Forget Quoting Shakespeare

I’m pretty sure I’m the first person to ever have to re-order wedding invitations because the first version misquoted a Kelis lyric.

And it’s not from “I Hate You So Much Right Now,” but let’s listen anyway, shall we?

If It’s Good Enough for the Queen…

Katie’s Choir Friend: “You know, you already know German.”

Katie: “How so?”

K.C.F.: “You sang Carmina Burana.“

Katie: “I don’t think

Were diu werlt alle min von deme mere unze an den Rin, des wolt ih mih darben, daz diu chunegin von Engellant lege an minen armen.

is going to come in that handy.”

K.C.F.: “What’s that one mean, again?”

Katie: “Something about sleeping with the Queen of England.”

K.C.F.: “Yeah. O, Fortuna would make one hell of a wedding march, though.”

Gooo-pher tuna…

But We’re All Fans of Tight Pants

Bless his heart. I leave The Rocket Scientist messages like this every day, and the dude still wants to marry me.

Snooty British Skype Answering Machine Voice:

The person you’re trying to reach is unavailable. Please leave a message.

Katie:

Hey hon. I was on my way to Zumba this morning and the car in front of me had a license plate that I thought read “BSBFAN,” which I thought meant the driver loved The Backstreet Boys. I was about to go ‘Right on, woman!’, or man, since, really The Backstreet Boys are for all people – for the world – when I realized the plate actually said “BSBLFAN,” and they loved baseball, and not awesome boy bands. I was disappointed, but then we danced to Britney Spears AND Shakira at Zumba and that made things better.

Right now I can only imagine that TRS is just happy we won’t have a car in Germany, thereby severely limiting my vanity plate possibilities. Maybe a little something for my bicycle?

 

T(h)unes T(h)ursday

This little ditty comes courtesy of Mia over at Reading in Skirts, who made me a most awesome mix CD. And this song is totally going into the wedding playlist!

Would adding this song to the playlist be too much?

Tunes Tuesday – Mars, Venus, Etc.

If I had my way, The Rocket Scientist and I would dance to Sarah Harmer’s “Open Window” for our wedding.

If The Rocket Scientist had his way, we’d dance to Jonathan Coulton’s “Skullcrusher Mountain.”

Luckily, we’re not having dancing and both songs will be on the background playlist rotation.

And maybe that, right there, is what makes us work. We have “the beauty that can be” and “too many monkeys.”

That’s How I Dance, Too!

People, I’m obsessed with this video. Obsessed.

My floral leggins and I are off to find an empty gym with strobe lights to spin around in.

P.S. There’s also this:

Tunes Tuesday

Ani DiFranco’s new album Which Side Are You On? came out last week. Here’s her take on the title track, an old labor song.

“Let the way of women, guide democracy”

Tunes Tuesday – Kathleen Edwards

The lovely Kathleen is no stranger to Tunes Tuesday, but today she gets the spotlight again because her new album, Voyageur, is out today (squee!).

Did anyone else preorder the album like me?

“Change the Sheets”

“Wapusk”

“Back to Me”

“Run”

Suggestion Time!

People o’ the internets, I need your help.

I will soon be traveling to Europe in a combination of planes, trains and automo-buses that will take, by my calculations, approximately FOREVER.

As a member of the short attention span generation I have absolutely no ability to entertain myself and therefore need you to suggest the books and the tunes that will do it for me.

So, what do you love? What do you not love so much? What should I avoid like the plague? Books about the plague are welcome as long as they’re not The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time because I’ve already read that one.

I thank you in kitten guns.

Pyow! Pyow!

Tunes Tuesday

Go forth and stream Adele’s Live at The Royal Albert Hall!

 

Tunes Tuesday

Because it’s a good thing to be reminded: ”But he’s no good at being uncomfortable so he can’t stop staying exactly the same.”

Fiona Apple – “Extraordinary Machine”

Tunes Tuesday

John Wesley Harding – “There’s a Starbucks (Where the Starbucks Used to Be)”

Sinead Lohan – “Whatever It Takes”

Oh Land – “White Nights”

Imogen Heap – “Just For Now”

Tunes Tuesday

Today’s song is not intended to be autobiographical or a suggestion. But hey, if that’s what floats your boat, rock oh. Just do so carefully to avoid chaffing.

Tunes Tuesday – Birthday (Almost)

Tomorrow is a big day. Tomorrow I turn the 7th Lucas Number. Or, 29, for the non-giant math nerds out there. So let’s listen to some birthday songs, yes? Yes!

I’ll be celebrating my birthday by unpacking Southwestern ethnographic artifacts and eating chocolate chip cookies on my lunch break. How do you celebrate your birthday?

Tunes Tuesday

No cohesive link to today’s songs – just good music.

Tunes Tuesday – The Secret Sisters and Sam Phillips

When did I become such a bluegrass-ish music lover? I’ve no idea, but the trend isn’t waning.

Sam Phillip’s been a love of mine since I first heard her supplying the soundtrack to Gilmore Girls, and The Secret Sisters are a new treat.

