Songs(!) of the Month for December (and a little silliness)

Here's the best news ever... I LEAVE FOR NOVA SCOTIA TONIGHT! HOORAY!!! And my flight hasn't been canceled (yet)!!!

Oooh folks, it was a tough call for the song of the month. I simply can't decide, so I thought since it's Christmas, maybe I can be a little more generous and give you my top 3:

"What Are You Doing New Years'?" - Ella Fitzgerald
I walk around my apartment singing this all day long, and if I do say so myself, I do a pretty stellar version of it.


O Holy NIGHT, Batman, has it been a cold December or what? This makes "Baby, It's Cold Outside" another obvious choice. It's also a good excuse to get out of Christmas parties: "You should come to the party tonight!" "but baby, it's cold outside!"

The tricky thing is what version?!

I simply LOVE Zooey Deschanel's musical phrasing in this version:


Similarly, I love James Taylor's note choices in this version, although Natalie Cole drives me a little nuts.


For my last choice, you already know my feeling on Waltzes. It has to be Nancy Wilson's version of "The Christmas Waltz." Lovely :) Unfortunately some schmuck has disabled embedding on that particular version, so you're stuck with the Kristin Chenoweth version. She's so freaking adorable in "Pushing Daisies", so it's okay.


Now for the silliness... my parents taped little Tess's first romp in the snow! SO CUTE!!!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Love,
Gillian

Sometimes A Girl Just Has To Dance!

Oh... My... God...

Now THIS begs the question: Why the heck don't I live in San Francisco?!?!

"The impact of Gus Van Sant's biopic, Milk, inspires many viewers to ask, "What Would Harvey Do, Now?"
Proposition 8's rotten victory took the stuffing out of a lot of us.
I know exactly what Harvey would've done this past weekend -- he would have been with me, and hundreds of others, pirouetting our asses off to The Dance-Along Nutcracker, performed each year by the band which was founded in 1978 to celebrate Milk's inauguration: The Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band.
Every December, the band takes over the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, opens the doors to all ages and species -- there were a couple tutu-ed puppies this year -- and plays the Tchaikovsky classic, while the audience leaps, skips, and crawls their way through "Arabian Coffee," "Chinese Tea," and the Russian Trepak. (Bring ibuprofen for the intermission)." (full story here.)

A Dance-Along Nutcracker? Are you KIDDING ME?! How fantastically awesome is that?!? In my last blog post I included pictures of me dancing to The Nutcracker in my PJs! The embarrassing thing I neglected to mention was that I couldn't contain a pirouette on the icy street the day before while listening to The Nutcracker on my way home from work (well, it was dark outside! I couldn't help it!) Only two things can make my inner-four-year-old dance in the street: Disneyland and the Waltz of the Flowers. I just can't be embarrassed by that anymore, knowing that other grown-ups were getting their Sugar Plum Fairy on at Yerba Buena! I'm only sorry that I wasn't there with them. (This from the girl who has been to the Sing-Along Sound of Music twice, so you know I'd totally do it!)

The funny thing is that it's always the Waltz of the Flowers that gets me! Every Single Time. I can sit through the rest of the pieces, but I remember being a fat little 3 year old and it was THAT SONG that got me into my tutu (there are pictures.) Heck, while we're telling embarrassing stories, I should come right out and say that I remember being an awkward TEENAGER and dancing around to that song (no embarrassing stories now, dear brothers!) Damn you, Tchaikovsky! But than man could write a waltz!!! I can't even listen to it at work without being completely heart-broken that my dreams of being a ballerina never came to fruition *sigh* At least I could probably waltz my way through it now?

Alright, that's it. It's time. Go put on your tutu and just TRY not to dance.

MY GOODNESS I love that song!!!

~gillian~

It's %$&*ing COLD!!!

My Christmas Tree

Good LORD I hate winter! It's been a terribly cold weekend! The warmest it got this weekend was -28 C, with a wind chill of -40 C. - 40 PEOPLE!!! WTF??? So OBVIOUSLY I spent most of the weekend indoors, eating chocolate and watching Christmas specials ;)

...Although I *DID* dance around to The Nutcracker in my PJS...

(Yup, I still have some unpacking to do :P )

AND I baked cookies!

And took silly pictures of me in my terribly cute hat

Then today Nathan, Sheila and I helped my grandma set up her Christmas tree :)

Isn't it pretty?

I hope you all kept safe and warm! It's going to warm up soon, right???

Love,

Gillian

I'll Be Home For Christmas (Thank GOD!)

When it comes to Christmas, I'm a sentimental schmuck at the best of times. I love Christmas. The music, the decorations, the shopping, the TV specials, wrapping presents! My eyes frequently well with tears at this time of year over the silliest of things.

However....

This year I have gone from Sentimental Schmuck to Emotional Basketcase. This is the first Christmas season that I have been away from my folks, and even though I'll be with them by Christmas Eve, for the love of God, it's been a hard December already. My mum and I have so many traditions at this time of year. Christmas shopping downtown, going for special lunches together, the Art Market, Christmas baking and crafts. I miss her more than I could possibly imagine.

The moral of the story? Family is important. Go tell someone you love them.

