From A Terrace

I consider myself lucky to have the friends I do. I look at my life and where I've been and I look at those who I have pushed away, and those who refused to be pushed away. I look at those who have held me in the tough times, and those who have peed their pants from laughing with me so much. 

To those who have been such awesome friends that you would willingly cup your hand over my mouth to prevent me from releasing a resonating
laughter in a library—I thank you. Sometimes I forget about my surroundings.

I write all of this down because like you, I have bad days and lose sight of the great things I have in life. I have forgetful days. I have busy days. I have days where I just want to throw my laptop across the room because my alarm is going off at an ungodly hour . . . but of course I don't, because well let's get real—I love my Mac too much. Also, in the same vein of IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE, if I throw my laptop across the room, I'm going to cry for hours.

and if I cry for hours, I'm going to want some chocolate
and if I get some chocolate, I'm going to want some coffee
and if I get some coffee, pretty soon I'll just start crying espresso . . .

You know how it is.

(you do, right?)

Anyway, I just wanted to share with you all about 2 of my friends who are doing some great creative stuff right now.

Chris Hair
I met Chris years ago through another friend and have stayed connected over the years. Right now, he's pursuing his passion in music and has been posting some new songs, as well as some cover songs, on his YouTube account. But, if you'd like to add to your Christmas music collection, you can head over to his Noise Trade page and download his free cover of HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS.

Here is one of his songs, ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER:



Joshua Curtis
I met Joshua during my 1st year as a student in MCA and we have been friends ever since! He is by and far my best guy friend ever! He has always been one of my biggest encouragers and never fails to make me laugh. He is also an amazing photographer! Recently he spent a long time living in Africa, serving the community there alongside some great people in Days of Elisha Ministries. Here is some of his work:

 ^ i actually own this one and it's hanging up in my room ^

As a side note: If you (or someone you know is) are looking for a great gift for the holiday season, you can buy an 11x14 print of his PHOTOS for $25 each. Simply click on the images below to enlarge and see which one you would like:

And then send him an e-mail at joshuainafrica@gmail.com. In the e-mail, let him know the number listing of the photo you want, along with your mailing address. He'll work out payment with you over e-mail.

I really want to spend this holiday season celebrating others who have meant so much to me, so I think I'll be posting more about fun stories, photos, and projects that my friends and I are working on and just celebrate good times as we head into 2011!!

And just so we're clear, it's gonna take me
all of 2011 to get used to saying, "2011."

Sing It Out

I was thinking this morning that is was about time for a music update. Mainly because I have a few other blog posts in line that need some editing, thus can't be posted yet. But also because I've recently added to my iTunes and I thought it'd be fun to share (since I haven't done so since the beginning of August)!

One of my best friends sent me an email earlier today and said this reminded him of me. I love my friends, and I LOVE this song! It is seriously so beautiful and visual stunning that it brought tears to my eyes and warm fuzzies to my heart. It also made me miss him a lot. :)

DANCING SHOES by Green River Ordinance



This is a new one I found and took a chance on. I listened to the short sweet 30 second clip (thanks for being lame about that, iTunes), but upon hearing the full song, it has found a home on my playlist! It's so catchy and clever.

UH OH by The Scenic


One of my friends recently went to a Switchfoot show and after the show, Jon Foreman did an acoustic performance outside of the venue. She found an audio recording of it and shared it with me and I love it! It makes me super excited about the next album!

SHE SAYS (THE BLACK EYED BLUES) by Switchfoot



I absolutely love Tegan and Sara with all my little indie / emo heart! This is one of their newly released singles. It's off of their new album, Sainthood (which is just wonderful) and this song has been on repeat a lot on my iTunes!

ON DIRECTING by Tegan and Sara


And last but not least, another sweet sweet love song by Camera Can't Lie called Last Dance. It's got a great hook and it's such a beautiful song! I just never get sick of listening to it! My favorite lyric from it is: "And if we're consumed by counting each hour, what's left of today?"

LAST DANCE by Camera Can't Lie

Bless This Mess

Alrighty I think it's been a while since I updated so now's as good a time as any, right? Right.

Here are a few highlights from my week:

I got to watch my friend Maggie get baptized in Haller Lake.
Maggie has been in my small group this past semester and it was
SO great to get to share such a big moment with her.

