Open iTunes right now and download the EP Talking Circles.  She has a hauntingly beautiful voice, and her lyrics linger long after you’ve listened.

Click here to hear other tracks on her MySpace page, and read her blog as well.

Prior to Ashley’s solo career, she provided background vocals for country legend Radney Foster. She has contributed background vocals to both a Lindsay Lohan and a Badly Drawn Boy album as well.

Oh, and when she was younger she performed with some kid named Justin Timberlake…

As a matter of fact, here is the video of them singing and dancing at a local fair…in matching parachute pants with suspenders.

Seriously though…for the price of two lattes you can own 6 songs from a very talented new artist. I highly recommend her EP and also encourage you to see her live when she comes to a venue near you!

Although it was not obvious from the trailer, Burn After Reading belongs to John Malkovich. 

I look back at his vast career and do not tend to say, “that John Malkovich is funny!”  Primarily, I think about The Killing Fields. Dangerous Liaisons. Even Con Air. He plays both dead serious and bad ass quite well, as you are well aware.

In Burn After Reading, you will find yourself laughing AT Malkovich for his exasperation, expression and delivery. But his character also has the honor of inflicting the film’s most heinous crime.

Burn After Reading features quite the ensemble; in addition to Academy Award winners George Clooney (Syriana), Frances McDormand (Fargo) and Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton), and the previously nominated Malkovich (Places in the Heart, In the Line of Fire) and Brad Pitt (Twelve Monkeys), the movie’s best moments belong to JK Simmons (Juno, Thank You For Smoking) and underrated character actor Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under).

As I watched this film unfold, my mind wandered in two directions. First, the Coen brothers were clearly yearning to return to lighter fare after No Country For Old Men. Second, these actors had a hell of a good time making this movie together. Clooney, Pitt and Swinton are frequent co-stars, and obviously McDormand is married to co-writer/co-director Joel Coen. Their combined comfort level is not a detriment; it is simply an observation.

MONDAY (tonight)

Weeds
Showtime

TUESDAY

House
FOX

Fringe
FOX

WEDNESDAY

Bones
FOX

Project Runway
BRAVO

Sons of Anarchy
FX

THURSDAY

Burn Notice
USA

SUNDAY

The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards
ABC
(stay tuned; I aim to live-blog)

Mad Men
AMC

Entourage
HBO

True Blood
HBO

I watched all 202 episodes of The X-Files as they unfolded, which I believe justifies my assertions and opinions comparing these two shows.

The lead female character on Fringe (Olivia Dunham) works for the FBI, but that’s where the similarities end. She does not work with an assigned partner, and she kicks far more bad guy ass than Scully ever did in 9 seasons. Dunham spends quality time in a lab and real science is discussed. The paranormal activities that she investigates are not as far-fetched; modern and future technologies are featured and applied, which she explores in depth personally rather than in theory.

Felicity. Alias. Lost.

Some may accuse me of being a J.J. Abrams apologist, but the man simply does not create crap television. I appreciate the meticulous details on Fringe that beautifully convey his original vision, from the unflinching cinematography to the graphical glyph titles. The script was probably my favorite aspect of the episode; the dialogue was paced rather brilliantly and the humor interjected appropriately.  And once again, Abrams has selected the right woman to command the small screen and our immediate attention; without a doubt, Anna Torv has joined the talented ranks of Keri Russell, Jennifer Garner and Evangeline Lilly.

The unedited pilot episode of that I watched at Comic-Con in July was almost identical to the one that aired this week, and the second viewing has confirmed my initial declaration that Fringe is must-see TV for me.

To be honest, I am in like…not love. Yet. I believe that the series has great potential; that the first episode crammed too many side characters into the hour, not giving us enough time to digest the vampires-as-minority theme and develop a vested interest in the two leads (Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer).

I’m far from a prude, but I have to say that the explicit sex scenes were a bit of a surprise.  On more than one occasion during the episode, I found myself saying “wow, dir-ty.” Am I complaining? No. It’s HBO after all, and after enjoying all seasons of Deadwood and The Sopranos, I’m not quite sure why any of the carnal relations on True Blood would shock me.

But have faith, vampire fiends and dedicated fans of the Charlaine Harris novels…after I attended the True Blood panel at Comic-Con, I got the sense that we are in for quite a ride during this first season.

I will be tuning for the duration, as I believe in Alan Ball and am pleasantly surprised by how much I like Paquin in this role.  Oh, and I am also very amused by Paquin’s BFF on the show (Rutina Wesley, as Tara); she reminds me of a younger, sassier version of Wanda Sykes.

—–

After listening to a group of very passionate women at Comic-Con earlier this summer imploring me to read Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight (imagine Beatles/Backstreet Boys level fanaticism during their heyday…but for a book), I finally gave in and bought it.  The aim is to finish it by Sunday.

The expectations for the film adaptation appear to be astronomical, and I’m sure that the dedicated masses will both dissect it to pieces and contribute to its monster success at the box office.

And even though I’ve been anxiously awaiting the debut of Alan Ball’s True Blood on HBO, my TiVO is apparently not a fan of bloodsuckers; it has failed to record the premiere episode every single time thus far. Crossing fingers for a successful effort tonight…stay tuned for a review this weekend.