Pop 5: Danceable Summer

1. Shake It Up -- Selena Gomez
2. Trouble For Me -- Britney Spears
3. Love You Like a Love Song -- Selena Gomez
4. Super Bass -- Nicki Minaj
5. Whiplash -- Selena Gomez
6. Oops! ...I Did It Again -- Britney Spears
7. Rolling In The Deep -- Adele
8. Boys (Co-Ed Remix) -- Britney Spears
9. Jumpin', Jumpin' -- Destiny's Child
10. Say My Name -- Destiny's Child
11. Independent Women, Part 1 -- Destiny's Child
12. Again and Again -- The Bird and the Bee
13. If I Die Young -- The Band Perry
14. All of the Lights -- Kanye West

Is it time for a new one already? YUS. Not the most premeditaed pop compi I've ever made, but decently well thought out still. Had kind of a thing for Destiny's Child lately thanks to frequent play at work. Also discovered that Selena Gomez is a pretty great artist. She's prolific like Miri, and while Selena's music isn't on quite that high of a level, it's a lot more modern-styled than Miri's so it's easy enough for me to enjoy.

As far as Britney goes, I remember her from my own youth (e.g. "Oops I Did It Again,") but what I didn't know is that since then she's done a lot of electronic dance pop that's quite up my alley. Figure I ought to familiarize myself since I'll be seeing her live soon.

And.... that pretty much covers it. Named it Danceable Summer in honor of the fact that it's been over a year since the second edition of my pop collections series came out, "Adequate Pop: Summer Fun Edition."

New Horizons in Children's Television

I'm a proud Nickelodeon fan. Over the years, Nick and The Disney Channel have both had their share of decent shows. But over the last half-decade or so, what Nick brought to the table has been so transcendental that my friends and I have come to sort of shun Disney. iCarly, Victorious, and Avatar The Last Airbender are three of the finest programs ever to grace television, and Disney has never authored even one series that can compete.

But Nick has been running on empty for some time now. Airbender is long gone, and for an entire year iCarly has been subjected to mammoth two or three month gaps separating new episodes. Now even Victorious's progression has slowed to a crawl. I've been so desperate for new light-hearted television that I began checking out what Disney has to offer. And to my surprise, it's really good.

The convenient thing about Disney Channel is, they play their decent material pretty much all the time. 2am, 11am, 10pm, you're liable to catch Disney's best show. This is a huge breath of fresh air compared to Nickelodeon, whose best material maddeningly runs strictly in a 5 or so hour block during the afternoon & evening. Nickelodeon's time is segmented by a lengthy "Nick Jr." toddler block in the morning and a lengthy "Nick @ Nite" syndicated sitcom block at night. And during the brief period where Nick runs their A-material, you're just as liable to run into Big Time Rush or Supah Ninjas as you are to stumble upon iCarly or Victorious.

Disney's shows aren't as well-written or legitimate as Nick's greatest work, but they're funny and genuinely better than everything on Nick's unfortunately prominent list of b-material. Shake It Up, ANT Farm, Good Luck Charlie, Wizards of Waverly Place, My Baby Sitter's a Vampire, Hannah Montana reruns.... even Phineas & Ferb is alright, almost everything Disney has is pretty decent, and they air new episodes in a timely manner. By far my early favorite is the hip dance-themed show Shake It Up. Sort of ironic because it's the show Kelley once tricked me into thinking she loved. I think she might secretly dig it. ;)

Avatar: The Last Airbender's Homage to Dragon Ball Z.

Delusional though I may perhaps be, I've long believed that the show's final fight between Aang and Fire Lord Ozai, was partially inspired by Dragon Ball Z's final fight between Goku and Freezer.

The red, fire-scorched desert scenery is very reminiscent to the dying Planet Namek. The finale of the fight contains even stronger shadows of Z. In particular, there is this one moment, when the defeated Ozai lies at Aang's feet, which I definitively believe is an intentional homage.

If I were to take one specific frame in Z that this is the closest to a direct source for the homage, it wold be this.

However, there are several scenes which feature the disgusted Goku turning his back on the defeated Freezer, as both Goku and Aang struggle with the question of what to do about an irredeemable wretched creature, not wanting to kill... but being left with no option.

Now check out the scenery...

Pop 4: Accelerated Horizons

No reason not to strike while the iron is hot! I have already completed the fourth installment in my series of pop collections predominantly based on great songs I hear at work. This one is named Accelerated Horizons, for two reasons. First because it's by far the shortest gap between new issues, and second because I kind of pushed myself a little bit to get into some artists that I think I ought to.

Pop 4: Accelerated Horizons

1. Whip My Hair -- Willow
2. 21st Century Girl -- Willow
3. Tonight I'm Fucking You -- Enrique Eglasias
4. Fuck You -- Cee-Lo Green
5. Till The World Ends -- Britney Spears feat. Ke$ha & Nicki Minaj
6. Piece of Me -- Britney Spears
7. S&M -- Rihanna
8. What's My Name -- Rihanna & Drake
9. Thriller -- Michael Jackson
10. Billie Jean -- Michael Jackson
11. Beat It -- Michael Jackson
12. Who Says -- Selena Gomez
13. Never Say Never -- Justin Bieber
14. Grenade -- Bruno Mars
15. I'm Coming Home -- Diddy feat. Skyler Grey

Aside: That version of Till The World Ends with Britney, Ke$ha & Nicki Minaj is really something. All three of them are good artists, and it's the best remix I've heard since Ke$ha's Blow Cirkut Remix. For the record, my ideal pop team up would be a remix of We R Who We R with Ke$ha, Miranda Cosgrove, & Katy Perry!

Glee!

