They're animan-y, totally insan-y and wonderfully snarky. I love Animaniacs and I'm not sorry for it; what's there to feel sorry about? Wakko, Yakko and Dot featured a '90s sensibility with Hollywood references and the occasional lesson-song (The Universe Song or States and Capitals, anyone?) all packaged within the classic Warner Brothers shtick. So which ones are my favorite? I'm glad you asked...

Every time Wakko, Yakko and Dot
Covered Shakespeare




Dot's "I'm Cute" Song





Pinky and the Brain's "Spellbound"
 





Yakko, Wakko and Dot Parody
The Seventh Seal in "Meatballs or Consequences"


 
Wakko, Yakko and Dot Make
A Million and One Movie References in
"Video Review"



 
When Wakko, Yakko and Dot
Become the Ones Annoyed in
Chairman of the Bored
 


 
I love Dot's "I'm going to hurt my brother" bit so much so I took a picture off of the TV and made a still.
 
 
 
Ones that lack video evidence...
  • The Flame/The Flame Returns
  • Lookit the Fuzzy Heads
  • Les Miseranimals
  • The Warner's 65th Anniversary Special

You have to admit it, any girl between the ages of 25 to 32 had some kind of soft spot for Melissa Joan Hart in the '90s. She was the wonderfully snarky and fashion diva Clarissa Darling on Clarissa Explains it All then the teenage half-witch Sabrina (I missed out on Sabrina).
 
And then no one ever heard from her ever again.
 
 
Just kidding.
 
What has Clarissa/Sabrina been doing now? Oh you know, reprising her Sabrina character in a few shows, Dancing with the Stars in 2009, getting married to Course of Nature's lead singer Mark Wilkerson and having three boys (now 2, 4, and 8) AND running Heartbreak Productions with her mother and stepfather (Paula Hart and current Master Chef contestant Leslie Gilliams) which produces her new (and kind of amazing) sitcom "Melissa and Joey" where she shares the spotlight with Joey Lawrence and wears fantastic high fashion dresses. Sure she's republican, but so what? I love her for being a working mother who looks fantastic for being 38 with three boys and a relatively successful ABC Family sitcom.
 

I have made a decision; my lap top comes with me to Iowa City's free public art space (Public Space One) and in so, I will actually make time to write on this blog which I must sadly report I have been rather lax on. So, instead of staring lustfully at the 1.50 baked goods I cannot afford (chocolate, pecan, and caramel scones, you guys!) I am giving you guys awesome musical announcements.
My New Favorite Sisteromance:
Mackenzie Scott and Sharon van Etten

from Torres's twitter account
We can make sisteromance a thing, yeah? Having been in a room with both of these women (but at separate times), it's no question they are both talented as fuck and with auras that just radiate low key awesomeness and the fact that they have collaborated before is no surprise to me. Note their interactions with one another in the recording process of Torres's new song New Skin (also featuring The War on Drugs) around 4:50. How can I be that low key and awesome at the same time?
As for Sharon, the Indie music websites are blowing up with reviews and praise for "Are We There" that will be out NEXT TUESDAY! Ranging from a fantastic interview with Amanda Petrusich for Pitchfork to Stereogum, she is the one to watch; and with good reason as so far her videos for this album are both strange and magical (literally) especially in her latest single, "Every Time the Sun Comes Up" that just breathes the '70s horror host aura. Personally, I would love to see Torres and Sharon in a band together, can this happen, please?





Do You Have 10 Minutes?
Ages and Ages Will Change Your Life.
While I remain very annoyed that my sparse review for Ages and Ages's "Divisionary" never made up on the college radio website, I am completely convinced that this Portland band will, in fact, lead a revolution if not change a person's life. Seeing these folks live is something pretty amazing as they have been opening for Lake Street Dive (another fantastic band) in their latest Colbert-bumped tour and now with help from NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series, you can watch the magic unfold online! I will leave you with a fantastic quote by bandleader, Tim Perry, that encompasses what Divisionary really means.
‘Divisionary’ signifies a group whose vision of ‘right’ is upsetting to the existing power structure. It includes a philosophical, spiritual, and physical ‘breaking off’ from the status quo. It also references the individual inner conflicts that arise as you struggle to make the right choices in life. Visionaries don’t always create conflict, but they challenge the establishment with new ideas and with the threat of change. Where there is change, there is usually resistance, controversy, division.
Margaret Berger, It's About Damn Time!


