A prayer for those that need it most

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest the

crotch of the person who screws up your day

and may their arms be too short to scratch.

AMEN
The Music Whore..says Amen to that...regardless of your religious background....
(I had this posted over at Wenches over two years ago, and I thought this would be a good time to share it again)

It never ceases to amaze me about The Moody Blues

01. That John Lodge has only done one solo album in his career.
02. That The Moody Blues seem to be allergic to the recording studio, but not the tour bus.
03. That Justin Hayward's solo albums are comprised of mostly songs he didn't write.
04. That Ray Thomas' solo CDs are all out of print.
05. That there isn't a good video compiliation out of the bands really ecclectic videos done from Octave to Sur La Mer.
06. That the band now has more best of compilations than actual studio albums.
07. That Graeme Edge didn't get any poetic songs in on December
08. That John Lodge writes some damn good songs, and then lets Justin sing them. (cough...Lodgey...I must have some words with you...bring that cute little shell like ear over here)
09. That the album The Present gets ignored when the guys decide on the setlist for their tours. (Read my lips guys: SITTING AT THE WHEEL)
10. That the years have treated them well:

Vintage Moody Blues



Tasty Vintage Moody Blues from Threshold Records Oct 2004

Take Me Back Tuesday

This meme is sponsered by the lovely musically minded ladies at Music Memoirs.

1. Name 5 One Hit Wonders from the 80's.
Toni Basil - Mickey
Katrina and the Waves - Walking On Sunshine
Dexy's Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
T'Pau - Heart & Soul
Kajagoogoo - Too Shy

I'll also add, Limahl (from Kajagoogoo) became a one hit wonder on his own with the theme from Never Ending Story.

2. Finish the lyrics:
"Looking for my lost shaker of salt, some people claim......" That there's a woman to blame. But I know, that it's my own damn fault. Jimmy Buffett - Margaritaville.

"Hush Hush, keep it down now...." Voices carry. Til Tuesday - Voices Carry

"Johnnie plays guitar, Jennie plays bass, name of the band is the human race..." Everybody tell me have you heard...Pop goes the world. Men Without Hats - Pop Goes The World

"Let's Dance...put on your red shoes...." and dance the blues. David Bowie - Let's Dance.

"Daddy daddy you know you're still number one...." but girls they wanna have fun. Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun

3. What type of dancing is the Robot?
Personally, I think that it's a dance created by the members of Devo. Or maybe it's just the way Justin Hayward moves on stage during a live performance. Then again, it's probably breakdancing.

You know why it's called breakdancing? Because most people break something when they try to dance that way.

Enough of my snarky comments though. Do you think I have the answers right? Do you have something to add? Go to Music Memoirs and play along. And thank Fallen for a great new meme!

Time to go to my happy place

I'm ready to find that little utopia that you can go to when you're mind is just overloaded. Because my mind is just about had enough.

Sometimes reading helps. Sometimes music helps. Sometimes writing helps.

Right now, nothing helps.

It's gone beyond boredom and depression.

I think my happy place moved. (and didn't leave a forwarding address)

Not a good thing, because I'm really in need of escape. It's been dreary and miserable weatherwise, and it doesn't seem to want to stop raining for any long period of time. We had two precipitation free days. Tomorrow, the rain returns.

It's not good for my psyche, I tell you.

I'm not even in the mood for making a mix cd. I'm just tired and depressed. (and obviously in the mood to bitch about being tired and depressed)

So, c'mon friends, Romans and countryman, tell me how to get to my happy place.

Oh and by the way, it's so bad that even this



isn't taking me to my happy place.

Monday Madness

I haven't done this meme in a long time!

So here we go.

1. My lucky number is 7.
2. My favorite day of the week is Sunday because it's my fun day.
3. I spend about 30 minutes on the phone a week, and 0 of those are long distance.
4. My favorite cereal is Chex. (And if it's in a mix, I like it better)
5. One hobby of mine is writing. (As if you couldn't have guessed that)
6. I wish I could spend more time exercising, cos I'm a fat-ass.
7. I wish I could spend less time unemployed. (Unemployment gets old and boring fast)
8. I am really proud of my stories. In the past year I've finished a novel, started work on a second, that's nearly finished, along with 2 other short stories.

