Beware of Doug

Catagory Poll for Anipal Academy Awards

2011-08-02T16:45:00.001-07:00

We seem to have some discourse about whether or not to include BArktenders and DJ in the Anipal Academy Awards this year.

Arguments FOR include @FlaCatLady:

Hey if you want to be considered the Best, step up your game!! Pepi goes over the top to entertain pals when he is barktending. I don't really listen to the DJs but have noticed some tweet a song link and others try to match the music and tweet to the pawty. An example would be @ShaynaCat. (No I'm not pushing Tutti's wife) but she does a nice job week in/week out searching a playlist that matches our pawties and tweets the song link with a fun tweet. Ok I'm tweeted out.

I do agree we should honor everyone that works hard for pawty charities, too.

I'd be happy to work on these new categories since I don't really have an assignment yet. Plus I interact with this group of people almost daily.

Thoughts?

Flacatlady

And Arguments AGAINST:

from @MaggieTKat

Many of us work very hard on playlists which are never acknowledged because of the time slots We dj. I believe that djing and bark tending are true art forms which must be practiced to become good and should be acknowledged as achievements.

I am very serious when I say that if these categories are added to the popularity contests, I am off this committee. I feel deeds speak for an anipal, not how cool their glasses look.

Maggie

Both of these ladies are very heartfelt about their feelings, and both also agree that the DJ's and Barktenders are one of the biggest reasons people stay and pawty AND help our Charities.

I guess the only fiar way to resolve this is to have all the committee members put their input in, and I've created a poll to do just that.

Please vote over the next day and keep checking results if you wish.

Thanks,

@TheNascarKitty (who is probably in trouble for taking over this blog that his Daddy NEVER uses anymore. MOL

2011-03-29T10:47:00.001-07:00

Impassioned Mom Says It All. There is nothing left for me to say.

2009-10-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Below, you will find a transcript of a caller to the the Rush Limbaugh radio program. Whether or not you like Mr. Limbaugh is moot, since he does none of the speaking. I think all of us Conservatives, or even liberals who are nervous about the direction our Govt. is taking us in should read this. This woman is definately in fear for the future of her children and her country.

THIS is what we can do to fix the course our govt. is on. We can't rely on our Congressmen, we need to make our own stand. Now please read this transcript from this remarkable lady.

excerpted from http://rushlimbaugh.com

RUSH: All right, Susan in Glendale, California, nice to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Rush, it's a huge honor for me to speak to you, and I hope I can keep my -- my voice level, because I am so passionate. I am as passionate as you are about this country. I'm a conservative. I've listened to you for 25 years. I'm married. I have seven kids. And when you were telling me about how all of the shenanigans that they're going to do in the Senate to pass two different Senate bills then slam 'em together, attach them to some House bill about TARP, and then jam it through and jam it down our throats, I got furious. And then I listened to what you said about the Michigan mom who was watching some kids before they went to school and how the Michigan state came down on her accusing her of running an illegal day care, and you're right: What they're going to do is they're going to threaten our health and they're going to threaten the health of our children. If I don't comply with their health care, I'm not going to be able to get my children the medicine they need.

RUSH: No, it's not -- whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It's not if you don't comply with their health care. It's if you're a good citizen in support of the liberals running the country.

CALLER: Yes, sir. And I'm not. I'm a conservative. You know what? I'm 45. I might fall and break my hip in the next ten years. They're going to have to give me a shot because they're not going to want me to be healed and they're going to do this to my children. It's like you said. They are the party of abortion. They are the party of euthanasia. They are trying to wipe out senior citizens who are maybe not as useful to the Democrat National Committee as they should be, we're not contributing enough to them. And I am outraged and furious. And my question to you -- because I'm a political nobody; I'm just out here on the Left Coast in la-la land watching all the liberals run our California state bankrupt -- is: "What can we do, legally, morally, to take this country back?" I want people to stand up, and I want them to vote these criminals, these pedophiles out of office.

