And just like last time (read about it) we were lunching on the Indian Food buffet next door at Curry Corner. As we waddled out of the restaurant, we noticed the “4 DVDs for $20″ sign. What could we do? We were powerless to resist!
Here’s what we bought:
Young @ Heart – We saw this one before in a theater and really liked it. Old people performing punk music and rock and roll, a heartwarming and fun movie.
Whatever Works – Very funny Woody Allen film starring Larry David. Read my full review here and then go rent it!
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist – Haven’t seen this one yet but heard it was good.
Barack Obama – The Man and His Journey – he’s not perfect but I am SO glad he won. So VERY glad. Very very VERY glad.
Have you seen any of these? What did you think? Leave me a comment below.
Here they are! I’ve posted some pictures from our 2010 Mexican Cruise! We went with friends Larry and Robin, Jared and Ashleigh, and new friends Jeremy and April. A great time was had by all!
We didn’t take pictures of everything but we did take a lot. You can read about the trip here, then be sure to check out the pictures (five pages worth) here on the photo page. Click on the first small photo to see the larger image and then you can either click through them, or use the arrow keys, or watch the slide show. Be sure to look at all five pages too! Have fun and leave me a comment afterwards!!
Dear readers, I was going to stop at 52 Terrific Tunes. Really, I was. I swear! It was a year’s worth of Terrific Tunes, and that was already a world of great music and video. Then I saw this new video today on Facebook and it was so impressive and fun that I just had to use it. I’m not even that enthused about the actual song, it’s the video that is cool. The band is OK GO and the song is “This Too Shall Pass”. Watch this video and you will love it too. Then go ahead, try it at home!
Leave me a comment below. Don’t make me get out the paint gun!
That’s right! Fifty-two weeks of Terrific Tunes, a whole year’s worth! That is some awesome awesomeness. If you want to see them all, click here. That will show you the latest 15 or so, then at the bottom of the page there will be a link to “previous entries”. Enjoy!
Meanwhile, back at the blog, today’s tune is from Robbie Robertson (learn more, web site, learn a lot more). He was the talented songwriter and lead guitarist from The Band (learn more) and has since enjoyed a successful solo career, including four or five albums and a variety of film-related music projects. This song is from his first (self-titled) solo album. The song is “Somewhere Down The Crazy River“. The video is a little on the minimal yet sensual side, and I love his talking-singing performance on this track. Check it out and let me know what YOU think.
Leave me a comment below. Don’t let the wind just kind of push you that way.
That’s where I was. What, you didn’t notice I was gone? Well, I sure was! Last week I was on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. That’s the ship in the picture. Big-ass boat, huh? Yeah, about 3000 or so people and over 1000 crew members. The life of luxury (for a week anyway).
We had three days in three different ports. First was Cabo San Lucas, where we wandered around the city and checked out the sites. Sammy Hagar’s hyped “Cabo Wabo” was nothing that special. We stopped at another place for some chips and guacamole, which tasted pretty good. The margaritas were omnipresent and were all good. The restaurants were hawking 2 for 1 specials (what could we do?) and buckets of beer (we didn’t have any of those).
Today’s Terrific Tune is from singer-songwriter Michael Penn (learn more, web site, learn lots more). He’s released five or six great albums of intelligent, tasty pop-rock but is still mostly unknown outside of his early hit “No Myth. But there is much more to him. And being married to Aimee Mann and being Sean Penn’s brother isn’t bad either.
This is a live version of a song from his second album, performed on Jay Leno. It’s called “Long Way Down (Look What The Cat Drug In).” I love the title and the song and wish that someday I could write a song even half this good. Oh well. At least he can write ‘em! Check out the video below and then buy some of his albums.
Leave me a comment below. Don’t wear apathy’s crown!
Today’s Terrific Tune is an electro-pop-funk track by LCD Soundsystem (learn more, web site). This “band” is pretty much James Murphy, founder of dance-punk label DFA Records, although on tour he adds a real band. The song is “Daft Punk is Playing at My House“, from the self-titled 2005 album. It gets a mean groove going and then he talk-sings over it in kind of a Talking Heads style. The video is jumpy and visually interesting, check it out.
Today’s Terrific Tune music video is from a band known for it’s general weirdness and hypnotic songs. Some fans adore them, other people are baffled by their popularity. I’m somewhere in between but they do have a lot of good songs. The band is Radiohead (learn more, web site) and this is the video for “Fake Plastic Trees” from their second album “The Bends“, which was ranked number 110 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and number 2 on Q’s 100 Greatest Albums Ever. It *might* be their best album, but that depends on your mood at the time. This song is a low-key ballad but they can rock out too. And of course the music video is strange as can be, but still cool at the same time. Check it out.
This is another band I really like. But then, I wouldn’t feature them here if I didn’t, right? But I mean really. There’s something about their hypnotically catchy electro-pop beats and coolness along with the delicate vocal that just gets me on almost every song they do. With this band, New Order (learn more, web site), there are so many great and catchy songs that I could have used, but this video is fun and so why not this one? It’s the music video for their song “True Faith“. It’s got shots of the band, of course, but also shots of weird, costumed clown-like characters (and more) in odd yet interesting scenarios. And doing some strange things too! Weirdness for weirdness sake? Maybe, but it’s all timed with the music and big fun to look at. It actually won some video awards too. Check out the video and then leave me a comment.
