Yep.

My roommate just walked in, and what did Pandora start playing after an hour or so of nice normal classical concertos? The Russian Dance from the Nutcracker.

Courtesy of xkcd.com

A Mossbowl.

More good times from Sharing Machine:

The Single Greatest Succession of Photos Ever

Many of you already know that even before she came back into the America's consciousness after her 2010 Super Bowl Snickers commercial, I have always loved Betty White. She's spunky, graceful, and incredibly hilarious - from Golden Girls to appearances as senile elderly ladies on my all-time favorite show Scrubs, she's fabulous. Not only is she hosting Saturday Night Live on May 8th, but she's back stronger than ever in paparazzi-land as well, proving that showing her face can bring some serious publicity to wherever she happens to be.

This week, she showed up for the opening of a new hot dog joint in Universal City and chowed down on her namesake dog, the no-fixins "Naked" Betty White hotdog. What follows is possibly the greatest work of photojournalism I have ever seen. EVER. Happy Monday, all.

-K

When Local Music Made Love: GAYNGS

Ear-Candy Cocktail

This year is certainly turning out to be a bright one musically. The most recent addition to this spring's music goodness is a new project by, well, a s#*t ton of local and regional artists (and some out-staters), called GAYNGS. The project, which will be releasing their first album, Relayted, on May 11, includes members of Bon Iver, Megafaun, Lookbook, and Solid Gold, as well as P.O.S., Dessa, Michael Lewis (Andrew Bird's sax player), and many more. The hype alone could sell their record, but as happenstance would have it, the music always brings it home, and no matter how many pretty faces have shown up to be a part of Gayngs, the sound coming out of their first two released tracks, "The Gaudy Side of Town," and "Faded High," is what will have me lining up at the record store in a few weeks.

Additionally, they will be playing two shows at (surprise surprise) First Avenue on May 14, one at 5pm and one at 10. 

Here's a first listen of the two released tracks on Myspace.

-K

Head's Up!: Basilica Block Party

Summer is almost here! Well, sort of- it is certainly in sight, anyways. With summer comes a wealth of opportunity and, if you're lucky enough to live here in the Twin Cities, it means it is outdoor concert season.

Aside from The Current's Rock the Garden show (lineup not announced yet, sorry folks!), there are countless other gigs happening this summer that have been announced already, including the amazing Basilica Block Party over at the Basilica of St. Mary in Loring neighborhood.

The Block Party is heading into its 16th year, and they are doing it with a little help from some very talented friends, including Spoon, Weezer, The Avett Brothers, and Ingrid Michaelson, to name a few. I find it incredibly amusing that I rave about Spoon's show last weekend as First Ave and recommend that everyone try and see them if they get the chance because, well, here's your chance! The lineup isn't even finalized yet, but those are the headliners, with more band slots to be filled soon. I had a feeling Spoon would come back soon - we gave them a damn good showing last Friday and Saturday at First Ave, and they gave us some damn good concerts in return.

The block party spans over two days, July 9 and 10, and tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10am at Electric Fetus or on Ticketmaster. For more info, click this link.

Hope to see you there!

-K

A Love Rekindled: Spoon Plays MPLS at First Ave

Minneapolis is special. I've always known this deep down in my heart-of-hearts, but when the band that was literally once named "top overall artist of the decade" decides to play two back-to-back shows in our dear city, one on the 40th anniversary of First Avenue, we've really got something to smile about. Best yet, I was lucky enough to have snagged a pair of tickets to see Spoon in their 21+ performance at First Ave last night (tonight's gig is 18+, also sold out, sorry folks!).

All I can say is "WOW." Spoon is a truly fantastic group. I've had an ongoing love affair with their music for many years, but there is really nothing to rekindle your devotion to a band's sound like seeing them live, hoping they play the songs you love, and screaming for them to come back for more once they have finally left the stage. I had to laugh because the girl standing near me at the show kept saying, dumbfounded over the music, "I can't believe it, they sound just like their recordings!" I wanted to tell her that unless a band sounds just as good as their album or better, they really aren't worth seeing, but I decided against it, figuring by her look of sheer delight, she already knew that she'd spent her money well, and so had I.

Despite running into the abysmal traffic situation that was the downtown area on the first night the Twins played at the new Target Field (cue me cursing loudly when we turned onto 1st Ave and right into traffic cops and road blockades), we managed to get to First Ave early enough to get a good spot in line. In another fortuitous turn of events, I also managed to snag a spot right up against the stage due to the people in front of me in line's inability to prioritize (standing spot first, then hit the bar) and I got to ogle Britt Daniel from two feet away and catch a glimpse of the set list at his feet (a set list that I later got to take home!)

It was an incredibly fulfilling show - the way concerts should be. The band's energy was high, the audience was involved but not invasive to the music, and between the show and the two encores of three songs each the band ended up playing (yeah, I screamed long and hard for those, even as others were giving up, damn straight) all of my favorite Spoon songs, even some of the more obscure, were played at peak performance. The sound was great, whoever did their lighting design was a genius, and Spoon held true to their tradition of creating a wholistic album by creating a nicely-planned concert in songs they chose to play, which spanned their entire career but seemed to all fit together perfectly. My personal favorite performance was "The Ghost of You Lingers" which had an almost eighties-esque Annie Lennox vibe that never would have come across on a recording, and it sounded great.

If any of you were at the show, give me a shout out, and for those of you who weren't, watch for another chance to see Spoon live, I promise it'll be worth it.

Britt, after it got too hot to wear leather anymore

More Britt, as I was right in front of him, it was

hard to get a good shot of many of the other band members!

The setlist, main show on the left, 

with encore options upside-down on the right.

-K