If I could sing like anyone, I'd sing like Brooke Fraser.
I'm sure this song isn't new to most of my friends, but just listen to that voice! It's like honey! She makes it sound so effortless.
And how about that first chorus?? Right at 0:48, the drums come in - no bass! - and with Brooke's voice going into her upper range, there's this hollow space that's leaves us waiting, waiting, waiting... until BAM! --At 1:14, the bass comes in and fills it in.
And those lyrics! And the melody! And her sweet honey voice. Sigh... This is one of those songs that I will love and not grow tired of for years and years.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
music monday: windows open
With summer in full force, I thought I'd share some of my favorite songs for driving with the windows open.
1. "Everything's Right" by Matt Wertz. This song gets extra points because it starts with the words "windows down." :) It's about driving with the windows open! That's why it's #1. This song has such a great feel and it makes the world seem like it's going your way. How can you not love a song like this?
2. "My Time With You" by David Choi featuring Kina Grannis. This is definitely more of a cutesy song, but it's fun and they're talking about going to the beach and singing all their cares away. How is that not a great windows-open song? They also get extra points for the ukulele.
3. "Any Other Day" by Wyclef Jean featuring Norah Jones. There is no other song that has the same groove or chill-factor as this song. I centered the entire playlist for our wedding reception around this song because this is the atmosphere I wanted to create. Really, really great song! Thanks to my brother who showed it to me.
4. "I Was Made For You" by She & Him. I must have mentioned Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward's She & Him at least three times by now, but I just love them! I especially love the retro feel of this song. Can you just see the girls in their poodle skirts and bright lipstick?
Do you have any songs that you love listening to with the windows open?
1. "Everything's Right" by Matt Wertz. This song gets extra points because it starts with the words "windows down." :) It's about driving with the windows open! That's why it's #1. This song has such a great feel and it makes the world seem like it's going your way. How can you not love a song like this?
2. "My Time With You" by David Choi featuring Kina Grannis. This is definitely more of a cutesy song, but it's fun and they're talking about going to the beach and singing all their cares away. How is that not a great windows-open song? They also get extra points for the ukulele.
3. "Any Other Day" by Wyclef Jean featuring Norah Jones. There is no other song that has the same groove or chill-factor as this song. I centered the entire playlist for our wedding reception around this song because this is the atmosphere I wanted to create. Really, really great song! Thanks to my brother who showed it to me.
4. "I Was Made For You" by She & Him. I must have mentioned Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward's She & Him at least three times by now, but I just love them! I especially love the retro feel of this song. Can you just see the girls in their poodle skirts and bright lipstick?
Do you have any songs that you love listening to with the windows open?
Monday, July 5, 2010
music monday: she & him at house of blues, boston
Cyrus and I went to see She & Him at the House of Blues last Thursday night!
I used to go to tons of concerts in the 00's (what do we call that decade??), but then I realized that concerts cost a lot of money, so I stopped going to every show ever that I wanted to go to. So, it'd been a while since my last one (maybe after John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae in '07?).
First of all, the venue was awesome. We got seated tickets on the third floor. I was afraid we'd feel far away from the action, but since House of Blues is so small, it still felt like we were pretty close, even though we were in the farthest section of the entire place. Great acoustics, of course.
After the doors opened and before the show began, servers came around and asked for our drink orders and brought them right to our seats! Tell me if you've ever had that at a live show before!
But in the end, it was She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) who we came to see, and they totally rocked out! They played pretty much every song on their two albums almost nonstop for an hour and a half - that's a pretty good show. I was a little disappointed that there was hardly any stage banter, though. I was expecting some good stories from Zooey, but all we got was, "Hey, what's up, Boston" and "I like your bangs, too." But it was still fun to watch her - she danced around barefoot like a little girl having the time of her life! You love to see that, you know?
