I started my first “real” post on this blog with those words. They seem appropriate to end the blog with as well.

How things have changed in the three and a half years since “Christopher’s Take” -- which would eventually become “The Chronic Curmudgeon” -- was born. I did that entry from south Florida, in the middle of a situation borne of rash judgment that would eventually prove a mistake, and working as a speechwriter who was doing good work and attracting some notice inside his company but was still an amoeba on the corporate food chain. I’m doing this entry on my last day in New York before leaving to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond, though on a bigger planet (wow, let that be a lesson to anyone trying to make a point with metaphors... they're hard to mix effectively!).

This blog, which as I’ve said ad nauseum I started as writing practice and creative outlet and nothing more, turned into the vehicle that drove my career, drove my personal life, and helped me to greatly enhance my financial status (I‘ll be making more than two and a half times this year what I was making when I started it, God bless America). Not bad for something the Doc had to talk me into doing, huh?

But just as in that first post, I am still getting older. Old enough -- or is it mature enough? -- to recognize that in some cases, it’s not always prudent to have your inner monologue or thoughts about the world out there for anyone to see. I’m old enough -- or is it wise enough? -- to know when it’s time to step aside.

There was a long time where I would have considered any nod to propriety a defeat; I was going to be me and say what I had to say no matter what the stuffier elements of the world thought of it. When I started this blog, I would have argued that the idea of shutting it down -- I mean, going on indefinite hiatus, of course -- because of the professional role I play would represent a sell-out of the most treasonous and self-betraying order.

But today I don’t; today I just feel like I have grown up to the point where I don’t feel the need to stand out in order to stand apart. I’m wise enough to have recognized that sometimes there’s valor in knowing when not to speak my mind. Is that selling out? Am I really the Man in the Grey Flannel Suit now? Perhaps. But I’m thinking of it now more in terms of acting my age.

The way you act when you’re on your way up is different than the way you act when you get there. And I’m honestly looking forward to the less rebellious phase of my life. This move I am making was done in part because I’m looking to take care of my new family -- both its existing members and any who happen to come along in the next few years. And I kind of like that feeling, to be honest with you. I wasn’t ready for it a few years ago, but I am ready for it now. I think I’m ready to leave the Curmudgeon behind, not just in the blogosphere but in life. And I think that’s a good thing, don’t you?

I am incredibly fortunate to have had this blog; few people get to have such a detailed time capsule of the part of their life where everything fell into place for them. Fewer still get to have a personal hobby turn into the rocket that propels them to places and levels they never expected to go. I got lucky. And you, every single one of you who’s been reading along with me, have been part of that for me - in a very real sense, I owe what’s happening to me now to all of you. So thank you.

To all of you who have read or commented since the summer of 2003, I am in your debt. To those who read and as a result decided to elevate and promote my career, I’m even more deeply indebted. To Doc, who today takes great delight in correctly pointing out that he not only got me into blogging but had to talk me into starting this one, I offer this public acknowledgment and a thanks for strapping the Acme Rocket Jet-Pack to my career.

As I said earlier in the week, I’ll have a more personal blog hidden behind a password to keep friends and family up on things in my new home. It’s actually set up already and is just waiting for me to get settled in and start updating. If you want to get the password and be able to keep in touch through that blog, send me a note at thechroniccurmudgeon@hotmail.com and I’ll send you the instructions to access it. Or, if you’d rather do things the old-fashioned way, send me a note to the same e-mail address and I’ll send you a “real” e-mail address and AIM ID to reach me at. If you’d prefer to do neither, I’m tempted to ask if I smell bad or have boogers hanging from my nose or something. (If you’ve already e-mailed and I haven’t yet gotten to you with the password or responded to you, I beg your indulgence while I get moved.)

Maybe Mudge will come back someday… it’s always possible that I’ll get settled into my new gig and figure out that it’s still sometimes okay to air the occasional opinion. Or maybe my fifteen minutes are closer to up than I realized and, kind of like the janitor in Flowers for Algernon, I’ll slide back into my previous levels of simplicity and anonymity and be able to say whatever I want without anyone knowing or caring. But for now, this blog -- and the wonderful run in my life that it represents and helped to generate -- is officially on hiatus. I’ll still be reading all of your blogs and will still be commenting, though -- you’re not rid of me that easily! Please stay in touch; I do consider you my friends and don’t want to lose contact with you all. And once again, thank you for reading for the past three and a half years.

