Holiday Road.... Top RT Audio for the Holiday Season

     I have been spending so much time in the car lately. It's easy for me to get tired of the radio. I've tried everything (but cassette tapes) to keep me sane behind the wheel. I've put together my top three songs and top 5 podcasts that have been helping me deal with holiday traffic.

SONGS:
     It's that cold time of year again. My current local temperature is about 22 degrees, which makes car travel less fun toff the bat. I need music to get me in the car. A good holiday song will make you forget you're in traffic. A great song will turn your boring commute into a party-like atmosphere , which is great when there is a bottleneck to view an accident on the other side of the highway.

3. Florida Georgia Line: Cruise
"I've got my windows down, and my radio up..."
This 2013 radio staple get me to roll down my windows and relax (if it is above 40 degrees out). I caught FGL in the summer of 2013 touring with Luke Bryan as this song was burning up the country, pop and hip hop charts. It was a near religious experience on a sweltering Labor Day weekend in Pennsylvania  as Tyler Hubbard (Georgia of the aforementioned Line) yelled out "Yeah Girl" to my "Let's cruise" sign. Something about the song on the radio takes me back to that concert and the memories of that weekend. Cruise and other songs about sipping beers, falling in love, dancing in fields, and other summer fun can be found on Here's to the Good Times.

2. Maren Morris: 80's Mercedes
"...Feel like a hard to get starlet when I'm driving...." 
I love listening to this song in the car. It reminds me of summertime, no traffic, and it's very catchy. Maren Morris has blown up the country scene this year, winning Bes New Artist at November's CMA Awards. Her mix of pop, soul and country make her Summer 2016 album Hero on repeat.

1. Tim McGraw: Shotgun Rider
"...No I don't ever want to know... no  other shotgun rider beside you, singing along to the radio."

(c) PipPepPop

PODCASTS:

     Everyone has a podcast these days. All you need are some good microphones, the gift of gab, and an iTunes account. All you need to listen are ears. I have been devouring the following podcasts in no particular order :

5. Shondaland Revealed
     TGIT fans can rejoice! ABC super EP Betsy Beers is back bi-weekly this season and  interviewing her beloved Shonda Thursdays actors. Stars of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal (premieres next month), The Catch (premieres March) and How to Get Away with Murder come to chat about their shows. I also believe this started as a Scandal podcast and expanded out to the other shows. In the news, I have to know who is under the sheet (dead) on HTGAM! I know Betsy will have that interview (and the actor's fashion report) soon. The podcast is on iTunes alternate Fridays with first looks on EW.com Thursday nights.

4.  Buffering the Vampire Slayer
     Real-life couple Kristin Russo and Jenny Owens Young have just completed a watch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's season 1. January is the perfect time to jump in on the emotionally crippling season 2. There's some important conversations to be had here about the dialog (mostly from Xander) and situations from the 90's (just yell "The Patriarchy") that are no longer politically correct.  There's also much amazing fashion to discuss (t-shirts under camis and dresses, velour everything, anyone?) Buffy fans new and old will enjoy this podcast. I loved the interview with Armin Shimerman (aka Principal Synder) and hope to hear more behind the scenes tidbits as Buffy turns 20 this spring. Each episode ends with an original composition the ladies have written  about the theme of the episode. I know the upcoming School Hard already lends itself to an easy chorus. The podcast drops on iTunes Wednesday nights/Thursday mornings. Visit the podcast website here.

3. Bitch Sesh- A Real Housewives Breakdown Show
     Hosts Casey Warner and Danielle Schneider are celebrating year on the airwaves with special guest, Bravo's King Andy Cohen. Both women come from comedy writing and acting backgrounds, and they launched the Hulu original mockumentaries "The Real Housewives of Orlando" and "The Real Housewives of Las Vegas." This podcast is all bravo, all the time. The episodes recap all of the Real Housewives franchises (mainstays Orange County, Beverly Hills, NY, NJ, Atlanta, and the less successful Dallas, DC, and Potomac forays.) The podcast is usually found Wednesdays! Catch the crew on iTunes here.

