The Best Albums of 2020

The Best Albums of 2020

I have compiled a best of 2020 so far list that includes fantastic new music from a wide range of genres. First, there’s pure Pop of Selena, Huey Lewis’ Rock ‘n Roll Pop, to the Blues Rock of Robert Cray, Jazz from Pat Metheny, with a little Country flavored Pop from Puss N Boots that is another creative outlet for Norah Jones. There are also outstanding Folk treasures from the Queen of Coffee Shop Folk Lisa Loeb. Mandy Moore delivers with her first album in over a decade, sharing her maturity in her long journey. You'll also find a very nice ambient piece worth checking out from Tycho and some Art Pop Electronic weirdness with Grimes.

2020 is off to a good start so far, where new music releases are concerned. This year started off with Selena Gomez’s “Rare” and many other new releases that have followed are better than you might think and well-deserving of the small investment you’d be making by purchasing these gems.

After searching high and low for some time now I've found some really good albums that are making my list. Among these are Leslie Mendelson's "If You Can't Say Anything Nice..." new album, and it is quite terrific with its best song being "All Come Together", and then there is a new album from Datura4 "West Coast Highway Cosmic" that sounds like good ol' '60s / '70s heavy rock with fantastic guitar riffs, I hope you search these little treasures out and give them a try.

Good albums are rare these days and as the year has progressed there have only been a few real gems that are worth a financial investment per se. More recently we do have some good stuff from the likes of Bob Dylan giving us Rough and Rowdy Ways, and then we get pure pop from Carley Rae Jepsen with Dedicated Side B, The Pretenders rock out with Hate For Sale, Deep Purple hits us with Whoosh, Bill Frisell’s Valentine is a jazzy little gem, Jenny O New Truth is a real stand-out effort. And let's not forget but a while back an interesting EP from Noah Cyrus came out called The End of Everything and it has a batch of good new tunes as well.

Keeping you up to date with some more great new releases, we have new music from the classical guitarist Xuefei Yang, new stuff from Bebel Gilberto, a-Rockin' good time with the Allman Betts band, and my new favorite album is from Hannah Georgas which is one I'm sure you'll love as well.

The year finishes off strong with great new rock albums from The Boss...Bruce Springsteen's new Letter To You, and maybe the year's best rock album from AC DC with Power-Up. Miley Cyrus surprises us all with a really great new rock album with some great collaborations, and all-round great new songs with her album Plastic Hearts. The last album worth checking out is Paul McCartney's new album McCartney III, it's full of some really great new songs. These last four albums I mention are all charting well and getting great reviews.

While everyone is now practicing social distancing, you can cheer yourself up with these new albums. 

Happy New Year to you, I hope 2021 will have as much new great music as this year has

• Lisa Loeb - A Simple Trick To Happiness
• Robert Cray / Robert Cray Band - That's What I Heard
• Smoke Fairies - Darkness Brings The Wonders Home
• Huey Lewis & The News - Weather
• Pat Metheny - From This Place
• Selena Gomez - Rare
• Soccer Mommy - Color Theory
• Puss N Boots - Sister
• Tycho - Simulcast
• Grimes - Miss Anthropocene
• Mandy Moore - Silver Landings
• Myrkur - Folkesange
• Gordon Lightfoot - Solo
• Leslie Mendelson - If you Can't say anything Nice
• DATURA4 - West Coast Highway Cosmic
• Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways
• Carley Rae Jepsen - Dedicated Side B
• The Pretenders - Hate For Sale
• Deep Purple - Whoosh
• Bill Frisell - Valentine
• Jenny O - New Truth
• Xuefei Yang - Sketches of China
• Bebel Gilberto - Agora
• The Allman Betts Band - Bless Your Heart
• Hannah Georgas - All That Emotion
• Eivør - Segl
• Bruce Springsteen - Letter To You
• AC DC - Power Up
• Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts
• Paul McCartney - McCartney III

This is the best of the best to have come out this year. Looking forward to 2021 with hopes of finding even better new music.

Stephenie Meyer Has A Twilight Change of Heart

 Stephenie Meyer is having a Twilight change of mind. In an article published by Variety back in August of 2013 “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer said she is done with the vampire franchise.

“I get further away every day” 

“I am so over it. For me, it’s not a happy place to be.”

She added...that if I were to revisit the Twilight Romance series again...“What I would probably do is three paragraphs on my blog saying which of the characters died,” she noted. “I’m interested in spending time in other worlds, like Middle Earth.”

Stephenie Meyer on ‘Twilight’: ‘I Am So Over It’

Anyways twelve years after the last installment in the Twilight series another new book is now out and number 1 on the bestseller list. Midnight Sun. It is a retelling of the first book from Edward Cullen’s perspective and the author insists that it is definitely darker.

The author now says she has plans for more: “There are two more books I think in the world that I want to write. I have got them outlined and a chapter written, I think of the first one, so I know it’s there. I am not ready to do that right now, I want to do something brand new.”

As Midnight Sun hits No 1, Stephenie Meyer plans two more Twilight books

Who knows what that will be or when we will see it. Her Twihard fans never went away and will revel in the Midnight Sun until another installment of the series arrives.

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

 

How Much Will You Get in Social Security Benefits?

