Pop Culture Punch! Ep .14 & 15 - Attack of The Christmas Carols - Day 4 & 5

Two more days of Christmas albums!! (yesterday and today) 

Audio in the Pics!!

Day 4

Day 5

Thanks for listening!!

Bruno Mars - "Unorthodox Jukebox" Album Review

I should probably start by saying I have an unhealthy obsession with Bruno Mars' first Album "Doo Wops and Hooligans" and Bruno himself.  He is crazy talented.

You can listen along right now at http://www.unorthodoxjukebox.com/ - but only until the album is released Tuesday (Dec 11th).

Track by Track, here's "Unorthodox Jukebox"


Track #1:  Young Girls

The First time I heard this song was Bruno Mars' SNL Performance a few weeks back.  I was almost in tears the first time I saw it.  There is no doubt that Mars is a soulful singer with real emotional punch.  He himself was almost crying while belting it out in New York and it made me instantly fall in love with the track.   The chorus really hits you with a wavering sadness that is unmistakable in his voice.

All you young wild girls
You make a mess of me
All you young wild girls
You'll be the death of me
The Death of Me
All you young wild girls
No matter what you do
Yeah you young wild girls
I'll always come back to you
Come back to you

Note to self: you're young, be more wild, and find Bruno Mars to serenade you.


Track #2:  Locked Out of Heaven

I feel like you've probably heard this one.... at least if you've been on the internet or heard any top 40 radio since October.   The internet is all up in arms because it sounds like The Police, but Bruno Mars himself said "Hell Yeah! You try to write a Police song".  His honesty is refreshing and his attitude is admirable.   The song itself has 80s-inspired mega-hit written all over it.   It's fun, it's soulful, and it's got great lyrics.  Here's the video:

Track #3:  Gorilla

"Umm... what?"

That was my first reaction to this song.  It's not a bad song, I may have been thrown by the falsetto "oohs" and the fact that most of the song is You and me baby makin' love like gorillas".  Based on the track's first line, he may have been coked up while writing it, but that just shows he really is like artists from the 70s and 80s, right?  Because of this revelation, I imagined Bruno Mars all crazy eyed singing this while doing some really manic dance moves before playing the piano breakdown with a little too much intensity.   It made it super entertaining in my head.   This is definitely more of a rock sounding song, and sadly, I think Nickelback could cover it.  Not a high point in the album.


Track #4:  Treasure

Funk? Check.  Soul? Check.  Extremely cheesy 70s smile?  I guarantee it was pasted on his face during recording.  This is a super fun track that I could see being a big summer hit.  It sounds like sunshine.  The song is about a girl, she's his treasure, his golden star, she's fine so fine.   A few listens and you'll be toe tapping, head bobbing and singing the chorus.   It's got that throwback sound.  Start adding volume to your hair now, what's old is new again.

Track #5:  Moonshine

I was waiting for this one.  The track where you can hear a little growl in Bruno Mars pristine voice.  It pops up in a few small moments in Moonshine and it really adds a perfect amount of grit to the 80s-sounding intensity of the track.  I also really enjoyed the phrasing in this song.  The way the words are pronounced and the slight changes in pacing and inflection make it different than your standard pop song.  Different as in better, and I love pop music.

Track #6:  When I Was Your Man

Is that a piano or a teardrop machine?  Seriously...  The longing you hear in his voice in the first few moments of the song sets up this heart-wrenching ballad that will make you want to give Bruno Mars a hug while your eyeholes fill with salt water.   It's Adele calibre breakup tuneage.  It's haunting and I can't get enough of it.  
Also....
To the girl this was written for:  He was wrong, he's sorry, take him back you evil beotch, he's pouring his heart out AND wishing you the best!  What more could you want?   Better yet don't, I'll take him, he's sweet and I like flowers and parties.  


