Gone Gone Gone ... to Old Navy?

I enjoy the Allison Krauss / Robert Plant album, but have to wonder:

Is it just me, or could this video double as a commercial for GAP or Old Navy? You know, back when "Khaki Swing" was the hot campaign? That's all I can think of when I see it!

Caren Explains This Is Ivy League

Earlier this week I stumbled upon This Is Ivy League, the Brooklyn duo with pop-rock stylings that remind me of Modern Skirts, The Shins and Kings of Convenience, plus some surfer sounds akin to Apollo Sunshine... which is kind of my dream combination, if we could add the lyrical prowess of Josh Ritter to the mix.

Wikipedia taught me all kinds of things I didn't know about the band that make me like it even more... This Is Ivy League is the pairing of Alex Suarez and Ryland Blackinton, who are also in the band Cobra Starship, which created music for Snakes on a Plane. But going even further back, Cobra Starship is the side project of Gabe Saporta, bassist/lead vocalist of Midtown, the alternative-punk-rock band that put out Living Well Is the Best Revenge in 2002... I subsequently listened to this CD every time I went jogging from 2002-2004 (mind you, that was back before the iPod so I was rocking a Discman).

Whew. That was quite a history... so let's take a look at 6 Degrees of This Is Ivy League.



This Is Ivy League is also part of Cobra Starship.
Cobra Starship did music for Snakes on a Plane starring Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson was in a movie with Laura Ceron.
Laura Ceron was in a movie with Kevin Bacon (booyah!)

Also...

Cobra Starship toured with The Academy Is...
The Academy Is... played Warped Tour with My Chemical Romance in 2005
My Chemical Romance toured with Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus asked for women's jeans from the ladies on The Hills

That was fun, right?

Speaking of Ivy League, I am extremely honored and humbled to confirm that I will be attending this school starting in September. Time to kick in the summer funtivities.

Caren Explains This Summer's Theme Nights

Last summer brought a wealth of excellent theme nights and "funtivities"... among the most successful: Rodeo / Beauty Pageant Day at the North Georgia fair; Brick Store in the Loft night; East Coast Road Trip with DC, 84 and Kennywood excursions; and Hipster Night which, appropriately enough, left us pissed off after Corndogaramma was not serving corn dogs.


Hipster Night

Andy, Katie P and I have started a new list of activities for this summer... please vote for your favorites or suggest new ones.

- Field Day / Beer Olympics (scheduled for April 20th at 420 Fest)
- Picnic in the Park (so successful last year, we're repeating it)
- Roller Derby night
- Preppy Day, when we go see a polo match
- NASCAR day
- The Patty Pilgrimage to North Carolina
- Rock climbing (on a wall, not real rocks... we're not that hard-core)
- Wiffle Ball Day coupled with Braves Game at night... this is called "All American Past Time Day"
- Visit the Sundial for fancy and overpriced drinks
- Authentic BBQ night, when Andy smokes a pork shoulder for 30 hours
- Night at the Drive-In
- Feminist Day in which we take Andy to an Indigo Girls concert (his request)
- Cabin Weekend, when we rent a cabin in Helen for the night and go inner tubing and hiking
- Slip'n'Slide Day
- Trip to Mississippi
- Eat at Mary Mac's Tea Room
- Have a tea party and Spring cleaning clothing swap
- Indiana Jones movie marathon before seeing the new installment
- Wine tasting / Beer tasting
- Pottery night
- Go blueberry / raspberry picking on a farm

and my favorite...

Ferris Bueller's Day Off, when we take the day off of work / school, go to a Braves' game, visit the High Museum, make lunch reservations as Abe Froman, see a parade and swim in a stranger's pool.

Excellent start to the summer.

Caren Explains Wild Sweet Orange

If you haven't picked up Southeast Performer, the free and resourceful monthly music mag (edited by the ever-so-rad Leila), you should! It's free at cool places like Brick Store, The Earl, Vortex, Flying Biscuit, etc. And now you have more reason to because my first story is out in the April issue!

Check out the "Spotlight" on Wild Sweet Orange, then go check out the band on MySpace...

Caren Explains Which Celebrites Look Like Her

After last night's Oscar party and red carpet extravaganza, I was curious to see which celebrities I could pass for. Here are the results:



Molly Ringwald is an obvious match... I would have done well in the 1980s. But Zac Hanson? That excited me most. I knew those Hanson boys looked like girls...

And to prove that I have really good genes, I tried this experiment on my sister too...



Whereas I had a match with Jessica Biel, my sister had a 90% match with Jessica Alba?! Dang girl.

Try it out yourself at My Heritage.