BLOG: Mitch Wilson, Austin TX Web & Multimedia Developer – Austin, TX

Firefly TV Series

What a great show. I watched the first five episodes on Hulu, then a friend lent me his DVD so I could watch the rest, as well as the movie, Serenity. If you love scifi, you have to see Firefly. There are no aliens. Yes, no aliens in a scifi series. And it's set as part Western. I'm not a big Westerns fan. But the blend here of fantasy genres -- scifi, westerns, action -- is a great example of the whole being greater than the sum of it's parts.

Written by Joss Whedon (akf Buffy the Vampire Slayer), the characters and dialog are among the best out there. Every character, I mean every character, is strong. Every episode is great.

New Fav Song: Hello Darlin’

Conway Twitty? Conway Twitty??? Yep, you gotta a problem with that? Conway Twitty, in his own country way, rocks out on Hello Darlin' and I'm sure left many ladies crying for his big hunky shoulder. What's a Web designer in Austin TX doing listening to Conway Twitty? Country music, for the most part, irritated me as a kid. Now that I'm smart enough to be over being "cool" (which is the only way to really be cool), I appreciate some country songs out there, like Hello Darlin'. Gotta love it. I mean, come on, where else can you get such velvety, down-home crooning? It's pure emotion and entertainment as pop songs are meant to be.

Fav Song/Video: Sweet Georgia Brown

You have got to watch this video of Anita O'Day at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. Not only a great song, by an artist new to me, but the video is both hilarious and heartbreaking. The ennui of the crowd is painful; the camera captures some gut-splitting boredom. But she wins them over! Anita O'Day (who died recently, on November 23, 2006) sings with soul I wouldn't expect from her appearance: white gloves all prim and proper. It's an interesting journey finding new music on the Internet.

I logged into my Yahoo Music Jukebox to find an ad for a new Johnny Cash release, At San Quentin. Who doesn't love Johnny Cash? It's great, check it out. On the CD, the Carter Family performed Wildwood Flowers. The Carter Family is just awesome, completely country but also completely cool and what I consider to be true musicians breaking all boundaries of genre -- they are just awesome, like I said. Also, the Stratler Brothers perform Flowers on the Wall. Very nice. Anyway, the MC mentioned that the Carter Family created the country music sound, so I looked up Country Music on Wikipedia, where I found mention of Kokomo Arnolds, apparentely one of the great Amercia Blues mucisians from the early 20th century. You should check out his stuff: great blues guitar, not that cliché crap you hear these days. It turns out that alot of people have covered his song "Milk Cow Blues," big names like Elvis Presley, Aerosmith, and The Rolling Stones. So I listen to some of the Stones, which makes me want to check out more 60's rock, so I search Yahoo for The Beatles (I'm still checking out all the music I can find on Yahoo Music). Looking through a couple of Beatles releases, I keep noticing this song, Sweet Georgia Brown, so I listen to The Beatles and it's really good. So I Google Sweet Georgia Brown to find the video on YouTube of Anita O'Day (first link in this post). So there you have it. I should make a playlist of all these songs. Quite the mix.

Fav Song: Paint It Black

After just watching the documentary New York Doll of the band's bassist, Arthur "Killer" Kane, I just had to listen to the New York Dolls again, which led to me listening to the Ramones and The Rolling Stones.

Of course, I've loved Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones for years. The Rolling Stones really nailed an all-around impressive performance and sound with this one. Simply amazing stuff. Honorable mention: The KKK Took My Baby Away, by the Ramones and Trash by the New York Dolls.

New Fav Song: 145 by +44

Yes, the name of the song is 145, and, yes, the name of the band is +44 (pronounced plus44). Although the rest of the album doesn't interest me, the song 145 is awesome. I've listened to it 44+ times since yesterday on my Yahoo Music account. Unfortunately, I can't find it posted anywhere the Web to link to it. Their other songs just don't have the same appeal, but you can listen to them using the +44 link.

Furniture Shopping in Austin

Austin has some sweet furniture stores. If you're looking for furniture in Austin, I would check out Your Living Room, Urban Living, World Market, Crate & Barrel, Motif (Kyle, TX), Four Hands, and Design Within Reach. Plus, I hear Ikea is opening a new store in Austin on November 15, 2006.
We're buying a secitonal sofa, coffee table, dining room table (with benches and chairs), a washer and dryer, and probably a new bed, plus some rugs and shelves.

Hopefully, we'll be done and have the place in order by Christmas. Then throw a New Year's party.

New Fav Song: Ice Cream

Who hasn't heard Ice Cream by the New Young Pony Club on the new Intel commercial? It's great how commercials can now promote unheard-of bands. Visit their space on myspace to see the video or play the mp3.

Ice Cream was released as a Single with Tight Fit on the B side. They also have another single, The Get Go/Jerk Me. While I Ice Cream is a sweet song, I couldn't get into their other songs, which lack the same magic as Ice Cream. One hit wonder? I hope not. I'm looking forward to hearing more from New Young Pony Club.