well, it's Saturday and i usually get pretty mad at myself if i do any work on Saturday, but my schedule is still all screwy right now because of the holiday, random days off and general lack of sleep and structure... so, i'm letting today slide because i haven't updated much this week and i've done some planning for the month and it looks pretty full and exciting and i can't wait to get right to it...

the first step unfortunately is sending out a bunch of emails and phone calls and that may be one of the most monotonous parts of getting work done... it is a necessary part of the job, though, and even though it sucks up a couple hours and leaves me feeling like i haven't accomplished anything, i'll bury my head and fingers into these keys and send send send... but first...

POWDER PLAY

It snowed in Buffalo on New Year's Day... i know this because, well, i suppose it's pretty safe to say that it always snows in Buffalo on New Year's Day, but i saw it snowing on TV... while i was watching a hockey game... an outdoor hockey game between the Sabres and the Penguins... i had heard about this game a month or so ago and thought it was kind of a silly idea, much less to be on New Year's Day, which is traditionally dominated by Bowl games...

HOWEVER, as i was flipping through the channels, it drew me in and i watched a bit of it and enjoyed it thoroughly... well, as thoroughly as i enjoy any NHL game on TV... and it seems that lots of other people did as well... drawing twice the average crowd and double the ratings of the Stanley Cup finals... i think they should it more often... one big downside though is that the fans in attendance are really far away from the action whereas they're normally right on the glass... they can solve this by expanding the ice to fit the entire field... that's right HUGE HOCKEY!!!! that's what i want to see...

RIP-PING MAGAZINES

is it just me or is the printed magazine starting to die off completely?... i know that newspapers and magazines all took big hits with the rise of internet publications and blogs and all that fun stuff... but it seemed that the traditional magazines just had to adjust their business model a bit and they ended up doing alright... lately though, it may have caught up with them... at least three magazines to which i subscribed have recently shut down entirely... others i know of are really struggling to balance their budgets... have we finally reached the breaking point for print magazines? i hope not... print magazines pay better for content than online stuff, but also, i just love holding that i'm reading in my hands...

LAST YEAR (PT. 1)

since i'm still taking my time, dragging my feet with the end of the year charts and such, i thought it might be cool to share my top 25's as reported by Last.FM... i don't know that it's entirely accurate since i wasn't reporting my iPod usage for a lot of the year and that's my primary player and there are a few other quirks to it all, but they're pretty good lists... today, my 25 Most Played Albums of 2007...

1. K-Os - Atlantis - Hymns for Disco
2. Family Force 5 - Business Up Front...
3. Matt Wertz - Everything In Between
4. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
5. Jon McLaughlin - Indiana
6. The Almost - Southern Weather
7. The Fray - How to Save a Life
8. Switchfoot - Oh! Gravity.
9. Neon Horse - Neon Horse
10. Mae - The Everglow
11. Aerosmith - Young Lust: The Best of...
12. Jonezetta - Popularity
13. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
14. Ok Go - Oh No
15. Adam Watts - Sleeping Fire
16. 4th Avenue Jones - No Plan B
17. John Waller - The Blessing
18. George Thorogood - Greatest Hits
19. Hawk Nelson - Smile, It's the End of the World
20. K-Os - Joyful Rebellion
21. TobyMac - Reinventing Diverse City
22. Mike Farris - Salvation in Lights
23. Deas Vail - All the Houses Look the Same
24. Robbie Seay Band - Give Yourself Away
25. Matt Wertz - Somedays

Some of those will probably show up on my best album of the year list, but some of them obviously can't... either way, it's an interesting batch of albums...

BEFORE YOU SAY GOODBYE

yes, i know, no word of the day or in other words... i'm watching the 4th quarter of the Skins game with my mouth wide open right now and it's getting late (yes, i'm watching a recording)... but you can check out my interview with The Afters by hopping over to theTRu right now and we don't have to say goodbye just yet... but i've got those emails to write...

peace... love... bdg...