That’s my update for now, thank you for your continued support and I’ll talk to you soon!

I love Christmas music…for me the songs are refreshing and can bring out happiness and hope.  Here are some Christmas albums I have come across over the last couple years that I enjoy listening to and highly recommend:

Third Day Christmas Offerings – When I saw Third Day performing in Nashville one spring, it seemed odd when they started playing a Christmas song. Turns out they were recording live tracks for their album Christmas Offerings, which was released later that year. Christmas Offerings has a great Southern rock vibe and while the songs are changed up slightly, the band keeps the tunes loyal to the originals. Check out the single “Born in Bethlehem.”

Diana Krall Christmas Songs – A classy, intimate album that often features the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. You can hear some of these songs played at Starbucks and it’s a great album to play softly when guests are over on Christmas.

Josh Groban Noël – Sure to be a holiday classic, this song contains a lot of Christmas favorites and includes collaborations with Faith Hill and Brian McKnight. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is an emotional, standout song as Christmas greetings from troops overseas are featured on the track. A great album that has been a holiday bestseller for the last couple years.

Dave Koz Memories of a Winter’s Night – Dave Koz has made several Christmas records and this is a great one. Memories of a Winter’s Night is an easy listening jazz album that features songs such as “Deck the Halls,” “Silver Bells,” and “Boogie Woogie Santa.” Collaborations include Kelly Sweet, American Idol contestant Kimberly Locke, Rick Braun, Brenda Russell.

Ray Charles The Spirit of Christmas – This is the album that contains “That Spirit of Christmas,” the song played during the attic scene in Chevy Chase’s “Christmas Vacation.” Released 25 years ago, this album is great if you’re looking for a soulful album full of holiday standards.

Garth Brooks Beyond the Season – A great country Christmas album. Simple, quiet, and heartwarming, this album has quickly become one of my holiday favorites. Great tracks include “Silent Night” and “Mary’s Dream.”

David Archuleta Christmas from the Heart – A pleasant album from the American Idol runner-up. Christmas from the Heart does not break any ground, but it displays Archuleta’s impressive vocal range and features “Pat-A-Pan” and “Riu Riu Chiu,” two songs you don’t appear too often on pop Christmas albums.

Kirk Franklin & The Family Christmas – This soulful and moving Christmas album features Kirk Franklin and a gospel choir. It only contains 11 songs, but some of the tracks run 5-6 minutes long. Check out the album’s track “Go Tell it On the Mountain.”

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas in the Aire – An all instrumental, synthesized Christmas album. Although Trans-Siberian Orchestra probably has more singles and energy, this Mannheim Steamroller album has more consistency than any TSO record I have heard.

Vince Gill Let There Be Peace on Earth – Like Garth Brook’s album Beyond the Season, Gill’s Let There Be Peace on Earth is a nice, simple country Christmas record. Gill does a duet with his daughter Jenny on the album’s title track.

Bing Crosby White Christmas – I have listened this album for years…when I was younger, my parents would play the audio cassette as we decorated our tree or opened presents on Christmas Day. This Christmas classic features the Andrew Sisters and the song “Mele Kalikimaka,” which is not a Hawaiian fish but a Hawaiian phrase meaning Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It sounds pretty foolish to put snow globes on the same hazard list as meat cleavers, ice axes, flares, brass knuckles, hand grenades, nunchakus, cattle prods, swords, and dynamite, but the Transportation Security Administration wouldn’t put something on the list if it was unwarranted. This past Sunday, ABC News reports a partial evacuation occurred at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut when a passenger put a snow globe in their carry-on. A TSA worker saw the object and it looked suspicious enough for the worker to alert state police. The TSA has snow globes listed on their website as one of their prohibited items because of their ability to hold potentially dangerous liquids.

Remember, it was almost a year ago when Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab attempted to blow up a Northwest Airline plane on Christmas Day. He managed to sneak his materials onto the plane by using a condom. It sounds ridiculous to imagine a person willing to shove an explosive down their pants and light their crotch on fire, but people like Abdul Mutallab prove there are people nuts and creative enough to use such materials to terrorize people. Snow globes aren’t completely banned from planes; the TSA allows these decorations to be packed with checked luggage. Being that I used household items to make a snow globe with my grandfather when I was younger, I know from experience that it isn’t difficult to create one and someone could create a snow globe to be used as a weapon. It’s a sad reality but by ensuring that snow globes are packed with check on luggage as opposed to carry on bags, I believe the TSA is helping lower chances of terrorism happening on airplanes.

