Wii Fit in da House

Guess what came today! Too bad I won't have time to play with it until this weekend...

'R' (for Rachel) = Radiohead

Paste Magazine came up with An Indie Rock Alphabet Book. It's super cute and names lots of bands. My letter 'R' is for one of my favorite bands - Radiohead!

Eminemmy Hill

For all of human history we have been waiting for the inevitable Benny Hill/Eminem/Dr Who Mashup. Aaahhh, This makes my Friday!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Passion Pit - "Sleepy Head"

I just heard of the band Passion Pit and I guess Sleepy Head will be one of the singles. When I started playing it I almost stopped it immediately. The next 45 seconds I couldn't decide if it was aweful or awesome. So I put the other headphone in my ear (at work I usually only listen with one in case someone sneaks up on me) and I kind of got into the groove. As soon as the song ended I wanted to hear it again... This needs to go on my dance playlist immediately!



Passion Pit - "Sleepy Head"
And everything is going to the beat
And everything is going to the beat
And everything is going –

And you said
It was like fire around the brim
Burning solid,
Burning thin the burning rim
Like stars burning holes right through the dark
You gave fire like saltwater into my eyes
You were an inch from the edge of this bed
I drive you back a sleepyhead, sleepyhead

They couldn't think of something to say the day you burst
With all their lions and all their might and all their thirst
They crowd your bedroom like some thoughts wearing thin
Against the walls, against your rules, against your skin
My beard grew down to the floor and out through the doors
Of your eyes, begonia skies like a sleepyhead, sleepyhead

Go ahead

The Killers @ UIC Pavilion (1/20)

(disclaimer... none of these videos are mine. i found them on youtube so for better quality click through to youtube and watch the high def version)

<tweet>I'm at Uic Pavilion
<tweet>Feeling M83
<tweet>The stage is being set up with palm trees and what looks like LOTS of lights!
<tweet>The Killers have some fiiine lookin' roadies

Setlist:
Spaceman <tweet>The Killers open with Spaceman
note: I didn't realize how much this song really rocks! Must add this to my workout playlist.


Losing Touch
note: Didn't realize how JAZZY this song is... guess live horns make a big difference because I don't pick it up on the recording.

For Reasons Unknown
note: love this song on the album but wasn't feeling it until it was halfway through and then it was great.

Somebody Told Me
note: This is when the ENTIRE stadium came to life. Awesome light show.


Smile Like You Mean It
note: I hated this song before the concert and still hate this song after the concert.

This Is Your Life
note: I MUST learn this song. Lyrics seem so cool! Groovy tune too.

Joy Ride <tweet>Bubbles! The Killers broke out the bubble machines for 'Joy Ride'
note: I didn't know if I wanted to salsa or disco, but I had to dance! This song has some kind of Miami thing going on that is super funky and I didn't really notice it until I heard it live.

I Can't Stay <tweet>Some dumbass is smoking a fraking cigarette in here!
note: This is a song that I knew but didn't know I knew... must have had it on some playlist and learned it but never paid attention to the name. I love it now!

Bling (Confession Of A King)
note: My friend decided to tell me a story during this song so I didn't really get into it which is too bad because this is one I like to sing to. I did have to interrupt her at the end so I could belt out a few verses: "Higher and higher..."

A Dustland Fairytale
note: Must learn this super cool song immediately. I want to know every word!

Neon Tiger <tweet>Run 'Neon Tiger'. Everyone make some noise... YYYEEeEAAaaHHHH!

note a: This song has a set of lyrics that I never want to forget:

I don't wanna be kept, I don't wanna be caged, I don't wanna be damned, oh hell
I don't wanna be broke, I don't wanna be saved, I don't wanna be S.O.L
Give me rolling hills so tonight can be the night that I stand among a thousand thrills
Mister cut me some slack, cause I don't wanna go back, I want a new day and age

Come on girls and boys, everyone make some noise!

note b: After these lyrics, the entire audience started screaming... LOUD! And then the music was getting louder and louder and we were all screaming louder and louder. Fun!

Human
note: As soon as they start playing this one I felt the need to interrupt everything and advise my friend that I set my Facebook status to reference this song. "Rachel wants Brandon Flowers to know that tonight, I am definitely dancer! "

note: In between songs Brandon Flowers sat at the piano and said "I don't know, is it pronounced human or human?" The first human had a midwest twang on the a and the second human was more like humon or something...

Sam's Town <tweet>I see London, I see 'Sam's Town' now!
note: This was the MOST BEAUTIFUL version of this song. It's recorded on the Sawdust album.

