Sweetness

A misty day means that my hair was bound to frizz. Still the warmth in the November air and the grayness was romantic.

Driving home I saw a captivating sight of an open umbrella positioned in a second floor window. It felt like there was some kind of hidden meaning in the view being that it was raining outside but the umbrella was open on the inside. I wish I could have stopped my car to take a picture of it.

I got to spend time with a good friend that I don't get to see nearly enough. She took me out for sushi and we were given complimentary deep fried bananas. Yum.

Then we caught a private showcase of the "Bubbly" Colbie Caillat.

It was a wonderful day.

On the Hunt, I'm After You

What Motherbumper wants, Motherbumper gets! She's asked me to share who I was crushing on during all those super fun years of puberty.

My mother was head over heals infatuated with Elvis Presley. When I was four I would listen to her Elvis collection of vinyl records over and over. I'd be belting out:

"One night with you
Is what I'm now praying for…"

We were in the car driving home from my Aunt's when we heard on the radio that Elvis had died. I was six years old at the time and I didn't really know what it meant but I felt the sadness hanging overhead.

Elvis in his glory days set the tone for all my future crushes. I had an appetite for sexy, pretty boys preferably with dark hair.

My ten year old self hung a picture of this heartthrob on my bedroom door.

Once again my object of affection dominated my turn table.

A year later I was obsessing over five fabulous Brits. Ok, I was a Duranie. It's sad but true. I had a passion for Simon Le Bon that burned brighter than seven suns.


I was a small town girl that pined over my crush because the selection of boys in the neighbourhood could not hold my interest. Of course Simon did not search the world for me and I was left devastated before I even turned fifteen when he married supermodel Yasmin Parvaneh. Simon, how could you?

Shortly after that, my best friend and I decided that we were too mature for crushes on celebrities. One weekend we painstakingly removed the Duran Duran wallpaper that covered every inch of our bedroom walls and put it into photo albums like the true groupies fans that we were. My parents probably let out a huge sigh of relief.

Still there's something about pretty boys that can shake it and sing those suggestive words that gets me all worked up.

It makes me feel like a dirty old woman. Duran Duran is still greasing their wheels and have recently worked with Justin Timberlake. Even though my musical tastes have matured, that is marketing aimed directly at me because I'm still a fourteen year old girl at heart.

Serving Up Songs Estrogen Style

I am back from Austin, Texas! It has taken me a while to get back into the swing of things because on Saturday night I returned to my hotel at one A.M., packed my luggage and then tried to get a few hours of sleep. However my room was next to the hotel's pool where an all night party was going on. At six A.M. my wake up call reminded me that I had to get to the airport. I needed a couple days to recoup especially being that Buttercup has been extra clingy since I have returned.

It seems that while I was away everyone has been sharing their favourite seven songs. Colin couldn't wait for me to create my own list. He has his posted below. Thanks to the most awesome Motherbumper and the babelicious Mrs. Chicky for tagging me.

The SXSW Seven Song Edition:

Alloway Grove - Paolo Nutini - I've been listening to this album a lot. I have a weakness for boys with accents.

Black Shoes - The Films - This is a band to watch out for! They are awesome.

Yoo Hoo - Imperial Teen - The drummer had to be about seven months pregnant. It was a real fun show.

Rehab - Amy Winehouse - She played to a packed house at Eternal. I was dying of hunger but I didn't want to leave. If only I could always live on music.

The Bucket - Kings of Leon - The really friendly guy from Oklahoma that was standing next to me was so excited that he announced "I'm going to come in my pants." Dude can you take a step over to your right please.

Amphibious - Children Collide - More scruffy boys with accents.

Hang Me Up To Dry - Cold War Kids - They are one of the bands that I was hoping to see but missed out on. Maybe I'll get that chance when they come to Toronto.

See my photo set here.

