Music Wandering

As Pandora does for you automatically, tonight I started with one song that I love – and let the song guide me through the rest of my night.

At least in my mind, the prior song prompted me toward the next one. It may have been a memory from my past or a trigger within the song, but the playlist flowed naturally for me.

Here are the songs I wandered through this evening. Find the songs on LimeWire or YouTube. And make your own journey.

(The first song) Beds Are Burning – Midnight Oil
Wire – U2
Tempted – Squeeze
Tom Sawyer (DJ Z Trip Remix) – Rush
Romeo’s Tune – Steve Forbert
Shelter – Lone Justice
I’ll Be Your Shelter – Taylor Dayne
You’re Still The One – Shania Twain
Shelter - Ray LaMontagne
Shelter from the Storm - Bob Dylan
Blue On Black – Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Hope It Gives You Hell – The All-American Rejects
Ledbetter Heights – Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Riot Van - Arctic Monkeys
Supernova – Liz Phair
Cotton Fields – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Send The Pain Below – Chevelle
Woman - Wolfmother
Son’s Gonna Rise – Citizen Cope
John Lennon – Citizen Cope
Bullet and a Target – Citizen Cope

And then I stopped. I thought that song was a good spot.

Here are the videos of a few of the above tunes…

Beds Are Burning – Midnight Oil


Romeo’s Tune by Steve Forbert


You’re Still The One – Shania Twain



Blue On Black by Kenny Wayne Shepherd (an acoustic version)


I make at least one mixed CD per month – and this is how I pick the songs: I throw enough stream-of-consciousness darts at the wall and see which ones I like best.

Of all the songs I went through above, only three made it onto my May 2010 Super Mix. Which ones do you think? (Hint: I have NEVER put U2 – my all-time favorite artist - on any mixed CD ever. They just seem too personal to me to share.)

Updated Post

I updated this post.

The video to Shelter is now available.

Jazz Fest 2010 - Day 1

This year, Carlos and I were planning on going to Jazz Fest only one day, the "second Friday" as people in New Orleans call it - Friday, April 30. Then I found out that Jonny Lang was playing the "first Sunday" in the Blues Tent. He's been one of my favorite artists since his first album in 1995. (My blog is named after one of his songs.)

I last saw him in a small bar in Biloxi in 1996 and I have wanted to see him again ever since.

He put on a great show! I'm hoping it's one of the shows that will be available at Jazz Fest Live soon. (He has also released a live CD earlier this year.)

Jonny Lang (right) didn't play until 5:40 pm. Since Carlos and I got to Jazz Fest around 11 am, we had plenty of time to walk around and see all the other things.

On Debbie's recommendation, we first saw Miss Sophie Lee. Her boyfriend Bart plays piano with the band. (He also plays guitar, accordion, and probably many other instruments.)

We spent the next hour or so eating our way through the food booths. I started with a Crawfish Pie and a huge tea, and finished with a Cuban Sandwich.

Our friend Julie works at the company that produces the Jazz Fest posters so she was manning the poster booth. We visited with her for awhile (and got some much needed shade). Because of her job, she was also able to get us free tickets to the Fest! (For next Friday's Fest, I bought $25 tickets from my employee Pat's friend. The tickets are usually $45 to $60 plus fees.)

Carlos wanted to see one of the cooking demonstrations. (Read: Sit in the shade, drink iced tea and wait for the free taste servings of the demonstration food.) We saw the 1:30 show of [something I can't remember now] and the 3:00 show of Jambalaya.

After walking through the craft booths (in the hot sun!), Carlos had a brilliant idea: see the band playing in the (indoor, air conditioned) grandstands. It turned out to be the Imagination Movers so the audience was full of parents and kids under 5.

Carlos then wanted to make a full circle around the outside of the track, to sample all the other music playing. We heard a small part of The Levon Helm Band, Juan Luis Guerra (where we ran into our new mayor Mitch Landrieu and the new President of Honduras, smiling for photographers and surrounded by body guards), The Radiators and the Blind Boys of Alabama. We had to ask someone who the guy with Mitch Landrieu was. I told Carlos, who moved from Honduras at age 8, that I thought he should know who he was. He disagreed.

Now refreshed, we wandered over to Jonny Lang. Then, sunburned and pooped, we made our way home.

Overall, a great day.

Hobbies

Carlos and I are still cultivating our love of cooking. Last night, we made:
Shaved Raw Asparagus with Parmesan Dressing (very good!)
Mushroom Meatloaf (bland - but I have a solution for next time)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes (ditto)

We are hosting our Monthly Family dinner next Sunday (May 2) so are trying to perfect the menu. I think we'll serve all of the above, working on the seasoning. Carlos is going to come up with a nice dessert that mixes well with the other dishes.


I have picked up two new hobbies recently.

New Hobby #1 - Genealogy. During our Katrina evacuation, I bought a family tree program, but never took it out of the box. I finally did earlier this month. My dad's mom (who had 8 brothers and who died at 98 in 2003) kept great family records. I added all her research into my program.

Then I started with my mom's dad, who died in 2004. I was able to trace back to my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather (Christophe Mequet) who was born in 1700 in France. My method: Using the relatives I already knew, I searched the internet for other people who have published family trees with my relatives included. I found my great grandfather (Hector Mequet) in this family tree.

My next goals:
1) Find out if any of my relatives fought in the Civil War.
2) Prove or disprove the long-standing family legend that my grandfather's grandparents were first cousins.
3) Prove or disprove the long-standing family legend that, along those same family lines, that we have black relatives.
4) Find pictures of as many relatives as possible.


New Hobby #2 - Gardening

I have had "Start a garden" on my To Do list for many years. This past weekend, motivated by my brother-in-law Jeff who planted a tomato garden when I was in Atlanta recently visiting, I finally got around to it. Here are pictures on Day 0 - before anything was started, and Day 1 - minutes after everything was planted.




The garden consists of:
Cucumbers
Green Bell Peppers
Red Bell Peppers
Yellow Bell Peppers
Orange Bell Peppers

According to the packaging, I'll have food in 75 days. I'll post updated pictures soon.