2. Gossip Guys
     Andy Greene and Aaron Davitian have steered the ship USS Gossip Girl for nearly three seasons, and only spoiled one major plotline. If you listed to the "Never Have I Ever" episode, you and Andy will find out who is Gossip Girl.  The L.A.-based pair always have something to say as two guys watching a post-Internet boom teen drama. They push through the party and scheme of the  week, coining phrases such as 'manipiate': a manipulation, usually involving Nate. I've found myself yelling "It's not enough," when they honor Blair's stepdad Cyrus, or "It's a small island," whenever a character unfathomably appears in the next scene after going from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Join the guys as we head into the (personal opinion) turbulent and off-putting season 4. Let's hope next season will end with a "Summer of Serena" movie binge of Blake Lively classics. Episodes usually release Mondays. Spot the guys on iTunes here.

1. The Shipping Room
     If you've ever rooted for a TV couple, this podcast is for you! From The Wonder Years to Chicago P.D. and everything in between (usually 902010 or One Tree Hill), Christine and Tamar fearlessly plunge into important TV relationship topics. Past episodes have been about affairs, pregnancies and engagements. The ladies share weekly listener "Tip 10 Ships" lists and talk with top T.V. writers. Episodes drop on Fridays. Check them out on iTunes.

Annalee, Annalee, Don't You Know I'm On to You

     Tomorrow is episode 2 of the new season of How to Get Away with Murder, and we might have finally reached the point where getting away is not a forgone conclusion. See the above blog title, also part of a Gavin DeGraw song, for a clear explanation. It's the third year of Professor Keating's (Viola Davis) law class, and the show has finally begun adressing our burning questions as Annalise discovers a dead body and her house on fire (who handles her insurance claims, seriously?)

Answers to Real Life Questions:
1.  How do the Keating 5 stay in law school with all of the murders?
     - These kids are barely holding it together mentally, and their GPAS are revealed at the bottom of the whole law class. The new dean points out to Annalise that she is favoring these sucky lawyers and like a protective mama bear, Professor Keating defends them.

2. How does Annalise keep bringing in money with one big case a semester? How does she find time to teach her sections of Intro to Law?
     - Annalise has an expensive retainer, and she is a good lawyer. Yes, she probably makes some bank, but teaching classes has to cover some of the bills, even if it's just covering her house repairs from all the murders. She is a great teacher, but she has other obligations (lying to the police, court, convincing people she didn't murder Nate's wife)  and missed a chuck of teaching classes last year because she got shot in the stomach (at a crime scene). As per her conversation with the dean, the school is aware Annalise has become a terrible educator. She is removed from the into classes and as a last ditch attempt, convinces the dean she should run an innocence-project based law clinic.

Image from TVLine.

3. Why didn't Frank shave sooner? 
     - Actor Charlie Weber was an Abercrombie model. He is a hottie with a body. Why has he been creeping around with a beard? Oh right, he is a murderer.

4. Is Oliver now part of the group (The Keating 6)?
     - Oliver has seen some things. He was diagnosed as HIV positive,  kidnapped by a would-be murderer, and then he got his boyfriend's acceptance from Stanford pulled. Yes, he is all in, digging up dirt on Annalise to secure his place with the group. Can he come back from the dark side? Can wicked Caleb really be the good one in this pair?

5. Is Annalise a murderer?
     - The fliers in her classroom seem to suggest that she is.

More Questions:
1. Why won't Wes move out of his terrible apartment? 
     - There have been kidnappings, murders, and some seriously bad juju there. It must be very cheap.

2. What happened to Caleb Hapstall?
     - We last saw the police going to arrest Caleb after Annalise proved in court his sister and brother/cousin could not have murdered all of their parents. Did he go to jail? Did the Keating 5 come to watch his trial and figuratively dance on his grave?

