When Ben (my husband) and I first started hanging out he tried to win my heart by giving me two cds.  He gave me his band’s (Young Agent Jones) recent cd and a mixed cd.  It worked.  Also this cd introduced me to The Shins, which is now one of my favorite bands.  I’m sure my best friend Nikki got so sick of hearing these cds during our 30 minute commute to and from the W (Mississippi University for Women).

My First Mixed Cd from Ben

1. Ash- “A Life Less Ordinary”
2. Alkaline Trio- “Cooking Wine”
3. Cruiserweight- “Cautionary Tale”
4. Neutral Milk Hotel- “Holland, 1945″
5. The Shins- “So Says I”
6. Hefner- “The Hymn for Cigarettes”
7. Bishop Allen- “Eve of Destruction”
8. Built to Spill- “Car”  (I love this song so much.)
9. The Flaming Lips- “Five Stop Mother Superior Rain”
10. Beulah- “If We Can Land a Man on the Moon then surely I can win your Heart”
11. Phantom Planet- “By the Bed”
12. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion- “Fuck Shit Up”
13. Sonic Youth- “Bull in the Heather”
14. The Breeders- “Little Fury”
15. The Postal Service- “Such Great Heights” (This song, actually their entire album defined that summer for me.)
16. Sleater Kinney- “One More Hour”
17. Ben Kweller- “I Need You Back”
18. The Replacements- “Beer for Breakfast”
19. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- “Generation”
20. The Walkmen- “The Rat”
21. Wilco- “Misunderstood”

My husband is wonderful and I have mentioned before that he makes mixed CDs (not actually mixed tapes) for me for holidays and random occasions. I love these CDs so much.  Isn’t a mixed CD such a thoughful gift?  I decided to share this mixed CD because I think that you can tell a lot about a person by the music they enjoy.

This is a list of songs from the CD he made for me for Christmas 2009.

Christmas 2009 Mix

Side Note:  Ben said, “I hope you don’t mind that I bookended this CD with the Beach Boys.”  I never mind that.

1. Beach Boys- “Surfer Girl”
2. The Hold Steady- “Multitude of Casualties”
3. Julian Casablancas- “Out of the Blue”
4. Gaslight Anthem- “High Lonesome”
5. Still Stanley- “Semi-Sublime” (This is a band from Jackson, MS)
6. Drive-By Truckers- “Self Destructive Zones”
7. Ben Kweller- “Wasted and Ready”
8. Pains of Being Pure at Heart- “Come Saturday”
9. The Ramones- “My Brain is Hangin Upside Down” (Live) (Ben is always trying to get me to love The Ramones, which I don’t hate.)
10. Son Volt- “Tear Stained Eye”
11. Belle and Sebastian- “Like Dylan in the Movies”
12. Yeasayer- “Tightrope”
13. Jay Reatard- “Nightmares” (RIP Jay, Ben was so sad that he died.)
14. Japandroids- “The Boys are Leaving Town”
15. Uncle Tupelo- “Sin City” (Flying Burrito Bros Cover) (I love this song a lot.)
16. Pine Hill Haints- “You Will Never See Morning”
17. Vampire Weekend- “Horchata” (This is from their new CD, Contra, which was not out at the time he made this CD.)
18. Benji Hughes- “I Went With Some Friends to See The Flaming Lips”
19. Beach Boys- “You’re So Good to Me”

Now that is a good looking beard!

Recently my husband and I saw Kris Kristofferson on Austin City Limits and it reminded me of how much I love that guy.  Not only is he an amazing songwriter, he is an all around bad ass.  “Sunday Morning Coming Down” is one of my top 5 favorite songs. 

10 Things you may not know about Kris Kristofferson:

1.  Kris has been in Sports Illustrated.  In college (the fifties), he was quite the Rugby, Boxing and Track and Field star, which landed him a spot in Sports Illustrated “Faces in the Crowd.”

2.  Kris was a Rhodes Scholar.

3.  Kris was a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army and completed Ranger School.

4.  Kris landed his helicopter in Johnny Cash’s yard and gave him a tape of his music.

5.  Kris dated Janis Joplin.

6.  Credits:

• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor
• Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Country Music Hall of Fame
• Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Song Score (Songwriter)

7.  Kris was in the Highwaymen with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.

8.  Kris named one of his sons Johnny Cash Kristofferson.

9.  Kris was a janitor at Columbia records, which is where he met Johnny Cash.

10.  Kris appeared in both Playboy and Playgirl.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.  We are going camping at Dismal Canyons in Alabama this weekend.  Lets hope I make it.

Good morning’ morning,

hello sunshine

Wake up sleepy head

Why’d we move that bojangle clock So far away from the bed?

Just one more minute

That’s why we moved it

One more hug or two

Do you love waking up next to me

As much as I love waking up next to you?

Click here to view the embedded video.

She looks so scary that I think I prefer Daveigh Chase‘s version from “Big Love.”