3.31.2007

Saturday at the Zoo... again!

Yay... more pics of yet another trip to the zoo.

This time John was swarmed by the lorkeets and the tigers were incredibly active. Usually, they are sitting regally at the back of their exhibit. PLUS, the gibbons were talking like crazy right before we left at around 11:30 a.m.

Here's a little vid that John took of their jabbering. I love the gibbon scream that sounds like a man shouting "heeeeeeeyyyy!".



If you haven't been to the Nashville Zoo... it's time you checked it out!
I'm serious.
GO.

3.29.2007

The Donald wants a new do

What will happen in the "Battle of the Billionaires"?

Oh my!

Not that I really care (sorry John) but I just find the whole thing pretty transparent and the spectacle of it all kinda cracks me up.

I predict that Donald Trump is going to "lose" on Sunday night.

Why?

Because... he wants to change his hair... but he doesn't want it to look like he's caved to all the criticism of his comb-over.

So, if he loses a "bet"... well... then he has to do it, right?

Duh.

Everyone knows the WWE is a glorified male soap-opera (sorry John).

It's all planned out. (yes... it is. stop denying it.)

The Donald's buddy, Vince McMahon, is going to help him out. (oh no he didn't... oh yeah he did.)

Can't you see the two of them sitting around with their stogies and scotch in The Donald's gold plated den at his Manhattan apartment, workin' out the plot?!

VINCE: "Heh... okay... we'll call this press conference about the big "match". (Vince uses 'rock quotes' when he says the word "match".) I'll go to shake your hand... but at the last second you'll yank your hand away and I'll pull your tie."

**loud hearty laughter**


They each lean back in their gold-studded, leather wing-back chairs and take a big drag.

THE DONALD: "Yeah... yeah... wait... and how 'bout this?! After you pull my tie, I'll act all pissed off and bitch slap you really hard."

**knee slapping and raucous laughter**

VINCE: "Now... that's some funny sh*t right there."

THE DONALD: "Those smucks... no one will ever suspect that I just want a new hair cut."

VINCE: "Yeah... and they'll pay you and I for that hair cut... a few million times over."

THE DONALD: **heh**

VINCE: **heh**

**bwwwaaaahahahahahahahaaaaa**

I'm just sayin... that's how I see it.
**wink**

3.27.2007

Tin Pan South - My top picks

OK... so I screwed up. I didn't get my Tin Pan South pass in time... they sold out of them a couple weeks ago. So... if you know anyone who isn't using theirs (fat chance!) or of anyone who has an extra one... post a comment down there... I will buy it!

In the meantime.... I thought I'd share my top pick's for the week:

TUESDAY:

WEDNESDAY:

THURSDAY:

FRIDAY:

SATURDAY:

3.25.2007

Nashville Zoo X2

We went to the Zoo TWICE this weekend.
**yesssssss**

Yesterday (also known as John's birthday), we saw the McCaws, the gibbon, the meerkats, the alligators, the tigers, the cougars, the lemurs, the red pandas, the snow leopards, the guenons, the golden eagle, Francis, Craig, the African crowned crane, the bongo, the zebras, ostriches and elans.

Today, we saw the lorkeets, the red river hogs, the African elephants and the giraffe. We even got to see the keepers putting the McCaws out... very cool.

Both days, we were there between 9 - 9:30 a.m., a GREAT time to be at the zoo. Right away when the zoo opens, all the animals are awake, active and there aren't as many people to navigate.

This morning, we were the first people to visit the Lorkeet's... it was AWESOME. They were swarming the keeper when we walked in... and then they swarmed us. It was so much FUN.

If you want to see pics of our two day zoo adventure, go here. John also got some great shots of a Lorkeet trying to pick my nose. Heh.

Go to the Zoo.
It ROCKS.

3.22.2007

she ran callin' wildfire...

Wow... I had a flashback today while eating lunch with a colleague at the Listening Room today.

They had the 95.5 "The Wolf" piping into the restaurant when the song "Wildfire" came on.

Right then and there I was transported to 1970-something. Suddenly, I was riding in my parent's white Mercury with a brown vinyl roof... on a gravel road... somewhere in Knox County, Nebraska... corn fields all around.

As the song played... I knew every single word. I could see the horse with a long flowy mane and a woman running in the woods screaming its name, "Wildfire."

It's one of those songs I LOVED as a kid. I can remember walking around the farm, doing chores, hiking in the pasture... you name it... singing it at the top of my lungs.

