Tune in Tuesday: Heathers the Musical

Last month Jon and I went to New York for a few days. The impetus for the trip was the impeding end of the Colbert Report, for which Jon secured tickets after news broke that Stephen Colbert would be taking over for Letterman. In addition to that taping, I talked him into seeing Heathers: The Musical. I first heard about this potential disaster over a year ago, and I did not have high hopes. If you haven't seen the movie from the 80's, check it out on YouTube. It's one of my favorite black comedies and an inspiration for other films, such as Mean Girls and Jawbreaker.

The musical is nothing short of brilliant. I didn't have high expectations going in (especially given how cheap tickets turned out to be), but both Jon and I were completely blown away by the cast and the songs. I'm still singing them now, weeks later, and we've even ordered the soundtrack. (Fair warning: this musical is VERY MUCH NSFW.)

Here's a medley of a few songs being performed on stage (so you can get an idea of the set and costumes):


This is "Candy Store," one of Jon's favorites:


And "Dead Girl Walking" (my favorite):


If you have a chance to see this musical, DO IT!

Tune in Tuesday: Kiesza

Today's video comes courtesy of the amazing Seanan McGuire, whose tumblr never fails to disappoint.



According to the OP,

* Her name is Kiesza. She is Canadian.
* She is a classically trained ballet dancer.
* She was a codebreaker in the Canadian Navy.
* The song is called Hideaway. It is the jam to end all jams.
* The song is bringing back C+C Music Factory 90s house realness.
* This is going to be huge.

Enjoy! I'm going to be dancing to this song all summer.

Music Munday: Not Literally

Today's post is another geeky parody group: Not Literally. They take catchy pop songs and make them into anthems to Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, Disney movies, Doctor Who, and tons more. Here are a few of my favorites:

"I Ship It" (aka, "The greatest ode to fandom EVER"):


"A Character I Used to Know" (spoilers for GoT):


"Through Time:"


"Walk of Shame:"


And the Hogwarts House Pride videos:

"We R Slytherins" (Slytherin, obvs; have I mentioned my weakness for Ke$ha?):


"Gryffindors:"


"Sorted This Way" (Hufflepuffs, represent!):


There's also a Ravenclaw video coming soon, which I'm really excited about.

Music Munday: Nirvana

Nirvana was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last week, and there were a few performances by contemporary artists to mark the occasion:

Joan Jett, "Smells Like Teen Spirit"


Annie Clark, "Lithium"


Lorde, "All Apologies"


Kim Gordon, "Aneurysm"

Music Munday: Coachella 2014

I haven't been to a music festival in years, and the concerts I frequent now tend to be small, acoustic, and in bars. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy some awesome live music from the comfort of my living room! Coachella was this past weekend, and thanks to the magic of YouTube and the Internet we can all experience the fun! (And save money on tickets, hotel, and airfare!)


First up, Atlanta's own Outkast, reunited:


Ellie Goulding:


The Pixies:


MGMT:


Muse:


Pharrell Williams:


Queens of the Stone Age:


There are dozens more available at YouTube thanks to buriedvoid.

Music Munday: Postmodern Jukebox

Today's Music Munday is a brief one, because I'm on my way to GCSU to see Robert Venditti!

I'm a sucker for a few things when it comes to music: mash-ups, hand claps, and pop song covers. Glee is actually pretty good at these, which helps explain the embarrassing amount of Glee sounds in my iTunes. I recently discovered a (new to me) band that does something similar: Postmodern Jukebox.



Did I mention I'm also a huge Ke$ha (Kesha? Kesha Rose?) fan? Well, I am. I absolutely ADORE this cover! A few of my other favorites:



Bluegrass "Blurred Lines"!



Doo Wop "We Can't Stop"!



Vintage "Thrift Shop"!

There are tons more at Scott Bradlee's YouTube channel.

My thoughts on Pacific Rim; or, Why Chuck Hansen should've been a girl

Tuesday night, Batman got passes for us to go to an advanced screening of Pacific Rim. If you're like me and knew nothing about the movie, here's the trailer:

I went in without really caring much about it, which probably worked in its favor. Because I thought it was awesome! Lots of fun, lots of action, an interesting world with a lot of possibilities for future sequels/prequels/spin-offs, etc. The plot was pretty by-the-book (it was exactly - EXACTLY - like Independence Day, but with mechs/Jaegers instead of fighter pilots) and the characters were one-note archetypes, but I really enjoyed it. If I were to see it again, I would not choose IMAX 3D (or at least, not in the front like we were for the screening) because I thought I was going to be sick for the first ten minutes. It took me almost the entire cold open to get used to the effects, and there were a few scenes throughout the movie that were incredibly headache-inducing. On the whole, though, it was one of the best action movies I've seen in a while.