3. Did the police give up on trying to wrap up the murder of D.A. Sinclair? 
     - The original setup showed that Katherine Hapstall must have killed her in a murderous rage, but with Katherine's case blowing to pieces and her innocence, did anyone believe Annalise and crew were scot-free?

4. Why is Wes so cruel to Laurel?
     - It's unclear what happened after last season's car kiss, but Wes has turned a cold shoulder on Laurel and found a (relatively normal) girlfriend. Laurel still hasn't heard from Frank since he disappeared. If anyone should be massively upset, it should be Laurel.

Image courtesy of Tumblr. 

5. What's up with Bonnie?
     - Bonnie has been too quiet. Any minute, she may turn into her Paris Gellar character from Gilmore Girls and go off about chastity belts and Harvard. She has some issues that clearly have not been dealt with (her father raping her as a child, helping Asher cover up  a murder, nursing Annalise back to mental and physical health) and her weird unspoken tension with Frank, who has now disappeared.


6. Are we going to get closure on Wes's father being shot right in front of him?
     -This was my question from moment one of the season premiere.  Also see question 1 as it relates to this matter.. Wes needs something good in his life after losing Rebecca and being driven to the point of agreeing to shoot Annalise.

7. Will there ever be a Scandal crossover?
     -I can't be the only one shipping this crossover.  Just picture it, another day at Middleton University when the next presidential debate turns deadly. Annalise represents Cyrus, because, Cyrus must have done it. Or, Olivia and Huck come in and cleans up political scandals and bodies.

8. Will Annalise and Nate finally be happy?
     - Nate came all the way to Memphis to visit Annalise and her family in the season finale. They adored Nate, and he put up with it. Now that they're both widowed, they could be together. There is a good chance this turns toxic. See #10.

9. Is Annalise over the 'Frank caused the car accident that killed my baby' news?
     - There is no answer yet, but let's go with a hard pass. Perhaps Frank is the dead body found at casa d'Annalise? This leads to...

10. Who is the body at Annalise's house?

One Republic Has "All The Right Friends In All the Right Places" - Ryan Tedder's Musical Genius

Ryan Tedder (noun) - one of the brightest songwriters on the Pop music scene in the new millennium.

     Ryan Tedder is the lead singer of Pop/Rock band OneRepublic. He is the musical equivalent of the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man in the World" because his discography has its own Wikipedia page. He plays the piano. He is also pretty handsome. OneRepublic played the tonight show last week to drop their new catchy single, "Wherever I Go". The music video link is very amusing. This caused me to do some binge-listening to Tedder's other classics. The lyrics offer little to the imagination, as they are very honest, direct with feelings and pull at your heartstrings. Here are the 5 best OneRepublic singles.

5. Apologize (2007) Featuring Timbaland
Tedder's first big single is one of his showstoppers. It's slow building orchestration on the piano and Timbaland's faraway hey-ayy-heyy lead off with a haunting waltz. The slow beat is magnified by lyrics like  "I need you like a heart needs a beat.." but as the song clearly explains, it is too late to apologize. That is the  2007 equivalent of Taylor Swift saying "We are never getting back together. Like Ever." Country singer Luke Bryan does a great twangy cover of this on his Doin' My Thing album.

4. Come Home (2009) Featuring Sara Barielles

Sara Barielles (C) PipPepPop

     This is another OR ballad filed with pianos, strings and joined by the beautiful voice of Sara Barielles in perfect harmony.
" Right now there's a war between the vanities/
   But all I see is you and me/
   And the fight for you is all I've even known/
   Ever known.... so come home."
There is such a deep pain and longing in this song. Tedder and Barielles both plead with each other that all can be forgiven if the other one just gives in and comes home.  I can't help but get my teary eyed every time I hear it.

