Happy New Year!

May it be happy, healthy, prosperous, and better than the last (with the exception of the whole Mayan calendar thing lol)! Here's AccuRadio's Happy New Year channel to help set the mood. If you made any resolutions, feel free to share them...maybe it'll inspire someone else! As for me, I don't really do new year's resolutions: they never seem to pan out somehow :-p. But good luck, and may yours do so for you!

Holiday Music

2011 Holiday Barbie

Where's the time gone?! Seems like only yesterday we were in January, now we've hit December, Thanksgiving's come and gone, and Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are rapidly approaching...so to celebrate, here's a listing of some holiday music stations. Enjoy, and may you and yours have a happy and safe holiday season!
181.FM (just scroll down and you'll find them)
AccuRadio.com station listings
Aol Radio station listings (under "Christmas")
Slacker station listings (under "Christmas")

Big R Radio
Christmas Rock
Christmas Top 40
Christmas Country
Christmas Classics

Got Radio: Christmas Celebration
Got Radio: Country Christmas
Live 365: Christmas station listings

Some Hanukkah music for my Jewish readers!
AccuRadio: Smooth Hanukkah
AOL Radio: Hanukkah
Slacker Radio: Hanukkah
Live 365: Hanukkah

And if you're like me and don't have a fireplace, thanks to YouTube, you can enjoy some burning logs in a fireplace for five hours (hey, it works for me lol).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving! Some music I found to help celebrate: Thanksgiving Dinner from ITunes Essentials...enjoy!

Barbie Does Dancing With The Stars

I happened to be browsing the Barbie Collector's site and found something that made me lmao and exclaim OMGDS! Seems like America's sweetheart is also celebrating the hit reality show with three new dolls:

Paso Doble

Samba

Waltz

Here's two couples that aren't DWTS related, but made me think of it immediately:

Tango Barbie & Ken

The Waltz Barbie & Ken

Congrats again to this year's winner J. R. Martinez, and see everyone back in the ballroom next year!

Fairy Tale Theater

Two shows I've been enjoying very much that have come out in the last few weeks have taken the classic Grimm's fairy tales and turned them on their ear (s?) are NBC's Grimm and ABC's Once Upon a Time. Grimm follows police detective Nick Burkhardt who sees things others can't. He learns from his cancer stricken aunt that he's one of the last Grimms...a race of people that can see and track down supernatural creatures. With the help of his partner Hank and one of the supes named Monroe (who's the only one other than his aunt that knows who knows about Nick's ability), Nick does his best to solve strange cases and keep his "talent" from everyone else. In Once, we discover that every fairy tale character we know has been transported to a small town in Maine named Storybrook by an evil queen. The problem is, they can't remember who they are. So it's up to a bail coordinator named Emma Swan to help break the spell and come to terms with the fact that she's the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. These shows somehow make their premises believable, and I highly recommend checking them out if you haven't already. Happy Viewing!


Grimm site
Once Upon a Time site

An album I found that makes a great warm up to viewing:
Nox Arcana's Grimm Tales

The 1990s

As Janet Jackson once said, "that's the end?" The answer, yes! We've reached the end of the 20th century this week with the last in our decade spotlights: the 1990s! This one has got to be one of the harder ones for me to write about because I remember more about this decade than any other as this was the period of my adolescence...I stared the decade at eight going on nine, and ended it at 18, and there's so much I remember. A sort of double edged sword so to speak. The whole President Clinton scandal, the divorce of Prince Charles and Lady Di as well as her tragic death, the O J trial, and the internet becoming a major force in our lives near decade's end. Musically, I remember the great pop hits and grunge from early in the decade, alternative hits in the middle and end, and the rise of  rap and hip-hop. Cell phones becoming popular for the first time, and, of course, the TV shows...ah, Friends, Party of Five, Blossom, Boy Meets World, Buffy, ect. How we loved you. Oh, and the cloning of Dolly the sheep. And how can we forget the Oklahoma City bombings? A huge event of the '90s for me? The birth of my half sister who turned 18 this past January.

