Yo Gabba Gabba! Music is Awesome Vol 4 (Holiday Gift Guide 2012)

When I first say Yo Gabba Gabba I was caught off guard and thought it was weird. I steered my kids away from it at first because it was different but slowly the songs caught my attention and I liked how it was different. No soft baby like music, this was like R&B for kids.

What is Yo Gabba Gabba?

“Yo Gabba Gabba! is an award-winning, live-action television series and live stage show (tour dates below) whose unconventional formula has created a triple stacked fan base, making it one of the most popular entertainment properties among preschoolers, parents and indie music lovers alike. Yo Gabba Gabba! is created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz and is produced by The Magic Store and W!LDBRAIN Entertainment. Yo Gabba Gabba! airs seven days a week on Nick Jr. and in several major territories”

My kids don’t watch Yo Gabba Gabba too much, mostly because it’s not on the channel they watch the most but also because they are getting older but I do think it’s a catchy show and I like the songs.

The newest Yo Gabba Gabba music CD recently came out and would be a great gift for a Yo Gabba Gabba music lover.

YO GABBA GABBA! Music is Awesome!: Volume 4 Track Listing:

1. Yo Gabba Gabba! - Live Show Intro Remix
2. Biz Markie - Pancakes & Syrup
3. Yo Gabba Gabba! - That Is What Friends Are For
4. The Roots - We Have Fun
5. Yo Gabba Gabba! – Teamwork
6. Peter, Bjorn & John - I Wish I Was A Spy
7. CSS - Dinosaur Dinosaur
8. Yo Gabba Gabba! - Mixing Up Colors Remix
9. Rocket From The Crypt - He's A Chef
10. Yo Gabba Gabba! -Balloons (Live Show Version)
11. George Clinton - Atomic Frogs
12. Cut Copy - Fantastic Voyages
13. Yo Gabba Gabba! - Dinosaurs Are Really Really
14. YMCK - Fruit Song
15. Yo Gabba Gabba! - Let's Be Awesome While We Wait
16. Metric - Everybody Has A Talent
17. The Aquabats – Share
18. Yo Gabba Gabba! – Summertime
19. Belle & Sebastian - You Can Do It If You Try
20. Yo Gabba Gabba! - Clean It Up
21. Mariachi El Bronx - Friends Can Make You Smile
22. The Bird And The Bee - Cover Your Mouth
23. Yo Gabba Gabba! - Rest Up
24. Paco – Listen
25. Digital Unicorn - Green Remix

*Disclosure: I received the product mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative in exchange for this post. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

It’s a Princess Revolution! (Holiday Gift Guide 2012)

Do you have any little princesses in YOUR house?

If your little daughters love pretending to be princesses but maybe you are sick of all the traditional princess characteristics (dainty, catered to, delicate etc) than you might want to take notice of this music CD. Princess Revolution does not contain your average songs.

Now you can empower your little princess. My almost 7 year old is a bit too old for this CD while my 5 year old says she enjoyed it. I’d recommend for ages 2-5.

Listen to the songs for yourself!

Princess Revolution CD from Moey’s Music Party has received some awards already including Parent’s Choice Gold Award 2012 and Seal of Approval from The Toy Man.

You can get the CD from the online store for only $13.98!

*Disclosure: I received the product mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

‘Titanic’ is Back and available in DVD, Blu-Ray 2D and Blu-Ray 3D and in Musical CD

When was the first time you saw Titanic?

For me it was with a bunch of friends in high school.  We saw it in theatres so I would have been 14 or 15. I remember going in being SURE I would cry as I’m very emotional, especially at movies and have cried at cartoons. There were six of us, all female and I ended up being the ONLY person who did not cry. My friend Jennifer who NEVER cried at movies cried. It was strange which is probably why I remember it so well. 

I love Titanic, it’s an awesome movie and I’m not usually that into love stories!

Available for the first time in High Definition, James Cameron’s Titanic is available in four-disc 2D Blu-ray/DVD combo pack with Digital Copy or  in a four-disc Blu-ray 3D and 2D combo pack with Digital Copy or a two disc DVD combo.

