Apropos of Nothing

I just love this song- it's so beautiful and it really gets me every time, so since it's Friday, I thought I'd post. Enjoy.

Stars

While looking for some inspiring videos to Tweet for work, I came across this dance performance on Dancing with the Stars. I don't watch this show much, but am happy to be inspired by this 17 year old girl who is legally blind but can dance so beautifully. It reminds me to be in awe of the human ability to overcome.

And incidentally, seeing the video reminded me of my recent discovery of this Grace Potter song.

I lit a fire with the love you left behind, 
And it burned wild and crept up the mountainside.
I followed your ashes into outer space
I can't look out the window, 
I can't look at this place, 

I can't look at the stars, 
They make me wonder where you are
Stars, 
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all, 
I know you've gone too far
So I, I can't look at the stars

All those times we looked up at the sky, 
Looking out so far, 
We felt like we could fly.
And now I'm all alone in the dark of night, 
The moon is shining, 
But I can't see the light, 
And I can't look at the 

Stars, 
They make me wonder where you are
Stars, 
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all, 
I know you've gone too far
So I, I can't look at the stars

Stars, 
Stars, 
They make me wonder where you are
Stars, 
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all, 
I know you've gone too far
So I can't look at the stars.

That Little Heartstring

My latest musical obsession has been Badly Drawn Boy. We watched Being Flynn the other day, mostly by accident when it was on TV. About 5 minutes into watching it, I had a feeling that the movie would be tugging on one of my heartstrings, and it did. The kind of tugging that feels painful but cathartic, like you might need to have a cleansing cry about it. It's a somewhat heart-wrenching but wryly written film about parent child relationships and coming of age. You should watch it. Anyway, Badly Drawn Boy wrote the entire soundtrack, and this is the song I particularly loved. There's something about a song that can reach deep down inside of you and make you feel some stiff and seemingly unreachable piece of your heart.

I'll Keep the Things you Throw Away, Being Flynn, Badly Drawn Boy

How would it feel to never exist 

And how did it come to this 

Save your thoughts for another day 

I'll keep the things you throw away 

If you love something, if you love something 

Don't hide it away, don't hide it away 

I'll keep the things you throw away 

And you know you will never be me 

Save it all as a memory 

It's in the things we do and say 

I'll keep the things you throw away 

If you love something, if you love something 

Don't hide it away, don't hide it away 

I'll keep the things you throw away 

It would-a-been something, maybe nothing 

Maybe something, I don't know 

How there you lovers 

Welcome to this world 

Do not forsake your brothers 

Promise you my girl 

This is something you'll learn 

See those words, watch them fade away 

Now I have nothing to a-say 

Come on wait for another day 

I'll keep the things you throw away 

If you love something, if you love something 

Don't hide it away, don't hide it away 

I'll keep the things you throw away 

I though we were better than this 

Thought we'de be stronger than this 

I though we were better than this 

Thought we'de be stronger than this 

I though we were better than this 

I hoped we'de be stronger than this 

..... 

I though we were better than this

Summer Love- Cincinnati

The few brief rains this weekend has brought a steamy sort of relief to the hot Midwest summer. It's cooler than our week of 100+ heat, but the rain has just evaporated into the trademark Ohio humidity. Sticky.

Despite the heat, the summer has deepened my love for Cincinnati. So many amazing things going on in the city: reopening of Washington Park, Bunbury Music Festival, the World Choir Games, and on and on. Beyond the bigger events, you have baseball, the river for boating, and the many neighborhood monthly activities like the Hyde Park Farmer's Market, Oakley After Hours, Second Sundays on Main, Final Fridays in OTR, and City Flea. Hey, Cincinnatians, did you know that your urban core is this vibrant and beautiful? I hope so. Before I became a Cincinnatian, I took those who called this city the "Nasty Nati" at their word, but the city as I know it now is nothing of the sort. From the beautiful hills, gorgeous historic architecture, and distinct history and culture, this is a unique city. Yes, there is a certain uber-conservative, anti-progressive contingency here that turns me off and scares me, but honestly, it seems these days that you'd be hard pressed to find a city that does not have that element when the country has become this polarized. (Not to say there isn't a difference in concentration.) This is all to say, I love this city and I love showing it off to people and changing their minds about it. It's not Denver or San Francisco or NYC, but it's home and it's special.

