Showing posts with label usher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label usher. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

36 People Who Are Already More Successful At My Age Than I Will Ever Be

I know it's self-defeating to compare yourself to other people, because everyone is different, and what truly defines success is completely subjective. But it's my birthday and I feel like deflating my already flimsy ego a bit, so here goes nothing. Don't take it too seriously – my tongue is planted firmly in cheek as I write this – but still...  ~  JH




Karina Smirnoff:  She was the 
Season 13 winner on Dancing With
The Stars. I wasn't. And never will be.



File:Chad Ochocinco.JPG
Chad Johnson (aka Chad Ocho Cinco):  
He's a six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver.
I'm not. And I never will be.



Ashton Kutcher:  He's starred in not one
but two successful TV sitcoms as well as countless
movies. I haven't even visited Hollywood.



File:James Franco 4, 2013.jpg
James Franco:  He's won a Golden
Globe and been nominated for an
Oscar. In his spare time, he teaches 
courses on short film production 
and screenwriting. I write 
about clothes for a living.



File:Erin Andrews 2012 Shankbone.JPG
Erin Andrews:  She's been a sportscaster,
journalist, and TV personality who's worked
for ESPN, Fox Sports, and Good Morning
America. I just watch SportsCenter every day.



File:Shawn Marion Mavs.jpg
Shawn Marion:  He won an NBA
championship with the Dallas Mavericks
in 2011. I've flown into the Dallas/
Fort Worth airport a couple of times.



File:CASTA Laetitia-24x30-2005b.jpg
Laetitia Casta:  She's regarded 
as one of the most beautiful 
supermodels in the world. I'm not.



File:Barry Zito 2008-08-02.jpg
Barry Zito:  He parlayed a Cy
Young award into a 7-year, 
$126 million contract. I...
don't make nearly that much.



File:Brian Urlacher crop2.jpg
Brian Urlacher:  He played for 13 years
in the NFL, winning Rookie of the Year, 
Defensive Player of the Year, and was
elected to Pro Bowls. I've watched him
play on television. That's about it.



Benji Gregory:  He was on ALF. I would
have given my right eye to be on ALF.



File:Bill Hader by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Bill Hader:  He was a regular cast member
of Saturday Night Live. He's been in a string of
successful comedies. I crack lame jokes on my blogs.



Joshua Jackson & Anna Torv:  The stars of
TV's über-fascinating sci-fi drama, Fringe.
Watching it on Netflix is about as close as I'll
ever get to experiencing that level of cool.



File:DirkNowitzki.jpg
Dirk Nowitzki:  He's a 12-time
All-Star, former MVP, and one-
time NBA champ. He's considered
one of the greatest power forwards
in NBA history. I shoot bricks. A lot.



Zoe Saldana:  She's been in two 
Star Trek films, as well as in 
Avatar. I've...seen those films.



File:Champ Bailey 2010.JPG
Champ Bailey:  A 12-time Pro Bowler
who's widely regarded as one of the
best pass defenders in NFL history. 
I'm widely regarded as one of the
best gas passers in my household.



File:Aramis Ramírez - 2008 - cropped.jpg
Aramis Ramírez:  He's hit over
350 homeruns and driven in
more than 1,200 runs in his
MLB career. I was 0 for 8 in
my high school baseball "career."



Nicole Scherzinger:  She's very
attractive and sings quite well.
I sing okay, and – well, you 
know what I look like. Ugh!



File:Topher Grace Giant Mechanical Man premiere 2 - Copy.jpg
Topher Grace:  Along with Ashton Kutcher,
he was one of the lead actors on That '70s
Show. I...watched that show a fair bit.



File:MG 9800 Ben Sheets.jpg
Ben Sheets:  He was a four-time
MLB All-Star and Summer Olympic
gold medalist. Even though he 
blew out his arm at a relatively 
young age, he still had a better 
career than I ever will.



File:JoshHartnettNov08.jpg
Josh Hartnett:  He's starred in blockbuster
hits such as Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, and
Sin City. I used to have a Blockbuster membership.



File:Kurt Busch 54 2012 Road America Sargento 200.jpg
Kurt Busch:  Winner of 24 NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series races and the 2004 champion,
Busch gets paid to drive very fast. When 
I do that, all I get are speeding tickets.



File:Kobe Bryant Washington.jpg
Kobe Bryant:  He's a 16-time All-Star,
15-time All-NBA Team, and 12-time
member of the All-Defensive Team.
He's a 5-time NBA champion, 2-time
Finals MVP, a regular-season MVP,
and a surefire future Hall of Famer. I
used to play NBA Jam on my Sega Genesis.



File:Ed Reed 2008-08-13.jpg
Ed Reed:  A nine-time Pro Bowler,
former NFL Defensive Player of the Year,
and one-time Super Bowl champion, Reed
is considered one of the greatest safeties
of all time in the NFL. I always wear my
safety belt when driving or riding in a car.



File:Usher speech.jpg
Usher:  He's won 8 American Music
Awards, 20 Billboard Music Awards,
8 Grammys, and 2 MTV Video Music
Awards, among countless other honors.
I once served as an usher for the
Summer Theatre program at ECU.



File:20110426-1018 John Lackey.jpg
John Lackey:  Despite being infamous
for his surly demeanor and his habit
of drinking beer and eating fried
chicken during his own team's games,
this guy has won 138 games in the big
leagues and has two World Series rings
to show for it. I've never won anything.



Matthew Morrison:  He portrays the
charismatic glee club teacher on the
hit TV series, Glee. He's appeared in 
numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway
productions. I sing in the shower.