2.5 Hours of Bonus Footage

The video contain 2 ½ hours of bonus footage never-before-released on disc including:

• in-depth exploration of the film with James Cameron
• documentary footage produced by National Geographic with James Cameron and RMS Titanic experts about why and how the unsinkable ship sank

Even MORE Bonus Content

• 30 deleted scenes
• over 60 behind-the-scenes featurettes
• a look at the ground-breaking visual effects
• over 2,000 photos
• three commentaries
• trailers
• music video
• construction time-lapse
• and MORE

Titanic Soundtrack

If you really love the musical score, you may also be interested in the CD. It’s also a 2-disc combo. The first disc is the Titanic Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (digitally remastered) while the second is Gentlemen, It Has Been a Privilege Playing With You Tonight by I Salonisti

Video Information

Street date:    September 10, 2012
Runtime:     194 minutes
SRP:   $44.99 (Four-Disc Blu-ray 3D combo pack)
$39.99 (Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack)
$29.99 (Two-Disc DVD)
U.S. Rating: PG-13 for disaster related peril and violence, nudity, sensuality and brief language
Canadian Rating:  14A for frightening scenes, coarse language, violence, disturbing content

*Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

REVIEW: Daria’s Music CDs (Children’s Music)

Daria, a folksinger travels the world making music with children and helping the communities she visits. You can find out more details about her life on her about Daria page.

She loves to empower children and so has adapted multi-cultural activities on her website for parents, teachers, homeschoolers and kids of all abilities. She has all kinds of fun activities on her website.

Daria also has some CDs you can purchase which compile her songs. I was sent Beautiful Rainbow World and Grandchildren’s Delight to try out.

Beautiful Rainbow World is a compilation of children’s world music and is a great way to introduce your child to the fact that people make music all around the world and that it often sounds different because they might have different instruments and different voices but all music is beautiful.

“This album presents songs from Caribbean, Australian, African, Latin American, Quechua, Native American, Hebrew, Arabic, Yiddish and African-American traditions in the spirit of peace and harmony for all peoples of our planet.” – Mitakuye Oyasin (Lakota) – We Are All Related

Song List

1. Do the Limbo
2. You Gotta Didg (Play the Didgeridoo)
3. Kumbayah (South African Style)
4. Beautiful Rainbow World
5. Bate, Bate Chocolate/Ese Pollito
6. Yaw, Yaw Puka Polleracha/We Are Rainbow People
7. Uncle Joe
8. Salaam, Shalom
9. Tumbalaika
10. Whole New World
11. Down By the Riverside

You can see the lyrics for the songs and listen to a few of them free on the Beautiful Rainbow World page.

If your child watches lots of Dora, you may be familiar with Bate, Bate Chocolate!

Grandchildren’s Delight is a compilation of well loved songs from the “good old days.” Let me know in the comments if you recognize all these songs by name or not!

Song List

1. This Little Light of Mine
2. Do Your Ears Hang Low…?
3. Liza Jane
4. Oh Susannah
5. This Land is Your Land
6. Grand Old Flag
7. Akin Drum
8. Playmate
9. Jadda/Three Little Fishies
10. You Are My Sunshine
11. Angels Watching Over Me
12. Down by the Riverside
13. Over in the Meadow
14. La Cucaracha
15. Be Kind to Your Web Footed Friends

You can see the lyrics for the songs and listen to a few of them free on the Grandchildren’s Delight page.

She also sent me some posts and I really loved the one I show below. I donated it to our local playgroup to put up in the music center so it can be enjoyed by more than my children (you can purchase the poster for $10 as well.) The text at the bottom identifies all the instruments from around the world that are shown in the photos with name and country of origin.

*Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

REVIEW: Golden Records: The Magic Continues Vol 1

Do You Remember These?

Those are vintage records from Golden Records. Many of my readers may be too young to remember them or you may remember more recent ones but still older. Well Golden Records is releasing new and updated albums which are now in CD or digital format with celebrities to read the stories or sing the songs. The first album is recently out:

Here’s a full listing of what you will find:

1. Golden Theme – The Golden Orchestra
2. The Little Engine That Could – Ed Asner
3. Yankee Doodle – Didi Conn
4. Rapunzel – Alicia Silverstone
5. Little Red Riding Hood – Constance Marie
6. Who’s Afraid Of the Big Bad Wolf – Didi Conn
7. Puss in Boots – Ed Asner
8. The Princess and the Pea – Cheryl Hines
9. Jack and the Beanstalk – Susan Sarandon
10. Pop Goes the Weasel – The Golden Orchestra
11. Three Billy Goats Gruff – Alicia Silverstone
12. The Frog Prince – Busy Philipps
13. Animal Fair – Didi Conn
14. Hansel & Gretel – Constance Marie
15. The Story of Goldilocks – Alicia Silverstone
16. Baa Baa Black Sheep – Didi Conn
17. Snow White and Rose Red- Cheryl Hines
18. Cinderella – Busy Philipps
19. The Muffin Man – Didi Conn
20. Jack B. Nimble – Ed Asner
21. See You Next Time – Alicia Silverstone

