Can't get it out of my head!

I can NOT stop singing songs from this album. I listen to it on the way to work, all day at work, on the way home from work, when I'm at home cleaning and right before I go to bed I watch one or two or ALL of their videos on my iPod.

Fa-REEK-ing HILARIOUS.


Buy it.

P.S. Just in case you don't know who The Lonely Island is (are?)... You DO know Andy Samberg, right? SNL? If you've seen SNL digital shorts, you've probably heard a few of these songs.

"A boom box can change the world. You've got to know your limits with a boom box. This was a cautionary tale. A BOOM BOX IS NOT A TOY!"

Bob Dylan 8-26-08

In case you didn't already know, Bob Dylan is my absolute fave. =) He came to LR Tuesday night and I had great seats in the pit. I had a perfect, up close view of my main man. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed. I did sneak my camera in anyway...cause I'm a rebel like that, but when it came down to it I was too afraid to snap any real pics. There were security guys everywhere! =( Here are the pics that I did take:

Before the concert, Caleb, Amanda and I went to Sticky Fingerz for happy hour. We had a blast drinking, chatting and...playing Uno. =) Note Caleb's poker face.

Caleb

Manders & Court

Very dark pic of Bob (far right) with my camera.

Tiny pic of Bob from my phone.

Manders and I after the show. Remember in Wayne's World when Wayne & Garth had back stage passes to the Alice Cooper concert? And they walked around holding them up and showing them to everyone they passed? Manders and I did that with our Dylan passes. =) And no we didn't have back stage passes (I FREAKING WISH!).

Caleb and I after the show.

par-TAY!

I had the busiest Saturday ever! I'm so tired right now that I'm 'bout to PASS OUT. I'm trying to hold on though. If I take a nap, I'll never sleep tonight. Anyhoo, this is how it all went down...

Saturday afternoon, I went to Hot Springs for Torcan's 4th birthday party. Torcan is Ashley's son. He was the only kid there (besides his newborn sis), but he still had a blast. His daddy, Jeremy, made some yummy spaghetti and there was an ice cream cake. He RACKED UP on gifts. Here are a few pics:

Torcan opening gifts. Thomas the train was the theme of the day.

Torcan posing next to his favorite bday prezzie: a Spiderman helicopter!

His baby sister, Brannagh.

Me...in my party hat! =)

After Torcan's party, my friend, Amanda, and I headed to Little Rock for another birthday party. This one was for my friend, Sarah, at Cozymel's. I heart Mexican food & Mexican beer! Here are a couple pics from that party:

Sarah & Amanda

A shot of the crowd...

Amanda and I

Amanda and I left Sarah's party and headed to my friend Caleb's house. We parked there and then the three of us walked downtown to the Rev Room for a concert. THE AVETT BROTHERS! YAY! We met two more of our pals there: Kristy & Angie. Fun times! We danced our booties off. Here are a couple pics and a video:

Kristy, me, Amanda, Angie, Caleb

The Avett Brothers

Walking home after the show.

So, after that whirlwind day...I'M BEAT! I think I might go to bed at 8:00 tonight!! I might be a little too old for that kind of partying! NAW! It was too much fun.

ACL

OMG! I WANT TO GO! OMG! I want to go to at least ONE music festival this year. *tears*

2008 ACL Lineup:
Foo Fighters
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Beck
Erykah Badu
Patty Griffin
Iron & Wine
Neko Case
Band of Horses
The Swell Season
Gillian Welch
The Black Keys
Jakob Dylan
Okkervil River
Vampire Weekend
Ingrid Michaelson
Stars
Jenny Lewis
M. Ward
Yeasayer
and so many more!!!!

MIM

Okay. I haven't been to MIM in YEARS b/c they usually have a pretty lame line up. But this year...CAT POWER WILL BE THERE! OMG! Want to go please!! =) I'm currently putting feelers out to my pals...PRAYING that someone will want to make the road trip with me.

Cat Power people!!

I'm Going! Yippee!

I bought tickets to see The Avett Brothers. I am very excite! =)



*doing happy dance*

Music! Yayz!

Here's the music I've aquired in the last week:

Black Mountain - In The Future
Cat Power - Jukebox
Ingrid Michaelson - Girls and Boys
Jack Johnson - Sleep Thru The Static (from Jenn)
Kate Walsh - Clocktower Park and Tim's House
Liam Finn - I'll Be Lightning
Sia - Some People Have Real Problems
The Whigs - Mission Control

Yay for new music!