3. Secrets (2009)
     This ballad is reminiscent of Apologize because of the gorgeous sweeping orchestrations, but its even better. Secrets is different about Apologize because it is about hope. The previous song is about closing doors and ending ties, but this one is abut opening up to begin something honest and new. It is just the most beautiful song. This song was used in many advertisements, notably for the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice and ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars.  Tedder's lyrical genius includes lines "Tell me what you want to hear/ something that will light those ears, sick of all the insincere, I'm gonna give all my secrets all my secrets away."


2. Counting Stars (2013)

     First of all, this song moves at a fast clip (see more about the 'Tedder beat' in #1). What may sound like verbal vomit is actually deep thoughts from Tedder about survival. I consider it to be somewhat like  Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," but with less world events. When he says "Everything that kills me, makes me feel alive," he is #winning and wiping your face in it. Tedder has dreams that are more important than dollars, and he believes hope is a 4-letter word. My first favorite line in the song comes in the building bridge back to the chorus: "Take that money / watch it burn /  sink in the river /the lessons are learnt." Life sucks, but its how you bounce back that really matters. My second favorite part of the song is in the above image.  Tedder does a superb job of rhyming his 4 pre-chorus verses.

1. Love Runs Out (2014)
     This song echoes a typical repeating bass line (on the piano) or "Tedder driving beat," as I have dubbed his sound. It's easy to see why the song became the official anthem to the recent season 2 of ABC's How to Get Away with Murder. This music video is pretty amusing for starters, and seems to have nothing to do with the song. The lyrics are simple but decisive. The song is intense, relentless, and passionate, like the accompaniment. Here is the rhyming couplet that holds this song together: "I'll be doing this /  if you ever doubt /  'til the love runs out / 'til the love runs out."

    Check back for Ryan Tedder's best productions and collaborations with other artists. He has done over 80 well-known and released songs in the last 10 years. This will blow your mind!

How to Get Away with Murder.. or Die Trying

Michaela and Connor

     It's time for the last part of the How to Get Away with Murder  second season. Since we left off, Bonnie murdered Rebecca and Annalise/Frank covered it up by disposing of her body and making it look like the fled town. It's nice to have friends in low places when you're planning a murder, isn't it, Bonnie? The main case of the season is Catherine and Caleb Hapstall, rich adopted siblings that are on trial for murdering their parents. Things seem pretty bad for the siblings, because the both claim they're innocent, and no murder weapon can be recovered. Plus, their adoptive aunt accuses them of incest and insults them with tons of racial slurs, and ends up dead also. The beak outlook of the case turns around when the Keating 5 discover Aunt Helena gave a child up for adoption, and their adoptive father was the child's father too and the true heir to the Hapstall family fortune. The best quote of the season comes from Annalise to D.A. Emily Sinclair, "Good luck proving the inbred weirdo didn't do it." Viola Davis also won a SAG award for her role of Annalise for last season, so she better go, girl!

     As luck would have it, Michaela gets involved with defendant Caleb, only as a result of having a wild entanglement with Rebecca's stepbrother, a.k.a. "eggs 911." In her defense, she didn't know who he was, but Wes did. The two gents teamed up to unsuccessfully find Rebecca and it was only revealed to Wes in the final minutes of episode 9 that Rebecca was dead. Annalise tells Wes in an effort to get him angry enough to shoot her. She does this to cover for Asher, who not-so-accidentally ran over D.A. Sinclair, who pulled up compromised cases from Asher's esteemed father's career as a judge. Annalise has Catherine drugged and sets up a scene at the house to make it look like she shot Sinclar and Annalise in anger, after Annalise 's team figured out she must have to do with the murders because she had a relationship with the inbred weirdo. We get flashes at the end of the episode of Annalise and her old flame, Eve, watching a young boy, Christophe,  in a police station being interviewed about finding his mother unconscious from an apparent suicide. Wes's mom also died from a suicide...

