been there, done that, bought the t-shirt

life is what happens when you should be blogging.
needless to say: life is good. it'd take an age to tell you what i've been up to. so busy. but it's good and fun and creative and i feel energised. also scared shitless. but coping.

keep sending me your recs for my anonymous friend who wants a cool cd collection. she is very excited.

i'm being well taken care of and daring to allow myself to let it happen.

tomorrow night some of the crew in this neighbourhood head to the theatre to see the vagina monologues being performed by some queen's university drama students. this will be quite a night for some of the gang. let's just say the conversations in the pub of late have been getting very interesting.

speaking of the pub. last night. jazz at the kitchen bar. i just happened to be wearing my t-shirt that says, this is what a feminist looks like. willow got excited cause she has same one in pink. chat ensued and i forgot i was wearing it.
later. at bar. ordering a couple of drinks. barman says in an extremely irritating tone that let me know he thought he was being really clever and that implied without question that i needed to be put in my place for just one moment, "is it alright if i get you that order or should i find a woman to do it". i didn't follow and asked him to repeat it wondering where the hell this was coming from. he did and pointed to the slogan across my chest. ah. the penny drops.
i rolled my eyes and gave him a smile that managed to be both bored and unimpressed. as ricky was to point out, in Mulder-esque dead pan, "this guy really understands the subtler points of feminism". what i muttered under my breath as said barman chuckled away to himself while pouring the drinks is, however, not repeatable.

ticket bought for the frames on 20 december in ulster hall. aforementioned mr mcquillan is also in receipt of a ticket. he's just getting into the frames and i'm almost jealous of someone getting the first time experience. duke special in support too. can it get any better. GREAT balcony seats right over the stage. it's gonna be an amazing night. let's hope there's some collaboration.

here's a little treat for yas, ewan found this link: http://framesaver.tripod.com/framesaver.htm

wrap up warm folks. two days til we can expect the snow. (rubs hands gleefully)

LB,x

take me on. . .again

click the title above for a rather amusing and extremely clever animation manipulation. . .a new take on ::take on me::

i guess you'd call this an animation mash up

:0)

in dreams you were laughing

so. happy birthday to my dearest jude. may she have what she called, "a significant yet non-fatal ministry" in this her 33rd year. let's all do a sufjan style cheer for her. or at least do that cute finger wave thang. i love you girl. ::you rock. my world:: thank you for being such a star through everything. your voice on the end of the phone has got me through many a dark day. i look forward to the celebrations to come. mwah!

thanks to debs for her enthusiastic commenting (see below). the anonoymous one was a neat trick. quite threw me for a moment. . . .anyways, i look forward to a sing-in. with a growly rendition of ::rain::
next i need someone to learn ::red chord:: by the frames.
debs, if you are free on saturday. . .actually i'll PM you about that. . .

all others - check out deb's blog, which by sheer coincidence i asked páidraig to pass on to me a couple of days again. deb and i must be on the same wavelength. either that or we need to meet again soon. which for those who've never witnessed it is like a cocktail of coke and speed. we get easily excited about stuff. canadians rule.

now. i have a job for you good folks:

someone who has begged me not to reveal their identity has confessed that they own virtually no cds. could i recommend some to build up a collection? not to ever do anything half heartedly, i said i'd come up with a list - appropriate to their tastes but also to push their boundaries with confidence. this person is female. born in 1974. has enjoyed listening to the following to which she has been introduced to by hearing me play it. . .

rufus
ryan adams - like me adores "love is hell part one"
aimee mann
the frames' quieter stuff
the carpenters (of which she has always been a fan)
duke special
ulrich schnauss
iain archer
dennison witmer
sufjan

she clearly likes stuff with a strong melody. and an uplifting poignancy. i doubt i'll ever get her rocking out to RATM or metallica. but one of these days we'll sure as hell try!

i'm thinking she's gonna love:
carole king's tapestry
james taylor
damien rice
emmylou harris
fleetwood mac
joni mitchell
board of canada
air
oh, so much stuff . . .

but, this needs to be organised.
at first i thought pick a few albums from every year from '74 to '05. but that may be too restrictive. do i build a family tree? or go buy when to play and in what setting?

key request is wanting a nice slection for dinner parties and when friends are over for drinks. also she drives every day. so we need some good stuff for the car.
then there's her saturdays in the house doing the chores. and those days when you get in from work and need to just bliss out.

SO MUSOS: thoughts, suggestions, work plans, spreadsheets all greatly appreciated. nothing too avant garde please.

a treat -
live frames downloads. . .ewan says you might need a codec for them, whatever the hell that means. . .
Minneapolis - http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=23572
Chicago - http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=30392
Philly - http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=23573

sorry, listening to ::plateau:: here in the office and am feeling overwhelmed. . .must be the hormones. 'scuse me. i need a moment. ::star star**:: is next. it's gonna get messy. . . this is dance the devil. it always does.

later,

with fondest affection,

and thanksgiving to never needing to go a day without being held and made to feel lovable, and for the grace in the holding to know that that is an overwhelming experience that one needs to learn to relax into. . .

c. x

now we have slept . . .

when i grow up i think i'd like to be aimee mann.

nothing quite like sharing your favourite music with another. my office mate claire is loving
mann's voice as it spils out across our desks and surrounds our busyness with a languid desperation. . .sweet.

so, from my most loved album of 2002 (mann's lost in space) here's my favourite track. actually, as soon as i say that i feel sorry for all the great tracks i have rejected in the process of having a favouirte. this album ROCKS. no collection should be without it. the whole thing is a work of raw beauty. and in recollecting whispers from a conversation of the weekend, if we can only hope there will be enough beauty to heal us, then this is a could be a place to start. . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INVISIBLE INK

There comes a time when you swim or sink
So I jumped in the drink
Cuz I couldn't make myself clear

Maybe I wrote in invisible ink
Oh I've tried to think
How I could have made it appear

But another illlustration is wasted
Cuz the results are the same
I feel like a ghost who's trying to move your hands
over some Ouija board in the hopes I can spell out my name

What some take for magic at first glance
Is just sleight of hand depending on what you believe
Something gets lost when you translate
It's hard to keep straight
Perspective is everything

And I know now which is which and what angle I oughta look at it from
I suppose I should be happy to be misread-
Better be that than some of the other things I have become

But nobody wants to hear this tale
The plot is clichéd, the jokes are stale
And baby we've all heard it all before
Oh i could get specific but
Nobody needs a catalog
With details of love I can't sell anymore

And aside from that, this chain of reaction,
baby, is losing a link
Though I'd hope you'd know what I tried to tell you
And if you don't I could draw you a picture in invisible ink

But nobody wants to hear this tale
The plot is clichéd, the jokes are stale
And baby we've all heard it all before
Oh i could get specific but
Nobody needs a catalog
With details of love I can't sell anymore

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

you can get details of her new album at her official site.
i'm gonna purchase the forgotten arm in toron'o - cause that's where i bought lost in space. . .nice to have these li'l traditions.it's the little things that are the big things.

salaam.
c, x.