wishbone clover

I'm a "San Francisco Travel Expert"!

Through my travel writing at UpTake, I was invited to do my first podcast, an "Insider's Guide to San Francisco"! The very cool Addison Schonland from IAG, a travel and aviation consultancy, interviewed me today, posted it 20 minutes later and it's already been downloaded a bunch of times.

Addison helped me avoid screwing up too much, but I did:

• say that Healdsburg was 2 miles (not hours) north of SF
• forget the name of Bodega Bay
• pronounce "room" like "rum," a Boston accent thing that Chief always points out and I always deny. Now he has proof!

It's 20 minutes long, which I understand is time commitment in this busy world. But I tried to make it entertaining -- I even bring up naked people near the end. Enjoy!

- Cat/BadKitty

Ballas Hough Band - CD Review

You all know how much I adore Dancing With the Stars, so it makes sense that I would leap at the chance to review the new CD by Ballas Hough. That's the band formed by DWTS champs and professional cuties, Mark Ballas and Derek Hough. 

The boys, who grew up together, have always loved music as much as dancing. They finally made an album, filled with songs they wrote themselves, plus one from hit maker -- and my new favorite American Idol judge -- Kara DioGuardi. They even play instruments!

So of course you want to know how it sounds, right?

Pause.

Pause.

Ummmmm...

Pretty much exactly like what you imagine. I mean, look at them. Derek's band bio should read "guitar, vocals and lead flat iron."

It's cute. It's fun. They sing pop hits. There was even this one song, Birthday, that sort of rocked out.

In the immortal words of Paul Stanley, KISS Guitar and Makeup God -- and artist: "It's just good, fun music. If you're looking for something deeper, you're looking too hard."

Sure, Paul Stanley was talking about ABBA on Behind the Music, but you get the idea.

If you like the Jonas Brothers and Miley and all that music "the kids" play, you'll enjoy Ballas Hough -- check it out. 

Sometimes I miss the 80s

And other times, I'm just glad we escaped unscathed from that era of hair.

Social Media Rules, Doubters Drool

BEIRUT - Nantes - from The Flying Club Cup
by flyingclubcup

In the past two weeks I attended two social media workshops run by Ragan, a communications firm out of Chicago. The first was fantastic: an in-depth look by a practitioner who seemed genuinely enthusiastic about using social media like Facebook, blogs, podcasts and Twitter to tell a story.

And the ways organizations use social media tools is fascinating. One Midwestern university uses a Twitter account to send emergency text messages to students on its spread-out campus. No Virginia Tech delay there.

The second workshop? It sucked, quite frankly.

KCIX Klassic Kountry: Best Radio Station Ever

KCIX may indeed be the best radio station ever. You can listen to it online at Live 365, commercial-free if you're willing to pony up a small fee. (The cost of "two fancy cups of coffee" the site claims.)

The station's tag identifies its focus as "the early classics (1955) through the CB radio craze (1985)." KCIX Lost Hits and 1940's Nostalgia (Dinah Shore! The Andrews Sisters!) are also good, but don't kick it as much as Klassic Kountry, which has lots of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Hank Snow. "Pardon meeee if I'm sentimental when we say goodbye..."

Who is the mysterious person running these stations? He (or she, but I'm betting he) broadcasts out of Layton, Utah; I imagine records and CDs stacked in milk crates, notes scrawled on slips of paper, discarded styrofoam cups of unfancy coffee.

7 Song Music Meme, Tag You're It

Stefania from CityMama posted her 7 songs meme and it made me want to tell her about this awesome Verve/Jay Z mashup...then I figured, hey, might as well stick up another six cool songs.

Verve Bittersweet Symphony vs. Jay Z Dirt Off Your Shoulders, DJ New Wave - I {wicked heart} mashups.

PDA, Interpol. Just cool. Totally random chorus: We have 200 couches where you can sleep tight. Huh?