Meri Poppins is Singin’ in the Rain

I am so excited about today’s musical topic I can hardly contain myself. But I will for a sec.

It’s been the nicest (albeit hazy, rainy, cloudy) weekend. Here are the highlights, for my mom, and anyone else who cares…

-Photo shoot with man-go-round by his talented cousin in some of our favorite spots
-Playing in the kitchen making our first homemade bread crumbs (sad, I know)

Drop dead, bread

-Michaels dollar bins
-Trying tapioca pudding for the first time. Me likey!
-Sleeping in/ napping until noon today
-Birdy watching

Red headed woodpecker
Now I’m thinking about writing this blog, working a bit on Tropic of Cancer, and perhaps experimenting with some blueberry microwave pancakes (blueberries 2-for-1 at Cub! holla!)

Without further ado, I am so happy to introduce: MERI LOVES MUSICALS!

I know not everybody has love for musicals. Man-go-round can’t stand them. But I grew up watching my sister sing in them, spending afternoons at my best friend’s house watching and memorizing her Evita video, and getting excited and dressed up to go to the theater to shows like Les Mis and Mamma Mia.

It is so incredibly hard for me to pare these down, but I have to list some of my personal favorites. 

***I chose some because they are silly:

-Shipoopi (The Music Man)
-Supercalifragilistic Expialidocious (Mary Poppins)
-America, F yeah- Team America (what, it’s a musical!)
-Springtime for Hitler (The Producers)
-Officer Krupke (West Side Story)
-“T” and “A” (why am I censoring this when my mom clearly knows the words from my sister playing this soundtrack repeatedly through my childhood) from A Chorus Line
-I wanna be like you- The Jungle Book
-Lonely Goatherd- Sound of Music (come on, yodeling?)

***I chose some because I like to sing them at the top of my lungs:

-When you’re good to mama- Chicago
-Master of the House- Les Mis
-Summer Nights- Grease
-Will you Light my Candle- Rent
-What’s New, Buenos Aires- Evita
-If I were a Rich Man- Fiddler on the Roof
-Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend- Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (God love Marilyn, I sure do)
-So Long, Farewell- Sound of Music (and now I get to sing along with my (not so) baby nieces as they have discovered this tune. My heart melts).
-Honey Bun- South Pacific

***Some are simply classics, you can’t mess with these for me:

-I Dreamed a Dream- Les Mis
-Singin’ in the Rain- Singin’ in the Rain
-Sisters, Sisters- White Christmas
-Edelweiss- Sound of Music
-Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina- Evita


Hmmm, so obvs this is heavy on the Evita and the Les Mis, as they are two of my faves. I haven’t included any Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Wicked, as I haven’t seen them. I excluded a LOT of Disney I could have had in there, but slippery slope…

What do you all think? Do you love musicals? or hate them? These songs get stuck in my head for daaaays, and I’m not sure I care at all.

Let me know your favorites, and maybe I can discover a few new tunes to shout from the rooftops sing quietly to myself in the kitchen.

Meri
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Music Television


Good Evening- first off, look at how the snow is disappearing! Hooray heat wave!





Enough of that. Back to business.

Tonight’s post isn’t about MTV. It IS about music on television though. Rather, the music that introduces our very favorite (and not so favorite) TV shows. Although these days every reality show and drama and comedy seems like a music video, promoting up and coming singers, back in MY day the music was usually confined mostly to the theme song. In the interest of my own nerdery, I’ve chosen to do a “category day” today.

