So my older brother texted me last night with these words....
"This album came out 15 years ago today..."
Instantly I felt extremely old and well... I still do today. Thanks so much John. Who bought this album back in the day? I think my house had 3 copies... It was the first Dave album to hit Number 1 on the Billboard charts.
Here is not only one of my favorite songs from the album but I believe one of the greatest songs Dave has ever written. Here is "Dreaming Tree".
Extra special shout out to my boyfriend who not only accompanied me on the trip to NJ this weekend but sat through 10+ hours of my music on the way up and back without throwing my mix cds out the window.
On these cds were a lot of this man. Mr. Josh Ritter who will be playing in Richmond in the next few months. Can't wait can't wait can't wait!!!
This is crazy and dangerous and this lady is lucky she was not hurt! Tampa Bay Rays reporter Kelly Nash was at the Astros-Red Sox game in Boston on Saturday when she decided to take a picture of herself....
Little did she know that there was a baseball coming straight at her head!!
This video was one of my favorite videos from last week. Saturday Night Live newbie Kate McKinnon went on the Ellen Degeneres show last week with her impression of who else... Ellen. And by Ellen's request she came out and did a one one one... Ellen vs Ellen.
As most of the world knows the NFL draft was this past weekend and while I will not take this space to sit here and complain about the Jets (I have plenty of time for that). I will highlight one of the best things I did see that had to do with the draft and it is Justin Pugh's reaction when he realized he was drafted by the NY Giants.
Now I don't care what team you root for this is the kind of reaction you want from a player when they realize their NFL dreams are now a reality. Congrats Justin.
I also read that his mother bought 32 hats so that he would have one to put on when the phone rang. Awesome.
"The first words out of Mike's mouth were... 'I don't want to do a straight memoir'", he noted that the band had discussed the idea of a book several years ago before co-founder Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer that later took his life.
It took until now but the remaining two members Mike Diamond and Adam Horovitz have signed a deal with Random House for an untitled memoir... sort of. The book will commemorate their music and career but it won't be a straightforward narrative style remembrance Instead, they plan to create a loosely structured oral history featuring a mix of their voices, outside contributors and images.
Whatever these two decide to do I will certainly be interested in owning it.
Here are the two videos that are circling from this past White House Correspondents Dinner that happened over the weekend. The highlights are from of course President Obama and Conan O'Brien. Both hilarious in their own right....
After being hospitalized last week, country music legend and overall wild man George Jones passed away at the age of 81. To honor his life and his career, here are just one of his many number one hits.
(Editors Note: This girl has little to no knowledge of country music so I promise today I will do my diligent research of this great man and his music. I promise)
Well everyone, my super fantastic weekend is over and I am back at work for another week. Not too happy about that. If I could have extended this weekend on forever I would have done that. Not only did Patrick's and I travel go super smooth (like no traffic either way smooth) but we had an amazing time hanging out with my family and taking my little brother to UFC 159 on Saturday night and just getting away from the city for a few days. Yes Jon Jones made quick work of Chael Sonnen, and some of the other things that happened during the fight card were just bizarre, but the experience was worth every single penny. Good times were had by all.
Now we are back for another work week and I'm going to try and make it go by as fast as possible.
Today I'm sure I will spend most of my day reading all about the Jets releasing Tim Tebow and the mess that our QB situation is right now, but at least it will be entertaining.
I hope that everyone had a fantastic weekend and that they went out and enjoyed themselves.
I promise after my 10am meeting I'll get right back to the music.
Well People Magazine Im not too sure you got this one right. Now let me say this I am by no means calling Gwyneth Paltrow ugly or anything like that.... all I'm saying is that I think they could have picked a better person. That and I can't believe that her new movie Iron Man (which is due out any day now) has something to do with this....
Today if you open the google search engine you will find the picture above celebrating what would have been Ella Fitzgeralds 96th birthday. Google always does such a great job honoring those who deserve it with these banners. I still think the Freddie Mercury one is my all time favorite...
