy film when it came out in 1966 and I saw it when I was 8. I remember my dad was pretty upset when he found out I did. Based on the broadway musical of the same name, it featured an all-star cast and told the story of a Roman slave trying to earn his freedom by helping his master find the girl of his dreams. Great music and also very funny. I've probably seen this movie over a dozen times and made Abbey watch it a couple years ago - she was not as enthusiastic about it as I was.

#98. Cat Ballou (1965) - Western about a young school teacher (Jane Fonda) trying to get revenge for the murder of her father. Lee Marvin won the Academy Award for Best Actor playing twin brothers; one a vicious hit man, the other a broken down-drunk. Very funny and Marvin steals the show when he rides off on his equally drunk horse.

#97. Oliver (1968) - Lavish musical production that won Best Picture in 1968. This movie is close to three hours long and the first time I saw it, I stayed for 3 showings. (It was easier to do back when I was 10). Anyway, my mom was quite pissed at me because I took the bus to get to the theatre and I didn't get home until almost 10 pm. Mark Lester played Oliver while Ron Moody and Jack Wild were perfect as Fagan and the Artful Dodger.

#96. Slap Shot (1977) - Paul Newman plays a washed up hockey player/coach in this classic from the 70's. Newman is solid as the coach but the characters who stole the show were the Hanson Brothers; the hired hockey goons brought in by the team's owner to generate fan interest for his lousy team.

#95. There's Something About Mary (1998) - Ben Stiller is perfect as the class nerd who decides to find the girl of his dreams 15 years after high school. This movie has some of the funniest scenes ever filmed with a tremendous supporting cast who brought life to the bizarre characters who made up Mary's (Cameron Diaz) circle of family and friends. Nothing was sacred in this movie and the sight gags were hysterical.

#94. The Verdict (1982) - Great court room drama starring Paul Newman as a broken down lawyer who get's handed a case that could turn his entire life around. The only problem his he has to go up against the 'greatest law team in the world' superbly headed up by James Mason. This movie hooks you in from the start and Newman's performance is one of the best of his career.

#93. American Beauty (1999) - The lead character, played brilliantly by Kevin Spacey, is a complete head case - burned out on the every day rat race who quits his job and starts to work out to get himself nice and buff to impress his 17 year-old daughter's best friend...and he's the good guy in the film. This movie captured the Academy Award for Best Picture and Spacey won Best Actor - both well deserved.

#92. Little Children (2006) I'm a big Kate Winslet fan and this is one of her best movies - I actually thought she was better in this than The Reader. The story revolves around two lonely, married individuals who feel no connection to their spouses, they both have a child and they meet at the neighborhood pool, soon after they begin an affair. In the meantime, a convicted pedophile has been released from prison and the people of the neighborhood in which they live are none too excited that this sicko is be coming back to live with his mother. A very disturbing film with tremendous performances by Winslet and Jackie Earle Haley (of Bad News Bears and Breaking Away fame) who plays the creepy pedophile. I will say this film is not for everybody.

#91. Elf (2003) - Every year there are several movies that come out at Christmas time to challenge the timeless classics. Elf is one that actually delivered. The story of a misplaced elf who leaves the North Pole to find his true family is a heart warmer due to what I consider the best performance of Will Ferrell's career. Buddy is believable because of the innocence in Ferrell's performance and the supporting cast of James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen and Peter Dinkelage all rise to his level in this film that will be a holiday viewing staple for many years to come.

Ten down, 90 to go - tune in tomorrow for #90 - #81.

If you haven't been following the last 10 days; Judd, my brother Rich and I have been ranking our top 100 songs of all time. Yesterday we revealed our top 10's and there were two songs that made all three lists; Queen's epic and highly imaginative, Bohemian Rhapsody and Simon and Garfunkel's all-time classic, Bridge Over Troubled Water. The #1's were....

Me: Let it Be - The Beatles
Judd: Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel
Rich: Imagine - John Lennon

Imagine also scored high on my list as my #2 song while Judd didn't list it in his top 100. Other songs getting praise from all three of us were Hey Jude and Like A Rolling Stone. As we've said from the start, the mark of a great song is it's able to stand the test of time so it should come as no surprise that only 3 of the songs listed in our top tens were made after 1980 with two of those songs coming from Sublime (both on Judd's list).

It's been fun comparing lists and with the Academy Award nominations coming in about 10 days, I'm going to do my top 100 movies next. If Judd and Rich want to join in, that would make it a little more interesting. Look for #100 - #91 in the very near future.

Now excuse me, it's time to watch two teams I could care less about, New York and Indianapolis, battle for a spot in the Super Bowl - I think the Colts will win but will be pulling for the Jets since they have more former Ohio State Buckeyes on their team. Colts have the ball, first and ten on the 30 yard line - I'm outta here.

OK - I'm ready to reveal my top ten songs. For those of you just joining, My son, Judd; brother, Rich and I have been counting down our top 100 songs over the past week or so. Today we've reached the top ten. Most of these songs are tunes that I have loved and listened to for over 30 years - and that's the mark of a great song; it never gets old. For this music fan, these are the songs that have had the greatest impact on me, have made me think, have touched me in a sentimental way or simply were so creative that I've never heard another quite like it. You don't necassarily have to agree with me, that is the great thing about music - everyone has their own tastes. What's music to some could be noise to others - these are the songs that are truly music to my ears and I could listen to over and over again...and I do.

#10. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles. While all the previous Beatle songs on my list were written under the Lennon/McCartney names, this one was all George Harrison. George didn't write nearly as much Beatles material as John and Paul but most of his contributions were tremendous songs. George wrote this song at a time when he was pretty burned out on being a Beatle. They were producing less music, dealing with all the business aspects of their record label and they were showing the relationships were, to say the least, very strained - The Beatles were dying. To escape it all, George took off and spent some time at the home of his good friend and fellow musician, Eric Clapton, and he wrote 'Here Comes the Sun' while walking around Clapton's garden strumming one of his guitars. It was his way of saying we've been down a long road together, I can see the end is near...'and I say, it's alright.' It was his way of letting go. Kind of a sad song but at the same, it offers tremendous hope and promise.

#9. Celebrate Me Home - Kenny Loggins. I first heard this song my junior year at Ohio State - 31 years ago. I've always loved it for it's simple, gospel tone and the way the choir joins in during the second part of the song. I know in everyone's life there is a song that reminds you of home, of all the people who make up your life, a song that you hear and it takes you to a happy place in time - for me, that song is Celebrate Me Home - 'Play me one more song that I'll always remember and I can recall whenever I find myself to all alone, I can sing me home...' Everytime I hear Celebrate Me Home, I do just that.

