I've got one more thing to post before the day is done: Ten On Tuesday

Ten Things You Love About Your City

My city, FYI, is Eugene, Oregon.

1) The weather! It never gets too hot, and it never gets too cold. It's usually either sunny, raining, or cloudy. Once in a while we'll get hail or a thunderstorm, but nothing else.
2) The trees. I've been to Arizona before, and the thing I probably noticed most (other than the heat) was the lack of greenery. In Eugene there are trees everywhere, and it makes for a beautiful place to live. The same goes for the wonderful parks, waterways, and other delights of nature that can be found in this area.
3) Used bookstores!
4) CD World. It has the largest selection in the area, and I think it has the best service too. It has a bonus card program and sells a large selection of used discs.
5) The University of Oregon. I graduated from there, but that's not the only reason I like it. I also like it because it's the cultural center of Eugene and it's just a gorgeous place to be.
6) The great local music scene. The Cherry Poppin' Daddies (the guys who did Zoot Suit Riot) are from here. There are other local bands to check out, but what I like most is the willingness of the various musical venues in town to bring in acts that I know and love. In the past year alone I've seen BeauSoleil, Jonny Lang and the Chieftains. I also love the wonderful music venues themselves, including the stunning McDonald Theater, the gargantuan Hult Center, and the Shedd (which used to be the First Baptist Church building).
7) The LTD bus system. It may not be perfect, but I'm sure glad it's there. I live far away from the city center and I'd have a hard time getting anywhere if it wasn't for the bus.
8) North Eugene High School. I have to give a shout out to my old high school.
9) Civic Stadium, home of the Eugene Emeralds baseball team. We don't go to that many Emerald's games, but when we do I enjoy the old-time baseball atmosphere. You just can't duplicate it in a new place.
10) The crazy, quirky, colorful, happy, sometimes frustrating, sometimes just plain insane residents of Eugene. Without all the wacky and wonderful characters who live here, Eugene would be just another boring college town. Instead, it's a mix of the new and the old and is as good a place as any to find out what the Sixties were really like.

Here's another meme for today, the Ten On Tuesday:

10 Best Current Actors/Actresses

I wouldn't say these are the best, just my favorites. I've done 15 instead of ten because I seem to like actors better than actresses.

1) Philip Seymour Hoffman
2) Steve Buscemi
3) John Turturro
4) Christopher Walken
5) Johnny Depp
6) Owen Wilson
7) Ewan McGregor
8) Jim Broadbent
9) Julia Styles
10) Glenn Close
11) Heather Graham
12) Cate Blanchett
13) Angelina Jolie
14) Ellen Degeneres
15) Helen Hunt

I don't do this meme too often, but I'm going to do it today. It's Ten On Tuesday.

8 Truths and 2 Lies About You (let your readers guess which are the lies)

1) I'm 4'11"
2) I was once a Boy Scout
3) I was once on a TV commercial
4) I wrote for the youth section of the local newspaper in my senior year of high school
5) My mom's side of the family is Canadian
6) Two of my distant relatives played pro hockey
7) I was a preemie
8) I was once a finalist in a talent competition
9) I didn't own a DVD player until the year 2003
10) I've lived in the same city my whole life.

So, people, which are the lies? It ain't gonna be easy, but take a wild guess anyway.

I almost hate to do today's Ten On Tuesday, but I will.

Ten favorite blogs (spread the blog love!)

First I'd like to say that I appreciate ALL the blogs I link to, so I don't want any of you to feel left out at all. But I do have to narrow things down, so here's ten blogs that I frequently read and enjoy. These are NOT in any kind of order, by the way.

1) Lady Salana's Livejournal. She may not update too much, but she's one of my best friends and I love her so she's definitely on this list!

2) Andrea's Diary of a Music Whore. Andrea is a big music lover like myself, and with a blog title like that I had to check it out. She's awesome and obsesses over her favorite artists just like I do.

3) The Music Memoirs. Andrea is a co-writer on this blog. Not only is it entertaining, but it gives me stuff to write about twice a week! My blog would be that much more boring without it.

4) The Impulsive Buy. Marvo reviews all the new and popular products so you don't have to, and he makes you laugh in the process. Some of his reviews are pure comedy gold. This is easily one of the funniest sites on the internet.

5) Dawn the Webmiztris. Dawn is a very cool chick and has so many unique and funny observations about, well, nearly everything.

