Phenomenal!

Sorry for the lack of posts as of late, but I have been running around like a crazy person for the last month or so....


Anyways I just had to post this tonight, because I just watched a Carrie Underwood performance that once again blew me away!

She sang "The Sound of Music" for the Movies Rock special, and her interpretation of this song, along with an unbelievable vocal just bowled me over. She sang it in an almost melancholy way, not joyful the way Julie Andrews seemed to in the movie, but it made me look at the song in a whole new way. Just like when she sang "Desperado" at the Grammies last year. The way she handled this one got me thinking about how the words kinda sound like a person longing for comfort and home of the hills, and I had never ever gone there before.

Anyways enjoy for yourself, and I am interested to hear what you all think! ( I know the 6 of you that were watching it with me already feel the way I do...lol)

Sound of Music

NOVA Special

Beautiful science at work. PBS did a wonderful special on the Dover Trial. It is very informative and a great view of what happened.


Check it out!

Oh Happy Day!!!

Yay for new music! Not only did I pick up a copy of my most anticipated album of like ever, Miss Carrie Underwood, but I also grabbed the new one from Gary Allan, and Alison Krauss/Robert Plant. I haven't had time to listen to the latter two yet, but Carrie's I have been listening too for like a week. I absolutly love it. I will post my thoughts on all these later when I have time!

Oh and p.s if you get the Carrie CD from Target you get the DVD bonus with acoustic songs...we all know how much I freaking love anything Carrie Underwood does acoustically, so this is a real treat! Target Exclusive

Gary Allan

Alison Krauss

Carnival Ride Clips!!!!

Arista just posted clips from all the songs on Carrie Underwood's new album!!!!!

This is going to be an AMAZING CD!!!!

Carnival Ride

Check them out!

Just from the clips I can tell I am going to love this CD.

Brad Paisley Concert

Well, I am a little ashamed of myself...I went to this concert with every intention to focus and create a great review to share with the blogosphere, but...... I pulled a Kenny Chesney concert and got wayyyy too drunk and had wayyyy too much fun to focus on the details.

The details I do have are....

1. Rodney Adkins is really good! I enjoy a few of his songs, he really works a big crowd well and got us all pumped up for Brad.

2. I missed Taylor Swifts show (beer line was indeed really really long...so were the bathrooms), but her presence brings out shifty creepy old men who worship her....Its frightening.

3. Brad plays the heck out of his guitar. I love it!

4. Lights, video, and a great band, help Brad reach us way in the back! (It was just as cool a show from general admission on the hill as it was for 8th row seats last year!)

All in all I had a blast thanks to my amazing friends and good ole Bud Light!

She's gone and done it again!

Hey all, sorry no concert review yet, I've been a bit busy. But in the midst of all the craziness a bit of beautiful music was thrown my way last night.

I was at work, streaming the Grand Ole Opry, and my girl Carrie Underwood was playing. Of course she was amazing, vocals were spot on even through a bit of water choking (hate when it goes down the wrong hole). Anyways she did her usual thing, sang So Small, and then out of no where she throws in the gospel song How Great Thou Art. Now I love this song so the thought of arguably my favorite artist in the world singing it thrilled me to no end. I love, love, loved it. Just when I think I can't be more impressed with this girl (I know I've said that before), she goes and throws something in there that knocks me on my ass.

Anyways I was trolling the fan sites this morning and found where someone had recorded the stream. (Thanks to whoever got that!)

So here is her amazing How Great Thou Art and then the full Carrie Underwood Opry Performance.

Definitely worth checking out to brighten your day!

Brad Paisley Concert

Tomorrow I will be headed to NOVA (northern Virginia for all of you who have no clue what I'm talking about) to see Brad Paisley in concert. I saw him last year with Carrie Underwood and they were both amazing. Brad puts on a GREAT show and I am excited to see what he has in store for us this weekend. I think Kelly Pickler and Taylor Swift are still opening for him, so that should be interesting, if I make it up from the beer line in time ( i kid i kid).


I'll try to write up my first formal concert review when I get back on Sunday so stay tuned and have a great weekend everyone!

No Time

Sorry for the lack of updates as of late...(I'm sure all 17 of my "regular" readers are gravely concerned...lol, not to mention the hundreds of readers who stop by just because I throw Carrie Underwood's name in a blog :) )

anyways....I have quite a few posts coming up that go into detail about some great country acts that I currently love (and no it has nothing to do with Carrie Underwood this time), and some fun science that I have been working on and researching for class (fun fun). so there should be a fairly large update on the way!


also, a big thank you to Kevin at Country Universe for his shout out! He writes an excellent blog on all things country music, so definitely check it out!

