#312: The New Love Song

Cobbay gave me a bunch of Joshua James, and HI, it's awesome. I couldn't really tell you what else happened on Wednesday, March 31st, but I'm betting it involved not doing homework and moaning about having too much homework.

#311: I'll Come Running Back to You

Boy, it's a good thing I picked such excellently indicative songs, otherwise I would have trouble remembering why these were the songs for TWO FULL WEEKS AGO.

I happen to know that this Sam Cooke classic was inspired by History of Rock & Roll, because two Tuesdays ago was our soul day in class. We watched videos of Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson, and James Brown. Probably my favorite day all semester. And then I came home and listened to a bunch of soul music!

#310: Dog Days Are Over

Again, I fully realize that we've already discussed this, but Florence + the Machine continues to rock my world more and more every day. This song is actually in the trailer for the Eat, Pray, Love movie, which means they are going to be mainstream approximately 2 days ago. Apparently they're already huge in the UK? Quote from Mr Football: "I'm excited to be pissed about their commercial success because I liked them before they were cool." Such a good faux-hipster.

I don't remember where this came from, but: "I was into being into things before they got popular before being into things before they got popular got popular."

You know what's hard about coming back from break? DOING ANY WORK EVER.

#309: Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day

We ended up taking Kyle's car back to Walla Walla because mine was trapped in Les Schwab. Although that's awesome, because his cd player actually works, we didn't get to take advantage of it because we had no cds. Or ipod adapter. So we spent four hours searching for a radio station between canyons and non-existent towns, and listened to a very weird mix of songs. Including some excellent Jethro Tull! I even called the flute solo! It wasn't actually this song, but upon returning to the Manhole I put on even more Jethro Tull and found this one. It makes me want to skip, sort of?

Jethro has some epic lyrics. "You didn't stand a chance son if your pants were undone"

#308: Cousins

I know I've already said this, but OH MY GOD Contra is such an amazing album. Procure yourself a copy stat. This song is so fun and just runs along so quickly that you can hardly sit still listening to it.

#307: The Fame

Ah Lady Gaga, you are far too good to me. Harry and I spent far too long driving around listening to her, because he has finally come around to the genius that is Gaga. I never really listen to this track, but I don't know why not! It's a lot better than I originally gave it credit for. Maybe not the most addictive track from this album, but addictive does not always equal good, even in Lady Gaga's case (see: "Boys Boys Boys").

Also, have you seen this making-of video about "Telephone"?

#306: Fred Jones, Pt. 2

Schaef was far too nice to me and drug me all the way to the Cleveland airport at 7 in the morning on Thursday, and by 2pm I was back in Portland. A wonderful end to a truly epic spring break. I had Joseph's car mix in my head, so I spent a good amount of time in the airport humming Ben Folds to myself.

#305: Halo

On Wednesday, the Schaefenator and I had epic nachos before I retreated to work on my thesis (but really just watched Cashmere Mafia for quite some time), met up with her for a lovely dinner of pierogis, and then honed my bowling skills for about two hours. I finished the night watching Julie and Julia while Schaef studied for a midterm. All in all, an excellent day at Oberlin - and very reminiscent of days at Whitman. Apparently rural, small liberal arts schools are very similar. Schaef's roommate Joseph shares my deep love for Beyonce, and so Wednesday's song is "Halo" - even if I mostly hear the Glee version when I listen to it.

"If there are two things that America needs right now, it is sunshine and optimism. Also angels."

#304: Between the Rows

Tuesday, I woke up in the Schaefenator's glorious bed and had an amazing day of sleeping in, Chinese food, actually going to the gym(!), exploring Oberlin, sushi and a very little bit of studying in the weirdest library EVER. In the ten minutes or so that I started editing my thesis, I turned on bluegrass and listened to this gem from my man friend.

#303: Ko-Ko

Give Merk the name of any jazz great, and she will instantly break into song (and by "song," I mean very creative humming of instrumental lines). It is very impressive. The night before she had to go back to school, we made cookie dough and did homework together, and Molly and I tested this theory by throwing names of jazz musicians at her. We caught her on a few, but when stuck, she would simply name different musicians for herself, and sing entire songs. Charlie Parker was one she got through quite a bit of before we all lost interest in the game.



