Tuesday Tunes

Once upon a time, I thought I would use Tuesdays as a day to post music that I liked, or was relevant, or for whatever reason I wanted. Unfortunately, I pretty much stopped posting completely right after I started. Serves me right for trying something new in summertime. Anyway, I thought I might try again.

Let's start with a song that has summertime significance for me. My nephews came and visited this summer and I actually listened to some current top 40-ish music while they were here. This song was catchy, easy to sing along with even if you didn't know the words, and a perfect song for a summertime holiday. When we got together again for our Christmas holiday, we cued it up on the iPod and sang along again.

This one is for Adam and Alex.

A Christmas Carol

No, not the Dickens one. What I want to know is: What is your favourite Christmas song? Are you a traditionalist or a rock and roller? Is it Bing or Frank? Do you think that Barbra and Barry have no business singing about Christmas or are they on repeat on your player? Are you an atheist with a secret yen for songs about the Baby Jesus? Go on..spill! And audio links are encouraged!

Here are three different versions of one of my very favourites.







And just because I love it second best:

Tuesday Tunes: Flight

Sometimes you hear a song that is so glorious it makes you shiver. When I first heard this song recorded by Sutton Foster and Megan McGinnis, I immediately went to iTunes and bought it. This is what being a singer is all about.

Tuesday Tunes: Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Okay, for those of you actually paying attention, I didn't actually get this done on Tuesday, because I had to drive everyone to the airport in Buffalo. Thought this song was appropriate.

This song was a huge hit for Peter, Paul and Mary when I was 11. I loved singing along with Mary because she sang in my exact key. Over the years, this has become my campfire sing-along signature song. Singing it never gets old for me.

Tuesday tunes: Lyle Lovett

Y'all, meet my boyfriend. Yeah, I know he has scary hair and all, but if you listen to the music, you can hear a great sense of humour, a beautiful sense of lyric and some damn fine music.

The Road to Ensenada is my favourite Lyle album. The whole album is a musical re-telling of his relationship with Julia Roberts (see, Julia has good taste). Trust me, it's a good thing. This is the title track.



And since I am not actually here, but off at the boat for the week, I thought this one might be just a bit appropriate.



And if you see Lyle, tell him I got a boat and he is welcome on it anytime.

Tuesday tunes: Walking in Memphis

Last Tuesday I posted some music that I currently love. I have decided to try this out as a regular feature. Let me know what you think.

I first heard this song when I still lived in San Francisco. My regular radio station was KFOG and they played a great mix of eclectic rock. That is where I heard and fell in love with Walking in Memphis. It may well be my favourite song, which is odd, because I have no particular in visiting Memphis, I don't own much in the way of delta blues material and I can take or leave Elvis. Still, from the piano intro on, I am hooked and for 4 minutes, I too am a Christian.

My latest crush

Some of you may recall this post where I asked for recommendations for my iPod. I ended up checking out your suggestions, plus my own ideas and downloaded some great new music. I also checked out the recommendations that iTunes suggested, which is how I found Sarah Slean. This video is of one of the two songs I bought. I can't listen to it enough times.



A few weeks ago, I added The Baroness to my collection. Here is another fabulous song, with an absolutely gorgeous video to go along with it:



Seriously, she is my new obsession. I am going to have to own everything she has recorded. I am also going to have to see her the next time she is in Toronto.

Ponderings and Posings

• Why is it so easy to read 30 blogs every day and so hard to write just one?
  
• Remember when Heroes used to be good?
  
• I am listening to Fields of Gold by Sting (shut up! I like Sting). Why is it so much sexier when someone kisses "her mouth" instead of "her lips"?
  
• Maybe if I refilled the bird feeder, the pretty birds would come back. Unfortunately, that currently entails navigating the sea of dog poop that is currently my backyard.
  
• You really didn't need that last bit of information, did you?
  
• I didn't give up anything for Lent. I never give up anything for Lent. Do you?
  
• I thought the Academy Awards rocked this year. I especially liked the groups of five previous winners doing the acting nominations. I thought it gave real power to the idea that it was an honour just to be nominated. Seemed to me that most of the actors really appreciated the acknowledgment. Since when did giving people compliments become boring?
  
• This is very nearly a BoQ, isn't it? Don't you miss BOQs? How do you write bOq?
  
• I had iTunes Genius make me some playlists from my music. It pretty much scored a home run.
  
• Are you looking forward to baseball season? Do you ever look forward to a sporting season?
  