6) The Sarcastic Journalist. Ditto from above. SJ speaks her mind and doesn't care WHAT you think about it. For that, she earns a place on this list.

7) Karen. I found Karen when I saw her now-defunct meme blog. I was new to the blog world and thought that was a cool idea and linked her. I started reading her main blog too, and she's been a good blog friend of mine ever since.

8) Home Detention Lady. She's got some great stories and tells them with much humor. She's down with all the latest lingo and posts photos for our enjoyment!

9) Father Dan has unique and thoughtful observations on news events, popular culture, and more. He also gives computer tips once in a while. The best part about his site, though, is his random and hilarious descriptions of himself which you can view by refreshing the page.

10) Last Girl On Earth. She may have performed with the likes of Sarah McLachlan and Cyndi Lauper, but she takes time like the rest of us to throw out blog posts and participate in the internet community. Lately she's made her site that much cooler by posting videos she makes of random New Yorkers on the street. She also lets you hear her own music! How cool is that?

Haven't done one of these in a while. Ten On Tuesday:

Ten Favorite Foods

1) Pizza!
2) BBQ Chicken (had that tonight)
3) Corndogs
4) Strawberries
5) Doritos (Nacho Cheese flavor)
6) Popcorn
7) Apple Pie
8) Ice Cream
9) Steak
10) Cheeseburgers

I tried to include a FEW semi-healthy things in there. Yeah, I'm a snack food junkie.

There's good topic for today's Ten On Tuesday:

Ten Songs that Bring Back Memories (and why)

1) "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley. It was the first Jeff Buckley song I ever heard, recommended by my good friend Beth. It is a good memory because it changed my music listening habits a bit, for the better.

2) "End Of The Road" by Boyz II Men. This was the theme song to my middle school graduation. I guess I remember it because of that, pathetic as that seems.

3) "Konstantine" by Something Corporate. My good friend Jess turned me on to this song and it reminds me of a particular semester in college when the academics were just tearing me down. This song kept me going, and I really remember listening to it all the time and having it in my head while walking to and from class.

4) "Colossus" by Afro Celt Sound System. This was the ACSS song that turned me on to them. I was reading about them in the newspaper and decided to go to their website. They had their entire new album available for listening, and "Colossus" was the first song I clicked on. I listened to it and immediately became a huge fan.

5) "Newz Reel" by BeauSoleil. This was the first BeauSoleil song I had ever heard. I was in college and, like the Afro Celts, I decided to listen to a sound clip. "Newz Reel" immediately hooked me and started an obsession that continues to this day!

6) "Skvadern" by Hoven Droven. In 1999, I was at our local Scandinavian Festival when I happened upon a booth selling CDs from the Scandinavian countries. The man was selling a sampler CD from a modern label called Northside. It only cost $3, so I figured I may as well check it out. "Skvadern" showed me that Nordic folk music can be more than fiddles and accordions and silly folk dances. It's full of wild electric guitars and it just kicks butt. Without that album, I may never have listened to any sort of folk music at all.

7) "The Drunken Piper" by Natalie MacMaster. I was in college and listening to internet radio when I discovered this song by the amazing Candian fiddler Natalie MacMaster. I decided to discover more of her music and became a huge fan. I've seen her in concert twice and she's just amazing.

8) "Hot Tamale Baby" by Buckwheat Zydeco. Once again, this is a college-related song for me. It was spring in my freshman year, a very nice sunny day, and I was listening to Lousiana music on the internet. This song came on and forced me to shake my thang. It was my introduction to the fun that Zydeco music can bring. When I think about it, I think about the pure joy I had on that afternoon.

9) "You Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer. I think this was the first rap song I ever listened to. It was a huge sensation in 1990 or whenever it came out, and it started the obsession I had with rap when I was younger.

10) "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz. It reminds me of happy times visiting my friend Curtis in Arizona. We listened and sang along to this song at the top of our lungs when he was driving me to the airport on the day I had to return home. We were just in the moment and didn't really care what we were doing.

