Gift Wrapping Options: Happy Holidays

So I’m a big fan of recycling so.. on the off chance that you have gifts that you need to wrap here are some eco-friendlier options. Not to mention cheaper.
1. Wrap gifts in the bags that you have around the house. You could use the same bag that the item was in or different ones. It can turn out looking really cool and it this is a good idea for wrapping oddly shaped items that would just look strange with normal wrapping paper.
2. Wrap you gifts in old newspaper magazine pages. If you choose the right advertisements wrapping gifts in mag pages will also work for men.
3. Wrap things in other things. If your buys your … girlfriend for example a scarf wrap the scarf around the bottle of perfume your getting her. it’s a nice option.
4. Use old boxes or even Altoid cans.
5. You can put things in those small Pringles cans.

Get creative don’t waste money, paper and plastic bags. {Especially plastic bags} Not only will the gift getter be happy that you thought of them they will also be surprised to see how you wrapped you item.

Check out this woman's youtube channel for more ideas.
[photo via http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/2010/12/christmas-craft-4-recycled-gift-wrap.html]

What to do when it's snowing outside.

It's getting colder and commercials are singing at you. It's time for the holiday's. So, for most of the country it's time for the snow. So be prepared.

1. Drink Hot Chocolate AND WHIP CREAM. Hot Chocolate is a must for when it's snowing, but it's so much better with whip cream. It's like Turkey and Dressing, you could have it without cranberry sauce but why would you ever do that. My favorite Hot Chocolate is Peppermint. Keep that in mind. Also, tea is not the same as hot chocolate. Tea is mainly only acceptable if your sick. But if you must drink tea during this time I suggest Green Tea , and  Apple Cider tea. Green Tea becuase it's a classic, it's like the Matrix of the tea world. 
2. Play Board Games. What other time of year do you get to bust out great vocabulary? Throughout the year you learned that "ai" was a word. Put it on your scrabble board. 
3. Take Photos At this point almost everyone has a digital camera and laptop to upload pictures on. Take pictures of the winter-wonderland outside. There's something cool to take a picture of. Find It.
4. Finally Watch DVD's You probably have some amazing DVD's that you never get a chance to watch. DO IT. Rewatch The Hangover plot out some theories about Inception... hell have a Chris Nolan marathon!
5. Before or After your holiday or snow-time festivities GET YOUR WORK DONE. There are only two reason people ask for breaks, because they are painfully exhausted or because they need a chance to get their work done. Often people confuse the two. Usually I say I'm exhausted when really I'm overwhelmed with work I need to get done. So scratch some things off your to-do-list. 2011 will be happy that you don't have as much work to do.

Yo Da Lay-ee Whoo

Lately, I've become fascinated with yodeling. In music, that is. I promise you, I don't go around yodeling. So check this out -- yodeling, or some facsimile thereof, exists and it's never going away. Here are a few of my favorite yodelers, in the list below, but in no real order other than convenience:

1. Rihanna: Wow, now that girl can yodel. Her voice always sounds super-processed, a little robotic, a little off-kilter, like she's yodeling right below or right above the note she's supposed to be hitting, but that's kind of what makes it work. She's almost made a whole style out of yodeling. Songs that show her getting her yodel on: "Umbrella" (ella)(ella)(ella), "Live Your Life" (yea-ay-yeah-ay-ee-ay), "Run This Town".



2. Joan Osborne: This lady is awesome, and has a great voice. She can also get her yodel on. Listen to her in "Pensacola".



3. Tina Turner: No, she's not known for yodeling. She's known for her dancing -- and really her legs if we're getting right to the heart of it. But check out her yodel in "I Can't Stand the Rain".  That's a yodel.



4. Joni Mitchell: Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til you yodel? When it comes to anything voice-related, Joni Mitchell is only making the list for her pre-gravel-gargling output. (Holy s*!t what happened to her voice?!). She's not as big of a yodeler as, say, Rihanna -- but there's a little warble in there that fits the bill. Try "Big Yellow Taxi".



