desperately seeking

I do not know about you, but I have a list of certain things I am always looking for online. Once in awhile I will find one of them, only to lose it in a bidding war or because I spotted it too late. It is so disappointing and now I can not imagine ever actually getting my hands on one of the things from my list. I suppose everyone has a list like this or maybe I believe that because then I can seem less obsessive.


In any case, I am sharing the three things I am constantly hunting for -so if you spot one out there -drop me a line! The first is the Secret Garden CD single from Bruce Springsteen circa 1995. I covet this particular disc because the "b-side" is the most incredible live version of Thunder Road I have ever heard and because I had this cassette and promptly wore it out on my long drives back and forth to college my junior and senior years.

The second item is the book Pippa Mouse: Six Read Aloud/ Read Along Stories, 1973 by Betty Boegehold. This was my very favorite book in second grade. I think I checked it out of the library half a dozen consecutive times before my mum gently persuaded me to give another book a try. Oh, how I loved this book though- multiple stories, perfectly penciled illustrations, and a sweet mouse protagonist.


I can't believe how difficult it is to track this down ( for less than 50 dollars and in truly "good" condition), but I probably scour the Internet twice a month with my fingers crossed anyhow!

The last item is an issue of the now defunct, but always awesome, Sassy magazine from January 1990. I always thought this would be a killer gift for Vivi - we were crazy about Sassy and this particular issue is her birthday month and from the time we were most dedicated to the teen periodical. How cool would it be to find it some 21 years later?


This may be the item I would like to get my hands on the most.

So there you have it- my quest for Bruce, Pippa, and Sassy continues.....I'll keep you posted :).



Image 1 courtesy of springsteenlyrics.com ; Image 2 courtesy of amazon; Image 3 courtesy of magazines2go
Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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Florence and the fashion

If anyone is kicking butt and taking names during the fashion parade that is awards season - my vote is for Florence Welch of Florence & the Machine. She takes risks with color and retro detailing, but is still able to look utterly modern and beautiful. Such great style (whether it is her's or belongs to a stylist with actual style!).

 


Oscar red carpet dress via Lucky Magazine
Oscar performance dress via Toronto Sun
Grammy dress via FabSugar



P.S. And if you need another reason to fall in love with Florence or her music - check out this video of  a little guy dancing his heart out in his car seat to "Dog Days Are Over." Total and pure joy.
Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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a cappella love

image via NewTimes


We've all got our secret television shames/pleasures, right? Well, my latest has been the a cappella show, Sing-Off. It's everything that "American Idol" is not - fun, incredibly earnest, and full of damn talented people who can actually sing (plus Nick Lachey is kinda amazing in his role as host who goes all out with his wall to wall punning). Anyway, the second season is now over (boo!), but watch on Hulu if you get a chance - it'll totally make your heart sing (was that a good one, Nick?)


P.S.
Since I am in confession mode and have already shared my love for the show in general...
This cover of Coldplay's "Fix You" brought tears to my eyes.
And this group's cover of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" is everything awesome.
And, yeah, I know, I am a dork.
Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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A very country Christmas

via pure country music

My mother, a seemingly very classic Northeasterner and city-dweller in both taste and style, has a major soft spot for country Christmas songs. I don't know how it fits into her love of Babs, opera, or weird European experimental music from the 60s, but there you have it.

Of course, whether genetically handed down or because my spirit was broken by its constant presence during my formative years, I too cannot get enough of Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers right now. As a kid growing up in New York, I loved all things related to the frontier life. I reread Laura Ingalls Wilder without pause, planned my Sunday afternoons around the two hour block of "Little House on the Prairie" and "Grizzly Adams," and, every December, made sure I did not miss "Christmas Comes to Willow Creek" (it stars Bo and Luke Duke, for pete's sake!) or Dolly Parton's "A Smokey Mountain Christmas."

And though I've always loved a country Christmas, now that I've married a Southern man - I've gone full tilt country. I'm openly listening to Dolly's "Hard Candy Christmas" on repeat (seriously, it's awesome and not only because it was sung in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas") and tracking Kenny's Christmas Tour even though, that Southerner of a husband of mine may now be at his country Christmas breaking point...
Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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"sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead”

So I got married last week and though I've still feeling the love and happiness of marrying such a sweet and wonderful man (blah, blah, blah) - there is still nothing that feels as good as a good song about heartbreak. For example, Adele's "Someone Like You..."