#8. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen. This song made me a Queen fan. I first heard Bohemian Rhapsody my senior year in high school; I had never heard anything like it and there has never been anything quite like it since. Freddie Mercury was pure genius on this 6 minute song that took you through more musical genres than you could count on one hand. The amazing thing was, despite the fact it was twice as long as most songs played on the radio at the time, it couldn't help but be played; over and over again. One of the most creative, immaginative, unique, artistic and downright classic songs of the rock era. And I'll add, A Night at the Opera is one of my top 5 albums of all time and the rest of the songs on LP truly do Bohemian Rhapsody justice, it is an amazing piece of musical art.

#7. Here, There and Everywhere - The Beatles. I was happy to see this song so high on my brother's list and he is absolutely spot on in saying it's one of the most beautiful songs of all time. In fact, just before his death, John Lennon said that he felt this was one of the most complete song's Paul ever wrote. It would be hard to argue with him. This song was also played at our wedding and the words perfectly reflect the feelings of a newlywed couple (at least from the grooms perspective)...'I want her everywhere. And if she's beside me I know I need never care. But to love her is to need her everywhere. Knowing that love is to share - each one believing that love never dies, watching her eyes and hoping I'm always there - you'll be there and everywhere. Here, there and everywhere.' Simply beautiful lyrics.

#6. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel. I have a feeling this one might wind up in the top ten of all three lists. A song about true friendship. The irony of Bridge Over Troubled Water is, it came at point of S & G's career together when they were actually preparing to go their separate ways. Even more ironic is the fact that Art Garfunkel tried to convince Paul Simon that he should be the one singing the song - Simon insisted that Art sing it. In the end, Simon won and he was right - this may be the most perfectly performed recording of all time. Having said that, Simon has regretted not singing it ever since. Think about it, Bridge Over Troubled Water is the greatest song he ever wrote and his ex-partner immortalized it with that tremendous vocal. I will say Simons accompanyment on the piano is also among the best ever recorded. An absolute, landmark song.

#5. Yesterday - The Beatles. This song has been covered more times than any song in history-that alone tells you it's something special. But in 1965 the other members of The Beatles didn't think it sounded like a Beatles song and they didn't want it released under their name. McCartney didn't want to release it as a solo piece so the song was released in America but not in England. Regardless, this is a beautiful piece of music and anyone who questions McCartney's song writing ability should sit down and listen to Yesterday just to hear how wrong they are. Shitty songwriters don't luck into Yesterday, Here, There and Everywehere, Hey Jude and one other song that you'll be reading about in the very near future.

#4. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye was an incredible artist and this song was his crowning achievement. Covering social issues ranging from war, racism and poverty this song actually helped bring races together in the early 70's. "Father, Father - we don't need to escalate. War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate." Hard to believe that the man who wrote those words was shot to death by his own father 13 years later. His music was truly amazing, its tragic that his life was cut so short; I'm sure he would still be a relevant artist today had he not been killed.

#3. Love's in Need of Love Today - Stevie Wonder. The opening track on (in my humble opinion) Stevie's greatest album, Songs in the Key of Life, this is a 7 minute plea to everyone to show love some love. Beautiful melody, truer lyrics have never been written and Stevie's vocals shine throughout the entire song. "The force of evil plans to make you its possession. And it will if we let it destroy everybody. We all must take precautionary measures, if love and peace you treasure then you'll hear me when I say - Love's in need of love today..." This song resurfaced following the 9-11 attacks and it was still as fresh and powerful as it was when it was released in 1976. My only question is why CAN'T we give love some love?

#2. Imagine - John Lennon. Lennon said this song was as good as anything he ever did with The Beatles and he is right. The music is perfect and the lyrics are, to say the least, thought provoking. I imagine we could imagine a world without countries, religion and possessions - a world where everybody lives in peace. But when the guy who wrote these words gets blown away by a deranged fan, you realize that it really is just something we can imagine. I believe in God and I love my country but I also realize that religion, patriotism and greed are typically at the root of all our problems worldwide. Having said all this, Imagine is a brilliant song and definitely deserves the #2 ranking....

#1. Let it Be - The Beatles. Believe it or not, I'm actually tired of writing about The Beatles but to me, and I'm only one judge here, this is the greatest song written in the rock era. Beautiful lead in with the piano, Pauls perfectly controlled vocals, with each line another instrument joins the song - cymbals, drums, guitars - until it hits the instrumental portion where it rocks out and calms to close with Paul's closing lines. A perfectly executed song with absolutely no flaws.

I look forward to seeing the other top tens...the bar has been set, I wonder how many duplications we'll have.

It has been one ugly day in Cincinnati; rainy, cold and dreary. I guess it could be worse; if it was 15 degrees colder we would have about 2 feet of snow. Meanwhile, the computers are still off limits at Xavier for a third straight day. My guess is we won't be back up and running until after the weekend.

Not a very big day news wise. I will make my predictions for the Super Bowl -I think Indianapolis and Minnesota will be squaring off in Miami in a couple weeks. Given my recent track record, if that doesn't give the fans in New York and New Orleans hope, I don't know what will. On to my countdown....

#20. Sing, Sing, Sing - Benny Goodman and His Orchestra. There are words to this song but the 8 minute, instrumental version is one of the most awesome recordings I've ever heard. Tremendously hip for the time, Goodman earned the title 'King of Swing' with this romp that features clarinet and drum solos that keep you on your feet the entire song.

#19. Baba O'Riley - The Who. The opening alone certifies this song as an absolute classic but of course, that's just the start. There are several other songs by The Who that merit high praise but to me, this track which opens their best album, Who's Next; is as good as they ever were or ever will be.

#18. Badlands - Bruce Springsteen. "Lights out tonight trouble in the heartland, got a head-on collision smashing in my guts man. I'm caught in a crossfire that I don't understand."
if you want to know what goes through your mind while you're going through chemo treatments, the opening lines to Badlands sums it up pretty well. You have this battle going on inside you, you have no control over it and find it difficult to understand why this is happening to you. I listened to this song just about every day I was being treated for lymphoma, it became my song, more so for a line later in the tune - "I believe in the love that you gave me, I believe in the faith that can save me, I believe in the hope and I pray that some day it may raise me above these Badlands." Truly inspiring words.

#17. Pet Songs - The Beach Boys. OK, this is somewhat of a cop out. I selected Pet Songs because that was the Beach Boys best album and there are three songs I really couldn't decide on but I realize there needs to be a Beach Boys song on the list. So this spot belongs to 'Wouldn't it Be Nice', 'God Only Knows' or 'Sloop John B'...maybe someday I'll narrow it down to two.

