directionless

Why hello everyone! I wanted to shares some tunes with the gang but I had no idea what genre to pick from! I have so many Rock, Pop, Indie, R&B and Country songs I want to share that I wasn't sure where to start first.

So I put this quick little upbeat mix to get you moving during your work day. I know it's going to work because I actually play the list while I'm writing the post and Barb is bopping her head while she is making some headbands for her upcoming fair.

You may have noticed that song number 8, "Nightcall", is from the movie soundtrack of "Drive". If you haven't seen this movie yet you are helpless. In my opinion this is one of those perfectly balanced movies where a couple can go see it together and both will come out happy. Full of plenty of action to dazzle the senses and story to engage the mind (also plenty of Ryan Gosling for the girls and a random scene with topless ladies for the guys). 

While on reviews, Barb will be reviewing something very random soon. It's random for us because as far as I know NO female fashion/craft blogger has EVER reviewed something like this before.

-PJ (my brain needs glasses, I'm so unfocused)

Rabble Rabble Rabble

I had told Barb that I refused to write another post until I got my car back from the shop....guess whats back! Be warned, this is a long post!

I am a huge car nut. I go to plenty of car shows and races each year. I'm so into cars that I am writing this post with my racing helmet on!

PROOF!

The main focus of my obsession is my 2006 Pontiac GTO. This car means everything to me. At its current state she (her name is Abigail) puts down 425 HP to the rear wheels. That's about 500 HP at the motor. She does 0-60 in about 4 seconds and can very easily go sideways, which Barb absolutely hates. Did I mention Abigail is insanely loud!

This is Abigail!

This is Abigail after she went to the shop to get a few exterior modifications done and this is the result.

 

Just to give a list of things done I powder coated the rims, tinted all the lights, added an off center stripe color matched to the rims, color matched the rear valance and paint the "GTO" lettering, color match the roof drip molding, painted the engine cover grey and orange to match the car and last but not least changed the spoiler.

I hope you think it looks great

Anyway here is a special white knuckle driving playlist

And again to celebrate Abigail return here is a video of her!


The above is Abigail running. I wanted to give you guys a sense of how loud she is. Isn't Barb lucky!

-PJ (firing on all 8!)

working stiff playlist

It's Monday night and I can either make a playlist for Barb's blog or be a slave to the headband making machine. I decided to make the list and will still likely get pulled into doing work by Pharaoh after this.

Last week I also treated you guys to a musical video, this week will be no different. 

I'm sorry for the audio quality in the beginning but this was the only one I can find that the video quality was good. This video WAS the reason my brother and I decided to go to Switzerland to go snowboarding a few years back. It was an experience of a lifetime that I'm really glad my brother and I got to have.

-PJ (Let my people GO!)

recent updates

BJV has been working feverishly on the blog to make it bigger, better and prettier lately so in an effort to do my part I will bless all of your ears with some tunes I have downloaded recently. Yes I find you deserving but I have also been instructed to do so (BJV beats me! HELP!)

I also want to take a little time to tell you where I heard one of the songs above. One day my brother and I are surfing the web and stumble upon an amazing video featuring "the funeral" by Band of Horses. It's an awe inspiring video and I hope you think it's as incredible as I do.

- PJ (the beaten)

Note from barb: I'm not actually beating him, I just strongly suggested that he write up a music post to stay occupied while I did boring things!

Tune Tuesday WANT!

Just to change things up this week I decided on a WANT post for this weeks Tune Tuesday entry.
Believe me there is plenty for me to want out there when it comes to audio equipment but these three items are definitely the cream of the crop.

First up are the Bose QuietComfort 3 noise cancelling headphones. I already have a home theater system, ear buds, and computer speakers from Bose and know the quality of their products and love their customer service, if you ever need any help, so it makes perfect sense to add this bad boy to my collection. I have absolutely no need for them but I'm sure a guy can find an occasion to put on noise cancelling head phones.

This sexy piece of iPod dock is the MC4 by Roth Audio. This is actually an amplifier so speakers are not included but those cool vacuum tubes add depth to music and make it sound absolutely flawless. I did, however, read one review that complained about the fact that it worked too well! Apparently, if you have a lousy quality song it really brings out the crappy quality of the song you downloaded. This device, then, is strictly for the fan of uncompressed music

Last and definitely not least is EVERYTHING by Bowers & Wilkins. The cool dock above is called the Zeppelin and it is way LOUD for such a small speaker set. I had the pleasure of having one in a hotel room when I went to Chicago many moons ago. The B & W products not only sound great but they look really cool and make for a unique focal point in a room.

Feel free to contact me directly for my address if you want to be generous and send me any of these items.

Thanks in advance ; )

-PJ (your e-panhandler for the evening)

Sans a band I just found

In the last year I found myself listening to a lot of Progressive rock. Maybe it's because I'm getting older and more mellow..... or it because it fits the background noise needed for some tasks, I have no idea! During this musical adventuring I found a few Progressive rock groups that I really like a lot, Black Light Burns and The Mayan Factor, just to name two.

