I have just posted two new songs to my myspace. One is an original called "Lady Mountain" that I wrote as I was driving home through the tennessee mountains. I was in my convertible with the top down and there was this beautiful mountain range in front of me that looked just like the silhouette of a woman laying down and facing the sky. It got me thinking and before I knew it I was scrambling for a pen and paper as I drove. Not the safest way to travel, haha.
The other song is a cover of Pat Benatar's hit "Love Is a Battlefield". It's such a great, tragic song that I couldn't help but record it with a little acoustic emo twist. Nothing makes me happier than a good ole sad song :) Here's the link to my myspace:
www.myspace.com/loveinyourears
Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Things To Keep You Up At Night
like time
eating a hole in my winter coat that I left hanging,
with the words still dangling
and the closet door open and all the skeletons waving.
like hope
an ocean I can hear through the window
rising and falling so
vast and far I can't fathom what is down deep below.
like love
running wild and frightening the junkies
I'm holding a roman candle
lit and sparking diamonds on my ugly sleeves.
like music
kissing softly on my ear and at my throat
moving my soul with notes
that fall singly and dissolve like crystals of snow.
like you
the face I imagine even now before sleep
the thing I need
more than all of these, the thing I would keep.
Painting: entitled 3 pm, one of mine from the "Wasted" series.
eating a hole in my winter coat that I left hanging,
with the words still dangling
and the closet door open and all the skeletons waving.
like hope
an ocean I can hear through the window
rising and falling so
vast and far I can't fathom what is down deep below.
like love
running wild and frightening the junkies
I'm holding a roman candle
lit and sparking diamonds on my ugly sleeves.
like music
kissing softly on my ear and at my throat
moving my soul with notes
that fall singly and dissolve like crystals of snow.
like you
the face I imagine even now before sleep
the thing I need
more than all of these, the thing I would keep.
Painting: entitled 3 pm, one of mine from the "Wasted" series.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Bond, James Bond: A Theory
Lately, the famous spy with his dapper tuxedo and love of dry martinis has been invading my daily routine to an almost exhausting point. It started as a random notion to watch "Live or Let Die" (because, well, the theme song is rockin and I distinctly remembered a pretty awesome bit of voodoo sacrifice in the first five minutes) and it turned into a three day movie marathon that unearthed some surprising observations.
Day 1:
I watched Richard Moore with his wit and his subtle dishiness, and I kinda wanted to see more of the Moore movies (no pun intended). The poor guy is so often overlooked as 007 even though he starred in more Bond movies than anyone else. Now, granted, he does seem awfully wrinkly to be bedding the eighteen-year-old fortune-teller and leaping through the air in death-defying acts of escape. Still, he intrigued me. After watching "Octopussy" (set in India, my favorite location for any thriller full of intrigue and exotic romance) and "The Spy Who Loved Me" I then had to see all the other Bonds in comparison. One Major Problem. There are over 20 films- arghh!
Day 2:
I hunkered down during a rainy day and watched free (or stolen, depending on your definition) movies online (http://www.watch-movies-links.net/) until my eyeballs felt like sandy ghosts of their former glory and my Bond craving was satiated. What did I gain from this massive time-consuming and seemingly pointless undertaking, you ask?
Day 3:
After coming down off the Bond high in which I fantasized that my basement could turn into a diamond vault full of death traps (steroid injected eel mutants- yes please!) and realizing that it's not okay to wear rhinestone encrusted backless thonged catsuits in public places (my bad, Publix), I started really thinking about my final impression of the movies. Really, the lasting contribution of the Bond legacy is the changing male fantasy of romantic relationships. Let me explain. I'll start with an example.
Average american girl, does your grandma get exasperated with your obliviousness to the rules of dating, your boyfriend's lax attitude or your inability to cook anything more than a burnt grilled cheese? Well of course she does! In the sixties, Bond women were props, servants, or sexy eye candy who keep the volcano dungeon clean and make the beds warm. Even Pussy Galore, the die-hard man hater of her era not only succumbed to Bond's agressive advances but was named, you know, after a vagina. Well dang. Sure, these are male fantasies, but in the sixties that's what the media was selling en masse as an ideal. Woah. Still, as much as I hate to say it, Bond was just more badass when he was smacking ladies' bottoms and wrecking hearts all over the place. Personal theory, but I think thats why Sean Connery's the favorite Bond. His Bond was so masculine, so authoritative and alpha. Unfortunately, old 007 was also kind of a woman beater. So thank god for feminism and all that.