Never Without You

This little Ringo Starr ditty came on my winamp today, and I just started to cry, like the fool that I am.

Why was I crying?

Well, this song was written in tribute to the wonderful talented George Harrison.

My winamp is on random, and it has it in for me.

See, since George Harrison passed away, I've had a really hard time listening to his music. I burst into tears most of the time.

Why?

Because I was in love with the man and his music.

George was my favorite Beatle. He still is.

His post Beatles music was more beautiful than anything the other 3 put out. (Not the John, Paul or Ringo put out anything shoddy)

And thanks to Ringo, George is on my mind today. So I'll leave you for the time being with the lyrics that affected me so much.

Never Without You

We were young, it was fun and we couldn't lose.
Times were right over ninght.
We were headline news.
Crazy days and wreckless nights.
Limosines and bright spotlights.
We were brothers through it all.
And your song will play on wihtout you.
And this world won't forget about you.
Every part of you was in your song.
Now we will carry on, Never without you (without you, without you)
Within you Without you (Within you without you)
Here comes the sun is about you.
Here today not alone, with my memories.
Life is strange how things change, it's reality.
You played a beautiful melody that keeps on haunting me. I can always feel you by my side.
And your song (your song) will play on (play on) wihtout you..(without you)
And this world (this world) won't forget (forget) about you (about you)
Every part of you was in your song.
Now we will carry on.
Never without you (without you without you)
within you without you (within you wihtout you)
Here comes the sun is about you.
I know all tings must past, and only love will last.
I'll always love the memory of you and me. take it away already.....

And your song (your song) will play on (play on) without you (without you)
And this world (this world) won't forget (forget) about you
(about you)
Every part of you was in your song
(your song)
Now we will carry on.
Never without you (never without you)
Within you wihtout you (within you, without you)
We're never without you (we're never wihtout you)
Within you wihtout you (within you without you)
We're never without you (never wihtout you)
We're never without you (never without you)
Within you without you (within you without you)
I think Love is about you

Bored, to infinity and beyond

Ok, you can only look at a computer screen so long before you go . I'm officially a bat.

I've listening to the Moody Blues more than any human should. Not that I'm complaining.

I've finished another book.

I've stared out the window into the deary day and dark night.

In short, I'm bored out of my mind.

I'm so bored, I've contemplated finding out what client is hiring at PRC in West Mifflin. For those of you that don't know me that well, PRC is the call center I worked for before getting my last job.

It's the call center that almost took my sanity.

And I'm so desperate for employment, I'm thinking of going back.

I'm insane!

I can't take looking at this computer anymore. I can't take looking at my house anymore. If it weren't for Curves, I'd really lose my mind. Yes, I look forward to exercise. In fact, on days like today, when I can't go, I'm rather miserable.

I need a job.

I need a life.

I need prozac!

Marvin, meet Jeremy

Thanks to Brian, my friend Marvin, the martian has a new companion on the monitor. (when Misty isn't residing there, that is)

Here's a picture of the their first meeting.


Marvin's not sure what to do about Jeremy. 

Hopefully the Nowhere Man can stop Marvin from blowing up my computer, as practice for when he decides to blow up the earth!

Where's my rock?

You know the one I crawled out from under this morning and should have stayed under? I can't seem to find it, and things are just not going my way today.

For the last few hours I've felt, bleh.

Got to love that.

Then I was trying to pay some bills online. Remind me not to do that anymore. One of my payments conveniently went through twice.

Yeah, you read that right, twice.

Why?

I'm not usually dumb like that, but when I hit the payment key, it looked like it had logged me off of my account. That's happened. So I thought my payment didn't go through. Stupid me, I went and put it through again. And of course that first payment had been caught by the system.

Shoot me now.

