music

de-Pitbullify

yllwdaisies music

I’ve come up w/ a brilliant idea. Again.

You know how sometimes you download a song; in my case it was 2:
– “DJ got us feelin in love again” by Usher
– “Good Life” by One Republic

I downloaded them months ago, but on my morning drive to work today, “DJ got us feeling in Love Again” came on. I have my mp3 player on my phone on shuffle, & w/ over 500 songs on it, I don’t always hear them all very often. Now, I knew that the “Good Life” song had Pitbull in it on the radio, so I was really careful to find a version w/out Pitbull to download for my playlist. HOWEVER, I was not aware that the Usher song had a Pitbull version. I’d only ever heard the normal version (sans Pitbull). So, I was jammin out to Usher, trying to wake up, & screeeech, on comes a rap from Pitbull!

That’s when I came up w/ the idea. What if there was a de-Pitbullify app. So, if you accidentally download a song w/ Pitbull in it, then when you launch your music player, it can identify & isolate it. A message would come up warning you that you’ve contaminated your phone w/ Pitbull, & ask you if you’d like to promptly delete it. Then, it can ask you if you’d like to download another version (a Pitbull-free version) of the song, or if you’d like it to “remind you later” to do so. You know, how it asks you to rate an app now, or if you’d like it to remind you later!

They do say “necessity is the mother of invention” 😉

the night we stood up Richard Strauss

yllwdaisies food, music, my life

Yesterday, we had planned a girls night; this consisted of dinner & opera.

Dinner was to be at 6pm, at L’Albatros. This was to allow ourselves a good 2 hours of gal talk before going to see Ariadne Auf Naxos.

Well, at least we thought 2 hours would be enough.

Maybe I should tell you my thoughts on L’Albatros first. I’ve been there waaaay too many times, imo. Everytime has been a disaster. The food was always, always, mind-bogglingly good. But the service has always been atrocious. Not the bread guys; they never left you bread-less. But the other serve staff. If you could get them to come to take your drink/food order. Then, when they finally did, if you asked them any questions about the food, I was prepared to be met w/ a blank stare. I even asked if she would go ask in the kitchen about what something was.

I ordered a goat-cheese tart once, & it came w/ something on the side that wasn’t on the menu. It looked like what I know as athāṇũ. When I asked her to check in the kitchen what it was, she seemed shocked. Not surprisingly, I never did see her again. No response to my inquiry. What if a vegetarian who’s never seen that stuff before had asked, or someone w/ food allergies; b/c of their dietary restrictions? Should I mention that it was a random Thursday happy hour, & the restaurant was pretty empty?

The food & drinks were always great there though, so everytime someone suggested it, I would just heave a sigh (silently), & be prepared for the atrocious service.

Weeeellll…. This time was different! We had the most delightful server, Tiffany. She was AMAZING. She knew everything there was to know, & was so incredibly sweet to us. Not b/c it was her job, but she really was just sweet, & kind, & nice, & smiley. Just a breath of fresh air. She would appear at the exact right moment w/ the exact right thing to say or ask! It was like she was in our heads!

She completely changed my view of L’Albatros, & I now can’t wait til the next time I go there!

Well, by the time we were done w/ dinner, we were no where near done talking. We don’t get a chance to get together as much now as before. Stupid lives got in the way.

We also made the mistake of eying the dessert menu.

By the time we were done w/ dessert, it was 7:50 pm. We took a vote & decided to ditch the opera in favor of martinis & wine elsewhere. Elsewhere ended up being The Bistro.

Now, just a few words about my thoughts on The Bistro before I ever stepped foot in there…..

1. Naming a bistro “The Bistro” is akin to naming your dog, “Dog”. Really? You guys want me to think you’re going to have a creative atmosphere & cuisine, but you can’t be bothered to come up w/ a name?

2. I had high hopes despite the name, b/c it used to be Sage, one of the most delish bistros I’d ever discovered. It didn’t get a lot of traffic, unfortunately, & closed.

So, we went to The Bistro (wow, that even feels weird saying that!). & I can’t comment on the food, b/c we only went there to sit at the bar & continue our chats.