Ladies and gentlemen… the Curmudgeon has left the building.

The Rats' never hit bigger here in the States, despite their success in the UK; even this song was only a minor chart success. But more than 25 years on, it stands out as a classic of post-punk (can't bring myself to call it new wave, though I don't know what I would call it, then). The staccato call-and-respond of the chorus... the epic or grand nature of the opening swell... the unusual-for-its-era violin and piano driven melody... the haunting line about the lesson today being how to die... it all adds up to a classic song from a band for whom it was the sole US hit, and thus the #2 OHW ever.

1. The Buggles - "Video Killed The Radio Star" (1979) We all know how this was the first video ever played on MTV, and the lore that rose up around that moment and the symbolism of the song's title in that use. But leave the (admittedly cool) video out of it for a second... this is a really, really cool song. True, if there'd never been a video clip, it would never have captured the imagination so deeply... but "Radio Star" is a very well constructed song - from opening to bridge to build to closing fade-out. And choosing to use the kind of distortion on the vocals that made them sound like they were coming out of an old grammaphone was a nice touch that added to the distinctiveness and air of the tune. One of my favorite songs ever, and far and away my number one One Hit Wonder of all time.

4. The Verve - "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (1998) The song that led to the situation that led to me losing a whole lot of respect for Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. The Verve's 1998 opus was a breakout hit in the US and seemed to open the door for the band; the album the song was on, "Urban Hymns" was one of the best albums of 1998. And yet the band was broken up just a year and a half later, and the promise was never fulfilled. What happened?

Well, while there were many factors in the band's split, a major stress was the fact that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards -- you know, those notably poor and destitute down-on-their-luck guys wh desperately needed the money -- decided to sue the band for copyright infringement. The song was based on a loop of an instrumental version of the Stones' 1965 song "The Last Time." While the band had in fact negotiated for the use of the sample and had actually received permission to use it, when the song became a huge international hit, Richards and Jagger decided that the song used "too much" of the sample, and sued to be listed as the song's composers and for all the royalties from the song. Stupider still was that a UK court agreed with them and awarded composer credits to them and all the proceeds to the Rolling Stones' publisher, ABKCO. You know, because they needed the money.

The irony is that, as Verve singer RIchard Ashcroft wryly noted, Symphony was "the best song Jagger and Richards have written in the last 20 years." As it stands, the song now exists as a monument to the unfettered greed and hubris of two giants who should have known better.

3. David and David - "Welcome To The Boomtown" (1986) The video's disappeared from YouTube, which is a shame because this was an overlooked gem and classic from the 80s that deserves to be spread around and remembered despite record company greed. One of the best songs of the 80s, "Boomtown"s depiction of the ugly underside of the glam and glitz of the 80s in Los Angeles is not just a great tune musically, it's one of the best stories told through lyrics in the past 25 years. You get a definite feel and image when you hear the lyrics; it's almost a movie-like feel to listen to it. Another group with a hugely promising first single that never took off the way they should have.

I alluded a couple of weeks ago to having taken a huge, life-changing, no turning back kind of step. The day of reckoning for that step, as it were, is almost at hand. Its arrival has ramifications for this blog as well as my real life. I've said before here that while, for the first seven of my eight years based in New York I hated it and didn't like my life here and wanted to go somewhere else (even going so far as to chase what Obi-Wan Kenobi might have called a "damnfool idealistic crusade" in warmer climates that, in hindsight, was less of what I thought it was but instead represented the strength of my wish to leave and the extent to which I let that wish cloud my judgment), in the past year I have grown into my skin for a number of reasons and have actually become happy with my life here.

I am acutely aware of the irony of choosing change now that I'm finally content; as my mother is fond of saying, "if there's a path of most resistance, you will find it... you never do anything the easy way." But that's just what I've done: after struggling for years to be happy in this area and finally becoming so, I've chosen to throw a massive monkey wrench into the works just to see what would happen.