Track #7:  Natalie

Holy rhythm and anger Batman!  Then again I'd be angry too if some broad took all my money (not that I have any to steal at this point).    Little miss snake eyes better watch her back indeed.   This is the next generation's "Gold Digger" without the douchebaggery of Kanye attached.   Well written, well executed, and it's wicked fun to yell sing the name "Natalie".  There's so many ways to phrase her name before telling her she better run.  #ThingsILearnedFromBrunoMars?

Track #8:  Show Me

Steel drums and the promise of an oasis underscore this reggae "love" (read: unh unh unh) song.   Show Me is lighthearted, fun, and may make you want to drive to the nearest airport to find a hot destination where you can use this song as a macking device.   Hawaiian shirts await!   For the record, between this and his Liquor Store Blues from Doo Wops and Hooligans, he could pull a lot of fans from the reggae crowd.


Track #9:  Money Make Her Smile

Is "her" one of those Young Wild Girls or related to Natalie perhaps?    In describing a good chunk of the female population Bruno Mars points out "It's not complicated, so it won't take a while, Music make her dance, money make her smile".   This song may also be about strippers, but regardless, I'll still cruise to it.  Another intense rocker.

Track #10:  If I Knew

Ahh, regret in the face of true love.  Many a man and woman have felt it, and Bruno Mars once again personifies heartbreak.  The sweet guitar in this short track set up a perfect backdrop for him to croon out his feelings, and it's perfectly crafted.

---

This album makes me laugh, cry, dance and rock out.  I'd say that's a win.  The way that it mixes different moods and genres really makes the album title perfect as can be.  Unorthodox Jukebox will definitely be put in to rotation with my cruisin' CDs in the car right next to Doo Wops and Hooligans.  I also may be head over heels in love with Bruno Mars (as much as you can be in love with someone you've only seen from afar... now I sound creepy...)

If you've read through this and haven't listened to it yet, I commend you, now listen to it!!  Here's the streaming link again:   http://www.unorthodoxjukebox.com/ 

You can also pre-order the album and download the already released tracks while you listen.


Unorthodox Jukebox will be available online and in stores December 11th!

History may just repeat itself.

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 13 - Attack of the Christmas Carols - DAY 3

Manly Manly Men.  Don't you dare start singing the two and a half men theme song, Ashton Kutcher ruined it... Wait, not where I was going with this. 

Manly Men like Blake Shelton and Michael Buble on the same CD!!  That's something to celebrate this holiday season.  Celebrate with Pop Culture Punch as we look at Blake's new Xmas Album.

Audio Here^

Have a poppin' Christmas y'all!

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 12 - Attack of the Christmas Carols - DAY 2

Ohhh Shiny!  Pop Culture Punch two days in a row!

Day 2 of 5 on our Christmas Music Special is up!  We look at Lady Antebellum's new Christmas album!

Audio Here^

Enjoy!  I look forward to some comments.

Merry Christmas!

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 11 - Attack of The Christmas Carols - DAY 1

It's December!  Sometimes I like to point out things your cell phone has already told you.   However, BECAUSE it is December, people are getting ready for Christmas and that means, NEW CHRISTMAS MUSIC!!!!

I love the spirit people have during Christmas (not the angry shopper, but the happy elf-like people). 

For the next 5 days, Kelly and I will be going over some of the BIG Christmas Music Releases this year!   Here's the first one!

Audio Here^

  

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and have a swingin' solstice! 

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 10 - Perfect Presents

Good News Everyone!   SANTA'S COMING!!!! I KNOW HIM!!!

Wait, I'm not an elf... more like an ecstatic shopper.  What?  Shopaholics need titles too!

In the latest episode of Pop Culture Punch, Kelly and I take a look at some of this year's must-have gifts and give you a fail safe option for everyone (as long as they don't hate functional warmth)!

Click the pic for Audio!

Merry Chrismukkah!  Can you believe spell check doesn't think that's a word?   Obviously the dictionary people didn't catch enough OC in it's hay day.

Happy Shopping!