5. Sarah McLachlan - This lady is a damn fine musician and a heck of a singer. She gets unfairly criticized, in some circles, kind of like how Barry Manilow gets a bad rap for some reason. When you have as many hits as Barry Manilow, then you get to criticize him, okay? Sarah McLachlan's voice is a thing of beauty. But sometimes I feel like she's getting her yodel on.



6. Gwen Stefani - The No Doubt front woman isn't normally a yodeler, but she went for the yodeling gusto on her second solo joint. Try this: "Wind It Up".



Peace & Happy yodeling!!!!

Post View Tuesdays

Last Tuesday (December 7, 2010) - "Last Tuesday" is what you get when I keep missing the preview for the upcoming Tuesday. Anyhoo, here are the albums that came out last week that I totally didn't see coming, or I saw coming but totally didn't mention that I saw coming, in which case it just looks like I didn't see it coming even though I totally did...

1. Natasha Bedingfield, "Strip Me" - Wow, what a title! It's not what you think, though. The title track, and the video that goes with it, don't speak to anything salacious. It's more about seeing the person underneath the trappings of life - materialism, role playing, and the like. I am totally on board with Bedingfield's voice. I'm not quite on board with the production that I've heard so far. But I've only heard the title track. Hopefully, the rest of the album isn't as generic and nondescript as that track.

2. Daft Punk, "Tron Legacy" - This is the soundtrack to the movie based on the old Tron stuff from the '80s. I'm excited about Daft Punk doing anything. I'm not so excited about the movie. Seems like yet another way to cash in on ideas that have already been sold a few times in the past. There was a Tron movie, I think, back in the day, with merchandise to go along with it. Now here it comes again. It's like detergent. You get the original detergent. Then they come out with the lemon scented kind. Then there's the detergent that has fabric softener added to it. Then they sell you the one with a color safe bleach. Then they sell you another type in a goofy-shaped bottle. Then they sell it to you in individual sizes or family sizes. Then they have one that has a festive, holiday scent, like fresh pine cones. On and on...But Daft Punk - yeah, dig them.

3. Deadmau5, "4x4=12" -  Basically, it's like this: Joel Zimmerman, a Canadian DJ, is dropping a DJ-album. That *should* mean it's going to be built around previously released tracks, probably from other artists, and they will flow together in an interesting mix. Which *should* mean you can dance to it. Which *should* mean that sequence and mood and tempo will be paramount. Which *should* mean some thought will have gone into it. Which *should* mean it's not slapped together. Which *should* mean you'll dig it. But maybe not.

4. Duffy, "Endlessly" - Duffy is the blond and Welsh singer who is delivering her second album. Gotta admit, I didn't love her first one, but it wasn't because the songs weren't well written or well executed. I actually thought they were. I'm not a fan of her voice is all. It's a little too sandpapery and squeaky for my delicate ears. I don't see her voice changing much for the second album, so I don't think I'll be a fan. Her style often gets lumped into the same category as Amy Winehouse, although I'm not totally convinced the comparisons are apt. What I am convinced of is that neither of these women should be bundled under the label "neo soul", and that's what a lot of critics are doing. Don't believe the hype.

5. T.I., "No Mercy" - I'm interested in this. I actually own a copy of this. I've only listened to three songs so far. What I heard, I liked a lot more than I expected to. Not because I dislike T.I.; I've grown to enjoy his style and even his southern accent. I just thought this album would sound a little rushed, but so far, so good. I might have to say more about this as I listen to it.

6. Hinder, "All American Nightmare" - I'm interested, but I'm not sure why.

7. Jessica Simpson, "Happy Christmas" - Jessica Simpson? Hmmm...okay.  Christmas music? Bah, humbug.

8. Adam Lambert, "Acoustic Live!" EP - An idol from American Idol brings another release. I'm not really big on listening to American Idol contestants once they're done with the show, so I don't see myself getting into this. I'm not sure why I tie the singers so close to the show, but that's how it comes out. It's not fair, but it is what it is. I do, however, think Adam Lambert is talented.

