Ultranormal

Category: entertainment

  • Big Brother Spoilers Below!

    I’ve joked in the past about being a bad mom, a bad friend, maybe even a bad wife. Tonight, I come to you humbly to admit, with no reservation or joking, that I am truly a bad, bad person: I LOVE BIG BROTHER! Kevin’s all sad and thinks it is a train-wreck of a show because the people are mean, dumb, and selfish. I, however, think it is entertainment gold because the people are mean, dumb, and selfish. I haven’t intentionally watched Big Brother since the first or second season, but this season just grabbed me from the start (I was in the room when Kevin watched the premiere).\
    Amber asking, “What’s integrity [etc] mean?” Priceless.\
    Amber crying while saying that she was done crying. Priceless.\
    Amber adamantly saying that she wasn’t going to agree with anything Danielle offered and then volunteering to give away ALL of her power to Danielle? Priceless.\
    And just so you don’t think it is all about Amber, Zack cock-blocking Eric was so awesome! Add in Eric’s squeaking and it becomes… Priceless.\
    I don’t like any of these people, so watching them go at it is entertaining as hell. However, I feel like an attendee at one of Michael Vick’s parties. I need a shower.\
    My one non-bitchy thought: I am naively hopeful that Amber or Danielle will win something during their surprise trip. It won’t happen, but the thought makes me squeee. Really.\
    Also, I don’t mind Amber’s focus on God, but I wish someone could give her some kind, but faithful, perspective. I am sick of the sentiments like this one from TWoP: “…perhaps the lord has been remiss in his duties in Iraq because he has been planning this big event for Amber.” I laughed, cuz yes, I am a bad person. But really, maybe God is blessing Amber by not winning. Seriously. Or maybe God gave her a vision (I am just going to accept that she believes it) so that she would have the confidence to win 2nd place and get to go on a neat trip and/or to get off of the block.\
    CBS has been editing the hell out of the show- not showing Dick’s misogynistic attacks on the women, Amber’s anti-Jewish rant. But whatever, I am enjoying the show. Like I said, I am a bad bad person.

  • Morphine Day!

    No, I haven’t decided to become a morphiend. I’m talking about one of my all-time favorite bands, the amazing, soulful, power trio – Morphine. For no reason in particular, I’ve decided that today is Morphine Day and I’ll be listening to the wonderful sounds of the band, plus the related bands that came before and after: Treat Her Right and Twinemen (and I’ll probably even throw in Orchestra Morphine). Here’s the playlist:\
    From Morphine (in order of how much I looooove them):

    • Bootleg Detroit
    • Cure for Pain
    • Good
    • Yes
    • Like Swimming
    • B-Sides and Otherwise (I might skip this one in favor of Sandbox)\
      From Mark Sandman:
    • Sandbox\
      From Treat Her Right:
    • What’s Good For You\
      And then Twinemen and Orchestra Morhine:
    • Live Boston, MA 10/23/03
    • Twinemen\
      In other news, my 30gb iPod is almost full…

  • Canadian Music Day

    I’ve decided that today is my personal Canadian Music Day. I started this morning with the CBC Radio 3 Podcast, and have now moved on to The Arcade Fire. I’ll probably finish up the day with The Constantines and James’ mix cd from SxSW ’05 (not all Canadian music, but since it was compiled by a Canadian, I’m declaring it OK).\
    Update: Thanks to James’ aforementioned mix cd, I’ve found some more music to fill Canadian Music Day. This afternoon will be composed of (none of which I’ve listened to yet):

    • Rheostatics – Night of the Shooting Stars
    • The Magnetic Fields – i (oops, they’re not Canadian, but James put them on the CD!)
    • Martin Tielli – We Didn’t Even Suspect He Was the Poppy Salesman
    • The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema\
      Yes, record companies, this is what happens when you let people play music on the internet – we buy more music. I never would have purchased any of this music if not for the internet, if not for mix cd’s. Give away a little, and people will return the favor by buying a lot.

