Music Review: Kieth Urban's New Album, Fuse

Well, I believe its official that Keith Urban can no longer be considered country. Not that he ever truly was. I mean you could never hold him to comparison with George Strait, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Alan Jackson. He's always had more of a pop influence in his music. With his latest album, Fuse, released September 10th 2013 (4 days ago), there's basically nothing country about this album. Maybe some of the lyrics relate more to country life than they do suburbian, but the music style definitely isn't very country. None of the songs on Fuse are very catchy. I like the old Keith, with his fun, catchy, make you dance around and bounce up  and down in the car songs like "Put You In a Song", "Sweet Thing", "I'm In", "Days go By", and  "Somebody Like You". I also love his more emotional, meaningful song "For You" from the soundtrack of Act of Valor (LOVE that movie, except that nothing from it's soundtrack was even played in the movie, but each are awesome). 

So basically, I do not like this album very much and wouldn't bother looking into concert tickets and driving a long way to see it. The only song on this album that I think I might like is his duet with Miranda Lambert (which y'all have already expressed your dislike for her, but that' won't change my opinion.) titled "We Were Us". It's kind of cute. 

Listen to the album for yourself and see what you think! Keith Urban – Fuse

Apparently All Americans are Supposed to have Pet Eagles?

Yesterday I found this (written out in the right format below) and my brother said to post it here so he could have a written copy and I figured y'all may want to read it too.  This is one of the funniest things I've come across on tumblr in a long time, I hope y'all laugh at least as hard as we did! 

The sarcastic stories written as reblog-responses to this foreigners question are the best! 

Here ya go!

American patriotism in a light-hearted manner.

 By random tumblr kids.

Anon. Question to Random Blog: Do all Americans have pet eagles?

Blog: Yes, of course we do. It’s our national bird, we must preserve the species and uphold our value of national pride.

Anon. Guest Post Responses with reblogs:

• ·         "I remember my first eagle ceremony when I turned nine. The first eagle you get is always declawed, which I always thought was pretty inhumane, but it was a good way to ease into caring for the birds. My eagle (named Baldy, because I wasn’t a terribly clever child) was already quite old when I received him (he was a rescue eagle, luckily) but I did have him until I was 16. I don’t know if I was more excited about getting my drivers license that year, or my new eagle! You should have seen the party we had when I got him, too! Grilled hot dogs and fire works and lemonade…. obviously I named my beautiful new eagle Freedom. He’s too big to keep inside anymore, unfortunately, but we’ve got a pretty comfortable roost for him on our apartment’s balcony."

• ·         "Ah, yes, the eagle ceremony! My Justice and I remember his quite well. (They had just come out with telepathic link transplants when I got him, which is how I know he remembers it.) Our celebration was quite modest, compared to Freedom’s—apple pie under a cloudless summer sky as we signed our Declaration of Interdependence. I still have the inked and talon-pierced document hanging on my wall."

• ·         "I was so scared during my pet eagle ceremony I almost threw up. But Stonewall Jackson and I have been best friends ever since. My dad and grandfather built a really massive roost behind the house for my eagle and my sisters’ eagles. Stonewall always waits for me when I get home from class since schools are getting so over protective and strict these days and won't allow eagles indoors. Which just goes to show how much we’re bubble wrapping kids today. Back in the day, if you couldn't handle a few stitches because you annoyed the wrong kid’s eagle, you had to just man up and learn your lesson!"

• ·         "Ooo, I never miss a chance to tell this story! I had a rather unusual first eagle ceremony. The traditional giant American flag that you wave around to summon your eagle had been severely damaged the week prior (a ceremony that had not gone according to plan, but the child only suffered minor talon wounds. The flag took the brunt of the attack).  Anyway, I couldn't use the normal flag so we had to search ALL OVER for one suitable for eagle summoning. Unfortunately the stripes weren't the correct shade of patriotic red so everyone was worried an eagle would not show up at all.  I had to stand in the middle of that wheat field, the wind creating amber waves out of it, shaking that flag in the air for over three hours.  Everyone was just about to give up when suddenly Patriot appeared out of nowhere!  He came to me so quickly it was like he was apologizing for being late.  And we've been together ever since."

