Stav: Quicky Before Work

First of all, wahhhh!!!! So glad people are posting! Collaborative blogging rules! It's good to hear from all of you :)

As I predicted, the second I had to go back to work, blogging/reading/practicing guitar/breathing (not to mention applying to schools...eek!) fell by the wayside. I really love my job, but it does tend to take over my life. For those of you to whom I haven't babbled on and on about my job already, I work for a non-profit in Austin that does many good things (subsidized housing, case management, etc...) among them running 4 free after school programs for elementary students and teens located all around Austin. Anyway, I have been tasked with heading up the newest learning center, something I've never done and am kind of figuring out as I go along. Needless to say, my enthusiasm for youth empowerment and neuroticism have been working in tandem against me and I'm constantly worrying. On a side note, I will get an AISD ID badge! Official!

Before I have to run to work, I just wanted to share the following song. I don't know that much about Rufus Wainwright, and don't really have any time to do research right now, I just know that it's good and for some reason it really fits my mood lately. Also, it just sounds so nice.



Alrighty folks, have a super day!

Take care,
Stav.

Stav: Diligence - How Long Will This Last?

Hi-yah folks,

Let me preface this post with the question, is it too much to post almost every day? I don't want to feel like I'm monopolizing this cyberspace-space... So just let me know if too many music posts are overwhelming our collaborative project here... Feedback is encouraged :) Also, like I mentioned in the title, I really don't know how long this daily posting will last as I am on vacation now and have a lot of free time apparently.

And now onto the music.

If asked, I would have to say that Austin is only at its full and total glory in the summertime. Despite the oppressive heat, mosquitoes and incoming freshmen, Austin in summer is perfect. Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to lunch at Polvos with some other ex-pearlies we know. While we were making the trek down to South 1st listening to KGSR, the song Gone Gone Gone by Alison Kraus and Robert plant came on. It was very fitting for the carefree mood of the afternoon – there is really nothing like public radio on a nice Saturday afternoon in Austin with only mild heat when you are about to go gorge on Tex-Mex. Cheers for Austin summers.




The version of the song on the radio was a new(ish) Alison Kraus and Robert Plant collaboration, so right off the bat, how could it be bad? Alison Kraus is an amazing country singer and folk traditionalist responsible for much of the Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack. And Robert Plant…Led Zeppelin man! So, naturally their version is good (I mean, besides the cheese factor of the video, which you should ignore, or conversely, bask in all its treadmill glory. It kind of gets cut off, but that’s actually really close to the end of the song anyway).

Even though the newer version is good, I still think the original Everly Brothers version is awesome. Also, this video is innnnnnsane.



Oh, and Summer, sorry for going all John Ailey on your ass and posting two versions of the exact same song…

Take care,

Stav.

Stav: This Band is From the Sixties

To counteract yesterday's sad music selection, I present to you The Turtles. Just like the title of the post suggests, the music of the Turtles is very stereotypically sixties. The album Battle of the Bands sounds like a combination of the Beatles, the Yardbirds, the Byrds, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Beach Boys put together - but not in a "oh my god, so many great artists in one band!!!!" way, more in like a HEB-brand Generic Crispy Rice way. I don't mean to say that the music is bad, I actually really enjoy it. It sounds like a soundtrack to a movie possibly featuring surfing, drugs, British people, dancing, bowl cuts, a love story that wasn't meant to be, but ends with marriage. I dunno. It's certainly fun.

I think Eleanor is the best song on the album, it's also the most recognizable.



For a laugh (or a good 2 minutes of crazy dancing in your room) try Buzzsaw - a kind of knock-off, slower mix of "Wipeout" and "Tequila".



That's the songs for today. Let me just end with this advice: biking is such a good way to shrug off a bad mood. Woot! However, even though riding downtown from my place is quite easy, the ride back north and east is quite a trip. I was huffing it all the way up Chicon.

Also, I have figured out a way to take the bus to Fiesta. Alright for groceries!

Take care folks,
Stav.