I know I tend to go on about all things Jim Henson on my blog, but I think that's because I was raised on the same values that he believed in, like compassion, education, communication, and most of all, love. Perhaps that's why this song from The Muppet Christmas Carol just does me in every time I hear it. I know it was directed by Brian Henson, but, well, it's just so Muppety that I think his daddy would be proud. I just love this song, it's everything I believe (in a non-denominational kind of way) and everything I wish for you for Christmas.



Loads of Love,
Gillian

A Party Dress and a Magic Flute

Here's rather a silly picture of me, for those who requested to see my Christmas party/Opera dress. I think it's raaaaather elegant!

I've made a discovery about my apartment building. You know in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" when they have outside shots of Holly's apartment building there is often the sound of someone practicing scales on the piano? Well when I come home and am making dinner every night, there is the sound of someone practicing the flute! My sink carries noise really well, you see, so I don't know where this person is, but I can hear them practicing. It's fairly charming, since my apartment is sort of Breakfast at Tiffany's era, but not as nice... I don't have a bathtub for a couch, after all :(

I think that's it for now? What's new with all y'all?

~g~

Oooh, Nice!

It's been pretty foggy, so I couldn't get a good shot of the view from my balcony. But the fog has lifted! So here you go! Nice, huh? Downtown-ey!

Love,

Gillian

Song of the Month for November and MOVING!

"Sun in an Empty Room" by Edward Hopper

Goodness, where on earth have I been? Well things have been busy and I spent this weekend moving into my new apartment. Ooooh. And baby? It ain't glamorous! Avocado Green appliances and all... But it's "home"... for now ;)

It is so nice to be back in familiar territory, close to downtown, close to work, closer to people I know. Life being as it is, some new issues have come up and things may be changing again, soon. But for now? Well, I made a little slideshow to show you my new digs and document the move.

The pictures in the slideshow are set to the song "Sun in an Empty Room" by The Weakerthans. It's a song about moving, so it just HAD to be the song of the month. The song is based on the painting "Sun in an Empty Room" by Edward Hopper (as seen above.) Hmm. Looks familiar!

Enjoy :)

~gillian~

YAY Weekends ;)

Number of mini-chocolate bars purchased: 100
Number of Trick-or-Treaters: 4
Oops. Additional oops: I just baked cookies, too. EEK! It's going to be a fattening weekend, I can already tell.

But the real reason I'm posting is because I just found out that Dido has a new album coming out on November 17th! Her first one in 5 years!!! Super excited! Wanna see the video for her new single? I thought you might :)



So I went to Mac's today by my brother's store to pick up some butter for said cookies, and the sweet lady at the till asked what I was making, so I told her, and she asked how you make cookies, so I told her that too. While I was in there, a man came in to the store wearing a gorilla mask. He kept letting other customers go before him, and refused, when asked, to take off his mask. Sweet lady and I were sort of freaked out, but there were a few other customers in the store, so I went back to my car and watched. He wasn't in a rush when he left the store, and no one appeared to be freaking out, so I left. I was driving home a few minutes later and a police car with lights flashing but no siren came tearing in the other direction and I was like "crap... sweet lady got robbed" and I felt SO AWFUL that I had to pull into a parking lot and call my brother to go check on her. I felt like I was going to throw up until he called me back and said it was just a friend of the owners playing a joke. Even now I feel horribly guilty that I should have DONE something, but what could I do in that situation anyway? I guess just hang around outside and call the police if things got sketchy? I feel terrible for abandoning her, so I'll have to bring her some cookies and a recipe next week or something. I'm sorry, sweet lady, and I'm glad the gorilla guy was just an idiot and didn't hurt you!

K, bed time!!!
Love,
Gillian

How's Your French?

I have a major crush on Coralie Clement. She makes me want to be French so badly. I've been walking around singing this song all day, because it's wonderful, but the problem is that I only understand parts of it, and the parts aren't adding up to a very convincing whole. Usually I can get the gist of songs en francais, but this one makes NO sense to me. I get the "la samba des jours avec toi, la samba de mon coeur qui bat" part, but the rest...? Mon dieu que c'est vache? Really, Coralie? My God that is a cow? What?!

Have any thoughts? If not, just enjoy the song :) If you feel extra romantic, go find someone and whisper "la samba de mon coeur qui bat" in their ear. It just sounds romantic when you whisper it, don't you think?



la samba, la samba des jours avec toi *heehee*
~g~

Another One Bites the Dust!

Well darlings, I'm going to put a positive spin on this. I've always wanted to be THE BEST at something and now I think I've found my niche!

If there was ever a competition for making men run at the terrifying prospect of commitment? I'd kick all your asses.

Yeah, that's right... another one bites the dust. (Sorry guys, I know you liked him. So did I.)

Seriously though, I'm sick of crying. Put on your PJs and come dance with me.

~g~

Song of the Month for October!

The thing about irrational fears is that you know they’re irrational and that somehow doesn’t stop you from being afraid. Maybe the fear stems from childhood and is urged along by an episode of the X-Files or your brother hanging a marionette in his room. But one thing I know for sure: Furnace rooms are creepy. Michael Jackson and the Thriller zombies are lurking in the dark corners of every one of them (and there are ALWAYS dark corners) and there are probably spiders involved too. You should run quickly when you leave them and glance over your shoulder despite your better judgment as you slam the door shut. It's just common sense.

