The mp3 player works!

Can I get a woot for this?



The oldest bratling was able to find the software that needed downloaded, so that the player could be formatted! Yee Ha! So I've got my teeny tiny lighter-sized mp3 player ready to go, whenever I decide to get back to walking. (Or whenever this damn cough goes away)

I've got my first playlist of about 20 some song all transferred over. I was doing a little happy dance when I heard the tiny thing play Billie Myers - Am I Here Yet (Return To Sender) last night. The thing has pretty good sound. I'm impressed.

Granted I would love to have an Ipod or the Dell equivilent, but I don't have 300 dollars to buy one, and if I did have that kind of money, well, I'd have either a new Emachine or a nifty new digital camera. (But if anyone wants to buy me one, like my lovely sister bought me this cute little gadget, I'll be happy)

But for now, I'm really content with what I have. So I'm just going to head on off to Best Buy to get the new Erasure CD and hopefully the new Devlins CD so that I can have some new tunes to play on the darn thing.

Take Me Back Tuesday

Here's the Tuesday meme care of Fallen and the rest of ladies at Music Memoirs

1. Name your 5 favourite hard rock artists.
Def Leppard
Poison
Whitesnake
Cinderella
Europe

2. Name 5 leading vocalists for any hard rock band.
Joe Elliot
Brett Michaels
Klaus Meine (Lady Starlight, did I spell his name right?)
Kip Winger
David Coverdale

3. Power Ballads. Name your three favourites.
Def Leppard - Love Bites
Poison - I Won't Forget You
The Scorpions - Wind Of Change (I liked this one before I heard it 6 bazillion times on the way to and from Canton OH...Now it just traumatizes me)

4. Bonus question - name 3 one hit wonder hard rock bands from the 80's or 90's.
White Lion (Though I think they had 2 hits)
Extreme
Vixen (Had 1 big hit, but 2 albums..were a decent enough girl band too)

Things to Ponder

A friend of mine from Art of the Mix, posed some things to ponder on his blog. I then posted them at Music Memoirs to see if anyone else would like to play along.

So here we go..

In the last year or 6 months

Concerts I saw:
The last concerts I attended were in June. Both were the Moody Blues. Yup, I'm sad and pathetic.

Artists that I've been turned on to:
Jamie Cullum, Tierney Sutton, Judith Owen, Keri Noble

Old favorites who are still rocking hard:
Duran Duran, Elvis Costello
oh and in case you think I forgot...THE MOODY BLUES!! (No new album to squee about, but they still kick ass live)

Guilty pleasures:
Erasure, who have a new CD out TOMORROW!!! Love them!! Love Them! Go buy Nightbird!!!

A new boredom threshold

Yes, I'm on the threshold of boredom again. No wait, that's not right, I'm already bored. I'm just taking boredom to a whole new level.

How so, you ask?

I'm organizing and tagging my mp3s.

Yes, that requires much free time and much boredom, considering that right now I have about 3200 mp3s on my computer. And people wonder where my hard drive space goes.

Hmmmm, you'd never guess music? Right?

I'm working at getting my mp3 playlist online. Winamp generates and HTML playlist, I just have to figure out where to put it. Then you can see all the weird crazy things that I listen to on a daily basis.

I know you're excited.

And boy am I bored.

Singing the old standards

I've ranted on about how I hate Rod Stewart's American Songbook albums, but I suppose that doesn't mean that other people can't do them and do them well.

I was going through CDs and I found the Red Hot And Blue compilation, which might as well been the companion CD to the De-Lovely Soundtrack. Where the movie soundtrack tends to have the performers doing the songs as they were originally intended to be performed, the Red Hot & Blue compilation gives the songs a modern twist. (At least modern as of the 90's)

I suppose the main difference between the two CDs would be that the Red Hot & Blue disc was primary European artists like Jimmy Somerville, Erasure, U2 and Aztec Camera. Not that De-Lovely didn't sport just as many famous European singers, but the soundtrack had far more mainstream hit makers.

Robbie Williams did the the film's title number phenomenally well, but he did his own album of standards not long ago. Robbie could fit in well with the Rat Packers, in my opinion. Elvis Costello could too. I loved his version of Let's Misbehave and his earlier rendition of Love For Sale. But Elvis has been known to do justice to the strangest songs. His contribution to the Gershwin Tribute, But Not For Me was beautiful as is his version of Kurt Weill's Lost In The Stars. (That song makes me swoon)

So why then don't more people that can sing do albums of old standards? Perhaps because we like to torture our ears with people like Rod Stewart's versions. (Not to say that they all are bad, because I've heard one or two that I liked)

Of course if we want to hear good versions of these old songs, we can always buy albums by Diana Krall, Tierney Sutton, Harry Connick Jr or Michael Feinstein, but that would guarantee the album to be good, and there would be no surprises involved when you discovered that you liked the sound.

But hell, I'll take what I can get. I wonder if I could convince Justin and John to record Cole Porter's Too Darn Hot.

Proof that it snowed

Well, we didn't get quite the amount of snow that they were predicting, and I'm really sad about it too.

But we did get snow.


My car is buried in snow. 

Look at poor Bernie, buried underneath it all. Maybe tomorrow I'll be motivated enough to clean her off.

Another lazy weekend

I'm sitting here watching the snow fall now. Big huge flakes of snow, coming down at quite a fast pace. We're supposed to get several inches today.

So later on, since there's not going to be anything else to do today, I'm going to get out my camera and snap a few pictures of the snow. I was still sick earlier in the week when we had that first burst of snow. This time I can take some snow pictures.

The rest of the weekend will probably be very unexciting. Nowhere to go and nothing to do, because of the football game tomorrow.



Even though in my heart of hearts, I know they are going to lose and lose big. And that's the reason I don't even want to see the game. I want them to win so badly. They deserve a Super Bowl. The Steelers finally have a good team and have played good football all season, it would be an awful shame to see them lose now when they are this close to making it.

Snow and football the perfect combination for a lazy weekend.

Have I mentioned I don't like football? (I'm only happy for the Steelers because they are the Pittsburgh team)



That means they better win, or it's not going to be a lazy weekend, it's going to be a damn boring one.

Top Five On Friday

Time for another musical meme brought to you by moi and the rest of the ladies at Music Memoirs.

Top 5 Albums you couldn't live without when you were growing up.

1. The Beatles 65



Stolen from my brother. I still have his vinyl copy of this. It's very beat up but it has I'll Follow The Sun on it and that's all I cared about at the time.

2. The Monkees Greatest Hits



My very first album that wasn't related to cartoons!

3. Culture Club - Colour By Numbers



Karma Chameleon was my favorite song for the longest time. It still makes me smile, and I still want to learn make up tips from Boy George.

4. Madonna - Like A Virgin



I think every little girl at the time wanted to be Madonna. Material Girl was my favorite song. This in my opinion, is the best era of Madonna.

5. Cheap Trick - Lap of Luxury



I spent a lot of hours drooling over Robin Zander in the late 80's. Come to think of it, I probably still can spend some hours drooling on Robin Zander. Age has been kind to him.

The Finished Mix

Here's the Hidden Treasures Mix

Elvis Costello - Party Girl (Armed Forces)
Erasure - Cry So Easy (Wonderland)
The Moody Blues - Under My Feet (The Present)
David Bowie - Thursday's Child (...hours)
Paul McCartney - Press (Press To Play)
Duran Duran - UMF (The Wedding Album)
Cheap Trick - No Mercy (Lap of Luxury)
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Insider (Hard Promises)
Suzanne Vega - Soap & Water (Songs In Red And Gray)
Sarah McLachlan - Out of the Shadows (Vox)
Oingo Boingo - Heard Somebody Cry (Dead Man's Party)
Billie Myers - It All Comes Down To You (Down to You Soundtrack)
Semisonic - Over My Head (Chemistry UK)
Cyndi Lauper - Shine (Shine EP)
Adam Ant - Manners & Physique (Mannners & Physique)

Anyone wanting a copy just leave a comment and I'm sure we can work something out.

Hidden Treasures

I started work on this mix idea last week before the flu hit. (BTW, it's still trying to hit, just not as hard)

The idea behind it is songs that are great, but have Classic songs on the album that they came from.

Somehow that doesn't sound quite the way I wanted it to.

But let me try to explain, as it was put to me. Accidents Will Happen and Oliver's Army are both Classic Elvis Costello songs from the album Armed Forces, but there's a little gem called Party Girl on it as well. Party Girl is a hidden treasure.

So that's what I'm trying to work on right now. The problem I've run into is that bands like the Beatles just don't really have any hidden treasures. All the songs are classics.

And then what of an artist that has an album that doesn't really have any huge hits, but great songs. The entire album is a bunch of hidden treasures.

So essentially, this is a great mix idea, and it's making my head explode. Which oddly feels a bit like the flu.

Right now I have about 10 songs, so it's halfway done. I don't think there will be any surprises as to what artists I've chosen. I can be very predictable sometimes, but I'm going to post the tracks later, so you can see just how predictable I am.

Returning from the dead

OK, I know. I only felt like I was going to die. Today was the first day I was fairly certain that the Grim Reaper wasn't knockin' on the door.

