Today's Jamz - Lifejacket Under Your Seat

Life Jacket Under Your Seat from Instrumenti on Vimeo.

I bet you thought I was never coming back. I think this is the greatest video ever made... by pandas... from Latvia.

Somehow SXSW didn't seem this insane last year... it also may not have been as good. This week has been full of crazy highs and strange lows.

Here's a link to all the words I've been writing over at the SXSW Music blog if'n you're interested.

And here's a link to a piece I did this week for Nerve.com (where they very kindly actually let me tell people what to listen to... which makes me laugh). I also found out after the fact that it's an upscale sex site which just makes the whole thing even more hilarious and awesome. The commenters didn't eviscerate me too badly so that was nice. Yesterday I saw four of the five bands on that list. It was so freaking amazing I'm still getting my head around it all.

I'm off to see Frightened Rabbit yet again this afternoon. I can't wait to come home next week.

Greatness, Thou Art Internet

I don't know if that headline makes sense, and this definitely doesn't make sense but it is possibly the best thing I have ever ever ever seen.



I'm keeping busy these days coming up with fun blog posts at SXSW like this one today with awesome new favorite person (and Kentucky dude) Daniel Martin Moore. Peep it, y'all!!

Today's Jamz - Carry On Wayward Son

I didn't know He-Man was in a band.

Had no idea this song would be so appropriate for the day when my friend Tom (not that Tom... or that Tom) sent it to me last week.

Also, I encourage you all to look at this.

Live Blogging the Oscars - And the Winner Is...

The winner may not be you as the funny is in short supply at the moment due to my brain being pulled in 90 different directions in the last two hours. It's my fault for starting #bandmoviemashups on Twitter. Some hilarious answers, though, like Erasurehead, Vampire Weekend at Bernies and Antwone Fischerspooner.

Oh God, here we go...

Hour I

7.30 The Best Actor and Actress nominees arrive onstage and stand there awkwardly as their names are called. You can't hear the audience applauding so it's a bit odd and hey there, Gabourey Sidibe, she's workin' it. Is there ever a moment where Colin Firth is not dreamy?

7.32 Neil Patrick Harris is singing. And dancing. I love NPH but the Oscars are, you know, known for their horrible musical numbers and this is no exception.

7.34 Sarah Jessica Parker is an orange not found in nature.

7.34 Cue Meryl Streep jokes. And people in Hollywood are stupid jokes.

7.37 Who's that creepy guy sitting behind Helen Mirren?

7.39 "Gabourey and I have something in common. In our first movies we were both born a poor black child." Steve Martin elicits my first laugh of the night.

7.41 George Clooney is not amused. George Clooney is in on the joke. I guess.

7.43 Zac Efron and Taylor Lautner are strangely unformed.

7.44 Monologue is over. Thank God because that was... disappointing and uncomfortable.

7.45 Best Actor in a Supporting Role goes to Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds. No one looks surprised (because he's won every other award known to man). Hard to make jokes about the earnestly sincere so thanks a lot Christoph.

7.50 Oh look, it's Ryan Reynolds trying on gravitas for a minute.

7.52 Anna Kendrick looks bored.

7.53 This Jennifer Aniston movie looks horrible... much like all Jennifer Aniston movies.

7.55 Jimmy Kimmel was funnier when he was f**ing Matt Damon and not Ben Affleck.

7.56 Cameron Diaz just called Steve Carell "Jude Law." I make that mistake all the time. Revenge of the teleprompter.

7.59 Best Animated Feature Film goes to Up. I guess this kills their chances for Best Picture. As if they had a chance, anyway, because you KNOW District 9 is gonna win!

8.00 Why are Martin and Baldwin blowing it?

8.00 Miley Cyrus and Amanda Seyfried... really. I like how Seyfried walked out a good ten feet in front of Cyrus. They present Best Original Song to Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett for "The Weary Kind" from Crazy Heart. I feel like I'm watching The Golden Globes. Perhaps I should just re-post my blog from that show.

8.12 I am... not going to say anything about Tina Fey's dress because I luv her too much. Like how they had the camera on Robin Williams when she said writers have a "fear of ad libbing." Robert Downey Jr. is going to be Robert Evans in thirty years, isn't he? Or, you know, now. They give Best Original Screenplay to Mark Boal for The Hurt Locker. That should take the sting out of that lawsuit. Wow, he's kinda cute.

