The Voices in Frank's Head

First, yes, I know it's been forever since I've updated this blog. I said it was possibly ending, but after a couple of years, I finally had something that I wanted to share. This simply seemed like the best vehicle for putting it out into the universe. With the help of some friends on Facebook, I managed to create at least the first draft of my bucket list. I will invariably add a few things to this as the years go on. However, I figured it was time to at least start one. Therefore, in no particular order, here are the items on my bucket list. Drive Route 66 from beginning to end; Visit Prague; Visit a random city and take a walk that only ends once I've taken a picture of every letter of the alphabet; Attend the Pierogi Festival in Whitting, Indiana; Visit the American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa. This, by the way, is the house that Grant Wood posed his models in front of in his famous painting, American Gothic . Go to Chicago and re-enact Ferris Bueller...

Adam Yauch photo by Fabio Venni Adam Yauch , co-founder of the Beastie Boys , past away today at the age of 47 after a lengthy battle with cancer. Back in the late 1980s and 90s, I used to hate the Beastie Boys. When one of their songs came on the radio, I always changed the station. It was only really in the past decade or so that I've realized the pure beauty in the rebellious, if at times obnoxious, nature of their music. Adam Yauch, you will be missed.

Katy Perry's  new video for "Part of Me" shows her becoming a United States Marine after a huge break up with her boyfriend. I have to admit that the I never thought I'd find the words "Katy Perry" and "Marine" in the same sentence. However, I love this one. The video is fresh, provocative, and a lot of fun to watch. I simply love it. Kudos to whoever came up with this idea.

I want to wish a Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of the readers of my personal blog (all three dozen of you). In honor of the Feast of St. Patrick, I wanted to share a song from one of my favorite Irish rock bands of all. I give you "My Town" by The Young Dubliners . Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Pan Am returns to ABC tomorrow night - and I am really looking forward to it. This show has really found its footing. When I first said that the show was an Emmy contender, people thought I was nuts. They said it would be lucky to avoid cancellation. But now Pan Am is back for a full season and an Emmy nomination doesn't seem all that far fetched anymore. My prediction is that it will almost certainly get nominations for art direction and costume design. Writing and acting nominations are a distinct possibility as well in my opinion. If you haven't already checked out Pan Am , I highly recommend it. In the meantime, I give you a short video clip featuring "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" by Nikki Jean .

I am falling in love with Sean Quigley's  version Little Drummer Boy . It has a strong rock and roll influence, but maintains the timeless quality of the original carol. I'm amazed that this video was created by a 16 year old high school student from Winnipeg, Canada.

I very well may be the only person in Detroit who feels this way, but I'm happy that Nickelback is going to play the halftime show on Thursday. The way I figure it, no matter what happens on Thanksgiving, we're pretty much guaranteed that the Detroit Lions won't have the worst performance of the day.

She Wears an Yellow Bikini in Honor of Lee Pockriss Lee Pockriss , who wrote such catchy songs as "Itsy, Bitsy, Teeny, Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini", passed away at his home last week at the age of 87. He went on to write music for The Muppets  as well as movies like Sister Act 2  and Revenge of the Nerds 2 . Lee Pockriss will be missed by all who love music.

Some interesting press releases find their way into my email in-box. I got this one from a group called Fight for the Future. It's one of the more interesting ones that I've received and I will post in its entirety below, without any further editing, just because I find it so provocative. Justin Bieber - Headed to Jail WORCESTER, MA -- Fight for the Future (FFTF), a new organization vowing to fight for Americans' tech freedoms, warns Justin Bieber and his fans that the teen pop sensation could suffer five brutal years in prison if a bill pending in the Senate becomes law. S.978 (text below) by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) would make it a felony for Internet users to stream unlicensed content 10 times in 180 days. The bill is being pushed by the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, and others who seek to crush to Internet freedoms for the sake of higher corporate profits. ...

Pecha Kucha Night in Detroit The tenth installment of Pecha Kucha Night will be on Friday, October 11 at the historic Doubletree Suites in downtown Detroit. This is an excellent opportunity to see what some of the best creative minds in Michigan have been up to. If you, or someone that you know, would like to present at PKN X then please submit a 300 word summary of your work along with some sample image of it to pkndetroit [at] gmail [dot] com no later than October 23.