Whatever crud is going around is pure evil.

I'm just glad I've seen the worst of it. (Or at least I hope so)

There are about a half dozen things that I was doing last week that this crud interrupted.

The only thing I did get done over the weekend was the story. Yes, the rough draft of my second sad pathetic novel is done. I'm working on editing some things I didn't like and I truly hope it will be done completely over the weekend.

So now that I'm away from death's door, I have to get back to those mixes I was going to make. (And that cleaning I should have done 2 weeks ago)

I promise a more amusing post soon.

Until then, I'll leave ya with something pretty.



and

10 Reasons to love the Flu

01. Easy weight loss. (I mean why eat when you can't taste it?)
02. I really don't need both lungs. (Couging one up is fun!)
03. Great excuse to stay in bed 24/7.
04. You want to acheive that pale and pasty look without makeup.
05. Its great practice for when your hung over. Bright lights really hurt.
06. It allows you to catch up on all that TV you were missing.
07. You didn't really want to leave the house anyway.
08. Its a good excuse to be coddled.
09. Cough medicine tastes oh so good.
10. You always wanted to finish off a bottle of Advil cold and flu by yourself.

No, I don't feel any better.

Take Me Back Tuesday

I can almost breathe today. Be happy! I know I am! The sad part is, it's about 5 degrees below zero. So I'm not doing much of anything, cos I'm scared to leave the house for fear of a relapse.

So without further adieux Take Me Back Tuesday, brought to you by that Other Andrea at Music Memoirs.

First - who are your five favourite duos? Go back as far as you like, or as recent as you like.

Justin Hayward and John Lodge -- The Blue Jays
Andy Bell and Vince Clarke --- Erasure
Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger - General Public (who were part of the English Beat)
Jimmmy Somerville and Richard Coles - The Communards
Siobahn Fahey and Marcella Detroit - Shakespeare's Sister


Secondly, name five Canadian musical groups or artists.

Glass Tiger
Jann Arden
Bryan Adams
Diana Krall
KD Lang

Thirdly the lyrics. This time with a twist. Match them to the artist.

"There's something about you girl....." B. INXS

"What is wrong with my life, that I must....." D. Fine Young Cannibals

"I'm never gonna dance again...." A. Wham

"I tried to discover, a little something.." E. Erasure (how appropriate)

"I'm stepping through the doorway..." C. David Bowie

A. Wham B. INXS C David Bowie D Fine Young Cannibals E. Erasure

Monday Madness

My head still feels like its going to explode. So obviously no Curves for me today, which kinda depresses me. It also means I have nothing to post about unless you want to hear about stuffy noses, eyeballs that feel like they are going to pop out of their sockets and a cough that sounds like a very angry dog.

I didn't think anyone did, so I'll do Monday Madness instead

Name your favorite...

1. Family Game - Monopoly
2. Piece of Jewelry My white gold anniversary band. (And no I'm not married, I just wanted one)
3. Winter Activity hibernation.
4. Hot Beverage Mint hot chocolate from starbucks
5. Quote If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. - George Bernard Shaw
6. Color on You black
7. Summer Activity walking on the boardwalk at Atlantic City
8. Topping on Pancakes raspberry syrup
9. Musician LODGEY

It's Snowing

And I'm too damn sick to care.

Finally, the white stuff makes an appearance and here I am sitting at the computer for a few minutes, while my head doesn't feel like it might explode. All I want to do is go to sleep and stop coughing.

I wish my family could keep their damn germs to themselves.

Of course, my immune system gives in on the weekend.

Oh and watching the Steelers play when you feel next to death is not a good thing. Could they have played any worse then they did yesterday?

GAH!

At least they won. (In overtime by a flipping field goal!)

Sadly by the time they decided to win the game, I was in a sweat and my head was throbbing.

Come to think of it, my head still feels that way. I think I'm just going to go back to bed.

I'm sick and depressed now

GAH! I'm worse than this morning, but I can't sleep. I've tried, and I just lay there and feel miserable about myself and life in general.

I've been working on the last bit of the current story I've been writing. It's almost done and that depresses me. It's like a baby to me and it's going away, very soon. I have a horrible time editing things when I finish them too. So I'm more likely to start something else than work on what's wrong with the current project.

The other thing depressing me is my mp3 player. It's a player/flash drive. My HP doesn't seem to think that it exists.

I wanted this mp3 player so badly, because when the weather is good I like to take walks on the hill where I live and at the walking path in a neighboring town.

Both computers seem to have taken exception to it in one way or another.

God forbid I have a teeny tiny little thing to carry with me instead of a big huge cd player walkman.

