Inside the Fishbowl

Sunday Tunes: The Sabre Rattlers

In April I saw my Uncle David at a family wedding.  The day after the wedding, while we were all assembled at another uncle's house, David handed me a CD marked Sabre Rattlers and told me that i had to listen to it. I trust David's taste in music implicitly.  He was the one who introduced me (through my Dad) to The Wailin' Jenny's, who have been on my daily playlist for the last three years, and Otis Taylor.  So, of course, I put the CD into my sister's CD player when we were driving to the hotel that same evening and when I did, I knew I'd been handed a treasure.  The first song on the CD is a rocked out version of "Now Let Us Rejoice."  A few seconds into the song an electric guitar starts to whine, evoking emotion that only an electric guitar can.  At the time we listened to a few tracks, but not the entire CD.  I wanted to listen to this in private, without my sister, whose tastes tend more toward Top 40.  I wanted to be able to savor the experience and not have to coninually shush my children.

Back at home, I did a bit of searching and found out that the CD is titled "Twixt me and the Peaceful Rest" by Texas-based (I think) band The Sabre Rattlers.  It is a surprising mix of classic hymns all rearranged to reflect the influences to be found in traditional American music--country, bluegrass, folk, jazz and early rock n' roll. Where "Now Let Us Rejoice" is definitely rock, "The Spirit of God" has more of a bluegrass feel with the banjo and fiddle taking center stage.  It's gorgeous.  All of the songs are gorgeous and unforgettable, and will most likely be recognizable to a broad audience of Christians, since many of the hymns Mormons sing are also sung by other Christian denominations.  My favorites, "Let the Lower Lights Be Burning" and "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me" are not in the LDS hymnal, but still carry messages of the Savior.

This is definitely not your grandmother's Sabbath music.  Don't get me wrong, I like The Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  But there is more interesting music out there, preformed by many talented artists who are doing incredible interesting things with our traditional hymns. 

Give The Sabre Rattlers a try.  Below you can listen to the CD in it's entirety.  If you like it, I encourage you to buy it.  You can buy it for download on The Sabre Rattlers website, or on iTunes.  If you prefer you can also buy a hard copy directly from the website.  You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter and of course, Youtube.

 

Glee and other good stuff

I have been meaning to stop by for a visit for a while now, but, well, obviously I haven't.  But anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows that Fall television can bring me out of even the longest blog break.  

So, I don't think I've talked about this, but I have been looking forward to Glee ever since it premiered back in May.  I watched the rebroadcast of it last week with as much excitement as I watched the season premier of The Office after Jim kissed Pam at casino night.  Are any of you looking forward to Glee as much as I am?

This week a couple of CDs came out that I'm really excited about.  First up is from Mason Jennings.  I've loved Mason Jennings ever since I saw him at Bonnaroo last summer.  It's great travel music, so I will be buying it before we leave for California next week.  Second is the new one from A Fine Frenzy.  I discovered her on Youtube about 2 or 3 years ago and I just love her sound--she's mellow and laid back and really beautiful.  Check it out.

Oh, oh, I hove to go.  The glee club is about to start singing Gold Digger.  I'll leave you with this. . . Matthew Morrison.  Swoon! Gotta go!

Red Butte Concert Series

Oh my gosh, locals!  Have you seen the lineup this year for the Red Butte Gardens concert series?  Music lovers beware.  This could get dangerously expensive for you.  It's a great lineup!!!  Now I'm no longer sad that we're not going to Bonnaroo this year!  Some of the best that music has to offer is coming to Utah instead!

Calling All Angels

In my boredom I've become a total Youtube addict.  I would be lost without it.  Tonight I found this video of my current favorite song.  It's by the Wailin' Jennys, of course--and it has nothing to do with the Train song of the same name.  It just happens to be a video from their concert that I went to almost a year ago, which is cool because I didn't even realize that I'd heard this song live!  Oops!  It was a beautiful and memorable concert.  Really!  I promise!  Especially since I got to meet the girls after.  Anyway.  Heres' the video.

You can listen to a higher quality audio version here.  The song will just start playing.  Don't hit download--you'll have to buy the song, unless you want to, which wouldn't be a bad thing.  Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy!  Oh, and by the way, if you're a Wailin' Jennys fan they just announced that they're going to be releasing a live album this summer!  I am so excited--I can hardly wait!

Uninspired

I'm feeling rather uninspired, blogwise, lately, so you have to endure another list post from me.

1.  Jeremy and I had a date night in last Thursday.  We were going to go out, but then we couldn't find anything we wanted to do more than eat dinner.  So I put the kids to bed before he got home, and he brought us takeout from our favorite Chinese restaurant, Fortune Cookie.