What I couldn't remember this afternoon was the artist's name.

Drat.

So, I asked the people there if they knew.
They were having the same trouble that I was having...

Who was it?!

Pure Prarie League was the best guess.
Incorrect... but a good guess nonetheless.

So... thanks to Google... the puzzle has been solved.

Artist: Michael Martin Murphy.
Writer: Larry Cansler

whew.
I'd have obsessed about that all day.

3.21.2007

Dang! Tell me...

Three songwriting friends, Jon Nite / Bud Tower and Jackie DiPillo, are finalists in a CMT song contest.

It's turned into an all out vote war.

So, check out their songs:

"Tell Me" -- Jon Nite / Bud Tower
"Dang" -- Jackie DiPillo /Lisa Chamberlin/Chris Caminiti

If you like the songs, please cast your vote for them.
Stuff the ballot box if you want!
(There is no limit to the number of times you can vote.)

THANK YOU!

Dirt flavored jelly beans?

Was talking with my friend David in Boston yesterday about his visit to the Jelly Belly factory in California a week-or-so ago.

While he was there, he got to sample the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

What I didn't know is that these are the preferred flavors of Harry Potter... a 10-flavor selection that includes pickle, black pepper, booger, dirt, earthworm, earwax, sausage, rotten egg, soap and vomit.

Yuck.

David said he tried the "dirt" and the "grass". When I asked him what the dirt jelly belly tasted like, he said, "Dirt."

Wow.
What will they think of next.

PS to my Dad:
Don't worry... as much as you love Jelly Bellies... this ISN'T what I'm sending you for your birthday! **wink** HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD! **mwah**

3.20.2007

iron man

We saw this gianormous, not-quite-complete, iron man statue on the way back from our Mexican lunch rendezvous today. It is easily 15 - 20 feet high.

You can't see the detail in my camera phone pic (note to self: must get better camera phone!), but there are metal eyelashes on iron man's eyes. His legs are made of old electric switch boxes. And he's even got a cap.


It was amazing. Someone has put an incredible amount of time and thought into this.

Wish I knew the name of the artist so I could find more of their stuff!

It's all fun and games...

until the flying monkeys attack.
I don't know why,
but something about this saying is just so funny to me...
I had to buy the T-shirt.
Heh.

3.18.2007

Supper for Clocky

John and I spent the entire Sunday together... and it ROCKED.

I actually got to cook supper for HIM for once.

YAY!

He requested fried chicken and mashed potatoes with homemade chicken gravy.

As an added bonus, I made real, homemade mac'n'cheese... baked in the oven. I used lowfat buttermilk, shredded Italian cheeses and, of course, Velveeta... with lots of butter... to counteract the lowfat buttermilk. Heh.

Here's a photo progression of the yumminess once it hit our plates:

MMmmmmmGgggooood.

Clocky LOVED it.
Yay!
YAY!

We have your sauce.

Remember my great Publix customer service story a couple weeks ago.

Well... it keeps getting better.

This morning, as John and I were making our grocery list for the week and enjoying a cup of coffee at the Frothy Monkey, we actually talked about the fact that we hadn't heard back from Publix re: our special spaghetti sauce request. We were wondering if they had tracked it down and noted that we were surprised that we hadn't heard from them.

After our cups were empty and our list was complete, we were off to run errands and get groceries at Publix.

When we arrived in the sauce isle, what do you think we found?!

Three rows of Classico Spicy Tomato & Pesto sauce.

**in Napoleon Dynamite voice**
Yesssssss!

So, eventhough the sauce wasn't on the list (we have two in the cupboard already), we bought two for $1.85 (normally it's about $3.50 a jar). I mean... it after all that, it would be rude of us not to buy some, right?!

AND... that's not all. This story gets even sweeter.

When we got home from the store, the message light on our answering machine was flashing. John saw it and the caller ID first... and said, "I think I know what this message is..."

Sure enough, at around 9:35 this morning while we were eating breakfast and drinking our coffee... Publix left this message for us:

"This is your Nipper's Corner Publix calling. We just wanted to let you know that your special request order is in. You'll find it in two places, the spaghetti isle and in the "special request" area right as you walk in the store...."

Wow.
Impressive... again.
Thank you, Nipper's Corner Publix.

3.16.2007

Alien Update: In case you're wondering...

Shako's about to pop out of the top of his test tube (Photos: left - 3/16; center - 3/14; right - 3/12).

His little antenna are touching the non-removable lid.