#16. In My Life - The Beatles. This song, from the 'Rubber Soul' LP, was played at our wedding. Even though Lennon and McCartney were listed as the writers, this was Lennon's song and it's one of the best he ever wrote. A beautiful love song which also pays tribute to family and friends who touched his life.

#15. With or Without You - U2. I love tunes that start slow and build throughout the song...With or Without You does it perfectly. My favorite U2 song by far.

#14. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana. Everyone talks about how different this song sounded at the time, how they had never heard anything like it. To me, its just a great rock song and its message defined an entire generation of teens as well as influenced many bands from that era.

#13. Let's Stay Together - Al Green. At the risk of sounding like Randy Jackson; Al Green had some pipes. As a vocalist, he was in a league of his own and he displayed every ounce of his talent on this tremendously soulful classic. Green made it sound easy as he demonstrated endless range but as far less talented singers demonstrate every week on American Idol, it's not easy at all. Talent has a way of making things look easy and few vocalists are as talented as Al Green.

#12. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked their top 500 songs of all time and this Bob Dylan classic wound up #1. I obviously don't have it that high but it's pretty damn close. As a lyricist, Dylan was never better and you can't listen to the refrain without singing along....'How does it feel?......'

#11. Turn! Turn! Turn! - The Byrds. What a great song and it was close to 2,000 years in the making. With 'lyrics' literally taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes, Pete Seeger came up with a wonderful tune to showcase those awesome words and The Byrds made it sound as if it was there own. Just a great, great song.

Alright, I'm looking forward to seeing what songs just missed the other guys top 10 lists. The top ten will begin tomorrow....

We're experiencing some major computer issues at work as someone has infected our system with not one, but two, computer viruses. This has already resulted in two lost days and I've heard they may not be able to get things cleared up until the weekend. I hope the person who caused this problem is having a good laugh because if they discover who the culprit is I think he/she will be in some serious trouble.

Meanwhile, Xavier's basketball team will be in Philadelphia tonight attempting to do something they rarely are able to do; beat Temple in their gym. Xavier's losing streak at Temple isn't as bad as the 0-25 streak Dayton currently has going playing on Xavier's home floor but it seems like it's been that long. For whatever reason, Xavier goes to Philly and they have their worst shooting performance of the season. I'm sure the Owls defense has something to do with it but at some point you have to forget about the past and start a new trend. Is tonight the night? I hope so but I wouldn't bet on it.

I'll keep it short tonight and get right to the countdown. My brother has joined the fun and we now have three, top 100 lists going on at the same time - it's been a great discussion on music...

#30. Every Breath you Take - The Police. This could be titled 'The Stalker Song', I mean this guy is just not ready to let this woman go; she's destroyed his life and he can't think of anything but her - that's some serious infatuation! 'Synchronicity' was The Polices' most commercially successful and, in my opinion best album and this song (along with the video) was an instant classic - one of the top tunes of the 1980's.

#29. For Good - Idina Menzel and Kristina Chenowith (from the Broadway musical, Wicked). There are funnier, showier, show-stoppingier (and I know stoppingier is not a word) songs in Wicked but none of them hit your heart quite like, For Good. At the end of the play, the two witches sing about their friendship and how much they have meant to each other declaring, "Because I knew you, I have been changed for good." The more people you can say this about in your life, truly the richer your life must be. A true testament to what friendship is all about.

#28. Just the Way You Look Tonight - Frank Sinatra. The Chairman of the Board in rare form, one of the all-time, great standards that I'm sure is played countless times every Saturday of the year during wedding receptions across the USA. Don't you wish you could have thought of these lines while dancing with your special, someone? Maybe someday.

#27. You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones. This is an epic song that was perfectly displayed in the movie, The Big Chill - everything about it is perfection. I love the use of the choir throughout the song and Jagger's vocals are as good as he's ever been. Plus the message IS spot on; you CAN'T always get what you want but if you try sometimes, you get what you NEED.

#26. Your Song - Elton John. The final Elton John on my top 100 list. Beautiful music, beautiful words. I think the ultimate compliment I could pay 'Your Song' is this; if I could take credit for any song and say I wrote it to give to my wife; this is the song I'd select... "How wonderful life is while you are in the world...."

#25. Purple Haze - The Jimi Hendrix Experience. I remember the night my sister, Vangela, bought the album; Are You Experienced. She was (and still is) 5 years older than me and we lived in Kettering at the time. She was probably around 14 years old, which would have made me 9. She asked me if I wanted to walk to Rikes Department Store (which was bought out years ago and is now Macys) with her to buy this album. Rikes was about a mile away. It was in the winter and snowing. Our mom told us we shouldn't go but we went, anyway - my sister had to have this album and it had to be that day. The snow turned into a blizzard, it took us forever to get to and from Rikes. I'm sure you'll recall the cover of the album had 3 guys on it, Hendrix and two white guys - all three had afro hair styles. It was like nothing I had ever seen. When we got home, she popped it on the stereo and it was also like nothing I had ever heard. That was my introduction to Purple Haze. Some 42 years later, it's still one of the great, pure rock songs ever made.

#24. I'll Be There - The Jackson Five. After pumping out 3 sugary #1 pop classics in 'I Want You Back' , 'ABC' and 'The Love You Save'; the Jacksons 4th and final #1 song as a group was quite a contrast. I'll Be There was a simple ballad about true devotion and wound up being the greatest hit of the Jackson Five's career and at the time, the biggest Motown single in history topping Marvin Gaye's 'Heard it Through the Grapevine'. Michael's brilliantly controlled vocals were even more astonishing when you realize he was only 12 years old at the time. Who could have imagined this kid would wind up the way he did.

#23. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin. Simply put, a ground breaking recording. Others have tried to duplicate the formula of this song but none have rivaled it. And I think the greatest compliment you can give this epic tune is the fact that people will say the following praise about every other musical act's top song - "This is their 'Stairway to Heaven". Pretty high praise, indeed.

#22. (What's so Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding - Elvis Costello. Just a great tune, with thought provoking lyrics and a simple question that no one seems to be able to answer. Costello had some great 'punk/new wave' hits in his career but he was right on the money with this song.