The sad fact of my job is that it involves many a furnace room, although they try to make them sound corporate by calling them "mechanical rooms" or "boiler rooms." They're just extra-big, extra-scary furnace rooms, with extra-dark corners, hissing steam and the unmistakable WHOOSH of sudden ignition, which is, after all, the very noise that summons Michael Jackson to jump out and eat your brain. Even when I'm there with a co-worker, fighting to understand the jumble of forty-two BILLION pipes, I am on constant zombie/axe-murderer alert. Forty-two BILLION pipes plus six boilers, and six chillers combating the six boilers make a heck of a hissing, whooshing, zombie-summoning racket, and I wish I could be cool about this... I wish I could say that it was fine... but I’m always a little bit surprised when we make it out alive.

What with me spending so much time in and/or drawing furnace rooms lately, and the fact that furnace rooms are very spooky and that it’s almost Halloween? How could I resist? The song of the month HAS to be “Furnace Room Lullaby” by Neko Case.

I had a real struggle with myself about putting the video on this post, because the video is honestly terrible. I don’t want you to watch it because I think it’s SO terrible that it actually detracts from the song. What I would LIKE you to do is listen to the song while driving down a dark, lonely highway, or better yet, go sit among the patina-dribbled copper pipes and flickering blue boiler flames in the Calgary Tower Mechanical room and listen. Heck, please consider sitting beside YOUR furnace! But at the very least, turn off the lights, turn up the volume, close your eyes and give it a listen. You can watch the video later, if you really feel the need, but do it my way the first time, k? Thanks.



Happy Halloween! Don't let Jacko getcha!

Volcanic Sky!

Je ne suis pas content, darlings, so I'm not much for the posting right now.
However, tonight as I was burning my pizza I flung the back door open and the sky was all "I totally understand."

Moody!

xoxo,

Gillian

Tour de Web & Just a Friendly Reminder to...

VOTE!!!

Yeah, I know it's American, but the message is the same. C'mon, guys. If *I* have to rush home from work to make the polls, so do you. Do it. And not to tell you who to vote for, but you might want to read up on the Conservatives and their Digital Copyright Act before you head to the polls. Just saying!

I know a lot of you out there are as crazy about "Raising Sand" as I am, so here's a little interview with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss that boingboingtv did. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then just go buy the album. You won't be disappointed!

Also? This song has been going through my head for days :)

Oh Discovery Channel... I love you... and the whole world... boom de ya da!

I don't know if I've posted this before, but it's some marketing genius! Incidentally, I co-wrote a song about pipetting in high school chemistry, but it wasn't half as entertaining as this.

And finally, you know how I love to post songs about robots? Let's add this to the collection. "I've got a robot vacuum cleaning up my life." I know, hey? Sketchy!

The Yoga Response

When I'm in the car, I need music. So when I was in the car in Nova Scotia, I'd plug in my iPod and subject my parents to my eclectic music collection. One of my playlists is "Yoga Music", although it really is any kind of music that I do Yoga to, and is widely varied from Opera to Indian techno. While listening to some of my Yoga music, my dad asked if the music gave me a "Yoga response", which I thought was an interesting question, because in fact it does!

Since I have my "soundtrack" that I do Yoga to, I now associate the music with a focused feeling, so if I'm stressed at work I can just pop on the Yoga playlist and it will bring my focus back a little bit. Obviously it doesn't bliss me right out like a Yoga session, but it certainly helps shift me into a better headspace. However, more than the mental response, a few songs give me more of a physical response. I hear them and I am overcome with the urge to do sun salutations (suryanamaskara, for those who do yoga with me... sorry, I was programmed to teach in Sanskrit!)

Most of the songs are pretty obscure and we aren't going to find them on YouTube, but this is one of the songs that gives me that "suryanamaskara feeling":

Boheme - Deep Forest


This one even less mainstream, but is undeniably my favourite yoga song with the biggest "Yoga Response." It's also a favourite among my students! It's definitely not on YouTube, so I just slapped a photo up and added the song so you could hear it. I don't know how to just post songs without a lot of effort. The photo was taken at Lake Louise, and the song happens to be a very good mountain driving soundtrack too. Something about Opera and the Rocky Mountains... It's a wonderful match.

Ballo (After Verdi's Ballo en Mashera) - Paul Schwartz


Enjoy :) Breathe :) Namaste!

Gillian

Song of the Month for September!

I know I've been a little slack on the posting lately, but I have three things to post about, so there IS more coming, I promise. Boy do I have things to talk about :P I feel like all I do these days is work and commute, although there have been adventures in dry cleaning and yoga this week, as well as copious amounts of Grey's Anatomy, so it's not all been about work. It's just been busy!

I just noticed, however, that it's September 25th and I'm really running out of time for the Song of the Month, so we're going to take care of that first!

The Song of the Month for September is "Be Ok" by Ingrid Michaelson. I have a bit of a love affair happening with Ingrid Michaelson, because her lyrics are so relatable for me. The more I watch Grey's Anatomy, the more songs I recognize from her CD, which makes me feel more relatable to others as well. Songs like "Corner of Your Heart" and "Starting Now" have that impact of "oh... you mean, I'm NOT alone in feeling like this?!" It's "the awesome" as my younger, cooler friends would say :P

Anyway, "Be Ok" is a new single (which she released to support Stand Up To Cancer ) and it's totally fun and good and OHBOY I can relate. As I'm staring at my phone, willing it to buzz.. buzz, damn you, BUZZ... the lyrics go through my head:

"Open me up and you will see I'm a gallery of broken hearts, I'm beyond repair, let me be, and give me back my broken parts!"

