Why I Love Todd Snider

In this post, I told you why I love Hanson, and why people shouldn’t JUDGE me for listening to them (Jory). Well, now I’m going to continue with my “Why I Love ____________” theme with this post about Todd Snider.

I don’t remember exactly when it was that I realized who Todd Snider was. My mom is the one that got me listening to his music. He’s one of her favorite artists, and his music was always on in the background at gatherings with our family friends. The first time I remember actively listening to his music was when I was in sixth or seventh grade, and my mom played his song “Betty Was Black (& Willie Was White)” in the car, telling me she thought I’d like it. She was right. The song is all about racial tolerance, and points out just how bigoted people can be, even when it comes to the happiness of their own children. Perfect for a crazy liberal like me, right?

After that I couldn’t stop listening to “Happy to Be Here,” which remains my favorite of Todd’s albums. It’s the perfect example of what an album should be made up of. High and low energy songs, quirky and serious ones. And they’re not all about love and women, which seems to be the norm in most music. Thematically, that can get old. “Happy to Be Here” has it all, starting off with a song about pop culture and the boredom that can come along with it, and continuing on to songs about DB Cooper(this is so weird, I searched for this song on YouTube and this live version that came up is from the only Todd show I’ve been to), pre-nups, and crazy girlfriends. This is just one of those albums for me that is engrained as a part of my life, that’s more than just music, it brings out a certain felling of nostalgia within me.

I’ve only seen Todd once live, and that was at The Granada in Lawrence, Kansas about 2 and a half years ago. He’s never been to Tulsa in all the years my mom’s been following him, so she’s always gone out-of-state to see him. However, TONIGHT he is going to be in Tulsa at All Soul’s, and it is sold out. Luckily, we bought our tickets about 10 minutes after hearing he was going to be here. My best friend Katie, who started listening to Todd after I included some of his songs on a mix I made for her in about 11th grade, is coming down from Kansas City, where she goes to school, to see him. I think we’re going to have a group of about 30 people going with us tonight.

The thing I love about Todd is that he’s such a mellow, down-to-earth guy. He seems almost shy sometimes when he’s up on the stage, and tells the funniest stories, in this soft, husky voice. And when he sings there’s just this soul in it. Shut up! I do not have a crush on him! Okay, well, maybe a little one, but aren’t people supposed to carry a flame for their favorite musicians? I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s a law.

(Almost) Finally, I’m going to leave you with a perfect example of  Todd at his best live. You’re welcome.

But wait! This blog isn’t over yet! Check back late Friday night/Saturday morning for my thoughts on the concert and photos from the event!

EDIT:

The concert last night was phenomenal. The doors opened at 7, but we decided to go at 6 to get a decent spot in line, so we ended up being the first people there, and got front-row seats. We were probably 6 feet away from him. Todd was in such a good mood, smiling and telling little anecdotes in between songs. His voice really is, in my opinion, better live than it is on his cds. The soul in it just comes across so much better. He played almost exclusively requests people were shouting out last night, too. One of my favorite moments was when he was playing one of his older songs and flubbed the lyrics, and he said, “Technically, I didn’t fuck that up because I wrote the song, so technically that’s called an edit.” Another high point was when he imitated his 19-year-old self trying to sound like Bob Dylan. After the show we hung around outside and after about 45 minutes he came out and chatted a little, as well as signed some things. The only low point in the evening is that my camera’s shutter gave out less than 2 minutes into his set, so not only did I not get very many photos, it’s also costing me $145 to repair. *sigh* Below are some photos I managed to take before tragedy stuck.

 

 

 

 

Todd always takes his shoes off before he plays. :)

 

 

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Smart Mouths and the NOH8 Campaign.

