Bunny Baking

I was ambitious this Easter and made a bunny cake, Easter egg cupcakes and assorted Easter-shaped cut-out cookies.

I left the bow tie coconut free. Need help assembling your own bunny cake? Click here for video instructions!

My tia gave me some Easter egg cupcake tins that she bought at a garage sale. This was the first time I used them, and they were cute so I might make them again next year. 

Usually cut-out cookies require frosting and decorating, which I've complained about before. I didn't think I could enlist frosters and decorators like I can at Christmas so I sprinkled them with assorted colored sugar before I popped them in the oven. The decorating was complete as soon as they came off of the baking sheet. And they were still pretty and tasty!

Here's An Idea...

If you don't know about the PBS Idea Channel, stop reading this and check it out. Here's one of my favorite episodes.

Press the Eject

This band is as good as chocolate cake!
 

Profile

I'm not turning this into a political blog, but this Daily Show piece that is narrated (and sung a little) by Leonard Nimoy is too good not to share.  I completely cracked up around the 2:30 mark.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Questions

 A Question of Lust. 


Today is Martin Gore's birthday and when I heard that, all I could think of was this song. It is my favorite Depeche Mode song where he sings lead. 


I don't know if his Wikipedia entry is accurate, but it's a fascinating read.

Promises, Promises

I have a trial subscription to SiriusXM, which I use to listen to very few of the hundreds of stations available. My dial is mostly tuned to 1st Wave, which is their "classic alternative" station. About 1 in 3 songs that I hear on this station are already on my iPod, but occasionally they'll play a song that I almost forgot existed like this great tune:

Weren't the 80's the best time ever?

Punch Brothers Punch

The Punch Brothers came out with a new album last week. If you aren't familiar with the Punch Brothers, give them a listen below.

"This Is The Song" from Live from the Lower East Side: It's p-Bingo Night! from Punch Brothers on Vimeo.

You might recognize the gorgeous lead singer and mandolin player, Chris Thile, from Nickel Creek or from the recent Goat Rodeo Sessions with Yo Yo Ma. But all of the members of the group are incredible musicians and their albums are like nothing else out there.

There is a tour to support the new album, Who's Feeling Young Now? and I would highly recommend seeing The Punch Brothers live. I saw them on their last tour and was wowed by the music and charmed by their personalities. It was great to hear their own songs played live, but one of the best things about that show was their rendition of The Strokes, Reptillia, which I've posted below.

Eighties Mania!

Back in April, I won tickets to the Eclipse tour, which is a concert headlined by Journey. The other two bands are Night Ranger and Foreigner. It was my ultimate I-wouldn't-buy-these-tickets-but-would-go-if-they-were-free concert. Here's the official trailer for the tour!





The show was actually great! My concertmate and I knew we would be running late , but we saw most of it. I was mainly interested in seeing Journey anyway, and we caught their whole set. They played some songs from their new (who knew?) album, called "Eclipse" and all the songs I wanted to hear except "Who's Crying Now?" Their lead singer, Arnel Pineda, has a voice that deserves to fill an amphitheater or arena. He sounds a lot like Steve Perry, but he managed to make the songs his own. And you could tell he was having the time of his life! If you don't know his story watch the video from CBS Sunday Morning. It's a little corny, but sweet.

Folksy Trio

I saw a great live concert the other night on what was possibly the hottest night of the year. The first performers were The Secret Sisters, Brandi Carlile was the opening act and the top-bill was Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs. If the show hasn't hit your town yet, I highly recommend catching it. It was pretty perfect from start to finish, although there was a minor gaffe where Ray forgot the words to a song (that was actually kind of cute.)

Here are some clips of the performers I saw, which are great, but pale in comparison to the live concert.

All Rise

This song popped up on my iPod the other day. It's from Volume 49 of the British version of "Now That's What I Call Music" that was released a while back. It's got a good beat and it's easy to dance to, but it's very much a boy band song. It makes no sense.

