Movie Screening Night!

Tonight I went to a free movie screening for "Life As We Know It," a very predictable romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. It was actually a pretty cute movie, but that's not the point...the point is IT WAS FREE. And things like this go down all the time!

Without over explaining, we went to a screening that doesn't take any sort of special invitation, you just sign up. But they reserve the best rows for press/bloggers and have "special" screenings all the time that you can't just sign up for. We got there an hour early and got OK seats, until my cute friend asked the guy in charge if we could sit in the empty blogger seats (ie best seats in the theater). So I'm sitting next to this slightly awkward woman who smells like little girls' toys (somewhere between plastic and powder...like the fake fruity scent you would expect to find on Strawberry Shortcake), and she tells me about her blog. I just looked it up, and it's nothing special...she does post every day...and she does have some ads...but seriously...it's ugly and not interesting.

So this gets me thinking, what else are people getting for free out there and how much effort does it really take to get it? If we just blogged more would they let us come to all the free movie screenings? And then I thought...if I just stayed at work for the hour we waited in the theater, I could have paid for all three of us (plus our bottled water, string cheese, bananas, and cookies we bought at the grocery store on our way)...

...but it's still, on principle, it always feels good to get something for free!

Equal Opportunity Music Listeners: Part II

Fine. You don't have it in your heart to love Katy Perry. I can take a hint. So today I give you 100% non-pop, inidie-lovin' awesome music.

First is something for you hipsters, xylophone and all:

• Freelance Whales - "Hannah"
• Freelance Whales - "Generator 1st Floor" live (I love these harmonies...no words...)
  
• Freelance Whales - "Ghosting" also live

And something a bit more "mainstream" (ie had a song on Eclipse and Scott Pilgrim):

• Metric - "Give Me Sympathy"
• Metric - "Black Sheep" (from "Scott Pilgrim Versus The World"...loved the movie by the way)

And one last attempt to warm your cold, Katy-Perry-hating heart:

• Temper Trap - "Sweet Disposition" (500 Days of Summer)
  
• Temper Trap - "Fader"

All videos because I know how to link that :)

Equal Opportunity Music Listeners

In our house, we like music. We like variety. I tell Jay (and he agrees) that he has the musical taste of a man in his mid-50s, but he's actually broadened his horizons substantially since we've been together...though he's still angry about going to see Mates of State with me FOUR YEARS AGO.

We have a recent musical obsession. I like to think of her as our new best friend...a new member of the family. We love her. The funny thing is, Jay is the one who downloaded one of her albums (we have since downloaded her latest). I'm afraid to tell you who it is because she sings dumb pop music. But then she went and did this amazing, jazzy Unplugged. And she's a really amazing singer. Who knew?!

Now don't judge...we love her...

You'll Never Guess Who Sat Behind Us...

...at the Paramore concert:

And if you don't know who he is, maybe this one will help:

And if that doesn't help, than you don't really need to know [I actually recognized him from SYTYCD not DWTS]. He sat down with an Asian woman and a large black man who looked important, but they were whisked away back stage pretty quickly before we could eavesdrop enough to figure out who they were. But the real mystery is: What in the world is Louie doing at a Parmore concert in Houston?

Update: I found Louie on Twitter, and he was in Houston to practice his first dance with his dance partner for this coming season's Dancing With The Stars - Margaret Cho, the Asian woman he was sitting with. Her comedy (?) tour was in Houston. Their first dance is a waltz, FYI.