Totally Hair Barbie

And that's it folks! Hope you enjoyed this nine part trip down memory lane as much as I did!

Music Links

AccuRadio.com: '90s channels

Recommended nonfiction:

The 1980s

Ah, we've reached Friday again folks, and here we go again with another decade spotlight...and it's a doozie: that's right, we've reached another decade taste forgot, the 1980s! Now this one I can say I have some memories of (barely, but some nonetheless), as besides video games, teased hair, the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Di, and MTV, there was another thing born in the 80s...me! Yep, yours truly joined the ranks of the living a mere five days after MTV as a matter of fact, and since for most of my youth I lived on and off with my aunt who turned 18 the year I was born, it's thanks to her that I can say I literally grew up with the fledgling network (which also makes me just old enough to remember when MTV was actually good, but that's another story for another day). I don't think I have much to add here as the era is more in vogue now than it's been in the 22 years since it ended, but I'll list some of the things I remember most, and for me, that was the toys! Oh man, how I wish I could've kept more of my stuff, would be worth a lot today I'll bet! Anyhoo, here are they are:

Toys I had that were introduced in the 80s:

• Rainbow Bright
• My Little Pony
• Care Bears
• Glow worm
• Pogo Ball (though I had give that to my cousin's older sisters because I couldn't use it)
• Jem doll
• Mother Goose storyteller
• Cabbage Patch Dolls (I still have the three I got)
• My Child doll (I miss her to this day)
• Lady Lovely Locks Enchanted Isle Maiden Misty Curls doll (I had a LLL card game too)

And what was probably my most used toy:

Believe it or not! It was my tape player for various things for a looong time Lol.

And how can we forget the TV shows? Then there was the music...but I won't take up anymore space on that. We all know how awesome it is, and every Saturday, I listen to it all day. Max Headroom, the Rubric's Cube, Simon, the list just goes on. But what can I say, I love the 80s.

And now, Barbie takes on some famous faces:

Flashdance

Dynasty's Alexis

Dynasty's Krystle

Debbie Harry

Joan Jett

Cyndi Lauper

80s Cher

That's all for this week folks! Next week, we finish up our spotlights with the 1990s!

Music Links

AccuRadio.com: '80s channel listings

KROQ of the 80s

Buy

Recommended nonfiction:

The 1970s

TGIF everyone! In this stop in the Decade Spotlight series, we highlight the "decade that taste forgot" the 1970s! Ah yes, the era of leisure suits and peacock fashion for men, hotpants, feathered hair, and platforms for women. The war in Vietnam finally ended, Title IV and Roe Vs. Wade became law, and the feminist movement hit its zenith. Then there was the debacle known as Watergate caused our president to resign for the first time in history. Musically, rock became more divided and bigger, disco and punk hit the airwaves, and Elvis permanently left the building (or did he? Muahahaha!). We also lost three of rock's biggest stars when Jimmi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison checked out way too soon. This is the decade that brought us something that would change our lives forever as Bill Gates brought us Microsoft and the now late Steve Jobs brought us Apple:

Other things that pop into my head when I think of the '70s? Pet rocks, mood rings, the continuation of lava lamps (hey, I love mine!), roller discos, and, oh yeah, this baby:

Any other thoughts, or stories? Share them below!

Peace and Love '70s Barbie

Celebrate, Disco Doll! Barbie

Celebrate, Disco Doll! Barbie

70s Cher

Kelly as Charlie's Angels

Farrah Fawcett

That's all for this time folks! Next up, oh lordy, the 1980s!

Julie series

September 1-mid September, 1975

Autumn, 1975

December, 1975-February 14, 1976

April 4-May 1, 1976

June 13-July 4, 1976

Autumn, 1976

June, 1976

November 14-25, 1976

February 4-12, 1977

March 6-20, 1977

April 9-16, 1977

Late summer, 1977

Music Links

Accuradio.com: 1970s stations

Class of 1975 playlist

Class of 1976 playlist 

Class of 1977 playlist

Buy

Recommended nonfiction: