Holy crap! Kanye West’s mom died from “complications of surgery” after going in for a tummy tuck! Note to self and loved ones… live with what the good Lord gave you. Especially if you’re having second thoughts.

From CNN:

 A plastic surgeon who claimed to have operated on Kanye West’s mother before she died said he did nothing wrong, and that her death could have been caused by other medical problems.

Dr. Jan Adams told celebrity Web site TMZ that he performed a tummy tuck and breast reduction on Donda West, but that she might have died from a heart attack, pulmonary embolism, or massive vomiting.

Adams said West consulted with him over a period of four months, often changing her mind about the surgery, according to the article posted late Monday.

From the world of “Not really news”…

CNN.com says Jennifer Lopez has announced she’s pregnant at a concert in Miami.

At least she will have something to do in the next few years, as her new album has dropped off the Top 200 Charts in less than 6 weeks…which equals no more record deals.

Brooks and Dunn played this song last night on the CMA Awards. I have to say, it gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

Here are the lyrics:

Brooks & Dunn: God Must Be Busy

That anchor man
Says the fight began
Somewhere in the Middle East.
The world prays for peace.
There’s a single mom
Just got laid off when she lost a job
To some foreign hands
In some faraway land.
Last night in Oklahoma
Some twister took thirteen
And they’re praying that they find
The missing three.
God must be busy.

That highway sign
Went from slow ahead
To traffic’s dead.
Thought it couldn’t get worse
Than that Amber Alert.
They say she’s 4,
Colorado plates, headed out-of-state
In a Chevy van.
It’s hard to understand.
You can see it in the faces
Of all those highway strangers,
They’re praying that God
Keeps that girl from danger.
God must be busy.

And I know in the big picture
I’m just a speck of sand
And God’s got better things to do
Than look out for one man.
I know he’s heard my prayers
Cause he hears everything,
He just ain’t answered back
Or he’d bring you back to me.
God must be busy.

That evening news,
Ain’t much changed
Pretty much the same
Since I left home.
Yeah that war’s still on.
They found that little girl.
She was soaking wet,
Half scared to death
On the side of some road.
Them prayers work, you know.
And the Bloods and Crips are at it,
And theres a killer drought down south,
And old folks can’t afford the drugs
They can’t live with out.
God must be busy.

And I know in the big picture
I’m just a speck of sand
And God’s got better things to do
Than look out for one man.
I know he’s heard my prayers
Cause he hears everything,
He just ain’t answered back
Or he’d bring you back to me.
God must be busy.

That anchorman,
Says the fighting’s worse,
Cities burn in the Middle East.
The world prays for peace

On the way to work this morning, I heard the song, “Poison,” by Bell Biv Devoe. Man, did that take me back to middle school. Then I heard the following line, and I knew it was a shoo-in for today’s “Other People’s Words” entry.

Never trust a big butt and a smile.

~Bell Biv Devoe, Poison

I mean… who sits down and writes something like that? Can you imagine sitting in on that writing session? “Hmmm… . Yo, dawg, I need some filler between the lines, ‘that girl is poison’ and, uhm, ‘that girl is poison.’” “I don’t know, man… how about, ‘you’ve got such a trusting smile?’” “Naw, dawg, you know you can’t trust a big butt and a smile.’”

I got nothin’.

Jay-Z saw an advance preview of the new Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe movie, American Gangster and was so inspired that he went to work on an album. Jay-Z’s American Gangster isn’t the official soundtrack, it’s an album inspired by the movie.

Can Jay-Z NOT make a great album? And in under 4 months?!?! This guy is wicked sick when it comes to putting records together. I had been a champion of Eminem as one of the best hip-hop artists alive, but after listening to American Gangster (as well as re-envigorating the Black Album, Kingdom Come and Blueprint), I have to hail Jay-Z as the greatest rapper alive.

Go out and get a copy of Jay-Z’s American Gangster. It is modern-day classic.

A great song and beautifully shot home movie/video about his son.

Thanks to Jay for the iTunes originals which mentions the video.