Fast forward. Slowly but surely, you can watch the evolving of acceptable male-female dynamic through the decades of Bond. Feminism starts to creep in by the eighties and by the time of "GoldenEye" you have the spitfire Russian "Natalia" bossing Bond around, saving the day with her mad computer skills and sporting a simple white tee the whole time. She's the total 90's woman and her equal skills in different areas from Bond make the movie better. She and Bond have an exciting chemistry because they both need each other. Hmm. So what about now?
Let's look at "Casino Royale" and the current incarnation of Bond. He has a minor flirtation with a married Italian beauty. He brings her back to his place, gets the info he needs and leaves her with no more than a kiss between them. In fact, she seems to be the one rarin' to go. Weird. Old Bond would never had walked away from a lady, but then old Bond would also have forced said lady to succumb to his charms despite her guilt over her husband. The reversal is bizarre- does the modern man want to be a tease? Is the modern female fantasy woman the agressive one in the beginning?
After the single flirtation (note, no quickies with any pool girls, baristas or dancers) Bond meets his main movie love, who is gasp, an accountant!?! That's the least sexy job ever, in fact it's downright responsible. And so is her character. In the first five minutes she sizes Bond up and skewers his ego. She then proceeds to mock him, babysit him through his awesome spy activities (lame) and reject all his advances. The only time they seem close is when she can't handle the violence and retreats to a shower to cry. Bond comforts her and sits, fully dressed mind you, in the shower with her. Still he persists with puppy-like devotion and after she saves his life, gets them both captured and she single-handedly gets them freed, they get together. They have magical romance for a good ten minutes of film and then she betrays him and at the end of the movie we see a much broken, tragically love-sick Bond. Whaaaaat?
Basing my entire theory off of the new Bond, the new modern male fantasy is just as unbalanced as the 60's idea of male dominance. The woman takes all the initiative and the man is the emotional tuning fork. The woman draws all the lines in the sand and the man just hangs on for dear life. In fact, only the deliciously cool athleticism and violent badassery saved Daniel Craig from looking like the lead singer of Dashboard Confessional on a crying jag at the end of the movie. Bond was the eye candy. He was the one galavanting about half-naked, playing the tease and falling hard for love. Where was all the fantastic equality of "GoldenEye", all the neat fluid partnership that made it an exciting romance that both men and women could pull for?
Most importantly, do all men think they can now sit back and let the ladies do all the romantic work? Can we women be content to do everything, what with being foxy, working towards our dreams, living the picket-fence family-unit good life AND paying for the check? Hang it all! Someone please give Bond back his lady skills..... but maybe with the exception of the public spanking.
Day 1:
I watched Richard Moore with his wit and his subtle dishiness, and I kinda wanted to see more of the Moore movies (no pun intended). The poor guy is so often overlooked as 007 even though he starred in more Bond movies than anyone else. Now, granted, he does seem awfully wrinkly to be bedding the eighteen-year-old fortune-teller and leaping through the air in death-defying acts of escape. Still, he intrigued me. After watching "Octopussy" (set in India, my favorite location for any thriller full of intrigue and exotic romance) and "The Spy Who Loved Me" I then had to see all the other Bonds in comparison. One Major Problem. There are over 20 films- arghh!
Day 2:
I hunkered down during a rainy day and watched free (or stolen, depending on your definition) movies online (http://www.watch-movies-links.net/) until my eyeballs felt like sandy ghosts of their former glory and my Bond craving was satiated. What did I gain from this massive time-consuming and seemingly pointless undertaking, you ask?
Day 3:
After coming down off the Bond high in which I fantasized that my basement could turn into a diamond vault full of death traps (steroid injected eel mutants- yes please!) and realizing that it's not okay to wear rhinestone encrusted backless thonged catsuits in public places (my bad, Publix), I started really thinking about my final impression of the movies. Really, the lasting contribution of the Bond legacy is the changing male fantasy of romantic relationships. Let me explain. I'll start with an example.
Average american girl, does your grandma get exasperated with your obliviousness to the rules of dating, your boyfriend's lax attitude or your inability to cook anything more than a burnt grilled cheese? Well of course she does! In the sixties, Bond women were props, servants, or sexy eye candy who keep the volcano dungeon clean and make the beds warm. Even Pussy Galore, the die-hard man hater of her era not only succumbed to Bond's agressive advances but was named, you know, after a vagina. Well dang. Sure, these are male fantasies, but in the sixties that's what the media was selling en masse as an ideal. Woah. Still, as much as I hate to say it, Bond was just more badass when he was smacking ladies' bottoms and wrecking hearts all over the place. Personal theory, but I think thats why Sean Connery's the favorite Bond. His Bond was so masculine, so authoritative and alpha. Unfortunately, old 007 was also kind of a woman beater. So thank god for feminism and all that.
