Top Five on Friday–10/15/10

From Music Memoirs, of course:

Top 5 artists to listen to while you exercise

1)  Los Lobos.  They usually have some great upbeat tunes, especially the Mexican dance tunes.  I always quicken my step if I’m walking and listening to “How Will The Wolf Survive?”

2)  Afro Celt Sound System.  Their upbeat songs are perfect for exercise.

3)  The Ramones.  Fast, loud, nasty.

4)  BeauSoleil.  They really get your toes a’tapping.

5)  Natalie MacMaster.  Most of her stuff is fast reels and jigs, perfect for getting yourself moving.

Sunday Scribblings–10/10/10

Essential

Tell us what is essential for you today - but only tell us the essential bits.

Time.  Friends.  Music.  Finishing.  Enjoying.  Seeing.  Doing.  Being.

Top Five On Friday–10/8/10

It’s Friday:

Top 5 songs with names in the title

1)  “To Sheila” by Smashing Pumpkins
2)  “Alison” by Elvis Costello
3)  “Jimmy Jazz” by The Clash
4)  “Jack Haggerty” by Touchstone
5)  “Konstantine” by Something Corporate

Tuesday Tunes–10/5/10

This week’s topic is music videos.

1. What is your favorite music video?

Probably “Weapon Of Choice” by Fatboy Slim.  You can’t go wrong with Christopher Walken dancing around in a hotel.

2. Do you think that videos are as important today as they were when Mtv started out?

I think they’re much less commercially important than they were in the 80s and 90s, but just as much, if not more, artistically important.  Some of the most creative, interesting music videos I’ve ever seen have come out in the last four or five years.  They’re far more interesting than the old “concert footage” standby.  Music videos can now supplement an artist or band’s creativity instead of just advertising the latest hit single.

3. In your opinion, which artist consistently does or did the best videos?

Lately, I’d have to say OK Go.  Every time they create a video, there’s an instant buzz as people wonder what wacky concept they’ve come up with this time.  The latest concept is dogs and furniture.

Flickr Fun Saturday – 9/25/10

Today we’re looking at all sorts of houses:

By the pond.
A Doll’s House.
Bright.
Charming.
Grand.
Grander.
Keep out.
Elegant.
White.
Strange.

Top Five On Friday – 9/24/10

Top 5 songs that you have liked "forever"

I’m very tired, but I’ll do this anyway.

1)  “Baba O’Riley” by The Who
2)  “Colossus” by Afro Celt Sound System
3)  “Last Goodbye” by Jeff Buckley
4)  “I Wish” by Skee-Lo
5)  “If It Isn’t Love” by New Edition

Top Five On Friday – 9/17/10

From the Music Memoirs:

Top 5 recent musical discoveries

~ This can be bands, songs, albums a mixture of all of them

1)  “The French Song” by Joan Jett
2)  Sonic Youth
3)  Charles Mingus
4)  “The Rare Ould Times” by Flogging Molly
5)  Steve Shelly, drummer for number 2.  He’s awesome!  Check him out in this clip.  He really gets going three minutes in.

Trying Ubuntu

I’ve always heard a lot about Linux and the Ubuntu flavor of Linux.  I love that it’s a completely free operating system.  I love that you can run it off a CD or a USB drive.  After reading Makeuseof’s article about why every Windows user should have an Ubuntu Live CD, I was convinced to download the ISO and burn one for myself.  Of course, I had to try the OS out myself from that CD. 

That led me to finding out about the program Wubi last week.  Wubi is a neat way to install Ubuntu on your computer without partitioning your hard drive.  It creates a virtual disk on your main drive and run the OS off of that.  Give it enough drive space and it will run as smoothly as a regular installation.  I tried that out this weekend and was very impressed.  However, I’ve decided that Ubuntu, while cool, is really not for me after all.

Why is that?  One word: Winamp.  You can’t generally install Windows-only programs on Linux unless they have a Linux version.  You can also try using Wine, a program which can convert some Windows programs to Linux format.  I tried it with Winamp, but the Winamp Media Library doesn’t work.  I tried finding another music program for Linux that could do most of what Winamp can do, but the program that came closest stopped working for me.  Therefore, I’m back to Windows 7 again.

Oh, there are definitely things I like about Ubuntu.  Finding and installing (most) software is a breeze.  I really wish Windows had a similar capability.  Linux makes it easy to try out different pieces of software.  I also like the way the desktop is organized with multiple information bars.  I like the split  between menus, especially the ‘places’ menu.  I like the fact they’re available with one click instead of several.  I really like the idea of having several desktops, although I’ve discovered that Windows has similar programs available (I’m now using Dexpot for this purpose). 

