Whitney Houston performed her first Australian gig in 12 years on Monday night and it sounds like she should have stayed home.  Many fans complained that she coughed frequently, couldn’t hit her high notes, had a raspy voice and took long breaks between songs.  She also took a water break (around 2:30 into the video) in the middle of singing “I Will Always Love You”.  Here is a clip shot by a fan in the crowd.  What do you think about it?  Leave us your comments below.  Are people being too tough on her or is she really not as good as she used to be?

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Billboard.com has published a list of The 50 Sexiest Songs of All-Time.

It isn’t a subjective list.  It’s based on the Hot 100 chart performances of songs that feature “subject matter [that is] is directly related to sex, in some way.”

Billboard ranked the songs on an “inverse point system,” which gave songs the most points for the number of weeks they spent at #1 and the least points for the weeks they spent at #100.  The data was pulled from 1958 up through last year.

Here’s the Top 10, along with their “sexiest lyric.”

#1.)  “Physical”,  OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN  . . . “I took you to an intimate restaurant, then to a suggestive movie / There’s nothing left to talk about unless it’s horizontally.”

#2.)  “Tonight’s the Night”,  ROD STEWART . . . “You’d be a fool to stop this tide / Spread your wings and let me come inside.”

#3.)  “I’ll Make Love To You”,  BOYZ II MEN . . . “Throw your clothes, on the floor / I’m gonna take my clothes off too / I made plans to be with you.”

#4.)  “Too Close”,  NEXT . . . “Baby when we’re grinding, I get so excited / Ooh, how I like it, I try but I can’t fight it.”

#5.)  “Let’s Get It On”,  MARVIN GAYE . . . “Don’t you know how sweet and wonderful life can be? / I’m asking you, baby, to get it on with me.”

#6.)  “Hot Stuff”,  DONNA SUMMER . . . “Wanna share my love with a warm blooded lover / Wanna bring a wild man back home.”

#7.)  “Do That To Me One More Time”,  CAPTAIN & TENNILLE . . . “Do that to me one more time / Once is never enough with a man like you.”

#8.)  “Like a Virgin”,  MADONNA . . . “Oooh, like a virgin / Feels so good inside.”

#9.)  “Kiss You All Over”,  EXILE . . . “Gonna wrap my arms around you, hold you close to me / Oh, babe, I wanna taste your lips, I wanna fill your fantasy.”

#10.)  “Da You Think I’m Sexy?”,  ROD STEWART . . . “His heart’s beating like a drum ‘cos at last he’s got this girl home / Relax baby, now we are alone.”

For the complete list of songs, click here

Recently, a website called SingleMindedWomen.com compiled a list of the ten best cities for Bachelorettes, based on stuff like employment opportunities, the cost of living, access to travel and entertainment, and the ratio of women to men.

According to the criteria, the ten best cities for single women are:

#10.)  Austin

#9.)  Dallas

#8.)  Pittsburgh

#7.)  Denver

#6.)  Phoenix

#5.)  Philadelphia

#4.)  Seattle

#3.)  New York City

#2.)  Washington, D.C.

#1.)  Boston 

Feel free to share your thoughts.  I’m not a single woman so I really can’t add much more to this or give an opinion other than I think that’s swell.