Generally, my office is where plants come to die,
but the beautiful flowers that Alisa . . . uh I mean,
Matthew Fox sent me are still blooming beautifully!
They're pretty magical and they still bring a smile to my face.

I got to have a Friday picnic with my co-workers and we ended up
making a Four Square court out of duct tape in our little driveway
and it was so much fun!

I bought a new book and a fun gift for Vanessa.
I ALSO completely filled up her NYC Book Bag that I bought her
during my trip to NYC. Basically,
I bought a NYC Sesame Street messenger bag that lights up
and I'm filling it with tons of good books for her to read!

I finally paid off that pesky parking ticket.
I've definitely learned that those parking enforcement people MEAN it
when they say NO PARKING after 6 p.m.
Even if it's only 10 minutes after.
Dear Seattle Municipal Court: Enjoy the free snark.

I saw this guy dancing on the side of the road today and it was SPECTACULAR!



And in closing, these 4 songs have pretty much been on repeat all week:


A WAY WITH WORDS by Action Item



AMERICAN HONEY by Lady Antebellum



TELL ME I'M A WRECK by Every Avenue



ONE DAY by Matisyahu (Featuring Akon)



Well that's pretty much my week so far! Now I'm off to a sleepover!

Don't forget about the photo caption contest HERE!

Hey, Soul Sister

If my life was a movie (which I'm pretty sure it could be), this would be a snippet from it:



No seriously, this has actually happened to me. Okay, you know that song by Train called HEY SOUL SISTER?? My friend Kelley recommended it to me, and at the time, I watched the music video and I was like, "I really don't like it. It's not my style. blah. blah. blah." I seriously thought it was one of the most annoying songs. Almost as annoying as that FIREFLIES song . . .

(Side note: GO READ THIS BLOG POST BY THE JIGGLES PUFF about Adam Young from Owl City. It's legit stuff)

. . . I just could not get into that song. It was too much of a "kill-me-with-kindness-and-lovely-dovey-bubbles-while-hugging-a-kitten" pop song. But in the end, the song won me over and it was added to my iTunes in a few short clicks. And then I started recommending it to others. I dunno. Maybe that song is infused with the same sauce they put in Jack In The Box tacos to make them so ridiculously addicting. Or maybe I am finally embracing the fact that as indie-punk-rock as I try to be, I cannot escape the grasp of a truly good song with a pretty great hook.

So day in and day out you can find me blasting HEY, SOUL SISTER on my iPod and bobbing my head along to the sweet beat . . . much like the chick from the upcoming movie, EASY A, in the video above.

PS: When that movie comes out, I'm TOTALLY gonna be there! I may even pull a midnight showing. I don't think I've ever seen a snippet from a movie and felt such a connection to a character before! Well, I mean, unless you count the snippet from The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King when Sam Wise Gamgee carries Frodo on his back to take the ring back to Mordor. But other than that, nothing's come so close. . . . Okay okay, so maybe I could include that scene from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe: Prince Caspian when Susan kisses Prince Caspian even though she's like 1300 years older than him—that happens to me ALL THE TIME! :|

PPS: As if I needed an EXTRA reason to watch EASY A—Stanley Tucci is going to be in it. For the longest time, my FAVORITE ACTOR has been Tom Hanks, but for a while now, it's been a steady tie between Tom and Stanley Tucci. Both stellar actors, in my opinion.

PPPS: Here's the music video for HEY, SOUL SISTER. When you get addicted, don't say I didn't warn you.

Over My Head

Hey friends! I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here before, but I guess now is as good a time as any. A while back, I bought an electric guitar off of Craigslist from a creepy old woman named Shecky, who had one wooden leg and a police record a mile long. But no worries, she assured me that the serial number wasn't a necessary part of the instrument's ability to play sound.*



So I brought it home and have been practicing and learning new stuff. I took a songwriting class when I was in high school, and was able to learn basic chords on a bass guitar. Needless to say, this goes a bit outside of the norm for me—it's been a while since I picked up a guitar. But I felt the desire to have one so I could work on adding sound to my writing.



* Totally kidding about that whole situation. She was quite the opposite.

American Girl

The new Punk Goes Classic Rock album is out and to tell you the truth, I'm only in love with 2 of the tracks. I feel like I probably should be in love with all of them, but I'm not. I love punk rock music (which includes pop punk as well), but it's WAAAAY daring to try to cover the classics . . .