But the tune is so bouncy, you kind of have to dance in spite of yourself! Then when my phone, eventually, sometime, buzzes, I'm swamped with relief and take it all back. Because? I'm crazy. But you already knew that.

Anyway, take a listen and enjoy! For those of you who have eMusic accounts, it's available for download on there! Yayyyyy! Then you too can walk around singing "I just wanna be ok, be ok, be ok, I just wanna be okay today!" And you will. Trust me.



Love,
Gillian

Some Vacation Pics

Hey All!

I'm having a lovely time in Nova Scotia! Here are a few pics so far:

Baxter's Harbour at low tide

(a little dark, but I wanted to get the rockiness against the sky.)

Risser's Beach - "Tropical storm? What tropical storm?"

We're not sure what this was... a dam, we think, in Conquerall Mills, but we can't find any info about the place. Pretty cool, tho!

More to follow, I'm sure :)

Gillian

Family Resemblance

My brother recently inherited a box of old family photographs from my gramps, who is moving to Nova Scotia at the end of the month. It has now become my brother's duty to scan the box-o-pics so that everyone can have copies. He and I were both goofing off at work the other day, and he was emailing me a few of the pics that he has scanned. They were, of course, adorable, so I promptly put this one up as my desktop wallpaper:

Not five minutes later a co-worker walks past and says "oh cute, you got a retro picture taken of yourself" and I'm like "... those are my grandparents." Co-worker says "... dude, you look like your grandma!!!" I told my brother this and he said "I thought that too when I saw this picture." Everyone who sees this picture since then has said "WOW you look like your grandma!" I guess I can kind of see it, although I suspect the resemblance is strictly in the silly expression on her face (they were going on their honeymoon, so they were probably giddy!) I've only ever heard once before that I resemble my grandma, so it's weird that it's all coming up from this one picture. I'm tempted to go put my hair in curlers and look in the mirror! Honestly, my grandma was a darling, and I inherited her love of dancing and (apparently!) her silliness, so why not her looks as well? Genes are funny things.

Here's another pic of my grandma. What do you think? I definitely can't see it in this picture (she is WAY cuter than me!!!)

For comparison, here's a picture of me being silly. I really think that's the key, people. It's the silliness.

Thoughts?

Love,

Gillian

The Golden Compass

So I just finished reading The Golden Compass trilogy, and let me tell you... those books have messed me up in deep and profound ways. Likely more deeply and profoundly than any other books I've ever read. I think I loved them, but at the same time they destroyed me. Does that make any sense? My thoughts on it are still fairly jumbled, but here are a few items of note:

- I usually don't like fantasy books, but J.K. Rowling and Philip Pullman have really managed to captivate me. The Harry Potter series and The Golden Compass trilogy are the only book series in history to make me resent working because it takes me away from reading the books. Not in a "gee, I'd rather be reading right now" way, either. In a "seriously, this sucks, I want to quit my job so I can read. Stupid work." way.

- These are NOT meant for Children. This is the only series that I would NOT let my children read. Actually, that thought is one of the things that has been messing with me, because probably in a lot of ways these books would make a lot of sense for kids, but I would probably have to approach it on an individual basis. If my child were brave and stubborn and over the age of 12, sure. If my child were a sensitive soul like me? Not on your life. Just knowing how badly they messed with my emotions? No way.

- Onto the emotions, gee, I don't even know where to go with it. It was a hard series to read, based on subject matter alone, and I'm not surprised that the church was pissed about them. There was nothing subtle about the church=evil aspect of these books. It wasn't even just the hard topics that came up, the often uncomfortable moments, but they also made me feel so dreadfully alone and hopeless at times. I cried on the bus, and spent an entire Sunday afternoon feeling heart-sick that I didn't have a daemon. It was rough, people! And I know I'm Miss Hyper-Emotional, but still, yikes. I know I have a tendency to get really emotionally involved with imaginary things, which is silly, but I was raised on imagination and empathy, so not really surprising. Sometimes I have trouble giving myself the appropriate amount of distance.

I now want to discuss these books with everyone, so if you've read them and have any insight then let me know. I haven't seen the movie yet, and I'm not sure I want to. Nicole Kidman? Really? I can't see it.

At any rate, on a similar note of getting too emotionally involved, I got TOO emotionally involved about an incident this weekend and spent Sunday moping around, needing The X-Files to cheer me up. Sadly, my DVDs are in Nova Scotia, so I had to make do with what I could scrape up on YouTube. I thought these little clips were raaaaather amusing (just fast forward through the trailer to get to the end.)





