Awwww … so there’s a guy whose girlfriend just moved across the country. He misses her. What does he do? He secretly wrote her a song and, with his roommates, made a video to go along with it. He hopes that through people passing it along organically — virally — it will eventually reach her. He’s not going to show it to her himself.
I’m doing my part.
(via Gizmodo)
I have loved cheese for as long as I have been self-aware. Now I find that there may actually be a physiological reason for that: I’m addicted.
Cheese contains small amounts of morphine, according to Gizmodo, citing a study from the 1980s. Apparently, it’s been referred to as “dairy crack.”
I heartily endorse this discovery. People have been afraid of morphine for too long, and it’s my hope that cheese can help demystify this drug. Moderation in all things, right? Including moderation?
Now, to investigate which cheeses have the MOST morphine — a purely scientific query, I assure you.
(photo pinched from the Gizmodo post, because I couldn’t find any better. It actually makes me salivate. From the Flickr feed of cwbuecheler)
This morning, on the way to work, I happened to hear a great song on the radio. I thought I had heard it before, but I couldn’t place it. I got to the office and Googled the lyrics.
I listened to it a couple more times.
And then, it got stuck in my head.
I like the song, but it’s been on repeat over and over and over again for nearly 18 hours now. For a while, a clip of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” in a TV show booted it out, but that only lasted about 10 minutes.
So I’m posting it here, in the hopes that sharing it with blog readers will allow the song to leave my head and to infect you. I realize that this is mirroring part of the plot of The Ring. So be it.
Enjoy — Duffy’s “Warwick Avenue.” It’s a sad, sad song, with a sad, sad video, but Duffy has killer pipes. It’s a couple of years old, and I’m sure I’ve heard it before, but Amy said it was new to her.
Last year, in honour of Valentine’s Day, I posted a mix CD of lovely love music that I’d selected for Amy. Unknown to me, she’d also compiled and posted a list of love songs.
Well, why not make it a tradition?
This year, while I didn’t go whole hog and compile a full CD, I did find a number of brand-new-to-me songs that put me in the mood for Valentine’s Day. Hope you like them as much as I do.
1. Little Red - It’s Alright
Calling themselves “doo-wop punk,” this five-piece out of Australia has amazing harmonies. And well they should — they’ve got three lead singers. I really loved the retro, lo-fi sound, but the lyrics were so sweet and sincere, too.
2. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home
The boy/girl, call-and-response form to this song makes it perfect for inclusion on a Valentine’s Day mix, as does the sheer, unabashed joy of its in-love lyrics. The horns are great, too. Now I just have to forget that it was ever on Gossip Girl.
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home
3. Girls - Lust For Life
At first, I hoped/feared that this was an Iggy Pop cover, but it’s another boy/girl duo doing a call-and-response thing. It’s not quite as gleeful and innocent as the last two songs — more dreaming and longing — but its clear that whatever happens or has happened, these two want to be together. And they’re willing to try damn hard to make it work.
4. Breakbot - Baby I’m yours feat. Irfane
What would you call this, funk-tronica? I don’t care — I’m hooked. Sure, I think the lyrics are about a girl who has left, and he’ll do anything to win her back, which is a tad on the unrequited side for Valentine’s Day, but this has serious danceability, and that makes up for a lot. Plus, baby, your wish is my command? Hot.
Breakbot - Baby I’m yours feat. Irfane
5. Emm Gryner - Pour Some Sugar On Me
Ah hell, I’m a sucker for the slowed-down cover at the best of times. Def Leppard? Done by a girl at a piano? Sign me up. You know, once you get past the hair and the tights, those ’80s bands had some pretty sensual songs. If Breakbot was hot, this is sticky sweet.
Emm Gryner - Pour Some Sugar On Me
(The painting at the top of this post is “Psyche et L’Amour” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau.)
If Greedo and Han can make up and share ice cream this Valentine’s Day, can’t you call up your ex-best friend, or your estranged brother or something and make nice?
Tons of other great Star Wars Jr. themed Valentines by artist James Stowe featuring all your favourite good guys and baddied, holding hands and smiling.
(via Gizmodo)
Who hasn’t ever read an Archie comic? Despite being some of the most innocuous entertainment in creation, Archie comics (for whatever reason) hold an enduring place in popular culture. I mean, the character of Archie Andrews is almost 70 years old — having been introduced in 1941 in Pep Comics #22.
A great many of Archie’s (mis)adventures revolve around the love triangle with Betty and Veronica. Which of these two beauties he should eventually end up with is a topic Archie fans constantly debate (I vote for Betty). After 65 years of indecision, it appears as though the question of who Archie eventually ends up with will soon be answered.
In August, Archie #600, entitled “The Proposal” hits newsstands. My money is on Betty. Feel free to place your bets here.
(Slightly more info can be found at the Archie Blog.)
