I'm a big fan of cover tunes. Many times a performer gets the song right the first time but sometimes a cover artist can blow the original out of the water. And then sometimes, a cover is just good fun.

Hayseed Dixie, a play on AC/DC, is a cover band that specializes in taking everything from hard rock to hip hop and turning it into a bluegrass tour de force.

Originally by Outkast, Roses makes for an interesting cover tune. Check out the original here and see more of Hayseed Dixie here





The music staff at the Daily Telegraph voted Hendrix's cover of Dylan's All Along the Watchtower as the number one cover of all time. I'll agree on a fan-level but for sheer genius I want to go with their number three pick Sid Vicious' cover of Sinatra's "I Did It My Way" I'm not saying it more 'listenable' but the Sex Pistol's lead riffing Blue Eyes? The shock alone ups the level of awesome...



Joe Cocker, for me, remains the definitive cover artist. Who else could improve on the Beatles and Leon Russel? He takes the songs and just owns them. Most times you hear "The Letter" the version was recorded in studio, live. That's just crazy. (And when you've been immortalized by Belushi, you can't help but be cool.)

Originally written for Ella Fitzgerald (nixed from a movie because producers balked at a black woman using the word plebeian) here's Cocker singing "Cry Me a River"



A few other favorites ...
Dolly Parton covering Led's Stairway to Heaven (I know, but shut up. I love her voice.)
Johnny Cash covering NIN's Hurt
10,000 Maniacs covering Patti Smith's Because the Night

***I'm not sure why there are so many comments about no sex offender on Devinney Road. I found it pretty quick ... here's the link

When Mistie Meadows came to me about the bus situation, it was obvious she had done her homework. She had made many, many phone calls trying to resolve the situation. She got answers, she said, but they were not what she wanted to hear. She hoped that publicity about the situation could get something changed. And I hope she's right.

I can assure you, she's looked a lot of possible solutions and thought a lot about how to work things out but a working solution just hasn't presented itself.

For the sake of length, safety and relevance, I left out some of Mistie's story and information... But the story she tells leaves you with a creeped out feeling. For me, the most powerful thing she said was "You never see this guy until the kids are walking home from school."

A few things ...

• The men's charges: Both sex offenders were charged with indecent liberties with a minor. You can look it up on any number of state and watchdog sites. Due to the nature of the crimes, no further information or details of the crimes are available. Both men appear to be following instructions to register as offenders and so far don't seem to have broken any laws in regards to this situation. Any officer will tell you, there's nothing illegal about walking down the road you live on.
  
• The children do not go to an empty home. Their grandmother lives with them but because of poor health cannot drive or walk to get them. Also, house numbers and locations were left vague or completely omitted to protect the children and the offenders which as I've said above really haven't done anything wrong in this situation.
  
• Both W.D. Smith and Bruce Boyles said if there was a place to turn around, the bus would. Many schools have the new, longer buses which has required some routes and turnarounds to be altered. The layout of the road ... well, check it out for yourself, but a bend in the road makes the solution of neighbors watching them safely home impossible.
  
• A comment on the story -- this sums up an appropriate attitude I think and shows that this situation isn't all that rare or easily resolved:

My children live in a cul-de-sac and the school says it isn't long enough for the bus to come down to pick up my children. Something about road lengths. The cul-de sac is plenty big for the bus to go around. This means that I would have to sit in my car at the end of the road wasting that precious gas to keep them warm and then my children would have to ride a different bus home to a day care so that "I" can protect my precious children from a registered offender in our area. Readers, we do care about our children. Not all of us are rich enough to stay at home or pay someone to watch them. My children are old enough to stay home now but the bus situation and sex offenders prevent that from happening. Not all neighbors want to get involved or be bothered. After all they are my children. I do the best I can to protect them. The buses could make the little extra effort to drop them off in front of their homes. Once a sex offender gets hold of your child you can't turn the clock back. Its a simple solution. Drop them off in front of their homes. -- Sherry - Apr 28, 2008 10:33:15 AM

Labels: bus, Cleveland County Schools, education, sex offenders, Waco

Not as catchy as that darn "$5 Footlong" jingle from Subway ... but another chill ad from Nike. The song sampled in it is a great tune called "List of Demands" ... check it out below.

HRH Queen Rania of Jordan had her own YouTube account and is asking for viewers to send her videoed questions about Middle Eastern stereotypes so that she may address them. Here's her message...



Here's a related video I thought was pretty cool...



It's cool to see young adult Muslims and Muslim families in such an honest and positive light...

So, Violet over at the Arts Council showed me these nuggets last week. Take them in.

