mahogany

A song that I sing in the shower.

I don't sing in the shower anymore. My older children often sing in the shower. It's very cute.

I stopped singing in the shower that day I realized how ghastly my singing voice is. I used to belt out tunes thinking I sounded amazing, and then, one day, I decided to record myself. And that, was the end of the singing in the shower, or anywhere else for that matter.

Here is a song that I used to sing in the shower back in the day.

Since everyone has heard Sinead O'Connor's version, I am posting Prince's (since he wrote it and all), just for the sake of variety.

A song that reminds me of my mother.

Not much to say. I have the flu, and my feelings toward my childhood and mother are very complicated at the moment.

She loved this song. I hadn't listened to it in years before now. I'm just remembering what a great movie Dr. Zhivago is. Perhaps I shall rent it this weekend.

Lara's Theme:

Music that reminds me of my dad.

I don't know my dad (though, for those that are interested, I am taking steps toward remedying that situation. None of my steps have borne fruit, as yet, but it's still an item on my radar).

So, instead of a song that reminds me of my dad, I will present a bizarre, but highly entertaining song that was introduced to me by my good friend, and former roommate in university, Dave. He had a copy of this song, off of CD put out by the Smithsonian Institute. Not sure why he had this CD, but he did have a fairly wide assortment of unusual stuff.

Thank you, Youtube, for having this song! I didn't think it would be there. I hope you are all as entertained as I was.

Woody Guthrie - Talking Hard Work

Music that reminds me of an ex. I never really had "a song" with anyone, but there is this one song that completely reminds me of my ex. I think we both liked it, and I must have had it playing quite a bit when we were dating. It's a good tune. I don't think I would listen to it often anymore, but I do like it, still.

David Byrne and Selena - God's Child

One band or singer whose popularity I will never understand.

This one is fun. Finally, I get to grouse about all of the overrated bands whose music assaults my ears when I turn on the radio. There are a few that baffle me. No Doubt, and Gwen Stefani's solo work, is high on my hit list. Everything about them bugs me. Also, Nickelback. Just. No. Terrible music. Terrible persona on the lead singer. Just terrible all round, and we poor Canadians are subjected to them even more because of the draconian CTRC rules on Canadian content on the air ways. Up until recently, Rush would have been on the list. I just don't get their music. I had always found it a bit pretentious, until about a month ago, I found myself thoroughly enjoying a Rush song. No, I don't know the title. So perhaps, they're aren't so pretentious after all. Either that, or I'm becoming more so :-)

The winner, however, is a band whose leader was a complete megalomaniac. They're no longer together (thankfully), but I still cringe every time I hear their music. It is the completely mediocre, and dreadfully tiresome: Oasis.

One band/artist that I'm ashamed to admit that I like.

To be honest, my closet is jammed full of pop culture shame. I like some pretty cheesy stuff: Boney M, Neil Diamond, Journey, Chicago, Roch Voisine, Frank Zappa, AC/DC, and more. The winner in this category might not be quite as embarassing as the others, but wins because of the extent that I enjoy his music. Not only do I like this guy, but I REALLY like him. I think I have five of his albums or something. Everything about his music screams small town Canada. And you know what? I don't care. I still think he's awesome.

Tom Cochrane - The Boy Inside The Man, from the Sympony Sessions Album

My favorite band.

Sorry. I don't have one - not in any real sense, in any case. I'm a disloyal fan, I guess. It's not that I stop liking a band; it's that I shift my affections to other bands.

So, here is my favorite band these days:

Bedouin Soundclash - Performing St. Andrews

My favorite female singer. This was a closer race. Measha Bruggergosman, Nina Simone, and Annie Lennox were all contenders for the top spot, but as of right now, my favorite is the same lovely lady pictured in the icon I'm using for this post:

Angelique Kidjo doing a cover of Summertime

My favorite male singer-

Well, typical of my usual wishy washy self, I don't have one favorite, so for this entry, I've chosen someone that I've only recently discovered.

