Joyeux Anniversaire!

It's Adam's birthday today!

Hope it was a good one babe! You'll need to let me take you to dinner or something soon.

Dress Up In You 07.06

If you aren't in the UK, chances are you have no idea that not so little now (and that's not in reference to her weight) Charlotte Church has her very own show cleverly titled The Charlotte Church Show. It's been commissioned for three series, of which each are approx. 7 or 8 episode long. Just about every episode she performs with another artist and it's usually a cover. This particular track that I've posted has her teaming up with The Brand New Heavies to sing my favourite White Stripes track.

Artist: Charlotte Church & The Brand New Heavies
Song: Seven Nation Army
Original Artist: White Stripes

<br /><bgsound src="http://www.hddweb.com/65155/Seven_Nation_Army.m4a"><br />

Finally!

It only took a week, but I'm finally completely moved out of my apartment! I have never been so happy. Once I get off of work, I'm heading straight home, popping an Excedrin PM and hopefully sleeping until Saturday afternoon.

Missing You

I've been thinking a lot about my puppy, Zadie, who passed away back in March. I guess watching Year Of The Dog didn't help. Anyway, I just stumbled across the video of her taken when she was a mere 4 weeks old and the night she was given to me.

Past In Present

Aside from work, I have spent the better part of the week moving. I came across a box of old papers. As I shifted through it just to remind myself what all was in there, I noticed that a couple CDs had somehow gotten mixed in by mistake. One of them was Vanguard by Finley Quaye. I'm not a fan of reggae normally and had not been in the slightest up until I picked his album up on a whim back in 2000. While not every track is accessible, the tracks that are more than make up for it. If you like the track I have uploaded for you to listen to, then pick up the album via iTunes (see link below).




Artist: Finley Quaye
Album: Vanguard
Track: Feeling Blue

<br /><bgsound src=" http://www.hddweb.com/65155/Feeling_Blue.m4a"><br />

Today's Special

Does anyone else remember the show Today's Special? I used to watch this every week day.

For those that have never heard of this, here's the basic premise: A interior designer for a department store works nights along w/ the security guard (a puppet), a mannequin and a mouse (also a puppet). The mannequin can be brought to life when he has his hat on and when the mouse, Muffy, says, "hocus pocus alimagocus!" Each week they have wacky adventures within the store, and there was always a lesson to be learned.

Why were we so obsessed with bringing mannequins to life back in the 80s?

I'm Back...

Online, that is. I finally have internet again. Of course, this week I'm still working on moving out of and cleaning my old apartment. I also have to make a trip down to Houston this weekend to store some stuff at my parents' house, as I found out I'm going to have less space than I thought at my new place.

My point is, I'll finally have time to devote to other blogs now that I have regular internet access. It'll be good to catch up with what has been going on with my fellow bloggers.

Who Knew?

One year ago today I, along with several hundred others, piled into a Dallas courthouse to possibly serve on a jury. I remember sitting in that room surveying the crowd and only one person stood out. I'll refer to him as T. Who would have thought that one year later, T is one of my dearest friends and that we would be living together (just as roommates)?

Good things do come out of jury duty after all.

Put Your Records On 07.32

My favourite song this week. It's different from their usual stuff, but it's so fun that I can't help but love it. The subject is pretty self explanatory.

Artist: Rilo Kiley
Album: Under The Blacklight
Track: Breakin' Up




<br /><bgsound src="http://www.hddweb.com/65155/Breakin_Up.m4a"><br />

Bacon Up That Sausage!

The title is a Simpsons reference, but I'm sure that the people who like to do so are going to love the State Fair Of Texas this year. Here are just a few of the artery clogging and heart hurtin' selections:

Deep-Fried Latte
Fried Guacamole Bites
Country Pride Peach Cobbler On A Stick
Fried Chili Frito Burrito
Mama's Fried Sweet Potato Pie
B.W.'s Original Fried Banana Pudding

Yes, all of the above are deep-fried. Come on people, just because you can deep fry anything doesn't mean that you should. And we wonder why Americans are so overweight.

Starts With Goodbye

So long Gayborhood! I'm trading in fabulous flat in the gayborhood for a far more affordable location. While I'm not quite finished moving, I have all the essentials here. It's going to be a huge adjustment.

Shake N' Blake Update

Blake Lewis has officially signed on with 19 Recordings/Arista. His debut album doesn't have an official release date just yet, but he's hoping to have his 80's influenced tentatively titled Audio Daydream (ADD) set in stores by end of year. You know I'll be buying it. Gotta support my man, right?

Curriculum Vitae

I applied for school yesterday. I went for a year just under ten years ago, but was never allowed to be involved in the process of securing grants and loans. This time around, I'm going at it alone. It's a little scary, but I'm excited.