Read My Mind
note: It was kicked into such high gear here that I could no longer tweet or take pictures or talk because all I could do was jump!

Mr Brightside
note: CRAZY AWESOME!!!!! Full crowd participation and of course Brandon Flowers is a fun conductor.


All These Things That I've Done
note: Right before "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" the music just hung there and the entire crowd started chanting the lyrics. Then Brandon came to lead everyone. Was super fun.

<tweet>'Read My Mind' followed by 'Mr. Brightside' followed by 'All these Things I've Done' just BLEW MY MIND! The Killers rock!

The World We Live In
note a: Why the hell did they pick this song as the first in an encore? Next!
note b: At this point I'm talking to everyone around us and we are trying to figure out what songs they haven't played yet. We knew they would most likely end with When You Were Young and that the most they usually did was a three song encore... I really wanted Shadowplay but they hadn't played Jenny or Bones so I was starting to bum because it seemed that there was only one song to choose from and it wasn't going to be Shadowplay.

Shadowplay <tweet> Oh. My. God. 'Shadowplay'. Live. I'm in heaven
note: SURPRISE!!!! They played it! Yeah!!! I know it's not Ian Curtis, but Brandon Flowers does a hell of a good job with this one. I was so excited I didn't know if I should tweet or take pictures or sing or dance or all of it or none of it... somehow I did it all.


Jenny Was A Friend of Mine
note a: I turned to my friend when the spotlight was on the bass player to scream "that's so cool!"
note b: Why did I not know this song was so cool? They ROCKED it!


When You Were Young
note: Awesome choice to end the show!

<tweet>The Killers treated Chicago to a FOUR song encore ending with 'When You Were Young'

<tweet>I'm at Chicago, IL 60646, USA
<tweet>Have a euphoric (natural) high from the The Killers concert. So much fun. Tonight, I will dream of Brandon Flowers


(All pictures uploaded on Flickr... see the photoset)

Reviews:
Sound Citizen - "every song is a mini-anthem" I totally agree!
Illinois Entertainer

Barack Obama: The 44th President of the United States!

What a great day. I watched the beginning parts of Barack Obama's inauguration on ABCnew.com while at work. Cnn.com wouldn't stream, or was choppy when it did, but I loved their integration with Facebook. I could see all my friends comments during the inauguration on comment on it. Very cool! During the actual swearing in I went over by my co-workers and we watched it on the tv. But the damn signal went our during the 30 seconds or so he was actually sworn in! But it is going to be replayed I'm sure so I won't miss it. I went back to my desk to watch the speech and it was AMAZING! What a day, I'm so happy and proud and excited and hopeful...

PS: I started getting teary-eyed as soon as he was walking out for the inauguration. He seemed nervous and proud at the same time. It reminded me of the SNL skit! "I keep it cool".



Text of President Barack Obama's inaugural address on Tuesday, as prepared for delivery and released by the Presidential Inaugural Committee:

OBAMA: My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Hello Sea Horse

I was recommended Hello Sea Horse from a twitter buddy (@travelojos) while we were tweeting about The Decemberists new single "The Rake Song" from their upcoming album "The Hazards of Love" and their classic, "The Crane Wife". This band comes from Mexico but they sing their songs in English. I like them and think the song below is kind of a happy song!

Hello Sea Horse - "Won't Say Anything"

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I'm in the middle of reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo right now. I almost can't put this book down. Unfortunately my schedule doesn't allow me too much time to read but I've been making sure to read at least one chapter each night before bed. Sometimes, it's so good I stay up late and read two. For me, that is a lot of reading considering I read most things online.

So I was so excited when I found out that this book is actually the first in a trilogy! But it's actually a very sad story. See these books have been published for a while in Europe and did really well there. And the author wrote the books after work in his spare time. He turned in the books to the publisher and then he died. So these books seem even more special.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes crime or mystery novels.

First blizzard of '09 on the way

A screenshot of the Enhanced Radar Image from the National Weather Service. Supposed to snow alot tonight and get CRAZY windy! White out conditions expected. I need to shovel early so it won't freeze... we are also expecting below zero wind chill. Time to head home, make some soup, and be ready to shovel!

The Eleventh Doctor

I was sick all weekend so I missed the announcement of who will play the next doctor on Doctor Who. The eleventh doctor will be played by Matt Smith. He is relatively unknown and as far as I can see not that cute. But I'm partial to David Tennant so it'll be very hard for the new guy to win me over. He won't start until 2010 so I have some time to digest this change.