Apartment Five B: Music

Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Music Survey

Greg posted a fun music survey over on Bloggy McBloggerson.

Monday, April 28, 2008

We had a bittersweet weekend. The sweet part. My parents and Jon and I had dinner Friday night at a super yummy Brazilian restaurant in the city called Yemanja. I highly recommend it. Jon says, "It is the best Brazilian food I've had in a long time. The best empanadas. Really good caipirinhas. The only bad thing was they didn't give me enough rice with my feijoada." The best part was they gave us free pão de queijo (cheesy bread) even though it's not even on the menu.

After dinner, Jon, my mom, and I went to the Lucas School House for a great concert. It certainly wouldn't appeal to everyone but we all really enjoyed it. We went to see Jake Shimabukuro, an amazing ukelele player from Hawaii. Considering the show was just "an Asian guy playing 4 strings," (Jake's words), it was an incredibly diverse show. He used his ukelele to imitate a Japanese koto, a snare drum (which he used to play in his high school marching band), and a banjo. He covered Cyndi Lauper, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles, and played bluegrass, classical, and Hawaiian.

After the concert, we got the opportunity to go up and shake Jake's hand. He's very generous with his time and it was great to chat with him for a moment. My mom tried to take some pictures - all I can say is that we're going to have to have a camera lesson because this is what we got for the shot of me and Jake together.

I did get my ukelele signed and my copy of hula girls, a Japanese movie that Jake composed the music for. (By the way, the ukelele as been signed by several awesome Hawaiian musicians - Cyril Pahinui, Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom, Eric Gillion, Patrick Landeza, and Willie K.

We ended the evening with a trip to channel 5 and Jon's first visit to the set. This is the SportsPlus set that my dad helped design.

The bitter. On Saturday, we went to a good-bye party for our good friends Matt and Vicki. They're off on their adventure to Guam. You guys will be missed. We expect lots of posts/pictures/skyping/etc. Have fun and hopefully we'll get over there to see you sometime soon!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Missing college days right now

I have to admit, I loved the college years. Although I usually would rather live in the present, one aspect I miss the most is going to events with friends. I've been checking out some great concerts in the city and know that if it were 10 years ago, I could probably drag one of you along. There are three concerts in the area I would love to go to - Iron and Wine, Death Cab for Cutie, and the Ryan Montbleu Band. Tix are cheap ($10!), and yet I bet that none of my friends (and definitely not hubby) here would be interested in joining - it's too late at night, too hard to find babysitting, too old to go out and have fun, etc. I'm already depressed that Jack Johnson won't be playing in Chicago. Sigh...

Sunday, February 24, 2008

The Academy got it right on this one....

Congratulations to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Best Song Oscar winners tonight for "Falling Slowly" from Once. Great song, great movie, great acceptance speech(es).

Also, I completely forgot to note this last week but we hit our 2 year anniversary of this blog on Valentine's Day! 2 years! Congratulations, girls. Here's to many more!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

California Dreamin'

I'm having a great time in LA. Here are some quick highlights.

1) Saw Chris Pierce in concert. He has a great soul voice. You can hear some of his stuff on myspace. His song She's Trying to Kill Me is hilarious.

2) Saw the movie Once. It is a very simple, sweet movie. The music is AMAZING. You can even get a free download of my favorite song from the movie at this site. Warning: you might drive your household crazy with repeated listenings because it is totally addictive. This is the insane part (yes, this is a "country girl going to the big city" story) the movie ticket cost $14 and had ASSIGNED SEATS. Insane.

3)Ate pinkberry yogurt. Never had anything like it. Again, totally addictive. Their tag lines are "swirly goodness" and "chilly bliss." It even has its own theme song called (rather obviously I think) "The Pinkberry Song" by Lady Tigra.

4) Went to Grauman's Theater for the first time. Saw Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Matt Damon's hand and footprints. So cool. Lots of characters around. I saw a Mad Eye Moody, several pirates, a seriel killer of some sort, a man with wings and 6 inch patent red platforms and a leather thong. I insulted Tom Cruise's handprint because it looked like he misspelled his own name and was chastised by a bystander because "he's actually a very intelligent man who has overcome many things, including dyslexia." Oops.

