That’s right, there’s more free music for you to listen to. You may have noticed my list of recently played tracks there in the sidebar — it magically knows what I’ve been playing on my computer, iPod, or phone — courtesy of last.fm, a great site for anyone obsessed with music and self documentation, like, say, me. It will occasionally allow you to play the tracks I’ve been listening to, provided they host full versions of the songs. Sometimes, though, all you get is a 30-second clip. How disappointing, right?
Well, be disappointed no more! I added a little widget below my recent tracks that plays my so-called “radio station”: you’ll get a random assortment of my tracks, and all are full versions. You can skip the ones you don’t like, and, for the ones you do like, you can click the little link to have last.fm play you more similar stuff. It’s a great way to find new music. Go on and check it out!
P.S. Since my profile over at last.fm is not anonymous, I disabled all the links to it, so those elements of the widgets don’t work. Everything else should be functional, though.
P.P.S. These only show up on the main page, not the individual post pages.
Hey, all you fans of Buffy, Angel, and Firefly: did you know Joss Whedon’s internet mini-series, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, is now showing? Act I is up now, and Acts II and III are coming later this week. It’s online for a limited time only, and it’s awesome, so you should go check it out posthaste. There’s Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, and supervillains singing. Go on. You know you wanna.
(That picture was, like, totally a link.)
P.S. There seems to be a huge amount of traffic to the site, so if it’s not working right now, do check back later.
This aside brought to you by the iPhone: Since my stolen Internet is not working currently (APPARENTLY my neighbors do not seem to care whether their routers are connected to a working modem or not, THE GALL), I am delving into the old DVD collection again. Gilmore Girls! One of my all-time top fives. Need to post to that effect soon.
When I saw the Oscars last year, I hadn’t yet seen the movie Once, but I fell a little bit in love with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova watching them perform and then win the award for their nominated song, “Falling Slowly.”
When I finally got the chance to see the movie a few months ago, my love was absolutely cemented. Today, I saw it again (after buying the DVD for a mere $5, hello awesomness!) and rekindled my affections.
While I am on the record as loathing musicals in general, this is one exception to that rule: the music in this film is not only ridiculously good, but it also fits into the film in a seamless, organic way: it never tries to be clever or theatrical or spectacular; it just lives there.
If you’ve already seen this film, you’ve no doubt fallen in love with it yourself — it’s just that irresistible. If you haven’t yet, may I recommend you do so posthaste! It will tickle all of the romantic and creative nerves you have, making you nostalgic for the days of exchanging mix tapes and having impromptu jam sessions with your friends all nestled in a circle in your living room.
When you watch the scene where they go into the recording studio for the first time, and the snarky, cynical manager hears them perform “When Your Mind’s Made Up,” you might just get a tear (or several) in your eye. If that doesn’t do it for you, try the ending shot where the camera goes out from her apartment window and looks over the street below. And if THAT doesn’t do it for you, then I can’t help. You may want to go see the doctor and find out if your HEART HAS GONE MISSING, you cold bitch!
I am sure I do not need to mention the adorable sexiness of Glen Hansard with his red hair and close-cropped beard and Irish accent and blazer-scarf combo, do I? Well then consider it mentioned. The dude is charming and talented and you will find yourself imagining him perched on the edge of your couch with his worn out guitar and smile lines.
There’s just one important caveat: you absolutely must ignore any knowledge of the fact that he and Marketa Irglova are a real-life couple, and how much older he is than she is, and how young she was when they met. That might kind of skeeve you out a bit, so just forget I said anything about it.
Here are a couple of my favorite songs from the film, the first of which won the Oscar. Go ahead and listen to them at least once:
Following all your lovely advice, I decided to give Weeds a try, and I love it! I have zipped through two seasons already, and am eagerly waiting for the third one to download. Since each season consists of about 10-12 half-hour episodes, it’s not too difficult to watch an entire season in one day — especially if all you have to do otherwise is sit there watching some dogs wrestle.
It’s a great cast: I love Mary Louise Parker, who plays Nancy, and the rest of the group is great too. My other favorites are Kevin Nealon as Doug (Nancy’s stoner asshole neighbor/customer) and Romany Malco, who plays Conrad. Oh, Conrad! Dish me up a scoop of THAT, please!
The show is a very entertaining dark comedy (or comedy-drama, maybe, but in half-hour format) that appeals to all the subversive and greedy thoughts I have. What better way to strike it rich, tax free, than selling pot to bored suburban yuppies? The show efficiently plays on issues of race and economic class with humor and intelligence. The still below illustrates effortlessly the depiction of the white “PTA Mom” social group into which Nancy (not pictured) doesn’t quite fit — though her handbag, seen in the front chair, does.
Another fun send-up of suburban conformity is the theme song, Malvina Reynolds’ “Little Boxes” — you know, the little boxes that are all made out of ticky-tacky and all look just the same? The song plays over scenes of near-identical homes, cars, latte-drinkers, and joggers in the planned community where the show is set. The fun starts in the second season, though, where each episode features a different artist singing the theme song. Fans who, like me, enjoy trying to identify celebrity voices will surely like the game of guessing who the singer is each time. I noticed Elvis Costello, Ben Gibbard, and Jenny Lewis, although I misidentified Engelbert Humperdinck as Wayne Newton. (Close enough on that one, I say!)
Here’s the Death Cab for Cutie version, ’cause y’all know I can’t resist:
One sort of unfortunate side effect of watching so much Weeds in such a short span of time is that I have a serious hankering for some dank, sticky, hairy, sparkly, skunk-ass-smelling tea. OMG. I essentially quit smoking pot after I graduated college (with handfuls of exceptions on special occasions and vacations, etc.), but man! For a while there, getting ridiculously high and then listening to Stevie Wonder was my main extracurricular activity. Incidentally, you should try that sometime. Anyway, those days are over, so I’ll just have to live vicariously through television, so each time Kevin Nealon hits that bong, I have a little sympathy burn in my throat.
I’m catching Ingrid Bergman night on TCM. Just saw Casablanca, which I had the good fortune to flip to just in time for the moving “La Marseillaise” scene, and now it’s Bergman + Hitchcock in Notorious. HELLS YEAH. (Her people? Also Nordic.)
Just have to say, quickly, that Mad Men is absolutely the business. If you haven’t seen this show yet, snap to it! The new season is now airing on AMC, but I suggest, as always, starting with the beginning. DVDs are now out, or you can just buck the system and download it. I’m currently about halfway through season one, and I will have more to say about this soon!
This aside brought to you by the iPhone: Since my stolen Internet is not working currently (APPARENTLY my neighbors do not seem to care whether their routers are connected to a working modem or not, THE GALL), I am delving into the old DVD collection again. Gilmore Girls! One of my all-time top fives. Need to post to that effect soon.
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