Which brings me to my idea for how to make it even better! As you can tell from the trailer, the Jaegers are piloted by teams of two (and in one case, three). The partners have to "drift" - allow their minds to meld together - in order to successfully pilot the mechs, so it helps if they're related in some way. That's not always a necessity, though.

If you've already seen the movie, my AU/fanfic musings are below. If you haven't seen it and want to remain unspoiled, now's your chance to bail.

Still with me? Okey dokey...

I propose that the star of the movie should've been Chuck Hansen, the hot-headed, brash Australian with daddy issues. And I think he should've been a girl.

In my version (which I will happily act out with action figures, if anyone's game), the movie opens with the fight in Japan. Mako is rescued by Stacker, who has to give up piloting the Jaeger due to health problems. His partner, Herc Hansen, suggests allowing his daughter (still Chuck, because it worked for Pushing Daisies) to replace him. Fem-Chuck still has daddy issues: her mother abandoned them when she was young, so Chuck grew up idolizing her militaristic father and wanting to emulate him, even going so far as to apply for the Jaeger program to follow in his footsteps. She and her father are compatible driftmates (of course) and they go on to become one of the most successful Jaeger teams in the world. Chuck deals with feelings of inadequacy because she's trying to fill the void left by both her mother and Stacker. Plus, she's one of the first female Jaeger pilots and the near-future is about as progressive and female-friendly as our current society. She's constantly fighting for what she feels is her rightful place in society, and it makes her not very pleasant to be around as a result.

Years pass, and the Jaeger program is being shut down in favor of building the walls. Chuck and Herc travel to China, where they learn that Herc's old partner is putting together a team with the goal of blowing up the portal to the Kaiju homeworld. Mako is given the opportunity to partner with Raleigh. Stacker is against this, because he wants to protect his adopted daughter and keep her from turning into Chuck. Chuck is antagonistic to them both because she sees it as favoritism; she's used to being the female prodigy, but Mako is just as adept and has trained just as hard as she did. This is also the first time she's seen Mako since their initial meeting, and as a result Chuck is reliving her old feelings of inadequacy and abandonment. It messes with her concentration during the Hong Kong attack, leading to her father getting injured and their subsequent rescue by Gypsy Danger. When Herc is unable to go on the final strike against the breach, Chuck and Stacker team up. (They're highly compatible driftmates because they have both worked with Herc.) There's no need for Stacker to be snarky to Chuck about her "daddy issues;" if anything, he can relate because of his bond with Mako. When they have to sacrifice themselves to help Gypsy Danger destroy the portal, Chuck realizes that this is something she can do to really make a difference in the world and help save it. She's always wanted to make her father proud, and now she has the chance to do exactly that. Stacker recognizes this and realizes that he's giving his daughter a chance at a life free from the pressure of living up to him. He would much rather die a hero, helping to save the world, than have Mako watch him slowly die a painful death from radiation poisoning.

I realize that my version isn't perfect (Why doesn't Herc have radiation poisoning, too, if he's been piloting a Jaeger even longer than Stacker?), but I don't care. I'd much rather watch a female protagonist with actual characterization and motivation than three nearly identical (seriously, you can't tell these guys apart) men who are all variations on the action-hero trope. Also, I think it would be interesting to explore a father/daughter relationship, especially within the context of the drift.

NYC 2013, Part One

Last week, Jon and I went to NYC. It was an incredibly packed trip - we had something planned almost every day! This is already a super-long post (really unusual for a blog that rarely gets updated anymore), so I'm dividing it up. Here are the highlights from the first half of the week:

Saturday
Our first night, we went to a D20 Burlesque show. This one was especially awesome, because it was a tribute to Joss Whedon!

Even the drinks were Whedon-themed! I had a Slayer-Ade and it was delicious.

"Anya" and "Xander" sang and danced (and stripped) to "I'll Never Tell" from the "Once More with Feeling" episode of Buffy.