Also congrats to Josh Turner who just got asked to become a member of the Grand Ole Opry,
I have been a fan of his music for a while now ( how can you not love that voice) so this is a great honor for him!

Carrie Underwood New Video

The video for "So Small" is finally here!!!

Its a great way to expound upon the moving message of the song. Puts things into perspective thats for sure!

Buy it on Itunes now!

Watch on CMT Loaded

http://www.cmt.com/videos/carrie-underwood/175952/so-small.jhtml

Gary Allan

Yay for me! I got tickets to see Gary Allan in concert next Thursday! I have always loved his music so this should be really fun to see him live!

Ellen Degeneres

Since I have no time as of late to form coherent thought processes or intelligent thought provoking blog topics, I am just sitting back and not thinking for a while, watching a great stand up routine from Ellen Degeneres...she is hilarious. Enjoy!

Pam Tillis

Well I was sitting in the library today, listening to my ipod when "Down by the Water" from Pam Tillis's new album Rhinestoned came through the shuffle. Now I got this cd because of a great recommendation from Kevin at Country Universe, and I haven't been disappointed.

But anyways, I have over 8000 songs on my ipod, and usually listen to different play lists I have made which usually have about 1000 or so songs each, makes listening to it like a great radio with no crappy repeats every 20 minutes that I don't want. It often means a long wait between songs that fit the perfect moment, or spark the perfect memory. As it so happed while listening to this song I couldn't help but be reminded of the wonderful weekend I will be having "down by the water", and all the fun I so desperately need to be having with friends. The words of this song almost sound like the singer has had a very brief fling "down by the water", and I have to say after the week I've had I wouldn't mind one of those either ( I wouldn't even mind if he left me alone) :) . Down By the Water
Great song, from a great artist, and here's to a Great Labor Day weekend!

P.S its not as dirty as it sounds...the fling just "talked" down by the water ;)

Science is Awesome

This is just too precious to pass up!
Animal Behaviour
Volume 74, Issue 2, August 2007, Pages 183-188
Abstract

Biologist Martin Edvardsson postulates that female Callosobruchus maculatus (Bruchid Beatles) mate when they are thirsty. Basically in a nutshell (no pun intended)the male ejaculate contains enough water and nutrients for the female to replenish if they are dehydrated. He goes on to discuss whether or not the trade off of nutrients to the female compensate for the pain of mating. Now I say the "pain" of mating, because evidently the male Callosobruchus maculatus has a very large and spiny (yes I said spiny) reproductive organ, that tears the reproductive tract of the female when copulating.



Now tell me what other major would encourage you to read fun facts like this? I love science!

New Carrie Album!

Well we finally have the news, Carrie Underwood is going to make me very happy on October 23!

carrieunderwood.fm

Nashville, TN – Two-time GRAMMY winner and reigning CMA and ACM Female Vocalist Carrie Underwood is preparing to release her new 19 Recordings/Arista Records/Arista Nashville album, Carnival Ride, on October 23.

With first single, “So Small,” already a country airplay Top 10 after only four weeks, the Checotah, Oklahoma native who went from college student to American Idol winner to six-million-selling, multi-format superstar in less than three years has clearly been on an adventure ride of her own.

In choosing the album title, Underwood found Carnival Ride (taken from a lyric line in the new disc) to be a great metaphor. She explains, “You step onto this ride called life, and it’s a crazy thing you don’t know anything about, but you get on it anyway. You do what you can to lean different directions to try and get it to go where you want it to go, but you can’t stop it – it just keeps moving. That’s why Carnival Ride works as my album title, because it describes the wonderful craziness that I’ve been through over the past couple years.”

Underwood’s debut disc, Some Hearts, was released on November 15, 2005 and spent a remarkable 27 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, holding that position across multiple weeks in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Currently 6x Platinum, and with SoundScan sales in excess of 1.2 million copies this year alone, Some Hearts remains the best-selling country album of 2007.


It is also available for pre order on amazon.com!

Busy

Well since school has officially started, I am going to have very little time for pleasure reading...here is a great book from Alan Weisman. A World Without Us Might be the last fun book I get to read for a while.

On the Daily Show

Moving still sucks!

