iPod Speakers

Apparently someone in my family is getting me something off of my Urban Outfitters wishlist for Christmas. Maybe it will be the Air Curve iPod Speaker that is just a block of plastic with airways in it.

If not, then I guess I could make my own DIY paper cup speakers! I found this article on NoiseAddicts. I haven't made these yet, but it looks simple enough.

Pancakes

Now that it is winter, you can make pancakes on the weekend and eat them in your slippers and flannel pajamas with a hot cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate!

While on a recent trip to the grocery store, I discovered Bruce's Sweet Potato Pancake Mix. I always thought you could only get sweet potato pancakes by going to a diner or to IHOP during the holidays. (Remember when IHOP used to have those Country Griddle Cakes which were pancakes made with Cream of Wheat? Now they just have a bunch of things that make me want to gag like pancakes with bits of cheesecake in them - yuck).

Anyway, these sweet potato pancakes are great and so easy to make!! I topped them with Cool Whip leftover from the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Yummy!

My friend Tami writes the most interesting Facebook posts, mostly about political issues. Reently she posted about how much she loves a breakfast of Nutella pancakes and coffee with Bailey's. Right on, Tami!

I like Nutella, but I have never actually bought any to keep in my house, let alone put it on pancakes. I'll have to try it.

What are your favorite pancakes? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Not Guilty

This is the seventh in a series of blog entries about songs picked at random from my itunes library. For the post on the last song, "Flume" go (here). For "Ras Trent" go (here). For "Hole to Feed" go (here). For "Every Little Thing" go (here). For "No Surprises" go (here). For "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Love Version)" go (here).

"Not Guilty" is a George Harrison song from his 1979 self-titled album, but actually written years earlier in 1968 while The Beatles were in Rishikesh.

As Wikipedia notes, the original version (featured on The Anthology 3) is "harsher, driven by electric guitar and harpsichord." That is the version that popped up on my itunes. I don't think I've ever actually heard the 1979 version. The only George Harrison albums I have are Living in the Material World, the Concert for Bangaladesh, and, of course, All Things Must Pass (My favorite album)! I haven't listened to the first two yet.

So, I decided to go on itunes and get the George Harrison version and write a comparison here! The thing is, once I listened to the free 30 second demo I could see I didn't need to buy it. The '79 version is all mellow and has none of what I love about the original. The '68 version is angry and heartfelt - why don't you guys let George have more than a couple of songs on the album!? The '79 version is a little too 1979. The soft keyboards (or whatever that bell-like sound is) in the background make it seem more like (gasp) elevator music. I don't want to hear dentist-office soft strains played to lyrics like, "Not Guilty of looking like a freak, making friends with every Sikh" (which, by the way, I always thought until now was "making friends you didn't seek").

For my money (which would be 99 cents if you could buy Beatles music on itunes) the 1968 version is the best. Go listen to it. Somehow.

Random Band Names

I love sites like this one: Random Band Name, Album Cover, and Album Title. It shows you how to make your very own album cover! Above is mine.

Palace of Culture's Debut album The Thing Itself, coming soon!

Here's how you do it:

First, go to Wikipedia and hit "random": The first article you get is the name of your band!

Next, go to The Random Quotations Page. Your album title is the last three or four words from the very last quote on the page.

Finally, go to Flickr's "Explore the Last Seven Days": The third picture is your cover photo!

Next, edit it all together with photo editing software. Don't have any? Try FotoFlexer, the free online picture editor!

You'll have so much fun, you'll want to make your own random Young Adult Novel cover, too!

Swirl, the latest Young Adult novel from Francesca Dean, author of Darken.

I'd love to see your covers - post them in the comments!

Etsy

Etsy is an online store where people sell crafty things they have made. I've never bought anything there, but when I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding (see my previous post here) she got us all these cute bags as a bridesmaids' gift.

Anyway, you don't have to buy anything from this site to enjoy it. The best part is the browse by "color" section! It's so cool! There is a colorful grid of circles and when you click on a color, they show you a bunch of cute crafts that are that color!

I don't know why I think that is so fun, but I do. These are pictures of three things I found when I looked at the color of this blog: A scotty dog zipper pull, a bunny patch, and gummy bear earrings.