I was really excited to see that there was a Tom Petty cover on there! I love Tom Petty's tunes. I grew up rocking out to Last Dance With Mary Jane, Free Fallin', and American Girl. So when I heard the cover of FREE FALLIN' by The Almost on the album, I immediately went to download it, and I've been playing it on repeat all day! It's like reliving those days when I would stand on my bed, rockin' air guitar and thanking my audience for "coming out to the show!" ;)

I've been reading a lot of reviews about the album, and a lot of people don't like that bands are trying to cover such iconic tunes. I, on the other hand, don't mind. I mean, if you can do a cover right, then you should. And you should ROCK it! I feel like The Almost does that with Free Fallin'. I love the aggressive power of Aaron's voice in the cover and the fact that they didn't stray far from the original. I know that it's really cool when a cover is done with a different feel (see John Mayer's slower cover, which is also awesome) but I appreciate that The Almost didn't stray too far from Tommy P's version. I think it pays homage to it's natural quality. I still listen to the original, but now I get to have a nice punk pop cover of it to add to the collection.





The other song on there that I love is the Mayday Parade cover of WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS. Love it!

Said The Sun To The Shine

For the record, I TOTALLY meant to write a post yesterday about my first day at softball practice. However, I had pulled an all-nighter on Saturday and so when I got back from practice, I decided I would take a 2 hour nap and would set my alarm accordingly. However . . . not only did i NOT fully wake up from the alarm sounding, but apparently I subconsciously put my laptop speakers on mute (I use an alarm clock program on my mac cause it's louder than my phone's alarm) and apparently dismissed the alarm that sounded on my phone. I don't remember doing either of those things . . . and I woke up 15 hours later. :O

Anyway, all in all, softball practice was great! I only sustained minor injuries . . . when I put up my glove to catch a pop-fly, but just missed it, which led to said pop-fly making it's mark . . . on my chest. Right here>



I know I know . . . i gotta work on my catching skills. I've never been good at catching pop-flies, so it's not like I was incredibly surprised. I just now have a strong reminder that I need to work on those skills more.

Moving on . . .

On Saturday, I got to do one of my favorite things ever: MAKE A MIX-TAPE!

I seriously LOVE making Mix-Tapes! So one of my friends asked me to make some for him because he hadn't been able to keep up with recent music and wanted to try out some different styles and sounds, so I jumped at the opportunity—it's so fun and creative and allows me to share music I love with my friends. Here are the ones I made for him:








It made me sooooo excited to hand them over to him! Also, one of the funniest things about the process of making the mix was my iChat conversation with Kelley while I was picking the initial song lists:

Me: I want Paramore on there. The question is, THE ONLY EXCEPTION or FEELING SORRY?
Kelley: I dunno Paramore really . . .
Me: It's okay. Hayley forgives you. ;)
Kelley: I used to like WE ARE BROKEN a lot but even that one has kind of fallen off with me . . .
Me: Ah. I like MY HEART
Kelley: Me too. Also my lungs.
Me: HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA!

This is just further proof that iChatting with Kelley while making a Mix-Tape is NEVER a bad idea. :D

10. A.M. Automatic

Who lip-syncs along to their favorite jams while they're getting ready for work in the morning?!?

THIS CHICK RIGHT HERE!!!

This can only mean one thing . . . time for another music round up! Here are some of the songs I've been singing while getting ready in the mornings:

| ONE SMALL STEP by Sparky's Flaw (aka Parachute) |

I've actually had this one on the good 'ol iPeezy for a while, but it came on the other day and I just put it on repeat for a good 20 minutes and it's made it's way into my morning routine. It's peppy and it's a real get-up-and-go tune.




| I WOKE UP IN A CAR [ADAM YOUNG REMIX] by Something Corporate |

In anticipation of the upcoming "Best Of" album by Something Corporate, titled SPACE, they released this remixed version of I Woke Up In A Car by Adam Young of Owl City. I'm not really a fan of how he Auto-Tuned Andrew's voice, but the mix overall gives a kinda of pop sound to a punk rock tune, and I can appreciate that in moderation. I do like this mix. :D

CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING THIS LINK

| BYE, BYE, BYE (cover) by Further Seems Forever |

While we're delving into the wonderful goodness of punk rock tunes, let's talk about how sad I am that I only just heard this cover recently . . . and it's been out since 2002. Shame. Just shame. In any event, it will no longer go ignored ;)




| MY DARLING BELLE by Bobby Long |

So I bought this on iTunes, but there is no video of it on YouTube for me to post here. But Bobby Long is one of my favorite indie folk artists. I love his voice and his style, so bold and poetic. If you get a chance, listen to (or buy) the track on iTunes. It's a good'un. ;) In the meantime, here is a live performance of Bobby playing My Darling Belle in Vancouver, BC.




| AIRPLANES by B.o.B. Featuring Hayley Williams from Paramore |

I promise you there is crack cocaine stuck in every nook and cranny of this hook. It has been stuck in my head so much. It's so catchy and it's very clever lyrically. And did I mention that I absolutely LOVE Hayley Williams?? Cause I do! She's one of the best things that could have ever happened to punk rock! And, as THE JIGGLE'S PUFF says, "you can now go ahead and add rap as well."




| HEARTLESS by Justin Nozuka |

This is a great one that gives a sweet soothing vibe in the morning. It's off of Justin's new album, which just came out this morning and has been added to my iTunes. This is just a great song that reaches to that smooth music vibe I dig.

Sing It Out

I think we've established that I've got a wonderfully quirky side, right? Right. I thought so.

In that case, it should come as no surprise to you that I do wonderfully quirky things on a daily basis. Things like singing along to the songs playing on my iPod while I'm waiting at bus stops or walking to and from places. What can I say, I love music and I love singing. I really love when a song comes on my iPod that is the perfect song for the mood or what I'm looking at. For instance, one morning I was riding the bus to work and Hello Seattle came on just as I looked over and saw Puget Sound peeking through, waves glimmering in the morning sun between streets. It was gorgeous, and the song was perfect.

For the record, I've gotten NUMEROUS texts and Facebook messages from friends here who have seen me walking from one place to another or standing at a bus stop playing air guitar and/or singing to the music coming through my headphones. I like that a lot—both doing those things and getting those texts. Is it a bit embarrassing, yeah a little. But it's cool because though they may seem mildly embarrassing to me at first, the smidge of embarrassment is quickly dissipated when they tell me that it made them laugh/smile.

With that, I thought I'd share some of the tunes that have been playing in heavy rotation on my iPeezy as of late:

1. AMBULANCE by EISLEY



2. CASUALTY by CAMERA CAN'T LIE



3. DREAM CITY by FREE ENERGY



4. TIMES by TENTH AVENUE NORTH



5. GOLD GUNS GIRLS by METRIC

Is not "embeddable" :( and I really only like the acoustic version . . . so if you want to hear the acoustic version, click on THIS LINK.

It's been a nice mix lately! And if you happen to be in the area, be on the lookout for the quirky mexican chick rockin' the air guitar at the bus stop! ;p

Taking Memories

I got to download some new music yesterday. One of the songs that I kept on repeat for a while is TAKING MEMORIES by Sam & Ruby.

I was writing about a family that was struggling and falling apart. It was a sad scene, and this song was playing as I wrote it. I felt like it brought out this honest crossroads moment for the couple I was writing about. Sometimes I write without music, but when I'm having a fantastic or upbeat fun day, it's difficult to reach beyond that to catch the pure emotion of the characters that you are developing in your writing if they are facing a tragedy or a difficult moment. At those times, I'll put some music on that helps me step outside of my normal happy thoughts and let a song carry my imagination away. This song came at just the right time for what I was working on. Sometimes a couple has to go through tough times to make it to the happy ending—but my characters get to have a happy ending, and that's reassuring.

I definitely want to get more of their music though—i LOVE their sound! :D

If you want to hear a clip of it ---> GO HERE

--------TAKING MEMORIES---------
Looking for a way I can let you know
Time will soon be near
When I am gonna take my load and go from here
There are a lot of things that are in my soul
That need to be released
Though I gotta go I'll have you here with me

Cause I'm taking memories
Taking pictures in my head
Of times of peace
I'm taking memories
I won't dwell on what we lost
But what we'll keep
We had a good thing, didn't we?

If I try to say that the end was all
We have to think upon
That would just betray all the times we got along
Some relationships have their day
But night comes down on them
That's the way it is
But it's not the way it ends

Cause I'm taking memories
Taking pictures in my head
Of times of peace
I'm taking memories
I won't dwell on what we lost
But what we'll keep
We had a good thing, didn't we?

