VOTW - friday flicks?!

it's no secret that i love structure. i love timelines and deadlines and organization and coordination. {i also hate disappointment and failure to meet said structure.}

i think that's why tuesday tunes works on this blog.

so, i've decided to have another weekly feature - videos of the week. borrowed from another blogger, i'm making it my own by calling it friday flicks. because who doesn't love alliteration?

the inaugural video is called "battle of kruger". if you haven't seen this yet, you are in for a treat. warning: it is 8 minutes long...but well worth it. (read more about kruger here) we watched this at a dinner party last weekend (naturally) and i can't stop thinking about how excited i am for my safari in July :)

sunny and 75.

while memorial day weekend in nashville looks full of rain, i'll be hopping off a plane at LAX (cue miley cyrus music) tonight to spend my long weekend in sunny los angeles. and it could not come at a more perfect time. not only does my skin desperately need some vitamin d (i have not been this pale since 1985) but my spirit needs a little sunshine, too.
i'm visiting my friend autumn (she was my 1st nashville friend...you remember her from my early nash days here and here) who moved out there to work for TOMS about a year and a half ago. i'm so excited to get to see her LA-life and get some quality sand, sun, and city time!
i'm sure there will be great photos and stories to follow...

tuesday tunes - sia.

this week i highlight a girl who marches to the beat of her own drum...sia.

the australian singer released a few records (healing is difficult, don't bring me down, colour the small one) before her single (and my favorite) "breathe me" got noticed in 2006.
(listen to it here on ilike)

her music has made it's way around the world, and she has collaborated with everyone from christina aguilera to beck.

sia has a new single coming out today- "clap your hands" from her 5th album, we are born, due out in june. and here's the video... (be warned- it's weird!)

goodbye LOST // aka: what i'm doing this weekend.

unless you've been living under a rock, i'm sure you are aware that the tv show "LOST" is airing its final episode this sunday. after 6 years (and 121 episodes) of questions, we're hoping for some answers & resolution. it's the end of an era, and will surely be a night to remember.

i usually don't participate in things this hyped (just for the principal of it. for example, i refuse to read/watch twilight or the shack) but there's something so brilliant about "LOST" that has kept me intrigued & engaged (and let's be honest...obsessed.) i started partially through season 2 back in january of 2006, and quickly caught up on the 30 episodes i had missed in about 2 weeks. and...i've been hooked ever since. listening to podcasts, reading up on lostepedia, and participating in wednesday morning "LOST talk" in the office.

sunday's lineup includes "the journey" - 2 hours of reviewing the events of the series, where past and present cast members discuss their experiences. then the 2 hour finale - "the end". so if you're lost about "LOST" (zing! sorry, i had to..) "the journey" could help. but, if you don't know the difference between good locke and bad locke, or don't understand why everyone's talking about "the numbers" or "smoke monsters" or "constants" or "alternate realities" ..it's probably hopeless for you at this point. (side note: you can also watch a special "enhanced" pilot episode on saturday night!) plus: "aloha to LOST" on jimmy kimmel live after the finale, w/ the cast members and 3 alternate endings!

diane sawyer interviewed the 2 executive producers of the show this morning, damon lindelof & carlton cuse. you can watch that interview here. my favorite quote: "we just want LOST followers to feel like it was worth it". (AND - they promise explanation on walt, polar bears, & women fertility issues!!)


"LOSTIE" or not, you can't tell me you don't choke up at this trailer:

tuesday tunes - band of horses.

so not a whole lot of time to blog these days, but still giving you guys your tuesday tunes. hope you are enjoying!

today's band, band of horses, is finally releasing their next album, infinite arms, today. i just about wore out their last record - cease to begin (2007) - so i'm pumped. they've been letting you stream the whole album from their site here for the past few weeks, and i'm loving it.

here's a couple of songs off the new album, "compliments" & "NW apartment", as well as a "making of" the album...

tuesday tunes - jake ousley.

meet my friend jake. he's so cute i just want to put him in my pocket and take him everywhere. but - that would be weird.

i am seriously so excited for you guys to hear him. his 1st album, times like these, comes out today!!

dave barnes says this about jake:

“Jake has been a dear friend for a long long time, so when he told me he had started to write and sing i didn't know if he was joking or not. But it's no joke, my friends. His songs get stuck in my head, as much, if not more than some of my favorite artists out there. He has the unique gift of having a voice that perfectly suits his songs, both of which I LOVE.”

here he is singing the title track, "times like these"...take a listen & then go get his album on itunes!

we are (still) nashville.

y'all. and so the story continues of how our city is banding together and getting through this disaster. remember the whole "we are nashville" thing? well, it's growing. there's now also "donate nashville" where you either say "i need" or "i have" and you're matched to either receive or offer assistance. genius.

i've never loved my city more.

go to the new wearenashville.org website (launched today!) to read more (and get one of these snazzy posters)...

if it's yellow, let it mellow...

one of the effects of our nashville flood is we have gone from 3 water treatment plants to 1. now, i'm no math major, but i'm pretty sure that's one third of what we usually run off of. aka - water shortage. so everyone in davidson county has been asked to conserve water (metro even placed a mandatory order). so how do we do that? cool people care created a funny, yet practical guide of how to cut your water usage in half - including things like not shaving (we've started #floodlegs & #floodbeards twitter topics). the tennessean also has some great pointers. and my friend alyson wrote a post on how to go between hair washings (headbands & baby powder anybody?)

so, my fellow nashvillians, let's be stinky and sticky together.
we are (smelly) nashville, afterall.
and as someone wise once said- "if it's yellow, let it mellow...if it's brown, flush it down." amen.

"where my kids at?"