Wes

     So what happened with the murders from the previous season? Lila's murder just went on the backburneer as Annalise proved her client rebecca's innocence. Nate was tried for the murder fo Sam, and Annalise's old flame Eve represented him. This caused a lot of drama. Nate's cancer-stricken wife Nina asked Annalise to get her some pills so she could die in peace and Annalise wouldn't go for it. Nate did get the pills to his wife, and was investigated for charges of murder, but cleared after a blood sample swap indicated Nia died with no drugs in her body. Will these two crazy kids finally be together now that their spouses are dead? I hope not. They're nuts.

     Here is the current body count because of Annalise and crew, not including the at least 5 murders involving this season's cases

• Nia Lahey            - Murdered by Nate (humanely)
• Sam Keating        - Murdered by Wes
• D.A. Sinclair       - Murdered by Asher
• Judge Millstone   - Murdered by hanging himself
• Lila                      - Murdered by Frank
• Hapstall Aunt      - Murdered by her son, Phillip

Injured/Pretty Impaired:

• Annalise               
• Catherine Hapstall

How to Get Away with Murder.. or Die Trying

Michaela and Connor

     It's time for the last part of the How to Get Away with Murder  second season. Since we left off, Bonnie murdered Rebecca and Annalise/Frank covered it up by disposing of her body and making it look like the fled town. It's nice to have friends in low places when you're planning a murder, isn't it, Bonnie? The main case of the season is Catherine and Caleb Hapstall, rich adopted siblings that are on trial for murdering their parents. Things seem pretty bad for the siblings, because the both claim they're innocent, and no murder weapon can be recovered. Plus, their adoptive aunt accuses them of incest and insults them with tons of racial slurs, and ends up dead also. The beak outlook of the case turns around when the Keating 5 discover Aunt Helena gave a child up for adoption, and their adoptive father was the child's father too and the true heir to the Hapstall family fortune. The best quote of the season comes from Annalise to D.A. Emily Sinclair, "Good luck proving the inbred weirdo didn't do it." Viola Davis also won a SAG award for her role of Annalise for last season, so she better go, girl!

     As luck would have it, Michaela gets involved with defendant Caleb, only as a result of having a wild entanglement with Rebecca's stepbrother, a.k.a. "eggs 911." In her defense, she didn't know who he was, but Wes did. The two gents teamed up to unsuccessfully find Rebecca and it was only revealed to Wes in the final minutes of episode 9 that Rebecca was dead. Annalise tells Wes in an effort to get him angry enough to shoot her. She does this to cover for Asher, who not-so-accidentally ran over D.A. Sinclair, who pulled up compromised cases from Asher's esteemed father's career as a judge. Annalise has Catherine drugged and sets up a scene at the house to make it look like she shot Sinclar and Annalise in anger, after Annalise 's team figured out she must have to do with the murders because she had a relationship with the inbred weirdo. We get flashes at the end of the episode of Annalise and her old flame, Eve, watching a young boy, Christophe,  in a police station being interviewed about finding his mother unconscious from an apparent suicide. Wes's mom also died from a suicide...

Wes

     So what happened with the murders from the previous season? Lila's murder just went on the backburneer as Annalise proved her client rebecca's innocence. Nate was tried for the murder fo Sam, and Annalise's old flame Eve represented him. This caused a lot of drama. Nate's cancer-stricken wife Nina asked Annalise to get her some pills so she could die in peace and Annalise wouldn't go for it. Nate did get the pills to his wife, and was investigated for charges of murder, but cleared after a blood sample swap indicated Nia died with no drugs in her body. Will these two crazy kids finally be together now that their spouses are dead? I hope not. They're nuts.