Here’s the trailer as well if you want to her what some of it sounds like:

My daughter and I listened to the CD one night while it was just the two of us. She needed some one on one cuddle time so I figured it was a great time to try out the CD.

We’ve never really heard stories on tape but she liked them, especially stories she was mostly familiar with such as Rapunzel and Puss in Boots although I had to explain that these were the more older versions of the stories, not the Disney version. It is fun to hear the stories as they are quite different from the dolled up Disney versions.

The songs were fun too and none of the stories or songs were too long so for little ones with short attention spans, it’s great. The celebrities did a good job with the narration, not too fast or too slow and very clearly spoken. One reason I don’t listen to audio books more is because I don’t like how many people sound when they read the stories.

Golden Records Would Love to Connect With You!

Website: http://littlegoldenrecords.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LittleGoldenRecords/app_108468622525037 (you get a free music download if you go to this link!)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoldenRecords
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/GoldenRecords
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/goldenrecords/

Buy It:

You can purchase Vol 1 at the following places:

Buy on Amazon
Buy on WalMart.com
Buy on Select-O Hits
Buy on iTunes

You can also enter to win a copy until 9/30 in the Family Entertainment Extravaganza Giveaway.

*Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

REVIEW: Makenzie Caine Music - Take This Town

Makenzie Caine, Actor and Musician has a CD out called Take This Town.

Makenzie Caine’s music is Indie Pop with a folk/country vibe.

You can listen to the Take This Town Song Here:

My younger daughter absolute LOVES this song, especially the line that goes:
“The strong ones, the brokenhearted.”

Although she keeps thinking she is saying: “The straw wants the brokenhearted.”

It’s always nice to find music that the whole family can enjoy. It’s not kid’s music but my daughter likes it. It’s beautiful and inspiring.  She also sings along with Young Marine.

The focus seems to be on her voice more than the accompaniment which I think is refreshing. A lot of the music I enjoy, it’s more about the beat, often I can’t even tell what the words are. Makenzie has a beautiful voice and she’s not afraid to hide it.

Song List:

1. Take This Town
2. Young Marine
3. Pretty in Red
4. Sweet Baby
5. Butterfly
6. You’re a Doll
7. Moonshadow

Pretty in Red makes use of a choir which adds another element to the music as each song is not only Makenzie’s voice.  Butterfly is a slower song, good for falling asleep to. It almost sounds like a lullaby.

The CD comes in a cardboard case with original artwork by Jessi Blackham.

You can get a digital download of album for $6.99 USD or a physical CD for $10 USD which is an awesome price.

Connect with Makenzie Caine on Facebook and Twitter

You will have a chance to win the Take This Town CD and a package of her MakieDoll Cards which she also makes starting Sept 16 in the Family Entertainment Extravaganza Hop:

*I received product from a company or PR agency for evaluation purposes. All review are honest.

MINI REVIEW: Escapes: Music for Relaxing by Jeff Gold (CD)

Escapes is one hour of instrumental music designed to soothe, uplift and revive you. Meditating? Doing yoga? Just want to unwind? Pop this CD on and relax.

Jeff Gold makes other CDs too and you can download one of his songs for free on the website.

The songs are very relaxing....Zzzzz

*Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall on Blu-Ray

I was first introduced to The Phantom of the Opera when my brother's class did a play that incorporated some of the music. This was back in 1989 I believe.

I have never actually seen the whole Phantom of the Opera play though. I saw the Joel Schumaker movie version a few years ago. Watching the recording of the live performance of the play at the Royal Albert Hall though was quite different.