{thanks to david for showing me this video!}

whoever is behind this ad campaign is brilliant. i saw the first video this morning and just kept watching the rest of the series. if and when i enter into the season of life where i'll need a minivan, you best be believin i'll be gettin a toyota sienna!
here's "swagger wagon" but also check out "mommy like rest", "daddy like help", "daddy like space" and "daddy like protecting"...

we are nashville. (the flood of oh-ten part 2)

so i told you about our flood. pictures and stories have continued to come of the devastation that has hit music city. our mayor says it's over $1billion in damages, and many have lost literally everything. and yet, as of tuesday, we still had very little national media coverage.

but that day something shifted. a blog written by patten fuqua, a die-hard predators fan, called "we are nashville" surfaced. before you knew it, links to the blog were being posted all over the internet, and the phrase "we are nashville" was quickly becoming our battle cry. we were signing up with hands on nashville to volunteer to help our neighbors. (including sandbagging our only functioning water treatment facility) we were rallying the troops of our friends around the community to lend a dollar or a hand or a prayer wherever we could.

and now, here we are, 2 days later, and we are all so proud of who. we. are. we are now gaining some media coverage, as a city that takes a tragedy and rises up. anderson cooper made his way into town today and devoted an hour on cnn tonight all about the nashville flood, highlighting how "the water is falling. nashville is rising." he said "i've never seen a community pull together so quickly after a disaster....a real testament to the strength of the people and the strength of the city. they call it the volunteer state and we see now why they live up to that name..."

everyone is doing their part. bands came together last night (including one of my favs - paper route!) and held a "re-build our city (on rock n roll)" benefit show that raised $11k. then tonight, local brewery, yazoo, held a fundraiser, pulling in $6k, and imogene+willie turned their weekly "supper + song" into a benefit, raising another $6k. wsmv (our nbc affiliate) held a flood relief telethon tonight, featuring nashville musicians, and raised over $1.7million!! (with big drops of $100k from vince gill, $300k from nissan, & $500k from taylor swift!)

and this is only the beginning. we are a city that shares more in common than just our zip codes. we share an indomitable spirit, willing to go the distance to love our neighbor as ourself.
we will rise.
we will rebuild.
we are nashville.

you can order a "we are nashville" t-shirt or bumper sticker and
support relief efforts (through the community foundation's flood relief)

tuesday tunes - civil wars.

i mentioned joy william's new duo in her post, so here's the tuesday tune devoted to them. in addition to their respective solo careers, joy teamed up with john paul white to form the band the civil wars. they've already released their debut ep, poison & wine, and are currently writing and recording a full-length album, due to release this fall.

you can download their live at eddie's attic album FREE on their myspace page.

i love this explanation joy gives about the title track on the ep, "poison & wine":

"poison & wine" is a musical snapshot about the dichotomy of love - that while it can be the thing that destroys you, it can also be the very same thing that beckons and builds you. JP and i are both married – have been for several years now - and we got to talking one day about what a tug and pull our individual relationships can be. the longer you know someone - and the longer you allow someone to know you - the more the light and shadows inside each person become more vivid. this song was our attempt at being as brutally honest about the dangerous and beautiful process of knowing and being known.

and here's video...

the flood of oh-ten.

{pictures from riker photography flickr}

this weekend was the wettest in nashville history. over 14 inches of rain in 48 hours. over 600 water rescues. basements, businesses, and boulevards...all flooded. twitter has been buzzing with pictures and videos from all over town - big thanks to nashvillest for compiling and re-tweeting most of it - and even creating our own trending topic: #OtherSituation2010. (the original situation of 2010 was our crazy snow storm back in february)

and on a heavier note, i keep singing needtobreathe's "washed by the water" in my head. the lyrics of the chorus say "even when the rain falls, even when the flood starts rising, even when the storm comes, i am washed by the water" it feels so appropriate, how God uses the sufferings and the overwhelming floods of life to bring new life.

keep praying for nashville and all of of those affected...for new life and dry basements.

watch this beautiful video to see the reality of what our city is dealing with:

150.

i read in my real simple magazine this week that the number of social relationships you can actually keep up with is 150. so despite how many online "friends" we have through facebook and twitter and other social media, our capacity is still just 150.

that's so interesting to me, being someone who is often labeled with words like "connector" and "networker"... and anyone who knows me can attest that i've never met a stranger. i have upwards of 2000 facebook "friends" (though i do use that word loosely) and have a gift for keeping up with relationships from various seasons of life. but, i have been thinking lately about my capacity, and that sometimes i feel like i just can't keep up. and as i continue to form new, deep, intentional relationships, the reality is that some of the old will be replaced. simply because there's no room left. and as sad as that makes me (i have a hard time letting go of anything, let alone anyone) it does make sense.

the new york post actually wrote an article on this a couple of months ago as well. 150 is known as the "dunbar number", after oxford university anthropologist robin dunbar. dunbar says:

"the 150 limit corresponds roughly to the size of a neolithic farming village, as well as the size of a unit of the roman army. in groups greater than 150, social cohesion begins to disintegrate.."

but, dunbar's research was based on nonhuman primates, so there has been some debate in recent years. other anthropologists have done a variety of field studies that came up with an estimated mean number of ties - 290 - that is roughly double dunbar's estimate. (though these numbers have not been popularized as widely)

fastcompany.com says that despite new social media research, dunbar is sticking to his number. that "even with the ease and speed of the internet, you can't overcome your basic brain programming relating to how many people you can be friends with."

so what do you think? how many ongoing, fully interactive friendships do you think you realistically have the capacity to handle?

oh, and just for fun, i saw this video on roy's blog about facebook. sad, but probably true.