Sophie @ 103.7

What is the “coolest” thing to do on Labor Day weekend?  Don’t say go to the beach, because that’s what everyone does.  I need ideas people!

Originally I had plans to go camping on the Colorado River.  (These plans fell through at approximately 9:12 this morning).  Regardless, I believe that this would have been a fun-filled weekend.  I think that camping in Mexico would have been fun as well, and possibly less crowded.  What else is there to do in San Diego though?

Side note: I wish I had a speed boat right about now.  Or a jet ski.

Fergie’s single “Big Girls Don’t Cry” hit No. 1 this week on the Billboard Hot 100, moving up from No. 2.  This would be Fergie’s third single at No.1, thus making Fergie the first female artist with three No.1s from one album since Christina Aguilera in 2000.

Has anyone checked out her music video for this song?  What are your thoughts on Fergie’s solo work?  Better or worse than Black Eyed Peas?

What is this festival and why does my coworker keep talking about it?  So I looked it up online at www.burningman.com and apparently it’s an “annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance”.  What?!  Allow me to translate, it’s a hippie fantasy camp held in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada where tens of thousands gather for a week to camp without resources and get all hippie-ish.  This year it is occurring from August 27 – September 3.  Has anyone heard of this?  Has anyone ever been?  Will you please enlighten me?  It’s mind bottling*.

 *quote from Blades of Glory… I’m not that ignorant.

New releases this week include…

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals –  Lifeline (Bonus Track Version)

VHS Or Beta – Bring On the Comets

She Wants Revenge – True Romance (Radio Edit) – Single

The Last Goodnight – Poison Kiss (Bonus Track Version)

Ringo Starr – Photograph: The Digital Greatest Hits

Mink – MINK

Atreyu – Lead Sails Paper Anchor

Paul McCartney – Nod Your Head - Single

Seether – Fake It (Radio Edit) – Single

Collective Soul – Afterwords

Office – Wound Up – Single

 Scorpions – Humanity Hour 1

The Last Goodnight came and performed in the Sophie Studios recently.  The guys performed their song ”Pictures of You”.  If you haven’t checked this song out yet, I suggest you do.  Then you can tell people that you’ve heard the band before they reach their apogee, thus making you cool.  I’ve also had the chance to listen to the new Ben Harper CD, and although it’s a little different from his past work, it’s still really good.  I’ve also heard some VHS Or Beta here and there and definitely like their stuff, so I think I’m gonna go pick up their new album as well.  If you’ve had a chance to check out any of these, let us know what you think!

According to Billboard.com, Daft Punk’s recent project, “Daft Punk Alive 2007,” is due out November 20 via Capitol.  The album is based on their June 14 show in Paris and will be available as a single-disc set or a two-disc edition that features the encore and a 50-page book.

The tour version of “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” will be issued as a single from the live set, and a video will feature footage shot by fans during an Aug. 9 show at Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Daft Punk just recently played their first show in nine years at the 2006 Coachella Festival followed by a successful North American Tour.  Based on Billboard estimates, “the brief run grossed in the neighborhood of $3 million and played to more than 60,000 fans.”  Daft Punk is scheduled to perform at Vegoose in Las Vegas (October 27) as one of their final shows of the year.

 Daft Punk principal Thomas Bangalter tells Billboard, “The thing we focused on is what you get out of the show: an intense experience of music, lights and robots, with a thin line between fiction and reality [...] That is really the concept of this tour, which was not the concept of the stuff we were doing 10 years ago.”

Has anyone ever seen Daft Punk perform live?  I hear they put on a good show.  Does anyone plan on going out to Vegoose this year to check them out?  Should be a good time considering the amazing line up!  Click here to find out more about the 2007 Vegoose Music Festival in Las Vegas.

A lot.  This weekend alone is Crowded House at Humphreys Concerts By The Bay, Blue October at the House of Blues, Vans Warped Tour at Coors Amphitheatre, and we have a contest all weekend to win Ben Harper’s new CD “Lifeline” before it comes to stores on Tuesday!

Next week we have a ton of stuff including a contest for Dashboard Confessional tickets, Brandi Carlile tickets if you add us to your MySpace page and more!

Also, stay tuned for more upcoming Sophie prizes like: passes to the SD Festival of Beer, tickets to Vegoose, Street Scene, Black Crowes, Velvet Revolver, Hot Hot Heat and so much more!

Sophie rules!  (If I do say so myself)

Has anyone seen this video?  It’s of some kid at Waterfront Park in Portland Oregon.  A local news anchor is reporting and asks the kid what he thinks of his face paint.  You have to check it out.  There are a couple of re-makes on youtube that are pretty funny as well.

Has anyone found any funny random videos on youtube that you can share?  The dramatic chipmonk is one of my personal favorites.  They even made a t-shirt after it.  Click here to view.

Tell us your favorite youtube video!

British singer/songwriter James Blunt has a new album, All the Lost Souls, to be released on September 18.  This second studio album comes with a digital booklet, video interview and an acoustic version of “1973″…

Radom facts: James Blunt was born James Hillier Blount, February 22, 1974 in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England.  He plays an array of instruments from the piano and guitar to the organ, marimba and mellotron.  He became the first British artist to top the American singles chart in almost a decade with his song “You’re Beautiful” when it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2006.  The last British artist to do this was Elton John in 1997 with his song “Candle in the Wind”.  I know what you’re thinking… “that was really interesting, but what the heck is a mellotron?”  It’s an electromechanical polyphonic keyboard.  And to answer your next question, a marimba is a percussion instrument where keys or bars (usually made of wood) are struck with mallets to produce musical tones.

I think that has been my most educational blog ever.

You can pre-order James Blunt’s new album and receive a bonus acoustic track and additional video.  Visit iTunes to preview this pre-order album before its official release date.

New releases this week include…

Kings of Leon – Live from SoHo

The New Pornographers – Challengers

M.I.A. – Kala (Bonus Track Version)

Beck – Timebomb – Single

Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter (Bonus Track Version)

Cartel – Cartel (Bonus Track Version)

The Section Quartet – Fuzzbox (Bonus Track Version)

Ben Kweller – Ben Kweller: Live & Solo At the Artists Den

AM – Soul Variations (Bonus Version)

Does anyone have any favorites of the above artists?  I like Kings of Leon, The New Pornographers and Ben Kweller.  They are all worth checking out.  Does anyone think that Sophie should add any of these artists to our playlist?  Leave a comment and give us your feedback on new music!

According to their MySpace page, Hot Hot Heat has added more tour dates for the fall, including a show in San Diego at Soma on September 26!  Tickets go on sale Friday, August 24 at 10am PST and will be available through all Ticketmaster outlets or the Soma box office…

Also, HHH will be performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Friday, September 14, so everyone set your DVR’s!  If you’re gonna be in LA and are interested in getting tickets for the performance, click here to reserve your spot!

 Has anyone ever seen HHH perform in concert?  I am a big fan of the band, but have never seen them live… let us know what kind of show they put on!  Should Sophie give away tickets to the show?…