"Dark, gloomy forest!"
"yyyeah"

Oh those guys!
Love,
Gillian

Song of the Month for August

Well, well. This month has sucked, there's no way around it. There's just too much drama to post about, though, so I'm not going to ;)

One of the reasons it's been a bad month is because I've been seeing a few guys and they've all turned out to be ridiculous and bad news. I've also been listening to a lot of Nat King Cole lately, and though he's talented and well-intentioned, some of his songs just hit me in the gut with romance. "OOF," I say, and spiral into some sad romantic fantasy involving ballroom dancing and moonlight kisses. I mean, I'm not giving up yet. I still have one promising lead whose name I seriously want to write in swirly heart-shaped letters all over my notebook. But I'm using this particular Nat King Cole song as a sort of anthem for myself. It's terribly romantic, but in a solid, sensible kind of way. "When I fall in love it will be forever, or I'll never fall in love." I mean, that makes sense. Quit losing your head over losers, girl. Hold out for Prince Charming. Admittedly, it makes me want to cry whenever I hear it, but anthems are supposed to be emotional, right? So here's to August... thank God it's almost over ;)

When I Fall In Love - Nat King Cole



In other news, I think this is terribly cute:



I also love, love, love this song right now :)
"In THESE shoes? I don't think so..."



And finally, because it makes me laugh every time....



Lots of love!
Gillian

My New 'Do!

I got my hair cut quite short on Friday. It was pretty long before, and now it's between my chin and shoulders! I told some people I'd post a picture, but of course it figures that the only picture I like features my hair blowing around in the breeze. You can't really see the cut, buuuuut here ya go anyway :)

Gillian: Still Silly, Now With Short Hair!

Love,

Yours Truly

Oh My God...

I just about lost it at work watching this. So sweet and sad *sniffle*

Death Cab For Cutie - "I Will Follow You Into The Dark"



Love,
Gillian

Mmm, Educational!

Today I went to the Glenbow museum with my friend Matthew. This involved much hilarity, especially because I broke out my favourite old game "but not really." (eg: Your friend is eagerly telling you how cool Japanese swords are and you go "uh-huh.... but not REALLY", even though they are. They he defends himself, and you reply to every argument with a "yes *pause* but not REALLY." Yes, it's juvenile, but so much fun!!! "This looks just like Vegas... but not really." Okay, just trust me! Go play it!)

I haven't been to the Museum in years, although I have been intending to go for quite some time. What I didn't know is that they have been busy updating the Alberta History exhibit and have come up with some pretty fantastic local history. I was pleased to see that they'd even saved the old Telstar drug sign, and it now spins in all of its neon glory in the Museum! What fun! I actually learned a lot today about the Social Credit party and a number of philanthropic Calgarians. There's a neat new train exhibit (although it looks like it replaced that really creepy old train tunnel! I loved that thing!) But overall, it has been updated and really well done. Good job, Glenbow!

Yesterday I actually invested in a new Canon Powershot camera. I've been looking for a new small digital camera that I can carry around in my purse. My SLR is so heavy, and I miss a lot of good photos. I tested it out at the museum today and am really pleased with it :)

I stopped caring about minerals. Matthew was still excited... but not REALLY! :P

One of my favourite, favourite, FAVOURITE exhibits is the Asian Art exhibit. Sculpture blows my mind. They used to play really lovely, zen music in there, but no music today. A Buddha was out for repairs, though, so we thought perhaps it was him making the tunage (a la iPod docking station? No?)

This is my favourite Buddha. He always seems on the verge of opening his eyes and singing "Rubber Ducky" *** Nice camera, hey???

He is the ultimate in cool. Just chilling...

Really love sculpture. Really pleased with my camera.

So much fun :) Check it out if you have the chance.

Love,

Gillian

*** When Sculptures come alive and sing "Rubber Ducky":

Reviews and Updates!

Wow, blogger tells me that this is my 200th post! I talk a LOT!

I suppose a lot is new around here! I had a break-down the other day and spontaneously booked a week off work and bought a plane ticket to Nova Scotia for September. Even with the seat sales it's still a lot of money, but I just can't take it! I miss my darn parents!!! So I'm very excited about that. It feels better just knowing I'll see them soon.

Now for the reviews!

Calgary Folk Music Festival 2008

The Folk Fest this year was fantastic! Blue Rodeo was amazing live, they played so many great songs (including "Lost Together"!!!) Bedouin Soundclash was also fantastic, and played my faves ("Walls Come Down", "12:59 Lullaby.") Great Lake Swimmers did loads of workshops, so I got to see them about 4 times, and each time they played "Changing Colours." Tony Dekker is one fine looking young man, and one of my friends sent me a text message from across the field of tarps suggesting I use my Artists Lounge pass to "back on" him. Hahaha! I dunno what "back on" means, but I have a pretty good guess!!!

Of course, one of the best things about Folk Fest is falling in love with new bands! I am now a huge fan of The Weakerthans, Josh Ritter, Andrew Bird, The Duhks and others that I'm sure I'm forgetting right now. I spent a looooot of money, but music is so worth it :)

Here's a video to one of my FAVOURITE songs by The Weakerthans! Such delightful lyrics!!!

The Weakerthans - Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961)



The X-Files: I Want To Believe

Oh, I believe!!! I really enjoyed the movie! I think it helps that I went in with rather vague expectations, because it was rather more like a long episode of the X-Files than a movie, if that makes sense. They could have done a lot more, but I think they stayed true to the show, and the time lapse, really. I was just so happy to see Scully and Mulder again that I was grinning most of the time. They still ran off into dark buildings, still talked conspiracy, still walked the line between religion and science. I could have asked for a little more witty banter, and there was an upsetting scene with a dog, but aside from that I was pleased :)

Batman: The Dark Knight

Wow. This is one disturbing but fantastic movie. I was horrified but completely drawn in. Visually stunning, but creepy. I was gripping my popcorn the entire time thinking "this is MESSED UP!!!" Oddly enough, I was fine coming home alone after X-Files, but last night I totally left lights on in case The Joker showed up.