Plus I am also including a bonus seven that I can't stop listening to:

I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You) - John Mayer
Gangster Trippin' - Fatboy Slim
Aurora - Foo Fighters
Heartbeat - Tahiti 80
Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam
Heaven or Las Vegas - Cocteau Twins
Blankest Year - Nada Surf (But I don't recommend that you listen to this catchy song around children. Strawberry sang the chorus at the grocery store much to my dismay.)

There are so many songs to fill you up with emotions. It is the almighty raw, powerful language of music. The message changes whether you are listening to a recording on its own or with video. I believe that images can sometimes limit the song. I think it forces our creativity to be placed in a box that doesn't let the lyrics take on our own significance. Yet watching an artist perform their material live can breath new magic into a song. That comes with every expression the artist places into their work and feeding off the crowd's excitement.

I am going to have to hunt down more of these lists. I love finding out everybody's favourites!

Seven Songs Meme (New and improved with links)

As Seen on nomotherearth. Who knows… maybe Jana got tagged in the meme but she isn’t here to check her email. She is on the plane home though. She might be into doing her own Seven Song list once she’s home and settled. I’m sure it would be quite different than mine would be.

Seven Songs that I’m into no matter what they are. (in no particular order)

Go with the Flow – Queens of the Stone Age. This is such a driving song that I will never tire of it. The riffs. The background piano. The wall of sound. It could also be that Dave Grohl (aka the Most Powerful Drummer in the Universe) plays drums on the Queens third album – Songs For The Deaf. The video for this song is brilliant. Stripped down to three base colours. Red. Black. White. The band speeds on to a head on collision in the back of a pick-up truck.

Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away) – Deftones. A song that was actually inspired by Depeche Mode’s – Behind The Wheel. Chino and the boys hammer out a rhythm that only gets better as the song ends. The last 30 seconds kill me. I’m a sucker for a heavy groove.

Train In Vain – The Clash. When Garbage sampled the opening riff on Stupid Girl it used to be the biggest tease for me. You would hear CFNY play it and I’d think they were going to break from their repetitive version of the Top 40 and play something real. London Calling was a break through album and The Clash was at the top of their game. (Stupid Girl was a good song too)

Texas Never Whispers – Pavement. I rediscovered the Watery, Domestic EP when I was obsessing over the iPod. You can’t get anymore Lo-Fi than Pavement. They stripped down their recordings to the bare essentials and it worked perfectly for them. I remember buying Jana Pavements first CD. The Watery, Domestic EP was a good disc to tie you over until Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was released. And Jana is in Texas… So go figure.

Dig For Fire – Pixies. The one Pixies CD I never really got into was Bossanova. Velouria was a bit of a hit but I never ventured beyond that one song. It was long after on the Death To The Pixies compilation that I found this song I would keep hitting repeat over and over. The Pixies always have that wall of sound I’m such a fan of. It was such a contrast between the four members and twisted song structures. I don’t know how they ever pulled it together to sound so good.

On A Rope – Rocket From The Crypt. I got my first Rocket From The Crypt CD from one of the Bad Vibe DJ’s who worked at The Cave. He had an extra copy and gave it to me. I had no idea who they were or what they sounded like. They are a high-energy band that simply runs you over. With a horn section and driving guitars it’s hard to compare them to any other band I know.

Waiting Room – Fugazi. If I could put every song by Fugazi here I would. They are one of the biggest influence bands out there but few people have heard of them. They are well known for their five-dollar shows, ten-dollar CD’s, resistance to mainstream commercialism and DIY attitude. If you are into a little punk attitude with a political message. I highly recommend these guys. They kick-started the emocore sub-genre that would rise to prominence ten years later.

I could go on with other bands like …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Quicksand, Supersuckers, At The Drive-In and Fu Manchu to name a few but these are the Seven that popped into my head first.

You suffer from OCD when…

I’ve been meaning to write about my latest obsession for a while now but the only problem is… the obsession kept getting in the way.

-

I got a 80GB iPod video for Christmas. This is our first mp3 player. We already had a large collection of music. I am a huge fan. I still can't see enough concerts and Jana's been working in the biz for 15 years. Add those two together over time and you end up with more than you could imagine.

-

I do admit. I have been downloading a little from the Bit Torrents and a few other sites. Something Jana hasn’t always approved of, it is her job after all. Now with a new toy and a mass storage device at that. I needed to start digging out the boxes of CD’s in the basement. I started off by grabbing a few handfuls of CD’s at a time. Soon that became too slow. I would then grab a box of 50 discs and pick and choose from there. Unfortunately with such a large collection it wasn’t organized very well. Especially my CD’s, from years of grabbing a few for the car and filling those portable CD travel cases. Many weren’t in their case and when I absolutely HAD to rip that one disc… I couldn’t find it. So I would do the equivalent of dumpster diving trying to find that one elusive disc. Occasionally it was a useless attempt but I would always find a few more that were worth grabbing.

-

I would keenly watch the stats on the bottom of my iTunes. Number of songs listed. The number of days of continuous play. How many Gigabytes of music that were quickly adding up. I have a 300GB external hard drive, the poor outdated P3 desktop I was using only came with 20GB. All the pictures of the girls had nearly maxed it out long ago. First I started ripping at 128kbps. This was partially through inexperience and not messing around with the iTunes program enough. 128kbps is not going to cut it. This was going to be our personal digital music library. Soon I was redoing every disk that I had originally started off with. Thankfully that was only about a third of a way through. I redid them all at 320kbps. Sure it was overkill. I didn’t have to go full CD quality but I had more than enough room on the hard drive and this is all going to be perfect right? Right?!?

-

I then discovered how many CD’s we were missing. The whole Manchester scene. Jana’s Cure collection. My older metal discs and a number of movie soundtracks from the 90’s. I started a list of all the ones I could think of that I couldn’t find. For weeks the search went on between daily events. Jana was convinced that I just lost it and that they were somewhere I haven’t looked yet. I started thinking that they might have been stolen or some other freak mishap. These were CD’s I haven’t seen since before we bought our house. Did we lose them while moving? Thankfully they were in a closet I never would have thought of looking for them. (who the hell put them there? oh… me) My ripping obsession could continue.

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During all of this I was also putting together playlists. All those years of making mixed tapes were just a warm up for this. TDK and Maxell could bite my ass because now I’m not limited to 45 minutes a side. 90’s tunes. Cover songs. Chix rox! The Bad Vibe DJ Pool. (all the music the DJ’s at The Boom Boom Room, The Dance Cave, Catch 22 and The Bovine introduced me to) and of course Jana started her own Dance Party Mix! I don’t expect putting together playlists will ever grow old.

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My next obstacle came when I ran out of room on the iPod. I did start off with a number of pictures on it. Soon I took those off to free up valuable space. I had to cram as much music on it as I could. It says it holds 80GB. In truth it’s a little over 74 GB. Who would think it would take 6GB to run the damn thing. I managed to have less than 2GB of free space on it. This took some serious tweaking. The external hard drive started pushing 90… 100… 120GB of music. All those CD’s now needed to be weeded down. Key songs selected. One hit wonders evaluated. This is where I am presently at. I still find the odd CD to rip, but for now I am just adding to the hard drive.

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So as of 7AM this morning the iPod flew off to SXSW. Jana took it to pass the time on the flight and between shows. Late last night I was making last minute changes to include more of her Singer/Songwriter type of music. When she comes back I’ll have to geek out with it more. Who knows… one day I might even listen to it.

The Party Starts

...in the "Stadium Parking Lot." Crabbykate wins! Buttercup was listening to Apollo 440. This song is also on Wes Craven's "Cursed" Soundtrack.

So while this is not of the children genre, she apparently doesn't mind. Note Exhibit A:

Of course my children are also well versed in nursery rhymes. We have nonstop "Row Row Row Your Boat" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" singing marathons.

Colin and I also decided that we had to have this vintage toy. We placed crazy bids on eBay trying to purchase a windup Fisher Price Music Box Record Player. We finally walked away victorious in one of the bidding wars. Soon after, the coveted item arrived! It brought me right back to my own childhood.

Suckas! Oh yes, I know we are Gen X suckers paying an exorbitant amount of money out bidding other nostalgic fools. If only my parents saved more of these cherished toys for their grandchildren. Toys that don't require batteries!

I don't mind watching the girls fight over it.

The Music Lives On

I am a huge music fan and nothing gets to me more than when we lose a talented artist before they had a chance to express themselves completely. I know this is just a short list and that my personal tastes do not reflect everyone else’s but hell… this is my wife’s blog and this is the music that I have been most influenced by. 1. Jimi Hendrix, 27 - He was only discovered back here in North America after being lured to the UK to develop his sound. In four short years and three studio albums he changed the way the world would view the guitar through his experimentation and wild performances. It has been suspected that Jimi was going to explore Jazz or the Blues but it was all cut short by drug use. D- 1970 2. Janis Joplin, 27 - She is arguably the greatest female rock singer of the 1960's. It’s possible that she did as much for women in the ‘60s as she did for music. After a brief solo career she died from heroin use before her greatest work was ever released. D-1970 3. Marc Bolan, 30 - (T.Rex) The ‘70s glam rocker was killed in his girlfriend’s car when she hit a tree on a country road. She had to flee England for fear of her life as his fans stripped their flat for souvenirs. His songs have been covered countless times. D- 1977 4. Keith Moon, 31 - (The Who) Known for his crazy antics and frenzied drumming, he was the driving force behind The Who. Keith represented the youthful, zany side of rock & roll, as well as its self-destructive side, better than anyone else on the planet. I can’t think of anyone else who could have possibly run himself over with his own car. (and live!) Yet it was this excessiveness that would lead to his drug/alcohol induced death. D- 1978 5. John Bonham, 33 - (Led Zeppelin) It is possible that John is the most sampled and one of the most influential drummers in Rock history. It’s rumored that he downed three dozen vodka shots before dying in his sleep a couple of hours later. Jimmy, Robert and John Paul called it quits soon after knowing that they could never replace his talent. D-1980 6. John Lennon, 40 - (The Beatles) He was senselessly gunned down by MDC outside his New York apartment. Questions were raised if this was a political assassination. The three shots were a “tight group shot” as MDC dropped to one knee and fired. Lennon was one of the few who could rally together a significant number of people against Reagan. The CIA still has “Classified” files on him. His music will forever stand the test of time. D-1980 7. Hillel Slovak, 26 - (Red Hot Chili Peppers) The funk inspired musician was the original guitarist for the band before they broke wide open with Mother’s Milk. He was a high energy performer and painter. One of the original Socks on Cocks! The band was famous for being naked on stage. Hillel died of a heroin overdose. His death was part of the reason Jack Irons (drums) left the band. “My Lovely Man” on Blood Sugar Sex Magic was written as a tribute. D- 1988 8. Andrew Wood, 24 - (Mother Love Bone) A flamboyant and charismatic singer, he teamed up with former members of Green River. (Guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament) The band would go on to play an important part in the music scene that would spawn the Grunge sound. He was a known heroin addict. Towards the end he was in and out of rehab. He was found after taking a lethal dose and died days later. Mother Love Bone broke up soon after but key elements of the band would later resurface as Pearl Jam. D- 1990 9. Kurt Cobain, 27 - (Nirvana) Everyone is well aware of the apparent suicide that rocked the music world back in the 90’s. What everyone might not know was the demise of Nirvana or the impending divorce from Courtney Love. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" climbed the American Top Ten and Nevermind bumped Michael Jackson off the top of the album charts. The first Guitar oriented band to break Number One in years. His sound would inspire countless acts to follow. His legacy stands as one of the most influential in Rock & Roll history. D- 1994 10. Shannon Hoon, 28 - (Blind Melon) The band was often overseen by the little Dancing Bee Girl in their "No Rain" video. His death would be overshadowed by Kurt Cobain’s death the year before. After only two studio albums the band dissolved after Shannon was found dead on their tour bus from a heroin overdose. It truly appeared as though he had plenty of great music still to create and explore. D- 1995 11. Mark Sandman, 47 - (Morphine) He is a man who died doing what he loved. While performing on stage he collapsed due to a heart attack. Mark played a detuned, two string, home made bass. The band specialized in their own version of stripped-down jazz-lounge rock. D- 1999 12. Layne Staley, 35 - (Alice In Chains) The harmonies between Layne and Jerry Cantrell made the band the huge influence it was. They twisted their sound to fit the trend of the 90’s with great success. Its ironic that Layne would write the hit "Would?" as a way to honor Andrew Wood only to be found dead in his own apartment from a drug overdose years later. D- 2002 13. Elliott Smith, 34 - I champion Elliott’s talents simply on the one fact that he gave Celine Dion a run for her money at the Oscars in 1998. His song "Miss Misery" (Good Will Hunting) was nominated in the Best Original Song category. He didn’t win but I'm sure Celine was wearing her Depends on stage while all the nominees performed their songs. He was a gifted songwriter exploring his own twist of folk/punk. He died alone with a knife in his hand. D- 2003 Links to other Thursday Thirteens:

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Do You Hear What I Hear?

Metro Mama asked for my five favourite Christmas songs. I decided to share five times that because I want to demonstrate just how much holiday cheer I have uncovered.

Sleigh Ride
Christmas Time
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Silent Night
Oh Holy Night
Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire
Silver Bells
Winter Wonderland
The First Noel
Away in a Manger
White Christmas
Blue Christmas
The Christmas Song
Rockin Around The Christmas Tree
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Frosty The Snowman
Jingle Bells
Jingle Bell Rock
Santa Baby
Merry Christmas, Baby
Holly Jolly Christmas
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Now I just need to cheer up these sad little elves. I'm hoping Santa leaves them something that makes them smile because I don't want to have to spike their sippy cups.

I hope the day is filled with happiness for you and yours!

For your viewing pleasure

Shhhhh.... I'm sleeping.

Surprise Guest Post

Today Buttercup walked five steps. At Daycare. I am wallowing in self pity because I did not witness her first steps. There was no repeat performance no matter how much I pleaded and cheered this evening.

This is where my post would have ended but I found a surprise e-mail. Even though he's had a starring role featured here as my husband, after meeting the mommy bloggers, maybe he's been inspired to take it up a notch. Plus why didn't I think of it earlier? It is pure genius to include guest writers in November! This is the first entry by niloc, my backwards husband.

So Jana started this crazy NoBlowSomething post a day for the month of November and I understand what a challenge it can be to write consistently for a whole month. She has asked me for help but I know she meant around the house or with the girls. I don’t think she would expect to find this in her email or if she would even use it in a pinch or not. (I totally expect to be edited in some way or other.) I don’t know the rules for the post a day thing. A post is a post. It doesn’t really matter who writes it.

Today I was feeling the dent that I put into that vodka bottle last night. Waking up with the baby on the couch was a bit of a surprise this morning. The rest of the day was muddy and it took us forever to get the ball rolling just to get out of the house to get groceries. The girls were also cranky and tired to top it all off. It would have been a great night to veg out and curse the beginning of another work week… but I had a concert to go to.

…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (yes, that’s the real name of the band) are from Austin, Texas and are one of those bands that won’t ever have a Top 40 hit. They fit into the college radio, emo/alt rock/punk sound that I love. I try to catch them every time they come to town. Their shows always sell out so I was happy to get my tickets early from Rotate This. I called my brother up to make plans for when and where to meet before the show and he tells me he’s tired and didn’t feel like going. He's younger, with no kids, what kind of excuse is that? The ticket was paid for so no big deal. It was only 20 bucks. I’ve sold tickets at the door before. It was just a bit of a pain in the ass that he copped out on me. I got to the Phoenix early enough to try and sell it but gave up after twenty minutes or so. More kids were coming out of the bar than there were going in. I hate wasting a ticket. I would have given it away to a fan if I had the chance. When I did go in the doorman overly scrutinized my ID. Next year I am going to be twice the legal drinking age and I’m being sized up by some dummy no-neck bouncer. Instead of being annoyed, I guess I should act like a chick and take it as a compliment.