I am still Homeless. Now that everything that could possibly go wrong in a moving process has gone wrong, the rest should be easy right? NO...NO evidently building inspectors can make things even worse by just being slow, and not giving certificates of occupancy in a timely manner. Now I know I should be thankful that they are being thorough, and I am not moving into a death trap, but at this point I honestly just want somewhere to unpack my suitcase and sleep in my own bed (insert whining and pitiful pouting here). So day 14 and we are still not in the apartment. If I believed in all that "The Secret" crap I could positive think my way into the apartment. Hmmm....something tells me that wouldn't speed up the building inspector.

News out of VCU

Cool genetics news out of VCU
I opened up my VCU homepage to check my class schedule for this semester and caught this article.

Genetic Factors Strongly Shape How Peers Are Chosen

I haven't read the full study but I have sat through a lecture from Dr. Kendrick, I'm not really sure I remember much about it, but I think he referenced this piece of work throughout. ( it wasn't acutally my class, I was helping out a friend...that was the only reason I didn't pay attention I swear :) )

This sounds like a very interesting study, and I will be interested to see how further investigation maps a clear trace for what genetic factors are actually shaping our environment.

Moving officially sucks!

Well I am homeless. Officially for the next week or so I have to live out of my car. Oh I may stop the suffering and get a hotel, but I am not happy about it. Here's the rundown on why I hate life right now. The lease on the house we had been renting for the last two years was finally up on August 1. We were so happy to be moving into a brand spanking new apartment just up the road, this place is awesome! Clean, new, and gorgeous. The only problem is the brand spanking new apartment has not been given their certificate of occupancy, and therefor I can't move in yet. Talk about crappy week for me, the really bad part about all this, is that they are not even sure when the building inspector will be showing up to give it to them. They are shooting for August 10, but that is no guarantee. Now since I work and live in Richmond, I can't even stay with my parents for the time being, because they live 4 hours away, and I would kill myself in the commute. So the last few days I have moved all my belongings into storage, and stayed at my roommate's boyfriends house (not fun...trust me), and now I am trying to find a great deal on a hotel that I am not sure how long I will need to stay at. I am going to continue to pout and whine til something gets resolved, hopefully sooner than the 10th.

Carrie Underwood's new song is actually kinda helping at this point. I hate when songs make you stop sulking

My "So Small" Review

Yay for new Carrie Underwood music! Now with that said I am going to try and give the least biased review of her new song "So Small", that is humanly possible considering my super fan love for everything she does.

So Small

HQ stream

What you got if you aint got love?
The kind that you just wanna give away
It's okay to open up
Go ahead and let the light shine through
I know it's hard on a rainy day
You wanna shut the world out
And just be left alone
Don't run out on your faith

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing
Is just a grain of sand
What you've been out there searching for forever,
Is in your hands
When you figure out love is all that matters, after all
It sure makes everything else
Seem so small

It's so easy to get lost inside
A problem that seems so big, at the time
It's like a river that's so wide
It swallows you whole
While you're sittin round thinking about what you can't change
And worryin' about all the wrong things
Time's flying by, moving so fast
You better make it count, cause you can't get it back

Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing
Is just a grain of sand
What you've been out there searchin for forever
Is in your hands
Oh, When you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else
Seem so small


Sometimes that mountain you've been climbing
Is just a grain of sand
What you've been out there searchin for forever
Is in your hands
Oh, When you figure out love is all that matters after all
It sure makes everything else
Oh it sure makes eveyrthing else
Seem so small


I am going to start first and foremost with her voice. Holy crap what a voice, she totally nails every note in this song to the wall. In this I can pretty firmly state that she could sing the phone book and I would find an emotional connection with it. The production of this song is interesting flowing from the guitar to the full on orchestra, power ballad all the way. I actually like the message, I think it is a tad generic as far as just reading the words, but hearing her sing it I am totally moved. You can tell that she really believes it, and in that I believe it too. Actually the more I sit and listen to it I find parallels in my own life. Since that is what a song is supposed to do for you, I have to say this is a pretty strong single.
Overall I LOVE it, and plan on continuing to listen to it over and over. Hope you like it too!

New Carrie Single!!!!

Not even kidding this could potentially count as one of the single most exciting times in my life. Actually I really am kidding, but it is still awesome. Carrie Underwood has a new single that is being relased today called "So Small"

She debuted it at her concert in Dixon this weekend and here is a video.



I am going to wait til I have the studio version to review it, but from the sound of it, its going to be another #1 smash for Carrie!