• I have fingerling potatoes to roast for supper tonight. You envy me, don't you?
  
• What state would you most like to visit?
  
• After I wrote the last item, the Genius playlist just moved to New York State of Mind. It really is a Genius, isn't it?
  
• Have you watched Life on Mars? You really should. Trust me.
  
• Which reminds me: I am actually feeling somewhat nostalgic for the 70s. I blame Milk, The Pursuit of Happyness and the aforementions LOM. What decade do you feel nostalgia for?
  
• I think this one is done for now. Thanks for playing
  

25 things about me

I have been tagged at least three times for this. Finally, I am getting around to doing it.

1. My paternal grandparents lived in Southern California, so during a large part of my childhood, my family managed to take us to Disneyland once a year. I have probably been there at least ten times. Although I loved many of the rides, my favourite was always Peter Pan. I still get a tingle when I hear Peter say "Here we goooooo!!"

2. When I was very small, I used to listen to my parent's recording of "HMS Pinafore" endlessly. The vinyl discs were stored in a cardboard case, with a photograph of the D'oyly Carte production. When D'oyly Carte came to San Francisco with their production, my parents took me to see it. The curtain rose, and the set was the exact same as the album cover!! I was amazed and delighted, as only a 7 year old can be.

3. I hate peas. I often pick them out of my food.

4. I have been fired three times.

5. I have always alphabetized my music collection. I have never alphabetized my book collection.

6. Speaking of books, I own over a hundred Star Trek novels.

7. For my university graduation present, my parents gave me $1000, which I spent on a week-long trip to New York City. The first two nights I spent at a hotel on Times Square, then I crashed (illegally) at a dorm room at Columbia with a girl I met my second night in town.

8. I drink my coffee black, but I like a bit of sweetener in my tea.

9. I have seen Barry Manilow in concert 4 times, Bette Midler 3 times, the Indigo Girls 3 times, and Barbra Streisand once. No, I am not a gay man.

10. My parents always wanted me to get straight A's in high school. I did not comply. However, when I returned to school at 44 years of age, I got my first (and only) straight A report card.

11. My sun sign is Virgo. My rising sign is Aries. My moon is also in Aries and Mercury is in Virgo. This means I am outgoing, impulsive, and critical. Who says astrology is a load of hooey???

12. The first album I owned was "Magical Mystery Tour" which I bought at the Bell Market grocery store.

13. Nearly every pair of shoes I own is black. Same goes for my dress pants.

14. I went to camp for two weeks each summer for 3 years. My best activities were archery and riflery.

15. Mickey was my favourite Monkee. I really didn't have a favourite Beatle until I was in my twenties and saw A Hard Days Night. Then I fell in love with John.

16. I am happy eating the same thing for breakfast and the same thing for lunch every single day.

17. I have lived in Canada for 9 years. I can't vote here, because I am not a citizen, but I have voted in every U.S. federal election since I was 18 years old.

18. My first car was an orange Honda CVCC. It was the size of a postage stamp. Seriously.

19. In 2001, I moved into a new home. That was the first time in my life I had ever painted a wall.

20. I love to cook. I rarely use recipes any more. And when I do use them, I rarely do everything the way the author does.

21. I can't tell you what my favourite movie or book is; there are just too many to choose from. However, my favourite musical is Sunday in the Park with George.

22. I find it nearly impossible to fall asleep in a seated position. Or when the television is on.

23. On February 17th, I will celebrate my 9th wedding anniversary. On March 24th, I will have been married to my current husband longer than I was married to my first husband.

24. I can usually identify, by name, an episode of ST:TOS within 1 minute of viewing.

25. Since my birth, the number of animals I have lived with is 11 cats, 8 dogs, two budgies, one hamster, one parrot and one rat.

Sunday morning

The dog decided at 6 o'clock this morning that she needed to go out. I got up, put on robe and slippers, picked up the dog and carried her downstairs, put her out, checked to make sure she was accomplishing something, coaxed her back up the icy steps outside, and carried her back up to bed.

At 7, she decided she needed to do the whole thing again. And again at 8:30. Since the alternative is an accident in the bedroom, I obliged her. Reluctantly. You may wonder why I didn't just get up and stay up the first (or second) time she got me out of bed. The answer is that Sunday is the ONE day I get to sleep in, and dammit! I really wanted to this morning. Fail.

But...

