www.inspirationbeautiful.com

sometime during the late 90s, my taste in music began to suck considerably less.  this simply means i stopped listening to n’sync and the backstreet boys, and began listening to well, anything else.

one of my favorite sources of new music back in those days was from movie soundtracks.   i was reminded of my practice of trolling amazon’s soundtrack listings, listening to 30-second snippets to decide if a song was worth a download, while i was watching “can’t hardly wait” this morning (just happened to be on, it wasn’t on purpose or anything).  I remembered how much i used to love some of the songs on that movie,  and then i began thinking about all those other “teen” movies that struck me back at that time, and how they had some great music too.

and it led me here.  re-listening, re-evaluating.  because it’s sunday.  and because it’s easier than going to the gym, yet i still feel somewhat productive.

these are my top 3 songs from my favorite 90s soundtracks:

dazed & confused (1993)

foghat ~ slow ride
war ~ low rider
lynyrd skynyrd~ tuesday’s gone

reality bites (1994)

the juliana hatfield 3 ~ spin the bottle
lisa loeb ~ stay
squeeze ~ tempted

clueless (1995)

world party ~ all the young dudes

radiohead ~ fake plastic trees (favorite)
jill sobule ~ supermodel

can’t hardly wait (1998)

feeder ~ high
matthew sweet ~ farther down
dog’s eye view ~ umbrella

american pie (1999)

blink 182 ~ mutt
dishwalla ~ find your way back home
bic runga ~ sway

drive me crazy (1999)

barenaked ladies ~ it’s all been done
plumb ~ stranded
phantom planet~ is this really happening to me

cruel intentions (1999)

counting crows ~ colorblind (other favorite)
aimee mann ~ you could make a killing
the verve ~ bitter sweet symphony

 

 

 

 

 

-jess

 

And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time, all the time.

radiohead ~ fake plastic trees

this is a great song, and an even better video.  i think you will like it.  so check it out, please :)

Firekites - AUTUMN STORY - chalk animation from Lucinda Schreiber on Vimeo.

-jess

 would love to go see them at sxsw, but unfortunately i will not be making it down to austin any time soon.  ahhhh what a cool place it appears to be.  i will need to check it out for myself.  (sooner than later, please!)

check them out.  i promise you will not be disappointed.

Blind Pilot Myspace

so tonight after work i drove to edwardsville to meet up with my sisters for a little kickboxing action.  first time.  stef bailed, but abby and i made it through.  it was intense.  my muscles feel like slugs and my body is revolting against such activity.

i usually tend to stick to low-impact cardio, but this was much more involved that my normal workout.  i’m glad i made it through, surprised i made it through, maybe, but perhaps when i can barely walk tomorrow i will feel differently.

so what i’m saying is…go to the ymca on esic in edwardsville and get your butt kicked by cardio kickboxing.  even though you’ll feel like a bag of jello afterwards , you’ll feel good.

about to pass out from exhaustion now.  good night.

-jess

The lights here are softer than you’d think
The dim lit peacocks in the trees,
They’re hiding their eyes and their beauty, like me
But if my eyes were on my back
I know what I’d be looking at
Through every shade of brown and green
I didn’t know, I didn’t know it was nothing new
I didn’t know, I didn’t know it was you

blind pilot ~oviedo

On paper it looks good, you know.
You can’t argue with that.
And practice, well, that’s another story.
You think all this time is easy to get over?
I’ll do anything, I’ll do anything.
You panic every time the boat starts moving.
immaculate machines ~ c’mon sea legs

so i got an invite today from the facebook event master:

“Robert invited you to “Queen Of The Pole” tomorrow.”

  

I just can’t help wondering why Robert thought i might be interested in this event.  Yep!
so, in other news, myself, & kelly & pamela from work went to a concert last week at Off Broadway.

we went to see Greg Laswell (whose voice makes me melt), but found the other acts were also wonderful.

the show didn’t start until 9pm which is super late for a “school” night in my opinion.  we went back & forth multiple times debating whether or not we would actually go.  i was sick, kelly was sick, pamela was not, but still, 9pm is late for old folks like us. we ended up deciding that we’ll only live once and headed to a restaurant down the street from the venue called The Stable.  i loved the decor there.  it had a lot of history (it used to actually BE a stable..you know…with horses!) they had a huge beer list and we shared a pretty tasty appetizer.

other than the fact that our waiter ignored us for 30 consecutive minutes after we had expressed all the “we’re done” signs, the experience was good.

after we left The Stable, we still had some time to kill, and we went on a search for mozarella sticks (my love). we didn’t have to go far because the pub across the street called O’Malleys had plenty of them PLUS fried mushrooms and multiple other fried delicousness.

and a sweet bulldog named tank.  tank pretty much owned the place.  we had a lot of fun there too…very hometown pub-ish. 

halfway through our meal of healthy friend delicacies, a bearded man walked through the doors. 

he looked like this:

“could this be,” i thought?!  yes, it is true, it was Greg Laswell, coming to have a pre-show drink.

