lunabee34 | Entries tagged with music

1. I mean, I think his influence on American music (and global music, probably) is undeniable although I cannot offer any compelling supporting evidence as I know virtually nothing about music. But the Nobel for literature? Don't we have enough awesome writers writing what is indisputably literature to go through before we start expanding the definition of literature? I expected to see everybody posting about this, and no one has yet. I want to know what you think, my friends (especially

likeadeuce who does have music knowledge).

2. I went to MS this weekend to see Dad. He was doing really well, having his best weekend since he started treatment. He had some tests done today; if the treatments aren't working well enough, he'll go out to Dallas to have a stem cell transplant. Obviously, we'd like for the treatment to be working well enough that he can finish up at home without having to spend a month in the hospital two states away, but how awesome that he has more options if this first one isn't working as well as they'd like. They have a good support network; somebody called or came over every few hours like clockwork while I was there to do or bring them stuff. I feel really good about how he's doing and how they're being supported. I'm tired as shit because it's about 15 hours round trip if you don't stop for lunch, but it was good to visit with them.

3. So much TV to review:

( Gotham )

( Lucifer )

( NCIS )

( Blue Bloods )

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/489839.html

Friday, Midday Music on NPR was playing sci-fi and fantasy music in honor of Dragon Con, so I got to rock out to the Imperial March when I was heading to town to shop. :)

I took Emma shopping yesterday for more track clothes (she has finally reached the point where she really needs to wear a sports bra), and I bought us both Harry Potter and Cursed Child.

( I loved it! )

I know several of you read and reviewed it, but I can't remember who. Link me up?

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/486055.html

I had to sob a little into the steering wheel when the local radio station chose this song as their tribute to Scott Weiland: Say Hello to Heaven by Temple of the Dog.

We'll have "Art School Girl" on repeat all weekend. :(

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/452481.html

Epiphanies brought on by the Nineties Weekend we listened to on the way home from Atlanta:

Tyrion Lannister is the likely pen behind the lyrics of "Where Do You Go?" [My Lovely]

Enrique Iglesias is not in fact singing, "Te quiero no burrito," but, "Te quiero amor mio," which makes much more sense.

Who wants to talk about fannish stuff? I'm up for talk about any of the following: Walking Dead, Big Bang Theory, Penny Dreadful, Game of Thrones, Gateverse, Buffyverse, Star Trek, etc!

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/430556.html

1. Allison Janney is now the Robot Queen of the Universe. Thank you, Key and Peele. (Don't think I don't remember you from The Planet's Funniest Animals, Key. You've come a long way, dude.)

2. I cannot stand that "Black Widow, Baby" song. I hear "I'm a black little baby" every damn chorus.

3. We just finished a second watch of Penny Dreadful and ( SPOILERS ) *gasp*

4. Who can read Italian? I may need some help that I will repay with fanfic. *bats eyelashes coyingly*

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/425656.html

Some things you all should know:

1. I am finally getting better! I have been sick for over a week, wretched and awful sick like I have not been since five years ago when I had to get an inhaler or else die. Penicillin is a yayness.

2. Pixie covers on commercials make me happy.

3. I meant to post about Winter Soldier after I watched it, but I didn't and then I got sick, and now I don't even remember what I wanted to say beyond squeeeeeeeeee! LOL

4. Being sick has interfered in my adventures in perfume. I've been unable to smell anything for ages. Bah. Although I have discovered that I love the way myrrh smells even so. It can penetrate through my fog of extreme illness to cover me in warmth and yumminess.

5. I just finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman and absolutely loved it.

6. I have just started reading Fruits Basket, and this is the first manga I've ever read. I am not finding it an intuitive read. LOL It is not always immediately apparent to me which panel I'm supposed to read next. Probably because I'm old like Katie Holmes (/Mindy Project shout-out).

Talk to me about these things or something else entirely. I have missed you all while the ague has oer'taken me.

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/402627.html

I was talking with

umadoshi about my love for Ryan Adams and decided to make a post explaining a little about why I like his music so much, what I think is worth listening to, and what I think you should avoid.