Best Instrumental Theme
-I Love Lucy *** Winner!
-Sex and the City
-Six Feet Under
-Mad Men
-The Cosby Show

Best Kids/ Cartoon Theme
-Doug (remember that one?)
-Sesame Street *** HAS to be the winner!
-The Simpsons

Best “Story/ Introduction” Theme
-Fresh Prince of Bel-Air *** Winner, for all of us that memorized it as kids
-The Jetsons
-The Brady Bunch
-Gilligan’s Island
-The Addam’s Family

Best Retro Theme
-Laverne and Shirley (second runner up)
-Charlie’s Angels
-The Jeffersons *** Winner! (only because I like to rock out when I sing along)
-Golden Girls
-All in the Family (too annoying to win)

Best Cheesefest (pay close attention for the 80s theme…)
-Full House
-Step By Step
-Boy Meets World
-Saved by the Bell 
-My so called life *** Winner because Jordan Catalano was hot

Best 90s/Contemporary Theme
-Weeds (Little Boxes) *** Arbitrary winner because I like the show
-Friends (I’ll be there for you)
-Parenthood (great usage of Bobby D, I think) 
-The OC (Califorrrrrnia… here we cooooome”)

Worst of the Worst Theme (this is gonna be hard…)
-Daria (love the show, hate the theme. Redeems itself with the lyric “You’re standing on my neck…”
-Three’s Company
-America’s Next Top Model (ooooh, I’m torn love/hate on this one…)
-Gossip Girl (this show/ theme both need to die. Die CW channel…)
-Law and Order (DUH-dunk)
-The L Word **** Winner/ (or should I say Loser?) the absolute worst worst awful horrible theme for a show I love so very very dearly. Plus, it’s an earworm. The winner by far.


Now I want to hear from YOU GUYS! What theme songs do you love or hate? Which ones get stuck in your head for DAYS (at my house that happens when the DVD menu to Mad Men plays for 20 minutes at a time while I’m out of the room… then have the theme in my head for weeks).

Let me hear ’em! Don’t be afraid to argue with my choices or make your own categories!

Meri
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Moony Tunes

Have you all seen the moon out there tonight? It promises to be a “supermoon” tomorrow, but I’ve gotta say I’m pretty okay if this is as good as it gets:


When I was little, one of my all time favorite books was “Mooncake” by Frank Asch. I could read it over and over and over (or rather, make my parents or sisters read it over and over) and still am totally charmed by the story.

I think it was the beginning of a lifelong enchantment with the moon. Since it’s music month, I’m going to throw a few “moon tunes” your way to celebrate the 4th or 5th silly holiday of the week (Pi day? St. Urho’s Day? Vernal Equinox anyone?)

Meri Moon’s Tunes

-Moon River- Henry Mancini (I think we’ve all tried to emulate Audrey by drying our hair in the fire escape, strumming our guitars… but has anyone ever gotten anything but a noise complaint by trying to replicate?)

-Moondance- Van Morrison (the tune of many high school dances of yore)

-Man on the Moon- REM (I’m scared to admit this, but it’s one of the only REM songs that I like)

-Dancing in the Moonlight- King Harvest/ Toploader (the original is great, but does anyone remember this cover from the early 2000s? It was huge back in high school, I remember…)

-Bad Moon Rising-CCR (this song reminds me of My Girl with the bumper car scene? Where Vada tries to take Shelly out? ha)

-Fly me to the Moon- Frank “the tank” Sinatra. (reminds me of my best friend’s “swanky” cocktail party in high school, which started out with ties and gin and tonics, and ended up with malibu and… vomit…)

-see also: Harvest Moon, Blue Moon, Dark Side of the Moon, Paper Moon…

Have you ever seen the Man in the Moon? What’s your favorite Moon Tune?

Meri Moooooooon, I’m a vegetarian… 
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Irish eyes are smiling, and now so am I

Man-go-round found this when we were on
Vulture Peak, we thought it was cute



I was walking to work this morning and I saw a guy out running with a great big smile on his face. Seeing this first thing in the morning (a gorgeous, cumulus, fresh spring morning, I might add), really started my day off on the right foot. 


I found myself “paying the smile forward,” as cheesy as that sounds, consciously smiling at others throughout the day, hoping to bring a little more cheer if I could. As much as I resist behavior like this most of the time, I gotta say it felt great to put all of that positivity out there. I might just try it again tomorrow.