Since the release of "Scream" only two months ago, Margaret has been making me salivating, yearning, wishing -- every verb in the dictionary (both Norwegian and English) -- to hear more from this new electropop sound she's acquired. It's darker and sleeker than "Robot Song" or "Will You Still Remember Me Tomorrow" but every new song release has proven that this next album will be something special.  And two inches closer to this TBA-dated album, Margaret finally released the horror movie inspired "Scream," full of interpretive dance and beautiful close-ups of our star baring truth that we don't know her as well as we think we do. And of course, like in "I Feed You My Love," it's all in black and white.

After watching the making-of video, oh Margaret, be my best friend! I cook and I have great taste!






Move a Little Over, "Crazy Something Normal," This is My New Favorite Song
...Because Nylon Magazine has fantastic taste covering L.A.-based band Holychild and their new EP, Mind Speak which comes out in the fall. So if Nylon Magazine says they're awesome, I must wholeheartedly agree especially since their first single "Happy With Me" has a little more to it than just a fun dance-y song.
."Happy With Me' is spawned from the incessant images that are pushed at women daily, and my personal difficulty interacting as a human and not being pressured to look, act, or speak a certain way. Ultimately, it's a plea to the audience: 'Fuck our cultural norms, live like me outside of those boundaries.'" 
Liz Nistico, I think I love you a little... and you're pretty!



Lzzy Hale Joins Lindsey Stirling
And Generates Awesomeness
I do not know a whole lot about Lzzy Hale and her rock band, Halestorm except for the fact that some of my lesbian fans have huge... well, fandoms attached to the enigmatic singer and musician. So with her rock-trained vocals it seems almost perfect kismet that she fits so well with Stirling's classical but wonderfully dorky edge resulting in "Shatter Me." And it is amazing and beautiful


 
 
 

Warning: Spoilers Included


One Night Stand
(Season 3, Episode 4)
 
 
When multiple drownings have occurred in Portland, Nick and Hank stumble on a new type of Wesen of the mermaid kind with vicious male counterparts. Rosalee starts to move into Monroe's place. Renard discovers who the royal baby's birth mother is. Juliette finds a curious email in Nick's inbox with the signature M.
 
Literature Used: The Little Mermaid
 
Wesen Featured: Blutbad (werewolf), Fuchsbau (fox), Half-Zauberbieste (warlock), Naiad (mermaid)

Best Quotes:

Jake: I just -- she came over and she just wasn't... normal.
Nick: Nobody is, Jake. it's Portland.

Best Moments:

Rosalee allowing Monroe to leave her to unpacking her stuff and to go to the trailer with the boys.

Elly swimming in Jake's swimming pool then woges in front of him.

Nick doing his own Grimm woge-ing in front of Hank after pulling Elly out of the water.


The Stories We Tell Our Young
(Season 3, Episode 6)
 
Renard leaves for Vienna for a Resistance meeting and ends up being hunted by his family. Back in Portland, Nick and Hank's latest case involves a child that has a Wesen-like virus that is very deadly to the species. Rosalee feels the duty to report the virus case to the council despite her friendship to Nick and Monroe who are against it. Juliette delves deeper into Nick's job as a Grimm. Adalind meets Eric's brother.
 
Literature Used: Inuit mythology
 
Wesen Featured: Blutbad (werewolf), fuchsbau (fox), Half-Zauberbieste (warlock), Hundjager (hound dog), Pflichttreue (panther)
 
Best Quotes:
 
Monroe: So I guess it's time for the "Birds and the whole Bienen-Wesen" talk.
 
Nick: I like to think we live in an enlightened age. Where fear does not drive belief. That's the truth behind the fear.
Alexander: Fear is not an easy thing to change.
Nick: Try
 
Best Moments:



Every time Renard turns into an action star and starts killing people.

The medical treatment scene in the little boy's outside fort.


Twelve Days of Krampus
(Season 3, Episode 8)
 
A Santa-like Wesen is terrorizing troublemaking teenaged children and it's up to Nick, Hank, Bud and Monroe to stop it. Over in Vienna, Renard is continued to be pursued by the Verrat as he insists that the Grimm he has will help them defeat the seven royal families despite their distrust in him for being half-royal. Monroe enlists Juliette to help him surprise Rosalee with the way he celebrates and decorates for Christmas but ends up falling flat on his face in the process as Rosalee's depressing history unfolds a little more. Renard leaves Adalind a message.
 