I also bought 6 movies last weekend and plan to buy another 6 more tonight. I'm in the mood to spend, spend, spend! MAKE IT STOP!

I WANT TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG! Robert Plant! Pearl Jam! My Morning Jacket! Death Cab! Sigur Ros! Iron & Wine! Broken Social Scene! Rilo Kiley! The Avett Brothers! I'm going to have a heart attack!!!!!

NKOTB. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Convo with my mom...

Me: Mom! tmz.com reported that NKOTB is getting together for a reunion tour!!

Mom: No way! Crazy!

Me: I'd soooo go to that!

Mom: Want to camp out all night for tickets?

Me: Yes! But, sadly, we probably won't have to do that this time around.

Mom: You never know...there's probably a lot of Courtneys out there in this world. You should call Shelly and see if she wants to!

Me: And we could recreate the outfits we wore that night!! Yessssssssssssssssssss!

Story behind the convo:

In 1990, NKOTB came to my home town. Since they were ALL THE RAGE back then, we were afraid that we wouldn't get tickets. My mom, being the super cool mom that she was, took my cousin, Shelly, and I to camp out at Sears. It was so much fun!

The following is a journal entry from the night of the concert. I'm typing it exactly how I wrote it on that day. I was 13 years old. =)

New Kids On The Block

Live

in Concert at Barton

7:30 February 16

Friday Feb 16, Shelly & I went to the concert. I stayed home from school that day to get ready. We were wearing matching outfits. They were: white t-shirts that had New Kids On The Block Hanging Tough February 1990 written on them, dark blue jeans, red socks and black shoes. We also wore our hair back in ponty tails w/ black ribbons & we wore one black peace sign earring & one red hoop earring. We left the house at 5:00. Then we went to Taco Bell & ate. We ran into Ashley, Stephanie, Katherine & Tabitha. They were with Ashley's aunt Susan. We left at about 6:00 and arrived at Barton at 6:30 & waited in line until 6:50 then went straight to the restrooms. We finally went to sit down at 7:00. We couldn't wait for the show to start!! At 7:30 the anouncer interdouced a 13 year old kid, his name was Bobby Roz something. Anyway, he sang three songs then the anouncer interdouced a new group by Mourice Starr. I forgot their name though. Anyway, they were real good. They sang 3 songs then the Cover Girls came out. They sang one song then dedicated "We Can't Go Wrong" to the New Kids & asked the crowd to sing along. It was great! Then they sang another song. When they were through there was a short inter mission before the New Kids came on. When they did THEY WERE WONDERFUL! It was the funnest nite of my life!! We had a screaming contest & our side won! We made a song too! It was cool! It went like this: na, na, na, na, na, na, na, oh oh oh oh oh, oh, the right stuff! They sang songs off all their tapes including songs before their first tape. Jordan & Jon sang Happy Birthday for no reason at all. Jon said that they used to sing it to their mother. Donnie took off his shirt. He was sooo fine! He also kissed TWO girls. And I wasn't one of them! I wish I was though! Danny was wonderfully fine. He has a great body. Joe sang "Please Don't Go Girl in a deeper voice and it sounded Soooo cool! Jon got his hair cut!! It's weird, but cool! I'm just not used to him with it. Donnie's hair was high. Joe's was the same, so was Danny's & Jordan's. They were totally wonderful! I love them more than anything in the world besides God!!!!

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh! I would love to dress up like that again and go scream like crazy over them. A few years back, Jordan Knight came to LR and I passed up going to see him. I WOULD NOT PASS UP SEEING NKOTB REUNITED!!

The Journal Entry

The Scrapbook

Since writing this blog, I have learned that E! News has reported that the NKOTB reunion tour is not true. It was nothing but a cruel rumor by tmz.com. *tears*

I Heart Music! (#3)

It's been a long time since I've posted what I've been listening to. I think I've aquired ELEVENTY BILLION albums since my last music post!! Here are some of my faves:

Across The Universe - soundtrack

I can't freaking wait to see this movie! I might try to catch it at the ghetto dollar theater. =)

Band of Horses - Cease To Begin

The Bird & The Bee - Please Clap Your Hands EP

I really love this duo. I'm into chick groups right now.

Devandra Banhart - Cripple Crow

Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild soundtrack

Another movie I can't wait to see. This soundtrack is great. Eddie Vedder is a genius.

Foy Vance - Hope

I'm so glad that he finally has an album released in the US. I love his voice.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - The Swell Season

This is the "leftovers" from the Once soundtrack. I love them!