#21. Hey Jude - The Beatles. My dad was not much of a Beatles fan but I remember the day we were riding in his car, 'Hey Jude' came on the radio and he sang along once the song reached the 'na-na-na-na-nana-na' part. At the end of the 7+ minute track, he proclaimed, 'That's the best song they've ever done.' Now our dad never, ever sang and a music critic he was not but he was pretty much, spot on with his assessment of 'Hey Jude'. I do have a few more Beatles songs listed higher but it would be hard to argue with anyone that 'Hey, Jude' wasn't their 'Stairway to Heaven'. In fact, 'Stairway to Heaven' may have been Led Zeppelin's, 'Hey Jude'.

Only one more post before we hit the Top Ten - #20 through #11 will be up tomorrow night.

I meant to mention over the weekend that for the first time since Aaron was born Julie is about to go back to work ful ltime. Now I should add that since going out on her own 5 or 6 years ago she's probably worked more than she'd care to say bt she has not been employed by an employer full time since 1990. Starting in early February she will be working at Cincom, which is one of the companies she has done contract work for in the past. One of the guys she used to work with there was promoted and he asked Jules if she would be interested in coming to work with them. I think the timing was right, I think she was tired of getting up and sitting in her office all day long. And with only Abbey home now, the need to be flexible for the kids is no longer an issue. I'm sure it will make for an adjustment for her but I also think it will take a lot of pressure off since she'll no longer have to worry about the next job or when a check is going to show up in the mail to cover our bills.

Today I continued my annual tradition of seeing a movie every Martin Luther King Day as Jules and I took in the matinee of 'Avatar' in 3D. It's a story that's been told many times - the good guys send in one of their own in undercover to learn as much as he can about the bad guys only to find out the bad guys aren't so bad after all and the good guys are actually pieces of crap. Now our hero must save the new good guys from the old and evil 'good guys' before they eliminate his new best friends. 'Dances With Wolves' comes to mind first when I think about other movies with similar plots but I assure you none of the other movies were ever told in such spectacular fashion as 'Avatar' is. Visually it is one of the most amazing pieces of film making I've ever seen and seeing it in 3D literally makes it appear as if you are right in the middle of the action. The movie is almost 3 hours long but the action moves along at a brisk pace and you'll be so amazed at the artwork and visual effects that you won't notice the time. If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth the 3 hours, $11 ticket price and $7 box of popcorn to see 'Avatar' - I assure you you'll be entertained.

Now we continue with my countdown of my top 100 songs; today #40 - #31....

#40. Moondance - Van Morrison. A smokey, jazzy number featuring Morrison on vocals as well as saxophone. I mentioned Diana Krall in the previous ten songs; if she hasn't covered this song she should do it on her next CD, it is a perfect song for her. Obviously is was a perfect song for Van morrison, as well.

#39. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones. Quite possibly the most famous guitar riff of the rock era, Mick Jagger actually had to tone the lyrics down to 'Satisfaction' when the Stones appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show - just a great rock song.

#38. This Old Heart of Mine - The Isley Brothers. Another, classic R & B tune that you can't listen to without singing along.

#37. Layla - Derrick and the Dominoes. If you want to see a perfect use of this song on a film soundtrack, watch 'Goodfellas' - absolutely classic. As for 'Layla', you think it's over (and the song would have been awesome if it did end) but then it does into the piano solo making it that much greater.

#36. Sign 'O the Times - Prince. Prince's song of social consciousness was my favorite cut from what many consider the best album of his career (Sign 'O the Times). He sings of the heartache and excesses of our society - we can't feed our hungry or cure AIDs but we can send people to the moon. Definitely asong that makes you think about what our priorities should be.

#35. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix Experience. You can still hear guitaris today try to match the raw power of Hendrix and he is still unrivaled. Talk about staying power.

#34. Losing My Religion - R.E.M. - Didn't pay much attention to R.E.M. till they came out with this song. This Georgia band had a terrific run in the late 80's and early 90's and I always have to crank 'Religion' up whenever it comes on the radio or my Ipod.

#33. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles. I put this song on my list as a tribute to the 'fifth' Beatle - their producer, George Martin. The arrangements and orchestration on 'Eleanor Rigby' are flawless and Paul's vocals is perfection. The Beatles obviously wrote some of the most amazing songs of all time but you have to credit Martin for all that he added to the songs during production - he was and still is a musical genius.

#32. Purple Rain - Prince. The final Prince song on the list. As you've probably noticed I have quite a few songs on my list that last well over 5 minutes in length. 'Purple Rain' is over nine minutes long but it never gets old and Prince's vocals are packed with tremendous emotion - a truly epic recording.

#31. Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding - Elton John. The opening tracks to one of my top five favorite albums of all time, 'Goodbye Yellowbrick Road'. I know I'm going to sound like a broken record but if you ever get the chance to see Elton do these songs live you won't be sorry. Absolutely classic - his band is flawless and his vocals nail every line, just amazing that he's held up the way he has.

Only 30 more to go -we'll be down to the top 20 following tomorrow night!

Yesterday I made my picks for the NFL Playoffs and wouldn't you know it; all 4 of them got beat! Phoenix, Baltimore and Minnesota were completely thrashed while New York benefited for a second straight week from an opposing kicker with a severe case of the yips as All Pro Kicker, Nate Kaeding, 'down staged' Cincinnati's Shayne Graham by missing 3 field goals in the Jets 17-14 playoff win. So now there are 4 teams moving on that, quite frankly, I don't particularly like so I'm going to have to figure out who the lesser of 4 evils is and go with them. After about a second of consideration, I'm thinking I just may be a New Orleans Saints fan for the rest of the season.

I'm watching the Golden Globes while making chicken and dumplings soup so I'll keep things short tonight and get right to the next 10 songs in my countdown....

#50. Living For the City - Stevie Wonder. In the 70's, Stevie Wonder put out hit after hit, won numerous Grammy Awards for Best Album and many of his songs focused on societal issues that Stevie felt needed to be brought to the forefront and was willing to provide the platform . None of his songs were as powerful as this epic about a young, black man trying to rise above the poverty of his small-town, Mississippi home.

#49. Little Red Corvette - Prince. Prince had had commercial success from his previous LP, 'Controversy', but '1999' made him a mega star. A double LP filled with an array of songs demonstrating Prince's tremendously diverse range, 'Little Red Corvette' was the crown jewel on the album and the extended version of the song is one of the 'hottest' tunes of the '80's.

#48. Levon - Elton John. One of the early hits of his career, I saw Elton in concert a few years ago and he absolutely nailed this song - it was better than the recording. My son, Judd, is a huge fan of Elton and his infatuation served as a way to reintroduce me to his songs, many that I hadn't listened to since the mid-1970's.

