This Day in Music History:Styx/Big Bang Theory (05/10)

Big Bang Theory is the fifteenth studio album by the band Styx, released on this day in 2005. It consists of cover versions of classic rock songs.

This Day in Music History (06/16): Styx/The Mission

The Mission is the sixteenth studio album by the band Styx, released on this day in 2017. It was also a nice surprise for their fans, who basically had no idea a new album was being worked on. It is the band's first studio album since 2005's Big Bang Theory, their first album of original material since 2003's Cyclorama, and their highest-charting studio album in the United States since 1983's Kilroy Was Here, reaching #45 on the Billboard 200. 

A concept album, it tells the story of a mission to the planet Mars in the year 2033. The album's story was written by Tommy Shaw and Will Evankovich.

The album was conceived in 2015 when Tommy Shaw composed the guitar riff that became the record's closing track "Mission to Mars". The first lines Shaw wrote were "Now we can say it / This is the day / We'll be on our way / On our mission to Mars". The story was then formed around this idea.

Styx announced the album in conjunction with the release of the lead single "Gone Gone Gone", while "Radio Silence" and "Hundred Million Miles from Home" were later made available prior to the album's release.

My fave track:

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Music Monday: Styx/Big Bang Theory

Big Bang Theory is the fifteenth studio album by the band. Released in 2005, it consists of cover versions of classic rock songs. 

In 2004, Styx performed a cover of the Beatles song "I Am the Walrus" at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival, where the song was received so well that it was released as a single. The single's success resulted in the band recording this album of cover songs. The album reached #46 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums, Styx's highest charting album in 14 years.

Monthly Review (August, 2014)

Man, August is gone already? Dang. Time flies.

Here's a review of the most popular posts from the past month. Check out July here.

10) Music Monday (8/11/14) - Covering the first side of the Union album by Yes.

9) Still hanging around from March 9th of last year is the Big Bang Theory ladies dressed as Disney princesses.

8) Hump Day, Poll Day (8/20/14) checks in here. This post gave the results of the Iron Man/Captain Jack poll as well as addressing all those Ice Bucket challenges.

7) I asked you to choose between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. This post would have ranked a lot higher if the votes from the previous month would have been included. It may have even been #1.

6) Hump Day, Poll Day (8/24/14) These polls are just something I am testing but the results seem to get better each time. Having people choose just one TV show between Breaking Bad, Doctor Who, Sherlock, True Blood and Game of Thrones got the most poll activity so far. BTW, this poll is still currently active if you have not voted yet.

5) Friday and the Random 10 (8/14/14) This was the Zig Zaggety edition where I got called out for being not so manly because of the last song. Whatev.

4) Deep Breath (8/24/14) - Questions I had from the first episode of Doctor Who was read and commented on by many and got me lots of new Twitter followers. Hey guys!

3) Friday and the Random 10 (8/08/14) - I'm sure this had nothing to do with the Tragic Kingdom or Disney in any kind of way. Nope, not at all...

2) Still hanging around from February of 2012 is my personal list of Top 10 Yes album covers. This is still #2 all time.

Drum roll please...

Checking in at #1 is Hump Day, Poll Day from 8/6/14. It gave the results from the Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings query and also started the debate between Johnny Depp and Robert Downey Jr. The whole Captain Jack Sparrow vs. Tony Stark/Iron Man thing. Yeah.

And there you have it. Hopefully in the following months I can provide much more variety as the time allows.

Thanks for the read!

Big Bang Theory Star Trek Cosplay

 

 

 

Monthly Review (September 2013)

The calendar has slipped into October and I barely noticed. September just kind of came and went without a lot of new activity from me (sorry). 

Here is a recap of my top ten posts from this past month.

Monthly Review (August 2013)

I thought I would give everyone a run down of the 10 most popular posts from this past month (in case you are new to my blog, or just plain missed a post).

My Favorite Episodes of TV Shows (The Funny Ones)

I have noticed that my all time favorite episodes of TV shows basically fall into two categories: hilariously funny or bittersweet/emotional. This post just covers the ones that crack me up. I will write a follow up post for the more serious episodes later. Also, this is just a partial list that I'm sure will be added to over time.

