Can I find a candle of thought....

Heard this in a bar in Cusco the other afternoon. It was then I realized this is one of my all-time favorite songs. It is a song one might desperately wish could be a track in the soundtrack of one's life...

Groovin' Together

I've been using Grooveshark for awhile now, but I've only recently started to use it to share playlists with friends. It all started with my friend, Lauryn, who I met through my TEFL program. She has great taste in music and I wanted to keep the music dialogue going even after she went back home to Alabama, so we started sharing playlists with each other and it's loads of fun. I'm discovering new music all the time, which is perfect

Sooo, if you're interested, add me! My user name is the same name you see up in the URL, before the blogspot part :)

Here are two songs I'm lovin' at the moment:

"Excuses" by The Morning Benders

"Please" by Ray LaMontagne

We. Are. Golden.

I'm pretty sure everyone wishes that they had a soundtrack to their lives. I do. I really, really do. That would be so cool. It would also completely validate the already melodramatic thoughts I have in my brain everyday.

Along that same vein, I've always dreamed of making a hilarious, but heart-felt music video with friends. I mean, who hasn't? Sooo, as my departure approached last spring, I decided that I had to do a music video with my two best guys/gays, Nate and Dustin. What better time than just before I dramatically depart for the wilds of Latin America (or something like that)?

So, we got together on an unseasonably cold (you can't tell from my outfit but I was FREEZING) spring afternoon and made a video to Mika's "Happy Ending". Nate learned how to edit and put it all together in ONE day. He and Dustin Skyped me for the premier two nights ago...I've been gone for almost two months now and I think this is the part where I start feeling a little home-sick from time to time and reflecting on the things and people I miss. I am so happy to be here, but sometimes, when a Friday night (or a Tuesday or a Wednesday...) rolls around, I'd like nothing more than to be giggling between my two favorite boys. Needless to say, this brought tears to my eyes.

The following video was improv'd on the spot, is completely cheesy, over-the-top, and in my opinion, a dorktastic masterpiece. Enjoy! (Oh, and there's 9 minutes of this cheese, so don't stop watching after the first song!)

PS- My friends don't do coke...those double image shots are from a photo project that Nate did.

Home

Greetings from the Jungle! (Specifically Cabuya, outside of Montezuma.) There are monkeys in the trees and creepy crawlers in the grass. I am far from home but I am happy. One my new friends here, Lauryn, has fantastic taste in music and has been our resident DJ on this trip. She shared this song with me this morning and I swear I've heard it before, but can't remember when, where, or who with, but from now on I will associate it with a morning in the jungle abroad, so I suppose that's probably cooler anyway...

Here's "Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes:

Just Joshin'

I'm supposed to be packing tonight, but instead I ordered Thai food from Ben's Noodles and Rice (for probably the last time while living here) and have been listening to tunes on Groove Shark. I've heard some Josh Ritter, but I've finally started to delve into his repertoire this evening and...I think I've fallen for him.

Here he is doing "Kathleen" live...

(Really, how could I not choose this song?)

Tuesday Throwback

This song (along with Patrick Simmon's mullet) makes me want to head down south, set up camp, sip on some moonshine and sing around the campfire.

Verse to the Wise

Courtesy of Wisdom Bits.

Happy (almost) Friday!

Here's some Friday feel-good for y'all...

This just makes me smile.

New Music Monday

Happy Monday! I come bearing the gift of new music! I haven't been discovering or really even looking for new tunes as much as I used to; I'm just not that cool anymore, but these recent discoveries have me re-inspired. Drum roll please...

1) Explosions in the Sky (friend recommendation)- Yes, they're instrumental, but don't let that put you off; they're amazing, emotional and captivating. They're so freaking good that they don't need all those silly words. I find they're best for times when I'm writing, reading or y'know, just in the mood for some Explosions in the Sky.

Download- "Your Hand in Mine"

2) Patrick Watson (I heard him on NPR on Saturday night)- After hearing Patrick and his band interviewed and then perform, I immediately downloaded their Wooden Arms album. Now, this is more for the indie/folk crowd and is SO good. I was impressed to learn that the band often uses unconventional items like buckets, bottles and bicycles in their songs.

Download- "Big Bird in a Small Cage"

3) Kate Nash (friend recommendation)- Ladies, gay boys, straight men in touch with their feminine side- this one's for you. Kate Nash is a British singer/songwriter who just gets it, y'know? She's been there. Her accent is prevalent and her songs are conversational, yet moving. As I listened to her I thought, "I like this girl".

Download- "Nicest Thing" & "Foundations"

Mary, The Magic Alto

Mary Travers of the folk trio, Peter, Paul & Mary passed away this week. I have very fond memories of watching the Peter, Paul & Mary specials on PBS with my mom when I was little. Mom would always, without fail, get choked up at some point while watching AND the waterworks would always, without fail, cause my eyes to roll.