#47. Return to Pooh Corner - Kenny Loggins. In the 70's, Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina, had a modest hit with the song, 'House on Pooh Corner'. In the early 90's Kenny re-recorded the song under a new title, 'Return to Pooh Corner'. Basically he added a final verse about his own son who had helped him return to those long gone days of his childhood. This is a father/son song similar to how 'Field of Dreams' was a father/son movie. With two sons of my own who are now in college, I hope to have a few more opportunities to tuck my sleeping boys into bed and get a wink from the taggered, old bear.

#46. You Don't Know Me - Ray Charles and Diana Krall. This standard is one of the all time greats and the duet of Ray and Diana is my favorite version of the song. It allows me to get a second Ray Charles song on the list as well as a cut featuring Diana Krall, who has one of the classic female voices in music today.

#45. My Girl - The Temptations - The 3rd and final song from The Temptations on the list, this is a classic Motown song which leaves little doubt how much the singer loves 'his girl'.

#44. Hotel California - The Eagles. This title cut is the second of two Eagles song to make the list and they're the first two songs from the 'Hotel California' LP. Another commentary on the materialistic culture of mid-70's LA with a great guitar solo as the song fades to 'New Kid in Town'.

#43. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson. Obviously we all know the sad ending of Michael Jackson's story - you could almost trace the beginning of his down fall back to this song because in my mind the King of Pop was never greater than he was on 'Billie Jean'; the Mt. Everest of his career. He was the hottest, hippest, coolest guy in music and he could do no wrong. I think the closest he ever came to duplicating the enormity of 'Thriller' and 'Billie Jean' was 'Man in the Mirror' but at that time his bizarre behavior was well into full bloom and the appeal just wasn't the same. When I think of Michael Jackson I choose to visualize the image him dancing down that sidewalk, lighting it up every step of the way while proclaiming - the kid is not my son.

#42. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - Elton John. Another song nailed by Elton in concert - just brilliant.

#41. A Day In The Life - The Beatles. 'Sgt. Pepper' was a ground breaking LP which changed the way albums would be made from that point on. Every song was tremendously inventive and the album culminated with the incredible, 'A Day In The Life', with John and Paul sharing the spotlight on what could almost be two separate songs about the mind-numbing activities of every day life.

That's it for now - Robert Downey Jr. just won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy which tells me it was a bad year for actors in comedies. I'll continue the countdown tomorrow night!

One thing I need to understand when I'm posting on the old blog is that I'm throwing this out for the entire world to see. I doubt my readership is global in scope but I need to realize that some of my comments may be read by people who just might take offense to some of my opinions. I don't think that should keep me from expressing my opinions but in the future I hope to do it with a tad more diplomacy.

I wanted to post about he NFL Playoffs yesterday but wasn't able to. Consequently I'm getting this out after the first game, Arizona vs New Orleans, was played. I didn't think the Cardinals had the defense to beat the Saints but I also didn't expect them to lose by 31 points - it looks like New Orleans is focused to make a run to the Super Bowl.

Tonight's game featuring Indianapolis against Baltimore pits two teams that I really don't care for. I'm not a big Peyton Manning fan and Baltimore is one of the hated rivals of our Cincinnati Bengals. With that said, I'm pulling for the Ravens - I thought it was embarrassing how the Colts basically threw away an opportunity to go undefeated and I'm hoping Baltimore sends them to a season ending third straight loss.

Tomorrow, I'm taking Dallas and San Diego. Nothing would please me more than to see Brett Favre play the last game of his career tomorrow in the Metrodome and Rex Ryan have that cocky smirk wiped off his face by Phillip Rivers and his Charger team mates. Barack Obama still might invite Rex to the White House in February but I'm doubting it will be because he's the coach of the Super Bowl champs.

Here are the next 10 songs in my countdown, following this edition we'll be half way to #1...

#60. O-o-h, Child - The Five Stairsteps. About a year before the Jackson 5 emerged as a musical sensation, this family act from Chicago made a huge splash with O-o-h, Child. The big difference between the two sibling acts; the Stairsteps basically went the way of countless other One Hit Wonders while the Jacksons became legends. Regardless, they'll always have this catchy pop tune that climbed it's way up charts while providing inspiration to Michael and his brothers.

#59. Please, Please, Me - The Beatles. The title track of The Beatles second LP. Another early classic and John Lennon's vocals are spotless.

#58. Hero - Mariah Carey. When our mother died, my brother put together a CD consisting of songs that all my brothers and sisters selected as tunes that reminded us of her. We each selected 2 songs and 'Hero' was one of my songs. When I was a boy, my mom WAS my hero but when I listen to 'Hero' today it's almost as if my mom is speaking through Mariah Carey's because the message is similar to what a mother would say to her child; look inside yourself and you'll find that you, too, are a hero.

#57. Under Pressure - Queen and David Bowie. Easily the best song of the later days of Queen, this collaboration with David Bowie also had a great video which was played constantly in the early days of MTV. I hated Vanilla Ice for using the rhythm of 'Pressure' in his putrid 'Ice, Ice Baby' because every time it came on the radio I thought it was the Queen/Bowie collaboration only to be disappointed that it was the tremendously, untalented Iceman.

#56. London Calling - The Clash. A powerfully raw anthem from the greatest band of the punk era. The Clash had the goods and their 'London Calling' LP is one of the top ten albums of all-time.

#55. House of Cards - Mary Chapin Carpenter. This song reminds me of my childhood. Growing up in a family of 8 children, our house always seemed on the verge of collapse and the line - 'that's the place you shoved your doubts and hid your ugly scars, God forbid if word got out 'bout your house of cards.' is tremendously numbing.

#54. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen. My first night as a student at Ohio State, I met a girl on my floor from New Jersey who said her favorite musician was Bruce Springsteen - I had never heard of him. She put on 'Born to Run' and I was blown away - just an awesome tune, I've been a fan ever since. What happened to the girl? The next day she got up in the morning, packed her bags and moved back to New Jersey - she lasted one day.

#53. When You Say Nothing At All - Alison Krauss. I wish this song would have been around back when we got married, it would have been my choice as the first song we danced to as a married couple. A beautiful tune with tremendous lyrics; "The smile on your face lets me know that you need me, there's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me, the touch of your hand says you'll catch me where ever I fall - you say it best when you say nothing st all." That truly says it all.

#52. I Should Have Known Better - The Beatles. I'm running out of things to say about The Beatles and I'm not quite halfway through the countdown. Again, John Lennon delivers the vocals and I love the harmonica lead in at the beginning.

