Top 5 On Friday - Week 184

Blogdrive seems to have gone to the dogs today, but here is my meme from Music Memoirs

Pick 5 of your favorite artists and tell us what one album by each really got you into them.
(Top 5 albums that got you into the band that recorded them)

Elvis Costello - Spike


I bought this CD because of his work with Paul McCartney. It was the first album that really got me into his music, even though he'd been around for 10 + years already. My favorite songs from this one are Satellite, Pads Paws & Claws, This Town and of course, Veronica.

The Moody Blues - The Other Side Of Life

Yup, it was Your Wildest Dreams that did it for me back in the eighties! Just remember I was 12 then!

Duran Duran - Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)

I like getting into huge bands after the hype is over. It really wasn't until this album that I came to appreciate Duran Duran. Its a shame they've done so little good material after it. (Especially this last album, Red Carpet Massacre, which was total shit in my book)

Over The Rhine - Snow Angels


God bless Amazon for featuring this CD last Christmas. If not for this album, I'd have been missing out on loads of wonderful music and that would be a shame. This is a Christmas CD but not in the tradition sense. I can listen to this one year round, much like The Moodies and December.

Jimmy Buffett - Fruitcakes


My brother took me to a record fair in the 90s and he played this CD the whole way to Monroville. I never really paid attention to Jimmy until this album, though I knew the staple songs. I love this CD and so many others of his now.

Bootsie Took A Few Years Off My Life

My kitty Bootsie, is a chicken. She's afraid of most everything that isn't an animal. Yesterday she decided she wanted to spend some time in our basement. It would be nice if she would have told us she was going. (We kept the basement door closed for Itchy's sake)

For two hours we searched the house to no avail, fearing the worst, that she had escaped. None of my cats leave the house, as I know that the chances of injury and sickness triple when you let cats roam free. Plus I think its just plain irresponsible, but that's neither here nor there.

Everyone in my house looked. We moved furniture. The whole nine yards. Suffice to say I didn't get a damn thing done last night, except for the request for a birth certificate from my mother.

My father actually had to get out the hose to finally find her. She came rushing up out of the basement where 3 of us had been calling her for ages. Oye! My kitty is a little chicken cat-catorie!

I Need Time! Lots Of It

I swear the time that I'm working drags on slowly, because I can only do work related things then. Once I get home the day flies by and its bedtime before I blink an eye. I'm not getting anything done it seems.

I need to set up a car rental for the weekend of Aug 8 and I need to get a hotel room. I need to find out if we are actually going to Atlantic City, because we need to get our space on the bus.

ARGH!

I'm not even getting around to most of my dailies list lately and that makes me feel bad. I like visiting my friends, but right now I just seem to be in a semi-comatose state.

I guess I'm getting really lazy with the whole time management thing. Or maybe I was never good at it. I don't know. I just know that I'm not getting a damn thing done anymore and I've got loads of stuff to do. The months of August and September are shaping up to be busy ones assuming that I can get my butt in gear so that we can go to Erie. I also hope to get to the Renfest in Pittsburgh in Sept and the Fayette County Fair next weekend. GAH! So much stuff, so much to arrange. My head is going to explode!

And we won't even mention that I owe several friends phone calls.

~head desk~

All I really want to do is sleep and stop thinking about all the stuff that I should be getting done.

Oh crap! I still need to do one more load of laundry.

Farewell Itchy

Last night, my sweet little Itchy went up the the Heavyside Layer to meet Ceiling Cat. I'm sure she's playing with Misty and Buddah who went before her. There's a huge void in our household already.

Itchy was a special little girl. She followed my dad home one fall morning 10 years ago and she never left, because my mom fell in love with this tiny harlequin kitty. She looked like a kitten, but we were sure she wasn't. She was full of love and full of health problems.

Three months after we brought her in she had a bout with an ear infection and we thought she was going to die, which was why we opted not to have her spayed. We feared she wouldn't make it through the surgery. That, of course, was a huge mistake as 2 years ago she had an infected uterus that cost us $700 and almost took her from our home.

Ultimately it was cancer that pulled her away from our happy home, but not without a fight. Itchy was not ready to go and she went with a fight. A 6 month battle that she wanted to win.

I'm happy to say she went in the loving arms of my sister with all of us stroking her fur. She died with a purr, knowing that she was so very loved and that we wanted her go to the Heavyside Layer and be at peace.

Baby Itchy you will be missed terribly. Thank you for the many years of love and sweetness.

Walk With The Animals And Other Things About My Weekend

I was loved to death by a lorikeet yesterday and a few other birds at The Good Zoo at Oglebay. It was nice to be there even though it was muggy and the thunderstorms came rolling through when we were there. Thankfully the rain didn't start until we had made it completely through the zoo. Other people weren't so lucky.

