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Music Meme, Day 13

The first song that plays on shuffle:

Well, the first difficulty is that I, being monotonously linear, don't use shuffle. I think I've used shuffle on my winamp list (yes, that's how old I am; I love winamp) once, and I stopped using it almost immediately. I like organizing my lists in a way that makes sense to me. So I thought I'd have to scratch this entry. Next, I thought I'd just pick one of the songs that are halfway through my current 111-song list.

But then I thought I'd try to be true to the meme. I toggled "shuffle" and waited for the first song. It turned out to be Stray Kids' recent piece, "Ceremony."

Welp. It's one of the rare SKZ pieces that I respect, but not one I'd necessarily introduce a Stray Kids newbie. Still, rules are rules, and here you go. It really is a good song. It's just not one of my multitudinous SKZ favorites.

Watch on YouTube

So I'll also include one of the songs I pinpointed as being smack dab in the middle of my list, or at least as smack dab as an uneven list allows. It's a piece by the Irish duo Saint Sister, called "Causing Trouble." I think I might have shown the actual music video for the song at some point in the past, but this is their live performance of it, many years ago. It's definitely one that I love, and sing along to. They're whip smart and lovely.

Watch on YouTube

And I'm just going to link you to the last meme entry I made, so that you can catch up on previous entries, should you desire.

Current Mood: exanimate
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: RM "Everything Goes"

the_siobhan

Did not hear from engineer today. Fingers crossed for next week.

Visiting dad got put off until tomorrow so that meant I got to spend some more time sorting out the basement bathroom. I got the caulking done and... boy, I am not good at that. I was thinking if I got the hang of it I would also add some to the kitchen tiles where the contractor missed it but... no. I have gained many new skills during this phase of dealing with the house, but this is definitely not one of them. It looks like I put it on drunk.

Big stack o' paper has been sorted out and divided into things I am keeping for tax purposes, things I am keeping for insurance purposes, things I am keeping for grant purposes, and things I just threw onto the stack because I didn't know what else to do with it. I'll do the actual scanning and uploading on erm, maybe Sunday.

I also spent some time going through my credit card statements last night looking for proof I had paid a couple of bills and in the process I discovered that I have some charges I don't recognize. They're for small amounts which is why I didn't spot them earlier, but there are a bunch of them. Two different small companies in the US and when I looked at their websites they use the exact same templates. Everything is identical except for the text and the photos. I sent one of them a 'hey, who are you' email and got an immediate auto-response saying if I was disputing a charge I should list all my email addresses and my credit card number so they can look it up.

(Also? One of the websites sold makeup. I think the last time I wore makeup was 2010.)

So. That card got cancelled. I put in a fraud claim and hopefully I get the money back.

***

Physio is going really really well. I've stopped using the cane for short walks and so far my foot is holding up great. I cannot tell you how fantastic it is to be able to move normally again, even if just for short distances.

Every time I go to the physiotherapist we go over the exercises I'm doing and she adds a slight modification that makes it slightly more difficult and apparently my body really likes being challenged because it's making a huge difference. And then she spends 20 minutes doing what she calls "deep tissue work" which is code for finding every single sensitive spot in my foot and lower calf and using it as a platform to balance her entire body weight on her elbow.

Fuckit, if it's working, I'll take it.

kaffy_r

Hey, J.D.

Keep my country out of your fucking mouth.

JFC.

Current Mood: angry
Current Location: the living room
Current Music: RM "Forever Rain"

kaffy_r

Music Meme, Day 12

A song that you feel nostalgic about:

The meme actually states "a song that you feel nostalgic to" but that makes little sense. On the other hand, I have been thinking about what song I might actually feel nostalgic about for the last day or so.

Yesterday it came to me; the instrumental pieces that I listened to on my mother's "Mantovani Manhattan" album (For years I've thought the album was called Mantovani Does Manhattan, but that doesn't seem to be the case.)