If I wasn’t so picky about programs I’ve used for a long time, I could definitely make the switch to Ubuntu if I so chose.  It’s just a little harder to use than Windows, but not so hard that a good Google search or question in the Ubuntu Forums can’t set things right.  For average, everyday computer use, I think it would be perfectly great.  It would be especially great for someone who doesn’t want to pay over $100for an operating system.  Just take a little time to learn it, and you’ll be rewarded.

Birthday

Today is my blog's eighth birthday.  Just thought you should know that.

Flickr Fun Saturday – 9/4/10

This Monday, Anthony Bourdain will be in Paris (on TV, at least).  So we are going there, too:

Cigarette break.
Starting the morning.
Eiffel.
Cemetery.
Meal.
Louvre.
Parking.
Beauty all around.
Moulin.
Essential.

Top Five On Friday – 9/3/10

Labor Day weekend Five:

Top 5 albums you'd recommend to a friend

Kinda depends on the friend, doesn’t it?  Well, I’ll give it a shot.

1)  Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus.  This is my latest purchase.  Get the remastered version with unedited songs, or better yet get the Legacy Edition with Mingus Dynasty on the second disc.

2)  Tomorrow The Green Grass by The Jayhawks.  Is it rock?  Is it country?  Who cares?  It’s good!

3)  All Things Must Pass by George Harrison.  Harrison gets an entire album to himself, and makes the most of it.

4)  Wolf Tracks: The Best of Los Lobos by Los Lobos.  Get to know the best American rock band out there and see their sound evolve over 20 tracks.

5)  Colour Me Free by Joss Stone.  Old school soul, R&B and more by a rising star.  This album is pure fun.

Tuesday Tunes - 8/31/10

Today's tunes:

What new or upcoming releases are you eagerly waiting to buy?

School of Seven Bells' latest album Disconnect From Desire came out last month, and I'd definitely like to buy it.  It sounds amazing.  I'm also looking forward to Pete Yorn's new self-titled album later in September.  It's supposed to be a rocker, which I always love from Pete.

Aside from those, I'm not sure what else is coming out this year that I like.  Maybe next year we'll get an Afro Celt Sound System album?  I sure hope so!

Tuesday Tunes – 8/24/10

Tunes:

Tell us about your favorite "musical things" from this summer; concerts, albums etc.

Well, the only concert I’ve seen all year was just a few days ago when I saw Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.  That was a good one, for sure.  I had lots of fun and really got into it and felt the energy. 

As far as albums, I’ve mostly been buying up Beatles albums this summer.  My top pick out of those would be A Hard Day’s Night.  Not a bad song on that album!  I also bought Robert Randolph’s new one and a compilation of jazz pianist Erroll Garner.  Both are absolutely amazing.  I’d have to give the crown to Robert Randolph, though, because he released his best album yet.

The biggest news for me this summer when it comes to music is the new Ipod Classic that I bought.  I can now carry my entire music collection with me in my pocket.  It’s the best! 

I love rock and roll (and rock and roll concerts)

The title of this post should clue you in that I saw Joan Jett and the Blackhearts perform today.  They were playing at the Lane County Fair.  For the price of  admission, I got to see a very famous performer sing and play her heart out. 

The stage was set up in a corner by the food booths, and it was standing room only.  No seating at all.  I arrived about a half hour before the start of the show to claim a spot.  Of course, I’m so short that there’s really no good spot to be in to see everything.  The half hour went by fairly quickly and Joan and her band came on promptly at 4.

What was the show like?  Well, it rocked!  Joan played all the hits, even Runaways stuff.  She’s not afraid to give the crowd what they want to hear.  I was feeling the music, singing along, shouting, everything.  I had an awesome time, and Joan puts on a great show.  I could only see the top of her head, though.  I couldn’t see most of the other musicians at all.  But, oh, I could hear them!  I snapped some shots with my cell phone camera, the only camera I had available and working.  They didn’t turn out the best, but you can kind of see Joan.

Other than that, I walked around, took more photos with my camera, and ate stuff.  I haven’t been to the fair for a very long time.  I might go back if they get someone like Joan Jett to play again.

Here are some photos:

More on my Flickr photostream.

Flickr Fun Saturday – 8/21/10

Flickr Fun is back!  I really enjoy taking pictures of fountains, so that’s today’s theme:

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Five
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Seven
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