When reviewing the Goo Goo Dolls, you almost have to analyze the band as if you are looking at two different groups. When the band came out late 80s, they were an under-the-radar punk band from Buffalo, New York with a scrappy sound and image. Nowadays, the band everyone is familiar with is the one fronted by John Rzeznik, the man who penned the radio hits “Iris,” “Name,” “Slide,” “Better Days,” “Sympathy,” and “Black Balloon.” It is still the same band, but their sound has changed substantially since Jed‘s release 24 years ago.

In August, the Goo Goo Dolls released their ninth studio album Something for the Rest of Us, their first since the 2006 release Let Love In. A little under 50 minutes long, the record gives a heavy atmosphere and may be their best sounding album since Gutterflower. The first time I listened to Something for the Rest of Us, I almost passed on buying the album because it sounded like something I would listen to a couple of times before moving on. I did decide to buy the album and to my pleasant surprise, it has remained in high rotation in my car stereo.

Something for the Rest of Us is an interesting album to listen to because while the songwriting sounds less personal to Rzeznik as he puts himself in other people’s shoes, there is an incredibly emotional album and you can feel the weight of every verse. If albums like Dizzy Up the Girl and Gutterflower were indeed like Rzeznik’s diary, this album feels like it is about the rest of us.

Continuing the tradition of every GGD album, Something for the Rest of Us kicks off with the high adrenaline rock song “Sweetest Lie.” This song took a few listens before it grew on me and the best way to describe it is if the Goos combined U2′s “Vertigo” with “Big Machine” off of Gutterflower. Immediately following “Sweetest Lie,” the album’s angsty vibe settles in. While Something for the Rest of Us tends to be edgier and more uptempo than Let Love In, a lot of production was used in the making of this album. “As I Am” and “Now I Hear” contain a lot of studio polish, but I’m not complaining; the result is two gorgeous songs. “Notbroken” is one of the most emotional songs on the record and it is based on a true story.

“I got a letter from a woman whose husband was in Iraq,” Rzeznik told Star News Online. “He was injured – paralyzed – and he doesn’t want to come home. He wants to stay in the hospital. He’s ashamed of himself. He feels like he’s less. And she just wants to let him know that he’s still everything that she ever wanted. I don’t know, it just kind of came out. It’s kind of like I was writing a love letter to him on her behalf.”

“Notbroken” is the second single from Something for the Rest of Us and while this song immediately became the band’s most popular downloaded song on iTunes, longtime fans might hear the recycled guitar intro from “Hate This Place” during the bridge in “Notbroken.”

I recommend checking out the tracks “Still Your Song,” “Nothing is Real,” and the stumbling tune “Soldier.” Overall I enjoyed the consistency of Something for the Rest of Us and I thought this album was a step up from Let Love In. I saw the band when it came to Connecticut back in July and while Rzeznik does not have the same vocal range he had ten years ago (the chorus of “Iris” was rearranged to eliminate strains,) I would say his voice is in better quality than Bono’s, who I saw live in Boston last fall. In a perfect world, I would love to see the Goos return to their roots and give us a nonsensical rock and roll album, but I respect and admire the growth they have accomplished over the decades.

Three and a half stars out of five

Years ago I was visiting my aunt and uncle and they had purchased a golden retriever pup. He was a beautiful little dog and I remember he had very large paws. When I asked my mom why he had such large paws, she said the dog’s paws show how large the golden retriever is supposed to grow in size. So although the paws were out of proportion with the rest of the puppy’s body, over time he was to grow into them.

While driving the other day, I was thinking about those paws. It sounds like an interesting process to go through considering that starting at conception, the average human’s body continuously grows together at a similar rate. Sure there are growth spurts where funky things tend to happen, but overall, humans don’t have body parts to grow into. But the more I thought about it, I realized maybe humans don’t have physical paws to grow into. Maybe it has more to do with mental and maturity growth.

For many years, I felt socially awkward. I was the teenager who didn’t really fit into any of the cliques, I was the teenager who wasn’t into all the trends, so looking back, it was sometimes hard for me to relate to my peers. It wasn’t my fault, but I took it personally and it wasn’t until I got into a community college when I started to become comfortable with who I was. I knew I was different, but the idea of what other people might think of me didn’t bother me as much. So from this perspective, maybe I was growing into my “paws.” I was starting to feel comfortable within my skin.