Literature Used: O Tannenbaum
 
 
Wesen Featured: Blutbad (werewolf), Fuchsbau (fox), Half-Zauberbieste (Warlock), Krampus (anti-Santa sheep-like Wesen),  Eisbiber (beaver), Schakal (jackal), Hundjager (hound dog)
 
Best Quotes:
 
Monroe: You know, I've got a lot going on today. Gotta get these jobs out before Christmas, because you know, clock repairs. Need to be timely.
Rosalee: Is that a clock joke?
Monroe: Just a tiny one. Sorry, I heard it second-hand.
Rosalee: Yikes. I'm leaving before you can think of anymore.
 
Wu: Don't worry, I'm not going to give you crap about arresting Santa Claus in front of a bunch of children. But I wouldn't expect under the tree this year.
 
Hank: You picking anything up?
Monroe: I got nothing. Except the smell of fear on Bud.
 
Renard: I am royal and I can be a bastard.
 
Wu: Besides the red suit and the black boots, he looked like something out of... and I quote "my worst drug crazed, acid induced, flashback nightmare."
 
Juliette: "You arrested Santa?"
 
Best Moments:
 
Interaction between Juliette and Monroe as they decorate his home.
 
Nick beating up on a Schakal posing as a Santa as on-lookers stand there doing nothing but recording the incident on their phones.
 
Girl talk between Juliette and Rosalee.
 
Nick getting choked by Krampus's rope and not being affected (except for a little CGI-tinting of his skin)
 
When Rosalee leaves out a beer and cigar for Santa.

this.
 
Eyes of the Beholder
(Season 3, Episode 10)
 
 
Hank's physical therapist and crush is involved in a current case involving street gangs and her younger brother whom she is raising. Juliette is feeling more awkward around her college room mate after discovering she's Wesen and seeks out advice from Rosalee on what she should do. Alicia's boyfriend makes a move to take her home but results in Juliette defending her best friend.
 
Literature: The Merchant of Venice
 
Wesen Featured: Blutbad (werewolf), Fuchsbau (fox), Half-Zauberbiest (warlock), Klaustreich (alley cat), Yaguarate (jaguar)
 
Best Quotes:
 
Nick: That's quite a way to send a message. Cutting off the head of a serpent.
Monroe: Or in this case, the head of the Yaguarate (Nick and Hank stare) Serpent's good.
 
Monroe: I'm glad you're not perfect.
Rosalee: Who says I'm not perfect?
Monroe: Not me.
 
Rosalee: You have to play more often. Got any more?
Monroe: I do, I do. I have a Mozart, a Bach, a very nice Brahms. And I got a Rimsky-Korsakov from Scheherazade that'll knock your babushka off.
Rosalee: Oh, the babushka one.
 
Best Moments:
 
Hank and Zuri looking very toasty towards each other.
 
Monroe playing his cello again!!!
 
Juliette kicking her best friend's abusive boyfriend's ass.
 
Hank playing video games with Zuri's little brother.
 
Mommy Dearest
(Season 3, Episode 14)
 
As Prince Victor's men close in, Adalind gives birth to Sean's daughter and gets her powers back. [Drew] Wu comes in contact with his first Wesen that feeds on his childhood best friend's womb fluid and it's only the question if Hank and Nick should tell him he's not crazy.

 
Literature: Legend of Gello/Asswang
 
Wesen Featured: Blutbad (werewolf), Fuchsbau (fox), Half-Zauberbiest (warlock), Hexenbiest (witch), Asswang
 
Best Quotes:

Drew Wu: "Sometimes my cat gets mad at me, and all she needs is a belly rub."
 
Best Moments:
 
Wu seeing his first Wesen, finally being addressed by his first name (Spoilers... it's Drew), and overall being amazing showing he is devoted and maybe a little in love with Dana. And even his choice in going straight to a psych ward. Everything Drew Wu!
 
 
The Law of Sacrifice
(Season 3, Episode 18)
 
 
Prince Viktor and the Verrat are on the hunt for Adalind and her child and closing in even tighter. Immediately, the whole Grimm gang has no choice but to help Adalind as **spoiler** Diana's **spoiler** life continues to be in danger as long as she is with her mother. It only ends in heartbreak.
 