I don't have enough money right now. I definitely don't have the money to pay someone twice!

Such is my luck.

Can I please go to my happy place to sulk?

Can I go to my happy place to sulk with him?



Please?

My happy place would be so much happier then, and much more enjoyable than that rock I've been hiding under.

Top Five On Friday

It's a brand new music meme! And it's created by me, over at Music Memoirs! So come on and play along!!!

Top Five Albums People Wouldn't Believe You Own (Guilty Pleasures)

I have a lot of these, and frankly I'm not embarrassed by any of them.

1. Geri Halliwell's Schizophrenic. I'm not really sure why I bought it, but it's not nearly as bad as you might think. Though she does a much better job when she's covering odd tunes, like The Weather Girls' It's Raining Men or Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Are Made For Walking.


2. Phil Collins' Dance Into The Light is actually my favorite CD that he's done. It's peppy and it's not depressing, much like But Seriously, which was critically acclaimed.

3. Agnetha Falkstog's Eye's of a Woman was bought before I knew who wrote one of the songs on it. I actually picked it up because I love ABBA. Last year I started to pay attention to the songwriting credits and saw that a certain Mr. Justin Hayward had penned the song The Angel's Cry. She's not the best voice from ABBA, but I like her well enough. And I don't care if disco is dead!

4. Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition was something I came to love during a music appreciation class in college. I bet no one here thought that I'd own this one. It's such a guilty pleasure, at one time the Promenade theme was the ring tone on my cell phone.

5. Barry Manilow's Greatest Hits Vol. 1 was bought for the first song on the damn thing. Bet you won't guess it. Mandy! GAH! Hell, I never thought I'd own a Barry Manilow disc, until work started playing that stupid song over and over, until it was completely stuck in my head.

C'mon everyone...sing with me.

"Oh Mandy,
you came and you gave without takin'
but I sent you away...
Oh Mandy"

Someone please kill me now, cos it's stuck in my head, just from typin the lyrics!

Stuff and Nonsense

Today is just one of those days that you can tell are going to be wretched. For what seems like the millionth day in a row, it's raining. Yes, I said raining. And for those of you that don't know, The Music Whore is from Pennsylvania. This is January. In January, it's not supposed to rain, it's supposed to snow!

Now I know some of you don't like snow. It's a pain in the butt. You have to shovel it. People can't seem to drive it in. All that sort of thing. But at least snow is pretty, and for much longer than rain. OK, let's face it, rain is very seldom pretty.

I've never heard anyone say, look at that beautiful rain shower.

Nope. At least not yet.

Snow on the other hand stays pretty until you let your dog out to go to the bathroom or it turns to slush.

Oh and did I mention the flooding? Yeah, the lovely Monongahela River is flooding, (Nothing terrible as far as the river is concerned) but all the creeks etc are over their banks.

So frankly, I'll take snow.

So besides the rain that seems like it won't go away, I'm working on a new blog. No, no, this blog isn't going anywhere. It is, however, a music blog. It's going to have CD Reviews, Recommendations, Trivia and yes, a Music Meme or two. The first one will be posted on Friday. So tomorrow, go here. It's called Top Five On Friday. Everyone seems to like to do Top Five lists. My friends from Art of the Mix used to post them on the blogs there, so I thought, why not make a meme out of that theme?

I'm working on the site with Melly and Fallen.

I'm hoping some of the music lovers out there will find us in time.

That's the bright part in this wet, wretched day. I'm enjoying fiddling with the other blog.

Other than that I'm stuck in the house watching the rain fall outside, on this gray wretched day, that's making me cranky and irritable.

5 Most Worn Out CDs

Kristy posted her 5 yesterday. It got me thinking. Boy did it get me thinking, probably more than I needed to.

The problem is, I don't play CDs as much as I used to, at least not regular CDS. CDRs yes! I love my mix CDs, but the actual albums tend to get ripped to my harddrive, where I can listen to them with greater ease.

