We'll Make It, I Swear

Just finished watching VH1's Greatest Hits of the Eighties. That was SO different from Greatest Hits of the Nineties.

(spoiler alert)

The top three actually kind of blew my mind. I can't say that I disagree necessarily, But my neck is a little sore form all those double takes.

3. Duran Duran, Hungry Like the Wolf
2. Def Leppard, Pour Some Sugar On Me
1. Bon Jovi, Livin' On A Prayer

Um, OK, VH1. Whatever you say.

Happy Valentine's Day Yesterday

It's been respectfully requested that I hurry up and blog already so that yesterday's depressing post can get moved down out of view. Out of sight, out of mind. So please to enjoy this lovely video. And yes, it is the girl from the Juno soundtrack. Yum!

Second Chance at Hockey

Before anyone corrects my last post (mom), it turned out that I was lucky and had misread the schedule--no Sharks game last night, it's tonight instead. Because I would have hated to have missed the game in order to find out that Smells Like Teen Spirit was the number one song of the nineties. Apparently. I'm not sure I can argue with that, no matter how much I want to.

Licky Boom Boom Down

No Law and Order for me tonight. Not even the Sharks/Canucks game in HD. Why? VH1 is running the Top 100 Songs of the Nineties. Ahem.

You knew Informer would be up there. Mamma Said Knock You Out, no duh. But Cannonball? That was a pleasant surprise.

So why am I blogging instead of watching Top 100 Songs of the Nineties, entries 43-1? Even I have to pee sometimes, and the computer room is situated between the couch and the bathroom.

Why didn't I roll my eyes when Color Me Badd came on and turn to the hockey game instead? Can't. Stop. Watching. Commercials are only for getting more Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and making sure that my baby is still breathing.

You're so cute, I could eat you up...how many points are you?

I've gone and joined Weight Watchers. Yup. I'm going to try and get rid of some of this baby weight. Then I'm going to try to drop the "I'm leaving Ireland soon so I better get my fill of curry fries" weight. Then I'll try to loose the Turkey, France, Italy and Portugal weight. Then I'll work on the "I'm leaving San Francisco to live in Ireland for a year so I better get my fill of Raja's Indian Pizza" weight. I mean come on, they have pizza with tandoori on it. It's especially good when dipped in chicken tikka sauce. And they deliver. Sigh.

I've heard good things about people's experience with the whole points system, especially after having a baby. So far, I like keeping track of all of the points. It's like a game. A game where I go to bed hungry and dream about cheeseburgers.

It's working well with the Disneyland trip; I get to set two-month short term goals, like fitting into pre-pregnancy clothes and getting to the point where I eat 3 different kinds of veggies each day. And I can celebrate my inevitable success with cotton candy! Can you say counter-productive?

On a completely unrelated note, I discovered today while listening to Andrew Bird that I only like "blues" music when the part traditionally played by the harmonica is played by a violin or a trumpet or some other horn, but not a saxophone. I found this to be interesting and enlightening.

Like it always does

Not the best video ever, but the song is my song today. Because I miss Mir so damn much.



That night lives in infamy. On Mir's car.

Cooking with The Ramones

As some of you know, I recently left my job at The Planning Shop. This way, I could focus on getting the wedding planned and done, and now I can prepare for Samson's immanent arrival. Then, when he gets here, I can spend my days blissfully watching my perfect sleeping baby who never cries. Or, more realistically, I can spend my days washing loads of baby laundry and scrubbing baby poop out of Ozzy's fur.

Until then, I've been finding ways to keep myself busy while Max is at work. Not imaginative ways, but in ways that are perfect for me: I've doing the things that I've meant to do for the last 3 or 4 years and never found time to do. This mostly consists of getting organized in general and completing artsy craftsy projects in particular. Vacation shadow boxes, weaving and spinning projects, massive iPod playlist creations, photo organizing, and the like.

And cooking! I've cooked something ridiculous like 5 dinners in the last 2 weeks. And they mostly didn't suck. I've been baking too, and I've got a new favorite ingredient: music. I've been on a down-swing in my musical ebb and flowiness for the past few years, and it seems to have finally dissipated. For the first time in a long time, I've been choosing music over TV for alone in the house company. Which means that I got to listen to kick ass Ramones songs while chopping walnuts for the apple honey cake I made for tonight's Rosh Hashanah dinner. It also means I've been watching a lot less TV lately. Of course, Max and I still have our shows that we watch together (have you seen Showtime's new series, Californication? That David Duchovny is something else.), and I've never been one to turn down a mid-day Law & Order marathon, but for the most part the TV stays off during the day.

Now, if I can ever get my hands on a Wii, that could all change.