This weekend I'm moving! So, while I will have internet once more, I doubt that I will be posting anything until next week.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Guilty

After all the hoopla surrounding High School Musical last year (watched by over 100 million worldwide, best selling album released in 2006, a summer concert tour and now a ice show), I decided to watch High School Musical 2. I fell asleep about half way through it, but only due to exhaustion and not the show being boring. And just because I didn't find it boring, it doesn't mean that I enjoyed it. It actually wasn't half bad, though. That is, w/ the exception of Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale), who proves to be I'm sure that I would have looooooved it if I were a tween.

I still don't understand the hype surrounding Zac Efron.

Frustrating

Last night I was organizing my files and wiped out an entire season worth several of my favourite shows, including Big Love. It's all good, though, cause I'll have internet access again starting Saturday!

Put Your Records On 07.31

Artist: Architecture In Helsinki
Album: Places Like This
Track: Heart It Races




<br /><bgsound src="http://www.hddweb.com/65155/Heart_It_Races.m4a"><br />

God Only Knows

Last year when HBO premiered Big Love, I did not intend on giving it a chance. I figured it would do well but wasn't curious enough of what they would do with it to watch. I thought it'd be a bore. It turns out that it is far from being a bore and is, in my opinion, one of the best shows on television.

The series centers on husband Bill Henrickson (played by Bill Paxton) and his three wives: Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicki (Chloë Sevigny) and Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin). Together they have seven children with another on the way (Margie has a bun in the oven). While I have yet to watch the first season, this current one picks up where the first left off. The family's polygamy ways have been revealed at the Governor's ball and the family is attempting to cope with the exposure. The state (Utah, natch) is also mounting an investigation on the compound that Nicki is from after Roman's (Nicki's father and church prophet) son was poisoned. While Bill and his family are struggling to attempt to keep their family secrets a secret, they have all the typical family issues. Barb is questioning the path they have chosen and even leaves the family for a few days. Nicki has power issues and tries to take over whenever possible. Margie is young and naive. The older children have their woes, too. Sarah (Amanda Seyfried) has high expectations to live up to but isn't comfortable with their family's lifestyle. The eldest son, Ben (Douglas Smith), is in love with his girlfriend. He's also committing a big no-no by starting to have sex with her.

The acting is also phenomenal. Each sister wife is believable; however, I'm far more impressed with Ginnifer Goodwin as Margie. In my opinion, she so convincingly plays bubbly and child-like innocence so well that I often feel like she isn't playing a character. I'm least impressed with Douglas Smith as Ben, but he's a young actor.

Aside from some of the only-on-television story arcs, Big Love does seem to present the center family as "normal" despite multiple wives. I'd say it's a pretty fair representation of polygamy, as well. Not that I really know anything about it, though.

Catch the series Sundays on HBO at 9:00/8:00 central.

Hung To The Over

Vanilla vodka diet cokes do NOT mix well with me. I really should stop drinking them, but then where is the fun in that?

She Moves In Her Own Way

Above: One of the hundreds of women that tried out to become a Dallas Mavericks dancer. I love how the people in the background are trying not to laugh.

Aliens In America

I watched the pilot for upcoming CW sitcom Aliens In America and found it slightly above mediocre. Here's the basic premise: High school boy is not popular but his sister is. Boy's mother is so desperate to get him in the "in-crowd" that she agrees to take in a foreign exchange student. They are expecting a boy from London, but end up with a Muslim. Hilarity ensues. Or so they hoped.

The sole bright spot in the series is SAG nominee Amy Pietz, whose expressions are priceless. You may remember her from the short lived NBC sitcom Caroline In The City, for which she earned the aforementioned SAG nomination.

Put Your Records On 07.30

Tegan And Sara, who were introduced to many through the first season of Grey's Anatomy, are twin sisters from Canada. Take a listen to one of the tracks off their new album, The Con. Pick it up via the link below:


Track: Call It Off

<br /><bgsound src="http://www.hddweb.com/65155/Call_It_Off.m4a"><br />

Come On Hear The Illionoise

I love Chicago! Not nearly as much as I love NYC, but it reminded me of how badly I want to live in the city. A real city. Not Dallas.

The trip was not without it's ups and downs, but, overall, I had a blast. I've tried writing about this trip, but it came out overwhelmingly negative. So I've scrapped any recap in written form and have, instead, opted for more pictures.

Millennium Park






Michigan Avenue/The Magnificent Mile




The Art Institute Of Chicago


What is this, Return To Oz?







More Randomness In The City










Was just showing my friends the zoom capabilities of my camera and I caught a shot of this random hot guy as he was doing some work on his roof a few blocks away

Faux Sure

Behold...the original fauxhawk

Randomness In The City

Well guys, I couldn't stay away for too long. My first day in Chicago was, to put it lightly, completely disastrous. I'll get into the details later, but I will say that I fixed all the problems by getting a new hotel. Today was so much better. I absolutely love Chicago. Below are some random shots taken around our trek around the city.


There were warnings...
...but this idiot chose to ignore them. I hate when people blatantly ignore the rules





Here's what they promised...
...but this is what we got. What a let down.