Digging the Tracks - Part 3

Before we return you to the next installment of Digging the Tracks, let me announce that the invitations have gone out and the RSVPs have started to trickle in!

And now, back to our scheduled program.

Where did we leave off? Oh yes, we are now on track 9 - I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance.

Douglas got into My Chem before I did. I ended up being hooked by this song, I'm Not Okay, while working on my last semester in college. There were plenty of days where this was just the right ballad to belt with to express the frustrations of the day. As My Chem put out more music, our affinity for the group grew. When The Black Parade came out, we were blown away. This will always be one of our top favorite albums and we may have never gotten into it was it not for I'm Not Okay (I Promise).

Track 10 - A Favor House Atlantic. You wouldn't know from it's placement on the album, but this one's a biggie. This tune is from one of the most important bands to us: Coheed and Cambria. Douglas and I can track our relationship by Coheed tunes and it all started with A Favor House Atlantic. Pre-dating, Douglas made Crystal many CD mixes. There was one mix he made sure to note had special meaning, so listen carefully. Most of the songs were new to me and one of them had this girl shrieking about a sniper with a good eye. I couldn't make heads or tails of the intent of the song and the voice was just odd. Imagine my surprise when I caught the music video and saw that it was actually being sung by a dude with a huge fro!

That was my introduction to Claudio Sanchez, the lead singer of Coheed. Douglas was digging the group. When he learned that the whole point of the band was to tell a story and that there was a comic to supplement the music, he was hooked! It took me another album or two to dig enough songs to actually say that I was a Coheed fan, but I came around. Early in our relationship, we learned that they were going to be doing a concert in Atlanta on my birthday weekend - Douglas had to go. We drove down and back in one, exhausting day. The opening act had fallen ill so we ended up getting a double dose of Coheed in some amphitheater out in the middle of nowhere. Since then, we've been able to see Coheed in DC and twice in Charlotte. Douglas has done a meet and greet, and I've had Claudio wave back at me as I caught him sneaking back onto a tour bus. Every time we've seen Coheed, they've put on a hell of a show. They're just as awesome doing acoustic sets as they are plugged in. They have such an eclectic sound and it varies from album to album. There's a song for every mood. On our wedding day, listen careful, because I promise at least one Coheed tune will make an appearance.

Track 11 - A little less serious. Most people know this song from one of two places - either as a Cake tune or as the theme from the TV show, Chuck. We are fans of both Cake and Chuck, so Short Skirt/Long Jacket quickly became one of our favs. Track 12 - Cobrastyle, is also from Chuck, so let's combine these two for story time. If you've never watched Chuck, it's a show made for the masses, but definitely takes specific aim at geeks like us. Two of the main characters, Chuck and Morgan, are full fledged geeks. They work at the Buy More (fictional Best Buy) where they fix electronics and work on the sales floor. They own collectables from movies like Tron and Star Wars (yes, I had to provide a link to Star Wars. Sadly, there are folks our age that have never seen the films). The show throws in obvious references (buying a delorean) as well as more subtle references (any number of movie lines thrown in as normal dialog). With its humor, decent story telling, and geek references, the show easily won us over. Plus, who doesn't enjoy watching Casey slip into Jayne Cobb every now and then?

Jayne with his gun, Vera - Firefly

So, we're geeks. If this shocks you, then you really haven't spent more then five minutes with us. ;-)

Track 13 should not come as a shock to anyone - White & Nerdy by Weird Al. The original song that this one parodies drives me crazy (no pun intended) as it came out while I worked at a local top 40 radio station and heard the song at least once an hour. I rolled my eyes when I heard Weird Al was going to parody it because I was so sick of the song, I didn't want to hear any version of it again! Good thing I decided to check it out because it was, as most Weird Al songs are, awesome! (I am one of those people who ends up singing Weird Al lyrics during the original tunes because the Weird Al lyrics take over). After learning the lyrics, we were able to catch the music video - major geek out include science references, pop culture symbols, and Seth Green, one of the biggest geek icons!

Toys! Robot Chicken! Weird Al! 

Weird Al and Seth Green have both done their fair share of Star Wars parodies. (oh no, not Star Wars again! - Oh yes!)