But, of the 3 martinis I tried, I didn’t like a single one! They were horrible. The all had awesome names. I wish I could remember their names! I had some sort of a pear martini, I think, w/ some ginger syrup. But it really shoulda been called a pear-ginger syrup w/ some vodka. B/c it was too sweet, & I just couldn’t drink it. I tried my friend’s Smashing Pumpkin (for obvs reasons), but didn’t like that either.

So, I asked for ole faithful, an espresso martini. I’ve never had a bad espresso martini until that night. Ugh.

Anyway, this post was really supposed to be about bathtubs, but as you can see, I got off track.

But, I do think I’ll try to take more pics when I’m out of food & stuff, so I can share the experience here too. Also, so that I can remember it more; for my own benefit!

really? a headline?

yllwdaisies celebs, music, my thoughts

Wow! Realized I haven’t posted since the end of June. It was always my intention to put up at least some post every month. Even something dumb, just so I don’t skip over months in my archive. Oh well.

Why am I back? What has driven me to post? I think we all know. Kanye.

C’mon Kanye. I just got an email letting me know about an upcoming presale for Kanye’s Cleve show in Dec. It’s gonna be a Christmas time show. Dec. 23rd.

Aw man, Kanye. How do you expect me to find ANYONE left here in the land of Cleve that’s willing to shell out at least $50 now?!?!?!

Yes, I’m coming. But whoooo with?

C’mon man, I’m ok w/ you being your jerky self, but the rest of the US doesn’t like it. & it’s not a prob if you’re a jerk unless, say, your LIVELIHOOD depends on other ppl’s money. The masses. Which… um.. it does.

Now, we all know I couldn’t care less. So what if you took the mic out of some 17-yr old millionaire’s hand when she was getting an MTV VMA award. It’s not like it was the Nobel Peace Prize. Add to that the fact that you were all over the place swigging a bottle of Hennessy before the show. Anyone on stage who sees you coming at them while they have a mic in their hands (ESP at the VMA’s, b/c it’s not like you haven’t pulled this like 5 out of the last 7 VMA’s you’ve been to) totally has that coming.

Who cares? She lived & she learned. & she got some publicity out of it. I couldn’t care less about all that.

The only thing I care about now is, who’s gonna come w/ me to see you at freakin CHRISTMASTIME?!?!?!! Thanks, Kanye.

interesting linx

yllwdaisies commercialism, funny, movies, music

Ok, so not much to report, so I’m just gonna show some link love. Can you tell I’ve just had a 3-day weekend? That means time to surf the internets.

And here are the things I found interesting…

Danger Mouse is in a legal battle w/ his label; so his next album is a 100+ book w/ a blank cd-r enclosed. Feel free to pirate.

10 things you never knew about the Eiffel Tower.

The breakdown of the average student budget.

100 obscure & remarkable cd covers.

Top 100 Comic Book Villains of all time.

Top 10 lasting (mis)quotes.

And b/c I saw Star Trek this weekend, here are some Trekkie links:

Find the right Star Trek for your movie watching needs.

How big is the new Enterprise compared to the old one?

And this. Le piece de la resistance. If you didn’t click on any of the links above, but you enjoyed either Star Trek OR Star Wars, you need to check out this youtube vid.

I f’n hate rappers

yllwdaisies art/arch, complaints/hating, funny, games, music, my thoughts

I don’t wanna hear about how great you are, or how “great you is“. Show me, tough stuff.

oh, wait… you’re not tough stuff, you’re a sensitive lil pansy. You get all bent outta shape if someone makes a “yo mama” joke. Maybe it’s b/c of all the steriods you take, b/c you need to look buff when you take your shirt off. They make you all moody & whatnot? Rappers will react badly, & take sh*t too personal. News Flash: It’s not all about them.

Man, that’s right…. they think it *is* all about them. They are just as much divas as Mariah, J-Lo, or Madge. Many demand the type of smoke that really is only legal in Amsterdam right now. Pharell needs 20 crates of Grey Goose & Bacardi each, 15 magnums of Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque champagne, & a Rolls Royce on hand in case he wants to run around town. I forgot the belly dancers he requests to entertain them whilst they’re getting their drink on.

