The Smiths Project

So this lovely gal Janice Whaley came up with a wonderfully strange and crazy scheme to remake every Smiths song a cappella within one year. Here is "You Just Haven't Earned it Yet Baby", one of my FAVORITE Smiths songs and you know what... I love it. I love the Smiths, I love Morrissey and now I love Janice Whaley! Brilliant.

You have to check out her other covers. "Vicar in a Tutu" is great! etc... it's incredible that every voice is hers, complete with beatboxing! Did I say how much I love this?

www.thesmithsproject.blogspot.com/

"The music contains no instruments- everything you hear was made using only my voice and basic effects/editing techniques. I use pitch-shift to drop my voice down for bass lines, but otherwise there is no pitch correction involved. Each song contains anywhere between 30-50 layers of vocals and take as many hours to complete over several months. I worked on many songs at once as inspiration struck and time allowed.

The goal was to complete the entire catalog of original Smiths songs by the end of 2010. It was one of the most challenging experiences of my life and I am thrilled to say that I completed my goal- ahead of schedule! This would have been a daunting project just for the music alone, but I was also fitting the music time in around parenting, working, commuting, etc. It was a true labor of love to give up every ounce of free time for a year but it was the best thing I've ever done. Thank you for visiting my personal tribute to The Smiths and for cheering me on."


IS IT REALLY SO STRANGE?????

Happy Father's Day!

In this small town, only one man dared to defy the ban on dancing and jorts.n dan

Just in Time for Summer Fun

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of soda. It gives me a stomach ache and makes my teeth feel fuzzy. Sometimes however, water gets old, especially at a picnic or party (milk is probably inappropriate too). You want something a little more indulgent and creative.

Mason jar glasses are nothing new, but this I've never seen before! Why, I don't know, because it's so so simple!!! Serving homemade juice or lemonade in a closed jar on ice. Smart and cute. Not that I have parties anymore.

But, why didn't I think of this? I've got so much to learn. Thanks to Lori from, "Be Different Act Normal". She and Martha, collectively, are the source of 99% of my inspiration!

www.bedifferentactnormal.com/2011/06/serving-drinks-in-mason-jars.html

PS. Completely off topic... Kroger has a sale going on their Blue Bell ice cream. Three half gallons for ten dollars. I was out with my kids today, tempted to stop for ice cream. $2.25 a scoop!!! What a rip! Anyway, I figured for 12 dollars, I could get 3 half gallons of whatever flavor they like and a package of 12 really yummy waffle cones. They each got two scoops tonight for less than a dollar, plus a ton of leftover ice cream and cones for another hot day. Bam!!!!

PPS. Also, for $79.95 you can buy a super nice Cuisinart ice cream maker from Williams-Sanoma. Right now, if you order one, you get a 20 dollar gift card as well. SWEET! This isn't cheap, but then you can make your own ice cream and skip all of the nasty preservatives in store bought and use your own fruit or vegetables... whatever. I read about corn and avocado ice cream. It sounds yummy!

I've Been Everywhere Man

Here are a few photos from the last month.... 7 states in two weekends, plus visiting family, wisdom tooth extraction, school hunting, and a couple recitals. Here are some of my favorite photos.

1. My bored teen at a Memorial Day Parade.

2. St. Louis arch.

3. Brother's-in-law chatting at the above mentioned parade.

4. Grace being graceful as "Lise's friend/villager".

5. House looking cleaner thanks to cool setting on my new camera. I can't figure out how I did it but it's awesome. Look how shiny everything is!!!

6. Beautiful Episcopalian church at St. Johns.

7 & 8. Kids admiring a statue and then getting eaten by gnats.

9. The best marching middle school piccolo player EVER!!!

10. Sophia being sweet.

11. A pretty little river in Virginia.

12. Sophia and her flowers. This was her first recital and she was lovely!

13. A nice building at SVU.

14. A SMILE!!!!

15. Little chickens.

16. Walking.

17 & 18. Fun at Grandma's pool.

Funniest Dad EVER

I just read about this guy and had to share! This most hilarious dad from American Fork, Utah, dressed up in a different costume every day of his 15 year old son's sophomore year to wave goodbye as the morning school bus rolled away.

Since the fall, Dale has waved at his son in 180 different outlandish costumes. The second day of school he wore a football helmet and jersey, and in the months that followed he opened the front door dressed as a blushing bride, a superhero, a Star Trek fan, Michael Jackson, and a giant chicken. One day he even lugged an old toilet bowl onto the street and sat on it reading a newspaper, stopping to wave as the bus rolled by.

Here is a link to his blog where his wife documented every costume change:

www.waveatthebus.blogspot.com/

So so so so funny!!!