I have accepted a new job -- a pretty prominent and visible one -- with a new employer (one of the world's biggest, actually). I start next week... more than 600 miles away from New York. After swearing that I would never again return to the midwest, that's exactly where I'm going -- and to a city that I never would have even ever considered that I might one day live in until very recently. The next week will be a jumble of corporate movers, signing papers, and changing physical locations, before starting the new job and new life in early March.

There are many good things about the move: financially the move vaults me to levels I never thought I'd ever make; professionally it represents not a huge step but a leapfrogging; the visibility and opportunity for me are incredible. This is, in a very real sense, the break I worked my whole career to get -- and at 38, I've now become an executive at one of the biggest companies anywhere in the world. I may have worked hard for this, but I'm also damed lucky -- blessed, some might say -- and I'm hoping to live up to the faith that's been shown in me (by both current and future employers).

It was probably not always appropriate for me to maintain the Mudge blog in the position I've been in for the last couple of years, even as a semi-anonymous personality. (My bosses were great about it, I have to say.) But as my position and reputation have evolved, it's become increasingly easy to connect this blog with the real-life me (witness how easily people at my new job were able to find me here). And if "the Mudge" wasn't really appropriate before, he certainly isn't as I take on this new, even higher-profile gig. And if I tempered the kinds of things I say out here, knowing that people can rather easily find me and in the interest of discretion... well, then I wouldn't really be the Mudge anymore, and that would negate the purpose for being out here. So, it's time.

I know better than to ever say "never." So I'll just say that Mudge is going on indefinite hiatus as soon as the OHW countdown is over. It won't be easy. I have come to really enjoy the "regulars" here and have been writing as much for you as for myself for a while now (or trying to). And shutting the door on the thing that has literally made it possible for my dreams to come true? It's like moving out of a house you lived in for 40 years and raised your kids in. You might be excited to head to Scottsdale or Boca Raton, but you're still terribly saddened when you lock the door for the last time, hand the key to your realtor and drive away.

It's always possible, I guess, that Mudge could be back. I've grown addicted to being him, and the name has crossed into my real life, with my friends calling me "Mudge" as often as using my real name. And there will always be things that make me want to vent or write. But discretion really must now be the better part of my valor. I think that means that I have to retire the persona that brought me to the dance.

I will be starting a new blog, but it won't be like this one. With family on two continents, friends on three, and friends and loved ones in the US scattered from coast to coast, staying in touch with everybody will be challenging -- and a blog seems easier and more personal than those mass e-mails. I'll password-protect it, so that only people I've chosen to let see it can see it... and it'll be more just a series of intermittent updates on how life is going in my new home, adventures I'm having along the way, and so on. It'll be a lot more personal and a lot less political, less oriented toward writing for a (hopefully) broad audience and more toward a "letter to a friend" style.

Regular readers here are now considered friends, so any of you who think of me as such and actually want to keep up with me are welcome to; send me an e-mail at thechroniccurmudgeon@hotmail.com and I'll send you the URL and instructions on how to access it. (Be warned that I won't be writing for at least a week due to the move.)

I'll finish the OHW countdown, and then will be back with one last post to say goodbye. Just wanted to give you a heads up that, as the guy in the sandwich board always said, "The End Is Near." Have a great weekend, all.

7. Dishwalla - "Counting Blue Cars" (1996) Another great song that you can't access on line due to recording company stupidity and greed. But mid-90s post-grunge has few better poster children than this meaning of life song that presupposes God as a woman and features one of the catchiest hooks of the decade. I remain surprised that Dishwalla never managed a second hit; this was as strong a first big single as anyone had in the 90s, and this band should have been bigger. Maybe it was the name? Anyway, click here if you want to hear the song, for some kid's mashup to the song since the real video's not available.

6. M - "Pop Muzik" (1979) Pre-rap? New Wave? Performance art? Whatever you call it, Englishman Robin Scott landed one of the post-disco era's most infectious singles as his alter ego/collaboration, "M." The catchy chorus and memorable bridge ("New York, London, Paris, Munich, everybody talk about: Pop Muzik") make it almost easy to overlook the idea that this is a really good song musically, and by sounding electronic and mechanized is in fact a wry comment on the disposable nature of so much pop music. Great tune - and one of the first mainstream non-performance videos.

