My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 7/17/16

Remember when I posted these regularly? For that matter, remember when I posted ANYTHING regularly?

I've been listening only to specific playlists for a while, and I forgot the simple joy of the shuffle.




Love One Another - Cher
I'm Not The Man I Used To Be (Smith And Mighty Version) - Fine Young Cannibals
Love Shack - The B-52's
Country Sunshine - Dottie West
Getting Away With It - Electronic
Go Insane - Lindsey Buckingham
Dazz - Brick!
It Don't Come Easy - Ringo Starr
The Main Main Event (mashup) - RuPaul/Barbra Streisand
Dedicated To The One I Love - The Mamas & The Papas
Giving You The Benefit-Extended Club Mix - Pebbles
Don't Leave Me This Way (Featuring Sarah Jane Morris) - Communards
I Loves You Porgy - Nina Simone

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 4-5-12

Sure, it's an easy way to post content. Why not?

Let Me Be The One - Five Star
I Thought It Took A Little Time - Diana Ross
Rhythm Of The Night - Valeria
Is That You Mo-Dean? - The B-52’s
Viking - Los Lobos
Waiting For The End - Linkin Park
Cosmic - Kylie Minogue
Running Back To You - Vanessa Williams
The Party Song - Slave featuring Steve Arrington
Ode To Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry
White Heat - Madonna
Never Miss The Water - Chaka Khan
Hello And Goodbye - Madonna, Andrea Corr, Jonathan Pryce

The Post That Keeps On...

...posting? Perhaps that's not quite it. Anyway, every now and then I get a comment on my post from last fall regarding a credit card transaction for "PNL Advertising" that I was sure was fraudulent, until it turned out to be for a B-52's ticket I bought from Philly Dealyo (the Philly.com version of Groupon). It seems I'm not the only one who can't remember what I purchased when their billing is listed with such an obscure name. Come on, Philly.com, fix this. Better yet, don't, since it helps me get blog hits.

Granted, it probably doesn't get me as many pics as Fake Jake...

Today's DJT (Dumb Joe Tale)

I was looking at the current statement for one of my credit card accounts, and saw a $25.00 transaction listed that I didn't have a receipt for and had no memory of. The statement listing said "PNL Advertising" followed by what turned out to be a phone number (there was a 0 in front of it so I didn't realize it was a phone number). I called the credit card company and the woman I spoke to said it was for "books, or a newspaper or magazine" based on the info in their system.

Still didn't ring a bell. If it was a book, if I didn't buy it in a store (such as Borders) I bought it from Amazon. The magazines I get in the mail (Entertainment Weekly, Sports Illustrated) were obtained by redeeming Dividend Miles from US Airways. The last payment I made for my Daily News subscription was in June and the payment covers delivery through mid-December. I did not authorize any auto-renew option. For a moment I thought that might be it, thinking the "PN" in "PNL" might stand for Philadelphia Newspapers. But the "L" threw me off. Also, it referred to advertising and I didn't take out any ads. It made no sense. I asked if there were any more details about it, because if I knew where the store was where the transaction occurred (if there was a store) it might jog my memory. She found an address -- in York, Pennsylvania. I've never been to York in my life.

The credit card rep said I should call the number on the statement first, and gave me another number to call for disputed transactions if I didn't get it resolved. I called the number and got a voice mail that said, "If you're calling about a credit card transaction for PNL Advertising please call..." followed by a different number. I started to really get agitated, thinking that this obviously was a scam. But how? The card has never been stolen, and I haven't even used it lately except for a couple of transactions in September that were done online.

The voicemail continued: "If you're calling about a credit card transaction for Philly Dealyo..."

I hung up the phone, feeling incredibly stupid. Remember the half-price B-52's ticket I bought? Yeah. That. D'oh.

Random Stuff: B-52's, MLB on Fox, McNabb

Just covering a few things at once...

• My ears are still ringing some from last night's B-52's concert. Between their show and the opening act, a Philly band named Gang, the music was really loud. When I blogged about my trip to the box office to pick up the ticket, I had a comment saying the B-52's were now "a tired act." I can understand that a little, since the commenter had seen them perform here in 1979 and 1980. They do look a little older, a little heavier (well, not Keith Strickland -- he looks yummy), but I thought it was a great show and the crowd seemed to agree. I took some video but the sound quality is pretty bad because it was so loud and the camcorder in my cell phone isn't that special, so I don't think I'll bother posting it. (Plus a couple of them are sideways because I held the phone sideways. I have to remember to slide out the keyboard first if I want a wider view.)

• On the final weekend of the baseball regular season, Fox is again showing the less meaningful Yankees-Red Sox game instead of the crucial Giants-Padres matchup. The Padres need to win to stay alive for both the NL West and NL Wild Card. The Giants are trying to clinch the NL West, and at the same time hurt San Diego's chances of catching the Braves for the Wild Card. (If current results -- Padres leading, Braves losing to the Phillies -- hold, tomorrow will be a heck of a day for clinchers and there could even be a one-game playoff on Monday.)
  