8.17 Ohhhh... man. Cue tears and the tribute hasn't even started. Molly Ringwald and Matthew Broderick introduce a montage of clips and interviews celebrating John Hughes and his films. Well, hello Brat Pack. Oh dear, Judd Nelson. So disturbing, so homeless. Hughes' family is there. They still look traumatized. I read a great article about him recently in Vanity Fair. It's worth checking out.

8.28 Someone please explain Zoe Saldana's dress to me. Is that a purple poodle down there? What the heck is going on?! Oh, it's Best Animated Short. The winner is Logorama. It beat Wallace and Gromit so I don't care.

8.33 Best Documentary Short goes to Music By Prudence. Okay, some crazy lady (Elinor Burkett) just interrupted Roger Ross Williams and said, "Let the woman talk!" She then proceeded to ramble on until someone got the hook. Okay, fine, the music played her off but I was really hoping for the hook because that was bananas. I'm sure she thought she was making some feminist statement... but seriously... She was probably listening to Meredith Brooks' "Bitch" before her category and decided to go full bozo.

8.36 Best Live Action Short goes to The New Tenants. More people getting played off. No one gives a crap about these non-famous people because it's time for...

8.37 Ben Stiller, who comes out dressed as a smurf to present the award for Best Makeup to the team from Star Trek. Okay, he's really dressed as a Na'vi and smurf was Tom's joke.

And that's it for hour one. So far the Oscars have been both unwieldy and unfunny. Kind of like this post. Back at 9.30 or so.

Hour II

8.49 Please let Nick Hornby win... but I bet he won't... and he doesn't as Best Adapted Screenplay goes to Geoffrey Fletcher for Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire. More earnest and sincere dudes...

8.52 Martin manages to come up with some funny patter as he introduces Queen Latifah who gives the rundown on the highlights of The Governors Awards. Honorees included Roger Corman, Gordon Willis, Lauren Bacall and, err, some other peeps.

8.55 Bacall gets a slow moving standing ovation as the audio cuts out. This is seriously the worst Academy Awards I've seen in years.

8.57 Maggie Gyllenhaal looks like she's tearing up at her own clip. Oof. It doesn't matter as there's no way they're not going to give the Oscar for Actress in a Supporting Role to Mo'Nique for Precious. I really hope that she gives another kickass inspiring speech. I'm actually kind of verklempt over seeing her get a standing o.

9.01 Did I mention that Colin Firth is dreamy? I did? Okay.

9.06 Avatar wins its first award of the night... for Production Design. I will kind of laugh if it's the last. Nuh uh! One of the winners just said, "James Cameron - this Oscar sees you." And then he stopped mid-acceptance speech to let some other guy talk. This is full on amateur hour.

9.11 The Young Victoria wins for Best Costume Design... over Coco Before Chanel which I find amusing for some reason.

9.12 Does Charlize Theron want us to look at her boobs? I'm confused. (Google the dress tomorrow and you can see the, ah, highlighted areas, too.) "Cinnaboobs" my friend Yahzello called them.

9.16 Oh joy, it's K-Stew and Taylor Lautner giving horror movies their due. Okay fine, it's true, I never thought I'd be seeing clips of Scream at the Academy Awards.

9.22 Let's keep the teens interested for two more minutes as Zac Efron and his stupid hair, along with Anna Kendrick, present Best Sound Editing to Paul N.J. Ottosson for The Hurt Locker. He also wins Best Sound Mixing with Ray Beckett. I really enjoyed Ottoson when he played Silas in The Da Vinci Code.

9.28 Oooh, I like Elizabeth Banks' dress quite a lot even if it doesn't exactly flatter her hips.

9.36 Avatar wins one more. For Best Cinematography.

Time to publish this thing... back in an hour.

Hour III

9.37 Demi Moore is the same color as her gown... I will give it up, though, because it might be my favorite of the night.

9.38 In Memoriam... with James Taylor. Brittany Murphy gets some tepid applause. Hrmm. it really seemed like more people passed away in the last year.