#51. I Want You Back - The Jackson 5. This was the hit that introduced the Jackson 5 to the music world. No one could believe that Michael was only 10 when this song was recorded but no one could have imagined how influential his music would be over the next 40 years. From the opening intro music, you knew this song - and Michael - were both something special.

That completes the first 50 songs! Right now the Buckeyes are in a battle with Badgers from Wisconsin so I'm going to sign off for now - let's go Bucks!!!

I wasn't sure what I was going to blog about today until I got in the car and attempted to drive home from work. Since the start of the new year, my commutes have been taking about an hour each way. It's 21 miles door to door from our house to Xavier and many days the traffic is backed from Fields Ertel Drive all the way to the Norwood lateral - that's about 10 miles of riding the brakes. And if it rains or snows, forget about it; last week it took an hour and 45 minutes and the forecast simply called for snow. Very frustrating. I've gotten to the point where if it snows, I simply take Reading Road all the way home - that's 21+ miles of stop lights every block but at least I'm moving and not parked on the interstate. Whenever I'm asked what my pet peeve is, the answer is always traffic. I realize that people in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago deal with much worse but when it takes an hour to do something that should take less than 30 minutes to do, it gets a little old.

I saw that Faye Dunaway and Carl Weathers are both celebrating birtdays today. Interestingly, Faye and Carl were in two of the top movies of 1976 - Dunaway won Best Actress for her role in 'Network' while Weathers played Apollo Creed opposite Sylvester Stallone's boxing hero, 'Rocky'. Who do you think is older? I'll tell you at the end of this post.

Now it's time for the next 10 songs in my Top 100 countdown. My brother has turned this into a boxing match as my son, Judd, is also posting his top 100 songs in the comments section - so far I'm leading 2 rounds to 1; I guess we'll see if Judd ties things up tomorrow...

#70. Dream On - Aerosmith. One of the early hits from the Boston band that has been churning them out for close to 40 years. I wonder if Steven Tyler was ever able to hit the high 'Dream On' notes that he screams toward the end of the song - I hope not, it's part of what makes this such a great song.

#69. Every Season - Nichole Nordeman. For those not familiar, Nordeman is a contemporary Christan artist who wrote this song as a tribute to a friend who had passed away. When my mom was in the final days of her battle with lung cancer, I listened to 'Every Season' practically non-stop and it helped get me through that time of tremendous loss; we even played it during her funeral service. I can't listen to this song without thinking about my mom and it offers a most profound message of the hope that only death can offer. If you haven't heard 'Every Season' give it a listen, it's a beautiful song.

#68. The Cross - Prince. Prince has the ability to write music from all genres on all topics. This song is one of the most spiritual recordings I've ever heard from a pop star. It starts hauntingly slow and mellow and midway through Prince kicks it into high gear till the end of track. But the message is evident throughout - 'Don't die without knowing The Cross.'

#67. Somebody to Love - Queen. In the first 'episode' of my countdown I failed to mention that Queen is also among my favorite bands of all time. In fact, from 1975 till 1980 (basically my entire college career) to me Queen was the only band that existed. I saw them in concert numerous times, had all there albums and knew the lyrics to every song. If anyone ever doubted that Queen could come up with another song as original and clever as 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'Somebody to Love' was the slamdunk answer. The first time I heard this song, I drove immediately to the record store, purchased the album and went home and memorized every word. 'Somebody to Love' displays Freddie Mercury's amazing voice in all its glory and there have been few entertainers who could mesmerize a crowd like he could.

#66. She Loves You - The Beatles. In their early days, The Beatles had a wonderful formula of churning out simple, yet classic, tunes and their fans couldn't get enough of them. You would think they couldn't top their previous hit but they were able to do it almost every time. 'She Loves You' was one of the early standards that all the others had to be measured against.

#65. Rainy Days and Mondays - The Carpenters. I'm not embarrassed to admit that I loved The Carpenters and to me, Karen Carpenter had one of the most amazing voices of any woman from her era - she sang effortlessly, had tremendous control and never over sang the song like you see so much of today. Her voice was an instrument and she nailed it every time she sang a song, especially on 'Rainy Days and Mondays'.

#64. Over The Rainbow - Judy Garland. While Karen Carpenter had one of the great voices of her era, Judy Garland's voice ranks among the best of all time. Find me another 17 year old girl who could belt out 'Over The Rainbow' as beautifully as Judy did in the classic move, 'Wizard of Oz'. This song belongs in the Smithsonian Institute along with Dorothy's ruby slippers.

#63. You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC. Quite a segue, from Judy Garland to AC/DC. As my brother, Rich, recently said; a classic song will stand the test of time. I guarantee the next time you go to a wedding and the reception has a DJ, 'You Shook Me All Night Long' will be played at some point during the evening and the dance floor will be packed. Keep in mind that the bride and groom were probably not even born when this song came out in 1980.

#62. Norweigian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Beatles. Rubber Soul marked a huge change in The Beatles song writing. They were no longer touring, spending more time in the studio and expermenting far more with their musical arrangements. In essence, they were breaking away from the formula that had made them universally popular and reinventing themselves. Norweigian Wood introduced a completely different side of The Beatles and ushered in the second phase of their amazing career together.

#61. Just My Imagination - The Temptation. This section of my list has featured several amazing voices and Eddie Kendrick of The Temptations definitely qualifies as an amazing voice. Couple his soft and amazing falsetto with the background harmonies of the other members of the group and 'Just My Imagination' showcases a talented collection of singers at the top of their game.

Tomorrow I'll post #60 - #51 - there are a couple more surprises and yes, a few more tracks from The Beatles. As for my question about the ages of Faye Dunaway and Carl Weathers; Faye is 69, Apollo Creed is 64.

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Most of you know, I'm a huge Ohio State Buckeye football fan; I have been since January 1, 1969 and will be till the day I take my last breath on this beautiful planet. I'm very proud of our current head coach, Jim Tressel; I love that he is honest, doesn't tell kids what they want to hear and I truly believe he is where he wants to be. Every year when top college coaching jobs open up I never worry about coach Tressel leaving because I know there is no place he'd rather be. No one epitomizes the phrase, "He's a class act" better than Coach Tressel.

Unfortunately you can't say this about many of the other big time coaches in college football. Pete Carroll, realizing that his team is about to go on probation, hit the road for the NFL. He did this after recruiting some of the top high school talent to USC while telling them he was going to be there for them. Carrolls' departure opened the door for Lane Kiffin who spent 14 months telling recruits that Tennessee was the school they should attend; that is of course, as long as Lane is residing in Knoxville, which won't be too much longer. Despite a record of 12-21 as a head coach, the powers that be at USC just handed Lane the reigns to one of the top football programs in all of college sports. Brian Kelly coached the UC Bearcats to a 12-0 record and they were a missed 45 yard field goal away from playing for the national championship but that didn't keep him from hitting the road for Notre Dame the first chance he got - never mind that he looked one of his star players in the eye and told him he's not going anywhere.