Monday the 22nd (now more than 2 weeks away! Sorry, loyal readers, for my silence) was an epic day full of topology classes, panic attacks in meetings with grad school professors, canceled flights and glorious reunions. Except actually there was only one of each of those things...

#302: Old Friends

Sorry to be using this so heavily as a travel blog, but unfortunately for you, I don't care at all about pleasing my (small) audience. I only care about writing whatever I feel like. SO... yes.

New York is SO AMAZING. Merk has an incredible apartment in Morningside Heights with hardwood floors and she leads the most fabulous life imaginable. We went out to brunch this morning and then spent way more time in nature than I ever imagine when thinking about New York. We explored Riverside park and walked along the Hudson, and then got Magnolia cupcakes and ate them in the park. It was incredible! And we ended up talking about how wonderful it is to be with old friends.

MK is terribly unlucky, because her vacation ended A FULL WEEK! before mine. But her sentiments echo what my own will be on Thursday. I am way in love with my lady blues, and will be very sad to part with them. They know me in a way that few people do, and I love getting to spend time with them whenever I can. Merk said that this song always makes her think of Portland friends, and I agree.

"Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a parkbench quietly..."

#301: I've Got a Woman

Merk and I had the greatest day in New York of all time (OF ALL TIME! I promise to stop using that super old joke now) on Saturday. We did all of her favorite things, including meandering past 30 Rock (If the bucket drummers are on strike, Tracy Jordan is on strike!), shopping at J. Crew, a very short dip into MoMA, espresso machine envy at Crate & Barrel, a walk through the park, several hours at the Met followed by a glass of wine at their balcony bar, amazing Indian food, a walk to Union Square, fruitless shoe shopping, and finally an exhausted collapse at home.

While perusing the Temple of Dender, Merk and I heard someone referred to as a gold digger, and found ourselves singing a little Kanye (but primarily Ray Charles) for the rest of the day. Wait... is that Kanye video trying to imply that Jamie Foxx sang that, and it isn't just straight up sampled? It sounds straight up sampled...

#300: Empire State of Mind

We got up nice and early to leave New Orleans on Friday, and ordered a full dozen (TWELVE!) beignets at the airport. Themes of the trip included: eating far too many beignets, singing Lady Gaga in the street, being far too fabulous for our own good, eating until we exploded, developing obsessions with New Orleans and the South, making the same joke over and over again (Snug Har-bor! Harbor of snug! -and- Nola 2010: not as many feelings), and napping.

Merk and I landed in New York around 4pm, then had an... experience? with a crazy cab driver who could barely work the meter, didn't seem to know where 125th and Broadway was, AND stopped for gas on the way. I was epicly excited and sang Alicia Keys to myself quite a bit as the skyline came into view. We then had amazing Greek food as well as maybe the best baklava ever made, and met up with some friends of Merk. All in all, a success.

In other news: 65 days until I am a college graduate. Bah.

#299: Basin Street Blues

Thursday night we went to Preservation Hall which is this amazing old building where you can listen to incredible jazz in a tiny tiny room. We saw the Tornado Brass Band, who were amazing(!!), after an epic dinner at the Gumbo Shop. I had crawfish and pasta in this epic cream sauce which just about stopped my heart. We were so full and tired (and wearing heels), we could barely make it through the set, but it was totally worth the three toes I lost to the cause. The songs that I remember they played (I wasn't as diligent as the night before and didn't write down the set list) were "Hot Dog Man" (an original by the sax player), "Go to the Mardi Gras," and "Basin Street Blues." I'm obSESSed with Sam Cooke's version of Basin Street Blues:



but I guess the version I actually have, by Louis Armstrong, is good too. The band kept trying to get people to clap and sing along, but the crowd was painfully jazz illiterate. They had a call and response in "Hot Dog Man" and the girl next to me would always sing back "HOTDOGMAN" approximately four beats too early and with no rhythm at all. And there was an older gentleman would consistently clap on the wrong beat - even when he started off correctly, he would switch to the offbeat slowly, as if he was counting just a little bit slower than everyone else.



Other Thursday events: sleeping in!, Emmy's exploration of Tulane, souvenir shopping, croissants, baked clams and beer, and about 10 minutes of reading and 60 of taking pictures by the Mississipp'.