I first went to Fortune Cookie last year with my friend Jenn.  She'd been with her family and simply raved about it.  Not one to pass up a fantastic Chinese restaurant ever, we went.  Her raving was no exaggeration.  I've been back twice, and have never been disappointed.  The best part is that Fortune Cookie is always packed!  Last time, when Jeremy and I ate the restaurant, we had to sit at the sushi bar.  I know, a Chinese restaurant with a sushi bar. Who would have guessed?  Sadly, I have never had sushi, so this won't include a review of that aspect of the restaurant.

My two favorite dishes so far are the two that we tried last week.  They are from the Chef's Specialies section of the menu, which can be viewed online.  The first is Orange Beef.  Don't worry, this is nothing like the Orange dishes that you will find at pseudo Chinese restaurants like Panda Express, where the orange is so overpowering as to be unpleasant.  Fortune Cookie's Orange chicken is subtle.  It's a little sweet, and a little bitter, thanks to the peppers that tone down what could be a sickly orangey taste. Add to that that the beef is a crunchy from a very unique breading method they use, and you have perfection on a plate.  

The second dish was Crispy Prawn with Walnut. (or Crispy Prawn with Walnuts in the American vernacular).  Why this dish isn't included in the dessert menu is beyond me.  The menu description is "Delicately seasoned jumbo shrimp lightly fried to a golden brown in the white creamy sauce."  (I love the English on Chinese menus!) What they fail to mention is that the white sauce is rich and very sweet, good enough to eat aprés meal.

Finally, we had the pork fried rice.  Jeremy and I love fried rice.  Love.  It.  We can't get enough of it. Just a small word of warning.  They offer fried rice as a side instead of steamed rice.  Don't get it. Now, don't get me wrong, it's good.  But the pork fried rice will knock your socks off!  The difference is astonishing.  And when you taste it, you won't mind spending the extra money.

Conclusion, if you ever have a hankering for some great Chinese food, head up to Riverton to sate your craving at Fortune Cookie.  You won't be disappointed.

2.  My favorite shop for patterns for felt food/toys is Bugga Bugs.  If you have any interest in buying patterns for felt food, you're going to want to stop here first.  I just cut out all of the pieces for the Fun Fruit pattern.  I'll post pictures when it's all sewn up.  Today she posted several new patterns, the coolest of which is an I Know and Old Woman pattern, that contains the old woman who swallowed a fly and all of the other animals that she swallowed.  So funny!  I also love her new cash register pattern.  Seriouslly, check it out!  You'll love it.

3.  I've given in to reading food blogs.  I can't help it.  They're just so beautiful.  And, as I attempt to abstain from foods that will not help me lose weight, it helps to see all of those foods and make plans for someday.  So far, some of my favorites are David Lebovitz (the entry from 2006 where he reviews Choxie chocolate from Target is incredibly funny!), Dorie Greenspan (mmm. . .baking, plus she's friends with Pierre Hermé), Chez Pim (Bay Area food blogger--San Francisco!!!) and, a local food blogger, Stephanie's Kitchen.  If you have room for a few more, you might want to try these out.

4.  One of my favorite CDs right now is Dar Williams's Promised Land.  It's so fun to sing along to.  All of the songs are really good (I don't skip any on my iPod) and, bonus, the Genius mix iTunes came up with for it is my absolute favorite.  Don't get me wrong, the soundtrack from Once is still my absolute favorite right now, but when I want something a little more uptempo, Promised Land is what I go to first.

 

6 Things

1. My New Best Friend

I am in love with weightwatchers.com.  Has anyone been to that site?  It's really good!  The tools for tracking points are fabulous.  I have been going crazy typing in recipes so that it can tell me how many points each serving contains.  Even better, there are substitution tools that can help you rewrite your favorite recipes to make them healthier.  I feel hopeful that this will work for me.  I've done Weight Watchers before with success (though not long term, obviously!).  Here's to starting off the year right!

2. The Cool Website My Sister Showed Me

For you recipe junkies out there who are also trying to eat better, my sister introduced me to a website called Eat Better America  that looks really promising.  The recipes are low fat, but tasty looking.  I'm particularly interested in the vegetarian chili recipe, and there are some really yummy dessert recipes to try.  Even though I'm working on losing weight, I'm not going to give up dessert entirely!

3. New Scarf

I bought myself some Debbi Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn at La Droguerie in La Bon Marche in Paris with this ruffle scarf in mind.  I made it for myself last night while I watched August Rush.  I added an extra row because the yarn that I used is not as chunky as the yarn called for in the pattern.  But I love the result.  I might be spoiled for acrylic yarn forever.  Now I finally understand what people are talking about when they say how wonderful it is to work with natural fiber yarns.  I'll probably still use acrylic yarns (the Vanna's Choice yarns are very nice if you're not opposed to acrylic yarns) for things I make my kids.  But for myself, it's nice yarn all the way!

4. August Rush is Such a Sweet Movie!!

'Nuff said about that!