Friends/The One with the Holiday Armadillo

I can't explain how much this episode brings me to tears from laughing so hard. The main gist is that Ross wants to teach his son about Hanukkah, but is too late to rent a Santa costume. He ends up taking whatever costume is left and turns it into the "Holiday Armadillo", Santa's part Jewish helper. Once Chandler and Joey show up in costumes (Santa and Superman respectively) to help out, it just gets insane. Watch:

Lines that make me lose it:

Chandler: What are you doing here...weird...turtle...man?

Chandler: My favorite part was when Superman flew all the Jews out of Egypt.

The IT Crowd/The Work Outing

If you haven't watched any of this British show, do it immediately! It's about two nerds (Moss and Roy) in an IT department. They get a new department head (Jen) who they discover knows nothing about computers. Since she is a "people person", she decides to become their "relationship manager" instead because the guys are so socially awkward.

This episode is about Jen being invited to the theater by a guy both Moss and Roy think is gay. The boys invite themselves to the musical, which turns Jen's possible "date" to a "work outing". When they get to the theater, this is what they discover they're about to watch:

Roy: It's a gay musical called Gay. Thats quite gay. Gay musical...Aren't all musicals gay? This must be, like, the gayest musical ever made.

There is just so much here. At the intermission, Roy refuses to go back in for the second half. The guys then go to the bathroom but don't actually do anything because they have a "toilet guy" that just stares at them and makes them uncomfortable. Roy chooses to use a toilet for the disabled and instead of pulling the cord to flush, he pulls the "emergency" cord. Now he has to pretend being disabled for the rest of the episode and that someone stole his wheelchair. Moss uses a staff toilet and is caught, but plays it off like he works there so they put him to work at the bar. It all comes to a head when Jen encounters them both at the after party:

Best lines:

Jen Barber: A story of a young man trying to find his sexuality in the uncaring Thatcher years. Warning: Contains scenes of graphic homo-eroticism.

Moss: Oh no! It's set in the 80's!

Roy: Graphic homo-eroticism? Does that mean they're going to get them out?

Jen: You're not comfortable with your sexuality?

Roy: Oh, I'm very comfortable with my sexuality, I just don't want to be slapped in the face with their sexuality.

Big Bang Theory/The Adhesive Duck Deficiency

Can you believe this is a show I didn't even start watching until last year? There are many great episodes, but this one just sticks out. There are two story lines going on in the episode: 1) Leonard, Raj and Howard are camping out for a meteor shower when they get hold of some "special" cookies. Here is an edit of all those scenes:

And 2) Penny falls in the shower and needs Sheldon's help. First she needs him to help dress her:

And then he drives her to and from the hospital. I love the ending where she compares him to Wall-E and makes him sing.

Oh those lines!

Leonard: I hate my name. It has 'nerd' in it. 'Len. Nerd.'

Penny: You know people think you are this weird robot man who's so annoying all the time and you totally are. But then it's like that movie Wall-E at the end. You're so full of love and you can save a plant and get fat people out of their floaty chairs.

Penny: You gotta help me get my arm into my sleeve.
Sheldon: (Eyes closed) Okay!
Penny: Is that my arm?
Sheldon: It doesn't feel like an arm.
Penny: Then maybe you should let it go.

Sheldon: We have to fill these out. "Describe illness or injury."
Penny: I dislocated my shoulder.
Sheldon: All right. And how did the accident occur?
Penny: You already know that.
Sheldon: Cause of accident: Lack of adhesive ducks. Okay, medical history. Have you ever been diagnosed with diabetes?
Penny: No.
Sheldon: Kidney disease?
Penny: No.
Sheldon: Migraines?
Penny: Getting one.
Sheldon: Are you currently pregnant?
Penny: No!
Sheldon: Are you sure? You look a bit puffy.
Penny: Change migraine to "yes."
Sheldon: When was your last menstrual period?
Penny: [in a disgusted tone] Oh, next question.
Sheldon: I'll put "in progress." Okay, turning to psychiatric disorders, list all major behavioral diagnoses, e.g. depression, anxiety etc.
Penny: Oh my God! What the hell does this have to do with my stupid shoulder?
Sheldon: Episodes of sub-psychotic rage.
Penny: Ass!
Sheldon: Possible Tourette's. All right, "moles, lesions, or other skin conditions." Soup tattoo on right buttock.

