Song For A Day - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want

This is my favorite scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

This Dream Academy rendition is my favorite version of this song. Yes, I like it more than The Smiths' version.

In fact, I lurv it so much it's the song Tom and I walked down the aisle to when did that nuptial thing.

The end.

Song For A Day - Watching Xanadu

I have loved this song for many, many years and I can't believe I never saw this video which features Mull Historical Society's Colin MacIntyre running around in a bunny suit. It's like it was made for me! How did I miss it? I'll always tie this record to the mixing of It Still Moves because I remember picking Jim up at Capitol one night and driving around while half singing the songs under my breath. He probably thought I was touched in the head.

Tonight I will not be watching Xanadu, however. I will be watching Jersey Shore much to Tom's chagrin. Pity his poor soul, you guys. Project Runway also starts this eve. This is quite the conundrum. You can follow along with me on the Twitter. It will be sordid for sure.

Song For A Day - Be Near Me

Using this song to go to my happy place to stave off stabby feelings over this news about BP. What a bunch of tossers. I really hope Martin Fry wouldn't approve of this.

If Gabriel Wants To Rollerblade...

My people, they are awesome.

Song For A Day - With Or Without You

I wonder if Belgian choir Scala and Kolacny Brothers imagined how often they would be Googled after being featured in the trailer for the upcoming film The Social Network (see below). Their haunting rendition of Radiohead's "Creep" is still stuck in my head.

Here's the ladies doing U2's "With or Without You."



The Social Network trailer

The My Morning Jacket Press Conference - Can You See The Hard Helmet On My Head

Well, that happened.

That's Tom Blankenship (aka husband type person or, to you, MMJ bassist type person) showing off his supercute hardhat that they gave the boyos so they could tour the future KFC Yum! Center.

Tom says, "The new arena is gigantic and fancy, like pro-team fancy."

I did not go on this tour because I do not don bright red plastic headwear.

So, this whole brouhaha was for the upcoming My Morning Jacket show at Louisville's very own aforementioned brand new arena. The venue is hosting a series of opening concerts featuring The Eagles, MMJ and (haha) Justin Bieber.

Tickets for the October 29 MMJ show are $45 and go on sale August 14 at Ticketmaster. Local awesome saucies Wax Fang open. A special general admission cash-only sale will take place on August 12 at Ear X-tacy's new location at 2226 Bardstown Road. Ear X-tacy moves on July 30.

I don't actually remember much of the presser as I was too busy trying to live tweet it. Which I did... poorly. Oops.

Jim talked about the vitalosity of local business, artists and such and representatives of the Louisville Youth Orchestra, who will be performing with the band, were on hand to talk about how psyched they are that MMJ is donating $1 from each ticket to their scholarship fund. The fund raises money for at risk youth to be able to attend school. The head orchestra honcho said that they should double their fund with this influx of bucks. So that is most excellent.

Umm, here's the rest in pictures...


Jim talks about things and answers the question, "New record?" with "We're working on it."


Happy Patrick! Happy Tom! Happy John from Ear X-tacy! Dude with camera! I'm pretty sure that's Jeffrey Lee Puckett's arm.


I'm having this banner turned into bedsheets. Not really.


I finally met this guy. This photo is old - from the Evil Urges release in-store thingy back in 2008. His name is Benny and he is very nice. He used to play in a band called Elliott. I never saw them but heard they were quite good. Kevin from Wax Fang was in that group, as well.


And finally, here's a closeup of the hardhat because I just know you really wanted to see it from another angle. An angle that is not atop Tom's head.

Alrighty then... now back to regularly scheduled programming. Regularly scheduled programming looking something like this:

My Morning Jacket Presser

I'll be live-tweeting the My Morning Jacket press conference this afternoon. Follow along @mspark, if you like. I'm sure my feed will be full of essential observations like, "Tom is wearing a grey shirt and Levis."

Also, you know, whatever their announcement thingy is. But from what I've read around the internets it's not going to be a giant surprise. Yummeh!

