Yes it was a birthday long ago that I had two wishes. I wanted Billy Joel’s Glass Houses and Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall. I didn’t have a stereo, but would you believe you could get those albums in 8-track. Those were the days, I wonder if Michael Jackson thought the same.

Here’s a great Off the Wall Medley from YouTube.

Okay, so you’re thinking, sure some people have really big feet; maybe they need really big shoes. Well the tallest man in medical history had feet 18 ½ inches long and I believe that he could actually sleep in what you are about to see.

Some of the comments on YouTube are commenting “big deal”, however it is a big deal. These shoemakers have made real big shoes that a sizeable person (scaled to fit in them) could wear comfortably. Hey, everybody deserves well made shoes. This is a skill not to be laughed at people.

Of course I wonder what will happen in a thousand years or so when someone unearths these bad boys…

So I took my daughter shopping and she had to get some shoes so naturally I walked by my Sonoma sandals that I love so much and which I needed a new pair of… so I have new shoes, okay sandals. And in these shoes I’m certain I will slip into summer comfortably, it won’t be less busy, it won’t keep me from getting tired, I’ll just have comfy feet. That I can deal with, as long as it does not require socks…I’m all about big shoes, not big socks.

How about something from the late great Kirsty MacColl. Here’s Kirsty MacColl from Tropical Brainstorm.

I ask you, where do you want to start? Why baby names? Well pretty much these are my rants on shame on the government spending tax money to share the most popular names, shame on the “media” for grading celebrity baby names, shame on those that name hurricanes and shame on parents who need a license to name their children something not too embarrassing.

Do I think it is important? Yes and no and when you read these posts you’ll see why. This is one of those topics I receive numerous, sometimes bizarre hits on, especially the Social Security Baby Names post. I’ll recommend some cool baby name books for you so you don’t have to rely on the government for what’s in and what’s not in baby names…and always remember, parents, even celebrities can make bad baby name choices. Please, name your child with caution.

Social Security Baby Names
Pitt and Jolie Baby Names Make the Grade
Hello Dolly
Talula Does the Hula and the Name Game

I’ll give you the rundown on last year’s music highlights and I will close with a number from the Arctic Monkeys to get you jammin’. Hope you like it because I’ll share more Arctic Monkeys throughout this year.

I apologize in advance for any broken YouTube links and will find other sources in the near future if a missing link is found.

Now for the obvious…shoely named bands:

Two Tone Shoe
Good Shoes

U2 anyone?

U2 at BigShoes
U2 Get On Your Boots
Sometimes You Can Make it On Your Own

Movie Music, yes Jaws is included:

Kinky Boots
Music from Jaws
I Go Swimming (…Jaws)

…or just movie dance
Ricardo Montalban

…and on that note, how about some more Peter Gabriel
Music Sunday

…some rock and roll
Blue Suede Shoes

…or hip hop
Boomin

…or maybe something from a musical
Edgar Allan Poe from Snoopy the Musical

Comedic Music from Colbert, Demetri and more:

Stephen Colbert’s Remix Challenge
Stephen Colbert (Rain LOL)
Demetri Martin
Sesame Street
Monty Python

Inspiration

Sunday Inspiration
Alexei Butirisky and Joe Cocker
Poetry at BigShoes
December
November

And then there is the Arctic Monkeys…put on your dancing shoes…really!

Okay it may be a little premature to say this since I’m not quite sure yet. But it is very possible that Jaws is the number one post topic outside of the topic of shoes at BigShoes. What does that say about me? Or more importantly what does that say about you if you’ve returned, weren’t you passing through for a nice pair of flats, heels or boots?

Yes, a year of BigShoes and what do I have to show for it? Hungry sharks. Today is a good day to write about sharks as I watch a few shark movies on SciFi and have to comment that what is up with Beowulf on before the Spring Break Shark Attack premiere? I spend an afternoon watching Raging Sharks and Shark Attack 3: Megalodon and then we slip in some Beowulf before the main attraction. Looks like some network is too worried about changing their name from SciFi to SyFy than they are about inconsistent programming. Do you think the logo will be written in bubble letters?

No worries, here is the BigShoes Shark Year in Review starting with 4th of July weekend 2008. This will keep you busy if you aren’t a Beowulf fan.

I Go Swimming
This one is really about really cool music and sharks.

If You Missed Jaws This Weekend
Don’t have time for your favorite movie. The YouTube movie in this post sums up Jaws in 60 Seconds.

And I Missed My Jaws’ Marathon
I know, really, all that buildup and I missed it. That’s okay you get my quick commentary on all four Jaws movies…you didn’t even know there were four, did you. Okay if you did, who is still alive by the time we get to the fourth?

Don’t Go In The Water
Oh yeah, this was a good one. A real life news story that I really, truly, sincerely had nothing to do with.

