Holiday Mash-up!

Rudolph (You Don't Have To Put on the Red Light): Best holiday-themed mash-up that no one asked for.

Electric Guitar Gear

As you may know, my interest in music isn't only in listening, but in playing as well. Though I've had my electric guitar since January 2007, things didn't really get going until this past year when I decided to take the plunge into the wonderful world of effects pedals.

I really enjoy reading, researching, and listening to demos of these wondrous boxes of audio goodness and so have decided to make a page for my Guitar Gear on the blog to catalog my ever-changing pedalboard.

Apologies in advance for future posts regarding said gear that may bore you to tears.

Tuesday's Tunes: Christmas Time is Here...almost

This week I have a few Christmas tunes that I eagerly awaited adding to my iPod, an activity reserved for just before Thanksgiving where we usually drive down to NY and want some Christmas cheer for the drive back!


Skating - Vince Guaraldi Trio
I love the Charlie Brown Christmas special and the soundtrack even more.  The video above is a medley, which includes "Skating" that perfectly captures the joyful mood of the Christmas season.


Barenaked Ladies - God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman/We Three Kings
These guys were actually the first real concert I ever caught back in high school.  Great band, hilarious band members.


Starfield - O Come All Ye Faithful
Interesting rendition of this Christmas hymn


Sufjan Stevens - Come Thou Fount
Though not technically a "Christmas" song, this one comes off of Sufjan's Christmas album. I'm a big fan of the stripped down, lo-fi sound of this track.

TV Spotlight: Walking Dead

Probably our favorite of the new show from this Fall is "The Walking Dead" on AMC.  I was anticipating the premiere of this series as I keep up with the original comics' collected editions, which I'm happy to report my public library stocks and keeps up to date.

Now, both Taryn and I don't usually watch horror movies (which I'll chalk up to overactive imagination for myself), however while this show has some gore and spectacular special effects and makeup, there aren't too many what I call "Boo!" moments.  Instead, we get to see a great drama unfold: what do a band of people do to survive in a post-apocalyptic zombie-infested world, where societal norms have crumbled and everyone has to fend for themselves?  Mix in the natural conflict between different personalities and scarceness of resources and you have yourself one heck of as how.

One word of warning to those who may be interested in the comics: it is a dark, dark book.  The art is in black and white, and yes, the pictures are still, but there are some truly disturbing scenes where I've had to just put down the book and take a break.  The scary part is that the disturbing imagery isn't usually from the zombies snacking on victims, but rather to what depths will the surviving humans sink to when they're threatened by other humans.  Despite the warning, I would say the first volume or two are more tame as far as what I found to be disturbing, and worth checking out if you are even the tiniest bit intrigued.

This Sunday (12/5/10) there will be a Walking Dead marathon for any one wanting to jump aboard this great new show and will lead into the season finale.

Belated Halloween post

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  I've been fighting a cold since returning from NY, so thought this might be a good time to share some photos that got lost in the mix.  These are from an early October pumpkin carving session we had: 

This one's from Taryn, those who love the "Angry Birds" game should recognize it.

A collection of all the pumpkins that were carved.

Thanksgiving dishes as well as Christmas tree photos to follow!