9. Plain White T's, "Wonders of the Younger" - I'm completely not interested, but I'm not sure why.

10. Charlie Wilson, "Just Charlie" - Charlie Wilson was a member of the R&B-funk outfit The Gap Band. I dig the Gap Band tremendously. Charlie Wilson on his own? I like the idea that he is making music. I've even heard some of it. I've even kinda liked what I heard. But I'm always kind of "meh" about it. Can't figure out why. Wilson has done a great job keeping himself somewhat plugged in through hanging out with rappers and doing hooks for them and singing in the background on their records. Snoop seems to love him, so, yeah.

Post-View Sundays

Last week, I missed "Preview Tuesday". That's when I was supposed to highlight some new music coming out and predict which ones might be worth checking out. So it's Sunday, and maybe we don't have preview capability for the November 30, 2010 release date, but we can do a post-view, or after-view, on it, right? Accordingly, the list below highlights some of those releases...

1. Eric Benet, "Lost in Time" - I haven't heard this yet but I'm excited about it. Benet is an excellent musician, and an interesting songwriter. I think, though, I'll take his musicianship and rank it ahead of his songwriting-ship. But that's all right. This might be a good one.

2. Black Eye Peas, "The Beginning" - So I'm not so excited for this one. The thing is, I'm never all that excited for BEP, but after some time elapses, I usually settle into two or three of their songs.  They strike me as too lyrically lightweight. That's why I don't get pumped for them. But the beats are usually worth nodding to. We'll see. If I have time to listen, I will. If I don't, I won't. Depends on how my free time shakes out.

3. Fefe Dobson, "Joy" - I really like Fefe Dobson. Her debut really struck me, although I felt it was a little Avril Lavigne-ish. Fefe does "jilted black rocker chick" pretty well. Doesn't matter if I don't have time for this. I'll make time.

4. Flo Rida, "Only One Flo (Part 1)" - It would be easy to hate on a rapper like Flo Rida. He's got that weird double entendre thing going with his rap name. This album has that weird "Flo" thing on in the title. The title claims to be a "part 1", which means he's got to do a "part 2". I don't know. I'm not feeling this.

5. Chrisette Michele, "Let Freedom Reign" - Chrisette Michele's retro vibe and pseudo-Billie Holiday presentation is starting to appeal to me. The title track has rappers Talib Kweli and Black Thought helping out, so, really, how bad can it be? It's got a bit of substance to it, so I'm curious about the rest of the album.

6. Ron Isley, "Mr. I" - Ron Isley, of the Isley Brothers? Checking this out is mandatory. No question.

7. Slim Thug, "The Thug Show" - Right, right. Don't judge a book by its cover, but the rap name and the album title are keeping me at bay here. I'll check this out just to satisfy myself that I'm not just being a hater.

8. Soulja Boy, "The DeAndre Way" - Say what you want about Soulja Boy, you know good and well you bumped to "Crank That" at least once. Soulja Boy has dances. And chants. And they are kind of catchy. I probably won't check this out, though, but I already know I'm not a hater on this one. Just not really something that interests me.

9. Jazmine Sullivan, "Love Me Back" - Hmm...a little bit of pop, hip-hop, and R&B? I don't expect anything groundbreaking here, but I'm slightly curious. Did you know Sullivan has received 7 Grammy nominations? I don't think a whole lot of the Grammys, so that makes me think I might not like her new album. Weird, huh? On the other hand, she's only 23. She's got time to grow. I might check this out just to see how she's progressing.

10. Steve Wynn, "Northern Aggression" - There's no excuse not to check this out. I love it when folks from the '80s continue to release records, if for no other reason than I love it when people react with nonsense like, "Why is this person still trying to make music? They'll never reclaim their peak years. Why don't they just quit?"  That's funny to me because most people suck at their jobs, and yet you don't see us coming down to those people's jobs with critiques like, "Damn, dude. Why are you still bagging groceries? You'll never bag groceries as awesomely as you did in your prime. You might as well give it up."

Peace, love, & lots o' harmonies!!!!