Okay, off my soapbox. To make up for my crimes of listening to terrible pop, here are my more recent real musical finds:

1. Bad Veins: A band of Cincinnati natives, Bad Veins has really captured my interest with their two-man show and the fact that they play off a tape deck. And the lead singer sings into a phone sometimes. Lead Benjamin Davis has a nicely unique voice and the latest album, "The Mess We've Made" is a great mixture of drama and upbeat melodies. Look, I'm not a music writer, so just try it out if you like indie rock. They were super endearing at the Bunbury Festival, too.
2. Regina Spektor: I love her. Her new album, "What We Saw from the Cheap Seats," doesn't disappoint. Always quirky but never failing to deliver in her powerful, tremendous voice and classical piano prowess. 
3. Belle Histoire: Another Cincinnati band that is creeping into the scene! They just released their latest album, "Dreamers," on July 17.  I'm not sure if this will become a favorite, but the vocals are good and it's easy to listen to.
4. The Deep Dark Woods: I am a sucker for deep male vocals. The lead singer of this band has a voice reminiscent of one of my favorites, the National. The instrumentals and beat tend to have a bit of a country twang, but much more folky and a little haunting.
5. Of Monsters and Men: Reminiscent of Stars, I first saw this Icelandic band playing "Little Talks" randomly on a music video channel. There is a lead male/female duo: male vocalist think cross between the Weakerthan's, Decemberists and Ben Gibbard. Female vocalist: Feist/Regina Spektor/Bjork. 

instagram taken on stage by bad veins (I'm way up in the back)

I Might Never Not Be Sore Again

June marked my 30th birthday. I don't feel particularly different; really 29 almost seemed less interesting. I will say that one marked difference between being say, 26, and 30 is it seems like no matter how much I work out, I will feel sore. That, and it takes longer to get back into shape when it's so easy to fall out of it.

It's my second summer back in Cincinnati, which means it's the time of nearly suffocating, heavy, hot air. You can't be outside for a few minutes without breaking a sweat. Disgusting, but I suppose I chose to move back here. The husband and I have love-hated having a yard for the first time. During the spring we played the weed or plant game (definitely weeded non-weeds and left real weeds a few times) with the landscaping that was left by our predecessor. We are learning all sorts of things: pruning rosebushes, that hostas need to be separated when spanning 4 feet in diameter, vines are annoying parasites... We also have our first vegetable garden, which is slowly growing in this oppressive Midwest heat. I'll have to post a picture soon. We're also getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. These little jerks in our back yard are savages, truly. I once ran out fully clothed in the heat with a hoodie and pants on to water the garden and got bit square on my neck. Bastards!

Aaand because I love me some lists, here are a few...

Summer highlights 2012 in the 'Nati:

1. Loveland Bike Trail- This is a great trail that is fairly flat, protected, and mostly shaded. It's great to stop in Loveland for lunch and browse around, or do Newtown to Milford, etc. 
2. Lunken Bike Trail- A (much) less shaded and shorter option, you might catch a glimpse of some old-school planes around the airport.
3. Bunbury Festival- I'm really excited about this. Great line-up and I love the park.
4. Washington Park- Opens today! And Over the Rhine, one of my all time favorites, is performing for the grand opening on July 22, and I am crying inside because we are out of town that week and can't see it.
5. Smale Riverfront Park- Just another beautiful new piece to the downtown scene. See the pretty lights and water?

Guilty pleasures.. for my workouts... right... 

1. Boyfriend, Justin Bieber. Every time I acknowledge that I find this song catchy, I die a little bit inside. So wrong. But so catchy.
2. Payphone, Maroon 5. The music video is stupid. It makes no sense. Why did he save the girl and run out and then become the fugitive? What about the real robbers? Were they actually in a relationship before? IT MAKES NO SENSE. But I love belting out this song in the privacy of my own car. I love that it's jaded.
3. Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepson. This is a vapidly silly song. I blame Jimmy Fallon for getting it in my head by creating this video with her and his band. They are having so much fun cheesing it up. $#%^#&.
4. Pause, Pitbull. Tell me this doesn't make you want to stop drop and pause.
5. Wild Ones, Flo-Rida feat Sia. I love Sia. Also, I kept listening to this because it sounded to me like she was singing "Running with Wilson, I'm on the prowl." Which made no sense. Wilson? Like the volleyball in Castaway? No, it's wolves. Which actually makes sense. I just love fist pumping after the opening riff and the beat comes in. 

Infamous Love Songs: A Once in a Lifetime Artistic Experience?

