KirstenL4W

On Sunday night, Boyfriend and I went to see Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine in concert. For those who don’t know, Richard Cheese is a lounge singer, very much in the style of Bill Murray’s SNL character Nick the Lounge Singer, but this is different in that you actually want to watch it. The show was awesome! Schmaltzy, swanky, hip, and of course there was Dick! If you ever get the chance to see Richard Cheese perform such classics as Smack My Bitch Up, the Clorox 2 jingle, Another Brick in the Wall, and of course Christmas in Las Vegas, then you must get thee to a Dick Cheese concert asap, because they won’t be touring much longer.

And, the long awaited mix. Ok, for me at least. This is the first of two theme mixes that I’ve signed up for, and let me tell you, my fellow exchangers are very clever! I was originally going to do a theme of Rain, which is one I actually have wanted to make for a long time, and that mix came out really, really good, IMHO. But I received a mix on Water, and not sure if it’s the same group, but also a mix on Weather, so Rain got shelved for a bit. That being said, I decided to do my mix about traveling music.

Road Trip USA

• Road Trippin’ by Red Hot Chili Peppers BUY
• Please Come to Boston by Dave Loggins BUY
• Long Island Shores by Mindy Smith BUY
• Buffalo by Brown, Karaugh BUY
• Cleveland by Jewel BUY
• Allentown by Billy Joel BUY
• Raining in Baltimore by Counting Crows BUY
• Tennessee Waltz by Patsy Cline BUY
• Carolina in My Mind by James Taylor BUY
• Angel from Montgomery by Susan Tedeschi BUY
• Pensacola by Joan Osborne BUY
• Mississippi by Sheryl Crow BUY
• Stephenville, TX by Jewel BUY
• Wichita Skyline by Shawn Colvin BUY
• Omaha by Counting Crows BUY
• Don’t Make Me Come to Vegas by Tori Amos BUY
• Malibu by Hole BUY
• Anchorage by Michelle Shocked BUY
• Last Stop: This Town by Eels BUY

I broke a rule I have by including more than one song by the same artist (actually, I did this twice). But there were some pretty good songs, and it seems that some singers like road music, so what the heck. It all flows pretty darn good.

So there ya go, my latest musical adventures. Go enjoy yourself some music, will ya?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I grew up with your garden variety Betty Crocker 1950s Cookbook (Betty Crocker)kind of food. You know the stuff - Tuna Casserole, meatloaf, etc. But there were also some interesting variations on the norm.

I think it’s necessary to separate this post into two parts. My parents are divorced, so I grew up with not only my mom’s cooking, but also my stepmonster’s. One can cook. One only thinks she can.

My stepmonster is the one who thinks she can cook. She’s the worst kind. Her cooking is mostly edible, but that’s giving her too much praise, really. She screws up pasta. For example, she’ll cook angel hair pasta because it’s quicker, ok. Then she’ll go sit down and play a couple hands of solitaire (with a real deck of cards. No sophisticated computer games for her.) As she’s playing with herself, the pasta is boiling away. Keep in mind that angel hair pasta only takes about 3-5 minutes to cook, depending on the variety you buy. Hers? Comes out way thicker than regular spaghetti. And all the starch that cooks out of it and sits in the cooking water ends up as giant blobs of slime all over the pasta, because she doesn’t understand the concept of rinsing. I mean, if she doesn’t understand the concept of cooking time, then it’s a given that she doesn’t get everything else that comes after that.

Let’s see, what else has she messed up? Oh, speaking of cooking times, there’s the roast beef that takes 45 minutes to cook. Sure, she likes her meat rare, but the rest of us would at least like it warm in the middle. So yeah, gross. And then there’s her famous debacles:

Pot Roast - you know how when you cook a pot roast you usually put some root vegetables in the pot, like potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc? She gets tired of the same old thing. So one time there was broccoli in it. It was so nasty that the dogs wouldn’t even touch it, and these dogs ate nearly everything. My sister and I were stuck eating this crap.

Chicken Cordon Bleu - chicken breast with a stuffing of ham and cheese, usually Swiss cheese. In this case, my stepmonster decided to use Velveeta. Oh yeah. AND - it gets better - she put melted Velveeta on top of it before she put it in the oven. Do you know what happens to processed cheese product when it’s in the oven for that length of time (because she never undercooked chicken)? It turns into a plastic shell. ‘Nuff said.