Literature: Rumpelstiltskin
 
Wesen Featured: Hexenbiest (Witch), Half-Zauberbiest (Warlock), Blutbad (werewolf) Fuchsbau (fox)
 
Best Quotes:
 
Wu: (pronouncing Viktor's long full name) "I may have inadvertently dropped a -berg or a -dorf or two."

Monroe: "How was my German?"
Hank: "I believe him."
Monroe: "But you don't speak German."
 
Best Moments: Adalind in the street discovering Sean took her baby from her and her hexenbiest powers break a million car windows.
 
The stand off between Prince Viktor and Sean.
 
Everything Sean this episode: the pain in his face realizing he has a child, when he has to give her up and **spoiler** the compassion in his face knowing he has to live without his daughter..
 
 
 The Inheritance
(Season 3, Episode 21)
 
A dying Grimm travels all the way to Portland from Philadelphia to give Nick his trunk of Grimm weapons including... dun dun dun, a second key much against the Grimm's son's behest. Rosalee starts to feel anxiety over the wedding as Adalind finally puts her plans to destroy Nick into action.
 
Literature: The Water of Life
 
Wesen Featured: Blutbad (werewolf), Fuchsbau (fox), Half-Zauberbiest (warlock), Hexenbiest (witch), Hundjager (hound dog)
 
Best Quotes:
 
Rosalee: "It's just all gotten so overwhelming."
Monroe: "Honey, it's a wedding. It's supposed to be overwhelming; to keep you from doing this more than once."
Rosalee: "I just... I have this feeling something awful is going to happen."
Monroe: "That's the spirit."
 
Trubel: "What's up with this key he keeps talking about?"
Nick: "It's along story. It has to do with the Crusades and a bunch of knights who were Grimms who found something they thought no one else should have, so they buried it in the Black Forest and made a bunch of keys that had a map that supposedly leads to where it is. Is that enough?
Trubel: "Good enough for now."
 
Monroe: "Well we're one key closer to god knows what"
Rosalee: "I don't think we'll ever know."
Josh: "I don't think I want to know. But at least now I know my Dad wasn't crazy; unless all of you are."
(everyone looks at each other)
 
Best Moments:
 
 Trubel admitting she was almost raped and attacked by a Wesen.

The magical deviance all over Alexis Denisof's (Prince Viktor) sexy mug.

Not necessarily a best moment but the freakish moment where Hank almost legitimately got ran over by a member of the Verrat. That was extremely close for a TV show!

Everything about that fight with the Verrat members -- possibly the most intense fight in Grimm history.














April 19th 2014 has marked 21 years for the Backstreet Boys. It's amazing to think it has been that long for them making everyone dance with their teen pop friendly songs and ballads that could make all genders in and out of the binary's panties excited. 'NSYNC and 98 Degrees do not even count in my book. Kevin, Nick, Howie, A.J., and Brian always have had more soul  whereas the other boys had the catchy radio sound down. To me, the early teen pop songs have always seemed a little awkward but their best and underrated period started beginning with "Black and Blue" and ending with my absolute favorite album of theirs, "Never Gone." So I suppose you could rename this post "The Underrated Songs of the Backstreet Boys, or, Why "Never Gone" is B's Favorite Album."
 
Click on the song title to get the video!
 

 


from Black and Blue (2000)
 
I often consider making a playlist for my own ideal wedding song and this one always makes the list! Everything about this song feels more like Backstreet Men, which personally, is my favorite theme in the later half of their career considering the shift in song narrative. Where on their debut album they were all about "getting down" or advising women to get a "bad boy," Backstreet grew up and the songs progressively become autobiographical once they have helmed their songwriting fully. This is A.J.'s contribution and the shocking lyrics to all of their younger and pissed off fans, "Yes I will/give you everything you need/and someday start a family with you." And in my memory, I believe this is first song in the catalog to ever mention marriage and making babies in a family way.
 
from Never Gone (2005)
 
If someone had a gun to my head and demanded for me to make a choice of what is my favorite Backstreet Boys song, I would have choose "Poster Girl." Why? Because it's a drastically different pop song than what the boys have done before! Songwriters Billy Mann, Rasmus Bahncke, and Rene Tromberg managed to scour up a song about the perfect reckless woman out for fun. Considering this song may or may not have been inspired by Nick Carter's relationship with Paris Hilton, it's not too surprising to hear the desperation when A.J. belts out "let me be your guarantee." This is definitely a drastically different pop song that just works!
 
