Socks

My roommate's cat is a psychopath. She is obsessed with my cats and when my door is closed she sits on the other side peering under the door. At least once a day - my cat will get in a fight with her - through the door. They attack each other from under the door. And it is a huge ruckus, they slam their bodies against the door, there is crazy growling, my cat gets primal and attacks my other cat. It's nutso. I have created a rug barrier so they can't see each other; however, sometimes I come home and half my rug is under the door so she can get to my cat easier. If the rug barrier is not in place I'll just see one random cat leg coming under my door. So anyway - she is afraid of socks. I don't know why but if you throw a sock at her she jerks her body up in the air in such a way the she could be an Olympic cat gymnast. So I have created an additional layer of protection in the form of a sock barrier on the other side of my door so she can't get close enough to stick her paw under. She walked over to my door today, saw the socks and turned right around. I should be a military strategist.

Whenever I Feel Like It Music Blog - Jim Hanft

Jim Hanft is a singer songwriter who is my friend's little brother that I first saw perform at my first "Hanft Upside Your Head" memorial day weekend celebration about 4 or 5 years ago. Jim played his music around Philly and Boston and then eventually moved out to LA to pursue his dream of becoming a professional singer.
Jim is a singer songwriter that adds his own "personality" into his live performances. Over the years I saw Jim probably about 3 times on the east coast and always thought he was really good and put on a good performances. Upon moving here I looked up Jim and have gone to a couple of his shows. At both shows, I have been completely blown away. His vocals are spot on. His writing is smart, funny, sad, cute or moving, depending on the song. I have even cried at both shows in LA. Once because the song was so touching and tonight from laughing so hard.
He is a remarkable performer who really puts his heart and soul in his performance and he has a great time doing it. Tonight was no different. I went and saw Jim at Aura in Studio City, which conveniently is right down the street from my apartment. The crowd was totally in to him. He had the place laughing, singing, clapping and doing background for the Bitch song. Some songs are reminiscent of Flight of the Conchords where they are ironically smart and funny, while other songs are focused on love lost or just women that he believes are bitches. I recommend his music to anyone. Even if you hate singer-songwriter/folk music - go see him live because he is freakin hilarious.
Example: His final song was one that he said comforted him when he was sad as a kid. He then broke in to an emotional "Hero". That's right - by the man, Enrique. He even did the Spanish parts in not actually Spanish at all. The crowd at this place was kind of laid back, talking to each other, not really paying attention to the bands - but when Jim went up everyone started paying attention. Somehow Jim doesn't have a label yet, but he is going to be big some day.
Fans of Deli Magazine, which is a music centric magazine in NY and LA, voted him Artist of the Month in July - so people thankfully are starting to take notice. Now I suggest you do too. (Sidenote - my last music blog musician uh huh her was artist of the month in june).

Check out his Myspace page for a bunch of songs: http://www.myspace.com/jimhanft
My favorite of his songs are China Doll and Caffeine

Here is his web site which also plays songs:
http://jimhanft.com/


And check out this video for Superhero:


Because I can't get enough of him, I will be seeing him again this Saturday in Hollywood. He is also on the east coast quite a bit, so check his myspace for a show in your area. I know he is playing NYC in early October.

Missed by a Miley

I had a meeting at my leisure Starbucks (opposed to my work Starbucks) yesterday and when I got there the guys told me that I had just missed Miley Cyrus by 5 minutes. I don't really care about Miley Cyrus, I have seen better celebrities than her so far, but for the past 4 months in LA I have been dying to see paparazzi chasing someone. All this time I have yet to see them. Well I am on my way out now - maybe I will run into the paps tonight. Except this time they'll be chasing The Hills cast!! Yeah-ya! I can always hope.

What A Wonderful Night

So the other day my 400 pound, 50 year old boss/friend/land lord propositioned me to begin a relationship with him. He has a girlfriend and has been dating her for about 12 years, but he seems to have a history of cheating on her and every girlfriend he has had in his life. He told me all of this before telling me -"I'd like you to be that person for me now" and of course "Not all of his relationships have to be sexual, just someone to rest his head on in the park after a long day" After successfully dodging him and not having to say anything in return except that I saw him as a father figure, which he clearly ignored, I received two lovely ecards.

