Random Raves

I have been neglecting my bloggerly duties for way too long, things have been crazy! I have some random raves:

Rave 1: The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was awesome! I attended opening day, which ended up being the only dry day of the two-weekend celebration, with my concert buddy Richie and we had ourselves a big time in the Big Easy! The weather was perfect for enjoying Cochon de Lait Po-Boys and Southern Comfort beverages. We started it off at the Fais Do Do stage where some Norwegian band was playing. This stage is always dedicated to the best of Cajun folk music, but they DID have two accordians and people were promenading, so I fully embraced it. Next, we moved on to Big Sam's Funky Nation...I had never seen this crew and now I'm a HUGE fan! Big Sam was stylin' and profilin' and playing New Orleans funky jams...during their cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy", I saw a cute little old grandma singing along. Niiiiiice! Can't wait to see Robert Plant and Allison Krauss again at ACL, they make great music together. By far my best Jazz Fest experience ever to date was skipping Sheryl Crow to see Ozomatli! The guys know how to put on a show! At the end, they second-lined into the crowd and everyone danced and sang together. I was speechless...

Humorous Happenings: Some chick asked me what I was eating...I replied, "A cochon de lait po-boy"...she replied " Uh yeah, I don't know what that is. Is it like pulled pork or something?"...Poor girl has NO IDEA how much better a cajun roasted pig is than plain ol' pulled pork. I hope she got her cochon-ON!

I witnessed a lady who was 60+ pop a squat on the urinal...in front of everyone. Now THAT's talent...

Day two was soggy, but I saw the Benjy Davis Project and Billy Joel. Both were stellar performances...I ate my weight in crawfish bread...and it rained so hard that my umbrella started dripping through the fabric. After 4 hours of torrential downpour, I surrendered, took off my flipflops and danced in the rain to Billy J! All that was missing was a Pat O's Hurricane.

Rave 2: The movie IRONMAN. Since he has sobered up, Robert Downey Jr. has become one of my top actors. His performance in the Elton John video "I Want Love" & "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"he's come a long way. I won't go into details, but being both an engineer and a (dare I say it) Marvel comic dork....I had a huge grin on my face the entire movie. Can't wait for BATMAN!! Christian Bale...sigh....

Rave 3: Frozen Green Tea Matcha protein drink at Path of Tea. It's matcha powder, soy milk and soy protein....and it tastes like a dessert. The Path of Tea is a legit tea house on W. Alabama between Kirby and Shepherd. When you check it out, pop in to Field of Greens next door for some healthy grub. Not as good as Ziggy's Healthy Grill, but still rave-worthy!

Rave 4: Happiness! I'm currently reading the book, "Happy Yoga" by Steve Ross. You don't have to be a yogi or a yogini to reap the benefits of this book. In fact, there are poses at the end of each chapter...but it's not like you have to actually do them. Steve gives great insight into why there's nothing to worry about and brings to light the reasons why you can be happy. There are playlist suggestions (we all know I dig that), questions that you should ask yourself, and motivational quotes and funny stories.

My favorite quote thus far: "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony" - Mahatma Ghandi

ACL 2008 Lineup!!

It's official and the countdown till 3 days of pure musical bliss is ON! Upon first glance, I was a little worried....but after looking at the complete list....I'm beyond excited!! Let's just hope that there are no stints in rehab, anxiety issues or illnesses during the last weekend of September.

Here's the lineup: http://www.aclfestival.com/lineup.aspx

And here are my "must sees":

• Stars (My favorite band at the moment...love them LOOOOVE THEM!)
• Foo Fighters
• Beck
• The Raconteurs
• Gnarls Barkley
• Conor Oberst
• N.E.R.D.
• Tegan & SAra
• Iron & Wine (!!!!!)
• Band Of Horses (Soooo excited about finally seeing them!)
• The Swell Season (For those of you who have seen and love the movie "Once"...yeah...it's THEM!)
• Okkervil River
• HOT CHIP (I'm gonna dance my butt off just like LCD Soundsystem last year!)
• Duffy (She sounds like Amy Winehouse, minus the crack addiction)
• Jose Gonzales
• Jamie Lidell
• MGMT
• M. Ward
• Yeasayer
• Louis XIV
• CITY & COLOUR (Their live tracks rock...can't wait to see them in person!)

Okay...so I know that I probably won't be able to see every single act, but I'm going to give it a shot. Last year I thought I would be the only crazy one with a highlighted & printed out schedule...nope....there were lots of other crazy people there doing the same thing. Now I just need to book our awesome hotel that supplied us with candy to take to the fest....and fresh baked cookies for us every night when we got back! Best hotel ever....

Who are you looking forward to seeing....and who's comin' to party with the Brandie, Richie and Jesse crew??

"Ain't no party like the ACL party, cuz the ACL party don't stop!" - The Gospel Singers at the 2007 Fest

Bringing Cajun Back...

My cousin Jesse, we share the same tres cajun last name, was in attendance for the Cajun crab boil on Saturday. His family moved to Atlanta when he was young, but that is still no excuse for the following ...

He told me that he had taken a look at this blog and, like any non-Louisianian who had never seen the word "lagniappe", he googled it and tried to find the pronunciation. I looked at him in disbelief...and quickly shifted my gaze of dissappointment to my aunt. How could she not share this term, which is crucial to our heritage, with him? He thought it was prononounced "Lan-yappie"....um...not so much. Everyone else has an excuse but him, but the proper pronunciation is "lanny-yap".

So after we had stuffed ourselves on crabs, potatoes, corn and sausage...we collectively decided that Jesse will need to do a 6 month internship in New Orleans (or come live with me in Houston) in order to represent his namesake appropriately...but for now he's been given the task of using it as necessary in 2008. Salut cher!

MMMMM...Hurricanes...more like slurricanes!