First, a disclaimer. I know next to nothing about his personal life. My uninformed opinion is that he's kinda jerky, but IDK. My love is only for his music.

Second, he's pretty hit or miss. When Ryan Adam is on his game, I would rather listen to no one else. When he's off in his nasally singing whiny world, it's pretty god-awful. He's my favorite musical artist. If I only got to listen to one singer ever again for the rest of my life, it would be him, but even I must admit that the man has churned out some utter shit songs. LOL

So what do I like about Ryan Adams's music?

( Links to songs under the cut )

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/397660.html

Welp. I have missed some days. LOL So have Tuesday-Thursday's answers.

My favorite quote

This is hard. I really like this one by Oscar Wilde: There is always something ridiculous about the emotions of people whom one has ceased to love.

What I'm afraid of

Dying, death, what happens after death, being old and knowing that death is coming, being infirm, getting some form of dementia and losing myself, Josh dying. So you know, death.

Some songs I love right now

1. Percussion Gun by White Rabbits

2. Homesick by Kings of Convenience

3. Giving Up the Gun by Vampire Weekend

4. Sweet, Sweet Heartkiller by Say Hi to Your Mom

5. Freak by LFO

6. The Wind on the Bridge Vietnamese folk song

7. Keg on My Coffin by The Pushstars

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/382060.html

1. I have a friend who has opened an Etsy shop: Almost Wicked Stitcher. She's sold a lot of stuff, so her inventory is a bit low right now, but I've seen those scarves in person, and they're really, really pretty. Might want to check it out as the holidays approacheth.

2. On the way home from town today, Emma and I listened to one of my Sam~n~Dean mixed tapes full of songs from the first season of the show, and I was struck by how much I miss the way the show used to use music. And I'm not just talking soundtrack here. I miss the score, that hauntingly beautiful score that pervades "Houses of the Holy," for example. But I really miss the way SPN used songs in those first few seasons--not as filler but as commentary on the action or the emotional state of the characters or sometimes as humor. The music felt like another character to me, one who has sadly died along with Ellen and Jo and Mary and Jessica. This week's episode with it's brief visit to CCR reminded me a great deal of how much fun (and often how sad sad sad sad LOL) the music in this show used to be. But I feel like the show has changed so much anyway that IDK; like it's got a different mission or is trying to target a different audience or something. I feel like I've been watching two completely different shows, one that ended with season five and a second, tangentially related one that began in season 6.

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/368471.html

1. We're driving to town with Emma, and Josh and I are talking about The Princess Bride. Emma's never seen the movie, so she asks us what it's about. Josh and I look at each other and say, "True Love." Then Emma says, hand to God, "But none of that mushy kissing stuff, right?" She could not understand the gales of laughter coming from the front seat.

2. We heard "Gangnam Style" on the radio last night. You've come a long way, rural Georgia.

3. Book Club post on The Hobbit will be appearing in the next few days. Dust off your copies if you haven't already and get ready to share your thoughts on Bilbo, dragons, dwarves, and how like Dumbledore Gandalf seems in this book!

4. Conference in New Orleans was spectacular. The Hyatt Regency on Loyola is one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in. Seriously swank. I wish it hadn't been so busy (in addition to our comparatively minuscule conference, NO was also hosting the Organo Gold coffee convention--think scamtastic Mary Kay--and a water/sewage/etc convention that was set to last a whole week long), but the amenities and the atmosphere were awesome. The conference itself was fantastic (yay for coming home with actionable info! Whoooo!), and they fed us very, very well. We ate at SoBou on Chartres St. pretty close in to Canal, and it was fantastic. The restaurant just opened this summer, and the same people who run Commander's Palace opened it. We happened upon it by accident, and I'm so glad we did. The decor is out of this world beautiful. Be sure and look at the photo across the top of the site that changes out because the pictures I took can't do it justice. Once whole wall is rows and rows of apothecary glass and another is apothecary glass set sideways into a light fixture, and the restaurant itself is this awesome mixture of industrial and quirky. It reminded me a great deal of Snack Bar in Oxford, MS, both in terms of the endearing hipsters pouring drinks behind the bar and the quality of the food.