I’ve talked about Smart Mouths Podcast on this blog before,  but I decided that it’s time for me to go a little more in-depth and review an episode. The latest is episode #72: “Wide and Long”.  There were things I liked and disliked about this episode. Let’s start with the bad, shall we? One thing I was a little sad about this week was that there were only 3 hosts on for the majority of the show, when normally there are 4 or 5. I prefer having more hosts on, because I think it tends to encourage more debate about each topic. However, it wasn’t to big of a con for me. There were a few sounds issues with Skype during their interview (which I’ll get to in a moment), but it sorted itself out after a few minutes. The only other thing I really disliked is that Greg seemed a little tuned out during the episode. He didn’t really seem to know what was going on some of the time, and that was a little off-putting.

Now on to what I love about this podcast! First of all, the chemistry between the hosts is excellent. You can tell just by listening to them giving each other a hard time, or backing each other up, that they are close friends in real life, despite living all over the country. The rapport that they have with one another really helps the topics they cover seem more interesting. They aren’t afraid to debate with one another, and that makes the stories involving airline mergers, technology news, or the comments of a preacher in Georgia sound more like a discussion with my friends than an impersonal news report. Hearing a variety of news in this way really helps it to stick in my head in a way that just watching it on TV or reading about it wouldn’t necessarily do. This show used to be more rigidly organized, with certain segments lined out in a particular order, but about a year ago they decided to loosen things up and just let the show flow from one topic to another. I think they made a change for the better, because it feels even more like a conversation between friends than it used to.

Finally, my favorite part of the episode was the interview Matt, Penny and Elysa conducted with Adam Bouska, who is the co-founder and photographer for the NOH8 campaign, an organization devoted to showing through (gorgeous) photographs the people affected by California’s Proposition 8, as well as more general discriminatory laws and policies again homosexuals. As a photographer, I loved hearing what Bouska had to say about how he came up with the concept of the photos. And as someone who cares passionately about the rights of the GLBTQ community, I also enjoyed hearing his perspective on what can be done to generate awareness. If you haven’t seen the NOH8 Campaign’s work, you really should take a look. It’s gorgeous to look at, really resonates with you, and has a slew of prominent supporters, from Glee’s Jane Lynch to Cindy McCain, whose appearance raised a lot of eyebrows, since Sen. John McCain is still staunchly against gay marriage.

Smart Mouths host Matt Britton, photographed for the NOH8 Campaign in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Fellow host Andrew Sims was also photographed by Bouska in LA.

Overall, it was an informative and interesting episode, and I’m glad I started listening to Smart Mouths over a year ago. Keep up the good work, guys! Even if you have switched to a “fortnightly” schedule instead of releasing weekly episodes.

 

Recent photo(s) I’m proud of: These were for an O’Colly column titled “Top 10: Ways to gain the Freshman 15”

Song I can’t get out of my head: “God and Satan,” by Biffy Clyro.

Video I can’t stop watching: Keeping with the “Smart Mouths” theme, here’s a video from their YouTube channel that was recorded at the DC shoot for the NOH8 Campaign.

Something I can’t help but laugh at: ‘The Miley Cyrus Show’ on SNL. It was PERFECT.

 

BlogDay 2010

So, I’m participating in BlogDay, which means I have 5 great blogs to share with you folks!

• Hayley G. Hoover is someone whose YouTube videos I’ve been keeping track of for some time, and I recently discovered her blog, which is pretty much just as entertaining as her videos, along with more personal and honest notes about her life. I particularly love the way she’s been signing off, giving her “daily senses”, (i.e. Today I:  heard, smelled, touched, etc.) as well as the number of Chipotle burritos she’s consumed this year, her YouTube subscriber count, and the color of nail polish she’s sporting.
• Erin Conrad is a Tulsa-based photographer, and I love not only her images, but also the way her site is laid out. It’s simple and easy to look at. I love her blog because not only does she take the most adorable photos of children, but she also posts lots of great shots of Oklahoma and Tulsa, so I get to see all of the things I’ve been missing in my hometown.
• The Daily Wh.at is a great site the blogs all kinds of interesting and hilarious things. They post anything from news articles to articles of clothing several times a day. And it’s one of those blog where you miss some posts you don’t have to worry about trying to go back and catch up, which is always nice.
• The Bluth Company is a Tumblr I just stumbled across dedicated to my all-time favorite television show, Arrested Development. They post all kinds of screen caps and other images that make the fact that AD got cancelled after only 3 seasons sting just a little less.
• Suicide Blonde is another Tumblr I recently came across. It’s filled with tons of gorgeous photos that I could look though for days at a time. This definitely gives me my pop culture/photography fix for the day.

