Grooveshark

Youtube was my go to for finding songs I was thinking about, but so far Grooveshark has proved pretty good PLUS you can embed a song on your web site. woo.

In celebration of this, here's Coldplay's "Strawberry Swing."

In Rainbows - From the Basement

Though it pains me to make the comparison, after previewing Radiohead's new In Rainbows - From the Basement video, this struck me:

Soccer Mom Tastes

If someone asked me to make a playlist for Soccer Moms I'd be sure to include little ditties like Marilyn Manson's "You, Me, and the Devil Makes 3," Korn's "Freak on a Leash," and Revolution Mother's "Switchblades and Urethane," just to name a few. I can say this because I used to ref soccer. Soccer Moms and Dads alike would spit out their car windows at me after a game as 14 year old me would walk out of the park.

According to the actual "Soccer Mom Chillout" iTunes Essentials Mix, I not only missed the campaign to clean up the Soccer Mom image, but apparently have become one as I like most of the songs listed.

The most random song on there that I still have trouble associating with "Soccer Mom"? Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" underneath The Basics tab.

Random Associations

Yesterday I hit up THE Dog Beach in OB for some more pooch shoots, which is always good for the soul. Who knows why, but this dog reminds me of Helena Christensen in Chris Isaack's video, Wicked Game. I think it's the hair. And because another dog was trying like crazy to hump her.

Happy Valentine's Day

Related Posts: Renaissance part 1, Renaissance part 2

Media Monday! Ukulele Birthday

The birthday began early on Friday with the delivery of my new ukulele. I've been asking for one for quite some time, and my fingers are so sore that I can barely finish composing my own personalized birthday song which I'd upload if I had the recording tools. The lyrics are rather simple:

It's my birthday. It's my birthday. It's my birthday. It's my birthday. Do what I want to do, eat what I want to eat. My birthday, it's my birthday. Not your birthday, but my birthday.

The taunting is a whole lot sweeter with the uke. But the lyrics aren't entirely true. I know five other people with my birthday. So happy birthday to my birthday buddies as well.

I've been playing around on this awesome Beatles site, which reminds me of this Muppets Casio keyboard I wanted as a kid. Basically tiny bulbs would light up next to the keys you were supposed to play when learning the Muppets Show song on the miniature keyboard. Same concept.

And I've enjoyed listening/learning some songs that have never been in my realm, like this one:
"Tonight You Belong to Me"

Still, with 20+ years of practice I might be able to take Jake Shimabukuro:

Renaissance Part 2

Related posts: Renaissance Part 1

Renaissance

Release of Thom Yorke's Solo Debut

Seven days out of the gate and I haven't heard much about Thom Yorke's solo debut album, The Eraser. I've read good reviews on iTunes and Amazon, but am still waiting for the buzz in the blogosphere. Instead of listening to the snippets ("Analyse" catches my attention) on iTunes I suppose I could just buy the album, but I like Radiohead; so the idea of erasing the band leaves me feeling skeptical because I'm not sure that Yorke's voice, alone, will keep me reaching for the repeat button.

Also I just read Eats Shoots & Leaves on vacation and am not sure my use of the semi-colon above is correct. I feel like Lynn Truss wound up confusing me on the semi-colon whereas there was never much confusion before reading her book.

Was in San Diego, Am in Cincinnati, Will Be in the Mediterranean

Nine months since I've been back to the 'nati and multiple people have reproduced to affirm this precise time frame. Having never seen these people pregnant, I think the babies are taking on this weird Brave New World/Gattaca feel to me. Or maybe because I just saw Gattaca.

Came back for a friend's wedding, which was a blast and high school reunion of sorts, but have gotten much much more:

What's up, Cincinnati? Desdemona Festival? Awesome. Had a taste on Friday with the Sundresses and Ghostface and am looking forward to the Fiery Furnaces, Heartless Bastards, and Walkmen tonight. A scant crowd on Friday didn't seem to bode well for the festival's livelihood in the future, but it's an event worth continuing.

When you read his blog (June 24, 2006 "Desdemona Festival") our story will seem so circular, but in that scant crowd a guy walked by wearing brown Crocs, which caught my attention for several reasons: 1) I own Crocs too, 2) No one seems to have them in Cincinnati, compared to San Diego, and 3) I've recently been struck by how great the brown ones actually look--I had my doubts. So the brown factor had me eyeing his feet to the stage and when I looked up, it was Chris Glass. As in, the guy whose web log I link to in my sidebar because I think it's so darn great, even if it didn't cover my hometown. And because I don't know him, he's something of a celebrity to me, yet he wanted to take my picture?! (Check out his photos, people. This is his forte) Chris is every bit as cool and friendly and beardy as his site would have you think and certainly my odd highlight of the evening. I mean, I was able to ask this guy whom I'd never met how his weekend in NYC was...heh. The web.

