With the aim of helping me to practice written French, I’ve created a blog over at Blogspot just for that purpose. I haven’t begun posting in it yet because I only decided to do it yesterday, but I’m planning a few posts that should be up within the next couple of days. I think it’ll be a fun way for me to learn, and hopefully others will get something out of it too, because I’ll be explaining grammar rules, sharing vocabulary and maybe even interesting facts about French and France, as I learn them. I’ll be sure to post a link to the blog when there is actually stuff there to read.

On a completely different subject, something that makes me giggle is that a movie as awful as Twilight: New Moon (I still think Bella looks permanently constipated) can have at least two incredibly awesome songs on its soundtrack. ‘Rosilyn’ by Bon Iver & St. Vincent and ‘Meet Me on the Equinox’ by Death Cab For Cutie. A part of me is slightly repulsed those songs were asked to feature because I love the artists on their own and kind of wish they weren’t associated with such stupidity. But, don’t get me wrong, this is not something I think about often. In fact it was only just before that I realised both songs are on that soundtrack, and then the wave of nausea struck (ok, exaggerating here, ).

I’m going to be doing a little giveaway soon, so stay tuned!

Last Sunday my guy and I went to see Lady Gaga. It was quite enjoyable despite our horrible seats. She really put on a great show and I was most pleased with having gone. I didn’t really get her when she first appeared on the international music scene, and it’s really only been over the last six months that I’ve been coming to the conclusion she’s not actually a useless over-commercialised, untallented idiot. She actually writes her songs, plays instruments and, as I was witness to it, can sing (very well, actually). While dancing almost continuously, I might add, which is incredibly difficult (trust me, I’ve tried doing it while home alone and it’s pretty freakin’ exhausting). So, basically, I love her now. And I can’t stop listening to her albums, either. She’s the first woman I’ve seen live, too, which is kind of cool, I think.

Anyway, this week has been pretty busy at university, but it’s going to get much busier over the coming weeks. I have mid-terms coming up and assignments to start/finish, etc. To keep my sanity I’ve been reading for leisure daily, but I don’t get to do much in terms of hobbies (i.e. finish crocheting fingerless gloves) and that makes me feel a bit off. Luckily I don’t have much time to think about it.

I shall leave you with a little What I Wore Today thing. I don’t do this nearly as much as I should, but now that I have a decent camera on my phone I think I’ll be more inclined to, haha.

Top from Glassons.
Skirt made by me from a New Look pattern.
Black pantyhose.
Not pictured are the black ballet flats and the black cardigan with pink ribbon detail.

I love the pockets on the skirt because they are so super-handy!

Of course this doesn’t mean I can slack off on being responsible with my finances. If anything, I have to be more vigilant, otherwise I’m liable to sit at my computer merrily clicking ‘Add to cart’ and ‘Go to checkout’ until I start frothing at the mouth and my bank account is drained like the last delicious drop of Merlot.

But I digress, this post isn’t actually about that, I just wanted to explain the above to bring me to this: I finally have an iTunes account and the first three songs I’ve bought are all Michael Jackson ones. I’ve not posted about his death because, well, everyone else was, however after listening to these songs I feel compelled to say something. When I was little (very little) the Jackson family was pretty much my favourite bunch of musical people ever. I adored Michael’s solo music, loved The Jackson 5 and was obsessed with Janet from age 5-9. It was difficult to escape them, especially with older siblings who were also fans.

As I got older I discovered other music and, although my appreciation for the Jacksons was still there, I didn’t avidly follow any of them. I’m still like that, but have many fond memories of listening to Michael and Janet and being wonder-struck whenever I saw either them on television, especially for live performances. There is no doubt that Michael was an amazing performer who knew how to put on a show for people and make them feel amazing. I’m saddened that he died at 50; he should have had much longer than that.

Mainly, though, I feel bad for his children. I’m of the opinion that he was likely never inappropriate with children, but I don’t want to write about what he may or may not have done, or about anything “odd” he’s done. I just hope his own children will not be put through any more stress than what they will already be experiencing now that he is gone. At the end of the day, he was their father and it seems to me like they adored him as most children adore their fathers, and that is all that actually matters.

So, to Michael. Thanks making awesome music and for your contributions to the music industry.

This is my favourite Snow Patrol song. I think it’s beautiful and brilliant, and it’s probably the most fitting song to describe a situation I find myself in. Maybe that’s why I love it so much? The addition of Martha Wainwright is wonderful because her voice is so lovely; it really helps to express the meaning of the song by the way it melts into Gary’s.