He's pretty big in the UK, where he's from, but when he came to Vancouver last month, he was unknown enough that he played in nightclub. J* and I went to the concert, and I can't think of the last time I had that much fun. On the one hand, I think everyone should be introduced to his music, but on the other hand, I really hope that the next time he's back, he'll play in an intimate venue again. It's my favorite way to hear live music.

The show was terrific. His band was terrific, and as for the artist himself? He was unbelievable! You know how some artists' voices are disappointing live? Not so with this guy. He sounds phenomenal IRL.

I'm tempted to post a whole bunch of youtube clips of this guy so you can get a real feel for his music, but I will behave, and just post the most widely known of his songs:

"In Your Hands" - Charlie Winston

A song that makes me dance. Well, at least this one was easy. This song gets me so excited, I can't even have it playing while I'm driving! Seriously, I would be moving all over the car and get in a wreck for sure. It's one of those songs that when it played and I was out dancing (way back when I actually went out dancing), it would cause me to grin so much that my face would literally hurt afterward! I can barely even write this post because it's playing in the background, and it's so good!!!

Merecumbe - By Johnny Colon ( Read more... )

A song that makes me cry.

Typically, it's not the song that makes me cry, so much as the performance (and my mood). I am much more likely to be moved to tears by a live performance than a recording. Most recently, I was in tears after hearing Measha Bruggergosman's performance in Mahler's 8th Symphony. That's a bit too long to post as a clip, though. I also cried when Pink Floyd played "On the Turning Away" during their 1994 Division Bell tour.

In the end, Simon and Garfunkle's "The Boxer" is the winner. It doesn't make me cry all the time, but if I'm in the right mood, then it is indeed possible. And live? Oh man, yeah, it totally made me cry.
( Read more... )

Day one is hard. I don't know if I even have a favorite song, so much as a favorite song for a particular mood. So here is one of my all round favorite songs:

The Legendary BB King playing "The Thrill Is Gone"

( Read more... )

Current Mood: lethargic

We're trying to install a floating cork floor. TWO WEEKS ago, we ripped out all of our carpets. Now our living room has the plywood subfloor exposed. Nothing is where it should be, and we are cranky all the time. This is not good.

The problem is that our subfloor is totally uneven, and the dude that owned this place before us, pieced it together with what appears to be pieces of scrap plywood or something. I don't entirely know. Plus, he nailed it down, instead of screwing it down, so it's totally FUBAR. We tried to shim it with felt, but it's not working, so we're going to bite the bullet and cover the whole thing with new plywood.

This project is getting really scary, and well beyond the scope of two VERY novice DIYers.

Frick.

Current Mood: cranky

Wow

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/212383-Valedictorian-Speaks-Out-Against-Schooling-in-Graduation-Speech

Yes, they're that good.

They are a series of math books called "The Life of Fred" by Stanley Schmidt. Kids need to have a good solid understanding of adding, subtracting, multiplication and division before using the books. Once they understand those, then they can start with the first one, which is Fractions.

http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html

I don't know why I do it to myself, but when I need to prepare food for guests, I'm overcome with an urge to experiment with new flavours.

This morning, I was up at 5:30, to prepare cupcakes for E*s birthday unparty (I HATE kids parties. They rank in the top three of things guaranteed to turn me into a complete oozing mess of stress.), I'm taking Estella and two friends down to the children's festival that's on this weekend.

I was considering making some lovely vanilla cupcakes with a nice plain buttercream, but entertaining on the edge demon in me took over, and we ended up with:

Cardamon spiced cupcakes, with orange rose icing...

AND THEY'RE ACTUALLY good!!!! Really good, infact! Yay!! Though I think I may use blood oranges if I make them again.

This is in contrast with last year's saffron lemon icing which was, ummmm really potent. I overdid it on the saffron - definitely not one of my finer culinary moments.