9.46 Oh man! I love the League of Extraordinary Dancers. Seriously. I don't care how random and out of place this is... they're beyond brilliant as they highlight the different nominees for Best Original Score.

9.53 And Best Original Score goes to Michael Giacchino for Up. Has there been a single deviation from The Golden Globes?

9.55 Avatar wins something else. Oh, Best Visual Effects. Uh oh... The Hurt Locker and Avatar have been cleaning up so far... it's going to be a fight to the finish.

10.02 Best Documentary Feature takes home the Oscar for The Cove. I've just been warned there's some civil disobedience coming. I see Ric O'Barry holding something. Fisher Stevens won an Oscar. Time hath stood still. Geez, all he did was hold up a sign that said, "Text DOLPHIN to 44144" and they cut away superfast.

10.08 Best Film Editing goes to Bob Murawski and Chris Innis from The Hurt Locker. Did you know that many editors are also accomplished knitters? Okay, maybe just one... that I know of.

10.16 Pedro Almodovar (awesome) and Quentin Tarantino (slightly less awesome) give Best Foreign Language Film to The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) from Argentina. The winner makes a cute joke about how he's glad the Academy didn't consider Na'vi a foreign language. No one laughs. Or maybe they do... my audio's been twilight zone all night.

10.19 Kathy Bates is introducing the clip for Avatar but I'm really starting to get the feeling The Hurt Locker's going to take it. I'll actually be surprised if Kathryn Bigelow doesn't win for Best Director.

10.25 A-Listers talking about other A-Listers. Everyone loves Jeff Bridges. Michelle Pfeiffer looks amazing. Of course. Man, get on with it. We all know how fabulous George Clooney is. Is Vera Farmiga weird or is it just me? More dreamy Colin Firth looking thoughtful as Julianne Moore waxes rhapsodic about him. Euw, it's Tim Robbins talking about Morgan Freeman. The euw was for Robbins not Freeman because God rules. Everyone gets these classy tributes, but the best is for Jeremy Renner courtesy of Colin Farrell who talks about spooning with him in Mexico.

10.31 Kate Winslet can stop losing weight now. The Best Actor Oscar goes to Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart. I'm happy for Bridges even though J-Lo can't be bothered to applaud. So thrilled he's saying "our" instead of "my." Classy guy, that JB. Excuse me... classy dude.

10.40 This thing is supposed to be over now but instead it's A-Listers talking about other A-Listers 2.0. Forest Whitaker loves Sandra Bullock (why did she go with old lady pink lipstick?). Michael Sheen has the hots for Helen Mirren (who still has creepy dude sitting behind her). Does Peter Sarsgaard sound like John Malkovich on purpose? He's blathering on about Carey Mulligan. Oprah's making Gabourey Sidibe cry. Oprah's dress is mag. Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep are BFFs.

10.47 Best Actress goes to... or it will after Sean Penn stops mumbling about something... Sandra Bullock who gets an, I kid you not, standing ovation. Impossible to dislike Bullock who showed up to get her Razzie last night for All About Steve.

10.55 Our first opportunity for a deviation from The GG's... and yes! The first female to win an Oscar for Best Director is Kathryn Bigelow who is probably also the hottest person to win an Oscar for Best Director. This is pretty rad.

10.57 This telecast is now nearly 30 minutes over time.

10.58 Yeah yeah Tom Hanks okay who wins? Ten to choose from!! Well, no preamble... The Hurt Locker takes it all... and Kathryn Bigelow thanks... Hazmat crews!

Can't top that. Now I have to go finish my laundry. Thanks for reading.

Live Blogging the Oscars

Yes, I plan to do the impossible... laundry AND Oscar watching/blogging.

Call me crazy.

Check back here later, taters, for the goods. I've been writing all day for SXSW so the quips might be in short supply but let's hope I can find my wit sometime in the next two hours.

Toodles.

The Perfect Way To End Your Day

The White Mountain from charles on Vimeo.

WATCH THE ABOVE... WHILE LISTENING TO THE BELOW.

Song For A Day - Sister Christian

Because why not... I can really relate to her issues. I'm not sure what my price for flight is, though.

I've been blogging up a storm over at SXSW. You can catch up on that shizzle here. I ask interesting people stuff.

Work beckons once again. I think I've saved myself from being the worst blogger ever, though, by sharing Night Ranger with you on this chilly Friday.

