October 6, 2010

I just found the best cardio workout song EVER! On the tired backside of my walk today, I replayed this song 4 or 5 times and it propelled me home!

It's called “Animal” and it's from Neon Trees. Check it out:

Just for fun, here's a groovy acoustic version:

So what do you think? Am I right? Or am I right?

~BigSis

August 8, 2010

Hey, LilSis, I know you enjoy Pink's music as much as I do.  I really like the “Glitter in the Air” video you shared the other day.

I love that one minute she's irreverent, fun and sassy – even wild –  and the next minute she surprises us with a really touching melancholy ballad.  She doesn't fit the cookie cutter image of a Hollywood pop star (and doesn't want to), but I don't feel that her unique style ever overshadows her talent.  Not hatin' on you, Lady Gaga, I'm just sayin'. 😀

Did you notice Pink's tweet on Saturday that gave us a link to a special “Please Don't Leave Me” video that we can download for free?  Just go to Pink's video page and use the code PDLM.  I don't know how long the video download will be available, so you might want to grab it now.  If you want to be notified of future downloads, you can sign up for her newsletter.  I did!

You can also watch some of Pink's videos online on her video page.  I've never seen this one for “I Don't Believe You” but I love it even though it makes me want to cry!

So, now that Pink's European Funhouse tour has wrapped up, will she be back in the studio to work on a new album?  “Funhouse” was a great one, but I've listened to all those songs a bajillion times now and I'm ready for some new Pink music!

~BigSis

July 4, 2010

I'm always looking for motivating new songs for my iPod cardio playlist.  As LilSis just mentioned, I also get tired of my tunes really quickly.  I get some songs from old CDs, but most come from iTunes.  The only problem with discovering new songs on iTunes is that you get to listen to such a short snippet of the song, who knows if you're going to like the whole song?  You can pay for a song and then not like it at all.

Here's a solution to that problem…Grooveshark!  Voila!  At Grooveshark, you can listen to songs in their entirety, and even make your own playlists to come back to and listen to time after time.  How is Grooveshark different from iTunes?  You don't download songs and you can't put them on your MP3 player.  You just listen to them online.  You also don't have to pay for using Grooveshark.  If you don't like dealing with ads on the site, you can pay $30/yr for a VIP account, but they don't bother me.

You can search Grooveshark by artist, or by keywords that can be found in a song name or album name.  You can also look at the songs that are most popular with other users at the moment to get some idea of what's hot.

I like to listen to songs on Grooveshark, and then download them on iTunes for my iPod if I like them enough.  It's the perfect marriage of technology!

~BigSis

July 2, 2010

Even though I have almost 5000 songs on my iPod, I've become completely bored with the songs that I have in my cardio playlist. I bet that I've listened to the same songs thousands of times since I created this playlist a few years ago. This past week, I made it a priority to sit down and take a little time to work on it.

I deleted quite a few that I just can't bear to listen to one more time but I also added some fun new songs to help me boost my workout.  I've become so dependent on my iPod that it's almost impossible for me to workout without it.

Here are a few of my favorites that I've been listening to this week.

“Yeah” by Usher

“Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga

“Even Flow” by Pearl Jam

“All the Single Ladies” by Beyonce

And I absolutely adore these next two songs. Neither are upbeat enough for my cardio playlist, but I can listen to them over and over and over again.

“Just Breath” by Pearl Jam

“Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog

I'm trying to be more open-minded when it comes to listening to music that's outside my “norm”.  I could easily get stuck in a 70s, 80s, 90s rut if I let myself, but luckily, having a 16 year old in the house that loves different genres has opened my eyes to some new stuff.

Thanks to BigSis and HayHay for downloading some new tunes for me!

I would LOVE to hear from you if you have some favorite songs that you LOVE to listen to while working out! Just leave a comment or send me a quick email to lilsis at bigsislilsis dot com. 🙂

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!

~LilSis

June 12, 2010

“Each day's is a gift, and not a given right.”

I love these lyrics; and this has been on my mind a lot lately so I wanted to share it here today, in case there's someone that hasn't heard this song.

I want to live each and every day by these words!

~LilSis

July 31, 2009

How about something a little uplifting today as we wrap up the week and fly into the weekend?  I first saw this video on Angie's blog Bring the Rain.  If you don't follow it, please check it out. I think you'll be encouraged every time you read it, as I am. What a sweet, kind spirit this woman has.

Back to the video. I fell in love with this adorable little girl and her enthusiasm as soon as the video started.  See if you do too.  Why do we lose that unrestrained joyful expression of our feelings, and replace it with inhibitions and worries about what people will think?  I want to be more like Zoe!

