Music weekend

When I started hearing about this music-filled week/weekend deal in the city, I wasn't too keen on it. Scott was bummed he didn't find out about it sooner so he could have gone to more shows. But I figured it was all music I wouldn't like. It's called CMJ — which apparently stands for College Music Journal. It's basically 40-minute shows by unsigned and indie bands. LOTS of them. All across the city. A lot of industry people check it out to see if they can find new talent. But anyway, I wasn't too interested. And I couldn't even remember the name of it. I kept wanting to call it CMYK. (*snicker*) Finally I was nearly able to remember it by thinking, TMJ, only with a C. CMJ. So yeah, every time I actually said it, there was a slight pause while I thought "Like TMJ, only with a C. CMJ!"

Anyway, Scott really wanted to see some bands this weekend. I wasn't really into it, but I figured what the heck. I've spent plenty of weekends sitting here staring at the computer, so why not go try something essentially New York. Last night, Scott found a band he wanted to go see, so we went. We stayed for them and two more bands after them. IT. WAS. LOUD. And if I ever go to another one of his shows (and I'm sure I will), I am totally investing in earplugs. I honestly didn't hate the music, it was just SO loud that I felt like my ears were going to start bleeding. The first band, the band we went for, they were ok. Four out of about six songs all sounded the same to me. I guess the other two were slightly different. The next band was decent, they weren't quite as painful, and were probably my personal favorite act of the night. The last band was from Sweden. They weren't quite as loud as the other two, but I found myself zoning out while they were playing, so I guess their music wasn't that captivating. At least not for me.

Here's who we saw, in order of appearance:
http://www.myspace.com/cruelblackdove
http://www.myspace.com/bridgesandpowerlines
http://www.myspace.com/moonbabies

The venue, Crash Mountain, was pretty cool. It was kinda like, I dunno, a swanky castle bar. Stone on the walls and stuff. There were long leather sofas lining the walls and and one in the middle of the space. There are some pictures of it here.

There were more bands on till like 3 a.m., but we had only planned to stay for three sets, so we left. But after we got home, Scott said maybe we could find some bands that *I* might like to see today. I didn't think anything like that existed at this event, but I guess I was wrong. We found three acts I was interested in. Unfortunately, they all pretty much played on top of each other but at different venus across Manhattan. So I had to pick one. Tonight we saw Katie Costello, and I really enjoyed it. She plays piano and sings, and she had two guys with her, one playing the cello and one doing percussion.

Here's the link to hear some of Katie's stuff:
http://www.myspace.com/katiecostellosongs

We liked the venue for this show. It was only a few blocks from last night's sets. It's actually two venues in one. The Living Room is downstairs, and seats about 150 people. There were other bands down there tonight. But upstairs is Googie's Lounge, where we were tonight, which is a small space with seating for about 50 people, so it was really nice and intimate. Here's their website, but all their pics seem to be of the downstairs space. Oh well.

The other two people I didn't get to see tonight can be found here:
http://www.myspace.com/paulavalstein
www.junumusic.com (Go to videos and watch Build Me Up Buttercup, it'll make you laugh.)

Next year, when...(CMYK, no that's not it, like TMJ, with a C) CMJ rolls around, Scott will be ready with a game plan for who he wants to see and when. And so will I.

A fetching image

Two sure-fire ways to know I was the one who did the cover:

1. There's a dog on it.

2. It's a German Shepherd.

Morning routine

*Yawn.* Morning. Not good. Just morning. That's all you're getting, so don't ask for more. Hot chocolate or chai? Hmm. I'll go with the chai today. But right now I'm going to sit down on the couch and open up the computer.

First stop, gmail to check my email. Usually mostly junk. I can't stand to let unread emails sit. I have to open them or delete them. Better hope you fall in the former.



Thanks for the chai. Stop #2, work email. Usually mostly section plans for the day and galleys of where the ads are going on the pages, with a little other of this and that thrown in. I don't know why, but the "Must not have unread emails in inbox" does not apply here.



Next, Facebook. Nuff said.



After that, it's on to LPBA. If I have posted something recently, it might get moved up in the rankings so I can see if anybody commented. It it weren't for Kari, I would be sadly disappointed most of the time.



Speaking of Kari, I wind up at her blog next a lot, since my blogroll points out anything new.



I've gotta check the news to see if anything major is happening so I know what I'm in for at work. My preferred news website and home page is msnbc.com. Not because I love how they present the news, I just find their homepage the easiest to look at and maneuver.