This is a shame. Some of these coaches are nothing more than used car salesmen - they'll tell anyone what they want to hear to get what's best for them. Pete Carroll stormed out of the press conference when Mark Sanchez said he was going pro - Pete said he was making a big mistake. In whose eyes? Sanchez was a top 5 pick, started from day one and has the Jets in the second round of the NFL playoffs while making millions of dollars. Everyone should make such lousy mistakes. Meanwhile, Pete had to start a true freshman at QB and the Trojans lost 4 games in the process. Looks like Pete needed Sanchez far more than Sanchez needed him.

I wish there was a way that these young, impressionable kids could see through the lies and misguidings of these coaches. Unfortunately, these kids want to hear how great they are and grown men who will go to any extreme to get there way are more than happy to tell these 17 year olds just that.

On to my top 100 countdown, here are #80 through #71....

#80. What'd I Say Parts I & II - Ray Charles. Ray was as influential as any artist in the rock era and What'd I Say was his groundbreaking performance - almost as if he was a minister and his back up singers were affirming his every line.

#79. All You Need Is Love - The Beatles. A simple song, a simple message. Why can't it be that simple?

#78. Love Train - The O'Jays. This song regained popularity over the past couple years hawking Coors Light Beer. I choose to remember it as a catchy tune from the 70's that invited people of all races and religion to join in and love, as opposed to hate, each other.

#77. Tiny Dancer - Elton John. One of Elton's early classics. Still remember one of my floor mates from college singing, "Hold me closer, I'm tired of dancing...." Beautiful song.

#76. Get Back - The Beatles. Great jam and there are several versions of this song out there. Recently it was brilliantly rearranged for the Las Vegas show, Love. A must listen for any Beatles fan.

#75. Walk this Way - Run-DMC and Aerosmith. I love both versions but recognizing this version allows me t orecognize both artists. This version also helped to make rap a main stream genre.

#74. Seven Nation Army - White Stripes. Nothing quite like 105,000+ Buckeye lunatics singing this song at the top of their collective lungs during a time out of an Ohio State football game. It sends chills down your spine - absolutely awesome.

#73. Papa Was A Rolling Stone - The Temptations. Simply put, a Motown anthem; as perfect a rythym and blues song as was ever recorded.

#72. Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard - Paul Simon. Helped launch Simon's solo career - catchy tune that coaxing you to sing along every time you hear it.

#71. All My Loving - The Beatles. When I was a kid, I used to sing, "Close your eyes and I'll kick you, tomorrow I'll hit you...". One of my earliest, favorite songs despite my butchering of the lyrics.

Enough for tonight - it's pretty late. I got a late start due to Xavier's basketball game which they won by 12 over Charlotte. Be sure to check in tomorrow for top songs #70 through #61 - there are a few big surprises in the next ten songs!

American Idol 2010 is off and running! New judge, Ellen DeGenneris, will not appear until February so until then, celebrity judges will take their turn along side Simon, Randy and Kara. Tonight's show highlighted the vocal talents of Boston and Posh Spice, obviously of Spice Girl fame, filled the fourth judges chair. She did a fair job; showed compassion to the horrible singers but she's so skinny she was difficult to look at. Someone needs to get her a few Big Macs and to get some meat on that woman. But as painful as she was to look at she didn't come close to matching how painful it was to listen to Paula Abdul fumble her way through her mindless comments. So, in my humble opinion, the first American Idol episode A.P. (after Paula) was a tremendous success. There were a few good singers, a couple may even wind up in the final 12 when the real competition begins. And while there were a few contestants who were quite embarrassing; no one was bad enough to challenge the all-time worst, William Hung. Tomorrow's show takes us to Atlanta - maybe a challenger for William will surface down there.

As I mentioned yesterday, Mark McGwire has come clean and admitted to using steroids. Today he took quite a beating on all the sports talk shows. You have to wonder, after years of denying he used performance enhancing drugs, why he decided to come clean now. He's not going to get in the Hall of Fame, people mock his lack of sincerity and he actually felt it necessary to say he didn't think the steroids helped him hit home runs anyway. According to Mark, he's always been able to hit home runs, it's a God given ability and the only reason he took steroids to begin with was to help him get over injuries. He's going to take his licks on this, at least until the next sports star comes out and does something stupid to attract all the attention away from McGwire. Given the antics of present day athletes, it should only take Mark till the end of the week to be replaced in the sports headlines by another fallen hero. Tiger Woods, Gilbert Arenas, Plaxico Burress, Mark McGwire - who will be next?

Finally here are #90 through #81 of my Top 100 songs countdown. I guess my son, Judd, is going to do his countdown simultaneous with mine in the comments section - it will be interesting to see how many songs show up on both lists...

#90. I Want to Hold Your Hand - The Beatles. The song that started it all. I remember The Beatles performing this song on the Ed Sullivan show back in 1964; I was 5 at the time - the girls in the audience were screaming so loud you couldn't hear The Beatles sing, my older sister was screaming from our living room. My dad didn't get it but as we all know, the face of music would never be the same after The Beatles arrived in the US.

#89. Heart of Glass - Blondie. I first heard this song watching SNL back in the late 70's. SNL was a 'must watch' show back when I was in college and many of the best musical acts appeared from week to week. I had never heard of Blondie but they came on with this punk/disco song and it became a mainstream hit.

#88. I've Just Seen a Face - The Beatles. Great song that was on the British version of 'Rubber Soul' and the US version of 'Help!' The acoustic guitar lead-in and instrumental in the middle is classic.

#87. Darkness on the Edge of Town - Bruce Springsteen. 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' is my favorite Springsteen album and this is one of two tracks from that album on my list. The piano throughout this song and Bruces' powerful vocals is what makes 'Darkness' one of my favorite Springsteen tunes.

#86. Help! - The Beatles. Obviously, another track from the movie, 'Help!'

#85. Good Riddance - Green Day. This song helped get me through the early days of my diagnosis for lymphoma. I thought the song's message spoke well to what I was going through. Unfortunately, this was also Abbey's favorite song at the time and she didn't like sharing her song with me so I had to find another song to identify with. You'll read about that song later in the countdown but I still have a soft spot in my heart for 'Good Riddance' because it reminds me of Abbey.