• ·         "Some people think it’s excessive to have two eagles.  But what can I say, I’m a two eagles kind of guy.  Well, I can say, “You must be rude to call me out over my excesses,” but I disagree.  We don't have many open fields around here, so I got Liberty by waving my flag atop a decommissioned WWII aircraft carrier.  I was kicking a couple of boxes of tea into the harbor for good measure, and there she was.  I loved her so much I repeated the process a year later and got young Colbert here.  It’s hard work, raising two eagles, but I have two shoulders, after all.  Besides, I know that the secret to happy and healthy eagles is plenty to drink."

I hope y'all found that funny as well! I sure did, but as you probably know I laugh a little too hard at everything...no matter how low the funny factor...I have giggle issues at times :)

Recordemur Semper: Remembering 9/11

Who remembers seeing nothing but this on the news all day,  & being told that your own town could have been next? Who remembers being scared? Even now, 12 years later, who gets nervous every time they see/hear a jet flying low? I do.

 Do you remember where were you when the world stopped turning? I do.

 Watch this and listen to the song!

Semper Fidelis - always remain faithful; never forget - Recordemur semper. (There's your Latin lesson of the day!) I will never forget the day we fell; It was scary to say the least.  I remember going places afterwards (especially historic battlegrounds and such, cause my parents love history) and being so young I didn't realize that there wasn't anything to be afraid of (like I thought that there was still a battle going on there...), I'd walk around in fear of seeing the t e r r o r i s t I had seen on the news jump out from behind something. But hey, I was barely 5 years old and back then I actually had an imagination and had a lot of nightmares.
 But the point of that is, 9/11 kinda scared me for life, as it has done to most Americans, though some of us have forgotten or simply just don't care because it didn't affect them directly, and that's  wrong. It most certainly does affect every.single.american.citizen. Think of how different everything (especially military politics and security and cultural discrimination) would be if that tragic event wouldn't have taken place? I believe things would be dramatically different. But sadly, it did happen. What's been done has been done and the devastating consequences will always affect us. Nearly 3,000 people died, more than 6,000 injured, and New York City and the American identity is forever changed. 

 It didn't fall, it crumbled all at once into a fiery pile of rubble, with thousands of people inside and everyone on the plane. How could something like this not stir up your patriotism?

I'm proud of my country where I'm from  and I stand firm in the value of Freedom. Please, nobody, forget what that event has done to change us. 

Why Don't We Eat at Taco Bell? Here's why.

Forenote, I really am not a picky eater. I'll eat anything (besides bugs and potential poison) that you put on my plate. 


Here's my story of  why we don't eat at Taco Bell:

So yesterday on our way home from class, my brother really wanted to go to Taco Bell for lunch, because he reaaaaaalllllllllyyyyyyy wanted to try one of  those Dorito taco things (he has an obsession with Doritos but we don't let him eat them very often). Our carpool agreed that it would be fine to make the stop since everyone was hungry and nobody had very much money on them. So we did.

I didn't really want to go there because I wasn't that hungry (this week's excessive heat wave has my appetite down to nearly nothing). But I didn't want to be a party pooper and rain on everyone else's excitement of getting to go eat. A 5:1 ratio of who wants to eat vs. who doesn't didn't side with me, but that's OK, normally I really like to eat.

So we got through the traffic and arrived at our destination and exited the vehicle  -  however it took awhile with so many young urchins in the back seats arguing over who lets which seat down and how and all the bickering that goes along with the desire not to let siblings escape the hot car (lucky for me I got front. whew.). When we finally get everyone out and start walking towards the door, we had the awkward experience of a group of shady looking men randomly start rubbing their bellies and making "yum that was soooo good" noises as soon as we started walking by them and towards the door. Really strange. It's situations like these that make me love oversized sunglasses even more, just sayin'.