5. I have been thinking a great deal this past year about karma (in the Western-lite sense of the word). I do not believe that when we get sick or misfortune is visited on us that we are being punished by God or the universe for sinning. I was raised to believe that, and I find it a vile and damaging belief. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen to bad people. Many events happen randomly and seem to have no clear antecedents. And yet, I also believe strongly that you get back what you put into the world; that if you are a negative person who fills the world with negativity, that negativity will be revisited on you in some way; that if you constantly tear others down or mistreat them or live a life of cruelty, you will find yourself without friends or help when you need it most; and that if you live a life of friendship and love, you'll always have hope and kindness even in the darkest times. A petty part of me finds a great deal of comfort in believing that those people who have wronged me or the people I care about will one day (sooner or later) get some sort of cosmic backlash for that behavior, but a better part of me finds comfort in believing that when I am kind to others, I am also being kind to myself. (I have no idea if that makes any sense. It sounds better at the pre-verbal level all swirling around in my brain. LOL)

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/364218.html

Rest in peace, MCA. The world will miss your voice.

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/349649.html

1. I really want to participate in the Month of Meta I posted about last time I posted. Whenever that was. :) I was wondering, is there anything you guys would like to see me post about? The comm is going to do an inspiration/prompt post, which I'm looking forward to, but you guys know me and what I tend to write and think about, and I wondered if you had any suggestions.

2. I am digging my MP3 player liek whoa. I walked several miles today while rocking out to Stone Temple Pilots. "Art School Girlfriend" is kinda the best song ever.

3. One of my students wrote a post about her favorite story Twilight in which Bella is in love with a vampire named Edwin. Total spittake! LOL

4. Who else is besotted with New Girl? Who wants to dissect it with me?

5. Is there some kind of magic cure for snoring besides killing your partner that I've been missing? Please to be preventing the homicide, dear flist.

6. I made an awesome soup tonight. In my sexy Dutch oven, I melted 2 tbsp of butter, chopped up a box of baby portabellos and four stalks of celery and put them in with some garlic, liberally splashed in sherry, and let them all soften for a bit. Pureed that up with some chicken stock and added fresh ground nutmeg and some Worcestershire sauce. Happy mouth!

7. Tell me something. :)

Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/344436.html

synecdochic is doing a really cool post asking for nominations for the best albums of the last thirty years.

Here are the rules from her post:
( Rules )

I was going to submit an entry to the post, but I got tripped up on the distinction between best and favorite. I really struggle with that distinction on several levels. For example, I know that The 400 Blows is considered one of the best movies EVER, with critical acclaim for the actors and for Truffaut alike, but I think Antoine Doinel is the biggest douchebag I've ever seen cavort upon the screen and can't find it in me to like him enough not to wish a sudden genre change into hack-and-slash. Not enough Jason Voorhees in a Truffaut movie for me. LOL So that's problem number one. I can appreciate something on technical merit (a difficult piece of music, an intricate painting) but not like it well enough to consider it best. I remember sitting through my friend's piano recital for undergrad and being so impressed by all the difficult music everyone was playing that I never, ever wanted to hear again. LOL

Problem number two is that I tend to conflate best and favorite. I tend to find (or maybe imagine? LOL) artistic merit in the music and other media that I consume and truly love. It's very hard for me to separate how a work makes me feel from other and more objective criteria.

But, I really wanted to answer this fascinating and awesome question here in my own journal where perhaps the line between favorite and best is non-existent at best. (I am making some effort though! Even though we listened to Aqua's Aquarium ad nauseum as freshman, I cannot in good conscience place the "Barbie Girl" album on any best of list, no matter the long nights of rocking out to said song.)

You will not find any classic rock on this list because while I am a huge classic rock fan, I don't own any albums. It's radio listening only. So while I think Led Zeppelin definitely belongs in the best of the best, I only know isolated songs and not whole albums.

So without further adieu, Lorraine's 15 picks for the best albums of the last thirty years are as follows:

( My Picks )