I find a map and draw a straight line
Over rivers, farms and state lines
The distance from A to where you B
It’s only finger-lengths that I see
I touch the place where I’d find your face
My fingers in creases
Of distant dark places

I’m miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
And I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms

I recommend you watch in high quality or go to this site and watch.

I discovered The American Dollar last night when StumbleUpon sent me to the Aurgasm music blog. This song is, I think, absolutely beautiful, as is the video.

The America Dollar’s MySpace

March 26 – April 2 2009

So, how are you?

Kings of Leon are a truly brilliant band who are what I consider to be one of the best live acts of my generation. They appeal to a vast range of people and, as last night’s crowd attested, everyone had an awesome time. I have not been a part of a crowd as enthusiastic and who sung as much, since I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2002, and even then the Chili Pepper’s crowd wasn’t quite like the Kings’ one. There were not many songs last night that the audience didn’t participate in, and even for the songs that are less familiar there were still those hardcore fans everywhere (like myself) who knew every damn word and made sure to scream it like we meant it, ’cause we did.

It is needless to say that during ‘Sex On Fire’ it was difficult to hear the band singing over the chorus from the crowd. I think almost every single person at Vector Arena was singing it, and even then anyone who wasn’t screaming it was singing under their breath. I don’t think I have ever experienced that at a concert before. When we all sung along to the more well known songs, especially the latest singles, I got goosebumps from the shear passion everyone was exuding. It still gives me goosebumps thinking about it and I feel so lucky to have been there and been a part of a show I will, without a doubt, remember forever.

The band themselves were in great form and Caleb, the singer/guitarist, was chatty with the crowd. I love it when there is interaction with the crowd. He kept saying how great an audience we were, which, I suppose, he says at all shows, however I choose to believe that he meant it when he said it was one of the best shows they’ve done all tour. We were a fucking great crowd and we lapped everything up like cult followers but in a less weird, we’ll-be-back-to-normal-after way.

I was very impressed with the setlist (thought I can’t find it listed anywhere online yet): they played songs from all the albums, and they played ‘Closer’ and ‘Molly’s Chambers’ which are two of my all-time favourite tracks. No ‘Arizona’ but that’s ok because at the end of the day there isn’t one Kings of Leon song I don’t, at the very least, like, so whatever was given to us was fine with me.

The opening band was The Stills and they’re from Montreal, Canada. I had no idea who was opening before I went to the show so it was a surprise, and a pretty nice one, too. Although I am not familiar with their music they were quite enjoyable and there was this one song with the most epic drumming in it. I want to find their setlist so I can find that song!

The only thing about the entire night that I was not so pleased with was our seating. We were on the back bleachers, though at a nice medium height, but I would have preferred being closer to the stage. It was extremely difficult to get any decent camera footage with being that far back, but it’s not a big deal and once they came on stage I couldn’t care less where I was as long as I could dance and sing and dance some more, which I did. I’ve never danced like that at a concert before; I’ve either been too squashed or too shy to, but last night, after about three songs, I said to myself, Fuck it, this is Kings of fucking Leon, self, stop with the bobbing and throw yourself around!! So I did.

I wish like hell I can see them again before they leave the country but all their other shows are sold out, and rightly so. I hope that if you’re going to see them, you enjoy yourself as much as I did!

Anyway, here’s a photo I took. See, bad quality.

The rest of the photos are here, with video to come later.

If I had money to dispose of on buying albums physically (CD, vinyl) then I would; I so would. I used to spend almost all of the pocket money I got when I was younger on CDs. It was one of my favourite things to do, because I loved the whole process of going to the store, taking my time to look through all the albums, find one or two I wanted, pay, go home, open it up, put the disc into my stereo and lie on my bed to listen to the whole thing from start to finish. I spent a lot of time from the age of 10 doing that (granted, my earlier musical taste was definitely on the dodgy side, but I saw the light eventually).

The last time I bought a CD for myself was in 2007 — I don’t remember what it was though. On Sunday I went for a browse through The Warehouse’s music department and found Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts I-IV album, which is a 36 song instrumental extravaganza. Obviously an instrumental NIN record is something that would interest me and my revived love for anything Trent Reznor touches.

So, I bought it and did what I did when I fifteen. I put it in my stereo and listened while lying on my bed doing nothing else. Nearly two hours of beautiful, gorgeous sounds that really blew me away. After days of listening (including while studying as it’s good for that I’m finding) I can go from start to finish without skipping any tracks because they all flow so well together and none are mediocre or boring to me. I would love to see Trent do a piano album, with or without lyrics, or something just very, very stripped back and raw, because I think it would be wonderful.

