I’m a big fan of Country music!  I love Carrie and Kenny and Tim, and I also love the classic stuff.  That’s why I wanted to share this list with you.  Bilboard magazine’s Hot 100 chart recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and I have listed the Top 50 Country songs of their first 50 years.  There’s some great ones on this list!

1  THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS
Johnny Horton

2  LADY
Kenny Rogers
 
3  YOU’RE STILL THE ONE
Shania Twain  
 
4  ARE YOU LONESOME TO-NIGHT?
Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires  
 
5  RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON MY HEAD
B.J. Thomas
 
6  RHINESTONE COWBOY
Glen Campbell
 
7  BREATHE
Faith Hill  
 
8  TOM DOOLEY
The Kingston Trio
 
9  BIG BAD JOHN
Jimmy Dean
 
10  HE’LL HAVE TO GO
Jim Reeves  
 
11  ISLANDS IN THE STREAM
Kenny Rogers with Dolly Parton
 
12  HONEY
Bobby Goldsboro  
 
13  THE STREAK
Ray Stevens
 
14  STUCK ON YOU
Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires  
 
15  THE THREE BELLS
The Browns
 
16  IT’S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE
Conway Twitty
 
17  ODE TO BILLIE JOE
Bobbie Gentry
 
18  THE BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS
SSgt Barry Sadler U.S. Army Special Forces
 
19  EL PASO
Marty Robbins
 
20  BIRD DOG
The Everly Brothers
 
21  BEFORE THE NEXT TEARDROP FALLS
Freddy Fender  
 
22  9 TO 5
Dolly Parton
 
23  I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT
Eddie Rabbitt
 
24  LAST DATE
Floyd Cramer
 
25  THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL
Charlie Rich
 
26  THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA
Vicki Lawrence
 
27  AMAZED
Lonestar
 
28  DON’T IT MAKE MY BROWN EYES BLUE
Crystal Gayle  
 
29  BABY DON’T GET HOOKED ON ME
Mac Davis
 
30  ANNIE’S SONG
John Denver
 
31  (HEY WON’T YOU PLAY) ANOTHER SOMEBODY DONE SOMEBODY WRONG SONG
B.J. Thomas
 
32  QUEEN OF HEARTS
Juice Newton
 
33  HARPER VALLEY P.T.A.
Jeannie C. Riley
 
34  LET YOUR LOVE FLOW
Bellamy Brothers
 
35  SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS
John Denver
 
36  YOU NEEDED ME
Anne Murray
 
37  I CAN HELP
Billy Swan
 
38  I HONESTLY LOVE YOU
Olivia Newton-John
 
39  PLEASE MR. PLEASE
Olivia Newton-John
 
40  HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW
Olivia Newton-John
 
41  NORTH TO ALASKA
Johnny Horton
 
42  CONVOY
C.W. McCall
 
43  SPIDERS & SNAKES
Jim Stafford
 
44  SOUTHERN NIGHTS
Glen Campbell
 
45  THE WAY YOU LOVE ME
Faith Hill
 
46  BLUE BAYOU
Linda Ronstadt
 
47  WHEN WILL I BE LOVED
Linda Ronstadt
 
48  WICHITA LINEMAN
Glen Campbell
 
49  THANK GOD I’M A COUNTRY BOY
John Denver
 
50  LET ME BE THERE
Olivia Newton-John

To see the list and even hear some clips of the songs, click HERE.  I’m not sure how they compiled the list and I think they may have a left a few great songs out.  Feel free to comment and add your favorites to the list.

I recently had a realtor friend of ours come over and look at the house to see how it would shape up for selling.  She had good news and bad news.

The good news was that the house has a lot of amenities people want, like air conditioning, tile floors, lawn sprinkler system, etc.  It’s also in a good price range.  The bad news was that due to the lousy housing market in Denver and the fact that there are so many houses in foreclosure, we would definitely be selling it for less than we paid and hoping for the best.

The one thing we don’t have at this point is a finished basement, so I decided to get busy getting that done.  It’s a 17×22 area that I’m turning into a laundry room, bathroom, and bedroom.  I’ve got a couple buddies helping me get the majority of the work done and I hope to have it mostly rocking by the end of the month.

I’m a little nervous because I’m going to attempt the taping and texture myself.  I haven’t done it before, but I bought a book and I think I can do it.

Hopefully with the housing market back on the upswing and a finished basement, I may be able to at least get what I paid for my house back out of it.

By the way, if you like taping and mudding and want to do my basement, let me know… I can get concert tickets! LOL.  Just kidding of course.

My wife got a job this week. Yippee!  She’s been doing the “stay at home mom” thing and it’s been working out ok, but especially with the higher cost of gas and groceries, things have been a little snug more often than not.

Yesterday she went in for orientation (first day).  She had to be there at 5:00pm, so that meant I had to take care of the kids after school.  No big deal… or so I thought.  First of all, as I have mentioned in past blogs, my wife is into healthy foods and plans out our entire weeks meals before she goes to the store on the weekend.  Her start date got bumped up a week, so I literally found out Monday night that she’d be working Tuesday night.  Not content to let me feed my children mac & cheese or frozen pizza like any other self-respecting dad, Amy points to a recipe ripped out of a Food Network magazine and says to me, “you can follow a recipe can’t you?”  This was the beginning of my bad night.

