Are you a Whole Foodie? I am. The Whole Foods in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has a great parking lot under the store. I don’t have to worry about rain, snow and extreme heat. Apparently not all Whole Food patrons have it as nice I do! Enjoy the Whole Foods Parking Lot Music Video:

Cheers to eating healthy and finding Pinot Noirs under $20!
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So, I have been debating about showcasing this video. It is family after all…. and it was a spontaneous attempt on my Uncle’s part to be funny. It worked, because he spontaneously made me laugh. Then I had to start recording the incident on my phone. The sound is really bad, so you should probably turn down your volume on this one.

Even though my uncle looks pretty comfortable dancing like this …. it’s the first time the whole family has experienced his mad dancing skills through the magic of YouTube! Happy Friday!

Kindle and Email subscribers can watch here: Uncle dancing

Cheers to dancing family members!

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As most of you know, Wisconsin is currently in the news for protesting Governor Walkers Budget Bill. I had to go to the Wisconsin State Capital in Madison, Wisconsin to see for myself the events yesterday (Saturday February 19, 2011). The following video are the photos I captured from my trip. Supporters for both sides of the issue were present in Madison on Saturday.

You can also watch this video on Youtube by clicking here: Madison Protest Photos Video

Song Freedom Blues by Ralph Buckley of his album Stardust Rain

Cheers to Wisconsin!

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Since I’ve been back to the Milwaukee area which I call home, I’ve had the chance to re-connect with friends and get out a bit to see what’s new since I’ve been gone. One of my long time friends texted me that we were headed out to the New Berlin, Wisconsin area for this evening’s fun. She assured me that I would have a great time and that there was a good band playing that night.

Me: “Will there be wine?”

W: “sure.”

Me: “That wasn’t a very re-assuring texted sure.”

W: ” YYYYYYEEEEESSSSS”

Me: “you totally had to add that to your word dictionary didn’t you.”

W: “7:30. New Berlin Ale House”

Me: “there wetter be wine” (damn those touch screen keypads!)

I got to the location all of 15 minutes late because … well … I’m always late. Stepping into the large bar / restaurant I could see the band already starting to set up. That’s when I saw the sign … my sign.

Nice. Try. New Berlin Ale House.

The band was warming up and I ordered the Horny Goat – Red Vixen Beer. That’s right, Beer … the other wet liquid. (I just made that up … right here, right now, me!) that’s when I started to hear whisperings of something called the “Woo-woo Girls”. I’ll just leave you with that, because as I was washing my buffalo chicken salad down with my beer — that was all I knew. Woo. Woo. Girls.

When the band started their set it was easy to see that not only were they singing well, but these guys were having a great time doing it! I’m no “fun police-er” or anything, but I’m pretty sure if you name your band SuckerPunch Sally, it’s like a law or something that you have to be fun. Singing songs from Cheap Trick to ZZ Top, these guys were really good for only being together just over a year. Nothing better to me than people following their passion in life and having fun doing it!

And then I saw it ….. the “Woo-woo Girls”. Here is how I’ll explain it … SuckerPunch Sally became an interactive band. That’s right, they ask the audience to send down their women for a song. These women are than given the band title of “Woo-Woo Girls” and they sing with the band. Check it out:

It's like band 2.0

Woo-Woo Girls

Everyone loved the “woo-woo girls” … they woo’d pretty good and as you can see, had fun doing it! It was like the game Rock Band on crack.

That’s my story folks, I didn’t become a woo-woo girl, but I do know that getting out to see this band was a fun time. I think Milwaukee might be seeing these guys more this year … that’s just what I heard “whispered” around that night.

Check out the band on their Facebook Page for SuckerPunch Sally. That’s really the only way you’ll be in the know on their schedule … follow them on Facebook!

And now for the partner’s in crime with this band … let’s call them “The Fabulous Original Woo-Woo Girls”:

Cheers to SuckerPunch Sally!

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Or watch it by clicking this Link to Jennifer’s Review Merry Christmas Video

Have a Happy and Safe Holiday!!

CHEERS!!!
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I took a week off everyone, it was a much needed rest for me.

But with some extra time off, I was a little extra bored. So, I thought I would make my own video.

Here it is below for your Music Monday viewing pleasure. It is 1 minute and 21 seconds long. I am not giving refunds for lost time …. watch at your own risk.

Or click the link here to Watch my Vanilla Video

For more Vanilla Ice fun … go over to VanillaIce.com

Cheers to Vanilla Ice!
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Guest Blog Post By: Michelle Dale

Mondegreens: You may not be familiar with the term but you certainly know what they are – misheard song lyrics. You know, those words you sing that are not the actual lyrics of the song? Yep, that’s a mondegreen!

The term was first coined by American Sylvia Wright in her Harper’s magazine piece “The Death of Lady Mondegreen” in which she recalled hearing the Scottish ballad “The Bonny Earl Of Murray”. The line “They ha’e slain the Earl of Murray and laid him on the green” was misheard by a young Sylvia as: “They ha’e slain the Earl of Murray and Lady Mondegreen”. Hence the soubriquet ‘mondegreen’ for a misheard lyric.

Why do these substitute lyrics form so readily in our minds? Probably because mondegreens are homophonic representations, i.e. they have a very similar sound to the actual words, and when the original words are incomprehensible, our innovative brains compensate by devising a replacement word or phrase. They are so adept at this and the belief so strong that many people are willing to swear that their mondegreen is the actual lyric!

Hence, in addition to their entertainment value, mondegreens have been the cause of some passionate debates as Houston Press music writer, John Nova Lomax, relates. “I was convinced that ELO’s ‘Evil Woman’ was a song about transvestism or a sex change operation called ‘He Is a Woman’ and it took a pretty heated argument with some of my friends back in high school to convince me otherwise.”