I want them to take back the state of California and make it a Golden State, and I want them to take back Washington. But we're little people, and we marched two million of us down to Washington and the press -- ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC -- not one of them shows pictures on the news, not one of them will report anything. In fact, they cover it up! I've talked to so many people on the phone, just neighbors who are liberal and some of them are conservative, both sides, and I tell them these things. "Go to Fox News. Look at this." No one sees the truth. But the travesty of all of this -- part of this is politics as normal, independent, it's two party. We're going to fight and tussle over what's right and wrong and, you know, we're going to win some, lose some. But the damning thing today is that the press, the press is betraying us and we have no way -- us, we be the little political moms, nobodies. I'm a mother, and I have no one to listen to, to go to on the news, except for you and Fox.

Tell us what we can do in 2010, other than voting for Sarah Palin. Which I will do. But I need to know because I don't have much hope. I sure don't have hope from Obama. I need hope from Rush and I want you to please tell us what we can do, because this is the life of my children. They're on the line. They can put me out to pasture, but, yes, they've got me over a barrel. Because I will do anything to save the lives of my children, even if it means I've gotta kiss some big Democrat's rear end to get the health care for my baby, I'll have to do it, and that sickens me because they're my employees. I'm paying their salaries. I'm paying for their fancy office of doctors down where you were talking about at the House of Representatives and the Senate. They just get to walk in and pay $503 and they get all the health care that they need for $503, specialists flown in.

The pharmacy right there on their hour! Probably open 24 hours a day. Nobody has to wait. They get that because I'm paying for it. I'm paying for it! It's coming out of my children's allowances, my grocery money. They are getting it, and they're taking it without listening, without representing us -- like you said, the small R. I'm not being represented. I've called Boxer's office. I've called Adam Schiff who is my so-called representative. They are very polite to little people on the phone but the people who are running this country don't listen to us. There are millions of us and we are all furious. And no one, no one is even reporting what is being said! And I'm watching my country that I love, that my father fought for in World War II, that my father-in-law was wounded and got the Purple Heart for -- and I'm watching it just being taken, just like candy from a baby.

"Oh, we'll help you. We'll give you health care. Here's a lollipop. Go away," and nobody's doing anything. I'm sorry to be so angry, but I need hope, and I need to know how to counteract these's shenanigans. This is not what we put people in government for is to run little-bitty side bills, smash 'em together, and then vote 'em under the carpet into a different health care bill that is languishing in some committee that they haven't voted on. That's dirty politics and it shouldn't be happening. It should up-and-down votes. And you're right. The 63 new judges coming on, that's going to cement -- that's going to absolutely cement -- their ability to write law instead of legislate. They can just send it to the judges. The judges will rubber stamp it. We'll have liberal judges, we'll just write the law. Never mind conservatism. Never mind reading what the law actually says. I look at this, and I see this happening every day.

I'm listening to you, and I'm to the point where I don't even know if I should listen anymore because I'm so passionate and I'm so furious to watch all this and to hear it all happening, and I feel so powerless for the first time in my life. I'm glad Mrs. Obama is proud of her country for the first time in her life. I, as a mother, as a nobody I am ashamed of my government for the first time in my life -- and I need to know how to combat this, especially in 2010. What can I do today, now, to help, to revitalize these namby-pamby liberal Republican RINOs in our Senate and in our government who are just voting to get along and "I want to get reelected." That's nonsense. They're not standing up for what is good and clean and right. They're not standing up for our Constitution. They should be all thrown out, every last one of them -- and I don't know how to mobilize people, but you do, Rush. You do! You have the power. And with great gifts, God gives great responsibility. And I beg you please, please give us hope and lead us. Because this cannot stand. They cannot keep doing this. This is wrong.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: We still have Susan on the line from Glendale, California, and Susan, I was under no inclination to interrupt you or stop you, even when we got to the segment end.

CALLER: I apologize.

RUSH: No, don't apologize, just the exact opposite. You summarized my first hour in ten minutes.

CALLER: Well, I like to listen to you, you're great, and you always give us the facts.