I was wondering if I'm just reacting badly to it because I've been really emotional lately, and because, of course, I kept remembering that Heath Ledger (who plays the Joker) died from an overdose after filming the movie, and because of the recent Greyhound bus incident. Maybe I was just taking it more seriously than I usually do with movies, but damn. Messed up. Have you seen it? What did you think?

I think that's it for now! Yay for lazy long weekends! (as I post, still in my pyjamas, sipping coffee at noon. Ahhhh!)

Love!
Gillian

Cute Song & Video

Hi all,

Folk Fest this year was AWESOME, but as I'm tired and sick, my post about it will have to wait.

For now, Folk music fans and hockey fans alike will enjoy this video. Lots of famous hockey players and announcers (I've been told) and even Jim Cuddy from Blue Rodeo! Enjoy :)

I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory - Kathleen Edwards



Folk Fest post coming soon :)
Gillian

Songs of the Month for July (yes, multiple!)

Oh my God, do you ever have those nights where you're like "My life is so off-track!" and you go into this mad, desolate crash? That's the kind of night I'm having. It's so not okay. So I went to YouTube for a little consolation.

There have been a TON of "theme songs" for me already this month, so I can't possibly narrow it down to one. Instead I'll divide it into two sections: New Favourites and Rediscovered Favourites. It's been an emotional month so far (don't pretend you haven't noticed), and these songs have all triggered me in different ways. Anyway, I hope you like them.

Rediscovered Favourites

Jolie Louise - Daniel Lanois

I was listening to "Sounds Like Canada" on CBC the other day at work and they re-played an old interview between Shelagh Rogers and Daniel Lanois. I remember "Jolie Louise" from my teenage years and the "Northern Exposure" soundtrack. Man I love this song and I'd forgotten all about it! So pleased to have found it again :)



Lost Together - Blue Rodeo

Rediscovered on a mixed CD I made ages ago that I was listening to in the car today. I'm SO excited to see Blue Rodeo at the Folk Fest this year, and this song is so beautiful, really. I listened to it on repeat as I drove home tonight, belting out the harmony (can't sing as low as Jim Cuddy) and wanting the kind of love they sing about. Oh Blue Rodeo, you destroy me, you really do.



"I want all the world to know that your love's all I need, all that I need."

Changing Colours - Great Lake Swimmers

Rediscovered today on a trip to Claresholm with Nathan & Sheila. The lyrics just hit me this time. Damn. Also VERY excited to see them at Folk Fest this year, though I may cry a little if they play this song.



New Favourites

Gravel Lines - Amy Seeley

A friend sent me this song, and it makes me feel all shivery. It is SUCH a beautiful song, and it makes me think of all sorts of strange, lovely and sad moments in my life. There's not really a "video" to this one, but heck, it doesn't need one.



If You Want Me - Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard - "Once" Soundtrack

An odd little movie, but an A-MA-ZING soundtrack. I can't get over this song!!! The Soundtrack! So good!!! Again, not really a "video", but you don't need one.



I hope you enjoyed my little "tour de musique" for July.

Love,
Gillian

Yikes, Y'all!

I know I haven 't posted in about a billion years, and I'm sorry. I'm really tired. All the time. I'd like to give you a better excuse, but I don't have one, soooo I'll make one up....

Sketchy business... angry kangaroo in the back yard... had to call in an Australian hostage negotiator who spoke "roo"... there was a ticker-tape parade... happy reunion, but then I had to clean the house. Yikes! Those Australians can PARTY!

Alright, I told you I was tired, it's your fault you didn't believe me. I'm so tired that only two things excite me right now, and I'm going to share them with you.

1. The new X-Files trailer. Honestly? I get so excited that I feel nauseous when I see this. I know that's really disturbing, but ohmygod. OH!MY!GOD!!! IT'S THE FREAKING X-FILES!!!!! ONE MORE WEEK, BAY-BEE!!!


2. The Calgary Folk Fest starts on the 24th. I'm SO EXCITED! It's going to be an awesome time :)

K I'll post more later, but for now? BED.
~g~

I Can't Contain Myself!

Me, worshipping at the Vitamin Water alter.

Last Friday, while elbowing my way through the Stampede Parade masses, I looked longingly toward a coffee shop and saw a beautiful vision hovering alluringly before my eyes! I didn't have much time to register what I saw, since there were 300,000 eager parade attendees jammed downtown, squirming like sardines. Had it been my mind playing tricks on me? Was it just a vivid, glorious dream? I waited impatiently through the weekend, and today at lunch I rushed out of my office and down three blocks to see if it was true. And it was:

Mojo Monk Coffee House sells Vitamin Water. ACTUAL, REAL, GENUINE, HIGH-MAINTENANCE-CALIFORNIA, FREAKIN', HONEST-TO-GOD-GLACEAU VITAMIN WATER. I'd like to say that I wasn't a complete sobbing grateful loser to the cashier as I took my delicacy to the till, but that would be a lie. I gushed. A lot.

Now I know what you're thinking. You're like "Gillian... it's water... you need to relax." And I admit that if you tried it, you'd probably like it, but wouldn't worship it. You might be inclined to buy stock in the company like Jennifer Anniston and 50-Cent, but you probably wouldn't blog about it. I admit that part of the allure for me is circumstantial, because it reminds me of California and Yoga School and happy times. It makes me remember realising that the electrolytes really DO help with muscle cramping, trips to Whole Foods, hummus wraps and a lot of hard, but rewarding work. Plus it's yummy! Plus it has 200% of your daily recommended Vitamin C (overkill? Can one OD on Vitamin C?) I'm happy about it, is all. I'd like to throw a Vitamin Water party. Thanks, Mojo Monk, for rocking my world today.

In other news, we had a weird storm today! The sky got all dark and ominous, so much that I asked a co-worker if it was the Apocalypse. He agreed that we were all going to die. In fact, we survived, but the weather network said that Doppler radar had detected spiraling cloud formations and that there was a possibility of funnel clouds! EEK! So obviously I kept my eyes open, but saw no witches on bicycles OR flying houses *sigh* We never have any fun.

And now, because I have no life, and I get bored and silly and consume a lot of sugar when left to my own devices... here is a picture of me upside-down!


Love,
Gillian

For What It's Worth: An Update

First of all, I have been soooooo obsessed with this song lately! I have listened to it about 4,000 times in the past week, I think.



Oddly, it seems that everyone and their dog has covered "Lamento Boliviano", but I like the Toke D Keda version best (because it's a bachata! Let's dance!) Really guys, tho, you need a new video.

Don't know the bachata? It's easy, just do this:



Not much is new, really. Stampede has started, in all of its glorified craziness. I've been extra sensitive and keep crying when I see dogs (I miss Belal!!!) and I'm really tired. Oh wait, is that new?

Mmmm, still not much to say. I have to clean the house. I'm starting to teach Yoga a bit in the evenings, which is fun. I still haven't named my Jeep. It's green. I'm thinking something Spanish (not Mojito, that's my iPod's name.) Thoughts? Suggestions?

Love,
Gillian

Spazzing - It's Contagious!

Yes, it's a spaz outbreak! One might even say it's a Spaz Pandemic! The people I know, the weather, it's all spazzing, and I'm still spazzing, which leads to sudden bursts of anger/tears/inappropriate laughter on my part. Gee Wiz. I'm shaking my head in disbelief at my craziness.

The rain this morning was being totally unreasonable and as a result my pants were wet until approximately 1pm and I was very angry at the world. I was so upset. I was never going to be warm and dry EVER!AGAIN! Life was terrible, transit was cruel, jobs that start at 8am were inhumane. Spaz Spaz Spaz. I'm really tired and not sleeping very well and being overwhelmed by work and life and being a decent person, even though I think everyone hates me. So I spaz about it and then go to bed at 8pm. yay me!

Luckily, luckily, I've been reading some really good books lately and am really enjoying the little escapes that they afford. I just finished "Girlfriend in a Coma" by Douglas Coupland. It was FANTASTIC! I really love his books because they're intelligent and wryly amusing and original. Although I've read several of his books, my two faves have got to be "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Eleanor Rigby" because they are just so freaking weird and captivating.

A few of my favourite quotes from "Girlfriend in a Coma" are:

Hamilton and I were the ones without goals. "Imagine you're a forty-year-old, Richard," Hamilton said to me around this time, while working as a salesman at a Radio Shack in Lynn Valley, "and suddenly somebody comes up to you saying, 'Hi, I'd like you to meet Kevin. Kevin is eighteen and will be making all of your career decisions for you.' I'd be flipped out. Wouldn't you? But that's what life is all about - some eighteen-year-old kid making your big decisions for you that stick for a lifetime." He shuddered.

Um, YEAH!!! I also like:

What's clarity like?
Try to remember that funny feeling inside your head when you had a math problem too difficult to solve: the faint buzzing noise in your ears, a heaviness on both sides of your skull, and the sensation that your brain is twitching inside your cranium like a fish on a beach. This is the opposite sensation of clarity. Yet for many people of my era, as they aged, this sensation became the dominant sensation of their lives. It was as though day-to-day twentieth-century living had become an unsolvable algebraic equation.

... I'm SO glad I'm not the only one who feels that way.

When I finished that I picked up "Hocus" by Jan Burke. Jan Burke is a fantastic mystery writer and I haven't been able to put this one down. Her books are incredibly intense, but fantastic.

The good news about both of these writers is that they have TONS of books. I always get so excited when I come across a fantastic writer with loads of great books to read. It's just like Christmas :)

Alright, bed time for me! (I made it till 8:39 tonight! Yay me!)
Gillian


P.S. Cool video.. er... cold video? Brrrrr.

Song of the Month for June

Alright, I've been a total spaz lately, and this weekend seems to have been my Spaz Peak. I have been a COMPLETE spaz all weekend and have frankly done a series of stupid and embarrassing things. Amazingly, I've kept the damage to a minimum. Let's hope it stays that way and that the spazzing starts to ebb now.

