This Tuesday, Cowboy Monkey will feature local face melters/rock awesomeness JigGsaw. (And don’t give me the, “But it’s a weeknight!” excuse.)

Check out JigGsaw on

You wouldn’t believe how excited I was when I came upon this page last night. I totally had one of these! The whole web site is dedicated to miniature organs (no, not little livers) and even rates them by how they sound, their design and coolness factor. The Creative Music Maker got 10s across the board. Yeah, my mom knew what was up.

The basic purpose of the Creative Music Maker is to make music with the keys and sing along in the microphone. You could even “broadcast” your voice through a radio. If I recall correctly, there was a small dial on the side of the instrument that would allow you to chose which radio frequency you’d like to use. It also features half-notes! Jawsome!

Fake Edit: I just found one on eBay in mint condition with a Buy It Now price of $79.95! Jeez, that’s a lot. I might have to dig mine out…

Fall is stuttering to a start. One day will be 68 and the next is 85. Mother Nature is so indecisive. I’m longing to wear a cozy sweater and to once again experience the smell of burning leaves. Until then, here are some pumpkin-pecan muffins that I have adapted from a recipe via SmittenKitchen. I found this recipe about a month ago, but just couldn’t being myself to bake it until October. For some reason I associate October with being the “Autumn-est” of all the months. Just one bite and you’ll be thinking Fall.

Click here for the recipe. I added some chopped pecans to the mix for a little more texture.

A video from Saturday’s Backyard Shark practice.

So I’m sitting here on my couch trying to figure out a computer problem and I hear a sexy woman’s voice on the T.V. She’s talking about a car and she says, “When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?”. Suddenly the rockin’ guitar part from the Hum song Stars starts playing as they show the sexy woman push down on the accelerator. It was a commercial for Cadillac, so I’m sure you’ll all get to see it at some point this season. But wow…Hum…on a commercial…for a luxury the luxury American vehicle. Either there is a Hum fan working in the ad department, or finally everyone else has figured out just how sexy Hum’s music really is.

Champaign bands represent!

Update: I found the commercial on the Cadillac website. Apparently the sexy woman is Kate Walsh from a show called Grey’s Anatomy. It looks like they are using Stars in all of their commercials.

Click here to watch!

I made these for one of The Boy’s bands, Backyard Shark. They were meant to be the main theme for an interactive website, but we never got around to making it. Hopefully, we’ll get to it soon.

www.backyardshark.com

If you’ve never heard of Craig Finn nor either of his bands, then you are missing out.

Let’s begin with LFTR PLLR (or Lifter Puller). This is a track off of Soft Rock entitled Sublet It was really hard for me to pick just one of their songs…
[audio:16Sublet.mp3]

You may not find Mr. Finn’s vocals the most pleasant, but that is one of the reasons I became enamored with LFTR PLLR in the first place. The second reason being the lyrics. Throughout the many LFTR PLLR songs, Craig recounts the adventures of a fictitious group that consists of co-eds and ravers, destitute nightclub owners and dealers. While these events may be fabricated, they also exude a sense of nostalgia making them seem not only historical but experiential at the same time. This brings me to consider the quality of a song in general. I think a band can sing about whatever they want, but unless they have something that will drive their fans to go “Wow, I went through that. I can relate to this music”, then you’ve got nothin’. Okay…enough of this. On to The Hold Steady.

The Hold Steady-Chillout Tent from the album Boys And Girls In America
[audio:10 Chillout Tent.mp3]

One of the main reasons for choosing this song is because of its similarity to the songs of LFTR PLLR. Anyway, not much to say here other than after reading over the liner notes for this album I noticed that the female vocals on this track were provided by Elizabeth Elmore of Sarge and The Reputation fame (there is also a girl on the back cover of the booklet that looks a lot like her…). A discussion of her coolness will require a post all its own someday.

I don’t really understand why The Hold Steady has become as popular as it has. I mean they played at Ground Zero this year for chrissake, they are America’s band. My logical brain tells me to look at the variables. Has the lyrical content changed? No. Have the sounds changed? No, but it’s debatable since there is now a keyboard. Has the time changed? Yes. LFTR PLLR was active from 1994-2000, while the Hold Steady has been around since 2004. Something happened during those four years that prepared America to receive The Hold Steady. Maybe their concert at Ground Zero was actually a private salute to the events of a certain September that contributed to their acceptance. What took place exactly, I just don’t know; but I can conclude that LFTR PLLR was ahead of its time.

If this doesn’t show up for you, go here:
Hey Mercedes on You Tube

neon paint splashes, banana seats and streamers, peeling the paper off of stubby crayons, clapping erasers, M.A.S.H., cinnamon and sugar soldiers, boxy cars, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese wheels, Donkeylips, Beakman and the Sea Monkies, twirling in dresses, the time step, and new white Keds

So I finally got around to baking my first loaf of bread. It really wasn’t too difficult and the 10 minutes of kneading was actually quite relaxing. I haven’t cut into it yet, but if its appearance is any indication of the taste and texture, it should be pretty good. I’m saving the loaf for dinner, but I will be sure update you on the results later tonight.

Update: The bread is delicious; nice and crusty with a tender crumb. Even The Boy, who hates homemade bread, said he liked it. In your face Wonderbread. The only thing I would say against my work is that it’s a little spongy, but nothing I can’t perfect over time.