Tuesday, March 04, 2008
I got my emusic music selections for this month. As seem to be the pattern, it's a mixture of stand-up comedy, country, and rock. They are:
I'm Starvin' - John Pinette (16 tracks) - Pinette is a funny comedian that does mostly jokes about him being fat, but his buffet jokes are classics. This is the audio version of his Comedy Central special, so when he shows pictures of him with his eyebrows shaved or him in drag because of his turn in Hairspray on broadway, it helps if you've seen the special. I don't rank this up there with his Show Me The Buffet album, but at this point, all his stuff is worth getting. Especially classic on this is his story on wanting Italian food while living in France.
Lewd Awakenings - Felicia Michaels (15 tracks) - Back in high school, when I had no social life and thus watched alot of standup on tv, Michaels was a attractive, high-voiced comedienne who did jokes about the differences between men and women. She was really funny, but she never seemed to get new jokes. That might be why she never seemed to break through to the next level of stardom. My freshman year of college, friends of mine found a playboy magazine in a recycling bin in their dorm. In it was a pictorial featuring her. That didn't help her achieve stardom. At some point she decided to switch to shock comedy. Adding explicit sex jokes to her act and four-letter words to her old jokes. I only heard her once since that switch and remember thinking that the change didn't suit her. This cd is after the switch, hence the lewd in the title. Well, alot of the jokes are funny, her high-pitched voice doesn't pull off the dirty jokes very well, and alot of the curse words seemed forced, even crammed, unnecessarily into otherwise clean jokes.
- Lita Ford Live - Lita Ford (14 tracks) - I wasn't intending these things to be full reviews of the albums, just short blurbs about why I picked the albums or other short tidbits of information, so I'll shorten things up. I've always liked Lita's music, so when the reviews on the site were positive, I chose this album.
- Obligatory Villagers - Nellie McKay (9 tracks) - I have her first album. It's an interesting mix that comes off almost as a piano-based jazz rap. Figured it wouldn't be a waste of nine downloads to get more of it.
- See The Light - Bo Bice (10 tracks) - Reviews on the site said this wasn't like his major-label first release. It was more rock, like some of his best stuff on American Idol.
- Maybe It's Time - Ashley Gearing (11 tracks)The name caught my attention cause it was familiar. Turns out I remembered it from when she got a hit based on a song on the internet, or something like that. Anyway, it's teenage female country. It doesn't have too serious of a subject matter. It's like Taylor Swift, only with average songwriting. It's the type of stuff that is good for me to listen to while working. It also didn't hurt that it had the exact number of tracks that I had left to download this month.
Anyway, I haven't chosen this month's audiobook yet.
I'm Starvin' - John Pinette (16 tracks) - Pinette is a funny comedian that does mostly jokes about him being fat, but his buffet jokes are classics. This is the audio version of his Comedy Central special, so when he shows pictures of him with his eyebrows shaved or him in drag because of his turn in Hairspray on broadway, it helps if you've seen the special. I don't rank this up there with his Show Me The Buffet album, but at this point, all his stuff is worth getting. Especially classic on this is his story on wanting Italian food while living in France.
Lewd Awakenings - Felicia Michaels (15 tracks) - Back in high school, when I had no social life and thus watched alot of standup on tv, Michaels was a attractive, high-voiced comedienne who did jokes about the differences between men and women. She was really funny, but she never seemed to get new jokes. That might be why she never seemed to break through to the next level of stardom. My freshman year of college, friends of mine found a playboy magazine in a recycling bin in their dorm. In it was a pictorial featuring her. That didn't help her achieve stardom. At some point she decided to switch to shock comedy. Adding explicit sex jokes to her act and four-letter words to her old jokes. I only heard her once since that switch and remember thinking that the change didn't suit her. This cd is after the switch, hence the lewd in the title. Well, alot of the jokes are funny, her high-pitched voice doesn't pull off the dirty jokes very well, and alot of the curse words seemed forced, even crammed, unnecessarily into otherwise clean jokes.
- Lita Ford Live - Lita Ford (14 tracks) - I wasn't intending these things to be full reviews of the albums, just short blurbs about why I picked the albums or other short tidbits of information, so I'll shorten things up. I've always liked Lita's music, so when the reviews on the site were positive, I chose this album.
- Obligatory Villagers - Nellie McKay (9 tracks) - I have her first album. It's an interesting mix that comes off almost as a piano-based jazz rap. Figured it wouldn't be a waste of nine downloads to get more of it.
- See The Light - Bo Bice (10 tracks) - Reviews on the site said this wasn't like his major-label first release. It was more rock, like some of his best stuff on American Idol.