P.S., I will try not to post too much after this about my revived Nine Inch Nails/Trent Reznor obsession. I really will. I’m just so excited by going back over all these songs that I loved so much when I was younger, this music that saw me through some pretty rough experiences, and then there is discovering what has been done in the last four years, of which there is a lot. So, you know, I’m excited!

I had a really great time last night, for the most part*. For the last few weeks I hadn’t really been all that excited about seeing NIN, mainly because I hadn’t listened to him much in years, but when they started and were playing songs I actually new (because I’m not so familiar with the new stuff), I felt pretty damn ecstatic! Trent Reznor was quite a prominent figure in my 15-year-old self’s mind, so it ended up being a little surreal for me, which I wasn’t expecting. I’m really glad I went because he probably wont be back here again, at least not as NIN anyway.

My friend that I went with has seen them a couple of times before and said they didn’t seem as good as she’d seen previously, and that’s what I overhead others say, too, but I have nothing to compare it with and wouldn’t want to anyway. They played ‘Hurt’, which was awesome, and also my very old beloved ‘Starfuckers’, among others! I still know the words. No ‘Closer’ though, which was a little bit of a let down because it’s a great song and, let’s face it, who doesn’t want to see Trent sing “I wanna fuck you like an animal” in person?

Speaking of which, I totally would have let him. When I could see him, for I often had a number of different fanboys in my way, he went from insanely intense to…well, even hotter, if I’m being honest here… Can I just say that he has got great arms. Seriously. He also talked quite a bit in comparison to other shows I’ve been to, and the sound was decent so I could understand him well. He seemed really nice and looked like he had a good time. The guys he had playing with him were very good, too. Because the live line-up changes fairly often I think the mood can be affected by that — sometimes the chemistry between everyone might be off, but last night I thought it all meshed very well.

The only thing that left some of us a bit miffed was that the set list was shorter than we expected and there was no encore, much to everyone’s disappointment. I didn’t really mind all that much because I’ve been to shows with no encore and frankly I don’t really the point in them anyway. As Trent said, it was the first night they had played with the new set-up they had, so they themselves didn’t have a solid idea of what they were doing, however I didn’t think that showed much at all.

The opening band was The Naked and Famous. I didn’t think I knew who they were until they played a song I recognised, then I was like “Oohhh, that’s who you are.” They were decent and the singer is a girl, so yay for that.

Overall, I had an amazing time and I totally have a crush on Trent again. Cannot be helped. I am left with a sense of being very lucky to have experienced that night. It’s the sort of thing I hope to tell my currently non-existent kids one day and they’ll be all “Oh my God, Mum, you saw Nine Inch Nails live??!! You are sooo cool!” or something like that. I think that about my own mother who saw Led Zeppelin at 15. What I would give, what I would give…

*The only crappy parts for me were the fanboys who have no consideration for other people (I value my toes and their ability to, you know, function), and standing behind a girl with dreads who flicked her hair in my face, and eye!, on numerous occasions while dancing.

I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head for a couple of days. Every time I hear it or see this video I collapse into laughter. There is also Tutti Frutti Summer Love.

Not the funniest video but The Ketchup Song always gives me a giggle, probably because I actually really liked it when it came out. Haha!

Anyone remember This Is How We Party by S.O.A.P? This is from 10 years ago, and I have to say it seems really innocent compared to how music sounds and what the videos are like nowadays.

This is ‘Rough Enough’ by Popsie, a European girl band from the late ’90s. I got their album in the summer of ’98 and spent a significantly large amount of time in my room dancing to it. I believe this was their first single, called ‘Single’. I really loved them. That was the summer of Popsie and Aaron Carter.

Billie, better known as Billie Piper, the one who was on Doctor Who, had quite the pop career ten years ago. This particular song was one I liked a lot back then.

Going back earlier to TLC with their video for ‘Creep’. I made my mum make satin pjs for me because of this video! I was probably 7 or 8 at the time. Except mine had quarter-moons with smiling faces for buttons.

Usher! I didn’t really like him all that much when I was younger, but I totally like this song now. Or I have this thing where I hated a song when it came out but like it now purely because it reminds me of the time back when it was released.

Ok, I should probably stop now before I spent all night doing this. By stop, I mean stop posting links. I probably will keep looking all night…