What I listened to most in '08.

My bro-in-law does this list every year (see this year's incarnation here) and I've decided to chip in, too.
My criteria was not only play-count, but what records this year I've actually told people about.
You ought to respond with your own list, I'm always curious as to what folks are listening to.

1. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

I'm surprised every time KOL puts out a record at how good they actually are. They are kind of entering a U2 phase with really big, arena rock songs right now, but they are still awesome songs and they are so tight live that it works for them. Plus, they've got much love for my Sooners.

2. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

Trendy? Maybe. But so good. I love the imagery they create - that is evident in everything they do, from lyrics to how they dress - of a yacht club rock show in the Hamptons.



3. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Another band who just physically embodies the way their music sounds. "He Doesn't Know Why" is to me now, what MMJ's "The Way That He Sings" was 7 years ago. Who is this "He"? Probably Hugh Jackman.



4. Twilight Sad - Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did

The first of two Scottish bands on the list. This being the gateway band for me. The brogue is thick and the music fitting for a cold, wet island. It would be a little depressing if not for that William Wallace via Mel Gibson rallying the troops strain of hope that persists. A little more experimental than the next group of Scots.

5. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Flight

A recent addition, but I'm really digging it. It's more than just the accents that somehow lend credibility to this style of music, not exactly shoegazing but its roots are there.
p.s. For further listening, Glasvegas combines Scottish brooding with Phil Spector's patented Wall of Sound with cool results.

6. Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul

Oasis does one thing and one thing only, make music for the Gallagher brothers to drink to. They are rock and roll, and I'm all for it, la'.




7. M83 - Saturdays = Youth

A little different for me, but it made me feel like I was in a John Hughes movie when I listened to it. Which was often.




8. Coldplay - Viva La Vida

They are the biggest band in the world and are on track to, at the end of their career, stand toe-to-toe with bands like U2 and Radiohead. And Joe Satriani wishes.



9. TV on the Radio - Dear Science,

These guys have something to say and a way to say it that is always interesting.





10. What Made Milwaukee Famous - What Doesn't Kill Us

It might be hipster rock, but these are well-crafted tunes, that guy can sing, and this band is more than a one-trick pony as far as I can tell.



And in the Original Motion Soundtrack category, give it up for Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard - The Dark Knight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.





Honorable Mentions: these albums made a big end-of-the-year push to get on the list...
Santogold - Santogold; The Tallest Man On Earth - Shallow Graves; Bon Iver - For Emma Forever Ago; Johnossi - All They Ever Wanted; Girl Talk - Feed the Animals; Weezer - Red Album; Born Ruffians - Red Yellow and Blue; My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

One day shoot followup.

Here it is: the final version of the shoot we did back in September. The spot is running now through January on Cartoon Network (mind you, not in this exact form, this is the extended "director's cut"). The spot on-air is in black & white and ridiculously shorter. We felt that the set design was so awesome though it deserved to be seen. The actors who played Dad & Mom were terrific and it's kind of a shame that there wasn't more for them to do. The bit at the very end I put in because it was hysterical to watch them as they started to lose their minds.

Pray for Obama and serve God.

Matt Chandler
Lead Pastor, The Village Church

I stayed up late Tuesday night to hear President-elect Barack Obama speak to the 225,000 or so people who gathered in Chicago's Grant Park. My mind floated to two different texts as he spoke. The first was 1 Peter 2:13-16, which says,
"Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor."
The other text was 1 Timothy 2:1-4:
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."
I don't know if the election went the way you wanted it to go but the commands of scripture moving forward are simple. Pray for Barack Obama and our government, and be servants of the living God.

Sorry, this picture is cheesy, but I like it. Is he praying or about to punch you in the face? Not sure, but that's what I want people to be contemplating when they see me, too.

So that's where all the music videos went.

Isn't it weird that you have to go online to actually get music videos from MTV (Music Television)? I can't remember the last time I saw one on the actual channel.
Thanks to Jeff for pointing this out on his site.

Hair today...

After 6 years of long hair, I finally got tired of it. The washing/drying process just takes way too long and it ends up being in a ponytail most of the time anyway. So today, my sweet friend Kay took her shears to it and I love it! I think I will be able to sleep an extra 20 minutes at least every day. Here are the before, during and after photos! Happy Saturday!

THE Wedding...

August 30 was a big day for our family. My little brother Jeff married Linde in Tyler, Texas. It was a great weekend of celebration and the wedding was just perfect. I am so excited for Linde to join our family and couldn't have asked for a better 2 sister in-laws (Lauren and Linde, lots of L's). Here are some pics...

The gorgeous FOG and MOG

Me and J

The happy couple

Linde and Me

The blog is back.

After a busy August and September, I am attempting to be a better blogger. Big 2 months, my brother got married, I started a new job, 4 friends told me they were pregnant, I had a birthday and a very busy week this week.

Wednesday night I went to the House of Blues in Dallas for the first time with my friend Anne and a couple of her friends. We got the hook up and got to hang in the Foundation Room where we hob-nobed (sp?) with the celebs. We had a great time but not going getting home until midnight kind of threw me off for the rest of the week.

Here is Anne and me with Marc Broussard, I really like his music.
Us with Sara Bareilles

Back by popular demand.

Due to several (um, two actually) requests for more posts, I'm back. So now I can officially say, "Back by popular demand..." Which is quite nice.

Also back, by no demand whatsoever, is my beard. Usually around this time of year, I like to pretend that I can grow one. I come from a family full of mustache-havers and bearded men, and I'd like to follow in that tradition, in my own patchy way.

