Archive for the ‘Glee’ Category
Three Years Ago Today…
Three years ago today, I married my Steve.
Now, three years later, I look back in awe at how much we’ve grown, and how amazing he is. I loved him then, but love him now even more than I ever knew was possible. He’s pretty fabulous… and I am lucky. I can’t wait for the next 60 years of our life together. xoxo
I am a Sucker for…
My sister Lindsay did this, and called me out to do my own list as well! I think it’s a splendid idea, so here, for you, is my list of things that I’m an absolute sucker for. Ever want to bring me joy or cheer me up? These things will do the trick.
1. Letterpress Items
Weather it’s invitations, business cards, product tags… if it’s letterpress I’m doomed to love it.
2. Banjo or Fiddle Reels
Played in a happy bluegrass reel, either one of these instruments bring me to another level of happy.
3. Campfires Under The Stars
There really isn’t any other place where I feel so at peace with the world. The smell, the sound, every single thing about being by a campfire warms me inside and out.
4. Musical Theatre
Both the spontaneous dancing and the fabulous musical numbers… going to a musical will leave me feeling on cloud 9 every single time! Spamalot was a particular favorite… which included another thing that I’m a sucker for… Monty Python.
5. Songs with Pedal/Vamp/Drone
Okay, this one takes a bit of explaining. Years ago I started compiling a playlist of all the songs that made my skin tingle the most. I called it my “Life Soundtrack.” You know the types of songs… the ones that give you that feeling like you’re floating, your arms become covered in goosebumps. That musical ecstasy feeling. My list of songs is an odd mix of artists, but each song made me feel that same tingling feeling.
One day Steve was perusing my list and told me that every single song had one thing in common: Pedal Tones. The term comes from classical music, when an organ player would hold one note on the foot pedal throughout the entire song. In modern music, it’s sometimes done as a one-note drone, but the same effect can also be achieved with a Vamp. Basically it’s an underlying repeating phrase or drone in the music that lies beneath the melody, and doesn’t change, even as the chords change around it. (Think bagpipes, which I also love.) It can be quite prevalent or very subtle. It gives songs such an etherial magical feel. It’s easier to hear it than describe it, so here are some of the songs on my list that are good examples of Pedal Tones:
6. Anything Apple or Nikon
This is where the geek in my comes in full force. New Apple products? I’ll want ‘em. Nikon cameras and even more… Nikon LENSES? Drooool….
7. Fondue
Melted cheese? Melted chocolate? I mean, COME ON. If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life it would be Fondue. Oh, with Wine, of course.
8. Faces on Inanimate Objects
You’re sure to get a gleeful giggle out of me if you put eyes onto a stapler. Or washing machine. Or pop can. Or tissue box. Or scissors. Or [insert any object here].
Perfect example of this:
9. Chick Flicks
What? This shouldn’t surprise you. I want a love story, some comedy, and a happy ending. Is that too much to ask?
10. Gymnastics
It’s a sport that consumed hours and hours my life from age 5 to age 16. Still to this day, I yearn to be in the gym, to swing around the bars, flip across the floor, throw myself at the vault, and curse at the balance beam. It’s something I’ll miss forever, and I’ll watch live or on TV every single chance I get!
So how about you? What are you a total sucker for? Make your own list, and post a link!
Yann Tiersen is Coming to Salt Lake!
I adore music… my life would be utterly empty without it. However, I’m not always the biggest fan of live shows. Blame it on dating far too many musicians and therefore sitting through entire sets in one too many smoky bars, or maybe it’s the fact that I’m always the 5 foot tall chick in the crowd listening to the band, and staring at peoples backs unable to see over the crowd.
Basically, it takes a lot to get me to go to a show these days. I have to really love the artist.
Well, my brothers twitter today informed me of what just might be one of the best concerts I’ll ever see. Next month Yann Tiersen is coming to concert here in Salt Lake! All the way from France… to the Urban Lounge of all places!
In case you’ve never been there, I’ll describe it for you. It’s a smallish dark warehouse of a room with black painted walls and a bar in the corner, a dance floor in the middle, and a typical 3 foot stage. Perfect for local bands. (In fact, Steve has played there dozens and dozens of times with several different bands…) It’s a bit dirty and dingy… definitely not the place I’d picture Yann Tiersen performing! But it is small and intimate, which should make for an amazing show.
Yann Tiersen, in case you didn’t know, is the composer who did the Amelie Soundtrack. That soundtrack is haunting and beautiful and an absolute classic. It’s one of my very favorite albums of all time. I always pictured Yann to be some old guy… but he isn’t! He’s in his late 30s!
In searching for information about his tour, I found this article which made me even more excited. Here’s what it has to say about him:
Guillaume Yann Tiersen is a French musician and composer known internationally for composing the score to the Jean-Pierre Jeunet movie Amélie.His music is recognized by its use of a large variety of instruments in relatively minimalist compositions, often with a touch of either European classical music or French folk music, using primarily the piano, accordion or violin together with instruments like the melodica, xylophone, toy piano, ondes martenot, harpsichord and typewriter.
Typewriter?! Oh man this is gonna be good. Then I went on to read a recap from someone who has seen him perform live…
He began his set on grand piano – and his piano pieces are rarely other than delightful. What wasn’t obvious from listening to his albums was instantly so here – it isn’t someone playing melodica or accordion with him as he tinkles the ivories. Oh no. He plays both instruments at the same time.
After each track, rapturous applause greeted him as he shifted between piano, melodica, accordion, violin, viola, bass, guitar and even vocals. A rare chance was afforded to the audience to hear a solo viola piece, Qu’En Reste-t-il? from L’Absente, in which at any moment sparks could have flown from the instrument as Yann fiddled for all he was worth. Here was a man making electricity spark from an acoustic instrument before our very eyes. His playing was enough to make members of his audience weep at its beauty.
Wow. I simply cannot wait. So on April 25th, you’ll find me weeping and breathless in a dark corner of The Urban Lounge, to be sure.