Gomez - How We Operate

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd Dog

Jon Foreman - Fall and Winter EPs

I'm not ashamed to admit that I love Switchfoot. Especially Jon Foreman. Jon's two solo EPs are brilliant.

Lucinda Williams - West

Merrick - Merrick, Drive Around A Lot...

This is another project of the lead singer of The Bird & The Bee. Good times!

The New Pornographers - Challengers

Okkervil River - The Stage Names

Once - Soundtrack

I can't say enough about this movie...much less the soundtrack. Good stuffs!

Rosie Thomas - These Friends of Mine, If Songs Could Be Held

Beautiful voice.

Rufus Wainwright - Release The Stars

Blast From The Past...

When I first joined myspace (about 3 years ago ) I wrote a couple of blogs that I loved. I've since deleted the blogs (and stopped blogging there althogher) from my page, but I saved them on my harddrive. I thought I'd bring them back out today and post them here. Enjoy!

Rob's Philosophy

As I was looking around on myspace today, I was reminded of Rob's philosophy from High Fidelity. This is a place for you to meet new folks... relationships, friendships, networking... whatever. How do you draw these potential new folks? By listing what you like... For example, I made a new friend just b/c I like Napoleon Dynamite. Sweet!

Rob's philosophy is:

"What really matters is WHAT you like not what you ARE like. Books, records, films...these things matter. Call me shallow - it's the effin truth."

So, you see...Rob's philosphy is what this whole myspace thing is built on!

More from Rob...

"What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

Okay. The whole idea of organizing your records autobiographically... GENIUS! I don't have any records to organize (I wish I had that collection!), but I can without a doubt categorize my life into different music phases. See Below:

The Top 40 Phase: I was pretty much a Top 40 girl when I was a kid. I loved just about anything on the radio. Anyone remember Zoo 98? Yes! Anyway, before middle school, the only two musicians that stand out in my memory are Michael Jackson and Reba McEntire. I know...total opposites, but my brain is a little fuzzy (see Grateful Dead phase).

The New Kids on the Block Phase: Yes, it's true...and I'm darn proud of it! I was OBSESSED with NKOTB. I had every album, book, etc... that they made. My bedroom walls were literally papered in their posters. I was the coolest! My mom took me and my cousin, Shelly, to camp out for tickets to one of the concerts on the Hangin' Tough Tour. OMG! I still get chills just thinking about it. He he. And, yes I still know every song by heart.

The Big Hair Band Phase: Shortly after NKOTB, I made a drastic change from pop to heavy metal. Poison was my fave! Sadly, I never got to see them in concert. I also loved G-N-R and Skid Row, etc...

The Return to Top 40 Phase: In Junior High...nothing stands out. I was focused more on socializing during those days. You know...the whole Drill Team thing, etc. In those days, I listened to whatever was on the radio.

The Beatles Phase (High School Part 1): In the 10th grade, my friend, Angie, turned me on to the Beatles. I was instantly OBSESSED. I gobbled up anything and everything I could about the Beatles. Fun times... Also, Samantha got me interested in all things 60's and 70's rock and roll. I remember many nights zoning out to Pink Floyd. Nice...and this was b/f drugs. See, you don't have to do drugs to experience and appreciate good music. LOL.

The Alice in Chains Phase (High School Part 2 and Beyond): After the Beatles phase I went straight in to grungeville. I loved Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, STP, etc... But my absolute fave was Alice in Chains. OMG! 1995 was a great year for grunge rock! Another one who stands out during that time is Alanis Morrisette. She rocks! This music brings back great memories from working at Hastings. I'll never forget that group of people that I worked with. It was amazing and awful at the same time. That was where I met James...GRRR! The bane of my existance. That relationship screwed me up royally. The James relationship was directly responsible for the next phase.

The Grateful Dead Phase: OMG! How can I even begin to describe this phase? Well...after some unfortunate business w/ James, I decided to move to Arkadelphia and live with my friend Samantha. Oh yeah...and to go to college, but I wasn't very good at that. Anyway, the first thing Samantha said to me was, "Beer's your friend. You'll drink a lot of it." (quote from PCU) I wasn't much of a drinker b/f that, but it only took one night to really break me in. I was ready to forget about James. So, I drowned my sorrows for 3 whole years. I was drunk and/or high almost every day! No wonder I can't remember anything! What I do remember is going to lots of cool shows (Phish, Leftover Salmon and other jam bands) and hanging with my beautiful friends. We would move around to different houses switching roommates. We were like gypsies or a commune...crazy. We were always broke, but always had money for some smoke (Heh! I'm a poet). And we were always up for organizing a kegger. Back then, it was all about the tunes. I could lose myself for hours listening and dancing to the GD. We loved the GD cover band The Schwag. FUN TIMES! Acid parties w/ different "mood" rooms. Day trips w/ sidewalk chalk. Awesome. I could talk for hours about the good times I had during these years, but there was also a lot of bad times. Eventually, the bad won out and my mom rescued me. On to the next phase...

