Kitty Purry AND Daft Punk

Update: Katy Perry show was amazing. She's absolutely fabulous.



I heart her. I heart her gold dress. I heart her sparkly microphone. I heart her leopard print outfit worn later. I heart that she sang some Queen. I heart her music too.

Sidenote!:
Go here. Have fun with Daft Punk. It's good times. Do it. Zip. Unzip it.

pc: Becky Johnson

Be Jealous.

The next few weeks is going to be hectic for me, hectic in a good way that is. It's going to be packed with shows and greatness. First up, Friday I go to Detroit to see Katy Perry in Detroit at Clutch Cargo's. The next night, on the way back, I get to FINALLY go see my friend Erica who now lives in Lansing for her birthday.

Katy Perry - Hot N' Cold:


THEN, I get to go to Chicago to see another great show on April 11 at Metro. It's Mates of State, only one of the best bands EVER, and Black Kids, who rock my socks.

Mates of State - My Only Offer

Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach My Boyfriend How to Dance With You (Twelve Remix)



THEN THEN! Then I get to go see the one and only Lily Allen, one of my absolute favorite singers ever on 4/13 at St. Andrew's Hall in Detroit. I've been a fan for a few years now and unfortunately have had crazy issues come up that have prevented me from seeing her. Example: 1st time a friend would NOT go with me to see her on a trip to Toronto that was planned in order to see her. WTF?! 2nd time the tour was cut short. It's about freaking time I get to see Lily. I'm loving the new album 'It's Not Me, It's You' so great timing.

Lily Allen - Everone's At It:


Afterwards, the fun continues. I will be going to Dallas from April 18 - April 22 to see some very close family friends get married. I'll get to see the whole family. I can't wait, seriously. I need a vacation too so this is also great timing.


This next month will be a lot of traveling and rocking out. Sounds perfect.

pc: nowandthenphotography.com

Portia Is Sorry

Portia De Rossi is awesome.
She's sorry.
I laugh.
She's clever.

"Portia De Rossi Apologizes for Marrying Ellen"


Can someone get Arrested Development back on the air please?

Pharrell, You're Kind of Amazing

Just like I said, Pharrell is pretty amazing. McDonald's is petty sweet too as long as I only consume it like once every two months or so. But how great are those french fries? Ooh and I might be a little obsessed with the breakfast bagel sandwiches. Yum. Wee tangent...

Word, Carl Sandburg.

Apparently Carl Sandberg wrote a poem about where I live, a crazy little city we call Kalamazoo. I've grown quite fond of Kalamazoo over the past few years. Here's Mr. Sandburg's poem The Sins of Kalamazoo:

The Sins of Kalamazoo

THE SINS of Kalamazoo are neither scarlet nor crimson.

The sins of Kalamazoo are a convict gray, a dishwater drab.

And the people who sin the sins of Kalamazoo are neither scarlet nor crimson.

They run to drabs and grays—and some of them sing they shall be washed whiter than snow—and some: We should worry.

Yes, Kalamazoo is a spot on the map 5
And the passenger trains stop there
And the factory smokestacks smoke
And the grocery stores are open Saturday nights
And the streets are free for citizens who vote
And inhabitants counted in the census. 10
Saturday night is the big night.
Listen with your ears on a Saturday night in Kalamazoo
And say to yourself: I hear America, I hear, what do I hear?

Main street there runs through the middle of the twon
And there is a dirty postoffice 15
And a dirty city hall
And a dirty railroad station
And the United States flag cries, cries the Stars and Stripes to the four winds on Lincoln’s birthday and the Fourth of July.

Kalamazoo kisses a hand to something far off.

Kalamazoo calls to a long horizon, to a shivering silver angel, to a creeping mystic what-is-it. 20

“We’re here because we’re here,” is the song of Kalamazoo.

“We don’t know where we’re going but we’re on our way,” are the words.

There are hound dogs of bronze on the public square, hound dogs looking far beyond the public square.

Sweethearts there in Kalamazoo
Go to the general delivery window of the postoffice 25
And speak their names and ask for letters
And ask again, “Are you sure there is nothing for me?
I wish you’d look again—there must be a letter for me.”