I am sitting at my computer, alternately reading and writing; I have a large cup of coffee at my elbow; I am listening to the glorious sounds of Audra MacDonald singing in "110 in the Shade"; the sun is just reaching the fence in the backyard and the smell of fried apples is filling the air. Soon there will be bacon and Scottish oatmeal. I guess there are worse ways to spend a Sunday morning.

Just what I needed

Now, go vote!

In concert

Inspired by Pioneer Woman (I have to thank Annika for linking me there once upon a time), who asks "What concerts have you been to?"

I have been to many concerts in my day (why, yes, I am old, thanks so much for asking!), so I think I will just stick with two that stand out in my memory. Okay, maybe three.

The first concert I ever attended was Loggins and Messina at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, California. I was 16 years old and I thought that when Kenny Loggins, sans shirt, came to the edge of the stage, I would die from the hotness. The bearded, hippy hotness (this was long before Footloose). The Greek is an outdoor arena, modelled (as one might guess) on the Greek amphitheatres of old. We sat on stone (concrete) seats and sweated as the sun poured down on us. I have been to many other concerts at the Greek, but this one was the first and thus, worthy of memory.

Another concert at the Greek was the Indigo Girls. I remember this one clearly because it was when Bill Clinton was running for president. Emily wore a Clinton/Gore bumper sticker on the thigh of her jeans and when she sang the lyric "Well the world seems spent and the president has no good idea who the masses are", we screamed our agreement. Let it be me, indeed. The world was full of hope, the sun was hot, the womyn of Berkeley were half nekkid and the men were enlightened and we all rocked our asses off.

The best concert I have ever been to was Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet performing The Juliet Letters at the San Francisco Symphony Concert Hall. If you haven't heard this album, I strongly recommend it. It is Elvis at his lyrical best and the influence of the Brodsky makes for a profound musical experience. In concert, Elvis and the Brodsky played the album in order, as a concert piece. It was brillant- Costello was in perfect voice and the power of the live performance resonated in a way a recording simply cannot.

The only mar in a perfect performance was the woman behind us. We came to call her "the dying swan" because she consistently honked out her pleasure with moans of "Elllllllllllllvisssssssssssssssss!" Her enthusiasm became even more heightened when The Juliet Letters ended, and Costello performed some of his other songs. Her pleas for certain songs soared over the audience in loud volumes. We shook our heads and sighed. But even with swan lady, it was the best concert ever.

So, tell me about a concert that you remember, for better or worse.

Happiness is..

a lyric from You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Go ahead. Ask me another. As long as it isn't too terribly current, I could probably name the song, the musical, the names of the original cast members and if I own it on vinyl. Yes, I used to be a SERIOUS musical comedy geek. But then I moved to Canada, leaving my gay friends and ex-dancer-ex-husband behind and I kind of got out of touch with musicals. I rarely popped one into the CD player, because, not only does the new husband not entirely "get" the musical theatre obsession (oh, he tries, but it is a very new thing for him), the ex got half the CD collection.

Have I mentioned that the only real fight over splitting up the joint property occurred over the CD collection?

But.

Grant bought himself a Satellite radio for his car. It has an entire channel devoted exclusively to Broad. Way. Said husband recognized my rapturous reception of said channel and bought me my very own Satellite radio for Christmas. Now, it's Broadway all the time.

I have already started buying original cast recordings again. My latest purchase is the musical version of Legally Blonde, which not only doesn't suck, it is friggin' hilarious!!

Yes, I will buy Spring Awakening, too, but it's so nice to have a silly, frothy, fun musical in the house!

Go Team Me!!

I am quite pleased with myself.

I recently acquired a gift card to the MSN/Sympatico music store for $20. I happily logged on and purchased two essential "girl" albums (Tori and Jann) to download. Then I tried to copy them into my iTunes library.

Horrors! The files were PROTECTED from my beloved iTunes; gateway to the wonder that is my iPod. Instead of happily taking Tori and Jann with me everywhere I go, I was faced with the possibility of only being able to listen to my new music on Windows Media Player, through the tinny speakers of my laptop. I was sad. Well, actually I was pissed. Forgotten was the fact that said music was free. I wanted it on my iPod, dammit!

But then, it dawned on me. What if I could burn the new music to disc? And what if once burned to disc, said "protection" was no more?

Done. And done. I have thwarted the Evil Empire once again. Bwahahaha!

Overachievers are us....well, me

I made far too much food for dinner tonight. Would anyone like to come help Grant and I with the rack of lamb, grilled asparagus and red bell peppers, garlic couscous and portabellas with feta?

