12/12/12 A Concert For Hurricane Sandy Relief. "Listen to The Music". Fake TV light will fool burglers. Twitter adds photo filters. Seven tips for surviving the holidays with your in-laws. Four reasons not to hook-up at that holiday party.

12/12/12 A CONCERT FOR HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF

Columbia Records will be releasing a selection of 24 tracks from tonight's (December 12th) 12-12-12: A Concert For Hurricane Sandy relief via iTunes. The tracks are available now at iTunes.com/121212 , with a physical album to follow soon. There's been no word as to which artists will be contributing tracks to the new compilation. The net proceeds from the soundtrack will go to the Robin Hood Relief Fund, which is "providing money, material and know-how to local organizations that are serving families and individuals in the regions hardest hit by the storm."

Tonight's concert at New York's Madison Square Garden features such rock legends as Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Bon Jovi, Dave Grohl, and Eddie Vedder, among others.

Bruce Springsteen said that -- even during his earliest days as a musician -- he's always taken great efforts to not only entertain with his music, but to inform his audience as well: "I guess you would say that we've devised a language by which we assist ourselves (laughs) and our audience in making sense of the world and their lives, and hopefully in finding both our and their place in the world. That's the job that my favorite movies, my favorite pieces of art, my favorite music always did for me, was that, in some fashion, the artist says, 'OK, take this, and go find your place out there.' It's a passing on of energy and of thought."

DOOBIE BROTHERS

With the release of the new career-spanning documentary, Let The Music Play: The Story Of The Doobie Brothers, guitarist and bandleader Tom Johnston is definitely in a reflective mood. He spoke to Ultimate Classic Rock about the band's breakthrough Top 20 hit, "Listen To The Music" which just celebrated its 40th anniversary along with the band's second album, Toulouse Street.

Johnston recalled writing the song that remains one of the highlights of the Doobies' live setlist: "The chord structure of it made me think of something positive, so the lyrics that came out of that were based on this Utopian idea that if the leaders of the world got together on some grassy hill somewhere and either smoked enough dope or just sat down and just listened to the music and forgot about all this other bulls***m the world would be a much better place. It was very Utopian and very unrealistic. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

He went on to talk about the political circumstances behind the song: "War was raging . . . there was a lot of stuff going on then. This was my way of saying, 'Really, come on guys, what if you just brought it down a couple of notches and just try to get along?' My version of Rodney King, I guess."

Tom Johnston said that producer Ted Templeman played a pivotal part in shaping the Doobies' records: "The best way to describe it is, we'd write the tunes -- we'd write a bunch of tunes, right? And he would select whatever tunes he thought would be good for the album and then he would direct us about the drum patterns, or y'know, the vocal stylings. He was more of a director as well as a producer back in those days -- now that's not really quite the case. Everybody's matured a great deal, and songwriting and ideas of how it's gonna be put together and also as far as how the song sounds when you walk in with it."

FAKE TV LIGHT WILL FOOL BURGLARS

A company in Minnesota is selling a FakeTV product which produces a TV-like light designed to fool burglars. The company, Hydreon Corp, said the light will look like a TV is on in your home, so potential burglars may think twice before breaking in. FakeTV costs $34.95 and is available for purchase at FakeTV.com. (Yahoo! Finance)

TWITTER ADDS PHOTO FILTERS

Twitter has announced new versions of its iOS and Android apps will feature photo filters and editing software. This comes just as Facebook-owned picture app Instagram blocked user's ability to post Instagram photos on Twitter. Tech-watchers note that it appears to be a defensive move on Twitter's part. Twitter's new photo filters were created by Aviary, a company that already powers photo-editing experiences for other apps, such as Flickr, Box and Walgreens. (Daily Mail/ TechCrunch)

SEVEN TIPS FOR SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS WITH YOUR IN-LAWS(Your Tango):

1) Don't expect it to be like your family. The fact that your in-laws aren't the same as your family is a good thing for lots of us, but not for some. Just because you do things a certain way in your family, don't expect the same from your in-laws. Be open to differences and learn to go with the flow.

2) Tread carefully with your partner when it comes to his/her family. What seems strange to you might seem normal to your partner. Kissing grown adults on the lips comes to mind. Remember, when you grow up in a country where everyone eats live fish, it seems perfectly normal to you.

3) Notice the nature of communication among family members and consider matching it. I'm not saying you can't be yourself, but consider it more like being at work than spending the holidays with your family. If you're in a room of stiffs, you don't want to come off as a hysterical, loud comic, even if that works for you most of the time. If the in-laws are outgoing and you're too much of a wallflower, they'll think you don't like them.

4) Remember that affection and emotion are expressed - or not expressed - differently in different families. What's happening in this family? You'll make people uncomfortable if you ask about their feelings and touch people if that's not their family's way. You'll also make people uncomfortable if you shrink away from the big hug from Uncle Bob because that's not your family's way. Find a happy medium.

5) Remember, your spouse will seem different with his/her family. We all have a role in our family of origin (FOO). When you get together with people you only see once or twice a year, you are expected to play that role. This is true despite the fact that you are now a grown-up and not a sniveling child or adolescent. Chances are, you will see your beloved in that historical role. Don't knock it; it's probably the same in your FOO. Be kind.

6) Remember, not everyone will love you all the time. Borrowing from Albert Ellis' wonderful irrational beliefs, you have to recognize that, unlike your FOO, your in-laws are not obligated to love you. In some families, there's a clear norm for embracing the in-law like a blood relative, whereas in others, not so much. Remember, your self-esteem is not on the line and neither is your relationship. And you're not going to love them all either.

7) Make it fun. Particularly if you know it's going to be difficult, I like to challenge people to tell me one or two ways to make it fun. Some examples to get you started: Learn something new about someone; give someone the gift of listening to them; make someone laugh; or, set an intention to see the humor in everything

FOUR REASONS TO NOT HOOK-UP AT THAT HOLIDAY PARTY(The Frisky):

1) Because you know these people. You're probably amongst co-workers, or friends, so chances are you'll have to see these people again. Forever etched in their brains will be the image of you grinding someone random on the dance floor. All the worse if he's a co-worker. Hooking up with a co-worker, in front of other co-workers, is very, very ill advised.

2) Because everyone is messed up in the head during the holiday season. I don't know a single person who feels normal over the holidays. Everyone is stressed, assessing their lives, feeling existential loneliness, hating their families, and broke from gift shopping. Times of stress are bad for casual hookups. In moments of vulnerability, you're likely to catch feelings for someone who you would never catch feelings for under normal circumstances

3) Because you're probably drunk. You know what that means. You're doing back flips off the couch. I say this from experience. My co-workers are still talking about that time at the Christmas party when I did a back flip. Thank god I had the presence of mind not to hook up with anyone. For your own sake, be merry, but wait until you can enjoy your hookup ... and remember it the next day.

4) Because it's a bad time to start a relationship. If you're thinking it's more than just a party hookup, and you like, actually want to date this person, why not wait until the timing is better? Like at the New Year's Eve party, when you're both back in town and ready to put the holiday season where it belongs: behind you.

Thanks for listening to The Eagle while you work. Keep it fabulous, Houston!

xoxo,

Jennifer Tyler

Fabulous Mid-Day Diva