Cabin Fever, ftw!

Erin McKeown, who is one of my favorite artists, has a series of webcasted live concerts called Cabin Fever.

The first four episodes of Cabin Fever were done in conjunction with the release of her latest album, Hundreds of Lions. She lives in a cabin and performed each of the episodes at various places on her property. My favorite was the episode where she performed acoustic covers of songs about water from the middle of her river. Seriously.

The thing that I admire most about McKeown is her fearless, DIY approach to making music. She self-released her first record, Monday Morning Cold, and toured to promote it without the help (financial and otherwise) of a major label. Hundreds of Lions, McKeown's sixth studio album, was released on Ani DiFranco's label, Righteous Babe records, and McKeown used Cabin Fever as a way to help pay for the record.

Fast forward to SuperBowl Sunday.

McKeown announced that she would be doing a fifth installment of Cabin Fever, this time with a sports theme. And it was awesome. She started with the National Anthem (done a billion times better than Xtina, btw) that was followed by a ridiculously awesome cover of Kurtis Blow's Basketball.

Cabin Fever V lasted for about 50 minutes and featured appearances by several guests including Carrie Rodriguez, Scott McCaughey, and Ryan Montbleau. Montbleau's song about the four most hated players in the NFL was both awesomely performed and seriously funny. You can watch it here. And you should.

McKeown closed the show with her own version of the hip hop hit Green and Yellow. It was about the most adorable thing I'd ever seen. You can see it on her blog. And you should.

All in all, Cabin Fever V was a great way to kickoff SuperBowl Sunday. All of the Cabin Fever episodes, including this one, are available for viewing.

ps--If you live in the StL, you can see Ms. McKeown along with Carrie Rodriguez and Mary Gauthier on Feburary 14th at the Old Rock House as part of the Acoustic Cafe Tour.

Book news a-go-go

Two book-related things worth mentioning:

First:
Do you own an ereader? I do. The Dude cashed in a bunch of AmEx points to buy me a Nook in a a Gift of the Magi-esque turn of events for which I am forever grateful to him.

I spent a lot of time considering what kind of e-reader I wanted. I rarely buy books anymore since I can get most of what I want to read through MPOW. I sometimes have to wait to read a just-released book, but there are very few books for which this is a deal breaker. So when I was thinking about buying an e-reader, I knew that I would want to have one that was compatible with Overdrive books which do DRM management through Adobe Editions.

This blog post at ProfHacker caught my attention because it talks about Calibre, a piece of software which allows you to convert ebooks from their native format to whatever format your e-reader requires. As long as the title in question passes the DRM sniff-test, you're good to go.

Second:
NPR Books is doing a virtual books club with Unbroken, Laura 'Seabiscuit' Hillenbrand's new book that they're calling a "a book-club-meets-social-media experiment."

Virtual book clubs aren't new--the Onion AV Club does a really cool one. What sets this apart, though, is that the author is involved with this one. Hillenbrand is doing interviews, Q&As, and a live chat through the course of the month.

If you're interested in jumping into the chatter, you can get all the details here. This post gives you everything you need to get started and directs you to the NPR Books' Facebook page and Twitter hashtag so you can start chatting.

I'm going to pick up Hillenbrand's book today so that I can be part of the awesomeness.

Craft Leftovers

I aspire to be significantly more crafty than I currently am. I also aspire to live more sustainably than I currently do.

I suspect this is why Kristin Roach's blog, Craft Leftovers, appeals to me so much.

Craft Leftovers is all about being creative and crafty with the space and things you already have. The life that Roach advocates for is thrifty, it's sustainable, and it's awesome.

Roach doesn't just focus on crafty stuff. She talks about how to make one's space more aesthetically pleasing and how to make stuff to solve everyday problems. She also focuses on how to be more thrifty in the kitchen.

Craft Leftovers is peppered with tutorials and at least once a week I'm inspired to try something new.

If you're crafty, thrifty, eco-friendly, or just looking for some inspiration, I encourage you to give Craft Leftovers a look-see.

Matt and Kim: Heroes of New Sincerity

Okay, so there's this phenomenon known as "New Sincerity."

Basically, New Sincerity thumbs its nose at postmodern cynicism. It's an oversimplified explanation, but it'll do. Most notably, New Sincerity has been linked to Jesse Thorn's show The Sound of Young America. Heroes of the New Sincerity include Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Shaq.