Oh, and thx to a dear friend of Lorelei's for posting this video to his facebook page from which I swiped it (by the way, LL's friend also has a pretty amazing blog - check it out if you can stand following a blog that is, like, 100 times cooler that this one: http://www.fiftyfivehundred.org/).Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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"First Day of My of Life"

I think this song by Bright Eyes should be played at every wedding, every baby's birth, every kitten adoption, every morning when you look in the mirror.... it's that great (and the video is pretty darn amazing too). Enjoy!

Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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This Too Shall Pass

Remember that OK Go video on treadmills? Well, this one is pretty cool, too:



My five year old son's comment after watching it: Is he going to pick up all the stuff that fell down?Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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The Year in Lists

Image courtesy of strawberryluna

It's the end of the year, and so the annual "best of" lists have been written and spread across the world of information. I love these lists, comparing them to my own, arguing with them, using them to fill in gaps in my cultural literacy. Actually, I just love lists. Their orderliness gives me hope for my own cluttered life.

So please enjoy this list of my favorite 2009 lists:

Best Under-The-Radar Books of 2009 (part of NPR's comprehensive list of the Best Books 0f 2009)

The New Yorker Blog's Best Ten Films of 2009

All Songs Considered Reader's Poll Results for the Best Music of 2009 (where you can also listen to all the picks in their entirety)

The Chicago Tribune's Best TV shows of 2009

The People's Choice Awards for the Best Podcasts of 2009 from PodCastAwards.com (And if you'd like some personal recommendations, I consider myself a podcast connoisseur.)

And of course, PC Magazine's Favorite Blogs of 2009 (where sadly you will not find Hiving Out listed. Of all the nerve.)

Enjoy browsing and feel free argue with these lists in the comments. We'd want to hear your picks!Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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River

Music critic Christian Bordal did an interview on NPR a few years ago about how there is no good Christmas music (in the end he concedes there are "a few good" songs) and that the holiday music is simply background noise for shopping. It was all very bah-humbug and he basically framed his argument by saying:


"Seasonal music has to say Christmas trees, and eggnog, and mistletoe. Ergo, it can't be too artistically challenging, or emotionally tough, or the least bit dissonant. I mean, in short, it can't be any of the things that actually make music worth really sitting down and listening to."


Although I can somewhat understand being irked by the monotony of some Christmas tunes, I certainly would not denounce the whole genre. There are songs I need to hear every Christmas season for it to truly feel like the holidays and many of them are probably the stuff that drives Mr. Bordal crazy (oh, how he would hate the Sleigh Ride Jingle Bells album by The Caroleer Singers that I adore). If I really wanted to refute his argument though, I know a song that could do it. I remember thinking immediately about "River", originally recorded by Joni Mitchell in 1971 and covered by dozens and dozens since. Technically the track is set during Christmastime and not about Christmas, but it is still a holiday tune and I think "emotionally tough", as well as lyrically beautiful and poignant.
So for Monday, some "River" for everybody- three different versions, but they are all captivating to me. 








All video courtesy of youtube.com
Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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a confession

via weheartit


Are you ready to be shocked? Brace yourselves, faithful readers.

Alright, here it is... I adore Taylor Swift.


Now, I know that this news totally blows your mind because you think of me as so incredibly edgy with my many posts on poetry and cats, but you are just going to have to believe it.

This confession is also major because I don't want it to reflect upon and embarrass the two dear friends that I share this blog with and who are both the epitome of hip (what with Mae's concern about archiving her children's school work for the long hall and Lorelei's near mania for children's libraries - there is a real chance that these ladies are going to cut me loose!).


via weheartit


Alas, I kid. Those two are as dorky as I am (thus my love for them), but loving Taylor Swift is still a goofy thing to admit to since I am not 15 (I'm more like two 15 year olds and a first grader).

Other celebrities her age annoy me to no end (cough, Miley) so I'm as surprised as anyone as to how much I enjoy Ms Taylor. Sure, she has cute style and is up for anything (check her out on SNL), but I think the heart of her appeal is that there is a real sincerity to her songs about young love.


