song of the day: caught by the river by the doves

Just an amazing amazing song. Nothing more to say.

song of the day: here it goes again by ok go

work has been taking over my life.

I guess I can't complain though; it's probably better than sitting on my ass watching TV all day, hopelessly applying to scam jobs.

yeah, this is better.

Anyway, here's your song of the day. Or, as it seems to have been lately, your song of the week.

song of the day: sister rosetta goes before us by robert plant and alison krauss

Dear Reader,

Sorry I haven't posted in a while - work has been absolutely crazy. Here's your song of the day.

Led Zeppelin lead singer and legend, Robert Plant, teaming up with folk goddess Alison Krauss.

Odd pairing, you might be thinking.

But I promise you, it's a match made in heaven.



Note: this is not the actual music video. Just the song.

song of the day: an animated description of mr. maps by the books

The Books are a little too experimental for some people. Thankfully, I'm not put off by them at all. I guess I wouldn't be though...I did spend seven years trying to find a Steve Reich album that I heard when I was 16.

The Books are a little less out there than Steve Reich. Formed in 1999, the band is kind of an ethereal mix of folk, electronica, and indie rock. Band members, guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong, mesh together traditional instrumentals and vocals with seemingly random sounds and speech samples

And when I say random, I kind of mean it (even though each audio placement is, in actuality, very deliberate). A Salvador Dali audio file made it onto "Venice" from their 2005 album Lost and Safe. A snippet from Lewis Caroll's "Jabberwocky" is included in “Vogt Dig For Kloppervok”, from the same album. In "If Not Now, Whenever" Mal Sharpe asks a passerby "How're you doin' today?"

The song I've chosen, "An Animated Decription of Mr. Maps" is a perfect example of The Books' style. Weird, eerily beautiful, and incredibly awesome.

Enjoy, tell me what you think.

An Unlikely Coupling

Wait, what? What happened?

Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor were knighted in the prestigious National Order of Arts and Letters this morning by Minister of Culture Frederic Mitterand.

And to celebrate, apparently, they made out.

Which, you know, is totally normal.

Right?

No?

Sorry.

song of the day: tombstone blues by richie havens

Originally a Bob Dylan song, "Tombstone Blues" is, musically, a straightforward blues song. Lyrically, it's kind of typical of Dylan's surrealism.

As he sings, "the sun's not yellow / it's chicken."

Richie Havens recorded his version of the song for I'm Not There, the completely trippy film based on Dylan's life.





Here's an interesting little factoid for you. Stephen King actually quoted the "Tombstone Blues" at the end of his first novel, Carrie.

"Now I wish I could write you a melody so plain
That could hold you dear lady from going insane
That could ease you and cool you and cease the pain
Of your useless and pointless knowledge"

[Image via seatwave]

song of the day: fake empire by the national

I actually didn't like The National when I first got their CD Boxer back in 2007.

I can't really remember why, honestly, because when I set my iPod to shuffle this morning and "Fake Empire" came on, I kind of fell in love with it.

Matt Berninger's deep baritone voice is sexy.

Listen to the song. Let me know what you think.

Betty White is my Hero

If you know me, you knew that. I didn't name my car Betty for no reason.

And once you read this, you'll love her too. If you didn't already.

As you all probably know, Rue McClanahan, Blanche from the Golden Girls, recently had a stroke.

Betty, the kind woman that she is, sent Rue some flowers. Sweet so far, right?

Except that the card read:

"I hope you die, so I can be the last Golden Girl!"

HA!!

Betty, I knew there was a reason that I love you.

[Image via starpulse]

GaGa on the Grammys

I mentioned earlier that the hype surrounding Lady GaGa's Grammy performance with Elton John was largely responsible for the huge ratings that the event enjoyed.



I've written a haiku in honor of the splendor.

GaGa, all smudged up
Elton John looks dirty too
Zoolander is on?



[image via Getty]

Etta James fighting with Alzheimer's

Last week I posted about Etta James' recent hospital trip. It was just a urinary tract infection, so I was understandably relieved.

This week, though, James' son revealed that his mother has been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for the better part of the past year.

When Etta is released from the hospital, she'll be moved to a nursing home so that she can be better taken care of.

I wish you the best, Ms. James. Feel well soon.



[image via WENN]

Grammys, send thank you notes to GaGa

The Grammys KILLED the competition last night. Showing its highest ratings in the past six years, the Grammys pulled in 25.8 million viewers thanks largely to a much hyped Lady GaGa performance.



Now that's what I call GaGa-licious.

[Image via WENN.]

Lucas Silveira: Canada's Sexiest Man Alive

Well. This is just fantastic!

Lucas Silveira, the openly transgender lead singer of famously angrogynous Canada-based band The Cliks, won the "Throw Your Underwear Award Male" (Sexiest Canadian Man) in the year end reader's poll from Chart Attack, Canada's premier music magazine.

He narrowly beat out Avril Lavigne's ex and Sum 41 frontman, Deryck Whibley, becoming the first transman to win the award!

Personally, I'm not surprised. Because Deryck Whibley is so eh.



In an interview with About.com, Silveira spoke incredibly openly about the difficulties that he has had to face.

"When I first realized that I wasn’t going to be able to go on T, I was very, very disappointed. Because I thought, finally, I’m going to be able to do this. But then I started doing the research and I discovered that it would do what it would do to my voice."



"I started thinking about that because I feel like, not only am I a voice for the trans community going out into mainstream, but there are guys like me. We’re the guys who are truly in the middle. I’ve had top surgery, but I’m not doing T. And to tell you the truth, I don’t know if I ever will. I feel very comfortable being where I am right now."

Well, a tip of the hat to you, good sir! I congratulate you on your openness, your career, and your now documented sexiness. Well done.

And, to pay my respects to Sileira's success, here is your song of the day!



[images from boston.com and AdamPSmith ]