High School Musical

For the most part I wasn’t a fan of high school, which honestly had as much to do with me as it did with school and the usual teenage angst. But in my OAC year (Grade 13 which was mandatory in Ontario), I had a lot of fun thanks to my friends and thanks to coming into my own. Part of that growth involved embracing my nostalgic love for the cartoons of my youth and discovering how many of my friends also loved these shows. To that end I created a CD called Big Sexy Toons, a combination of my nickname “Big Sexy” and a popular CD collection called “Big Shiny Toons,” and used to play it frequently in school. Thanks to Rob Chung and Darcy Studer, we installed a stereo system in Darcy’s locker and played music each morning before class. At first some people didn’t quite understand the appeal of these songs, but soon most were asking for a copy of the CD and I made a few dozen of these discs in my youth. I’ve noticed that a lot of my co-workers share an affinity for these songs and it reminded me how much times past can positively impact the present. These songs not only remind me of how much I loved these shows, but the fun I experienced while watching these shows with my family.

So here it is, the complete track listing for Big Sexy Toons: Volume 1, only available in Canada during the 1999-2000 school year and only to my high school friends. How’s that for limited edition? I know people will ask, but I cannot copy this disc and send copies to anyone. I don’t own the rights to these songs so any distribution would be illegal and no, I have no idea how one would collect these songs if one wanted to right now.

BIG SEXY TOONS: Volume 1

1. Teknoman theme song
2. Saber Rider & The Star Sherrifs theme song
3. Robotech theme song
4. Voltron: Defender of The Universe theme song
5. Transformers theme song
6. Go-Bots theme song
7. G.I Joe theme song
8. Pryde of The X-Men theme song
9. Batman: The Animated Series theme song
10. Super-Friends theme song
11. Swamp Thing theme song
12. Spider-Man theme song(60’s)
13. Spiderman & His Amazing Friends theme song
14. Wild C.A.T.S theme song
15. Darkwing Duck theme song
16. Thundercats theme song
17. Silverhawks theme song
18. M.A.S.K theme song
19. Captain N & The Adventures of Super Mario 3 theme song
20. James Bond Jr theme song
21. Captain Planet & The Planeteers Theme Song
22. Gargoyles theme song
23. Duck Tales theme song
24. Rescue Rangers theme song
25. Fat Albert theme song
26. Tick theme song
27. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song
28. Speed Racer theme song
29. Scooby Doo theme song
30. Tiny Toon Adventures theme song
31. Garfield & Friends theme song
32. Heathcliff theme song
33. Samurai Pizza Cats theme song
34. Denver the Last Dinosaur theme song
35. He-Man theme song
36. She-Ra: Princess of Power theme song
37. Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin theme song
38. Woody Woodpecker theme songs
39. Gummi Bears theme song
40. Winnie The Pooh theme song
41. Smurfs theme song
42. Muppet Babies theme song
43. Care Bears theme song
44. My Little Pony theme song
45. Jem & The Holograms theme song
46. Alvin & The Chipmunks
47. Jetsons theme song
48. Flinstones theme song
49. Yogi Bear theme song
50. Tom & Jerry theme song
51. Rocky & Bullwinkle theme song
52. My Pet Monster theme song
53. Raccoons theme song (”Run With Us”)
54. Astro Boy theme song
55. Mighty Hercules theme song
56. Chilli Willy theme song
57. Droids theme song
58. Ewoks theme song
59. Ghostbusters theme song

Arune.Com’s Weekly YouTube Fix

Time to show some videos, eh? The first one features WWE wrestler Edge (pictured above) in a hilarious Mad TV sketch parodying Canadians, Korean soap operas and wrestling in general. Just great stuff and another reason why Edge is so damn charismatic.

Edge is awesome. “I am such a sexy and strapping young man! How could it be that I am overpowered by a mere pork dumpling?”

Next we have…more wrestling, with an edition of TNA Today, featuring an interview with AJ Styles and some other stuff of interest to TNA fans.

Here’s a good one from the band “The Shins” for their song “Phantom Limb.” Great little tune you’ve probably heard somewhere that made you wonder “who is that band?” Their whole disc is great, though “Australia” is easily my favorite song and the one I like to listen to on repeat.

And we’ll end with a clip from season six of my favorite television show ever– The Shield. I don’t write about it more often because, frankly, it would take forever to write something discussing this show in the depth it requires. But if I could only watch one television show, it’d be this one.

Do I Like This Or Not?

You ever indulge in some entertainment that intellectually doesn’t seem that enjoyable, but still find yourself enjoying it nonetheless? Let me use an example in the form of the band “Fall Out Boy” and their new song, “It’s Not A Scene, It’s An Arms Race.” I don’t very much like the song for a number of reasons, but I can’t help but hum along to it and actually downloaded it from iTunes because I couldn’t get the song out of my head & wanted to learn the lyrics to the song. I hate singing along to a song whose lyrics are unknown to me. You can listen to the song in the video below so you have an idea what I’m talking about when I make further comments.