Well this is interesting news for Metallica fans. Their new 3d movie will be playing on IMAX screens across the country starting the week of September 27th. The movie called: Metallica Through the Never will be released fully to the public on October 4th. They filmed this movie over a three night stand in Vancouver. They actually sold tickets to the 3rd show for only $5 to benefit the Vancouver Food Bank. The movie is to combine live footage of the band with a narrative from a fictional member of the crew played by actor Dane DeHaan. It sure sounds interesting.
Well well well.... Welcome to my Friday. Today is technically my last day of work for the week hence why I'm calling it my Friday. I'm pretty excited about the course of events for the rest of this day and then the entire weekend. Today I have a pretty simple day at work, a few meetings, a few emails, nothing too crazy then I get to leave this afternoon and tonight is the NFL draft. We will see what kind of moves the Jets make with their two first round picks (should be interesting to say the least). Then tomorrow it is off to a quick trip to NJ for some family visits and a little UFC event. No biggie.
While we are on the subjects of sports I played my first softball game in about 15 years last night and I'm happy to report that I kind of still got game. I was pretty happy with my performance and am looking forward to next week already.
The final note to get this day started is this is an actual picture of Justin Bieber taken yesterday not only wearing a mask but topping it off with a fedora. Really?
Okay Jimmy Kimmel this is a good one. Recently on his show he sent a reporter to Coachella (if you do not know what this is, it is a crazy hipster festival where all the "cool" kids go and hang out in California). Anyways, he sent a reporter there to ask concertgoers about bands that were completely made up, the reaction is priceless. Ha.
A friend of mine just posted this video and it made me laugh pretty hard so I figured why not share it on here. Here are "Politicians Making Awkward Rap References".
Well its here again, football season is creeping closer and closer and while the NY Jets made one of the biggest moves of the offseason over the weekend when the let Revis get traded to Tampa Bay, we did pick up another first round pick. Lets just hope that our new GM has a plan in place for these two draft picks and we do not end up like we have in so many years before this.... with a draft blunder.
Here are our draft night blunder highlights:
"We want Sapp, We Want Sapp, We want.... boooooo!"
I have a question for you world..... how on earth did you give this man his own reality show???
Yes that is Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte.... and yes he has his own show called "What Would Ryan Lochte Do". I saw a painful six minutes of this show yesterday and it literally gave me a headache.
Case in point... He calls his friends the "Lochterage".
I can't even go on.
America stop giving shows to everyone and anyone!!!
Well this weekend I'm officially taking the championship belt for best girlfriend and sister of the year. I am headed up to NJ with my boyfriend to pick up my little brother and take us all to our first UFC Mixed Martial Arts Event at the Prudential Center in Newark. I know sounds crazy but I'm super excited.
When else can you enjoy a ridiculously crazy sporting event with two of your favorite people in the entire world?
That and its going to be a fun evening, take a look at this video and you will see why.
The world lost an amazing folk singer on Monday when Richie Havens passed away at the age of 72 from a heart attack. He was a big deal in the folk scene of the Sixties and was actually the first act to hit the stage at Woodstock. He was most famous for the imaginative covers he did from classic bands like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles (look up his cover of "Here Comes the Sun"). But its the Woodstock story that I like the best.
He had already had a little fame before he was asked to play at the famous festival. Recalling his trip to the grounds by helicopter he said "It was awesome, like double Times Square on New Year's Eve in perfect daylight with no walls or buildings to hold people in place". He also wasn't supposed to be the first act to open the festival, it was supposed to be the band Sweetwater but that band ended up stuck in traffic and co-organizer Michael Lang then approached Havens and basically begged Havens to go on instead.
After performing a half-dozen songs, Havens ran out of materials until he later said he remembered "that world I kept hearing while I looked over the crowd in my first moments onstage. The word was: freedom." Havens began chanting that world over and over, backed by his second guitarist and conga player and eventually segued into the gospel song "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" which he had remembered from church. The medley wasn't just a crowd pleaser, it later became a highlight of the Woodstock movie, which immortalized Havens.
"My fondest memory was realizing that I was seeing something I never thought I'd ever see in my lifetime - an assemblage of such numbers of people who had the same spirit and consciousness."