And sweethearts go to the city hall
And tell their names and say,“We want a license.” 30
And they go to an installment house and buy a bed on time and a clock
And the children grow up asking each other, “What can we do to kill time?”
They grow up and go to the railroad station and buy tickets for Texas, Pennsylvania, Alaska.
“Kalamazoo is all right,” they say. “But I want to see the world.”
And when they have looked the world over they come back saying it is all like Kalamazoo. 35

The trains come in from the east and hoot for the crossings,
And buzz away to the peach country and Chicago to the west
Or they come from the west and shoot on to the Battle Creek breakfast bazaars
And the speedbug heavens of Detroit.

“I hear America, I hear, what do I hear?” 40
Said a loafer lagging along on the sidewalks of Kalamazoo,
Lagging along and asking questions, reading signs.

Oh yes, there is a town named Kalamazoo,
A spot on the map where the trains hesitate.
I saw the sign of a five and ten cent store there 45
And the Standard Oil Company and the International Harvester
And a graveyard and a ball grounds
And a short order counter where a man can get a stack of wheats
And a pool hall where a rounder leered confidential like and said:
“Lookin’ for a quiet game?” 50

The loafer lagged along and asked,
“Do you make guitars here?
Do you make boxes the singing wood winds ask to sleep in?
Do you rig up strings the singing wood winds sift over and sing low?”
The answer: “We manufacture musical instruments here.” 55

Here I saw churches with steeples like hatpins,
Undertaking rooms with sample coffins in the show window
And signs everywhere satisfaction is guaranteed,
Shooting galleries where men kill imitation pigeons,
And there were doctors for the sick, 60
And lawyers for people waiting in jail,
And a dog catcher and a superintendent of streets,
And telephones, water-works, trolley cars,
And newspapers with a splatter of telegrams from sister cities of Kalamazoo the round world over.

And the loafer lagging along said: 65
Kalamazoo, you ain’t in a class by yourself;
I seen you before in a lot of places.
If you are nuts America is nuts.
And lagging along he said bitterly:
Before I came to Kalamazoo I was silent. 70
Now I am gabby, God help me, I am gabby.

Kalamazoo, both of us will do a fadeaway.
I will be carried out feet first
And time and the rain will chew you to dust
And the winds blow you away. 75
And an old, old mother will lay a green moss cover on my bones
And a green moss cover on the stones of your postoffice and city hall.

Best of all
I have loved your kiddies playing run-sheep-run
And cutting their initials on the ball ground fence. 80
They knew every time I fooled them who was fooled and how.

Best of all
I have loved the red gold smoke of your sunsets;
I have loved a moon with a ring around it
Floating over your public square; 85
I have loved the white dawn frost of early winter silver
And purple over your railroad tracks and lumber yards.

The wishing heart of you I loved, Kalamazoo.
I sang bye-lo, bye-lo to your dreams.
I sang bye-lo to your hopes and songs. 90
I wished to God there were hound dogs of bronze on your public square,
Hound dogs with bronze paws looking to a long horizon with a shivering silver angel, a creeping mystic what-is-it.

Fuzz

May this brighten anyone's day:



I know. I'm ridiculous.

To Any and All Beatles Fans

If you love, like, or even aren't sure about (which I'm not sure why you wouldn't be, but that's besides the point) The Beatles, see this post about the Beatles by JBev of JamsBio Magazine. I just found it for the first time thanks to @skinnermike who Twittered about it.

JBev takes all The Beatles' songs and ranks them along with a description on his opinions about them. Now, of course not everyone agrees with his rankings, but he backs up his opinions. It is a very interesting commentary along with some obviously great tunes.

Even if you don't really like or know much of The Beatles, this really breaks it down. There are plenty of songs that I still have not heard before so I'm pretty much going to be using this as my playlist for a good while. I feel the need, and really want to educate myself more on this highly influential band even though I already consider myself quite a Beatles fan.

Photo credit: The Beatles by Richard Avedon via Kill Gil's flickr.

Speaking of Richard Avedon, he's probably my favorite photographer, ever since I saw a show of his last summer in Paris. He does excellent work. More of his work can be found here.