Weekend Update (05/12/13)

 

Audio/Video/Telly

 

 Doctor Who - Nightmare in Silver. Oh boy, more Cybermen! Yeah, that was sarcasm. You know, I'm tired of them dragging up the same old characters over and over. This season has just been a dud to me so far. Next week looks promising though.

 Community - Alternate timeline evil Jeff (and sexy Annie) cross over to stop good Jeff from graduating and leaving Greendale. Yes, paintball guns were involved...

How I Met Your Mother - Mostly a Robin story looking for the locket she buried in Central Park as a young "boy". The rest is Barney playing laser tag with her dad. Ominous ending though.

New Girl - The day after. Jess and Nick waking up together and having to play it off because her dad shows up. CeCe is freaking out because she fell asleep on her henna hand tattoo and has it all over her face. Schmidt gets it on with her old girlfriend (who I like). And oh, it was Winston's birthday.

Big Bang Theory - Viva Las Dungeons and Dragons! The girls' Vegas trip is cancelled and they end up crashing the guys' D&D night. They end up combining both. Awesome impressions by Howard too.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Made my way into Season 5. This show is so "Mac". Day Man, fighter of the Night Man...

Game of Thrones - Right off the bat, I cannot tell you what the last episode was about. Let me go check again...

Oh yeah. Lots of finagling about who is going where or taking over this or that. That one dude is getting the crap tortured out of him by the guy from The Misfits. And that dude and the hot redhead chick climbed up the ice wall. I think they are starting to lose me.

Movies - At one point I felt tired of watching 20 minute episodes of stuff, so I went digging through my DVD's. The first I settled on was National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Civil War intrigue by Nicholas Cage and Ed Harris which led to the City of Gold. It was funnier but, not quite as good as the first one. And what was on page 47 on the Presidential book??? I was hoping there would be another movie to explain that. Ugh.

The next movie (since I have been playing non-stop Call of Duty) was Enemy at the Gates. This was about Russian sniper Vassili Zaitsev during the German invasion of Stalingrad. He was so badass that they had to send in the head Nazi sniper in to try and kill him. And wow, hey, there's Ed Harris again! Great movie. It's on my bucket list to go to the Museum of Stalingrad to see his actual rifle on display.

Sports

Braves - Started the week by taking 2 out of 3 from the Reds. Unfortunately they got treated rudely by the Giants losing 3 out of 4. Their record stands at 21-16, which is still good enough for first place, but not for long if they keep playing like that.

P.S. And do not forget to recommend this blog continues.

Weekend Update

 

Audio/Video/Telly

 

 Doctor Who - The Crimson Horror. It seems the Doctor is taking Clara places to find out what the deal is with her. Back to Victorian England and Jenny, Madame Vastra and Strax join in this episode. Now they want to know what the deal is with this girl that is and isn't Clara at the same time. No answers were revealed though. The end part with the photos was very cool though. That's all I'm saying.

 Community - Abed had worked out everyone's "origin story" so he could do a "prequel" episode about how they all ended up at Greendale. Lots of cool connecting the dots.

New Girl - The gang has a contest over who has the worst "deflowering" story. Funny stuff and so many one liners I might have to go back and watch it again. Oh and Jess and Nick finally do it.

Big Bang Theory - Sheldon almost kills one of his childhood idols. Howard and Bernadette babysit Raj's dog. That man is becoming what I warned you about in my post about online dating.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - I had watched some of this before but I got recently inspired to dive back into it. I love because it's so non-PC that it's "Mac". Yeah I'm trying to start a catchphrase there. So far it's included racial stereotypes, gay men, welfare, crack, terrorists, the handicapped, and Nazi's. And that's only the first six episodes. Yeah.

Game of Thrones - Several episodes in now and the only interesting thing going on is Khaleesi and her dragon army. I like the redhead chick north of the wall though. I was slightly creeped out by the soldier having his nipple cut off.

Movies - Nothing serious this week, just Iron Man 3. Lots of action. That man has a lot of iron man suits at his disposal. Pepper kicks ass, but I felt the movie was dragged down by the kid Tony befriends. Lots of great zingers from Robert Downey Jr. as expected. Oh, and he doesn't have the temperament to be that kind of doctor. LOL.