10. Band-Aid - "Do They Know It's Christmas" (1984) Tim, I was messing with you when I said I didn't include this one; I just didn't want you pressuring me to move it higher than #10. :-) But - it absolutely earned its top ten status... this is the single best Christmas song ever. No, not just the best rock and roll Christmas song, but the best Christmas song, period. What more should a Christmas song be than a reminder that the spirit of the season is supposed to be giving and remembering those less fortunate? And when you compare this charity song to the US version -- the insipid, self-congratulating, and excruciatingly droning "We Are The World" -- Band Aid's effort climbs even higher in esteem. The all-star lineup has a few head-scratchers -- opening with Paul Young? Giving no-show David Bowie's line to Paul freaking Young??? -- but in general is a great time capsule of the who's who of BritPop of the mid-80s... and besides that, it's just a really good song. From the opening "African" sounding drums to the way the song rolls into an ending chorus that sounds joyous and optimistic despite its heavy subject, this is an all-time classic and will remain the standard by which both charity singles and Christmas songs by pop stars should be judged.

9. Tommy Tutone - "867-5309 (Jenny)" (1982) As long as you didn't have this phone number, "Jenny" was a great song, and one of the seminal tunes of the 1980s. The band got branded by their label as a "new wave" band to capitalize on the hot trend of the day, but this was primarily accomplished by putting skinny ties on a bar band. The basic guitar riff is pure garage rock, the theme of the song (unrequited passion) is one of rock's classic themes, and there's no denying the catchiness of the hook. Yes, the band had a minor hit in 1980 that went to #37 on the charts, but I still count Tommy Tutone as a OHW and list "867-5309 (Jenny)" as the 9th best OHW of all time.

13. Martin Briley - "The Salt In My Tears" (1983) Pure power chord AOR. But with the video being so relatable to so many of us (wow, is it familiar), and with a good set of lyrics to back up the power pop, this song still stands up; you could release it today and I still think it'd be a hit. Throw in a good bridge and a pretty good guitar solo, and you have a classic OHW by a guy who's written hits for about a dozen other artists but never managed to score another one for himself.

12. Shakespear's Sister - "Stay" (1992) This was the song that inspired me to do this countdown when I thought of it again for the first time in a while. I'd always liked the song even when it came out 15 years ago; I thought the first of the two women in the group (Marcella Detroit) had a really pretty voice, and the juxtaposition of her beautiful voice in the first verses with the sinister, almost evil growl of the second woman in the band (Siobhan Fahey), made for a really interesting song. The backstory on the song -- Fahey's struggles to reconcile the two sides of her personality while suffering from severe depression -- made it one I identified with during the years before I knew what I had. And then when I saw the video - with its themes of resurrection, of good and evil fighting over a soul, of that good and evil possibly being two sides of the same person - I just really got into this song. It's a freaking weird video, with Fahey becoming the glam demon woman from hell in it to represent the more sinister elements within, but one I find compelling from an artistic standpoint anyway. And the pipes it took for Detroit to hit that high note after the bridge has ended and just before the final choruses... wow. Great song, if an odd one. While this was Shakespear's Sister's only US hit, it was a raging success in the UK; to this day, no other song by a female group has ever stayed at UK #1 longer. Not the Supremes, not the Carpenters, not anyone. Nice distinction.

Been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding; The cretins cloning and feeding -- and I don't even own a TV!

If there's ever been a song lyric I agree or relate with more, I haven't heard it yet. Of course I do now own a TV, but other than that... perfect line. Perfect.

(video removed because it was freaking annoying me coming on all the damn time)

16. Gary Numan - "Cars" (1980) Is there a more quintessential new wave video? This song was one of the first big new wave chart hits, reaching all the way into the top ten in 1980 and playing a significant part in the early rotation of MTV. The distinctive synth & bass line, along with the polymoog melody, are one of the most instantly recognizable riffs in pop music history. How many of you heard this while you were at the roller rink, by the way? (On an unrelated note, anyone else think the odds are very good that the drummer's name is Carmine or Vinnie?)