Her songs are, yes, simple and sweet, but in that way they are also able to capture an earnestness and vulnerability that reminds me how it felt to be in high school when every emotion was so new, so heightened, so raw - even when you were happy.
via weheartit
Anyway, I sent the acoustic version of Taylor Swift's Fifteen to my friend Ruby who, because she is such a beautiful writer, knew exactly how to express how this teenager singer taps into a thirtysomething's nostalgia:

"It makes me remember the first time I ever held hands with a boy. It makes me remember the first time I ever got caught kissing a boy. Joe Silvio. Italian hunkahunka, football player, Catholic, older brother to a new born baby sister. It makes me remember the poem I wrote in high school about all those people there. I memorized a bit of it...In a place of jagged edges, may our circle of light shine through. In a place where there are no benches, tell me where to sit, to read, to believe what I say I believe. It reminds me of my dramatic nature, my mother's dramatic nature:-), a smug teenage self rolling my eyes. I'm with you, friend. That kinda shit does all sorts of things to you. It's really nice to be all ages at once, as Madeleine L'Engle says we are."
Doesn't Ruby just nail it? Taylor Swift's songs totally speak to the inner geeky teenage girl and it is nice, every now and again, to feed her needs too.


P.S. Oh, and I am so outing Lorelei... she loves herself some Taylor too. So does her 1 1/2 year old daughter who is obviously already laying the groundwork for her future teenage soul...
Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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Songbook

Image courtesy of postmodern.com


You know how you have that one mix tape, well now I guess it is a mix CD, where you just love every song and you have a compulsive need to explain why you have chosen each one and you want to share this incredible compilation with everybody because it is just so perfect? Well, author Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) does just that in Songbook and the result is pretty amazing.


I am not saying this because he picked all the tunes I would have (I was actually unfamiliar with about a third of them), but it is how he talks about song writing, music , and how a musician can tap into something within you. As you get lost in his pondering about these 31 song choices , you also wind up thinking about the music that has punctuated your life and why. Sometimes it is more than just the catchy tune that makes a song linger in your mind and nobody explains that better than Mr. Hornby. This "music as memoir" publication is difficult to find in hardcover with the 11-song CD inclusion, but if you are able to find it- it is definitely worth a read and listen.
Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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PS 22

You've probably seen this New York City chorus from Staten Island's PS 22 already (they've been everywhere from NPR to Perez Hilton), but I just thought that today would be a good day to share their beautiful singing and sweetly expressive faces.






Their website: tp://ps22chorus.blogspot.comSource URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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Sometimes you win...

...and sometimes a random song will be stuck in your head for hours.

Mae shared this video of The Shins performing on a children's show, "Yo Gabba Gabba!," forever ago. And yet, somehow, I've been humming this song all day. It's super cute, but also very catchy. You've been warned.

Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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MJ and the girls

I know I'm a little late to be posting about Michael Jackson. The truth is that, growing up, I wasn't the hugest fan (except for "We Are the World" and "Man in the Mirror" - I've always had time for weepy, mildly socialist ditties). While my siblings were going nuts over "Thriller," I was making a serious and passionate argument that the "Annie" soundtrack was way more rocking. That said, I cannot help but love and share this picture found on myvintagevogues. It's bizarre and funny and totally taps into my inner old lady. Hope it gives you a little joy this weekend too!


image via myvintagevogues

Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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"I don't want to say it's breaking my heart / And I don't know where to start..."

image via wanderlust

"Straight Lines" by Dawn Landes is such a pretty song sung by such a pretty girl. The song is so light and summery, but the lyrics are wistful and carry a nostalgia for childhood that makes the song just a little bit heartbreaking (and how can you not love a folky song that mentions a BMX bike?). I'll be singing this all summer...


video via youtube

"Straight Lines"

Remember when we were young
How you asked everyone to marry you
All of those songs we sung
Changing all the words you used to make the heroine die
Why?

Remember when we were right
God threw his darts at stars in the night
I had a kite
You had a trampoline and a BMX bike
You didn't even like

I don't want to say it's breaking my heart
And I don't know where to start
Old friends are falling apart
Time like the name of a man
Covered and we both can whine
I miss the straight, straight lines

The old times

Remember when we got caught
Dirty hands and make-believe drugs
We never got
Give me all your money
Bank robbers and cowboy cops
Make-believe rocks

Remember when we held hands
Red rover and marching band
You had a tan
Staying outside that long's gonna make you man
Never going back, never going back again

I don't want to say it's breaking my heart
And I don't know where to start
Old friends are falling apart
Time like the name of a man
Covered and we both can whine
I miss the straight, straight lines

The old times
The old times
Remember when we were young
Remember when we were young

(found the lyrics here)
Source URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/music
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