The first and best one says:
"All that is held dear never fades away. I find you in the morning sky, in the sound of children's laughter, in the motion of every stirring wind. You are a part of me and always will be. "
Signed - "What a Wonderful Night. Yours - Landlord."
I cannot fully portray to you the beauty of this card because along with it in the background was lovely soothing music. And now that I think of it - it does kind of remind me of the morning sky.

Then I just received a voicemail refering to my myspace status that says "Myself is pure evil, brought to you by the devil". I stole this line from a movie I watched over the weekend called "Someone to Eat Cheese With", which I rented because Sarah Silverman is in it and I love her. The movie was just OK. But anyway - so I get a voicemail that says "So even the devil thinks your evil? That's interesting, I'd like to know what that means?" I'D like to know what THAT means!!! I should change my myspace status to - "Myself is not going to date older men who want to cheat on their girlfriends"
In typical me style, I have not done anything about this situation. I plan to ignore it in the hopes that he gets the point and when that falls through I will send an email that Mandy has composed for me that basically says - Back the eff off in the nicest way you can say that to someone who has a key to your apartment.
So I guess my years of crazily stalking people in high school and college has come back to get me. But why can't I have a hot, normal sized to only slightly overweight stalker?

Disclaimer: Characters have been changed to protect identity.

Forever My Druggie

This is classic. Jodeci (one of my favorite groups when I was a young wigger in grade school) is on a reunion tour and at this one show in Australia they are completely cracked out. At one point JoJo just completely passed out mid song. His brother K-Ci kept on singing and they JUST LEFT HIM THERE laying on the stage. The stage hand guy came by and picked up his mic and just walked right by. Nobody even checked to see if he was even alive. I guess it must happen all the time for them to not be too upset about it. Eventually he got up on his own and they tried to make him finish the song. Hilarious, but scary at the same time.

Second Greatest Moment in Television History

This is why I love Phoebe -

I'm So Cool

New Mix -

Whenever I Feel Like It Music Blog - Uh Huh Her

Uh Huh Her released their first album, Common Reaction, today. I have been listening to it for the past few weeks and I love it (illegal downloading is bad, but I bought it too :) ). Uh Huh Her got their name from a PJ Harvey album, because at the time there were three of them and they liked the sound. (If you don't know who PJ Harvey is look up immediately as she is an extremely influential alternative artist. )
Now there are just two of them, Camila & Leisha.

I have been a fan of Uh Huh Her since their inception last year, mainly because I am a huge fan of Leisha Hailey who used to be in one of my fave bands - The Murmurs. Anyone who has been in my car or at work with me has been subjected to the Murmurs before and for that you are lucky. If you weren't one of those lucky few - you know them by that 1990's gem, "You Suck" (Also download Genius). She is also an actress. You've seen her on those semi annoying Yoplait commercials with the bridesmaids and on the L Word. She is actually a really talented actress.
The other chick in Uh Huh Her is Camila Grey. She is a super talented musician who studied classical music growing up and before UHH was in a really cool band called Mellowdrone (download "Fashionably Uninvited"). She has also worked with Dr Dre, Busta and Kelly Osborne. Lending to her cool factor, she also produced the EP and album. She also knows how to play, like, 5 instruments. Random fact - Her dad played Mozart and Neil Diamond on repeat while she was growing up. That reminds me of someone I know, named my dad.
So anyway Uh Huh Her has an electro indie pop sound and they released an EP last year and it immediately hit #29 on itunes and their single "Say So" was in the top 10. This new album is alot like the EP, which was recorded in Camilla's bedroom and bathroom, but it was actually recorded in a studio and is a little more produced with a tighter sound. Again, it is already in the top 40 albums on itunes. So I am excited for them.
I have seen them 3 times. Once in NY with Mandy last summer when they were just starting out. This summer they went on a sold out tour around the US and UK and I saw them twice here in LA, all shows were great. They put on a fun, energetic show. I am excited for the fall show. I have met them both and they are both really nice and down to earth. OK clearly I could go on and on about them, but I will stop here. Just check them out.

