Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Moment of Silliness (or: Why Life is Like a Mop)

I shouldn't be blogging. At all. I'm currently pulling an all-nighter, cramming for a giant, scary exam that's only about 12 hours away. And trust me, 12 straight hours of intensive study is still cutting it waaaaaaaay too close for this behemoth. *shudder*

But in true me fashion, I couldn't help but take a little breather for a few moments, trying to escape the doldrums of 100s of pages of textbook blah and nearly illegible notes. I swear, all of the words are starting to blend into one giant, undulating spiral of sleep-inducing gibberish. Believe it or not, renal papillae just aren't engrossing enough to hold my undivided attention for hours on end.

So, I decided to surface for a few moments to randomly share a couple of ridiculous YouTube clips from one of my favorite movies: “UHF”. There’s really no reason behind me sharing these, other than the hope that they will provide a momentary escape from the business and stress of life and allow you to relax and laugh at something silly for a few moments. I don’t know about you – but for me, pausing for silliness is a daily necessity, and is better than psychiatry or pharmaceuticals. So I implore you: grab a tasty beverage, put your feet up for a bit, and enjoy the silliness!











And my personal favorite:

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Satellite radio understands the soundtrack of my life

** NOTE: If you want to skip all my boring blabbering, at least go to the bottom of this post and check out the song. It's radical, dude.**

God bless satellite radio. I don't have it, but Henry has it in his car. And let me tell you, I'm like a kid on Christmas morning whenever we go run errands together... because that means I get to revel and bask in all the delicious musical variety that satellite radio can offer a music freak like me. I can wax nostalgic whilst listening to Salt -n- Pepa and Toni Tone Tony on the 90s channels, or I can enjoy new bands that the tired radio stations around here won't even start to play for months (if at all!).

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not trying to badmouth regular radio. It has served me well these 28 (yikes!) years. And a great station (like The Edge 92.1 FM in Pocatello) can bring cutting-edge music to music lovers who may not otherwise be exposed to it. (Speaking of which -- I'm going to do a little plug here for The Edge and my friend and favorite DJ, Mr. Josh Tielor. It's an AMAZING alternative rock station, and Josh is rad. He makes sure the playlist is always killer! Listen to it, people.... listen! For my Orlando friends who are as dismayed as I am with the terrible radio stations here, you can listen to a live stream of The Edge online here: http://theedge921.com/common/gap_streamer.php. Anyway... plug concluded. Psst... you should send me a t-shirt, Josh! ; )

Oh, but to experience the pure joy satellite radio elicits!! I imagine it's just slightly short of experiencing a choir of angels singing the Hallelujah chorus of Handel's "Messiah". Well.... for me, that is. Then there's poor Henry. Poor Henry has to endure Selfish Sally, usually having little to no vote on what songs and/or stations are selected. As soon as I settle my tookus into his passenger seat, my eyes glaze over in a fog of musical euphoria as I assume total control of the stereo dials and buttons. I try to justify my musical totalitarianism by reasoning that Henry usually has sole possession of the tv remote control, and an unceasing obsession for all things football. But the radio? Oh no, sir. The radio is MY domain. Besides... I could never truly trust the musical selections of someone who, before meeting me, had never listened to a single song by Joni Mitchell, the Stone Temple Pilots, Jack's Mannequin, Josh Groban, MxPx, Ella Fitzgerald, or The Fratellis (among many, many others). I could not truly trust someone who doesn't know every single word of "We didn't start the fire" and "Ain't goin' down 'til the sun comes up" to make the most appropriate and wise musical selection for any given moment. No, no. Leave that to the obsessive girl who thinks "Rock -n- Roll Jeopardy" was the best gameshow EVER, and has bitter resentment over the fact that she never tried to become a contestant on it before it was cancelled. *sigh*

But, as always, I digress. Onto today's delightful surprise...

So today Henry and I decided to go run some errands together, and as usual I was dorkily excited to find out what little musical gems I would discover on his satellite radio. I wasn't disappointed. As soon as we got into the car, the first song we heard was "That's what love can do", by the band Boy Krazy. Henry's reaction was a mildly disgusted, "What IS this song? Change it." I barely heard him utter those words, because I was too busy wetting myself in surprised glee while singing every word at the top of my lungs. I was no longer in the car. I had been transported back to the summer of 1993, jumping on my trampoline with my boombox blaring Kasey Kasem's American Top 40 from the back porch, when I should have been mowing the lawn instead. It was beautiful.

So, I'm sharing this song with those of you who care to hear it. Maybe, like me, you haven't heard or thought about it in 16 years, and it will bring back a host of great memories for you. Memories that don't include a slumping economy or a cell phone you dropped in the toilet.... but rather memories of first crushes and big bangs, gangly limbs and Hypercolor shirts. Enjoy!