Kimmel Performance Begs Question: Big Freedia For President?

January 31, 2012 By 1 Comment

Freedia at Voodoo Music Experience 2011

If you have witnessed Big Freedia live, you know she knows how to unite a crowd, possesses boundless charisma, and is not afraid to put others to work. Azz everywhere, azz everywhere!

She should be running for president in 2012. I should be her press secretary. Need proof? Click here, here, and here.

Oh, and check out the Queen Diva performing “Excuse” on The Jimmy Kimmel Show! PS: If I had to pinpoint when I decided Big Freedia needed to run for president I would say it was around the 3:03 mark of her Kimmel performance. YOU ALREADY KNOW!

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Filed Under: Live Music, Music, Television Tagged With: , , , , ,

Despite Recent Events, Sky Not Falling On LSU Football

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Les will have plenty to cheer in 2012

From Eugene, Ore., to Gainesville, Fla., the signatures of young men will provide college football fanbases with jolts of excitement and barrels of optimism Wednesday.

Yet, I am sure there are some LSU football fans who are looking forward to Thursday. Yes, Thursday — the day after National Signing Day — so they can shift their full attention to the 2012 season.

The excitement surrounding Wednesday has been tempered a bit in Baton Rouge since five-star safety Landon Collins spurned his hometown team for Alabama and five-star quarterback Gunner Kiel decommitted from LSU in favor of Notre Dame.

Factor in LSU’s 21-0 loss to Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game three weeks ago, and some would have you believe the sky is falling in Baton Rouge.

Which is laughable.

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Filed Under: College football, Football, LSU, Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

POETRY: “It’s Been 27 Years”

January 30, 2012 By 1 Comment

My grandfather

In honor of Ray Sr.

In uniform, clutching your sweetheart, standing outside your shop
Photos of you linger in my mind long after you breathed your last
It’s been 27 years since you first marveled at my funny red mop
Your name, your memory, your photos inspire me to give all I have

Filed Under: Poetry, Thibodaux Tagged With: , , ,

“Jersey Shore” — Season 5, Episode 4

January 30, 2012 By 1 Comment

Same Shore, Different Season

If only I had known Danny was looking for a new housemate …

I could have been the first ghost guido. No tan, no gym, no laundry. I would have shaken the house up. Alas, I did not see the “Help Wanted” sign.

Maybe next summer!

Click below for my thoughts on Episode 4.
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Filed Under: Musings, Television Tagged With: , , , ,

“Jersey Shore” — Season 5, Episode 3

January 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Same Shore, Different Season

Depending on whether you take I-9 North or Garden State Parkway North, Seaside Heights, N.J., is either 58 or 63 miles from Staten Island, N.Y., according to mapquest.com.

I mention this because on last week’s “Jersey Shore” — I just watched it tonight because I just broke free from a “Dexter” marathon — the housemates moped about the departure of everyone’s BFF, Vinny, in a manner that made it seem like he moved across the globe.

Thing is he only went 90 minutes away, tops. Rumor has it one guido can see another guido fist pump from that distance, if they have the right amount of gel in their hair and at least one guidette in the club is DTF. Rumor also has it Pauly D’s blowout was the first visible from space, but I digress.

Vinny’s departure from the show amid anxiety issues, while likely a short-lived hiatus, provided some much-needed drama to a house low on surprises as Season 5 started. There are only so many times Snooki can fall down, Deena can expose her kooka and Snitchuation can be Snitchuation before it gets tiresome.

There are only so many times I can write about “Jersey Shore” before … nah, it will continue to be awesome. Cab’s here!

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Filed Under: Musings, Television Tagged With: , , , ,

Music Video: And The Giraffe — “Underground Love”

January 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

And The Giraffe are: A) an ode to Toys”R”Us; b) a reference to Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning; or C) a dream-folk band from Florida?

This is not a real-life standardized test question. But, if it were, I would advise you to shade the bubble next to C.

One of the cool things about having a blog is strangers contact me to discuss items of mutual interest, like music or football. Occasionally, musical acts send me their work, seeking a write-up.