You see, while I'm pretty good at the 5 o'clock shadow, after about a week and a half, my attempts at full facial hair look more like a case of mange. But I'm hoping, by really committing to a time frame of about a month (October becomes Octobeard), I'll get that thick winter coat for my face I've been striving for. If anybody's interested, I'll post a pic upon fruition (but only by popular demand!). It's itchy as heck in the meantime though.

Not only that, but for some reason whenever I make the effort, people are constantly asking me "Why are you growing a beard?" Which I usually take to mean, "Why would you think of covering up that handsome face?" but which invariably really means "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

But, to answer the first question, a) because it's Octobeard, that's why, and b) do you really need a reason? If you do, I stumbled upon this today that should really make you consider growing a beard, if you haven't already, and reconsider, just in case you have.

Click on either image to check it out.

Reason 6 is my second favorite. My top is Reason 1, because it's so true.

One day shoot.

Thursday at Mediajuice we shot a commercial for a popular kids' video game. This was the most involved shoot I've gotten to be a part of and was a lot of fun. We were recreating a 1950s style family sitcom and our art director, cast and crew were incredible.

Our retro set.

A little behind the scenes.

Gretchen, our art director, really had a blast with the little details.

The view from the monitor.

The happy family.

A little special FX - I can't believe it's not butter.

Applying the butter.

Steve, our Dad, was a trooper.

The butter will make more sense when we put it all together. Stay tuned for the full spot. Hopefully, we'll get to do more of these - a lot of work, but a ton of fun.

Bringing the Thunder.

First - I think it's great OKC has finally has a professional sports team.
Having gone to a few of the games when OKC was a surrogate home for the Hornets, the city definitely deserves it.
I will miss the Sonics, though I'm sure someone in Seattle will revive them eventually.
My beef stems from the new team name and logo. Maybe it's just me, but I have a major peeve with singular team names (Magic, Wild, Heat, too many MLS teams to count), and now, Thunder.
This comic strip from Garbage Time All-Stars does a pretty good jorb of summing up my feelings of underwhelm-ed-ness.

Sooner rock.

The Kings of Leon have a new album coming out September 23rd, "Only By The Night."

Album of the year.

How did I get it? Some of my best friends are pirates. I will be purchasing it upon releasing - which is saying a lot.

These guys have been making country-fried garage rock for awhile now, and are consistently getting better on each record.

Here's a quick rundown on the Kings:
1. Keeping Southern Rock alive.
2. Keeping the Rock-n-Roll Mustache alive.
3. Keeping it all in the family (made up of three brothers and a cousin).
4. Keeping it real; I saw them last year and they are a tight live band, plus, check out the drumkit in the picture. Boomer.
5. Watch this video. Sooner.

Fantasy football has arrived.

And the team to watch this year is...
The Infant Batmen.
And before anyone even asks, which came first - the picture or the team name - I'm afraid I cannot answer that. The chicken and the egg, people.

Yes, it's that time of year again. That time when grown men across the country gather together and play pretend. "Okay, Billy, you're a NFL coach and I am too, and we'll have all the best players from every team, and when they do something good, we'll get points. And the couch is safe, but if you touch the carpet you die, because it's lava!" Sounds about right.

It's also a time my wife hates, because it requires me to watch as many football games as I possibly can - not entirely necessary, but I enjoy it. Honey, you're not alone - there's even an organization you can join, Woman Against Fantasy Sports. Yikes.

I leave with our team motto - taken directly from a 1940 Batman comic.

You tell 'em, Bats.

Phoenix!

For our anniversary, my sweet husband sent me packing to Phoenix to see one of my best friends Jessica (Jason went on to brother's bachelor party at the lake). I hadn't seen Jessica since her wedding last summer and it was definitely time. We had a great weekend of relaxing, shopping, eating and playing with Daryl, her puppy. Nick was definitely outnumbered but hung out with us like a trooper.

Jessica getting kisses from Daryl D.

Their gorgeous spanish style Phoenix house. Love it!

Sadly, this was the best picture I got of the two of us!

Jessica and Nick at Houston's!

Very exciting news...I got a new digital camera while in Phoenix so expect more great pics and posts from now on. Have a great week!

A little late....

So almost a month ago we got to celebrate the wedding of our friends Mike and Jenn and I am little behind on getting the pictures up. The wedding was in Tulsa and it was beautiful. Mike and Jenn are just perfect for each other and I know they will have a great married life together.

Here is Sarah and I at the rehearsal dinner.

Craig, Mike and Jason at the Rehearsal Dinner.

Sarah, Libby and me on the dance floor.

J and me at the church.

Drew and his sexy ladies!

The gorgeous couple ready to leave for Mexico.

New post.

I had to get something else posted up. You can only have a banner of a musical starring Doogie Howser, M.D. up for so long before people begin to wonder what kind of site you're running here.
I think Leeanne was planning on doing a little re-cap of the Kimbrel wedding soon, as well as posting some pics from her Phoenix visit to her good pal Jessica's place.
I, sadly, do not have any pictures from Jeff Gidden's bachelor party weekend, but there's always a good reason not to have a camera at a bach party. You know what I'm talking about, boys.
Just kidding - it was all clean fun, out at Chad's lake house with the bros. As Jeff's old roommate Noah might say, it was a bromantic getaway with a bunch of brofessionals, that took off like a broman candle into the fratmosphere. We also watched some of the Brolympics. And from the looks of it, so did this bro.