Summary: Broadway’s longest-running production of all time celebrates a triumphant quarter century on stage with The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall, coming to Blu-rayTM – with perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound- DVD, On Demand and Digital Download on February 7, 2012 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. On October 2, 2011, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and producer Cameron Mackintosh marked the 25th anniversary of their beloved musical extravaganza, “The Phantom of the Opera,” with a lavishly staged production at London’s legendary Royal Albert Hall that was beamed live via satellite to cinemas across the globe. The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall marks the first time a live performance of the blockbuster musical has been made available for home viewing, making it a must-have anniversary release for fans everywhere. - summary from Universal Studios Home Entertainment

If you've never been to a live performance of a musical and you don't see any way to get to one any time soon, watching a recording of the performance is a good way to get an idea of what it would be like although I'm sure it would be much more real in person. (The bigger the TV you watch it on, the better.)

With a movie, scenes can be redone if they aren't perfect innumerable times and mistakes can also be edited out. With a live performance, anything can happen and they can't stop and start over if a mistake is made. Knowing this, every time I saw a strange look or a person stumbled over a word, I kept wondering if it was supposed to be like that or if they had messed up a little. I will never know.

I loved the portrayal of Christine and Carlotta but wasn't impressed with the portrayal of the Phantom. The actor sang well, it was more the look I didn't like. The way the mask sat and the way his face looked when the mask was off. However I only have the movie I mentioned previously to compare to, but I wasn't the only one that thought his face was strange. Overall though I thoroughly enjoyed it.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION BLU-RAY™:
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA LIVE AT ROYAL ALBERT HALL
Street Date: February 7, 2012
Copyright: 2012 Universal Studios

Running Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Rating: N/A
Languages/Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Portuguese, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Icelandic, Cantonese, Mandarin
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

*Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

REVIEW: Paper Jamz Mic Series - Sing Like a Pro (#12DaysGalore Sponsor)

Paper Jamz by WowWee is a hit new toy you may or may not have heard of. The idea is you can sing or make music as if you were a pro, without the big expensive versions of the instruments.

You can choose from a guitar (regular or special artist ones like Justin Bieber!), drums or microphone.

I gave away a guitar for the 12 Days of Gifts Galore giveaway but I decided to review the microphone.

The microphone has room to hold 3 songs to play while you sing as well as fun options:

• Perfect Pitch (analyzes and tunes your pitch as you sing)
• Solo/Duet Mode (Sing with the artist or be the artist by turning it ON or OFF when using the songs)
• Auto-Harmony (Double or Triple singer's voice and shifts pitch to create harmony)
• Auto-Vibrato (adds vibrato (vibration) to singer's voice)
• Chorus (Multiplies singer's vocals to add depth)
• Auto (Recreates original sound of the song - makes me sound like the artist)

Check out the commercial for more information but be warned, it's pretty silly!

I videotaped my girls demonstrating the microphone. I apologize for the swear word in the song and my child picking at her nose LOL.



It's a lot of fun, even I play with it. When my girls cousins come over, they use it to change their voice too. My 12 year old niece hid the microphone in her shirt and the speaker in a pocket of a large blanket she was wearing so whenever she talked, it sounded scary. 

Where to Buy in Canada:

Zellers
Toys R Us
Home Hardware
Sears
Wal-Mart

Find Paper Jamz on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!

*Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

REVIEW: Bright Starts Roll & Chase Bumble Bee

When your baby gets to the stage where he or she is learning to crawl, they start to lose interest in toys that just sit there like rattles and blocks because they want to move. So they crawl around your house getting in to everything instead!

The Roll and Chase Bumble Bee from Bright Starts is the perfect type of toy for this stage. It doesn't really roll but sort of "walks" along and plays music to entice your crawler to chase after it.  There are three buttons to push on the front and two settings (ABC and Music.) It doesn't always move, sometimes it just plays the music so your child will have a chance to catch up to it if they are just starting out with crawling.

In my FIRST YouTube video, I demonstrate how it moves (without baby). Please excuse wiggly camera and foot as this was my first try.



My baby, while 8 months, cannot crawl yet so he doesn't use the toy much as it wiggles away from him, but we will keep showing up and maybe one day he'll scoot towards it!

My only recommendations for how it could be better is the buttons should be on top of the toy more, there should be more of them and they should be easier to push.

Find Bright Starts on Facebook and Twitter.


*Disclosure: I received the product(s) mentioned above free of charge by the company or PR representative for evaluation purposes. No other compensation was provided. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

(Windsor) INFO/GIVEAWAY: The Wiggles! Big Birthday! is at the WFCU Centre!

