"What's On Ur Playlist" Circa 1989

Today the Walkman turned 30 years old. Kids these days take for granted that if it wasn't for this cutting edge technology they could still be carrying "ghetto blasters" around on their shoulders.

Since Melissa wrote her "What's On Ur Playlist" post a little while ago I (Deanna) thought it might be fun to peek into her playlist from the past. (Well "our playlist" since I was four years younger and dependent on my junior high sister to lead me into the ways of pop culture.)

The last time I was at our parents' house, Dad was handing me things he'd found here and there that he figured must be ours. I opened up a shoebox and their was our playlist.

There were some infamous tapes in there that could possibly go down in pop history.

It is easy to see that when Melissa wrote about her eclectic taste, that's something that hasn't changed much.

Lucky for us we had the grandfather of the modern day playlist available: the mixed tape. Special note that one of those mixed tapes is "Dirty Dancing". We listened to that so much I could probably still sing along with every word... even the latin songs.

Like I said, I pretty much depended on my older sister to share her music, but after awhile I started developing my own tastes. Oh, I liked these ones.

I'm pretty sure the first tape I ever bought was The Beach Boys' "Kokomo" (go ahead, you know you wanna sing it... Aruba, Jamaica, Ooooh I wanna take ya...), but here were a couple of staples in my music library a little later on.

Wow, I listened to my IPod while writing most of this post. Things do change, don't they? But I don't care what kids today say, we and our cassette tapes were hip.

What's on ur playlist?

I've had the worst ever luck with mp3 players, y'all! I had 2 of them that never worked right. So, for the past 10 years, I've been hauling around my CD player...on walks, to the gym, on airplanes or wherever music listening is required. While my CD player has always been reliable, it has also been bulky to carry. Not to mention, you have to carry extra CDs with you or listen to the same one over & over. Well, for my birthday-slash-anniversary gift this year I got another one! Thank you, babe. And guess what?!! It works!!!

So now I'm gonna share a part of my monsterous playlist (I went a little nuts this weekend) & in return I beg of you to share yours with me...or at least your favorite artists. I'm always looking for new music because I get bored easily.

I have to start with my all-time favorite singer, Natalie Merchant (formerly of 10,000 Maniacs). I love, love, love her voice & all the instruments used in her music.

More songs I'm loving right now:

Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's

Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae

Three Little Birds by Bob Marley & the Wailers

Truckin' by Grateful Dead

Another One Bites the Dust by Queen

We Got the Beat by The Go-Go's

Celebrate by Wyclef Jean

32 Flavors by Alana Davis

Groove is in the Heart by Deee-Lite

Island in the Sun by Weezer

Beverly Hills by Weezer

Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot

Shut up & Drive by Rihanna

Tainted Love by Soft Cell

Lose Your Way by Sophie B Hawkins

Feels Like Home by Chantal Kreviazuk

Stay by Lisa Loeb

Eternal Flame by The Bangles

That's Not My Name by The Ting Tings

Barbie Girl by Aqua

Love Shack by The B52's

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynrd Skynrd

(...and comedy by Mitch Hedberg & Dane Cook)

Now...do tell...what's on your playlist???

M

A Second Helping of Deanna's Discoveries

Please indulge me one more round of discoveries. This is the last day of February and I will soon be off posting about the madness that is March, so let me sneak in these discoveries now...

Swaptree
The point of this website is to swap things like books, videos and games. Let's say you have a copy of The Godfather but are willing to give it up if you could finally get your hands on High School Musical. Just sign in (probably under an alias in a case like this) and see what's out there. My friend has used it a few times and has had a good experience so far.


Debit Card Hackers
The furrowed brow foreshadowed my plight as she stared at the credit card scanner.
"Huh. Let me try it again."
I figured it was just some glitch because I'd had that happen before, but then the discovery.
"It says I can't give your card back to you."
What??? The gas station clerk said the machine reported the card as stolen and she'd have to send it back to the company. I felt slightly like a criminal as I walked past the customers waiting impatiently to pay for their Corn Nuts. When I called the bank the next day the guy nonchalantly told me that some hackers had gotten into a payment processing system so there were cards being returned all over the place.
"Would you like me to see if you're on the list?"
Um... yea! I was on the list and he told me a new debit card would be coming to me this week. I am thankful the problem is resolved, but I find it odd that if somebody hacks into my account the gas station will know before me. I received my debit card today and never did get a letter, call or email from the bank explaining to me what happened.