I went to see the band Matt and Kim last night, and walked away believing that they, too, could be considered Heroes of the New Sincerity. Two musicians from Brooklyn, Matt and Kim seemed to be having the time of their lives as they danced, handclapped, and crowd surfed their way through their hour-long set.

If you've heard the Bacardi ad that features the song 'Daylight,' you've heard Matt and Kim. And though their second album is way more polished than their first, the song clip in the ad gives you the basic idea of who they are.

The set was tight and featured a ton of songs while, at the same time, making room for banter that rivals that of Banter Queens Tegan and Sara. Highlights included the aforementioned Daylight as well as Kim singing on Lessons Learned, a song they debuted at last night's show.

The band seemed genuinely overwhelmed that they had such a large crowd (300+) show up for the show. They made every effort to keep it clean for the kidlets in the audience (as an aside: who takes elementary aged kids to an all-ages show on a school night? Matt and Kim didn't even go on until 10!) and they put themselves on risers on the stage so that people in the back of the club could see them.

The show ended with an impromptu dance party and the band sticking around to take pictures with the horde of starstruck fans.

At first, I couldn't imagine that Matt and Kim were sincere. They were so...happy. And energetic. I was sure this was an indie rock joke that I just didn't get. I was sure that they were jaded hipsters who would reveal their true selves before the set was over. The thing is, as the set went on I grew more confident that they really were sincere. They just really love playing music and they love the fans who come to their show.

So, in conclusion, Matt and Kim are awesome. And heroes of the New Sincerity.

I support 'Sound of Young America' awareness...do you?

Did you see the teal ribbon on my sidebar?

It links you to Maximum Fun's website which is kind of the nerve center of The Sound of Young America.

If you're not aware of TSOYA, you should be. If you're not, I'm beginning to think you aren't paying attention to me.

Anyway, click the link and show TSOYA some love.

AnonymousK: blogger extraordinaire

I have this friend, AnonymousK, who writes a blog. In fact, you might be visiting my blog from hers as I was lucky enough to be featured as one of her Valentines.

I read a lot of blogs, most of which are written by people I don't know. I especially like blogs whose authors "keep it real." I like people who are self-assured enough to tell the truth, even when it's ugly. I find people like that inspiring.

AnonymousK's is not only a blogger with the courage to speak the truth, she is also someone I could email and not be embarrassed or fan girl-y about it. See, AnonymousK and I used to know each other well. We were friends 'back in the day.' What this really means is that she knew me at my most awkward and, as a result, has ammunition a-plenty. We lost touch, though, but through the magic of the Interwebs we became reacquainted.

The nice thing is, now we know each other as grown ups. What this really means is that we have decided to not bring up those awkward years and, instead, choose to relate to each other as mature, has-it-together versions of the people we used to be.

AnonymousK totally keeps it real. She talks about her life and her family (as a side note, AnonymousK's husband, Mr. K., was a friend of mine for many years. We were in First Communion class together back when I was Catholic.) She talks about her joys and her struggles. And she does it with a grace and authenticity that make me green with envy.

So go give AnonymousK some love, y'all! You'll be glad you did.

Voting

I don't care who you vote for.

Exercise your right to choose.

Make your voice heard.

Or, as Diddy said, "vote or die."

Stand up for your rights, both nationally and locally. Don't stop voting at the top of the ticket. Go all the way down--down to the local initiatives and propositions.

Stand in line. Wait as long as it takes.

Having a say is made of a lot of awesome.

Rachel Maddow is made of awesome

I try not to discuss my politics on my blog and, until now, I think I've done a pretty good job of not showing my hand.

I fear that this post will blow that out of the water. So forgive me my partisan crowing for a minute, m'kay?

Tonight, at 9pm Eastern, Rachel Maddow's show premiers on MSNBC. And I, for one, couldn't be happier.

Maddow started her rise to television fame on Air America Radio. She started by reading the news and then moved on to serve as 1/3 of the show Unfiltered with Chuck D (yes, that Chuck D) and Lizz Winstead. Two weeks after that show was cancelled, Maddow got her own show on Air America.

