Shack of Soul… Resolving to Continue the Awesome in 2012
Happy New Year, y’all!! And it wouldn’t a be a new year without some false promises to ourselves aka new year resolutions. In addition to vowing to continue blogging and generally being awesome, LiLi and I both came up with some personal goals, resolutions, things we should stop doing as we march on into the next year.
Amber’s Resolutions
1. Do NOT Word Vom on Marcus
Marcus is coming to the US this year. It’s fact. We know that a list of more tour dates is on the way and I WILL be going and seeing Marcus live. No matter what it takes. Last time (and the time before), I pretty much threw up all kinds of words on him (like Love Shack). I really want to act semi normal this time. I say semi cause I am realistic. The short pants make my head go crazy.
2. See Sam in Concert without Drinking.
This may have been my resolution last year as well. I majorly failed. Of course, I did think I’d have two shots to make it happen since I’ve seen Sam twice a year since 2009. But nope. I had one shot… and I screwed it up. I blame Sam a little. I mean, he did use his drink coupon buy me one of those beers. Then again, when I got the amazing birthday call this year, I realized I am completely unable to form words when I am stone cold sober. Somewhere, I gotta find a happy medium. I’ll just have to practice in advance.
3. Tweet more inappropriate things to Sam.
Clearly this is what is expected of us, per this conversation:
But LiLi is always the super clever one. I need to be more clever and ballsy and dirty. I mean, I need to just come out and say what we are all thinking. It will make for many more fun tweets.
4. Be less shy about my love of Sam and Marcus’ music with people who don’t know.
This one I am actually very serious about. Yes, I blog and tweet about these two guys so one would think I am very open about my love for their music. And I am… online. I’ve always had the interwebs to hide behind. This year I resolve to be more open about it all to people. Real life people, that is. I just get so weird about rejection when it’s something I love. This year… no more.
5. Get an interview with Marcus…. and of course, another one with Sam.
This is the one ground we have not conquered yet. An interview with Marcus. We have been talking about it since 2009. What we would do. What we would ask. What we would wear. And I am not gonna lie… it makes us crazy nervous. The first interview with Sam almost killed us with nerves. Now we are totally professional (ha!) about it and know what to go in expecting. So we’ll go for another one with Sam this year, no problem. But Marcus, we’re gonna get all those first time jitters again, and it is scary and awesome to think about all at the same time. But we WILL do it. Or at least ask his people if we can do it. They may decide we are crazy. Which is understandable.
LiLi’s Resolutions
1. Two Words: ROAD TRIP
Not that Dallas isn’t AWESOME…hello…but the last time that Amber and I took the ol’ Shack on the road we.had.a.blast. Plus it’s fun to meet and interact with other fans from around the country. That being said, in 2012, it’s my goal to pick an out of town show for, you know, whoever might be touring this year and make a weekend out of it.
2. Blog More
This is a huge problem of mine. I usually see a ton of things that I could blog about but then real life swoops in and then 1) I forget what it was I wanted to blog about, 2) remember, then start writing and hate everything I write so I delete it and then 3) forget what it was I wanted to blog about. Well, no more my friends. My goal is to blog over here at least once a week. Even if it is just a picture of Sam wearing the shit out of a suit, with the caption, “here’s a pic of Sam wearing the shit out of a suit.”