Second meme of the day is from Ten On Tuesday:

Ten Influential People In History

1) Johannes Gutenberg. Would we even be blogging without the printing press and its communication revolution?
2) Hitler, who gave evil a face and name for all the world to know and despise.
3) Abraham Lincoln. He saved the union and put an end to slavery.
4) John F. Kennedy. He helped put man on the moon. He was the first Catholic president (wasn't he?) and he was basically the first "rock star" type of president.
5) Archduke Franz Ferdinand. His death was the start of an era of world wars, wars that would change the nature of warfare forever. Also, he is the namesake for one awesome rock band.
6) Elvis Presley. He took white country and black rhythm and blues, attached 'em to his hips, and got all shook up. When he stopped shaking, music was forever changed and genres were then free to intermingle.
7) Thomas Edison. He invented the phonograph and thus made it possible to record music. If music isn't recorded and not passed on through tradition, it is lost. Lost music is not cool if you're interested in the history and development of music. He also invented the lightbulb and a lot of other cool stuff.
8) Benjamin Franklin. Another dude who invented a lot of cool stuff, like bifocals. He was a major player in early American history.
9) William Shakespeare. He gave all writers, poets and playwrights something to aspire to and gave the literary world its God.
10) Henry Ford. His innovations in automobile manufacturing made it possible for you to sit on your butt in traffic for hours each day.

Over time, there are certain albums that I listen to more than others. These are albums that I seem to need to return to once in a while and use to refresh my musical spirit. Right now, "Are You Experienced?" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience is one of those albums. Each time I listen to it, it seems fresh and powerful and there's always something new to discover in the songs. After I'm done listening, nothing else seems good enough. "Are You Experienced?" is one of those albums that, for me, is unique and turns me on like nothing else can. I bought it just a few months ago, and already it's having this effect. I can only imagine what it was like to listen to it for the first time in the 1960s.

Enough of my music ramblings. Here's Ten On Tuesday:

Ten Things You Look Forward To Doing In 2005

1) Seeing Natalie MacMaster in concert
2) Seeing BeauSoleil in concert
3) Seeing The Chieftains in concert
4) Spending more time with K and my niece
5) Buying more great albums
6) Reading more great books
7) Having another birthday
8) Finding new and exciting things to blog about
9) Having another great holiday season
10) Hopefully getting to finally meet one of my online friends in person

The All Music Guide now requires registration for some features, so I went ahead and signed up. It's free, and definitely worth it. AMG is a great resource for all music lovers, and sometimes an essential place for information. Registration doesn't cost anything, so why not do it and have complete access to the best music resource on the internet? I added links to AMG in the appropriate places on my sidebar too.

Today's Ten On Tuesday:

Ten Favorite Holiday Songs

1) Jingle Bells
2) Jingle Bell Rock
3) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (esp. the Springsteen version)
4) The Christmas Song (you know, the "chestnuts" song)
5) Run Run Rudolph
6) I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus
7) Little Drummer Boy
8) Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
9) Frosty The Snowman
10) The "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" theme song

Good News

We went to see K tonight, and she's talking now!! It's sometimes hard to understand her, but she can definitely talk now. That's obviously a huge step. She's so frustrated with being in the hospital and not being able to eat solid food, the poor girl. Hopefully someday soon she'll be going home.

Here's this week's Ten On Tuesday:

Ten Things You Want for the Holidays

1) The book "Wished For Song - A Portrait of Jeff Buckley"
2) Alison Krauss and Union Station "Lonely Runs Both Ways" CD
3) Gillian Welch "Time (The Revelator)" CD
4) Los Lonely Boys re-released self titled CD
5) LOTR "Return of the King" Extended Edition DVD
6) Star Wars DVD set
7) Saturday Night Live "Best of Christopher Walken" DVD
8) The book "The Funny Thing Is" by Ellen Degeneres
9) The book "My point, and I do have one" by Ellen Degeneres
10) Cash!

This week's Ten On Tuesday is . . .

Ten Things You're Thankful For

Here's my answer!!

In other news, I am going Christmas shopping tomorrow!! Have a great rest-of-the-week, everyone.

I'm VERY pleased with "Down The Old Plank Road." It's not just a good Chieftains album, but a good bluegrass album. It features so many legends and legends in the making - Earl Scruggs, Del McCoury, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill. All of the musicians on the album give awesome performances, and the Chieftains fit right in.

The album is not only a collaboration between the Chieftains and the other musicians, but another piece of the puzzle of the link between American bluegrass and folk music and Celtic folk music from Europe. With the Chieftains' help, the link is a little clearer in these songs. One thing that I've noticed is the similarities between Irish and rural American song traditions. Many of the songs came straight from the old country, and others are in a similar style. Take a bluegrass song, add a different melody and slightly different instruments, and it could be an Irish song.

