Music Monday

In doing some surfing through blogs I follow, I meandered over to a new post from Tami of Hearts Make Families. And there I found a fun and frivolous diversion: Music Monday, c/o Hair Bows & Guitar Picks.

Now, what does this have to do with cooking, baking, eating, or food in general??? Well, there is some potential for a connection -- a man with suspected Mafia connections, whom I knew of tangentially, always said that one should listen to opera when cooking Italian food; good thing for my kneecaps that I already considered that to be de rigueur! I have to listen to music when I'm in the kitchen; frankly, I listen to music while I'm at work, while I'm driving, virtually any chance I get. Silence gives me too much time in my own head, which can be a dangerous thing. And every life needs a soundtrack!

I tend to have -- shall we say? -- not exactly middle-of-the road tastes. Sure, I do some Top 40 and even some sappy songs ... who doesn't? (C'mon -- admit it!) But I love Sigur Ros, an Icelandic band. Despite being a self-proclaimed Secular Jew, I really enjoy traditional gospel music. The old Cole Porter, Gershwin, Irving Berlin, etc., classics are among my favorite songs ever. And then French chansons, ethereal melodies, Latin dance music, Punk, New Wave, and especially cheesy 70s/80s songs ("The Loco-Motion," "Vienna Calling," "Love is Like Oxygen," "Disco Duck" ...) may strike my fancy at any time.

My voicemail used to have a greeting featuring a portion of Laurie Anderson's "O, Superman," until I got frustrated with all the complaints because people thought they had a bad connection because of the electronic "breathing" in the background. The line was perfect: "Hi! I'm not home right now. But if you'll just leave a message at the sound of the tone ...." Oh, well. Whaddya gonna do with the pedestrian lowest common denominator???

But, as per usual, I digress. Today is Music Monday, and so I am selecting a video du jour. Jeremy and his buddy Andrew are practicing for a weekend gig -- Jeremy's graduation party!!! I'm baking and cooking like a madwoman, since I'm offering a dessert buffet and everything but the fruit tray (since I have no orchards in my backyard) will be homemade. If you watch this video, you'll feel as though you're hanging out with me in the kitchen as the guys play their Nirvana, Pixies, Dubliners and other cover songs (plus a few of Jeremy's own tunes) in the basement. Turn up the volume -- REALLY LOUD. Otherwise, you won't be able to fully share in the experience of having the band play at my house ....