You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘music’ tag.
Music! Let me share some with you. Skews pretty heavily towards Icelandic music and indie music, but even that is all over the place, so you’ll probably find something you enjoy! (I realized way too far into this post that I could’ve just made a Youtube playlist…but then I’m not sure how I would’ve included the songs that aren’t on Youtube.) Note: this sat in drafts for MONTHS because there was so much I wanted to post, and I didn’t have time to just sit down and pick more than a few songs at a time.
- “Girl from the North Country” by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan. This is my favorite Dylan song, and I adore Cash even more than I do Dylan, so…basically a dream come true here.
- “Tracking Airplanes” by The Echelon Effect.
- “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” cover by…a washing machine.
- “Watching the Waiting” by Wye Oak.
- “Fed All My Days” by Máni Orrason.
- “Hailslide” by Júníus Meyvant.
- “Ryðgaður Dans” by Valdimar.
- “Listen to the Man” by George Ezra (and featuring scene-stealing Ian McKellen in the music video). Bonus: check out “Budapest” by the same artist.
- “Africa” cover by Angel City Choir. Turn your volume up!
- “Up All Night” by Alex Clare.
- Myrkur, a nyckelharpa artist. If you don’t know what that is, click the link.
- “Weightless” by Marconi Union, supposedly the most relaxing song in the world.
- “Crystal Blue Persuasion” cover by my brother, Ed Ricker.
- “Lost Boy” by Ruth B.
- “Bohemian Rhapsody” done brilliantly by a crowd of people waiting to hear Green Day.
- “Blue Monday” played on 1930s instruments by Orkestra Obsolete.
- Estonian choir sings songs created from Emily Bronte’s poems.
- “Obsession” by OK Go. Poor guys, always having to outdo themselves in their music videos. Must be almost impossible by this point.
- “Pais Dinogad,” Britain’s oldest lullaby. Utterly entrancing.
- “I Know a Place” by Conan Gray.
- “Truly Do” by The Fleetwoods.
- Family casually sings Les Miserables together better than the actual movie cast did.
- “Sztoj pa moru” by Laboratorium Pieśni.
- Ancient FM, a playlist of commercial-free medieval and renaissance music.
- “Hunger” by Florence + the Machine.
- “Africa” cover by Peter Bence using whatever weird sounds you can make with a piano (be sure to watch).
- “Nothing to Lose But Your Head” by The Augustines.
- “Run to You” by Ocie Elliott.
- “Girl in Calico” by Tow’rs.
- “Rain Hat” by Noble Kids.
- “Island” by Unknown Neighbor.
- “What Is Now” by Demons of Ruby Mae.
- “Tired and Awake” by Oliver Riot.
- “Rivalry” by Matthew Gordon Price.
Enjoy!
I was ludicrously behind on reviews for books for the last year or so, and I finally, finally got all caught up! I’ll spare you the massive string of copy-pastes here, but you can check all of my reviews out (if you’re so inclined) here on Goodreads. Just scroll down on that page for reviews. I’m currently reading Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay and losing my mind over how good it is, per usual with Kay’s books.
Life has been quietly enjoyable lately, but I’ve realized that doesn’t make for very enjoyable stories. Reading more, working out more, eating better, and enjoying more quiet time is better for living but boring for blogging!
So here are some fun things from the internet instead.
- The astoundingly beautiful sea art of Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.
- Letter sent to Iceland farm with a hand-drawn map instead of an address. Made it there anyway.
- The language of America.
- Guy documents his first week of working at Target.
- Florence + the Machine release a new song for the new Tim Burton movie.
- The day Leonard Nimoy gave JFK a cab ride.
- Beautiful album by Daughter, which I still haven’t fully explored.
I went to a lovely movie night at my friends’ farm last night, and we saw The Little Prince, which was sweet and unimpressive by turns. Some beautiful animation in parts, but the tacked-on story felt, well, tacked-on. And not very sensical. Still, it was a delightful evening full of tea and blueberry lemonade and good conversation.
I finished Sourcery by Terry Pratchett recently and enjoyed it immensely. My reading of the Discworld series has been scattered and incomplete–of the 41 Discworld novels, I’ve only read eight or so. My very favorite Pratchett novels are actually his Bromeliad trilogy, but I enjoy a romp in the crazy Discworld universe too as long as I don’t read too many of them too close together. There’s a certain incoherence to some of them that is dizzying after too much exposure. Sourcery held together better than many, though, and made me want to dig up more Pratchett.
