So a while ago Stephanie and I got really tired of the WRS website and wanted to infuse more color and streamline the site and blog. We’ve never been a fan of the typical flashy fotogs sites, so we’ve steered clear of those since the beginning. We wanted something easy to navigate and super accessible. We also want to not shut ourselves from those who primarily use ipods/pads to view the web. And while our new header can’t be seen on those devices, at least the galleries and posts flow beautifully!

Introducing White Rabbit Studios (2.0 wooo!)

I would really appreciate any thoughts or feedback since you all have always been so helpful with these evaluations! We’ve checked on most browsers, so things should be ok.

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Oh boy…the Wide World of Weddings! I have to admit that I’m so glad there wasn’t a huge wedding blog resource overload when I was getting married. I don’t think there were anything but personal brides with blogs back then. Not even blogs…livejournals (hah!)

But now there’s a huge market among the wedding sites and it’s pretty insane. I started Hi-Fi Weddings at the beginning of this year and I’m getting over 2,000 hits a day. This may be a little or a lot to you, but to me it’s awesome! I figured there would be a at least some response when I launched a site for couples to gush about their wedding day music, but I never really thought it would happen so fast. I’m loving all the emails from the brides, grooms, photographers, and DJs that are excited about a site dedicated to the music.

The Hi-Fi Weddings Fest is also taking shape very quickly! I’m so excited to be working with such amazing vendors to give Huntsville the Wedding Fair of a lifetime!

Before sharing photos, I’d actually love to pass along an article that a guy named Justin wrote for Valley Planet that pretty much summed the show up perfectly! We can’t thank him enough for writing such an awesome review!

“The moment I drove through the gates at Lowe Mill it was clear that I was about to experience something very unique to Huntsville. From the colored lights shining on the water tower to the groups of people hanging out before the show, anticipation was in the air. I was there to see G-side & Thomas Function both of which have been praised as local greats, and both playing very different styles of music. My destination was Vertical House Records, nestled into the back corner of the second floor in the Flying Monkey Arts Center; my goal was to infiltrate Huntsville’s music scene. Since moving to the area in late January I’ve been clumsily trying to navigate the local venues in search of great music. On any given night there are at least ten different musicians playing at ten different venues, and that doesn’t include the multitude of open mic nights. With a lot of time and online research it’s sometimes possible to narrow down the options but even then some bands are scheduled to play a few different venues through the month and some venues are certainly better than others. Instead of sitting back I’ve decided to be part of the solution; I’m going to scope out as many bands, open mic’s, and venues as I can each month and present you with a distilled list of what is worthwhile.

The G-Side & Thomas Function show was my first visit to the Flying Monkey Arts Center, and Vertical House Records specifically, both of which only got me more excited about my musical journey. There was a small cover charge of five dollars, but parking was free and ample. Keep two things in mind when going to this venue: 1. there are few chairs, 2. bring your own beer (if 21 or over that is). Vertical House has a great vibe; ambient string lighting, burlap walls covered with records and the band plays under a mirror ball surrounded by bookshelves. There was no stage to separate band from audience and bubbles floated through the air, further blurring the line between the two. As I settled into the crowd I realized that this event was not only unique to Huntsville, but also to the music industry. It’s a rare occurrence when two distinctly different musical genres play back to back and even more rare when the same audience stays for both shows.

First up for the night was Thomas Function, a local trio that have been tagged as everything from punk to pop to indie rock, and they’ve earned all three. It was easy to find tracks online to get an idea of what I was getting myself in to, and like all good bands, their live show surpassed the recordings (Although I did miss the infectious clapping, and the organ in some songs). The bassist and drummer both sang backup for the lead singer/guitarist which helped make them a minimalist band without a minimalist sound. They played a very concise set with barely a break between songs keeping the intensity running high. If you haven’t already checked them out and are in the mood for a high energy show I highly recommend Thomas Function.

Next up was G-Side, a local hip hop duo that not only maintained the momentum, but built upon it. It was also easy to hear a few of their tracks before going, and again I was pleasantly surprised with the live show. They had two backup vocalists singing in a more R&B style that contrasted well and added depth to the show. With no effects, it was great to hear the raw vocals and see the impact they had on the audience. Their lyrics leaned towards the positive and were delivered with force. Even if hip hop isn’t your favorite genre of music, these guys will keep you entertained and make you part of the show.

Overall the show was a great success. Any time you see Vertical House, G-Side or Thomas Function on the Valley Planet Music Calendar, it will be worth checking out.”

Thomas Function

G-side

Tiny

haha look at that face!

I love this one! She’s laying in a 100 year old window (original glass) and the sill is just barely wide enough for her. I love that this is one of her favorite spots!

Tiny was being SO CRAZY and I put this blanket on her so she’d “chill out” and she ended up immediately falling asleep…for a second lol.

Sadie

Maple

One thing that encouraged us to finally go ahead and tackle this: we found a Roomba at a yard sale for only $30, and I talked them down to $20! These things can retail up to $500 for a robot vacuum. And while I used to laugh at the idea of one, for such a great deal, it’s totally worth it. It can run for an hour, which is plenty of time for our four main rooms: bedroom, living, kitchen and dining. I think it’s easier to sweet the bathroom, and it’s not that big so this is rad. Having this Roomba frees us up to clean the house much faster, since one of us isn’t focusing on sweeping. OK – enough about Roomba haha.

straight from the garden!

our first garlic!

kitchen window

dishes! each plate has a plant name and a silly illustration of it!

bathroom sign

Vertical House Records

Lowe Mill Rainbow! AND Alexander’s Band!

sunset

Maple

Our friend/extremely talented artist painted this HUGE painting of us…and we will be lucky enough to hang this in our house!

Thomas Function & G-Side

Thomas Function & G-Side

Thomas Function & G-Side (this pic made the newspaper!)

Ben at Crash Boom Bang rehearsal

getting into costume!

Crash Boom Bang Theatre notes

Lowe Mill water tower

Midge

Then we see an ambulance pull up and go outside to find that a car had crashed into the neighbor’s porch!!! Apparently an elderly lady was leaving the salon on the corner of our block and accidentally hit the gas instead of the breaks, and slammed into the porch. It was pretty insane. Our neighbor was inside the house, so I could only imagine how startled he was…especially for how loud WE heard it. Thankfully everyone was ok (included the lady…she was just a bit shaken up).

(Our neighbor on the left who is renting, and the home owner on the right)

YAY for summer!

Andy driving to lunch

…at Rosie’s!

Ellis made David this kick ass cake! The guitar and record were made of chocolate! It was DELISH!

Martin playing bass in Really Loud Hamburgers

we “sponsored” the show, so we got a kick ass HUGE banner!

NOBUNNY! with David singing in the back haha

of course he got naked, but I’ll spare you the photos

The Spits!

The Spits!

a fuzzy downtown on the walk home

us on the walk home

Tiny’s favorite spot

found this lil’ gem at an estate sale! I’m ordering film for it soon!

another estate sale find

garlic ready to burst!

POP!

…and a pink one

this is one of the ferns in our shade garden

hydrangea

raspberry

pepper

us!

Maple & Sadie

Maple squirrel watching

]]> http://therealverticalhouse.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=966 0 http://therealverticalhouse.com/blog/?p=962 http://therealverticalhouse.com/blog/?p=962#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:00:49 +0000 admin http://therealverticalhouse.com/blog/?p=962 We’ve been testing out a new point and shoot, and since we spend a lot of time at the store, I decided to snap some shots. We’re not going to get the camera though because the video doesn’t work

(I’ve been experimenting with self-portraits. Look closely at the record player and disco ball shots!)