Big Leather Couch

Check out the other participants by clicking on the link to the left...and join in!

You can register for free at playlist.com and type in a band name and BAM the song will be there to assist in building your playlist.

Travis lays out some guidelines for this meme and they go like this:

1. Grab the banner, make your post title Five on Friday, and be sure to link back here.

2. Go to Playlist.com to make your play list of five songs. Choose a particular theme to share with us. You can simply post the play list, or you can add a little summary about what you are sharing.

3. No tags, but feel free to invite your friends to play along if they need a post topic on a Friday.

So this is the second anniversary of Travis' Five On Friday. I got involved a little late here but have enjoyed the sets I have posted over the time.

This past Tuesday, Blues hall Of Fame member Johnny Otis passed away at the age of 90. Another true originator of the Blues (and R&B) has left us..but his music remains.



Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes (December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012), better known as Johnny Otis, was an American singer, musician, talent scout, disc jockey, composer, arranger, recording artist, record producer, vibraphonist, drummer, percussionist, bandleader, and impresario. Born in Vallejo, California, he is commonly referred to as the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues".

The trip to SoCal went well. The press approvals were on time and we only had one night where we were at the plant until after 10pm.

Got to hook up with my fraternity brother Jaime and his girlfriend Christa on Friday. We had a small lunch right near the water and then - as happened last June when I last saw them - some door staining took place!

It was just odd that every time I come it happens. Good thing someone else was there as his doors are heavier than anything!

Then we went to a great dinner on the Redondo Beach Pier at Kincaid's. Had a roasted sirloin that was bursting with flavor and maybe - yes maybe - the BEST Clam Chowder I had ever tasted. That is saying a lot for a boy who grew up in the NY and New England region.

Then on Saturday I flew home. Nancy had taken me to the airport, so she was coming to pick me up. Before I left town, I thought to myself that it would be a good idea to stop at Uncle Lou's for some of his famous fried chicken. I never mentioned it to Nancy and it slipped my mind.

When she pulled up in the car, after a kiss, she turns to me and says "Why don't you order a full chicken from Uncle Lou's?"

Did I marry the right woman or what?

Well, in the end, it would have taken too long from a whole chicken so we grabbed a 7 piece meal, a sausage and cheese plate, a bottle of Corruption (Lou's special spice) and headed home.

Spent yesterday watching my Giants put a whooping on the Falcons. Next stop is Green Bay and as a fan I believe my team can win.

As someone who had 4 Packer players (Rogers, Jennings, Crosby and Finley) all season and picked up Driver and Flynn late I know how strong that team is!

Yes, we had Flynn stating in game 17 when they benched Rogers. Sure we were nervous and damn right we were surprised when Flynn threw for six TDs.


Dean and I won our Super Bowl in that league which is ahem a pay for play league. My two freebie leagues on ESPN with Jayman and with Brad, I came in 2nd in one and 4th in the other, so a decent season as far as fantasy is concerned.


Tonight begins my International Blues Challenge coverage with the first of three shows with past winners.

Tonight, Sean Carney and the band Trampled Under Foot (who are siblings!).

Then the week Jan 31 - Feb 4. Seems like it is coming fast. This week I need to go down and run a test show for the Hot Spot I am purchasing. I was told it would be better to supply my own wireless. No biggie.

I have been busy recording the ads I had left. Over all, for the first year, I did well enough to cover expenses with some left over. But there are still many spots which were made available. Next year.

I did miss one thing in Memphis while I was gone...ELVIS WEEK!

I might have to make up for missing this past Friday's Five On Friday...or maybe some form of it all...now the wheels are turning. hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


Hey, did oyu notice, this turned into a real blog post! LOLOL

Check out the other participants by clicking on the link to the left...and join in!

You can register for free at playlist.com and type in a band name and BAM the song will be there to assist in building your playlist.

Travis lays out some guidelines for this meme and they go like this:

1. Grab the banner, make your post title Five on Friday, and be sure to link back here.

2. Go to Playlist.com to make your play list of five songs. Choose a particular theme to share with us. You can simply post the play list, or you can add a little summary about what you are sharing.

3. No tags, but feel free to invite your friends to play along if they need a post topic on a Friday.

Last Five On Friday for 2011. I am so glad Travis came up with this fun idea. I have been exposed to music I would not have heard...followed Progressions that were amazingly well thought out...every Friday a group of people spend time to put together their sets hoping to share, hoping to entertain and they always do.

As I mentioned the other day, I had a fatal hard drive crash. Well I was able to retrieve 48+GB from my deleted files thanks to the wonderful Data Rescue 3.

Yesterday I purchased a new 1TB external hard drive and created a new iTunes Library. Then I brought all the files which were recovered over into that library.

There were a lot of files which were corrupt. Bits and pieces of songs and podcasts. Those got trashed.

The library was about 1,800 songs short of where I was before the crash. I found a huge portion of that loss was the music I had digitized from cassette from the Warner-Chappelle collection I had copied from a friend back in the early 90's. It was a 20 CD collection of music from the Warner-Chappelle Publishing. So many great songs from the 20's to the early 90's were included.

I have spoken to a friend who is going to try and get me the collection to reburn. I am hopeful...

So many of those songs were what I call Standards. The great music of Ella, Frank, Dean, Robert, Duke, Patti, classic show tunes. So today, five of those songs I know are no longer residing in my iTunes...

It could have been much worse, so I am thankful I was able to save so much. Now a little prayer the collection can be sent to me and I will be closer to normal.

BACK-UP your valuable data...music, photos, etc. I am already burning DVDs of playlists as a tertiary backup and looking into using the iCloud to ensure nothing is ever lost again.

Have a safe, healthy New Year. Rememebr, New Year's Eve is Amateur Night...be careful.

Tipsy Tow offered by AAA: You don't have to be a AAA member, from 6pm-6am on New Year's Eve/Day they will take your drunk self and your car home for FREE.

Save this number... 1-800-222-4357

Off to California on business next week. Will check in when I can.

ENJOY!