5.  Media Junkie

Lately I've been such a media junkie, madly watching and buying movies, buying music from iTunes and adding books to my "Save for Later" list for my Kindle.  Although this does reduce the size of my checking account, it does not add (much) to the volume of stuff that I have in my house.  I download books and music, I return movies to Netflix or delete them off of my DVR.  And I love that aspect of this digital age that we live in.  I can have things, without having things.  What can I sell without having to produce anything, stock anything, or ship anything?  Genius, I tell you.  Genius!

6.  New Musical Crush

Glen Hansard is my newest musical crush. I just saw the movie Once on Saturday night, and it and he just blew me away.  Though I don't recommend in to everyone--it has quite a few F-words, the movie is wonderful.  It is heartbreaking and real.  It's about a guy and a girl (the characters don't have names, they're simply Guy and Girl) who fall in love while making music together. It's an Irish movie--which should be enough right there.  Is it possible for a bad movie to come out of Ireland?  

For the romantics out there Hansard and his costar Marketa Irglova fell in love while making the movie. Isn't that a romantic movie poster? After buying the soundtrack to the movie, which is gorgeous, I checked out Hansard's band The Frames on iTunes and they're great too.  What I love about Glen Hansard's music is that it full of emotion. Don't you just love when a song elicits an emotional response? So much these days is bland, boring, uninteresting.  This is different.  In case you're interested, Hansard and Irglova won an Academy Award for the song "Falling Slowly" in 2007.  They tour under the name Swell Season.  Check them out!

Here's a couple youtube clips to watch:

Academy Awards speeches

Falling Slowly, performed on Letterman

Picking and playing at Grand Targhee

To make a long story short, the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival was amazing!  We are not bluegrass fans, or even country music fans.  It didn't matter.  The music was completely enjoyable, the atmosphere was fantastic--so family friendly, and the surroundings couldn't have been better.

The first thing that anyone should know is that bluegrass musicians are incredibly talented.  They also don't play their instruments, they pick them.  The traditional instruments of bluegrass music are all stringed--acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, upright bass, mandolin and a resonating guitar. (Thanks wikipedia!)  These musicians are usually multi-instrumentalists as well.  

For a while we were on the fence about the festival.  We'd seen bluegrass bands at Bonnaroo, but it wasn't until we saw the Dan Tyminski Band added to the lineup that we knew we had to go.  We saw Dan Tyminski at the Grand Ol' Opry when we were in Nashville this summer and simply loved him. Actually, many of you have probably heard him sing.  Remember that song, "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow" from the movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?"  Even if you didn't see the movie, you probably heard the song.  He sang it.  Anyway.  

One of my favorite things about the festival were the thunder showers that brewed all day long and finally broke each night as the sun set.  When it started raining we quickly gathered the kids and our blanket under our huge beach umbrella and sat there cozy and warm while the band on stage continued to play.

Of course we were nervous about how Alex would do.  His sensory integration disorder makes new experiences very difficult for him.  Crowds and loud music are not the greatest thing for him.  The first day of the festival wasn't so great.  He and I left for the middle part of the day.  He needed a break and a nap.  The second day was much better.  Alex behaved beautifully.  

And of course our spot right next to a dry stream didn't hurt on the Alex front.  Rocks are among his favorite things.  He started quite a collection, thanks to Jeremy's genius idea to have him pile them on his chair and then put them back again.  Brilliant!  We managed to stay the entire day, missing only the band that played when we took the ski lift up the mountain to have a look at the Tetons. 

The view was gorgeous, and we got the added bonus of being able to throw snowballs in August!

Kaitlin did well, too.  She liked the music, having her face painted and the cute boy who sat next to us the first afternoon.  She showed off and danced for this guy for at least an hour.  Luckily he and his sister were getting a kick out of her, so it wasn't too embarrassing.  But I do wish we'd had our video camera.  It would have made great blackmail footage for the future.

All in all it was a great weekend.  We were in a place we loved, with the people we loved, doing something that gives us great joy.  Once again I was able to see how our children thrive in a rural setting with room to run and jump and be kids.  Who would have thought that I, a city girl, would ever consider with happiness the idea of owning several acres in the middle of nowhere?  Oh, and that's not an announcement or anything--just a dream that Jeremy and I share.

Whew, I didn't expect for this to be such a photo heavy post.  I hope it didn't take forever to upload!  I went a little camera happy this trip--I took nearly 400 shots in 4 days, which is 200 less than I took in Paris in 9 days.  That just goes to show who my favorite subjects really are, doesn't it?  

Free Live Music in Salt Lake City

I'm lucky in that Jeremy likes to feed my healthy obsessions.  And since I'm newly obsessed with live music, Jeremy found this concert series in downtown Salt Lake City that I thought some of you would be interested in checking out.  We'll definitely be going to Josh Ritter on July 17 and Yonder Mountain String Band (a band we sadly missed at Bonnaroo) on July 31.  This concert series looks cool because there's also a crafts and food market that accompanies it.  Only two and a half weeks until my next concert!