Music I’ve unearthed lately:
- How Christian music is made. This perfectly and humorously nails why, even though I’m a Christian, I despise most Christian music.
- “Iodine and Iron” by The Veils.
- Kyle Langdon covers “A Lack of Color” by Death Cab for Cutie.
This post makes me really happy. I haven’t shared music I like in a really long time, so most of these songs are no longer remotely new, but they’re still songs I enjoy and would like others to hear if they haven’t already had a chance to do so.
Making time to do things I enjoy has been the theme of life lately. This past spring was so hellacious that I vowed I would never have another season like that again. I wrote 5,000 words per week on The Star Bell for months at a time and was too tired to enjoy any of it. I managed five conferences in five weeks (the same time that edits were due on The Star Bell), and flying home from one conference in San Francisco at the end of April, I was so tired I just wanted to cry. But I couldn’t because my seatmates on the plane would’ve been weirded out, so I wrote a newsletter article and worked on formatting for paperback for hours because I had to.
I decided that something had to change. I’m going to start exploring other employment options with less stress and travel, starting this fall. I’ve also promised myself a whole year of no writing. I have to get to where I can enjoy it at least a little bit again. I’ve cut back on my editing work, and I’m cutting back on social engagements that I don’t truly enjoy as much as possible (those pesky “I should go…but I don’t want to” events).
June was lovely. I implemented a lot of cut-backs, did nothing with writing other than marketing my books, and took a week off work to celebrate my first wedding anniversary with my amazingly patient husband. I read books again and listened to music again. Blissful. July is already busier (this July 4th weekend involves dinner with friends, cookout with more friends, fireworks with more friends, and a second cookout with more friends), but I’m going to try to hang on to this healthier, happier pace of life.
Happy Independence Day, and enjoy the music!
- “Liars” by Gregory Alan Isakov and the Colorado Symphony
- “She Always Takes It Black” by Gregory Alan Isakov
- “Should Have Known Better” by Sufjan Stevens
- “Lover, Where Do You Live” by Highasakite
- “Black Sun” by Death Cab for Cutie
- “Change Is Everything” by Son Lux
- “Gold Fever” by Little Hurricane
- “Emotions and Math” by Margaret Glaspy
- “I Want You Back” cover by Lake Street Dive
- “The Sound of Silence” cover by Disturbed. Yeah, you read that right.
- “Flower” by Moby
- “Satellites” by Mew
- “Steal Your Blood” by Surrogate
- “Hummed Low” by Odessa.
- “Moona Festival” by Polyenso
- “Upside Down & Inside Out” by OK Go
- “In My Veins” by Andrew Belle
- “Don’t Let It Trouble Your Mind” by Rhiannon Giddens
- “Julie” by Rhiannon Giddens
- Alanis Morissette redoes “Ironic” with modern struggles
- “Hello” cover by Walk Off the Earth with some nontraditional instruments
- “Stand by Me” cover by Tracy Chapman
- Two girls, one giant piano
- One guy, one…whatever this is. Sounds cool!
- “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on a theremin
- Rockapella reunites to sing “Where in the World Is Carmen San Diego?”
So many snow and ice days, or partial days! Glorious. And often ill-timed, unfortunately, what with this being the busiest time of the year at work. Next Wednesday is supposed to be in the 60s, but Thursday it’s supposed to snow. Schizophrenic weather.
In much sadder news, we lost another Star Trek alum. The standard to which I hold all men is based mostly on 1. My dad and 2. Spock. Thank you, Leonard Nimoy. I raise my eyebrow in salute.
Geekery:
- 16 amazingly creative bookmarks.
- Better World Books. Buy a paperback, change the world.
- Leonard Nimoy reads stories by Ray Bradbury. *happy/sad sigh* “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “The Veldt” are two of my very favorites.
Fascinating:
- Itching powder in the fight against U-boats.
- The underside of a flipped iceberg.
- 30 reasons you should never visit Wales.
- Canadian freezeway will let people ice skate to work. This is either brilliant or a terrible idea.
- Have you heard of Postmodern Jukebox? Here’s “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” New Orleans Blues style. And here’s “Straight Up,” Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers style.
