Friday, May 29, 2009

Friday Five: iTunes Top Five

What are the most played songs on your iPod? Here are my top five.
  1. Chocolate (Edinburgh Live Version) by Snow Patrol. Several years ago, before Grey's Anatomy made Snow Patrol a household name, I bought a couple of their songs after reading a recommendation in Newsweek. I don't know what I expected to be the most played song in my iTunes library, but it wasn't this. I have added it to seven different playlists, which probably explains why it comes up in the rotation often.
  2. My Savior My God by Aaron Shust. I can definitely understand why this is a top-five song. I usually play songs from my "Favorites" playlist or "All Songs by Artists" and Aaron Shust is the first artist list in both playlists.
  3. You're Worthy of My Praise by Jeremy Camp. Before Jeremy Camp ever released his first album, he traveled to Cork, Ireland, as part of a mission trip and performed at the end of the week. I loved him! When I started hearing his songs on the radio in Lubbock, I couldn't believe he found success so quickly. I love to rock out to this song! Laugh all you want.
  4. Be Near by Shane and Shane. Love Shane and Shane. Thanks, Janie, for introducing them to me. B Near is from my favorite Shane and Shane album, Carry Away. It's not my favorite Shane and Shane song though.
  5. Lubbock or Leave It by the Dixie Chicks. My dad calls me a traitor and a communist for liking the Dixie Chicks. I will always like the Dixie Chicks. I like this song and this album, but I don't know if I would include this song in a list of my favorite Dixie Chicks songs, and yet it rotates through my iPod regularly. My favorite Dixie Chicks song, Top of the World, has played 22 fewer times than this song. Go figure

All in all, I'm a little surprised by the songs on this list. I guess this is what you get when you listen to your music on the shuffle setting constantly.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Friday Five: Catch Up

  1. I've resisted writing about the two weddings I was in - my sister's and Elisabeth's - due to the lack of pictures I have to add to this post. I didn't have my camera at either wedding and neither photographer has released photos. But ask and you shall receive. I was maid of honor in my little sister's wedding almost a month ago. Amanda's wedding was similar to what I would want. Simple but full of personality. Her lingerie shower/bachelorette party was one of the best ones I've attended: barbecue, margaritas and close friends only, no parents. May aunt and uncle from Arizona and cousin and his family from Alabama attended, so it was a minor family reunion.

  2. Wedding number two was for college friend Elisabeth. Gorgeous wedding in an old, downtown church. Very classic and traditional. Great to see my Lubbock friends again.

  3. My busy season at work is finished. I haven't known what to do with myself this week. The evenings seems to last forever. Plenty of time for cooking and cleaning, exercising, watching Netflix movies, anything I want to do.

  4. My apartment complex is offering a recycling program, and by program, I mean a recycling dumpster on the grounds. Works for me. It's much easier than driving to the drop-off center in town, and I don't have to sort anything. I had the exciting privilege of being the first person to use the the shiny new dumpster.

  5. It's been an interesting season finale season hasn't it? Jim and Pam are having a baby! Did Jack and Co. change the future? Does Booth really have amnesia? Chuck knows kung fu?

Friday, May 08, 2009

Friday Five: Movie Magic

It's not secret I love movies. For this week's installment of Friday Five, I am going to list five moments of movie magic. What is movie magic? It's when you walk out of a theatre thinking you've seen the best movie of the year, or get on the phone and call everyone you know and tell them to watch a movie you've just seen, or a scene in a movie that movies you. These aren't my all-time favorite movie moments, just five recent ones. I do have that memory issue.
  1. Once - The "Falling Slowly" music number. What a great scene.! The music is great (the song won an Oscar!) and everyone - the directors, actors, musicians and editors - gets what happens when people connect for the first time.

  2. Moulin Rouge - The "Elephant Love Medley" number. I saw this movie with Janie, and halfway through this song, I turned to her and said, "I love this movie!" The eagerness of Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman's complete dedication to her role won me over. The whole movie is fabulous, but I still remember my reaction to this moment in the movie.

  3. Before Sunrise - The opening train scene when Jesse and Celine meet for the first time. I was freaking out when I started watching this movie because I experienced what I was watching. Well, not exactly. I didn't get off a train with a guy I just met before telling him my name, but I did ask a guy to eat dinner with me before I knew his name. Many Americans watching this movie probably rolled their eyes at how far fetched this scene was, but it's authentic. Backpackers are a sub culture in Europe. If you meet someone on a train or in a hostel that speaks your language, you pursue the relationship, even if it's only a two hour train ride. You share personal things and exchange travel stories. And sometimes, like Jesse and Celine, you ask for more, and have a great experience. I actually like the sequel, Before Sunset, better than the original, but it was the opening train scene that stayed with me.

  4. Little Miss Sunshine - The pageant scene. I have never laughed so hard at a movie as I did while watching Little Miss Sunshine. The whole movie is funny, but Olive's performance in the pageant tops it all. Once I started laughing, I couldn't stop. I was laughing so hard, I started to sweat. I walked out of the theatre laughing. I got on the phone and called Rachel, Janie and Megan (I think) to tell them to stop what they were doing and watch this movie. I couldn't go so sleep that night because I kept playing parts of the movie over and over in my head and laughing. If that isn't movie magic, I don't know what is.

  5. The Constant Gardener -The entire movie. The performances were great (Oscar awarded to Rachel Weisz), the method of jumping-around-in-time story-telling technique was effective, the "liberal" message of giant corporations covering up wrongdoing was timely, the visual style of the movie - all of these things combined to make a movie I loved. I walked out of the theatre thinking this was the best movie I'd seen all year. I later found out the director also directed City of God, one of my all-time favorite movies.
I did not list these movies in any particular order. I had this idea on my drive back from Lubbock last week. When I thought of a movie, I would write it down. When I looked at the list, I realized I owned all the movies on it. What would make your list of magic movie moments? Share in the comments!