The best was definitely Astonishing X-Man Cyclops - he even had tasseled pasties over his eyes to mimic optic blasts!
Sunday
That evening, we saw ASSSSCAT 3000 at the UCB Theater. It was so crowded, we actually sat ON the stage. I didn't take any pictures in the theater, since that was a big no-no (and would've been really noticeable during the improv, considering we were practically sitting in their laps), but one of the shows is available on YouTube:


Monday
At the crack of dawn (seriously), we arrived at the Dominique Ansel Bakery to wait in line for our cronuts:

Let me tell you, the whole cronut thing is NUTS. Jon discovered them while he was researching stuff for us to do in the city, and the hullabaloo over them only intensified in the days leading up to our trip. This is an approximation of a conversation I had with my mom the day before we left:

Mom: Are you guys going to get cronuts while you're there?
Me: How do you even know what a cronut is?
Mom: They were talking about them on the news.

Holy cow. You know it's big when my mom has heard about it. So anyway, we got to the bakery a good two hours before the opening and ended up being 10th and 11th in line. One of the men in line in front of us turned out to be a homeless guy who had been paid $40 by a yuppie to wait in line for him. (!) When Dominique opened up the shop, he was really nice and said hi to everyone, but he refused to allow one guy in because he was an honest-to-God CRONUT SCALPER. Seriously, these people buy the cronuts for $5, then turn around and sell them for $20 - $50. EACH.

Long story short(-er), the cronuts were delicious. Maybe not worth standing in line for two hours again, but definitely worth it for the experience. We also went back to the bakery later in the week to try some of the other pastries; I actually preferred the salted-caramel eclair to the cronut.

Our Monday night was spent at my favorite Brooklyn bar, The Way Station. It's Doctor Who-themed! The walls are decorated in steampunk paraphernalia and the bathroom entrance is a TARDIS (because it's bigger on the inside):

The reason we went to the Way Station on this particular night, however, was because of the band playing there: The Doubleclicks! My current favorite song (and not just because they dedicated it to me, the only English major in the crowd) is "Oh, Mr. Darcy," which you can hear here:


Tuesday
We didn't have anything planned for Tuesday, but while I was getting ready in the morning Jon managed to get us tickets to that day's taping of The Daily Show. This involved going to Hell's Kitchen in the afternoon to stand in line to pick up the tickets, then coming back an hour and a half later to wait in line for the actual taping.
The show was great; John Oliver is incredibly funny and the guest was one of my favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan.

Continuing our comedy motif, that night we went to the Sweet Comedy Show. It was kind of a weird show - the comedians were great, but there were some very drunk hecklers in the balcony that really detracted from the show and threw off the vibe of the room. By a strange coincidence, I had read this excellent essay by Patton Oswalt earlier the same day. To read about how hecklers can affect a show and then to actually see them do it was disconcerting. I was glad when they finally left (after being called out by the comedians and yelled at by the rest of us in the audience), but I felt really bad for the comedians who had to put up with them during their sets.

That seems like a really weird place to end this part of the travelogue, so instead I'll leave you with this list of the 10 most satisfying cases of hecklers getting destroyed. Stay tuned for Part Two!

A story and a video

When I was an RA at Georgia Southern, one of the most repetitive tasks we had to do every summer was checking each and every dorm room to make sure that nothing was missing, damaged, stained, etc. This usually involved teams of two walking through the room, one person calling out various problems while the other wrote them down on a triplicate form that would later be verified by the residents. The majority of the time, I would write either "clean" or "good" down the entire row, unless there was an obvious problem to notate.

Now, I don't know if you've ever written the word "good" literally hundreds (if not thousands) of times in a row, but after a while it starts to look completely nonsensical. Hence, the switching up between the two equally bland adjectives.

You might be wondering what brought up this little tangent (especially after such a long absence from blogging). Well, here it is:



About 30 seconds in, I started thinking to myself, "Is that really how you pronounce 'Michael'? It sounds so weird..." but then after that I didn't care as much because, hey! it's the Coreys!

And now I really want to watch The Lost Boys again. That movie was rad and those vampires did not sparkle.

[ video via TDW ]

Aisha

Look, y'all, it's an Indian Emma:



I really wish I knew Hindi (other than "I am a big duck"), so I could understand what they were saying. I'm really looking forward to seeing Miss Woodhouse get the Bollywood treatment. Too bad there's no U.S. release date (yet?).

[via Austen Blog]

"When life gives you wheelchair, make lemonade."

I don't have cable right now (I was only able to keep up with Glee by using the elliptical machine at my gym), so I'm not really up on what's going on in the world of television. But apparently, Oprah's giving away a TV show, and I sincerely hope it goes to this guy:



If you have the time, check out Zach's other YouTube videos - his "acting reel" is comedy gold - and vote for his show here.