A book update will have to wait, since I still haven’t quite managed to finish The Killer Angels. It’s brilliant! I’m just too busy. Soon, soon.
Don’t faint: two posts in one day! Here are some links. Mostly all outdated and sad now, but I hope you find at least one thing interesting?
Uncategorizable:
- Storytime. Also known as a good way to get punched.
- Have a script you’re just dying to share? Don’t do this.
- The disease of being busy.
Intriguing:
- 7 cultural concepts we don’t have in the US. I particularly found hygge and koselig intriguing!
- The 60 most powerful photographs ever taken.
- Factory farms destroying America in eerily beautiful ways.
- Apollo Robbins: The art of misdirection.
- Lasting relationships rely on two traits.
- Paintball bow guns exist?
- Trailer for The Little Prince. *happy sigh*
Kids:
- The five worst types of toys to give kids. “Once upon a time, my son was given a toy BBQ that had no off switch. Any time it sensed a movement within 3 feet of its grill, its eyes flew open, it started to sizzle and it’s motorized mouth began to shout out fun BBQ phrases. One night I finally put it out with the trash, and an hour later, I could still hear it yelling at passersby, offering more ketchup for their hot dogs.”
- If toddlers texted, this is what they would say.
- 16 children and their bedrooms around the world.
- A 13-year-old eagle huntress in Mongolia.
- Photoshoot with a 15-year-old elk huntress.
- Teacher finishes his students’ doodles.
History:
- Did we finally find the Roanoke colony? (When we lose something around here, we really lose something.)
- Sainbury’s making us all cry with its commercials this winter.
- 100-year-old message in a bottle found in Baltic Sea.
- In 2013 in Iceland, police killed a man for the first time in the country’s history.
- The Old Testament told in five minutes.
Geekery:
- If you’re feeling grumpy over the Star Wars trailer, watch this modern Empire Strikes Back trailer to make yourself feel better.
- If you’re feeling brokenhearted over the travesty that was the third Hobbit movie, though, The Last Goodbye with Billy Boyd probably won’t make you feel any better at all.
- 8 scifi rooms and homes that are out of this world.
- 16 gifts under $26 for your book lover. I’m not saying this is a hint or anything, exactly…
- Folks are hacking their toy Sting swords from The Hobbit to find unsecured wifi. Naturally.
- Ray Bradbury’s house, which sold for $1.76 million in 2012, is being torn down. WHY.
- Glow-in-the-dark murals. Yes, please!
Music:
This week included the NeedtoBreathe concert at Campbell University (excellent), ice cream at Sunni Skies (also excellent), learning how to feed and change a baby (educational), lots of great company (superb), and a whole lot of working like a dog. At work, we’re running a 1000-attendee conference at the Raleigh Convention Center this week, so last week was spent scrambling like mad things to get everything done. I will be one happy camper when Tuesday finally comes to an end.
I hate April Fool’s Day: my feelings are expressed well by this Chainsaw Suit comic. A whole day in which I can’t trust anything anyone says? How perfect! Unfortunately, my coworkers really get into the spirit of the day. Several people “quit,” one made it look like my computer was frozen, etc. All of which might have been a little more amusing if it weren’t the busiest month of the year at my company. Still, I will admit that the note on the printer saying that it only accepted voice commands from now on was a little bit funny…even more so when someone caught my supervisor yelling, “Scan!” at it.
Geekery:
- Graph of the IMDB ratings for all Star Trek: TNG episodes. Fascinating…and a little surprising. Surely “Sub Rosa” was worse than “Shades of Gray”?
- Apparently the meme about Picard not aging due to Earl Grey tea has some truth in it.
- The Pugs of Middle Earth.
- Homestar Runner updates for the first time in four years!
Fascinating:
- Unusual terms for chatterboxes.
- Totally like you know, on Def Jam poetry. AMEN. I’m occasionally guilty of committing a few of these conversational crimes, I admit; they’re just so pervasive today!
- A tour of the British Isles in accents.
- Stunning photographs of people around the world.
- The most wasteful form of coffee. I’d never thought about this before, but it makes sense.
- The Women of Weinsberg, supposedly the inspiration for this clip from Ever After.
Hilarity:
- 20 Things Only a Fighting Camel Would Know. #18. : D
- 75 thoughts every runner has had on a jog.