RUSH: But you asked me what you could do.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: One thing you have to realize, you just did it. The passion and the emotion that you brought without one stutter --

CALLER: Well --

RUSH: You didn't lose your train of thought. There was not one stutter. And I guarantee you the people in this, the largest radio audience in the country, are all out there standing up and cheering on their feet.

CALLER: You know what, Rush? I did it without a teleprompter! Or notes! So there.

RUSH: Or a writer. You didn't have a ghostwriter.

CALLER: No, I didn't. I have a three-year-old son, but he can't do this. But I didn't use a teleprompter, and I know what I'm saying, which is, I'm sorry, perhaps more than I can say for some of the people who are running our country. And it insults my intelligence. I walked away from a very good job at a law firm, I'm educated, I have a law degree, and I did it because I was promoted by God to be a mother of seven. I'm giving everything I've got to them. And the one thing I cannot give them, absent help from good people all over this country, I can't give them the American way of life. I can't give them freedom. I can't give them that. I can teach them and that's all I can do. But everybody's got to stand up, and, you know what? Why don't you make 2010 the worst nightmare ever for the Democrats. Pick up the phone, call Sarah Palin, and you two run, run in 2010. Rush and Sarah. Do it. They would go nuts. I know you couldn't do your show every day. And I know there are not enough Democrat women like Pelosi in the Senate to give you your 30 minutes of aerobic activity because there's no boobs to ogle like you were telling about that German study finding that 10 minutes of breast ogling helps men, but we'll get you a treadmill in there, I'm sure the White House will have a treadmill, it's got a basketball court now and other things and an organic garden. We'll get you set up, we'll keep you healthy, maybe once you judge the Miss America contest, maybe you could do that every year, and that would give you a good cardiovascular burst. And you could go ahead and run the country for four years. But we gotta do something.

RUSH: Well, one thing I want to tell you here is, you are not alone. I know you feel it, you said it --

CALLER: I do.

RUSH: -- you feel you're just a little person out there on the left coast and you're overwhelmed by all this, but I think you should try to understand that the majority of people who pay attention to stuff in this country are with you on this. Their frustration is identical to yours.

CALLER: Yes, but they don't know how to mobilize to do it, to stop it. We're going to have this health care bill rammed down our throats before the election.

RUSH: Wait a second, now. I think they do. People have been mobilizing on their own. That's one of the great things about all the tea parties and the other things going on, is there's not an identifiable leader saying, "Go here, do that, I want you to show up."

CALLER: I know.

RUSH: People are doing it on their own, of their own volition, their own emotion, because they're just like you --

CALLER: I know.

RUSH: -- they don't want to lose the country, they don't want to see it taken over, they don't want to see it destroyed this way, especially for their children and grandchildren, and there are more of you than you know. Now, this health care thing, you talk about 2010. If they're able to ram this through in the next couple of weeks or the next couple of months --

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: -- 2010 is going to be nothing but punishment.

CALLER: I hope so.

RUSH: Now, the one thing to keep in mind here, the one thing to keep in mind is -- I'm actually wrong. I need to take that back. This bill is not going to be implemented until 2013.

CALLER: Right. Right.

RUSH: So 2010 is crucial. That's where the real change is going to come, and that's throwing these Democrats out, as many as possible.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: Now, there are two things that I want to say to you here. The reason that 2013 is the year is because everybody in charge of this plan, from Obama to Reid and Pelosi, all the Democrats know full well there's going to be a revolt.

CALLER: Yes. I know they know this. They're just trying to lock it in anyway.

RUSH: Well, no --

CALLER: -- because they want to secure their power.

RUSH: But 2012 is Obama's reelection year, 2013 it gets implemented. If it got implemented before 2012 Obama would be beaten in a landslide --

CALLER: That's right.

RUSH: -- and he still may be, ACORN notwithstanding.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: The second thing here about all of these things that are happening, and you feel powerless to do anything about it, I think what's happening throughout the country is an illustration that people are not powerless. This passion, this emotion that you represent here today that is felt by millions will have and is going to have an outlet. These techniques, the things that are being tried by the Democrats here are so against the decency and grain of the vast majority of the people in this country --

CALLER: That's what's offensive.