I'll think of your love
When the times get rough
I'll get strength from thinking of
The way you made me feel alive
Pleasure, pain, and pride,
All the things that remind me
It was worth my time

I'm taking memories
Taking pictures in my head
Of times of peace
I'm taking memories
I won't dwell on what we lost
But what we'll keep
We had a good thing, didn't we?

We Belong

(photo taken at the EMP Taking Aim Interactive Photo Booth)

The Experience Music Project has a new photography exhibit running right now featuring Rock and Roll photography:

EMP|SFM is proud to present Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock 'n' Roll Photographs Selected by Graham Nash. This dynamic new exhibition, organized by Experience Music Project, showcases some of the most memorable photography in the history of popular music, as chosen by legendary musician Graham Nash of supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash, who is also well-known as a photographer, collector and pioneer in digital imaging and printing.

As guest curator, Graham Nash, brings his rich musical history, keen eye and storytelling skills to an exhibition of 98 rock 'n' roll images taken by 40 of the world's greatest music photographers, including Anton Corbijn, Lynn Goldsmith, Annie Leibovitz, Jim Marshall, Neal Preston, Mick Rock, Francesco Scavullo and Nash himself.

As I walked by each and every photograph, my love and passion for both photography and rock and roll music was re-awakened. The images were beautiful, painful, inspiring, and each truly evoked more than a thousand words surrounding the day and age they were taken in and what they represented. This photograph taken by Annie Leibovitz, of Emmylou Harris standing by a pond holding her guitar was my favorite:


It's simplicity and beauty just overwhelmed me. The power of one person, living in their element, sharing their dream and their heart with others through such a powerful art form is so stunning to me. All the time and talent and energy that one person can put into making their voice heard, and inspiring others to open up and talk about life with others is such a wonderful part of the arts. I remember seeing Plumb live in concert once and one of my favorite things that Tiffany Arbuckle said was, "Even though a lot of the songs deal with heavy subjects, it's real life. It's real hurts and real struggles that people have, and if all I can do is be a voice that opens up doors for others to talk about real life with someone else, and learn and grow from it, then everything I'm doing here is worth it." That, to me, is music. True music. True talent. True art.

To see more images from the exhibit, CLICK HERE.

(I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You

So tomorrow is Valentine's Day and I'm sure some of you are planning on doing something special with your significant other :) One of my favorite concepts ever is the mix tape. I love creating mix tapes of my own as well. So in honor of that special day of acknowledged love and chocolates, I made my own mixed tape for you with some of my favorite love songs. If you're the kind who likes to dance with your significant other, but can't think of some great romantical tunes to dance to, here is my Valentine's Day Mix Tape you can use for song suggestions:

TROUBLE by Ray LaMontagne


SOMERSAULT by Zero7


TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE by Boys Like Girls (feat. Taylor Swift)


GREEN APPLES by Chantal Kreviazuk


I THINK I'M IN LOVE by Justin Nozuka
(technically this song isn't out until March, but you can get a free download here)


THE ONLY EXCEPTION by Paramore


YOU AND ME by Lifehouse


IT'S YOUR LOVE by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw


SHE IS LOVE (acoustic version) by Parachute


THEY WEREN'T THERE by Missy Higgins
(i JUST uploaded this onto Youtube, so if the audio gets pulled, please forgive me and then go listen to the audio HERE)


THE BEAUTY OF WHO YOU ARE by Marc Broussard


HAZY by Rosi Golan



BETTER MAN by James Morrison


COME AWAY WITH ME by Norah Jones


FADE INTO YOU by Mazzy Star

We Are The Champions

The GRAMMY AWARDS are tonight!!

Who loves award shows? I DO! And who's excited that the Grammys are on tonight??? I AM!!

I love watching the Grammys and seeing all the outfits, hearing all the amazing performances and laughing at some of the speeches too! I generally list each category and who I think will win, but there are seriously a MILLION categories! So I'm just going to pick some of the main ones. Here are my choices (highlighted in pink) and the winners (highlited in bold green) for the Grammys:

RECORD OF THE YEAR:
Halo — Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling — The Black Eyed Peas
Use Somebody — Kings of Leon (my pick!)
Poker Face — Lady Gaga
You Belong With Me — Taylor Swift

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
I Am . . . Sasha Fierce — Beyonce
The E.N.D. — The Black Eyed Peas
The Fame — Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey And the Groogrux King — Dave Matthews Band
Fearless — Taylor Swift (my pick!)