Porter Wagoner passed away this week… so, this is me paying homage.

R.I.P. Mr. Wagoner.

I don’t want to get on a soapbox, here, but there is a radio station in Milwaukee that is playing Christmas music already. There are a few things about this that really get my goat:

1. They started playing the music November 1st. I thought, at first, they were just making a mockery of stations that start playing Christmas music earlier and earlier every year, but then realized that they were just making a mockery of themselves… and they were actually going to stick with it.
2. The station in question only plays a nonsecular Christmas song once every couple hours. And… it’s usually the same tired version of Celine Dion singing, “O Holy Night.”
3.  There’s something to be said for being a first mover in a market… but whoring religion isn’t a great P.R. move. (of course, this will still end up working for them, monetarily.)

Again, you won’t hear Christmas music on my station until Thanksgiving. I’m sorry, but one month is as far out as I’ll start.

We went to the Dierks Bentley concert last night at the Bradley Center. The show opened with Jack Ingram. I had seen Ingram in concert before, and I have to say that I wasn’t necessarily impressed. He was better this time than he was a few months ago, but he still seemed like he was trying too hard on stage. His band was very, uhm, eclectic. We were quite sure that the steel guitar player was the roid’d up version of Froto (barefoot and everything), the drummer looked like a pock-marked version of Peter Greene (the bad guy from the movie, “The Mask.”), one guitar player was about 18 and wanted to be Mick Jagger, the other guitar player must have been 14, and while he could play the guitar like mad (he played Dierks’s right-handed guitar, left-handed at one point) he had legs that were skinnier than most women’s arms. Still, it wasn’t that bad, and my ears weren’t bleeding when he was done.

Dierks came on stage and rocked the house. He was a lot shorter than I thought he would be, but from all accounts, the ladies liked him. The guy had a ton of energy on stage and was running around like a ADD sufferer on crack. It was fun and not annoying, though, so that was good. He sang all of his hits and sang them well. The only downside to the concert was that an almost 12-year-old kid was near us holding up a cardboard sign that read, “This is my birthday present.” Dierks looked at him and said, “Happy Birthday.” But… the kid kept holding up the phucking sign. Then at another point, Dierks said to him, “I’ve seen that already.” But… the kid held up the phucking cardboard sign, still. I didn’t kill him because I was quite sure that Tracy would murder him first, and most judges would be more likely to let a good-looking single mom off than they would me.

Dierks got injured twice. The first time, he pulled a woman up on stage to dance with him… and she held on to his arm so tightly that she punctured his skin (he was bloody). The second time, he was running from one side of the stage to the other with his guitar, and he tripped on some chords (that was a pun, thank you). Seriously, though, he tripped on some wires and bit the dust. Most probably thought he was falling on the ground purposely to play his guitar, but when he got up, he explained to everybody that he did, indeed, trip.

The concert was pretty long, but it was worth it. The seats were excellent (as evidenced by the picture on the left). I forgot my camera, so I only got some crappy cellphone pictures. The good ones were blocked by the kid with the phucking cardboard sign. Anyway…

After the show, we stopped at Game Time (across the street from the BC) for a drink. While we were there, Jack Ingram’s guitar players showed up. They ended up hitting on two extremely homely women. One had a rotten tooth that we could see from the other side of the bar. It was disturbing, but still fun to watch.

All in all… a great night.

I am pretty excited about this weekend.

Tonight: In a few hours, Tracy and I are going to catch dinner and then go see Dierks Bentley live at the Bradley Center. We have tickets in “The Pit,” which is the chair-less section right in front of the stage. It has been a long time since I have been to a concert where you were allowed to stand without the person behind you having a conniption.

Tomorrow: nothing in particular (it’s been ages since I’ve had nothing to do)

Sunday: nothing in particular (it’s been even longer since I’ve had nothing in particular to do two days in a row)

I sincerely hope that you enjoy your weekend, too!!!

Yes… yes.. Y-E-S. This is too funny! Here is the Badgers head coach, Bo Ryan, doing the Soulja Boy (Soldier Boy for those of you who speak American) dance.