#298: Whoopin' Blues

And then, I had a religious experience. Not on the day when we saw Catholic bric-a-brac, went to mass, and looked for voodoo, but on the day we went to Snug Harbor. We saw the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, led by Delfeayo Marsalis, and I quite literally lost my mind. It was incredible. I don't know what was best: the five saxophones battling it out during "Oleo," Delfeayo's sexy "I Thought About You," or the EPIC piano intro to "Blues in B Flat" but if I have to pick, I will pick "Whoopin' Blues," their closing number. It was straight up INCREDIBLE. I bought this version, by the Onward Brass Band, based on the iTunes preview, which is short and probably not at all indicative of whether or not they are awesome. But luckily, it's a pretty great version.



Other Wednesday events: cooking class (we ate gumbo, jambalaya, pralines, and bread pudding), shopping with Merk, dinner at Evelyn's (I had red beans and rice), St Patrick's Day parade, beads beads beads, more beignets, and the drunk dude who proclaimed that "there is nothing to do in New Orleans." WHAT A FOOL.

#297: Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)

Theme of the trip: singing Lady Gaga. Sadly, I cannot include the two songs we sang the most ("Boys Boys Boys" and "Telephone") because they already appear on my 365. But this one is excellent as well, because it sounds like Aqua!

Tuesday's happenings: beignets for breakfast (bad idea), excessive exploration of the French Quarter, a Voodoo "temple," visited a convent ('cause we love our Catholic education like that), went to mass, saw a drunk girl in a tube top (holding a Long Island ice tea) wander onto the altar and try to get into the pulpit, ate the best food of our LIVES at Coop's (I had rabbit and sausage jambalaya), met a lovely bartender who had excellent life lessons to give at Molly's, were exceedingly classy at Arnaud's French 75.

#296: That Was Your Mother

New Orleans is officially my second favorite US city (after Portland, of course). We listened to too much Graceland and walked around singing "Standing on the corner of Lafayette, state of Louisiana" quite a bit. Other events of Monday: our first encounter with beignets, the St Charles streetcar, the Garden district, Lafayette cemetery, shrimp po'boys, free jello shots, eating Italian food in a desperate search for vegetables, and wussing out early to go to bed.

#295: Any Way You Want It

Bourbon St loves Journey. So do I. So do my lovely friends MK and Merk. Things we have learned in our first day of vacation:
1. No frozen drinks
2. Gay bars throw napkins in the air on Sunday nights (best tradition ever)
3. Responsible, middle-aged adults turn into embarrassingly drunk college students on Bourbon St

New Orleans = awesome.

#294: Nikki's Walk

I was listening to the smooth jazz station in Seattle while attempting to find my friend's house (got it on the second try) and heard this song, which I liked a lot, by Jeff Golub. Which is a terrible last name. Smooth jazz just sounds like the worst genre of all time (OF ALL TIME!). But I like this song anyway.

#293: Blue Ridge Mountain Blues

I was actually wildly productive on Friday morning, and got all of the errands done that I needed to do before I left for Seattle! I had already been planning on not getting them done, so that was a lovely surprise.

Then I spent at least a third of the drive to Seattle listening to bluegrass. SO GOOD. This one isn't from my new bluegrass cd (sorry, BS), but it's still excellent.

#292: Diplomat's Son

Franzia and Cobbay have been listening to Vampire Weekend's album Contra almost nonstop in our apartment lately. And with good reason. This song blew my mind last night. I'm probably going to listen to Contra the whole way to Seattle today.

#291: Zebra

Cobbay just found this band last night, I believe, and he slapped some headphones on me in the library and made me listen to them. I listened to almost all of the album before I realized he probably wanted his headphones back. The first track is still my favorite. I don't know how to categorize Beach House, so I'll go with Wikipedia's description, which is dream pop and indie rock. It's certainly dream-like.

ALSO! I love this including-the-song thing. I might go back and slap audio files on posts where the song is crazy or not on youtube or DEMANDS TO BE HEARD BY ALL.

#290: Coal War

Cobbay just gave me Joshua James' album Build Me This. I haven't listened to much of it yet, but everything I've heard has been incredible. Especially this song.