RUSH: -- they're not going to put up with it.

CALLER: I know. That's what's offensive --

RUSH: They aren't going to put up with it.

CALLER: It's not just politics as usual. It's not, "Okay, we win some and we lose some." This is underhanded, dirty dealing, "Okay, we're going to vote for one bill, but we're going to switch it, we're going to edit it out." It's like a computer, you just zap it out and stick something in, but the vote doesn't get edited. It's virtual bills. We just get to change it. It's outrageous. If I did this in a job, I would be fired. And yet they keep doing it and we've got to hold them accountable.

RUSH: And trust me, believe me, they will be.

CALLER: I know you're right. That's why I listen to you every day I can.

RUSH: I will tell you when it's time to panic. And it isn't time to panic. Panic doesn't lead to productive action.

CALLER: True.

RUSH: I'll tell you when it's time. What you're feeling right now is not even panic.

CALLER: No, it's rage. It's outrage.

RUSH: You are outraged and you want a positive channel for it.

CALLER: Yes, I do. I want a positive way to effect and reclaim this country and to protect my children and to give them a good life.

RUSH: Here's the second thing that I want to warn everybody against with all this passion. Because in this mix you and I haven't discussed the Republican Party, have we?

CALLER: No, we haven't.

RUSH: Well, let's do that for just a second, because it's crucial. While your rage, your outrage is properly directed at the architects of this disaster, the Democrat Party, at the same time, we don't really see a lot of rage from our own elected representatives, do we? This is one of the reasons why --

CALLER: This is why we're mad, 'cause they're not outraged.

RUSH: That's right.

CALLER: They don't say anything, they don't do anything.

RUSH: If you can call this radio show and in ten minutes, without one stutter, lay out the very dire threats that face this country, why in the hell can't professional politicians stand up and say the same thing and take action to stop it?

CALLER: Amen.

RUSH: And that's really the level of your frustration.

CALLER: Yes.

RUSH: Now, here's where this is going to lead. If we're not careful, this is going to lead people to start saying, "We need a third party."

CALLER: No. No, no, no, no.

RUSH: Wait, hear me out. It's going to lead to people say, "Both parties are the same, there's no difference, Republicans and Democrats." What we have to focus on here is taking back the Republican Party. I think there is enough rage right now, and if it sustains itself, and it will, Obama's not going to stop any of this garbage, and the Democrats are not going to stop, so it will sustain itself.

CALLER: And we have to take back the party and revitalize it --

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: -- with true conservatives.

RUSH: Exactly. That's what has to happen. But at some point just voting against people is not enough.

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: It will be enough in 2010. But who we gonna elect in place of them? Where are the candidates going to come from?

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: I'm talking particularly now the House and the Senate. I mean you talked about the RINOs in the Senate, and there are a lot of them, and they're scared to death of the media in Washington, they're scared to death of being called racists, they're scared to death of having happen to them what happens to Sarah Palin. They're scared to death of having happen to them what happened to Joe Wilson. So they've got their own fear they have to overcome. They don't understand that they've got an army of people. Even after all the campaign contributions Joe Wilson got, they still don't see there's an army of people willing to back 'em up if they would just lead. There's an army of people ready to follow 'em.

CALLER: I gave Joe Wilson money. The minute he said it, the very night that he said "you lie," I sent that guy money. And when he refused to apologize for a second time, when he'd already apologized personally to President Obama, and when he refused to do it again for the House and Senate, I sent him more money.

RUSH: 'Kin' A!

CALLER: And that's what we gotta do. We gotta back the people who are being leaders, and then we gotta kick out the ones who aren't. But we can't do a third party, we can't do a tea party because we'll be locked in with the Democrats, they'll run the show because we'll keep splitting the vote for 30 years.

RUSH: 'Kin' A! Exactly right. That's going to lead to permanent victory for Democrats.

CALLER: I know! How do you tell people this? How do you say, "Whatever you do, vote conservative and get the Republican Party back."

RUSH: Okay, we're always going to have Perotistas.