- Maybe It's Time - Ashley Gearing (11 tracks)The name caught my attention cause it was familiar. Turns out I remembered it from when she got a hit based on a song on the internet, or something like that. Anyway, it's teenage female country. It doesn't have too serious of a subject matter. It's like Taylor Swift, only with average songwriting. It's the type of stuff that is good for me to listen to while working. It also didn't hurt that it had the exact number of tracks that I had left to download this month.
Anyway, I haven't chosen this month's audiobook yet.
Labels: emusic
Monday, February 18, 2008
Yeah, I know I said I'd blog more and it's been two weeks since my last post. But first of all, it took less than two weeks after getting comcast, a mere 5 days after getting my digital cable box hooked up, to have my cable and internet go out. Also, this weekend was a three-day weekend, so I decided to take a trip back to Western PA. The weekend before I was just lazy. I got up on Sunday in time to go watch the Penguins play the Flyers on tv. On that saturday, I didn't get out of bed until 4pm. I got caught up in a Ninja Warrior marathon. And last week I actually had a social life. I also finally got use out of the snow tires I got put on months ago. So last Tuesday when the roads were bad and people were getting into accidents, I actually had no problems driving.
While I was back home this weekend, I got my taxes done. I found out I need to look at paystubs better. According to my w-2, the company I was a contractor for for 6 months was paying my state tax to PA and not NJ. So one state owes me a bunch of money and another state I owe. I apparently had looked at the amount of state taxes on my paystub, but not the state it was going to.
Anyway, I'm on a deadline for wednesday at work, so my social life will be on hold til thursday, but things are looking up.
I think I'll wrap up this post by stating future blog topics, because then I'll be able to remember and it might be also force me to actually write it. Future post will hopefully include one that is a review of audiobooks I've listened to. (Bydaway, I got The Rosewood Casket by Sharyn McCrumb last month on eMusic.) Also commentary about something I heard on the radio that PETA was blaming the state of the Spears sisters on them having meat in their diets.
While I was back home this weekend, I got my taxes done. I found out I need to look at paystubs better. According to my w-2, the company I was a contractor for for 6 months was paying my state tax to PA and not NJ. So one state owes me a bunch of money and another state I owe. I apparently had looked at the amount of state taxes on my paystub, but not the state it was going to.
Anyway, I'm on a deadline for wednesday at work, so my social life will be on hold til thursday, but things are looking up.
I think I'll wrap up this post by stating future blog topics, because then I'll be able to remember and it might be also force me to actually write it. Future post will hopefully include one that is a review of audiobooks I've listened to. (Bydaway, I got The Rosewood Casket by Sharyn McCrumb last month on eMusic.) Also commentary about something I heard on the radio that PETA was blaming the state of the Spears sisters on them having meat in their diets.
Labels: blogging, car, Comcast, driving in winter, emusic, taxes, work
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Okay, as I posted at some point not too long ago, I subscribe to eMusic for both music and audiobooks. The plans I am on get me 75 tracks and one audio book per month. I've decided to post my choices each month. eMusic contains no major label artists, which means I often have to research artists I've never heard of and put time into my choices. Also, when when I don't have much time, I often go towards familiar names, like James Taylor, Maria McKee and Great White. And the eMusic tracks I've listened to most are without a doubt the ones from Scott Blasey's solo album "Travelin' On". The familiar names, though, seem to bring me to two categories: Country and Comedy. But my downloads span a wide range, from Vince Guaraldi to Anti-Flag. Lately, I've been really in to Billy Joe Shaver. You might not have heard of him, but he's written song for some of the all-time great country stars. He's as important a name to the outlaw style of country music as the names Cash and Haggard. With that, I give you my downloads for this month (Just the album name if I download the whole album):
- "Grown Up Christmas List" by Rissi Palmer (two tracks) - It's a little late for Christmas songs and I didn't really need both versions of this song, but I loved Rissi's first album and want to support her. Also, I got to see her perform live before the Steelers/Jaguars playoff game as well as halftime. It would be really cool to see her in a full concert.
- "Get Thee Behind Me Satan" by Billy Joe Shaver w\ John Anderson (one track) - Billy Joe's new single. Great song. Seen the video on tv a few times. Disappointed they only have the single and not the entire new album available. Hopefully they'll put it up soon.
- Another Way To Go - Radney Foster (13 tracks) - Always liked his stuff when I heard it but never owned any of his stuff, so saw this album, recognized a couple songs and decided to get the whole album.