Unrelated news: I totally KICKED ASS on my logic midterm today. Which is good, because I had my ass kicked by real analysis on Saturday. Yes, we had a midterm at 11am on Saturday, so that we didn't have to sacrifice any class time.

I'm attempting to include an audio track here. Let me know if it works!

#289: Driven By You

OOSH. This song is straight up terrible. You can find out just how ridiculous it is in this excellent video. Plus it has some excellent Freddie montages. Really, what could be better than a succession of clips of Freddie Mercury doing exaggerated pelvic thrusts?



This song came on a genius playlist based on "Misfire," which I really don't think is anywhere near as terrible as this song, while I was bookin it to Beginning Kayaking (also known as the best class EVER). THEN! I actually did the roll TWICE (without my knowledge, because I thought the instructor - an awesome dude who legally changed his name to Salmon - was turning my boat. But he totally wasn't!)! It was a great day.

"Driven By You" is on disc 3 of the Queen's Greatest Hits Platinum Collection - two cds of their greatest hits followed by the WEIRDEST CD EVER. It's terrible and full of things like Queen + George Michael, this song, and a terrible, terrible remix of "Under Pressure." This song will NOT be added to my "365\{unique}" playlist, which is a combination of both of my 365s with all of the terrible songs taken off. It's a 365 for public places.

Good way to detect math nerds: those who use set notation in their iTunes.

#288: Long As I'm Here With You

Ugh. I spent all day Sunday in the theatre, for closing and then strike, which took approximately forever. I didn't even think about my 365. But I've decided to have "Long As I'm Here With You" from Thoroughly Modern Millie be my song for the day, because it is the song I always find myself singing (ahem... belting) when I cross the stage to leave (and there's no one around, of course). Muzzy has the best songs AND it's an alto part. Amazing. Also, randomly, St. Mary's just put it on! Literally this weekend!

#287: Kiss With a Fist

AH. This band is INCREDIBLE. You should buy Lungs RIGHT NOW. A mutual friend turned Cobbay on to them a while ago, and he got Football and I totally hooked. Seriously, every song on this album is flat out amazing. I want her voice. Although I could put the whole album on here, Saturday will be "Kiss With a Fist."

Oh man did you guys see Zach Galifiniakis' monologue on SNL? SO GOOD. This is still my favorite bit of his though.

#286: There Are Listed Buildings

Yet again, I must confess to taking musical advice from Urban Outfitters. LSTN #8 is sort of amazing. This one is from Los Campesinos!

#285: Tiny Dancer

Opening night! The show went really, surprisingly, exceptionally well. The audience was eating it up. Also, on THREE separate occasions, I got in my car to find that "Tiny Dancer" was on the radio. So, since I haven't yet immortalized EJ nearly enough on my 365, here it is. Only the 2nd of this year (but there are 4 on my 2008 365).

#284: Can't Help Falling in Love

It turns out, sometimes I'm ridiculously sentimental. This isn't exactly a surprise, because I love to tell people that I love them all the time (regardless of their comfort level with this - see: Football), and am in general very expressive of my feelings, but also, I'm ridiculously sarcastic.

But today, I'm just going to be ridiculously sentimental, and so this Ingrid Michaelson cover of "Can't Help Falling in Love" is going to be Wednesday's song. Popped up in the same Genius playlist from yesterday that I never finished listening to, based on Greg Laswell.

PS: Because I haven't had a chance to discuss my insane obsession yet, OMG INGRID MICHAELSON. BE BETTER. Oh wait. You can't.

#283: Bridge

Lucy Wainwright Roche is this particularly wonderful singer who opened for Girlyman when I saw them in Portland on Halloween. She is somehow related to all those cool Wainwright dudes, and accordingly, has an incredible voice. This song (which somehow ended up coming to me via Yaner, even though I bought the cd and it wouldn't load on my computer...) came up in a Genius playlist based on Greg Laswell's "The One I Love," which is a 365 staple from last year.

#282: Rainbow Veins

AH OWL CITY. You are so great. On Monday (only the best day EVER), I listened to a Pandora Owl City station at work while I mildly harassed a prospie who goes to St Mary's (and is in Ms Nyland's TA!). I love Owl City. And this song.