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 09 So Fascinating

Along with the holiday season being upon us, it also means that it's time for Barbara Walters to be relevant for a few minutes.  Each year this "journalist" comes out with a list and tv special on the years most fascinating people.  What's in store for this year?? Audio is in the pic.

 

Who do you think should top this year's list?  Hit us up in the comments here or on our fancy new Facebook page! 

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 08 Rapid Fire Round Up

This week there was a few big stories to cover - so let's take a look at what those are.

Movies! Music! Magazines! Mega Breakups.  All covered in this week's ep!

Audio is IN the picture. Magical.

As always - leave me your thoughts in the comments!

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 07 Boy Meets Girl and They Have a Baby

Corey, Topanga and maybe the rest of the gang are back!   If you need Kelly and I, we'll be back in our hometown screaming like little girls... (in our minds anyway). 

 Are you stoked about the return/renewed version of Boy Meets World?

d'awwww

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 06 - DisneyLucas

Okay, I swear I can count.  I know my last blog post included ep 04, but the past week has been crazy ridiculous... so yeah... Episode 5 does exist.   It took a look at Halloween costume trends, so feel free to see if you fit this year's trends! 

Episode 06 is up now and it's all about the epic showdown of mickey and yoda, or princess leia vs. disney princesses - Okay,  really it's about George Lucas selling LucasFilm to Disney.    Does this acquisition make sense to you? 

Audio is here! Click the pic.

Good idea? Bad idea?  Hit me up in the comments and enjoy some of the lovely "fan" art that's come of it...

 

 

 God I love the internet...

Halloween 2012

Well it's November now, and Moustaches will soon be sprouting up on the lips of people all over the place!   November also means that the Halloween season is done for another year. 

Sadly...

For me, Halloween is fantastic - An excuse to dress like a crazy person, and lots of horror to be seen.   It also means lots of events. 

Here in The Pas this year,  we managed to organize the 1st Annual Zombie walk in support of The Pas' Homeless Shelter.   I'm going to brag a little - I brought this idea to the table and really worked to team up with people who could help make it happen. 

Let's just say, it happened...

it IS 2012....

Over 400 people showed up with donations of non perishable food items for the shelter!  This was incredibly overwhelming.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that many people showing up for one fundraiser.  The community really came together to show their support and dress gruesome!  The local hockey team (The OCN Blizzard) even showed up to do the walk!   I've said it over and over, but I really want to thank EVERYONE who showed up and was a part of it.  There was a lot of work that went in to it.  Myself and the CJ1240 staff are glad to have teamed up with the Opasquia Times and The Pas Community Renewal Corporation to make it happen with help from a number of sponsors around town.

In word,  it was Amazing. 

And just costume/outfit 1 of a busy Halloween season!

Brains?

So Friday is the Zombie Walk, what do we do Saturday?  Judge a pumpkin carving contest (in normal people clothes and a Wayne's world hat)... 

...And go to a rockin' social at the MMF Hall as Micheal Angelo with my other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of course (Costume 2):

And to end off the pre-Halloween weekend - Sunday is a day of sleeping in, catching up on TV shows from the week, running in the snow (I didn't even fall!) and attending a 5 year old's birthday party (those kids had sweet halloween costumes).   Happy Birthday Jade!


Then came Halloween - on a Wednesday.   This week I've been filling in on the Morning show, weirdly, it was easier to get dressed like this at 4am, than it was to put on normal clothes (mostly because I had set it out the night before and didn't have to worry about things matching)...

This is the one I blogged about putting together from pieces online here.

I wore that outfit all day at work then napped (I took the ears off for that),  fixed my nose makeup - reattached my ears and wore it all night to host a Halloween Party at the Wescana.  It was a blast, we have away $1000 for the best costume of the night to this guy:

It was movie quality (and Ted's actually a girl!) - The crowd loved it!

I lost some sleep, but had a blast this Halloween.  It was another year of success with 3 sweet costumes!