SONG OF THE YEAR:
Poker Face — Lady Gaga
Pretty Wings — Maxwell
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) —Beyonce (my pick!)
Use Somebody — Kings of Leon
You Belong With Me — Taylor Swift

BEST NEW ARTIST:
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silverspun Pickups
The Ting Tings

BEST FEMALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE:
Hometown Glory — Adele
Halo — Beyonce
Hot N Cold — Katy Perry
Sober — Pink
You Belong With Me — Taylor Swift

BEST MALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE:
This Time — John Legend
Love You — Maxwell
Make It Mine — Jason Mraz
If You Don't Know Me By Now — Seal
All About the Love Again — Stevie Wonder

BEST POP PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS:
I Gotta Feeling — The Black Eyed Peas
We Weren't Born To Follow — Bon Jovi
Never Say Never — The Fray
Sara Smile — Daryls Hall & John Oates
Kids — MGMT

BEST POP COLLABORATION WITH VOCALS:
Sea of Heartbreak — Rosanne Cash & Bruce Springsteen
Love Sex Magic — Ciara & Justin Timberlake
Lucky — Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat (my pick!)
Baby , It's Cold Outside — Willie Nelson & Norah Jones
Breathe — Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM:
The E.N.D. — The Black Eyed Peas
Breakthrough — Colbie Caillat
All I Ever Wanted — Kelly Clarkson
The Fray — The Fray
Funhouse — Pink

BEST DANCE RECORDING:
Boom Boom Pow — The Black Eyed Peas
When Love Takes Over — David Guetta & Kelly Rowland
Poker Face — Lady Gaga (my pick!)
Celebration — Madonna
Womanizer — Britney Spears

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP:
Can't Find My Way Home — Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
Life In Technicolor II — Coldplay
21 Guns — Green Day
Use Somebody — Kings Of Leon (my pick!)
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight — U2

BEST HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE:
War Machine — AC/DC
Check My Brain — Alice In Chains
What I've Done — Linkin Park
The Unforgiven III — Metallica
Burn It to The Ground — Nickelback

BEST ROCK SONG:
The Fixer — Pearl Jam
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight — U2
21 Guns — Green Day
Use Somebody — Kings Of Leon (my pick!)
Working On A Dream — Bruce Springsteen

BEST ROCK ALBUM:
Black Ice — AC/DC
Live From Madison Square Garden — Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
21st Century Breakdown — Green Day
Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King — Dave Matthew Band
No Line On The Horizon — U2

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM:
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today — David Byrne & Brian Eno
The Open Door — Death Cab For Cutie
Sounds Of The Universe — Depeche Mode
Wolgang Amadeus Pheonix — Phoenix (my pick!)
It's Blitz! — Yeah Yeah Yeahs

BEST R&B SONG:
Blame It — Jamie Foxx
Lions, Tigers & Bears — Jazmine Sullivan
Pretty Wings — Maxwell
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) — Beyonce (my pick!)
Under — Pleasure P

BEST RAP SOLO PERFORMANCE:
Best I Ever Had — Drake
Beautiful — Eminem
D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune) — Jay-Z (my pick!)
Day 'N' Nite — Kid Cudi
Casa Bey —Mos Def

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION:
Ego — Beyonce & Kanye West
Know You Down — Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo
Run This Town — Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West
I'm On A Boat — The Lonely Island & T-Pain
Dead And Gone — T.I. & Justin Timberlake

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM:
The Foundation — Zac Brown Band
Twang — George Strait
Fearless — Taylor Swift (my pick!)
Defying Gravity — Keith Urban
Call Me Crazy — Lee Ann Womack

BEST GOSPEL PERFORMANCE:
Wait On The Lord — Donnie McClurkin Featuring Karen Clark Sheard
Free To Be Me — Francesca Battistelli
Jesus Is Love — Heather Headley Featuring Smokie Norful
I Believe — Johnny Lang With Fisk Jubilee Singers
Born Again — Third Day, Featuring Lacey Moseley

BEST COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK ALBUM FOR MOTION PICTURE, TELEVISION, OR OTHER VISUAL MEDIA:
Slumdog Millionaire — Various Artists
Cadillac Records — Various Artists
Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds —Various Artists
True Blood — Various Artists
Twilight — Various Artists