 

However, it took the movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno for us to find the gem that is track 14 on our STD CD. Fett's Vette by MC Chris is a little rap ditty about Boba Fett from his point of view, if he was gangsta. For those who don't know, everyone, Boba Fett, Boba Fett, everyone.

He'd say hi but he's dead - Spoiler Alert!

So why do we did Fett's Vette? Is it just because it's a song about a Star Wars character? No, please, we have more cred than that. Let me give you a sample of the lyrics:

Gotta make the money
Credit's no good
When the jawas run a shop
In your neighborhood

Think you can cook?
I got a grappling hook
Let's make this quick
'Cause I'm really booked

I'm a devious degenerate
Defender of the devil
Shut down all the trash compactors
On the detention level

chorus
My backpack's got jets
Well I'm Boba the Fett
Well I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt
To finance my 'Vette

wicky wicky woo

Well I chill in deep space
A mask is over my face
Well I deliver the prize
But I still narrow my eyes
'Cause my time
I don't like to waste.

And with that, we end our geek section. The next installment of Digging the Tracks will take us down a more romantic route, but, as you know with us, with great romance comes great comedy.

Who Needs a March?

Not I!

From Day 1, I knew I would not be walking down the aisle to the Wedding March or Canon in D or Greensleeves. I love classical music and love when a bride walks down the aisle to airy strings. However, it's just not my style. We've been doing our best to avoid making any part of the ceremony or reception feel like a performance. We want to be in the moment and experience it and the best way to do that is make sure you're comfortable. When it comes to the ceremony, the music is going to make or break the mood. I can only imagine the nerves that couples experience as soon as the groom heads up to the front and the bride gets ready for her entrance. I really started thinking about these nerves after this past weekend. Louis, Douglas, and I went to IHOP for my birthday dinner (I looooooove breakfast!). The waitress heard Douglas mention that it was my birthday which prompted her to withhold our check until she could round up the trainees and have them sing to me. I have never been comfortable being the focus of attention, and apparently still am not, even if it's just a handful of people (the restaurant was mostly empty). The boys enjoyed the fact that I turned fire engine red. So I can only imagine that in those penultimate moments, I will be latched onto my poor Dad's arm so tightly!

The good thing is that if I have a few wits about me, I'll remember to focus on the music. While I won't spill the beans on the full processional line-up, because there may be a gem or two in there that will be better realized while you're there, I will divulge the artist we are focusing on for most of the ceremony music.

If you know us as a couple, this won't come as too much of a surprise.

Oh yeah! We've found a way to work Coheed into the ceremony! Coheed has been in our lives almost as long as we've been together. "A Favor House Atlantic" was on a CD Douglas made me shortly before we started dating. It took me a while to warm up to the band, but Douglas fell head over heels. The albums and comics kept coming and our relationship kept growing. Now I can't help but dance around when "Blood Red Summer" or "Feathers" comes on either of our iPods. Monday we went (migraine and all for Douglas) to our fourth Coheed show. They never put on a bad show and their music always strikes a chord for us. It's only fitting that the music that we can literally chart our relationship by is the music we hear on the day we get married.

This makes so much sense, that it may sound like it was a no-brainer. It was, when we finally got around to it. If there is one lesson I've learned through wedding planning, it's that seemingly simple choices get infinitely harder when you give them significance. The more significance you pile on, the closer to impossible the decision becomes. While compiling the STD CDs, Doug and I had put together at least four pages, front and back, of song that had some meaning to us. Having that done, I figured we'd just have to shave it down to figure out our ceremony music and reception dance music. WRONG. The STD CD ended up going through several re-imaginings before we ended up with something that was us and something we felt was the right tease/lead-in for the wedding. During our night walks with Kaylee we'd brainstorm on the music we'd like to walk down to, both with serious suggestions and ridiculous ones. Some we hated less than others, but nothing really struck a chord. Sometimes you just need to hear the right version at the right time for it to click, and when it clicked with Coheed, it felt right. Another lesson learned during planning - you'll know when it's right.

Sadly, we're not having as much luck with our reception music (first dance, father/daughter, mother/son), but we have plenty of time to work it out. Note to self - 6 months out, can't use "plenty of time" for much longer.

LESS THAN 200 DAYS!