A Letter to Home

Blame that Tom guy for this one... but I'm glad he made it home from the Nashville place in one piece.

Meanwhile... life in Austin continues to continue. Every year we reach the beach but sometimes I'm amazed we make it.

Also, Jim Bunning has gone full on cuckoo for cocopuffs, I see. Oof.

Tom Petty + My Morning Jacket = Awesome

I really don't understand this interview. It's too early, methinks.

Anyhoodle... it was announced today that a few of Tom Petty's August dates (specifically, Boston and East Rutherford, NJ - wherever that is) will feature our beloved hometown lads My Morning Jacket as the opener. I think they get to play a semi-real set and everything.

I had a really excellent, super vivid dream about Tom Petty when I was 14. I hope I get to tell him all about it. Or steal his fork. I swear I'm not a stalker.

What Happens When Your Cat Does LSD

So, I'm doing my Austin thing... which means working a lot and being grouchy. This is as opposed to just being grouchy.

The blogging may be slow but seriously... this commercial is good for DAYS.

Everything You Thought Was Real

This is Stargate Studios' Virtual Backlot Reel. Purty cool.

Apologies for not posting much... work is getting worky and I'm in an Olympics stupor.

Can't wait to see what outfits the menfolk come up with for tonight's figure skating long program. I'm really disturbed by this glove trend, I have to say.

I'll be blogging from the cave in Austin from next week through the end of March. SXSW approacheth... I'm going to pretend I'm ready.

Stephen Colbert, I Heart You

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Sarah Palin Uses a Hand-O-Prompter
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

I sort of hate that I hate Sarah Palin because I feel like I'm just playing into her hands. She and Rush Limbaugh feed off our disdain like it's manna from heaven.

What kind of person snidely derides hope and change as if they are ridiculous notions, to be mocked at every turn?

I saw a bumper sticker recently that read, "Not My Fault." It had the Obama logo as the "o" in "not." This person obviously voted for Bush, so I would say yeah, the situation we're currently in is your fault. The responsibility belongs to all of us, actually, for forgetting about accountability for the last eight years, for refusing to work with each other and reducing politics to pithy one liners. I say it for both sides, I include myself.

That being said, I still think Sarah Palin is a blight. To follow her and her brainless "lift American spirits" written-on-the-hand rhetoric is to follow a modern day Pied Piper. I hope those who trumpet her as the savior of the conservative/evangelical movement see the river before they reach it.

I think you lift people's spirits by, you know, LIFTING... not by putting others down. But what do I know? I'm so clearly not in the elevating business.

Starting Your Week Off Right

I wonder if we can get this band to open for MMJ. That would be the best tour ever!

This was shared on Google Reader by my friend Beth who is trying to atone for sharing this. I think you'll agree it's going to take about a million bunnies and bears to erase that one from your brain.

Chasing The Taste Of The Grammys Away With Glee

I'm still reeling from The Grammys. Or, the farce that is now known as The Grammys.

Moving on... isn't this Japanese commercial for Glee just adorable?!!

Live Blogging The Grammys - I Really Hope Kanye Wins

It's kind of surreal to think that last year at the Grammys I was THERE. I was there and didn't really see any famous types. We weren't seated on the floor so I didn't get to rub elbows with Gwynnie... I'm still sad.

Oh man, here we go... Haus of Gaga!!

Hour I

8.00 This may be the single biggest reason I'm sad not to be at the Grammys this year. I would love to see Lady Gaga perform live. I'm so not lying. She looks like some kind of drag queen superhero and I'm sure you'll see 90000 pictures of this getup tomorrow. It's beyond.

8.03 Lady Gaga and Elton John. Beyond the beyond. They do a medley of "Speechless" and "Your Song" and it may be the most awesome thing I've ever seen. The show can only go downhill from here.

8.08 Stephen Colbert (is he the host? Seriously, I have no idea what's going on here) comes out and says, "We are here tonight to celebrate what I believe is our most precious right. The right of celebrities to congratulate each other. One more time, come on." The celebrities look confused. He gives a shout out to Jeff Beck, which is excellent, because who, besides my friend Lori and me, is in luv with him?

