BuzzSugar

Playlist: 50 Songs for 50 States

BuzzSugar — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:15:32 PDT

When I asked Buzz readers to come up with a song for all 50 of the United States, I knew you'd get it done. But I wasn't expecting you to do it so quickly! Less than 24 hours after I first posted the challenge last week, every state had at least one suggested song, and the options just kept rolling in. (Interesting bit of trivia: The last state to get a song suggestion was Utah.)

Picking the list for my 50 Songs for 50 States iMix was tough with so many great options. I tried to keep a balance of genres and artists, and to incorporate suggestions from as many of you as possible. I also tried to pick songs that were on iTunes, but unfortunately, the picks for Maine, Maryland and North Carolina weren't available. To make up for their absence, I added saritalasweeta's pick of a song to represent Washington, DC. If you'd like to make a playlist of your own or just see what everyone came up with, all of the suggestions are posted here.

I have to give shout-outs to tikilite, glam sugar, jenybugs and rhondak for coming up with full playlists of their own, and to D-Diggity for nearly making it through the whole country using nothing but Johnny Cash songs. To see my playlist,

Alabama: "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynrd Skynrd
Alaska: "Alaska" by Dr. Dog
Arizona: "Hotel Arizona" by Wilco
Arkansas: "Arkansas Killing Time" by The Pine Box Boys
California: "California Girls" by the Beach Boys
Colorado: "The Colorado Trail" by Connie Dover
Connecticut: "Connecticut" by Judy Garland and Bing Crosby
Delaware: "Hello, I'm in Delaware" by City and Colour
Florida: "Florida" by Modest Mouse
Georgia: "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight
Hawaii: "Blue Hawaii" by Elvis
Idaho: "Private Idaho" by the B-52's
Illinois: "Lookin' Out My Back Door" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Indiana: "Goin' Back to Indiana" by the Jackson Five
Iowa: "Iowa" by Dar Williams
Kansas: "You're Not in Kansas Anymore" by Jo Dee Messina
Kentucky: "Awnaw" by Nappy Roots
Louisiana: "Louisiana" by the Walkmen
Maine: "Maine" by They Might Be Giants
Maryland: "Maryland" by Vonda Shepard
Massachusetts: "U-Mass" by The Pixies
Michigan: "Say Yes! To Michigan" by Sufjan Stevens
Minnesota: "Minnesoter" by the Dandy Warhols
Mississippi: "Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good)" by Sugarland
Missouri: "Missouri Waltz" by Johnny Cash
Montana: "Blue Rock Montana" by Willie Nelson
Nebraska: "Nebraska" by Bruce Springsteen
Nevada: "Stop in Nevada" by Billy Joel
New Hampshire: "New Hampshire" by Matt Pond PA
New Jersey: "Jersey Girl" by Tom Waits
New Mexico: "Crash and Burn" by Sheryl Crow
New York: "The Only Living Boy in New York" by Simon & Garfunkel
North Carolina: "North Carolina" by the Oranges Band
North Dakota: "North Dakota" by Lyle Lovett
Ohio: "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
Oklahoma: "Oklahoma Hills" by Arlo Guthrie
Oregon: "Portland Oregon" by Loretta Lynn with Jack White
Pennsylvania: "Pennsylvania 6-5000" by the Glenn Miller Band
Rhode Island: "Sweet Rhode Island Red" by Ike and Tina Turner
South Carolina: "From South Carolina" by Her Space Holiday
South Dakota: "South Dakota Hairdo" by Joe West
Tennessee: "Tennessee" by Arrested Development
Texas: "All my Ex's Live in Texas" by George Strait
Utah: "The History of Utah" by Camper Van Beethoven
Vermont: "Moonlight in Vermont" by Ella Fitzgerald
Virginia: "Virginia Moon" by Foo Fighters
Washington: "Four Hours In Washington" by M. Ward
West Virginia: "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver
Wisconsin: "Highway 51 Blues" by Bob Dylan
Wyoming: "Song of Wyoming" by Chris LeDoux
Washington, DC: "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" by The Postal Service

Playlist Challenge: 50 Songs for 50 States

BuzzSugar — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:13:54 PDT

Okay, Buzz readers, I know how great you are at selecting new casts for classic shows and hunting down the most buzzworthy movies, books and albums around, so I know you can handle this all-American playlist challenge! In honor of July 4th (and the great party PartySugar's been planning), I challenge you to name one song for each of the 50 states so that put together, we can make a playlist of 50 songs celebrating every corner of the country.