I liked that theory…in order to grow into your “paws,” you need to feel comfortable with who you are. That doesn’t mean that you have to be egotistical or completely content with yourself; sure, there’s always room for change, but it’s the idea that you can look in the mirror and accept yourself as a person.

Driving home tonight, I was tossing that idea around in my head. It was ten o’ clock, it was raining a little, and I was the only car on the road. The stereo was playing softly and I came up with another theory. Maybe the human “paws” don’t have to do with self-confidence. Maybe your paws represent your potential or intentions. We are all given potential based upon our personal strengths. We may not know what our potential is; God knows, but we don’t always know and it is our job to find out. And when you find out, in order to grow into your paws, you need to reach your full potential. And maybe those paws are plans put aside for you. Maybe you don’t ever stop growing into your paws…you grow into one set and then God gives you another.

It’s all a bunch of thoughts…I’m not asking you to agree with me but the nice thing about metaphors is there is no such thing as a wrong comparison. So if I could simplify these ideas into one, I would say in order to grow into your paws, you need to meet a challenge. What’s your challenge? Is it trying to find ways to get along with your coworkers better? Is your challenge to stop holding back from telling someone how you feel because you are afraid of rejection? Is your challenge trying to break free of addiction even if you’re nervous you won’t have the strength?

I think we all have paws we need to grow into and trust me, I’m still working on mine. But I believe once we understand ourselves more, we will be able to treat ourselves and everything around us better.

It is nearly 12:30am and I think it is time for me to sign off. Thanks for thinking along with me and hopefully I will be able to write another post sooner than later.

After six years of development, the lights haven’t been turned off for the Spider-Man Broadway musical yet. According to New York Theater Guide, the show is expected to open this year at Hilton Theatre in New York.

The musical’s status had been up in the air for a while due to budget and production issues but Tony award-wining director Julie Taymor remains optimistic about the success of Broadway’s first $50+ million show. “There was never a question in my mind that Spider-Man would happen,” says Taymor, “it was just a matter of when.”

Taymor has been known to be an ambitious director…her resume includes directing “The Tempest,” “Across the Universe,” and Broadway’s adaptation of “The Lion King.”

“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’s” includes Bono and The Edge of U2 as the song writers, Reeve Carney as Peter Parker, Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Watson, and Alan Cumming as Norman Osborn.

Meanwhile, blogs and the New York Post’s Michael Riedel have been flying over the show production like vultures.

“Taymor conceived of ‘Spider-Man’ as an ‘installation show,’” Riedel writes, “something big and bold and full of special effects. Something, in other words, like Cirque du Soleil.

“That’s fine if you’re going to put the damn thing up in Las Vegas, where ‘installation shows’ run several times a day and are funded in large part by hotels and casinos. But at $45 million and with a weekly running cost of almost $900,000, ‘Spider-Man’ at the 1,700-seat Hilton could never be profitable. The show would have to run five years, selling every single seat in the house, to just break even.”

According to the official website, show previews will begin on February 25th.

It’s a shame to watch Chris Brown’s career deteriorate before our eyes. He was the kid who became the first male artist to have a debut single (“Run It”) reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His self-titled album also featured four other singles and by the time he released “Exclusive,” Chris’ squeaky clean image and quickly growing résumé vaulted him to be one of the most promising singers/entertainers in the industry. He was collaborating with T-Pain, Bow Wow, Jermaine Dupri, Scott Storch, will.i.am, Big Boi, Lil Wayne, and The Game, and had appeared in the films “Stop the Yard” and “This Christmas.”

Not too shabby for an 18-year-old. But in February 2009 he proved how one night could do a lot of damage. No pun intended.

Following the accusations of domestic violence made against Chris, the Associated Press published an article starting with “Chris Brown would have been better off getting caught with a bong. At least then, the scandal enveloping his white-hot career could have been dismissed by some as a youthful indiscretion.”

Chris scrambled to clean his image, but slipped several times, especially in a Larry King interview where he said he couldn’t remember what happened the night he assaulted Rihanna.