BORED, with Patty Griffin

Well I never really realized how completely and utterly dependant I have become on the television til now. We are moving in a couple of days so everything is getting turned off...including the cable. Now If you asked me I would have to say I don't really watch much TV, at least not actual shows, but I actually have it on for most of the day just as background noise. We are basically at the calm before the storm of the actual moving, so today I just happen to be home...with nothing to do...and no television. I really think I might be going crazy with boredom. I have surfed every website that I can think of, read tons of fun science news, read blog after blog of other people around the world who are just as bored as I am and have come to the startling conclusion that I HATE having nothing to do.


I normally run around day to day with about 14 different things that need to be done in a timely manner, work, volunteering, papers, life...etc. I am always wishing that I could have a day to just do nothing, sit around and just be. Now I have it, I have it with no cable, no ideas for fun, and no friends home from work yet. I know in a couple of hours we will be out and about having a grand ole time, but right this instant I am dying the slow death of mind numbing uselessness (dramatic I know).

At least I have music to stand up as my background noise. Currently I am listening to quite a random play list with everything from The Raconteurs and Ryan Adams, to Patty Griffin and Pam Tillis, and of course no play list is complete without my girl Carrie Underwood (I love sneaking her name into random posts).

P.S on the Carrie Underwood single front, I hear rumor that it may be released to radio sometime next week. Of course I have been hearing this for a few weeks now, so I'm not sure I want to get my hopes up.

Patty Griffin's song "Rain" has to be one of my favorites right now. Its off her 1,000 Kisses album. Great song!


Alright, I think I am done rambling...for now

Crazy Week/ Weekend

Well, to say I have a few things going on right now is a huge understatement. Between work, and packing to move Wednesday, I really have very little time to blog :(

Here is a great interview from the Daily Show with Neil deGrasse Tyson, He's a fun scientist and this is a great interview about science now, and a new NOVA program.



I love when people like Neal do interviews and show such enthusiasm for what they do. Science is extremely exciting and I love when it is shown on a National scale. To often scientists are stereotyped as boring, mundane, geeks, who use words no normal person could understand, and never leave the lab.

While I find myself in a lab more often than not; I would like to think I'm not that boring, and while I will fully admit to being a total geek (not like its a bad thing), I have an extreme enthusiasm for all things Science. Its great to see Jon Stewart have a cool scientist on his show!

Alison Krauss and Union Station

OK no time to really update anything today, but I am super excited because I just got tickets to see Alison Krauss and Union Station, live at the Richmond Coliseum. This will be the first time I have ever seen her live so I am totally on cloud nine.

my dead body

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Im not sure if this is good or bad :)

The Sylvia Brown Fraud

I have recently come across a fun debunking of Sylvia Brown from Anderson Cooper. I appreciate that he is not such a gullible media personality and tries to bring the truth out no matter the ridiculous babble.
This first video gives the intro into why she is such a fraud.


The second brings in James Randi, my personal hero, to take her down even more. Her publicist has no shot.



To most people Sylvia Brown is just a harmless psychic just out there on TV trying to make a living. Most don't realize the harm she brings by spreading her nonsense all over the place. She uses people in their most vulnerable of states, and takes their money with no remorse. Not only does she have no real ability, (I maintain the psychic phenomenon has not ever been proven and therefor does not exist.), but she is even a horrible cold reader. A cold reader basically just uses information that is given by the person, and makes generalized blanket statements that sound like it "could be possible."

There is also a great website out there trying to stop her nonsense.
Stop Sylvia Brown


So beware the psychics!

The Canon

This is a great book I just read from Natalie Angier. She definitely brings a fun spin to science, and it is a definite must read for anyone who wants a little science knowledge to brighten their day. This book is great for those who don't remember a thing about science from school, it breaks down the facts in a fantastically poetic way. She shows that science knowledge is awesome to have in our day to day lives, and trust me most people don't even realize how important it is to be somewhat scientifically literate. So I really recommend checking it out, you won't be disappointed.

The Canon

Acoustic Carrie Underwood

I work the front desk at a 24 hour gym. The hours I work are not really prime time work out hours, so needless to say I have a good bit of time on my hands to do nothing. To kill time I have my handy dandy video ipod and watch different video's I have managed to convert.

Last night I sat down and re watched Carrie Underwood's Stripped performances. Now for those of you who don't know Stripped is basically just the artist in an acoustic setting jamming out to their songs. Now I enjoy pretty much anything when it is done acoustically, just letting the artists voice take over but Carrie Underwood is different.
Carrie Stripped

I think I actually prefer the things she sings acoustically, to anything she has done with big production. Her voice, to me is utter perfection and it never fails to send chills down my spine when she tackles an amazing song.