Before leaving the house though, I checked on my special St. Patrick’s Day treats. I didn’t take a picture of the Jameson, and I won’t be getting a shamrock shake (after the too much dairy plus too much beer debacle of 3/17/2009…) but I did capture my lovely lime jello…



Yum! lime jello just might be my favorite flavor. To think there was a time I thought I’d never love jello again… well, wisdom teeth- you tried to make me sick of jello, but my love did return. Slainte!


Now, it’s still music month, so for the holiday I have a few treats for you:


1. Top 5 U2 songs
-The Sweetest Thing
-Wild Honey
-Mysterious Ways
-Sunday Bloody Sunday
-In a Little While


2. “Non-traditional” St. Patrick’s Day songs
-Luck be a Lady- Old Blue Eyes
-Lucky- Radiohead
-Green River- CCR
-Green Eyes- Coldplay
-Semi-Charmed Life- Third Eye Blind
-Green- Dandy Warhols
-Luck of the Irish- John Lennon
-Crimson and Clover- Tommy James and the Shondells


What are you all doing to celebrate today? Going out? Or choosing Jameson, green food, and hockey like me? 


Cheers!
Meri-go-bragh

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Sweet "Mer"oline

Happy St. Urho’s Day everyone! A special shoutout to my lovely Comrade (Comradette?) for alerting me to the existence of this day. It has been truly magical, and only gets me more psyched for St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow (green jello anyone?)


Speaking of treats, things have become quite sugary in Chez-go-round of late. Beyond my typical sugar addiction, we were given some lovely coconut balls by man-go-round’s Grandma…


…I bought another box of my favorite bars (glorified cookies)…


…and I got these SoyJoy Bars from Swanson Health in my box of freebies to sample and give an honest review of…



So what do I think? I think that these bars are super tasty, kind of like a scone or softer biscotti. My issue? I think they kind of taste like a glorified cookie, again. They would be a good “dessert,” for sure- I wolfed this little thing down- but I don’t think you’d get much long term energy from it. 
Definitely a unique bar though, I’d like to try some of the other flavors, maybe the strawberry next?


All of this “sweet” talk has me thinking about super saccharine sugary frosting pop music. Sometimes it’s horrible and you want to curse the day the singer was born. Other days, it’s just what I want to listen to.


Here are a few of my favorites- and please note that although a lot of them have “sugary” names, this was not among my criteria, it’s just a coincidence that these pop confections have sweet names.


Meri’s “pop” it like it’s hot sweet songs


1. Speakerphone- Kylie Minogue (holy autotune!)
2. The Sweet Escape- Gwen Stefani
3. Luxurious- Gwen Stefani
4. Toxic- Britney Spears
5. My Drive Thru- Santogold/Pharell
6. Crash- The Primitives (I could put 85% of 80s music in this playlist if I didn’t restrain myself)
7. Lollipop, Lollipop- The Chordettes
8. D.A.N.C.E- Justice
9. Sunday Girl- Blondie
10. Sugar Sugar- The Archies


Well, there you have it. I would qualify these as “guilty pleasures,” but I feel no guilt about liking this crap! Do you guys like simple fun pop music like this? Or does it make you nutbags crazy cranky?


Wishing you all milkshake wishes and sugarplum dreams!


Meri

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Bandemonium

Greetings! I hope everyone is having a nice evening. I sure am getting used to having more daylight! Thanks to everyone for the well wishes after yesterday’s down in the dumps post, and today I’m feeling more like myself.


I was thinking today about concerts, and some of the most fun shows that I’ve gone to in my day. Sometimes I like to go to tiny clubs, and other times I end up at festivals dancing outdoors. One thing is always certain, though- I like to dance, dance, dance.


I think my one criteria for a good show is- can you dance to it? And as for those people who choose not to dance? Fine. But those people that don’t dance and act like I’m in their way for shakin’ my thang? Well, they can just move on back. 