BEST SCORE SOUNDTRACK ALBUM FOR MOTION PICTURE, TELEVISION, OR OTHER VISUAL MEDIA:
Up
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Disc 1)
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
Milk
Star Trek

BEST SONG WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURE, TELEVISION, OR OTHER VISUAL MEDIA:
Jai Ho — Slumdog Millionaire
All Is Love — Where The Wild Things Are
Decode — Twilight
Once In A Lifetime — Cadillac Records
The Wrestler — The Wrestler

Good Old Acappella

Last Sunday I got to go to my housemate, Karli's, A Capella invitational. It was so fun! I love watching people sing and it was fun to go out with some of my other housemates and cheer Karli on! Here are some photos and videos from the performance:

Before the performance

After the show

GARDEN LEVEL


GARDEN LEVEL: I'LL MAKE LOVE TO YOU

HusKEYS


HusKEYS: POKERFACE

WOMEN & CHILDREN


WOMEN & CHILDREN: DRIVE

MAJOR TREBLE


MAJOR TREBLE: LIKE A PRAYER

GUEST A CAPELLA GROUP


GUEST A CAPELLA GROUP: JESSIE'S GIRL


Now here's the sad thing . . . right about this time, my memory card got full and I couldn't record any more video. SAD. So I didn't get to record Karli's group, but they did GREAT! They sang Imogen Heap's HIDE AND SEEK, GOOD OLD ACAPELLA, Seal's KISS BY A ROSE, and John Fogerty's PROUD MARY. They were awesome! What I WAS able to find was another video of them performing TIME AFTER TIME, in which my housemate Karli is featured! Woot!

UNLEASHED! A CAPELLA

And I didn't get a photo of them, but here is UnDEFINED, an A Capella group from Western Washington University, singing a song called
McDONALD'S GIRL



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As a special treat, here is a video of another A Capella group performing Poker Face. One of the baristas at Caffe Ladro told me about this one and it's hilarious!

The Music Of The Night

I realize I haven't shared some of my latest music finds, and it's probably time I do that! :D

Here are 5 of my newer additions to my iTunes—I hope you like them!

(if not, don't tell me, kay. Or if you do, say "Just kidding" afterwards so I'll be left to wonder if you were really joking or not. Odds are, I'll forget 5 minutes later)

1. SET FIRE TO THE THIRD BAR by Snow Patrol
New fave! Love it! It's emo, yes, but sooo sooo beautiful! I realize it's not REALLY a NEW song per se, but it's definitely a new favorite.



2. WE BELONG by Everly
I love Pat Benetar's stuff and this is a pretty rad cover!



3. RACE YOU by Elizabeth and the Catapult
I got to see her in concert (opening for Justin Nozuka) and she's so fun! I listen to this song on rainy or dismal weather days and it picks me up! :D




4. FROM WHERE YOU ARE by Lifehouse
I feel like it's been FOREVER since they've released new stuff. But this song, i love :D It's beautiful :D



5. SOMEDAY by Tegan and Sara
This is just such a fun song that I like to listen to on the way in to work. Or on the way home. Or during the day . . . okay okay you get the point. But the tune is great and it's a real fun song!

Franz The Tailor

So I've been working here and there trying to edit my photos from the Owls To Athens show, and it's been slow going. Hopefully this weekend I'll post ALL of them up on Facebook. In the meantime, you can see them below:

The Venue

Obligatory bar shot

Female Guest Vocalist: Kendra

Strings/Keys/Vocals: Chris

Bass/Accordion/Vocals: Jon

Strings/Vocals: Matt

Drums: Tom

It was another fun show, and was extremely interesting because OTA is a folk band and the bands before AND after their set (Jettison Never & Smile For Diamonds) were these heavy rock bands, so the contrast was mighty fine. :D Also there was a heckler there that seriously had a beer in one hand and a mug with coffee in the other. And for the entire set of Jettison Never's, he kept heckling them and was like, "What is your band called?" literally like 5 minutes after they told the crowd their name for the THIRD time. It was so funny watching that guy.

So hopefully by this weekend I'll have more pics to add.

PS: Taking pictures at rock shows REALLY makes me want a 'spency, professional camera :D

PSS: You can check out the music of OWLS TO ATHENS at their myspace:

www.myspace.com/owlstoathens