See you peeps in a bit.

photo by Eric Mayers

My Morning Jacket Random Randomness

I'm taking us back to 2003 today... with this photo and the little listening bit. I remember the first time I went to the Gallrein's farm in Shelbyville to see the studio and hang out with the random dogs that patrolled the fields. What a fabulous serene place it is. Oh, it's corn season! I highly recommend that you make the drive out there and pick up some of the best ever. I dream about that stuff.

In other news, MMJ will have some tasty news to impart upon the fine citizens of the 502 tomorrow. I myself am trés excited.

In the meantime, you can take a little trip to New York with me vis a vis this live version of "The Bear" (one of my top five fave songs of all time, probably) recorded at The Mercury Lounge on February 1, 2003.

Have a gander: My Morning Jacket - The Bear - Live at Mercury Lounge.

Words... There Are None

(Thanks Shane. I think.)

Today's Mesmerosity - Movin' Right Along

Two great things that go great together...





It's entirely possible that I'm just amusing myself at this point.

I'll have some actual news next week. Really.

Maybe I'll have a Song For A Day later. You just never know.

Today's Mesmerosity - Asleep From Day

Today's gif music action...

Watch the kittycat.



Listen to the Chemical Brothers' "Asleep From Day"




That kitty changes directions, right? It's not just me? Is it me? Help me out here.

Clearly I Have Too Much Time On My Hands

Did you know that if you listen to this...



And watch this...




























Oh, I don't know how this happens... but I was mesmerized for a while. Let's not discuss the strange confluence of events that led to this discovery.

My internet friend Matthew told me to blog about my desire to be a shapeshifter but I decided this was probably more interesting.

Song For A Day - Obscurity Knocks

The audio on this video is crap but lordy, I'm not quite sure what that is introducing The Trash Can Sinatras, a band that looking back now may have been a precursor for my current darlings Frightened Rabbit. Not so similar in sound, perhaps, but in clever wordplay, most definitely.

"Though I ought to be learning I feel like a veteran
Of "Oh I like your poetry but I hate your poems"
Calendars crumble I'm knee deep in numbers
Turned 21, I've twist, I'm bust and wrong again"

So good... to me, anwyay. I found some poetry I wrote as a teenager recently and it was seriously embarrassing. To the valley of shame and beyond. No wonder I stopped with that. Goodness.

Tuesday Morning

Time for some ridiculous cat ninja video. (Thanks Shane.)

Also, here's a nice photograph of the Pacific Wheel in Santa Monica, California... because why not?!

Song For A Night - Two Weeks

Okay, it's really neither here nor there that I was the last person on earth to hear this song but there you go.



Still, this video is creepster city. I know you will love.

It's even more full of horrors than this one...



Every now and then I fall apart. So true, Bonnie-kins. So very true. You sing it, sister.

Now that there is some peace in my life I am going to be much more dedicated to this hear blogspace. I know you've all missed me terribly. "Who are you?" I hear you asking. Oof.

(I wonder if that is the first time the word "oof" has been used in the C-J.)

Well, That Happened

I'll be back soon with a full journo of my Los Angeles experience but in the meantime, this sort of sums things up.

So many things happened... in such a short time.

California Dreamin'

Apologies, per usual, for the absence but I've been harnessing my blogging power for my upcoming trip to Los Angeles. Yes, I'm doing a cliché Sex and the City-esque girls holiday for my 40th birthday. I can't wait to drink Cosmos and talk about why men can't commit... or something. Except I don't drink... and I'm married. Still, it's possible there's good times ahead.

So, wish me luck in the wilds of LA and there will be reports of the goings on in Beverly Hills very soon. And by goings on I mean cupcakes.

In the meantime I leave you with this...


A pig in galoshes.

And this... Tom's Formspring which is just... the best reading ever. Ask him something. Seriously. That tears for fears answer is NIGHTMARES!

Holy Cow - MMJ at Terminal 5 Edition

Pooch is here to welcome you to the good times ahead...

So, remember I said I was actually excited about something and how rare that is and yes you get the picture. This is full on bananatown, I must say.

My Morning Jacket will take to the stage at Terminal 5 in New York City for five nights starting October 18th and ending on October 23rd.

Each show will be dedicated to one of the band's full length studio albums in chronological order... so, The Tennessee Fire, At Dawn, It Still Moves, Z, and Evil Urges will all be performed from start to finish and goodness gracious, this has never happened before! I've seen hundreds of MMJ shows and they'll be performing songs I've never seen.

