Forwarding: God’s greatest gift to the tv watcher.

{ February 9, 2009 @ 5:51 pm } · { news }
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I wasn’t going to watch it, then decided to Tivo it so I could forward through the commercials. Only I ended up forwarding through the majority of it, cutting 3 hours and 30 minutes down to about 30 minutes (if even that). The Grammys used to be something to watch but haven’t been in recent years. From poor choices of nominees, to awful performances, to flat presentations, it just has become a thing of yore. But I watched it this morning anyway and if this is my recap, notes taken as it went along:

The credits have started and I’m bored already.

U2? Hmm. They’re timeless. Lyrics on the seizure screen? That’s a forwarding. Bono whizzes past my screen and for as much I love U2, he just really bugs me. I can’t explain it. He just does. I think it’s whole smug commitment to charity.

Whitney Houston? People are standing why? Nice wig. LOVE the dress. R & B album — Boyz II Men is still a group? Is she high or drunk or both? I need that bracelet. Wow. She’s got to be high. I always like how surprised Jennifer Hudson is; like she can’t believe she just won this massive award after being kicked off American Idol. (I love that story. Man, those people should be pissed she went on to win an Oscar after they told her she wasn’t talented.)

I love the Rock. I love Justin Timberlake. I want to live down the street from Al Green. Keith Urban, Al Green, Boys II Men? Jesus. Fwd. Fwd. Fwd. I don’t care how much I love that song. Forward.

No, hot guy from the Wire, that’s Chris Martin. That’s not Coldplay. Fwd. Wait. Who is that? Stop, play to find out. Oh god. Fwd. Keep forwarding. That, hot guy from the Wire, is Coldplay. What’s with the Castro jackets? Are they trying to be ironic?

Already another performance? WTF is Carrie Underwood wearing? Big forward. Aww. I miss Leanne Rimes; I can do without Cheryl Crow. Country duo? We’re only to the 2nd award?

Oh. I thought that that guy who announced Coldplay was the hot guy from the Wire but it turns out it’s the guy on the Mentalist. Thanks CBS commercial block. You don’t have to make Duffy and Al Green sing, we all know that they can. Jeez. Song of the year already. American Boy is great, so is Chasing Pavements.

I’m bored.

Song of the Year is Coldplay. To quote one of the best music movies ever, shock me shock me shock me.

Miley! I *heart* her! But I swear Taylor Swift looks like she somehow managed to outgrow childhood retardation. Forward.

Bored. Forwarding.

I love that Robert Plant/Alisson Krauss album. Is he going to even let her talk? I’m so glad they put her in heels because the woman is super tiny.

I want to stab Jason Mraz. I don’t know why. He looks all nice and whatnot but I bet once you start talking to him he gets to be sleezy. I love that accent — Ainsely Hayes on the West Wing was one of the greatest characters ever.

One hour and ten minutes has taken me 15 minutes to watch. I’m really not missing anything.

Who cares … wait. Who is that? Who cares if they are getting back together. They aren’t Green Day, they are that other cheesy wanna-be punk band. Who is that? How is Coldplay rock? I hate to break it to you, Grammy people, none of those are rock bands. Hell, Metallica is the closest to a rock band in there. Those are pop acts. Coldplay? Really? No Gwenyth? I’m forwarding. Wait? Did I hear booing? I did. AWESOME.

Craig Ferguson isn’t funny. I want Katy Perry to die. Forwarding.

Damn. I almost forwarded through the awesomeness that is American Boy. Not forwarding. I don’t think Estelle is some comfortable with the liver performance thing. Maybe it’s the jacket Kanye West is wearing. It’s too bad because she’s got a fantastic voice.

Best New Artist. I love Adele. I hope she tells the fat girl haters to fuck off like I’ve seen her do previously. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that dress. Why aren’t Kanye and Estelle out of breath?

The voice of Jesus and spokesman for Penguins is wrong about the ticket sales. That honor goes to Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montanna. Not Kenny Chesney. Seriously? Kenny Chesney? He’s saying Kenny Chesney is the king of ticket sales? Really? Seriously. It’s Miley. Forwarding.

