Free Stuff!! & best meatloaf ever!

Now that I have your attention: FREE STUFF!!....seriously!

As a part of the Globe & Mails' Smart Cookie section, they have an article, Where to find free stuff. A favorite of mine is free samples! We always get too many bills, letters,boring stuff etc. in the mail so why not sign up and get something good for once!

One of my personal favorite free items is the Kraft What's Cooking magazine (link is to the online version). They have really simple and great recipes- using mostly Kraft products which are great because they are accessible, affordable and easy (I like easy, obviously). They also have a feature where you enter ingredients that you have, you select for what meal and they suggest a recipe! So neat!

Also, check out my favorite recipe of all-time, Favorite Meatloaf which primarily relies on a box of Stove Top Stuffing mix- so easy, so good and really yummy! You can also try making it in a muffin tin instead of a loaf pan to make little meat loafs that freeze really well!

Oh and while the meatloaf is cooking, freshen up your ipod with Meatloaf "I would do anything for love", awesome love ballad, and extra Meatloaf in your day, but no more calories!

A country song pour vous!

I am not one for country music. It's not my thing but, on a rare occasion, I find a wonderfully delightful country song, or pseudo-country as I refer to it (therefore it is not a full on country song liking), that I love.

Enter Lady Antebellum I Need You Now. I assure you, as a non-country music fan that this song is amazing! So pretty & sweet- good song to break up some of the other louder and harder songs on the ipod. Oh, plus it helps that they're all fairly smokin hot lol..

So check out the video, hope you enjoy and hope it makes an appearance in your play lists!

p.s. pseudo-country 1, cole 0.

Flagpole Sitta

This one hails from 1998- Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger. Pretty catchy but you may have gotten sick of it's overplay- but hey, it's 11 years later why not bust it out again?

I bet you might even still remember the words! I looked into it: the band is no longer together- one hit wonders, but still a great tune. So in honor of the year the band broke up, throw it on your ipod and enjoy :)

Big Shiny Tunes

Take a trip down memory lane and feel old with me. Big Shiny Tunes. Not Big Shiny Tunes 1, it's just big shiny tunes, because it was the first. it was released in 1996 by Much Music television, featuring the top songs, all in one compilation.

So, some might say that since Big Shiny Tunes 2 was the biggest selling album of the series (and it is fantastic) I have to give a shout out the original.

Remember the line-up: I Mother Earth, Bush X (note: not Bush!), Sloan (props to Halifax-born musicians), Better than Ezra, Moist and for those who want to let their inner-emo escape, while still paying homage to the 80's and Annie Lennox, enjoyed Sweet Dreams with Marilyn Manson.

They are now on the 14th Big Shiny tunes, and special 80s and 90s versions have also been created.

So if you need some throw backs to the 90s, or want to revisit days gone by; check out the song lists for all of the Big Shiny Tunes, particular attention paid to the original and number 2.

I'm just a girl, living in captivity.....

Starry, Starry Night

Everyone knows American Pie by Don McLean. In the car, on the radio, sitting around a campfire; we all think we can sing it. Well, at least we know the words. I'm not kidding I think even at the age of 6 I knew every word of that song. My favorite line to sing when I was younger was "drove my chevy to the levy but the levy was dry" even thought I had no idea what the heck that meant.

So my mom used to pop in her Don McLean cassette tape (yes, cassette). And after us all belting our American Pie, along came a more calming, beautiful tune: Starry starry Night.

As some may know, this is also the title of a vincent vanGogh painting; of which inspired the song. See an excerpt below from Don McLean's website about the song:

McLean wrote “Vincent,” also known as “Starry, Starry Night,” in the fall of 1970, while he was working for the Berkshire School District. He was living in the Sedgwick House, a beautiful Federal style house in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The Sedgwick family included Edie Sedgwick, a colorful figure whom Andy Warhol had filmed in the 1960s. McLean wrote “Vincent” in his apartment full of antiques. The inspiration came to him one morning while he was sitting on the veranda looking at a book about Vincent Van Gogh. As he studied a print of Van Gogh’s painting “Starry Night,” he realized that a song could be written about the artist through the painting.

“The more I thought about it, the more interesting and challenging the idea became. I put down the book and picked up my guitar, which was never far away, and started fiddling around, trying to get a handle on this idea, while the print of “Starry Night” stared up at me. Looking at the picture, I realized that the essence of the artist’s life is his art. And so, I let the painting write the song for me. Everyone is familiar with that painting.”

Van Gogh painted “Starry Night” during one of the most difficult periods of his life, while he was locked up in an asylum at Saint Remy. He had to paint the scene from memory, not outdoors as he preferred. Van Gogh mentioned “Starry Night” only twice in his letters to his brother, Theo. It is therefore one of the more mysterious and intriguing Van Gogh compositions.

The tremendous increase in value of Van Gogh’s works during the Seventies and Eighties may not have been caused by McLean’s song, but “Vincent” has become a permanent part of the Van Gogh legend. When the Van Gogh Museum opened in Amsterdam in 1973, a time capsule, containing a collection of Van Gogh’s paint brushes and a copy of the sheet music for “Vincent,” was buried beneath the museum. In addition, the museum staff plays “Vincent” for visitors each day, despite the fact that the original painting of “Starry Night” is owned by the Museum of Modern Art, in New York.

Long read, but so interesting. Tragic biographical tale of Vincent VanGogh but an amazing tune if you're look for something old but new to you.
YouTube link to song for previewing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM

Enjoy!

Freshen up your ipod- Owl City

So by no means am I into any sort of cool music scene, I just to listen to what is out there- I'm pretty mainstream but I have quite an eclectic taste. I like Britney Spears-alot-there I said it and I don't care.

So to help with one of life's simple pleasures I'd like to help you freshen up your ipod. So periodically I'd like to post some new stuff, or a random old song that hasn't been played since you had a cassette player or walkman, to give you some ideas for your ipod :)

So here is my first suggestion: Owl City- Fireflies. It's a really cool song, sort of different and totally strange lyrics- apparently the singer suffered from insomnia, much to his dismay but my delight it produced a great tune.

According to Wikipedia: Owl City is an American electronica musical project. It consists of Adam Young and he refers to his backing band plus himself as "Owl City" after Adam's hometown Owatonna, Minnesota. Young started out making music in his parents' basement,[3] which he claims is a result of his insomnia.

Here is the link to the Official site: http://www.owlcitymusic.com/home.aspx where you can hear the tune or just check it out on YouTube.