NEW FAVORITE SONGS

Around the Bend by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

I love this song! I even downloaded it as a ringtone.

Okay, so my favorite new song isn’t new (which I was aware of), but I guess it was in an iPod touch commercial, too. I don’t remember it. I just randomly found it on iTunes. I like a few of their other songs too, but I don’t think I could listen to them nonstop…except for this one song.



The other is Teddybears featuring Mad Cobra: Cobra Style

This song just makes me move!

Long weekend ahead - looking to get some gardening done and a few indoor projects, hopefully take some pictures and a bike ride!

Tilly and the Wall - new to me music

So I'm really digging the band Tilly and the Wall. They've been around since 2001, but they're new to me and I highly recommend them!

Give a listen...

Lost

Have you ever turned the sounds around you into music? The sound of the garbage truck, the tappity tap of fingers on a keyboard, the sound of the refrigerator or the furnace turning on? Have these sounds ever called up a whisper of forgotten music, a tune you can’t quite place a name or words to; that makes you wonder – is it some music that someone has already created or did it come from you, from somewhere inside you, all your own tune?

When I was young, I used to call up fiddle music in my head…slow, mournful Celtic airs that I would drift off to sleep to. I never knew where they came from; if they were something remembered or created in my own subconscious. I’ve never really been able to read music, let alone what it would sound like just from looking at it on a page, nor do I play an instrument, but I could call up music within me and my chest would get tight and a knot would form in my stomach…like I was on the edge of a revelation, like one more step would open the flood gates of memories from some long ago time...some time before I was born, before I or my parents or my parents parents were even a thought in the mind of the Universe.

I lost this ability some time ago. I suddenly noticed that I couldn’t do it – the music was done; the band had packed up and moved on to their next venue. It broke my heart that my personal concert was over. But was it really? If I had tapped into this unforeseen ability once, couldn’t I do it again? Couldn’t I find what had changed so drastically in my life that would cause this gift to disappear…and change it back? I have contemplated this over and over, a million times over in the last six years. So many things have happened – the end of a relationship and the subsequent crash of the world you had created as it shattered around you, the loss of one’s self at the end of that relationship, the loss of a loved one, starting over, not knowing how to reclaim what you once were…before it all started.

Last night I caught the whisper of a fiddle tune, just as I was drifting off and it woke me up with a start – a sit up in bed, confused, straining to hear as the whispers fade kind of start. This morning I woke up with a feeling…a change is coming; it’s singing in my soul. It’s making my heart pound faster and louder and that feeling, that revelation…I could reach out and touch it.

Somtimes it Takes a Second Listen

Maybe I was in a mood. Maybe the timing was off. Maybe I just wasn't listening, but the first time I heard Sufjan Stevens...I didn't like him. And every time someone mentioned his Songs for Christmas, my thought was "I don't get it - why do soooo many people love this guy? I mean really - come on!"

Well, I'm here today to admit I was wrong. Yes, I said it and I'll say it again. I was wrong!

Capital W, Capital R, Capital O, Capital N, Capital G!

What changed my mind? Besides yet another blogger writing about their favorite Christmas album? Amazon.com - it was front and center for Christmas related recommendations. I exclaimed to the Universe, "FINE! I GIVE UP! I'LL LISTEN AGAIN! IT'S OBVIOUSLY WHAT YOU WANT!"

So I listened to the brief intro's to each song...then I went to iTunes. I do enjoy his stlye and I liked enough of the songs to justify downloading the whole album.

So I guess sometimes it really does take a second listen.

And here's a little gratuitous cuteness: I often find them sleeping like this - Nym snuggled in close to Sadie, sometimes back to back, sometimes him curled into her belly. This morning he was purring like an engine and kneading her back paw and only occasionally would she wince at the needle sharp claws. She's so good with him.

Ugh

I don’t know why I do this to myself; I get these grandiose plans in my head of all the great things I’m going to make and bake for people for Christmas and then it comes down to crunch time and I lose all sense of where I am, what I’m doing and I don’t take anytime to just enjoy myself.

I’ve started culling through the Bloglines list of unread posts (78 left to go!) and catching up with everyone’s lives, art, etc. and I feel…scattered; like I should be doing so much more and so much less at the same time. I squirrel myself away in my house and putter without getting anything done it seems, rather than completing a task that has a deadline (Christmas). The worst part is that I really don’t have much to do; it’s just that I can’t seem to focus (hence scattered). I’m watching the time tick past, rather than actually occupying it with something fruitful.