And no, I am not obsessed with food. Why do you ask?

When a diet goes horribly awry

Tonight I was approached by a 6 year old Girl Guide. She stood before me in her bright pink Sparks sweatshirt and a pretty flower in her curly brown hair and asked me sweetly if I wanted to buy a box of Girl Guide Cookies.

I smiled at her regretfully and said "No, thank you, sweeetie," and walked on.

After ten steps, I stopped in complete horror and turned to Grant. "What have I done?" I gasped.

He simply said, "I know."

I went back and bought the cookies. Thin Mints.

I still feel bad.

Random iPod; random thoughts

When I first got an iPod (okay, technically, it was Grant's iPod, but humour me, will you?), I often found myself thinking "What a great song!" when a new song clicked over on shuffle play. Yeah, I know, getting excited about a song that I put on myself is pretty lame, but there it is. The novelty still hasn't entirely worn off, although I rarely think that particular thought anymore. Still, I usually have some sort of an internal commentary while I listen.

Wanna listen in?

• Do any of you remember Moonlighting? Okay, remember that scene where (oh shoot! what's his name?) sings a song to Miss diPesto while standing outside her window? Yeah, that song.
  
  
• Tori Amos and I both have a killer rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart". I gotta find me a karaoke bar someday soon.
  
  
• "I Will Remember You". I really need to rewatch season 2 of Buffy again.
  
  
• I just salsaed my way across the kitchen to make a cup of tea. Because Carlos Santana rocks!
  
  
• If you are truly depressed, listening to any cut from Sinatra's Only The Lonely, is the sure road to suicide. Just sayin'.
  
  
• Boys, there is no way I am going surfing anytime soon. In the USA or anywhere else. Have you watched the weather news lately??
  
  
• There a couple of Diana Krall I really like. Her version of "Squeeze Me"? Not so much.
  
  
• When you hear the name Jennifer Warnes, you probably have a flashback to any number of movie duets, especially Dirty Dancing. But if you want to really find out what a great singer she is, I recommend you pick up Famous Blue Raincoat. The best of Leonard Cohen sung in luscious style. Right now I get to hear "The Song of Bernadette". Lucky me.
  
  
• This list would not be complete without some Kate Bush. I haven't had too much time to really listen to Aerial, her latest album. The album is in two parts; right now I am listening to "Prologue" from A Sky of Honey, which is the second of the two discs. Beautiful.
  
  
• Wow, this next one is really loud. I think it must be from Grant's music. Oops, nope! It's Jann Arden. I downloaded "Calling God" after hearing her sing it in concert. If you ever have a chance to see her in concert, grab it. She is a fabulous singer, but her patter between songs is hilarious!

Okay, ten songs is enough for tonight. I am sorry none of my new songs made the shuffle, but thanks to all of you for your suggestions, they were great! Perhaps that list will be a post for another day. :-)

Too darn long for comments...

Jenn- Yay! for CD making!

Angela- I already have Indians, Nomads and Saints, along with 4 other Indigo Girls CDs! :-) If they are in TO anytime in the future, we gotta hook up!

Amanda- which song(s) off Lost in Space are your favourites?

Vicki- Careless Love doesn't appear to be on iTunes, but I got "Muddy Water" on my list. It is some good old time jazz singin'.

I have taken everyone else's suggestions (including the WD ones) and added them to the list. Woot! for new music.

I am also getting Lyle Lovett's new CD and Paul Simon's. I gotta have Lyle's cuz when we get married I have to have all his music, and I just happen to like Paul Simon. I know, I am a baby boomer...so sue me!

I also added some Tori, Lucinda Williams, Mark Knopfler and Emmy Lou Harris and Sarah Slean (the last was recommended by iTunes). Oh, and "Mad World".

I have a few more pennies to spend, so keep the suggestions coming. Specific songs are appreciated.

Now that iTunes has redeemed those gift certificates...

I need some good suggestions for downloads.

I am thinking some Neko Case, maybe some Michelle Branch or some new Tori Amos. You know---girls. Singing and playing and emoting some good emotions. These are just some general guidelines. Here is your opportunity to turn me on to some music I simply gotta have! What artist? What songs?

*taps fingers impatiently*

I'm waiting.

Now if the aliens would only burst into song...

I finally got around to spending the Amazon gift certificate that my sister sent me for my birthday. My presents arrived today: Battlestar Galactica 2.5 and the Wicked original cast album.

My inner sci-fi and Broadway geeks are very happy.