- Austin City Limits: Live From Austin, TX by Richard Thompson (15 tracks) - A guy I worked with at my last company who I occassionally hung out with always talked about how great Richard Thompson is, so I decided to finally add some of his stuff to my collection.
- Outtakes and Demos: 1975-2003 by Joe Grushecky (30 tracks) - What can I say? I want some more Grushecky in my collection. For those who don't know, Joe is a friend of Bruce Springsteen and was described in a national article as what Bruce would be if Bruce hadn't become rich and famous. In other words, a great blue-collar, bar band rocker.
- Storyteller- Live at the Bluebird 1992 - Billy Joe Shaver (14 tracks) - More Billy Joe. In this one, he's performing live with his son Eddy (who has since passed away) and I believe another guy in a acoustic performance where, as the title suggests, he tells stories about the songs. The stories are as good as the songs.
Those are my music downloads for the month. I haven't made my audiobook download just yet. If anyone has any eMusic recommendations, especially for music tracks, let me know. Thanks.
- "Grown Up Christmas List" by Rissi Palmer (two tracks) - It's a little late for Christmas songs and I didn't really need both versions of this song, but I loved Rissi's first album and want to support her. Also, I got to see her perform live before the Steelers/Jaguars playoff game as well as halftime. It would be really cool to see her in a full concert.
- "Get Thee Behind Me Satan" by Billy Joe Shaver w\ John Anderson (one track) - Billy Joe's new single. Great song. Seen the video on tv a few times. Disappointed they only have the single and not the entire new album available. Hopefully they'll put it up soon.
- Another Way To Go - Radney Foster (13 tracks) - Always liked his stuff when I heard it but never owned any of his stuff, so saw this album, recognized a couple songs and decided to get the whole album.
- Austin City Limits: Live From Austin, TX by Richard Thompson (15 tracks) - A guy I worked with at my last company who I occassionally hung out with always talked about how great Richard Thompson is, so I decided to finally add some of his stuff to my collection.
- Outtakes and Demos: 1975-2003 by Joe Grushecky (30 tracks) - What can I say? I want some more Grushecky in my collection. For those who don't know, Joe is a friend of Bruce Springsteen and was described in a national article as what Bruce would be if Bruce hadn't become rich and famous. In other words, a great blue-collar, bar band rocker.
- Storyteller- Live at the Bluebird 1992 - Billy Joe Shaver (14 tracks) - More Billy Joe. In this one, he's performing live with his son Eddy (who has since passed away) and I believe another guy in a acoustic performance where, as the title suggests, he tells stories about the songs. The stories are as good as the songs.
Those are my music downloads for the month. I haven't made my audiobook download just yet. If anyone has any eMusic recommendations, especially for music tracks, let me know. Thanks.
Labels: emusic
Monday, October 22, 2007
Am I the only one who finds it funny that Terrell Owens accused his former quarterback, who was dating and is now married to a Playmate of the Year, and is now stuck with a quarterback who turned down Carrie Underwood? At the very least, this should give him ammo if/when things go sour in Dallas.
I'm going out as Indiana Jones again this year for Halloween. Just realized this week that it's been two year since I've worn the outfit and the pants were tight back then. Luckily, I somehow managed to still be able to fit into them.
I'm currently subscribing to emusic.com. It's an interesting site. Cheap legal tracks with no restrictions, but also no major labels. It does have a couple current top country music acts, really good comedy cds, and great more obscure and older artists. It's a good service, but it requires the willingness to explore and experiment.
The movie I was an extra in is finally hitting a theatre. If you look closely at the pictures on the myspace page, you can see me, but not my face. I'm wearing a long gray wig that looks like the hair Sean Connery had at the beginning of The Rock. But the director has assured me that you can see my face in the actual film, if only for a short moment.
I'm going out as Indiana Jones again this year for Halloween. Just realized this week that it's been two year since I've worn the outfit and the pants were tight back then. Luckily, I somehow managed to still be able to fit into them.
I'm currently subscribing to emusic.com. It's an interesting site. Cheap legal tracks with no restrictions, but also no major labels. It does have a couple current top country music acts, really good comedy cds, and great more obscure and older artists. It's a good service, but it requires the willingness to explore and experiment.
The movie I was an extra in is finally hitting a theatre. If you look closely at the pictures on the myspace page, you can see me, but not my face. I'm wearing a long gray wig that looks like the hair Sean Connery had at the beginning of The Rock. But the director has assured me that you can see my face in the actual film, if only for a short moment.
Labels: costumes, emusic, football, Halloween, movies, music, The Chest
