Starting this Sunday, Mr. Folkie and I will be on a 15-day vacation in China! For me, this is the trip of a lifetime. China is a place I have wanted to go but never thought I’d be able to get either the money or the time. We are going there to visit Mr. Folkie’s daughter, who has been living there since last August. She is a fantastic writer with a gift for funny anecdotes. She has her own blog, The Professional Foreigner, which we link under our Favorites. She is also a naturally gifted photographer. She’s going to accompany us on some of our journies, and she and another friend have helped secure hotels and other reservations, because–gasp!–we are not going with a tour group nor have we consulted a travel agent.

There is so much to do to prepare for this kind of trip; I have been working on the details for almost two months, and now the departure is almost upon me. I have pre-written a few posts for that time so you won’t miss me too much. Maybe I’ll even be able to upload a few photos during the trip, but I’m not counting on being online too much.

Lost In Your Inbox covers zombie flies that eat ants’ brains, what happened in 1963, and some of the most sexually explicit lyrics you’ll ever hear. No lie.

Sean at Battery In Your Leg has a thoughtful piece about print magazines that are suffering in the current economic times. He specifically points out the wonderful music mag, Paste, which needs subscribers to survive. Scroll further down the page and check out the video of La Roux.

Vic at Muruch has a contest to win the new CD by Carbon Leaf, and if the track she has posted, “Lake of Silver Bells,” is any indication, this is a must-have. Release date is this Tuesday.

Sandy at Slowcoustic has lovely offerings, as always, especially check out the Lewis and Clarke tracks and new EP.

For more beautiful acoustic, go to Bootlog and find Matthew Barber, who reminds me a bit of Dave Loggins, maybe because I just heard “Please Come to Boston” in Target the other day.

The High Violets: Chinese Letter (Ulrich Schnauss Mix) from Satellite Remixes (2007)
MySpace | Buy

I’d like to take the shimmery coolness of Sally Shapiro in my pocket on this vacation–most of the places we’re going in China are expected to be hot and humid.
Sally Shapiro: Time To Let Go (Lindstrom remix) from Remix Romance Vol. 1 (2008)
MySpace | Website | Buy

Another pretty song from a brand new album that will be available this coming week.
Au Revoir Simone: All Or Nothing from Still Night Still Light release: May 19, 2009
MySpace | Website | Buy

You’re either gonna love this or hate it. And the confusing thing is, Continental Divide is only an offshoot of the real band, Holiday Shores, but they’ve released an EP. I am captivated by its wild exuberance.
Continental Divide: Golden Throat
Holiday Shores’ MySpace | Website

Filed under: finally friday, mix, personal lives, Au Revoir Simone, Continental Divide, Sally Shapiro, The High Violets

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