Not sure what's gonna happen over the weekend.
**shaking in shoes**

New Shoes

I've been jammin' out to Paolo Nutini's album... a new little discovery of mine. Me actually owning the album is an exercise in brilliant marketing.

A few months ago, iTunes had a featured free download of a song called "New Shoes". I'd never heard of the artist, but thought, "what the heck... it's free... I'll check it out."

So, I downloaded the song.

It was friggin' amazing. Made me want to dance around. I listened to it over and over and over.

But at the time, an album wasn't available yet. Bummer.

So, of course, when new Paolo Nutini CD "These Streets"(including that song) release was featured on iTunes a few weeks ago, I went to iTunes to check it out. $7.99 later... I owned the album.

And, if his show hadn't been sold out last weekend when he came through Nashville (presumably partly because people found out about him on iTunes), I would have paid another $10 bucks to see him play live at 3rd & Lindsley.

From what I can tell by his website, all of his shows are pretty much sold out and/or they've moved the venue to accomodate more people.

Just goes to show you that if you have the right song (s), the right artist, and a plan... you can get something new out to the music consumer without mainstream radio (well as far as I know anyway... I haven't heard Paolo anywhere but Lightning 100).

Nice.

Jedd Hughes

Jedd Hughes is a phenomenal guitar player and an incredible artist in his own right. Last night he performed as a sideman for the late show at the Bluebird and was asked to sing a couple of his songs during the performance. Jedd's solo performance was the highlight of the entire night... well... plus the band was incredible (Henry Stinson, Tom Bukovac, Allison Prestood, Jelly Roll Johnson and Jedd). He played his acoustic with a little color provided by Buky. I'd seen him before... but this just reminded me that he has "it".

Check him out and support his new album that will be coming out on Capitol very soon.

3.14.2007

the soundtrack of my mind

One of the hazards of being a singer / songwriter is that there is always a song... or a piece of a song playing inside my head. Even when I was a kid, there was always some tune playing in my mind... it wasn't unusual for me to get in trouble for singing at the table. Hee hee.

So today... I thought I'd share the soundtrack of my mind. (And... by all means... please share your soundtrack, too. Post it in the comments section. I'd love the opportunity to hear new songs and/or share music ideas / memories.)

7:28 a.m. Tell the Truth
Written by Lee Roy Parnell and Tony Arata from Lee Roy's album "Tell the Truth" This song smacked me between the eyes the very first time I heard it. The lyrics are so honest. Lee Roy's voice is flawless and sincere. And, his slide playing... like butter. MmmmMmmmmmmGood.

8:43 a.m. Must be Midnight
Written by Karleen, Rachel and me. If you want to check it out, you'll find a rough guitar / vox version of it on my space.

9:30 a.m. The Suit
Written by Hugh Prestwood, sung by James Taylor on Jerry Douglas' album Lookout for Hope. Hugh Prestwood was performing this song at a writer's workshop the first time I ever heard it... and I cried, quietly, right there in front of everyone. The song is about a farmer from Nebraska... made me think of my Grandpa Petersen.

9:53 a.m. Right on Time
Written and recorded by Al Anderson on his After Hours CD This is the theme song of my life. As far as I know, no one as cut this song yet... but they should. It is amazing.

10:39 a.m. Your love is better than ice cream
By Sarah McLachlan. My favorite version of this song is on her The Freedom Sessions album. In fact, I love the simplicity and realness of every song on that CD. It was the first SM album I ever owned... I still play the crap out of it. If it were a cassette... it would be toast right now.

11:56 a.m. I shot the Sheriff
Written by Bob Marley, sung by Eric Clapton. It just popped into my head when I heard about a bank robber who was captured this morning. No sheriff deputies were harmed as far as I know. (Yes, I know the song doesn't make sense for the story... but I can't help that! My mind is just random that way. Heh.)

1:16 p.m. She'd Give Anything
Written by Jeffrey Steele and recored by Boy Howdy... it's in my head because the subject line in an email I just received was "Boy Howdy!"

1:37 - 2:41 p.m. Vertical Horizon on iTunes
Listening to Vertical Horizon's album "Go" while mapping out a pencil rough for a client. Love this album. Favorite tracks are: "One of you", "I'm still here", "Better when you're not here", "Sunshine".

4:31 p.m. Matches
Written by Hilary Lindsey (not sure of the co-writers). Since I've only heard it once at a songwriter conference in Utah last fall, I'm really just hearing a piece of the song ... but I'm thinking about getting to hear her at the Bluebird tonight, so her songs are going through my head... heard a couple bars of "Jesus Take the Wheel", too. Heh.