I don't know whether I can handle this weather

Stupid rain. Stupid, stupid rain. It's been raining all week, anywhere from hot and muggy rain a la the East Coast to cold pelting rain that makes me frown. Our good friends the Varros are coming to Dublin on Saturday to visit for a week, and there's a lot of rain in the forecast. I've only got 3 1/2 weeks left to complain about the weather, so I guess I'd better get busy.

I wanted to post a song that sort of fit this weather-induced mood I'm in, but I couldn't find an online version (to purchase or otherwise, including iTunes) of the one I had mind. So here's a link to a place where you can listen to it. It's from a Channel 4 Radio ad that plays on our UK TV channels regularly, and it makes feel kind of gloomy-happy.

And here's another song that kind of works for my mood today, too.

Once

There's a terrific Irish movie that seems to be getting a major-label release in the US. Once is not to be missed, and I'm telling you all now: find out when and where it's playing in your city and GO SEE IT. Then go buy the soundtrack. It sounds like this.

Electric Youth

Does anybody remember this kick ass TV show?



Wow, I loved that show. I think I was in 4th or 5th grade, and like any 4th or 5th grader, I was really into the whole lip-syncing and making up dances kind of thing. This show had everything: lip syncing, choreography, teenagers--perfect for the all-important 10-year-old demographic.

Everyone who knows our engagement story will not be surprised to know that we've considered incorporating some choreographed lip syncing into our wedding ceremony, specifically Michael Jackson's Thriller. When the story of your proposal involves zombie armies and general living deadness (zombie armies and general living deadness that can shake their undead booties, mind you), it's only natural to bring it when it comes to the wedding. Sadly, we're not the only ones with awesome ideas like this.



(Thanks, Laura!)

Of course, ours would be much better. But our wedding's going to be so small that everyone would have to join in, including the dogs and the rabbi, for it to have any real impact. I'm not writing the choreographed lip syncing wedding segment off altogether, but maybe something a little more duet-friendly. Like (I've Had) The Time Of My Life from Dirty Dancing, or Tonight, I Celebrate My Love by Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson. You can't loose with a name like Peabo.

This is the cat, leaving the bag

OK then, so it's been hard for me to blog regularly lately. It's not that my life hasn't been a whirlwind of excitement--it has! Full of travels, house guests, sunny weather and wedding plans. In fact, the only things missing are those things with 4 legs and those things with initials like MEH.

In fact, it's the excitement that has kept me from blogging. I've had one big thing on my mind for weeks now, one, big, un-bloggable thing, but now I'm going to blog about it--and I apologize to anyone who didn't get to hear it from the horse's mouth before reading it here...Max and I have a tiny little friend on the way, in the form of a bun in the ol' oven. That's right! We expect little Samson to join our happy family in late October, which means I'll be fashionably pregnant at our long-ago planned wedding. Awesome. Maternity bridal fashion rocks!

Who knows if getting this load off my mind will help me blog more regularly. And I apologize in advance if my posts are more-or-less (probably more) pregnancy-centric for a while. I'm still very, very excited. But I've never been one to blog about really personal stuff, so hopefully I'll keep it to a happy mix of illegally posted mp3s and pictures of me frolicking throughout Ireland and the World at Large...for a few more months, anyway. And as soon as I start opening my posts with "This week, Samson is the size of a small lemon" go ahead and remove me from your bookmarks and feed readers--I understand.

But don't be surprised if while you're reading my blog, you get an overwhelming feeling of a giant, ear-to-ear grin that just won't go away.

Dublin Days

Max's sister is in town for a few days, and we love having her around. For the bank holiday, we went to the Jameson Distillery (effectively completing the holy trifecta of Irish Whiskey distilleries--Bushmill's, Old Midleton, and Jameson) and the Guinness Storehouse, and topped the day off with some festive teppan-yaki, a traditional Irish favorite.

More pictures later, and maybe a little gem or two from my recent soundtrack of life. (Until then, Liz has your musical needs covered.)

Soundtrack of Scattered

Been kind of scattered and unfocused this week. Not too conducive to blogging. But here are some songs to get you through the weekend:

My new and current obsession

One of the highlights from the CD that Beeb made for me last year

Sh-Boom Sh-Boom

It was right around this time last year when I drove to Disneyland with Beeb. She had this terrific Doo Wop CD (which I may or may not have hijacked until I left for Ireland) that really rubbed me the right way. A few iTunes playlists later, and it's been a Doo Wop kind of year for me. It's especially helpful when I'm walking around rainy Dublin listening to The Platters or some such, and my half smile is all Beeb induced. And then I know the love is real when I go to her Myspace page (ONLY to read her blog, as I am firmly anti-Myspace) and she's got The Flamingos playing in the background. Sigh.