Mondegreens are so common that there’s few if any of us who cannot claim to have inadvertently produced one or more of our own at some time in our lives. Children are a particularly rich source of mondegreens, giving new meaning to the words of national anthems, hymns and even the Pledge of Allegiance: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic of witches’ stands”. (I wonder, was this a young Christine O’Donnell’s version?)

For children learning lines by rote, which is essentially a form of mimicking, the situation is ripe for creative modification. When the real words have little meaning for them, they are unable to distinguish any difference between the original and their own version. In some cases, their innovative modifications are an improvement because, to them, they make more sense.

“She’s got a chicken to ride and she don’t care” (Ticket to Ride, The Beatles)
“Piggyback Rider” (Paperback Writer,The Beatles)
“Good King Wences’ car backed out / On the feet of heathens” (”Good King Wenceslas first looked out / On the feast of Stephen”)
“Gladly, the cross-eyed bear” (”…gladly the cross I’ll bear” from the hymn Keep Thou My Way)
“Surely good Mrs Murphy shall follow me all the days of my life” (”Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”, Psalm 23)

Some mondegreens have even been incorporated into recordings. The most famous of these was the Doug Ingle song, “In The Garden of Eden”, written for the psychedelic rock band, Iron Butterfly. However, the title words were misheard either by a band member or the studio producers and were instead immortalised as In A Gadda Da Vida.

The enduring popularity of mondegreens is undoubtedly due to their newly-minted meanings producing often hilarious and very surprising results.

“She’s got electric boobs, her mum has too” (” She’s got electric boots and mohair shoes’ from Elton John’s Benny and the Jets)

“Beelzebub has a devil for a sideboard” (”Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me” from Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody)

“There’s a bathroom on the right” (Bad Moon Rising, Creedence Clearwater Revival)

“I’ll never leave your pizza burning” (Beast of Burden,The Rolling Stones)

“Dead ants are my friends; they’re blowin’ in the wind” (“The answer, my friends, is blow’in the wind”, Bob Dylan)

However, my all-time favourite is this version of the Australian national anthem, Advance Australia Fair:

“Australians all let us ring Joyce
For she is young and free
With olden royals and wealth for soil
Our home is dirt by sea.
Our lambs abound on nature strips
In booties stitched with care.
In history’s page,
On every page,
Advance Australia Fair.
Enjoy full trains and let us in
Advance Australia Fair.”

Whatever their origin, mondegreens seem to be the least embarrassing of all our malapropisms, judging by people’s happy readiness to share. In a quick tour of the Net, I found hundreds of examples ranging from the bizarre to the risqué to the laugh-out-loud funny.

Please share your own with us in the comment box below and keep us chuckling in tune with your favourite songs.

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Okay if you came to this post because you thought the title was a little R rated – I’m sorry to disappoint.

One of my facebook and real life friends posted a video of someone beatboxing “Aint’ No Sunshine” on flute. I thought that was cool! Love it when people take the ordinary and make it extraordinary! So I started to look at all the other videos out there on flute beatboxing. I then found the following; Greg Pattillo and his flute video! Enjoy!

You can also watch it by clicking this beatbox flute link here.

But of course this little video is nothing …. Greg is part of a Trio that takes classical chamber music to higher levels! Here is a snippet of their subway show.

When you have time – check out their YouTube site for more fun AND you can purchase their CD’s off of CDBaby.com – Project Trio for more muscial satisfaction!

Cheers to beatbox fluting!
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I was privileged to be invited to a special party last weekend.  My friends hosted a party that provided the best entertainment.

I got to hear the lovely Julia Brown and Charlie Cheney sing in a great private party location. Simply wonderful! Both Charlie and Julia were touring the Midwest. Charlie is from the Madison, WI area, knew some people and a party was set!

I was so excited when I was invited — I wasn’t sure if I could contain myself and not do something stupid.  You’ll be proud of me — the evening went off without a hitch.

Julia started the night off with her set and songs … have to say, Pieces of the Species was my favorite song she sung that night. I loved her music and couldn’t leave without buying one of her CD’s. So, this past fabulous weekend – while driving around town – I was listening to the stylings of Julia. Pieces of the Species a few times extra.

Julia Brown Singing

Charlie Cheney has played with some very cool people! Jackson Browne and Pat McDonald “discovered” Charlie and the rest is history. Charlie has a way of getting the crowd to follow his fun tunes. Charlie rounded out the night with his songs after Julia … that’s when the party got going! You can check out Charlie’s schedule or follow his blog.

The other point I’d like to note about Charlie….. he’s a software developer – he’s created his own program for band managment called Indie Band Manager. Now that rocks!

Here is the happy threesome …..

Charlie, Jenn, Julia

Cheers to people who follow their passion!
Jennifer
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I love finding not so famous, not that much heard of musicians with unique sounds and great voices. None the mainstream. Or at least not the mainstream yet.

Today is no exception — I’d love to introduce Caro Emerald! *says in her best Ed Sullivan voice* Have you heard of her? She seems to be making quite a hit on the other side of the pond. Nothing here in the US yet. In fact, checking out her tour schedule — it’s all overseas. So, unless you are traveling – we’ll have to wait to see her in person here in the US.

You CAN preview her music and buy her album off iTunes which is what I did. I’m jamming out in my car, sunroof open and traveling down I-94 to Ms. Caro this week!

The sound is a combination of those old time 50′s movies infused with a flirty jazzy ballroom flair, a shot of happy beats and shaken up with Caro’s great voice! It makes your day to listen to these songs! Watch her video below for a sampling.

Stop by her site: Caro Emerald

Let me know what you think!

Cheers to Caro!
Jennifer
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