(Didn’t get the Jesuse/Penguin thing? Then you didn’t see the highly amusing Bruce Almighty nor did you watch March of the Penguins.)

How does Natalie Cole manage to look old without looking old? Is it because you know she’s gotten so much plastic surgery done that your mind can’t calculate her looks versus her actual age? She scares me. Record of the year. Watch it be Coldplay when it should be Krauss/Plant. Damn. Yay. Not Coldplay.

(Sidenote. I used to think Coldplay was fantastic. A Rush Of Blood to the Head is one damn fantastic album. The song of the same title is equally amazing. But then they got popular and everyone started raving and the music went downhill fast. Gone was the Rush of Blood quality and now it just sounds like regular old studio work. There’s nothing genius to it anymore.)

I love Queen Latifah.

WOW. That’s a really knocked up M.I.A.

Kanye West. T.I. Lil’ Wayne. M.I.A. Jay-Z. It’s like my dream concert line up.

I mean, damn. That’s really pregnant. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pregnant woman rap before. (And had I not forwarded through the intro I would have heard Queen Latifah say “mommy to be M.I.A.”)

I mean. Really pregnant.

Paul McCartney is an automatic forward.

Pop vocals. Kid Rock? Really? Did he screw up another song with Keely Smith? I love Ne-Yo; okay. I love the way he dresses. But his is a great album. Blech. John Mayer. You know he’s all kinds of sleezy.

Rewound to confirm M.I.A. was that pregnant. Yep. She is. And apparently, that was her due date yesterday. Damn.

I actually like that Sugarland song, but it’s so sad.

Oh. Hey. There’s the Gwyneth. She’s so flipping hot it makes me ill. Radiohead and the USC Marching Band? My overrated meter is going off big time. I can’t decide which one is more overrated than the other…my arrow is pointing towards Radiohead!

Forward through Samuel L. Jackson. Justin Timberlake and who? Oh. T.I. forward.

I know that’s Ne-Yo and I like Ne-Yo, but forward.

Josh Groban? You know how Jason Mraz looks all nice but is probably sleezy? Josh Groban is the opposite: looks all sleezy but is nice.

Neil Diamond is an automatic forward. So is the montage of dead people. I’d watch BB King if it was just him, but it isn’t. So. Forward.

Lil’ Wayne. I have been waiting for this. The song is fantastic and I always forget about Robin Thicke. I have a lot of respect for Lil’ Wayne. Everything I’ve read about him, from him, and intervies I’ve seen, he’s just phenomenal. He’s definetely a don’t judge the book by the cover, because the way he looks doesn’t even give a hint to how eloquent and damned smart the man is. (I mean, doesn’t write anything down? Just goes in and records it? Lyrics and music? That’s impressive.)

(Sidenote: I’m so tired of people being put-out by Katrina and what happened. Big deal you had to deal with evacuees. So your crime rate went up and you had to live with people you looked down on. It’s not like the majority of your cities were so great to begin with. And if you haven’t been to New Orleans since Katrina, you should probably go, because until then, you really don’t understand the term “lost city”. That city will never be the same, that city hasn’t recovered, and people ignore it because they’re put out by it. That’s just sad.)

Rap albums. Wow. I listen to all of those quite often. I really love the Lil’ Wayne album, but Lupe Fiasco was robbed once again. You can’t do much better than that kind of speech right there.

Oh! I have a girl crush on Zooey!

Krauss/Plant. Awesome. I should listen to that album today. So glad album of the year wasn’t Coldplay.

Other than a better crop of nominees and winners, the Grammy’s were yet again another waste of time. I hate that.