Current Mood: elated

Divine Mercy Sunday was a month ago, and I have been stewing about it ever since. I have really been struggling to understand the church's teaching on this. It has been productive, though. I realized that I had a really screwed up view of purgatory. I think I kind of looked at it as Catholic Karma of sorts, in which people are made to pay for crap they've done in this life, in the afterlife.

My idea of an afterlife also helped me come to terms with things like, oh, Rwanda for example, or the Holocaust etc. The only way I was able to process the unspeakable evils that we do to each other was to believe that somehow, we would be made to pay. If not in this life, then in the next.

And reading about guys like this: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2009/0331/p06s01-duts.html

or this dude: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/gangster+comes+clean/2945276/story.html

And reading that some of the families of the victims are actually able to bring themselves to forgive, is really humbling, and makes me realize how far I need to go spiritually.

Thankfully for me, in my own wretchedness, God is more merciful than I ever would be. Fully embracing the idea of Divine Mercy, and forgiveness, and exemplifying that in my own life - well, it ain't easy, but damn, it's so worth it.

And of course, a poll:

[Poll #1564835]

I indulged in one of my favorite guilty pleasures with my eldest son yesterday - Belgian Fries. If you live in the Greater Vancouver area, and haven't tried these, you are MISSSING OUT!!!

Anyway, I had to pop into the washroom, and discovered:

INSPIRATIONAL GRAFFITI. O_o

Someone had written:

My friends all say I'm pretty, but deep inside, I know I'm ugly, and they're just being nice. Advice?

And a bunch of people had responded with stuff like:

"Beauty is on the inside. Be true to yourself."
"They're not lying, you're beautiful. I love you, friend!"
"No one ever lies, when telling you that you're beautiful."

Etc. etc.

I can't imagine any other place on earth, where you'd find that in a bathroom stall, besides this one little street in Vancouver. But for this one little street, it totally fits.

Current Mood: entertained

We just bought this game over the weekend, and it's fabulous. For starters, it's a cooperative game, which is awesome when you just want some family entertainment, and you're not really in the mood to anilhate, or be destroyed. Until now, the cooperative games we've tried have been terrible. Ugly, cheesy, and DuLL, those games were a waste of a precious half hour to hour of my life. Pandemic is totally different. For starters, it's not all that easy to win. Secondly, the players must work as a team, or they will lose for sure. It's quick to play (under an hour), and in the mid range pricewise for games of this type. It's a strategy game, so there isn't a huge element of luck. This may be good or bad depending on the type of game you enjoy. The rules look intimidating, but they aren't too onerous, and I think you should be able to fully remember the rules within two or three games.

I was out earlier today, and it was just like any other day. All of the stores were open, and people were going about their regular business. I guess it's par for the course - the west coast is very secular, and Vancouver is a very multicultural city, so I suppose it makes sense.

The one thing I like about living in Cornwall, armpit of a city, though it is, was that everything shut down on Sundays. It took a bit of getting used to, but once we were used to it, we loved Sundays. They were so special. We'd go to mass first thing in the morning, and then we'd do fun family stuff the rest of the day. I guess we could do that here, but it would require a lot more effort, and we would have to say "no" to a lot of things that are scheduled on Sundays. In a city like Cornwall, we wouldn't have to say no because it would be a non-issue.

Today, my older son had the last day of levelling for his ball hockey league. This was day four of four days of levelling, and I was halfway there, when I turned around, and said, "Forget it. It's Easter Sunday, and we're not going. It just feels completely wrong to be doing this." I'm not angry that they organized it on Easter Sunday. Obviously the organizers don't realize what today means to Christians. I guess it was up to me to put my foot down and draw the line, so I did. I feel like it's harder and harder for me to find that line, when there are so many influences that are antithetical to my values, but I'm doing my best.

I'm off to spend some fun Sunday family time. Christ is Risen! Happy Easter!

[Poll #1547376]

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mahogany

July 2013

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