Oooouch. Colbert says that Justin Timberlake brought the sexy back and Susan Boyle sent it away. Not nice.

8.11 Oh, I guess he's presenting Song of the Year. He has an iPad. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It," by Beyonce and a bunch of other people, wins The bunch of other people get played off after two seconds because Bouncy isn't there. Whew. I'm prepared for Kings of Leon to win something... just not so soon.

8.15 LOL at Jennifer Lopez introducing Green Day. American Idiot is a Broadway musical and they're performing "21 Guns" with the cast. I'm actually kind of digging this and have nothing bad to say... shocking, I know... and it's not even because Billie Joe's sister reads my blog. Really.

8.25 For some inexplicable reason Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel are here. They present Best Country Album to Taylor Swift who looks faux surprised. Some creepy dude is giving her a standing ovation. He's the only one. I really wish Kanye would run onstage right now. I did not just say that.

8.27 CBS is taking advantage of broadcasting the show by pushing The Mentalist on us. Simon Baker introduces Beyonce and a... SWAT team? Bouncy, as I call her, is... covering Alanis Morrissette's "You Oughta Know." Uh, wut? Love her shoes, though. I would break every bone in my body if I wore those things and she's running around the Staples Center emoting like crazy. Good lord. It's sort of unfair that Beyonce is so perfect... but she gave us the rope dance so I forgive her.

8.39 Heidi Klum looks perplexed to see Seal onstage. Okay... what the hell? He talks for five seconds about how they're giving Leonard Cohen a Lifetime Achievement Award then introduces... Pink??!! I'm offended.

It's Pink du Soleil time (a phrase coined by my friend Sarah). Pink is hanging above the audience at Staples in a diaper. A wet diaper. And she's mostly naked. Am I watching Flashdance? I'm so confused right now. She's a real daredevil, that Pink. Taylor Swift's mom, Carlos Santana, and LL Cool J love it.

8.45 Best New Artist goes to The Zac Brown Band. Who?? Dave Matthews looks happy but I don't care. I wanted MGMT to win... or The Ting Tings. That's actually a weird group of nom noms.

8.54 Miley's weave is freaking me out. But not as much as Will I Am and his creepy face mask!! Crikey! The Black Eyed Peas perform some new song that sounds a lot like the old songs. They're rapping "Imma be the future." More like Imma be having nightmares. Oh good, now they're doing "I Gotta Feeling." People can relax to autotune and the comfort of familiarity and Fergie's visor. Keith Urban and Jon Bon Jovi are digging this scene. Or pretending to.

An hour's passed already? Well, here you go...

Hour II

9.02 Lady Antebellum... just gonna gloss over this one because I have no idea who she is.

9.10 Best Comedy Album goes to Stephen Colbert... I feel short-changed... we didn't get to see Best Comedy Album last year. It wasn't part of the ceremony. Wow, the Grammys are hardcore. They play him off after ten seconds.

9.18 I really appreciate these long commercial breaks. No lie. How is it time for Record of the Year already? I think the same songs were nominated for... everything over and over. And the winner is... "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon. The drummer is CLAPPING FOR HIMSELF! People are standing. I am sitting.

9.21 Jamie Foxx is blowing my mind right now.... which is what I need after what just happened. You know, I never heard this song "Blame It On The Alcohol" before. How did I live without it? Oh look! It's, uh, Slash. Soloing. This is hot mess to the extreme. I mean, last year I got T.I., Kanye, Jay-Z, MIA and Lil Wayne doing "Swagga Like Us." Score one for me.

9.27 Am in real life lol'ing at Ke$ha and Justin Bieber and their totally botched vote for a Bon Jovi song bit. That was so Sesame Street "One of these things is not like the other."

9.32 I like how they give two seconds to these legends awards and two hundred years to the suck.

9.33 Katy Perry and Alice Cooper (there's a pair for the ages) present Best Rock Album to Green Day.

9.34 Chris O'Donnell is here... of course. He intros the Zac Brown Band. You know, that group none of us have heard of who won Best New Artist earlier thus assuring their place in obscurity. Are they country? Are they hippies? Are they some strange hybrid?