The Christian Music Phase: So, after a while I got sick of the drugs and started thinking about life. I would look around at all of us- high and stupid. I would think, "Is this how it's going to be for the rest of my life?" I was homeless, jobless... My car wasn't running and I hadn't really spoken to my family in 6 months (can you imagine?!)... I felt cut off from the world and didn't see any way out of the hell hole I had dug for myself. Then I got really sick and finally swallowed my pride and called my mom. Hence the rescue. She said, "That's it! You're coming home. Pack your bags. I'll be there in an hour." And that's what happened. She took me home and I turned my life over to God.

And that brings us to the real story of the Christian Music Phase (finally!) After that life changing move back home, I just wanted to listen to music that helped me grow as a Christian. Music that glorified God. So, I quit listening to secular music. It wasn't that I thought that secualr music was bad (sinful, whatever). It just wasn't what I needed at the time.

The Return to Secular Music Phase: This is my current phase. For the past year or so, I've gotten back into "secular" music. I'm trying to discover all of the great bands that I've missed the last 5 years! And of course, I'm still digging the groups listed above... EVEN NKOTB! I still listen to their Christmas album every year. LOL. Don't judge!

Okay, so that's some highlights from my musical life. Hope you enjoyed.
Later!

p.s. In this post or any future posts...if there are spelling/grammatical errors...blame it on the Grateful Dead phase. Lots of brain cells lost then!

I Heart Music! (#2)

This week Emery asked everyone to give her music suggestions for her roadtrip. Now I'm in the music mood (actually I'm always in the music mood) and I want to blog about it! =)

Here are some of the albums I've gotten in the last month or so:

Beirut - The Flying Cup Club
Coconut Records - Nighttiming
*This one is my current fave. I've been listening to it over and over. This is Jason Schwartzman. He wrote all the songs and played all of the instruments.
Flight of The Conchords - The Distant Future
*Hilarious! I especially love the song "It's Business Time"!
Joni Mitchell - Shine
Kari Jobe - Worship
*My fave worship album right now.
Patty Griffin - Children Running Through
Pedro The Lion - Achilles Heel
*to finish off my Pedro collection.
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Rising Sand

This is what I aquired yesterday after reading suggestions on Emery's blog:

Enter The Worship Circle - First Circle
Merchant Band - Merchant Band and also The World Can Wait

I can not stress how in love I am with music! All music! In fact, I buy so many albums that I can't even listen to it all. That's rediculous, right?! I just can't help myself. =)

Also, one of my coworkers is addicted to Starbucks. This works out great for me b/c they've been doing the Song of The Day for a while. So, every time she goes (every single day) she gets a free download for me! Yay!

I love music. Music, music, music. Here it goes down, down in my...um, EARS! Hehe. See how clever I am? I took an Anchorman quote and made it my own.

TTFN!

Music and Movies...

So, I bought two albums today. I just couldn't help myself. See below:

Casting Crowns - The Altar and The Door

I had to buy this after hearing the songs in concert this weekend. I especially love the songs Slow Fade and Somewhere In The Middle. Good stuffs!

Leeland - Sound of Melodies

Rachael is now in love with this band. Actually, I was impressed myself. Leeland Mooring is only 19 yrs old and very talented! This is very good for a 1st album!

Steph and I watched a couple movies this weekend. See below:

I actually saw this movie in the theaters. I love Seth Rogan and Judd Apatow. Comedic genius! Anyhoo, Steph hadn't seen it so I was more than happy to rent it. Even better the 2nd time around. HI-larious!

I really had no idea what this movie was going to be about. I was pleasantly surprised. I love Anthony Hopkins and that Ryan Gosling is a cutie! Good stuff!

Next movies: Kicking It Old Skool, Shooter and Half Nelson

Casting Crowns

Rachael and I went to see Casting Crowns in concert last night. Fun times! It was like one huge worship service. I loved it!

The "ticket guy" (Dale) was WAY late, so we had to entertain ourselves for over an hour with the camera. Also, Rach wrote a song about our experience. It's amazing how many words rhyme with Dale. =)

Here are the best pics of the night:

I heart Burt's Bees!

