new leaves in march - ramblings

Oh, Oren.

2009-02-10T21:23:00.002-06:00

A nod to Jamie who posted this video on his blog last week. In fact, you should go over there and read his entry since it has many fun facts about the video. Go. Now.

Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance

This one or that one?

2009-01-25T18:06:00.003-06:00

I've had some kinda crappy Ikea lamps beside my bed for years now and finally found not one, but two lamps that I like to replace them at Target. Problem is, I really can't decide between the two. I'm leaning towards the blue/green glass ones, but I also like the lines of the black metal one. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or over on the Flickr photo.

Band Math

2009-01-20T22:15:00.003-06:00

Nickel Creek(Sean) + Switchfoot(Jon) = Fiction Family.

It's really hard to keep track of all the different projects that the Watkins siblings are involved with, but here is one of the latest with Sean. He's teamed up with Jon Foreman of Switchfoot to become Fiction Family.

Fiction Family - "When She's Near"

Oh, and a little bonus since Mutual Admiration Society - Nickel Creek = Glen Phillips.

Glen Phillips w/ Chris Thile - "Windmills"

The National Side

2009-01-13T21:04:00.002-06:00

I always seem to find myself singing along with the horns and the "Bah bahs" which can be slightly embarrassing when you are at work. Oh, just go and watch/listen already.

Romantica - "The National Side"

Cover Songs - Cathedrals & Womanizer

2009-01-06T19:54:00.003-06:00

While I'm a fan of cover songs, sometimes you just can't do any better than the real thing. Case in point, for me at least, is Jump, Little Children's "Cathedrals." The song has been recently included on Joan Osborne's newest album "Wild Little One." You can check her rendition out here. Now I admit, I'm biased. I've listened to JLC, or Jump as they were last known before disbanding, for quite some time and think that Jay Clifford is one hell of a singer/songwriter. And on the other side, I do like some of Joan Osborne's music and her album "Relish" (yes, the one with the song "One of Us" on it) received quite a bit of play my Freshman year at college. Still...I gotta go with the original here.

Jump, Little Children - "Cathedrals (live)"

On the other hand, sometimes you can do better than the original...

All-American Rejects - "Womanizer (Britney Spears cover)"

Project 365: A photo a day for a year.

2009-01-05T21:19:00.003-06:00

01.01.09 - shredded

One of my goals for this year is to pick up the camera more, so with that I've started a 365 project. Right, I failed at blogging once a day and I still have photos from November that still need processing, but 5 days into the year and so far so good. I may not get them posted every day, but I figure since I pretty much have a camera with me at all times it shouldn't be too tough to find something to snap a shot of. You can find the set over at Flickr.

Hotel Cafe's Winter Songs

2008-12-16T22:52:00.003-06:00

The weather has been strange here in Houston as of late. One day I'm turning the fan on to circulate the air, and the next I'm huddled under blankets to keep warm. Yes, Winter seems to have hit and oh how I long for one of those LA winter days.

One of my favorite venues in LA is Hotel Cafe and I still go on their calendar to see who's playing just to have that pang of regret that I can't go. That and to discover some new artists. That said, I'm a little slow to realize that they put out an album for this cold season called Winter Songs. I'm not a huge fan of the traditional Holiday music, but I do own a few albums like Bleu's "Bing Bang Holidang" and Nettwerk's Maybe This Christmas series. I think I'll be adding "Winter Songs" to my collection.

Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson � �Winter Song�

Murdered in the City

2008-12-09T20:51:00.004-06:00

Always remember, there is nothing worth sharing
Like the love that let us share our name
Always remember, there is nothing worth sharing
Like the love that let us share our name

"Murdered in the City", from The Second Gleam

The song is a morbid one, but beautifully so. I saw the Avett Brothers headline a show that Will Hoge was opening at. The song also betrays their style on stage, which included banjo-pickin' and kick drum thumping as the only percussion. Let's just say I came to the show that night for Hoge, but left a fan of the Avetts.