Happy Halloween y'all!  Can't wait for 2013!

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 04 - The Voice Factor

I have a BFF, his name is Kelly.  We get along well and watch the same TV shows.  Usually anyway...
Last night we went to do a podcast and realized we don't ALWAYS agree. 

There was a showdown - it was recorded.  Enjoy!

The audio is here ^

Which do you think is better?

Personally, I think I won this battle... What do you think?  Hit me up in the comments! 

Insanity!

I wish my name was punny enough to be joined with insanity, it would explain my day today.   Unfortunately, I'm not Justin Lin.  (sigh).  I'll find a way to get over it (maybe). <--- I know this is terrible, but I had to write it.

----

The day started out like any other.   I got up, drank coffee and ate breakfast.  (Thrilling routine right?)  That of course, was followed by a full day of work.  My new employee was on air live for the first time and did well (and...exhale).  All of this is typical.  After the work day ended, the fun began.

Recently, my pal Kelly and I started a podcast called Pop Culture Punch!  Today was another prep and record day - the new ep will be up soon!

From there I hopped across the street to Sweatshop Boxing for the first time in a long time (the same 2 weeks I didn't run for thanks to illness...ugh).   Running was nothing compared to a Fitness Boxing Class.

This is all you see when you come down the stairs again and again.

Between the skipping, lunges, pushups, sprawls and punch combinations, I, along with everyone in the room were just dripping with sweat.   It was really a lovely sight.  Class had another new order of doing things (it's literally different every time) and just one water break.  No one collapsed, it just felt a little deathy, so SUCCESS!!!

(pssttt... If you're in The Pas,  these classes are literally the hardest workout you can do - it's great)

You'd think that after this I'd be pretty tired right?   Sorta, but not as much as I'd anticipated.  because of this, I came home, had a little dinner, relaxed for about an hour then decided to go for a 3.5km run, in the pouring rain with 40km/hr winds and giant puddles on the sidewalk.   It was awesome.  I got soaked.  There's nothing more refreshing than a run in the rain and it's nostalgic of my soccer playing days back home.   That last sentence made me feel old, wow.

In summation, my crazy life is still crazy, but I'm back to exercising and it's full steam ahead. 

Also, once I got home from the run, I decided I'd reached insanity and took a loooonnnggg shower.   It was glorious.  

Change of Seasons

Fall is officially here, and halfway gone (it's much shorter in the North)

These trees are along highway 10 just outside of The Pas.  They are gorgeous, and somehow trees with needles that go orange. It's wild to me.  The colours make it a beautiful time to be outside, but the temperature is also just right for outdoor activity. 

This evening I went out for a run for the first time in almost 2 weeks.  Normally I'd be pissed off for missing so much time, but I had a wicked nasty cough/cold.  (okay, I'm still a little pissed...)

I gotta tell ya,  starting again is the WORST.  Your running pace is slower, it's harder to breathe and it kind of makes you hate life for 20 minutes.  But the burn is always worth it.  There's always a sense of accomplishment afterwards (immediately followed by the need to shower).

It's also the perfect time to run outdoors right now.  It's crisp so you don't overheat and the air is clear with the promise of Winter.   We'll see if Winter is still my favourite season after I run through it...

Looks like a safe surface to run on right?

Pop Culture Punch! Ep.03 Costume Crazy!

It's time to work out your Halloween costumes for the year, so how about a little celeb inspiration??

The Queen of Halloween is without a doubt Heidi Klum:

But there are a few others that are also entertaining...

Fergie's best Toddlers and Tiaras look

Gwen Stefani goes

Continuing the Halloween kick, here's a new ep of the Podcast with myself and Kelly Cortez!

Click the Pic for Audio! 

Planning to be Spooktacular.

I'll admit it,  this time of year, I use ridiculous words like "spooktacular" as much as possible, because I can.