What makes this song particularly great is all the legal terms thrown in. Here are my favorite lines:

"And if you thought you had me fooled, I'm telling you now, objection overruled!"

"I'm going to tell it to your face, I rest my case!"

"I just can't wait, now the case is open wide"

"You'll try to pray, but the jury will decide."

I'd like to file an appeal since this video should have been set in a courtroom.

Suspension

My mom got the DVD box set of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century for Christmas and we watched the first two-part episode today. I remember watching the show as a kid, but I don't know whether I've ever seen the pilot. What I do know is that I was completely taken by surprise when the theme song started and the familiar tune had lyrics!



When the end credits rolled, I found out the song was sung by Kipp Lennon, who has a website with audio clips available for download. Do yourself a favor and download Suspension (Theme from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) immediately! It is awesome.

I'm Your Man

I watched Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man the other day. Mr. Cohen is best known for his version of Hallelujah, which might itself be better known as sung by Rufus Wainwright (from Shrek) or Jeff Buckley. I was familiar with the songs in this movie since they popped up on my late beloved Launchcast station. His songs are great, but I have to admit I prefer them as interpreted by other people.

Here's an example of his singing style.




This is the version of "Tonight Will Be Fine" that was on the DVD as performed by Teddy Thompson.




The movie itself was good. It was partly a biography and partly a documentary about a tribute concert. It's worth a viewing and the soundtrack is definitely worth a listen.

Unlikely like

My music taste is generally in the alternative genre, but I also like indie. And I love college radio.

Every once in a while I like something that can only be classified as pop. Usually, it's a sappy song with a good hook that gets me.

So here's the latest song that I hate to admit I like. The worst thing may be that it's by someone from American Idol. The horror!






I like this video. It's cute!

Adios, Passions!

One of my favorite television shows and definitely my favorite soap opera ever has come to an end. The series finale of Passions aired last week. Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch it when it aired since I don't have DirectTV, but by following this link (thanks for sending it to me jenni!) I saw it today. It's a good ending to a crazy show.

Here's part 5 of 5 for those interested in knowing the fates of the residents of Harmony. If you never watched it (or haven't watched it lately) start with part one, which might not explain anything really.

So, goodbye Harmony residents! I'll miss you!

Lorain International Festival

Lorain, Ohio is famous for a few things: Toni Morrison, the Rose Garden, Dog 'n Suds and The International Festival.* The International is this weekend at the Black River Landing site in beautiful downtown Lorain.

I guess technically it's been going on all week, but the important part starts today -- the food bazaar. For the low (and still controversial) price of $1, you gain admittance to over 40 booths of ethnic foods. There are other things to do at the festival but those are just distractions between eating.

The princess pageant was last night. I'm not sure if any of them "tapdanced her way into the hearts of the judges," but here are some of this year's princesses:






I'll be on the lookout for the queen and her court while stuffing my face with paprikash, chicken-on-a-stick, tamales, pastelillos, baklava, lady locks...

*Lorain also makes the news periodically for things like seeing Jesus in an ultrasound.

Sugar and Lime

The song currently running non-stop through my head:

Tips

I was driving around for a few hours yesterday, which gave me some thinking time, and my mind started to wander to thoughts of Christmas. I didn't think of presents or decorations or even Christmas baking. I thought of the song for my Christmas letter.


The best letters splice the events of the past year with song lyrics. It saves time because half the work is done before you start typing! Here are past songs that provided the better parts of my letters.


My first letter used "Come Clean" by Hilary Duff.





Last year's song was "Rush" by Aly and AJ.






If you know what these songs have in common besides their awesomeness, then you might be able to guess this year's song/artist. The only hint I can give is that it's a breakup song that turns into a duet at the end when the guy that the singer is breaking up with whines, "what about us?"

Also, I found this website that's guaranteed to make my letter writing easier. If I just follow these 10 simple tips, I'm sure to write the best letter ever!

Stevie Wonder on Sesame Street

stevie wonder on sesame street

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I love the brief glimpse of the kids groovin' to the beat.

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