It's been about three months since the last Three on the Tree so I figured I'd double it up.  The following are a few tracks you might dig... depending on your musical preference:


1) "Got Five On It" - Luniz vs. Tom Petty
There have been a lot of vs/mash-ups/remixs of different songs, but this is one of my favorites. The pacing and beats seem to sync up well... and of course both parties aren't strangers to the cheeba.

2) "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" - Black Kids
A new group out of Jacksonville that is getting a lot of attention lately. Any band that isn't afraid to use some horns from time to time, along with a "The Go! Team-esque" chant/cheer... equals good stuff in my book.

3) "Duffle Bag Boy" - Playaz Circle ft. Lil' Wayne
Anything by Lil' Wayne usually is solid... and this is no exception. Nothing terribly fancy about the lyrics, beats, etc. but it works for me... and probably will for you too. You probably heard a little of this while checking out my hardly-updated profile page.

4) "Ten Dead Dogs" - Wild Sweet Orange
Wild Sweet Orange is a group that I heard on KEXP recently. They kind of remind me of Damien Rice and Iron & Wine. A very solid song if you're in that type of mood. They have a full-length cd coming out early next year.

5) "100 Days, 100 Nights" - Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
This song sounds like it could be out of the 60's, but was just released last year. Nothing beats a little soul music in my eyes, and sometimes it's hard to find. I see that they are going to be at a club near where I work this coming Sunday too.... hmmm.

6) "Two Times" - The Blakes
Not to be confused by the other "The ___'s" bands...  Two Times sounds like it could be a song from a few other bands. I dig it because it is a little more rocking than some of the other songs that I have on this list.

Hopefully one of these tracks satisfies your need for delicious music.  More to come sooner than later...

While I'm still fully in football mode... baloncesto season is starting whether I'm on board or not.

How 'bout them Hawkeyes!

One of the better shows on tv right now (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) starts up its third season tonight.  If you haven't seen it, check it out... if you know what I'm talking about... gravy.

Channel: FX
Time: 10pm? depending on your time zone.

Couple of my favorite clips:
a) could someday replace the national anthem


b) living the dream, living the dream



c) wiki wiki scratch scratch


d) season III preview

While this clip has been out for a few months now, I just heard it again and thought I'd share it (in case you haven't heard it yet).

Many good tidbits of advice throughout... "Don't judge Lethal Weapon by Danny Glover", etc.

I haven't been keeping this up like I was hoping to... besides the crappy music I pretend to like (and recommend), there's not a whole lot about me.... and afterall isn't that what you're wanting?
Just like Swen determining who is cleaning trays back in Bible Camp... totally random, totally random.

-As you've probably seen/heard, I got another tattoo the other weekend.  It's a nautical compass and is on my left shoulder blade. There is some meaning behind it, as some of you may know.
I talked to them about getting a half-sleeve too. Basically I need to get 5-10 ideas/photos/etc. together and they'll draw it up and ink me. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if that fits into the budget. I've double-checked with my tip calculator and everytime it calculates that I'm a good tipper, but no money management skills.  How do you know me so well Mr. Casio 90-832T?

-I'm thinking about making a trip back to IA during late Oct/early Nov.  I'll be probably coming back for Christmas, but not sure if I want to make two trips before the end of the year.
I see pros & cons to both sides.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it back for Newhouse's 30th.  We'll see what pans out though...

-Visited Pittsburgh for a week of training a couple weeks ago. It was ok.

-What's up with dudes pissing in stalls vs. urinals out here?  At work, dudes will choose a stall over a urinal.... with no one else in the room!  Is there some sort of groper that I need to know about, or are people just intimidated by peeing in the general vicinity of others?  Coming from someone who occasionally gets stage-fright... I can't figure this one out.  In addition, don't act like I'm trying to check you out... you cowering, standing 0.2" from the urinal isn't doing much... except for getting piss splatters all over your jeans.

-So it couldn't be a steveblog without a reference to music of some kind. I'm pumped because there are some good shows coming up around here (some of which I may actually attend).
*Sept. 28 - The National @ The Wiltern
*Oct. 21 - The Go! Team @ Echoplex
*Oct. 28 - Bruce Springsteen TBA
*Nov. 29 - John Butler Trio @ The Grove of Anaheim

-It also wouldn't be complete without a reference to a side project "the Three Guns Century Club t-shirts"  For current members, there are now talks about getting v2.0 off the couch and into the presses.  For non-members, click the link and buy a shirt from a starving artist.  Good karma will ensue..... probably.

-It's always a mixed bag w/ Myspace. This blog will only be available to 139 "friends" of which, 10 might read.  But making the profile "public" potentially opens one up to all sorts of new potential problems...

-Go Hawkeyes!

Happy Labor Day.
In celebration of working for a living, I thought it'd be a good time to highlight a couple songs that take the easy way out. Songs that were originally created by an artist, just to be later covered by someone else.