The Avett Brothers - Murdered in the City

If You're Gonna Leave

2008-12-02T20:28:00.003-06:00

This time of year I start to pull together songs for a year end mix. For me it is a sort of musical yearbook, marking some of the artists I've been listening to or discovered over the course of a year. As much as I hate to whittle the list down to fit on a cd, it forces me to be fairly selective in my choices. I tend to throw out anything too mainstream (usually). If the artist was on last year's mix, it is highly unlikely that they will make this year's mix. That said, as I was going back through some "notes" there are some remnants of the artists/songs that didn't make the cut. Figured, this would be a good place to showcase a few of those.

First up is Emerson Hart. If you listen to the song and think he sounds familiar, that would be because he was the voice of Tonic in the later part of the 90s. Hart came out with a solo album, "Cigarettes and Gasoline" in 2007 and this song is one of my favorites:

Emerson Hart - "If You're Gonna Leave"

I'm (maybe not) alright.

2008-11-26T07:31:00.003-06:00

Meet Rinny. He's our team mascot. He's a dancing Caddyshack gopher that sings Kenny Loggins' "I'm Alright" while shaking his little booty. When we first got him, it was Summer so his attire was a hula skirt and lei. Then came Fall and he was just naked as a gopher can be again. November rolled around, and with it my birthday and the purple balloon. But it's getting to be "winter" here in Houston, so I thought it only appropriate to dress him warmly. Having leftover green yarn, I knitted him a nice scarf and hat, complete with pompom last night.

Too Much

2008-11-25T22:47:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was quite a busy one which ended perfectly with a pint and some great music down at the Mucky Duck. Last time Glen Phillips was in town, I opted to catch Griffin House play a short set at the Hard Rock Cafe before catching Ryan Adams next door at Verizon Wireless Theater. I don't regret the choice, but this time around I wasn't going to miss out on Glen. I used to drive down to LA to see him play at clubs like Largo and the Troubadour where some guy named John Mayer opened for him.

On this visit to Houston, Glen brought along Sean and Sara Watkins, the siblings that make up 2/3rds of Nickel Creek. They opened the night with a nice set, mixing songs from Sara's upcoming album, some of Sean's songs, and a few others. Glen's set also included a mix of Toad the Wet Sprocket tracks, solo songs, and some nice covers. A little bonus was David Garza joining in the revelry on stage off and on the entire night. An interesting highlight was a live mash-up of Linda Ronstadt's "Tracks of My Tears" with Tom Petty's "Free Falling." That said, it was one of Garza's own songs with the lead sung by Sara Watkins that caught my ear. It seems only right to post David singing his own song at Largo.

David Garza - "Too Much (live at Largo)"

Flawed Design

2008-11-18T20:43:00.003-06:00

I was sitting in front of the Bellingham airport in my friend's car with the baby while Shan and the other kiddo went to pick up the rental car they were getting so their car could go into the shop. I of course had to play with the radio station and moved from NPR to preset #2. It happened to be a Vancouver BC station and the song was good, but unknown (or at least I thought so). I pulled out my iPhone and used Shazam to try and identify the song. Turned out to be this Canadian band that I discovered last year - Stabilo. I thought it was from a new album, but when I got home I realized it was a song off an album of theirs that I already owned. Although, in my defense, the version on the radio was a remix and until recently I was only able to listen to the physical cd due to copy protection and most of my music listening happens via computer or iPod. Below is the original album version because I can't bare to post some homemade trance/anime video of the remix.

Stabilo - "Flawed Design"

NoMo NaBloPoMo

2008-11-11T21:22:00.002-06:00

I should also mention that yes, I failed at the whole NaBloPoMo thing. My excuse? My bed is too comfy. Actually I caught a cold bug on my last night in Portland and as Sunday progressed so did my feeling of crapiness. By the time the evening was rolling around I was pretty much in bed and not wanting to move much even to type in a placeholder post from the iPhone. I think that my heart just wasn't in it this year despite having plenty to talk about. My sinuses are still a faucet, but I do plan on processing photos and posting a few entries about my trip but you'll just have to wait.