Media Monday! "Nuestro Himno"

Silly foreigners and immigrants! The rule is: Freedom of Speech IN ENGLISH. It's actually in our Gettysburg Rights and something like the 63rd Amendment, but I'm not sure because I haven't studied all that government stuff since, like, sixth grade...or maybe sixth grade was Mesopotamia...either way some of you (like you Mesopotamians out there) might be thinking, isn't Freedom of Speech interchangeable with Freedom of Expression? And that's a good point. And as a gen-you-wine American I can tell you that we love expression! Why just the other day my buddy farted out a pretty close rendition of the Star Spangled Banner! My mom and neighbor thought it was dead on, but I thought it stunk, if ya know what I mean. Anywho, your confusion between "Speech" and "Expression" might be a sign that you need to study up a little more on your English because it DOESN'T mean speaking Mexican all over the place or translating whatever you feel like. Part of being American is understanding English IN ENGLISH. Just thought I'd do my part to help explain it all.

---

The sky is falling yet again in the Divided States of America:

Spanish version of the "Star Spangled Banner." Adam Kidron's controversial rendition featuring Wyclef Jean, Pitbull, Carlos Ponce, and Olga Tanon.

German version

Yiddish version

Italian version (bottom of the page)

French version (bottom of the page)

:Arabic version

آه، قل: هل ترى،
في ضوء الفجر المبكر،
ما حييناه بعزة
في أواخر وميض المغرب؟
خطوطه العريظة ونجومه اللامعة،
طول ليلة الخطر،
فوق المتراس الذي رقبناه
كانت ترفرف بشجاعة.
ولمعان الصواريخ الأحمر
والقنابل تنفجر في السماء
بيّنت لنا طول اليل
أن علمنا لا يزال هناك.
آه، قل: ذالك البيرق المنجم
ألا تزال ترفرف
فوق بلاد الأحرار
ووطن الشجعان؟

Japanese version:
日本語訳（意訳）

1. おお、見ゆるや 夜明けの淡き光を受け
   先の夕暮れ 陽が落ちるとき 我らが歓呼しもの
   そは太き縞と輝く星なり 危うきいくさのあいだ
   塁壁の上に見たり 勇壮にひるがえりし かの旗／
   のろしの赤き炎立ち 砲音宙に轟くなか
   耐え抜き 旗はなおそこにあり
   おお、星散りばめたる旗は 今なおたなびくや
   自由なる大地 勇者の故郷に
2. 岸辺の霧 その濃く深きとばりのなか
   傲慢なる敵の軍勢 畏れ息ひそめたる
   かは何ぞ 断崖そびゆる向こう
   時折吹くそよ風に 隠れ 見ゆるもの／
   今まさに 朝の新しき光を一筋受け
   大いに輝き 風を受けはためく
   そは星散りばめたる旗よ とこしえにたなびけ
   自由なる大地 勇者の故郷に

Just to name a few. Many other languages can be found in the sidebar of Wikipedia's article on "The Star Spangled Banner."

Video Monday! Joe Cocker

(April 10, 2006)

The first clip is Joe with Patti LaBelle and Billy Preston:

For those who forgot, This is a clip of Patti rippin' the Apollo a new ass. Witness the full power and no holds barred performance at the Apollo along with Joe Cocker and Billy Preston on piano, singing 'You Are So Beautiful'...Poor Joe! He had no idea he was 'bout to get hit by a hurricane.

Oh yeah. And Bill Cosby doing the best imitation of himself as emcee.

The second clip is Joe Cocker performing on SNL. With the exception of Joe's package (he's not called "Cocker" for nuthin'), John Belushi's imitation is spot-on.

Video Monday! Mark Romanek

Chain of thought: I posted the Johnny Cash video which unsurprisingly made me think of Nine Inch Nails not just because "Hurt" was Cash's cover of NIN, but because the style of Cash's video made me think of NIN's video, "Closer," as well as Fiona Apple's "Criminal," and as a side note, searching out Fiona's "Criminal" video eventually led to the Fiona post. As it turns out, Mark Romanek is the brain behind these videos and a few others that have been favorites of mine, without having known that this particular director was behind them all.

Clearly a fan of playing with light, I'm not sure some of the youtube links will do the quality of some of Romanek's videos any justice but they're worth a gander:

*Fiona Apple "Criminal"
Audioslave "Cochise"
*Beck "Devil's Haircut" ("Devil's Haircut" found in the video section of Beck's awesome Web site)
David Bowie "Jump, They Say" (video yet to be found)
*Johnny Cash "Hurt"
*Coldplay "Speed of Sound"
G. Love & Special Sauce "Cold Beverage" (video yet to be found)
Macy Gray "I Try"
Janet Jackson "Got 'til it's Gone"
Michael + Janet Jackson "Scream"
Mick Jagger "God Gave Me Everything I Want" (...)
Jay-Z "99 Problems"
Lenny Kravitz "Are you Gonna Go My Way"
Lenny Kravitz "If You Can't Say No" (video yet to be found)
Linkin Park "Faint"
*Madonna "Rain" (both of Madonna's videos found in the video secton of her Web site)
Madonna "Fever"
*Nine Inch Nails "Closer"
Nine Inch Nails "The Perfect Drug"
No Doubt "Hella Good"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Can't Stop"
R.E.M. "Strange Currencies" (part of it, anyway)
Sonic Youth "Little Trouble Girl" (video yet to be found)
Weezer "El Scorcho" (director's cut)

*My personal favorites

Video Tuesday! Bearded Fiona Impersonators

Apparently Chris Glass is no longer the only bearded Fiona lip sync-er out there. And Fiona likes it.