Fast forward. Slowly but surely, you can watch the evolving of acceptable male-female dynamic through the decades of Bond. Feminism starts to creep in by the eighties and by the time of "GoldenEye" you have the spitfire Russian "Natalia" bossing Bond around, saving the day with her mad computer skills and sporting a simple white tee the whole time. She's the total 90's woman and her equal skills in different areas from Bond make the movie better. She and Bond have an exciting chemistry because they both need each other. Hmm. So what about now?
Let's look at "Casino Royale" and the current incarnation of Bond. He has a minor flirtation with a married Italian beauty. He brings her back to his place, gets the info he needs and leaves her with no more than a kiss between them. In fact, she seems to be the one rarin' to go. Weird. Old Bond would never had walked away from a lady, but then old Bond would also have forced said lady to succumb to his charms despite her guilt over her husband. The reversal is bizarre- does the modern man want to be a tease? Is the modern female fantasy woman the agressive one in the beginning?
After the single flirtation (note, no quickies with any pool girls, baristas or dancers) Bond meets his main movie love, who is gasp, an accountant!?! That's the least sexy job ever, in fact it's downright responsible. And so is her character. In the first five minutes she sizes Bond up and skewers his ego. She then proceeds to mock him, babysit him through his awesome spy activities (lame) and reject all his advances. The only time they seem close is when she can't handle the violence and retreats to a shower to cry. Bond comforts her and sits, fully dressed mind you, in the shower with her. Still he persists with puppy-like devotion and after she saves his life, gets them both captured and she single-handedly gets them freed, they get together. They have magical romance for a good ten minutes of film and then she betrays him and at the end of the movie we see a much broken, tragically love-sick Bond. Whaaaaat?
Basing my entire theory off of the new Bond, the new modern male fantasy is just as unbalanced as the 60's idea of male dominance. The woman takes all the initiative and the man is the emotional tuning fork. The woman draws all the lines in the sand and the man just hangs on for dear life. In fact, only the deliciously cool athleticism and violent badassery saved Daniel Craig from looking like the lead singer of Dashboard Confessional on a crying jag at the end of the movie. Bond was the eye candy. He was the one galavanting about half-naked, playing the tease and falling hard for love. Where was all the fantastic equality of "GoldenEye", all the neat fluid partnership that made it an exciting romance that both men and women could pull for?
Most importantly, do all men think they can now sit back and let the ladies do all the romantic work? Can we women be content to do everything, what with being foxy, working towards our dreams, living the picket-fence family-unit good life AND paying for the check? Hang it all! Someone please give Bond back his lady skills..... but maybe with the exception of the public spanking.
Friday, June 12, 2009
"At Last" Video Sneak Peek
Today was really exciting because it was the official video shoot for my demo of the classic (and my personal favorite) song, "At Last". The video features my sister Ellie and her baby, Sky, out on a field with a large expanse of (no surprise here) dramatic sky framing them :)
Using the Canon 5d Mark II with its amazing HD video feature, my mom and I set up a quilt and got to work, hoping to grab all the precious footage we needed before the rain rolled in. Thunder was growling, Sky was laughing and I was clicking away.
These are a couple of preview stills from the video. Get excited!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Recording In Cartersville
I've traveled back to Cartersville (my hometown) for a recording session with my sisters. We grew up primitive baptist and our attachment to old creepy hymns is so great that we decided to make some rough cuts for friends and family.
If you can imagine it, recording goes something like this. I lean over my boss, pressing buttons and wondering how in the world I lost the best version of Amazing Grace while Melody (the oldest), tries to sneak out the back door and leave because recording makes her so nervous. Meanwhile, Ellie (the youngest) is rocking her tiny baby Sky and reading the same verse over and over, trying to remember it so that she doesn't have to mumble through her angelic solo- and all the while we're laughing at each other and enjoying the time together. Nothing beats hanging out with sisters (except maybe hanging out with sisters AND brothers).
My sister Ellie and Her Baby, Sky
My recording system, a BOSS
If you can imagine it, recording goes something like this. I lean over my boss, pressing buttons and wondering how in the world I lost the best version of Amazing Grace while Melody (the oldest), tries to sneak out the back door and leave because recording makes her so nervous. Meanwhile, Ellie (the youngest) is rocking her tiny baby Sky and reading the same verse over and over, trying to remember it so that she doesn't have to mumble through her angelic solo- and all the while we're laughing at each other and enjoying the time together. Nothing beats hanging out with sisters (except maybe hanging out with sisters AND brothers).
My sister Ellie and Her Baby, Sky
My recording system, a BOSS
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
"Slowly Revolving Doors" New Music Video!
I wrote this new song today called "Slowly Revolving Doors" and in my free time I made a little music video to go with it. I hope you enjoy the song- I like to think it's about exploring your heart :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