Then Cake Wrecks. You won't find me laughing heartily first thing in the "morning" (it might be noon, but it's still morning to me), but it's good for a giggle, and I love the fact that my mom checks this out every day too, so it gives us something to compare notes on. Also, it's just plain hilarious. Highly recommended.



After that, it's off to design world. First stop in design world is the blog of Charles Apple. He's a seasoned visual journalist, and is always teaching, critiquing or praising something. I like to see what he has to say.



Once I'm caught up there, I'll hit Newseum's Top 10 for the day. Some days I agree. Some days I don't.



After I'm done with all of the above, I generally refresh Facebook, check my work email again and finish my tea. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go put my contacts in, shower, get dressed and eat lunch. Have a good day.

SH meets AB

Oh, you knew a blog post was coming on this one!

This might be one of the few actual things I've done that seems very New York. But last night, I found out that Good Eats and Iron Chef America host Alton Brown was going to be doing a book signing at Barnes and Noble in Union Square. And since most weekends we sit around wishing we had something cool to do, we decided to go.

It started at 7, but we got there around 6:30. Should've gotten there at like 4. But we had pretty decent standing spots. Alton spent a few minutes talking about the show and his new book, "Good Eats: The Early Years."





Then he took questions for a while. I didn't ask any. This girl in the photo below, she was the second or third question-asker.



She opened with "I'm a vegan." And that was all it took. He went OFF on vegans and absolutely SKEWERED her. He said he was surprised she had the strength to stand up to ask her question. She said she runs. He said he runs too (he's lost 50 pounds!) but that it's PAST all the vegans who are usually falling over. She said she would make him some vegan cookies and he said fine, but I want real vegans in them. I think her real question was if he'd ever consider doing a vegan-themed show. He final answer was short and sweet. "Uh, NO." It was pretty hilarious. Other people asked things like "What's your favorite food?" To which he said just about anything right now since he's been trying to lose weight. But he finally chose eggs. Someone also asked why they've never done a Chefography on him, and he said because his life is his own personal business.



He really is very witty. He's exactly in person like he is on Good Eats. It was really enjoyable to listen to him speak. After about 35 minutes of questions, we dispersed into lines to wait for an autograph. And I do mean wait. We didn't even move for about an hour. We were kinda toward the end of the line because we got trampled to get there. The talking part ended around 7:45. We got to him at about 10 p.m. So cool to meet him! He introduced himself, and so did we. Made a joke about how heavy his book was. Then I told him I'm from Marietta too, and I think he was pleased to sorta see a bit of home. He asked if I went to school there, and I told him I went to Sprayberry. He knew exactly what I was talking about. He told me which area he lives in and where his daughter is going to school (but since he made a point earlier in the evening to say his life is private, I won't repeat that here), which I know of and have driven past many times. I wanted to tell him I always like seeing a little bit of home on the show (like when he goes to Harry's Farmers Market near the Big Chicken), but I forgot. Honestly, it all went by so quickly, it's hard to remember at all. But I got to shake hands with, talk with and get an autograph from Alton Brown!

We accidentally got TWO photos because the guy taking them misfired the first time, but it still came out. Oh, and, uh, this is the debut of my haircut! (Remember the gift certificate Scott got me for my birthday?)








Mental note to only do this for people I really want to see, cause that line was brutal. But I'm really glad we went!

For my husband

I just want you to know
that I am so grateful
that the bills miraculously get paid
and I had nothing to do with it
and that the countertop magically reappears
after all the paperwork
has somehow migrated into the filing cabinet
and that the dishes
find their way
from the sink to the dishwasher
and back to the shelves
and that the bathtub
gets scrubbed
(my knees really appreciate that)
and that the dog gets walked
even though it's raining
or I am being lazy
which is all the time
and that my dinner shows up
at work
because you carried the heavy dishes
again
and I just want you to know
that I love you, too.

An app for the rest of us

I had a brilliant idea tonight.

Wouldn't it be hilarious if there was an app for people's iPhones and BlackBerrys that showed them on screen what's coming up in front of them? Cause I mean, apparently it's really hard to look away from your phone as you're walking down the sidewalk. I'm getting really tired of people too busy with their phones to watch where they're going nearly running over me. The app could use the camera that's already there, and go full screen, or maybe even screen-in-screen, so you could play solitaire or whatever is that is SO demanding AND watch where you're going at the same time! Call it iMWatching, or iKnowWhereiGo, or something...

Let the record show that this was my brilliant idea, and when somebody actually invents it, I want a cut, mmkay?