But that's neither hear nor there. These are the 5 discs that you'll hear a lot of around my house. (In no particular order)

1. Blood and Chocolate is one of Elvis Costello's best CDs, hands down. It's filled with his usual snark, emotion and all those other things that make Elvis Costello CDs so darn good.

If those aren't good enough reasons to play this CD over and over, the song I Want You, is on this one. That song has to be the best song that man has ever written.

And if you are more a fan of poppy sounding music there's Next Time Round and Blue Chair.

My first copy of this CD was from a used CD shop and was well loved when I got it. I'm not sure if it still plays. The poor thing was carried with me everywhere for the longest time. (It spent too much time in my car CD player too) Thank goodness it was already reissued by Rhino discs, so I now have the original disc as well as the bonus disc full of demos and other goodies.

2. Strange Times was the last "real" release by the Moody Blues. I say this because last year's December was a Christmas album, and if you don't like that sort of thing, you're probably not even going to give it a listen.

Strange Times takes you back to the sixties, and in a good way. Not that, we're trying to recapture our youth sort of way, that some Classic Rock bands have gone. It's fresh and full of the melodies and beautiful lyrics that any Moody Blues fan expects from these guys.

No, it doesn't harken back to the days of the Core 7. People looking for that should just stay away.

But if you are fond of the music that makes you want to drift away on a cloud (And Haunted will do that, ok it will make you snap your fingers too) you'll have this one on repeat.

It was almost a decade in the making, but it was worth the wait. I can't say which tracks are my favorites, because I'd end up listing the whole album.

I will however tell you that you should listen to English Sunset and the title track Strange Times. (And Sooner or Later Walking On Air..and Words You Say)

I have two copies of this disc, because I love it so much. It was the second Moody Blues CD I bought. The first being the Greatest Hits CD released in 89. It rekindled the love for a band that I had almost forgot about. Thank God for Strange Times!


3. Chorus, is undoubtably the best album by synth-pop duo Erasure. This is another album that I can't really give a few songs that are highlights, all of the tracks are wonderful.

It's lush, it's poppy, its beautiful, and I'm a fan of pretty pop music. That's one area where this album and band never fail to come through. Siren Song is a prime example of that. It's a gorgeous lullaby-like ballad.

My best friend, Tina, got me into this band. I can't remember the order I bought the CDs because I snapped up all of them quickly, and I've bought every one released since. This, however, is the one disc that I always come back to.

4. Rubber Soul is this girl's favorite Beatles album. It never gets old to me. It's the album that hints at the greatness to come while keeping the innocence of the early Fab Four. Plus it has Nowhere Man on it, and that is not only my theme song, it's my favorite Beatles tune, hands down.

I can't say anymore. It's the Beatles. They speak for themselves. The. Best. Pop. Band. EVER!

5. Ok, it was going to be another Moodies CD or another Elvis Costello CD. I think I've worn this one out more than Elvis' Brutal Youth disc.

Can you see that I'm not a fan of the Core 7? Can you see I'm a child of the 80's? And this is an 80's album.

I remember going to that happy listener coma the first time I heard this album. I already knew Gemini Dream and The Voice from the Greatest Hits disc. I wasn't prepared for the rest.

Gorgeous!

Beautiful!

Catchy!

Lodgey outdid himself on this one. Two of my top 10 John Lodge songs come from this CD; Talking Out of Turn and Nervous.

And Justin doesn't disappoint either. He never does, actually. This is the man who wrote Don't Need A Reindeer!! Bless his cotton socks for that!

Meanwhile and In My World are two Hayward tracks that are not to be missed.

This album is fab! I can say no more.

Mambo!

Melly missed the mambo this week. Sorry, it was beyond my control. So until BDI is back, I'm doing that mambo that Melly posted.

1. What band/s do you look forward to listening this new year?
The Moody Blues, of course. (Not that there will be any "new" material from them.
Duran Duran (I want more b-sides)
Erasure (the kings of killer b-sides!)

2. What band/s are you looking forward to a new album from?

Waves is the new Devlins disc, out on Jan 25.