CALLER: Yes, I remember him.

RUSH: All you gotta say to them, "Have you ever heard of Bill Clinton?"

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: You ever heard of Bill Clinton?

CALLER: Yeah.

RUSH: That's something coming in the future, but this notion that both parties are the same and we gotta throw 'em all out, unrealistic, they're not the same, there's no way that any Republican would be offering any of the things the Democrats are offering right now.

CALLER: I know.

RUSH: There is simply no way.

CALLER: But there is no room for cowards in government.

RUSH: Not right now. The country's at stake.

CALLER: If you're going to be in government you gotta play --

RUSH: The country is at stake. You're right, this is not about the traditional back-and-forth, the policy arguments, and we come to an agreement at the end of the day, we compromise and so forth. This is about the future of the country. So I understand your frustration. Believe me, I feel it, too. You're asking me what you can do. We're all asking ourselves that. You know, what can we do? People are marching; people are showing up in public; calling all these people's offices. I think it's a waste of your time, by the way, to call Boxer. I think right now if you're going to call anybody, call Harry Reid's office. I don't care whether they talk to you or not, flood 'em, shut 'em down, e-mail, faxes, just shut 'em down, call Harry Reid's Nevada's office, he's worried about 2010 reelection. Harry Reid is about to have happen to him what happened to Tom Daschle. You call Harry Reid, don't waste your time on Pelosi. Call Steny Hoyer. Call some of the Blue Dogs and moderates and so forth, because, I'll tell you, these people, their political futures are up for grabs as well, the Blue Dog Democrats in the House.

But Harry Reid, you know, he's the guy that's the architect, along with Obama, of the shenanigans going on in the Senate right now. And, by the way, she spelled it out perfectly. If you didn't hear the first hour, she gave you the summary of it pretty well, how they're planning to attach two Senate health care bills to a House bill that the Senate has not yet acted on, on taxing bonuses. They're basically going to attach a hybrid health care bill to the Senate version of the tax on bonuses bill and send that back to the House and have them vote on that with health care, single payer, public option health care being an amendment to a bill on taxing bonuses. And then they send that right up to Obama. Now, Susan, that's not guaranteed. For this to happen, Pelosi and the House have to go along with whatever Harry Reid sends 'em and not amend it and not add to it or take away from it, and you know, by the time the Congressional Black Caucus and some of the wacko leftists in the House get a look at the Senate bill, if it doesn't have all the giveaways in it that they want, it could get screwed up. But this is the attempt going on, and this is how it would be done with 51 votes instead of 60, which is required in the Senate.

All of this is a tantamount admission that the American people don't want it; it's a tantamount admission they can't pass it with public support and what that means is that they are scheming against the American people. The enemy of this government is not Moammar Khadafy; the enemy of this government is not Ahmadinejad; the enemy of this country is not Osama Bin Laden; the enemy of this country is the American people. The enemy of the Democrat Party right now in getting what they want is the American people, and that's who they're scheming against. And you know that, too, and that's why you're outraged. This is not supposed to be a banana republic. This is supposed to be a representative republic with a small R, and they're obliterating it. They've been working at this for 50 years or more. Their dreams have come true. But they are overreaching and they're getting so much public opposition now that they're trying to figure out how to get past it and get done what they want and still maintain their power. I gotta go, Susan. Thanks for a great call.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Internal message here to Koko up at the website. Koko, I want you to put the audio and transcript of Susan from Glendale on the free side of the website tonight. She said, "I can't rally the nation." Susan, you just did. My e-mail's going nuts in here. "Thank you for letting her go on without interrupting her. Nobody else would do that." That's because I am a highly trained broadcast professional. ... Teresa in Ithaca, New York, welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Rush, what a pleasure it is to talk to you. I've been listening to you since day one, and it is absolutely a pleasure this afternoon to get through. I just wanted to thank you. I understand you've gotten many, many e-mails already for letting Susan speak her mind because her heartfelt sentiments are just echoing across the country, and it's nice to hear somebody who is so eloquent in what she had to say and to also understand her frustration because so many of us are feeling the same way.

