This post is a totally random assortment of stuff that's been occupying me this summer. 

Counting Crows' new album, Somewhere Under Wonderland, comes out on September 2nd, and it will be the perfect early birthday present. They've been playing a bunch of songs from the record on this tour, so I was able to see them play some of the new songs live and I have tons of recordings of the new material and it makes me incredibly happy. You can see my videos from the Central Park show here; there are a handful of new songs there.

Here's what is currently my favorite song from the album (lyrics photo is above as well):



Eve Hewson on Fallon. Cool genes run in her family. I love her dad, but I need to know when his band's new album is coming out, because it was supposed to be early this year and obviously that didn't happen and I'm impatient.




What else? I don't think I posted about my trip. I had a great time traveling from Prague to Paris (through Germany) with my relatives. Here are photos.

I recently went to see St. Vincent at Prospect Park, which became my most-frequented music venue this summer. I've seen Annie Clark (St. Vincent) play with The National a bunch of times, but this was my first time seeing her headline a show (for 15,000 people!). She was fabulous.

I went to a taping of Late Night with Seth Meyers, which was a lot of fun. St. Vincent played with the house band, and it was really cool to be only 15 feet away from her (as opposed to being pretty far back at her concert a couple nights prior). It was a great episode; Jeff Bridges talked about The Giver, and Garfunkel and Oates were very funny and sang a song called "Pregnant Women Are Smug," which I enjoyed. Strand of Oaks was the musical guest, and they were good as well. Here's a playlist from the episode. 

I met Grumpy Cat! I love Grumpy Cat. She was asleep. She was adorable. 

I saw King Lear at Shakespeare in the Park. John Lithgow is a fabulous Lear. It was also cool to see Annette Bening onstage, although I have to admit her performance wasn't one of the strongest. She's obviously a fabulous film actress (duh), but her Shakespeare is a bit weak. Overall the production featured a strong ensemble and was an enjoyable night at the Delacorte, which is one of my absolute places in the city. 

I've seen some more plays, including Sex with Strangers (which I liked, mostly because Anna Gunn and Billy Magnussen are awesome) and Cabaret again (which never gets old). 

I don't want summer to be over.