Storm Thorgerson a British graphic designer who is responsible for creating album covers for Phish, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Muse, Genesis and many others died yesterday after a long battle with cancer he was 69.
He is mostly known for his long standing relationship with the members of Pink Floyd (he met them in grammar school) and is responsible for the iconic "Dark Side of the Moon" album cover.
Here is a quote from David Gilmour. "We first met in our early teens. We would gather at Sheep's Green, a spot by the river in Cambridge and Storm would always be there holding forth, making the most noise, bursting with ideas and enthusiasm. Nothing has ever really changed. He had been a constant force in my life, both at work and in private, a shoulder to cry on and a great friend. The artworks that he created for Pink Floyd from 1968 to the present day have been an inseparable part of our work".
Phish was lucky enough to get him to do the album cover for "Slip, Stitch and Pass" pictured below.
I know I talked about the Battle Rounds of The Voice yesterday but the best duet I saw all week was last night on "Glee". My girls Idina Menzel and Lea Michele threw down on the song "Next to Me" and it was incredible. Actually the entire episode was incredible last night. Glad to see the show is making its way back to where it first started...
Check out this performance:
Editor Note:
Lea also did an amazing job with "Don't Stop Believing" and its worth the post too. Say what you want about this girl but she can sing. No doubt.
I am currently making a mix for someone special and he has asked to include Phish's cover of Loving Cup. When thinking of the best possible version to include I easily go to this one that was performed at Festival 8 in California. It's got the horns, its got Sharon Jones singing back up its pretty much the most epic performance of the song you could ever imagine. Also I've already listened to it 3 times while putting together his mix. What a gem.
Patton Oswalt made an epic appearance on Parks and Recreation last night. His task was to literally ramble on about whatever topic he wanted to for as long as possible creating a fillabuster for the Parks and Recreation department. The entire thing is improvised and he went off for 8 minutes about a new star wars plot that includes a cross over with Marvel characters and a robot chubbacca. It was amazing.
In light of the events unfolding in Boston right now I would like to start out the day with some happier news. Last night Daft Punk released the first single off their new album and its the one featuring Pharrell (remember I posted the video of him talking about this collaboration yesterday). The groove is funky and sick and it will be on repeat for a while today.
So instead of watching the news unfold and hear different news outlets break different stories. Relax for a moment listen to this song and get your day started off with good news rather than bad.
Well since I just did an American Idol post I thought that I should do my Voice Battle Rounds post. Its no secret that The Voice has taken over American Idol's audience over the past few years and I think its due to these battle rounds and the blind auditions. It sets it apart from Idol. The other thing it does is the show focus's on being positive. Nobody ever gets slammed, you don't put anyone down, every person on the show has talent and they showed America you don't have to be mean to be #1.
Here were the best battles from this week.
And this next one I think was the best of the week:
Now as you all know I've totally converted over from American Idol to The Voice yet last night due to the extreme lack of anything on television I was able to catch some of the Idol's performances. I was surprised to see the Top 5 is all female (girl power) and well they all can actually sing very well. Should be a tight race coming into the finale but from what I saw last night it should come down to these two.
These my friends are standout performances.
Angie Miller with "I'll Stand By You"
And then Candace Glover literally brought down the house with her performance of the Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston duet "When You Believe". Can't imagine doing that 15 feet in front of the legend that is Mariah herself and she not only did it but she killed it.
Its amazing how obsessed I am with this artist. I have been for years and it feels like I've been waiting for an eternity for her new album. Yet now I can say it Sara Bareilles is back with brand new music and an album to be released very soon. I don't know what it is but something about her voice, her sound, the fact she writes everything herself and the willingness to just state the truth has me first on line to buy everything she does. I also vow right now to not miss her tour if it comes within 90 miles of Richmond.
Here is her new song that dropped yesterday called "Brave"
This Saturday April 20th is "Record Store Day" I will be out on the hunt trying to track down Phish's release of their "Lawn Boy LP". Only 7,500 are in circulation and I'm hellbent on finding one. Wish me luck!