“fantastic.  i must go speak with him.”

albiet creepy, i wandered up to him and made myself known.  he seemed like a nice (maybe a little shy) bearded man.

and i love a bearded man. so all was well.

the concert itself was perfect.  small, intimate venue, fans that didn’t suck, room to move, good sound.

i think i’ll return to Off Broadway soon. 

the first act was Rosi Golan.  i really enjoyed her voice and her sound, so i figure some of you who are into a simliar style of music might like her too.

here isa video:

next was jay nash.  i really liked him, only problem was i was falling asleep by this time (10:30ish) and i was finding it difficult to concentrate.  from what i remember, he was good.  look him up if you feel so inclined!

and last was my favorite–greg laswell. if you haven’t heard him…please do.  his voice is so deep and soothing.  i totally dig him.

for pictures, please visit pamela’s blog (Feb 20th 2009).  she took like 300 (seriously) throughout the night, so there were definitely some good ones to choose from!

love a good show.

 -jess

What if I fall and hurt myself?
Would you know how to fix me
What if I went and lost myself? 
Would you know where to find me
If I forgot who I am,
would you please remind me oh?
Cause without you things go hazy

rosi golan ~ hazy

Whenever the weather starts to get a little nicer and the sun stays up a little later, I start to miss summer…a lot. (odd that I should write this post considering it is 25 degrees outside, but the sun is deceiving, and it appears much warmer through a 5^th floor window).

I mean I pretty much miss summer every moment from that first awful frost until the first shorts-worthy day each year…starting to think I might belong somewhere with a warmer climate.

 

When I was little, the warmer weather meant summer vacation was coming.  Which meant school would be out soon.  Which meant sleeping in, playing tennis whenever I wanted, trampoline slumber parties, campouts, riding bikes, rollerblading, vacations, and endless hours of free time.

 

Now, while I still look forward to it, chances are not much will change because I’ll still be working the 8 to 5 dutifully.

 

Not to say I do not enjoy my job, but I do miss the good ol’ days of few responsibilities and even fewer worries.

 

My 2 sisters and I used to get summer pool passes each year.  We basically went to the public pool every single day from 1 to 5 pm, and usually attended the once monthly “midnight madness” (pools are super cold at midnight, but staying out until midnight was a rare occurrence until after I hit 18).

 

Dad would give us $1.00 each day to purchase chips and a soda or candy.  I usually got a coke and funyuns.  (friggin loved those things) and at break we would sit around outside the gates under the trees on our towels chatting about boys and whatever else it was we talked about those days.

 

We also had a thing for Abercrombie and Fitch back then.  I’m not sure what made us so label crazy back in middle school, but a shirt wasn’t a shirt if it wasn’t plastered with the logos of Abercrombie, Gap, American Eagle, etc (JcPenney was not acceptable, though it was certainly tried…neither was FUBU..somehow we missed the meaning of “for you by you…”)

 

There are a lot of songs that take me back to those lazy junior high summers, but one in particular sticks out…LFO, Summer Girls.  Yep.  It’s probably why we all felt so compelled to become walking billboards for Abercrombie & Fitch (see lyrics below)  Cause hey…if LFO likes girls that wear abercrombie & fitch, I’ll be sportin’ the A+F.

 

And, they made a sweet NKOTB reference, so I’m happy.

 

Lyrically genius, I must say.  We all knew the words, and secretly, you do too.  (it’s okay to admit it and even to sing along if you like).

 

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, here is that sweet summer video.

 

 

 

-jess

New Kids On The block, had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick.
And I think it’s fly when girls stop by for the summer, for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch,
I’d take her if I had one wish,
But she’s been gone since that summer..
Since that summer 

lfo ~ summer girls

 

Let me know what you think :)

damien rice ~ accidental babies