I created a mix tape with "Not a Love Song" which is their single from Common Reaction, Say So and Explode. The last two are both on the album and the EP.
What is missing is my favorite song from the album, "Wait Another Day", which I could, and do, listen to over and over again. But you can listen to it on their myspace page along with other songs - www.myspace.com/uhhuhhermusic. The entire album is streaming on iMeem.

Uh Huh Hear it now (ha ha - nerd):

Here is their new video for "Not A Love Song". It is very 80's-ish. It's fun. Plus they have a fake unicorn, and who doesn't love a fake unicorn.

Awesome Lady of Day - Miss Douglas, Arizona

Too good to be true. But it is.

New Mix Tape

New mix with an 80's post punk, Smiths like focus. Lots of brits. By accident.

Fightin' Phils

So far I have been to two out of town Phillies games this year, Denver & LA. At both of these games Phillies fans have been kicked out for fighting with the home team fans. I wonder if this happens alot to visiting team fans? Something tells me no.

A little blurry - But you get the point. Denver Game in April - Phils won!

Whenever I Feel Like It Music Blog - The Submarines

The Submarines are an indie pop group from LA. You will probably recognize their song "You, Me and the Bourgeoisie" from an Apple commercial and they were in a Grey's Anatomy episode last season. Isn't that every bands induction in to coolness these days? (Though Grey's Anatomy is not cool. Sorry)
They have a really cute story. Their names are Blake and John and they were performing solo in Boston when they met. They started dating and performing together. They were together for 4 years and broke up in 2004. They remained friends and continued with their solo careers. Blake recorded her songs in John's home studio and they both found out that all their sad songs that were each writing were about each other and their emotions about the breakup. They ended up getting back together and getting married. A friend of theirs mixed their first album for them as a wedding gift. Now they are on their second album and it is much more upbeat and happy then their first CD, which was all about the breakup. I love band formations with fun stories.

Anyway here's the video for You, Me and the Bourgeoisie:

The Huntington

Last week my mom and I went to The Huntington. It was so beautiful. It is basically a big botanical garden with plants, trees, flowers, etc from all over the world. It was really neat. It is kind of like Longwood Gardens in PA, except much bigger and more exotic. They have a cactus section, bonsai tree section, bamboo section, a Chinese and Japanese area, a zen garden, rose garden, tropical forest area and much more that I can't remember. It was really cool. Randomly I met this guy who was there for a convention about A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. He was from Philly and teaches at Penn State. But the really weird part was that I am reading A Brave New World and it was in my purse at the time. So anyway Rita had heard of this place from a coworker and I just read an article on the web about top 10 non generic places to visit before you die, and The Huntington was one of them. By non generic I mean besides Grand Canyon, Empire State Building.... So anyways, here are some pictures:

Awesome Guy of the Day

Hollywood and Highland is basically the Times Square of LA. Its where the star walk is, the handprints, the Oscars are held there, characters from movies walk around, there's always a million tourists. It is insano.

So there are usually street performers that hang out there and the other day I was down there and I saw a guy without a shirt on, with bagpipes, and a unicycle. He was trying to get his unicycle and he couldn't so he asked these people in the crowd to come help him. So two guys come over and for about 3 minutes these guys tried to get the bagpiper on the bike. They finally got him on and he made them stand there and hold him up while he played a song. Everybody was laughing at him and then the dog of the one guy started jumping on his owner and the bagpiper. It was hilarious. His one helper walked away and he yelled at him for leaving. Meanwhile the dog is still barking and jumping on them. The bagpiper eventually is able to kind of ride around in a circle and kind of play a song on the bagpipes and then he fell. After 5 minutes of prep time he wobbled on the bike for 30 seconds and fell. Then he asked people for money. Then he mocked people who walked away and didn't give him money. I asked him if he was going to share the money with the guys who held him up and he ignored me. Don't worry I have pictures.




Oh did I forget to tell you he was in a kilt!

loves it

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

A Gift from the Gods of the Internets - Mixwit

There are a bunch of different programs like this one out on the web - but I like how this one makes your mix look like a tape. I shall call it a "Mixtape"