Floridian duo And The Giraffe are/were one of those groups. They sent me an email a while back about their EP, Something for Someone. More recently, they emailed me again with a link to their first video for their song “Underground Love.”

It is a soft-sung diddy that, by design, moves at a deliberate pace, while conjuring images of creeping fog and expressing desires to start anew, be it underground or atop the world. The video the band emailed me fleshes out the notion of giving love to receive love, amid attractive scenery and equally attractive twentysomethings.

Below is the video for “Underground Love”. Tell me what you think!

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Cajun Tomato’s Favorite Songs of 2011 (Better Late Edition)

January 25, 2012 By 3 Comments

Charles Bradley

The calendar has turned, snow has fallen in Portland, and it is time for a belated list.

I am referring to my Favorite Songs of 2011 (Better Late Edition). Let’s pretend it’s December, and this list is being released at the same time everyone else in the world is releasing theirs. OK. Nevermind. It is too cold for pretend.

Below are the 40 songs I enjoyed the most in 2011, with one minor caveat. I limited myself to one song per artist. This kept the list from being 200 songs. It also forced me to make some tough choices with regards to several artists.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under: Dig This Tomato, Yo!, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Music Tagged With: , , , , , ,

PHOTOS: PDX Snowpocalypse 2012

January 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Vitamin C packed snow

I named this post PDX Snowpocalypse 2012 in jest. Portland received three inches of snow Tuesday — hardly a snowpocalypse, when compared to the 11 inches that fell in Washington’s state capital, Olympia.

Except to a bayou kid, like myself, it was a big event. I experienced a few pellets of snow two or three times living in south Louisiana, including once on Christmas. My grandparents in North Carolina lived near the mountains but it seldom snowed when I visited. Portland went snowless last winter, aside from a stray inch or two.

So, yes, Tuesday’s event was cause for excitement, even if earlier in the day I had cursed the prospect of snow. As it fell Tuesday night, the chalky streets of north Portland were eerily quiet. Japanese exchange students built a snowman a few blocks from my house. Street kids at a nearby bar hurled snowballs at a city transit bus. Anarchy, it was not.

Below are photos I took while wandering around with my roommate, Garret. He took the photo of me. All photos were taken using the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone.

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Filed Under: Photos, Portland Tagged With: , , , ,

Cajun Tomato’s Most Viewed Posts Jan. 8-15, 2012

January 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

That distant, yet clear sound you hear is me screaming “ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” at the top of my lungs. There is no end in sight to my furor. Hell, the next football season is eight months away. I might yell my lungs out. I might not. We shall see. Oh! The intrigue!

The ironic thing about LSU and the Saints each wrapping their seasons in disappointing, yet wildly different fashions is not that I am still smarting from their losses days later. It is that they, in turn, sparked my highest page view count in the history of this blog. For that, I owe a large debt of gratitude to my friend, Jordy Pujol.

Here were the five most viewed posts for Jan. 8-15:
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Filed Under: College football, Dig This Tomato, Yo!, Football, LSU, Music, Saints, Sports, Television Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Lana Del Rey’s SNL Performance Painful To Watch

January 15, 2012 By 5 Comments

Lana Del Rey

I felt a tad bit pained tonight for Elizabeth Grant watching her shrink under the bright lights of Saturday Night Live. Her manufactured Lana Del Rey persona received boatloads of blogosphere hype in the past six months, leading to the coveted SNL appearance. And yet, there Grant was on the stage, exposed.

Those who do not religiously follow Internet music web sites like Pitchfork and Stereogum probably tuned into SNL tonight oblivious to Lana Del Rey. SNL booked her because it provided the long-running franchise a rare chance to generate buzz and serve as a tastemaker to the mass viewing public.

Del Rey has received a mix of positive and negative press. Much of the negative press centers around authenticity — Grant had a previous stint on a major label as a wannabe pop starlet. Her lips and name are fake. Who is really behind her music?

Her debut album Born To Die is scheduled to drop later this month. Call tonight’s musical guest appearance a calculated risk on the part of both SNL and Interscope, Del Rey’s current label. Some risks pay off, some don’t. This one bombed.
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Filed Under: Live Music, Music, Television Tagged With: , , , , ,
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