5) Tonight on tap is the Spazmatics. They are an 80's cover band and they dress up like the Revenge of the Nerds. I have even purchased an outfit for the evening. It includes gigantic pink hoop earrings.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

After All These Years

I'm 30 now. The 70s, 80s and 90s have all passed by, as hallmarked by multiple VH1 specials. Time goes by, our tastes change. I cringe when I look back at my permed hair and pretty much all of my clothes from those decades. Some things, however, have withstood the test of time and remained part of my personal history (in a good way.) Here are the things I ought to be ashamed to admit that I still love:

1) Michael W. Smith. I suppose the fact that I listened to MWS for a minimum of 2 hours a day for the better part of 10 years would explain the fact that something inside me melts whenever I hear his raspy voice. He gets me every time, every dang time.

2) Boy Meets World. Just finished watching a very special episode where Shawn has nowhere to live and moves in with Cory. It made me cry. Now that is great television. (Side note: I just saw Mr. Feeny as a CIA agent on an episode of The Closer.)

3) Butter and sugar. I should have outgrown the overwhelming desire to stick my finger in the butter dish or down a few sugar packets by now. You'd think having kids would make me want to be a better role model, but all I can think is, "Hey, Soph, pass the butter. . ."

4) Power ballads. What better way to express your tortured love for someone than to belt it out in your best man-scream?

5) My blankie. (That's not mine in the picture, but I was too lazy to get up and take a picture.) Those of you who know me know that I am definitely not kidding on this one. And we're flying to Wisconsin this year, so I won't be able to take it with me. (Sniff.)

6) Pop Rocks. They are still really, really fun to eat. And they still mystify me as to how they work their magic! And don't eat them while drinking coke . . .

7) Clueless. One of the greatest movies of all time. (I've linked you to the script so you can study its genius in detail.)

8) Ricky (Rick) Shroder. He made this season of 24. Yeah, he looks older than when he was on Silver Spoons, but he's still so cute.

9) Pink everything. I've got pink shoes, pink shirts, pink pants, pink purses and a pink camera case. It's like I'm 14 years old again. But it's just such a happy color.

10) This Present Darkness/Piercing the Darkness. I read each book 5 times in the span of 3 months. I haven't read them since, but based on the fact that they were what held me together during a very tough time in my 13 year-old life, I'm pretty sure I'd still love them.

I've bared my soul, now it's your turn. Can you think of anything you still really, really love that you ought to have outgrown?

Friday, May 11, 2007

POLL - Workout Music

I'm looking for some new, good workout music - what do you recommend??? I'll try almost anything, except for classical. :) I want something I can walk fast/run to...

Thanks!!

Sunday, February 18, 2007

It Is Well

Today in church we sang one of my very favorite old hymns, "It Is Well With My Soul." This simple but meaningful song seems to pop up at very significant moments in my life, which is probably part of the reason for my affinity for it. We sang it in church on September 9, 2001, the day before we buried my grandfather and two days before 9/11. If I remember correctly, we also sang it a year later on September 8, 2002, the week my friend Kevin died in a freak ATV accident. Over the years it has shown up at other moments when I particularly needed comforting and as we started singing today I realized its purpose. We had just finished gathering around my brother, Robbie, to pray for his upcoming surgery.

To understand the significance of this song it might be helpful to know the background. It was written in 1873 by a Chicago businessman named Horatio Spafford. In 1871, much of his property was destroyed by the Chicago Fire. Then two years later, the family physician recommended a vacation to benefit his wife's health. A family friend, Dwight L. Moody, was going to be preaching a series of evangelism meetings in England, so Mrs. Spafford and the couple's four daughters boarded a ship, with Mr. Spafford himself planning to follow a few days later. On the way to England, the Spafford's ship collided with another, and all four daughters were drowned. On his way to England to meet his wife, Mr. Spafford wrote the following words near the very spot that his daughters were killed.

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When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul."
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Thou Satan should buffet, tho' trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul.

My sin... O, the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,
"Even so" - it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul.

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