So, by now most people have either seen the show “Hoarders” or have read about it. I will admit that I love the show.  There is nothing I like more than hearing how these people explain why they need to save old Chicken Noodle Soup cans.  Their logic is almost really convincing.  I mean, there really could be a time when Campbell’s runs out of cans and this Hoarder can save them for not being able to can soup anymore by selling them the 5,327,453 cans they have piled up in the living room.  But I digress.  The only part that bores me is when they get too deep into the therapeutic side.  The way they baby them about tossing away 20 year old stale milk isn’t as fun to listen to when a Dr. is explaining it.  Let a comedian run the show and then we will next level Hoarders.  Can you imagine the show with Chris Rock as the host?
I find it very entertaining…but something is missing.  They call it a disease that has to be treated or some other blah blah blah like that.  I put some thought into a new Hoarders type show I want to produce and want to share it with you and see what you think before I contact Hollywood.  I want to call it “Hoard-Nappers”.
Here it is in a nutshell.  People submit stuff on their friends and family who are hoarders.  We then select our little hoarder and unexpectedly show up at their house, cameras already rolling.  We ring the door bell, and as soon as they open the door…we toss a pillow case over their head, tie them up, toss them into the waiting A-Team style van outside and bring them to a holding room complete with all the furnishings and comforts of a clean home minus a phone (as we would hate for them to call the cops so early into this).
We then just bring in the garbage people and toss all their junk.  Of course, we keep and organize the good stuff for them, but we just do it in a much faster fashion without the need of a Psychologist taking it paper by paper with the hoarder in question.  I also think that every so often you send a little video back to the hoarder (who remember, is tied up in seclusion with no clue as to what is going on) to show them what we are doing.  Think of it like when on Extreme Home Makeover they show the family down in Disney World the live video of the work crew demolishing their house.  It gives the family instant closure and shows them the light at the end of the tunnel is right before them.  In our case, we could show them clips of us tossing away their collection of coupons from the 70’s, empty frozen dinner boxes and a few dead things we are sure to find.  Of course, for the 20-30 living cats still there, we would call the animal shelter to come get them and find them new homes.
Hopefully, without the hoarder around to slow down production, we can shoot an episode in 1 day.  At the end of the day, we put the hoarder back in the van and drive them home.  When we drop them off, we tell them to count to 100 before they remove the pillowcase (as we want to make a clean break).  Of course we would already have installed hidden cameras in the house so we can see their reaction to the “reveal” (as they call it on Extreme Home Makeover).  Imagine their surprise as they take off the pillowcase and see their home clean and organized!  It would be the same reaction us non-hoarders would be if we walked into our house to find it looking like a dump.
The only downfall I can see in this idea is the potential to be charged with kidnapping, breaking and entering and possibly theft but I have to think if the person called the Police, what would they really say?  Someone kidnapped me for the day, brought me to a fully furnished room and cleaned my house?  They threw away all of my dead animals and old 2 liter soda bottles?  I have to think the Police would think it was a joke and hang up on them.
So there you have it.  THAT is my great idea.  If you want to be a part of “Hoard-Nappers”, let me know.  Production starts as soon as my boss gives me the green light.

Here is the video I talked about while interviewing Michael Lohan.  If you missed the interview, click here to listen to it.

It is that time of the year when all of the “Top 10 Lists” of the previous year come out!  Nielsen Soundscan released the final music sales numbers for 2009 and not surprisingly, it was all about Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Susan Boyle. Michael was the top selling artist of the year, moving 8.2 million albums– most of them after his death last June.

Here is the complete Top 10 List of the Top Selling Artists of 2009 (along with sales totals):

#1.) MICHAEL JACKSON, 8.2 million

#2.) TAYLOR SWIFT, 4.6 million

#3.) THE BEATLES, 3.2 million

#4.) SUSAN BOYLE, 3.1 million

#5.) LADY GAGA, 2.8 million

#6.) ANDREA BOCELLI, 2.6 million

#7.) MICHAEL BUBLÉ, 2.2 million

#8.) EMINEM, 2.1 million

#9.) CARRIE UNDERWOOD, 1.8 million

#10.) BLACK EYED PEAS, 1.8 million

So here we are a week or so into 2010 and as usual, all I hear about are New Years Resolutions. People talking about how they are going to lose weight, stop smoking, get out of debt, finally use that gym membership they’ve been paying for but never use and the list goes on and on and on. Do you want to know what my New Years Resolution is? Simple. Nothing.

I used to be one of those people who made a list of things I wanted to change in the New Year, but, there is only so much faliure one can take! I mean, how many people really have lost the weignt they wanted, stopped eating crap, stopped smoking etc.? The majority of us FAIL! Why set yourself up, right?

Besides, the more I thought about it, why do we need that date of January 1st to start making a difference in our lives? If I decide in June that I want to eat better, what good is it if I say “Well, once it is January 1, I’m going to eat better…but until then, let me enjoy another Popeye’s biscuit”. That leaves me 6 months of eating crap! By the time January comes around, I’ve probably hoarded more biscuits then normal out of fear that I will be giving them up! Now, I’ve packed on 20 more pounds I need to lose and then when I fail at “going to the gym” to lose weight, I’ll still be carrying around that “extra” 20 pounds!

If you really want to change something about yourself, why do you need a date? Just do it now and get the faliure over with so you can move on! Why stress out about it and hold yourself to these crazy timeframes? Seriously, I’m probably paying for 4-5 gym memberships based on New Years Resolutions. This year, now that I’m a “realist”, I did not sign up anywhere! When the time is right and I really want to go to the gym, they will still be there. If I ever want to really cutback on the crap I digest, fruit will still be there. If you smokers really want to quit, the patch isn’t going anywhere. Your lungs however, I can’t help you there. It isn’t like there is a lung store, but, I digress.