Then there’s her famous food combos. My stepmonster is of the belief that all meals must include a meat, starch, and vegetable. What she doesn’t get is the whole concept of complimentary side dishes. There is one combo in particular that sticks out in my mind. (I fully expect a scathing phone call from my sister for bringing back this repressed memory.) One summer evening, dear old stephag decided to feature summer squash on the menu. Summer squash was always watery and soggy, way overcooked. That cooking time thing again. The meat has long since been forgotten, since it is not important in this equation. What is important, however, is the starch that was on the meal. It was - get ready for it - Spagettios. You read it right. My sister will tell you that summer squash and spagettios do not go together. So will my old next door neighbor, who got out his garden hose to wash all the puke out of the neighborhood, most of which landed in his yard. Nine times she puked. I don’t think my sister has had either one of those foods since.

Meals with my stepmonster weren’t all that bad. Sometimes we went out to eat. In fact, it was a regular weekend thing, so we always had that to look forward to. Also, we visited my mother on the weekends, and my mom can cook. Most of what and how I cook today comes from her, and of course my dear Gram and Grandma.

So, Mommy’s cooking. Mom has about a dozen tried and true meals that I always look forward to when she makes them. However, being blond, my mom has been known to mess things up on occasion. (No offense to blonds who would be offended by that.)

My mom’s meatloaf rocks, because she makes it like a giant Swedish meatball (my Mom’s grandparents came from Sweden, so we know how to make a real Swedish meatball). Basic meatball recipe includes finely chopped onion, salt, pepper, and allspice. One night I took a bite of the meatloaf.

“So, how is it?” Mom asked.

“Well, it’s good, but there’s a bit too much cinnamon in it,” I replied.

“What? I didn’t put any cinnamon in it. That’s allspice!” Mom took a bite, realized that it was cinnamon, and went over to the spice cabinet. She starts tearing through the carefully arranged yet overflowing cabinet to get to the designated allspice spot, where she sees… cinnamon. Well, it must be someone else’s fault, because the allspice is not where it’s supposed to be. The rant went on for awhile about this, as my human garbage disposal stepfather happily ate the cinnamon-infused meatloaf.

Another time my mom made tuna casserole. “So, how is it?” she asked. It just occurred to me that whenever my mom asks how the meal is, it must be messed up. She never asks that when everything turns out ok.

“It’s really good, Mom, but there’s not a lot of tuna in here.”

“I forgot it,” she said with a sheepish grin on her face.

Those are the two that come to mind. Luckily, my mom doesn’t make it a habit of screwing up dinner. Though she did call me last night to ask how to de-heat chili. I didn’t know, but Boyfriend did, so when I called her back to tell her she said that the chili wasn’t too hot, it was just that all the spice seemed to land on the spoon that she was stirring/tasting with. Just another blonde moment.

One of my favorite meals, though, is something that was created from a screwup of Biblical proportions. I mentioned before that my family came from Sweden. Well, Swedish cooking is rather bland, and somewhat basic. When I was in Sweden about 10 years ago now, my friend told me that a lot of stuff we take for granted now, like spaghetti, is still considered exotic cuisine, mostly by older Swedes, but it’s fairly new to Sweden. When my family came over less that 100 years ago, they’d never seen the stuff before.

One night, I believe it was one of my mom’s cousins, ate over a friend’s house and had spaghetti for the first time. The meal was described to my great-grandmother, who tried to replicate it as best she could. Pasta, hot dogs, and tomato soup. Campbell’s, straight from the can. Ok, maybe the first incarnation had ground beef in it. It’s good that way too. But hot dogs is where it’s at today, and it must be made with elbow macaroni so that it can be called by its proper name: Smiles. It is my ultimate comfort food, the one food I will eat when nothing else appeals to me.

So now you know the story of how my palate was developed. I bet my sushi post makes a lot more sense now. Boyfriend certainly is a lot more enlightened about my food cravings than he was when we first met.

Here it is, the long-waited song list for my Cover Mix CD Exchange. Boyfriend also did a mix to include, so my imaginary internet friends are all getting a bonus! The format, for those who may be confused, is Song - Singer (Original Singer), followed by a quick note on why I chose or like that particular song. Here ya go:

Eye in the Sky – Jonatha Brooke (Alan Parsons Project)
Jonatha Brooke is one of my favorite singers, and one of her more recent CDs, Back in the Circus, included this cover of a song heard mostly on easy listening stations. This stripped-down version is much nicer to listen to. Buy the album Back In The Circus.

To Ramona – Sinead Lohan (Bob Dylan)
Sinead Lohan really needs to make some more music. I’ve voraciously listened to everything by her that I can get my hands on, and this Bob Dylan cover is one of my favorites by her. Buy the album A Woman’s Heart: A Decade On.