Supermassive Black Hole

2008-11-11T21:11:00.004-06:00

I was really close to posting a song by Alex Meixner but thought that maybe it would lose something in translation. That maybe you have to be at Wurstfest with a crowd of drunkards dancing around in lederhosen to really appreciate the jammin' accordion.

Instead I've decided to out myself as a Twilight fan and post a track from Muse that appears on the movie soundtrack. I've listened to Muse for a couple years now after a friend recommended their album. Not the typical sort of music I listen to, it has a harder edge, but I think you'll enjoy it.

Muse - "Supermassive Black Hole"

8. And so it comes to an end.

2008-11-08T20:56:00.003-06:00

My, oh my what a day. Powell's, Portland Saturday Market, Korean lunch, Trader Joe's, a mall, Stumptown, VooDoo Donuts, and McMenamins's Kennedy School. I'd type more but I have to finish shoving all the Trader Joe's and coffee into my luggage before sacking out for the night. A 6a departure means getting up way earlier than I would like, but that's the price I have to pay in order to get back to Houston at a decent hour.

7. Full or Half Moon?

2008-11-07T23:33:00.002-06:00

My vacation is almost over and I've finished up the bulk of my vehicular adventures by driving from Bellingham back down to Portland. I left a bit after lunch, which coupled with the crap traffic in Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia meant that I pulled into Portland a bit late for running around town, so I opted to grab some food and check into the hotel to relax for the evening. That's why it's called a vacation I guess.

Oh, and about the photo - while it's not unusual to see signs asking guests to reuse towels in hotels, this is my first time in the US to see the half/full flush buttons on the toilet.

6. I Remember

2008-11-06T19:28:00.005-06:00

Since I missed posting some music on Tuesday, I thought I'd catch it today. I can't quite remember where I first heard Whitley, but probably a music blog or Paste Magazine. No matter, I had been looking for his album ever since and happened to find it in Eugene. Since embedding is disabled, below is the link to his song "I Remember."

Whitley - "I Remember"

5. Sometimes the best vacation isn't one where you see all the sights.

2008-11-06T00:09:00.001-06:00

There are those vacations where you travel to foreign lands and do
crazy things like roll down a hill in a giant ball. Then there are
those vacations where you travel to somewhere familiar and just be.
You sleep in, work on sewing sockmonkey arms, have a leisurely lunch
with some dude singing covers songs by the likes of Jack Johnson and
Radiohead, buy enchilada sauce at your favorite grocery store (Trader
Joe's), hang out while your friends' daughter gets her hair cut, hold
the baby while dinner is made, eat the enchiladas for dinner, read
books to the 5 year old, sew the other sockmonkey arm, and fall asleep
on the couch while watching tv. Yep, it was an exciting vacation day
today.

4. On this day...

2008-11-05T00:33:00.001-06:00

It's not every year that I get a new president for my birthday, but
today history was made with Barack Obama becoming president-elect. I
also drove through much of Oregon and most of Washington state and am
exhausted to the point of falling asleep typing this on the iPhone. So
good night and good luck.

3. Cheater cheater pumpkin eater

2008-11-04T01:14:00.001-06:00

This is a placeholder. You'd think for the hours I spent in an airport today waiting I could do better... Nope.

Updated - So today...if you don't keep up on those Twitter messages, you may not know that I spent much of the day in the San Francisco airport. Typically, the winds blow in from the West allowing up to a total of four planes to land on two runways but about 11-12 days a year the wind decides to change things up and blow in from the South. This means that planes have to take a different approach and can only land one at a time on the two runways. What this meant for me is my flight that was supposed to depart at around 10:30a finally took off a little over 3 hours later. The hardest part was seeing the 1:26p flight depart while we were still waiting on our plane to even arrive.