3.12.2007

Shako: Survives the weekend


(LEFT: Today; CENTER: Friday; RIGHT: Wednesday)

Our teeny alien isn't so teeny anymore. There must be some intense alien love going on at the Lamb residence... cause Shako is more than twice the size he was last week. And, he's not even a week old!

Colin and Connie, nice work keeping our little blue devil alive.

Nice doormat.

Come in.

Go Away.

Ingenious.

I want one.

3.09.2007

Music City this weekend...

OK... between tonight and tomorrow, there are several performances I'd recommend. It's going to be hard to choose between so many great options... but wanted you to have the opportunity to see some "for sure" shows if you're looking for something to do:

TONIGHT, Friday, 3/09:
9:30 - Shawn Byrne and Blue Mother Tupelo @ Christopher's Pizza
9:30 - Bekka Bramlett @ 3rd & Lindsley
9:00 - Pat McLaughlin @ Douglas Corner

TOMORROW, Saturday, 3/09
6:30 - Johnny Microwave (Steve C & Cat Miller), with Lisa Briggs, Tim Carroll, and Kevin Gordon @ Bluebird Cafe
7:30 - Pat Buchanan (w/ Tom Bukovac, Greg Morrow, Alison Prestwood) @ 3rd & Lindsley
9:30 - Gary Nicholson & the Fortunate Sons (Reese Wynans, Michael Rhodes, Chad Cromwell) @ 3rd & Lindsley

Shako: Day 2 - Is he growing?!

Shako on Wednesday.

Shako on Friday.

I think his tummy is growing... and he may be a little taller... but I can't really tell. What do you think?

Connie and Colin are taking care of "the evil alien" over the weekend. (take pics if you think of it, Connie... we must document the growth!)

3.08.2007

6 degrees of World Famous

Thanks to Karleen for bringing my attention to a little blurb in the Bluebird Newsletter and website listing for tonight's late show:

"9:00 In The Round with Stewart Harris, Dave Gibson, Rachel Williams and Jamie Lee Thornton, $8.00 Gibson wrote Lonely and Gone, while Harris brought us Rose in Paradise and No One Else on Earth. They bring with them newcomers and media darlings Rachel Williams and Jamie Lee Thornton. Williams has a new single called 'World Famous' and she might end up just that."

Wild.
  1. My friend Karleen and I wrote the song "World Famous" in November of 2005. "I'm world famous in my hometown" was Karleen's hook idea and it really resonated with this small town girl. We had a blast writing it... it's the song I'm most proud of being a part of so far.

  2. Rachel heard us sing it at 3rd & Lindsley last spring.

  3. Rachel cut the song last fall and released it as her single.

  4. And now, our friend Rachel who is on the verge of big things is singing our song in-the-round at the Bluebird Cafe tonight. GO RACHEL! RACHEL ROCKS!

  5. Because of that, the Bluebird Cafe. ("world famous" performing songwriter venue) is talking about our song and our friend in their newsletter.

  6. The name of the cafe in my hometown when I was a kid was the Bluebird Cafe. (I'd never heard of the world famous Nashville Bluebird Cafe until I moved here.)
Coincidence?
I don't think so.

I'm savin' the newsletter... that's all I have to say about that.

Shako: The first 24 hours

Yesterday... Shako, the most vicious evil alien from the planet Narakuto, was born at cabedge over lunch.

His space ship was different than I expected... and from the back we decided his little caccoon or pod or whatever looked like a giant... well... white cottony thing with a string on it... if you know what I mean. (Thanks for pointing that out Connie... heh.)




Retracting him from the ship was a feat in itself... but once he was free from his plastic vessel we were able to take a look at all the accoutremonts needed to keep this evil little thing alive.




Connie read the destructions... um... instructions... while I removed the "white stablizer bar" from the test tube that kept our Shako from getting smashed intransit.

Then... it was sink time.


To free our teeny vicious alien from the pod inside the test tube, we had to fill the tube with water. Once the water started running over it, the pod began fizzing everywhere. As it fizzed, we drained it and filled it again... probably three times... until the white covering melted away to reveal our white-toothed-blue devil with a red beating heart.


Next step was feeding the alien and making sure all but his antennae were covered with water so he wouldn't die. We found out quickly that if the light started flashing green... it meant the litte smurf was drowning.

Oooops.