There's an article on WikiHow.com that offers guidance on how one can be "Bohemian." "Oh, really?" I thought when I stumbled upon this. I have to admit that I split on this one. My paternal grandparents came to this country from Bohemia , which is the western most province in what is today the Czech Republic. I have to admit that there is a portion of me that is mildly irritated by hipsters grabbing onto my heritage. However, if this is something that gets folks to read books that they might not otherwise read, listen to music that they might not otherwise listen, and generally broaden their creative horizons then I'm fairly confident that Grandma and Grandpa Nemecek would happy about it all.

I got one of the very first Spotify accounts in the United States. The folks at Spotify actually said, "Frank, we've always been impressed with your incredibly awesome task in music. Will you please open an account with us?" Okay - it might not have gone down exactly like that. Regardless, I did get one of the first Spotify accounts in the United States. As such, I thought it would be fun to share a couple of my music lists. Frank's Fun Mix is an eclectic mix of pop, hip-hop, and rock music that spans the past 20 years. Everyone of the songs on this list makes my day just a little bit better. It includes both national acts as well as a couple of great Detroiters. You can listen to it by clicking here . Irish & Proud is fun mix of music by Irish and Irish-American musicians. For the delightful pop sounds to The Corrs, to the storytelling of Gaelic Storm, to the Celtic Rock of the Young Dubliners. You can listen to it by clicking here . No wonder the folks at...

I thought about using my mad video editing skills to create a video tribute to the men and women in America's armed forces. However, as any glance at YouTube will reveal, there is no shortage of such works. There really isn't anything left for me to contribute. Instead, I thought I would take a moment to honor the troops by showcasing some of the videos that they made themselves to deal with the monotony of life in a combat zone. The 380th Air Expeditionary Wing out of Al Dhafra Air Force Base in the United Arab Emirates handles air refueling, reconnaissance, and combat support for operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq. More importantly, as this video below shows, the airmen of the 380th are very hot. The job of securing the personnel and equipment of the U.S. Air Force is done be a dedicated team of security policemen. These brave men and women are ready to handle any hostile force that approaches and, as this video below shows, they are clearly ready for American Idol ...

Britney Spears  never really set any records for musical talent. However, she managed to set a new record for the most product placements in a music video . Britney Spears is such a national treasure.

I was surfing around on YouTube the other evening. Britney Spears  has a new song up, which I listened to out of curiosity. I was shocked though when I saw one of the advertising overlays that showed up. Yes, a Britney Spears video was paired with an advertisement for "private drug rehab." This makes me laugh for reasons that could never be described in a blog post. I'm not sure if it's something that was arranged or if it's just one of those happy coincidences. Regardless, this is one of those things that make me laugh.

Traffic on my blog has more than doubled over the past month. A lot of folks have discovered my site after my posts about Rachel Nichols appearing on Criminal Minds  as well as in this one really weird dream that I had . Others continue to discover my blog after my posts about Heidi Montag  and fake boobs . Regardless of how you find my blog, I'm glad that you did. If you are one of my new readers, I would like to welcome you to my site. I invite you to follow my blog with Google Friend Connect by clicking the "follow" button in the right hand column. You'll be able to keep up with all of my blog posts and assorted rantings. Besides, my fellow Detroiter, Uncle Kracker , thinks that it would be really cool if you followed my blog. He even wrote a song about it. Uncle Kracker has never steered you wrong, has he?

A friend of mine made a really cool music video for "I Know" by David Lynch . It's cool, but definitely not safe for work. If you're prepared for some R rated content, please take a moment to check out this video and vote for it. "I Know" by David Lynch | Genero.tv

It looks like my next chance to see Gaelic Storm live in concert will be Saturday, March 5 at the House of Blues in Cleveland. I've never been to Cleveland. I figure this will be my chance to see one of the best live bands around and visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Gaelic Storm - Tour Dates

One of my favorite live bands in the world is Gaelic Storm. Half of their show is the funnier than most comedy clubs. The other half is some of the best Irish music imaginable. Unfortunately, they haven't been in the Detroit area in awhile. This means that I have to make a road trip whenever I want to see them. This video gives a fairly good idea of why I think it's worthwhile to drive a couple hundred miles to see these guys.

I've come to the conclusion that the first person to figure out how to combine karaoke and auto-tune will be an overnight billionaire. It probably won't be me. However, if this post inspires anyone, please remember your friendly neighborhood muse.