There are lots of interesting developments around here lately… nothing that will be going on the blog though. No, there are no babies on the way, just to keep you from wondering. Instead I’ll just write about a few less interesting things and save the real interesting stuff for if/when it happens.

The Popular Wedding Songs
I have almost certainly talked about this before, but since it comes up so often I think it’s worth repeating.

As an experienced wedding DJ, I encounter lots of strange things in regards to music preferences. Some people give me a print-out of their entire 13,712-song iTunes library and go through with three different colored highlighters and tell me which songs to play at what times even though they’ve selected 4 days, 13 hours, 22 minutes, 5 seconds worth of music for a five-hour time slot. (Yes, this happened.) Others want only hip-hop and rap music to be played without exception, which of course clears the room immediately for anyone over 39. (This too has happened.) Others have been so straight-laced that the groom has run up to me screaming “stop playing ‘Fishin’ in the Dark’! I said nothing sexually explicit!” (Again, actually happened.) And then there are a chosen few who actually have no preferences whatsoever and completely rely on my choices, but later come up and complain about the music being played. The ones I like best are the ones where I am given a list of 15-20 songs the couple would like played, and to otherwise just use my best judgment and read the crowd to see what is working and what isn’t… but that doesn’t happen too often.

My next gig is a week from Saturday, and the couple has asked me to specifically not play the “typical wedding songs like “Chicken Dance,” “YMCA,” “Macarena,” “Shout,” “Electric Slide,” etc. that they play at every wedding dance.” They have also included a list of about 40-50 songs they would like to have played. Pretty typical.

Yet I continue to find this amusing for several reasons. First of all, just about EVERY couple says the exact same thing. 90% of the couples I’ve worked with have gone out of their way to tell me to not play these typical wedding songs. Yet people are still under the impression that they’re being unique in asking for these songs not to be played.

Secondly, and trust me on this one, I hate these songs equally as much as the couples do and am happy to avoid playing them, but there is a reason they get played at every wedding dance—they are sure-fire crowd-pleasers! By asking me to not play the 10 most popular wedding songs, you’re not giving the bulk of your crowd a chance to get into the dance.

Thirdly, these songs end up getting played anyway despite the requests of the couple, because they get requested over and over again by people in the crowd and eventually the bride and groom give in and tell me to just play them and give the crowd what they want.

Oh well, the moral is, in the end the couple is paying good money for a once-in-a-lifetime dance, and it’s up to me to give them the experience they want to remember forever. And if they don’t want “Love Shack” to be part of their cherished wedding memories, I’ll make sure it isn’t.

Oh, Wow, It’s Snowing in Late April… I’m Shocked.
Paul Douglas, my favorite local meteorologist, several days ago correctly predicted heavy snow this morning. Various reports said anywhere from 3 to 14 inches could fall. So when I woke up this morning and looked out the window, I was thankful to see only 2-3 inches on the rooftops and cars, and luckily the streets and sidewalks were totally clear.

Thinking back to a year ago when it was 75 and sunny for the Twins home opener in early April, this year seems nightmarish. But checking the ryanglanzer.com Daily Log archives, I was able to dig up some info from May 2008 that showed we were getting measurable snow accumulation overnight on May 3. So, this should come as no real surprise, regardless of how stupid it is.

As long as the airport runway is clear two weeks from today when Lauren and I leave for New York, that’s the main thing.

TV Projects… Next Up, Cheers
Being the huge TV nerd that I am, it’s amazing that I’ve never gotten into classic sitcom Cheers until Lauren and I decided to make that our next Netflix Instant project. After 86 hours of intense Sopranos episodes, we’ve decided to go a little more light-hearted with 275 episodes of Cheers from 1982 to 1993. Lauren keeps fondly remembering her childhood as we work through the first couple seasons. I’m certainly hooked. I bet there were a lot of men lusting over the young Diane Chambers at that point in time. I’m anxiously awaiting Season 3 when Dr. Frasier Crane makes his first appearance.

Watching shows in succession is so much better than watching one episode per week. I may never pick up another new TV show again! Once the current shows we watch—Dexter, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks & Rec—are finished, I don’t think I’ll pick up a new show again until it is finished and released on DVD, Blu-ray, or Netflix.

I also like the full 2:30 version of the Cheers theme song.

Shed Party Moving to Sundays
Last week’s Shed Party Show, episode #8, was quite a fun time. Walsh and I continued the Meat Loaf argument from last week’s show and tried Snus on the air. We were also joined by Jeff LaPlant who talked some pinball. The episode is available for download!

Just a note that we have softball on Mondays starting next week, so we’ll be moving the Shed Party Show to Sunday nights at 8pm CT until further notice.

Quick Twins Rant
The team is injured, ill, terrible, and unentertaining. Last in MLB in batting, runs, HR, RBI, extra base hits, etc. I can take the 6-11 record, but if the Twins are gonna be losing, I’d at least root for some slugfests. How about a 13-12 loss? Something exciting please!

Best Pic Project Down to One
Over at my Best Picture blog, you can read my review of 2009’s The Hurt Locker. That leaves us with just 1933’s Cavalcade, a title that is available only on VHS, which I purchased on eBay. That one will be watched sometime when we’re absurdly bored.