After we poured off enough water to get the heart beating again... we only had a few moments to help Shako checkin with the mother ship.

Connie was on the case. Her nimble fingers quickly logged into the test tube alien site and registered our visitor from the planet Naratuko with just minutes to spare.

This morning when I arrived, Shako had grown a little bit and his heart was beating yellow. A little light and water solved that problem pretty fast. In short order the yellow was replaced with a bright red thump thump flash.

So far so good.

Shako's still alive... and he hasn't licked me with his poisonous, infectious saliva... yet.

Wish us luck.
**wink**

3.06.2007

Test Tube Aliens

Connie just turned me on to these. (links to Flash site that may take a little time to load)

According to the "What are they?" section of the site, these aliens are looking for a new planet to colonize because their planet is becoming uninhabitable. It's up to the person who buys them to "take care" of them til they can find a new planet.

Not sure how it works, but apparently the aliens are also interactive... meaning you register them on the website and then use the "Research Lab" section of the site to keep track of their health. Freaky, but cool, isn't it?!

Connie's getting one for as a birthday gift for one of her son's friends. AND, she and I decided we need one for the office, too.

There are three good aliens and three evil aliens. Colin's friend is going to get a good alien... and I think we're getting an evil alien (they were the only two left at Target).

Hopefully the evil alien likes carrots and the like.
**fingers crossed**
**heh heh**

I'll post "Alien Updates" once we get it.

This is going to be FUN.

3.02.2007

Call me crazy...

but I miss snow like this or this.

Don't really miss scooping it, or doing chores in it... but I do miss it overall.

My family in Nebraska is probably trying to take care of new baby calves in the snow. Something about blizzards always seems to increase the number of cows giving birth! Thank goodness for four-wheelers, versitile tractors and heated water tanks... right? (Try to get some rest and be sure to change out of those cold, wet clothes in-between checking the cows.)

Hopefully, all of the Richardson's are safe at home and not trying to drive on the Iowa ice and snow. If it's not too icy, maybe Grace and Brooke will even get to make a snowman! (If not, Uncle John and I would love a drawing of one... or a photo of you building your version of Frosty.)

Denice is probably layered up with cuddle duds, long johns, sweaters and jeans... coffee cup in one hand while wrapped up in a blanket... or maybe walking around with "the coat" on. (Wish I could take you up on that snow angel offer, sistah.)

No matter what.... BB sends safe, warm, snow wishes to friends and family who are dealing with all the white stuff. I miss you... and I miss the snow, too.

And, the offer still stands... if you want to get away from the snow...**hint**
the sun is shining in Nashville and the temperature is currently 61 degrees.

Will you stock our favorite sauce?

So... a few months ago, a new Publix opened at Nipper's Corner in south Nashville and it quickly became Clocky and my favorite place to shop for groceries. Everyone there actually seems to enjoy their job, it's easy to find what you need... blah blah blah... you know what I mean. It's hard to put my finger on it, but Publix is just has a positive vibe that I haven't experienced since we moved to Nashville six and a half years ago.

BUT, there was just one little problem with the new store:

Our favorite spaghetti sauce isn't stocked at our Publix.

Since we can't get it there, we either buy something we don't really want or end up going to both Kroger and/or the Walmart Goodneighbor Store to find it... which is a pain in the neck.

So, on Monday as we were eating a sauce we didn't really want, I thought, "What the heck?! I'm going to contact Publix to see if they'd be willing to stock our spicy tomato and pesto sauce."

At the contact us section of their site, I used their email form to submit my request.

Yesterday, just three days later, we received a call from Publix. When John saw Publix on the caller ID, he had just returned from the store and thought maybe he'd left his card there or something.

Instead, it was the General Manager of the store calling to let us know he'd gotten our request and had already looked into ordering the sauce.

The bad news was that our favorite sauce has been discontinued by Classico. (Drat... foiled again.)

The good news was that the General Manager of Publix was going to call their suppliers to see if they could find some of the sauce for us. AND, if they couldn't find it that way, he was going to buy some from the competition for us.

HELLO... can you say... "Publix understands how to serve their customers."

1. It was easy to send a request.
2. Three days after I sent the request, someone called us with information and a solution.
3. The person who called us was the General Manager.

Our little spaghetti request was important to the top dog at the store.

So, my finger is officially on the reason we enjoy shopping at Publix. It's called: customer service... and it starts at the top.

Nice.

Thank you, Publix.
Shopping truly is a pleasure at your stores.