Fixmas?

This is an interesting site. As one who is pathologically inclined to fix everything, I'm not too fond of the name, but it's a great concept.

Fixmas.org

"Did you know that One.org estimates that with only $30 Billion we could end what they term 'extreme poverty' in the world? Did you know that the US spent over $430 Billion in retail industry sales during the holiday season last year? What if, for just one Christmas, instead of acquiring more junk, we decided to help poorer nations in need. What difference could we make?"

The soundtrack of my life

My sis-in-law, Amy, put this on her blog. Her soundtrack ended up being really amusing, so I thought I would give it a try.


SOUNDTRACK TO MY LIFE:
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool and no disclaimers allowed.


Opening Credits: Haunt You Every Day - Weezer

Waking Up: Goodnight and Go - Imogen Heap (This makes perfect sense if you know me)

First Day At School: Can't Get You out of My Head - Kylie Minogue

Falling In Love: Come into My World - Kylie Minogue

Fight Song: Smooth Criminal

Breaking Up: Much Too Long - The Sounds

Prom: Canned Heat - Jamiroquai

Mental Breakdown: Headlock - Imogen Heap

Driving: Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap

Flashback: My Lover's Gone - Dido

Getting back together: Hands Open - Snow Patrol

Wedding: Chicago - Sufjan Stevens

Birth of Child: Surgery in the City - Venus Hum

Final Battle: Fred Jones, Pt. 2 - Ben Folds

Death Scene: Say It Ain't So - Weezer

Funeral Song: Astronaut Girl - The Golden Sounds

End Credits: William's Last Day at Work - Venus Hum

How to Dress Urban-Hip in Nashvegas

The current style for young hipsters in Nashvegas is quite eclectic. That trend is useful, because it makes dressing for a party or concert quite easy. Here are a few tips for ways you can join the ranks of the super-cool, or at least dress like them:

(Disclaimer: I do not claim to be among the ranks of the super-cool. Simply an observer, duckies.)

To select your uber-cool wardrobe, pick one item from three or four of these categories.

1. Something from a thrift store
2. Something from a vintage store
3. An accessory made by you or a friend
4. An item from another country
5. A piece of designer clothing (only if you got it on clearance or if someone gave it to you -- paying full price for designer is NOT Urban-Hip).
6. Something that looks like it is from the '80s.
7. Something that looks like it is from the '50s.
8. Something crocheted or knitted.
9. An item from Target.
10. An item from Hillsboro Village.
11. A concert t-shirt from at least 10 years ago. T-shirt must include a band that still garners respect in the music world -- U2 is appropriate, Chicago is not.
12. Something black.

Try on items, making sure you have all the basics covered (pants, underwear, etc.). Check your color scheme to make sure you don't clash or match. Clashing and matching are equally uncool.

Ta-Da! You are ready for a hip night on the down.

But you know what? You wanna know the secret to being ultra hip and cool? Wear something from StarCat Designs. Oh, yeah. You know you need an East Nashvegas, Baby shirt.

Franz of the Week

Oh, my! I almost forgot the Franz of the Week!

This week's Franz is Franz Liszt. This composer and piano virtuoso was adored by women for his onstage flair. If you ever get the chance to see a pianist perform a work by Liszt, I highly recommend it. Many of his compositions require stunning technical ability from the pianist.

Here's something I didn't know about Liszt -- According to Wikipedia, he was known as a generous man who often contributed financially to orphans and victims of disasters.

Bummer

Came home tonight to a smashed mailbox. Looks like a car swerved off the road and hit it. Doh.

Still the best 'hood in Nashville, though.

Wow, this freaks me out

Hello, everyone,

Did you have a Happy Thanksgiving? I did. I got see my brother, which was super-cool.

So, this news story is bothering me. It is fascinating but sad.

Ex-Russian Spy Blamed Putin for His Death

It's sad because a man died. For whatever reason someone was out to get him.

It's fascinating because absolutely nothing could be done for him. At first doctors could not even figure out how he had been poisoned, and once they found out about the radiation, they still couldn't save him. It is sobering to think that even with all of our medical advancements, sometimes nothing can be done.

Just when you thought reality TV couldn't get any worse....

Grease: You're the One That I Want
A new talent competition series where America chooses the two leads for a new Broadway production of Grease.

Does this terrify anyone else?

Marketing Sucker

I am such a sucker for marketing and design. I have quite an embarrassing attraction to iPods. It's sad.

