Saturday in Baltimore

So Saturday started off kind of sucky. I had to go to the doctor's office for some routine bloodwork. It was not fun. I do not like shots. But the nurse did give me a juice box which was nice!

Then back home for some Mario Kart--I heart Mario Kart! And, then on to our Baltimore outing! Eric got me tickets to see The Swell Season. The Swell Season is really Glen Hansard and Marketa Iglova, the musicians who wrote and starred in the movie Once.

So after making the four hour trip to Baltimore, Eric and I had dinner at The Yabba Pot, an international vegan cafe near Johns Hopkins University. The menu features specials, which change daily, sandwiches, salads, and smoothies, etc. We both opted to have the royal platter. Between the two of us we had barbequed tofu, amazing brown rice, cabbage stir fry, queen's greens (which was kale, onions, tomatoes and spices), some other spinach curry and black bean chili. The food was delicious and we saved room to split a vegan snickerdoodle cookie afterwards.

The actual concert was held at The Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, an absolutely gorgeous venue with perfect acoustics. Glen and Marketa were amazing together live. Some of Glen's Frames bandmates performed as the back-up band, too.

Long drive home. Stopped a couple times for gas, caffeine, and to fetch Norton from my parents', where he spent the day. We made it home at 4:30 am.

(The photo was not from last night but was of another live show. Photo by Joel Didriksen for kingpinphoto.com)

Instant Karma

Today, while Eric was making a purchase for himself at the Sharper Image, he surprised me and bought me the cd, Instant Karma, the Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Long title. Instant Karma is a two disc set of John Lennon covers by artists from Aerosmith to Jack Johnson. According to the website, "it seeks to mobilize millions around the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan. It combines the power of John Lennon's music recorded by some of the world's best-known artists, together with cutting-edge forms of instant activism enabled by Internet and mobile technologies. "

The back of the cd reads this...

The conflict in Darfur, Sudan, has led to some of the worst human rights abuses imaginable, including systematic and widespread murder, rape, abduction and displacement. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed by deliberate and indiscriminate attacks, and over 2.5 million civilions have been displaced.

Click here to take action...

NKOTB Reunion!!!!

Okay, I'm not making this up. I'm hearing New Kids on the Block are going to be reuniting! Apparently, there will be some kind of official announcement next month. The NKOTB website is up and running with some old video from the 90's that I couldn't get to work very well.

Anyone else kind of excited about this??? I'm going on thirty but an announcement like this makes me feel eleven years old again!

Reason #458 Why I don't Like Mainstream Radio

The other day, I happened to be flipping back and forth between radio station. I briefly stopped on a former favorite station of mine to listen to one of those hysterical music contests. You know, listen to 1-2 notes and name the song. It was ridiculous.

Anyway, the DJ makes some comment about a David Bowie song, which in his opinion, is a great song.

Then he mentions on the air how he'll talk to his station manager about getting this particular song.

I guess its not on their top 20 approved playlist. I like my public music stations because the dj's can play whatever they'd like! The other day, the morning dj pulled out some old, obscure record album from the sixties! Apparently, nobody still plays records on the air but this dj did! She made a comment about "hoping it would work!" And it did!

Movie Madness

It seems that I'll either go forever without seeing a movie or I see a bunch in a short duration of time. In the past week, I saw three good movies, all rented from Netflix.

A week ago, I saw Freedom Writers. It was a riveting film. You've all heard of that one. I would certainly recommend it.

Monday, we were going to see Juno. But with the whole Norton fiasco, we really couldn't leave him for even a couple hours. Plus, I pulled something in my back on Sunday. I'm still trying to recover, though I am feeling a lot better. Much of my time was spent on the couch this week!

So instead of Juno, we watched Waitress. Have you heard of it? A hit at last year's Sundance. Bittersweet and comedic both. Keri Russell plays the main character. The talented Adrienne Shelly wrote, directed and also starred in the movie before being murdered in her apartment by her contracter. What a sad story. Bittersweet. We really liked the movie though. It made us smile and feel, too. Rent it. I think you'll enjoy.

A couple months ago, I heard a particular song from a soundtrack I couldn't recall on one of my beloved public radio stations, WFUV. I loved the song so I spent months hoping to stumble across it on iTunes.



And guess what? The other day I found it! The song, Falling Slowly, is from the soundtrack to the movie, Once. And the song was nominated for an Academy Award also! So guess what? I rented the movie and bought the sountrack. It's a modern day musical filmed more like a documentary than your traditional romantic comedy. In a nutshell...

Boy is a street musician in Dublin. He fixes vacuums by day. He has an ex in London.

Girl is a Czech street vendor (living in Dublin). She lives with her mother and young daughter. She has a husband in the Czech Republic.

We spend a week with these two characters as they develop a friendship and "write, rehearse and record songs together." Their music is simple and lovely. His beaten-up acoustic guitar and her piano melodies. The chemistry is real and the story is touching.

I won't tell you what happens. See for yourself.
Wanna see Alvin sing the same song?

Starbucks Rejection Tour

This morning when I was reading the paper, I read about this musician who calls himself DaVido who recorded a song, Java Jitter. DaVido wanted his cd to be sold at Starbucks but he was rejected. He then went on his "Starbucks Rejection Tour" in which he was then booted from 203 Starbucks for walking in and, without permission, performing his song. Here's the video and it's pretty damn funny.

What Happened???