RUSH: Exactly right. And it would be great if every Republican member of Congress and the Senate could hear that call. We might find a way to make that happen, but it will be on the free side at RushLimbaugh.com when we update this afternoon.

END TRANSCRIPT

Nascar Fantasy Crash League Rules

2009-07-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

The Nascar Fantasy Crash League was concieved during a chat at the GSNAP.Com chat hosted by NascarByCooter during a crash filled race that was wreaking havoc on everyone's Fantasy Nascar contests.

The rules will be short and simple, we want this to be fun, and require Minumum involvement.

To play our version, you must be logged in to the NascarByCooter chats at GSNAP. You can get a free gsnap membership anytime by registering at http://gsnap.com . Then starting about an hour before every Sprint Cup Cars race, go back to GSNAP and follow the link to the Nascar Chat.

It's free, simple, and we have a lot of fun chatting, sometimes we even chat about the actual race. LOL.

Official Rules:
1.)Before each Nascar Sprint Cup Race post your picks at the gsnap chat. Picks must be posted on the site by the time the green flag waves on lap one. If you cannot get online to do that, send them ahead of time to someone on twitter who can post them for you.

The Picks: Pick One Driver who you think will crash first (crashes defined later) (50 pts)
Pick Five other drivers who you think may crash during the course of the race.(10 pts each crash)
Pick One driver who you believe will finish in 43rd place. (25 Bonus Pts)

2.) Keep track of your own points on the honor system. But, post them as they happen for the fun of it.

3.)PENALTIES: If any of your drivers finishes in the top 5 you lost 15 points each.

That's it. It's easy and fun. Now here's some FAQ:

WHAT CONSTITUTES A POINTS EARNING CRASH? Obviously a crash that brings out a yellow flag counts, but in some cases, a crash that does not cause yellow to come out will also earn points. Simply smacking a wall does not count (or we couldn't play at Darlington), nor does bumping another car, if neither of them crashes or spins. However, if a car spins out (either alone or because of contact) and keeps it on the track, or makes it directly to pit road without bringing out a yellow, that DOES count.

WHAT IF MY CHOICE FOR FIRST CRASHER, CRASHES LATER, BUT NOT FIRST? That will count as a 10 point crash. Basically you have 6 drivers who's crashes are worth 10 points. And ONE of them is worth 50 pts if that particular driver crashes first. The Choice for last place is ONLY worth CRASH points if they are also a Crasher pick.

WHAT IF THE FIRST CRASH INVOLVES MULTIPLE CARS? If your driver is involved in the first crash and it's a multi-car crash, that counts regardless of where their particular crash occured.

WHAT DO I WIN IF I FINISH WITH THE MOST POINTS? Pretty much bragging rights, BUT I may occasionally come up with a prize or gift certificate that I will mail to the winner. It's possible that other players may occasionally donate a prize just for the fun of it too.

WHAT ABOUT THE CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS OR NATIONWIDE SERIES? The official contest is only for the Sprint Cup races, but they may be playing for fun during the other races. The GSNAP chat is active during all three races.

WHAT IF THERE IS A DISPUTE ABOUT A CRASH? A simple vote of whoever is on the chat and wants to vote will decide things not covered above. Simple majority of voters is all that is needed to decide.

That's it. Now get a GSNAP account (if you don't have one) and have some fun.

Doug Kimpel
WisconsinSmokeFan on GSNAP
WisSmokeFan on Twitter

The Elusive, Rare, Musical Milestone

2009-07-12T17:22:00.001-07:00

Music is so much more than entertainment. Most of us can mark important periods of our lives by the songs that we heard at that time. Who doesn't get nostalgic over the songs they remember from those boring summer afternoons, or a special song where some romantic milestone took place, or even a song that reminds us of a trauma in our past. No matter what the mood, MUSIC is involved in nearly every event in our lives.

Throughout history music has always consisted of a massive amount of adequate performers, and a small handful of extraordinary talent. Everyone has heard of Brahms, Tchiakovsy, Beethoven, Bach, O'Carolan, etc. But a simple google search will show there were thousands of others who influenced music in century's past.