After the album is finished, the guys will play a mix of favorites from their catalog (and some covers, mayhaps?).

All of the dates will go on sale as individual shows on June 18th but for fans who want the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of experiencing all five shows, there will be a special pre-sale. Five show packages will go on sale June 14th.

As per MMJ usual, each show will benefit a different charity with $1 of each ticket sold going to a different local organization:

October 18 - The Tennessee Fire - Safe Haven of Pike County.
October 19 - At Dawn - The Innocence Project
October 21 - It Still Moves - 826NYC
October 22 - Z - New York Cares
October 23 - Evil Urges - Sustainable South Bronx

For info on tickets, please visit Terminal 5's website.

Hope to see you in the Big Apple! My camera will probably explode from the awesome sauciness.

Thousand Words - MMJ At Sasquatch Edition

Here's some shots from My Morning Jacket's recent appearance at the most wonderful Sasquatch festival. Well, they aren't all pics of MMJ. I didn't take that many of the show because people kept yelling at me and I gave up.

I hope you enjoy this small offering of photographic evidence.

Pooch and Denise pose for some vacay shots

Tom is 75 ft tall. Or 11 as he told me when I showed him this shot.

I think I saw this in an 80s music video (and I mean that in the best way possible)

Thoughtful Mr. Hallahan

I'm pretty sure that's Jim

Thank you and goodnight!

Well, that was fun. MMJ fans are going to be very excited come tomorrow afternoon. I mean, I'm even excited and that almost never happens.

Until then...

(ok, that news is out now... you can read it here.)

Live Blogging the, err, MTV Movie Awards

Oh God... here we go again. Why do I do this to myself? To you? I'm turning 40 in two weeks... I may use that as an excuse to stop doing this, but... you know... probably not.

I'm becoming kinda like John McEnroe when he interviews the French Open winners. You know how he always manages to bring up how he never won? Yes, I'm like that with the 40 thing. I CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT IT.

Oh oops, it's starting...

Part I

9.00 pm - R-Patz really did cut all his hair off. The reports are true, ladies.

9.01 pm - Is Tom Cruise really relevant to the youth market?

9.01 pm - Oh, I guess he is when paired with R-Patz and Taylor Lautner.

9.02 pm - And Michael Cera.

9.02 pm - and Jaden Smith.

9.04 pm - "I don't understand why they're doing jokes on a movie that came out two years ago." - Tom. Also, Tom thinks Aziz is pronounced, "As-Is." Also also, Tom started a Formspring thing, too. Now you can ask him anything. I wonder if he will regret this someday. Then again, so far no one's asked him anything so maybe not.

9.07 pm - From lampooning Precious (wha?) to Justin Bieber. Go ahead and kill me now, please.

9.12 pm - Oh awesome, it's Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, Kevin James, and David Spade. Another youth market push, I see. They present Best Female Performance to Kristen Stewart for New Moon. The homicidal rage is building. I want to win awards for being catatonic for two hours. I like how I'm getting pissy about something that doesn't matter in the slightest. That is just excellent. People are starving and I'm getting stroppy about K-Stew beating Sandra Bullock.

9.19 pm - Tom is not impressed with J-Woww's boobs. This is one of many reasons why I like him.

9.21 pm - It sounded like Aziz pronounced Russell Brand "Russell Bland." Diddy is dressed like one of the metal dudes from Plano East Senior High circa 1987. He, RB, and Jonah Hill are here to hype Get Him To The Greek, I mean give an award to Anna Kendrick for Breakout Star for, thank God, not New Moon but Up in the Air.

9.26 pm - Ed Helms is playing the piano and singing. Ken Jeong is wearing a tiger print leotard and doing interpretive dance. Tom Cruise is ruining things. Then again, how do you spoil that which was not fresh to begin with?

9.29 pm - Tom Cruise and J-Lo. What year is it, again? I should probably explain that Tom Cruise has been doing everything as his Les Grossman character from Tropic Thunder but that won't make it any better.

I guess I'll post now... back in 30... or 40... or never. Just kitten.