‘Cause Meri’s here to have fun.


So here are the tops of the tops, in no particular order:

-M.I.A. at First Ave. This one gets only one quote, and then I’ll move on. “TURN THE OTHER CHEEK!!!” You know who you are. This was a memorable night.

-Michael Franti and Spearhead at Trocaderos- This was one of the first shows man-go-round and I attended together. He got me in for free as an affiliate of the Current, which I think was part of the appeal when I first met him hehe! Although he also smuggled me into Atmosphere, Jolie Holland, and a few other shows, this one was by far the partiest. (Yes, I can use that word that way if I want to.)

-Franz Ferdinand at the Quest Club (remember that place?)- What a fun band to see live, I still have flashbulb memories of it.

-Trampled by Turtles, Umphrey’s McGee, Yonder Mountain String Band, Old Crow Medicine Show, Pert Near Sandstone- Okay, so I lumped a bunch of my bluegrass loves together into one category because I can’t honestly remember who I saw at the Cabooze, who was at First Ave, who was at Cabooze again, who was on Rockboat (yes, a boat down the river with booze and bluegrass. Awesome), and it’s all become one hazy dance-a-thon in my head. Good times though, for sure. 

– Regina Spektor at the State Theater- Although a slightly less dancy show, this one was awesome. I remember laughing at the girl in the row ahead of me who continuously took non-flash pictures with her digital camera for 2 hours of music. Not a single one turned out. I think she must have been on drugs. I digress- I went to this one with my two best gals, and Regina is incredibly talented. And who says you can’t dance to slower music?


Well, there you have it friends- a little trip down memory lane with me. What are some of the most fun concerts  you’ve been to? Do you like to dance at shows or do you like to just chill?

Peace, Rock’n’Rollas!

Meri
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Just another Manic Blue Monday Monday

People have been singing for years about “the blues.” Holly Golightly called them the “mean reds.” The Smashing Pumpkins wrote an album about “Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.”

Ooooookay, hold up. Mom, don’t book a flight to Minnesota, and I certainly am not having a pity party to get people to try to cheer me up– just wanted to take a minute to address something that happens to me once a month. Yes people, I’m talking about pre menstrual depressive symptoms, the crushing brick that hits me one to three days a month pre period. I can be having thoughts as happy as a clam, and still feel like I want to stay in bed all day and bury myself under the covers. Maybe it wouldn’t stand out so much if it weren’t in such contrast to my general feelings towards life directly before and after this monthly malaise…

Either way, it freakin stinks, I don’t feel in control of my body, and don’t even get me started on how I feel about having high doses of hormones pumped into me… 

Nevertheless, although I’m a pretty cheery and optimistic individual, occasionally I have “real problems” that don’t involve hormone levels, and when I do I have developed certain coping strategies to get me through without hittin’ the bottle.

1- Retail therapy. Target directly benefits from my “mean reds.” See exhibit A and B…

it’s almost spring!

it’s almost summer! (well, I can kid myself…)

2-Music, of course! Here are some of my “come on, get happy!” tunes that can pull me, at least momentarily, out of the doldrums.

Meri’s Turn that Frown Upside Down Playlist:

-“Fitz and the Dizzyspells”- Andrew Bird
-“I wanna be sedated”- the Ramones (strangely enough…)
-“Hundred yard dash”- Raphael Saadiq
-“Hello, Hello, Bonjour Bonjour” By Michael Franti and Spearhead (or almost any song by them)
-“Pressure Drop”- Toots and the Maytals
-“Modern Love”- David Bowie
-“The Best Day”- Atmosphere (this is the most recent happy tune)
-“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”- Andrews sisters (this one brought on by my tap dancing class as a kid) 


What tunes do you people listen to to make “just another manic monday” (the Bangles) turn into “monday monday, so good to me” (The Mamas and the Papas)?

