Free MP3 Music Madness... a plethora of great stuff, plus free TV shows!

Howdy folks! It's time for this week's free-and-legal MP3 Madness. Perhaps you're wondering what I'm looking so excited about?? Well, my answer would have to the TV and movie downloads I just found available for free via iTunes. Yes, full episodes!! (and the crowds go wild! Oooooh ahhhhh ooooooh ahhhhhh)

Err, please excuse that girl sitting behind the keyboard... she's groggy from last night's NyQuil, even though it's now 2:26 pm. Sad, huh?

In any case, since I'm excited about iTunes for the first time in a while, we'll head over there first in this week's tour of free-and-legal downloads. Awaiting us we will find full episodes of:
  • NCIS: Los Angeles
  • Parks and Recreation
  • Mercy
  • Jim Henson's Dinosaur Train
  • Modern Family
  • The Good Wife
  • Brothers
  • Accidentally on Purpose
There are a ton of other sneak peaks and show clips too, but ignore those for the moment and keep scrolling down. Keep scrolling. Yeah, there at the bottom. See that one, Truth in 24? No, it isn't a behind-the-scenes look at the science of Jack Bauer... it's a full-length and very well reviewed documentary of the famous 3,000 mile race Le Mans. I don't even like cars, let alone movies about cars, and I still can't help but be psyched about this one!

The music available on iTunes this week is also pretty decent, with a track from the British band Animal Kingdom, an extra track from the collaborative fund raising CD Tck Tck Tck, and a very fun and upbeat Latin download from the artist Kany Garcia.

Other favorites I discovered this week include:

Pop & Easy Listening (aka, hard to categorize...):
Carly Simon (via artist's website)
Gary Go (via Borders -- a different track than Amazon had last week!)
Jer Coons (via Muruch)

Indie Rock:
Rufus Wainwright (via Amazon, limited time availability)
John Vanderslice (via Paste Magazine)
Los Campesinos! (via Fingertips)
God Help the Girl (via Fingertips)
M. Ward (live concert recording, via NPR)

Jazz:
Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Astrud Gilberto, et al (Verve Vaults sampler, via Amazon)
Dave Brubeck, Claudia Acuna, et al (Jazz festival 12 track sampler, via NPR)

Gospel and CCM:
Ted Winn (via Amazon)
B. Reith (via Amazon, multiple tracks. Very fun upbeat style!)
The Famous Rocks of Harmony, et al (via Zatarain's website, must have a UPC to download. I don't want to post a code here 'cuz I feel that would be a little unethical, but I have three boxes of Zatarain's sitting on my shelf if anybody wants to email me for one of those).

Folk:
Iron and Wine, Fleet Foxes, Joan Baez, Avett Brothers, et al (Folk festival sampler, via NPR)

Classical/Instrumental:
Direct Aid Iraq sampler Under the Rose
Joshua Bell and Tiempo Libre (via Amazon)
Italian band Ronin (via Muruch)

World Music:
Nouvelle Vague (French band, lyrics in English, via Muruch)

Kids/Family:
Kenny Loggins All Join In (via artist's website)
Music for Little People (multiple downloads, via store site)

There's also a sampler of 17 tracks from the Austin City Limits available for free download and including lots of different styles and genres, so be sure to check that out too... my favorite is the one from Lisa Hannigan.

That's all for now, so have fun with it! As always, don't forget that many of the MP3 Madness selections from previous weeks are still available, so if you missed any be sure to flip back through and check those posts out as well. And make sure you're subscribed to my blog via email or RSS, so you can be in the know for next time too! Happy listening, and tell your iPod a hearty "You're welcome" from me. ;)

Thanks to Bargain Briana and A Cheap Chick's Ray of Sunshine for the head's up on several of these!

PS Don't forget the polls to the left! I very much would appreciate your input. :)


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Update.... chaos ERUPTS!! (Well sorta.)

Hello friends! It's been a long time... again. Sadly the last couple of weeks have seemed to be purposely conspiring to keep me from blogging, come hell or high water. And I mean that last part rather literally, because my poor city recently experienced two+ straight weeks of rain, with some quite disastrous flooding as a result. The flooding effected myself and my family rather directly in fact, so first I was distracted by that and then more recently I came down with what we originally thought was swine flu... dun duh DUH!!! But before you start disinfecting your computer screen for fear of my typing imparting germs to you, I should add that I never got a fever, which seems to make it likely that I just have a bad cold. If it was swine flu, then let me just say that it isn't nearly as scary as it's cracked up to be. (at which point I pause to knock on wood, 'cuz if this "cold" doesn't go away soon I'm sure I'll be back to cursing H1N1 along with the rest of the population)

Regardless of my specific diagnosis, just take my word for it that things have been hella hectic. It would also seem that my ADD gets worse when my immune system is battling invaders... I guess every iota of concentration I possess is currently directed at outing whatever virus or bacteria is waging war on me. I've been having trouble getting ANYTHING done. But yeah, enough excuses. This week I'll aim for two more posts, and then next week we'll do a green goals update, some kind of movie/TV review, and hopefully one more. Ease back into it, right??

I'm trying to rethink aspects of my blog, so if there is something you especially like or dislike I would LOVE to hear feedback. Topics I'm mulling over include... is my blog too unstructured? Should there be more focus/parallelism in posts? Should I have regular guest posts to vary things up? How many times a week do people even want to read what I have to say?? There are some blogs that I've stopped reading because they posted too prolifically and wore me out... where does the"too much talking!!" line lie, anyhow??? And the biggest question of all.. What type of posts are great, and which ones have people totally bored and *gasp!* they just aren't telling me?? I tend to lose perspective inside my head really quickly, so outside opinions are huge.

Also, I want to do a giveaway... what are the most exciting giveaways to you personally? Are giftcards better than products?? Is an iTunes giftcard better than a CD, or does that just totally depend on who's CD it is?? I've created a couple of polls to try to get a feel for the giveaway question, as well as to figure out what posting topics my blog "does best." If you take a minute to tag a couple of radio buttons and submit your opinion, I'll be your best friend for forever!! Scroll over in that direction, and bask in the glow of my warmest affection... and if the polls miss the point entirely, or you have more opinions than such a narrow medium can communicate, please comment or email me. My warm affection will turn into a positive blaze if you do... a blaze I say! ;P

Here's hoping your life has involved less rain and more good health than mine has recently. Stay tuned for fresh posts and an awesome giveaway in the very near future!
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Free MP3 Madness!! Harry Connick Jr, Gary Go, Brett Dennen, The Cool Kids, Jars of Clay, and more!

Is the download you're looking for no longer available?  :(  Free-and-legal tracks are often offered only temporarily, so I'm sorry if you have missed the window for this one.  Look to the right to subscribe via email, feed reader, blogloving, twitter, etc, and I'll make sure that you never miss out on free music again!

Wow time flies... time again for MP3 Madness! Check out the free-and-legal goodies available this week, and be sure to note that some of them will expire shortly so get them while you can!

Pop:
Gary Go: Walking on a Dream (single track, via Amazon)
Kate and Kacey: Dreaming Love (single track, via Campbell's Labels for Education site)
Crosby Loggins: Time to Move (single track, via Campbell's Labels for Education site)

Easy Listening:
Harry Connick Jr: Just The Way You Are (via Borders free Media download)

Folk:
A Mourning Rain: Sea Song (single track, via Muruch- sounds a lil like The Decemberists to me)

World Music:
Baaba Maal: Television (single track, via Paste Magazine)
Soy Un Caballo: Robin (single track, via Amazon)

Indie & Singer/Songwriter:
M. Ward, Conor Oberst, et al: Monsters of Folk (STREAMING ONLY, full album, via MySpace)
Brett Dennen: World Keeps Turning, Make You Crazy, others (multiple tracks, via Daytrotter)
Amazing Baby: Supreme Being (single track, via Green Label Sound - Au Revoir Simone on backup vocals!)

Rap /R&B:
The Cool Kids: Delivery Man (single track, via Green Label Sou nd)

Christian Contemporary:
Jars of Clay: Two Hands (track off a sampler, via Creation Festival site- check out the rest too!)
Lincoln Brewster: Salvation is Here (track off a sampler, via Creation Festival site)
Thousand Foot Krutch: The Flame in All of Us (track off a sampler, via Creation Festival site)

Dance/Electronica:
Seepeoples: Apocalypse Cow Volume II (full CD available via artists' website- called "hybrid rock and electronic sound." Really fun actually!)
Holy Ghost!: I Will Come Back (three mixes of the track available, via Green Label Sound)
Flosstradamus with Caroline Polachek: Big Bills (single track, via Green Label Sound)

Don't forget that many of the MP3 Madness selections from previous weeks are still available, including downloads from pop sensations Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez. Flip back through and check those posts out, and subscribe to my blog via email or RSS now so you can be in the know for next time too!

Big thanks to my fellow free-and-legal music lover at A Cheap Chick's Ray of Sunshine for tracking down some of these downloads for us!!
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The Best of Real Simple's "New Uses for Old Things"

Today I was checking out Real Simple's new 50 All-Time Favorite New Uses for Old Things list. Since I've been an avid reader for quite a while, I didn't figure I'd find many new ideas...but did I ever! Several of these will also make great ways to meet my monthly green goal to "find a new use for something that would otherwise be thrown away," which makes it doubly exciting. With so many ideas available there's definitely something for everyone, but here are five of my favorites:

Wrapping the corners of hangers with rubberbands to prevent spaghetti-strap sundresses from ending up on the bottom of the closet...

Using a hotel shower cap as a handy-dandy "shoe wrapper" when packing extras for a trip, preventing them from tracking any dirt into your suitcase...

Using a magnet to stick tweezers or nail clippers to the inside of a metal medicine cabinet...

Using shower-curtain hooks to hang purses and other items from the pole in the closet...

And my #1 all-time favorite "New Use for Old Things":

Using an old contact case as a compact, non-rattling pill case for traveling. Basically, this is brilliant. I'm constantly forgetting to take my medication and vitamins with me when I go out of town, so now I'm planning to load up an old contact case (well-washed, naturally) with all those irritatingly forgettable little capsules, and just leave it in my purse permanently. Dilemma, SOLVED. Life, SIMPLER.

And that's just how I like it. ;)

This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday, over at We're THAT Family. Check it out for more great ideas and tips!!
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I did NOT just... Neon blue edition!!

I did NOT stick a huge bottle of fabric softener (think Sam's Club, laundry-for-a-village here) in my trunk during the moving process, and then deliberately leave it there for several days. Sometime after that, I did NOT think to myself as I was driving down the road, "Hey somebody's doing laundry in this neighborhood, and they use the same fabric softener as --" before pulling over so quick that anyone watching would probably have thought I had found a snake in the passenger seat. I did NOT find this waiting for me:
My car DOES smell mysteriously fresh and clean lately though...

I DID stick a variety of small odds and ends into my brand-new trashcan as a handy-dandy method of conveying them all into my apartment... but I did NOT spend the next week wondering where on earth my makeup bag had gotten to. It did NOT spend that time nestled neatly under the garbage bag inside the trashcan. If my makeup bag needs deodorizing, I can always just stick it in my trunk for a while...

I did NOT buy a box of Nutty Buddies and then proceed to develop a pack-a-day habit. I am NOT worried about going into withdrawals once they're gone. I really need to try to train myself so that when I see them in the store I don't think, "Oooh peanut butter and chocolate deliciousness, nom nom!" but rather think, "Oh look, I could buy that extra four pounds I've always wanted..."

I did NOT spill red hair dye on the floor and then fail to clean it up sufficiently... and people visiting my bathroom now would NOT suspect that someone had been stabbed there while brushing his teeth. Yes, my apartment is quite a dangerous place. Exercise caution.

I did NOT leave the top drawer of my "craft dresser" open briefly one evening, oblivious to the danger it presented... My cats did NOT then proceed to use it as some kind of trampoline while I was busy in the other room. They did NOT knock the whole dang dresser over, and did NOT break my treasured porcelain bank into about twenty pieces. I did NOT cry like a baby when I rushed from the other room and discovered it. (It belonged to my mother when she was little and then sat on my dresser from toddler-hood on, so the format of this last one is just pure denial folks...)

I did NOT trip over a curb and totally wipe out in front of Walgreens as I was turning to say goodbye to some friends I had run into... My first thought was NOT "Oh no, I hope I didn't break my new shampoo!" My second thought was NOT "Hey, this will make good blog fodder..." But my third thought WAS "Ouch." The resulting bruise covers the majority of my knee, and is a spectacular combination of three or four quite vivid colors.

It HAS been a rather exhausting week and a half. The solution? Coffee and beer. Oops, did I just say that out loud?? Cheers! Here's to another Monday, and another week. ;)

This post is part of Not ME Monday, over at My Charming Kids. Check it out, and join the (rueful) fun!
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Free MP3 Madness!! From Radiohead to Veggie Tales to Sondre Lerche to Selena Gomez, and everything in between!

Is the download you're looking for no longer available?  :(  Free-and-legal tracks are often offered only temporarily, so I'm sorry if you have missed the window for this one.  Look to the right to subscribe via email, feed reader, blogloving, twitter, etc, and I'll make sure that you never miss out on free music again!

Free music madness is finally upon us again!! And since I skipped last week, I'll try to make this week extra good to make up for it. I'll be going by category this week, and maybe in the future too if we like it divided that way...

Alternative:
Radiohead (via Radiohead website, single track)
Ravonettes (via Amazon, single track)
Hawthorn Heights (via Amazon, single track on a sampler)

Pop:
Selena Gomez (via Seventeen Magazine, single track, download code: debutselena)
A Fine Frenzy (via artist's website)
Krista (via Amazon, single track)
Brooke White (via Amazon, single track)
Shanna Crooks (via Clean and Clear website)

Indie Rock:
Taken by Trees (via Borders Free Media Download)
Katie Todd Band (via Meijer: Outside the Mainstream, single track)
Sondre Lerche (via Amazon, single track from new album)
Rain Machine (via Paste Magazine)
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (via Amazon, single track on a sampler)
The Donnas (via Amazon, single track on a sampler)