In other news, I acquired a kitten yesterday. She's spent the majority of the day hiding under my bed, chewing on my comics, and chasing a laser pointer. She's pretty awesome, and should probably have a real name (other than "Kitten") within the next few days.

Also, I'm leaving for Montreal in nine days. Suggested attractions to visit are welcome and encouraged, s'il vous plait.

What are you doing? What, what, what are you doing?!

Hello, everyone. Yes, it's a blog post. Shocking, I know. Sorry to have abandoned all my wonderful book blogging friends, but this school year was crazy. Plus, I've been really lazy about keeping up with my reading and reviewing. Right now, I'm sloooooowly making my way through Android Karenina. The steampunk elements (robots! gears! electromagnetic skating ponds!) are awesome. The actual classic-book-part is a little boring. Am I a terrible English major/teacher, or what?

To tide you over until my next (real) post, here's a funny video one of the other (good) English teachers showed me today. We justified looking at YouTube during post planning because a) for some reason, it wasn't blocked, and b) it's semi-Shakespeare, so it counts as "educational." Or something. Enjoy!

Lots o' Links: Comic-Con Wrap-Up Edition

I had so much fun putting together last week's Blog Post BINGO post that I've decided to do it again! This time, it's a collection of links I've been reading about Comic-Con 2009. I couldn't go, so I'm living through the lucky thousands that did.

* First up, the trailer for the new Alice in Wonderland. It's not coming out 'til next year, but I cannot wait:

Alice in Wonderland (2010) at IGN.com

(via BWE)

* SCI FI Wire has a recap of the Chuck panel. And Jeffster performed!

* Scott Allie discusses the future of Dark Horse Comics. The highlights? More Joss Whedon comics! Including a Dr. Horrible one-shot, a Serenity mini-series focusing on Shepherd Book, a Serenity one-shot written by Patton Oswalt, and a Guild comic written by Felicia Day. Yay!

* I'm not sure how I feel about this movie, but here's three clips from the upcoming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus:


(via Wired)

* Also from Wired, my girl crush Kristen Bell talks about her role in Astro Boy.

* BoingBoing Gadgets has photos of various toys for sale. There are a bunch in this Flickr pool, too.

* And finally, The Park Bench has a recap of the event from a first-timer: Preview Night, Day One, Day Two, Day Three (make sure you check out the video she links to in that one, especially if you're a Doctor Who/Torchwood fan...rowr), and Day Four

I really want to go next year. Who's coming with me? :)

BIP Blog Post BINGO: The links post

This week's challenge for the Blog Improvement Project is another blog post BINGO challenge. I'm not going to get to all 12 of them, but I'm certainly trying. Number one is a link post, so here are a bunch of random things I've found recently that are too wonderful not to share.

* Did you know that the Vatican's newspaper does movie reviews? Even better: they actually liked the new Harry Potter!

* Speaking of Harry, here's an adorable video of Japan's #1 HP fan meeting Daniel Radcliffe:


(via Gawker)

* Anyone else excited about Rock Band: The Beatles? Joystiq has the song list and a video to whet your appetite. (via my friend Luke)

* Star Wars: Uncut is Star Wars, broken down into 15 sec. segments, reshot by fans, and put back together again.

* Weezer goes 8-bit! (via BoingBoing)

* From the "Things That Make Me Go, 'Awww!'" file: an article about a Woodstock couple still together after 40 years. (also via BoingBoing)

* The (new) Doctor in costume. I gotta say, I love the bowtie! I wonder how many of these will show up at Dragon*Con this year...?

* For my fellow Game On! dieters: four myths about staying hydrated.

* After this past Peachtree Road Race, I'm thinking about joining the Atlanta Track Club to help me get serious about running. I don't know if I'll ever work my way up to "marathoner," but here's a list of 11 celebrity marathon runners to help me get motivated.

* If I ever have to get married, I only ask three things: play the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" as I'm walking down the aisle, let me have a karaoke machine at my reception, and please, for the love of God, would someone help me make a wedding video as awesome as this one?!:

Brian & Eileen's Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo.

(via i am bored)

* Any other Firefly fans out there? Check out The Browncoats - "The Hero of Canton" does surprisingly well as a pop/punk song.

* There was a bit of a kerfluffle this week when Kindle owners realized that Amazon had deleted their copies of 1984. Here's how to read it anyway.

* Because mocking the Twilight movie never gets old: "Twilight," in a Nutshell.