There was a time when a Rap meant something. Said something. & that thing wasn’t about your new sneakers & your fetish about having fresh clean white ones. Ppl were trying to bring issues to light. They wanted you to get mad, or upset enough to do something. RATM even has action links on their site, for ppl to get involved; as well as a parental link (for those parents that may still care to be involved in their kids’ lives).

I don’t want to hear your own personal battles; how you’re better than that dude. Then that dude puts out a song about how he’s better than you. Sort it out yourselves. Or don’t. I don’t care. Agree to disagree. You’re adults.

And another thing. Y’all have moms, aunts, sisters, girlfriends. You respect them. What’s wrong w/ saying that once in a while? Common’s The Light shows us that he’s harder than many other rappers just cause he can say what he says, strongly.

If rap is now folks like Lil Wayne*, & this Flo Rida** character, rap’s dead. You already know how I feel about lil Wayne, after he compared his “greatness” to that of the late Martin Luther King Jr.

Show some respect. & pull your pants up.

*(& how many lil ppl are there anyway?!?!)
**(who’s crap should NOT be on the radio, my jaw hit the floor when I heard what he did to that Dead or Alive song)

What inspired this? You have to watch the video below. I love hip hop. The really good stuff. But today’s rap’s just an infection. I was so ready to make a video & send it in for a t-shirt (the things we’ll do for a free t-shirt, what can I say?), but it ended on March 30th.

oh, & don’t watch the vid @ work, unless your work doesn’t care about the F-word & N-word being tossed around like Karrine Steffans.


UPDATE (5/25/2009): I don’t know if it’s just the allergy meds talkin, but this had me rollin! I mean, tears comin outta my eyes, laughing so much it hurt…

The 11 Most Unintentionally Gay Rap Lyrics Ever

and if you can handle it…

14 More of the Most Unintentionally Gay Rap Lyrics Ever

Troubadours over the Rainbow

yllwdaisies art/arch, beauty, music, my life, MySpace

So, one of my fave bands/ppl are the Troubadours of Divine Bliss. They come ’round these-here parts a couple times a year.

And it’s so much fun. They came back in May for like 2 weeks, & they’re here now for about 2 weeks now. It’s great b/c you can either see them multiple times, or if you’ve got too much going on, you can at least sneak in a show into your calendar.

Wed night was their cd release party at Brothers, & tonight they’re playing at Harpersfield Winery.

Bet’cha didn’t know NE Ohio had a bunch of wineries, did’ja? I’m really excited about going to Harpersfield, cause I’ve never been there before. They’ve played there many times, but I never made it to those shows.

Here’s a clip from Wed night’s show. They played through their new cd (which I bought), & then their older stuff. The played 2 of my fave older songs, so that was cool. Most of their stuff is original, but they do have a couple covers. This is Somewhere Over the Rainbow:

Oh, & the person you see at the bottom there that pops up a couple of times is Bernie. Bernie is like their “unofficial Cleveland photographer”. Either that, or he is official. What you see going up is his flash thingie. Anyway, Bernie takes real pictures w/ a real camera. That is to say that he takes very precise photographs, takes the FILM (yes, film), & produces print photographs. Fancy.

fun b-day: friends & Magpies

yllwdaisies change, fashion/style, music, my blog, my life, MySpace

This past Sat. was my b-day. Like, my actual birth day, not just the day I celebrated it. It’s actually the 1st birthday I’ve had since 2005! I know that may seem hard to believe, but it was. Don’t think about that anymore. That’s not important. What is imp, is that I had a fabuloso time. (that’s just like fabulous, but in Italian stilettos)

So, on Sat, I woke up & just chilled. Had some yummy hazelnut coffee on the back deck & just watched the sky.

Oh, here’s the thing… every year, on May 17th, it is bee-u-ti-full. Gorgeous. 70 degrees & sunshine. Every May 17th. W/out fail.

So, obviously, I was really bummed out on Fri when I heard we were gonna have rain & 60 degrees all weekend. They said Sat would be rain, t-storms, & more rain. (I think I may have said “Stupid Global Warming” at least once an hour on Friday)

But all for naught, b/c it was 73 & sunny, just like God intended it to be every May 17th. Big ups to the G-o-d! Mad props at cha, baby!