And I totally forgot about that guy. There's always one guy at a concert who is just way into it more than anyone else. And at a very subdued She & Him concert, I didn't expect to see him there. But there he was, sitting a couple rows in front of us, pumping his fists and practically jumping out of his seat in excitement whenever there was any build-up or chorus. He just couldn't contain himself! So funny!!
After hearing one song after another, I did realize how similar everything began to sound, but it was still pretty good. The arrangements were just about the same live as they were on the album - the guitar solos, too. But whatever. It was a fun show.
I used to go to tons of concerts in the 00's (what do we call that decade??), but then I realized that concerts cost a lot of money, so I stopped going to every show ever that I wanted to go to. So, it'd been a while since my last one (maybe after John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae in '07?).
First of all, the venue was awesome. We got seated tickets on the third floor. I was afraid we'd feel far away from the action, but since House of Blues is so small, it still felt like we were pretty close, even though we were in the farthest section of the entire place. Great acoustics, of course.
After the doors opened and before the show began, servers came around and asked for our drink orders and brought them right to our seats! Tell me if you've ever had that at a live show before!
But in the end, it was She & Him (Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward) who we came to see, and they totally rocked out! They played pretty much every song on their two albums almost nonstop for an hour and a half - that's a pretty good show. I was a little disappointed that there was hardly any stage banter, though. I was expecting some good stories from Zooey, but all we got was, "Hey, what's up, Boston" and "I like your bangs, too." But it was still fun to watch her - she danced around barefoot like a little girl having the time of her life! You love to see that, you know?
And I totally forgot about that guy. There's always one guy at a concert who is just way into it more than anyone else. And at a very subdued She & Him concert, I didn't expect to see him there. But there he was, sitting a couple rows in front of us, pumping his fists and practically jumping out of his seat in excitement whenever there was any build-up or chorus. He just couldn't contain himself! So funny!!
After hearing one song after another, I did realize how similar everything began to sound, but it was still pretty good. The arrangements were just about the same live as they were on the album - the guitar solos, too. But whatever. It was a fun show.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
word wednesday: homophone confusion
I was crazy embarrassed when a friend of mine expressed such disdain for people who confuse discrete and discreet. I thought for about two-and-a-half seconds whether I should just scoff with her or to honestly say that I was one of those people. So I hid my tail between my legs and asked, "...What is the difference?"
Getting [*some] homophones mixed up is excusable, especially since a lot of what we read on the internet these days mixes them up anyway. So how are we supposed to learn them correctly? [*But absolutely no one should get you're, your, their, there and they're mixed up after fourth grade.]
My friend told me about the difference between discrete and discreet:
wont vs. want
Getting [*some] homophones mixed up is excusable, especially since a lot of what we read on the internet these days mixes them up anyway. So how are we supposed to learn them correctly? [*But absolutely no one should get you're, your, their, there and they're mixed up after fourth grade.]
My friend told me about the difference between discrete and discreet:
- discrete means individually separate or distinct. For example, in my assessment class, we were learning about discrete-point test items, where a student is tested on one specific content point, like changing present-tense verbs to past tense.
- discreet means careful and circumspect in one's speech or actions. Like I might discreetly tell a friend that she has a booger.
wont vs. want
- wont means accustomed or given or likely, like " 'Texas forever,' as Tim Riggins is wont to say."
- You guys know what want means.
- ascent means the act of rising or an upward slope, opposite of descent.
- assent means agreement or acquiescence.
- bologna is a sausage.
- baloney strictly refers to nonsense or foolish talk. Even though people pronounce baloney and bologna the same, never use baloney when you're talking about sausage.
- complacent means self-satisfying, smug or contented to a fault. This is a word people might use a lot at church. o_O
- complaisant is a loan word from French which means cheerfully obliging; tending to go along with others.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
comic sans
I've been emailing back and forth with my boss about meetings and tutoring students, but sometimes I feel like I'm writing to a pre-teen girl with the font and color she uses. I guess it's not quite as bad as a coworker I knew who didn't know the difference between then and than and stuck commas everywhere, but still! The font thing is such an easy fix! Click and click! Who looks at the Comic Sans font and thinks, "This looks professional. I think I'll let this font be the way potential clients and employees make their first impressions of me and my company."