Today, while perusing youtube, I found a video of "500 Miles" and whaddya know?! I found myself feeling...emotional and maybe even a little...choked up.

Mary's voice creates a beautifully wistful song that has the power to evoke all kinds of emotion.

Enjoy :)

R.I.P. K.O.P.

"Michael Jackson was so gifted, so lonely, so confused, so sad. He lost happiness somewhere in his childhood, and spent his life trying to go back there and find it. When he played the Scarecrow in The Wiz (1978), I think that is how he felt, and Oz was where he wanted to live..."
-Roger Ebert

The first CD I ever purchased was Dangerous by Michael Jackson. I still have it. It's safe to say that Michael was undoubtedly the best performer of our generation. He was also, unfortunately, a very troubled soul.

When I was little I used to dream about casually telling my bratty neighbors that my friend "Mike" was coming over only to have a large helicopter land in my backyard from which the King of Pop emerged. (I also used to dream that Aerosmith would accidentally knock on my next door neighbors' door looking for me, but that's a different story.) Anyway, I loved him and like many children, I related to him. Pirates of the Caribbean in your backyard?! Sign me up!

But as time went on, he got too weird to love anymore and his story got too sad and too strange to justify.

A few years back, during his most recent child molestation trial, I watched a very interesting documentary on VH1 about Michael. The focus was on just how a person could end up in his state. They had experts and psychologists commenting on his life and the conclusion was that it was clear that this person was very sick and detached from reality and it was very clear that this kind of behavior was indicative of a history of some very serious child abuse and growing up in the spotlight.

Roger Ebert's quote was the most spot-on thing I've read amidst all the media fodder in the last day. The saddest thing about our once beloved Michael is not his recent death, but his tragic demise into adult life.

When thinking of him, it is very difficult to separate the strange from the extraordinary, but when watching or hearing him perform, it is all too easy.

Ode to Billy Bob

I recently heard the song "Electric Feel" by MGMT and loved it. Am I behind the times? Probably. Anyway, I looked it up on youtube today and watched the video. This music video (as many other music videos) is on drugs and doesn't make much sense, BUT there is a cameo by "Billy Bob Brokali", that bear from Showbiz Pizza (my favorite place in the world when I was 3 years old, which now goes by the less sparkling and not nearly as appealing name of Chuck E. Cheese).

I don't know what Billy Bob Brokali has to do with this song, but I used to really like him and now I really like this song, so all in all, I think it's a good thing.

An unassuming family enjoys a meal with their down home pal, Billy Bob Brokali. Unbeknownst to them (and Billy!), Billy Bob would soon be obliterated by a rodent take-over, also known as Chuck E. Cheese.

Dropping it Like it's Luke Warm

The "Funky Fresh Senior Choir " drop some phat beats, yo.

(THIS is a gem!)















*Credit to Jonathan Errico for finding this.

Do yourselves a favor and download India Arie's cover of Don Henley's "Heart of the Matter". (Of SATC trailer fame)

It almost makes you want be in a situation with an ex you still love, but are getting over, as you hear they have moved on to someone else.

(Operative word being "almost")

Boogie Woogie Vegas, BABY!

So, I just watched my DVR'd episode of Oprah featuring none other than the Divine Miss M., Bette Midler. If you know me at all, you know that just the simple combination of Oprah and Bette fills me with great joy. (Here’s where you envision me staring up at the TV screen with a creepy/excited grin for the whole entire segment.)

Anyway, Bette was on the show to promote her new gig taking over Celine's spot in Vegas. Bette is 62 and just signed on for a two year deal. Um, if I have half that much energy when I'm 62, I'll be very, very pleased.

Snicker at my love of Bette all you want, but I'll have you know that her December 2004 concert was one of the highlights of my life. I kid you not. I feel secure enough to say that I know good music and I know good performing, and this was the ultimate in ANY kind of show I've seen.

That being said...

I've never had much of a desire to go to Vegas. I mean, I guess I'd like to see all those lights on the strip one day just to say I’ve seen them, but it's really not on my list of interesting or enlightening places I'd like to go. BUT seeing Bette live and in person in a warm climate IS. So, I've decided that at some point in the next two years I am going to go to Vegas! I'm going to go and soak up the sun, drink, and dance my ass off to Miss M. I have no doubt that it will be completely divine!

I’d say “hold me to it”, but I’m pretty much married to this plan already!

Let's Spoon

Well hello...

I just thought I'd pop in to tell each and every one of you that I am currently really, really lovin' on the band Spoon.

I highly recommend that you let them light up your life, as they are currently lighting up mine. They sold me first with the song "Underdog" which some of you may have heard in bars or on the radio (if you listen to good stations). Anyway, it's great, but so is the whole album...it's called Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. If you aren't sold with the title of the album alone, I don't really know what to say.

I'm currently delving into their earlier stuff and it is just as delightful.

Here's hoping each and every one of you has a safe, happy, and healthy weekend!


Cheers!