And now Chris is in PR trouble AGAIN as over the weekend he went on a rant after a visit at a Wal-Mart in Wallingford, Connecticut and posted on Twitter:

“im tired of this sh*t. major stores r blackballing my cd. not stockin the shelves and lying to costumers. what the f**k do i gotta do… … yeah i said it and i aint retracting shit im not biting my tongue about shit else… the industry can kiss my ass.”

Whoops. Earlier today Team Chris decided it would be best to delete his Twitter following that blow up.

I can understand Chris wanting to move on from the assault incident from earlier this year. People screw up and a lot of the times they deserve a second chance. Chris is a very talented singer and entertainer, but he has shown his true colors through the media several times. He beat, bit, and strangled Rihanna to the point where she was losing consciousness. No one’s career can rebound from that anytime soon, if at all. Whenever Bobby Brown’s name is mentioned, people automatically think of him abusing Whitney Houston. Whenever R. Kelly’s name is mentioned, people recognize him as the man who should have been convicted for having sex with minors. Football player Michael Vick is starting to see his career is slowly turn around as he was signed to play for the Philadelphia Eagles back in August, but  he’s still being carefully watched.

Can Chris turn his career around? It onced seemed possible, but every time he opens his mouth, he digs his hole deeper. Oh, and Breezy (or at this point can we call you Tempest?) chill out. Walmart has come out saying they have been carrying the album since its release.

“We are surprised at the comments on Twitter, since all Wal-Mart stores carried the CD since its release, including the Wallingford store mentioned in the post,” the statement read in Billboard. “This store had in fact sold through their copies over the weekend. The majority of our stores are showing today they have copies on hand.”

So don’t be surprised if in a future interview, Chris will be asked about his Twitter post and he’ll respond with “I just look at it and like…wow. I’m in shock because that’s not who I am. It’s like…it’s crazy to me, I’m just like wow.”

Last week, Comcast made the biggest buyout of the decade when it acquired NBC Universal for $30 billion. The same week another purchase was made, but it was much quieter in comparison to the Comcast/NBC merge.

Lala.com, a new online music service, was picked up by Apple. Lala lets users legally listen to millions of songs for free and then uses cloud-based programing to provide a music stream for the listener similar to Pandora.

For unlimited plays, subscribers pay 10 cents or they can purchase the tracks between 79 and 89 cents each. Tracks are DRM-free and compatible with iTunes, Windows Media Player, and music devices.

There is no sure explanation as to why the multimedia titan bought out Lala or how much money was spent. Apple spokesperson Steve Dowling told The New York Times they buy “smaller technology companies all the time, and we generally do not comment on our purpose or plans.”

In a positive aspect, sites like these help people find ways to listen to music legally. Google partnered with Lala in October for this reason. When internet users Google searched a song, rather than illegal file sharing sites being among the first results, a Lala player pops up at the top of the list.

Other concerns people have is the potential change ahead for Lala. Since Lala users can download songs for 69-79 cents a track, why would they go to iTunes to get the same song for $1.29?

Jason Kincaid of TechCrunch also writes, “It’s unlikely that the innovative deals negotiated by Lala will survive through the acquisition. For over a year, Lala users have been purchasing the rights to stream their music an unlimited number of times for ten cents per song. If the deals with the music labels go up in smoke, Lala may lose the right to stream those songs. If the deals are nullified, hopefully Apple will renegotiate them to at least cover existing purchases until it releases its own streaming music service.”

Another recent merge involving online music services includes MySpace purchase of Imeem and iLike.

It is rumored that in the final duel between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, gloves aren’t the only things coming off.

According to Metro.co.uk, director David Yates has said “very sexy” images of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) being intimate will appear during a battle sequence in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

“There are a couple of scenes in the new film in which he will undress, but we’re still thinking about how we present it,” said Yates. “There is another scene in King’s Cross station, where Harry…will also be naked”

The Harry/Hermione romance is said to be part of a magical sequence that appear as Harry Potter and his friend Ron fight a Horcrux. The monster escapes, leaving behind a ghost that creates the images to distract Ron.

Meanwhile Daniel Radcliffe and his representatives are denying the reports, saying Italian magazine Sorrisi e Canzoni fabricated the interview.

Gossip Cop says “we can guarantee is that filmmakers plan to ‘present’ any scenes of Radcliffe in a way no different than any other ‘PG’ fare. Audiences may see the actor in various states of undress, but claims he’ll ‘bare all’… aren’t true.”