* And just to bring this full circle, Jimmy Fallon had some clips of DRad and RPatz's YouTube spat:

Music Munday: Mashups!

So...I was debating what to write about for today's Music Munday, and this video showed up in my Google Reader:



Yep, that's Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - two great tastes that taste crazy awesome together! I've been interested in mashups since college, when we all sat around the common room watching Dark Side of Oz (that's The Wizard of Oz on mute and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," for the uninitiated - and yes, they do sync up rather well). So for today's Music Munday, I'm presenting a few videos of my favorite mashed-up songs for your listening and viewing pleasure. FYI: these videos are uncensored, just in case you're reading this at work or around small children.

First up, a recent classic: The Beatles' "White Album" + Jay-Z's "Black Album" = DJ Danger Mouse's "Grey Album"



If you're heard of mashups at all, it's probably because of "The Grey Album." DJ Danger Mouse actually had some legal problems (99 of them? Gah, sorry, that was bad...) when he first released it online, but luckily he prevailed and it's still available here. You will need bittorent software to download it. I highly recommend it, especially if you're a Beatles or Jay-Z fan.

Next: Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" + 50 Cent's "Wanksta" = The Silence Xperiment's "Bohemian Wanksta"



I discovered this mashup a few years ago, and I love it! "Q-Unit's Greatest Hits" are available to listen to/download here. My favorite is "We Will Rock You in the Club," but I couldn't find a video for it.

Here's a few from the same DJ:

Rhianna's "Umbrella" + General Public's "Tenderness" = Party Ben's "Tender Umbrella"



Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" + The Police's "Every Step You Take" = Party Ben's "Every Car You Chase"



Oasis' "Wonderwall" + Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" + Kanye West's "Flashing Lights" = Party Ben's "Boulevard of Flashing Lights"



You can get more info and download tracks (seriously, there are dozens, and they're all pretty awesome) at Party Ben's website.

So, what do you think? If you were going to create your own mashup, what songs/artists would you use? Do you have a favorite mashup that you think I'd enjoy? Let me know!

Music Mundays are hosted by Chris. You can learn more about them here.

Waiting On Wednesday: Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

I've never done a "Waiting On..." post before, but when I checked my Google Reader this morning (okay - afternoon...I saw The Half-Blood Prince at midnight last night and needed to sleep in to get my seven hours) I found a bunch of posts about a sequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I loved.

Are you ready for this?

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters! Heck yes. Although I think Persuasion would've been a better choice for sea monsters (Captain Wentworth, the Lyme Regis trip), I can't wait to read this book.

There's an official book trailer, too:



September 15th can't come fast enough!

Music Munday: Jack Johnson

Does anyone else have certain bands or songs that they tend to listen to only during a special part of the year? My big thing is "summer music." I have several bands that I listen to during the cold, rainy months whenever I want to be reminded about the long, hot days of Summer. These also tend to be the bands that fill my iPod during trips to the beach.

I'm about halfway through my summer vacation (yay, teaching!), so for today's Music Munday, I'm going to talk about one of my favorite "summer music" artists, Jack Johnson. I first heard his music when I was in college; I was chilling at Lakeside, having breakfast, when this music video ("Flake") came on:



For me, it was love at first listen. I'm a sucker for acoustic guitars! I went out and bought his first CD, Brushfire Fairytales, which was full of beautiful melodies and oceanic imagery (probably a result of his surfer-boy Hawaiian upbringing).

This video for "Taylor," starring Ben Stiller, always cracks me up:



There's a better quality video here, but I couldn't imbed it.

This next video is my favorite song off that first album, along with a little explanation from Jack at the beginning:



For the record, I love the "la-da-da-da-da-das."

And finally, those of you with small-ish children right remember Jack's music from the soundtrack to the Curious George movie that came out a few years ago:



How cute is that? :) Jack Johnson has five CDs out now: Brushfire Fairytales, On and On, In Between Dreams, Sleep Through the Static, and Sleep Through the Static: Remixed, in addition to the Curious George soundtrack. All are great for chillaxin' by the pool or at the beach...which is exactly where I'll be listening to them in about a week in a half.

Music Mundays are hosted by Chris. You can learn more about them here.

Music Munday: A Cappella

Like many other young adults, my first exposure to a cappella came in the form of Rockapella on the TV show "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" The theme song was (and still is) completely addictive, and I admired the music they were able to make just using their voices, but it wasn't enough at the time to really pique my interest in a cappella itself.