Frank Costanza had Festivus to celebrate Christmas without participating in the pressure and commercialization of the holiday. I think we need to create one for New Years Day so we can just enjoy the day off from work without feeling the pressure to make a New Years Resolution. I don’t know what to call it, but am open to ideas. Let’s start the movement now! What do ya’ think?

The editors over at Rolling Stone have released their list of the “25 Best Songs of 2009″ and I must say, I have no idea who half of these artists are and some of the ones I do, I have never even heard the song!  So I must ask, what do YOU think about this list?  Who is missing off of it?  With all of her popularity, I’m suprised Tayor Swift didn’t make the list.

1 | U2 — “Moment of Surrender”
2 | Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys — “Empire State of Mind”
3 | Bruce Springsteen — “Outlaw Pete”
4 | Miley Cyrus — “Party in the USA”
5 | Phoenix — “1901″
6 | Pearl Jam — “The Fixer”
7 | Dirty Projectors — “Stillness is the Move”
8 | The Big Pink — “Dominoes”
9 | Yeah Yeah Yeahs — “Zero”
10 | Lady Gaga — “Bad Romance”
11 | Avett Brothers — “I and Love and You”
12 | Wilco — “Wilco (The Song)”
13 | Animal Collective — “My Girls”
14 | Black Eyed Peas — “Boom Boom Pow”
15 | Kid Cudi — “Day and Night (Crookers Remix)”
16 | Franz Ferdinand — “Ulysses”
17 | Drake — “Successful”
18 | Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band — “Slowly (Oh So Slowly)”
19 | Miranda Lambert — “White Liar”
20 | Miike Snow — “Animal”
21 | Bat For Lashes — “Daniel”
22 | Peter, Bjorn and John — “Nothing to Worry About”
23 | Dawes — “That Western Skyline”
24 | Girls — “Hellhole Ratrace”
25 | La Roux — “Bulletproof”

Post a comment below with your thoughts!

….Well, maybe not in the way that he meant it in Wedding Crashers….but the line works for this blog post.

Over the weekend I had the chance to be the DJ at a fundraiser in my hometown of Pepperell. It was for a local family dealing with cancer. The young, married father of 3 young kids was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and even though had been given a good prognosis was starting a very tough road of treatment. They have insurance, but are responsible for the 1st $7000 of treatment plus anything not covered by insurance. Needless to say, they need help, prayers, support and good luck.

The family had rallied together to put on this fundraiser. They rented a hall, had some finger food brought in, purchased a Nintendo Wii to raffle off and also had a 50/50 raffle where the tickets were $100. I brought down my little DJ/Karaoke setup for entertainment and everything seemed to come together.

What really struck me was when I met his little daughter (I won’t use her name as I just decided to write this and would want to ask permission 1st). She was a beautiful little 7 year old girl. After talking withher and telling her some of my horrible little kid appropriate jokes (and yes, she humored me and laughed), I found out that she was in the same grade as my daughter. I asked her if she knew “Libbie” and and she said, “Is here real name Elizabeth?”. While they were not in the same class, she did know her and even remembered who she had for a teacher last year! It was at that moment that I realized this wonderful little girl had a father who has cancer and even though she was aware of it, was strong. It made me think of my daughter (as well as my son) and what would be going though my mind if this was me going through this? Would I have the $7000 to pay this deductible? Could my family survive with me out of work for months? I could go on and on with the questions I would have in my head, but I think you all get the picture. It is scary and something I pray I or anyone else never has to go through. I am glad this family has the support it does to help lighten the load a bit.

The little girl asked if she could sing some Karaoke. I said no problem and asked her what she wanted to sing. She picked the song Barbie Girl, which at the time I thought was just a fun little song. Well, a minute into it, I realized for the 1st time in MANY years of playing it, that it really wasn’t appropriate for a 7 year old to sing and quickly changed over to a much safer Taylor Swift song! She was so happy singing for everyone and received a nice round of applause from the crowd.

Near the end of the night, the winners were announced. There were 4 people who won cash in the 50/50 raffle. At the time of me writing this, 3 of the 4 winners donated their winnings back (which were $1000.00 a piece!). It was really generous of the winners to donate the money back. These days, everyone could use extra money, but when you step back and take a look at it, this family needs it more. It was also great to know his work was behind him 100% and bought some 50/50 tickets and were helping him at work.