I've decided to host more local content on this blog. Local for me is Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Anything I post local to Ontario will start with (Ontario) in the title. If it's Windsor/Essex County Specific, it will start with (Windsor.) That way my readers who aren't local can skip it. Don't worry, there will still be lots of generic content too! To celebrate the local focus, I have some info to share and a giveaway for Windsor/Essex County readers.

NOTE: If you live in Toronto or the surrounding area, visit Toronto Teacher Mom, a great canadian blog, for your chance to win by June 28. 

Also Windsorites can enter at Whispered Inspirations too for another chance to win!

---

The Wiggles! Big Birthday! Tour is coming to the WFCU Centre on Thursday, July 28 at 6:30 PM.

Tickets are on sale now, and go from $15 to $75 for VIP seats (additional facility fees and service charges may apply) $75 tickets are limited and will include the best seats in the house, an exclusive gift, an activity sheet and a chance to dance along with the Wiggles themselves.

Audience participation for the tour includes:

• Create a giant wiggly birthday card or sign at home
• Have fun with the Wiggles as they sing and dance through the audience.
• Dress up as your favourite character.
• Yelling "Wake Up Jeff" whenever he falls asleep on stage!

While you are waiting for the show date to get here, check out http://www.wiggletime.com, a virtual world for preschoolers and their parents. Parents can monitor their child's progress and will have access to premium promotional offers, contests, merchandise discounts and presale Wiggles tickets.

Click the graphic above to buy tickets!

To purchase tickets, click on the image to the right.

GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Avon Voices - Singing Talent Search

Avon Voices is looking for women over 18 with an amazing singing voice and men and women who are great songwriters.

---

Avon Voices is Avon’s first-ever global online singing talent search for women and songwriting competition for men and women. A panel of celebrity judges, including Fergie, Natasha Bedingfield, Sheila E., Diane Warren and more are on hand, providing singing tips and helping select our finalists.

And if you are picked as a finalist, you’ll get the chance to TRAVEL to Hong Kong, Rio de Janiero, Paris, Hollywood, New York or Nashville, plus PHOTO AND VIDEO SHOOTS, a PROFESSIONAL MAKEOVER and coaching . The best part is, the winners may get the opportunity record a professionally produced album.

It takes 30 seconds.  Record a video of you singing 30 seconds of a hit song from the approved list that you can do right from your home. It’s a year-long competition but you only have until February 13, 2011 to submit a 30-second video clip at www.avonvoices.com

---

You may be interested in checking out the You Tube Channel for Avon Voices for more information.

This program benefits the Avon Foundation for Women’s global campaign to end violence against women and girls.

REVIEW: MeeWee Kid's Hip Hop

I'll just quote from the MeeWee Website:

"MeeWee is fun, exciting, and uplifting Hip-Hop music for elementary school age children. Through the years, nearly all Hip-Hop music and culture has been designed for adolescents and adults. These fans now have children who love the lively and energetic songs that they hear; unfortunately, most of the lyrical content isn't quite appropriate. Well, MeeWee solves that! With songs like "I Need A Hug", "Us Bus", and "I Can Be Anything", Hip-Hop fans who are six, seven, and eight years old have cause to celebrate. So do their parents, as they get their children ready to rap and dance to the beats and rhymes of MeeWee."

I was able to listen to the MeeWee songs and I must say, they are really cool. Some of them almost sounds like Eminem and you have to listen carefully before you realize it's most certainly NOT Eminem. The lyrics are perfectly safe for even the youngest ears. My children are two and three but they seemed to like it. My three-year-old does seems to like all kinds of music though.

I love the Hippopotamus one. You can hear a bit of the chorus on the main page. It plays the whole of the first song and then if you double click on the title you can hear a sample of the other songs.

Are you a teacher? You'll find MeeWee music can be used in the classroom. MeeWee has a whole teacher's resources section.

You can buy the music on Amazon or iTunes and some other places too. Also check out the MeeWee CafePress store for t-shirts, notebooks and stickers and more.

Art of Fresh Tour

Check out ART OF FRESH - Toronto rap duo of D.O. and Slakah The Beatchild.

D.O. set the Guinness World Record by freestyling over 8 hours & 45 minutes, and Slakah is a Juno award-winning producer.