Librivox
The goal is to get all the books in the public domain into an audio format that is available free to everybody. Volunteers read the chapters and then they are all organized into a catalogue. The downside is that some of the volunteers' reading is just... well... annoying. However, each volunteer only reads a couple chapters and most of the readers do a fine job.

Logan Magazine
I came across this magazine as I was browsing different magazines published in Spokane. Here's a good little description from her website: "At 16 years old, Logan sustained a brain injury. Her desire for positive influences for young women with disabilities motivated her to create Logan Magazine with her mom, Laurie." If you know any young girls who have some serious obstacles to overcome, check it out.

Deanna's Discoveries

I love to share discoveries I've made, so what a great chance to share with everybody at once!

Daylight Saving Time: I love the when it ends. All of the sudden you feel like you have more time in the evening because it stays light so long. Imagine my excitement when I discovered it's less than two weeks away! That's right! Make a note somewhere so you don't forget it on March 8.

Coconut Flour: My friend has been baking with coconut flour like crazy lately, so I decided to try it out. The bonus is that it is low in carbs and high in fiber. I haven't gotten around to the baking, but I have added it to my protein shakes/smoothies. My friend was telling me it absorbs a lot of moisture and so I hoped it would thicken my shakes up a bit. It does and you also get a yummy hint of coconut flavor.

Parking Mystery: You may have remembered this car from a December blogpost about the massive amounts of snow we received.

Well, this morning I looked out and the car had vanished and this is all that remained:

It appears that the car has evaporated faster than the snow. Really, there are no tracks where it drove out or anything. How did it get out? A crane? Pranksters? Aliens? ...weird.

Chicken Curry Salad: I found this recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ with great reviews. I made it for lunches this week and, I too, give it 5 stars.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cooked and diced
1 stalk celery, diced
4 green onions, chopped
1 Golden Delicious apple - peeled, cored and diced
1/3 cup craisons
1/3 cup seedless green grapes, halved
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
3/4 cup light mayonnaise

"Manic Monday" and "I Love a Rainy Night": I've discovered that these are two songs I turn to to pick up my mood. I find this ironic since Mondays and Rain are two things that usually cause my mood to need a pick-up.

Happy Heart File: 12 Days of Christmas

Time to share a holiday selection from my Happy Heart File. I'm sure most of you have seen this video, but I LOVE IT! They sang this back in the nineties, but thanks to the wonders of YouTube it spread like wildfire last year and they could not meet the demands for dvd sales. Since then they have created an updated dvd. If you haven't seen this, it is hilarious and filled with amazing talent!



\Deanna/

A Week in Review

It's been a fairly average week. Things passed quickly and I was just thrilled to sleep in this morning, grab a cup of coffee and snuggle up with my book. Pretty typical... although, the more I thought about it, maybe just typical for me. I suppose a "typical week" is more like a thumbprint in that there are no two exactly alike.

My Week in Review:

High: Getting back together with my little sister (BBBS) after months of lost communication.

Low: About 28 degrees.

Made Me Smile: Presenting David with the first of my "Geek Chic" line, a framed set of Dr. Who quotes, for his new apartment.

Major Questions: Why do Disney movie characters never have mothers and, if they do, they are either evil or get shot by a hunter? What the heck am I going to do for Thanksgiving since it is NEXT WEEK?

Shocking Moment: Definitely when I went down the slide at McDonald's with Raylinn. Every screw my butt hit on the way down sent static electricity shooting through my body as I slid closer to that eerie mural of Ronald McDonald. Really? We have robots doing surgery, but we can't find a way to construct a slide that will not electrocute the children of this country? Although... in some strange masochistic way... is that part of the fun? Maybe this should be under "Major Questions of the Week".