"It’s like a miracle happening in front of your eyes – the music is suddenly alive and three-dimensional." -Linford Detweiler on Infamous Love Songs

It seems unsurprising for a fan of Over the Rhine to say that an artistic collaboration between the band and the Cincinnati ballet would be incredible. Those familiar with the work of Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler know how the couple can create achingly beautiful songs and how they draw even a large audience in to feel like their live performances are uniquely intimate. Adding another dimension to their songs through dance could hardly be a bad idea.

Even knowing all this, the experience of seeing OTR's music paired with ballet was, for the lack of a better word, truly magical. From the moment the curtains part and the band starts playing, it almost seems as though the music has become a living, breathing organism through the dancers. Bergquist's beguiling voice draws you into a world where all music is expressed through the miraculous human movement.

The costuming was simple and modern: while for each of the three sets there was a different overall theme, each dancer had a variant of the same costume. Each costume had a small detail that was unique to the dancer, from neckline to added accessory.

Three wonderful choreographers were able to bring this extra dimension to the music and successfully translated it into a combination between ballet's rigid traditionalism and modern dance's intention imprecision. It's easy to imagine how much the dancers may have enjoyed this departure from the structure of traditional ballet. Their movement was particularly powerful when the whole dance corps was on stage, such as the group that assembled for "Only God Can Save Us Now." Individual dancers would emerge and then be drawn back into the fold.

The only shame is that this enchantingly powerful and moving collaboration was only shared with the public for two days. But perhaps the fleeting nature of the creation makes it all the more unique.

Raise Your Glass

 I have beef with Pink's party anthem Raise Your Glass. Sure, it's sort of irresistibly catchy. That actually might add to the resentment. Here's my issue: the lyrics are stupid, but even worse, it's essentially just a conglomeration of stupid, slangy, cliche little sayings. "What's the dealie-yo?" It's just so dumb. I'm not even sure if anything makes sense, other than, "raise your glass."

And incidentally, I thought Pink was Sober?

Right right, turn off the lights,
We're gonna lose our minds tonight,
What's the deal, yo?

I love when it's all too much,
5am turn the radio up
Where's the rock and roll?

Party Crasher,
Penny Snatcher,
Call me up if you want gangsta
Don't be fancy, just get dancey
Why so serious?

Slam slam, oh hot damn
What part of party don't you understand,
Wish you'd just freak out (freak out already)
Can't stop, coming in hot,
I should be locked up right on the spot
It's so on right now (so fuckin on right now)

Party Crasher,
Penny Snatcher,
Call me up if you want gangsta
Don't be fancy, just get dancey
Why so serious?
(oh shit my glass is empty, that sucks)

So if you're too school for cool,
And you're treated like a fool,
You can choose to let it go
We can always, we can always,
Party on our own

So raise your glass if you are wrong,
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs,
We will never be never be anything but loud
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks
Won't you come on and come on and raise your glass,
Just come on and come on and raise your glass

Ahh, fashion.

As we watched the American Music Awards, the husband wondered out loud whether or not a female singer would ever wear normal clothes again.  It's a good question:

 

Lady Gaga, I blame you for making everyone think that bathing suits are appropriate performance attire.  Katy Perry, that spandex pantsuit is scary.  On a tangentially related note, why does anyone think that wearing leggings or tights that are essentially pantyhose are an acceptable substitute for pants?  You still look like you are wearing pantyhose, it's rarely flattering, and there is major danger of looking like you have a FUPA!

Tila Tequlia attacked by Juggalos

Tila Tequila attacked by Juggalos

Putting Tila Tequila and Juggalos together in a sentence feels strange to the tongue.  If you are not familiar with either, here's the breakdown:

• Tila Tequila: Small Asian bi-sexual woman who strangely became a internet music sensation, then became known for A Shot at Love reality love show (perhaps set the media world down the path of slutty, drama-filled, trashy reality love tv).  
• Juggalos: self-proclaimed followers of the Insane Clown Posse, a terrible band.  Typically moody teenagers and young adults.  Apparently sometimes they do crazy violent things. But really, they are mostly a bunch of moody teenagers and young adults, and they try to be scary.

I'm not really sure that this is "news," but it does raise a few questions.  Why on earth was Tila performing at a Juggalo gathering?  Why is Tila still performing at all?  While she's undeniably attractive in that Japanese race car model sort of way, and somewhat endearing, she's not really Juggalo fodder.  As my friend pointed out, it's probably not the Juggalos fault, she's just a terrible musician.