So we got inside and joined the line and stared at the menu. I had no clue what I wanted because I haven't been to a Taco Bell since I was little or maybe even never (and for good reason), but figured I should get something and not be all out rude by publicly announcing in a fast-food restaurant that I prefer to avoid  fast food (minus Subway and occasionally Wendy's) because I try to eat healthy. ((Try is the key word here. As I write this I'm eating a box of Cheezits and a roll of my homemade cookie dough...but I don't do this very often.)) 

I ended up ordering the same thing my brother got, one of those Nacho Cheese Dorito shell tacos, but I requested it without sour cream, because I don't really like sour cream to be put on by someone else because usually they'll put more than I'd want. OK so I placed my order, and I proceeded to pay the smallest restaurant bill I think I've ever had. $1.50 for a supreme sized taco and large cup of water. Not bad, eh? You can't even get a coffee for that much. Not that I can drink coffee (I have adverse reactions to caffeine), I've just noticed their prices as I've stared longingly at the extensive Starbucks menu while studying with my friends.

Then I went over to the drink dispenser thing to fill my water. I get plenty of ice in my cup (because its sooo hot outside!) and continue to fill it with water. I look down at my cup, to find that the supposed water was bright yellow (the cup itself was bright white on the inside so it wasn't the cup). "OK then, this is gross. I wonder what's wrong with it," I thought... It's even a brand new building, so I'd be very surprised if their pipes rusted that quickly since being installed. I was really hot and thirsty so I really wanted something to drink, but I don't drink soda, and they were out of Gatorade and decaf sweet tea, and bottled water. So I tried a very teeny tiny sip of the suspicious water. Not only was it nasty looking, it was nasty tasting. Naturally I threw it away and just went without having something to drink. Afterall, I was headed home after our quick stop so I knew I'd be fine.

Then the gal at the counter called my number and I went up and got it, tempted to ask what the heck is wrong with their water, but decided not to because I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to make this particular person mad. I picked up my food, and went and sat down with the rest of our carpool. I took the paper off of my taco, to discover an extra large amount of sour cream dumped on it. So I got my spork and shoveled the slimy white stuff out of the shell, and hesitantly proceed to take a bite. The shell, though covered in the messy orange Dorito powder, was stale. The "meat" stuff was super runny and I'm not sure if there was cheese or not. I'm not even sure why I ate the whole thing, but for some reason I did. But after more than 24hrs after eating it, my stomach still regrets every bite.

Even though the whole idea of going to Taco Bell out of all the other choices we had, was actually my brothers, this is what he has to say about his experience, "My tacos (he foolishly ordered 2) tasted like dried cow-crap off of an old cowboy boot. And thanks to them, my stomachs screwed!" Thanks for your graphic input little brother...

So now I can say I've tried Taco Bell recently, and have reaffirmed my position that I will not eat there unless its an absolute emergency. I knew there was a reason for our never going there! But hey, you get what you pay for, if you don't mind sour cream, toilet water, and an upset stomach, the epic price is worth it!

And there you have it. My take on Taco Bell.

Introducing....Mr. Tony Stark! New Kitty!

So actually...this is a confession from my rambling mind: I was "supposed" to post about this awhile ago, and the original intent of this post was supposed to be what's in this post. Since that post was too long as it already was, I decided to create a separate post introducing our newest feline family member. So here goes! The post that's been in my drafts for wayyyy longer than I wanted it to. 

Meet Mr. Tony Stark, our new kitty! (well actually I've had him for a little over a month...)

He followed my parents home one evening while they were walking and I was out with friends. What a sweet surprise to come home to!

He's super sweet and playful and hilarious (meaning he's purrfect!). Currently he hasn't figured out how to use his vocal features very well, but I'm sure he'll get that under control soon. He loves catching bugs, playing with fawns, annoying Miss. Priss, and eating (we have him outside for the purpose of pest control...and also 'cause having 2 male cats in the house is a recipe for disaster). Only thing he's missing is an iron suit (now does the name ring a bell?)!

So far he's super photogenic (compared to most cats)

(sorry for the horrible quality, didn't have my long lens with me at the time. but they're still cute!)

(photos by me)