from Black and Blue (2000)
 
If you are a huge Backstreet nerd, you know better than anyone that Howie Dorough, in all his lovely Latino tenor vibrato, is sorely underused. But in this wonderful stripped down finale to "Black and Blue," he managed to finally get my attention in this wonderful ballad no doubt dedicated to his long time girlfriend and now wife Leigh Boniello.  
 
 
from The Hits: Chapter 1 (2001)
 
The first time I heard "Drowning" I immediately thought that there was something really different about this song. Perhaps it was a song that should have been on "Black and Blue" right next to other passionate filled songs like "Shape of my Heart" and all the wedding playlist tracks at the end of the album. It was heavy yet pop-friendly all at once... and the video in the title may help with that. Only for Kevin Richardson will I get all "Helloooooo nurse" over and especially in this video. You do not want to see the looks I was giving my computer screen while watching this.
 
from Unbreakable (2007)
 
Although minus my favorite Backstreet Man, the rest of them managed to pull out a decent single out of an otherwise monotonous album that was "Unbreakable" (although this album also made a gratuitous mark in the boys to men shift). Yes it was rather atypical of the Backstreet song, Virgin Media reviewed the single as "a textbook Backstreet Boys song." That maybe true, but, it is a textbook Backstreet Boys song done right!
 
from The Princess Diaries Soundtrack (2001)
 
Another fantastic and very underrated Dorough-written song involving that lovely yet breathy falsetto of his but the marketing of this song has been less than ideal. A song well suited for the Anne Hathaway movie "The Princess Diaries," "What Makes You Different" is a song you just want a guy to sing to a girl that involves something more than just immediate "oh baby" lust. It's sweet and a feel-good, and a feel-good pop song has become rare these 13 years later. (13 years??!!) 
 
from Never Gone (2005)
 
A power ballad most often cited by the boys as another song to put into the fan playlist right next to "Time," "Larger than Life" and "The Perfect Fan," "Incomplete" is another text book Backstreet Boys song that begins a rather different sounding boy band album. But if the bridge is any indication "I don't want to make you face this world alone" even this song has something of a different flavor than any of their other power ballads yet attaining much of that Backstreet harmony that sets them apart from the other 90s boy band groups (they need not be named).
 
 
from Never Gone (2005)
 
This would be the second song right after "Poster Girl" I would cite in my top 5 favorite Backstreet Boys songs of life. A little jazzy and slinky with a lot of A.J. just being that fantastic sex God that he is in those little interjections he does so well, "My Beautiful Woman" is just perfect... and different! If there was one song to study what makes the Backstreet Boys harmonies Backstreetish, this would be it. And a little electrical guitar never ever hurts.
 
from Unbreakable (2007)
 
Sometimes all it takes is a fantastically written chorus to make a song memorable. While I cannot think of the first note or chord that starts off "Helpless When She Smiles," I do think the second single off of "Unbreakable" is probably the most underrated single of the boys who made their shift to men in a rather discontented album that "Unbreakable" was. I am simply fascinated in how Brett James, Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo, and Trey Verges strung one word after another with: "I'm a house of cards/in a hurricane/a reckless fire/in the pouring rain/She cuts me and the pain/is all I feel..." And it's not that often you get a song from these boys that shifts into talking about a tangible "she" and I am all for something that breaks that boy band song formula.
 
from Never Gone (2005)
 
For those who are watching the video and reading this after, yeah guys, I KNOW! Rock is a genre you don't typically find in a boy band song and somehow it works in this Max Martin and Lukasz Gottwald composition. But then Max has stuck with the guys for a very long time so he more than anyone would know what works for their harmonies. And with the slight vocal filter over A.J. and Kevin's solo of "I just want you to know/that since I lost you, I lost myself" and that underlying rock beat, this song manages to encapsulate the Backstreet Boys' passionate strength that's typically reserved for their power ballads.
 
from Backstreet Boys (1996)
 
Maybe it's Kevin Richardson's chocolatey voice in the intro (but oh, it's nothing compared when he croons in "Lose It All" "don't change a thing, perfect as you are." OK Kevin! I'll do anything you say!!) or maybe it's their harmonies that rival the cheesy as hell 90s synthesizers but dear God, there's a sensual power in this song that stands out against all of those overrated radio hits.
 
from Millennium (1999)
 
In my personal opinion, "Millennium" was an overhyped and overrated album but tiny gems like "Back to Your Heart" and an earnest "I Need You Tonight" saved the album from radio death unlike their debut album. While overshadowed by the bigger singles, "Back to Your Heart" is a sweet and simple ballad Kevin Richardson co-wrote with Gary Baker and Jason Blume almost a precursor of sweeter and more powerful songs to come from the Richardson and Baker lyrical partnership.