Recently however I found myself listening to a group called Sans Seraph over and over on last.fm and I had to find more songs. Unfortunately this way awesome band that makes way awesome music (and has a way awesome name with a play on words) is ALREADY broken up! They only released one album which you can't even buy on iTunes!

I guess the happy ending of this story is I made a playlist of their album for you AND the band is allegedly getting back together with a few new members and a new name this year.

-PJ (for shizzle)

Busy work day

Work can be pretty busy, hectic and no fun at all. Soooo for this week I just simply made a nice long playlist of great songs to help move the work day along.

So enjoy and may your weekend come smoothly and swiftly!

-PJ

Analog RULES!

Today's pop music is almost completely done using protools and other computer apps. Even singers warp their voices to something that barely sounds human. I guess this makes me appreciate when an artist uses classical instruments in new music.

Today I offer two completely different artists.

 The first is Nuttin' But Stringz. This unique and innovate blend of violins and hip hop sounds ridiculous when reading about it but these guys pull it off and make you want to listen to them over and over again.

The second group is Apocalyptica. This Finnish rock group actually doesn't have a singer so they frequently feature singers from other bands to sing their songs.

I hope you enjoy.

-PJ

I've got it COVERED!

I was listening to my Ipod on shuffle with Barb and I came to the realization that I have a lot of cover versions of songs. Some are very unique takes on a song and others sound almost exactly like the original. So just for fun I made two playlists for you to enjoy today. One is a playlist of cover songs and the other is filled with the original versions of the songs.

My personal favorite from the entire playlist is 311's version of Love Song. In my opinion it's even better than the original.

The most out there and unique award goes to Type O' Negatives version of Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl. If you have no idea who Type O' is they are a Goth metal band that definitely takes some getting used to. 

So first up will be the cover songs.

And now the originals

Do you have a favorite cover song? Let me know what it is and it will most likely make it on the next cover song post.

PJ

Concert Want

Concert and Festival season is coming!

 Last year I went to Country Fest and a John Meyer Concert with Barb but I really didn't go see anything that I was really interested in or familiar with. Country Fest was the first time I was ever exposed to live country music. I had no idea who any of the artists were and I had no idea what any of the lyrics were for any of the songs. I did have a blast and would totally go again this year. And the John Meyer concert was.... well it was a John Meyer concert. I guess I was immune to his "powers" due to my guyness.

So this year I would love to go to ROCK ON THE RANGE. It's a 2 day long rock festival featuring EVERY SINGLE band I know and love.  Some of the bands that will be there are A Perfect Circle, Korn, Stone Sour, Staind, 10 Years and many, many more. Unfortunately it's in Columbus Ohio so the likely hood of me going is very extremely low. But a guy can dream can't he.

Now I know not everyone that reads this blog is as big of a rock fan as me so I made a playlist that will get you guys and girls interested in these bands and get you to want to go to this festival also.

SO ENJOY!

WELCOME TO TUNE TUESDAY!

Hello everyone! I'm Paul (better known as PJ) and it seems that I will be writing some musically inspired blog posts for Barb from now on. Barb asked me if I was interested in writing for her blog after one of our many road trips where we were listening to my ipod. She made a comment of the fact that she never knew what kind of song to expect next. We would listen to a song by Metallica and the very next song is by Ke$ha!

Since I have such a wide range of taste in music I'll try to make sure I cover everything possible.

So today I made a little playlist of some Indie groups that are worth a listen.

First up is Crystal Castles. They are a really interesting group with a very electronic feel to it. Some of their songs are just plain weird while most are just awesome. They call themselves a "thrasher" group but I have no idea what that means, it's just Indie to me. They frequent Williamsburg Brooklyn night spots often and are definitely worth seeing (I know because I've seen them!).

Next is Bear in Heaven. I just recently stumbled upon this group and quickly got the album. You just can't help but do a little head nod when listening to their songs.

Last on today's list is First Aid Kit. Compared to the above two bands they are on the mellow side of things. It's perfect music for relaxing or listening to while making dessert for Barb and her family (tonight I made bananas foster!)

Well enjoy and let me know know what you think,
PJ

#100

This is, amazingly, the 100th post on my blog  ...it only took me 1 year, 9 months to get to this point!

I got curious today and went back to see what my first post was all about... it was short and sweet, just after I had presented my final thesis for architecture... and I was totally unsure of what would come next.  A lot has changed since then... I'm working in the Marketing Department of an architecture office, I've made a lot of friends through blogging, and I've learned a lot about customizing my blog to make it more fun!  Although my etsy shop hasn't made me millions, I'm ok with that.  What began as a tiny little shop has opened me up to a creative community, which is amazingly full of talented young women that I'm so happy to call my friends... you can check out their blogs from the links in the left sidebar :-)

To celebrate my 100th post, I'm introducing a new feature... TUNE TUESDAY!  I love music, but I rarely blog about it, likely because I get swept up in what I happen to be listening to and stick with it for weeks at a time.  However, there's someone very special who DOES love finding new music, and wants to share... can you guess who??