3. To not say creepy things to Marcus
::sigh::
You guys. I STILL think about that moment that I leaned over and whispered in Marcus’ ear, “I blogged about you today.” And I STILL cringe. EVERY.TIME. I mean, why didn’t I just say “I collect all my fingernail clippings in a jar?” That would have been LESS creepy. I mean, no wonder he hasn’t come back to America. We ARE creepy and too in your face. This spring When he finally DOES come back, I resolve…no I VOW to just smile and nod and let Amber do all the talking. Wait…on second thought…
4. To interact more
I won’t lie. I am pretty shy in real life– when you first meet me. It mainly has to do with the fact that I am really self-conscious about the things I say (like “I blogged about you today”). I tend to be really awkward and sarcastic and I have a problem with trailing off the ends of my sentences when I am uncomfortable. Usually I just keep my mouth shut and not say too much. But, unfortunately, it makes me come off as cold and like a snob, so I haven’t made the best impression with meeting readers in real life. So this year, I am taking a different tack…I am going to try and talk to people. Be myself and I dunno, maybe smile some?? Whoa, whoa…tap the breaks, I know. But part of the reason I love Sam and Marcus, and by default this blog so much, is the people they have brought into my life, so I should start showing it, yeah?
Man. That was awfully Serious Sam there, no?? Geesh.
5. There isn’t a five
I just wanted to have five because Amber has five. And we are competitive chicks by nature. Although, when it comes to drinking she wins. When it comes to photoshopping embarrassing manip pics of us…I WIN. OOOO….wait….there IS a 5!! MORE MANIPS IN 2012! It shall be done!
Alright, now here is everyone else’s goal. When you see us at a show and LiLi is whispering in Marcus’ ear or I am drinking a beer the size of my head, you come over and remind us of these. Nicely, of course. We will reward you with hugs.
So, any new year’s resolutions for you gals (and guys?) this year? Let us know in the comments. We LOVE hearing from you!
The Magicness of Google, aka Bringing Random Weirdos to the Music of Sam and Marcus…
One of the things that Amber and I do here behind the scenes of the ol’ Shack, besides gchat, is we religiously check our stats page. Not because we are looking at number of visitors, but because we want to see exactly what is bringing people to our site. The more we get “Sam Bradley” or “Marcus Foster” hits, the more we know we are reaching people. It helps us to “tag” our posts so when people are searching for things like “new music” or “music video” they will see us in search engines and hopefully stop by and learn about the guys.
But, of course, we can’t be that serious bidness about it all. We also like to use the “tags” to make each other laugh and see if the other notices a joke or a jab. And that is when magic happens. Our random tags bring us the most random internet searches, which is cool, because it’s new people hopefully finding new music…but sometimes…yeah, sometimes it’s just ODD to see what people search. And then I have to gchat Amber with a “SHUTTHEFRONTDOOR, go look at our search page!”.
So, today I give you some of the best we’ve seen the past month. Yes, this is only from the last 30 days. One of these days, I will sit down and make an All-Time search list because man, there are some doozies, but for now, here’s a short sample. Italics are my thoughts while reading them. Enjoy!
want to make shirts with our faces on elf bodies- uh…who doesn’t?
shack my soul- is that a euphemism?
bobby home sex videos- it’s call incognito browsing. learn it. use it. you’re welcome.
animaniacs hello nurse holly conlan- yesss…let’s be friends!!!
jib jab sam bradley christmas- hahahahahahhaaha
ingrid michaelson hot- duh.
happy birthday porn- the gift that keeps on giving.
who is bobby long’s girlfriend- not you.
that awkward moment in hawaii- when you dive in the water and come up and realize your bathing suit top is missing a few seconds too late? oh. that didn’t happen to you? yeah. me either.
has marcus foster toured the us- GAH. it’s been so long, people are forgetting whether it was real or not.
boy bobby long- um..as opposed to girl bobby long?
wife points- easy. buy her sam and marcus cds. duh.
sam conlan- wait. did we miss something?
bobby long fanfiction- yeah. not going there again. ever.
drunk jason segel- is there any other kind?
marcus foster there- nope. he’s here. next to me.
marcus foster drunken fun- ::sigh:: i wish.
tracyvanhorne boob- james, is that you??