Music from Jaws
Guess what, Labor Day weekend was approaching and I of course had Jaws on my mind AND they were having another Jaws’ marathon. Time to break out the popcorn and find something appropriate at YouTube to share.

Robert Shaw
We remember Quint.

Jaws Labor Day 2008
What can I say; it is Labor Day finally and we have a tribute to Roy Scheider. I reminisce about the next time I will get to talk about Jaws.

Not Jaws
I thought it was Jaws related, but alas it was NOT.

*****

Then there were the Jaws cameo appearances in the following posts, really not intended to be posts on Jaws but referenced none the less.

Talula Does the Hula and the Name Game
Tag You’re It
The Shining
Sizing Up Sasquatch
Blah Blah Blah Ads

*****

…and then the announcement of the BigShoes Birthday Bash…I await with anticipation till the time (20 days later) I can get around to posting my references to Jaws, lucky you, today.

BigShoes Birthday Bash
The BigShoes Story
BigShoes Movie Kinky Boots

Okay, maybe I DO understand why my husband looks at me strange when I say, “Hey, Jaws is on!”

My favorite part of Kinky Boots was the music, in particular the great walkway scene at the end that was an excellent collection of boot and shoe melodies sung by Chiwetel Ejiofor who played Lola (Sam). Please note, it is “loosely” based on a true story so don’t believe everything you read, see or hear. Don’t let the title or content shock or scare you away. You could view this film with your parents or most of your children.

Here is the Kinky Boots walkway scene (and a link from YouTube in case it gets disabled).

Don’t worry if I fall short I’ll keep some links handy for those who can finish you off for me when I’m having a sappy day. I find however that there are enough things in the world and my immediate surroundings to perturb me on a near daily basis and if I try hard enough I’ll find something to rant about. Take Danica Patrick for instance. I have at least until her 40’s before that gravy train chugs off into the distance, and you never know which new creative underwear Victoria’s Secret will sell that will impale or forever scar some unsuspecting woman…or man…I have no preference.

So I welcome any new readers and hope you don’t run away screaming from BigShoes, unless you are running to tell your friends.

After completing a whole year, I thought of posting the first BigShoes post today but then I thought it might be better to tell you the BigShoes story. Oh yes there is a story. I’m sure many a freelance writer is faced with writing about something they aren’t sure they want to write about. I had a history in freelance writing of health, nutrition and diet topics. I could tell you about the health benefits of exotic fruits and berries that I had researched, and I could share all the things I learned about green fuel and transportation…and I could be funny when the research warranted it, hey, you can’t make some of this stuff up.

I had done some humor and rant writing, written insulting quiz results for teenage girls having fun on the internet…or perhaps not after they read my insulting answers and I was looking for some better blogs. I can’t remember where I found the Today.com ad to sign-up, but I sent them an email saying I could write for their health blog they had advertised. A very nice man replied with a quick inquiry of could I write on women’s topics.

This is where you hear the needle scratch across the record in the middle of the movie. What? Women’s topic…this man has no idea…blech…women’s topics.

Turning point movie music as I stared at the email on my computer screen “eeny, meeny, miny moe” …trust me it was exactly like that.

Well maybe writing another health blog wasn’t such a good idea, people were probably worried about a conflict of interest, should I really put any stock into that old saying write what you know…maybe I’m the only woman who applied…heck they didn’t even have a women’s interest site, it would be new, how new…brand spanking new…I’d be getting in at the ground floor of this women’s interest site…“eeny, meeny, miny, moe”…just like that.

Oh I sent that man an email, something like sure I think I could do that…I mean after all what would that site entail…some fashion, some makeup, some pink whatever…I can do that, scribble, scribble, scribble….toss that outline in the waste basket.

Well as you see I did it, and it’s been a year. I never asked that nice gentleman if sports coverage (Stiletto Run) and a 4th of July Jaws weekend, (I think we did that on Memorial Day and Labor Day too) was fodder for women. Maybe the site name was misleading but they kept me around, even though the only shoe coverage was that Stiletto Run for a while. Like I’ve said before though, you’d be amazed at all the non-fashion shoe stories there are in the news. Who would have thought it?

Well, Happy Birthday BigShoes. I’m glad I didn’t delete that email. And the moral of the story for any of you writers out there…write what you know.

I’m bringing you a little bit of the Letterman and here are links to our BigShoes’ collection of U2. I’m surprised there aren’t more. I probably have a file filled with future posts that reference some cool U2 YouTubes. We’ve got another year to fill with content so I’m certain U2 will be on the playlist.

You have to share your favorite U2 song. Even if you don’t like them I imagine everybody has one U2 song they can tolerate. If U2 really isn’t your thing than who is? All musical tastes welcome here. That’s why they call us the BigShoes. Don’t forget, tomorrow is the big day, one year mark here at BigShoes.

Now for your listening pleasure…

Happy Birthday with Bono and U2
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
U2 Get On Your Boots
U2 Lincoln Memorial Concert with Obama