 
 
from Never Gone (2005)
 
Typically the Backstreet Boys have always been about the stages of being in love (whether with the adoration of their fans/mothers/girlfriends-wives) or lust but it's not common to have a song that softly references relationships for a boy band. This song changed all of that which includes fantastic lyrics composed by Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik. One verse always captures me (next to Howie crooning up the scales about her "beautiful smile") when Nick sings "Sent a message to a GI in the desert/Said thank you man for bringing another dawn/Back here it's her and me and we're having our first baby/He's out there taking them on." Gratitude like that is not a typical theme in a boy band song and I love that Ondrasik did this! And the way the boys sing this with just as much power ballad gusto as their bigger teen pop hits just makes this fan very happy.
 
from Black and Blue (2000)
 
It's truly astonishing that only on their THIRD American released album all five guys were able to pool together enough animosity and presumption to write this song. Granted that might be a harsh review in the long run, but damn the song is catchy. Inopportune time for them to write this song before gaining wives, kids and a little more experience in the music industry? Maybe a little but it doesn't stop "Time" from swiveling the album down into its wedding music territory that ends a fantastic yet spotty album.
 
from Never Gone (2005)

The closer to the similarly titled album is a triple punch to the genitals. Written by Kevin Richardson with some help by Gary Baker and Steve Diamond, "Never Gone" is a memorial for his father who passed away of colon cancer a few years before. The song offers that powerful ballad punch once the chorus begins to be repeated that no parent that dies is ever gone. It's bittersweet and beautiful full of insistence and a perfect album closer to a strange and wonderful album.

 
from Millennium (1999)


Nick Carter has never been one of my top favorite Backstreet Boys... or Men. My order goes: Kevin (obviously), A.J., Howie, Nick and Brian. But one of Nick's few solo attempts, "I Need You Tonight" is indeed a fantastic ballad on a somewhat showy second album despite a few pitch glitches he manages to cover up with pretty growls to accentuate his want for the woman he is singing to. But what really made this song for me back in the day (Goddess, saying that makes me feel old), was this amazing performance he gave to this song on a pay-per-view concert. Do you remember it? In the long run, fantastic song almost in the same vein as Bryan Adams's "Everything I Do (I Do it For You)" but Nick as the youngest obviously still had some vocal growth to do. 

from Backstreet Boys (1996)
 
I remember always being fascinated by "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" as a pre-teen, considering it to be a sweet breezy calm before a very embarrassing storm known as "If You Want to be a Good Girl (Get Yourself a Bad Boy)." Now my opinion on the song is very much a genesis to songs like "My Beautiful Woman" and others which prove  their soulful sound has always been placed on the backburner. Sure the musical arrangement are somewhat embarrassing with 90s synthesizers but their harmonies were air-tight and almost ethereal. As for "If You Want to be a Good Girl"... yeah, it's still embarrassing.



You know it's officially spring when new music comes popping up faster than the leaves sprouting in Iowa during Spring-Winter, Winterish-Spring? In other words, fast. Very.

Donkeyboy's Crazy is the Coolest, Like Ever

It's seriously hard to believe that just a week ago "Crazy Something Normal" was released. And since then, the new Donkeyboy feel-good has been dominating the ITunes charts including a Late Night stint AND a music video that involves demonic spray cans and the boys looking wonderfully bad ass. 
Jena Malone Makes Art
**Warning, there's nudity**

Jena Malone channels something like classical art in The Shoe's video for "Dead Rabbit Hopes" and I don't think anyone is complaining unless you have an issue with yourself when you take your clothes off. She is stunning with nothing but flowers decorating her perfect and  -- dare I say -- perfect body you would almost think the video distracts from how lovely her voice is. But it doesn't, or at least to me versus the perverted male species. This is art and it is stunning.