Music

Music Posts
Renaissance Part 2
Renaissance
Release of Thom Yorke's Solo Debut
Cincinnati Desdemona Festival
Media Monday! "Nuestro Himno"
Video Monday! Joe Cocker
Video Monday! Mark Romanek
Video Tuesday! Bearded Fiona Impersonators
Media Monday! Live at Karlstorbahnhof
Death Cab for Cutie Concert
Media Monday! Johnny Cash
Q-Unit
Rodeohead
Les Nouvelles
Video Monday! Liquid/Waving Dance
Video Monday! Learn the Napoleon Dynamite Dance
Video Monday! Evolution of Stick Figure
Nouvelle Vague
ani difranco and andrew bird in frankfurt
wilco in paris
The Game
DJ for a Night

Media Monday! Live at Karlstorbahnhof

I put in my two cents; now you can put in yours of Death Cab for Cutie's performance at Heidelberg's Karlstorbahnhof on February 15, 2006, since Sebastian Boschert has conveniently made it available. I haven't listened to it yet so I have no idea how the quality is, but I'm going to give it another go.

Death Cab for Cutie Concert

Even though we set ourselves up behind the soundboard, which meant we had a clear view most of the time (get yer photos!) and were in the supposedly best spot for sound, I come away from Death Cab for Cutie's February 15th concert with the feeling of eeh (shrug of the shoulders). It was okay. Despite Ben Gibbard's spot-on voice every song was loud and energetic from the beginning as though they had overheard us say that it should be a mellow concert, took insult, and vowed to show us that they were anything but. Quite a departure from their usual song formulas of tinkling, gentle beginnings which swell into a mesmerizing full sound no matter how many times they repeat the same line! "Different Names for the Same Thing" (playing this week on their project site, Directions) is a great example of this. But the loud jamming from the start of every song made them more...more...more emo than I had anticipated. And emo is fine. It's simply that shock of expecting to see one thing and getting another. We all get that with movies when we go to a slapstick comedy in a drama kind of mood. Emo was reinforced not only by the thick, dark-framed bespectacled crowd and their leather cuff bracelets, but a hint of mainstream was in there as well. One girl in my group struck up conversation with a British girl, asking her if she knew DCFC from The Postal Service, but she drew a blank look. No, she said, I only know them from watching The OC. D'oh! I could have taken it if she had said she knew if from Six Feet Under.

No matter. Karlstorbahnhof is the place to go for your dosage of independent movies and smaller acts. The Saal is a very small, intimate place for concerts, but they do something crazy by putting up rafters for people to stand on so they can actually see.

Update: Setlist and live audio of this concert now available!

Other concert reviews: Ani Difranco & Andrew Bird and Wilco.

Media Monday! Johnny Cash

When Walk the Line started off with Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) at the circular saw in Folsom Prison, I thought, Oh no...not another musical biography with a frame story. I mean, I know I've chosen to come and see a movie about Johnny Cash...I won't be confused if we just start off with a kid in a cotton field. Chronological order is logical enough. But it did exactly that, and you know what? That formula worked *again* for the zillionth time. Especially since they didn't end it with the same first scene. Anyway, it surprises me people still get this confused, but for Video Monday I thought I'd post Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt." Enjoy along with the supplemental media below:

"Rosanne Cash Remembers Her Father, Johnny": *actually* her father hadn't died at the time of this interview on NPR. After having seen the movie, I wondered what had happened to his girls after his first marriage split and how his relationship with his daughters panned out afterwards. This gives some insight (roughly 12 mins.).

Wo ist zu Hause, Mama? mp3: Who knew Johnny had a German side to him?!

Desperado: A comedy, love story, action film, and tribute to the late Johnny Cash by way of a cowboy monkey and his best friend horse. Unfortunately the flash animation falls short of reaching any comedic, sentimental, or active value.

Ring of Fire mp3: Whether you enjoy this June Carter classic for the love song it is, or for various other popular reasons...

Related Posts: Video Monday! Mark Romanek

Q-Unit

Freddy Mercury's mustache might say it's mockery and perhaps it's no Grey Album, but The Silence Xperiment's remix of Queen and 50 Cent to form Q-Unit isn't *half* bad. I've found myself listening to a couple for the third and fourth time...maybe not "Crazy Little Pimp Called Love" but "Under Pressure All the Time" passes as listen-worthy.

Video Monday! Liquid/Waving Dance

Apparently I'm *quite* the dance fan. The subtlety of Liquidpop is amazing when you really watch the cause and effect relationship of the flow of movements. Dare I say this week's video rivals David Elsewhere's robot? See for yourself: