Here is a little re-cap of just how it all went down:

• Shipmercury – mostly just Austinite Chris Grant. Heavily influenced by Talking Heads and Radiohead. Though occasionally to melodic, Shipmercury is the perfect soundtrack for a rainy day in Austin (likely the result of aqueous sounds present in songs).
• Victoria Noll – Noll of Los Angeles, encompassed a completely indie vocal style with a very basic acoustic sound. Think Jenny Lewis without any of her bands.
• Princess Ho concluded the evening with a very rocking set. The band included Grant with housemates Miles Kelly and  a third member known only as “Blue.” Unlike other acts of the night, Princess Ho seemed to be completely original. Overall, the hooks were completely infectious (which made up for the detached lyrics).

You can find all of these acts on myspace.com and Victoria Noll has several videos up on youtube.com.

In the last few months infomercials, in what appears to an effort to appear more credible, have switched from cheap, attention-getting dialogue to mock news report platforms. The worst part? It totally works.

I first saw the infomercial for Supple ( a drink mix that allegedly helps aid, and even cure, arthritis) while I was waiting to get the oil changed in my car. The set looked remarkably similar to that of Larry King Live, so for a while I was sucked in…until I saw the number flashing at the bottom of the screen.

Then, last night, I saw the same sort of setup for a get-rich-quick software.

Are these products effective? Who knows. Is this news show trend in infomercials effective? Quite possibly. Though it took me a while to figure out that Larry King isnt’ actually on in the middle of the day, some may never have come to that realization.  May advice, judge whether you think this new infomercial format works… just make sure you allow enough time for sleep the following morning.

What is GoogleWave?

Despite having an account for a week, I’m still not quite sure. This video has helped my understanding…if only just a bit.

1. “Heartbreak Warfare” – Very U2 sound, lyrics original and poignant, but very repetitive.
2. “All We Ever Do is Say Goodbye” – Seemingly heavily influenced by John Lennon‘s solo stuff (think “Jealous Guy” or the Beatles “Day in the Life“). Way too repetitive. Seriously, enough is enough.
3. “Half of My Heart” (with Taylor Swift) – reminiscent of Mayer’s 2003 release Heavier Things. Swifts vocals are virtually undetectable. While “Half of My Heart” has a nice little groove to it, the non-sensical lyrics detract too much for the pleasant sound.
4. “Who Says” – The first single off of Battle Studies, “Who Says” is one Mayer’s trademark, short but poignant pieces about the disillusionment that comes with getting older.
5. “Perfectly Lonely” – About the contentment with being alone in life. Classic Mayer (blues/pop). More blues driven than any other song on Battle Studies, reminiscent of Continuum.
6. “Assassin” – Easily the edgiest of any other track, “Assassin” utilized South African beats with a funk-based hook. About the stealth-like skills required to have a one night stand.
7. “Crossroads” – Electronic, funk, cover, only really upbeat song on Battle Studies.
8. “War of My Life” – About the urge to steer away from settling (kind of like “Why Georgia”‘s cousin).
9. “Edge of Desire” – Overall dull, guitar solo not great but substantial.
10. “Do You Know Me” – lovely, serene, dreamlike.
11. “Friends, Lovers of Nothing” – futility of friends-with-benefits relationships.
12. “I’m On Fire” – Bruce Springsteen cover minus the synthesizer. Perfectly sweet.

Battle Studies is not Mayer’s best album, in fact, it may be his worst. It is however, great to listen to when you do not want to be distracted. If you’re a JM fan, I don’t need to recommend this album you probably already own it. But if you are not a Mayer fan, check out this album before the others.

It’s tiny (though it does have a large patio), but the free wi-fi and many beverage choices make it the perfect place to study. You must try the rose lemonade. The baristas always play great music and the overall environment is laid-back. So if you need a place to cram, check out my personal fave, The Green Muse at 519 W. Oltorf.

Last week, news broke that Pro Golfer Tiger Woods  was in a car accident at 2:30AM outside his Florida home. Then the public learned that two golf clubs were lying outside Woods’ SUV. According to Tiger’s wife, she used the golf clubs to break the windows of the vehicle so that Tiger could get out.

Now, a week later, the public knows of at least one of mistress, who was said to have fueled the couple’s dispute and up to four other women have claimed to have a sexual relationship with Woods.

Woods is far from the first athlete to be accused of adultery, but the question on everybody’s mind seems to be whether or not Woods will lose any endorsements as a result of this scandal.

P.S. that “mega-watt” bit, my idea!

Vampire Weekend‘s sophomore album, Contra is set to be released January 12, 2010 in the U.S. but you can download the track “Horchata,” here for free and preview the first single “Cousins,” on the band’s website.

Album available for purchase in the U.S. January 12, 2010.

• Sue convinced Principal Figginns to not let the glee clubers have a photo in the McKinely High Yearbook.
• The kids have decided not to have a glee club photo in the yearbook
• Mr. Schuester convinces Figgins to sell him advertising space in the yearbook so that two glee clubers may be featured.
• In order to boost moral for the yearbook photo, Rachael arranges to have the glee club featured in a commercial for a local mattress store.
• Will finds out that Terri is not actually pregnant and heads back to the high school to sleep in his office. When he arrives at his office he finds a stack mattresses and spends the night on one of them.
• When sees the mattress store commercial, she notifies Mr. Figgins and he decides to pull the glee club from competing in the all important sectionals meet.
• Quinn blackmails Sue into giving a full page in the yearbook to the glee club.
• Will informs the club that he cannot accompany them to sectionals since he was technically the one to accepted the mattresses.

Though this episode of Glee did not feature any particularly spectacular musical numbers, the drama was in full effect. You can catch up on past episodes at hulu.com.

This is what a loaf of Challah should look like:

This is what my Challah looked like:

Though my challah tasted good, the appearance was not quite right. Too bad I don’t have a yenta to teach the proper way to braid, this Jewish bread.