Sharon van Etten "Taking Chances" on a Tarot Reading
This is includes all of my favorite things: close ups on Sharon's lovely face, mysticism, tarot cards, nail polish (albeit chipped) and a strangely profound message in between the lines. Despite the fact I saw the ending from a mile away, I absolutely adored getting lost in this video.
Lindsey Sterling Consorts with Mer-Creatures Now...
There are some musicians whose music just encompasses your spiritual beliefs; my list includes Julianna Barwick and especially the way Lindsey Sterling sets up her music videos. And her latest "Beyond the Veil," the "hip-hop violinist" evokes something between The Little Mermaid and Lord of the Rings as her violin gets stolen by a magical child-creature who can breathe underwater. This is just breathtakingly beautiful! Mission Creek, can we get her next year? Stirling's album "Shatter Me" comes out May 2nd.


There's an unfortunate truth when it comes to one of the most magical times of the year; those who get a paycheck higher than 150 dollars who "truly" enjoy Mission Creek Festival with a silver pass that costs my average paycheck (if I'm lucky). Magically, I think I had kind of a fun time...

Day One: Tuesday, April 1
 
5:00 Kat McDowell at Filmscene's Mission Creek Happy Hour
 
7:00 Energy Boost in form of a bottle of Fuze at Bread Garden
 
8:00 Doors Open at Gabe's for Warpaint
 
9:00 Annalibera (or as I call them, Metric Jr.) on stage at Gabe's
 
10:00 Alex Body on stage being awesome as always! My legs were vibrating, yo.
 
11:00 WARPAINT!!!!
 
Left around 12:30, too many people invading my bubble.
 
Day Two: Wednesday, April 2
 
5:00 Tom Northnagle at Filmscene's Happy Hour
 
5:45 Serendipitous chance meeting with a lovely electronic musician in town for Philip Glass. #WomanCrushWednesday was never more appropriate!
 
Margaret...
 
 
 
6:20 Kembrew McLeod Reading, another localite to be obsessed with because the following is his fault.
 
 
7:00 KRUI Pizza Party at The Mill where B shoves as many types of pizza into her stomach, including a strange spicy and hummus-y based pizza that was too much for her.
 
8:00 John June Year before covering my favorite Monkees song ("Not Your Steppin' Stone")
 
 
 
9:00 The Olympics on stage. Wasn't really my kind of music but stayed halfway through.
 
Day 3: Thursday, April 3
 
5:00 River Glen at Filmscene's Happy Hour
 
6:15 Strapping on a white shirt and a somewhat friendly face hoping that I won't make anyone cry aka. ushering at The Englert
 
7:30 Holy electronic ambience, Oneohtrix Point Never! Too bad people left during you and never came back... not even to come back for Mr. Glass!
 
8:00 Philip Glass. *cue angel sounds*
 
Day 4: Friday, April 4
 
2:00 My Friday Tradition, although not Mission Creek-induced, with Iowa Public Radio's Java Blend
 
4:00 Alexis Stevens and Brian Johannesen at in-store concert in Record Collector
 
5:00 The infamous lit crawl at Filmscene...
 
 
6:00 ... and a little time at Revival with one of my home-skillets
 
6:15 Time to Usher...
 
8:00 Basia Bulat on stage at The Englert
 
9:00 The Head and the Heart and I name this picture: Tall Peeps be tall
 
3:00 AM, finally passed out with one hand in a bag of mini Cadbury eggs and blissed out on Grimm. It's a hard life.
 
Saturday: April 5
 
1:00 Downtown to sedate myself with Bread Garden coffee for this girl does not trust herself at the Lit Fair. Must... stay... calm.
 
1:30-3:00 Iowa City Book and Lit Fair. Had a few awkward moments and things that I just don't want to talk about right now but after 12 ounces of an iced soy caramel latte and 10 dollar spent on a book from Rescue Press... oh hey, Rescue Press...
 
 
... as I was saying. After coffee, 10 dollars and feeling a little emotionally invaded, it was better than last year.
 
3:20 My favorite part, Mission Boutique! Free little 25 minute pop up concerts/readings in/around stores downtown.
 
Golden Birds at Catherine's
 
4:00 Tim Denevi at RSVP reading an AMAZING essay on the historical Jesus. Can someone get me this essay? Please?
 
And after a half hour of hoping for 5 DOLLAR purses at Mayfair (boo!), taking DVDs back to the library, and a quick CVS run, thus ends my Mission Creek week since the buses don't run on Sundays.
 
But I think this home-made goulash (which was finally done by 10 pm but so worth it!)...
...concluded a magical and exhausting week. I'm still recuperating!

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