"Glee" has become the latest television phenomenon and I'm proud to have been converted into Gleekdom by my iCarly friends on twitter. I've finally reached levels of fandom where I'm getting really into the music from the series. But rather than going along with one of the plethora of pre-made CDs from the world of Glee (there are like 15 albums of Glee music out), I decided to accumulate some of my favorite tracks and put together my own. And so here it is!

1. Misery (The Warblers)
2. Raise Your Glass (The Warblers)
3. Candles (The Warblers)
4. Bills Bills Bills (The Warblers)
5. Hit Me Baby One More Time (Rachel)
6. Friday
7. Like a Prayer
8. I Want To Hold Your Hand (Kurt)
9. Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version)
10. Sway
11. Valerie (Santana)
12. Jar of Hearts (Rachel)
13. Rolling In the Deep
14. Livin' on a Prayer / Start Me Up (mashup)

I think it ended up being surprisingly well-balanced between group songs and solo performances from my favorite characters, considering I didn't give it any thought and just picked my favorite tracks. I put The Warblers tracks first so it would be like a little concert, with the Warblers opening for New Directions. :3

The Perfect TV Day (slightly altered)

Monday thru Friday
----


Early Morning Action Cartoons (5:30am - 10)


Todd McFarlane's Spawn
ThunderCats (2011)
Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball Z
Gundam Wing
Gundam Wing
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender
The Legend of Korra





Midday Sitcom Block (10am - 2)


iCarly
Victorious
The Secret World of Alex Mack
Pete & Pete
Everybody Hates Chris
Reba
George Lopez
Shake It Up




Afternoon Drama Block (2pm - 5)


Gilmore Girls
The West Wing
Dawson's Creek



Evening Sitcom Block (5pm - 8)


A.N.T. Farm
Friends
Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Victorious
iCarly




Nighttime Adult Cartoon Block (8pm - 1)


South Park
South Park
Futurama
Futurama
The Boondocks
The Boondocks
Daria
Archer
Beavis and Butt-head
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast
12 oz. Mouse




Deep Night Drama Block (1am - 4:30)

South of Nowhere
The Good Wife
Being Human
Breaking Bad




Deep Night Anime Combo (4:30am - 5:30)


His & Her Circumstances
Neon Genesis Evangelion

-

Epilogious note: Weekend lineups would feature similarly themed blocks of good shows that aren't quite good enough for the 5-days-a-week playlist. Certain shows (The Simpsons, Family Guy), are good enough for a weekday slot, but are simply so ubiquitous that showing them five days a week on my station would not be palatable or necessary.

Dream TV Programming

I have a deep abiding love for television. One of my ultimate dreams has long been to sequence my own television channel. Not anything broadcast level, just something closed-circuit, moderated by a computer system. Understandably, I've taken the liberty of putting together a handful of flawless programming blocks for the weekdays (and one for the weekend).

The show schedule is sequenced with slashes representing the weekly airings ala Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday. Shows that are shown 5 days a week are simply listed once, while shows listed in pairs are alternated between (therefore one program has 3 episodes in a week and one has 2, switching weekly).

"Toonami"

The perfect morning action block, pairing the great string of 90s marvel cartoons with the quintessential anime, and daily airings of the top 3 action shows of all-time.

- Berserk/Zero No Tsukaima/Kare Kano/Neon Genesis Evangelion/Toradora!
 - Gargoyles/X-Men TAS/Spider Man TAS/Thundercats (Reboot)/Iron Man (second season)
- Gundam Wing
- Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Dragon Ball Z (Ocean dub first 2 seasons, subtitled 3rd)


"Adult Swim"

The ultimate mix of late-night adult-oriented animated comedies, pairing the best of the original Adult Swim with the best of Fox, Comedy Central and MTV.

- The Simpsons/Futurama/South Park/Futurama/American Dad
- South Park/Family Guy/Futurama/The Simpsons/King of the Hill
- The Boondocks
- Daria
- 12 oz Mouse/Frisky Dingo/12 oz Mouse/Home Movies/Frisky Dingo
- Beavis & Butthead/Metalocalypse/Dr. Katz/Home Movies/Beavis & Butthead

* The final half hour consists of 15-minute runtime shows, except for Home Movies, which doesn't have TWO episodes in the lineup, but rather one 30 minute episode.


"The Break Room"

The ideal afternoon compilation of great situation comedies including the best teen sitcoms from past & present, Nick & Disney.

- iCarly
- Victorious
- Seinfeld
- Reba
- Roseanne/What I Like About You/Scrubs/Everybody Hates Chris/Life With Derek
- Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide/Clarissa Explains It All/Unfabulous/Phil of the Future/South of Nowhere
- iCarly


"Daily Dramas"

A simple evening showcase for my favorite dramas.

- Being Human/Breaking Bad
- Dawson's Creek/Glee
- The Sopranos/House


"Nightmare Special"

A Saturday "deep night" 5 hour block of the coolest and creepiest paranormal documentary-styled programs from a wide variety of sources, playing into the weeist hours of the early day.

- Sightings
- Real Scary Stories
- Beyond Bizarre
- Beyond Belief
- Lost Tapes
- In Search Of...
- Twilight Zone

--

It really wouldn't be all that difficult to accomplish. It would require a large database with all of the material to be shown, and beyond that, pretty simple computer programming could regulate the showing. I enjoy the tv-watching experience, so my channel would absolutely include the typical breaks from programs. But our setup would be loose, similar to The Disney Channel in that commercial breaks would be occupied not only by commercials but also by shorts and music videos. In addition to a large collection of all my favorite commercials (everything from funny ads like The Slowskys to the iconic Jurassic Park trailer that hypnotized my youth), plus commercials for all the programs shown on the station, breaks would be occupied by eclectic music videos and live clips from all of my favorite artists, as well as favorite youtube shorts such as George Washington and shipping classics like Dismantle Repair.