Anyways… the point of all of this is that the Trail of Dead has a song called "Will You Smile Again?" that reminds me of a good friend. The creative energy whether you are an author or a musician is the same but louder. The lyrics explain the need to express yourself. This is something that every writer must relate to.

"...the paper's your soul and your blood's in the pen
And maybe then you'd see the light
And read the truth that you had to write."

Top 100 Albums - 100 - 81

I used to look forward to Tuesdays. That was back when I was doing time in retail. On Tuesdays, we were allowed to cut open stacks of fifty count boxes of compact discs and decorate the new release wall with the beautiful artwork. I loved categorizing the CDs by musical style and giving prime location spots to my favorite artists. I used my power to bring down Michael Bolton. Bwa ha hah...

When I started my very first part time gig in the local record store in 1987, we were still selling records, as well as cassettes and way overpriced CDs. I will never forgive my cruel boss for awarding my first teenage hangover by assigning me the task of alphabetizing the 45's.

Of course I was a vinyl snob and it was hard to let go of collecting albums, not only for the artwork but the smell. However the sound quality of the compact disc was better not to mention that it was getting hard to find replacement needles for my record player. I think working in the industry can make us slow to accepting new technology.

After I left music retail, I stayed on top of the scene by doing plenty of online research and devouring every trade magazine. I spent a huge chunk of my entertainment budget on new CDs. I was never the kind of gal to go out of my way to ask for free CDs but I still managed to get a whole whack of them.

I distinctly recall the words of a coworker who had lost touch with the music scene being that she spent most of her time doing administration. She swore that we all get stuck in a musical rut. Her theory was that the music that a person loves at the time when they come of age is what will remain dearest in their heart. A little voice screamed No way! Not for me. I refused to accept this. I always pictured myself as having my finger on the pulse.

I started compiling my list of Top Albums and it began to sound like a soundtrack to my Kitten years. For the most part, my coworker was right. Damn.

100. God Fodder - Ned's Atomic Dustbin (Columbia) 1991
With their anthem "Kill Your Television," this British artist released a solid power electronic rock album. Stylistically they were a heavier version of Pop Will Eat Itself.

99. Subliminal Plastic Motives - Self (Volcano) 1995
Singer/songwriter Matt Mahaffey mixes many elements to provide an inspiring debut album. Alternative pop-rock, hip hop and samples are spread throughout.

98. Madonna - Madonna (Sire) 1983
Every single song is imprinted into my pre-teen brain. "Lucky Star," "Borderline," "Holiday" and "Burning Up" make me want sing loudly while I show off my choreographed basic jazz dance moves.

97. Morning View - Incubus (Sony) 2001
This album was more mainstream than my other favourite Incubus album Make Yourself. The sexy smooth voice of Brandon Boyd makes the melodic, alternative metal soothe the soul.

96. Good - Morphine (Rykodisc) 1992
The bluesy alternative indie rock artist's debut album was more than good. I love the groove in their sultry sounds. Their sophomore album Cure For Pain was also one of my favourites. It is tragic that the bassist/vocalist Mark Sandman collapsed on-stage during a performance, dying of a heart attack at the age of forty-seven.

95. The Real Ramona - Throwing Muses (4AD) 1991
Kristin Hersh and her half-sister Tanya Donelly were cutting edge with their swirling guitars and pop sensibilities. "Counting Backwards" and "Not Too Soon" are songwriting gems.

94. Box Set - Wool (London) 1994
Brothers Peter and Franz Stahl released this highly underrated melodic punk album. They put on a fantastic live show too.





93. Jaundice - Lucy's Fur Coat (Relativity) 1994
A fairly unknown grunge artist from San Diego. I bought the CD for Colin because the artwork caught my eye and it ended up being a staple in our music library.