I know I've been a bit awol with my emails and posting lately but I don't really feel like talking. I've been really homesick and have sort of come to realise that I'm not homesick for a place that exists, but some imaginary place in my heart. Does this make sense? I'm sick for a home where I'm surrounded by my own stuff... clothes to pots and pans. A place that feels comfortable, with ALL of my friends and family within close proximity. A place by the ocean but still with decent shopping ;) I know it's going to take some time to get close to a place like this, but maybe as long as I know that I'm working toward it then I can be a little cheerier. Still, JEEEZ! Mum and Dad... seriously... Nova Scotia?!

The Song of the Month for June is "The World Spins Madly On" by The Weepies because it's just got me pegged right now. Unfortunately The Weepies don't have a video, but there are a whole bunch of mediocre fan videos out there so I'll post two.


I quite like this one, but they cut the song short! WHY?!


This one's okay too.

I planted up five window box planter thingies today, so we'll see if they survive. This was my first serious attempt at gardening! Right now they look all scrawny and unhappy about being planted, but I'll take a picture when (if) they start to look more cheerful.

Love,
Gillian

I Could Have Danced All Night!

"Bed? bed? I couldn't go to bed! My head's too light to try to set it down!"

Okay, tonight? Totally made up for last night. It was spectacularly, awesomely spectacular. Well, the first part. Part two was just stupid, but luckily I was still euphoric from the first part so it wasn't that bad. Did you know it's 2:30 am and I have to get up in 4 hours? and here I am blogging? It's the euphoria!

So, tonight. I got all dolled up to go dancing and was kinda nervous cause my friend Kim wasn't coming, so I was like "ugh, am I going to be a wallflower tonight?" I got there and didn't recognize anyone in the hall, so I went to sit at the front with the people I DID know who were selling tickets. Then everyone I know started coming, and they were TOTALLY excited to see me! Next thing I knew I had boys flirting with me from every angle, and was booking dance partners 3 songs ahead... "Okay, first I have to dance with Ian, then Mike, then the striped shirt guy, and then I'll come find you!" I'm not going to lie, it was awesome and I loved every second of it. I'm not a great dancer, but the compliments were flying at me and I was lapping it up. I was booked solid with excellent dancers, and when I took breaks to get some water there was always a complimentary young man at my side to converse with. I don't know how many times I was told that I was "the prettiest girl in the room." It was glowy and fantastic and I was sorry to leave.

But leave I did, and I got in my car and realised that this was the point where I should have known where my headlight switch was. Oops. It was dark, so I started flipping random switches and dialing random dials and miraculously the light inside the car went on and I thought "OH! That helps!" until I couldn't turn it off, and I still hadn't found the headlights. 15 minutes passed and then I got angry and went BACK to the dance and grabbed one of said complimentary young men. He obliged to help, and we fought with it for another 20 minutes. Just as AMA was telling me it would be a 90 minute wait, the young man figured out the lights! LOVE THE YOUNG MAN!

On the road again, and I totally missed my exit. But that was okay until I took the second and third wrong exits and ended up driving very quickly in the wrong direction on Sarcee Trail, saying "ACK!!!" I turned around at some point and arrived home without incident at 1:45 am after leaving the dance at midnight. This is why one shouldn't drive under the influence of euphoria. One screws up the car lights and takes wrong turns and arrives home two hours later.

But the good news is that I don't care, because that was the BEST!DANCE!EVER!!!

Heehee. Night!
Gillian

Let's Have a Laugh, Shall We?

You know how a little while ago I made a vow that I'd never spend a Friday night alone again? Guess what I'm doing. This time is actually not my fault, cuz I had plans and then Mr. Fabulous decided that I wasn't datable. So he bailed on me. But THAT, my friends, is not a story I can share on my blog. You don't need to know that much about me or about the shameful state of Men These Days. But I'm going to go dancing tomorrow night, so forget him. Boys? You suck. Calgary? You suck too.

People keep asking how my new job is and I don't really know so I've been avoiding answering. It's, well, weird. It's fine. The office and people are fine and casual and I can sit and listen to my iPod and learn cool tricks and play in AutoCAD all day and everyone ignores me, which is great, except of course I worry that I suck cuz I make really dumb mistakes and I FEEL that I should be perfect at everything immediately. This is stupid because I've NEVER been perfect at anything immediately, and yet I persist with this impossible standard. I also worry about the people ignoring me and think they're judging me. I'm sure they're just busy but, again, I want people to like me immediately and people just aren't like that. So it's fine, I think. We'll see.

SO between boys and work I've really been appreciating that Josh & Susan introduced me to "What's My Line?" I spend my free time cuddled up with my computer and laughing. What did I do before YouTube?? I get such delight out of discovering that my favourite actors and comedians were mystery guests, I have a crush on Steve Allen and I LOVE the fabulous evening dresses and costume jewelry. So go mix yourself a cocktail and let's have an evening in. Here's is a line up of some of my favourites so far:

Jack Benny


Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz
(during the world series, so some of their questions don't make much sense till you figure that out.)


Lauren Bacall (LOVE this! John Daly has a little crush on Ms Bacall, I think.)


Doris Day (she's so cute! Heehee)


Gene Kelly ("Have you ever lost your address book in a helicopter over the Greek Islands?" HA HA HA!)


Enjoy ;)
Gillian