Reminder That I am Quirky: When, after an enthusiastic elocutionary outpouring about my favorite modern convenience, I got a smile and the comment, "Wow, I've never known anyone as passionate about indoor plumbing as you."

Favorite Idea: Adding cinnamon and nutmeg to my vanilla protein shake to make it taste like an eggnog shake. Yum yum, I love eggnog.

Favorite Discovery: Playlist.com (thanks to Katy's blog!). Finally a playlist that has the perfect combination of country, gospel, Disney soundtrack, 80's rock, top 40, praise, and 60's folk rock!

Peaceful Moment: My lunchtime walk in the state park when the sun was shining and the scene was just filled with all the exciting things you notice when you are a kid.

I hope you had a "typical week" too!

:) Deanna

Octopi and Marty McFly

Well, here I am referring to NPR again. I just have to share a couple new stories I have learned this week. The first may be semantically alarming, much like the Pluto crisis of '07. I have heard from a reliable source that the word "octopi" is really not the plural of octopus. In an interview, the scientist who works with the octopuses, who I am not going to cite as I don't remember her name nor care to take the time looking it up, did confirm that "octopuses" is the correct term for more than one octopus. Another interesting factoid is that, with the learning capacity near the average dog, the octopus is one of the most intelligent, if not the most intelligent, invertebrates. I'm pretty sure "invertebrates" is the correct plural on that one...

Now, on to footwear. It appears that there is quite a movement to have the Air McFly created for the masses. For those of you who didn't grow up quoting "Hello McFly!" and "Great Scott!", these are the shoes Michael J. Fox's character wears when he is transported to 2015, in the movie Back to the Future III. There is controversy that a version that has been released doesn't look close enough to Marty's. However, my biggest question is if they will have that little button on them that sucks them in and fits them perfectly to your feet. His jacket not only did that, but had a ventilation system that dried it instantly. Get me those and a hoverboard and I'll be ready to take on the year 2015!


Speaking of shoes, I must share with you all my favorite new music video. For the last few months I have been in love with Brad Paisley's song, Waitin' on a Woman. Imagine my excitement when he just released it as his new single. Now imagine even more excitement when I found out Andy Griffith temporarily came out of retirement to be in the music video! Brad Paisley has done it again. Chalk up one more "best music video" to him.

D

Randomness and Legos

A Blog Post in Which General
Thoughts that Come to Deanna
That Are Not Sufficient

for a Full Post Get Wrapped Up Into

One Big Bundle of Joy

I watched the movie, Be Kind, Rewind tonight. It is stinkin' hilarious. Not only that, but in its own quirky way it is very endearing. Some big names in it are Jack Black, Mia Farrow and Danny Glover. The basic plot is two friends recreating all the movies in a video store to replace the ones Black's character destroyed. To the left they are doing a 20 minute rendition of Ghost Busters. Other movies they have to make are Robocop, Driving Miss Daisy, and even the animated classic, The Lion King.

Recently I've been thinking about some famous song lyrics that just make me want to raise one eyebrow. There is a Tim and Faith song that says, "I need you like a needle needs a vein". Not exactly the most heartwarming, maybe heart draining, metaphor for love. I also think the imagery Fergie uses is odd when she says, "and I'm gonna miss you like a child misses its blanket". Tonight, however, Bobby Bare took the gold as I turned on the radio and heard, "Dropkick me, Jesus, through the goalposts of life".

I also wanted to inform all my astute readers that the championship has been won! The World's Ugliest Dog Contest has crowned Gus their King. Gus is a one-eyed, three-legged Chinese Crested who also has skin cancer. He has overcome a lot of odds... well, maybe for him they aren't so bad; "Big buckets of drool get extra points," radio station KZST emcee Brent Farris said in the story. "So do missing limbs."

Oh, how I would love to continue telling you all about the things I store in my brain's "random drawer" (it's kind of like that kitchen drawer that you throw things in because you just don't know where else to put them). However, I'm totally tired so I'm signing out.

D