I got it!
Phew! It was quite a bid, but I've got it now....'100 Ballads' is mine. Now I just have to wade through them to find something cool.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Sunday, November 20, 2005
First Knit in 20yrs...
I joined the Craft Club mostly with the intention to bring my beading to the table, but in the spirit of giving it a go and because it's just so cool, I gave knitting a try for the first time in donkies.
I used to belong to the Knitting Club at school, but as I recall, not for long. I remember making a scarf (or maybe just the makings of a square) using some hideously cheap royal blue wool and dropping stitches everywhere and generally despairing about the futility of it all.
Well, surprisingly much the same has happened 20yrs on, and much to the best efforts of Marie-Laure and my in-law Andrea, my masterpiece is laid before you....
Noo at Spitting Yarn will be so ashamed!!!
Key to Sections
Pink: me at Craft Club
Green: Andrea's turn
Blue: me post Andrea
I used to belong to the Knitting Club at school, but as I recall, not for long. I remember making a scarf (or maybe just the makings of a square) using some hideously cheap royal blue wool and dropping stitches everywhere and generally despairing about the futility of it all.
Well, surprisingly much the same has happened 20yrs on, and much to the best efforts of Marie-Laure and my in-law Andrea, my masterpiece is laid before you....
Noo at Spitting Yarn will be so ashamed!!!
Key to Sections
Pink: me at Craft Club
Green: Andrea's turn
Blue: me post Andrea
Repetoire Update..
I'm gradually starting to understand what is viable for me to learn. The list of no-no's are extensive, which makes it difficult to find songs. But when you do, it works:
*With You I'm Born Again (Billy Preston & Tammy Tyrell, Motown)
*A Place in the Sun (Stevie Wonder, Motown)
*Sing It Back (Moloko)
*LoveFool (Cardigans)
I'm bidding on a bumper songbook of ballads, which could provide me with an endless supply of soppy, gushy romo-slush!
*With You I'm Born Again (Billy Preston & Tammy Tyrell, Motown)
*A Place in the Sun (Stevie Wonder, Motown)
*Sing It Back (Moloko)
*LoveFool (Cardigans)
I'm bidding on a bumper songbook of ballads, which could provide me with an endless supply of soppy, gushy romo-slush!
Monday, August 29, 2005
Singing for my dinner? No - it wouldn't be profitable!
So far, I've come face to face with the following songs, and below I rate them....
Early One Morning is just so old fashioned, it's untrue. I suppose its challenging for the immature voice, but still, I get no enjoyment out of it. Imagine if somebody overheard, nevermind my terrible wail - they'd think I was an old lady!
Scarborough Fair is marginally better, but I'm still not convinced. Still a bit old and folky. I have to sing 'sedge' instead of 'sage' because its a 'dipthong' which is a vowel combination that is difficult to sing phonetically.
As Long As He Needs Me (from Oliver Twist) is light years away from the other two. At least it has some emotion in it. It has helped me understand what is better for my voice anyway.
Beautiful is a song Husband and I have tried to do together, and on the whole, its been more enjoyable than the above. Only trouble is, you've got to meet Aguilera standards, which are somewhat unlikely.
Glyn let me borrow a book (see image below) which looked initially worrying, but I suppose they would find it difficult not to have some kind of cliche on the front cover!
Early One Morning is just so old fashioned, it's untrue. I suppose its challenging for the immature voice, but still, I get no enjoyment out of it. Imagine if somebody overheard, nevermind my terrible wail - they'd think I was an old lady!
Scarborough Fair is marginally better, but I'm still not convinced. Still a bit old and folky. I have to sing 'sedge' instead of 'sage' because its a 'dipthong' which is a vowel combination that is difficult to sing phonetically.
As Long As He Needs Me (from Oliver Twist) is light years away from the other two. At least it has some emotion in it. It has helped me understand what is better for my voice anyway.
Beautiful is a song Husband and I have tried to do together, and on the whole, its been more enjoyable than the above. Only trouble is, you've got to meet Aguilera standards, which are somewhat unlikely.
Glyn let me borrow a book (see image below) which looked initially worrying, but I suppose they would find it difficult not to have some kind of cliche on the front cover!
From this, I take the follow songs as possibles:
Baby Love
Sweet Love
and (shock of all shocks!)
Think Twice
And selected highlights that I will leave firmly in the book for obvious reasons:
Hopelessly Devoted to You
Puppet on a String
I've found SheetMusicDirect.com a real treat. Here I can download sheet music that is interactive, and allows me to transpose the key and 'play' it. You may only print each purchase once, which is why its a good idea not to have a crappy Brother HL1030 that has stopped seeing webpages and chooses to waste your money instead. Anyhow, from this site I've bought:
'Over at the Frankenstein Place' from Rocky Horror
'Like A Prayer' by Madonna
'How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore?' by Prince
'Nothing Compares 2 U' by Prince
'Sign Sealed Delivered' by Stevie Wonder
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Stuff on my cat, or stuff my cat?
I like this: Stuff on my Cat. Cats make your clothes furry, they stand on your chest in the middle of the night, and they freak out at an odd sound and slash your fiance's chest and arms just before your honeymoon. Cats like things put on them, its obvious!
