Monday, October 30, 2006

It's a Boojumhaus Hallowe'en!

Saturday was Hallowe'en for me- I have to work on the real holiday, so I made sure to get my creepy ya-yas out by attending the always entertaining, always amazing Boojumhaus Hallowe'en Party.

Costumes, competition, companionship & prizes! The attic cemetery was amazingly effective- I was creeped out when we all went up there to play 'Pass the Skull.'

Don't ask, the body's around there somewhere....

I am going to brag here & mention that mon copain (Dead Monkey Toy) won first prize in the costume contest! (the bragging part is that I made his hellish idea a reality.) I thought it was a close call, what with Kate Wombat as The Morrigan - fabulous headress!

I was having SO much fun, I forgot to take a lot of pictures, but you can see a few here:
Queenly pix

And lovely Boojum photos here: Boojum pix


and Dr. K's pfotos here:
The Pictures of Dr. K

I have a great picture of Arrrrr Hostess, but Our Host apparently became unwrapped halfway through the celebration....

Thanks, Boojums!

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Catalog your own books....

As if I don't do enough of this at work, LibraryThing.com allows you to create a catalog of your own collection - to add titles, you search various sites, such as Library of Congress, Yale's collection, etc.

The first hundred or so entries are free, and it's very inexpensive to obain a lifetime membership....here's my catalog so far:

Books!

I have a ways to go.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Review: Rockabilly Tribute to the Ramones

Rockabilly Tribute to the Ramones

As a long, long, long time Ramones fan (for all of you under 30, this means 'since you were conceived') I'm always intrigued by covers of their music & different interpretations: The Ramones Songbook as interpreted by
the Nutley Brass is a favorite.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a rockabilly tribute, but I was sure it was going to be punkabilly covers, which wasn't going to be different or exciting enough to my ears. But when I heard the first strains of 'Blitzkrieg Bop', I was delighted- this is straight-up old school rockabilly in the vein of Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, et al. In fact, it's hard to tell when each song starts exactly which Ramones song it is until about 15 seconds into it, which is just brilliant! I am really amazed how well the Ramones songs translate into the rockabilly sound, and it's a testament to their fine songwriting abilities.

Oddly enough, the only song I felt didn't really work was "Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?" and I could live the rest of my life without hearing 'I Wanna Be Sedated' ever again - probably my least favorite Ramones song of all time. 'Beat on the Brat', 'Teenage Lobotomy' and 'Blitzkrieg Bop' were 3 songs I felt were especially successful.

I was also surprised to see 'Bop 'Til You Drop' included, but it's extremely well done & doesn't even sound like a Ramones tune, which is interesting. The liners notes sadly do not list the musicians involved with this recording, but they run the rockabilly gamut of sound from Western swing to the more 'classic' rockabilly style.

A few of the songs could have been shorter by about 30 seconds or so, but then I'm so used to hearing them played at breakneck speed I may just have expected them to be done sooner....