Singer/Songwriter:
Caroline Smith and the Goodnight Sleeps (via Daytrotter, multiple tracks)
Jolie Holland (via Daytrotter, multiple tracks)
Kate Walsh (via Amazon, multiple tracks)

Classical and Instrumental:
Extensive Free-and-Legal Classical library (via classiccat.net, multiple tracks)
A Place of Quiet Rest ~ Instrumental piano (via the artist's website, full CD)
Eternal Baroque (via Amazon, full cd)
Romantic Moments sampler (via Amazon, multiple tracks)
Andres Segovia ~ Classical Guitar (via Amazon, single track)

Jazz:
Gabriel Mark Hasselbach (via V98.7 Smooth Jazz, single track)
Dean Marcellana Latin Jazz Trio (via Meijer: Outside the Mainstream, single track)

Country:
Brad Cotters (via Country Weekly, single track)
Chris Hanners (via Country Weekly, single track)
Jerry Lee Lewis (via Amazon, single track)

Rap & Hip-Hop:
Izza Kizza (via 2K Sports)
Donnie Bravo (via 2K Sports)

Folk and Bluegrass:
Jennie DeVoe (via Meijer: Outside the Mainstream)
Greensky Bluegrass (via Meijer: Outside the Mainstream)
Will Hoge (via Amazon, single track off a full sampler)

World:

Turkish Hits Vol 1 (via Amazon, full CD)
Saavan Celebrates Bollywood (via Amazon, full CD)
Cat Music Presents: Music from Romania (via Amazon, full CD~ lyrics in English)

Kids:
Veggie Tales "I Can Love Because God Loves Me" Download
They Might Be Giants "I am a Paleontologist" (via Paste Magazine)
Full episodes of Sesame Street (via iTunes)

Giveaways!
There are currently giveaways for five different CDs on the Muruch music blog, including Will Hoge and Son Volt's newest, so be sure to stop by and enter!!

I wasn't very impressed with anything on iTunes this week, but if you're into "sneak peeks" of the upcoming seasons of your favorite TV shows, a ton of those are available. Note that some of the downloads I have mentioned will expire or change to something new at the beginning of next week, so if you want something grab it now! Let me know what you think of the new format, whether you find any new favorites... Enjoy this week's free-and-legal deluge of music!!

Note: Thanks to Shopping Frugal, Frugal Dr. Mom, "Cents"able Momma, and Cheap Chick's Ray of Sunshine for the heads-up on some of these great downloads!
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Moving! And talking cats!! And lots and lots of bruises!!

A week ago I moved for the third time in a year. I know that that's not really a record, but it sure feels like it should be! It came about very simply really, and with no drama or broken leases; I simply moved so that I could live with a friend last summer, and then moved again six months later because we had found a cheaper apartment. Six months after that (also known as, "now") my roommate decided to move to Ohio to be closer to family, and so we both stuffed all our possessions in boxes and headed off into the sunset yet again.

My new place is a cute little attic apartment. It's actually more spacious then you'd think from that description, but it has slanted ceilings (the better to wack your head on my dear!) and some fun little nooks and crannies, which is why i call it "cute" and "little". God only knows how many brain cells have died as a result of the repeated head trauma I've suffered over the last two weeks due to those ceilings... My scalp is probably pretty bruised underneath my hair. If you could see those bruises though, your reaction would most likely just be something like, "oh look, it matches the rest of her!" I'm carrying around a lot of those spotty blue bruise things currently; souvenirs of the winning combination of Clumsy and Moving. But oh well.

My poor little cats were fairly traumatized by the move, possibly due to the fact that they spent a night by themselves in my new apartment... they were shut up safely in the bathroom with all their things, and plenty of blankets to sleep on, but they were alone and in a new place nonetheless. I'm pretty sure their conversation that evening went like this:

Cat 1: I wanna go hoooooome!!
Cat 2: Whar you go lady?? Comes back!
Cat 1: Helloes? Lady??
Cat 2: Da lady gone bye-bye.
Cat 1: Aw noes... da lady thot we wuzn't nice?
Cat 2: ZOMG -- WHAT IF DA FOOD RUNS OUT???
*horrified silence*

As a result of the fear of abandonment (and/or starvation) that evening stirred up in them, they've been a great deal more affectionate lately. They used to be a little on the aloof side, and now I can't even walk across my apartment without tripping over little furry bodies rubbing up against my ankles. I think they want to be certain I have no incentive to pull such a stunt on them ever again, but don't tell them I know! I like the cuddlier aspects of their personalities that are emerging.

The three of us are all a lot more settled in now, and so I'll be resuming posting more regularly. Fear not, Bored Denizens of the world -- I shall return, and soon! My unofficial "blog sabbatical" is officially coming to an end. Stay tuned! ;)
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