The song that Zoe is “enhancing” is The Blood Song by Selah; one of my very favorite Christian groups.  If you'd like to hear the song without Zoe's harmonies, here's a video of it:

We hope you've had a good week, and you're looking forward to a great weekend!

~BigSis

December 7, 2008

Well, BigSis, you know that I LOVE music as much as you do and don't go anywhere without my iPod! It's with me on walks and bike rides, it's with me at the gym, I take it to the beach, and it's fully integrated in my car so I just plug it in inside the glove box. I take my speaker/docking station with me everywhere; to my art studio, to the boat, to the bathroom, etc… BUT, I hate to say it…I don't have any Christmas music downloaded to my iPod.

For some reason, I've just never taken the time to import any Christmas CDs. It would be great to have all my favorite songs off of all the different CDs put into one great Christmas playlist.

Last year, we had a Christmas party, so I bought a couple of new CDs.

One was Barenaked Ladies, Barenaked for the Holidays. (Great name, right?)  It's a pretty good CD. Very nontraditional versions of some all-time favorites.

Barenaked for the Holidays

The other was a compilation CD from Starbucks called Stockings By the Fire.  It has some old favorites like Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, but also some newer artists like Sarah McLachlan and John Legend.

Stockings by the Fire

I've got a good one that I bought in 2006 called The Perfect Christmas from Bath and Body Works to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The Perfect Christmas

Most of our other Christmas CDs are all compilation CDs that we've collected throughout the years.  This year, I think I'll break down and finally get the Elvis Christmas Album.

Elvis Christmas Album

I LOVE Elvis Christmas music! So, that's just a sampling of what's in our Christmas music collection. I'm glad you asked about the iPod. I can't wait til you get yours up and running. I better get busy importing some CDs.

~LilSis

December 6, 2008

What would Christmas be without great music?  I can't imagine it!  I know some people aren't huge music fanatics, but I am, and for me, music is the backdrop for the whole season.

It's really hard to narrow down my favorite Christmas CDs to only 5, but I can do it! These are my favorites at the moment:

• Nat King Cole “Christmas Favorites” – “The Christmas Song” is on this CD, but there are other songs on it that I love even more, like “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “The First Noel”.  Nat's smooth voice on these classics just makes them warm and cozy favorites all over again.  This is the CD you want in the background when you're gathered around the tree with your family opening gifts.

• Avalon “Joy” – There are so many incredible songs on this CD! How about “Jesus Born on This Day” and “We Are the Reason” for starters? Then throw in “Don't Save it All for Christmas Day” and you've got a winner!  It was released in 2000 and half of the group's members have changed, but it's still a great recording.  If you love Jody McBrayer's voice as I do, also check out his solo CD “This is Who I Am” (2002).  It includes one of my favorite all-time songs “To Ever Live Without Me”.  You may recognize it by Jody's incredible lyrics: “It was all about a man, it was all about a cross, it was all about the blood that was shed so I would not be lost.  It was all about the love that was bigger than a life.  It was all about a freedom that was given through your sacrifice. ‘Cause you would rather die than to ever live without me.”  Thinking about that makes me teary; let's move on.

• Amy Grant “A Christmas Album” – This CD came out in 1983, I can hardly believe it. 25 years later, it's still one of my favorites. I don't know what it is about “Tennessee Christmas” but I love love love it. “Emmanuel” and “Heirlooms” are also songs I play over and over again at Christmas.  This is a fun but really warm and sentimental CD.

• Martina McBride “White Christmas” – Martina's voice says Christmas to me, and it just seems like her heart is in all these songs. I adore “What Child is This”, “Do You Hear What I Hear”, and all of the other classics on this CD.  Martina can't sing a bad song, and she does an amazing job on all of these selections.

• Rob Johnson “O Holy Night” – Rob's version of “Mary, Did You Know” is stunning!  The title track, “Welcome to Our World”, “Who Would Imagine a King” and “You are the Light” are also standouts on this CD that came out last Christmas.  Rob was the worship leader at my former church, and is now with another church in Keller that a friend and I visited for a while before I moved farther away.  We did visit again for last year's Christmas service, and grabbed up this CD afterwards. When Rob was leading worship for us, one of the things that we always loved about him was his JOY, and this CD reflects that completely.  It's joyful from beginning to end.  Who doesn't want more of that?

Oh, fudge!  I forgot Selah's “Rose of Bethlehem”. And Elvis' “Blue Christmas”!  And The Chipmunks!  And “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”!  There's so much music for such a short season!  Hey LilSis, what Christmas tunes are playing on your iPod right now?

~BigSis