Flash-forward several years. When I was in college, I met a fellow RA (who's name I've completely forgotten now) who was always playing a cappella music in her car. I asked her about it one day, and discovered that all the songs I had been hearing were actually the same group, Straight No Chaser. My favorite of their performances is "Africa":



The group Straight No Chaser was formed at Indiana University (the RA who introduced me to them went there for her undergrad; that's how she had heard of them). As it turns out, college a cappella is a big deal. I've found dozens of other groups through sites like last.fm. There's even a group at nearby UGA! I haven't seen them perform (yet), but I'm keeping my ears open. One group I've found and really enjoyed is TakeNote, a female group from Clemson University. Do yourself a favor and listen to their cover of "Hallelujah" on their MySpace page. With apologies to Leonard Cohen, it's one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. (You can also download it here)

And here's one last video, the Tufts Beelzebubs singing "Umbrella":



Just cause I love the arrangement. And that it's an all-male group singing a song popularized by a female singer.

And no, I'm not going to mention Glee. As much as I loved that show (hint: it's a lot), it's not a cappella. But it is awesome, and if you haven't seen the show yet you should really get on over to hulu.

Music Mundays are hosted by Chris. You can learn more about them here.

One step closing to being a "real" adult

I've been living with my parents or renting an apartment/room in a friend's house for the past ten or so years. Now that I have a real, adult job (aka a "career"), I've decided to take the plunge and buy a house. I have a little money saved up and a mediocre credit score. The one factor in my favor? It's totally a buyer's market. The county I'm living in right now is lousy with foreclosed houses, and the community banks are really eager to sell. Yesterday after work I met with a Realtor and checked out three different homes. Each has its own distinctive charm, but I'm leaning towards the cheaper one with the huge kitchen (!), appliances included (!!), and large, flat backyard just begging for a vegetable garden. One of the other houses is slightly more expensive (it has a fireplace and unfinished basement, which could be a totally boss home theater), but I don't think I could get as good a deal on it. The third house is okay (it has a lovely back porch and a big garden tub in the master bathroom), but it also has a leak in one closet and doesn't have kitchen appliances included.

So, those of you who own houses or are also in the process of buying: any suggestions? Anything you wish you had known before you signed on the dotted line? I'll be talking it over with my parents before making an offer, but my apartment lease is up at the end of June and I'm anxious to get my living situation straightened out pronto.

And, just 'cause I think it's funny and sorta-related, here's a "Cribs"-style video starring Seth Green:

Un-Broke: The Seth Green Cribs Edition - watch more funny videos

Music Munday: Mix CD

Chris started Music Mundays last week at his blog, Stuff As Dreams Are Made On... and I really wanted to participate, but school was really hectic and I just didn't get a chance to write a post. Good thing I waited, because now I have some excellent music to post about.

Last Thursday was finals day for first and third period. I adore my first period class; seeing them was always a great start to my day. One of my wonderful students showed up on finals day even though he didn't have to take the test (students who don't miss too many days and have a certain GPA can exempt) and he brought me a mix CD! There's some really great songs on here, and I wanted to share them with you guys. There are twenty songs on here, so I won't get to them all, but here are a few of my favorites.

1. "Halo" - Beyoncé
The songs on the CD aren't labeled, so I've had a time trying to figure them out. The first one was relatively easy, though. I realized it was Beyoncé on the second or third play. Full disclosure: I'm not a big fan of hers. I think she's a big ol' diva and I really wish she would give up on her "acting." That said, this song has a way of getting stuck in my head, and I love the beat:


2. "Don't Trust Me" - 3OH!3
This song is completely inappropriate (there's an f-bomb early in the video, so don't watch it at work or near little kids), but I love it. The video's a bit strange, but the song makes me want to get up and dance:


3. "Champion" - Flipsyde
According to the internets, this song was used for all of the US teams during the 2008 Olympics. Very apropos, I think. Another NSFW video - these kids listen to music with such bad language these days!


4. "Gives You Hell" - The All-American Rejects
This was one song I had heard and liked before I got the mix CD - I've been a fan of TAAR since college.


5. "Ain't No Rest For the Wicked" - Cage the Elephant
This is another song I liked previously. I have no idea how I ended up with this song in my iTunes (I tend to download a bunch of random songs from various music blogs and then cull through them later), but it's already gotten quite a few plays. I love the steel guitar.


So there you have it! Does this kid have great taste in music or what? I'll probably end up posting about the rest of the songs at a later date.

Visit Chris's Music Mundays post for more!