9.37 I can't believe this goes on for another two hours. This will be a fight to the finish.

9.45 It's Taylor Swift... singing a song... that she wrote. Now it's Taylor Swift... singing a duet... with Stevie freaking Nicks! I'm sorry but Taylor Swift's voice is just... bad. I mean, I know I'm flying in the face of the wisdom of millions of record buyers but someone must agree with me on this?!! Still, she can't ruin the joy of seeing Nicks performing "Rhiannon." The joy that is now being diminished by watching Stevie Nicks sing "You Belong With Me.

9.52 Last year's sign of the apocalypse was The Jonas Brothers with Stevie Wonder. This year it's Taylor Swift with Stevie Nicks. Next year I vote all Stevies stay the hell away or it will be the final herald of the four horsemen or something.

9.54 3-D Celine Dion, Usher, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson are singing along with Michael Jackson as we're treated to shots of Beyonce and Rihanna wearing those goofy red/blue 3-D glasses. I am speechless. So close to being dignified... instead, kinda cuckoo. MJ's kids kinda break my heart. Okay, they totally break my heart as they accept a Lifetime Achievement Award for their dad.

And thus endeth hour ii...

Hour III and III.5

10.09 After a long, complex introduction by Sheryl Crow, Bon Jovi hits the stage with some song that's not "Runaway" so I don't care. Okay, Jon Bon Jovi either has a great plastic surgeon or made a deal with the devil. AND I heard he's super nice. AND they're doing "Livin' On A Prayer." Suddenly I'm 16, drinking vodka and Diet Slice all over again.

10.17 Placido Domingo and Mos Def - a hilarious duo - give Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (wha?) to Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West for "Run This Town." I guess people have forgiven Kanye enough to give the award to Jay-Z and Rihanna. When they thank Yeezy I think I hear one person applaud. Forgiveness is divine, people!! I mean, seriously, that crowd should not be throwing stones. Ultimate glass house.

10.27 Andrea Bocelli is here to class the joint up. Singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water," which is being recorded for Haitian earthquake relief (and will be available later on iTunes), with Mary J. Blige, is the highlight of the evening so far. Transformative. Tear inducing. Man alive.

10.46 Best Female Pop Vocal Performance goes to Beyonce for "Halo." The award is given to her by Lea Michele who sang "Halo" on Glee. I confess I listen exclusively to the Glee version... mostly because it's a mashup with "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves.

10.56 I think I missed the Maxwell Memo. I'm sorry but I'm not down... if only for that cover of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work," a song that is sacred to me. SACRED, I TELL YOU! He is kind of a babe, though.

10.58 Oh hey, Roberta Flack! Now we're gettin' groovy...

11.00 In Memoriam... awww Dan Seals.

11.03 Haha Gaga!

11.04 Holy Gods, Jeff Beck doing the Les Paul tribute. At this point I almost don't care anymore because this is what happens when you decide to liveblog a three and a half hour show. Toward the end you feel like your life force has been drained. Or you do if you are old and lame like me.

11.12 I just read that Phoenix won for Best Alternative Album for Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. That's neat. Last year My Morning Jacket lost to Radiohead. That was less neat but not surprising.

11.13 I really wish Lil Wayne would stop swearing so I could hear this song. Hey lookit, it's Eminem. Em's lost some weight. Maybe he can give me a few tips. Really dudes, stop f'ing swearing! All I hear is silence... which actually may be preferable. Drake cracks me UP. Why? Because I watched Degrassi, that's why.

11.18 How long is this post now? Ninety million words? Are you still here? Thank you.

11.22 In case you were wondering why you've only seen five actual awards when there are about five million categories, the full list of winners is here.

11.26 This time Taylor Swift looks genuinely surprised... to win Album of the Year. SHE IS NOT THE ONLY ONE. Nice going, Grammy voters. AOTY contains the lyric, "She wears high heels, I wear sneakers" and is sung by someone who can't sing. This is all Kanye's fault, isn't it?

Goodnight.

Live Blogging The Grammys - Regrets, I've Had A Few...

My friend Yahzelle told me to liveblog The Grammys so I guess I will... but I am tired and crabby and this is a last minute decision and it's going to be a lot of Taylor Swift and Kings of Leon, right?

Oh boy! Taylor just said her performance has a big surprise in it! Maybe Jay-Z is going to join her and OH MY GOD... I just wrote Kings of Leon and there they are on E! This is not an auspicious beginning to my night.