The day was not all lost though. With baggage in tow I made my way to the pimp daddy rental car and headed to Laura's house. Well, technically I started out heading away from her house, but was able to get my bearings and changed directions. It had been quite some time since I've hung out with Laura, so it was nice to just ramble on and reminisce about our past. After dinner we killed some time at Allann Bros. where I had my favorite coffee drink - a Mexican Beanery. Tasty, tasty goodness. The time we were killing lead up to the reason that I arranged my trip to start in Eugene - to see The Break & Repair Method and Matt Nathanson at WOW Hall. Wow indeed, but more on that later when I have some photos to share. For now, I'm calling it a good night. Good Night.

2. Quick.

2008-11-02T20:15:00.002-06:00

Spent the weekend in the New Braunfels area for Wurstfest (more on this later) and this morning we ventured out to see if we could see Lance Armstrong race in the Tour de Gruene team time trials. I'm not a huge cycling fan, but I have to admit it was pretty cool to see him speed by.

1. And so it begins...

2008-11-01T16:53:00.001-05:00

The last few years I've participated in NaBloPoMo which is National
Blog Posting Month. There are others that are undertaking writing a
novel during this month but my ambitions aren't that great. I'm also
starting a week of vacation so while I should have plenty to share,
finding the time to blog will be challenging. I'm currently in Gruene
enjoying a cool beverage outside of Gruene Hall with some good music
playing inside. So consider this a lame start sent from my iPhone.

m...

You Won't Be Able To Be Sad

2008-10-28T23:14:00.006-05:00

I fully admit that when I travel, I check the local concert listings and have been known to make adjustments in plans to catch a show. Having missed Matt Nathanson this past week (I went to Ray LaMontagne instead), I took a peak at his future schedule and saw that he'd be in the Pacific Northwest around the same time I was thinking of taking a trip up that way. The initial plan was to see him in Seattle, but then I noticed that one of the openers that I was also interested in wouldn't be on the bill. And that is how I ended up booking a flight to Eugene, OR on Monday. Sure, it means that I'm driving all over the PacNW, but the added bonus is that a friend lives in Eugene, so I get to spend some time with her (and have coffee at Allann Bros).

Oh, that other band I'm interested in seeing - that would be The Break and Repair Method.

The Break and Repair Method - "You Won't Be Able To Be Sad"

Not the Same.

2008-10-21T22:15:00.006-05:00

A good friend was supposed to visit me this weekend. I was excited because while we had drifted apart due to hectic lives, we had recently reconnected. She'd never visited me while I lived in California, and promised to come see me here in Texas. There were plans for cowboy boot shopping and chowing down on some BBQ and TexMex. Sadly, she had to ~~cancel~~ postpone until an undetermined date last week due to some news of the not-so-good sort.

We met through music, Guster actually, so it is no surprise that we would also be taking in a couple concerts while she visited. Over the years I've managed to drag some friends to shows, but Kat is kindred. She gets the draw of live music, hearing how a song varies from the album version, and seeing the same band multiple times on consecutive nights and usually not in the same town.

One of the last shows I went to with Kat, I believe, was Ray LaMontagne and Guster (with Rogue Wave opening) in Chicago. As it turns out, Ray is one of the shows here this week we would have gone to (Ben Folds & Missy Higgins being the other). I'll still go to the shows, but I'll miss having my friend there with me.

Ray LaMontagne - "Jolene"

Missy Higgins - "Steer"

Ben Folds w/ Boston Pops - "Not The Same"

(i wish) It's Not True

2008-10-15T22:11:00.002-05:00

Despite being featured on a Paste Magazine DVD, I managed to skip by William Fitzsimmons until recently. Reminds me a little of Joshua Radin or Cary Brothers. Mellow...that's my style.

William Fitzsimmons - "It's Not True"