“bobby long” stripper- i…uh…what??
www mexican butt shack show .com- lili’s got bills to pay. don’t judge.
bobby long girlfriend fan fic- now you’re just being weird.
marcusclub- this is it! join us! we have shirts!
who makes marcus sport coat- hopefully not the peeps who make his pants. no? anyone?
creepy gifts for women- unless she’s your wife, anything that requires batteries is creepy.
greg holden nice hair- you spelled sam bradley wrong.
funny waffle quotes- wait, what?
canadian bands with xylophones- send me what you find. no really.
bacon butty- mmmmmmmmmmmmm
when is marcus fosters bday- oh wait. that was us. cause we forgot. again. but no worries. we made him a card:
So there you have it. Just a small peek into the goodness that we see on our stats page everyday. It’s pretty much the only reason we keep this blog going. Well, I mean, other than the fact that we love Sam and Marcus. Obviously.
Marcus videos. For you. On a Saturday. You’re welcome.
It’s Saturday. Early Saturday for that matter. Some lucky few are still sleeping. Others are early risers and are already out and about doing awesome Saturday things like getting coffee and browsing in bookstores and taking instagram photos.
::sigh::
Either way, I am jealous. I am jealous because I am at work. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have my own fun, i.e. searching the interwebs for amazing stuff. Like this. But that’s another blog post for another blog.
It was only a matter of time before my fangirl subconcious took over and before I knew it, I was on YouTube searching for new Marcus vids. I feel like we haven’t seen him in a while. I mean, besides for this awesomeness. But that was only enough Marcus to whet my fangirl appetite. I need more. And I mean that in the most non-creepy-even-though-I-co-write-a-blog-about-a-him way. And it was like the fangirl gods heard my prayers and sent me to this YouTube channel. Or…I just googled Marcus Foster and they were the first to pop up. Whatevs.
So, long story longer…stop taking retro looking photos with your iphone and put down your chai latte and watch some Marcus vids with me, yeah?
Both videos are from Marcus’ recent set at the Crossing Border Festival this past Novemeber (courtesy of tomvdlinden’s YT channel).
Now…have you seen this yet? A fan, by the username Pascaline Piot, handpainted and then animated a video to Marcus’ Kiss Is A Knife. HAND PAINTED people. I mean…that’s pretty stinkin’ rad if you ask me. Please to be checking it out.
And one final thing for you to enjoy this fine Saturday morning– a new fansite. Well, it’s new to me. I just stumbled upon it last night and sent it to Amber with a “DOOD. Have you seen this?” Her response? “Duh. Where have you been? It’s awesome.” Yeah…I fail. But we all knew that already. So, if you are amenable to doing the tumblr thing, go forth and investigate the goodness that is the Marcus Foster Appreciation Blog 
. Because there aren’t NEARLY enough Marcus Foster appreciation blogs out there. I am serious.
Holly Conlan goes Christmas…and we Girl Crush…HARD…
Once upon a time, Sam announced a tour with Holly Conlan. Amber and I immediately started googling her to judge whether we thought this was a good move or not. You know, in our ::ahem:: expert music/setting up tours experience, we thought we would be the perfect people to decide. And pretty much from that first listen we were like, WHOA…YES…we DEFS approve. We fell in love with her absolute adorbness and her smooth as silk voice. So much so, that we did a Mix Tape Monday post on her.
And then we saw her live and developed a full fledged Girl Crush on her cause she was A-MAY-ZING. The only thing left to do at that point was to start a stalking campaign, aka follow her on the twitter and facebook. After reading her tweets/updates, we pretty much declared she was our people and could do no wrong. Don’t believe me? Yeah…uh…check out her holiday promo pic that she unleashed on us last week. We are still recovering.
photo source: https://www.facebook.com/hollyconlan
Amber sent me this and I was like, HELLO NURSE.
You see? She’s rad. PLUS…she dropped some holiday tunes on us last night too. There are three tracks in total so go check them out on her SoundCloud page, but here’s her version of a classic we all know and love, Deck the Halls:
People. I DIE at her voice. I celebrate her entire catalog. Seriously….go listen…and buy:
and then follow her on twitter:
You’re welcome.
Amber
Li Li