Are there ways that coworkers you know write emails that make them seem unprofessional?
Photo source.
Monday, June 28, 2010
music monday: "freedom park" by marah
If you accumulate mp3s on your iTunes without knowing it like I do, your shuffle function is probably one of your closer friends. I came across this song that I already have the other day, and I was just blown away. Really blown away.
First it was the childhood chant "shimmy shimmy coco pop, shimmy shimmy rock!" that served as a refrain that caught my attention. Then it was the Bruce Springsteen-like vocals and a melody and instrumentation that screamed "Americana." I liked the carefree, summertime feel...
Then I read the lyrics.
Without listening too carefully, you'd think he's reminiscing about the greatest memories from his hometown, kinda like Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69" (but cooler). But if you read the lyrics, you'll see that the happy, breezy tone of the song is total irony. It's about going back to where you grew up (Philly, for these guys), and seeing "broken bottles, broken glass / $5 baggies on the ground" and revisiting "a swing set / where a little girl got shot."
(And yes, that's me - I was the one who uploaded the song onto YouTube! I couldn't find a full-length song to link to, so I made one myself! That's how much I love this song!)
I think I've stumbled into...greatness.
So whoever gave me this mp3, thank you!
First it was the childhood chant "shimmy shimmy coco pop, shimmy shimmy rock!" that served as a refrain that caught my attention. Then it was the Bruce Springsteen-like vocals and a melody and instrumentation that screamed "Americana." I liked the carefree, summertime feel...
Then I read the lyrics.
Without listening too carefully, you'd think he's reminiscing about the greatest memories from his hometown, kinda like Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69" (but cooler). But if you read the lyrics, you'll see that the happy, breezy tone of the song is total irony. It's about going back to where you grew up (Philly, for these guys), and seeing "broken bottles, broken glass / $5 baggies on the ground" and revisiting "a swing set / where a little girl got shot."
(And yes, that's me - I was the one who uploaded the song onto YouTube! I couldn't find a full-length song to link to, so I made one myself! That's how much I love this song!)
I think I've stumbled into...greatness.
So whoever gave me this mp3, thank you!
Friday, June 25, 2010
basil blight
Check for mildew on your outdoor basil plants!
I heard this story on NPR the other day: Basil Downy Mildew Threatens Basil Plants. Apparently the mildew is in full force in Florida, New York, New Jersey and Ohio. But it's a "community disease" which means that it spreads fast.
Look for a yellowish tint on the top of the leaf. You'll know for sure if you've been hit by the mildew if you turn the leaf over and you see a grayish, almost purplish dusty growth. (Gross!)
Cut the leaves off immediately and carefully - you don't want the spores to fly off and get into other people's gardens. Since the rest of your plant is probably not going to last, harvest the leaves and make a pesto or a crazy huge caprese salad. Because it's over.
Speaking of basil, ours has been going strong for a few months now. But I swear that it's not growing! I feel like it's been the same height for weeks now, but Cyrus is sure that it is growing. We'll see.
I heard this story on NPR the other day: Basil Downy Mildew Threatens Basil Plants. Apparently the mildew is in full force in Florida, New York, New Jersey and Ohio. But it's a "community disease" which means that it spreads fast.
Look for a yellowish tint on the top of the leaf. You'll know for sure if you've been hit by the mildew if you turn the leaf over and you see a grayish, almost purplish dusty growth. (Gross!)
Cut the leaves off immediately and carefully - you don't want the spores to fly off and get into other people's gardens. Since the rest of your plant is probably not going to last, harvest the leaves and make a pesto or a crazy huge caprese salad. Because it's over.
Speaking of basil, ours has been going strong for a few months now. But I swear that it's not growing! I feel like it's been the same height for weeks now, but Cyrus is sure that it is growing. We'll see.
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