"While the group now resides in Toronto, Ontario, they met in the small city of Sarnia, Ontario. Although they both attended the same high school it wasn’t at the same time. D.O. was in University when he heard about the young beat making prodigy. The age gap between the two is partly responsible for the groups’ unique sound. While D.O. grew up in the 80’s - a time known as the Golden Era of Hip-Hop, Slakah grew up in the 90’s listening to neo-soul influenced Hip-Hop. Putting the two together can only be described as Tribe meets Outkast, or Rakim meets Raphael Sadiq."

Check out their album here: http://download.themusebox.net/art_of_fresh/


- Art Of Fresh Tour Dates -

Date City Venue
Tues June 30 - Chatham, ON - River Rock
Wed July 1 - Sarnia, ON - Canatara Park
Tues July 7 - Toronto, ON - Revival (D.O. Release Party)
Mon Jul 13 - Vancouver, BC - Media Club
Thur July 16 - Revelstoke, BC - Regent Inn
Sat July 18 - Fernie, BC - Bulldogs North
Sun Jul 19 - Banff, AB - Wild Bills
Tues July 21 - Canmore, AB - Drake
Wed July 22 - Grand Prairie, AB - Better Than Freds
Thur July 23 - Jasper, AB - Atha B
Fri July 24 - Sun Peaks, BC - Masas
Sat July 25 - Lethbridge, AB - Henotic Bar
Sun July 26 - Calgary, AB - Soho's
Mon July 27 - Red Deer, AB - TBA

Norglen's Cross Canada Tour is almost up!

Have you heard of Norglen yet?
You can listen to them here: http://download.themusebox.net/norglen/

Norglen, whose name references the street the founding three members of the now Toronto-based group grew up on in Northern Alberta, have already found radio success in Western Canada with their single “Summer Nights” and are looking forward to building on the momentum they’ve created in the four years since their inception with the digital release of what is arguably their hottest single yet, “Miss You Yet” which came out on May 24.

You can watch a video of Miss You Yet here: http://www.trendsettermarketing.net/norglen/norglen_web.mov

“Miss You Yet” is the first single from Norglen’s forthcoming album A Long Way From the Truth. The album was produced by Chris Fudurich (Jimmy Eat World, AFI and Nada Surf), mixed by Mark Trombino (Blink 182, Motion City Soundtrack and The Starting Line) and is due out in August on Read the Footnotes.

Norglen was touring cross-Canada but unfortunately, I was alerted just recently and there are only three dates left on the tour, one tomorrow and the other not actually in Canada.

June 11, 2009 – Kitchener, ON @ Circus Room

June 12, 2009 – Windsor, ON @ The Blind Dog

July 9, 2009 – New York, NY @ Arlene's Grocery

Official website: http://www.norglen.com/

Myspace: www.myspace.com/norglen

MMVA: Much Music Video Awards

You may or may not know that the Much Music Video Awards were tonight. I decided to watch it as nothing else was on. Honestly, I love music but have never felt the need to watch much programming ABOUT music, let alone award shows. I don't watch the Oscars or Tonys or Golden Globes or anything either. It's just not for me.

Actually, the thing I never got about award ceremonies was the 2 hour or more show BEFORE hand that shows all the stars showing up to the ceremony. I just didn't get what was interesting about people getting out of limos. However again, because there was nothing better to do, I watched the pre-show. I must say I was wrong. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to see a pre-show again but I enjoyed seeing what the artists looked like. Some I knew because of other shows or their music videos but especially for the groups, you don't really get a good look at them. They are usually moving too fast and it's darker. At the pre-show, I got to see them standing fairly still in broad daylight. It was a nice change. I actually learned a few things. Like Joss Stone is a girl and Alexisonfire are guys and Perez Hilton is actually a guy, not a nickname for Paris Hilton (go ahead, laugh at me, I can take it.)

The part I liked best about the award show was the live performances. I'm not too big on live shows usually because they often sound nothing like they do on CD where they have the benefit of special sound effects to make them sound better. For example I was disappointed when Fergie sang Fergilicious. It didn't sound good at all. Then there was The Used and Alexisonfire, who were pretty much just screaming. I'm sure it sound the same on CD. I couldn't believe it when at the end of the performance by the Used, they started saying the F-word over and over and the whole audience had their middle fingers up and shouting it back. That's just what I would want my teenager listening too oh yeah! NOT!

If anybody is reading this [ :) ], I'd like to know if you watched it or not. What did you think?