- Dog and crow playing together. I’m always a little nervous about how these videos end, but these guys seem to be pals.
Music:
- The cast of The Lion King sing aboard an airplane.
- Speaking of, here’s a creative way to give your mom a puppy.
- Father sick of “Let It Go.” I sympathize. The neighbor kids have taken to singing it in the parking lot every day this week.
- The Star Wars theme on a pipe organ. Amazing!
Books: I finished A Passage to India at last, and overall I did enjoy it…but I was plagued by the feeling that it could have been better. Forster’s characters are symbols, and as such their individual actions as characters don’t always make sense. He tackles very large themes and reduces them to relationships between individuals, which seems like it could work–but it seemed to fall a little flat. I’ll be seeing the movie soon, I think, and the trailer already makes Miss Quested look ten times more interesting than she was in the book. In the novel, there’s a line something to the effect that the issues Miss Quested brought to the fore were so much larger than she herself, people tended to forget about her as a person. Sums up the whole book, pretty much.
I’m reading The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams now, which is so far excellent. I loved Watership Down, was sorely disappointed by Shardik, and have had my faith restored by Plague Dogs. I’ll admit there are a lot of Watership Down parallels, which may account for some of my affection for the story (there’s a practical-minded dog and a slightly crazy dog, a la Hazel and Fiver), but it’s unique enough to stand on its own feet. The novel tackles experimentation on animals and several other heavy issues, and since I tend to read during meals, that’s occasionally been an icky experience, but it’s very worth it. I still have quite a ways to go on it, so I’ll report more when I’m finished.
Another insanely busy week! Apparently that’s just the new normal around here. Waking up to a flooded apartment on Tuesday was less normal–our neighbor’s hot water heater leaked into our apartment and flooded the kitchen and part of the living room–but we seem to have that situation rectified by means of a shop vac and giant fans. Lucky did not enjoy any part of that. We weren’t hugely thrilled either, but I like mold a whole lot less.
In somewhat related news, this spring/summer will be the first one in five years during which I won’t be moving! Our rent only went up slightly, so we can actually afford to stay put for once. I’m ridiculously excited about that…and I’m wondering if maybe it’s time for a new bookshelf to celebrate not hauling books up and down stairs. I hate when my shelves get so full that I start having to lay books horizontally on top of vertical books, and we’re definitely there right now.
I really can’t complain about being busy when it’s for such good reasons: this week was full of absolutely fantastic times with friends, including a visit to the Langdon farm, one to Rooglewood, and one to a new friend’s house for dinner and a movie. (Do yourself a favor and just don’t ever watch Starship Troopers. I’m serious. It was heinous, and the only enjoyment to gain from it is to tear it apart with like-minded individuals.) All the same, trying to get my work done in between these social engagements has led to considerable sleep deprivation. I made my bed after church, took a long look at said bed…and crawled back in until 1:00. It’s a rainy, lazy day, and I’ve mainly slept, drunk tea, and talked with friends online. Can’t beat that for a Saturday.
Literature:
- A book that opens six different ways to reveal six different books.
- Suggested collective nouns for book-lovers.
- “Screw writing ‘strong’ women. Write interesting women. Write well-rounded women. Write complicated women. Write a woman who kicks ass, write a woman who cowers in a corner. Write a woman who’s desperate for a husband. Write a woman who doesn’t need a man. …don’t focus on writing characters who are strong. Write characters who are people.”
Heart-warming:
- Possibly the most adorable thing ever–also an impressive display of toddler upper body strength.
- Mr. Rogers says goodbye.
- Heroic elderly dog sacrifices himself to save his family.
- Magic for dogs. (Russian dogs have the best names.)
Fascinating:
- The Amazon women: is there any truth behind the myth?
- Crows’ reasoning ability rivals that of seven-year-old humans’.
- Hauntingly beautiful ghost towns.
- Deliciously creepy scifi scenario.
- The Overprotected Kid. Long (I admit I skimmed), but interesting article. “When my daughter was about 10, my husband suddenly realized that in her whole life, she had probably not spent more than 10 minutes unsupervised by an adult. Not 10 minutes in 10 years.”
- The innovation of loneliness.
- An imaginary town becomes real and then not.
Know this:
- Trekkiedating.com. It’s a real thing.
- Reasons to wish you were a Yooper.
- I can’t believe we really need to be told this, but…don’t pee in the pool.