  • My boys

    Kevin and Max spent Saturday at a computer conference-thingie. Max loved it. Much more than I was expecting. He did utilize the markers and paper I sent along though. He wants to present sometime on animation and scratch. I am not sure what computer professional would want to listen, but hey- go for it, kid. He came home all psyched to hop on the computer and get started with some new project but Kevin was too tired. This morning he woke up at 5:30 (maybe because Brian and I were already awake and making noise) and immediately went to the computer.\
    Brian and I spent all day Saturday gorging on preseason football games! Wheee. Brian wasn’t so happy with this, actually. Too bad, kid, you’ve got another six months of football to endure! I tried to teach him how to catch a football, but my boobs kept getting in the way of the appropriate position. Booo.\
    The other day I went clothes shopping for the boys and put the bags on the couch. Brian saw them and asked, “What’s this?” I told him it was some shirts for Max. Brian wanted a shirt too. Being awesome, I said, “I got you some too. Here they are,” and pulled out his totally cute new shirts. Brian flipped out! He started screaming and crying, “Too big, too big,” (which is what he says when he doesn’t like something). Jeeze, what a drama queen. He could give the people on Project Runway a lesson or two.\
    Last week Max asked for his first pair of name-brand shoes. Sniff. They grow up so fast. Since the shoes, Skecher Airators, were on super sale and available during the tax-free weekend, I decided to get them. He was interested in them because the supposedly keep your feet color by letting air in, or air goes out. Something. After wearing them for a few minutes, he was disappointed by the lack of air wooshing. I was thinking about taking the shoes back, since he wasn’t so keen on them. “They don’t do a thing,” he said, but I decided that it would be a good lesson that commercials aren’t so accurate. Ten minutes later Max said he wants Skech-Airs. Headdesk.\
    Brian’s started saying, “Yank you,” instead of “Go” for thank you. He also says, “Peek-a-you,” instead of peek-a-boo. Totally cute.\
    Last week the boys came home from Babba’s with a toy pet. It was an egg that when put in water, a little rubber lizard hatches. Since then, it has more than doubled in size. I am not sure if it is still growing or not. It’s kind of awesome. Max named it Buddy 2, after my dad’s dog. I want another one of these things so Buddy can have a friend. Currently Buddy is living in my large glass mixing bowl. I am not sure we have room for two. Hmm. Max really wants a fish tank, so Kevin and I are going to get one for him for his birthday (no one steal our idea!). I need to make sure the tank is big enough to house Buddy too.\
    Speaking of birthdays, Brian got screwed out of his big birthday gift. Kevin and I had decided to get him a little kitchen, but the store didn’t have the one I wanted. We then spent a few days checking out online stores and shipping rates. By this time, Brian’s birthday party was over and we just sort of forgot about it. Oops. The kids have way too many toys though. So many in fact that it is hard for me to go present shopping for them because they pretty much have everything- blocks, trucks, little people, etc. How many trucks do they really need? Plus, Brian only really plays with two marbles, two cars, and a handful of blocks all day long. This makes me feel not so bad about planning to box up half of their toys for storage and/or Goodwill.\
    Let’s end on a random note. I rarely agree with Heather Havrilesky’s Salon column, but this week she pimps the season premiere of Weeds (I stopped watching) with my all-time favorite quote:

    My all-time favorite is when Doug and Andy are getting high in the living room and Andy asks the housekeeper, “Lupita, settle an argument for us. What do you call the thing between the dick and the asshole?” She answers, “The coffee table.”

    Man, look at all of the tags on this post!

  • A Happy Post About Rock n’ Roll

    I listen to music almost all day every day during work. If I’m at my desk, I’ve got my headphones on, and I’m listening to something. My pared down library (I backed up a bunch of stuff I never listen to) in iTunes is over twenty-five gigabytes.\
    I’m no music critic, but I know what I like, and I like a lot of different weird stuff. I go on binges, listening to a band’s entire catalog for a week, a month, sometimes longer (my Massive Attack and Morphine binges lasted years). Right now, I’m in love with The Constantines. It’s funny, I’ve been gobbling up Canadian alternative rock since discovering the CBC Radio3 podcast. The Constantines are only the latest victim in my Canuck buying binge (I like to think of them as Morphine on 78 with a guitar player instead of a saxophone – the bass is that good).\
    When you hear the band for the first time, it’s easy to get lost in the feedback, gravel-voiced garage rock of it all. But, after a couple listens, the layers start coming out. Their lyrics, even on the balls-out rockers, are intricate poems of love, loss and depression. The bass player is amazing (and it sounds fantastic through headphones). Sometimes, I listen just to pick out the bass line.\
    If you’d like a sample of their stuff, I highly recommend:

    • St. You, Soon Enough and On to You: Their slower stuff is gorgeous. The guitar is still there, but the lyrics and melody are awe-inspiring.
    • Working Full-Time: This song kicks all the asses in Canada – at the same time. I love how the intro builds on the simple snare and guitar riff into a smashing crescendo of ass-kicking rock goodness. And then when the bass comes in… you’ll get chills.
    • Poison: Fantastic bass line in this song. Your head will bob along like hula doll on a gravel road. Not a barn burner, but that bass line keeps me coming back for more.
    • The Long Distance Four: There’s a lovely harmony between the guitar and bass in this song that shows up in several other numbers, but I really like this one (Justice is another good one).\
      I need to get back to work, but I’ve posted too many consecutive bummer posts… so I had to post something resembling happy – and music certainly makes me happy.