Today I was in an office and saw an iPod Nano docked into a stereo system. Actually, it was docked into a small piece of plastic that I assumed was a sound system, since the room was filled with music. The Nano just looked so cute and tiny and slick. I wanted one. I really wanted one.

So what's the prob, you say? I hate iTunes. It is proprietary and bulky, and it doesn't offer any of the cool "To Go" services like Rhapsody and Napster.

So I am sorta looking for something as small and slick as a Nano that works with other music subscription services. I've heard that the new Sansas are cool....

The thing is, I'm not sure how much I really want a new mp3 player. I have a couple of older ones that work just fine, and my phone plays mp3s, too.

But the new ones are so prettyyyyyyyyyy...........................

2000, Zero Zero -- Party Over -- Oops, Out of Time!

Threw a birthday party for my friend Ariana tonight. We had the party in a vacant storefront that a friend was kind enough to let us use (Thanks, Maria!). The space was great, but several of us did quite a bit of cleaning and decorating before the big night. Never have I had such a respect for industrial cleaning supplies than I do right now. There is nothing like cleaning several hundred square feet with a Swiffer to make one appreciate those huge dust mops that janitors often use.

Party was fun, though. My very talented hubby teamed with friends Nick and Jamie to form a jazz trio (I dubbed them the Nick Hilscher Trio). Much dancing and eating of cake. Ariana sang with the band, too, which was cool.

And now, I tired.

Decor Tip for Cat Owners

Need a cozy place for your cat to sleep? Does a towering kitty condo or a leopard-print cat bed ruin your room's visual flow? Are you tired of cleaning fur off of your IKEA chairs? Then you need a storage ottoman.

Yes, a storage ottoman, ladies and gentlemen, may be the key to your decor dilemma.

A storage ottoman is a short, ottoman-or-foot-stool-like piece of furniture with a removable top. Storage ottomans are available in a variety of materials, but when choosing a storage ottoman for your cat, a soft fabric is preferable.

Most storage ottomans are cubes or cylinders that are just the right size for a sleeping kitty. The size, shape, and fabric likely will make your ottoman an attractive spot for your cat, especially if you place the ottoman near a window, a heat vent, or a wall (preferably all three).

Note: Although you can store objects inside the storage ottoman, it is not advisable to store your cat inside the piece. However, a storage ottoman is a good place for storing cat toys, knitting (also a cat toy), or newspapers (also a cat toy).

Although she still sprawls across the IKEA chairs from time to time, my cat loves her storage ottoman, and it is her regular sleepy spot. In fact, she also has commandeered the storage ottoman in our bedroom, and she isn't even allowed in that room. That brings me to the uses of baby gates, which is another post for another time....

Places to Buy Storage Ottomans:
Target
IKEA
Pottery Barn
Bed, Bath & Beyond

Franz of the Week

I am so tired.....I almost didn't post a Franz of the Week. But then I thought of you, gentle reader, and decided to endure.

Actually, I thought of something else to post, so I figured I might as well post about ol' Franz, too.

This week's Franz of the Week is ..... Franz! Of Hans and Franz fame, of course. For the uninitiated, Hans and Franz is an old SNL skit about European body builders (think Arnold Schwarzenegger) who are going to "pump [clap] you up!" with their exercise show. Now, do I actually remember anything about the skit? Nothing except the tag line. I was too young to watch it. But I thought it was worth mentioning anyway.

Dull Drums

I have the doldrums. I've had a cold for the past day or two, so I took off from work today to try to get better. It's not unusual for me to keep pushing myself instead of taking time to get well...and thus, I never get fully well. Not today, baby!

At the moment, I am at Portland Brew East. I was tired of sitting around at home, so I decide to come here and sit around some more. Good plan. Especially because they use Ghiradelli in their hot chocolate.

Art Show in East Nashville!

Come see my designs in East Nashville this Sunday, November 12!

A bunch of us crafty types will be having an arts and crafts fair of sorts this Sunday outside the Radio Cafe (weather permitting). The show is scheduled to run from 9 to 5, but I don't know if I will actually be there until 5, so come early.

This is a great chance to see some of my new product designs, which I am really excited about.
Examples:

The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld

I love this. It first got some press a few years ago, but with the resignation of Rumsfeld, it is a hot topic again.

Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld

Here's a lovely example of Rumsfeld's existential musings:

As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know we don't know.

Franz of the Week

Okay, this week's Franz of the Week is the band Franz Ferdinand.

Franz Ferdinand is cool. First of all, their music is cool. I know them best from "Take Me Out," which was featured in a car commercial last year. That song is so funkily fun.