1) Ben Gibbard - Harvest Moon
The lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie & the Postal Service covers a Neil Young classic. Similar voice style means not a big departure in sound... therefore very solid.

2) The White Stripes - Jolene
The music blog, Aquarium Drunkard, wrote about this updated cover of the Dolly Parton classic tune. 
On a related note, if you've seen the upcoming movie trailer of "Walk Hard" you might have noticed that Elvis is going to be played by none other than Jack White. Brief snippet below:


3) Pop, Lock & Drop It - Huey
While the next song isn't necessarily a "cover song" it is pretty funny.  If you were ever at a Showbiz pizza place way back when... this is right up your alley.  Apparently someone has the full-cast set up in their house and has been updating their set list to include some of today's favorites... such as "Pop, Lock, & Drop It". (Be sure to catch the T-Pain part at about the 3:00 mark!)

Bits and pieces of random stuff that is the fabric of my past/present/future:

Pool Party:
As you might have noticed, I posted a few pics of the birthday pool party from last weekend.  Good times were had by all, except for maybe the neighbors... and the cops who were called in a couple of times. Fun haters.  A solid day of pool, drinks, food and sun... and not even much of a sunburn to deal with either.

iTunes:
I finally completed adding all of my cd's to the computer... I think anyway, it seems like I might have missed a couple.

Total Songs: 8802
Time: 24.5 days
Space: 35.23 GB
(as of 8-20-07 11pm)

Mi coche:
So apparently my car decided that being full-up on antifreeze was uncool.  Not to mention that the belt recently started to let people know everytime I decided to turn on my AC... so $400 later (with a new belt and water pump to show for it), the Chrysler is back in shape for some drift-racing excitement. And by "drift-racing", I mean creeping down the 405.

Pittsburgh:
I'm headed to PA next week for a little thing called week-long training.  The training should be a good thing for me... hopefully improve the confidence a bit as well.
I'll be staying at the Omni, and that's about all I have figured out at this point.  Not sure what else is going to be shaking, but I did see the Pirates would be in town that week.  I'm sure that tickets probably won't be hard to come by, especially since they're playing the Reds.

Movietime:
Caught Bourne Ultimatium the other week, and still need to see Superbad this week, but a couple other bright spots on the movie horizon...

Sept. 7th
-3:10 to Yuma
  So I've been seeing the ads for this movie up at the bus stops around the city, but hadn't seen the trailer until just recently.  Looks like it should be a good western flick... which makes my day since there are two decent looking westerns in the month of September.

Sept. 21st
-The Assasination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford
 Not much has been released about this movie that stars Brad Pitt & Casey Affleck, but the trailer definitely leaves you wanting to check it out.
-Into the Wild
  I haven't read the book, but it looks pretty solid.  It seems like the type of story that makes you want to get out and do something.
  

It seems like I'm missing a couple things... but I can't remember at this point, so that'll do it for now.

I don't usually feature a lot of rap/hip-hop on 3otT, so today I celebrate...

1) Black Star (Mos Def & Talib Kweli) - "Definition"
Off the stellar album "Black Star" (which is their only album... although it's rumored that Talib has dropped hints about a possible second album...)


2) Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins - "It's Like That"
Basically the Run DMC song that most people know, that is slightly remixed by Jason Nevins... who according to Wiki is a producer/remixer (hmmm... who knew?)


3) Kyper - "Tic Tac Toe"
Ever had one of those songs that you like, but most people can't remember?  Me either... but if I did, it would be Tic Tac Toe.  From 1990, known by no one as the best year of rap (seriously... 17? c'mon!), Kyper dropped this nugget right into our laps... probably due to the Berlin Wall coming down (or him wanting to bang hot chicks).


So there is a quick three-hitter of rap you should know, probably know, and wish you've known about. Enjoy... and as D-Nice said on his album "Call Me D-Nice", they call me D-Nice

While digging through old mp3's, I came across this beauty...

... like a fine wine, it still holds up.

Plus it's only about 20 days until the Hawkeyes kick-off their season!

A quick 3otT that consists of two bands I've just started to listen to more of lately, and one classic.

1) Pela (myspace):
A band that will be playing at Spaceland Tuesday, Aug. 14, along with Film School.  Lucky for me, I'll be working that evening. 
Often compared to The National (see the blog earlier this week), I've only heard a few songs but like what I hear.

2) Romantica (myspace)
A band that I just happened to stumble upon... originally from Belfast, the band now resides in Minneapolis.  They have a little different sound between some of their songs (see my profile song vs. the song above).  I'm also a huge fan of "Ixcatan" (see my profile, or their myspace page).

3) Wu-Tang Clan (myspace)
What more needs to be said about Wu-Tang?  This song was on a compilation cd that I rocked consistently... about 10 years ago. NSFW

Sorry for the short post... eyes getting too heavy.