File:BubbaWatson02.jpg
Bubba Watson:  One of the few
left-handed golfers on the PGA
Tour, Bubba won the Masters 
Tournament in 2012. I have never
played a round of golf in my life.
But I am left-handed.



File:Reggie Wayne.JPG
Reggie Wayne:  A six-time Pro Bowl
selection and member of the Colts'
Super Bowl XLI championship team,
Wayne has amassed over 1,000 receptions
and more than 13,500 receiving yards 
during his career. I once worked in the
Receiving Department at Barnes & Noble.



File:Rachel McAdams, TIFF 2012 (bright crop).jpg
Rachel McAdams:  She's starred in a
number of hit movies such as Mean Girls,
The Notebook, Wedding Crashers,
Sherlock Holmes, and The Vow. I've
seen a lot of hit movies such as these.



File:Katherine Heigl LF adjust.jpg
Katherine Heigl:  She's starred in
the hit medical drama, Grey's Anatomy,
for which we won a Primetime Emmy.
She's been in a string of hit movies,
most of them romantic comedies.
Let's face it – I can't compete with that.



File:Mat Kearney.jpg
Mat Kearney:  He's one of the more
talented singer-songwriters in the biz
today. He's won a GMA Dove Award 
and scored 5 top-20 hits on the Adult
Top 40 Chart. I've written a bunch of 
songs I've never sung for anyone
anywhere and probably never will.



File:Nelly Furtado 2010.jpg
Nelly Furtado:  She's an 8-time
Grammy nominee and 2-time
Grammy winner. I'm like a bird.



File:Vernon Wells on May 20, 2013.jpg
Vernon Wells:  Despite fizzling
out late in his career (he's still
an active player), Wells has been
a 3-time All-Star, 3-time Gold Glove
winner, and 1-time Silver Slugger
Award winner. He's hit nearly 300
homeruns and driven in almost 1,000
runs over his 14-year career. I have both 
Gold and Silver strands in my beard hair.



File:Katie Holmes, 2009.jpg
Katie Holmes:  She starred in Dawson's
Creek, had a key role in Batman Begins,
and has appeared on Broadway in an
Arthur Miller play. She was also married
to a talented yet insane fellow actor.
I married a talented yet not insane person.
Now this is a comparison that I'm okay with.



Manny Pacquiao:  He's the first and only
eight-division world champion in boxing, in
which he was won ten world titles. He holds an
impressive record of 55 wins (38 by TKO) and 
only 5 losses. He's also served in the House 
of Representatives in his home country 
of The Philippines. I get knocked down, 
but I don't usually get up again.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Songs By Mononymous Singers, Vol. 2 – The Guys

In case you didn't see or read yesterday's post, I'll recap the intro as succinctly as I can. A mononym is "a one-word name by which a person is known." Many singers, songwriters, and musicians in the industry are (or have historically been) commonly known by a single name. Yesterday, I posted a collection of songs by mononymous female singers. Today, it's the singularly-named guys' turn. Enjoy!  ~  JH


(NOTE: Several notable mononymous males are absent  from this list, but that is by design. Prince not only has a comprehensive catalogue of wildly inappropriate music, but he also seems to have wiped his entire music video collection off the face of YouTube. Bono [U2] is a great singer, but he hasn't really done a whole lot solo, so I excluded him from consideration here. Yanni is a popular musician, but he isn't much of a singer. Eminem and Drake may be highly talented rappers in their own right, but their lyrics are so foul that I declined to post any of their music here.)



1)  Sting  ~  "Fields Of Gold"  (You can't go wrong with this guy – classic song, classic voice.)



2)  Moby  ~  "Raining Again"  (Moby doesn't always sing the vocals for his songs, but when he does he's not half bad!)



3)  Matisyahu  ~  "One Day"  (Wonderful song by a one-of-a-kind musician – a Hasidic Jew who sings reggae music!)



4)  Beck  ~  "Loser"  (Some of the most bizarre lyrics ever set to music can be found right here in this song.)



5)  Tedashii ft. BenJah  ~  "Last Goodbye"  (Two mononymous guys in one song – ha!  Warning: You might want to have your Kleenexes handy...)



6)  Maxwell  ~  "This Woman's Work"  (Wow, falsetto much?)



7)  Liberace  ~  "I'll Be Seeing You"  (Good googly-moogly, that outfit!)



8)  Babyface  ~  "Every Time I Close My Eyes"  (This guy's voice is smooth as silk – in other words, I'm jealous!)



9)  D'Angelo  ~  "Cruisin'"  (A classic old-school R & B song given a new-school vibe – I like it!)



10)  Donovan  ~  "Mellow Yellow"  (Donovan had to be on some serious drugs when he wrote this song – and maybe when he performed it, too – there's no other explanation for the blatant weirdness...)




11)  Gotye ft. Kimbra  ~  "Somebody That I Used To Know"  (A great song by two talented singers – both of whom are mononymous!)



12)  Seal  ~  "Kiss From A Rose"  (This was one of Seal's better ballads back in the day.)



13)  PSY  ~  "Gangnam Style"  (Oh, yes, I went there...)



14)  will.i.am ft. Cheryl Cole  ~  "Heartbreaker"  (Technically, I suppose you could say will.i.am is three different words, but I'm going with it anyway.)



15)  Morrissey  ~  "Alma Matters"  (I've heard a lot about this guy, but this is the first time I've actually listened to a song by him – nice voice...)



16)  Usher  ~  "Numb"  (Always a crowd favorite...)