Sports

Braves - Started the week by winning the first two games against the Nationals, only to end up with a split by losing the next two. On next to play the Mets. Lost on Friday followed by a rain out on Saturday. Beat the crap out of them Sunday in which Tim Hudson, from my home town of Phenix City, AL, won game #201 in his career. Their record is now 18-12, still good enough for first place.

P.S. And do not forget to recommend this blog continues.

Weekend Update

Audio/Video/Telly

The IT Crowd - Funniest British show I have ever seen. Started re-watching all of them just for the material.

The Walking Dead - Just plain pissed at the latest episode. Nothing happened. Again. Waste of time.

Doctor Who - Easter is coming. Run you clever boy...

How I Met Your Mother - I wish I could buy Barney's apartment!

Community - I'm all caught up on seasons 1-3 now. Things make sense. I wanna be in the class The History of Ice Cream though. And join the Delta Cubes fraternity. Get your damn hand off my Let's potato chips!

New Girl - If a jellyfish ever stings me on my face, I will never ask anyone to pee on me. Jess and Nick are so gonna do it, if they don't beat each other senseless first. Always buy quick hardening calk. You don't want to have to wait forever for that calk to harden.

Movies - So I watched the remake of Red Dawn. My first thought was "Wow we're gonna win. We have Thor!" Then I saw the fat kid from Drake and Josh (Drake? Josh? Bueller???) and lost all confidence. The movie was good but ruined by the previously named fat kid who kept pining after his girlfriend (who was so out of his league). Kudos for having C Thomas Howell as a Marine, but the original was so much better. Instead of the Russians, it was the North Koreans this time. This is why I'm against gun control! They said in the movie that it was free from Alabama on upwards. That's because we had more guns than those sneaky bastards. I also watched The First Time which was a cute teen young love movie (don't judge me) and Bridesmaids because I had a friend who hadn't seen it yet. Still funny the second time around. Also you can check my review of Doomsday here.

Music - One day I was walking around and I started singing "We are all part of the rhythm nation" and I'm like whut? So I downloaded some Janet. Yeah. Added some Cyndi Lauper too.

Sports

Braves - They have an 18-12 record in spring training with opening day in a week. Looks like Teheran has nailed down the 5th starters spot. Still waiting to see if Gattis makes the team.

Bama basketball - So in the first round of the NIT (where Bama got a #1 seed) they beat Northeastern  62-43. Then they topped Stanford in the second round 66-54. They will host Maryland in the third round on Tuesday. Roll Tide!

P.S. And do not forget to recommend this blog continues.

Weekend Update

Doctor Who - Working my way into Season 6. From the Pandorica to Demons Run! The River Song thing gets me every time, but I wont ruin it for you if you don't know. Spoilers!

The Walking Dead - Cool episode with Rick and company heading back to his old home town in search of guns/ammo. Pick up the damn hitchhiker already! That was kind of disappointing.

How I Met Your Mother - No new episode this week. Ted needs to meet that woman already, like 4 seasons ago.

Big Bang Theory - Never Google how to excite 12 year old girls...

Community - And now a Thanksgiving episode?

New Girl - Nothing new here either. I am re-watching both seasons though.

Game of Thrones - Started watching this on recommendation from my mom. I'm not sure yet. At least there's no dragons or wizards in it.

A Good Time to Die Hard - I actually went and saw a movie on the big screen this week! Yes, we get it. Bruce Willis is old. And on vacation. They sure crashed alot of cars and trucks for this film. All in all  a good movie that seemed to end too abruptly. All I could think about the whole time they were in Chernobyl was "I remember that from Call of Duty!"

Music - This week I added some good old Sammy Hagar. I'm kind of interested in the late 60's/early 70's jazz fusion rock thing that went on for awhile (think Santana and early Journey before SP), so I've been giving a listen to Return to Forever. The first two albums sounded, well, "baby-fied" but once they went electric with synthesizers it was more what I was looking for. And as always, I am always open for music suggestions. Put your suggestions in the comment boxes below.

Sports

Braves - Rumors of possibly listening to offers for Johnny Venters which has people upset. If you can trade a relief pitcher for a good position player you do it. Every time. Cory Rasmus is trying to make a good impression, which is very cool because I coached him a little in high school.