There's a song that I've been listening to for two and a half years now and I can recite every word by heart. My sister introduced it to me in early 2005, I suppose it was. And now, Hey There Delilah is at the top of the Billboard charts. Go figure. But I just had to say...

I liked it first!!!

Phun in Philly

Earlier this week, I discovered that one of my favorite bands, Travis, was going to be playing at the Electric Factory Wednesday evening. Since Eric was to be on vacation all week, we decided to get tickets.

Wednesday didn't quite go off without a hitch though. Poor Norton was sick all day and we had two visits from possible townhome buyers. But by dinner time, Norton seemed to be okay so we left for the concert in Philadelphia.

Awesome, amazing show! Travis is a great band out of Glasgow, Scotland. They've been around since the nineties, and in fact, have been credited for paving the way for bands such as Coldplay, Keane and Snow Patrol. Anyway, Eric and I enjoyed the show so much that we've been rethinking our previously chosen wedding song...

Where Pierogies Meet Punk...

...Warsaw is where its at! I did not make up that catchphrase about pierogies and punk. At the live music venue, Warsaw, housed at Brooklyn's very own Polish National Home, there was a sign advertising, "where pierogies meet punk," at the food stand. A food stand which includes Polish staples like pierogies and kielbasa. I decided I had to sample the authentic pierogies...I mean for $5, you get a whole plate of pierogies with sour cream and applesauce. After drinking my Polish draft beer (which was very similar to Miller Light, mind you), I couldn't resist the craving for authentic Polishness. Keep in mind that I'm probably 75% Polish but my experience with pierogies are limited to the Mrs. T's, straight from the freezer aisle. I mean those are very good, but these were certainly the real thing. Potato with bits of sauerkraut. Yummy.

I blogged about Warsaw back in January when I was there for another show. This time around, I was there with my now Brooklynite-vegan-mischievous-free-spirit-friend, Amber, to see Josh Rouse. What an interesting venue. You walk into this huge room which is reminiscent of a high school gym with a stage and even a balcony. Okay so most high school gymnasiums do not have balconies. Nor do they have polish beer.

About the show. Yeah, the reason we were there in the first place. Josh Rouse was amazing. It was my first time seeing him live. He's an amazing artist. Rouse is an indie singer-songwriter who, after residing in central Tennessee for several years, hence his album titled Nashville, picked up for a small town in Spain to be with a girl he was dating. Within the first week of living in a quiet town in Spain, Rouse's last album was written, titled Subtitulo. Check him out if you haven't. Rouse's music is filled with infectious melodies and its got a mellow sound which is great to chill out to day or night.

But the "No Moshing" signs at Warsaw need to go. Nobody's going to mosh to this music!
(I cannot take credit for the above photo. Because I'm too much of a wuss to bring my own camera to shows, I borrowed one from Rouse's myspace.)

Great Music and Free Ice Cream and Lets Save the World, Oh My!

What a weekend! On Saturday, I dropped off my love at the airport so he could schlep out to Edinburgh, Scotland, to meet his parents for their 40th wedding anniversary. After dropping off Eric at Newark, I drove into New York to meet up with my friend, Amber. We had a delicious, if not overpriced, Indian dinner on the Upper West Side, then headed to the Beacon Theatre for a show. I received free tickets to see Guster with the Format through my favorite radio station, WFUV.

Just a side note endorsing my favorite radio station, WFUV. Its public radio and that means it's member-supported. You can listen online and check out the archives. Its a great station. If you dig it, throw some money their way. This week is their spring member drive.

Anyway. Back to the concert. The show was part of the environmentally-friendly Campus Consciousness Tour. Aside from the tour being "green," there were different stations set up around the concert hall to promote environmental issues. Plus, they were giving away free stuff! The highlights:

• Ben and Jerry's was giving away free ice cream. I mean a medium-sized-two-scoops of cinnamon buns--delicious!!! The catch? I signed a form letter to my local congressperson to do something about global warming. Sign up for Lick Global Warming and do something.
  

• I got a free bookmark and keychain from myGreenElectronics, a cool company that encourages consumers to recycle their electronics. So the keychain and keychain I got are made of recycled circuit boards...they're very sturdy--cool too!
  

• I got two free lip balms from Eco Lips. According to their website, its the "best lip balm for the world." Plus, the product is organic and has spf 30. I dig.

So. The free stuff rocked. I am serious about global warming and saving the world. I think I'll add some new links to my sidebar. The concert was great! The Format is a fun band that I've recently started getting into and they rocked! And Guster was Guster. They're an incredible band and the show was sold out. Check them out if you're so inclined.

Gomez Rocks!

Last night, my friend Dennis and I saw Gomez play Webster Hall. What a show! I've previously boasted about Gomez's latest studio album, How We Operate. Their music is fun and it ranges from fast and upbeat "rockin' out" to mellow acoustic tunes.

So I'd noticed listening to their music that there is more than one male vocalist. What I hadn't realized was that three of the guys sing lead vocals on various songs--and according to this review by NPR, five of the guys are songwriters! Wow! Thats pretty unusual in a band, I think! So, I think I love this band even moreso, now that I've seen them live!

They have a great live energy and they are just a great, fresh, original rock band. Dennis and I had pushed our way almost all the way to the front of the crowds, so not only did we have a great vantage point, but we were thrown into the bouncing arrays of dancing fiends. I was dancing quite a bit and so was Dennis. Or he may have been just bobbing his head in time with the music. What was crazy was that the floor actually felt like it was wobbling! It was weird!