Now, with the power of Radio, Then TV, and now I-Tunes, You-Tube, etc, there are literally millions of artists making music to keep the world entertained. BUT, as before, just a handful go on to become the ICONs of their era. In the last century Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman did it, even though the Dorsey Brothers, Artie Shaw etc. has huge following too. Chuck Berry, Elvis, not to mention the phenominom that was The Beatles....all stood out in their field. Led Zepplin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath all ushered in a new era of music, then later Judas Priest changed it all up again. Motley Crue put a new mark on music as we entered the 80's, only to have Pearl Jam and Nirvana change it 180 degrees. Certainly, some of these acts were not the most accomplished musicians around, but they had that special something that made them stand out.

Who will the ICONS of the near future be? It's hard to be sure. But, as a musician for the better part of 4 decades, and a listener of all types of music, I remember several rare moments where uopn hearing an artist, it was readily apparent that you were hearing something special. Something huge. Something that would change music forever.

With the loss of so many ICONS, Chuck Berry, Elvis, Hank Williams Sr., (most of ) The Who, (half of) the Beatles, The heartbeat of Led Zeppelin, and now Michael Jackson, it's time to wonder WHO will become the ICON that people growing up NOW will remember?

I don't know for sure, but I will tell you, that there are a couple forces in the music/entertainment world, that we insiders see as emerging as absolutely huge. Nobody can deny that Taylor Swift is huge right now. And it's NOT because she is breathtakingly beautiful, or sings music that young girls (and guys) can relate to (although she does, and it is). It certainly isn't because she is a great singer. (Which she is not) It's because she is EVERY GIRL. She's a real person, with real fears, concerns. She hasn't taken the Hollywood RockStar path. She writes her own music, which means when she performs it, it is really from the heart. Among a handful of others, Taylor Swift will be an ICON of this place in time.

But......there is someone even more intriguing out there, and, although in certain circles, this person is already HUGE, I think the biggest surprise is yet to come. You've seen the picture accompanying this post, so I think you know that I believe MILEY CYRUS will go on to be the face of this curent generation.

Face it, she's everywhere. Nearly 1.25 million people follow her on Twitter. Most of them follow her entire family and friends too. She's on one of the biggest youth tv shows of all time, she has sold out stadium s and arenas in minutes, and has name recognition everywhere, on everything.

But that's not why I believe she's gonna be huge. It's obvious that she is out-growing her base audience of kiddies. And, on the other end, as "tweens" get older, they will be "embarrassed" to admit they were (are) fans. That's when people will start to measure her by her actual talents.

Now, I will admit, I really enjoy the Hannah Montana TV show. It's funny, well written and entertaining. She is a comedic actress that I think approaches the greats like Lucille Ball et al. She also has a very compelling alto voice with a southern twang and such enthusiasm for her music. So I am a little biased.

BUT, until her solo album came out last fall, I had nothing to judge her on that wasn't controlled and driven by Disney. Sure, she sang the songs, and put on the shows, but how much of that was really her, and how much was Disney magic?

So, one of the Musical Milestone Memories happened when I bought her album "Breakout", and put on some high quality headphones and listened to it while driving home from work. By the second song I knew I'd have to take the long way home. This was a mesmerizing album full of songs that cross all musical genres, has not a single song that you bypass, and even a big hard-rockin' maniac like me could listen too from beginning to end. But, most impressive, was that, it was Miley Cyrus. Not Hannah Montana, Not Miley Stewart. Just Miley. A country girl from Franklin , TN. Chills ran up and down my spine as each new song started. I knew I was listening to something huge.

I could go on and on about who I think the new ICONS of music will be, but, if you look at the simularities between Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, et al, you will see, it's a return to a sort of old fashioned,from the heart, type of music. A kind of Southern sense of Responsiblities and Morals standing strong and winning over the East Coast establishment, and the Hollywood Nutcases.

The ICONS of these times, will be true, honest, performers. Not Hollywood superstars. And it's about damn time.