When I was about nine or 10, I listened to both sides of the album again and again. And again. And yet again. One of the reasons I know my family loved me was the fact that no one came into Mum's room, grabbed the record and broke it over my head. It didn't matter to me that Mantovani was apparently considered middle-brow at best - frankly, because I didn't know, but I wouldn't have cared even if I did.

I confess that I was fonder of the A side, because it had my favorite pieces: Harlem Nocturne and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. I can't tell you today what precisely drew me to those pieces. I think I liked the music of Harlem Nocturne better than Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, but I kind of liked the title of Slaughter - and it was quite the overblown piece, which probably also appealed to me. I didn't know until I started putting this post together that Slaughter on Tenth Avenue was originally the name of a 1936 Balanchine ballet with music by Richard Rodgers. It was also the nane of a 1957 movie about New York waterfront union wars, or so states Madame Wiki. I think I'd like the ballet better.

Anyhow, here are my two favorite pieces.

Watch on YouTube

(And here are the previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11)

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Mantovani: Slaughter on Tenth Avenue

the_siobhan

( stuff. miles and miles of stuff )

seraangel posting in

x_project

To read along with the game, visit xp_friends! (Any corrections required, please email seraangelus@yahoo.co.uk)

( Nov 2nd - Nov 16th )

kaffy_r

Music Meme, Day 11

A song that reminds you of summertime:

The moment I read this, a completely inappropriate song - Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime" - was right there in the front of my mind. I know why; I heard it during the summer between Grade 9 and Grade 10, when friction between my Granddad and me made my Mum and Nana decide to send me to stay with my Great Aunt Bobbie at her summer cottage in Shediac, New Brunswick.

There were a fair number of teens spending their summer at Shediac, and so I got a chance to do a lot of things which, while not completely inappropriate, did involve youthful parties with beer and dope. I managed to stay out of the kind of trouble that would have forced Bobbie to report on things back home. And "In the Summertime" was the song I remember most fondly, despite it being problematic these days.

Of course I got older, and learned other summer songs, not least of which were the many versions of Gershwin's Summertime - too many from which for me to choose for this meme.

There was one more summertime song that I fell in love with, and which I associate with my love of Bob and of my adopted city. (Those of you who know Bob may spot at least one of the reasons.) So I give you Summer In The City.

Watch on YouTube

Here are the previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Mungo Jerry "In the Summertime"

the_siobhan

There's always at least one task on my to-list that I really really don't want to do. Usually because it requires sitting down for an extended stretch of hours and figuring out what the fuck happened so I can then figure out how to fix it.

Back when the house nonsense started I applied for a grant being offered by the federal government to make your house more energy efficient. Since I was going from UN-insulated wooden box to an insulated wooden box I figured I would qualify for at least some money.

Well that was a whole Prime Minister ago, and after two extensions and lots of missed targets I finally got the final energy audit done this summer. Something went wrong though and the application was never completed so I sat down today and dug through a stack of email attachments to figure out what was missing. I think I'm on the right track, so wish me luck I can get it fixed. A few bucks to offset the money pit would be very very useful.

Next on the donwanna list is compiling the full list of contracts and bills and fix-it work that has had to be done. If I can get a comprehensive list together of what has and hasn't been done up to today's date it will be easier to add to it as things go forward.

***

Nothing yet from the city inspector. I spoke to the permit-wrangler and he left a message with her on Friday, so hopefully she gets back to him this coming work week.

I haven't done much in the basement while I've been waiting to hear back, so that means I have time to finally put my living spaces in better order. Lots of moving furniture and cleaning up cat puke. Finally made homes for a stack of pots and pans that have just been living on top of the stove. And I finally installed the new front door lock that's been sitting in a drawer and waiting for me to deal with it for um, about 18 months.

***

My sister got an email from a woman in Australia who said her DNA test with ancestry.com showed a match. I'm pretty sure my mother told me we had relatives in Australia but I don't know how we're connected with the little info I have. I had an old free version of ancestry that didn't have much info on it, so I upgraded to a paid version and now I just need to find time to start adding stuff to it.