When I die, this is one of the songs that I want played at my funeral. “It’s a Dead Man’s Party, who could ask for more”? That’s right, today’s Terrific Tune video is “Dead Man’s Party” by new-wavers Oingo Boingo (learn more, web site), a great band that was led by now-film-composer Danny Elfman. They were first known as the Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo, then Oingo Boingo, then Boingo, and then, well, they were gone. Too soon. I’d love for them to get back together but:
From Wikipedia: In early 2007, Danny Elfman said there would not be a reunion. He has irreversible hearing loss and is worried that playing live would exacerbate it. He stated that some other members of the band may also suffer from the condition.
I still say they could make an album in the studio, no need to play live. But that’s not going to happen either. Sigh. Anyway, this video and song is from their fourth album. That’s not necessarily my favorite album of theirs but this song is one that always satisfies (and usually gets the volume turned up). Check it out!
So what the heck is going on in the boring exciting life of stevenology? Long-time readers of this blog will remember that the old site was full of the juicy details of my life. Whew, way too much work! But every once in a while, I just gotta dish. Of course, I’ll cleverly save a recent item or two for a later post. Ha! I gotta keep y’all coming back, don’t I?
Yes, long-time readers have followed Petra’s journey from cancer diagnosis, through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, reconstruction, and recovery. After a long five years, another milestone was reached Friday when the reconstructive surgeon finally told us not to come back. Ha, maybe that’s not exactly how he put it, but the point is, that phase is finally done. There are options for down the road if Petra wants to pursue them, but the work for now is done. It was bittersweet actually, because Petra really likes this doctor and so do I and, honestly, we will both miss him. And I think he will miss us too, he looked like it. After all, five years of regular appointments and five surgeries will bond you with someone.
Over the extended holiday period, I managed to see three new movies in the theater. That’s a lot for me, although I love going. Here’s what I saw: Sherlock Holmes, Up In The Air, and Youth In Revolt. Did you see any of these? If so, leave me a comment and let me know what you thought. Here’s what I thought:
Sherlock Holmes – Robert Downey Jr is just so charismatic. I love him. The rest of the cast was good but he is the star. This version of the venerable tale is a big budget effort and it shows. But there is still attention to the Holmes character. It’s fast-paced and very entertaining.
Up In The Air – The smartest movie of the three for sure. It’s from the director of the wonderful Juno, and like that film has great dialog and sharp, interesting characters. George Clooney is the lead and does a very good job, but both of the main female characters are very good too. It’s very funny at times and moving at other times. This one is for the brain and the heart.
Youth In Revolt – It’s an indie-feeling teen comedy but a little raunchier and more “out there”. The characters are wild stereotypes and the situations are hilariously outrageous but the main thing is that I was laughing out loud over and over during this film. It’s really funny unless you are easily offended. Even then, you will probably laugh a lot.
In short, I would recommend all three movies. If you’ve seen any of them or even if not, let me know what you think!
Today’s Terrific Tune is from English female singer-songwriter Kate Nash (learn more, web site). It’s from her only album so far, ”Made Of Bricks” (review). The more I listen to the album the more I like it. There’s some attitude and some great lyrics deliver in her sing/talk style. And it’s pretty catchy too. Buy it and listen a bunch of times. Then tell me I’m right.
This video is for “Foundations”, which was a big hit in the UK but didn’t make much of a mark in the radio wasteland over here in the states. Too bad, it’s a quirky, charming, cute, biting, and fun song about a deteri0rating and dysfunctional relationship. Check it out, then leave me a comment below.
Here’s a list of our recently acquired music. Remember, any item with an asterisk we’ll blame on Petra B! It’s OK, we love her! And remember, some of those might be good too! See what you think:
Prince “Superemix-3″ vinyl 12″ *
Waits, Tom “Glitter And Doom Live” 2CD
Hutchinson, Eric “Sounds Like This” CD
Bazan, David “Curse Your Branches” CD
DiFranco, Ani “Sacramento 10.25.03″ CD
Blur “Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide To Blur” 2CD
Davies, Ray “The Kinks Choral Collection” advance CD
Bowie, David “Space Oddity (40th Anniversary Special Edition)” 2CD
Bowie, David “Space Oddity (40th Anniversary Special Edition)” Advance CD
Joplin, Janis “The Woodstock Experience” 2CD
Jefferson Airplane “The Woodstock Experience” 2CD
Los Lobos “Goes Disney” CD
A Fine Frenzy “Bomb In A Birdcage” CD
Carlile, Brandi “Give Up The Ghost” CD
Case, Neko “Middle Cyclone” CD
As usual, I included plenty of singer-songwriter types. But there’s also some modern rock, classic rock, art-folk, polka, whatever. Maybe not too much polka now that I look at it. I’m sure there are plenty of other good albums out there that were released this year, but maybe I just didn’t hear them. Anyway, here are eight 2009 releases that I like a lot and some other ones that are worth listening to also. Am I crazy (again) or did I get it exactly right this year?
The top eight, not necessarily in order of greatness, after the jump:
I think they do it just to get my money!