Enough of my rambling about music, here's this week's Ten On Tuesday:

Ten Bad Foods That You Love To Eat

This will be easy!! Here we go

1) Doritos
2) Ice Cream
3) Pizza
4) Cookies
5) Buttery Popcorn
6) Pringles
7) Fried Chicken
8) Double Cheeseburgers
9) French Fries
10) Corn Dogs

This week's Ten For Tuesday is:

Ten Things You Want To Do Before The End Of The Year

1) Get my haircut (will be done on Thursday)
2) Finish my Christmas shopping
3) Send out Christmas packages, before Christmas
4) Keep looking for jobs
5) Write a few more poems
6) Take some more photographs
7) Read three more books
8) Watch more movies than I have been
9) Keep blogging every few days at least, and come up with interesting things to say
10) Enjoy the holiday season!!

Wow, I didn't think I could think of ten and I did! That's my list, and I'm sure I'll get most of those things done.

Hello to any new readers!!

Whoooooo are you?

This week's Ten on Tuesday is about Halloween costumes. I'm going to post the ten costumes I would wear if I could.

1) A hockey player
2) Someone from the band Kiss
3) Nigel from Spinal Tap wearing his "exact inner structure" t-shirt. It IS green!
4) Wayne from Wayne's World
5) Any Lord of the Rings character
6) Austin powers
7) Drew Carey ('cause I look like him)
8) Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Carribbean
9) Angus Young from the band AC/DC
10) The Iraqui Weapons of Mass Destruction

Popcorn and a soda go great with this post

Amazingly I am able to get online, so I'll take the opportunity now to post my answer to this week's Ten On Tuesday:

Ten Favorite Quotes From The Movies

1. "Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!" - Monty Python and The Holy Grail

2. Igor: "You know, I'll never forget my old dad. When these things would happen to him, the things he'd say to me." Frederick: "What did he say?" Igor: " 'What the hell are you doing in the bathroom day and night? Why don't you get out of there and give someone else a chance.' " - Young Frankenstein

3. David: "I do not, for one, think that the problem was that the band was down. I think that the problem may have been, that there was a Stonehenge monument on the stage that was in danger of being crushed by a dwarf." - This Is Spinal Tap

4. Eli Cash: "I've always wanted to be a Tenenbaum." Royal: "Me too." - The Royal Tenenbaums

5. "The fans are standing up to them. The security guards are standing up to them. The peanut vendors are standing up to them. And by golly, if I could be down there, I'd be standing up to them." - Slap Shot

6. Gandalf: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

7. Trinity: "Dodge this." - The Matrix

8. Winston: "Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say yes!" - Ghostbusters

9. Garth: "Did you ever find Bugs Bunny attractive when he put on a dress and played a girl bunny?" - Wayne's World

10. Happy: "The price is wrong, bitch!" - Happy Gilmore

It's time again for a meme. Tuesday means Ten For Tuesday, so here's my list for this week's topic:

Top 10 Things You'd Do If You Never Had To Work Again

1) Listen to a LOT of music
2) Travel (I'd go to Hawaii, Norway, Italy, Ireland, etc.)
3) Go to more concerts
4) Read more books and magazines
5) Go on walks
6) Take more photographs
7) Watch more movies
8) Write more
9) Spend more time with friends and family
10) Take naps!

That's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there are more things I would do.

There may or may not be a review posted today. If not today, then tomorrow.

It's Tuesday, so here's Ten on Tuesday:

Ten Favorite Baby Names

In no particular order . .
1) Michael
2) Jaden
3) John
4) Robert
5) Alexander
6) Mary
7) Elizabeth
8) Jessica
9) Victoria
10) Kara

Yes, More Memes!

I realize I'm overloading the blog with memes lately, but I like them and I like doing them and they give me something to talk about. I've found a new cool meme: Ten for Tuesday! And here is my answers for last week's list:

10 Favorite Computer Programs/Games

1) Yahoo! Messenger
2) Netscape
3) Winamp
4) AOL Instant Messenger
5) Skifree (a skiing game)
6) Bricks (another game)
7) Windows Media Player
8) AVG Anti-Virus
9) Microsoft Word
10) Bowling (a game I have on my machine)

Honorable mention for the fact that it gets me online goes to AOL. I can't include it on the list, however, because of how many times it kicks me OFFline.