New job: Another voice of love

My husband Dave keeps calling me the "voice of love," so I guess I better update everyone on my new radio gig at Love-105!



Afternoon drive at Love 105



I'm now on-air (as Sarah) between 3 and 8 p.m. CST at Love-105 radio! You can listen to me online during those hours.



It's nice to be full-time doing radio work again. I'll miss my great friends at Clear Channel, but I already love the people here, some of the nicest I've ever worked with (and some of whom I've also worked with before in other positions).



I'm doing a greater variety of work in this position than I've done in a long time, and learning some new things as well. I'm responsible for two of the stations here, to varying degrees. I'm really enjoying it! The other two stations here are KQRS and KXXR. (Update: Yay! I'm on the Love staff website now--and they link to my blog!)



Chatting with Tom Barnard



I actually had an interesting chat yesterday with KQ morning show and voiceover legend Tom Barnard. He shared a story about his childhood religion, and we both agreed about the importance of spiritual freedom. He was familiar with Eckankar, and we also talked about one of my other favorite topics, women in the Mideast.



Dave sometimes teases me about how blasé I am about famous folks I meet like Barry Manilow and Donny Osmond--but they're just people, you know? I try to treat everyone with respect and interest and find most people reciprocate. (Though being in radio and voiceover myself, I wouldn't mind having the kind of success Tom has had!)



Corporate who's who ...



The parent company of Love 105 is Citadel Broadcasting Corporation, who also KQRS-FM and KXXR, among some 200 stations total, and also owns and operates ABC Radio Networks.



There is also some control by Walt Disney Co. or its shareholders, but I'm not yet clear on that. Folks tell me they used to get some passes from Disney and don't any longer. What I do know is the relevant FCC File Number of the transfer of control application from Walt Disney Co. to its shareholders for the stations in the Employment Unit is BTCH-20060228ABM, and if you can figure that out, let me know!

Are you already listening to classical music, but didn't know it?

Why do I think classical music is a vibrant and important format? Well, if you're not an aficionado, you might not realize how much classical music you ALREADY listen to!

Classical music in movies and popular songs


Classical music has been used hundreds of time in popular movies. Check out these amazing lists of classical music in movies (here's another). But even if you never to the movies, there are over five dozen popular songs that copy from classical music. Some examples:


1. (1960) "It's Now Or Never" by Elvis Presley - based on 'O Sole Mio.

2. (1972) Pictures at an Exhibition by Emerson, Lake and Palmer - entire album based on the work by Modest Mussorgsky, with two original pieces ("The Sage" and "The Curse of Baba Yaga"), and a live cover of Nut Rocker" featuring Clavinet

3. (1963) "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! (A Letter From Camp)" by Allan Sherman - based on Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours" from La Gioconda.

4. Gershwin's "Summertime", by Sidney Bechet, - quotes from Verdi's's "Miserere" from Il Trovatore.

5. (1983) "This Night" by Billy Joel - uses Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata as the basis for the chorus

6. (1993) "Go West" by the Pet Shop Boys, emphasized the original Village People version's chord progression from Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major

7. (1999) "Love of My Life" by Dave Matthews and Carlos Santana on the Supernatural album. Main theme is a nearly literal quotation of a theme in the 3rd symphony of Johannes Brahms, with some rhythmic changes.

8. (1975) "Could It Be Magic" by Barry Manilow - inspired by Chopin's Prelude In C Minor (Prelude #20: Largo)

9. (1945) "Till the End of Time," words by Buddy Kaye and Ted Mossman, popularized by, among others, Perry Como - based on Frédéric Chopin's "Polonaise In A Flat"

10. (1967) "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum - (loosely) based on J.S. Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 3, Air (commonly known as Air on a G String) and Cantata 140 "Sleepers Awake".

11. (1976) "Night on Disco Mountain" by David Shire - disco version of Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, featured in Saturday Night Fever

12. (1996) "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis - chorus chord progression borrows from Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major.

13. (1965) Diane and Annita's "A Groovy Kind of Love" is heavily based on the Rondo movement of Sonatina in G major, op. 36 no. 5 by Muzio Clementi.

14. (1976) Eric Carmen's "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" is based on the third movement of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2.

15. (1958) "Catch a Falling Star" by Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance - based on a theme from Brahms' Academic Festival Overture

16. (1959) "Once Upon a Dream" in the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty - based upon a waltz in Tchaikovsky's ballet Sleeping Beauty.

Top 100 most popular pieces of classical music in contemporary culture

The rating is done by KickAssClassical.com based on music made famous in movies, commercials, cartoons, songs, video games and ringtones. Here's the top 10 list, and belove that is a musical countdown of the entire list.

Beethoven	5th Symphony
Tchaikovsky	1812 Overture
Mozart	Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Bach	Toccata And Fugue
Rossini	William Tell Overture
Pachelbel	Canon In D
Strauss	Blue Danube
Orff	O Fortuna
Strauss	Also Sprach Zarathustra
Offenbach	Infernal Galop

For the whole regularly updated (and sortable!) top 100 list visit KickAssClassical.com

Classical music in commercials and other places

The Most Popular Classical TV Themes in the Universe

Ever wonder which television program or commercial made which piece of music popular? This album has most of them: Did you know that the Disney Cruises commercial used Monty Python's Flying Circus Theme, which is Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals? Or that Looney Toons used the Flying Dutchman Overture?