I had these favorites…

{ December 30, 2008 @ 5:24 am } · { i'd like to get to know you, jillsentials, playlist }
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2008

So here are some fun stats for you in regards to me and the world of music in 2008:

1. I only purchased THREE albums this year. THREE. I thought it was two, then I realized there was another and yippee, I upped my count to THREE. If I thought about it, I would be depressed by this because for me it means that there were only 3 albums in a 365 day year that I thought were worth purchasing. They were:

– Harry Connick Jr: What A Night! A Christmas album
–Unplugged presents Julieta Venegas
–Erykah Badu : New Ameryka, Pt. 1:  4th World War

1a. I forgot about Shelby Lynne’s Just A Little Lovin’ and am contemplating that, so that could raise me to four.

2. I went to one show. Julieta Venegas in Los Angeles, unplugged. So I didn’t understand half the songs, but it was one of the best shows ever.

3. Coldplay failed to win me over as a fan.

4. MtV Tres, on the other hand, did. Spanish music videos are just so fun to watch.

Why I loved what I did in 2008, in no particular order:

4 Minutes (Madonna ft. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland): I am not a Madonna fan. I do love this song, though. It’s the horns, they somehow make it a hotter song. And the idea that if she’d gone with Timbaland on every track her latest album might have been a lot better.

Algun Dia (Julieta Venegas): Its my ringtone. No Kidding. It’s such a fun, upbeat tune for a song that’s really not so sweet sounding. It just makes me happy.

American Boy (Estelle): It’s got that laid back, Disco-esque, R&B sound I just love.

Breathe Me (Sia): I’m not normally an Sia fan, but this song just sucks me in every time. It’s also one of two songs that have the power to make me cry.

Chasing Pavements (Adelle): She reminds me of Dinah Washington. And Jill Scott. And Amy Winehouse. Bonus: it’s one of the best videos ever made.

Closer (Ne-Yo): Have you ever noticed how well the man dresses? I love this song because it’s catchy and it’s a throwback to classic Michael Jackson, which really isn’t a bad way to be. I think Ne-Yo is my R&B/Hip Hop guilty pleasure.

CrushCrushCrush (Paramore): I pay no attention to Paramore otherwise. This song just rocks. Bonus: it’s the song that sums up Twilight for me.

El Presente (Julieta Venegas): How did my love affair with Julieta Venegas begin, you wonder? It was 5:45 in the morning and I was flipping between MtV, MtV2, MtV Tres (3), VH1, VH1 Classics, VH1 Hits, VH1 Morning Mix, 3 BET channels, 1 Gospel channel, and 3 Country stations. I stop on MtV Tres because there’s this chick just getting down with an accordian and the crowd is going nuts. I stop to watch. My foot starts tapping, then my head starts bobbing…and I’m parked on MtV Tres waiting for the next time they play the video like I need a drug fix. I Google it. I listen to previews. I watch other videos from the same Unplugged session on YouTube. I buy the album. I see her live…and here we are in December and it’s been named my favorite album this year.

Elevator (Flo Rida): I love that it samples the Halloween movie theme song. And for the line: …Third floor, stuck on the hood rat…

Get Low (Flo Rida): I’m going to guess that Flo Rida, even though his album was decent enough, is the one hit wonder type. Which is kind of sad because the man has some serious flow, especially going in with this line: …That’s what I told her, her legs on my shoulder I knew it was ova, that Henny and Cola Got me like a Soldier…

Honey (Erykah Badu): I am and always have been a big Erykah Badu fan. She’s witty, she’s got a distinctive voice. She pulls off that laid-back, soulful R&B vibe I love so much. This was my 2nd favorite song this year after El Presente.

How I Could Just Kill A Man (Charlotte Sometimes): It’s simple. I identify.

Just Dance (Lady Gaga): It makes me want to do just that. Sometimes. Otherwise it reminds me of Ladytron.

Love Hangover (Kidz in the Hall ft. Estelle): It’s the Estelle chorus. Seriously.

Paper Planes (M.I.A.): Hey! I liked this song when it came out in August of 2007! But I didn’t put it on my best of 2007 list for whatever reason

See You Again (Miley Cyrus): I love this song and I don’t know why. I am not ashamed to a) play it, b) play it loudly, c) sing along, d) admit I love it.