Nightbird is the new disc by Erasure, out of Jan 25 as well

3. If you could go to any concert this year who would you see and why?

OK, as much as I love Elvis Costello, and I know that it's uber easy to run into him after the shows, the only concert I really want to see this year will have Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Graeme Edge and the lovely backing band of Norda Mullen, Bernie Barlow, Gordon Marshall and Paul Bliss on a stage in Atlantic City.

4. If there was one band you wish would get back together this year who would they be and why?

I wouldn't mind seeing Oingo Boingo get together again. It's not anything that's going to happen, but I would like the guys to get together and release some of the tracks they've got hidden. (And all Boingo fans know there are probably plenty)

5. Last but not least and this is totally unrelated to the future, but type up a couple lines of your favorite song and post them to see if we can guess the song and the artist.

OK, this is one of my favorite songs

The way you smiled was like a rising sun
You set a burning inside from which I should have run
But you walked by
And I was lonely and need someone to talk to

ARGH! More Christmas Music!

Every year now it seems I discover some new Christmas music a week or so after the holiday and several weeks after I sent out my Christmas CD cards.

Grrrr!

This year was no exception. I was surfing through the sites of my favorite divas and I found a Christmas mp3 that Keri Noble posted on her page.

So I've got one song for next year that's different already.

But then I went to Julia Fordham's site. I watched a few videos and listened to clips of some songs I hadn't heard and then I went to the page where she posts her recommendations.

Big Mistake.

That's where I discovered Judith Owen, who just happens to have a CD out called Christmas in July.

It was released on an indie label and can be bought at CD Baby

And it's great! Especially since I've been starting to listen to more and more jazz pop. Judith kinda reminds me of Diana Krall, who I love love love and Tori Amos who I also love love love.

So now I have a whole album that I have to buy. (Plus, Judith is friends with Julia Fordham, and Julia guests on the CD, making it twice as nice)



Click on the album cover and you'll be taken to the CD Baby page so you can hear the sound clips from the CD. I'm just glad that I can still buy that CD, because Davy Jones did a Christmas CD, and I didn't find out about it until last year and it was temporarily and still is temporarily out of stock. (Doesn't that mean it's not coming back in stock if you don't get anymore for say a whole freaking year?) Grrrr!

Enough said. Next year's or rather this year's Christmas mix is going to kick some boot-tay!

10 Things That Make Life Worth Living

10. Raspberry truffles (my ever expanding hips don't think so, but do I care what they think? No!)

09. Good movies -- You know the kind that make you go to the theater over and over again. You know, movies like Van Helsing.

08. Pretty things -- I know that's broad, but I like pretty things. Clothes, jewelry...men!

Example:



07. Bright lights! -- The kind you find in pretty cities. (Like Atlantic City and occasionally Pittsburgh)

06. Good Concerts! -- Like the Moody Blues and Elvis Costello.

05. Tiramisu



Again, my hips aren't thrilled about this, but why do I care?

04. Family (Ha! I bet you thought I forgot about them!)

03. My camera -- When the memory doesn't work, photos help me remember!

02. My CD collection, which is slowly making it's way to my computer, in bits and pieces. It's really hard to decide which CDs of 3000 + deserve to live on the hard drive.

01. Hugs!





These two men give awesome ones, and I live in hope that I can get another one from either or both of them again!

Things to do in the new year

Ok, these are not resolutions, but things I would like to accomplish, that can be done. (Note, you will see that weight loss is not on this list, because that is something that well...can just dash my hopes and depress me)

1. Get back to work. (At this point, I'm not even sure I'm going to be selective in where I work..but then again that's how I got in my current muddle)

2. Attend at least 1 concert.

3. Become a member of Phipp's Conservatory. (I go there enough during the year)

4. Learn to really cook. (The Music Whore can burn water...call out the fire brigade)

5. Figure out the mp3 player I got for Christmas.

6. Take down the Christmas tree before Easter. (I love my tree)

7. Get a new digital camera so the Kodak EasyShare CX6200 has a friend.

8. Go. Back. to. Atlantic. City. (Right now would be nice)

9. Get to more places that are close by. (And free)

10. Finish the story I'm working on.

See, these aren't resolutions, but things I'd like to do in the new year. Or should do in the new year.