#84. New Kid In Town - The Eagles. Always liked the way The Eagles harmonized in their songs and they're at their best in 'New Kid In Town'. The song is also a dead-on-balls, accurate commentary on making the big time and how fleeting fame can be..."They will never forget you 'till somebody new comes along." And you wonder why many child stars are so messed up as adults.

#83. I Feel Fine - The Beatles. Four Beatle songs in the last 8 songs and there are plenty more to come. The amplifier feedback which opens the song is one of the signature moments of the early Beatles.

#82. Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen. Great opening and ending to this song with Bruce hammering that ever so familiar riff, over and over again. Wish he would have played this at the Super Bowl last year.

#81. Hang On Sloopy - The McCoys. How could any Ohio State Buckeye football fan not include this classic in his/her top 100 list? The official rock song of the Buckeye state and The 'Shoe rocks every time TBDBITL plays this stadium favorite.

20 down and 80 to go....#80 through #71 will appear tomorrow night. Good night, for now.

Wow, three months since my last post!! I can't believe it's been that long but then again, this blog was originally set up to keep people up-to-date on my health situation over 4 years ago, so I guess no news is good news. Anyway, I watched a movie over the holidays called 'Julia and Julie' and it somewhat inspired me to get back into the blogging business. It was about a present day woman with a somewhat, odd infatuation with the old cooking show host, Julia Child, and her subsequent attempt to cook every recipe in Julia's cook book over the space of one year. I don't know why anyone would want to take on such a task but since they made a movie about it, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea in the long run. Nevertheless, I decided once the new year got into full swing I'd try to put a post on the old blog every day - only took me 11 days; there's no looking back now. Who knows, maybe they'll make a movie out of my blog in a couple years.

It was nice having all the kids together over the holidays but all good things must come to an end. Aaron went back to St. Louis yesterday so life is back to normal - Julie's at volleyball, Abbey talked on the phone for over an hour and I'm putzing around with my I-Tunes account. Over the holidays I put together a 'Top 100 Songs' play list and I had a few edits to make tonight (I'm already tired of a couple of my top 100) - it's a work in progress but I'm getting there. I think that's what I'll write about over the next couple weeks, my Top 100 songs. Right now I'm listening to #50, 'Living for the City' by Stevie Wonder, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll count them down starting with #100 and will do 10 per day until we get to numero uno. If that doesn't keep you coming back, I don't know what will.

I'll also comment on the more important news stories on the day. Like today, for instance, Mark McGwire admitted that he used steroids while breaking one of baseball's greatest records of all-time, Roger Maris' 61 home runs in a season - which, by the way - already had an asterisk next to it since old Roger needed 162 games to get to 61 while the Babe only needed 154 to hit 60. But back to McGwire - he was on steroids when he hit 70 home runs back in the late 90's??!! Seriously, who saw that coming? Really, Mark, that's more shocking than Jay Leno's prime time talk show failing. And doesn't that kind of cheapen the record? Maybe they should have put 10 asterisks next to Mark's numbers! Fortunately, Barry Bonds shattered it by hitting 73 a couple years later and to this day, he hasn't admitted to using any steroids so with the exception of old Roger who damn near killed himself chasing Babe Ruth, asterisks will continue to be non-existent in the record books of baseball.

On to my top 100 songs. I'll start by pointing out my favorite musicians are The Beatles, Prince, Elton John and the old Motown greats so there is a heavy emphasis on those artists. Some songs would be ranked among the top 100 of just about any music lover's list while others have a special meaning or sentimentality to me. I'm sure there may be a few songs that you have never heard before so if you get the chance go to YouTube or I-Tunes, give it a listen and let me know what you think. Here are #100 through #91....

100. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End - The Beatles. I know it's actually 3 songs but you can't listen to one without listening to the other two and what a perfect way to end a top 100 list; with The End.

99. Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley and Dwight Yokum. Two different versions, Yokum's cover is a bit more country than Elvis' but he put a surprisingly nice spin on the song. I recently saw a live version by Elvis and it took him about 5 minutes to end it, absolutely classic, and you have to love the back-up singers on both versions.

98. My Maria - B.W. Stevenson. Back when I was waiting tables in the mid-1980's, one of my tables told me they would give me a$50 tip if I could tell them who sang the song, 'My Maria'. Without missing a beat, I said 'B.W. Stevenson - can I get you another round of drinks?' After they left, there was $50 tip on my tip trip. I've been a big fan of the song ever since.

97. Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin. My signature song at Karoake - I actually sang 'Mack the Knife' at the Oyster Factory in Hilton Head and once again, received a couple of nice tips - I didn't take the money, I let the guitar singer who I upstaged keep it.

96. I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) - The Proclaimers. Many of you know I'm a huge Ohio State football fan. Every week during football season, I get together with a great group of friends and we watch the games together. Between the 3rd and 4th quarter, we all get up and sing and dance to this song - it would be difficult to describe what we do but perhaps some day one of our performances will wind up on YouTube so you can see for yourself - if it does I assure you you'll never be able to hear that song again without thinking about us. You have been warned.

95. Because the Night - 10,000 Maniacs. Written by Springsteen, probably performed better by Patti Smith, Natalie Merchant puts a more mellow spin on the song on their Unplugged CD and for the most part, it works. This is on the list more for the song than the Maniacs performance - I don't have Patti Smith's version.

94. Last Dance - Donna Summer. I was at Ohio State during the disco explosion and Donna Summer was the 'Queen of Disco'. Believe it or not, this song won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Original Song, beating 'Hopelessly Devoted to You' from Grease.

93. Dance to the Music - Sly and the Family Stone. Sly was a tremendous musical influential back in the late 60's and early 70's and if you want to see one of the greatest clips ever from the Ed Sullivan Show, catch the night Sly went up into the audience and coaxed a stodgy group of middle-aged, white people to 'Get up, and dance to the music!' Thirty years later, this song still has the same effect.

92. New Year's Day - U2. First song I ever heard by U2 and it's still among my favorites today.

91. Dancing Queen - ABBA. I know what some of you are thinking - how can Dancing Queen be ahead of New Year's Day? Well, this song is one of my vivid memories from my freshman year of college and like it or not it, I truly it is disco era classic. Plus its hard not to smile whenever you hear DancingQueen, especially if you've ever seen the Broadway musical, Mamma Mia!

That's enough for now. Be sure to check back tomorrow for #90 to #81...and who knows what will be tomorrow's news? I know Wednesday everyone will be talking about the return of American Idol. Can Ellen replace Paula? Honestly, who couldn't replace Paula? I guess we'll see tomorrow night.