First post will be up around 9. Humf.

My Morning Jacket Tour Stuff

There's a band called My Morning Jacket, who I may or may not know, that are touring in April/May. They haven't been out in ages. I assume some of you will be excited about this.

Then again, you know what happens when you assume!

The dates - with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - are as follows:

04/20: Birmingham, AL @ Alabama Theater

04/21: Nashville, TN @ Municipal Auditorium

04/23: Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park

04/24: New Orleans, LA @ Jazzfest

04/27: St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheater

04/28: Charleston, SC @ Family Circle

04/30: Raleigh, NC @ Koka Booth

05/01: Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion

05/02: Columbus, OH @ LC Outdoor Pavilion

See you in Nashville.

Oh - and did you know you can follow Tom on Twitter (@sometomguy)? He's a cool dude. I'm on there, too, @mspark. I'm less cool.

Here's the whole press release, if you're interested.. I am too lazy to write something different... terrible, I know... and Girlie Action does a kickass job, anyway.

"It's been almost a full year, but the wait is finally over. My Morning Jacket are ready to bring their electrifying live show back on the road. The guys will make their way around the Southeastern United States this Spring, including a performance at this year's Jazzfest in New Orleans. MMJ are also excited to both try something new with their choice for an opening act, and bring some of the spirit of NOLA along with them. The band is honored that the historic Preservation Hall Jazz Band will be supporting them on the run.

The connection with the PHJB originated in the Spring of 2009 when MMJ frontman Jim James was invited to sing with them at their home turf, New Orleans' legendary Preservation Hall. James recorded two songs with the band: "St. James Infirmary" and "Louisiana Fairytale." The tracks will appear on the bands forthcoming album, PRESERVATION: An Album To Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program, out February 16th.

"When I got the invitation to go to the legendary Preservation Hall -- where SO much of the music we now know and love on this earth found its early roots -- I did not waste a minute," James reminisces. "Getting to sing while the guys played with such glorious bursts of sound -- all live in that holy room with the ghosts and garbage trucks crankin' along -- was an experience I'll never forget."

The PHJB's leader Ben Jaffe shares his memory of playing with James: "I couldn't have imagined Jim fitting in any better with the guys at Preservation Hall. Creating music is not a science. There is no tried and true formula. There is an unspoken bond amongst musicians. One that exists in the notes we choose. Jim's like our long lost cousin coming home for the first time."

OH COME ON!!

I am passing out from the kitty cuteness... Seriously, people.

(This is a commercial for a Japanese hotel booking site shared by Yahzelle on the Google Reader.)

Snow Day

I was reminded that today is the one year anniversary of that stupid ice storm that blew through Kentucky and oh, but I do remember those heady days of sleeping in a bedroom that was 38 degrees, building fires so I didn't freeze all day long and putting all the food in the snow so it wouldn't spoil.

I was trapped in Fox Ridge, Tom was in Australia, and I didn't have power for a week. But now I can look back with a sense of accomplishment at my Grizzly Adams ways.

That being said, man I hope they never happen again. Seriously, when we moved this summer part of the attraction was that I would never be trapped again. Now we live right off 146 and I feel relieved about this every day. Of course living right off 146 means bozos who don't know how to drive plow into your tree line.

You take the good, you take the bad...

Tree Kangaroo Power

One of these days I'll get my life back, but until then, my hat (actually, I don't wear a hat, although I'm considering it because I'm planning a second career as a hobo and don't they wear hats?) goes off to my new fave tennis player, Marin Cilic. He beat Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Roddick in full on nail-biter five set matches.

I think it's partly due to the magic of the tree kangaroo. Although last time I went on a Marin Cilic tree kangaroo spree he lost to Del Po at the US Open. Sadly, I don't have high hopes for him against Andy Murray, but we'll see. None of you know what I'm talking about, do you? I live alone in my grand slam tennis fan world. Tear.

I used to sort of poo poo the Australian Open as the slam that didn't really matter, but I've come around and seen some of the best matches at Melbourne Park via my tv... at 3 am...

In other news, I'm in Austin. Sitting in an office. Well, sitting in a laundry room that is now a cave that doubles as an office. I have lava lamps, though, and that makes all the difference.