92. Let It Die - Feist (Arts & Crafts) 2004
Leslie Feist injects some Canadian content into my list. Of course she had to go off to France to record this romantic, indie album in order to become the songwriting darling of the Canadian industry. Her cover of The Bee Gee's "Inside and Out" is sweet perfection.


91. Going Blank Again - Ride (Sire) 1992
I adored the single of "Leave Them All Behind." This upbeat shoegazing album contained sugary layered harmonies that made it stand out from the pack.



90. Heartbeat City - The Cars (Elektra) 1984
My best friend went to England in the summer of '84 where she dragged her parents to John Taylor's house. At least she left me with her copy of this album while I anxiously awaited her return.

89. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic - The Sundays (DGC) 1990
With her dream like vocals Harriet Wheeler made the melodic pop hit "Here's Where the Story Ends" an instant classic. The rest of the album is as smooth as butter.



88. 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... - Arrested Development (Chrysalis) 1992
This album brings me back to living in an apartment above a store on Queen Street West. My roommate and I would put on this groove laden hip hop album while we'd get ready for a night out.

87. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (Silvertone) 1989
Merging dance and pop, their catchy artistic songs seemed ahead of their time. "Fool's Gold" will always be one of my favourite songs.



86. Fashion Nugget - Cake (Capricorn) 1996
Lyrically fun, this funky alternative rock album includes their break out hit "The Distance" and their cover of "I Will Survive."




85. A View from 3rd Street - Jude Cole (Reprise) 1990
Filled with wonderful songwriting, this mainstream pop album was made even sweeter when a boy that I had a hardcore crush on claimed it to be a favourite of his as well.


84. The House of Love - The House of Love (Fontana) 1990
Here is more British swirling, masterful, melodic pop including their hit "I Don't Know Why I Love You."




83. We Care - Whale (Virgin) 1995
There were many nights spent in dance clubs tearing it up to "Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe." This sexy dance music had seething guitars that made it cool.



82. Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 - George Michael (Columbia) 1990
These soulful songs are the ultimate listening material for lounging with a hot cup of tea on a rainy day. I've been waiting for George to release Vol 2. It seems like such an obvious adult direction for him to take and yet I'm still waiting.

81. Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder (Motown) 1976
This double album is timeless. At our wedding we wanted to close the night with "Knocks Me Off My Feet" but our DJ didn't follow direction very well. At that point I didn't mind that he was sneaking in another song because I didn't want the perfect night to end.

Baby's Got The Blues

What happens when you have too many thoughts that are trying to make the leap from brain to blog? Swirling, swirling... The deep introspective ideas drown because the fluff always rises to the top.

This past weekend we discovered that baby's got the blues. We went to an Art Street Festival and it was there that we found out that Buttercup has a love of the blues. She was grooving along, enjoying the sounds of the live musicians. With great amusement we took her over to listen to the jazz trio but they did nothing for her. I love that she shares our passion in music. I take it as my mission to expose both my children to all types of music and to share with them what I love. I hope that I will continue to grow musically through them.

I was going to write a recap of the Virgin Festival, Toronto Island, Day Two from Strawberry's point of view. Walking in her tiny shoes gave me blisters so instead I thought I'd share a couple of my own personal observations.

Today's jeans are NOT meant for concert goers.

Sorry to this blurry poor soul who is now a fashion warning for all others. Leave the plumber butt action to your fantasy world under the kitchen sink. To her credit she realized her faux pas and moved her bag to block this view but it was too late. The photo was captured and posted. The damage is done. I beg off the bad karma for such an evil act on my part. Think of all the future people that I'm saving.

If you want special treatment and lots of attention bring small children with you to an all day rock concert. The strict security personnel guarding their roped off sections allowed us a quick detour through with the stroller.

We basked in the endless comments and onlookers pointing towards us because we carried the most desired celebrity fashion accessory of the season. Both men and women's eyes lit up when they spotted our girls. I overheard "Look a whole family!" and "I want to be like that, bringing my kids to concerts."

