Just the other week, while down in Naples for our wedding (we're still recovering and eventually will return to consistent blog form, promise), we were hitting up our favorite blogs to see what the haps were back in C-town. In doing so, we discovered that our friend Justin had found a new local brewery called in Indigo Imp. We checked out the Husband/Wife duo's website and noticed that they were demonstrating tastings at a variety of local Heinen's stores, making us wonder whether they were already selling at Heinen's -- low and behold, to our surprise, they are. So, today I asked Kelly to pick some beer for us while she was at the store and she surprised me by getting some Imp which we are currently enjoying and I have to tell you it really hits the spot (not just because we are thirsty for some beer but it has a great taste). The particular Indigo Imp beer we are enjoying is their Blonde Bombshell which is described best on the label of the bottle: "An American Blonde Ale, Gold in color, an enchanting mix of malty sweetness with floral and spicy hop flavors."
While Jose is spending the afternoon doing man things (aka drinking and eating) with his brother in-law and dad, I am enjoying the peaceful quiet of being alone. This sense of relaxation is something that I haven't felt in quite some time! In doing so, I find it particularly therapeutic listening to the following beautiful Christmas tunes :) 5. [Mp3]Sally Shapiro - Anorak Christmas (Piano Version)Loove love love this song -- cannot get enough of it!
4. [Mp3]Sufjan Stevens - Star of WonderNo one does Christmas songs better than Sinatra, but Sufjan is pretty high up there in my book.
...for NAPLES in about 2 hours to go spend a week of sun, friends and family. The reason for all for all of this celebration is none other than our WEDDING. We are ecstatic to see those of you who are going and those who cannot come, you will be in our thoughts. Regardless, be sure to a have a drink for us on Saturday night :)
With Jose and my wedding date approaching rapidly and *finally* taking place (this coming Saturday to be exact), there have been endless anecdotes and references made by our friends. The most favorite of mine being a recent message from Lopez, reminding me of the following stunningly beautiful Volkswagen Commercial:
{mp3} Emiliana Torrini - The Sound of Silence (Cover) I absolutely adore Emiliana and love nearly everything she has ever created. The same is true for this powerful and haunting rendition that might even impress S&G themselves*
Back in September, you may or may not recall the life changing moment when we played Rock Band for the very first time -- this event happened to take place @ Ben & Colleen's House. [Speaking of Rock Band, we're both hoping to receive it as a Wedding and/or Christmas Gift: umm, hint hint.] Anyhow, Ben is the husband of Colleen who was Kelly's roommate for a couple of years @ Miami. They are both awesome and Ben just so happens to have really kick ass music taste and just yesterday he shared with us an x-mas mix he made. We have been enjoying this mix so much we have decided to share it with you all:
-The Ravonettes' song called "Christmas in Cleveland" how f*cking cool is that?
-A lot of great covers including "Here Comes St. Claus" by Los Straitjackets, "Fairy Tale of New York" by Pilate (I never seem to tire of this song and love to hear any cover of it), & God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra (with the guitar line from House of Savages!)
-Other great tracks from Squirrel Nut Zippers, Tijuana Brass & Mambo Billy May (oh yeah, and Sufjan Stevens -- Kelly still loves herself that token Sufjan track. . .)
On a side note: While treating your ears you should also treat your taste buds and quench your thirst with a great (South Eastern) Australian Shiraz we've been enjoying on this particular evening compliments of Friday Monkey. At only $9.99 from Heinen's, this wine is not only flavorful but well balanced and 14% alcohol ;) it's clearly a steal. The perfect cure for a frigid night such as this one with it's warm, lingering, jammy and slightly tart finish*
ps - Yes, we colored in (and wrote on) that masterpiece of a Reindeer Picture above all by ourselves.We never were much good at coloring, ha
Pictured above is our very first tree. Both of us are purists when it comes to Christmas trees, however, given our complete lack of time this holiday season, we opted for a pre-lit no fuss fake tree. Also, since we have very little furniture, our little tree really helps spruce up the room (no pun intended). Now all we need is a quality pine scented candle -- God forbid, we would never get one of those crappy air freshner brand ones. One major bonus of the fake tree is we won't have to vacuum up any of those damn needles. . .Personally, when you vacuum pine needles, it is a very unpleasant smell.
While listening to music from A Charlie Brown Christmas (our absolute all-time favorite), we put up all five of our ornaments -- as you can see above, the J and K ornaments are on full display, which were a thoughtful gift from our friend, Sarah. Also of note are the sweet Tiffany & Co. ornaments that Becky and Paul got us. The next thing we are looking forward to getting are stockings to hang from our mantle :) Oh yes, and a star or an angel for the top of our little tree*
Last Saturday evening, while Kelly, CB & I were at the Winking Lizard, enjoying some brews, we heard a lot of good and bad music. The very bad being when we first walked in and decided to not sit at the bar because this obnoxious guy nearby was singing Lyndard Skynard's "What Your Name" really loud and out of key (I am tone deaf too but that was just a bit much). We proceeded to be seated over into another room and trudged threw several bad songs until finally a good one came up, which was Blur's "Coffee and TV".
The next song that followed was Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother" -- I remember liking this song in high school and she was the first alt rocker I had seen who played a violin. Back in the summer of 1996 in true alt rock glory, I saw her as part of the lineup in one of my favorite shows ever: 7 Year Bitch, Tracy Bonham, Spacehog, & Everclear when they all toured together as part of The Summer Land Tour (after the Everclear song of the same name).
I actually don't really recall Tracy Bonham's set, but I do remember these four things fondly:
1. Everclear opened with "Summer Land" which was not a single off of their awesome record Sparkle and Fade. There are a lot of great songs (Santa Monica, Heroin Girl, Strawberry) on that record, but that one is my favorite.
2. I went to that show with my friends who were working at the same restaurant where I was dish washing. They were doing buss-ing or food-prep. Anyways we were only 18 and our older coworkers who were also at the show bought us several beers.
3. I purchased a t-shirt at the show that my mom hated for the rest of the time I owned it because it said on the back "white trash and proud of it"
4. Some kids were moshing and I think of one them was wearing a Marilyn Manson t-shirt, well he got his ass kicked and he had to be carried off on a stretcher which caused them to stop the show.
Yesterday in our email box we were excited because we got an email from Ohio Boy letting us know that finally their site had been updated. It has been quite a while and long over due their previous site did not do justice for the quality of their work. For those who don't know Ohio Boy is the work of the supremely talented, Kent educated, Ohio bred artist & designer Andy Taray. His list of work is long and impressive including a stint as art director for MTV networks .
We have been fans of his for several years now and even own several t-shirts from campfire fire goods, (you need to check out the holiday series a whole slew of t-shirts paying homage to "A Christmas Story") were he helps out in his spare time. We are campfire were @ Bazaar Bizaree two years ago it looks like unfortunately they won't be there this year though (nor will we, since we will be out of town when it is going on Dec 13th & 14th) but the list of vendors for this year's event looks very strong. We know we are going to be missing out especially since it is back @ in the great building that used to be 1300 gallery (r.i.p.).
You may recall our plans over the the weekend: Attending the GCP Holiday Party (Note: our apologies for having toogood of a time to photograph it, but perhaps the photo that was taken of us there by a photographer from The Plain Dealer Society Section will be published), Hitting up MOCA and The Browns game. . .
The following pictures were taken at the start of and throughout this past *extended* weekend:
I just wanted to share this picture of Kelly making pizza with our Pampered Chef Stone we got as a bridal shower gift (thanks Ruth). Note: The t-shirt she is wearing I used to wear as a little boy
Last Thursday, Kelly and Erin (my future sister in law) hit up Dante for Sushi Blues before heading downtown to go see Legally Blonde The Musical. I never watched that MTV show for the casting but I warn you never to listen to any of the music from the show b/c it will get stuck in your skull and never leave.
On Saturday, we hit ARTscape 2008 @ MOCA w/ CB. This tree shows some of the great purses that Mary Ann offers. Kelly purchased one last year for our friend Sarah and she loves it.
After looking at mostly women's jewelry & crafts @ ARTscape, we needed to do something more manly (whatever) and headed to Coventry's Winking Lizard for several Pints (many more than are seen above). While there, we had a memorable encounter with a really nice waiter actually named Zack Morris.
Sunday we headed to The Browns game -- this was the view from the Lodge
Our friend Adrian, Marisa (my sister) and Kelly enjoying the game Doing my best Bono impression
The view from the highway as we trudged home after a very frustrating day on the gridiron
Today I called in sick to the office (makes a coughing noise) but for real I am under the weather and feeling run down. I also had to keep my streak going over the last month for various reasons I have not had a week where I worked a whole week m-f straight thru. One of the main reasons for taking today off is that we have got some fun plans this weekend and I don't want to miss out.
Tonight we are headed to GCP [Greater Cleveland Public Officials] Reception @ Windows on the River (Editor's Note: Thanks to Allison for bringing this to our attention, since I had previously typed GPC. Perhaps I might have mis-typed because there are cigs called GPC, not that I smoke though). It is a great party if you ever get to go -- don't miss out on a great chance to see a lot of movers and shakers in politics here in Cleveland & North East Ohio & the hors d'oeuvres are always top notch.
above pic taken at GCP Reception last year (we will get better pics this year)
Tomorrow we are going to go meet up with CB & head over to MOCA for Artscape 2008 (the reception is actually tonight but tomorrow it is free from 11-5pm. We went last year and it is a great place to go and support local artists while finding the perfect unique gift for the holidays. After that I am sure we will probably end up at a bar.
Sunday we are heading to the BROWNS game to watch (in the lodge) them take on the Texans :) I hope Brady's finger does not impact his ability to throw the ball anymore than his arm and the wind already do.
Lastly, this is completely unrelated, but I had to share this really cool f*cking video from Mason Proper who hail from Michigan. The video for their great song "Lock & Key is up for indie video of the year for MTV2's Subterranean. It shot by none other than local director Don Tyler who shot it in downtown Cleveland in and around Huron Street. As I was watching it I was thinking that it really looked like Cleveland and then when I saw that the guy in the video walked by AIA Cleveland I knew it was our fair city.
Our last night in Naples, we went to the most wonderful gourmet ice cream and chocolate shop, known as Kilwin's. Usually getting ice cream at Kilwin's is a very enjoyable experience. . .however, not so much this time.
Upon entering the ice cream shop, the beginning notes from LFO's "Summer Girls" (or that song about a guy who likes girls who wear Abercrombie & Fitch) started playing, causing Jose to let out an angry "WTF?? I hate this song." It's almost as if Jose took it as a personal offense that perhaps someone at Kilwin's was playing this particular song just to torture him, ha. And, that it did -- this song has been stuck in his head since*
You may or may not have noticed, there has been a significant lack of posts from us. The reason being. . .we've been crazy busy.
A lot of the craziness is due to planning all of the festivities surrounding our wedding -- however, we must admit that the process has been surprisingly seamless. It's hard to believe that we are getting married exactly 4 weeks from today! In our true procrastinatory nature, to acknowledge this fast approaching date, this afternoon we finally had the opportunity to purchase our wedding bands :) This past weekend, we were out of town (in Naples, where we will be wed, hence the pics we took above), this week we had The Flaming Lips Film on Tuesday (which was quite unique, to say the least! Props to Music Saves and The Beachland), the Bar Cento Blogger Meet Up on Thursday (Special thanks to Alexa, Chef's Widow, and The Chef himself). Due to the fact that we've not been able to just hang out and do nothing, that is what is on the agenda this evening*
We are going to cook, listen to music (obviously), drink, and watch a movie -- four of our most favorite activities:
After reading reviews about this film via some of our favorite mags (Venus, Under The Radar, and Interview), we decided to check out this cult classic, originally released the year Kelly was born and just recently released on dvd, features a young Diane Lane and Laura Dern in an all girl punk band. There are also performances by Steve Jones and Paul Cook (of The Sex Pistols), Paul Simonon (of The Clash), and Fee Waybill (of The Tubes). Not to mention, it was directed by Lou Adler who also happened to produce The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Bonus:
Just a sampling of some superb tunes that we've had the pleasure of listening to while writing this post. . .
[Mp3] Damien Jurado - Abilene A beautiful song we seemed to have overlooked throughout the years [Mp3] Fiction Company - Design Sounds like Beck, The Napoleon Dynamite OST is full of all kinds of fun surpsises [Mp3] Nina Simone - Feeling Good We cannot wait to check out her Anthology that just came out a few weeks ago [Mp3] The Stills - Love & Death A favorite from a band we both have soft spots for, even though their last couple albums have been sub-par [Mp3] The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage All we know is, Norwegian white boys (aka Erlend Øye) can definitely bring the funk!
Returning late last night from an extended weekend in beautifully sunny Naples (FL), we were none too pleased to be welcomed back by Ohio's painfully frigid air. . .
However, one thing that we do happen to be pleased about is that we came home just in time to view this evening's FREE screening of The Flaming Lips Film, Christmas On Mars :)
Friday night, while getting ready to go out, Kelly and our friends were shouting out song requests for me to play. You know how important is for you ladies to hear those perfect songs to get you going before heading out on the town.
Kelly made one particular request that was pretty much beyond awesome. That request being Eddie Murphy's "Party All The Time." This song is the freaking jam because, as you know, not only is it Eddie Murphy dropping those smooth vocals but the person backing up and bringing the funk is none other than Mr. Rick James ( R.I.P.). It is too bad Eddie Murphy had to go and start making all those terrible Disney flicks -- it is just ridiculous how talented he was in the 80's. Speaking of his recent acting, he was robbed of an Oscar for a performance where he actually returned to form, in ShowgirlsDream Girls (<--Editor's/Kelly's Note).
P.S. - The reason for lack of posts is because our laptop has issues and in the hospital at the moment*
I am not at work today, I took last Friday off as well and I won't be working next Friday. This is a bad habit forming, taking off Friday makes the weekend so much nicer well eh except for when you have to work on Saturday like I do tomorrow (f*ckin a) and I did last week too but at least not next Saturday.
Tonight we heading to the O.C. (that's Ohio City for those who don't know) to hit up Biert Markt's Halloween thing. I am not sure where else we are going but I am sure there will be others bars. Tonight our friends are making the trek from out of town to party with us. Our friend Sarah will be in from San Francisco and Elizabeth will be in town from Ann Arbor. They are also so conveniently in town for Kelly's bridal shower on Sunday.
Tonight before we head out will be pre-gaming with some delicious Apple Pie Punch the recipe calls for cinnamon schnapps but we decided to substitute with Goldschläger instead because that tastes like cinnamon right?
Lastly some music. I made this mix based on searching threw our iTunes with words like Halloween, moon, ghost, devil, blood, murder, knife, candy etc, You get the gist.
This morning while Kelly was in the shower we were talking about about one of the songs I had posted on the mix I made her over the weekend. Somehow this led to Kelly singing a few bars of "I got my mind set on you."
I know this song was not originally performed by George Harrison but we both are much more familiar with his version than the original by James Ray. Kelly recalled how this is one of the first music videos she had ever seen. She would sneak and watch vh1/mtv when she was only about 6 -- this is before she was a little bit older and would sneak some peaks of skinamax (I think we all did this at some point before/during teenage years).
I always found this song to be great but the video was overly cheesy. The way the swords kind of dance in the background makes me think of the way the arms and legs dance in the background of the video for The Escape Club's hit Wild Wild West.
I mostly just associate this song with The Browns (almost) run to the Superbowl in 1987 -- perhaps others remember that Set On You was the team's unofficial theme song.
PS - Since we're speaking of The Browns (very sorry to hear about Joe J) and coincidentally playing Denver next week : even though The Broncos no longer have Elway (f*ck you, I hate you almost as much as Jordan) and also their uniforms now just look like a giant Reebok logo. I still hate them just as much as ever.
While in Boston this past weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing Lykke Liperform at The Paradise Lounge -- and she was absolutely incredible, without a doubt blowing away everyone in attendance that evening.
Two definite highlights was the energy she created when covering Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and A Tribe Called Quest's Can I Kick It. Although my friends and I took some video clips ourselves, after encountering some YouTube issues I decided to instead post someone else's (also very good) footage who was at the same show :) So, here you go:
Last evening ( I started this post but did not finish), I was nursing a cold and nursing a beer as I watched the OSU vs. Penn St (thanks for choking buckeyes) game. Kelly is out of town in Boston with her sister Erin visiting our friend Jackie. This provided me the perfect opportunity to
1. clean the condo (ugh I know not fun but it really needed it) &
2. To make a mix for Kelly. I used to make mixes for Kelly all the time but there just never seems to be enough time for that these days.
*****update it is Sunday @ 12:05pm and after much deliberation I have completed the mix. I like it but I am biased after all since I made it. Let me know what you think. As as disclaimer this mix is meshing of things that Kelly will like along (the dancey stuff at the beginning is for the morning when she is driving to work trying to wake up or when we are heading out for a night on the town) with things I like, I don't know if you can say this mix has continuity so much as it as it clearly suffers from schizophrenia*******
Born Ruffians -Foxes Mate For Life <--- these guys are from Montreal, their sound is well balanced meal of intelligence, vocal harmonies, minimal production and indie rock energy
Her Space Holiday - Sleepy Tigers <--- In the past his stuff was electronic and dark, now he is switching directions and heading down the road of sweet jangle pop. change is good
Lukestar - Whiteshade <--From Olso Norway,you can call it post hardcore or maybe it is post rock pop, whatever it is I love their hooks
Hello Seahorse - Universo 2 <-- This quartet hail from Mexico. their music reminds me of a cross between Swedish Pop & a warm summer day. I miss the sun already. good thing we are going to Florida next week
The Soft Hands - Harbor <-- the vocals sound like Cold War Kids and these guys just like them are from Long Beach. These guys have a sound is jangular?( i know that is not a word) and at the same time nervous Oxford Collapse - Electric Arc <--- @ the bar last year in The Grog Shop, I stepped on the lead singer's foot. even when not drunk i am clumsy. Wavves - So Bored <--This kid is from San Diego, he has seen a lot of waves, he makes very catchy lo fi fuzzed out indie pop Internet Forever - Break Bones <-- enjoy some more fuzz and lo fi pop this time from the other side of the ocean in the U.K.
With the cold descending upon us, this past weekend was filled with a lot of Wii playing, particularly Mario Cart, wine drinking and movie watching.
One of the movies we ended up watching was Gossip, a deliciously bad movie from the year 2000. If you have never seen (or even heard of) this film, it is about how gossip travels and can impact people's live based on the perceived truth. Gossip is chock full of stars indicative from that time: James Marsden, Norman Redus (from Boondock Saints), Kate Hudson, Joshua Jackson, Marisa Coughlan (from Teaching Mrs. Tingle) and a cameo made by Poe. In the film, the main group of characters go to this bar that is a very dark industrial kind of club, it has a total 90's feel to it. At the bar, not only is Poe performing, but in the background they are playing From Your Mouth by God Lives Under Water. We are sure you all remember this video (which seemed to always be played on late night Mtv's Amp) with a Japanese hot dog eating champion who's got nothing on Kobayashi.
The below photo (taken awhile ago in "the library" at Touch) makes us think of the movie, Coffee & Cigarettes. This past week, we were discussing C&C, among other things, with Mel & CB @ The Broadway -- a great little dive bar that we had never been to, down the street from The Beachland. We hit up this place up at CB's recommendation after the awesome in-store performance from Frightened Rabbit @ Music Saves. Special thanks to Kevin & Melanie for bringing them to town and for the Labbatt's, which really hit the spot* The past two Saturday's we have been busy attending weddings -- one was in town (University Heights) and the other was out of town (down in the Nati). On this particular Saturday, however, we do not have a wedding to attend, and for that matter pretty much nothing going on besides taking care of Kelly's sister's dog Lily. It feels great to be lazy and do nothing.
Later on, we are swinging by a house warming party in the Detroit Shoreway. That is all we got until watching The Browns tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow: Junot Diaz is coming back to Cleveland to do a reading and signing @ The Cleveland Public Library @ 2pm.
Since we did not get to to do a "true" Top 5 songs of the Week that last few weeks or so -- today, we are finally returning to form:
5. (mp3) Minus The Bear - Guns & Ammo This is their newest song off their awesome prog goes acoustic ep (only for sale at their shows or via digital download). They are coming to The Grog Shop on Monday with The New Year. This one is for you BloggingJason. 4. (mp3) Jamie Lidell - Out of My System (Amplive Remix Ft. Zumbi of Zion I) Who'd have thought that Jamie Lidell could cover Public Enemy? On this track he gives it his best and does a great job with his British white boy soul (I wish I could sing like this). This one is for you Taawd.
3. (mp3) Ane Brun - The Treehouse Song This talented singer/songwriter hails from Norway, a country seeming to churn out some awesome pop singer these days with the likes of Sondre Lerche, Kings of Convenience, Hanne Hukkelberg and Annie. On this track, Kelly feels Ane Brun is channeling Dolly Pardon and Tracy Chapman -- and for this reason, she is sending this song out to Sarah and Elizabeth who are coming to visit us in two weeks. 2. (mp3) That Ghost - Open Windows This "band" is just 18 year old Ryan Schmale from Santa Rosa, CA. At a very young age, he is extremely impressive, making beautiful, simple, elegant lo fi bedroom pop tunes. He is appearing at CMJ this year. We are dedicating this one to each other because we're suckers for stuff like this.
1. (mp3) Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - Buriedfed On Thursday, Kelly is heading to Boston with her sister to visit our friend Jackie where they'll be seeing Lykke Li. This guy is opening for her. He is a singer songwriter originally from Portland and now of course resides in Brooklyn. Regardless, he is quite catchy, reminding us of Bon Iver, Connor Oberst, Modest Mouse, etc. This song goes out to Ben -- check it out, man.
The following are snapshots taken throughout the past week: celebrating Bar Cento's One Year Anniversary, enjoying the festivities in Cincinnati @ Ault Park for our friend's Ryan & Megan's Wedding, a gorgeous sunset in our 'hood, and yesterday's awesome performance made by Frightened Rabbit @ Music Saves:
What: Four Scottish blokes making music that's genuine, earnest, and so heart felt it hurts
Where: Music Saves -- it's only fitting that such a great show would be hosted at the place Northern Ohio Live has chosen as having "The Best Scoop On Indie Music"
When: Wednesday, October 14th [Tomorrow!!] *promptly* at 6pm
Why: After hearing their live material, we are looking forward with great anticipation to this intimate acoustic in-store performance*
See for yourselves and listen to Frightened Rabbit live on woxy's Lounge Act
Today is October 11th and is a pretty significant day for us -- that being, 5 years ago today we went on our first date. On our first date we went to the movies and saw Kill Bill Vol.1 (I picked the movie), I know isn't that an excellent date movie? Anyways after the movie, Kelly and I then went to La Cav where her friend Jackie came and met us (you know how you girls do) to make sure I was not a freak or anything. I guess I passed the test because I am still around.
The three most memorable portions of that evening were: one, that it was really sweet that Kelly gave me a hug right away upon meeting (I was like wow) me. I had no idea girls who went to Miami could be beautiful and not be b*tches.
Secondly, at some point during the evening I was struggling to make conversation and I (very smoothly) asked Kelly how big her feet were? And then when she told me, I proceeded to ask her height. Then, I paused and said "Oh, I thought your feet looked disproportionate for your height." To this day, my mom still thinks this is the most humorous thing she has ever heard, she loves to hear me this tell story.
The last part of the evening that was by far the most memorable is the first time I went to kiss Kelly. It went like this: we were at the bottom of the cul du sac where my parents live (yes, I was living at home at the time with no job or wheels, I know was killing the game and then some). So Kelly was the one who drove. She was talking and then I mustered up all the courage I ever had and I darted at her face much like a fish darts at food when you throw anything into a pond or picture the way pigeons go after anything you feed them, but you get the picture. Kelly was so startled that she almost drove into my mom's car which was parked at the bottom of our driveway because she did not have the car in park. Needless to say it was far from the perfect first kiss! Anyways for The Top 5 Songs of the Week we are going to do, maybe not the Top 5 Songs of our relationship, but 5 Songs That Fo Sho Are Our Jamz: There are a lot more besides these but these were the one that rose to the top first.
5. (mp3) Minus The Bear - Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Early on in our relationship I went to see MTB. Kelly did not know they were at the time so I enlightened her. That is one of the bes things about our relationship is we have introduced each other to a lot of music that we would not know otherwise. We have now had the opportunity to see MTB a few times. As of you know if you have seen them live they just freaking own. They are coming back to town @ The Grog on the 20th of this month.
4. (mp3) Pernice Brothers - There Goes The Sun there was a part of our courtship when every day we'd wake up to the sound of this song and it helped set the tone for the day perfectly . Especially when it is cold and dark in the middle of winter and you want nothing more than to go back to bed and say f*ck it and call in sick.
3. (mp3) Tegan & Sara - Walking With A Ghost In Paris Kelly has put this mashup on many mixes she had made for people. It is one of those songs that brings the party once the bass kicks in. We saw Tegan & Sara once @ Lollapolooza in 2005 however with the extreme heat it was over 100 and Sara got sick and they only played 3 songs. We were both disappointed but seeing as how both of us almost passed out in that stifling heat we could not complain.
2. (mp3) Belle & Sebastian - Your Cover's Blown When I first started dating Kelly I had a lot of indie rock snob tendencies when it came to music. See I was the music director of my college's radio station and with that position brings a weird sense of elitism (think of Rob Gordon in High Fidelity) .I never liked Belle & Sebastian and I never understood what the big deal was about them until Kelly got me to see how good they can be. This is one of the songs that Kelly played for me that let me see the light when it comes to B&S . Who knew twee pop could be so funky? Here is a great clip from High Fidelity capturing my previous feelings on Belle & Sebastian.
1. (mp3) The Get Up Kids - Close To Me ( Cure Cover) Unless you are completely dense you recognize the fact that music is a huge part of our relationship. When we were first getting to know each we discovered how much each of us enjoy a great cover song. This one being one of our tops. While we both love The Cure, we think this Get Up Kids cover is even better. We are after all two emo kids at the bottom of our indie rock hearts so we can't help but love this guilty pleasure! Emo is not an ugly four letter to us, however what is referred to now as emo ugh.. let's not even get started.
With the writer's strike delaying the return of new seasons of the few TV programs we watch with any regularity, we are beyond delighted for the return of the Sarah Silverman Programthis very evening. As luck would have it, there is a new episode tomorrow evening as well :)
Over the past few months we have been aching for new material and have attempted to satisfy our appetite by watching old episodes and random things like "I'm Fucking Matt Damon" (which was actually quite funny) as well as that recent clever Obama Ad for your grandparents known as "The Great Schlep."
And, it just so happens that Sarah had quite the appearance on The View today. Watch for yourself:
This past Sunday afternoon, instead of watching the Browns we were watching Super Troopers on Comedy Central which happened to be part of their Sex Drive Sunday.
In case you've not heard, Sex Drive is a new movie that looks like pure dog shit. However, we have to mention the fact that James Marsden is in it. Now, I know that some of you are probably familiar with him from the X-Men movies where he played Cyclops. But for us, he will forever be that dude from Disturbing Behavior.
While talking about James Marsden and Disturbing Behavior, we recalled that Katie Holmes, Ethan Embry, and Nick Stahl were also in this teen horror flick. Which also reminded us of a somewhat similar film from that very same year, The Faculty.
But back to Disturbing Behavior -- both of us instantly remembered the song from the movie, The Fly's Got You Where I Want You. Henceforth, our selection for this week's Random Retro Wednesday Song.
We are sure you remember this awful yet catchy song -- you couldn't help to get it stuck in your head, even if you didn't want to :)
The "breakdown" towards the end of the song featuring a very weak Rap Rock attempt à la 311 meets something. . .?? Is very distinctly 90's, wouldn't you agree?
Although Jose hates his job, he was actually rewarded for his hard work with something very unexpected. He won a Wii :)
Needless to say, this weekend we have been having quite a good time partaking in our new favorite past time -- we have been amused with everything from "designing" our Wii versions of ourselves to being told what our Wii fitness level is (Wii told Jose that he has the speed, strength, and stamina of a 57 year old - ouch). I destroy Jose in bowling while he kills me in tennis. We both kinda suck at golf and can barely hit the ball in baseball-- however, sometimes Jose lucks out and hits a random home run.
Throughout this particular Wii session, we are thoroughly enjoying the flavors of Goose Island's Harvest Ale (thank you, Erin and Todd!). We were given this 6-pack in exchange for our dog sitting services -- yes, we can be bought that easily. As a matter of fact, we can be bribed to do just about anything in exchange for alcohol ;)
Speaking of good beers, we went to an Oktoberfest Beer & Wine Tasting on Friday where we especially loved the Brooklyn Local 1 Ale (buying a bottle immediately after the tasting), as well as the Post Road Pumpkin Ale and Sam Adams Octoberfest. If you have any good seasonal beer recommendations, definitely let us know*
This week's Random Retro Song is Legend of A Cowgirl by Imani Coppola
This funky little song found its way to resurface within our memory's forefront while on the way to the grocery store this past Saturday -- it started with Jose saying "ain't nothing like a chicken wing" and we still don't remember what the context was. . .
And, then Jose proceeded to inquire, "How come Weird Al never came up with this idea: to change the lyrics of Dr. Dre's Nothing but a g thing to Nothing but a chicken wing??"
Then I retorted, "There already is a song that uses pretty much the same phrase: ain't nothing like a chicken wing"
I made him guess which song I was talking about, but he never figured it out.
I used to *love* this song and thought it was ahead of its time, blending soul with rock.
ps - These days Imani is doing us proud with her new project Little Jackieand their new single, The World Should Revolve Around Me, thatmight just be the nextcatchy jam[see video here]
Just the other week, while down in Naples for our wedding (we're still recovering and eventually will return to consistent blog form, promise), we were hitting up our favorite blogs to see what the haps were back in C-town. In doing so, we discovered that our friend Justin had found a new local brewery called in Indigo Imp. We checked out the Husband/Wife duo's website and noticed that they were demonstrating tastings at a variety of local Heinen's stores, making us wonder whether they were already selling at Heinen's -- low and behold, to our surprise, they are.
So, today I asked Kelly to pick some beer for us while she was at the store and she surprised me by getting some Imp which we are currently enjoying and I have to tell you it really hits the spot (not just because we are thirsty for some beer but it has a great taste). The particular Indigo Imp beer we are enjoying is their Blonde Bombshell which is described best on the label of the bottle: "An American Blonde Ale, Gold in color, an enchanting mix of malty sweetness with floral and spicy hop flavors."
