I was wrong once

One time, Kelly and I got into an argument about what you call that foam-rubber thing rednecks use to keep their beer cold. She called it a "coozy," while I insisted it was called a "cozy." I mean what kind of stupid word is "coozy?" It sounds very much like a derogatory term for vagina, which Heather calls Veronica in the film Heathers.

This was back in the day before UrbanDictionary.com. We went to a party or a bar or someplace and asked everyone "What do you call that foam-rubber thing you use to keep beer cold?" Turns out, the fucker is called a coozy. You learn something every day.

The lovely pink coozy (seen above cradling a Raison D'Etre) was purchased by me from a band called Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele. They are very cool and sing a hilarious song called "I'm An Alcoholic." I think this is the best thing I've ever picked up at a band's merch booth, and Dent May even gave me a deal on it.

Song

Check out this link to my current favorite song, Electric Feel by MGMT. For copyright reasons or whatever, embedding has been disabled on it. Silly bastards.

:(

Jenny is having a crummy week so far and is studying to take the GRE (2nd time, for a better score) on Saturday. Watch this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been so busy the past few days and I'm not going to do anything for the rest of the day except watch TV. Yay! Here are some things to look at:
These whole fried shrimp came with my sushi roll the other day at Happy Fish. April told me I'm supposed to eat them, but I'm a little squeamish when there are eyes still on my food. Tyler poked one with a chopstick and became very alarmed because it was squishy.

I just got the album Youth Novels by adorable Swedish Singer Lykke Li. Everyone should listen to it, it's sooooo good. Here is a photo Tyler took of her at the Doug Fir in September or October. According to her website she's coming back to America for another tour in February. Yay!
I had breakfast with Baby Squirrel on Monday:
Here are some outfits:
Dress: Anthropologie (It was marked down to $50 from $100 because it had a broken button, but there was a replacement button sewn into the lining. Score!); hat: Urban Outfitters; boots: Urban Outfitters.
Dress: vintage; tights: Urban Outfitters; boots: Frye; belt: Target.
Dress: J. Crew; tights: Urban Outfitters; shoes: Frye.

I finally figured out how to style this crazy short haircut:
Happy Thanksgiving!

80's songs sure do sound alike

Listening to coworker's radio:

Me: Hey! I like this song!

Me: Doon'tdoon'tdoon'tdoooonn't--doon't yoouu forrgeet aboouut meeee! Doon'tdoon'tdoon'tdoooonn't!

Me: Hmmm, is this the song from The Breakfast Club or from Pretty in Pink?

Me: Breakfast Club, duh.

Me: Duh! But what is the song from Pretty in Pink? How does it go?

Me: But how can I forget you, girrrl? When there is always something there to remiiind meee?

Me: No, dummy, that's not it.

Me: Where is that song from? Is that from some other Molly Ringwald movie?

Me: No, dude. I think it's from The Wedding Singer or some other inauthentic 80's movie--

Me: Like Donnie Darko, but not Donnie Darko.

Me: The song from Donnie Darko is...um...

Me: Mad World?

Me: No, the other one......faaate, up agaaaaaaaainst your wiiiiiiiiillllll, through the thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick and thiiiiiiinnnnnnn...

Me: Or something.

Me: That movie is overrated.

Me: But I like Maggie G.

Me: Maggie G. is rad.

Me: I like The Wedding Singer.

Me: Yeah.

Me: What is that damn song from Pretty in Pink?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coworker's radio 2 hours later:

Me: If you leave, don't leave now........don't look baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Me: Oh, yeah!

Me: Duh.

Me: I always get those damn songs mixed up.

Why October is the Best Month

The photo above is the tree directly to my left outside my window. It's like a gold wall. It reflects gold light into my dining room, living room, and kitchen.


Looking past the tree are...more trees!


Outside shot of same gold tree.


Gold tree, pine tree, and red tree with sliver of moon in between.

I've spent several hours today looking at photos of Sweden on this photo sharing site called TrekEarth. It's a really cool website. Everyone should check it out!

I also can't get enough of The Cardigans album Long Gone Before Daylight:
it's a more grown-up, mellower album than some of their older stuff; and the cover photo is beautiful. I want to live in that photo. The Cardigans are a band I've listened to continuously for over 10 years without getting tired of them, especially the albums Life and Other Side of the Moon. Their covers of Black Sabbath songs are awesome! In addition to The Cardigans, I've been obsessed with Scandinavian pop in general. My favorite playlist of late is one I named "Scandinavia Today," and consists of The Raveonettes, Jens Lekman, Peter Bjorn and John, and The Cardigans. (I know, I know, no Icelanders--shame!)

Whenever I listen to music, I always think about where the musicians are from. I don't know why, it's probably because I read a lot of music magazines in my early 20's or something.
(Ack, that hair!)