Like this cover of "Alone". Now she has done this before, on American Idol and on the Idols tour, but this is the first time I had heard her sing the whole song. I love this arrangement with the fiddle and her voice, seriously it amazes me.




"Don't Forget to Remember Me" is always a song I liked, but never really loved. When I saw her in concert and saw that she did this song more stripped down and acoustic, I LOVED it. The Stripped version is probably my favorite version of this song that I have seen along with the version she did on the Season finale of American Idol.


So if you like nostalgia, and good music check these out. She doesn't disappoint!

Tired

Well I just got home from a very uninteresting 10pm to 6am shift and I am exhausted. I will however leave you with one of my favorite Albert Einstein quotes.



Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable.

I love this quote because it reminds me that no matter how much we learn in life about science, nature, or even humanity, there is still something else...something that we just can't quite put our finger on. To me that is inspiring...that no matter how much I know (or think I know), there will always be something else to discover. Probably why I am spending all my money to be in school for the rest of my life studying the great unknowns in life. They say it will pay off one day, I really hope so.

OK, off to bed and maybe I will dream up a wonderful interesting topic to discuss.....

Trisha Yearwood, "Heavan, Heartache, and the Power of Love"

I have already read several reviews of this song so I will try not to let them shape my review of this wonderful artist :)

Trisha Yearwood was literally the first voice in music of any genera that I connected with. I have everything she has ever done, even though I was like 7 when most of her success was starting. Sad side note, I used to listen to different Garth Brooks songs just to hear Trisha's voice singing backgrounds. So anyways I am definitely a fan.

Now I first heard this song yesterday, and have gone back to it several times to try and get a feel for it. I am definitely excited to hear this on the radio, more songs like it should get air time too. But I continuously notice that it is not the song I'm in love with as of yet, its her voice. I've missed hearing Trisha on the radio except for the occasional "She's in Love with the Boy," so I really hope this does well.

So back to the song, there is nothing that I dislike about it per say, but other than being super excited about a new Trisha Yearwood song, I am not blown away. The production is flawless, her voice is flawless, and I know at some point I will be jamming out to this song on a road trip, but I think its going to take a few more plays for me to put it on my favorites list.

New X- Files Movie!

So since I just started blogging, it hasn't become abundantly clear that I am a HUGE dork. While those who know me just shake their heads in sad agreement, those of you who don't have the pleasure of knowing my adorable dorkiness (is that a word? spell check says no) are getting ready to see clearly.

Word is out that there is a new X-Files movie in the works, with all the major players signed on. This makes me happier than pretty much anything else in my sad little life (except for the new Carrie Underwood CD). I own the whole DVD set of every season, I own the DVD of the first movie, and I even used to read fan fiction of the show. I was super happy when Mulder and Scully got together, and I have always been a sucker for a good government conspiracy (in fiction of course, I have never really felt that any conspiracy nut has made a logical enough argument for a conspiracy that hasn't been thoroughly debunked). Anyways I am sure at some point I will have baseless speculation on what the plot line of this movie will be, but until then feel free to guess away!

Can't let this get by.

I am not one for reading horoscopes, I personally think that they are a load of horse crap and tell you absolutely nothing about your life that you couldn't already figure out with a little common sense, but while browsing the Internet today I found mine, and saw it fitting for the first day of my blog.

Everybody loves music, or really enjoys trying new things, or likes travel, or whatever -- these things do not an exciting online profile or sparkling conversation make. Let your opinionated, original self shine through. -


So while I have nothing super opinionated to say today, I will keep this in mind for future posts! (Not like I couldn't have figured it out on my own)

First Blog Ever!

Well I never thought I would jump into the blog ring, but here I am. I'm not sure what the format of this blog will be or what I will be writing about, so stay tuned for pure randomness from my brain.

I originally started this because I need to write more. I read a study recently saying that people who write, and are clear in presenting their thoughts have lower incidents of Alzheimer's. This is extremely important to me because it is in my family. (Whether or not a clear genetic link has been established, I haven't read yet) So I thought since I have so many thoughts running through my head on a daily basis, I should write them down, try and organize them, and maybe entertain at least on person other than myself.

To start I would like to mention a few things that I may write about in the future and you can let me know if you like....

• Different opinions on country music, and music in general. (I love music, all music, but especially country)
• Carrie Underwood ( I hear if you mention her name on a blog you get tons of hits!) (Also I am extremely excited about her new CD that is coming out October 23!)
• News in Medicine and Science ( my two true loves)

• Politics (or at least as much as I can stand, its important to know whats going on in our country)

So there you go! Hope you enjoy and I will be back soon with more interesting things to say!