Whatever You Like (T.I.): Another one of those songs I like so much because of the video. It’s the only T.I. song I like, really, and it’s because of the beat.

Wille and Laura Mae Jones (Shelby Lynee): I know this song. The Waylon Jennings version. The Dusty Springfield version. The version by the person who wrote it,  Tony Joe White. The Bettye Swann and Nancy Wilson versions. I always forget how good Shelby Lynne is. This song just hammers it home for me.

My top three of 2008:

1. El Presente
2. Honey
3. Wille and Laura Mae Jones

You can listen to it all by downloading it here.

And you? Share with me your faves of 2008.

50 favorite love songs?

{ December 1, 2008 @ 3:34 pm } · { playlist, swap challenges }
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Harder than I thought.

Another swap. This time 50 of my favorite love songs/ballads. I love that love songs can be in any form, from uptempo to slow dance songs to rap. I do wish, though, there were more love songs in the country category, but then, I do love me some heartbreak songs and where better to get those than country?

Anywhoo. 50 of my favorites. It was harder to put together than I thought.

Personal items:
1. Soft Shoulder by Ani diFranco is probably my most favorite song ever
2. Baby, It’s Cold Outside by Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer is, in my opinion, the only version of this song that should be allowed.
3. I always have to sing along to: Summer Wind by Michael Buble and It’s Alright With Me by Harry Connick Jr. (which I do exceptionally well might I add)
4. I don’t really like The Beatles but Two Of Us makes an appearance for sentimental reasons
5. Yes. Kick, Push by Lupe Fiasco is a love song. A boy and a girl. A boy and his skateboard. You can love your skateboard just as much as you love a person.
6. I’m On Fire by Bruce Springsteen and Me & U by Cassie are songs that make me think about sex.
7. Speaking of sex (gasp!), my mother wouldn’t let me listen to Teach Me Tonight by Dinah Washington as a kid because she thought it was too dirty.
8. If you think Blossom Dearie is cute, you should see her in person. A-freaking-dorable.
9. If you think Alison Krauss is cute, you should see her in person. A-freaking-dorable. And super friendly too.
10. I like to watch videos of Louis Prima and Keely Smith on YouTube because they were so sweet together.

Special note:
Because this was such a big mix I broke it up and uploaded it by section. Each section has the track listing but I’ve listed them 1-50 here.

Love x Infinity

1. The Best Thing For You Would Be Me (Diana Krall)
2. How Sweet It Is (James Taylor)
3. Slave To Love (Bryan Ferry)
4. Call Me When You Get This (Corinne Bailey Rae)
5. Crush (Dave Matthews Band)
6. Me & U (Cassie)
7. Mad About You (Hooverphonic)
8. I Get A Kick Out of You (Jamie Cullum)
9. Baby (Bebel Gilberto)
10. I Know I Know I Know (Teagan and Sara)
11. God Only Knows (The Beach Boys)
12. Lemon (U2)
13. L.O.V.E. (Nat King Cole)
14. Soft Shoulder (Ani diFranco)
15. Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer)
16. If I Were A Bell (Dinah Washington)
17. Sunny Road (Emiliana Torrini)
18. My Heart Stood Still (Chet Baker)
19. Everywhere (Michelle Branch)
20. I Love Being Here With You (Diana Krall)
21. When You Come Back Down (Nickel Creek)
22. At First Sight (Kylie Monogue)
23. Deed I Do (Blossom Dearie)
24. Lover, You Should’ve Come Over (Jeff Buckley)
25. Save Me (Aimee Mann)
26. With Plenty of Money and You (Count Bassie and Tony Bennett)
27. Coffee and TV (Blur)
28. It’s Alright With Me (Harry Connick Jr.)
29. Iris (Goo Goo Dolls)
30. Come To My Window (Melissa Etheridge)
31. Tea For Two (Louis Prima and Keely Smith)
32. Love Song (Sara Bareilles)
33. So Damned Beautiful (Polaroid)
34. Summer Wind (Michael Buble)
35. A Long Walk (Jill Scott)
36. Two of Us (The Beatles)
37. Under My Skin (Rachael Yamagata)
38. I Can’t Believe You’re In Love With Me (Frank Sinatra)
39. Kick, Push (Lupe Fiasco)
40. Teach Me Tonight (Dinah Washington)
41. Exactly Like You (Diana Krall)
42. Out of the Woods (Nickel Creek)
43. No Ordinary Love (Sade)
44. O.K. (Ani diFranco)
45. We Are In Love (Harry Connick Jr.)
46. Moonlight Saving Time (Blossom Dearie)
47. I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen)
48. Miracle (Josh Rouse)
49. I want You (Alana Davis)
50. Baby, Now That I’ve Found You (Alison Krauss and Union Station)

