Long time, no blog March 7, 2009

Sorry for the absence . . .I just kind of lost my blogging mojo for awhile.  Everything’s fine, my pregnancy is going well, I just haven’t really had anything of note to write about.  And now as I sit here this morning, watching the sun (gasp! the SUN!) break through the clouds, once again the last thing I want to do is sit here on the computer when I could be outside on a long walk.  So I’ll keep this short.

TRAVELIN’ TUNES

I haven’t been too enthusiastic about my music selections over the past few weeks.  I started out with The Best of Radiohead.  I have the limited edition 2 disc CD, so I listened to one disc one week and one the next.  I just wasn’t feeling it, but I plodded on through both weeks.  I was always a big Radiohead fan.  Pablo Honey was a staple in my music rotation in college.  But I’ve barely listened to this “Best of” compilation since it was released less than a year ago.  I can’t figure out if my music tastes have changed over the past –ahem– 15 years, or if I was forcing myself to listen to this when I wasn’t really in the mood for it.

This past week I pulled out Candlebox’s self-titled debut album, another gem from my college years.  I couldn’t even listen to it for the entire week.  I ditched it for the radio on Wednesday.  “Far Behind” was OK the first, and even the second time around, but I just couldn’t bring myself to continue with a whole week of Candlebox.

I think I’ll put a little more thought into my music choice for this week.  Somehow, it seems like I’m . . .maturing.  Who would’ve thought?

In the meantime, I’m going to go outside and play go for a walk and enjoy the warmer weather.

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Travelin’ Tunes–Parts Five and Six February 14, 2009

So I kind of had to drop the “this week in music” since I have been neglecting my blog and haven’t posted ANYTHING in almost 2 weeks.  Today is a major blog catch-up day, so be prepared.  I have 3 weeks of The Bold and The Beautiful DVR’d, so I’m spending a nice relaxing morning catching up on blogging and soaps.

LAST week, I listened to Deana Carter’s “Did I Shave My Legs For This?”.  It’s probably been at least 10 years since I listened to this CD, so while it was a nice little blast from the past, I just couldn’t get into it.  I love all kinds of music, but I like them all at different times.  By pulling this CD off the shelf, I felt like a was forcing a country mood and it just didn’t  take. 

Regardless, I did get into this one:

THIS week, I switched gears a bit and went for something a little heavier, Linkin Park’s Minutes to Midnight.

This is one of the few CDs I own that I like just about every song.  Or at least there aren’t any songs I need to breeze through because they’re annoying.  I love how some of the songs are truly hard rock, while some are more towards the alernative end of the spectrum.  A great mix of tempos. 

And while the song “Bleed It Out” is the one that stays in my head, I couldn’t help but to pick the song “Valentine’s Day” for my chosen snippet of the week.  A depressing take on a day supposedly filled with love, but I like it anyway.

Travelin’ Tunes–This Week in Music Part 3 January 26, 2009

Maybe the title should be LAST week in music, hmmm? Seems I have nothing else going on in my life other than telling you about the CDs I listen to in the car, and I can’t even keep up with blogging about THAT! This week’s CD is New Order’s Republic.

I bought this CD in 1993 right after it came out, and other than the song “Regret”, I probably listened to it no more than five times since I bought it. Last Monday, I popped it into the CD player, sure that this time it would be different. It wasn’t.

It’s an OK CD, but nothing spectacular. I could go the whole week listening to it in the car on the way to and from work, but now that the week is over, it may be another 15+ years until I have the desire to listen to it again. And by that time, CD players will be what 8-track players are today. I just can’t help but compare this album with 1987’s Substance .  Although I’m not a die-hard New Order fan, if I had to pick an “essential” New Order CD, it would be Substance. A lot more danceable, a lot more memorable.

The one track on Republic that I can’t get out of my head?

Travelin’ Tunes–This Week in Music Part Deux January 17, 2009

When I popped this week’s music selection into my CD player bright and early Monday morning, I felt like I was in a time machine, transported back to the early 90s.  It was hard to concentrate on driving with all of the memories flooding back to me–blaring this CD in a suite in the dorms our freshman year before we donned our flannel shirts and headed out to Zelda’s late at night for quarter drafts.  Listening to the cassette tape over and over until it wore out, and immediately going out to the store to buy another one because I couldn’t go a day without listening to it.

Erasure–Pop!: The First 20 Hits

This album defines my college experience and made me smile non-stop the whole time I was in the car this week.  I still know every word.

I couldn’t pick a favorite, so I chose the first youtube video that came up when I searched.  And so I leave you with this:

Travelin’ Tunes–This Week In Music January 10, 2009

One of my 101 things in 1001 days is to listen to a different CD on the way to and from work each week.  I have a relatively short commute–20 minutes in the morning because no one else is on the roads at 6:40 and 30 minues in the evening when I sit at the same stop light 3 times in a row because of all the idiots who try to cut through a shopping center parking lot to skip a light and end up jamming the intersection.

But I digress.

My purpose in doing this is to dig some of the CDs out of our collection in the cobwebby basement that deserve a listen.  CDs whose songs weren’t cool enough to make it onto my mp3 player, CDs I haven’t listened to since college.  There are some real gems in there, I just have to brave the basement to find them.

However, this week I didn’t bother to get out an old CD (baby steps, people), I instead chose a CD that Mike picked up for me on an impulse a few weeks ago–the soundtrack to the movie Juno.

This soundtrack features Kimya Dawson and the Moldy Peaches, plus classics from the Kinks, Buddy Holly, Mott the Hoople, and The Velvet Underground.  If you’ve seen the movie, the soundtrack is absolutely perfect for it.  Mostly upbeat in an odd, quirky sort of way (except for the depressing Sonic Youth song), it allowed me to start off my day in a great mood and let me forget all of my frustrations once I left work for the day.  I couldn’t ask for more in a soundtrack.

GEM OF THE WEEK:

Anyone Else But You by the Moldy Peaches

Just try to get it out of your head.

Concerts & live shows March 8, 2008

I didn’t really have much interest in thinking up a topic for my list of the day, so at Mike’s suggestion, I’m going to list all of the concerts and lives shows I’ve been to over the years.  Thankfully he’s here to help me compile my list, because I’m sure I couldn’t remember them all on my own.  We woke up to ice this morning and then it snowed off and on, so I made a big bowl of soup and now I’m curled up in the chair with the laptop.  It’s been a lazy day.  We haven’t done much of anything (except make a decision on who’s constructing our deck–woohoo!), but it has been nice to be house-bound on a lazy Saturday.  Although hopefully spring is on its way soon . . .

Anyhow, on to the list.  Once again, no particular order.

CONCERTS AND LIVE SHOWS

• Tom Petty
• Mötley Crüe
• The Clarks
• Violent Femmes
• REM
• The Distractions
• Toad the Wet Sprocket
• Rusted Root
• Duran Duran
• Depeche Mode
• Jimmy Buffett
• Barenaked Ladies
• Bruce Springsteen
• John Mayer
• John Michael Montgomery
• Donnie Iris
• Cowboy Junkies
• Maroon 5
• Brownie Mary
• Purple Reign
• Big Elvis
• Ceann
• Jackdaw
• Gary Belloma & the Blue Bombers
• Izzy & Chris
• The Doors of the 21st Century (with Ian Astbury)
• Robbie Krieger
• The Back Doors (Doors tribute band)
• The Sleaze
• Mark Guiser