Ok, maybe that last part was a lil wrong. But if you can’t be blasphemous on your birthday, then just when is it appropriate?

So, the gals & I went to D’Vine for din & drinks. I have felt that I really haven’t had any “just girls” time in a while, & it was almost detoxing to be able to have that time w/ them!

I also got to meet one of my blog-friends in real life, so that was really cool! I had “discovered” Gennifer sometime in like 2006. We both were reading the same political satire blog; there was some Cleveland-related post & when commenting, I noticed there was a like-minded Clevelander on there. Anyway, she came out & she is as cool, witty & charming in person as on her blog! We’ve been blog-friends ever since!

Then, we went on to see the Magpies play at one of my favorite places. They were so much fun, & I don’t know if it was just me, but I think it was prob the best performance I’d seen from them this past year!!! They were really into the music. And it was super-cool of them to wish me a happy birthday & play a song for me. But then again, I’ve been to every single one of their shows (except the weekend of my sister’s wedding) for a long, looong time. And my bff & I always bring at least another 10 ppl, who now love the band too!

*sidenote: you may remember me talking about the Whiskeyhounds back in the day. The Whiskeyhounds are now the Magpies. You know, like how Puffy is now Diddy. Just like that.

Oh, & one more thing… The Magpies were on NPR recently on Around Noon. If you click on that link, it’ll take you to their interview. You can ff to around 31 minutes, that’s where their part starts.

the peg-leg wants to be a priest.

yllwdaisies celebs, complaints/hating, models, music, my thoughts, news

Hello, can you say “Delusions of Grandeur”? This is insane!

Did you guys see that Sir Paul’s lawyer left court with her head all wet b/c Heather Mills dumped a glass of water on her?!?! She told reporters that she was “baptized in court”. Uh…
♬♪♫ crazy ♬♪♫

Anyway, I think we all know from my previous post that I was no fan of hers from the onslaught. But it does irritate me how some women* marry a rich man for a few years, & then feel entitled to a ton of money. [ * I ain’t sayin she’s a gold-digga, but she ain’t messin w/ no broke…. ]

Now, I can understand if they were married for a long time (10-30 yrs). In many cases, they struggled to make it happen before one of them got their break. But they BOTH went through that, & relied on each other to get to that point.

But c’mon now peggy, you can’t be serious. I’m sick of ppl saying that they’ve “acclimated” to a lifestyle. Please! It was 4 years! If you lived your whole life with 2 legs & then one is taken away from you, you simply adapt, & learn to deal with having a peg-leg attached to you. You ADAPT.

Peggy’s getting paid. And their child gets $70,000 a year, plus Sir Paul pays her school & nanny fees. And seriously, she said it was a “paltry amount” & “She’s obviously meant to travel B class while her father travels A class”. Yeah, peggy, obviously.

We all know how much Sir Paul cares about his kids, & I highly doubt he would trivialize anything for any of them. This whole thing is so ridiculous.

Why is it annoying me SO incredibly much, you ask? It’s because when they 1st met & got married, he thought she was it. But it turned out she wasn’t. I’m having issues with that. How does anyone know when someone is it? Esp when you find out they’re not? You try to keep faith & believe, but I don’t think Sir Paul’s gonna open his heart again to another woman ever.

And the thought of any person doing that makes me sad.

snowed in

yllwdaisies art/arch, complaints/hating, food, movies, music, my life, storms

So, I’m kinda bummed. Was really excited about going to a pre-show party tonight for Red {an orchestra}. My good friend & I had gotten tics to this Cool Cleveland party before the show. It was an open bar w/ appetizers catered by another friend of ours (who owns Gypsy Beans & does the yummiest catering). So, we were pretty psyched* about it.

Red {an orchestra} was doing a night of movie music….