Love x Infinity Pt. 1
Love x Infinity Pt. 2
Love x Infinity Pts. 3 and 4

Oh. And it’s December. Which means I can start making my list of all my favorite 2008 songs. Yay!

Not feeling so…Enchanted

{ November 23, 2008 @ 10:45 pm } · { i'd like to get to know you }
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It’s an off week. What can I say?

I’m not ashamed to admit that Enchanted is one of those movies that plays all the time at my house. One of those that when I see it on Stars or Showtime or whatever station it is I leave it on. Amy Adams is so damned cute.

Correction. Amy Adams is damned adorable.

It’s a lame entry, but this part of the movie just makes me happy.

My own Twilight Mix

{ November 10, 2008 @ 3:02 pm } · { playlist, swap challenges }
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I can’t imagine why that would be frustrating at all — just because someone refuses to tell you what they’re thinking, even if all the while they’re making cryptic little remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean… now, why would that be frustrating?
Twilight, Chapter 5, p.90

The challenge was create a mix of all the songs that remind you of Twilight. Not exactly a difficult task. I left out one song because it seemed rather cliche to the idea: Paramore’s CrushCrushCrush. It was the song I kept running through my head while reading, but it seemed too obvious when putting this together.

I can think of maybe two people who haven’t read the series. I don’t know what it was — they weren’t the best books ever, but they somehow sucked me in and I HAD to find out what was going to happen next.

So here it is, songs that remind me of Twilight. Get it here.

P.S.

I’m feeling awfully disjointed so this entry sucks.

I don’t even want to know when it was I last posted…

{ November 4, 2008 @ 4:03 pm } · { news, playlist, swap challenges }
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Which is clearly just a figure of speech because I looked. It was October 8th. I have reasons. Mostly? I have had an “off” relationship with music. We broke up, as it were. I was in favor of quiet. Well, relative quiet. Windows open, allowing me to listen to cars go past, dogs breathe (and snore), cats play, and wind blow through the wind chimes outside my window. Also, there was something comforting in being able to hear the washer cycle through it’s 6 minute cycles every time a new load went in. The hum of the sewing machine, the low tone of a movie, the way keys click when you type.

Sometimes life makes music on it’s own.

Notable things, muscially:

Ludacris was on the Martha Stewart show. I love Martha (duh) and I love seeing Ludacris in different formats. It just amuses me because he manages to somehow smash that Rap star stereotype. Oh, and the man is a spiffy dresser.

The head of Deaf Jam records committed suicide in Atlanta on Saturday.

Christie’s is having an AWESOME music auction right now. Most notable is this, the Beastie Boys cover art. If you are wondering, yes, I’ve already put my bid page together and given it my handy Christie’s bidder person. (They do have an official title. I just can’t remember it.) I will be bidding on these two posters: New Order and The Clash/Sex Pistols.

MTV has started putting all their music video catalog online. Why can’t they just put them on tv instead of oh, I don’t know, all those reality tv shows? I mean they called themselves MUSIC television, yet MtV is where I go when I want to see poorly tattooed Asian midgets find love, try to guess who might be Paris Hilton’s BFF, and girls stick with their boyfriends even though their parents set them up on “dates” with better suitors. (Have you ever noticed the girls always stay with their boyfriends “because their parents hate them” and the boys always pick a new girlfriend on that show? It falls into my theory that boys are really sluts.)