15. Ace Frehley - "New York Groove" (1979) How dare I list Ace Frehley of KISS as a one hit wonder? Because he only released one single as a solo artist, that's why. Since these are some of my favorite songs ever, being on the list is not an insult. And this is one of my favorite songs... Ace went for pure power pop here and nailed it well. This song is one of the ones you need to have playing when driving into Manhattan on the West Side Highway or the FDR, when the lights of the city are spread out in front of you and you're getting ready for a big night out. Great city song, great rock song, and well deserving of a spot in the top 15.

19. Autograph - "Turn Up The Radio" (1984) Ah, the good old days when videos were conceptualized and only occasionally related to the song, and full of bizarre things like futuristic robots. This synth and guitar driven classic was a precursor to the hair band stuff that was beginning to take over the radio at that point. And you know what? Day time, night time, any time... things go better with rock. And chicks dig it when band guys give them pens. I said "PENS," there are no missing letters - you dirty minds!

18. Dexy's Midnight Runners - "Come On Eileen" (1983) This song probably brings back the happiest personal memories of any song on this list; as I have mentioned before, this was a perennial favorite of my crew's at T's Pub in Boston, and I have great memories of drunkenly pogo-ing to the chorus with about a dozen friends. Great memories of T's, and of friends I should have stayed in better touch with. I can name this tune from the first three of those six opening bass notes. One of the most distinctive songs of the 80s -- or any decade.

My mom's never been overseas before; my dad's only been overseas with the Navy, never on his own. I hope they're going to have the trip of a lifetime; I'm excited for them. So if they're reading before they leave... guys, bon voyage. Have the best time anyone could, and spend every last dime on it, because trips like this are once in a lifetime. Be good, and have fun!

22. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - "Relax" (1984) Yes, I know they had three straight number one songs in the UK. Does this look like the UK to you? Here in the States, Frankie Say One Hit. But what a hit it was: the glories of gay sex set to music and placed firmly into the top 10. The funny thing was how many he-man homophobe teenagers back in my old high school heard the "when you wanna come" part, automatically assumed it referred to sex with a girl, and embraced the song with passion. Funny stuff. Anyway, setting the lyrics aside for a moment (not because of their subject matter, but just because of the musical point I am making), this was a classic post-disco dance-pop song -- and dare I say it, it holds up very well as a dance song now.

21. Patrick Hernandez - "Born To Be Alive" (1979) Oh man, this song probably ranks among my top five guilty pleasures ever. Put this song on at any reception, party, whatever... and my sorry, hefty, very white ass will almost certainly hit the dance floor - or at the very least, will be swaying and bopping in my seat. It's like the involuntary twitch and cringe I get whenever I hear W's voice; it's physiological and can't be helped. Anyway, looking at the video, I am reminded of just what a heavy role cocaine played in the late 70s. And I love the irony of how a dance classic was sung by a man who apparently dances even worse than I do. This might be the whitest dance song performance in music history, excepting of course for Mike Singletary and Steve Fuller in "The Super Bowl Shuffle."

25. Fountains of Wayne - "Stacy's Mom" (2003) Pure power pop with a comedic edge and a willingness to laugh at teenage crushes. This was a fun song musically, a more fun song lyrically, and while I'm not a huge fan of Rachel Hunter, her appearance in the video is quite impressive, I must concede.

24. Martin Page - "In The House Of Stone And Light" (1995) Page wrote a number of hit songs for other artists, but didn't make the promised land himself until 1995, with this well crafted pop tune. I never did figure out why, exactly, I liked this song so much; maybe it's because Page sounds vaguely like Peter Gabriel (not a soundalike, just shares a broad sound). Anyway, the video is (of course) off YouTube, but here's a mashup some kid made (yet again) to some movie scenes, featuring the song.

Through the ever-growing train wreck that has been the woman's life for the past three years, I've kept the faith. Through a 55 hour marriage and annulment in Vegas, to the marriage to a no-talent leech like K-Fed, even through the recent no-underwear phase, I held on, believing that maybe someday we'd get the nymphet of 2000-2002 back.

No more.