BERNARD HERRMANN: MORE THAN THE MOVIES | 3.8.08

Red’s sixth season comes to an exciting conclusion with a concert featuring the music of film composer Bernard Herrmann, whose scores for classic films of Alfred Hitchcock–Vertigo, North By Northwest and Psycho–are unmatched in their distinctive style. His style as a film composer, keen psychological atmospheres made with simple means, was formed in his concert music. His early pieces in the manner of his idol, Arnold Schoenberg, matured as he worked in radio and then Hollywood, his ambition remaining high, even as his film music eclipsed all other efforts. In this unique program, film clips featuring Herrmann’s Hollywood music mingle with a suite from Psycho, and work from his time in the 1930s at CBS Radio. The highlight of the program is a group of excerpts from his unproduced opera, Wuthering Heights, perhaps the greatest unknown opera in the history of American music.

Sounds cool, huh? I KNOW! I was really looking forward to it, but just hoping now that they may reschedule. I mean, they’ve all been rehearsing for this show for a few weeks, I’m sure.

So, they were planning on doing a bunch of pieces that composer Bernard Herrmann did for Alfred Hitchcock’s movies, but they were going to do excerpts from an unproduced piece too?!?!?! Seriously?!

They HAVE to reschedule!

Oh, did I mention the reason everything’s cancelled? B/c of the winter storm. We were so ready to brave it. I went out there to my car. The snow drifts are 3 to 4 feet, I made it to the garage w/ the help of my trusty snow shovel. Then I opened the garage door……

Yeah, that wasn’t gonna happen. No way my Corolla’s makin it out of the garage. So, I call my girl to see what it’s like where she is, cause I can make it to the end of the street w/ my snow shovel. She gets outside, & makes it as far as the end of the street….

No more.

Dude, you’ve gotta give us credit for tryin though. So, we’re on the phone figuring out that this is just not gonna happen for us tonight, & go back into our respective homes. I get upstairs & turn on the news, & see that in some counties, the police are actually fining/ticketing ppl who are out on the street if it’s not an emergency!

*do ppl still say psyched?

operas & parties

yllwdaisies busy, music, my blog, my life

I haven’t been posting because I didn’t want to bore all of yous guys with my mundane life. But I’ve got nuttin else to say, so here we go….

I’ve been pretty busy (too busy to post, as you all know). You might remember my mentioning it in past years, but I’ve just gone through my busy season at work. I’ve put in 11-hour days on most Sundays & some Mondays for the last 2 months. But now, I’m free.

I’m looking for a new apt, so a lot of time is used up doing that. So far, nothing good. By “good”, I mean a place with 2 bedrooms, where you can actually fit a full-sized bed AND a dresser in BOTH bedrooms. I know, I know…. I’m just soooo demanding!

We had a snow storm on Tuesday, & I went out to see Steve Poltz that night at the Beachland Ballroom. That was fun, he did an impromptu “rock opera”. I’m not just over-using quotes there; trust me, it’s in the quotes for a reason.

Then, Wednesday, I went to see Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte*. I loved it, not as much as Le nozze di Figaro*, but I did enjoy myself. I went with one of my closest friends, Urban Cowgirl. She loves classical music (I just love it when it’s live). I did kinda nod off during the 2nd act; not b/c it was dull. I think it’s just cause I’ve been running myself ragged, & also most of the “songs”** were low (bass/baritone). And the low notes tend to put me to sleep sometimes (I’ve also nodded off at cello or double-bass recitals for this same reason).

Anyway, it was cool, I esp. loved Papageno & I’m sure he’s everyone’s fave character in it. So ridiculously funny, he is! But The Marriage of Figaro is still my fave, b/c I was in stitches throughout that whole opera. I’m a big fan of that silly-humor.

Then, last night I went to Urban Cowgirl’s 1st 29th birthday party. That was a complete blast. I had so much fun, hanging out at their house w/ a gaggle of fun ppls. I was there until almost 3 am, & still coulda stayed all night, but I could see others were getting tired.

So, that’s it for now. I hope to have more things to post about soon. I keep thinking of things I wanna post, but then actually forget them when I’m in front of the comp.

* yes, that’s me being snooty. But you’re allowed to be snooty when you go to see an opera.
** I’m pretty sure they’re not called songs; but they’re not all arias, so I don’t know what word to use for them.