Part II

9.36 pm - Amanda Seyfried wins an award for Best Scared as Sh*t Performance for Jennifer's Body. Over Sharlto Copley in District 9. He looks disappointed. That's cool, Shar, I AM TOO, MAN.

9.41 pm - Apparently the cast of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will be doing something soon brought to us by Orbit. I bet it will be awesome.

9.44 pm - Best Kiss goes to Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson for New Moon. The only thing I remember about that movie is R-Patz saying, "You give me everything by breathing." And I only remember that because it made me vomit.

9.48 pm - "California Girls" by Katy Perry is a summer smash? Summer hasn't even officially started yet. This song is making me lose my will to live. To be fair, there is a Katy Perry song that I actually like, but I'm not going to tell you which one it is. Too embarrassing.

9.58 pm - The lads from Human Giant try to save the day with their bit, Stunt Kidz.

9.59 pm - Betty White also tries to saves the day. For the next few minutes, anyway. She, Bradley Cooper and, inexplicably, Scarlett Johansson (standing in for her husband? Can't tell and neither can she it seems) are here to present the Generation Award to Sandra Bullock. If Betty White can't make you feel better about your husband cheating on you with a Nazi tattooed slut, who can?

10.09 pm - Oh, I get it. Scarlett Johansson is here to make out with Sandra Bullock.

10.10 pm - It's impossible not to love SB, isn't it? I wonder when how likable she is will backlash? God, I hope she never turns into Julia Roberts.

10.11 pm - The cast of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is using the F-word. A lot. Apparently there's a WTF Moment award and it goes to Ken Jeong for The Hangover. Gotta give it up for the Asian power although I can't say that scene had a lot of... ummm... power.

10.14 pm - Aziz Ansari is channeling R. Kelley which means...

It's time to publish again. See you at the end of the line.

Part III

10.17 pm - Someone please explain Eva Mendes' garment to me.

10.18 pm - The thing that is happening onstage right now is commonly referred to as a "hot mess," I believe. Is that Marky Mark up there? And Will Farrell? And The Rock? And Samuel L. Jackson? Yeah...

10.19 pm - Best Villain goes to Tom Felton for whatever the last Harry Potter movie was. he seems like a very nice boy and appears to be nothing like that dreadful Draco Malfoy.

10.25 pm - I bet the patter on this Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan and Shaun White is going to be bril. They present Biggest Badass Star to Rain. Holy cow. I am actually stunned. No one seems to know who the hell he is. Especially Paris Hilton. This is hilar.

10.31 pm - My friend PGG thought the New Moon trailer was another parody. Enough said.

10.37 pm - R-Patz wins Best Male Performance. Somewhere Taylor Lautner is weeping with his baggies of meat.

10.39 pm - "Christina Aguilera's trying to be Lady Gaga." - Tom

10.41 pm - X-tina has a light up heart on her crotch. File under things I wish I'd never seen.

10.42 pm - I now live in a world where I can say, "I liked Katy Perry better than Christina Aguilera." Unbelievable.

10.45 pm - Cutaways to Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton + Aguilera and J-Lo = relevance taking a backseat to hume city.

10.47 pm - I sent that line to PGG and she said, "Population: Us for watching." Too true and too good.

10.50 pm - It's possible that I need a swagger coach just like Zach Galifianakis. Or is that swagga coach? K-Stew and R-Patz apparently do not if their tepid applause is any indication.

10.51 pm - I suspect that Zac Efron is on his way to a divorce from reality a la Tom Cruise. Just a feeling. I hope Oprah's couch is ready.

10.51 pm - Best Comedic Performance goes to Zach Galifianakis for The Hangover. Ta'Avon, Zach's swagga coach, you know, accepts for him. Ta'Avon looks suspiciously like Aziz Ansari. Ta'Avon is funner than Aziz Ansari, though. Tonight, anyway.

10.54 pm - This is almost over. The gladness is starting to fill my soul.

10.58 pm - In the final "2005 called, it wants its awards show back" moment of the night, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz show up to give Best Movie to... New Moon. I totally wrote that sentence before they announced it... and not because I'm psychic. Peter Facinelli accepts for the cast and says F a lot. Except to Stephenie Meyer because she's Mormon.

11.00 pm - My ellipses and I are going to bed. Goodnight.