The Scent of Pineapple

It's finally November, which means once again it's National Novel Writing Month and for some silly reason, I'm taking the 50,000 word challenge on again. After the solicitation of ideas from several friends (since all I really had was something about a slow motion train wreck and black waves of depression), I'm running with a story about one woman's search for the Lost Tablet of Kramenya.

So who is this girl and why is the tablet worth 50,000 words of anguish?

Short answers: Tatyana Cavender, and I don't really know yet. But that's the beauty of NaNoWriMo, you just have to let the story come out and see where it takes you.

Nature Hikin'

Some time back, my sister's fiance Rob enlisted my aid in writing a song. He had written lyrics about one of his favorite activities and wanted to put them to music (that's where I came in). So one evening several months ago, I loaded up Anna (my acoustic guitar) and headed over to his place and came up with some chords and tweaked some lyrics to fit. "Nature Hikin'" was born.

And then I sat on it.

I eventually produced an instrumental demo, but he thought it was a little too fast and it didn't have any vocals on it, mainly because I'm not the world's greatest singer and I have thinnish walls with my neighbors, whom I don't hate.

But he was back in town this week from working in North Dakota and I realized that, being temporarily out of a job, I had the time to do a slightly slower demo, and I did. I even had the gumption to put vocals on it; it was the first time I've recorded myself singing since my old band Half-Penny made a demo more than six years ago. And in celebration of this truly illustrious event, I'm putting the song up here for all to enjoy. It's on the right, under the new list "New Danger Dog Demos."

So enjoy.

Breaking News

Using the International Standardized Shakira Scale, today's revelations rate a David Hasselhoff on the Berlin Wall.

Something Almost Intelligent About Gender and Sexuality, Or, Thanks a Million Andrew Sullivan

Let me start this by saying that I love me some Shakira. I got turned onto her probably in high school Spanish (before her first English album). I generally prefer her material when she isn't trying to be Top 40 or get her videos on MTV (I understand that's the nature of the beast, but I have a kind of snobby streak when it comes to music), but her music is kind of like pizza - even if it's not the best thing in the world, it's still pretty good and I'll probably take the opportunity to have another slice. Which is to say that I will get a copy of her upcoming album She Wolf when it comes out next month.

The eponymous lead single falls squarely into chart hopeful territory, which I don't mean in any derogatory sense - in my book, Shakira + disco strings = WIN. And if you like the ladies, the video is pretty awesome (I can't embed it, so you'll have to click the link). Does such a display cheapen the artist and enforce stereotypes that female artists have to be sexy and revealing?

So I was just over at The Daily Dish where Andrew Sullivan had posted a fan made remake of the video called "He Wolf." Behold! (But seriously, you should watch the original first.)



Now click on the video and go to it on YouTube. Notice something that wasn't there on the original video's page? Hint: it's the tag that says "This video may not be suitable for minors." Is it a double standard for gender roles? Does the fact that it's a man writhing within a cage in next to nothing automatically create a homoerotic subtext?

So thanks a million, Andrew Sullivan. Not only did you almost ruin the song for me, but you made my head hurt.

Fighting and Biting and Riding On His Horse

Today was my first 5k, and I survived with a time of 29:23. The route required us to go up a big damn hill (and I kicked some ass going up), but then we got to go back down (at which point I kind of hit a wall, so I wound up doing a little bit of walking). The tunes in my Jim Carroll Memorial 5k playlist could have been somewhat better arranged (mainly, "Loosen Your Tie" by the Remus Lupins (yes, they're a wizard rock band, but whatever - you should seriously listen to it, seriously) should have been put later in the playlist, when I'd be more in need of a super awesome boost), and it got hot a lot faster then weather.com predicted so I did a little roasting in long sleeves, but I made it through(and passed a guy that used to run marathons at the end, woo!); I also beat my sister by about a minute.

I was something of a sad panda because my Cheeto eating support team/fan club didn't show (a bad combination of not setting alarms and getting caught up in cleaning), but there's always next time - and there WILL be a next time.

Also, I'm not very good at treachery and deceit judging by the game of Diplomacy we played last night - please try to contain your surprise. High five to Jon, who wound up winning the game Mark Travis-style by more or less sneaking in on the rest of us while we were busy fighting amongst ourselves. I can think of a couple of people that would probably be hella good at the game, too bad (or maybe thank goodness) they're 300 miles away.

Wicked Gravity

I read the news today, oh boy: poet and punk rocker Jim Carroll passed away in his home in New York on Friday. I can't offer much in the way of eulogy; really I'm just a random person that got turned on to his music. Even so, I'm a little bummed- this kind of sad news always seems worse on top of a lousy situation.

Thanks for the music, Jim. Here's hoping you found that world without gravity, and that it was indeed just what you needed.

I Feel Love (Aaaah), I Must Be In Love

One of my favorite shows on the teevee is Mad Men. I started watching it when it started, am pretty jazzed that it's back for a third season. If you aren't watching it, get on it - you'll thank me.

A recent episode had a scene where Joan (played by the lovely Christina Hendricks who most of you would remember as YoSaffBridge on Firefly) played the song "C'est Magnifique" on the accordion. Redhead bombshell that plays the accordion and sings in French? I think I've found my ideal woman.



Yes, please.