I never should have gotten out of bed today. I should have stayed all snuggly warm with my odd dreams of Chris Meloni from Law and Order SVU (don't ask). Instead, I got up and the day has gone from bad to worse. At least when I went to bed I didn't know that my mp3 player hated me.

So much for Christmas gifts that I was excited about.

I think I'll crawl back under the covers now.

Damn Virus

This past week or so has seen just about everyone in my house sick. I was all excited, my immune system had fought off most of it. Yipee!

I spoke to soon.

Sometime last night, I got this damn tickle in my throat, now I'm barking like a dog.

Woof!

Thankfully it doesn't seem like anything else is accompanying the damn cough. That brings me joy, except when I get a cough, it never goes away. It's kinda like Justin Hayward and his sinus infections. When they come, they come for the long haul.

Damn.

And.

Blast.


I wonder how many cough drops a person and injest before turning into one? I wish people would keep there damn disease and pestilence to themselves. Unless of course it's Justin Hayward...and then well, I might make an exception to the rule.



Cos well...I think the picture speaks for itself.

Top Five On Friday!

Courtesy of myself and those other music lovin' ladies over at Music Memoirs.

Top 5 Songs To Get You In The Mood

And if you have to ask, in the mood for what? You've obviously never been in the mood.

1. Elvis Costello - Inch By Inch

Don't move a muscle baby
Don't even flinch
You can miss me by a mile
Or just inch by inch
Inch by inch
Inch by inch
Inch by inch
You can pull me up again
Inch by inch
Inch by inch
As pulses race
I long to see that look upon your face

2. The Moody Blues - The Other Side Of Life

Baby, baby, baby, let's investigate
The other side of life tonight
The lovers and the fighters
And the risks they take
Are on the other side of life tonight
Let's loose our way
Go completely astray
And find ourselves again
You know the only way to get there
Is to take that step
To the other side of life tonight

3. Elvis Costello - I Want You

It's the stupid details that my heart is breaking for
It's the way your shoulders shake and what they're shaking for
It's knowing that he knows you now after only guessing
I want you
It's the thought of him undressing you or you undressing
I want you
He tossed some tattered compliment your way
I want you
And you were fool enough to love it when he said
"I want you"

4. Oingo Boingo - Elevator Man

Friction and harmony - who's gonna ride with me
I'm the elevator man

Who's going down who's comin with me
Who wants to take a chance
On a piece of abstract reality
It's only just a dance
Won't you come and ride with the elevator man
Who's goin down yeah - movin slow without a sound

5. Justin Hayward - The Lights Are Low

I feel your magic as we move and sway
Seems like my self-control is slipping away
Let me taste the love, let me drink the wine
That's yours and mine

Did you ever wake up in the morning
To find that nothing, nothing was the same
And the only thing that really matters
Is the pleasure and the pain

Concert Dreams

I guess talking about how I wish I were going to see Duran Duran in April prompted the dream, except it wasn't about Duran Duran. It was about The Moody Blues, who are touring CA and NV for 2 weeks at the end of this month.

OK, so there's no way I'm seeing them this time round.

(insert growl here)

So why was I dreaming about them?

Not a clue. OK, I have a clue. I was talking about how this probably wasn't a great time to be touring CA. The last thing I want is for my Moody Men to wash away with a landslide etc.

It was nice too, because the concert in my dream was in Youngstown. (I loved that venue) I was in the front row, staring at Justin Hayward and John Lodge kept coming over to the center, so I was a happy girl.

I hate those dreams though, because I will wake up, and I'll still be in my house, in my bed, and there won't have been a concert the night before. There won't be a hundred + pictures that I snapped.

BAH!

That's just so wrong.

And not having seen this



is even more wrong.

Building New Mix CDs

I asked some of my Live Journal friends for suggestions for mix cds, themes or phrases that I could build a mix out of.

I got several really great ideas.

One of them is Hidden Treasures. The idea behind this mix idea is too take albums that have classic songs on them, but find another song that's great, just not as easily recognized or not considered a classic.

It's quite a project, right now, because while I'm looking for songs, I'm also cleaning out my mp3s. I keep so many tracks that I'm never going to listen to. So today I'm deleting them. It's not as if I can't put them back when I feel the need.

Of course, the songs I'm looking for aren't there.

Can I get a Grrrrr please?



Thank you.

Here are the other ideas I'm working on:

Beatles Covers (I'm trying to avoid bad ones, so this is hard!)
Dead Men Walking
Songs that have the title in the first line (Another hard but not impossible one)

So, I'm going to pose the question to all of you too. What's a good idea for a mix cd? I plan to make several over the next few days. I promise to post the final tracklistings here. So, help me out and give me some ideas.