  Oddly enough, though the Phillies are also playing at the same time, they're showing the Phils on Comcast Sportsnet. I think they're on Fox as well in parts of the country. Usually if the Phils are one of the Fox games, Fox shows the game locally. It's hard to believe that Fox isn't blacking out a local Phils telecast, and that they're showing us the stupid New York-Boston crap instead of the game that directly affects the Phillies -- the Giants-Padres will help determine the Phils' first playoff opponent. They'd get more people here switching back and forth between Fox and Comcast if Fox were showing the Giants-Padres here.

• I've avoided all of the national sports outlets this week because, not unexpectedly, they're too busy taking potshots at Philadelphia and at Eagles fans. After all, Donovan McNabb returns to the Linc tomorrow for the first time as a Washington Redskin. Between McNabb, drama queen/martyr that he is, and his suck-ups in the national media, there's really no reason to watch ESPN or NFL Network or visit any of the national sports websites. There's no actual journalism there this week as it relates to the Eagles, only misinformation, outright bias and lazy (blah blah blah Santa Claus 40 years ago blah blah blah) writing. Of course, it's not exactly fun listening to WIP either, with the callers and hosts pushing their own agendas re: McNabb. So, many heartfelt thanks to the Phillies for giving me another playoff run to keep my mind off the Eagles/McNabb melodrama.

Half The Price, Twice The Hassle

I found a half-price ticket offer for the B-52's concert this Friday at the Electric Factory at PhillyDealYo (I'm not crazy about that name), a site connected to Philly.com that has daily specials. Usually these deals are for restaurants or shops, not for concerts. "$50.00 ticket for $25.00" was the offer. I've wanted to see the B-52's in concert but $50.00 is out of my price range. So is $25.00, probably, but I bought one anyway.

So I signed up, and once the minimum number of purchases were made and the deal became official (if they don't reach that minimum they cancel the offer) I received an email with instructions on how to get my ticket. I had to print out a voucher and take it to the Electric Factory box office. The voucher said I could redeem it during normal hours, including the day of the show.

Yesterday, since I was downtown, not far from the Electric Factory, I decided to head over to the box office and get my ticket so I wouldn't have to wait in line the night of the show. At the window I handed the woman the voucher. She and another woman looked at it and told me I had to bring it back the night of the show. "That's not what it says," I explained, and repeated the instructions on the voucher. I then stood there, in the 90-degree late afternoon sun, for about 20 minutes while the two women tried to figure out what to do, sometimes entering info into the computers; I think one woman got on the phone with someone at one point. Apparently this was the first time they had to deal with such a promotion. Eventually they determined that it was a deal between the PhillyDealYo site and Ticketmaster, and Ticketmaster had to authorize the discount ticket, and one woman said "we put in the request to Ticketmaster but I don't know how long it's going to take." Or something like that. It was only a minute or two after that when the ticket finally printed out.

(In case you still want to go, I checked the Ticketmaster site and it seems the actual ticket price is $39.50, but their added fees are $10.20; apparently, if you go to the Electric Factory box office and pay cash you can avoid the Ticketbastard fees.)

I only hope that I don't get half the entertainment for the half-price ticket!

My Summer Listening (And Maybe Yours) Part 2

Mmmmmm...deep-fried Oreos: another great idea for summer!

And now, the dramatic conclusion of "Joe's Big-Ass Crazy Summer Playlist!" (Here's Part 1, in case you've forgotten...)

Who's That Girl - Madonna (1987) There are lots of Madonna songs that would feel right for this list, but this was actually a hit during the summer, it has that pop candy feel, and July 11, 1987 was the first time I saw Madonna in concert, as the "Who's That Girl" tour hit the Vet. What vexed me, though, is that when the tour was announced I had read that Bronski Beat was going to be her opening act, but was replaced by Level 42, since the singer who took over when Jimmy Somerville left Bronski Beat took a powder as well.


My Arms Keep Missing You - Rick Astley  (1987) This is a stretch in that it wasn't released in the U.S. or during the summer, and has no summer-type lyrics. It was the B-side of "When I Fall In Love" (cover of the Nat King Cole song), which was released at the end of 1987 in the UK and was trying to be the "Christmas No. 1" -- it's really a big thing over there. The B-side became a dance hit in Europe, and eventually got radio airplay here the following year. The thing that ties it to summer for me is the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul (which actually didn't begin until September 17). I had this little portable hand-held TV and I would watch the late-night coverage while in bed -- thanks to the time difference a lot of late-night stuff was live -- and listen to music (either a radio or a cassette with my then-favorites, taped from the radio or from my 45s or 12-inch remix singles). This was one that I loved at that time, and eventually bought the 12-inch import (for $7.49 -- I think U.S. 12-inch singles were $2.99 or $3.99 at the time).  Here's a link to listen -- and no, this is not an attempt at RickRolling.