Way to go New Zealand!! Yesterday they overwhelmingly passed the bill for marriage equality and upon passage of the bill the gallery broke out into singing the traditional NZ love song "Pokarekare Ana" which includes the translated lyrics:
"I have written you a letter, and enclosed with it my ring. If your people should see it, then the trouble will begin....My poor pen is broken, my paper is spent, but my love for you endures and remains forever more."
I've been telling you all along this band is impressive not only for their music but the business that they have been able to create. Now the "Priceonomics Blog" has done a feature on them. Here is the first paragraph followed by the link to the entire article. Read it.
"Over the past four years the rock band Phish has generated over $120 million in ticket sales, handily surpassing well known artists like Radiohead, The Black Keys and One Direction. Since their start 30 years ago, Phish has consistently been one of the most popular and lucrative touring acts in america, generating well over a quarter billion in ticket sales. Yet by other measures, the band isn't popular at all. Only one of their original albums has ever made the Billboard top 10 rankings. None of the 883 songs has ever become a popular hit on the radio. They've only made one music video to promote a song and it was mocked mercilessly by Beavis and Butthead on MTV.
If the traditional band business model is to generate hype through the media and radio airplay and then monetize that hype through album sales and tours, Phish doesn't fit the model at all. For a band of their stature, their album sales are minuscule and radio airplay non-existent. And so when the "music business" cratered in the 1990s because of file-sharing and radio's importance declined because of the internet, Phish remained unaffected and profitable as ever."
To read the rest of one of the more interesting Phish articles I've ever read.
Follow THIS LINK.
My good friend of many many years Christian Maurice is a talented man. I met him about 10 years ago at a Phish show in Greensboro, NC and we have never looked back. He is by far one of my favorite people to go to a show with and since he lives so far away I always cherish the times we are able to do so. (Hey Christian this is a shout to get your ass to Denver in August). Anyways, like I said Christian is a talented artist. He is an actor/singer/musician all around awesome dude and is now posting song covers on his facebook page. This takes some guts to do so and well he sounds a billion times better than if I were to try so I'm going to feature some of his covers today.
I'm also loving the Phish posters he has up in the background of his apartment.... some look very familiar :)
Ahhhhh! The new Daft Punk album is almost here. Repeat it is almost time to hear the new Daft Punk album. I can't be the only one that is super excited for this news right? Didn't think so. Everything I'm hearing about it is that the album is amazing and I can not wait to have it coming through my speakers.
Here Pharrell Williams sits down and talks about collaborating with them on one of the songs off the new album.
The Neil Diamond classic has been making its rounds in ballparks across the country. As many know its the famed song of the Boston Red Sox but this week it was the nations anthem. Check out the great video below.
I would love to try a wingsuit one day but I have a feeling certain people in my life would not allow it. But seriously how ridiculous awesome is this video?
I know I've talked a lot about this man on this blog lately. First I hated him when I first saw him perform on Ellen then I downloaded the entire album and fell in love with it and now well I'm posting his music videos. Ridiculous as they are....(and this one is pretty ridiculous!)
Here is the video for one of my favorite tunes off of the album.
Sorry for my absence over the last two days after what had happened in Boston on Monday. I've had some time to reflect and the only thing I can say about it is that there are way more good people than bad people in this world and its only the bad that get the press. We have to remember that. We have to honor those who ran to help. We have to never forget the three people who died and the hundreds that were injured during this incident. I am very proud of the city of Boston and their people this week. The stories I'm hearing are nothing short of amazing. Like this one from a runner named Laura a story I found posted on my friends facebook wall because she knows her.
"As some of you know, I was 1/2 mile from the finish line when the explosion went off. I had no idea what was going on until I finally stopped and asked someone. Knowing my family was at the finish line waiting for me, I started panicking trying to call them. Diverted away from the finish line I started walking down Mass Ave towards Symphony Hall still not knowing where my family was. Right before the intercection of Huntington, I was able to get in touch with Bryan and found out he was with my family and they were safe. I was just so happy to hear his voice that I sat down and started crying. I just couldn't hold it back. At that moment, a couple walking by stopped. The woman took the space tent off her husband, who had finished the marathon, and wrapped it around me. She asked me if I was okay, if I knew where my family was. I reassured her I knew where they were and I would be okay. The man then asked me if I finished to which I nodded "no". He then proceeded to take the medal off from around his neck and placed it around mine. He told me "you are a finisher in my eyes". I was barely able to choke out a "thank you" between my tears. Odds are I with never see this couple again, but I'm hoping that one day they will read this and I will find them again and be able to express to them just what this gesture meant to me. I was so in need of a familiar face at that point in time. This couple reassured me that even though such a terrible thing happened, everything was going to be okay".