And now for my sign-off:

• Recent photo I’m proud of:

Scholastic Book Fair, 08/31/2010

• Song I can’t get out of my head: ‘Things That You Think’ by Pomplamoose, Ben Folds and Nick Hornby

• Video I can’t stop watching: ‘Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” Rally – Interviews With Participants’ by New Left Media

• Something I can’t help but laugh at: The ‘Strutting Leo‘ meme.

Twitter: Who to Follow.

I know, I know. Plenty of people scoff at Twitter, don’t understand the point, think it’s stupid, etc, etc. And I was one of you not so long ago. But I now have to confess I’m an addict. Basically, what I’m trying to say is: don’t knock it til you try it. And I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite tweeters to get you started, along with some of their funniest tweets!

• Who doesn’t love Stephen Colbert? His tweets are pretty much guaranteed to make me laugh. While mainly political, Colbert sometimes manages to give some insight in to the everyday world.

• For all you Journalism students and/or fans FakeAPStylebook is a great source of laughs.

Making It Work: Long Distance Friendships

The hardest part of going to college for me was separating from my friends. Sure, it’s tough leaving your family behind, but you’re always going to be connected to them no matter what; they’re your blood. And everyone seems to tell you you make life-long friends in college. So what does that mean for the friends you already have?

Why I Love Hanson

I’ve gotten a LOT of crap over the years for liking Hanson. And I don’t blame people for acting surprised, or even teasing me about it. I realize they have a (10+ year-old) reputation for being super-pop-y, seemingly one-hit-wonders. But I do have to respectfully disagree with them. Because without Hanson, I have no idea if I’d have ever gotten into music so deeply.

Happy Birthday Smart Mouths!

I want to wish Smart Mouth Podcast a very happy first birthday! I’ve been listening since the beginning and this podcast makes me laugh every time. What really makes the show are the hosts, and their personalities. The more you listen, the better you seem to get to know them. Anyone with a sense of humor will enjoy this show. It has several thousand listeners all over the world! The best part is that it covers a bit of everything, from political events to entertainment gossip to its ever popular “What the Fuck News” segment. If you’ve never listened to a Podcast, let this one open your ears. And if you’re a veteran listener, add this one to you download list. 

I got some awesome signed album art for donating to the show!

What are you waiting for?! Visit their site, follow them on twitter, fan them on facebook and/or visit their forums, where discussions of the hosts’ personal lives/sexual orientation quickly dissolve into debates about the best kind of baked good. The easiest way to download episodes is to search for them on iTunes under podcasts and subscribe!

And finally, a question for podcast listeners: what are your favorite shows? Your recommendations?

– Emily

I ♥ TV

I love television. It’s something that I can admit to being addicted to. I watch TV almost every (if not every) day. Don’t get me wrong, I love movies too, but I guess you could say I’m more of a tv geek than film buff. I think it has to do with the attachment factor of TV. With a movie you have 2 1/2, 3 hours max. to connect with characters and become attached to them. In TV, you have (hopefully) years. I know many people claim TV is rotting our brains, but I just can’t seem to find any compelling reason to make me give up my addiction.

That being said, below I’ve assembled a list (in alphabetical order, because I can’t play favorites!) of 15 shows I consider to be the most watchable on air today and why I love them. Let me know if you agree, think I’ve completely missed the mark or  if you want to share your favorites not on this list! Note: almost all of these shows are available to watch on Hulu as well as their regular viewing times.