Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! It's been a hectic few weeks around here, and I've found very little time to be in front of my computer. I mentioned my brother was here for a visit, and during his visit we threw the pre-Thanksgiving bash. It was a great time, and a great excuse to have yummy Thanksgiving fare twice in a month. Two days after he left, my sister and nephew arrived. Having a two year old around is nothing less than a whirlwind of chaos. Having a sick two year old around is nothing less than a nightmare. I quickly realized how accustomed I'd grown to living on my own, and living without children. Consequently, I've been spending a LOT of time at the gym! But, having said that, there isn't a little guy any cuter than him, and having him around is fantastic, especially now that he's feeling better.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I decided to cook another turkey (pictured above) for us and a few friends. I didn't realize how gross turkeys look pre-roasting until I saw that picture. Unfortunately I forgot to take another picture after the roasting, but I can promise you that it was nothing short of perfection! Our day was filled with lots of friends and eating and drinking and general merry-making- a perfect day in my opinion!

So, just wanted to give you a little update on my whereabouts. I hope that those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a wonderful day! My sister & nephew will be leaving next week, which will give me plenty of time to get back to being a blogging nerd again! Till then...

to do #146: celebrate Thanksgiving

My Morning Jacket

Tuesday night I saw My Morning Jacket at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe. A few years ago when their album It Still Moves came out I was an instant fan. Jim James has such an amazing and unique voice. Of course some of that is because of the vocal effects and album production, but the airy/ethereal/spacey quality of his voice makes for a pretty distinguished sound. At the time I couldn't get enough of the album. When their latest album was released this year I was ready for something even better than the last, but was so turned off by the sound I barely gave it a few listens before I decided they were a one-album wonder for me.

But, despite my disappointment I still wanted to check them out when they came to town in hopes that they'd play lots of the older stuff. I wasn't expecting much, except maybe to get my live music fix, so I was totally surprised at how great the show was. Not only did they play some of the old songs I love, but the new songs totally took on a different sound. They didn't seem cheesy anymore, they were fantastic. MMJ played for about an hour and a half and played a good mix of old and new stuff. The sound was spot-on and captured his voice perfectly. Several of the songs extended into long jam sessions, which under normal circumstances I'm usually not a fan of, but in this case I absolutely loved, especially Dondante with the saxophone solo at the end. Seeing the new songs performed live totally got me into the new album, and now I can't get enough of it. I'd recommend you definitely check it out, and check out the band if they come to town. I know the album can be a bit tough to get through the first few times, but stick with it, it's excellent!

The setlist:

1- Wordless Chorus
2- It Beats for You
3- One Big Holiday
4- What a Wonderful Man
5- Off the Record
6- Golden
7- Sooner
8- Gideon
9- Lay Low
10- Dondante
11- Runthru
-encore-
12- Bermuda Highway
13- At Dawn
14- Anytime
15- Mahgeeta

to do #263: see My Morning Jacket

Koi

Hey everyone! I hope that you're still sticking with me- I've been a terrible blogger lately. My brother came for a visit last Wednesday and is still here, then we had the big Thanksgiving bash yesterday which was fantastic, so there hasn't been much free time to write or to read your blogs. I have lots to catch you up on, but for now I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know I'm still alive. Above is a picture from the local Japanese garden we visited today. The koi were gorgeous!

to do #139: feed the local koi

Amores Perros

I realized something disturbing tonight. I watched the film Amores Perros with some friends. I was the only one who hadn't seen it, but they all loved it enough to see it again. I'd heard it was an excellent movie, and I liked 21 Grams, so I was sure I'd like it too. I can honestly tell you if it weren't for being with my friends tonight, I may have turned off Amores Perros after the first fifteen minutes because I was so disturbed by the violence and gore. I never thought I'd say that about a movie. Not that I love violent films, but violence in films has never bothered me. Not until tonight. And the reason I was bothered by the violence bothers me even more than the violence itself.

One of the storylines in Amores Perros involves dog fighting. The dogs are vicious and often end up getting killed in the fights. Now, I'm not an uber-animal lover. I love my dog, and I pretty much like other people's dogs, but that's about as far as I go. But watching dogs fight and kill each other was way too much for me. I had to turn my head and really wasn't sure that I could handle it. But I soldiered on for my friends. (I'm glad I did, the film is excellent!) After the movie it dawned on me that I've seen people in films and TV doing the same and worse, but it rarely causes a reaction in me anymore. To say we are desensitized to violence from our exposure to it on film and TV is an understatement. Very disturbing.

to do #178: see Amores Perros

Earworms

Today is Earworm Friday over at SwissToni's Place, and yours truly is the guest editor this week! I hope you'll pay me a visit, and stick around his place- he's got a brilliant blog over there.

Referrals

Sometimes I think of looking at the referring pages to my blog, and when I do I'm almost always cracked up. Today someone searched the words science fair todo with animals hearing on MSN search, and my blog was the number one search result. Seriously! Check here. I wish I could have offered some help on a science fair to do with animal's hearing, but alas, I have no advice to give on that subject matter.

to do #299: find the oddest referral to my blog