Labels: Cleveland County Arts Council, county, internet, just for fun, movie, Real to Reel

If you've met me or seen me lumbering down the street, you know that petite is hardly a word that describes Cherish Wilson. In heels, which I frequently wear for work, I'm at the 6'1'' to 6'3'' mark. Barefoot, I stand at 5'11''. So, I'm tall. Not freakishly so, in my opinion, but taller than the average woman.

With my height comes numerous benefits -- I rarely have to ask for help reaching things. It is easy to spot me in a crowd. Most designers now carry a TALL size, so my pants reach past my ankle bone. No one, props their elbow on my head.

It also comes with a few bothersome simple facts -- people always asked if I play basketball. My hands are rather large and my fingers...well, they aren't spindley...but they're very long. (A nickname, bestowed by a well-meaning friend is 'spidermonkey'). If I'm driving another person's car, there are always a good 5 to 10 minutes of adjusting their seat so that my knees aren't under my chin and my head isn't sticking out the sun roof.

Through the years I've found there is only one real disadvantage to my height. And oh, how it plagues me. When I was younger, it caused a level of self-consciousness rivaled in my peers by severe acne or perhaps an extra head. Now that I'm older, it is still the butt of jokes by my co-workers (Graham). I confess to you now, in hopes my sisters will unite and rise together...

I have big feet.

Now, for my frame they don't look so out of place. But set my foot down next to the average woman's...and it's embarrassing. Hell, set it down by the average man's foot and I'd probably give him a run for his money. (But big hand and big feet...I swim like a fish.)

As I fluctuate between size 11 to 11 1/2, outfitting my feet in the latest fashions is sometimes difficult. It's always been this way. For my age I've always had a long, wide foot. Shoe salesladies would 'tut, tut' while measuring my foot. Quietly, they'd suggest something less fashionable, more orthopedic-looking apologizing that it appeared nothing else would fit me. My aunt and grandmother would travel to bigger cities, more specialized boutiques to find me Sunday shoes and summer sandals.

Nowadays, when I find a shoe that fits and looks good, I'm willing to drop any amount of money on the pair. It's my only respite. You can fix a hook nose, you can augment lop-sided breasts, you can suck half a human in fat out of your thighs, you can lose the four-eyes and have LASIK, there is even a surgery that can elongate stubby legs and make you taller.

But the truth remains: ain't no fixin' big feet.

So, imagine my delight to find out that Paris Hilton was coming out with a line of designer shoes.

Don't follow me?

Friends, Paris Hilton is one of those big-footed sisters I was talking about. She wears a size 11.


Hilton (and I) shares a size 11 status with Tyra Banks, Adrianne Curry, Geena Davis, Famke Janssen, Gabrielle Reece, Meg Ryan, Uma Thurman and Kate Winslet (even tiny little Audrey Hepburn wore a 10 1/2).

Admittedly, shoe size is probably all I have in common with any of those women.

Back to Paris' shoe line...go ahead Google it...on Zappos.com...they only go up to size 10! I know this is still large for most of you. But when you wear an 11...it's a slap in the face. After a lot of digging, I've found a vendor that has some 11's but they're limited in color and style. (Kitson is a good boutique site, by the way.)

It should be raining sizes 11 and 12s over there. That's all I'm saying.

Am I right, big-footed sisterhood?

Labels: feet, internet, just for fun, media, Paris Hilton, shoes, spending, weekend

Tonight’s the night. It all comes down to this. The orchestra and the pit. The cast and the stage. The crew and their headphones. Me and my bench.

It’s been quite a ride. I’ve fallen in love with the whole Shelby drama department. I’ve been allowed to be a part of the production as it went from stilted skit to honest-to-goodness, bona fide production. And it’s been fantastic.

Now, it’s time to take all I’ve learned from Kathie Burgin, Steve Padgett and Traci Aderholt and all I’ve learned from each cast and crew member and take to the stage.

On one of my favorite shows, Mythbusters, it’s common for one of the hosts to ‘give the odds.’ He’ll list off possible outcomes and their likelihood in percentages. Through careful planning and experience, the intended outcome is usually the favorite. Often receiving odds of 85 percent. The more outlandish the outcome, the smaller the percentage.

For me, the possibility my time on stage and Oklahoma! go off without a hitch is clocking in at about 89 percent.

I give 4 percent that I trip on my very long dress. Another 4 percent that I’ll trip someone else with my very long dress. There’s a 2 percent chance I fall into the orchestra pit in a whirl of floral pattern and clumsy. The final 1 percent goes to the outcome I actually give into my unwarranted stage fright and spend opening night hyperventilating in a costume closet.

To see how my predictions turn out, come see Oklahoma! and enjoy the show in Malcolm Brown Auditorium on Shelby High’s campus.

Tonight and Saturday, the show begins at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $7 for students (and worth every penny. It’s a heck of show even if I don’t take a header into the pit.)

Labels: education, Oklahoma, schools

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