- This is a generic brand video.
- Ford comes up with a suitable commercial reply to the obnoxious, materialistic GM ad for the Cadillac.
Music:
Books: I’ve been reading A Passage to India by E.M. Forster for what feels like my entire life. I blithely packed a slew of books for my Richmond trip, thinking that I would have downtime to read, and then I didn’t even have a chance to crack a book open once during the whole week. What I’ve managed to read of Passage so far (which isn’t even half of it) has been intriguing. The book is a good look at India and British Imperialism during the 1920s, and I’m enjoying the perspective on Indian culture, so different from our own. I’ll attempt to come up with something more intelligent to say about the book after finishing it, if I ever manage to do so.
In Five Glass Slippers news, the anthology blog for all five of us contest winners has launched! Bless Rachel for actually getting the ball rolling, because I was prepared to procrastinate for another month or so. Be sure to read up on the fascinating inspiration for her protagonist! I hope to write up a post of my own about A Cinder’s Tale…uh…soonish. Don’t hold your breath.
I’ve been delinquent in pretty much everything this week that didn’t directly pertain to my day job, since I was horrendously busy in Richmond for the conference. There wasn’t even time to explore any historic Civil War graveyards. *grumbles* I did, however, have dinner at Penny Lane Pub, which was a fascinating and delicious experience. Folks at a table near mine were talking about the Narnia books, and I was sorely tempted to pull up a chair and crash the conversation. Instead, my coworker and I voyaged down the tremendously sketchy (by night, at least) Canal Walk, wandered around some historic buildings including the capitol, and found ourselves in Shockoe Bottom, which is intriguingly named, tragically historied, and home to a really nice coffee shop now.
Geekery:
- At long last, Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf will be published!!! I’ve been waiting to read this ever since I heard he translated the work.
- Man gets revenge on scammer by texting him the entire works of Shakespeare.
- In defense of the impractical English major. I do on occasion write press releases for pharmaceutical companies, I’m not going to lie–but the rest of the points are very valid.
- Are gender-specific books excluding readers? The Independent thinks so.
- A hilarious commercial created back in the day for syndication of Star Trek: TNG. I commend whomever came up with this.
- Hysterical spoof of Call the Midwife.
Fascinating:
- Mindblowing facts to destroy your understanding of time.
- Madagascaran Tenrecs and their unique communication method. I’m 97% sure I’ve posted this before, but it’s worth a repeat.
- Daring cameraman in the Ukraine climbs ridiculous things, may be my new favorite person. Please oh please let’s do this, folks.
- Rare footage of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan from 1930.
Music:
This will be short, since it’s been an impossibly long week…but it was made significantly better by the arrival of my check for A Cinder’s Tale! I don’t think the thrill of getting paid to write fiction will ever get old. I made stuff up…and people paid me for it. COOL. Speaking of A Cinder’s Tale, Anne Elisabeth Stengl talks more about it and the other stories to be included in the Five Glass Slippers anthology. Check it out!
Next week I’ll be in Richmond for work all week. The downside: the Edgar Allan Poe museum is closed whenever I’m not on the clock. The upside: I’ll be going with lovely people and will no doubt manage to have adventures in spite of the tremendously long work days.
Intriguing:
- 80 reasons Leonard Nimoy is fascinating. As if we needed a list.
- The honey hunters of Nepal.
Good to know:
- Remember that speed-reading app I talked about last week? Never mind.
- 35 things you should never say to a book lover. “That book you lent me? Hmm. I can’t remember where I put it. The last thing I remember was highlighting my favorite parts in pink.” *gnashes teeth*
- How to break out of zip ties.
Music:
- “Like Real People Do” by Hozier.
- Parents sing along to Frozen while young daughter ignores their antics so hard.
- This infant’s music skills are better than yours (and way better than mine).
Books: A friend loaned me Starship Troopers by Heinlein because I complained that the only Heinlein I had read (Stranger in a Strange Land) was…well, heinous, and not really scifi at all. I TAKE IT ALL BACK. (Well, most of it. I may like Heinlein now, but Stranger in a Strange Land is still heinous.) I love Starship Troopers, and I’m just about finished with it. I want to sit down and write a paper about its military philosophy comparing it to various historical ideals, but I’ll probably settle for hunting down some more of his work and just pretending Stranger never happened.