I'm no fan of shooting animals and stuffing them, but I found last night's BBC2 documentary on taxidermy really captivating. It wasn't about the animals, the frozen testicles or the boar with a boar-piglet positioned in the cavity of its upper torso...it was about the people! Matthius the 2003 World Taxidermy Championships winner, and a bizarre moment. After gazing at the small (live) fish in his hand, marvelling about its beauty (perhaps for too long), he released it into a tank. The fish 'swam' tail-first to the bottom, dead as a do-do. Matthius still had hope though, asking Jesus to give it a new life. The fish remained dead. He gave up taxidermy and stuck with Jesus (and some friends to clap and sing with).
I'm no fan of shooting animals and stuffing them, but I found last night's BBC2 documentary on taxidermy really captivating. It wasn't about the animals, the frozen testicles or the boar with a boar-piglet positioned in the cavity of its upper torso...it was about the people! Matthius the 2003 World Taxidermy Championships winner, and a bizarre moment. After gazing at the small (live) fish in his hand, marvelling about its beauty (perhaps for too long), he released it into a tank. The fish 'swam' tail-first to the bottom, dead as a do-do. Matthius still had hope though, asking Jesus to give it a new life. The fish remained dead. He gave up taxidermy and stuck with Jesus (and some friends to clap and sing with).
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Early Bird: Nesting
Ok, just to make it clear (MUM!) its not the sort of nesting you might do if you were pregnant, it is the phantom-nesting kind.
After a night out in London town, with my SD/HR grrls, I would normally feel
i) dehydrated
ii) knackered
iii) unwakeable
But this morning, the lids pinged open and my urge was to get up. On seeing the bathroom bin in the bath, which was full of water and in the process of being cleaned, I immediately took to giving it a good scrub. Next was the kettle, which was looking mightily shabby. I then thought this was unnatural, and started blogging instead.
This was 6.45am on a Sunday morning and I was both i) and ii)....it is amazing what hormones can do! However monthly cleaning urges are not enough unfortunately, we're going to have to hire a cleaner!
After a night out in London town, with my SD/HR grrls, I would normally feel
i) dehydrated
ii) knackered
iii) unwakeable
But this morning, the lids pinged open and my urge was to get up. On seeing the bathroom bin in the bath, which was full of water and in the process of being cleaned, I immediately took to giving it a good scrub. Next was the kettle, which was looking mightily shabby. I then thought this was unnatural, and started blogging instead.
This was 6.45am on a Sunday morning and I was both i) and ii)....it is amazing what hormones can do! However monthly cleaning urges are not enough unfortunately, we're going to have to hire a cleaner!
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
The Wedding List Game
The Rules:
Go to the John Lewis Gift List Department, whack in a random gift list number starting with 152, add three digits and there you have it! Random wedding lists:)
All you have to do now is find the most pikey or the most greed-exposing gifts.
Our favourite:
Odour remover soap £4.00
Go to the John Lewis Gift List Department, whack in a random gift list number starting with 152, add three digits and there you have it! Random wedding lists:)
All you have to do now is find the most pikey or the most greed-exposing gifts.
Our favourite:
Odour remover soap £4.00
The Mooncup
Ladies, we've been suffering the horror of our periods for years, and we are fed up! Save yourselves, and potentially the planet with the Mooncup!
Revolutionary:)
Revolutionary:)
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Book Crossing
Book Crossing is something I heard about when a representative was promoting it on Southern Counties Radio. Seems like a community spirited thing to do, and also a little exciting, and romantic.
On the way to Toulouse I bought a book at Gatwick, hoping to be enlightened by it: "The Sexual Life of Catherine M", however it lacked a certain charm and it was probably my fastest read book ever (3 days, what can I say - I'm slooow). Shame I had not read the Amazon reviews before grabbing it from the shelf on impulse.
BookCrossing sprung to mind, as I thought that it was arrogant to assume that nobody could learn anything positive from this 'biography'. So I registered it on the website, left it in the allocated location - and it was taken! It has not since been registered again as collected on the site. This could be for many reasons:-
1 The telephone box is used only by people ringing up prostitutes and the 'collector' used it as a gift to keep his wife busy while he went off to the prostitute.
2 It was used in part-exchange for drugs, and the drug-dealer has no internet access.
3 The person finding it was a bit old fashioned and burn the book.
How long will I have to wait until it pops-up on the web, and to find out whether the lucky recipient appreciated the story for its honesty or whether it was used as an upmarket jazzmag???
On the way to Toulouse I bought a book at Gatwick, hoping to be enlightened by it: "The Sexual Life of Catherine M", however it lacked a certain charm and it was probably my fastest read book ever (3 days, what can I say - I'm slooow). Shame I had not read the Amazon reviews before grabbing it from the shelf on impulse.
BookCrossing sprung to mind, as I thought that it was arrogant to assume that nobody could learn anything positive from this 'biography'. So I registered it on the website, left it in the allocated location - and it was taken! It has not since been registered again as collected on the site. This could be for many reasons:-
1 The telephone box is used only by people ringing up prostitutes and the 'collector' used it as a gift to keep his wife busy while he went off to the prostitute.
2 It was used in part-exchange for drugs, and the drug-dealer has no internet access.
3 The person finding it was a bit old fashioned and burn the book.
How long will I have to wait until it pops-up on the web, and to find out whether the lucky recipient appreciated the story for its honesty or whether it was used as an upmarket jazzmag???