I “can” follow a recipe, but there are certain nuances to cooking that I do not excel at.  I can barely even keep my damn grill lit.  This was some frou-frou chicken dish that called for me to make homemade breading, cook them in a skillet with Extra Virgin Olive oil (whatever the heck THAT is) and then bake them in the oven.  My breading was falling off all over the place, but at least the chicken was white and not pink.  I was flustered from trying to get all that done so we had chicken and peas for dinner.  Tomorrow I’ll order in Chinese.

Then, it’s time to sit down and do homework.  It’s only the second day of school, so my 6th grader just had to memorize her combinations, school ID, etc.  But my second grader had to draw and list 10 or more things that had to do with Math.  As a 36-year old male, I could only come up with two.  Time and money.  These things are close to my heart because I have very little of either.

Then it’s get the little one bathed and ready for bed.  This went smoother than I anticipated although I never realized that mom reads to her, sings her songs, snuggles her, sets out her clothes for the next day and has a 20 minute debriefing of the day all before bed.  I think I may have been taken for a ride.

The big one wants me to help her find some songs for her iPod, so I’m off to do that.  Then I have to find some time to get things ready for the show tomorrow and still try to get myself to bed before 9pm. I may not make it through the week.

Send help.

As you’ve probably heard by now, our station has been re-branded as 92.5FM The JACKASS.  We are having some fun with the Democratic National Convention coming to town.  Regardless of which side of the political fence you fall on, you have to appreciate the Democrats choosing our fair city to dump the millions of revenue dollars they’ll spend.  As we like to say, it’s not THIS party or THAT party… it THE PARTY!  We’re having fun with it and I hope you do too.
 
I’m sure there are plenty of people who are a dumbass (pun intended) like me who don’t know how the Donkey came to be the symbol of the Democratic party, so I did a little research.

Borrowed loosely from Wikipedia: The Democratic Party itself never officially adopted the donkey symbol but has made use of it. Apparently Andrew Jackson had been labeled a jackass by his opponents during the presidential race of 1828. A political cartoon depicting Jackson riding and directing a donkey (representing the Democratic Party) was published in 1837. Then Thomas Nast used the donkey again in an 1870 political cartoon and it stuck. Cartoonists followed Nast and used the donkey to represent the Democrats, and the elephant to represent the Republicans.

Strangely, the Democratic party in some states use the rooser.  Thank goodness not here in Colorado… I don’t know if I could handle being on 92.5 THE COCK during the convention. LOL.

The WOLF is on vacation for a while as we welcome the DNC to the Mile High City.  If you love it, laugh along with us.  If you don’t… try not to take things so seriously.

Now crank it up and give us a bray!

Shotgun (aka “the Mule”)

I very rarely get political in my blog, but I get very irritated when I hear people complain about American schools.  I am married to a teacher and come from a family of educators and criticism of our education system is one area that really gets my blood boiling.

There’s a commercial running on radio and tv right now talking about how test scores are so much higher in other countries than the USA.  That may be true, but the United States is the only country in the WORLD that has a true PUBLIC school system.  Anyone who desires an education can get one, and conversely everyone who desires an education must be given the opportunity.  In many of the other countries listed off in these ads, children are tested for intelligence and aptitude and only the best are chosen to attend these schools.  The other kids are trained to be “laborers”.  Is it any wonder the test scores are higher?  Can you imagine the uproar here in the USA if lower level students were denied an education?

If you’re a parent and you want to see those test scores rise… spend time with your kid.  Get involved in their education and hold your child responsible for getting the most out of the education that is offered them.  America’s schools are staffed with excellent people who are passionate about giving your children a quality education.  By allowing every person an education, the “bell curve” is going to bring overall scores down.  Despite that, the United States of America education system produces many of the top minds in the world.

I’m one of the few guys out there that actually enjoys grocery shopping.  Amy and I usually leave the kids home for an hour and go for the peace and quiet.  I love checking out fresh produce, finding choice cuts of meat and looking for a good deal anywhere I can find one.  I have been absolutley blown away by how much grocery prices have JUMPED in the past six months.  It’s obnoxious!  It’s getting so a guy can’t afford to get good meat for the grill and that is where the line gets crossed!

So I did a little digging and here’s the main excuse “the man” is giving for the high costs: “Food manufacturers, under pressure for months from higher costs for everything from product ingredients to the packaging, are increasing prices. It started in the ceral isle and it’s spreading.  Sara Lee Corp. will raise prices by 20 percent later this year for its meat products. (That’s Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park Franks).  Overall grocery prices are expected to rise 5 percent to 6 percent this year. But some categories are projected to post higher increases, such as eggs, fats and oils and cereals.