Finally. I made a mix. I know, right?!? I’ve been off with music, but I had to make an End mix…and here it is if you’d like to give it a listen. It’s the companion mix to this one. I figured since I did falling in love, why not do breaking up?

Oh. And it’s election day. GO VOTE.

That is all.

I love this

{ October 8, 2008 @ 1:03 am } · { playlist }
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Mix challenge: Beginnings

{ October 3, 2008 @ 10:04 pm } · { playlist, swap challenges }
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The rules:

The theme of this swap is ‘Beginnings’. Make a mix of 10 – 20 songs that you think fit the theme. They could be songs about new beginnings, music that represents new phases in your life, songs from bands that are just beginning their careers, anything you want that you think fits the theme.

I went with love…and if you pay attention closely to my track listing, I think I’ve arranged them to follow the natural flow of, well, love.

Download it here. (You need the password: swapbot)

Jillsentials: the 1980’s

{ September 25, 2008 @ 7:10 pm } · { jillsentials }
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A note about my jillsentials Country post: during a fit of whining (do I really have to listen to Country was the bit) it was said to me that “all Country is sad songs about how your best friend ran off with your woman and your dog and not worth listening to.” Total cliche, right? But you know what? While that might be true, while country songs might be about best friends running off with women and the family pet, what genre of music doesn’t wax poetic about the same exact subjects?? What genre of music doesn’t have songs about heartbreak, loss, and alcohol?

With that said…on to the 80’s. There was a bevy of 80’s songs to chose from and I tried to stay away from the severely obvious. (Hence the lack of New Order.) There really isn’t much I can say about music from the 80’s…I hardly remember them. The music, though, has stood the test of time, as it were. At least in my book. From the pre-I just realized George Michael is gay days of Wham! to The Motels to Miss Janet being Nasty, they are all songs I truly love. Still. Included, even, is a song that I’ve always considered to be one of the best ever written off an album I put into the same category: Tears for Fears Head Over Heels.

The songs I truly adore, for misc. reasons:

Promises, Promises (Naked Eyes)
Head Over Heels (Tears for Fears)
Suddenly Last Summer (The Motels)
Tenderness (General Public)

Download my 1980’s essentials here and here. (It was so big I had to split it into two.) As always, if you’re so inclined, feel free to share your 1980’s essentials with me. You know I’m always curious!

Jillsentials: Country

{ September 11, 2008 @ 12:11 am } · { jillsentials, playlist }
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Firstly. I think I’m so clever inventing the word “jillsentials”.

Secondly. I am making a set of mixes from every genre of music…songs I personally need in my collection. They’re also songs I think you should hear at least once, even if you don’t like that particular areas of music.

I am a firm believer that you should be willing, as a music listener/lover, to listen to everything at least once. You can’t say you don’t like it if you don’t try.

About my relationship with Country: It isn’t my favorite genre of music. Nor do I like it very much. But I do appreciate it for what it is. I like Country for one big reason: the sing-along quality it holds. Oh. And because you can do some pretty nifty fun dancing type things to Country…like the Two Step. (Which I haven’t done in a very long time but can in fact do.)

My sing-alongs in this mix:

-Folsom Prison Blues
-Tonight’s the Heartache’s On Me (The Dixie Chicks)
-There’s a Tear In My Beer (Hank Williams Jr.)
-Jolene (Dolly Parton)
-Pretty Paper (Willie Nelson) (Let it be known, the version on this mix is simply AWESOME)
-San Antonio Rose (Bob Wills)
-Does My Ring Hurt Your Finger? (Charley Pride) (Let it be known: this is probably my most favorite sing along song ever)

Even if you don’t like Country, at least give it a listen one time through. You never know, it might surprise you. And download it here.

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