I went to see She & Him perform in Oakland this weekend, and for their song Ridin' in My Car (from their Volume II album) they had special guest Al Anderson, who wrote and originally performed the song. I took a video of the performance:



And here's a bonus video of Zooey and Matt adorably singing Would You Like to Take a Walk (originally performed by Ella Fitzgerald). Zooey dedicated the song to her parents, who were in the audience that night.

It's snowing in Louisiana and I'm not there! It NEVER snows in Louisiana! I think the last time it snowed in Baton Rouge was 7 years ago. I've been longingly looking at facebook pictures all day. One more week until I visit though! I can't wait.

Our office is having a Christmas party today. Off to drink egg nog - the rum!

Hope everyone's week is going well :)

The She & Him concert was last night. And it was A-mazing! In case you don't know who She & Him are, She is Zooey Deschanel and Him is M. Ward (or Matt Ward). They got together and came out with an album earlier this year that consists of original songs written mostly by Zooey and some covers as well. I've been a fan of Zooey as an actress for a while now, but she also has a lovely, unique singing voice that I just adore.

The concert was at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Fran. It's a relatively small venue, and we stood in front of the stage so that we were about 5-10 feet away from the main microphone. The opening band was a band called Lavender Diamond, and the lead singer Becky Stark is seemingly good friends with Zooey as she also sings back-up for She & Him. Becky had a gorgeous voice but she was absolutely spacey! She kept talking about how there is no past or future, there's only the present and all that. She was adorable though, very energetic on stage and spouting out random comments about time: "There is no that moment, there's only this moment. It's a paradox. I'll explain it to you later. I mean, now!" They played for about 45 minutes and I really enjoyed them.

Then She & Him came on. Zooey looked exactly like I expected her to, except her hair was a little lighter than I thought it would be. She was wearing a cute babydoll-ish yellow dress that was sequined at the top with a flowy skirt. She had a flower headband and of course those signature bangs. I've heard about how shy she is, and I could tell she's still not completely comfortable being on stage in front of a large group of people. She talked to the audience though- asked if we were voting for Barack Obama and said that's who she was voting for- and made some cute comments. She and Matt worked very well together and you can tell they respect each other as performers and enjoy each other a lot. They played a lot of songs from their album along with some new original ones and some other covers. They played for almost an hour then left the stage but came back and played about three more songs. I had a great view of them the whole time and I just really enjoyed myself and my girl crush on Zooey has grown even more. I wish I could have gotten a pic, but Bimbo's is really strict about cameras. Oh well!

In other news, I voted for Barack Obama this morning. This day is going to be tough to get through, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm just hoping we reach it!

I have been doing a whole lot of nothing but working lately so things have been pretty boring around these parts (well, except for that whole baby thing ;). Work has been VERY busy...I had seven marketing meetings last week and I have six this week. So it's been a tad overwhelming, but it's nice to be busy for a change.

My mom is coming to visit this week! \o/ I haven't seen her in over 4 months and that is the longest I have gone without seeing my mother EVER. This weekend we are going to go to the Carmel/Monterey Bay area (which looks just gorgeous). It might be a little chilly, but I'm sure it will still be beautiful. So that's something to look forward to.

This weekend I watched the movie The Fall starring Lee Pace. It was visually stunning, which came as no surprise since The Cell had some of the most interesting and unique cinematography I've ever seen in a film. Lee Pace was absolutely fantastic and the real star of the film, a newcomer from Romania, Catinca Untaru was such an impressive young actress. I enjoyed the movie so much I've decided I'm going to do a picspam, so be expecting that in the next few days.

Alright, back to work now. I hope everyone has a good week!

A few years ago I saw Cool Hand Luke for the first time and fell in love with this gorgeous, blue-eyed, charismatic actor. Yes, he was 60 years older than me, but that didn't stop my love for him to grow with each new film I saw. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Hustler, Hud, The Sting, Slap Shot, The Verdict and many more. Young or old, he was a beautiful man who always brought something special to his roles. He was one of a kind and he will always be my favorite. I'm glad he lived a long, successful, happy life and I hope he knew before he passed that not only would he be fondly remembered by his friends and family but by millions of devoted fans as well.

Rest in Peace Paul.

Okay, I am now officially my brother's music pimp. This is a video of him performing his original song "Autumn Approaches." It's probably my favorite song of his. He just needs to make some kind of album already.

 

 

I know I'm biased, but I genuinely think he's a very talented guy who has some great music for the world to hear. So check him out and enjoy (: www.youtube.com/danielpattersonmusic.

Speaking of music, the boyfriend and I are going to see Radiohead and other various bands perform in Golden Gate Park tomorrow night. It's the first time a band has played in the Park after dark, and it's bound to be amazing. I'll be sure to attempt to take lots of pictures :)

Work has been pretty boring lately, but I'm learning new things everyday and preparing myself for next month which will involve a slew of marketing meetings for me to arrange and attend. And my mom is coming to visit in October, so yay!

Have a great weekend everyone! Here's looking at you
 

Saw Tropic Thunder tonight. Want to have RDJ's babies even more now than I did before I saw it. Just kidding but not really.

No, but seriously, the movie was very funny with absolutely no holds barred. A self-parodying parody, if you will, that makes fun of anything and everything about Hollywood it can get its hands on. I'm one of those people who like to learn everything I can about a movie and what goes into making them: behind-the-scenes stories, actor interviews, DVD commentaries, etc., and this one is pretty much hand-tailored for people like me. I don't think I stopped laughing for more than a couple minutes throughout.

So go see Tropic Thunder if you like humor, action, aren't too squeamish and aren't easily offended, lol.

Oh, and RDJ officially wins the Summer of 2008.