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite song lyrics about da blues:

“I had the blues, so bad one time
It put my face in a permanent frown
Now, I’m feelin’ so much better
I could cakewalk in the town”

-Taj Mahal


I am feeling better already.
Goodnight lovely friends.
Meri
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You make me "meri" happy



What is that, you ask?

Why, it’s a blog award. I made it up! I love receiving blog awards and giving them to others, but I sort of have a hard time “following the rules.” I’ve never been much of a rule follower, I tend to march to the beat of my own drum. And since it’s music month, I thought I would pay it forward from some of the recent blog awards I’ve been given (thank you everybody, it really does make my day!).

So I decided to make my own blog award and give it to some very deserving bloggers who make me very merry. I really am having a hard time narrowing it down since there are so many really different and unique blogs out there, so I’m sticking with the ones I’ve been reading the longest, and that really got me into the whole blogging world. 

And the rules for the awardees? Obvs there are none. Here are a few options though:

-Smile to yourself, knowing that your blog is bomb, and do nothing else
-Pass the award on to bloggers that have been with you since the beginning
-Write a music related post in honor  of my music month
-Display the award proudly on your page
-Make your own blog award!

Sooo… I thought I’d make a Blogger Mixed Tape to announce the winners:

1-“Shoop” by Salt n Pepa for Bianca and the B-sides (because it’s our song). This chick is sassy, makes incredible illustrations, and always has me saying, “YES!” aloud as I’m reading her posts. 

2-“Fashion” by David Bowie for MinnChic, Rags against the Machine, and A Banana Medley. Because I turn to these ladies for fashionista inspiration. 

3-“Let’s get Physical” by Olivia Newton John (and Sue Sylvester) for Wheres the Beach. Because she makes me want to pump iron and be a menace to society too.

4-“You really got me” by the Kinks for Purple Bird Blog, Eden’s Eats, A Sparkle a Day, Peas and Crayons, and Sealverland. I generally feel like I’m on the same wavelength as these bloggers. Whether it’s crafts, pop culture, or good eats, I always enjoy these ones.

5-“Paperback Writer” by the Beatles- for Of Woods and Words, Our Sweet Crazy Life, and TexaGermaNadian. These bloggers are fantastic writers, and though sometimes write longer posts like me I ALWAYS want to read to the end, and end up telling others about what I read. Talented chicas!

6-“Spice up your life” by the Spice Girls for Ang Sarap. These recipes make me drool, even the ones with meat in them! This blog is a real go-to for foods from all places.

7-“Music” by Madonna, for my fellow music lover The Girl with the Blue Bow. I hope she does a music related post for me 🙂

8-“Picture Book” by the Kinks, for 100 Miles Highway and Chunguzi Ndege. There pictures make me want to drop everything but my passport. Now.

Like I said before, I wish I could award this to lots more. Perhaps next time I make a blog award I’ll have a new crop with some of the recent blog friends I’ve made! I love you guys too!

Cheers!
Meri
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Songs of Inspiration vs. Wave of Mutilation

Friday Greetings to all.
I have a laundry list of “blog business” to cover this weekend, but I really don’t feel like posting anything except some photos and lyrics of solidarity for all of the chaos that is happening in the world today. Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Political unrest, and more. The “easy out” is to get depressed and give up.


I believe the world is good despite how awful things can seem. I believe music can bring some solidarity to human beings, to draw us together and inspire us to keep going even in the face of destruction. Thus, I give you some of my favorite lyrics for solidarity, for unity, and for love, to all of the earth’s creatures.


One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we’re not the same
We get to
Carry each other 

-“One” by U2


We’ll make the world alright
 when everyone’s dancin’, love is around
 when everybody’s singing, love is around
 when everyone’s helpin’, love is around
 when everybody’s sharing, love is around! 

-“Love is Around” by Earthman Lenny Smith



Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

-“Imagine” by John Lennon


Peace everybody. Goodnight.
Meri
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