It’s a catchy song, eh? There’s nothing offensive about it and it’s a genuinely fun song. But my instinctive response is to not like the song. The lyrics strike me as a bit silly and there’s nothing unique about the chord arrangement. It sounds like half a dozen other songs in many ways. That in mind, I can’t help but sing along to the song and enjoy it. The vocals are barely decipherable at some moments, which is one my pet peeves, because I hate when it’s not easy to understand the words to a song. No matter how many issues I have with it, I can’t reconcile that with how much I love hearing the song. This may seem like a stupid thing to be considering and perhaps that’s correct, but every time I hear the song I’m torn between loving it while hearing it and sort of hating it afterwords, like the musical equivalent of junk food. Anyone else have experiences similar to this? It’s just one of those weird feelings that never made sense to me and isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just one that’s interesting to me.

And to be clear, I know we all have our own tastes and if this is a song you like, more power to ya– I respect your right to disagree.

Arune.Com’s Weekly YouTube Fix

Yeah, we’re back a bit early this week (but no wrestling this time!), but I expect at least one of these videos to be deleted quite quickly, so we’re back! Our first video is one you’ve likely seen on Seinfeld, featuring George’s infamous answering machine in all its glory. I wish I knew how to create a voicemail message like this with music and the works.

Now this is the clip you’ll probably not find for long– the last 10 minutes of The OC’s season finale. The final montage with Ryan is quite touching for those fans who’ve stuck with the show through its entirety. It was an excellent final season and while I’ll miss the show, it ended perfectly.

We’ll end with the video for “Forever Young,” a cover by the band Youth Group, who happen to be Australian and have a real great CD out right now entitled “Casino Twilight Dogs.” Great song.

Arune.Com’s Weekly YouTube Fix

Sure, this season of 24 seems universally greeted with shrugs and sighs (though some obviously love it and more power to ‘em), but we can’t forget the show’s rich history. Watch Kiefer Sutherland explain the infamous “Damn It!” drinking game to Jay Leno and then see lots of clips of the aforementioned phrase being uttered. I wonder if there could be a “YouTube Damn It Video” drinking game, where you take shots during this video.

Next we’ve got some wrestling from the underrated Paul Burchill, who performs the insanely awesome “c4″ move. You’ll see it at the end and while the trick isn’t hard to figure out, it still looks cool.

Finally, we’ll end with an expletive filled video featuring Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and television actor Dennis Hastings (aka Mr Belding from Saved By The Bell) singing a classic Journey song.

Arune.Com’s Weekly YouTube Fix

We’re back with more videos this week, simply because it’s always fun to run these videos and get comments from people who enjoy the unique Arune.Com mix of videos. This first clip involves Johnny Damon, star player for the New York Yankees, getting involved in TNA’s upcoming pay-per-view. Yes, baseball players wrestle and cut really good promos.

We’ve got another TNA video, one that wrestling fans will enjoy– the return of Scott Steiner. It was a great ending to this week’s episode of Impact.

Now here’s another blast from the past for Canadian readers– the music video to “Ooh It’s Kinda Crazy” by soulDecision. I think this was their biggest song in Canada, or at the very elast it was the one I heard most often. It’s their most fun video and while it’s quite dated, it’s still an enjoyable 4 minutes or so.

We’ll end with a Smallville music video made by a fan, featuring the Justicle League and the Spider-Man song “Hero.”

Arune.Com’s Weekly YouTube Fix

We’re back with more videos and the first one up is one of my all time favorites: “Angels” by Robbie Williams. I’m not sure if there’s a better “drinking song” in the world, but this is my favorite song to hear after a few beers or with some very happy friends. While Williams never made it big in the US, this song was covered by Jessica Simpson and Williams is a huge success in the rest of the world. to learn more about Robbie Williams, go here.

Here’s the now infamous Justin Timberlake SNL sketch “Dick In A Box,” which spoofs 90s boy band songs. I didn’t really laugh much, but I’m sure others will love it– it’s just not my cuppa.

This clip is probably only of interest to wrestling fan, as it is an exceprt from Phenomenal: The Best Of AJ Styles Volume 2, arriving in stores this April and focusing on TNA Wrestling’s AJ Styles, one of my favorite wrestlers in the business. To learn more about AJ, go here.