When I feel frustrated like this, because I’m not getting the things done that I want done in the timeframe that I want, writing down those frustrations helps. Clears my head, helps me get things in order, like my lists. Right now I have several going: the list of domestic chores (vacuum, dishes, laundry, decorate the tree), the list of fabric things to be made (quilts, headbandanas, fabric sacks, rice bags), the grocery list (sugar, flour, milk, eggs, etc. etc.), the baking list (sugar cookies, rice crispy houses, best ever candy cookie bars), the list of times and dates and locations of the coming holiday events (Dec. 6 = Hanukkah party at Deb’s, Dec. 11 = Marcia’s 50th, Dec. 20 = potluck staff holiday party at Michael’s).

I need to get organized. I think that may be the root of my scatteredness. I feel like I’m living amid a pile of things; Christmas decoration boxes, unpainted shelves, UFP (UnFinished Projects) and too much cluttery crap that I don’t use. I feel like I need to pare down, you know, get rid of that crap that I don’t use…hey this sounds familiar…oh wait, that’s because I ranted about this last December – feeling scattered, needing to organize, needing to declutter my house and my life – did I declutter? Uh…no. What is my problem with letting things go? With really organizing? With finishing projects? Am I that attention deficit? Can sentimental reasons alone save a vase that I’ve never used from the Goodwill pile? Honestly?

Well, thanks for listening. Oh, before I leave you…on a completely unrelated (but musical) note: I’m falling in love with the voice Nathan Rogers. He is the son of Canadian folk singer, Stan Rogers and he just has that voice, a mirror to Stan Rogers but all his own at the same time. A little rough and grumbly, but sweetly evocative. Give a listen, if you’re so inclined.

I need a vacation

I've said it before, but I really enjoy my job. I work in the Maine Legislature (Office of the Senate President), but we're not a full-time legislature, which means every two years, we have a new legislative session and every two years there is the possibility of not having a job (a bit nerve-wracking). Our legislative session is broken up into 2 individual (regular) sessions. The first session is the longest running (normally) from January to June. Our second session runs from January to April (sometimes May). In my office, session normally starts off busy, slows down a little as committees settle into their work on bills and then speeds up like a freight train when the end of session approaches. Paperwork comes in furious piles. Tempers flare and suspicion abounds at the slightest notion of someone's bill going the wrong way. Lobbyists hover, staff members scurry and the media camps outside each chamber in hopes of a scoop. Rumors circulate and questions are asked: Will tax reform go this way or that? Will the State health plan make it or be scrapped? Will a certain Senator have a meltdown in public...again...or just in the privacy of her caucus...again? Ooooooh, the drama!

The biggest question today is about adjournment. Today is the day when they should finish their work. Will they? Many have been asking this. Everyone has a guess...a date and a time (and $5 in a pool - keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow night at 11:12 pm).

There is an air of anticipation here today. A calm before the storm. How will it all end? When will it all end?

And my question...when can I take a vacation?

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I leave you with two really great Imogen Heap songs:

Tuesday Music Love

Falling in love with:
Brandi Carlile ~ The Story

Still in love with:
Feist - The Reminder

Dredging up some old loves:
Rancid

Social Distortion
The Violent Femmes

Wanting:

Johnette Napolitano ~ Scarred

(also falls into the old loves category!)

With the sickness done, the fun's just begun

Whoo hoo! I'm feeling so much better, I'm practically doing the happy happy dance of joy! Marcia gave me her sinus infection and it flattened me for a week, despite the antibiotics and the ton of sleep. Thankfully last week was a vacation week for the Legislators, so work was totally quiet and I didn't have to worry leaving Marcia here alone while I took sick time. Thank you for the well-wishes! They were much appreciated and much needed. My sick time out of work wasn't all for not...I got a good jump start on my pink and green quilt. I have pictures, but forgot my camera today, so I will post those tomorrow!

This weekend was fabulous! I didn't do a ton of things but the weather was perfect and I did go to Boston for the Loreena McKennitt concert at the Wang Center. Oh, but it was fabulous! I wish I had brought my camera - that theatre was opulent and awe inspiring; here are some pictures that others have taken of the theatre on Flickr.

The stage was set up so simply. There were drapes hung ceiling to floor with winding/entwining patterns in the fabric, they were lit in blue and Moroccan lamps hung in four places from the ceiling, with flicker lights (making them look like candle flames). A golden arch with another lamp hanging from it was placed behind the drummer, in the center where the drapes parted, giving that feeling of a gypsy caravan tent, like the one on the cover of An Ancient Muse. The concert started with the flame-haired Loreena, dressed in dark browns, sitting alone at her harp, singing a haunting rendition of "She Moved Through the Fair".

We gave her 3 standing ovations and she played 2 encores! Oh, she was magnificent - the whole group of musicians playing with her were fabulous (my friends and I want Caroline Lavelle's, the cellist, hair)! And you could tell that they really enjoyed themselves. I love it when you see someone live and they're having fun - you can really feel it in their music! There is a really great review of her London concert from earlier this month here.