Hungry Heart – Minnie Driver (Bruce Springsteen)
Yes, that’s Minnie Driver the actress singing! If you like folksy chick music like I do, then definitely check out her albums. Buy the album Everything I’ve Got In My Pocket.

Here for the Party – The Southern Fire Band (Gretchen Wilson)
The Southern Fire Band is a cover band here in Las Vegas that I’ve seen perform quite a few times. Kelly, the lead guitarist (and an amazing guitarist at that), is a good friend of mine, and Lesly, the lead singer, is a co-worker with me in the finance department of some big anonymous company, so I get to see her every day. I’m just thrilled to bits that I could introduce you to my friends. They don’t have an album out, but they do play locally - you can get their schedule here at their website. (As of this writing I was unable to get on their website, not sure if it’s on my end or theirs. Do try again later.)

Leaving on a Jet Plane – Chantal Kreviazuk (John Denver)
Oh Chantal – there are just not enough good things I can say about one of my absolute favorite singers around. Boyfriend is generally not a fan of angsty chick music, as he puts it, but when he surprised me by attending Chantal’s concert with me, even he was impressed. I love how she adds so much of herself to this song. Buy the album Armageddon: The Album (Soundtrack).

I Walk the Line – Los Lonely Boys (Johnny Cash)
Johnny Cash is a favorite recently, with the recent movie of his life bringing The Man in Black to a whole new audience. Los Lonely Boys give this song a modern twist and make it a toe-tapping good time. Buy the album Los Lonely Boys.

The Rainbow Connection – Sarah McLachlan (Kermit the Frog)
I’ve been a fan of Kermit T. Frog since I was just a kid. My dad took my sister and I to see The Muppet Movie in the theater when I was just barely 5 – my very first movie at the movie theater. It left such an impression on me, leaving me with a distinct memory that would play very prominently in my quest for self-discovery. That movie started with this song, sung beautifully by another one of my favorite artists, one who would be instrumental (no pun intended) in defining my musical tastes. Buy the album For the Kids.

Stairway to Heaven – Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (Led Zeppelin)
Who from my generation doesn’t remember going to a school dance? This was always the last song, the “hurry up and find someone to dance with already” dance, because once this song was over, the lights came up and it was time to go home. I like this abbreviated version much better – it doesn’t bring to mind any of the long, drawn-out awkwardness of those middle and high school dances. Buy the album Run Jonny’s Bar Mitzvah.

Fade to Black – Apocalyptica (Metallica)
I had a bit of a grudge against these headbanging classics when I was in my mid-teens and lusting after a certain boy band. Eventually I warmed up to them, and also developed a taste for string quartets during a trip to England, being within earshot of Canon in D and some punk band at the same time at Covent Garden. This is off their album Inquisition Symphony, which came out in 1998, one year earlier than the Metallica/San Francisco Symphony Orchestra concert that was released as the album S & M. Buy the album Inquisition Symphony.

Everyday is Like Sunday – The Pretenders (Morrissey)
I liked 80s music ok, but since I’ve been with Boyfriend my taste for it has developed a bit more. And The Pretenders are such a wonderful part of the musical landscape over the past 25+ years that it only makes sense to include them on this mix. Buy the album Pirate Radio Box Set.

Hurt – Johnny Cash (Nine Inch Nails)
Such a cliché on any cover mix these days, but if you’ve seen the video for this song (available on YouTube), you’ll see who really owns this song. Hearing it by NIN now just isn’t the same. Buy the album American IV: The Man Comes Around.

Crazy Train – Emm Gryner (Ozzy Osbourne)
I love it when a singer can take a song and totally make it into something of their own creation. While visiting a friend in Toronto, I saw Emm Gryner perform Pour Some Sugar on Me on a late night talk show, and I spent the rest of my vacation searching high and low for her album, Girl Versions. I finally found this album of all covers on my last day there. Buy the album Girl Versions.

Fat Bottomed Girls – Antigone Rising (Queen)
I love Queen, and while Antigone Rising is technically part of that whole folksy chick genre that I like, I find them a bit too country for my taste. But you gotta love any girl group who can sing a song entitled “Fat Bottomed Girls.” Buy the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen.

Love is All Around – Joan Jett (Theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, by Sonny Curtis)
I loved, and still love, The Mary Tyler Moore show. So much so that I was this close to moving to Minneapolis when I decided to finally move away from home, except hat I made the decision on where to go in the middle of winter and ended up in Las Vegas instead. This version of the song was used in the closing credits of the movie Drop Dead Gorgeous, which took place in The Land of Snow 10,000 Lakes. Buy the album Fit to Be Tied: Greatest Hits.