High Five!

Worried that our tickets weren't going to show.

Excited that Dale finally showed...over an hour late!

Leeland

Blury Casting Crowns

Great show!

Who has free tickets to see Casting Crowns?!?!?!

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!


Thank you, Mom and Dad. This def makes up for the emotional roller coaster you've put me on the last couple of days. Hehe.

Retail Therapy

So, b/c I'm sick in the head...I decided that music would make me feel better.

I just bought KT Tunstall's new album, Drastic Fantastic.

I'm happy for the moment...

Yay music!

Also, let me give a resounding..."Yay Payday!"

So, for lack of something better to post, I'll tell you what music I aquired today. I'm a member of this site and this is what I downloaded today:

• Neko Case - Live in Austin, Texas
• Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
• Devotchka - Una Volta
• Broken Social Scene - Spirit If...
• Cary Brothers - Who You Are

Yay music! I love days like this when I can get ungodly amounts of new (to me) albums. About emusic... It's an okay site. You can't always find what you're looking for there. Their Christian music selection is terrible. And they hardly ever have the new albums I'm looking for. HOWEVER, they are very cheap! I pay $20 for 75 downloads! Not too shabby.

In other news... I'm giving my notice to my landlord on the 1st. Pray for me! I've lived in her apartment for almost two years now. She's a great landlord and I know my monthly rent check helps her tremendously. Please pray that I can break it to her gently. She's been so good to me. I'm planning to pack and move stuff to storage all month. I should be all settled in my new place by the end of the Oct.

Oh! And I think I got the Crothall (hospital) job. It's been very confusing. Unfortunately, they're not very organized. We had a meeting today and I THINK that they're going to hire me to work Thurs/Fri/Sat for a total of 20 hours. Yay! This should bring in about $500 extra a month. TTL!

Another prayer request... My friend, Steph, is going thru a terrible divorce. It has been dragging on for over a year now. I feel so bad for her. It's hard to have the right words because I've never been thru something like this myself. Please pray for her.

Gotta get back to work! TTFN!

David Bazan

Last night I went to Sticky Fingerz with some pals to see David Bazan. I'm a big Pedro the Lion fan, so when I heard he was coming to Little Rock, AR...I was STOKED!

The opener was Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (love the name). He wasn't completely unfortunate, but....it was a total disaster show. I felt really sorry for him. He told a lot of really reDONKulous jokes in btwn songs. I'm sure he's a cool guy and his music isn't all that bad, but he def had a bad night. Bless his heart!

Then David Bazan played...and he didn't disappoint. One of my friends said that she wished he'd brought a band (it was just him and his guitar), but it didn't bother me. I love his voice. I could sit and listen to him forever. He played a lot of Pedro songs, a couple from his solo EP, Fewer Broken Parts, and stuff from his side project, Headphones.

I had a really good time last night. I'm not normally one for the bar scene, but I'll make an exception every once in a while for a great musician. I did get a little bit irritated by all of the stupid girls out last night. Heh. Why do they act that way?! I digress...

My friend Caleb came out to hang with us. He's hilarious! Here's a blurry pic of him being silly as usual. He was so rockabilly last night! =)

And here's a pic of me entertaining myself in the bathroom. Um, I was kinda bored during the opening act (poor guy!). Plus I really loved that reddish gold wall.

And a pic of me and Angie...we laughed so hard over this pic! She didn't handle the flash very well. She looks trashed, but I promise she isn't! Hehe. She's 6 months pregnant...so no beers for her!Fun times!

I Heart Music!

This what I acquired this week:

Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack Vol. 3
Over The Rhine - The Trumpet Child
Oakley Hall - I'll Follow You
Fergie - The Dutchess (OMG! I can't believe I admitted that! But, I will stress the fact that I did not buy that! It's not really my cup of tea, but it was free!)
Kenny Chesney - Just Who I Am (again...not my bag, baby...but free!)
The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
Eddy James - Free To Worship
Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
Damian Marley - Halfway Tree

Yay music!

Tonight I'm going to see David Bazan. I'm excited...it's not very often that someone like him comes thru Little Rock, AR! I'll try to take some pics tonight and post them over the weekend.

TTFN!

Eureka!

Eddy James sings that song that I love so much. Although, no offense to Eddy, but I liked it much, much more when the Otter Creek choir sang it. It is so powerful! Love it!

"I Am" by Eddy James on the Free To Worship album. Unfortunately I couldn't find a website for him...other than a myspace page which I can't access from work. Boo!