Pandora

I have cable and there is a section of music stations on my TV. I used to put it on a lot (before I got a radio for my living room) while I was cleaning the house or at parties, etc. Today I discovered that they have replaced the musicals station with something called "Stage and Screen." When I went there it was playing Jessica Simpsons' "These Boots are Made for Walking" from the soundtrack of The Dukes of Hazzard. Not exactly what I was looking for. So I changed to a station called "Retro Rock" thinking it was going to be music from the 50's and 60's. It plays music from 1991.

And so, I went to Pandora. If you don't already know about Pandora, it is an online radio station made just for you. You create stations based on bands, songs, or genres you enjoy and it plays just that music and music like it! You can even set it to "Quickmix" and it will play random selections from all of your stations.

Pandora also has a free iPhone app! I wrote about it a few months ago (here). It's a must-have.

Here is a list of songs that played on my Quickmix this afternoon:

1) HooDoo: Muse

2) Beware of Darkness: George Harrison

3) Rain: The Beatles

4) A Must to Avoid: Herman's Hermits

5) Eleanor Rigby (Live): Paul McCartney

6) Drive: Incubus

7) Come Together: The Beatles

8) Never Let You Go: Third Eye Blind

• I don't actually like this song, but OK.

9) Get it On: T. Rex

• Ditto this one. Still better than Jessica Simpson.

10) Yellow (Live): Coldplay

• "If you stand up we'll buy you all ice cream."

11) I Want You Back: The Kooks

• I've never heard this before, part of the fun of Pandora radio.

12) Revolution (Love Version): The Beatles

• "ALL RIGHT!"

13) Can't Explain (Live at Leeds): The Who

14) Float On: Modest Mouse

• So THAT is what this song is called...

15) Superhero (Live): Stephen Lynch

16) I'm On a Boat: The Lonely Island

17) The Wind Cries Mary (Live): Jimi Hendrix

18) Trouble: Coldplay

• Why so much Coldplay today? I don't even have a Coldplay station.

19) The Song that Goes Like This: Spamalot

• I don't care about Spamalot, but I do think this song is cute.

20) Loro: Pinback

• I've also never heard this before. It came up on my MGMT station.

To be honest, I did use all six of my skips. :)

A couple of my friends have a beef with Pandora that it almost never plays female artists unless you are on a female artist themed station. They have a point - except for half of "The Song that Goes Like This" none of those songs were sung by women. The twenty-first song was "Over and Over" by Rachel Yamagata care of my "This Never Happened Before" station, though. (It's my only station inspired by a song instead of a band). That is a pretty good song, too. I think I'll add a Rachel Yamagata station. Go women!

Christmas Presents

I have finished my Christmas shopping (except for one last gift, which I will describe below). Since I doubt any of my friends or family read this blog and in the hope that detailing my choices might help some of you who have not yet been able to check everyone off your list, here is what I got.

Gift cards. Brothers and husbands of relatives be prepared. You are boys and you always say things like, "You shouldn't have wasted your money on this" so gift cards it is. I realize the irony of the fact that you also do not like shopping, but oh well.

Online shopping! Almost all of my gifts were ordered online. For relatives who live far away, I opted to have the gifts wrapped at the store and sent directly to their homes so I don't have to go to the post office!

Old Navy.com: While the store only carries certain sizes, the online store has all sizes, including Plus Size. You can sometimes get free shipping, too. I ordered this faux fur hoodie which is the perfect compromise for Southern California life: a little fancier than a hoodie but not as heavy as a real jacket! Plus, it has snaps instead of a zipper. Really cute and warm!

Amazon.com: I ordered the DVD box set of The Flintstones for my mom. She loves The Flintstones, plus I know someone is getting her a new Blueray Player. I thought about ordering the Beatles Rock Band game for the Wii, but opted instead for the slightly more affordable Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Urban Outfitters.com: You know I love UO. They have tons of totally cute gifts for young and old male and female alike! if you have totally skinny friends and relatives you can get cute clothes, but for everyone else there are tons of fun gifts, accessories, books, music, toys, and items for the home/apartment. Plus, there are a lot of cute things that are cheap! I got this scarf and this throw for my sisters and they were each only $10, which made the shipping and gift wrapping affordable. They are not labeled, though, so the girls will just have to decide amongst themselves who gets what. My Dad gets this Where's Waldo? puzzle.

A Wacky gift: Gift exchanges are fun and they allow you to cover a lot of your friends without having to spend a lot of money. My friends and co-workers are hosting a wacky tacky gift exchange party. Apparently, we are supposed to get things like a singing plastic fish, etc. I haven't bought anything yet. Ideas?