The other reason they are cool is that they named themselves after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination essentially sparked World War I. How geek cool is that? That is very geek cool, peeps. Not only that, but they wrote a song called "All for You, Sophia," which references the assassination.

Mark Cuban and Jordin Tootoo

So, I'm looking at ways to increase visitor traffic to my blog. Not for any particular reason, other than perhaps an ego boost.

My hubby has seen a lot of traffic on his blog when he posts about certain topics, namely, Mark Cuban and Jordin Tootoo. I think that sounds like a good idea, so I'll give it a try, to see if it attracts any new visitors. Ready?

MARK CUBAN!!!!!!!!

JORDIN TOOTOO!!!!!!!!

And, just for good measure, IMOGEN HEAP!!!!!!!

Okay, silliness aside, I actually have reasons to post about all three of those people.

Jordin Tootoo
I got to see Tootoo tonight at Darcy Hordichuk's radio show (FYI, for the uninitiated -- Tootoo and Hordichuk are Nashville Predators players). That was a lot of fun, but the place (Blackstone Brewery) was so loud that I couldn't really hear much. Go Preds! Smash the Red Wings on Friday!

Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban, long a thorn in the side of NBA Commissioner David Stern, has finally seen the light and become a "David Stern disciple." You can read about Cuban's amazing transformation here.

Imogen Heap
I am going to an Imogen Heap concert in 12 days! Whee! I'm trying to decide if I want to give her one of my t-shirts. That might be a nice way to say thank you to her for her music (and to promote my designs!), but it might come across as really weird. If I give her a shirt, I might give her my "duckie" shirt . . .

Plastic Vortex of DOOOOOOOOM

Seriously, this is freaky. Is anybody doing anything about this?

Plastic Vortex Menaces Pacific Sealife

A trash heap that grow to the size of Texas?! Oh, my. In a few years will Californians be able to walk to Hawaii on a pile of junk?

I hope someone else does a study on this. I think Greenpeace is viewed as an extremist group sometimes, and I would like to see this get some more mainstream attention and research.

Songs That Rip Off Stevie Wonder

Specifically, songs that rip off Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise".

The obvious one, of course, is Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise," which actually used the melody and backing orchestration (different arrangement) of "Pastime Paradise". I daresay that most people under 30 know "Gangsta's Paradise" better than the original Stevie Wonder song. I have to admit that, until three or four years ago, I didn't know that "Gangsta's Paradise" was based musically on "Pastime Paradise". Thanks goes to my audiophile husband for that enlightenment.

"Gangsta's Paradise", of course, leads us to another song that uses "Pastime Paradise" -- Weird Al's paraody song "Amish Paradise".

And then there's an obscure song by '80s Christian alternative band Adam Again -- "Who Can Hold Us". While this song doesn't copy "Pastime Paradise" exactly, that is definitely the vibe the band was going for.

The other day I was listening to a Dido song, "Do you Have A Little Time," and discovered it had the "Pastime Paradise" vibe going on, too, with its string part.

Oh, and here's more I didn't know about, from Wikipedia: The "Pastime Paradise" sample was also used in a single released in 1991 by French rap group IAM entitled, "Tam-tam de l'Afrique" ("drums of Africa"). Another parody by Paul Shanklin using Gangsta's Paradise is "Algore Paradise," in which Rush Limbaugh mocks the Democratic Party. The Ian Brown song "F.E.A.R." borrows the main riffs from "Gangsta's Paradise". "Pastime Paradise" was sampled again as the basis of "Curtain Falls" by the boy-band Blue on 2004.

Anybody know of other songs that channel (or blatantly rip off) "Pastime Paradise"? Lemme know.

(P.S. -- Yes, grammar police, I know that punctuation really belongs on the inside of the quotation marks, but I think that's silly, so I have adopted the British rule of putting it on the outside.)

Franz of the Week

This week's Franz of the Week is Franz von Suppe. He was a composer, known mostly for his operettas and overtures.

You probably would know a couple of the operetta overtures if you heard them.....definitely the overture to Light Calvary and possibly the overture to The Beautiful Galatea (shout-outs to Emily Sherman on that one!). You might know Poet and Peasant -- it's also an overture, but it doesn't have an operetta to go along with it.

Suppe's music, while not the deepest or most complex in the world, features memorable melodies and melodramatic moments that make it ideal for cartoons. In fact, Light Cavalry was featured in the Disney short Symphony Hour, in which Mickey directs an orchestra in a broadcast for radio. However, before the broadcast, Goofy drops all of the instruments, so the performance doesn't go exactly as planned.