MisenPOPic Update 12/31/09

In tribute to one of the greatest bands of all time who were shunned by the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame once again, the photo theme for this week is dedicated to KISS. Although the band's original members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss created the magic, I can't overlook the Kisstory. Most people forget that KISS did take off the makeup in 1982 and were still a successful band in the 80's and early 90's with other lead guitarists and drummers before putting the makeup back on. Can you figure out who the other five musicians in the montage that also played crucial role in KISS?

With a baby on the way in a few months, my wife has been bringing me with her to register for gifts. The other day I went to Babies R Us, which provided such a horrible shopping experience. Their merchandise is so vanilla, and their selection of strollers and such was not very good. The best part of this process for me was analyzing couples with a child on the way while my wife was intent on registering for items. Seeing two people that are totally not compatible as a couple but stuck together because the dude forgot to wear a condom is intentional comedy at it's best. Yesterday, I went to Buy Buy Baby, and let me tell you that comparing it to Babies R Us is like comparing Metallica to Winger. Better customer service, better merchandised sections, better selection, condensed sections so you don't feel overwhelmed, and fresh product including the Rock-A-Bye Baby music compilations that I wrote about a few weeks ago. Babies R Us/Toys R Us should be ashamed of itself, and as more and more Buy Buy Babys pop up in the next few years, they are going to take away a whole lot of business from the R Us corporation. My prediction is that once this happens, Babies R Us will go the same route as Kids R Us did, out of business!! I actually applied for a job at Toys R Us Corporate in Wayne a few months back as a space planner, but didn't impress them enough to gain employment. I might have to reach out to some of the nice people I met there to see if they could hire me as the head of purchasing in order to keep up with the latest trends. Otherwise, there is no way people my age are going to continue to shop at their stores with their outrageous prices and lack of fun and trendy merchandise. For now, because there are only three Buy Buy Baby stores in New Jersey, we have to go with both options.

Going into the new year, I'm currently working on reading the Up In The Air novel which so far can't light a candle next to the movie, watching the third season of Friday Night Lights which has surprisingly brought a few tears to my eyes, playing Mario Brothers for Wii and almost close to beating the game, and have Up and 500 Days Of Summer to watch tonight before the ball drops in Times Square. Still going to write some Symphony articles in the next few days, and hope to have my Chiller Theater Experience #3 piece up on Sunday.

Happy New Year! Auld Lyng Syne!!

Mikey