Come Sail Away – Eric Cartman (Styx)
While not a religious viewer of South Park, I do appreciate the finer artistic merits of the show. I actually prefer this version of the song to the original.
Buy the album Chef Aid: The South Park Album.

Come Together – Aerosmith (The Beatles)
There have been a lot of Beatles covers over the course of this exchange, but I had to throw one more in there. When I was in high school, I listened to Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits tape until it wore out – then bought another one to wear out. Any song from that album brings back memories of those carefree days. Buy the album Aerosmith’s Greatest Hits.

How Soon Is Now – Neil Finn (The Smiths)
Another great 80s songs, one of my favorites actually. This version is sung by one of my favorite male singers, Neil Finn of Crowded House – a group whose music I’m always in the mood for. I couldn’t find which album this came off of, I only know that I got it on a previous mix exchange and loved it, but in the spirit of cover mixes check out She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn.

Walk on the Ocean – John Mayer (Toad the Wet Sprocket)
While I like what I’ve heard from John Mayer, I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of his. Toad the Wet Sprocket, on the other hand, is just phenomenal, and this live, acoustic cover sounds pretty damn good. Again, this is a song I acquired by the above method, so I can’t find an album that this is on. But since I love Toad the Wet Sprocket, I’m going to deviate from the formula and recommend P.S.: A Toad Restrospective for you.

Amazing Grace (House of the Rising Sun) – Blind Boys of Alabama (Traditional spiritual sung to the tune of House of the Rising Sun, a classic folk ballad, as made popular by The Animals)
I hesitated about including a spiritual song on the mix, because I know how it can make people uncomfortable if they aren’t particularly religious. But this version is like a 2 for 1 cover, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s a major coup as far as this mix goes. Besides, it is the most awesome version of Amazing Grace I’ve ever heard. Yes, even better than Ani DiFranco. Buy the album Spirit of the Century.

Boyfriend’s Mix

Boyfriend was nearly as excited as I was when I decided to do this mix. After many animated discussions about what I should include along with many late nights sharing our collections, it was apparent that everything we wanted to share with you would not fit onto a single disc, so Boyfriend went ahead and prepared a bonus disc for all my imaginary internet friends. Other than that he likes the songs he chose and the way they were covered, I have no further explanation regarding his selections. However, I was told that I have to gloat to all of you that we are going to see Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine in concert in November. Anyway, here’s his list with links, if I could find them:

1. Lucille - Beat Farmers (Kenny Rogers) Buy Loud and Plowed and . . . LIVE!!

2. Don’t Fear the Reaper - Danny Elfman (Blue Oyster Cult) I can’t find any info on this one, but Danny Elfman does tons and tons of musical scores for movies. Beetlejuice is a favorite of both Boyfriend and myself.

3. Pretty in Pink - The Dresden Dolls (Psychedelic Furs) Buy High School Reunion

4. Flowers on the Wall - Eric Heatherly (Statler Brothers) Buy Swimming in Champagne

5. Enter Sandman - Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine (Metallica) Buy Aperitif for Destruction

6. Whiter Shade of Pale - Sarah Brightman (Procol Harem) Buy Diva: The Singles Collection

7. The Air That I Breathe - Simply Red - (Everly Brothers) Buy The Very Best of Simply Red

9. Passenger - Souixsie and the Banshees (Iggy Pop) Buy Twice Upon a Time: The Singles

10. Barbie Girl - Rammstein (Aqua) I couldn’t find the album this came from, nor could I read German to be sure of what I was looking at, but I did find this during my research. You’re on your own here.

11. Chop Suey - Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine (System of a Down) Buy Tuxicity

12. Summer Breeze - Type O Negative (Seals & Croft) Buy Bloody Kisses

13. Tainted Love - Marilyn Manson (Gloria Jones, but made popular by Soft Cell) Buy Not Another Teen Movie Soundtrack

14. Viva Las Vegas - Dead Kennedys (Elvis Presley) Buy Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

15. Ring of Fire - Wall of Voodoo (Johnny Cash) Buy The Index Masters

Phew!

There was so much great stuff to choose from, and I’ve been getting so much awesome music, with more to come. And pulling all those links from Amazon was very time consuming, but I think it’s worth it. I put so much thought into my mixes, and I’d like to share them with as many people as possible, so this is the best way I can think of to do it. Besides, who doesn’t like discovering a bit of new music every now and then, even if it’s a cover? And for those looking to find these links when this post is buried, look in my categories for BUY and that will bring you to all posts in which I link to products you might want to buy.

I’m going to have a piece of Boyfriend’s homemade AppleRum Pie (apple pie with rum in the filling!) Yum!