As you might be able to tell from the photo, my hair doesn't hold up well under humid conditions. Actually my hair doesn't hold up well under any conditions. Yikes! I truly give new meaning to the word "goober" but its not often that I can be found holding birds.

The zoo has all kinds of lovely animals from ocelots, to kangaroos, to river otters to meercats. I love meercats! All in all, it was a nice day out. I'm glad I went and even the rain didn't spoil the fun.




More photos of The Good Zoo can be found here and shots of the gardens @ Oglebay can be found here.

I'm A Strange Girl

Have you ever bought things and decided to save them for an event in the future, because everyday life is just to boring and mundane to use them then?

I do.

I have a sexy sundress I bought last year with the tags still on in hopes that I would

a. Have an awesome vacation destination where I could wear it, thus attracting the attention of some gorgeous/geeky man of my dreams.

b. Would become some sexy creature that could get away with wearing said dress anywhere except work.

I do this with makeup too. I buy it for places to go. Heck I may have an outfit I bought when I thought I might actually have a date with a certain person I crushed...erm ...am still crushing on.

Where is my reasoning coming from? My brain knows no normalcy. I only hope some of the clothes I've got stockpiled can be worn on some of the weekend trips I have planned in the next month or so. If not, I'm really throwing my money away. (Not that this is a huge revelation)

I Made Dinner!

Tonight I made a quick and easy recipe I found in one of Mr. Food's cook books.

All it called for was

2 cups of cooked chicken
1 package of frozen mixed veggies
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 tsp onion power
1/4 tsp of black pepper

Just heat it up and serve with mashed potatoes on top It takes about 10 minutes tops, depending on how cold the chicken is. It went really well with Jimmy Buffett's Landshark beer.

Mmm.

Mom and I were trying to figure out the best way to turn the chicken and veggie mixture into a nice pot pie. Try it! I think you'll like it. Its really good with garlic mashed potatoes on top!

Top 5 On Friday - Week 183

From Music Memoirs

Top 5 Vacation Albums (albums you have to have with you when you travel or make you think you're on vacation)

Jimmy Buffett - Songs You Know By Heart

You can't vacation without Jimmy! He's the best vacation music out there! Now pass the margarita!

The Beatles - 1


Cyndi Lauper - A Night To Remember

This album came out when I was in junior high and I remember listening to it on the drive to Lancaster that year. I'll always associate it with vacations. It's a great album too, even though it wasn't one of Ms. Lauper's better selling records.

Erasure - Pop! The First 20 Hits

Either of this band's best of discs will make me feel like vacation. Hmmm if I put it on now, I can pretend I can have 4 more hours of sleep, right?

Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever

Petty is another artist that used to always travel in my walkman when I went on roadtrips with the parents. This is hands down one of my favorite CDs ever!

I Hate Waiting

Rockapella are coming to Greensburg in November. Who are they, you ask? As I'm sure most of you haven't heard of them. Rockapella is a acapella (no brainer there right) singing group that had their start doing the theme song for the kid's geography game show, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiago.

The lineup of the band has changed since those days when I used to watch the show on PBS, but my favorite member of the band, Scott Leonard is still there. I've crushed on that cute blonde guy for ages.

The tickets are fairly reasonable too, cheap seats at $15 up to $55. Not bad at all, and Greensburg is easier to deal with than Pittsburgh and its actually a little bit easier to drive too as well. Assuming gas doesn't cost $7.00 a gallon then. If it does, then we're all screwed. When gas gets to be that close to the minimum wage, well then there's nothing good to be said for the world, especially in a country where Public Transportation takes a back burner to everything.

But that's really neither here nor there, what I want to know is when the tickets go on sale! Heck the concert's in November half the time, those kind of shows go on sale 6 months beforehand!

GAH!

Tuesday Tunes On Wednesday

I'm doing this late, because as usual I got to doing other stuff and forgot to play my own meme from Music Memoirs


What's the most you've ever paid for a CD? What CD was it?
There's a Japanese double disc set of Duran Duran's early EP's that I paid around $100 for, back in the days when I could do that without guilt. Sadly I can't and won't do that anymore. There are a few Nick Lowe CDs that I'd love to have, but since they are out of print, they are selling for insane amounts of money.

Do you own any CDs that aren't domestic?
Hell yeah is my best response to that. I have import albums, CD singles. You name it. Plus the import stuff has extras. The CD Singles usually have video.

How do you feel about European discs and Japanese discs getting bonus tracks and special packaging when the US does not?
I hate it. There is no need for this and you can't buy the bonus tracks either on other download sites. You have a choice, pony up the money for the expensive import or live without it. Its stuff like this that makes it obvious why piracy runs rampant in the US. The quality of our product sucks and we get no sweet little extras.

Are there any bands/artists you go out of your way to purchase any release for?
Several, Erasure, The Moody Blues, Duran Duran (even though their last albums have sucked) Elvis Costello, to name but a few.

Finally Some Plans

This weekend we are going to Oglebay to the Zoo and to look for some of the gardens in the area. That's definitely something to look forward too. A few weeks later we're going to Erie and then 2 weeks after that I'm going to my brothers..and then Atlantic City. So the end of this month and the next 2 months are going to be crazy busy and full of stuff!

For that I'm happy.

I need to be busy. Busy makes my life easier, because it keeps me from thinking too much and I hate when that happens because I never get wrapped up thinking good thoughts, it gets wrapped around the thoughts that make me crazier than a bedbug. (And I'm pretty much that crazy naturally)

I hope all this stuff makes things a little better for me, because these last few months sure have been a downward spiral. I need something to make things perk up and maybe making myself so busy that my head will spin is just the key.

I can imagine you all can guess what trip I'm most looking forward too, right?

Random 10 - Week 163

From Music Memoirs:


10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

I had a very weird weekend of music. Let's start with the strange little band playing at Barley and Hops. I don't know who they were because they never really said. They were quite terrible and they covered a bunch of classic rock songs like:

A Day In The Life (the beatles)
Heart Of Gold (neil young)
Runaround Sue (dion)

After that I really spent a lot of time listening to the most recent John Hiatt CD as well as some Nick Lowe.

John Hiatt - Old Days
John Hiatt - What Love Can Do
John Hiatt - Living A Little, Laughing A Little (I watched the video for this one on Last.fm)
John Hiatt - Cherry Red

Nick Lowe - Too Many Teardrops
Nick Lowe - Cruel To Be Kind
Nick Lowe - Long Limbed Girl

As for the picture? How about the lovely beer I drank on Saturday?

Sorting Sorting Sorting

I've been trying to clear out my old junk jewelry. You know the costume jewelry that you pay next to nothing for at sales in department stores and other little retail places?

Well I found a bunch of old costume jewelry from either gram or mom that had come to me over the last 15 + years. More stuff to figure out what should be done with it. Some of it is too pretty to give away or sell, so I'll be keeping it for sentimental reasons.

I just wish there weren't so many things.

I don't know what to keep and what to toss and with each passing week it gets harder to push myself into doing the work. I don't want to do it. I just want it to go away. I want some Daleks to come by and exterminate all of it.

I want to stop worrying about stuff. It's dragging me down in a huge way, and I'm not enjoying it.

Randomosity For A Saturday

~ Discovered an interesting band from Baltimore yesterday in one of my music communities. The band's called Beach House and the album that I find totally awesome is called Devotion. They are classified as Indie, but I hear psychedelic and electronic in them. Give them a listen.

~ The new John Hiatt CD Same Old Man is pretty darn great. So is the new Seth Lakeman. Lots of good music out there.

~ Itchy is still hanging in there. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, at least for her. Words cannot express how much I love this cat. Those that know me, know that I love all my animals, all animals in fact.

~ I nabbed my nephew's eye glass cleaner (ie windex..I swear that's what it smells like) and the damn thing somehow opened and spilled all over my purse and now everything smells like motherhumping WINDEX!!!

~ The Peace Lily is thriving in the humidity we're having here in PA right now, I wish I could say the same for me.

~ Listened to a Billie Piper song (You know Rose on New Who?). Oh sweet Mary! Chickee is more obnoxious singing than in the show. (No, I'm not a Rose Tyler fan)

Top 5 On Friday - Week 182

From Music Memoirs

Top 5 albums from the first half of 2008

There have been so many awesome albums this year already

Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Momofuku
This isn't EC's best album, but its good. On the EC scale of awesomeness it's actually around a 6 or 7. On the overall awesomeness scale it's an 8.5 because the music coming out by most artists sucks!


Dolly Parton - Backwoods Barbie
This is fun country with an added pop twinge to some of the songs, so Dolly sounds more mainstream. It's one of my favorite albums.


Jakob Dylan - Seeing Things
The world needs more of this man's music. His songwriting is as good as his dad's in my eyes, and Jakob is prettier to look at. Its a win/win situation.



Donna Summer - Crayons
The queen of disco returns with a fantastic album that will make you get up out of your chair.


Cyndi Lauper - Bring Ya To The Brink
Hell yeah, this album is awesome! Cyn is one of the icons and divas of the 80s. She's also one of the only female artists that truly reinvents herself over and over. She may not have Madonna's fanbase or record sales, but she's the better of the two.

Praying For Itchy

I've mentioned before my Itchy has cancer. I was in no financial position to do surgery and anything else needed when we found out. I'm still not, and she's getting worse, and I'm just so sad.

Itchy's a stray that wandered into our lives about 10 years ago or so, I can never remember how many. She's so full of personality too. She earned the nickname "Bitchy Itchy" through my mom, who pets her until she's so annoyed she swats her.

She's a cat that tells you what she wants. In the cold she'd stand by the the register, if we were on it, and beg to be picked up by crawling up our legs and meowing like crazy. She loves kitty back rides too. If I was leaning over the table for something and she was near by, it would only take a minute for me to have a kitty on my back.

Itchy is so full of love. Her eyes are still bright and she's still eating/pooing etc, but I know the tumor is taking its toll. But I know she's not ready to go yet, and I've told her, I can't make that decision for her. I can't put a cat down. I couldn't take a person off life support either.

My cats are my children and you just don't do that to your kids, well at least I don't.

The Absurdity Of It All

Bilbo was talking about lottery tickets the other day on his blog and it got me thinking. One of the payouts on a PA Lottery Ticket is $500 a week for life. 99.3 The Pickle is giving them away in two contests, so I hear about this ticket more often than any human should have to. I really should listen to another station, but I'm a glutton for punishment.

I'm sure everyone would like an extra $500, I know I sure would, but it wouldn't make me quit my day job. That $500 is taxed, and even before that it only comes out to about $26,000.

Mind you, my salary is less than that, but I still wouldn't quit my job. I'd just be able to live normally if I won.

What gets me is that the station talks it up like its a huge sum of money. It is, but its not so huge that it would allow me to call off work for the rest of my life or most anyone else for that matter.

Absurd isn't it? I think so. Now if it were $1000 a week for life I might consider quitting my day job, because the cost of living in my hometown is still so low that $50,000 a year is great, but since my chances of winning anything like that are something akin to a snowball in hell, I guess I'll just get ready for work.

Tuesday Tunes - Week 40

Straight from my meme blog Music Memoirs

I think we're due for a word association week, right? You know the drill, name the first musical thing ie artist/song/album etc that comes to mind when you see these words:

peace: Nick Lowe - What's So Funny About Peace Love And Understanding
love: The Beatles - All You Need Is Love
sign: Ace Of Base - The Sign
summer: Bananarama - Cruel Summer
trip: The Moody Blues - The Best Way To Travel
book: Elvis Costello - Every Day I Write The Book
drug: Duran Duran - Drug (Its A State Of Mind)
simple: Simple Minds, one of my favorite bands from the 80s
psychedelic: The Monkees - Love Is Only Sleeping
70s: David Bowie - Changes

This Girlie Episode Brought To You By Humidity

My peace lily is much happier right now, seeing as it really loves humid weather. I wish I could say the same for my hair. My hair is usually as straight as a poker, suddenly I've developed curl!

WTF!

Do not want! Especially since my hair goes every which way when it decides to do something like curl. Part of it will curl under other parts will curl out. I look like I had a run in with a curling iron and lost!

Not exactly how I want to look when I go to work. Not that I dress up for my job or anything, but still, I don't want to spend a half hour trying to convince my hair that I don't want this strange brand of curls it seems to want to give me right now. I just want to stick some gel in my hair, brush it, and be content. Right now I'm considering buying a hair straightener to get rid of the obnoxious kink that I've developed.

Grrrr.

Stupid humidity.

And damn the peace lily for thriving. (Have I mentioned lately that the plant is out to get me?)

Where'd The Weekend Go?

Its Monday already? The 7th of July? OMG! Where the hell is time going now? And why is it moving so fast? And why have I really done not much of anything this summer? Well except clean that is?

Oh yeah, the weather has been a hellavalota crap. Hot during the week, rain on the weekend.

Woo hoo!

So much for swimming or amusement parks there.

I guess I'm suffering for wanting more than I can have. I know I'm not the only one. I'm not content. I want more. I want something fun and exciting and I'm not getting it and I'm not willing to wait for it either. I want it now! Actually I want it yesterday! I want it to last too. I don't want it to fly by so quickly that I miss it and can't savor it.

But that's part of life right? Wanting what you can't have? And the worst of it, is that the Rolling Stones are right, you can't always get what you want.

Food Porn!

I ate some of the yummiest food ever yesterday. First I had a slice of chocolate peanut butter pie @ Oliver's in Centre Market in Wheeling.



And yes, it tastes every bit as yummy as it looks. It was pie from heaven!

After we walked around the market, we went to Wheeling Island, where unbelievably, I won $12.88 on the 2 cent slots. Just about enough to cover dinner!

I've raved about the buffet at Wheeling Island many times and this time was no different. If you ever get there, go to the create a pasta station!

Mine was a cajun alfredo with chicken and roasted red peppers and green peppers.



And there was so much more, and yes I ate so much more, which is why today I eat salad!

Get Out Of My Head!

I had the most bizarre dream about someone I hadn't really given a huge amount of thought to in awhile.

Yeah. I was dreaming about Fishy.

ARGH!

Head desk/Head wall/Face palm

Sure I still listen to 99.3 The Pickle. Sure I still call in my requests on the Free For All, but no, I don't email him much, unless I have something to say, and that's few and far between.

But for some reason I was at the station and I was trying to avoid him seeing me, even though he was at a desk right next to where I was standing. He was all spiffy looking too. My brain must have been on overdrive. Some teasing followed. Nothing naughty, just me talking to him.

Weird.

Much like my whole association with this guy has been. In many ways I'm glad nothing came from this. No good ever comes from me liking anyone of the opposite sex.

No more dreams. They just make me wake up feeling rather shitty.

Top 5 On Friday - Week 182

From Music Memoirs

Top 5 songs/and or albums that have America in the title.

Elvis Costello - American Without Tears

from the album: King Of America



Dolly Parton - Color Me America

From the album For God & Country (Not Dolly's best but this is a pretty song for those that love patriotic tunes.)




David Bowie - Young Americans

From the album:



Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - An American Girl

Don McClean - American Pie
I won't inflict the only version of this song I have on my computer with you, because Madonna murdered it.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen reasons my 34th birthday sucked.

1. I had to work all day and it wasn't the most eventful day at the office.
2. The free dinner I had screwed me out of a present from a family member who's turned really cheap.
3. The peace lily tried to die on me. (Never put a peace lily outside, m'kay) It's ok now after a lot of praying and waving the watering can at it!
4. The dog decided to wee on my CD tower destroying 6 CDs)
5. Itchy jumped on the microwave sending grandma's african violet flying. It lost a few leaves but its ok, though we've taken back to the window in gram's house where it will be safe.
6. Lunch consisted of cupcakes and potato chips. Way to make me sick.
7. One friend totally forgetting to say happy b-day, and this friend lives in the area.
8. Issues cutting the TCBY cake.
9. Back to the peace lily, having to spend $20 on miracle gro, fertilizer and a huge pot for the damn thing.
10.The last things I saw before bed, Obama and McCain on the telly, now I'm sick to my stomach.
11.The brown crocs I wanted being out of stock in my size, so I ended up with white ones.
12. Having to listen to someone whine about getting a promotion when they called to wish me Happy Birthday.
13. The absence of grandma.

The 34 Birthday Mixtape

Part 1
1974: Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle
1975: Justin Hayward/John Lodge - Saved By The Music
1976: Gordon Lightfoot - Race Among The Ruins
1977: Justin Hayward - Lay It On Me
1978: The Moody Blues - Steppin In A Slide Zone
1979: George Harrison - Blow Away
1980: Tremblers - I'll Be Taking Her Out Tonight
1981: Stevie Nicks w/Tom Petty - Stop Dragging My Heart Around
1982: Paul McCartney w/Stevie Wonder - Ebony and Ivory
1983: Duran Duran - New Moon On Monday
1984: Alison Moyet - All Cried Out
1985: Arcadia - Election Day
1986: Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Crimes Of Paris
1987: Icehouse - Electric Blue
1988: The Smithereens - Only A Memory
1989: Tom Petty - The Apartment Song
1990: Adam Ant - Room At The Top


Part 2
1991: Shakespear's Sister - I Don't Care
1992: Annie Lennox - Walking On Broken Glass
1993: Duran Duran - UMF
1994: Madonna - I'll Remember
1995: Roxette - June Afternoon
1996: The Wallflowers - 6th Avenue Heartache
1997: Grey Eye Glances - Halfway Back
1998: Billy Bragg & Wilco - California Stars
1999: David Bowie - Thursday's Child
2000: Matchbox Twenty - Last Beautiful Girl
2001: Nick Lowe - Has She Got A Friend
2002: Joan Osborne - These Arms Of Mine
2003: Bernie Barlow - Sexy
2004: Erasure - Bet You're Mad At Me
2005: Diana Krall - Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep
2006: Hem - Too Late To Turn Back Now
2007: Over The Rhine - If A Song Could Be President
2008: Dolly Parton - Better Git To Livin

1974-1990 (93 MB)
1991-2008 (87 MB)

Tuesday Tunes

A little fun 4th of July style from Music Memoirs

Make a mix of at least 10 songs w/or without art that sum up Independence Day for you.



Paul McCartney - Freedom
The Grass Roots - Glory Bound
Paul Revere & The Raiders - Indian Reservation
Gordon Lightfoot - The Patriot's Dream
Roxette - Fireworks
Jimmy Buffett - Everybody's Got A Cousin In Miami
Elvis Costello w/Emmylou Harris - The Scarlet Tide
The Mamas and The Papas - California Dreamin
John Lennon - Power To The People
Oingo Boingo - Right To Know

Want to listen? Click here and click the first song and you can stream all ten tracks for a limited time.

Free Dinner

I got a coupon in the mail from my favorite local restaurant, Red Dawg's in Belle Vernon. It seems I have $10 towards dinner for my birthday. Woot! I think I'm going to use it tomorrow.

There's nothing better than a good dinner, except maybe a free good dinner and that's what I plan on having. All I have to pay for is the alcoholic drinky poo that I will inevitably need to consume to get through my 34th b-day.

The more b-days that you have the more alcohol that needs to be consumed. That's my belief. At 40 I will probably need a keg!

I'm looking forward to getting out tomorrow night, even though its just to a local place. I seldom have a chance to eat out during the week, except for fast food, which isn't good for me, or even really good.

Where I'd really like to go is the Rainforest Cafe in Atlantic City, but perhaps next month. Fingers crossed on that and I'll hopefully know more in the next week or so.

3 More Episodes To Go

Everyone knows I'm a huge Doctor Who fan. I've been watching the show religiously for the last few months. I'm trying to catch up with the UK, since its their show and they seem to think its nice to work in a month delay between its airing in the US.

GRRRRR.

The season finale is on this coming Saturday and I can't wait. Just about every companion that's still floating around the Whoverse will be in it. That certainly proves that it will be one helluva pretty episode. I just hope it lives up to the expectations. I wasn't keen on the ending of Martha's series with the doctor. Yes, it was exciting but it was just bleh, however there was the Master and John Simm sure made those episodes worth watching. He definitely had that evil sexy thing going on.

That's one thing this season's finale will certainly lack. The evil character is far from sexy. PAH!

Still, I'm very excited for the next episode. I'll be waiting patiently at my computer Saturday for the download links to start appearing and I will watch and hopefully be enthralled with Russell T. Davies' swan song for the series, and then I'll start praying that Tennant decides to stay with the show a little longer.

Now if you don't mind I have to watch Turn Left and The Stolen Earth so I can be ready for The Journey's End on Saturday.

Stuff got done!

Taking the entertainment center apart was not fun. Moving my CDs around was equally not fun, but not as fun as when one of the huge units that I have to hold them started to collapse. I still have CDs all over the floor because I have no space for all my music. However, there is much much more room in this room then there was yesterday.

Now I have to decide what to do with my VHS tapes, an issue that I deal with every time I start cleaning in here, and not a fun one. I don't watch them ever! All the DVDs I have? I don't watch them. At least not anymore. For awhile I was close to wearing out 2 of my Moody Blues concert DVDs, but I haven't watched them in ages, or any of my other DVDs for that matter.

My next project here is probably hunting down a nice area rug. I have no desire to go through the whole business of wall to wall carpeting, because that would mean moving the furniture again and I don't want those CDs to loose their home again! I couldn't take it! I also couldn't afford it.

But back to the good. I got rid of a lot of stuff and my room is slowly starting to look less cluttered. My actual bedroom however is another story. That room is a total mess and its making me crazy.

Oh and I have 5 bags of romance novels that I've already read or grandma had read and I don't know what to do with, because libraries don't want that kind of thing and there are no used book shops around and none of the churches are having flea markets etc. So ARGH!

But can I get a woot for the progress I've made? Pretty please?

This is the kind of day I like: Busy

Today I have an eye doctor's appointment. I need to do some grocery shopping. I have stuff at home that needs to be cleaned and whatnot and this weekend it can't be put off.

So I'm going to be a very busy girl.

Let's hope that I get it all done, because if I don't I'll be really aggravated. At least the eye doctor's appointment is a given. I'll be leaving for that in a few minutes. The rest is up in the air.

Oh and I have to meet with a lady from the cemetery again tomorrow, because we've decided to pay the opening/closing costs for my mom, who has very little life insurance.

Way to be depressing.

I think I'll get my day rolling now. Fingers and toes crossed that I get everything done.

Top 5 On Friday - Week 181

From Music Memoirs


Top 5 "You" songs ie. songs with "you" in the title.

George Harrison - You
(This is the most obvious one)

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - You Got Lucky


Roxette - How Do You Do!
(This song is so flipping fun to listen to)

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - You Belong To Me


Herman's Hermit's - You Won't Be Leaving
(This is one of the more provocative tunes recorded by the band. Yes, I said provocative. Give it a listen and you might understand)

3 Mixes That I've Made

I made these for a music community I'm in and I thought I'd share. Remember to say thank you if you snag them!



Artist: Various Artists
Album: This Time Its Personal (88 MB)
Genre: Mix
Similar Artists: Diana Krall, The Monkees, Elvis Costello
Tracklisting:
Elvis Costello - Mouth Almighty
The Beatles - Nowhere Man
Ann Margaret - I Ain't Gonna Be Your Fool
Keri Noble - Imperfect
John Barrowman - Being Alive
Michael Ball - Let The River Run
Grey Eye Glances - Faces
Tommy James - Ordinary Girl
Oingo Boingo - On The Outside J
ill Sobule - Bitter
Hem - The Pills Stopped Working
Nick Lowe - Where's My Everything
Over The Rhine - How Does It Feel (To Be On My Mind)
Carlene Carter - Unbreakable Heart
Diana Krall - Narrow Daylight
Alison Moyet - Another Living Day
Cher - All Or Nothing
Roxette - Vulnerable
Billie Myers - Am I Here Yet (Return To Sender)
The Monkees - Someday Man
John Lennon - Nobody Told Me
Comments: If you want to know me a bit better, just listen to these songs. They pretty much sum my personality up. Several of them I wish I had written if I were a songwriter.


Artist:Various Artists
Album: We Wish We Were Fab (45 MB)
Genre: Cover Songs, Mix
Similar Artists: Jim Sturgess, Justin Hayward, The Wallflowers
Tracklisting:
Justin Hayward - Blackbird
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Dear Prudence
The Real People - Hey Jude
Elvis Costello - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Sonia Evans - She Loves You
Oingo Boingo - I Am The Walrus
Ringo Starr - Love Me Do
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap - Lady Madonna
The Wallflowers - I'm Looking Through You
The Smithereens - Little Child
Jim Sturgess - I've Just Seen A Face
Eddie Izzard - Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite
Smash - Day Tripper
Thea Gilmore - I Want To Tell You
Michael Weston King - For No One

Comments: These are in my opinion some of the best covers of Beatles songs, and I generally hate/despise/loathe all covers of Beatles tunes.




Artist: Various Artists
Album: Going Undercover (71 MB)
Genre: Mix, Cover Songs
Similar Artists: Hem, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe
Tracklisting:
Nick Lowe - Indoor Fireworks (Elvis Costello)
Elvis Costello - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (The Animals
Tremblers - Green Shirt (Elvis Costello)
Anna Nalick - Band Of Gold (Freda Payne)
The Proclaimers - Get Ready (Temptations)
Hem - Radiation Vibe (Fountains Of Wayne)
Gary Puckett & The Union Gap - The Mighty Quinn (Bob Dylan)
Erasure - Baby Love (The Supremes)
Tom Jones - Mama Told Me Not To Come (Three Dog Night)
Belinda Carlisle - I Feel Free (Cream)
Diana Krall - Temptation (Tom Waits)
Martina McBride - I Never Promised You A Rose Garden (Lynn Anderson)
Colbie Caillat - Kiss The Girl (Samuel E. Wright)
David Bowie - Try Some, Buy Some (George Harrison)
Midge Ure - The Man Who Sold The world (David Bowie)
Duran Duran - Femme Fatale (Velvet Underground)
Bonnie Tyler - Have You Ever Seen The Rain (CCR)
Joan Osborne - These Arms Of Mine (Otis Redding)
The Dream Academy - Love (John Lennon)
Jamie Cullum - Everlasting Love (Stevie Wonder)
Sarah Brightman - Dust In The Wind (Kansas)

Comments: These are a current batch of my favorite cover songs ever.

I Meant To Look For Flip Flops

So I was at KMart last night, aka the place of doom. I hate anything affiliated with Sears, so it kills me to give these wankers my money, but I've been doing a lot of that lately.

I heard they had cheap flip flops there and I went in with good intentions of picking up a few pair.

Did I buy any?

Nope.

What did I buy?

I mean its obvious something was purchased, right?

First I fell in love with a day lily, because my blasted gerber daisy died. Then I went to the clothes. Damn. I totally forgot about the shoes. I ended up buying a cute top and a dress, along with the plant. No flip flops.

I guess its true what they said about the best laid plans, but then again those plans said nothing about mice and women!

Tuesday Tunes: Week 160

From Music Memoirs

What if:

What if a friend took your favorite CD and never returned it. First what CD would it be, and how huge of a row/fight would you have with your friend as a result?
It would probably be one of my Erasure Fanclub CDs. The friendship would be over. This is why I never ever lend out my CDs or anything like that. I like to keep my friends and if a friend lost or misplaced one of mine, it would be certain doom for the friendship, which is why I'd offer to make a copy of a CD before I'd let anyone walk out of the house with one of mine.

What if you found a mix CD laying on the ground? Would you pick it up and try to play it? Yes, and I have. I know that curiosity sometimes kills the cat but I always like to see what other people are listening to.

What if you somehow ended up having dinner with your favorite recording artist, what would the dinner conversation be like?
Mmmm, dinner with who though? Elvis Costello? Gordon Lightfoot? Keri Noble? That's a tough one. I think I'd have dinner with Gordon, because he would have so much more to talk about. I'd like to think to conversation would center around his experiences in the industry and songwriting. OK, and maybe I'd try to draw out some naughty bits of things that have happened over the years. I bet he'd have some wonderful things to talk about. I just wonder now what we'd be eating. Hmmmmm.

Gone To The Garbage

My little Aiwa stereo system went out to the trash. I'm going to miss it in some ways. It was one of my favorite stereos. It had a cute 3 disc CD changer, cassette deck and a nice radio. I listened to Fishy many mornings in the last few years from that stereo, but lately the only thing that worked reliably on it was the radio.

~sigh~

In the last few years most of my music just came to my hard drive anyway, so it could be played on the computer or eventually on one of my mp3 players, so it's not going to be missed too terribly. I have a mini system in my bedroom for CDs and my turntable. (Yes, you read that right, turntable)

The next thing to go to the garbage is the entertainment center that it once stood on. I bought a new one Sunday and I'm anxious to get it assembled, but its going to take time, a whole lot of precious time, to quote a song George Harrison made very popular in the 80s.

After I get rid of that monstrosity, I'm going to get rid of my corner desk, even if it means piling all my books etc to the ceiling, because I hate that desk with a passion and its not needed. If I buy the Dell of my dreams, I won't be keeping the old HP, as its too old.

What I really need to do is get rid of some of these VHS tapes that I never watch. Those really need to go to the trash, but I feel so guilty. I spent good money on them or countless hours taping the stuff on them, but who uses VCRs anymore, eh? Heck my small collection of DVDs doesn't get played much anymore.

I'm pathetic when it comes to watching tv or movies at home. I think a lot of the VHS tapes will make it to the trash tonight, except for the Beatle movies and such that I can't part with. At least the garbage men will have something to cart away this week other than the usual stuff. Woot! Stuff is being pitched!

In My Life....I Love You More

The week after grandma passed away, I requested In My Life to be played on the Pickle in her honor. I hadn't completely paid attention to the lyrics when I did, except so many of them suited the situation. It wasn't until I scrolled through my friends list over on livejournal and saw a photo post that said in my life...I love you more that it really hit me, that was the perfect song for grandma.

Why?

Because any time you told grandma that you loved her, she fired back, "I love you more."

She signed her greeting cards that way too.

That was grandma's catch phrase. I can't hear those words without thinking of her.

Reading those words this morning brought a tear to my eye, as I thought, someone else said that besides gram. Then I realized it was John Lennon.

Random 10 - Week 160

From Music Memoirs


10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

I listened to some new to me albums this weekend and rediscovered some old favorites all the while, compiling a newsletter for a music community I'm in on Livejournal, shopping, getting stuff done though not much of it and trying to keep up with my blogging friends, which I'm failing miserably at, oh and I finished reading a book!

Roxette - Church Of Your Heart
Roxette - June Afternoon
Carlene Carter - I Fell In Love
Carlene Carter - Love You Cause I Want To
Carlene Carter - Unbreakable Heart
Carlene Carter - Long Heart Fall
Stereophonics - Nothing Compares 2 U (weird ass Prince/Sinead O'Connor cover)
Herman's Hermits - You Won't Be Leaving
Herman's Hermits - Can't You Hear My Heartbeat
ELO - Mr. Blue Sky (Damn that Jet Blue commercial)

As for the picture, it seems only fitting to have Ms Carter.



As always if you'd like to hear any of these tracks just let me know and I'll send them along, as long as you provide an email addy.

Country Music?

Malcolm mentioned that he didn't know I liked country music. Actually it's kinda new to me as well. I don't like all country, in fact the country artists I like are more country ladies.

I love Carlene Carter, Dolly Parton, Martina McBride and Terri Clark. I can't think of many male country singers that I could listen to a whole album of, well besides Jimmy Buffett and he's not totally country, he's a little bit everything from reggae to rock to country. Does Nick Lowe count? Because his countrified albums are wonderful and so are Elvis Costello's. But I'm sorry those Brits doing country don't quite get it. It barely works for those Canadians, but they manage. Lightfoot actually does it better than most.

I don't like country when it gets too twangy or goes too much down the bluegrass path, unless its Dolly walking down that path. The Moody Bluegrass covers album was the worst thing I ever heard in my life. It make me want to run to the bathroom to toss my cookies and anything else I could toss.

I'm also not too into that crossover pop that Faith Hill did, though she is a lovely singer and I enjoy some of her stuff and as for Shania Twain? ACK! She's too much of a Diva and too little of a real artist for me.

My musical recommendation for the day, for any of you that want to try something a little bit country and a perhaps a little bit rock n' roll



Carlene Carter's I Fell In Love or if you want something new try Stronger, you won't regret it.