So yes. This is what I will take away from what happened on Monday. Even in the most tragic of circumstances there are always good people willing to help each other. Remember that. Final thing is to tell the people in your life every single day how much you love them and appreciate them. This world is certainly a scary place.
Here is the National Anthem from the Boston Bruins game yesterday. Amazing.
Sorry Faith Hill but you and football just don't mix.
For the last six years Faith Hill has been the voice of "Sunday Night Football" yet after this last year she has decided to "Let someone else rock the open".
Oh thank you lord.
The only way it can get worse is if they hire C.Lo like Monday Night Football did.... eeek.
I watched a whole 12 minutes of the MTV Movie Awards before turning them off.
Rebel Wilson was great as the host for the time that I watched but as soon as she was done with her opening monologue I was out. I heard that they gave the girl from Harry Potter some type of Lifetime Achievement Award. Girl is 22. Show is ridiculous. Moving on.
I'm hearing nothing but great things about the new Paramore album. I may even download it myself tonight and give it a listen. Here is their first single off of it called "Still Into You". Also how could it go wrong with probably one of the best young talents in the game with Hayley Williams.
I am just getting into the golf game but if it was anything like the second half of the day yesterday during the Masters I am in! This is my favorite shot of the day.
Congrats to the cutie Adam Scott for taking the green jacket. The first in Australia's history.
Well I obviously have to do the cool thing today and do a post about Coachella right? I mean how else will I stay hip and up with what is cool? So here it goes.
Coachella happened over the weekend and from the looks of it it was a hip concert where all the hip kids were spotted. But for real there were a few performances that I did manage to see that were worth the look.
Here it goes:
The Postal Service singing "Such Great Heights"
Here is the entire Red Hot Chili Peppers set:
Also the entire Tegan And Sara set is worth the watch
Big news of today is that I guess Justin Bieber visited the Anne Frank house over the weekend and wrote in the guest book "Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a Belieber"
Probably not the best thing to write at the Anne Frank House... Just saying...
This kid is not on the greatest roll as of late. Including leaving a pet monkey with German officials, spitting on a neighbor during a verbal dispute or showing up 2 hours late to a performance in London.
Just head back to the states and relax Justin. Nobody wants to see you pull a Britney.
Why hello there! Sorry I missed out on the end of last week but work was a little nuts and then Friday I took off early to head to the Outer Banks to hang out with some friends and help put on a few events. I didn't get much rest but I did manage to see the beach, eat crab legs and visit the old house I used to live at while I was there. All I will say about that house is it never stood a chance and I'm pretty sure was never the same after we left. By the looks of it its ready for demo any day now...
I hope everyone had a great weekend and did something fun and exciting out in the beautiful weather.
And here is what I'm most excited for today.... the premiere of the Hunger Games Catching Fire movie due out at the end of the year. Movie looks amazing!
Its official. Just bought a plane ticket to Denver for the Labor Day Phish concerts. Which means. Plane Done. Tickets Done. Hotel Done. Only thing left is to just enjoy the ride.
Well the auditions for The Voice came to an end last night and I can confidently say that as far as teams go, this season is Team Adam's season to lose. The amount of talent he has on his team is unbelievable, he will literally have to cut an amazing act each week. I feel bad for him for his future choices. Anyways here are some highlights from last nights auditions.