I will not cry if I don't accomplish them all. (OK, maybe I will)

And now if I were to add something unrealistic to that list.

New Year's Resolutions

Oh sweet mother of God! Who thought up this tradition? It's a shame that whoever it might be is long dead, so I can't have the opportunity to kill or maim the person.

I open my newspaper today and start rooting about for the sale papers, and the coupons fell out. Every damn one of them had Atkins this...Atkins that..Low Carb this...Low Carb that...

All me to direct you Carb haters to a little rant: Foamy

Now if you don't mind, I'll be sharing a waffle sundae with Foamy, because I don't think I can handle being around people today.

Why?

Because inevitably, talk will turn to resolutions.

Just stop! Why do you torture yourself for the first few weeks out the year with these things? If you really wanted to accomplish them, you could have started those resolutions on say, Sept 14th. Don't sully the new year with stupidity. It's going to be hampered with it enough.

Oh and do you know what the resolution that gets broken most?

I resolve not to make any resolutions.

WTF? (Didn't you just break the resolution in making it?)

I don't resolve anything!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a splendid New Year's Eve! I stayed at home and watched Duran Duran on Carson Daly's crappy New Year's program.

Does that man have any talent? He's not even that cute. GAH!

And what really pisses me off is that Avril Lavigne did 2 songs (ick) and so did Maroon 5 (used to love em, but I'd like to kill em now) and Duran Duran got one?



I sense a problem there.

And what exactly were the Pussycat Dolls? Besides tramps pretending they can sing...and dancing about half nekkid!

Aren't there special places you can go to see that? You know, like strip clubs?

Those chickies made me miss The Spice Girls. At least the Spices had a small measure of talent besides being bimbos.

Crikey! And we got all uptight over Janet Jackson's nipple! Oye!

But anyway, Happy New Year to all! Hopefully this one will be as good as the last, because 2004 wasn't really all that bad.



Now where did I put that bottle of blackberry wine? I obviously didn't drink away my snark last night.

Kiss The Year Goodbye

Here's my best of 2004 mix cd. As always if you want a copy of this mix, give me a shout and I'm sure we can arrange something.

This year, things were a little bit poppy and a little bit jazzy.

Kiss the Year Goodbye!


1 Elvis Costello - The Name Of The Thing Is Not Love
2 The Dresden Dolls - Coin Operated Boy
3 Duran Duran - What Happens Tomorrow
4 Jamie Cullum - Everlasting Love
5 Diana Krall - I'll Never Be The Same
6 U2 - Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
7 Alison Moyet - Almost Blue
8 Elton John - All That I'm Allowed
9 Lisa Stansfield - Treat Me Like A Woman
10 Jonathan Rice - So Sweet
11 K.D. Lang - Hallelujah
12 Glenn Tillbrook - Untouchable
13 Keri Noble - Piece Of My Heart
14 Counting Crows - Accidentally In Love
15 Lara Fabian - No Big Deal
16 Robbie Williams - It's De-Lovely
17 Tierney Sutton - Fly Me To The Moon
18 Joshua Payne - City Song

My favorite tracks are The Dresden Dolls' Coin Operated Boy, K.D. Lang's gorgeous cover of the Leonard Cohen classic, Hallelujah and Elvis Costello's The Name Of This Thing Is Not Love. Of course, I like them all, or they wouldn't be on here.

2004 was a good year for music.

2004 in Pictures

While on the subject of best ofs, I decided to go through all the pictures I took on my digital camera this year. I picked 26 photos that summed up some of the best events of the past year and the best shots of the last year.

Here's one of the photos that made the post.


A winter scene -- taken one block above my house on 2/2/04 

Click on the picture and you'll be taken to the rest of the photos.

Enjoy!