By now you know that the Montreal Canadiens are the greatest hockey team ever (don’t argue!) and Sheldon Souray is one of my favorite players on the team. We’ve got a fight between Sheldon Souray and Darren McCarty as our last video. I’ve never liked hockey fights all that much, as it never made sense to me why the refs let it all happen, but I’m slowly warming up to the fights. I figure it lets the guys sort out their issues there and then, theoretically, to go back to playing the game without any tension. I know it doesn’t really work that way, but I’d like to think that’s part of the philosophy about it all. To learn more about Souray, go here.

Great Canadian Music

That name may not be accurate to all, as I’d even be hard pressed to call most of these songs “great,” but I enjoyed them in my youth and enjoy them to this day. As an addition to the recent post about Canadian Literature I’ve enjoyed, I also hope to make a list of the best foods you’ll only find in Canada…or at least the ones you won’t find in America. Onto the music!

We’ll start with rock pretty boy Edwin (Learn More) and his single “Alive.” Widely considered his best song by many– including myself– the song is an affirmation of life and the circle of life. His first album, “Spin Around The Sun,” is my favorite and his efforts since then have been, well, not my cup of tea. He’s a talented guy, but it’s only his first album that seems to conenct with me and frankly, it’s such a strong album that I don’t mind. It’s very “commercial,” but it’s hard not to enjoy at least a few tracks on it, though I’m sure I’ll hear from many who don’t like it.

Now this song is pure late-nineties pop, so your mileage may vary and even then, you gotta admt it’s one catchy tune. I’m talking about the band soulDecision (Learn More) and their hit song “Faded,” which also features Canadian rapper Thrust. To this day I think the video is horribly cheesy and kills the vibe of the song, but it’s a catchy tune. I’ve never heard anything past their first album and while I wish these guys the best of luck, considering the sales of their second album, it may make sense they’re not together any longer.

If there’s a more pretentious Canadian band than The Tea Party (Learn More)– and only Matthew Good Band comes to mind– then I haven’t heard of ‘em. These guys so often layer their songs in riddle and metaphor that it becomes an exhausting listen. Other times, like with this song “Heaven Coming Down,” they find a great balance and really surprise me. I love the band, have quite a few of their albums, but they’re a hard one to recommend simply because they can be quite polarizing. That in mind, this was always one of those overplayed radio songs back in my high school days and it helped introduce me to modern rock music, so I have a soft spot for the song and the band.

We’ll end with the band you probably all know best, Canadian rock star Our Lady Peace (Learn More). This is their hit song “One Man Army” and probably one of my favorite songs from the band, even if the video is a bit odd to me. There’s not much exceptional about their music, but I’ve never found the band pretentious or trying to be something they’re not, so I’ve never minded it all being ordinary. Their music is always just fun and while they haven’t released much new of late– besides some new tracks on a “Best Of” album– I do look forward to what they release next. If nothing else, these guys are always trying something, something I can respect regardless of how much I enjoy their songs (which I usually do).

Arune.Com’s Weekly YouTube Fix

We’re back this week, with a nice mix of videos and we’ll get right into them. First we have a recap of Montreal Canadiens star Saku Koivu scoring some nice goals over the 2005-2006 season. And we all know that the Canadiens are the greatest hockey team ever.

Next we’ve got the video for “Enemy,” the new single from Chris Jericho & Fozzy. As many of you know, Jericho is one of the coolest wrestlers of the last decade and while he produced this video for TNA, I’m hoping he returns to wrestling with the WWE or even TNA.

We’ll end with a video of the Batusi, Adam West’s infamous Batman dance that has been immortalized at my BATUSI FEVER website.

When In A Big City…

…why would you want to listen to your iPod when you’re walking around? Maybe I need to live in a large city for a greater amount of time (besides Toronto), but I find that the sounds of people talking loudly (often rudely) and machinery in the background (from a subway to a taxi) is actualy quite hypnotic. I’m sure the sound can get repetitive and annoying after a while, but right now it’s a sign of how vibrant and alive a city can be, how many diverse experiences are available and a reminder of how lucky people are to be in this city.

I can even understand listening to music on the subway, but there are so many great sounds– not “noises”– permeating the city that it seems a waste not to induldge in that experience. On a more practical note, in any high crime city, it seems smart to maintain awareness of your surroundings, something that would be impaired by music blaring in your ears. I also like to keep music aside to listen to during happy times, such as working out or writing around the home, because I’d rather associate it with relaxing than stress. It’s odd how the mind works. I’m sure that someone can make a compelling argument for listening to music and walking around NYC, so to each their own I guess.

Of course, one could point out that while driving you could absorb the same atmosphere by truning off your radio and I like to blare my music fairly loudly, so I’m not following my own advice. I find that walking, by its very nature, seems more in line with enjoying the landscape and sounds of a city than driving, which can feel more stressful in a large city with all of the quick thinking required while navigating around a metropolis.