Despite Air America's revolving door of hosts and shows (Morning Sedition, anyone?), Maddow has remained a fixture on the station. She is smart and funny and snarky. She isn't afraid to stick it to the Democrats as often as she sticks it to the Republicans and the fact that she starts her show with "news from Iraq and life during wartime" shows (at least in my mind) her commitment to supporting the troops even if she doesn't support the war.

Imagine my delight, then, when Maddow started showing up on MSNBC. She appeared as a guest on Keith Olbermann's Countdown show and took a place on the panel on David Gregory's Race for the White House.

As her role has grown on MSNBC, so has her fan base. MSNBC recognized that by offering her a show airing directly after Countdown.

I, for one, am rooting for Maddow. She's an insightful commentator and, well, a woman. How many of those do you see hosting in primetime on cable news?

"I’m a roustabout/And I’m bound to roust you out "

It's been up for nearly two weeks, but this post on Mike Doughty's blog has some great You Tube videos of him singing some stuff off the newest record with Scrap Livingston accompanying him on bass.

They are made of awesome, so you should definitely go check them out.

Doogie Howser needs a new pair of shoes...

...or, more accurately, he has shoes to give away.

Go watch Neil Patrick Harris' upcoming appearance on Sesame Street.

Remember when he was Doogie Howser, M.D.?

I totally do.

It's nice to see him all grown up and succeeding in Hollywood.

The Spares in concert

If you're near any of the places that The Spares are playing this summer, I urge you to check them out.

You simply will not be disappointed.

I'd give you a money-back guarantee, but you wouldn't need it, so it would certainly be a waste of my time and yours.

Just go.

You know you want to.

From The Shamless Plug Department

Did you know that The Dude wrote a book?

He did.

It's finally seeing the light of day and I couldn't be prouder.

I watched him through the entire process. I saw him struggle and grow until he produced this amazing labor of love.

He always seemed excited to interview the players, no matter how overwhelmed he felt on any given day.

He was persistent, even when he was tired of writing.

He and Beatrice, our 15-pound calico cat who is madly in love with him, burned many a midnight oil as he crafted chapter after chapter and story after story.

And, at the end of it, he seemed pleased with his work and as in love with the stories as he was the day he started it.

This isn't so much a shameless plug to buy the book (though, you should do that if you want to) as it is a shameless plug for The Dude.

He is certainly one of Mrs. Dude's favoritest things...

Librivox: How Mrs. Dude plans to read the classics

I wish I had the patience to read books that would make me a better, more culturally aware person.

I don't.

I read one or two pages and get bored.

Librivox has solved all of my problems, and they did it for free.

I could jump for joy.

Librivox is an initiative that has volunteers reading works of fiction and non-fiction that are currently in the public domain.

For a reasonably concise explanation of public domain,go here.

Chapters of works are read by volunteers and uploaded to the interwebs where anyone can download them. Users can search or browse the Librivox catalog and either download the file to their computers or subscribe to a book in iTunes in the form of a podcast.

I chose the "subscribe in iTunes" option and it was quick and painless. Each chapter is a separate podcast.

I am currently listening to Jane Austen's Persuasion.

Because the people reading the books are volunteers, you don't always have professional-sounding people reading to you. Sometimes I don't always like the voice of the person reading a chapter. Conversely, if you do like the voice of someone reading a chapter, there's no guarantee that person will be reading the next chapter. But, it's free, so I'm willing to deal with a bit of amateur-ness from the readers.

I'll start listing the books I read via Librivox, so that the two of you who might be interested can follow along at home.

I heartily recommend checking out Librivox and either listening or volunteering to read. Or, heck, go crazy and do both!

From a Friend of Mrs. Dude

Go give my friend, My friend Katie, some love at her new blog The Mystery Shelf.

If you're into mysteries, it's shaping up to be made of awesome.

Coverville

Coverville is an awesome podcast, especially if you love cover songs. And I really, really love cover songs.

As near as I can tell from the information on the Coverville website, the show is hosted, recorded, and produced by a single person out of his home in Colorado. I was floored when I read that, because I was sure that this was a big-budget show produced by a public radio station.

Each episode has a theme. Sometimes it's topical--like Halloween. Sometimes it's by artist--like the show that features covers of songs by Sting.

Mostly, though, it's made of awesome.

Go check it out. And since it's independently run, maybe toss a couple of dollars their way.