This latest news story not only takes her life from train wreck to a 9.7-on-the-Richter-scale disaster, but it has officially killed off any last remaining interest, physical or otherwise, I had in Britney Spears. She's permanently jumped the shark... not only is she officially off my 5-Celebrities-I-Get-A-Free-Pass-With list, she's off my I'd Do That list. Hell, she's off of my If I Was Massively Schnockered And It Was Last Call And All The Other Women Went Home With Somebody Already list. She's even off my There Are Only One Woman And One Man Left On Earth, And Reproductive Sex Is The Only Way To Perpetuate The Species And Ensure Human Survival, And We're It, So... What's Your Sign? list. I mean, if a mass plague hits and there's only Britney and I left, and the only way humanity could survive is for her and I to make like bunny rabbits... then well, humanity... it was a hell of a run, too bad it had to end.

She's become utterly vile. It's honestly sad. I took her in my dead pool for 2007, and I'm more confident in my choice today than ever. Either she gets help, or she's gone by New Year's Eve. Sad, really. Britney, honey.... don't call me, I have an early squash game tomorrow... or something.

29. The Verve Pipe - "The Freshmen" (1997) Okay, it was melodramatic and borderline cheesy. Okay, not borderline. But it was still a good tune. And there was some truth to the sentiment that you just don't know as a 19 year old kid how fragile you really are, or what the long-term consequences of your actions -- even those that seem insignificant at the time. Anyway, you could watch the video if Viacom weren't such fascists. Since they are, you can go here to see some kid's anime mashup set to the song, if you really want to hear it, since the real video's been pulled.

28. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "The Impression That I Get" (1997) Remember the ska "revolution?" How ska was going to be the next grunge - only to have the fad go out in about six months? (Swing was also supposed to be in there too, but that fad also faded in six months.) But while ska was the big thing, Boston's own MMB gave us a classic. This song was all over the radio the first year I was in grad school, and whenever I hear it I immediately think of Boston. Great song, made even greater for me by the memories associated with it. Watch the video now while you can; three other instances of it on YouTube have been pulled by Viacom, so this one's on borrowed time I am sure.

27. Icicle Works - "Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly)" (1984) British neo-psychedelia was cool. Even though no one here in the US thought that was an entire genre to itself, I can't think of a better classification. But, whatever you call it, this song had one of the best drum lines of the 80s. In true one hit wonder spirit, Icicle Works made the most of the only huge song they ever wrote; it was originally released in the UK in 1983 as "Brids Fly (Whisper To A Scream)", went to #2 on the independent charts and #90 on the pop charts, was remixed and put on the B-side of another single later that year on the band's major-label debut and rose back into the pop charts at #53, then was remixed again and retitled with the parentheticals switched to "Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly)" and released in America in 1984, where it was a staple of MTV and hit #37 on the pop charts here. They never even sniffed the top 100 again here in America, and never again broke the top 50 in the UK. But they got lots of mileage from this one song -- and with good reason, because it's a really great early-MTV era tune.

Viacom's stupid, shortsighted, greedy, moronic, fascist, clueless, doomed-to-the-dustbin-of-history stance toward new media -- and their even more moronic decision to sue YouTube over every appearance of a Viacom-related video on the site -- just goes to show how out of touch, clueless, behind the times and dinosaurish the record and entertainment industry really is. Don't forget, these are the same greedy bastards who are suing 12 year olds for every last scrap or penny, so it's not surprising that they're just plain stupid about YouTube as well. Clinging to early 20th century copyright law in the early 20th century is akin to a clan of Australopithecus suing a bunch of Homo Habilis for walking upright. There's never been an industry -- or a specific organization within an industry -- more deserving of extinction.

Many of the songs in my countdown -- including one tonight -- are Viacom songs, so they've been pulled from YouTube. Heaven forbid that I or any other blogger generate attention to a song that was released in 1989... or that someone see a video on my or any other blog that they hadn't seen in a while and be moved to go buy some music off iTunes or Rhapsody. Nope, if there's a chance that there's a penny to be forcibly squeezed out of a customer today instead of a dollar to be willingly given tomorrow, the record industry will take forcing today's penny every time. I thought about just putting up big "X"s where the Viacom songs would have appeared in my countdown, but then figured that it wasn't fair to the songs to skip them just because the parent company of their performers should be

But hey Viacom? That sound you hear is the steady march of progress happening all around you and leaving your sorry, greedy asses behind.