What made me post this today is that this is just 1 example of someone (or a family) who are dealing with cancer (or any other serious disease). Most are not as lucky as this family is to have people put together a fundraiser like this to help them. Some people are also afraid to ask for help. Either way, there is much more we can all to do help people. I encourage everyone out there to take the time to find out how members of your family are, how your neighbors are, how people in your community are and do what you can to make a difference.

Here at MIKE-FM, we have a page called “Random Acts of Kindness”. You can click on it from our homepage, or here is a direct link: http://www.937mikefm.com/pages/5069381.p… At MIKE-FM, on December 18th we will be doing our annual “Request for Help” to benefit the Franciscan Hospital for Children. If you have not heard of them yet, I encorage you to check them out at: http://www.franciscanhospital.org/

I had the chance to visit this hospital last year and it is full of wonderful people helping wonderful kids in need. They not only are looking for donations of any amount, but also for donations of just your time. You can play a game with a child or just hold a baby who is sick and whose parents have to work to pay the bills during the day or is parent-less. This hospital takes in the kids that Children’s Hospital can’t take due to the severity of the illness (or at least that is how I understand it). They have a wonderful staff there and I encourage all of you to take the time to go to their site and see how you can make a difference.

That is what this is all about. People helping People. If we all just do what we can, it can make a world of difference to those in need. If you have money and can donate to a cause, great. If you don’t but can spare and hour every now and then reading to a sick child or stopping by to check on a senior citizen in your town who is home bound, great. Maybe you can just get a few donations and participate in a walk or attend a local fundraiser like I spoke of about and just pay a few bucks to get in…it all matters and makes a difference.

Life isn’t about how much money you make, how expensive your house is or what kind of car you drive.  If you have kids, it is about spending as much time with them that you can, teach them right and make a lot of great memories.  Keep your family and friends close and be there for each other.  When you need help, ask.  When you see someone needs help, offer.

Okay, well that is my sensitive post for the year. Now, off to go get a diet coke and find a way to skip some meetings around here and take a nap on the couch!

I was watching Sponge Bob with my 7 year old last night and during a commercial, a Public Service Announcement came on.  It had some teenage boy dressed up as a cell phone and it was about teen dating.  The boy was sending the girl text messages non-stop and they show him as the cell phone and he is saying what he is texting her.  It was ok until the last text he sent, which again, he is saying out loud while dressed as a cell phone: “Nude pics….send me some”.

Now, I get what the message is.  Kids go through this more and more these days….there is a ton of pressure I’m sure.  How many times have you heard over the past year about “sexting” and the Police having to go into schools to investigate these incidents.  I have no problem with the PSA, BUT, I do think 7pm during Sponge Bob is NOT where it should be shown.

Sponge Bob (even though many adults watch it) is for kids I would guess between 3-10?  It’s on Nickelodeon! I do not know of many kids in that age range who have a cell phone (even though I read a post on Facebook recently from a high school classmate who was amazed to see 7 year olds talking on cell phones in Nebraska…which I think was fake because since when did Nebraska get cell phone service, but I digress).  And how many of them are even in a relationship where the boy is asking them to take nude pictures to text over?  My 7 year old has a “boyfriend”….but they maybe say hi once per day at school, she doesn’t know where he lives and if I am correct they will be over each other in 2 days because her other friend likes him and she now likes someone else.  The drama that comes in 2nd grade!

I think this PSA should have been put on a channel or during a commercial break of a show that teenagers watch, not little kids.  The PSA shown is compelling in the fact that the kid is dressed up like a cell phone and is sure to draw kids in to watch it as they find it amusing.  But in the end, I do not want her asking me what “sending a nude picture is”!  I do not need that to be in her mind as even a thought!  She should be thinking about what crayon to use for her drawing or how she can’t wait to go to girl scouts!

Kids these days are exposed to a lot at an early age.  No matter how much we try to protect them and let them just be kids, something always seems to find it’s way through when you least expect it.  I just didn’t expect it to be on Nickelodeon and about sending nude pics!

I would love to know what you think. Am I over reacting?  Would you be comfortable with your little one seeing this?  Feel free to post your comments below…just remember to fill out the “captcha” thing below where you put your comments so it can be posted.

Here is the PSA if you haven’t seen it.