Of course there were a few of the judgy judgers casting their spears of hatred towards the cruel parents that would subject their children to the loud concert. The nerve of us! Really, how selfish. Don't they know that I rented these kids to get all that attention from those young rock Gods in line for the beer tent? In my mind I shouted out "Hey Single Gals: Hot Catch Over Here! Check out the future hot dads that are not afraid to admire my offspring!"

We were blessed with some rock star wisdom. Julian Casablancas of The Strokes announced that he finally "gets Canada" and he also thinks that we have a good future. They played a good set but the highlight was the Raconteurs. They kicked it out of the park! It was so much of a good thing that unfortunately we had to high-tail it for the ferry because Buttercup's senses were becoming over stimulated. We almost recognized the signs in time to avoid the baby melt down. Almost.

With the necessary precautions like ear plugs that are cut in half to fit into your toddler's ears, these types of events can be fun for the whole family. We only saw four other people with small children in the estimated thirty thousand crowd. I can't help but wonder if today's parent considers doing more unconventional outings or if we still limit and restrict ourselves to the family labeled events.

Time is a funny thing

In 1986, I... was 15, living in Saskatchewan. I sat on the floor in my bedroom, listening to Casey Kasem's Countdown on the radio and wrote bad poetry. I spent endless hours talking on my very own dusty rose telephone to my amazing girlfriends about crushes that I had on boys that were unattainable. A few of the hit songs that filled the airwaves were "Kiss" - Prince and the Revolution, "Walk Like An Egyptian" - The Bangles, "Papa Don't Preach" - Madonna, "Real Wild Child (Wild One)" - Iggy Pop , "Take My Breath Away" - Berlin, "West End Girls" - Pet Shop Boys...

In 1996, I... was living on my own in Toronto in a basement apartment. I had my dream job and a serious boyfriend of three years. We saw concert after concert and our social lives were in high gear. Some of the CD's that I was listening to were: Odelay - Beck, Razorblade Suitcase - Bush, First Band on the Moon - The Cardigans, Better Living Through Chemistry - Fatboy Slim, Fountains of Wayne - Fountains of Wayne, As Good as Dead - Local H, Fever In Fever Out - Lucious Jackson, Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt, One Hot Minute - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Evil Empire - Rage Against the Machine, Becoming X - Sneaker Pimps, Irresistible Bliss - Soul Coughing, Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop - Stone Temple Pilots, Pinkerton - Weezer...

In 2001, I... bought a house with my boyfriend of eight years. That summer we got engaged. We still spent a lot of time going out with friends but noticed that more planning was involved. I had been promoted several times and was enjoying the perks of travel and an expense account. The following albums were brand spanking new: Discovery - Daft Punk, Warning: - Green Day, Gorillaz - Gorillaz, Morning View - Incubus, Bleed American - Jimmy Eat World, Rock Steady - No Doubt, Amnesiac - Radiohead, Is This It - The Strokes...

In 2003, I... had my first daughter. We took many ONE Dollar flights on Jetsgo to visit my relatives in the Prairies. I personally may have caused this airline to go bankrupt.

The baby jumped in her jolly jumper to the sounds of: Elephunk -Black Eyed Peas, Life For Rent -Dido, Get Born - Jet, On and On - Jack Johnson, Heavier Things -John Mayer, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below -Outkast, Liz Phair - Liz Phair, Sleeping With Ghosts - Placebo, Elephant - The White Stripes...

In 2005, I... had my second daughter. I spent many days of my maternity leave at my new job, as I felt responsible for the department that I oversee. The great bathroom renovation project began. The family unit was grooving to: Guero -Beck, Monkey Business - Black Eyed Peas, X&Y - Coldplay, Plans - Death Cab for Cutie, In Your Honor - Foo Fighters, Demon Days -Gorillaz, Elevator - Hot Hot Heat, In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson, With Teeth - Nine Inch Nails, