wake up call.

music news -
i am still scratching my head that i have never discovered patty griffin before this year, especially since she's a boston girl.

i am trying really hard to cut back on my itunes junkie habit, but i did have to download Paolo Nutini tonight, he's just so likeable. also recently I'm into Nina Gordon (former lead singer of Veruca Salt)... what else... well I'm not buying any of last year's American Idol contestant's albums...

there are rumors flying everywhere that iTunes is going to get the Beatles library on Valentines Day. I tend believe it's not a coincidence that these rumors leaked the same day that Vista launched, or in other words, it's one more of Steve Jobs' slap-microsoft-in-the-face marketing tactics. it will be interesting to me if and when they ever do sell beatles songs as singles on iTunes, to see what song is downloaded the most. early prediction: it won't be YESTERDAY. and it sure won't be GOOD DAY SUNSHINE. i have to give this some thought... (anonymous tip: if you ever want the whole beatles catalog in mp3 format for about 3 bucks, just take a vacation to Moscow)

and youtube highlight of the week: spike jonze commercials

anyone have an estelle getty fettish?

talk about people who have too much time on their hands. this is the prime example of how the internet provides the ultimate opportunity for ANY freedom of expression and with youtube... there's no need to license the music, or get rights to the video footage.

ran-dom. hilarious. check this out:
the estelle getty workout video remix!

as you know i don't patronize myspace (because it sucks) but if i did, sue teller would be the first in my friends. this old lady's dope.

patty g

i don't know why it took a road trip to texas for me to discover patty griffin because she crosses over with tons of my other favorite artists, but somehow she flew under the radar all these years for me. she even wrote one of my favorite dixie chicks songs, 'Top of the World'.

but she is one of those rare artists i heard once in the car and then i couldn't stop replaying the song over & over...

perfect timing that she's playing at a little theater in Boulder March 22. now if she would just tour with Lucinda, that would be my dream show.

maybe it's just my trip to texas talking...

this is random for me because I'm not usually one to have a lot of PRIDE in Colorado, but it's really bugging me that some reporters in Denver are outright saying that the Democratic National Convention in Denver will "put us on the map" and "dispel stereotypes about Denver being the land of cowboys" (paraphrasing). None of my friends or relatives have ever stereotyped Denver as a cowpoke town in my years here...

And yet stories like this one on our local news last week http://cbs4denver.com/local/local_story_024141109.html
always make me humbly realize that there are parts of our state, not even two hours away, where cowboys and ranchers actually still rely on cows and hay to make their living. It's remarkable to stop and think that industries exist where physical factors like cattle, weather, and train deliveries affect the business (as opposed to bluetooth and blackberries).

Denver's annual stock show and rodeo, also last week, is consistently a huge money and tourism generator for Denver, so I especially find it disgusting of certain snobby reporters to say we can finally "dispel the myth" about cowboy culture here. WTF.

about damn time

lots to blog about today.

my favorite news of the year so far is Rage Against the Machine is reuniting at Coachella. that is such a badass comeback party. I have really missed those guys, and it's been frustrating that their breakup coincided with the best possible presidential administration to rage about! but I'm a little scared that with all those years of rage built up, Coachella might turn into a giant stampede. or not - this may be the first year attendance is actually down because fans can just catch the replay on youtube! true.

but trying to think positively, maybe Rage will help "rock the vote" in 08. in fact, Barack would be wise if he starts getting bands and other MTV celebrities behind him right away. maybe he can get a shout-out by one of the american idol contestants. it didn't quite work for Kerry, but that's mostly because the message was "vote bush out" and not "vote for kerry" and because the artists were Bruce Springstein and Bonnie Raitt (who?).

is it too crazy an idea to suggest Barack pick "renegades of funk" for his campaign theme song? No Matter How Hard You Try, You Can't Stop Us Now...

anyway.
in a really sad story, that The Village Voice has finally "sold out" to a bigger media company and even the new owner acknowledges it will never quite be the same.

last and definitely least, just when you thought David Lynch wasn't being weird enough lately, he starts giving lectures on Transcendtal Meditation with Donovan and completely redeems himself! Am I the only one that hopes this is part of a secret Lynch film project... like a mockumentary? that would be sweet but i'm afraid too good to be true.

will's your daddy

yay - will farrell's newborn baby just made an appearance online. i am not usually into celebrity babies but will is one person i am SO GLAD has had offspring. whoopie! also hilarious about will accessorizing with his wife's breast pump on the red carpet. he is so badass.
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the music i am in love with this week is...
A Good Year soundtrack, especially an oddly undiscovered french band, Makali - they do have a myspace site but I haven't seen where to buy more of their music yet. please help (svp aide!) if you know anything more about them.

ramblings on

this "what's your starbucks name" concept is so goofy & immature and yet... now i am dying to come up with an alias (other than sue). my sister has already taken "Ursula". i need something fohnky. I don't know if I'd have the guts to use like, "Maverick" or "Viper".

and speaking of top gun... how did someone beat me to the punch in founding an all-things-80's blog? ahh, best 80's villians. i definitely vote for Steff.

bits and rants

some funny sites and articles i stumbled across in blog-browsing this week. links in bold.

a fantastic photo Collection of "Strange Statues around the World" - some less strange than others, although the top one probably is strangest. I need to submit one of my photos from Moscow to the collection.

the most original wedding cake I've ever seen. so cute.

Say it isn't so: I'm shedding an invisible tear today, after hearing that Queer Eye's upcoming season will be the last. I have yet to ever get sick of the Fab Five's obnoxious, outlandish behavior, Carson's stupid puns, and all of them forcing their happy & gayness into the lives of straight men (while making every wife / girlfriend / child's dream come true with a free interior design makeover by Thom). But I felt the same way about Will & Grace. They kept getting funnier and obnoxiouser, and when their time was up, it was two years too soon. RIP, Fab Five. We will always have you on DVD. p.s. - please please please don't sign up to do spinoff shows.

on youtube - a hilarious Canadian study on the effects of drugs on spiders building webs - why didn't SNL think of this?

world leader pretend

among odd headlines, i noticed the inventor of Ramen Noodles (and its close sister Cup O Noodles) died this week at age 92. that's a good sign, right? he lived a long life? Well all I have to say is - the Ramen Museum dedicated to him in Japan is high on my list of travel priorities.

and horray for R.E.M. getting inducted into the hall of fame this year!

Michael Stipe turns 47 today??

yikes this is one of those moments where I instantly feel very, very old. or scared that time is flying. anyway here is a cool little tribute to stipe. the pete & pete clip is classic: is anyone surprised that he randomly breaks into his spastic dancing while talking, too?

I just read today that with the continued musical-madness in the US, the latest victim is one of my favorite 80's movies ever! I don't know if I am happy or sad to hear that. I guess I just hope they don't remake the movie.

p.s.
i just heard that The Police are possibly reuninting for a tour? Can Talking Heads be far behind?!! please say it is so...

taking the long way around

the blog views better in mozilla firefox if you have it...

One thing I will give credit to Texas for is the roadside scenery. If a little desolate, there are at least cute towns every half hour or so with populations of 500, very convincing saloons and old city halls, and cowboy-town names like "Comanche" and everyone sayin' "Drive safe, now!" when you leave the gas station.

The clouds in the sky were amazing to me at times. Probably because they were the spin-off from those storms of the century in Colorado, but still, just amazing clouds.Notice how tiny my car looks next to the sky below.

taking the long way around 2

Yuyp. I'm home finally and man, that was a long drive. New Mexico finally opened for business around 1pm on January 1st, and I'll never forget the moment someone told me the highways were open again... I was sitting at Denny's in Amarillo, TX eating breakfast alone, amongst tons of families with 6 plus children - while the waitress keeps saying "Need some more coffee, baby?" to me. Very surreal and yet so very Texas.

I know you don't all really like country and bluegrass, but you have to appreciate how cool that music is on a road trip. There's too much music to make next year's mixmas out of this, so I just published it and you can download what you want. Elizabethtown Soundtrack was a great influence and stuff like Two More Bottles of Wine is just great music anytime.

OK now here come the pictures at last. that's my lucky armadillo on the rear view.

Again, try to appreciate how bored I was... it was a 16 hour drive the first time, about 21 hours the second time.

common question: yes, I did get stopped for speeding once and thank God (I was praying) the cop was not as scary as the one in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But the cops do wear cowboy hats. And he was polite enough to just give me a written warning. Instant souvenir!

yes that sign says "proud home of george bush", try not to laugh. but the comment "drive friendly - the texas way" - that is so TRUE, texans do drive the speed limit and always wave after they let you in.

above and below is an area of Austin called "south congress", essentially the main street, with really cool funky shops and typical of Austin - plenty of lights and neon signs.
we checked out a very popular tex mex place called Guero's
(thanks for the tip, Kara!) It was tempting to buy a pair of cowgirl boots in TX, but I realize anywhere else in the world that would not really work for me.










The below pictures are from a daytrip I took down to San Antonio
which I found to be a cool, colorful city despite the major-tourist trap the Alamo (flashbacks to Pee Wee's Big Adventure) that's actually in the center of a bunch of skyscrapers (weird) and I'm surprised they haven't just turned it into a McDonalds yet. I know it's an important US monument, but it's way tacky. that's a yummy prickly pear margarita on the riverwalk...