Look, I’m in favour of gay marriage. I think in 50 years, banning gay marriage will be looked back on as just like when we used to ban interracial marriage. It’s just weird that consenting adults can’t do what they want. And it’s definitely wrong that the state is stepping in to enforce religious rites.
But I’m no starry-eyed innocent. I know that not all marriages are perfect, and I don’t think that gay marriage will be any different. Whatever your sexuality, some relationships work out better than others.
That said, I didn’t see this story coming:
A woman who allegedly intended to artificially inseminate her wife with her brother’s semen has been charged with domestic assault and battery:
According to a report by Pittsfield Police Officer Kipp D. Steinman: “Jennifer said that Stephanie had a ‘turkey baster and her brother’s semen in a sealed container.’ Jennifer said she told Stephanie that she didn’t want to get pregnant.” The device was actually a large syringe with a catheter tip, police said, and it was still in its original package when officers confiscated the item.
Stephanie, who apparently will escape being charged with rape, was described as “all liquored up.” People are weird.
(via Obscure Store)
Amy may say that she doesn’t really like Valentine’s Day, but I’m going to make it my business to change her mind. How am I going to do that? With a mix CD, of course! Didn’t you see her post? Music is the way to a woman’s heart, people!
I went back and forth on this Valentine’s Day CD for a while. I wasn’t sure if I wanted a CD of classics, or of new-and-undiscovered stuff, or a mix of the two styles.
I settled for some old favourites that weren’t “standards” as well as a couple of new-ish covers of old tunes, and some new just-discovered ones. Plenty of songs briefly made an appearance on this disc, only to be cut when they didn’t quite fit — some good ones, too!
Some of the picks were found by trolling through other peoples’ love CD mixes, some were found by deliberate searching and some have been just rattling around in my head, waiting for the right moment to be burned onto a disc.
But the best discoveries were serendipitous ones.
I won’t do song-by-song descriptions, but here they are:
The Magnetic Fields - The Book Of Love
The Four Tops - Reach Out (I’ll Be There)
Death Cab For Cutie - Love Song
Modernboys Moderngirls - My Baby Says Boy, Don’t You Ever Go
The Bird and the Bee - My Love
We Are Scientists - Be My Baby
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl
M. Ward - Never Had Nobody Like You
Band of Horses - No One’s Gonna Love You
The Leisure Society - Love’s Enormous Wings
Florence and the Machine - You’ve Got the Love
Now, I hope you’ll agree that this is a fun, pleasant mix with a bit of a flair for the unexpected. If you truly love it, you can download the full zip file — and as a special bonus, it comes with an iPod slideshow of lovey-dovey couple pictures, featuring me and my Aeyms.
Together Forever - Valentines Day Mix 2009 (zip)
Happy Valentine’s Day, all. And if you’re truly stuck for a gift, I’m sure you could cobble together a pretty rad mix CD from the songs that Amy and I have posted.
by Amy Breen
love, love, love
Generally, I dislike Valentine’s Day. I think it is an icky, mass-marketed “holiday” which only serves to make couples feel superior because of their “awesome” love and to make single people feel bitter. It’s never made much sense to me that people would pick one day to do something special for their significant other, instead of showing it all year-round.
Besides, I don’t really like chocolate and haven’t cared about a stuffed animal since I was seven.
However, (contradiction alert!) I think that if you don’t fall into the trap of cliche, it can be a nice day to celebrate with your loved one.
Maybe the best thing to do is not put so much importance onto it, whether you’re attached or single. It’s just another day.
Now that all of that’s out of the way, I thought it would be nice on this day of love, to share with you some of my favourite love songs. They’re my favourite mostly because the lyrics make me smile and think of the guy in my life.
Ane Brun feat. Ron Sexsmith - Song no. 6
I love how they say it would be so easy to sing a love song (a sobby pink song at that!), but don’t get into any of the specifics. It’s enough to sing “I’d spend three or four lines on describing your eyes.”
Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life
“Yours is the first face that I saw. I think I was blind before I met you.” That is all.
Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Follow You into the Dark
Although this song is essentially saying “I would die without you,” there is something achingly sweet about wanting to be with someone, no matter what. Sure, it’s a little morbid, but Ben Gibbard’s lovely and plaintive voice enables you to move past that see it for the beautiful love song it is.
A classic. I recently saw Elton John perform in Winnipeg, and this song almost had me in tears. It’s just so lovely.
Queens of the Stone Age - Make it Wit Chu
Okay, it’s not really a love song, but it’s the sexiest damn thing I’ve heard in a long time, with Josh Homme’s slow, slurred way of singing (that implies a bedroom and what just happened in one … ) and the guitar solo that just oozes sex.
Yeah. Hot
…
I could probably go on and on with a list like this (or a list based on Beatles love songs alone) but I thought this was a nice mix. Happy Valentine’s Day!
I hear that Galešnjak, Croatia is lovely this time of year.
(hat tip to the Telegraph)