For anyone in the United States of America who has worked for some time, you can now find out easily what your Social Security check will be when you retire. Even if you are not a naturalized citizen. Yep, even legal working green card holding immigrants who work here will be able to collect Social Security retirement checks.

The Social Security system says that they calculate your benefit based on your past 35 years of earnings. I’ve known people to have worked for less than that and still collect Social Security benefits. So, don’t get spooked into thinking you have to work 35 years or more to collect. Not True! Although their algorithms to calculate your benefits remains an unsolved mystery, there’s no need to worry. You can get an estimate of what your future checks will look like by, creating a mySocialSecurity account. There you’ll find your estimated future benefit amount based on your real life earnings. It’s a site you’ll have to check out sooner or later, so why wait? Check it out now, it only takes a minute or two and fill in some basic information and you’ll open a portal of information available to you, and that’s to your benefit.

Of course, the longer you work the better the payout will be. If you are unable to work to your full retirement age, then hopefully your living situation will at least allow you to delay applying for benefits. Your full retirement age or FRA is your 67th birthday. If you were born prior to 1960, then your FRA is 66 and some months. You can choose to collect your Social Security earlier, as early as age 62. But, at that early stage your benefit will be reduced 30% and that unfortunately will be permanent. I have heard that some Social Security recipients receive cost of living increases, but that is nothing substantial, and will not make it worth retiring early. The best thing is to wait as long as possible before you apply for benefits. In the meantime, creating an online account now will let you see your benefits if you should choose to retire early. It will show you your benefit for each year you delay up to age 70. You may also need to replace a lost or damaged Social Security card. You can do all of this and more by simply signing up for your Social Security account today.

The best thing you can do, is to take good care of yourself, eat right, exercise and see your doctors regularly. A healthier you can make a wealthier you.

Be sure to check out the My Social Security Video below for more important information.

EPA Tests prove 2 Lysol products Kill Covid-19

The Environmental Protection Agency has tested and approved two Lysol  products as effective in killing covid-19.

The Environmental Protection Agency says that the Lysol Disinfectant Spray and Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist can kill the virus on surfaces based on their own  laboratory testing.

The EPA said that they plan to approve additional products in the coming weeks, and we’re still waiting for some of this news.

I went to the store and then several others looking for these 2 products only to find them sold out. It seems to be sold out everywhere. I even checked Amazon and it is currently unavailable there as well.

It must also be pointed out that these products kill the virus in 2 minutes or more of use, not immediately. So, keep this in mind when and if you do get to purchase these products that like washing your hands for 20 seconds or more, cleaning with these products will take 2 or more minutes to be completely effective.

In the meantime you can use these products listed on the EPA’s website below

EPA Gov. List N: Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)

List N was last updated on July 23, 2020.

Wolfenstein 3D for All Windows systems & Macs

Wolfenstein 3D is Back.

Considered the Granddaddy of first person 3D shooters. This shoot em up game is widely regarded as having helped popularize the first person shooter genre and setting the standard of fast paced graphical action for many of the subsequent games in the genre.

This game came out in 1992 and was an immediate success. It was first available on Microsoft’s DOS. I don’t think there are too many out there who will remember that operating system, but the game remained popular despite it’s rudimentary graphics. Although the game is called Wolfenstein 3D the graphics are presented in 2D and allows your player to move around in all directions to give you the 3D element.

Today Wolfenstein 3D is considered a cult classic. It was never developed for newer systems that came out and many have forgotten about it as newer games with better more realistic graphics have come along in recent years.

Fortunately, today’s internet is quick enough that you can now play the original Wolfenstein 3D game from your web browser.

Wolfenstein 3D

The game plays with the above link and from there you’ll have to blast your way out of the concentration camp and make your escape.

For sure, you’ll find it entertaining and perhaps you’ll even want to bookmark it for revisiting and or to show to others.

The only problem I found is that you cannot save your progress and quit the game and return and resume. Instead, as you advance through the different levels you just have to keep the tab open. That should not be a problem, because most all of us have several tabs open at all times.

Anyways, this should be a fun trip down memory lane.

Enjoy!

Demoting Dr. Phil to Mr. Phil

Dr. Phil appearing on Laura Ingraham said, we don’t shut the country down for automobile deaths, cigarette related deaths, and swimming pool deaths.

He claims that we have 360,000 swimming pool deaths per year. The actual number of swimming pool or spa related deaths according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is 390 deaths a year on average.

There are only two things you need to know about Mr. Dr. Phil

1. He's not a Medical Doctor. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of North Texas. 2. He does not have a licensed to practice in ANY STATE!

A simple google search provided me with this info.

Leading Causes of Death

Data for the U.S.

Number of deaths for leading causes of death

• Heart disease: 647,457
• Cancer: 599,108
• Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936
• Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201
• Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383
• Alzheimer’s disease: 121,404
• Diabetes: 83,564
• Influenza and pneumonia: 55,672
• Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,633
• Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,173

It would appear that Mr Phil needs a few refresher courses, because he apparently is not aware that automobile deaths, cigarette related deaths, and swimming pool deaths are not contagious.

Seriously though, how can anyone really takes this guy serious about anything?

Stay safe and find something better to watch than this guy or Laura Ingraham.