Banjo Anthems for a Friday Morning

So over on The Twitters, Millie made a flip comment about the under-utilised phrase “banjo anthem,” so naturally we decided that this blog needs more banjo action. We’ve got you covered for all your banjo anthem-requiring situations, though admittedly some of these are on the mellow side. Leave your banjo music recommendations in the comments — you know you’ve got some up your sleeve!

This wasn’t on Grooveshark but is gorgeous:

Tunes Tuesday – Tenuous German Connection

Among my friends, I’m known for my ability to create thematic mix tapes (CDs? mp3 lists? How are the kiddos listening to music these days?) whose songs are, shall we say, a bit of a stretch.

The Rocket Scientist is officially in Germany now , so here’s my (ahem, loose) interpretation of German* music.

*Right Said, Fred isn’t German. But don’t you think they should be?

T(h)unes Thursday – Buddy Holly Love

So, that whole posting music on Tuesday thing we were doing? Whoops…

Anywhoodle, confession time: I hate Elvis. With that stupid hair and pelvis, bah. But I LOVE Buddy Holly. I’ve been listening to the cover album Buddy Holly Rave On for the past two months, and it is all good things. And now Listen to Me: Buddy Holly came out yesterday (watch a video of the production) and I am giddy! So many people singing so many Buddy Holly songs so well! Including Eric Idle, but whatever…

Here’s some excellent interpretations of my favorite rocker geek.

Yesterday would have been Holly’s 75 birthday. So turn up the music, put on your poodle skirt, and dance The Twist!

Tunes T(h)ursday – Cats on Tables

The Rocket Scientist and I learned early on that we have almost polar tastes in music when we made each other mix CDs and uniformly hated each other’s selections. T.R.S. best described my auditory choices as this quote from Lisa Simpson:

I’m in a coffee house listening to poetry. There’s a cat on the table and no one seems to care.

Yep, that about sums it up.

To make up for his first mix CD, T.R.S. created Feline Frenzy ‘n Stuff, a compilation of songs he thought I would like because he didn’t (and he was spot on, too). And each song? Named after a different breed of cat.

T.R.S. is moving to Germany tomorrow, so I’m getting all maudlin and sentimental. To celebrate/reminisce/mope, here are some of his cats.

“The Greatest” – Cat Power (American Shorthair)

“Sleepy Maggie” – Ashley MacIsaac and Mary Jane Lamond (Scottish Fold)

“Fidelity” – Regina Spektor (Snowshoe)

“The Devil’s Paintbrush Road” – The Wailin’ Jennys (Chartreux)

“Margaret vs. Pauline” – Neko Case (Ragdoll)

And I can’t talk about Germany and cats without including this. But you’ll forgive me because Eddie Izzard is involved.

Tunes (and Webisodes) Tuesday

The first Ikea in my state just opened, and The Rocket Scientist and I braved the Saturday crowds to check it out. Highlights included listening to Abba on the drive, eating too many Swedish meatballs and picking out the ugliest pieces of furniture for each other in a round of “Evil Interior Designer.”

So here’s an Ikea song and the best soap opera to ever take place in a fabricated Swedish furniture store.

More Ikea Heights here.

Tunes Tuesday

I’m in love with La Sera and White Sea at the moment. And I put a song by a boy in this list! I need suggestions for boy singers that aren’t Nickelback.

And since it’s Tuesday, who out there remembers The Tuesdays? Their songs included lyrics about things like toothbrushes!

Tunes Tuesday – Allison Crowe

Allison Crowe

I’ve done a few one-artist Tunes Tuesdays before, but this may be my favorite one yet. When I first heard Allison Crowe the 15 year-old teenager inside me yelled “Where have you been all my life?!?” and my 28 year-old self agreed. Allison is the perfect mix of vibrato, soul, crashing pianos, tambourines, and gorgeous songs.

Seriously, this is the first time I’ve ever liked “Creep.” I know, I know, I’m a shame to the 90′s.

I’m on the lookout for new music- who do you recommend I listen to?

Tunes Tuesday

With my…ahem…newly acquired free time, I’ve been watching a lot of McLeod’s Daughters. Bless you, Netflix, for eight (8!) seasons of Australian drama. For those who haven’t seen the show, I have two words for you: Australian cowboys. Oh, wait, two more words: Hummina, hummina.

So here are songs by Australians, about Australia, and a few about cows.

And because I love you all so much, here are said Australian cowboys. Stripping.

P.S. If you want, mute the video and just play the songs above. It almost always works What can I say? Australia is a sexy place.

P.P.S. “I Am Cow” doesn’t fit the model I just suggested.

Tunes Tuesday – America Style

If there’s one thing I know from growing up on military bases, it’s patriotic music. And since most of what gets played is rubbish (Lee Greenwood, you know what you did) and most of you probably heard too much of it this weekend (Lee Greenwood, looking at you again), here are some variations on the themes of patriotism, protest, and peace.

P.S. Remind me to tell you about the time I suggested to a base commander that they play “La Marseillaise” during the fireworks as a nod to France’s role in American independence, and how I wasn’t invited back to that house.