I have to admit… I have a little bit of a crush on Hayley Williams of the group, Paramore. I’ve heard conflicting reports on whether she’s 18 or 16, but either way… she’s cute and has a hell of a voice.

I’ve had this song, by Jason Boland and the Stragglers, stuck in my head for a few days. The lyrics aren’t really online anywhere so I figured I’d post them for the world to see. For those that don’t know (which will be most of you), Jason Boland and Brad Rice (of the Stragglers) are fraternity brothers of mine. I believe they are signed to a major label, now, and they are big in the Texas and Oklahoma music scenes.

Mexico or Crazy

CHORUS:
Well I might go crazy,
And I might go to Mexico,
You’re too far away as far as I can see…
I’m just lonely gringo,
A lazy desperado,
Oh, Mexico or Crazy, it’s the same to me.

I walked half a mile,
Just to call you from the pay phone,
But every time I tried it you weren’t there…
I know it’s been awhile,
Since your lovin’ man’s been home,
Yeah the wheels and the miles aren’t always fair…

The sun burned my neck,
And I could use a shower,
Been living life on far too little sleep.
The rain misses this land,
Like my breath misses your shoulder,
Sometimes what you give away is what you keep…

CHORUS:
So I might go crazy,
I might go to Mexico,
You’re too far away as far as I can see…
I’m just a lonely gringo,
A lazy desperado,
Oh, Mexico or Crazy, it’s the same to me…

I throwed the man a dollar,
He rowed us ‘cross the river,
It’s not as wide as the rift ‘tween you and me…
But there’s a mountain taller,
Than the ones here on the Rio,
And it’s hard to climb a hill on bended knee…

CHORUS

Here’s a little ditty that I posted a few months ago… it was true then… it’s truer now… and it will remain true for eternity. Go Packers!!!

So, my daughter and I are at home watching the Jonas Brothers (her absolute favorite) live in concert on Disney. They keep singing this song, “We’re the kids… we’re the kids… we’re the kids of the future.” Uh, no, dumbasses… you’re the adults of the future. You’re the kids of now. But I’m quite sure we’re all doomed if you three mopheads are the adults of the future.

Luckily, their music is harmless and it’s not all that annoying to listen to (save for the above song). My three-year-old daughter adores Nick, so I guess it stays on. Eek.

My daughter is in L.O.V.E. with Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus). And, while she will be relatively close at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, there is NO WAY that I will be purchasing tickets for that show… at least with prices as high as they are…

About 12,000 seats for the Memphis show were gone in 8 minutes. It took 15 minutes in Columbus, Ohio, and swift sellouts have been reported across the country — Nashville, Miami, Lexington, Ky. The Kansas City Council is investigating the matter.

One ticket for the show in Charlotte, N.C., sold for $2,565.

Absurd!

This afternoon, while previewing some new music for the station, I came across the new song from Rodney Atkins. The song is called, “Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy).” It is like the lyrics were ripped out of a page of my life and set to music.

See… when I was 16, I dated a girl named Sara Ariss (my friends know her (affectionately?) as “The Princess.”). Her mom was German. Her dad was Lebanese. That’s a good mix, for the record. Sara’s father was extremely, extremely, extremely over-protective. The first day that I met him, standing right there in his kitchen, he showed me his AK47. I swear to God! I thought he was nuts!

I say, “thought,” because I’m a father now. This song totally sums it up.

(Chorus)

Come on in boy sit on down
And tell me about yourself
So you like my daughter do you now?
Yeah we think she’s something else
She’s her daddy’s girl
Her momma’s world
She deserves respect
That’s what she’ll get
Ain’t it son?
Hey y’all run along and have some fun
I’ll see you when you get back
Bet I’ll be up all night
Still cleanin’ this gun

Here you go, I officially have more videos than MTV today.

This may be my favorite new song on the radio. The best line:

I wonder what you’d do if you looked out your window…
And saw me runnin’ down the runway just like I was crazy…
But that fence is too high - and so am I…