I have an aunt who is charge of remembering all the family members and how everybody is related so once I have a skeleton together I'll reach out to her and see if she can fill in things like how many kids my cousins have, because I have no clue.

It's a project I've been meaning to get around to for pretty much years. But maybe I'll have a little bit more free time this winter.

***

Physio still going really well. Crossing my fingers I'll be back to normal in a couple of months.

kaffy_r

Music Meme, Day 10

A song from your childhood:

This one was easy for me. This is a song that my Nana used to sing to us when we were children. I used to love hearing her sing it; she had a lovely voice. None of the versions I found have precisely the same notes in the first line that Nana used to sing, but that's probably a good thing. If I heard it sung the way she sang it, I'd probably be a weepy mess.

Here you go.

Watch on YouTube

The previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9

Current Mood: enthralled
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: The Rose, "Ticket to the Sky"

kaffy_r

Music Meme, Day 9

A song with three words:

It's been rather too long a day, at least in terms of my having to put my brain to use, but I'm almost through it now. And before I totter off to bed, I thought I'd return to the music meme. Today's entry required me to put my head together with Bob. We ultimately agreed on the choice I made.

Please note that the English translation of the name of this piece has the requisite three words - Lord have mercy. I am no longer a believer, or at least only an intermittent believer in something that probably isn't Christianity; however, I did choose this based on memories from when I was a believer. I'm not familiar with the music, certainly not enough to choose a good, bad, or indifferent version. I went through a number of choices on YouTube, but ultimately decided to keep it simple and go with a brief chant. For more information on why looking into the music of my birth faith can be fascinating, I direct your attention to Madame Wiki.

Watch on YouTube

Here are the previous days' entries: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8

Goodnight, all.

Current Mood: sore
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Something nonreligious

kaffy_r

The Cruel Stupidity of War ...

... and our proper hatred of it, does not allow us to dismiss those who were sent to fight, who died on the battlefields of the air, ocean, and blood-soaked dirt, who died years later still chained by PTSD and the memories of those things they saw happen in front of them, of friends they saw die in front of them, of the non-combatants they saw die in front of them, about whose deaths they had nightmares year after year.

It took me until the end of the day to write anything at all. And this is the best I can come up with.

War is stupid and cruel and, with only a very, very few exceptions, largely useless.

But we need to remember them. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, when the wind blows the poppies back and forth in their fields, when we see name after name of the killing fields all across our blessed and cursed world.

We must. Not just on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month; every damned day.

Current Mood: pensive
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Stray Kids, "Hollow"

the_siobhan

( nothing to see here )

kaffy_r

Music Meme, Day 8

(I imagine I'll start posting about life, the universe and everything eventually, but to date, I've been enjoying the music meme. It's mostly for me, obviously, and I don't expect too many comments, but I kind of hope a few of y'all dip into some of the music I'm sharing. Don't worry, though; that's not a requirement. Heh.)

An underrated song

I think I'm stretching this question almost to the breaking point, when I share two versions of Canadian singer Amanda Marshall's song "Birmingham," but I'm fairly sure Marshall - who is a force of nature, something I learned decades after discovering her music whilst on a trip back to Nova Scotia with Bob and Andy - isn't very well known down here. "Birmingham" was the only song of hers that charted in the U.S., something she doesn't appear to have worried about too much.

She didn't write the song, although she's gone on to write and co-write a lot of other tunes, but I loved how she interpreted it. She ended up taking a hiatus for a number of years while she fought a legal battle against her label but she was back with a vengeance in 2023.

So yes, this is a criminally underappreciated tune down here, but not up in My Home and Native Land. So have two versions; the one she released in the 90s, and one she played in 2023 (with a slight addition ahead of time of one of the songs she co-wrote, largely about her own situation as a bi-racial Canadian; then she goes into Birmingham and tears up the place.

Here's the original:

Watch on YouTube

And here, my friends, is Amanda Marshall as she is now. I wish I had a quarter of her energy.

Watch on YouTube

Here are the previous days: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Location: the home office
Current Music: Amanda Marshall "Birmingham"

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