To keep abreast of news and interesting links on Classical Music, visit or subscribe to @Classical_Music on Twitter. Want an RSS feed of just Classical Music posts? Here you go!

Love is an all-the-time thing

A cute moment from long ago with Kermit the frog, who learns love is an all-the-time thing, and a big mammal helps a bird family (and a couple of cute pics at the end!):



In the first video below, Jim Henson, who "operates" Kermit seems to be trying not to chuckle as this little girl teases him. (Nowadays, cookie monster says "cookies are a sometime food"--you'll understand why I mention this after viewing the video.)



Kermit has to take the lead several times in getting her through the alphabet song, but the little girl calls him back and makes up for it at the end. (I love how they added an icon every time the little girl breaks out of the song for her personal favorite):

Cookies are a sometime food,

but love is an all-the-time thing:

P.S. Here's how to say "I Love You"

in dozens of languages.



Large mammal helps bird family:

(This was shortened from the longer StarsClips video)

Cute things come in small packages:

Note to pet owners: DO consider the pesticides that exist in many fruit boxes, especially those of bananas. Cleaning or lining before leaving out or re-using is wise.

Best friends:















Imposter!

What the Google?!? Easy and cool ways to find stuff on Google.

Okay guys, this is essential (and simple) knowledge that will improve your life. I even found you a video so you don't have to read--so pay attention!

Matt Cutts from Google gives a bunch of very useful, simple tips for searching on Google (and a few cool advanced tips). Finding price ranges and only searching one kind of sites are particularly cool to know!

Most people I know don't even know all the basic tips, so I thought I'd put this up "as a public service."



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Rules for writing: A cool teacher's list

Don't you wish you had a cool teacher who gave you a list of writing rules like this when you were in school? Another variation on my recent how not to communicate theme.

Here are the top ten rules for writers from the 34-rule list by Dr. Gregory S. Jay, Professor, Department of English, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee:

Professor Jay's Writing Rules:

1. Verbs HAS to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They're old hat.)
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Be more or less specific.
8. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
9. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. - 34. Click here for the whole list of writing rules.

Other interesting language articles:

• Communication: How Not To Do It Funny signs, ads, the impotence of proofreading, and the dept. of communication.
  
• Dsylexic Language Nerds, Untie! Some of my favorite language facts, quirks and fun moments.
  
• How does a comic/comedian talk or dialogue with an audience? How comic Paula Poundstone turns talking with people into hilarious mirth and frivolity.
  
• Ever Had Language Nerds Buffalo You? Some cool six-word stories and a few amazingly crazy, yet grammatically correct sentences.
• Cliche finder. Not an article, a cool online tool!
• A 450-word story where every word begins with "W!"
  

Mr. Fantastic and other amazing movement performers

Robert Muraine/"Mr. Fantastic" is hot!!

Watch this video to the end for one of his most amazing moves. The "So you think you can Dance" judges were very impressed. Robert improvises a sweet acceptance performance at the very end. For more amazing dance, don't miss these gravity defying highlights from all eras and styles.

Enjoy!

So You Think You Can Dance?

Robert doing his street performance

Update! Robert got an IKEA commercial:

Other amazing movement performers

Forward this one to 0:14 for the beginning:

Forward this one to 0:50 for the beginning:

Also, here are a few of my dance videos and a recent belly dance video.

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Wedding Anniversary Night Fight!

We thought we’d get married for a few laughs—look at us now!

For our Wedding anniversary night Dave is competing against me in the Twin Cities Funniest Person contest! (We're both performing in the same show.)

You must let us know if you'd like a free ticket to the show (normally $15+ fees) to see us this Thursday (June 12) in downtown Minneapolis at 8 PM. It's at Minneapolis biggest comedy club: Acme Comedy Co. (Click the big blue button in the left column to call or email me.)

What's the deal?

Ordering tickets online costs about $17 so this is a great deal, and you get to see professional woman comic Tig Notaro (she's great!) Check out videos of her here.

We'll be judged partly on audience response, so we need some good, strong laughers to help us out!

First folks to email me back with how many tickets they want definitely get in for free!

Save over $15 and see a pro!

Also on the bill is professional female comic Tig Notaro, who I think is AWESOME! Click for Directions. Come and laugh your tail off at me, Dave, and Tig.

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Communication: How Not To Do It

Communication: The over, the under, the unexpected and the uncertain, oh my!

Over-Communicating



This is near where we live:

The Bureau of Communication website is a hoot--worth a visit: They offer detailed forms you can fill out to apologize, complain, give feedback, etc.



"Whether you need to communicate a problem, send an invitation to an event, or simply apologize for a transgression, our easy-to-use forms will ensure that your message is clearly conveyed."

This is where my father-in-law lives:





Where to go, and what to say





Do yourself a flavor -

learn the impotence of proofreading:









Under-Communicating:

Dishes are piling up ....





Unexpected Communication:



Oops!

Probably works





Divorce settlement?







Grady, is that you?





Weren't the vegetables already dead?

Uncertain Communication:



And by "play" they mean:





Glad they cleared that up

Amazing Fireman Photo: "Courage and Dedication"

Cédric Sacilotto's (France; copyright 2007) photo Courage et dévouement (Courage and dedication): original; vertical version; other large desktop wallpapers.