Friday - January 8, 2010

Gold box silliness

I was a bit amused at my Quick Pick offerings on today's Amazon Gold Box page. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you get "individualized" items in which they offer a slight additional discount on a few items.

These were mine today:

Which one of these is not like the others?

Heh. Six CDs...four (4!) of 'em by Rodney Crowell. And a surge protector.

By the way, this is not the first time I've been amused at my Quick Pick offerings.

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Tuesday - December 29, 2009

Wow

This is for my mom: Peter Callesen. Wow.

PS: Yes, I decided it was about time I start posting here again. Let's see if I can keep it up, shall we?

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Saturday - November 14, 2009

Cool drawing video

'Thought my mom would really like this video of Milton Glaser talking about drawing...while he draws. Very cool.

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Sunday - October 25, 2009

Janis Ian

'Got to see Janis Ian (yes, the Janis Ian) in person this afternoon at the Bugle Boy in La Grange. Wow. What fun. Karen sent a note to me and Sheri a few weeks ago to say they'd added an extra Sunday afternoon show and did we want to go out? Well, yeah! She was fantastic. 'Twas a great show. I like the Bugle Boy a lot. It's a listening room so...no chatter. No drunks. Just music in a nice small venue. I'm guessing there were 80 or 100 people there...maybe? Dunno. But we got there in time to snag seats in the second row of tables. She played for almost 2 hours with a short intermission. She told great stories and sang her heart out. 'Loved it. Here are a few shots...

I think she was leading the crowd in a stirring (ahem) rendition of the old Sonny and Cher standard "I Got You, Babe" here:

And, singing "At Seventeen":

If you get a chance to see her, don't pass it up.

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Friday - September 18, 2009

Parking Info

I was driving home about 11:30 this evening. The Amber Alert sign (see here for an example if you don't know what I'm talking about) on southbound 183, which is usually used to admonish us to wear our seat belts*, was letting us know that we could tune in to two different AM radio stations for game day parking information. The game doesn't even start 'til sometime tomorrow evening. Amazing.

*Sometimes they use the signs to let us know that a confused "elderly" is on the loose (entertainingly, we are never told if the "elderly" is female or male; they don't even tell us if the "elderly" is a person but I always assume so) or, more rarely, that a child has been abducted.

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Friday - September 11, 2009

September 11th on my iPod

I watched a tribute to the victims of the September 11th attack this morning...about 8 years to the hour after the attacks. And, I was sitting in the same bedroom I was sitting in 8 years ago. And, I felt all the things I felt 8 years ago. So, I was rather meloncholy as I got to the office. 'Started up my iPod and the first song I heard was "We Danced" by Brad Paisley. Which is really a lovely song. So, I decided to mark the progress of the day with songs that caught my attention. I haven't posted a trip down iPod Lane in awhile so I guess it's time, eh? And, so...I opened a text document and jotted down the titles of some of the songs that caught my attention as my work day wore on. When I got home, I added a few comments and looked for some links. To wit:

• "We Danced" by Brad Paisley (Rhapsody link to song)
• "Mississippi and Me" by Kate Campbell - I love pretty much anything by Kate. If you haven't heard her, you owe it to yourself to make an affort to see her. If you can't see her in person, buy her CDs. (Rhapsody link to song)
• "Cowboy's Lament" by Earl Gleason - My uncle Roger recommended Earl's music to my father who, in turn, has gifted me with all of Earl's CDs. He's a cowboy singer and I just love hearing these old standards. They make me think of my mom's mom. Alas, not much of an online presence.
• "OO-Wee" by K.T. Oslin - K.T. always makes me smile. That's a very good thing. I looked up her discography and can't believe she only put out 5 albums (not counting compilations). How can that be?
• "Silver Ships of Andilar" by Townes Van Zandt - I'm a late-comer to the wonders of Townes. It seemed like everytime I'd go see one of "my" folk singers, they'd talk about Townes. So, a couple of years ago, I went looking and bought "High, Low and in Between/The Late Great Townes Van Zandt" which is chock full of good stuff. (Rhapsody link to CD)
• "Passionate Kisses" by Mary Chapin Carpenter - I love MCC's music. And, am always slightly amused by the fact that one of my favorite MCC songs (yes, this one) was actually written by Lucinda Williams. (Rhapsody link to song)
• "Fine, Fine, Fine" by Elizabeth McQueen and Jason Roberts - You can't buy this song unless you go to a live show. And, they haven't done a live show in forever. She had a beautiful baby in December so I guess that's understandable. But, she did blog recently that she's starting to get the itch so maybe someday soon? By the way, she's the "girl" singer and he's the fiddler in Asleep at the Wheel.
• "Aven, Aven" by the Gipsy Kings - Their music never fails to raise my spirits. (Rhapsody link to song)
• "Cajun Born" by Jo-El Sonnier - Yippee! (Rhapsody link to song) My favorite Jo-El song is his rendtion of Richard Thompson's "Tear Stained Letter" (Rhapsody link to Tear Stained Letter)
• "Going Home" by Mary Chapin Carpenter - I normally wouldn't list a second song here by the same artist. But, this one is special. It's a hidden track on her "Time * Sex * Love" CD. It starts out as a different song (Long Way Home?) and then she collapses into a fit of giggles. It's a blooper track. At least, at the beginning. The first time I heard it, I almost died laughing. It's very infectious. (Rhapsody link to song...give it a listen)
• Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C minor Op. 67, 1st Movement performed by the South German Philharmonic Orchestra - Lovely. (Rhapsody link to another performance of the same piece)
• "Tuesday Morning" by Melissa Etheridge - This gave me chills. I was using a "smart" playlist that doesn't play any song that's played in the last two months and it played this today. Wow. It's a tribute song to one of the men who died on United Flight 93. (Amazon MP3 link...I couldn't find the song on Rhapsody)
• "Fiona" by Lyle Lovett - I love just about anything by Lyle. (Rhapsody link to song)
• Linus and Lucy" by the Vince Guaraldi Trio - If this doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will! (Rhapsody link to song)
• "Lullaby" by Shawn Mullins - Beautiful song. (Rhapsody link to song)
• "Furr" by Blitzen Trapper - Something relatively new? It can't be! But, it is! Heh. (Rhapsody link to song)
• "La Felicidad" by Flaco Jimenez - Yes, it played right after the Blitzen Trapper song. (Rhapsody link to song)
• "Damned if I Do" by the Alan Parsons Project - APP always makes me think of high school. No getting around it. (Rhapsody link to song)
• "Miranda" by Fleetwood Mac - More high school memories. Which are stronger than ever with my recent Facebook plunge. This song, though, didn't come out 'til 2003. (Rhapsody link to song)
• "Let it Go" by bluehouse - Currently my favorite duo. Love them! (Audio player link from their web page, which doesn't actually include this song...oh well)
• "Whiskey and Pie" by Jenny Reynolds - Last song of the day which is very funny since it's been her "last song of the night" the last year or so...at least when I get to see her sing. She's great. Go see her. (Rhapsody link to song)

All-in-all, a good music day. That's probably about half of the songs I heard today. I added links to the home pages of some of more obscure (sadly) acts that many of you won't know about. Check 'em out! 'Course some of you that "hate" country music won't know a bunch of folks on the list. Ah well.

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Wednesday - September 9, 2009

Cool video of Space Station/Shuttle flyover

Here's some cool video from Brendon Loy of the Space Station/Shuttle "double" flyover last night. Did I mention how cool it is? Enjoy.

Posted by Joanna | Permalink

Sunday - August 23, 2009

The incomparable Maggie Stiefvater

First, watch this:

That's a trailer for a book written by Maggie Stiefvater. Who happens to be a very talented author/artist/musician. She can, apparently, do just about anything. And, do it well. She wrote the book. She drew the panels for the animation. She photographed the panels for the animation. She wrote the music to go along with the animation. And, played 4 of the 5 instruments used in the music for the video. I think I mentioned that she's talented, right?

Okay, now watch this little behind-the-scenes video regarding the making of the trailer:

You did watch the whole thing, didn't you? Heh heh heh. And...... she's funny.

Posted by Joanna | Permalink