With the coming Holidays (Thanksgiving is this weekend, I get pumpkin pie, 'nuff said),  October is up there with the coolest months of the year.   It's a time when kids get candy, and get all dressed up like their favourite animal/character/ghoul.  It's also a time for adults to get dressed up crazy ridiculous and party... Something I am a-okay with.

I particularly like the Manitoba way of doing things.  Halloween Socials.

Growing up on the west coast,  I had no idea what a social was until I moved to Manitoba.  Now I love them.  You get to help out a cause while getting cheap drinks and dressing up to a theme!  Which is to say, it's all-around freakin' awesome.  

The flip side to this awesome coin, is finding a costume.  Sometimes it's a challenge.  Not to get too complainy, but once you've decided what you want to dress up as, you have to piece it together.  This is especially difficult for adults. 

Long gone are the days of my mom hand making me costumes that are custom-fitted, adorable and completely original.  If I had the time to sew (and could do it well enough)  I would make my own costumes.  Instead, I do the new age thing.  I scour stores like a crazed couponer and pick my way through the internet, site by site.  Plus I take stock of my closet and try to piece it all together like a fashionable puzzle.   This is time consuming, but it works. 

Last year I worked it out to 3 costumes for different occasions, and will do the same this year.

Zombie Katy Perry, Wayne, somewhat-alive Katy Perry

 It was a pretty solid year.  Those outfits were for a zombie walk, hosting karaoke, and hosting a family Halloween event.  Thanks to my jobs, I do awesome things like this all the time. 

This year CJ1240 is hosting a zombie walk where I'm currently working on a Zombie Punk Rocker look.  There's also a top secret group costume in the works for a Saturday Night social, and I will be hosting a karaoke night/halloween bash at the bar where I will be Minnie Mouse!  

The Minnie Mouse one I've got all worked out with pieces I found online, all of which I can use again, some in every day life:

super cute dress - check

accessories - check

shoes - check

So imagine those all together with black tights and black long sleeve shirt underneath. Voila!  Thanks to the internet, one of three costumes and it cost me about $75 (with shipping). 

Not too shabby! 

Have a Fright-tastic fall!  I'll be waiting for my costume building blocks to arrive at the post office!

Pop Culture Punch! Ep. 02 Bullies and Body Image

The Podcasting continues!

Kelly and I take on the video of a broadcaster who was brave enough to stand up to a bully.   It's gone viral and it's quite inspirational.

Ep. 02 of the podcast is in the pic!  (I'm fancy like that now)

Enjoy!  Let me know what ya think in the comments!

Running for a cause.

Here's a first! 

Since I started running, it's been all about me.   I want to be healthier, I want to get fit, I want to look and feel better.  That's why most people change their habits and lifestyle.  Today however, I ran for a cause. 

Cars, Stop! We're trying to stop Breast Cancer!

This is The Pas' equivalent to the Run for the Cure.  Personally I raised about $200 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  There were people there who raised thousands. In total, $8197 was raised.   Almost 50 people showed up in support of the cause to walk, run, bike and be awesome.

A beautiful day to beat down breast cancer.

It felt really great to do this run.  5km is pretty far (I swear it felt longer than that...), but when it comes down to it, that's nothing when you consider what those with breast cancer go through each day.    To be a part of helping a great cause feels good, plus it's bonus exercise.  

Fall has definitely arrived in the last few days here in The Pas, though it hasn't been cold.  In my opinion, the conditions for running were basically perfect.  Sunshine, about 15 degrees (Celsius), and a lot of wind.   The wind is awesome this time of year, it really helps you keep cool while the sun beams down on you. and today, the wind was pretty wicked: 

What a lovely action shot... I swear my hair isn't a mohawk, that's the wind's fault (and yes, I realize my legs are still super white and summer just ended - I have a job, it's indoors ok?!?!). 

But seriously,  I just want to send out a big THANK YOU to everyone who donated to me for this run.  You are amazing, and don't forget it.  

I really feel like I'm getting in better shape every day, and I may just have to take on a few more charity runs in the future!