Bama basketball - Lost Tuesday to Ole Miss. Bubble popped. Not making the Big Dance. Beat Georgia 61-58 to improve to 20-11. SEC tournament is up next where we will be the 4th seed.

P.S. And do not forget to recommend this blog continues.

Big Bang Theory Disney Princesses

 Bernadette and Amy Farrah Fowler

And Penny. Sigh, Penny... I would kill to see this sitting on a park bench one day at work.

P.S. And do not forget to recommend this blog continues.

Weekend Update

Time for another weekend update of the shows and sports I keep my eyes on.

Television/Movies/Music

Doctor Who - Made it into Season 5 with my new companion. Goodbye Donna Noble, hello Amelia Pond.

The Walking Dead - Okay this last episode just seemed to be alot of shooting and not much else. Andrea visited the prison but wimped out on killing the governor.

How I Met Your Mother - I want a weekend at Barney's! No crazy bitches though...

Big Bang Theory - Bazinga! No new episodes, but don't ever park in Sheldon's spot.

Community - I saw the 2 latest episodes, but the best was the one with the Inspector Spacetime convention. Oh, and I'm still in love with Annie.

New Girl - speaking of still being in love, Jess is still freaking out over kissing Nick. And I hope I never have a 10 year anniversary with another dude.

Continuum - new show to my list here. Watched all of Season 1 and me likey. Hot girl, check. Time travel, check. Going into the past to stop the future, check. I'm in.

Transformers (trilogy) - So because I have no social life on the weekends, I find myself re-watching alot of trilogies and epics and whatnot. This time it was the Transformers series. I forgot how funny Sam's mom was. That chick in the 3rd movie was no replacement for Megan Fox. She had a great body yeah, but once they went in on the closeups I was like ugh.

Music - I added some GTR, Motley Crue, Ratt, and The Who to my collection. Wonder how long it will take to show up in the Random 10? I am always open for music suggestions.

Sports

Braves - Gattis is still hitting. Still too early in ST for anything of note.

Bama football - Nothing new to report. We apparently offered a scholarship to an 8th grader. Yeah. Oh, and all four of the players who were arrested were kicked off the team and out of the university. Damn right. As Nick Saban said "“Some people learn by words, some people learn by consequences, some people can’t learn."

Bama basketball - I was in error last week about the LSU game. Apparently we lost that game but my ESPN app gave me the wrong score. Go fig. We lost 97-94 in 3 overtimes. However we did beat Auburn 61-43. We probably missed a good opportunity to get into the tournament by losing to #8 Florida 64-52 Saturday afternoon. With only two games left + the SEC tournament it's not looking good. Could be another trip to the NIT.

Falcons - Just basically waiting for draft day. Still.

P.S. And do not forget to recommend this blog continues.

Weekend Update

Some updates on the various things I watch/follow.

Television/Movies

Doctor Who - Yeah, I'm still waiting for Easter and the new season to start. I have re-watched parts of Seasons 1-4. Bad Wold indeed...

The Walking Dead - Is there a better show on TV right now? I think not. Rick has frickin lost it though.

How I Met Your Mother - still recovering from Robin Daggers. PS I Love You. It wasn't me. Cut-it-out.

Big Bang Theory - Never, ever become Sheldon's emergency contact.

Community - Okay, it just feels awkward like I missed an entire season or something. A Halloween episode? In February?

New Girl - Jess reminds me so much of my crazy friendship with someone that I've grown to adore this show.

Caprica - I was flipping through my stuff looking for something to watch when I just skimmed through some Battlestar Galactica episodes. Still powerful stuff. I downloaded and watched the BSG: Blood and Chrome prequel movie and realized that I had never finished watching Caprica so I watched it from beginning to end. It really didn't settle anything for me though.

Sports

Braves - Spring training is finally underway. Games started yesterday so there's no new "buzz" to report right now.

Bama football - 4 guys suspended. Good riddance. We don't need that kind of crap. No second chances either. Goodbye.

Bama basketball beat South Carolina 68-58, Mississippi State 64-56, and LSU 78-76 to improve to 19-8 on the season but are still considered a bubble team for the Big Dance. I don't care much for basketball but the tournament is coming up and I'm just hoping we get in.

Falcons - Just basically waiting for draft day.