Items made with wheat (breads and crackers) and soybean oil (cooking oil and fried foods) are expected to rise so much next year that they’ll boost the cost of cooking at home by up to 4.5 percent – half a percentage point more than predicted just a month ago. So pinched consumers thinking they can cut back by eating at home more will find little relief there. Home cooking remains less expensive than eating out, but the gap is closing.”

This year could go on record as having one of the largest increases in food prices since 1990. For many people, rising food costs plus the high cost of gas is leading to tough choices. Some families are going without meat because of the high prices.  For sure many shoppers are trying the generic products to save money.

It may be time to start clipping coupons.  Ther are many great sites on the web you can Google to get started.  I got an email from someone recently singing the praises of http://theshoppersedge.info.  [THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT!] I have not personally checked it out other than briefly scanning the site, but it could be a way to save you some money so we can all get back to the grill…

where we belong!

“Foot on the pedal - never ever false metal
Engine running hotter than a boiling kettle
My job’s ain’t a job - it’s a damn good time
City to city - I’m running my rhymes”

Can’t use a Beastie Boys reference without giving out some lyrics.

Seriously, though, I haven’t been sleeping very well lately.  Not sure why.  I usually go to bed around 8:30pm and get up around 2:30am.  Pretty standard for a morning radio personality. Six hours of sleep should be plenty.

Up until about two weeks ago, I was one of those guys who could fall asleep in less than 15 minutes.  Lately, though, I end up lying awake for at least an hour or two and when I do fall asleep I dream non-stop.  Usually vivid, active dreams.  My alarm goes off and I’m exhausted.  With a little help from Diet Coke, I am awake and ready to go for the show, but usually dead tired by early afternoon.  I try not to nap though… because I can’t sleep at night!

I don’t eat for more than two hours before I go to bed, and I don’t drink anything caffeinated after lunch.  If you have any home remedies to help you sleep, I’d love to hear it.

It’s the darn humidity!  Both Jesse and I have made trips back to the midwest in the past month and the difference in temperature (upper 80’s there/mid 90’s here) hasn’t been as drastic as the difference in comfort.

So, I did a little research.  Humid heat is worse for us than dry heat, because humidity interferes with our body’s temperature regulating mechanism. When the temperature is very hot outside, the body’s regulating mechanism prevents heat from building up inside by releasing the heat from the surface of the skin through the evaporation of sweat.

On the other hand, humid heat does not allow sweat to evaporate from the skin. This makes a person stay hot longer and prevents the body from cooling down quickly. Thus, you feel hotter.

Here in Denver the relative humidity in the afternoon is around 40%, which up to 90 degrees is pretty much air tempurature.  In the midwest, because the relative humidity is so much higher, it can feel up to 15 degrees warmer!

It’s going to continue to be hot all week, and dry or not, upper 90’s is still hot.  Drink lots of fluids or do what I do… stay inside in the air conditioning.

I recently returned from a trip back to my home state of Wisconsin, where people turn every statement into a question by adding the phrase “or no” (ie. “We going to lunch, or no?”), where a little is a “skosh” and where people live on “hot dish”.

While discussing the ingredients in my Grandma’s tuna salad, Vicky said that it sounds like simple tuna casserole.  I could see that an intervention was in order.  Salad is cold, hot dish is hot, and casserole is the pan hot dish is made in.  See the definitions below from Wikipedia.

Casserole: from the French for “sauce pan,” is a large, deep pot or dish used both in the oven and as a serving dish.

Hot Dish: a variety of casserole dishes popular in the Midwest of the United States and especially in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and northern regions of Iowa. It consists of a starch and a protein (meat and/or a vegetable) mixed together with a binding ingredient (most often canned soup or a sauce) and a topping.

Salad: a mixture of cold foods, usually including vegetables and/or fruits, often with a dressing, occasionally nuts or croutons, and sometimes with the addition of meat, fish, pasta, cheese, or whole grains.

Therefore, tuna salad is cold and made with macaroni noodles, mayonnaise, tuna, peas, onions and celery.  Tuna hot dish is hot and made with a box of mac & cheese, cream of mushroom soup, and a can of tuna.

Both are delicious.

I’m heading out with my girls on vacation this weekend an into next next week.  This will be our “big” vacation of the summer and it’s based around my wife’s family’s reunion, July 12th.

In order to get some sightseeing out of a trip to visit a bunch people the kids & I don’t know, we’re renting a car and taking the long way back to Wisconsin.  We’re heading up through Wyoming and the Dakotas so we can see Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, etc.  We’ll get back to Wisconsin mid-week next week and spend a little time with my family, then complete the trek to Green Bay and on to the reunion in Wisconsin Dells (which is pretty much underwater).  The reunion is my wife’s dad’s family.  Good people, so it should be fun.  We hop a plane back to Denver the day after the reunion.

When I was about 11, I took a similar trip through the Dakotas and up to Yellowstone Park with two of my cousins and my grandparents.  We camped all the way and it was a blast.  I don’t remember all the tourist sites though and my wife has never been there, so if you have any suggestions of things we should see on the trip, or want to mow my lawn, let me know.

Have a great Independence Day!