The guidelines:

The state name can either be in the title of the song or in a song lyric.
If the state name is in a lyric, please provide the lyric in your comment.
Official state songs do not count.

So get thinking and put your ideas in the comments section below! I'll re-post this challenge over the weekend and then I'll do a follow-up post with the master playlist on Wednesday, July 4th. If there are multiple songs suggested for one state, I'll choose one of them to put on the playlist. Good luck!

Source

Meeting My Sperm Donor

The Good Men Project — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:00:50 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Ben Sommer, conceived through alternative insemination, is a young man now and tells the story of deciding to meet his donor.

I grew up in a middle-class home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with two loving parents, both of whom are women. My conception was perhaps the most organized and scientific miracle of the modern American family - my architecture, the dream of dozens of individuals conducting their work across thousands of miles.

Objectifying Ryan Gosling

I was conceived through alternative insemination. A donor submitted his sperm to the Sperm Bank of California in Oakland (TSBC). Later, it was sent to the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston. Since opening its doors in 1982, TSBC has helped families without the ability to conceive on their own to birth over 2,000 children. Two thirds of those have ended up, like me, being raised in a lesbian household. TSBC is also the first sperm bank to offer a donor-identity-release program, which allows children of alternative insemination access to their donors' information when they turn 18.

I am not as much an oddity as you might think. As of 2005, some 270,000 children in the United States had same sex-parents. We are a generation that is just now beginning to come of age and able to share our stories. This is mine.

Growing up in a lesbian household was much like growing up in any other family unit, I imagine: vacations to Cape Cod, parents working late and sometimes not, play dates with a diverse group of friends.

I never gave much thought to that mysterious figure across the country. I never questioned the fact that I didn't have a father. As far as I was concerned I didn't need one. Is having two moms really all that different than having a mom and a dad? Parents are parents, right? I didn't see a difference at the time. My parents didn't either - at least at first.

They decided to conceive through a donor, in part, to avoid the complications that a third parent would bring. Asking a close male friend to donate, like some couples have done, can create unforeseen consequences. In the past, there have been custody battles between the donor and the parents raising the child. This was the case with a friend of mine, whose parents arranged donation from a male family friend. With a semi-anonymous donor like the man my parents chose, it would be clear who my parents were. And it was.

That's not to say that it was smooth sailing. "When we first learned you were going to be a boy, we really panicked," my mother told me recently. "Who's going to teach him to throw a ball? We didn't have many male friends. There was even basic stuff, like who's going to teach him to pee standing up. That doesn't come naturally."

Read the rest of the story below.

What to Rent: New DVDs This Week

BuzzSugar — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:05:00 PDT

Black Swan

Natalie Portman stars as Nina Sayers, an uptight ballerina who gets cast as the lead in a production of Swan Lake. When she encounters a rival dancer (Mila Kunis) who possesses the sexuality that she lacks, Nina's emotional state unravels. Director Darren Aronofsky's thriller is a beautifully artistic albeit disturbing effort, but Portman is the star of the show. She swept award season - an Oscar included - and the film is worth renting for her performance alone. DVD bonus features include a making-of featurette and a look at the costume and production design for the film.

88%

Tangled

Mandy Moore and Chuck's Zachary Levi put their voices to song in this fresh, fun spin on the story of Rapunzel. The Disney film tells the classic tale of the girl who let down her hair, except this time, Rapunzel (Moore) is more of a headstrong heroine than a damsel in distress. When she meets Flynn Ryder (Levi), a rebel on the run, the two bust Rapunzel out of her tower and form a friendship. Though it may be intended for the little ones, Tangled charms all ages with its sweetness. DVD extras include a retrospective montage featuring Disney's 50 animated films, deleted scenes, and a making-of featurette.

90%

See one more new release when you

Fair Game

Naomi Watts and Sean Penn star in the true story of "Plamegate," when the government supposedly leaked CIA operative Valerie Plame (Watts)'s cover after her husband Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) wrote an op-ed piece against the Bush administration (check out the trailer again here). Even though some critics weren't sold on the thriller, Naomi Watts turns in a powerful performance as the lead. The bonus material includes a commentary with the real-life Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson.

79%