Feel the love of Whispering Bells by The Del-Vikings. Is it the ding ding dings that rock my world? Or could it be the dong dong dongs? Either way, the hand claps make me weak in the knees.

Music to my ears

For a long time now--possibly since college--I haven't had a reason or opportunity to listen to music on headphones, other than the odd airplane flight. For the last number of years, I've spent a majority of my time in places where headphones would be inappropriate. The car, which contains a car stereo (not to mention the fact that listening to headphones in a car is about as smart as walking against traffic on the railroad tracks while obliviously lost in thought). My bull-pen style open-plan office, where I work with 3 other people, so headphones would be pretty much rude, plus I'm regularly on phone duty. My apartment, with kick-ass speakers and a long list of things to do that does include cleaning, hanging out with Max, playing with pets, and watching TV, but doesn't include listening to music on headphones.

Ah, but I have none of these things in Dublin. And I make a point of leaving my apartment every day and walking somewhere--to the gym, to the grocery store, to run errands--the perfect opportunity to listen to music on headphones. It really transforms my world, and was a bit hard to get used to, actually. But my soundtrack has been growing with old and new favorites, and I'm convinced that some albums were created specifically to be listened to while walking anonymously around a city. Sufjan Stevens' Illinois is one of them, as is Casiotone for the Painfully Alone's Etiquette.

But today I ventured out to rediscover the joyous sounds of stereo that you can only get with headphones: The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and The Beatles' Revolver. My ears are still tingling with audiophonic satisfaction. This definitely makes the list of reasons why I like living in Dublin.

Try this one on for size. I've still got residual goosebumps.

Listen to Paolo

Having a hard time finding the words this week. But the ongoing soundtrack is always there.

Turn Around, Bright Eyes

Nanna has been extra super cute lately. Last night, as I was serenading her with "Total Eclipse of the Heart," she turned around and looked at me with such an expression of love. Such adoration, respect, awe, and more than a little codependency. Thank goodness cell phones are equipped with cameras to capture these loving moments of tenderness.



By the way, if you're looking for a good cover of Total Eclipse of the Heart (and you know how I feel about covers), check out this one. Warning: contains partial (and--I'm guessing--unintentional) nudity. And kitchen appliances. Those crazy Norwegians! And here's a link to some Total Eclipse of the Heart trivia for good measure. Why not.

And I dare you to get this song out of your head by tomorrow morning.

KDEB Request line

This one's for beeb, representin' the east side of Burlingame.

You deserve each other, this hat and you

A recently posted comment:

1 Comments:
Anonymous said...
you need to have more things about wicked

6/29/2005 4:29 PM

Well! I've never been one to turn down a good suggestion. More things about Wicked indeed!

First additional thing about Wicked: Oh. My. God. 3/4 of our office (not including the canine constituency) is obsessed with the soundtrack. 1/4 is going to see Wicked again when it comes to San Francisco, 1/2 is seriously considering shelling out the $150+ to go see it again when it comes to San Francisco.

Second additional thing about Wicked: Kristin Chenoweth. In all her squeaky glory. That woman has got a set of pipes that would make Celine Dion blush.

Second additional thing about Wicked, part two: Taylor the Latte Boy, as sung by Kristin Chenoweth (about 3/4 of the way down the page).

Third additional thing about Wicked: "Defying Gravity." Eventually, I'll post this song here. It just gives me chills--and you can download it as a ringtone here.

More additional things about Wicked later. We'll end today's discussion with this image:



Check her out. Don't mess with Elpheba, man. She's defyyyyyyying graaaaaaaaavity...

The Great White North comes to Palo Alto

It's raining again, and the commute was hellish. But I had beautiful music to get me through it, so I don't feel the need to fill my blog with traffic and weather complaints. Consider yourselves lucky (she said to all 3 readers.).

If I were the kind of person who gave shout-outs, I would give one to I & J who have a special new friend in their lives. They are going to make terrific parents.

Later this afternoon, The Planning Shop is going to get a visit from one our favorite people: Wade Davies. Wade is the guy who prints our books. He doesn't print them personally, but he manages all the stuff between us sending him an electronic file and him sending us physical books. And he's plays hockey! And he's Canadian. One of the first interactions I ever had with Wade was back in 1999. It was the week before Thanksgiving, and a fax came in with a cartoon drawing a hitch-hiking turkey and an American flag. The caption read, "Don't let your turkey get away! Happy Thanksgiving!" it wasn't that it was specifically Canadian in origin, or even non-American, but something about it was so sincere and sweet. It was discovered years later that it had come from a book of fax templates specifically designed for Canadians to send to their American clients...I still have that fax.