After fourteen seasons, MadTV is finally being taken off the air. Most of the time, MadTv was more than a tadbit painful and unfunny to me. However, over the years they have had a few sketches that were pretty stinking funny. Michael McDonald, Stephanie Weir, Mo Collins, Will Sasso and Alex Borstein were among my favorite cast members in the amazing sketches. At least with the goodness of youtube, these gems will never be forgotten. So because I have a feeling you’ve missed them… Here are a few of my favorite MadTV sketches. (Each is just one in a sketch arc, so please please please checkout all of the others.)

Dot:

Stuart:

Miss Swan:

This TayTay video ranks up there with the classic J-Lo/Ja Rule BSM Video scavenger hunt masterpieces. (Like when we reenacted the Titanic, made fun of Anna’s CZ ring, and danced in front of the mall.  Oh, the memories and night vision.)  If you don’t get the doll/phone references toward the end of the video, be glad you have enough of a life to not understand but ask me because it’s brilliant.  No wonder I have a girl crush on Miss Taylor in the non-creepy way of course.

IMHO, the best thing to come out of this political season (entertainment-wise, that is) has to be this sketch from Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update Thursday.  It’s a pretty big deal to get Will Ferrell back on the show, and this was brilliant!  Enjoy…

As always Zac has great taste when it comes to music, and on my last voyage to the homeland of cotton, cows, and copper, he introduced me to one of my favorite new songs. I don’t listen to country music all day every day, but it’s hard to be in Willcox and not want to roll the windows down and drive slowly through town listening to country music. Something wonderful has been in the air as of late, and this song expresses that sentiment perfectly.  So listen! Watch!  Love!  Live!  And it’d sure be nice if you would roll with me.

Montgomery Gentry - Roll With Me

Wake up in the morning
Get to living my life
Making sure that Im all that I can be
Went to church on Sunday
There was a moment that came
I swear it was like the Lord spoke right to me

So now I’m slowing it down and I’m looking around
And I’m lovin’ this town and I’m doing alright
Aint’ worried ’bout nothing except the man I wanna be
I’m thinking it’s time to be livin’ the rhyme
When I’m singing a song about nothing but right
And it’d sure be nice if you would roll with me

Saw a kid last winter only twenty years old
Being laid to rest while his mom stood by his side
Sure was hard to watch those tears roll down her face
Made me think how we all just have our time

So now I’m slowing it down and I’m looking around
And I’m lovin/ this town and I’m doing alright
Aint’ worried ’bout nothing except the man I wanna be
I’m thinking it’s time to be livin’ the rhyme
When I’m singing a song about nothing but right
And it’s sure be nice if you would roll with me

Who knows whats ahead
I think I’d rather not know instead

So now I’m slowing it down and I’m looking around
And I’m lovin this town and I’m doing alright
Aint’ worried ’bout nothing except the man I wanna be
I’m thinking it’s time to be livin’ the rhyme
When I’m singing a song about nothing but right
And it’s sure be nice if you would roll with me

Today is music day. Yay!!!  I had originally planned to spice things up around here a bit with this lil album I got from Lauren called “Punk Goes Crunk”, but to be real with you, my crunk hasn’t been that punk this week.  So they’ll be no ‘California Lovin’ for you. (Don’t worry you’ll be getting to hear it soon enough.)  What has been spinning right round, baby, in my musical existance has been the new Ryan Adams and the Cardinals album “Cardinology” that I mentioned earlier in the week.  By some great pirating miracle I have a copy in my hands before its official release and want to share its greatness with you more than I want to see Lute stick around for another season.  However, I will restrain myself and make you wait until it can be legally obtained.  Maybe everyone could go purchase it on Tuesday, and then we could listen to it together… in a circle holding hands.  My place Thursday 8 pm.  Be there or be square.  Until then, here’s the first single “Fix It” for your listening pleasure.  (I’m totally serious about the circle and next week.)

Love the song and the video.  Say what you want, but this girl is truly talented.  This song will be in my head for days.

Spend a few hours with my mom’s family, and you’ll begin to truly understand where Zac and I get our obsessive need for music. My grandfather has led the singing at whatever church he’s been at for yours. My mom, aunt, and uncle play the piano and sing. All thirteen cousins sing and/or play an instrument, and each of us has a unique, musical style. I guess calling our family “musical” would be a bit of an understatement.

One of the simplest joys in my Grandfather’s life has always been singing the ol’ hymns with his children and grandchildren. Whenever family is gathered, a group of us makes our way down to the basement piano to sing with “Grandbob” (as he’s been affectionately named) even if you aren’t a ’singer’. Despite our varied musical tastes, each of us have a love for those old hymns that we grew up singing in church and in that basement. To this day when I sing hymns in church, I hear his voice in the back of my head.

Like so many others, this trip was no different. With my Aunt Rena at the piano bench, Grandbob, Zac, Evan and I found time on two separate occasions to bond at the piano. Grandma made her way down the stairs to listen, and Grandbob was ecstatic. From “The Solid Rock” to “Shall We Gather At The River”, each of our voices blended together, and I struggled to not dissolve into tears at the uncertainty of how many more of these opportunities we’ll get with Grandbob. Upon my return home, I was delighted to discover in the middle of our musical moment another cousin had grabbed my camera and filmed a bit of it.

This week’s musical moment is a bit more personal than most. It’s a low-quality, poor-audio clip of one of the happiest moments in my life singing with my family and letting the music remind each of us of the blessing of music and the strong tie that binds us together.