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and I can't wait to catch up with the blog-stories of your lives that I missed out on last week.

songs of enchantment

I am so psyched that I'm doing the happy happy dance of joy!

Can't you see me? I'm spinning and jumping, with my arms flailing!

Can't you hear me? Yips of joy and shouts of "Waaaahoooo" are echoing off the walls!

I am going to see Loreena McKennitt! In April! In Boston!

I can't believe this!

If you've never heard that ethereal voice, listen here, there are little sound bites to give you a taste. She's amazing! Her music is haunting and heart-wrenching, energetic and alive, with pipes and drums and pianos and harps and all manner of orchestral instruments.

The music evokes images of dancing 'round bonfires during the solstice in swirling long skirts, calling down the magic of the old gods. It's Shakespeare and Tennyson and Blake in song.

This is something I've been looking forward to for 13 years, since my friend and I discovered her music and swore that if Loreena was playing anywhere nearby, no matter the cost - we would find the money and go. And go we shall, to Boston! To spend the day wandering downtown, to check out the shops, to find little out of the way and interesting places to have lunch and dinner and then top the evening off listening to the enchanting voice of Loreena McKennitt!

Do You Hear What I Hear...

In my quest for different music via blog, radio and just talking to my friends, several artists have been mentioned (and thanks to Mel, I can listen via Napster to full albums for free and decide whether or not I want to invest my money - which is much better than spending $$ on a cd that I don't really like, as that $$ can go toward something else):

*Carla Bruni (thanks, Shari! I heard Carla Bruni's "L'amour" on the radio back awhile ago and really enjoyed it but couldn't find out who she was - it was a track that a guest to the radio station played off their iPod)
*Luna (again, thanks Shari)
*Laura Brino (whom I'm loving!)
*Moe...I haven't made up my mind about Moe yet. They're very Phish-esque and I do like some Phish, but after a while...all the songs sound the same or they go on for so long that you start wondering when/if the song will ever end. No offense to anyone really into Phish...just my opinion. But Moe seems to throw in some twang, some harder riffs here and there...I'm skipping through albums trying to draw out some favs but having a hard time
*Neko Case totally rocks and I am so getting her music!

And if anyone caught CBS's Sunday Morning this past Sunday, Cat Power's "The Greatest" and Anjani's "Blue Alert" were mentioned as great gifts to give. Definitely check out Cat Power, if you haven't already! Anjani's old stuff is a little pop-y, but Blue Alert is very bluesy, very smokey and very Leonard Cohen (who co-wrote and produced it).

My posting will be sketchy this week. Yesterday was meetings galore, an hour and forty five minutes stuck in traffic, crawling at a snails pace, outside Portland and then on to the staff holiday party at my house (which rocked, but I never took pictures - duh!) I have Thursday off to work on Christmas presents, then it's off to a holiday gathering of friends at The Liberal Cup in Hallowell (great atmosphere, good people, good live music, the food is so-so as it depends on what you get, the home brew is excellent! You have to get there early to get a table though; it fills up fast!) Friday will see me driving my gift-laden, one horse open sleigh (Mitsubishi Montero Sport), with my furry little elves (Sadie & Tallulah) in tow to the Lake for some yuletide cheer with the fam.

Have a fabulous rest of the week - I'll try to post again before Christmas!

And now for something completely different...

I have a new favorite Christmas song:

"Donde Esta Santa Claus" by Guster

I know they put it out two years ago, but it's one of those songs you forget about because it's not over-played, then you hear it again...out of the blue...driving home after a long day and before you know it, you're chair-dancing in the driver's seat and people are looking at you like you're nuts...but you don't care because this song just lifts your spirit and gets you moving!

On my list of new and/or fun things I want to do, I mentioned picking up a new (new to me) cd each month of someone I've never heard or haven't heard much of, just to expand my musical selection. I missed a lot of US college bands and indie bands when I moved to Canada in '95, but was bombarded with a ton of great Canadian bands, a lot of amazing local New Brunswick talent. But I'm just now starting to realize what I missed out on.

I'm starting to play catch up, now and at this moment it's with Dispatch - I'm really liking their live stuff. All Points Bulletin is currently playing (love "Riddle"). Of course, reading up on them now, I'm wondering where the hell I was to have missed this band? Was I just not paying attention? Was I listening to some other style of music? This is entirely possible - I dated a hardcore punk for about 4 1/2 years and getting him to listen to anything else or go to shows that didn't involve his music was like pulling teeth.

What are you listening to (aside from holiday music)? I'm open to any suggestions in just about any flavor.