Here is the current body count because of Annalise and crew, not including the at least 5 murders involving this season's cases

• Nia Lahey            - Murdered by Nate (humanely)
• Sam Keating        - Murdered by Wes
• D.A. Sinclair       - Murdered by Asher
• Judge Millstone   - Murdered by hanging himself
• Lila                      - Murdered by Frank
• Hapstall Aunt      - Murdered by her son, Phillip

Injured/Pretty Impaired:

• Annalise               
• Catherine Hapstall

Don't Hate "The Player", Hate the Game

     As I predicted in September, NBC's The Player has been cancelled, which once again means Must-See TV has fallen by the wayside at the peacock network. I didn't follow the show after episode 1, but I think a big part of their downfall was showing on Thursday nights opposite ABC's "Shonda Thursdays," specifically the gut-wrenching, heart pounding triumph, How to Get Away With Murder.  I did see Alex Kane as a sympathetic character, after all, he did just rekindle his relationship with his sobering ex-wife Ginny, only to have her murdered hours later. On top of all that, he was considered as a suspect in the murder, and playing "the game" was his only hope to get himself cleared and kind out what really happened to Ginny.  But the show had a lot of action packed into each scene and some very layered conceits set up, so it was not helped by things like Thursday night football or an earlier lead in of Heroes:Reborn and James Spader's retirement fund, The Blacklist. In a eperate post, I have to explore how this show is still on air because I'm pretty baffled. The show's 9 episodes ended with several twists and many questions, which can be found here.

How to Solve a Murder -Viola Davis Style

     One of the best new shows this season, hands-down, is ABC's How to Get Away with Murder. This past Thursday, we finally got the answer to the season-long question: who killed sorority girl Lila? Now new questions have popped up and we're left waiting until the next season to figure our : "Will the Keating 5 get away with murder?" and "Who let Rebecca go?"

     Oscar winner Viola Davis leads the cast as Annalise Keating, a tough talking defense attorney and twisted mother figure to her scrappy band of first year law students. Wes, Laurel, Connor, Mikela and Asher. Despite the lessons they learn in class, these kids could not be more clueless about how to work the legal system. In their weekly cases, Annalise relies on associate Bonnie (Liza Weil, yes Paris Gellar from Gilmore Girls) and investigator Frank (Charlie Weber) to get things to go her way and to helo her clients. Due to some very complicated circumstances, Wes ends up killing Annalise's husband, Professor Sam Keating. Sam was having an affair with coed Lila, who was pregnant at the time she drowned in a campus water tower.

     My money was definitely on Sam as the murderer, although her football star boyfriend, Annalise and a shady drug dealer friend Rebecca were all equally likely suspects.  Through current events, flashbacks to the nights of Sam's and Lila's murders, we unravel a story that leaves everyone with blood on their hands. Wes only struck Sam because he was wrestling Rebecca (who became involved with Wes) for a flash drive that might prove he was guilty of the murder. The other students helped to dispose of Sam's body (minus Asher, who is so self-serving, he didn't even realize he was left out of the biggest cover-up in town). Unfortunately, Asher's trophy was the murder weapon, and Bonnie was hit on by Sam before he died, which made Annalise so disappointed in her character, they were barely speaking.

     So where does that leave us? Four of the law students must barely be passing their classes because they're covering up murders as often as they're defending the people accused of them.... and Oliver, Connor's boyfriend is one computer hacking away from going to jail for life. Annalise can finally be with her secret lover, Detective Nate Lahey, because Sam is dead. It looks like Nate might be hauled into the precinct for the murder of Sam, despite his innocence in the matter.

     As for Lila's murder, Sam instructed Frank to "take care of", a.k.a. murder Lila. Nobody knows Frank was the murderer because he is creepy, but a very convincing liar. This case may remain unsolved.  Annalise realized her students killed Sam, and in flashbacks, she told Wes what to do to cover it up, and she was really okay with her husband being murdered (a blessing in disguise?). Rebecca became so disturbed by the whole set of events (and she also takes a lot of drugs), she planned to go to the police and tell them everything. Then  the students tied her up in Annalise's basement. Before we knew it, someone let her escape.. of was she murdered to ensure her silence? In a final thought, what does "eggs 911" mean from Rebecca's last text? Who was she contacting?