No, I think it's because geography influences music. I mean, listening to Sigur Ros you can really tell they're from Iceland because the surreal landscapes and atmosphere are reflected in their surreal music. And with The Cardigans' older stuff or Jens Lekman, the energy and happy sound of their music reminds one of the brightly painted buildings in Sweden that contrast the oft-gloomy weather, (I tried to find a photo of this, but all the good ones are copyrighted and I don't feel right about just stealing them. Look for some here.)

Hmm, I really don't have anything else to say right now, other than my favorite colors of late are gray, yellow, and white; so I changed the blog to those colors.

Part Three of a Very Long Discourse

(Link to Part One of a Very Long Discourse and Part Two of a Very Long Discourse)

About the same time I became disillusioned with Holden Caulfield, I became enamored of Alex James, the bass player from Blur whose hair also resembled my sixth-grade boyfriend's:

I don't know if Alex started it, but every Britpop band had at least one member who had this hairdo. Pulp, Lush, and Suede all had members with the lopsided skater cut, (as did all of Elastica), and I can't say if this hairdo is the reason I became so obsessed with Britpop, but I think it was part of it. Also, Britpop music is good. According to this article from a very reputable source, Alex now makes cheese. He also has an extremely high IQ and is a prolific and creative swearer. Truly a man after my own heart.

Britpop led me to a short-lived but powerful obsession with the band Belle & Sebastian and their lead singer, Stuart Murdoch.

What I learned from this is the fact that the Glasgow dialect of the English language is the most beautiful spoken language my ears have ever heard, and that Glasgow has produced really kick ass bands like B&S, Sons and Daughters, Franz Ferdinand, and many others whom I haven't listened to. If I'd known about the Fulbright Scholarship program years ago, I would have gotten good grades and gotten through school and applied to go to Glasgow (yeah, right).

Let's omit an unproductive and boring number of years whence I was enamored of Orlando Bloom, tool extraordinaire, and fast forward to today. My ideal man is some sort of cross between Clive Owen, Jemaine Clement, and Mikhail Bulgakov. With a Glasgow accent.

(There must be something fantastic just to the left, as they're all looking over there).

Sexy Songs

Recently, The Boise Weekly published their list of the sexiest songs. And I am now going to publish mine. I take issue with many of their choices, also, they have a list of songs that they think are "Surprisingly Sexy." Well, there is nothing surprising about the sex appeal of "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing," by Chris Isaak. I mean, come on, Chris Isaak is basically sex personified. Also, I actually have made a CD of songs that I consider sexy, which is something they suggest in the Weekly article. It has gotten me laid before.

Also, "Stairway to Heaven?" Are you fucking kidding me? Possibly the most overrated song of all time? Only to longhaired, flannel and Birkenstock-with-socks wearing potheads. There are much better Led Zeppelin songs that are waaaaay sexier. Like "Kashmir," or "Dazed and Confused."

The biggest problem with this article is that they leave out the sexiest song of all time, "Time of The Season" by The Zombies, which basically = The Boise Weekly staff are a bunch of retards. No one can resist this song. Even if you don't think it's the sexiest song ever, you can't deny it's sexy. And it even has a cool video. How many bands made videos back then? I used to see it all the time on VH1 in 1988. It was the only cool thing ever shown on VH1 for years.

I definitely agree with the following choices: "Cowgirl in the Sand," Lay, Lady Lay," "I Put a Spell On You,"--all versions--"Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone," "Ballrooms On Mars," "At Last My Love Has Come Along," but by Etta James, not Ella Fitzgerald, "Soma"--I really loved this song in high school.

Here goes the rest of the list:

"When Doves Cry," Prince. I used to hate this song as a child. I was a stupid child.
"Slum Beautiful," by Outkast.
"Human," by Elastica.
"Corpses in Her Mouth," by Ian Brown. Weird name, weird song, weird singer. Will make you want to take up bellydancing.
"I'm on Fire," Bruce Springsteen. I can't believe this wasn't on their list!!
"The Blood is Love," Queens of the Stone Age. Josh Homme? Should be Josh Hotte.
"Six-Blade Knife," Dire Straits.
"Dead," The Pixies.
Every song ever recorded by Polly Jean Harvey, she is like the female Barry White or Leonard Cohen.
Any and all versions of, "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You."
"Sweetest Perfection," Depeche Mode. It's funny how many songs about heroin are sexy. Actually, this song may not be about heroin, it may be about gay sex. Or both. I don't really want to think about it.
"Got Love to Kill," Juliette and the Licks. This song would be #1 if I made a list of "Songs that make me want to drive 150 mph or faster."
"Nickel to Roll," Jucifer.
"Creme Brulee," Sonic Youth. You and me burnin' in the summertime? Ok.
"My Favourite Game," The Cardigans. Raddest video ever, which of course puts it on my list of songs that make me drive fast. BTW, I think Nina Persson is a femmebot. If I had to cast an angel in a film, she would be it.
"Psychic Hearts," Thurston Moore.
That version of "Hanging on the Telephone," by Cat Power that they play on the Cingular commercial.
Many many Blondie songs, including, "Fade Away and Radiate," and "Will Anything Happen?" "One Way or Another," and "Call Me."
"Book of The Month," Lovage, aka Dan the Automator & various friends. You are the griddle, I am the meat.
"Hella Good," No Doubt.
"Brass in Pocket," The Pretenders. The best karaoke seduction song.
"Gypsy Eyes," "Red House," Jimi Hendrix.
"Caramel," Suzanne Vega.
"The Pink Room," David Lynch, from the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me soundtrack. Sleazy.
"Theme," Cibo Matto.
"Mood Swing," Luscious Jackson.
"Where It's At" is probably banned from airplay for the next ten years due to it's being one of the most overplayed songs of all time, but the remix by John King on the Where It's At single has background music so cool you will cream your jeans.
"Feel Good Hit of the Fall," !!!
"Magic Stick," Lil' Kim.
"Wicked Ways," Garbage.
"A View to a Kill," Duran Duran. The song is better than the movie. Also, "Hungry Like the Wolf." I fucking love this song. Hole does a really good cover of it, too.
"Holy Roller Novacaine," "Wasted Time," Kings of Leon--Make me want to smoke.
"Dirge," "Soul Auctioneer," "Aisha," and "Broken Little Sister," Death in Vegas. This is one of those bands whose good songs totally kick ass, and whose bad songs totally suck ass and there is no in between.
"Seven Nation Army," The White Stripes.
"Shake That Ass" 50 Cent, remixed by The Lovemakers. Also, "We Should be Taking Our Clothes Off," obviously.
"Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space," Spiritualized. Also "Any Way You Want Me." I used to have a live album with this song on it and I could kick myself for selling it. It was awesome, because the music would swell to a huge crescendo, then stop completely when he sang, "I've been watching you, and I don't think that you're gay," or whatever the hell the words are.
"Everybody Knows," Concrete Blonde.
Every Blonde Redhead song.
Every Portishead song.
"So Alive," Love and Rockets.
"Animal Nitrate," and "My Dark Star," Suede.
"Do It Again," Tori Amos.
"Crimson and Clover," Joan Jett.
"Sugar on My Tongue," The Talking Heads.
"This Magic Moment," Lou Reed.
"Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)," The Hollies.
"Mambo Italiano," Dean martin.
"Rhiannon," Fleetwood Mac. I wish Elastica were still together so they could cover this song.
"Planet Queen," T Rex.
"Penelope Tree," Felt.
Every song on the Cat Power album You Are Free, except "Names." I read about this music critic on Amazon.com who "suggests the Universe was created for the sole purpose of producing [Jimi Hendrix album Are You Experienced?]." This is how I feel about You Are Free.
"Swamp Song," "I'm Just a Killer For Your Love," Blur.
"Overcome," "Vent," "Brand New You're Retro," "Christiansands," "Hell is Round the Corner," "Meditate," "Poems," "Pumpkin," Tricky.
"Remembrance," gus gus. if you are stoned, this song literally lasts your entire lifetime.
"Brand New Cadillac," "Guns of Brixton," The Clash.
"Bang Bang," Nancy Sinatra.
"Rich," Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs.
"Only Shallow," My Bloody Valentine.
"Hot Freaks," Guided by Voices.
"Arabian Nights," Siouxie and the Banshees.
"Black Metallic," Catherine Wheel.
"Season of the Witch," Donovan.
"Look for Me (I'll Be Around)," Neko Case.
"I am Pentagon," The Make-up.
"I Just Want to Make Love to You," Etta James
"Piece of My Heart," Janis Joplin
"Back in Black," ACDC
"Breathe," Prodigy. I hated this song until the scene with Justin Theroux in Charlies Angels Full Throttle.
"Barracuda," Heart.
"Dance Hall," Modest Mouse. Pretty any much song about dancing is a song I'm going to think is sexy.

Bookmaking Jenny

I had the most sensitive moment today. Belle & Sebastian's "Judy and the Dream of Horses" played through my entire walk from the Hemingway center to my car, which happened at twilight after I spent an hour cutting interesting words and pictures out of cardboard boxes for class. The only way it could have been more sensitive is if I'd been heading across campus on a vintage cruiser with a basket on the front, heading to my home/job at the local church. Now I'm farting around on Myspace and "867-5309 Jenny" just came on.
Today in class we visisted the Reserved books, and got to see the oldest books in the library's collection. One of them has given me an idea for a classroom edition project, (this is the thing where I have to make a copy of the book for everyone in class, in case you couldn't tell.) It's called The Anatomy of Melancholy and it offers, satirically,
"THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY, WHAT IT IS, WITH ALL THE KINDS, CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, PROGNOSTICS, AND SEVERAL CURES OF IT."
So what I need to do is come up with a more modern "condition" which can be humorously represented, like angst, existential dread, road rage, or similar and its causes and effects. Any suggestions would be welcome. This will be hilarious!
OMG I just had to add that I just saw a funny sketch on Chappelle's Show where they showed what the internet would be like if it were a place. It was gross and dirty and funny!