  • Songs That Kick Ass

    I didn’t get much sleep last night, and I was starting to drag after lunch, so I created a new playlist of songs to keep me awake. So far, so good. Here are some highlights:

    • Working Full-Time by The Constantines: The band kicks all kinds of rough garage booty. Their bass player is a god, the lyrics are fantastic, and this song rules. Works great in headphones or in the car turned all the way up.
    • Cuidado by Slo-Mo: I heard this on Channel Frederator, and it’s a great song (although it’s full of the f-word). Good thumpy Latin hip hop (but not reggaeton)
    • Battle Without Honor or Humanity by Rza (from the Kill Bill soundtrack): The horns, percussion… you can’t help but want to go kill some Crazy 88 after hearing it. Honest.
    • Back in Black covered by Living Colour: Better than the original, and that’s saying something. Vernon Reid + Corey Glover = major can of whuppass
    • Saturday Morning by Eels: I love this song more than I can say. Every time I hear it, I think of waking up early on Saturday morning with my brother, dump trucking sugar on our cereal and playing non-stop all day (all seen in a sort of Royal Tenenbaums montage).
    • I See You Baby (Fatboy Slim mix) by Groove Armada: While it’s hard to kick it while shaking it, it’s still a great song.\
      There are others, but I have to get back to work… enjoy.

  • The Sopranos

    LOVED the ending!\
    What did you think?\
    The TWoP episode thread is at 67 pages in less than 12 hours. I’m not even going to attempt to trudge through that.

  • Reelin’ in the Years in iTunes: The Year 2000

    I recently created a bunch of Smart Playlists in iTunes to segment my music by year. I have the following lists so far: before 1990, 1990-1995, 1996-1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007. Today is Year 2000 day – full of techno, Eels, Phish and Lemon Jelly.\
    Here are my favorite songs from 2000 (not in any order, and probably not the “best”, just my faves):

    • Name of the Game by The Crystal Method – This song kicks so much ass, I think it was on repeat in the car for at least three months. The rest of the album it came from doesn’t measure up to the standard set by Vegas, but it’s still pretty good.
    • Get Your Snack On by Amon Tobin – Another frequent repeat. Kicks almost as much posterior as the the first song in this list. Amon Tobin creates atmospheric industrial stuff that’s not for everyone, but I dig most of it.
    • Bewilderbeast by Badly Drawn Boy – The album this song comes from is spectacular, and this is my favorite song from it. One of his few instrumentals, it’s sweet, lovely and has a wonderful beat.
    • Daisies of the Galaxy and I Like Birds by Eels – I love Eels and am sad I didn’t discover them until recently. The whole album is great, but these two songs make me insanely happy. You won’t be able to listen to I Like Birds without giggling and singing along.
    • Dirt by Phish – From Farmhouse, what I consider to be the last great album by the band, this song is heartbreaking and one of their rare slow numbers. It’s gorgeous and unlike 99% of their other stuff.
    • Everything in its Right Place by Radiohead – This song and album were my first real exposure to the bad, and I was blown away. Painful and brilliant.
    • Diamond from the Snatch soundtrack – You’ve heard this song even if you haven’t seen the movie. Like Massive Attack‘s Teardrop, this one makes the rounds in commercials, sporting events, other movies, and even a few TV shows. Bouncy rockin’ techno.
    • Gravel Road Requiem by Walkingbirds – I don’t remember how I found out about Scott Andrew LePera and the Walkingbirds, but this song is an acoustic folky masterpiece. You can download it (and hopefully buy it) on his music page. It’s funny. I met him at SxSW a couple years ago and it took me three days to remember where I’d heard his voice before.\
      Next week, it’s on to 2001: Cake, Zero 7‘s first album, Constantines, David Byrne and Gotan Project.\
      Oh, and I’m going to be on The Biblio File tomorrow night. Details on their blog for how you can join in the fun.

  • The Coolest Thing Ever: Share Your iTunes Library Over AIM

    The guys in the next row have gone and pulled off a truly killer app. I know the title gives it away, but it really works! Greg explains how it works, but I know you really just want to go download it.\
    What does it do? It makes iTunes’ music sharing work over your buddy list!!! So, instead of being limited to sharing music across just your local network, you can now share your tunes with everyone in your buddy list who has the plugin. Unfortunately, it’s only for Windows at the moment… but I’ve promised a pizza to whoever ports it to OS X.

  • One More: Music List

    Before I fade away, here’s a quick list of the albums you should go out and buy right now:

    • Kaiser Chiefs – Yours Truly, Angry Mob – Funny, bouncy and brilliant. You won’t be able to stop bopping along. The album gets better every time I listen to it.
    • The Shins – Wincing the Night Away – Beautiful and haunting, great melodies and sweet hooks.
    • Arcade Fire – Neon Bible – I can’t stop listening to this one. It’s eclectic and urgent, with so many layers, I can’t stop peeling them away. A great headphone album.
    • Constantines – Tournament of Hearts – Rough and rocking through the entire album, but Soon Enough has some of the most gorgeous and sad lyrics I’ve ever heard, and the music fits perfectly. Kind of country rock without the cheesy affected Southern accent and weak slide guitars. This stuff rocks.
    • Regina Spektor – Begin to Hope – I’m not usually into stuff that would be labeled “pop”, but Regina has such an amazing voice, I can’t help it. She genre hops a little, but her great voice and catchy lyrics follow through every song. Good stuff.\
      That’s it. I’m really going to bed now.