(Also remember last night that a lot of the teams were already filled so some judges were unable to turn their chairs around even if they wanted to)
Jacqui Sandell sang one of my favorite songs "Dreams"
Amber Carrington filled the country part of the evening with a great cover of "Good Girl"
Luke Edgemon's voice is like butter. He sang "I Can't Make You Love Me"
Jessica Childress closed the night with "Marry You"
On Saturday night my fabulous boyfriend was gracious enough to feed my ridiculous side and took me to go see the re-release of Jurasic Park in 3D. It was just as amazing as I remembered it. I loved this movie as a kid, it was one of those movies like Christmas Vacation that my family watched over and over and over again. The 3d effects were cool but what I thought was the best was the goosebumps I got when they played the theme song. I remember playing this score when I was in band in middle school and it still ranks among one of my favorites that we did (and we did Forest Gump people!).
Here it is in all its glory. What a beautiful piece of music.
Here is the new video for "Still Into You" from the band Paramore. I go back and forth between being a fan of this band but the one thing I will say is that girl can sing.
Here are a few fun vidoes to get you through the day.
First is Lionel Messi vs Robot Goalie
Louisville won the NCAA Championship last night (and I officially won our bracket challenge) you know there is just one more thing left to do.... Yup here it is the "One Shining Moment"
One to surely make you cry is the 7 year old Cancer patient who scored a 70 yard TD in the Nebraska Spring Game over the weekend
This is what a dunk contest is supposed to look like... too bad it was in college.
Hello and welcome to another Tuesday on the blog. Sorry I didn't get on here yesterday, it was just a weird day and I didn't have the chance to get on here and chat. My bad, I'll try and make up for it today.
Here are a few things to catch you up on quickly in the world of country music. (Wait what!?!)
-The Academy of Country Music Awards were on Sunday night. Do yourself a favor and look up some of the fashion on the red carpet. There were some good ones.... Also who is Luke Bryan? He won entertainer of the year yet I have never heard of him at all...oh well.
-Kelly Clarkson said that Blake Shelton will be officiating her wedding this summer. Considering she is marrying Reba's manager that wedding will sure be pure country.
-One last thing about country music and then I promise you I will stop. Brad Paisley has released a very questionable new country-rap song with LL Cool J called... wait for it.... "Accidental Racist". In the song the country singer tries to explain his affinity for Confderate flag apparel to a black man, claiming he is no racist and he wants to put America's brutal past behind him. This is a true story, his album drops today.
Yeah I think thats a good place to stop with country music right now.
Who needs a fancy studio and equipment when you have a band willing to just play a picnic performance? Check out the band Phoenix with their song "Entertainment". I'm not 100% sold on the song but anyone who can put on this type of performance wins in my book.
Rick Ross found himself in a lot of controversy yesterday when one of his rap lyrics was interpreted to be about rape.
To be clear the rhyme is: "Put molly all in her champagne, she ain't even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain't even know it."
I don't know about you but that sounds pretty much like rape to me.
Rappers like everyone else have the freedom of speech to do and say whatever you would like. But that does not mean I have to like or respect you at all. And you can apologize all you want and say that the media has "misinterpreted" your lyrics but in my book you just dropped right down to the bottom. The lyric was not misinterpreted, and just because you didn't use the word rape doesn't mean you didn't know what you were saying. Please don't play us for fools.
Meet Gin Wigmore. I did yesterday on the Ellen show and I was absolutely blown away by her talent and thought "yup, this girl is going to be huge". So I better get on this before the rest of the world catches up with her talent. Trust me once you hear her music you will not forget her name.
When researching her I read this quote "Gin's songwriting seems to subtly embrace so many different musical forms and lyrically, there's often a maturity and depth that you wouldn't normally associate with someone so young. There's profound connection between her and all the great, soulful singers who've come before her and she adds a new chapter to that story"
She is from New Zealand. At the age of 16 she won the US based International Singer-Songwriter competition with a ballad called "Hallelujah" written for her father who recently lost his fight with cancer. She was the youngest to ever win the competition and the only on in its history to win without being signed.
From there her career has just taken off. She released her debut album called "Holy Smoke" in 2009 and followed it with "Gravel and Wine" in 2011. Her song "Man Like That" was used in the Bond film in 2012.
Yesterday she performed "Black Sheep" on Ellen and I fell in love instantly. Remember this name people.
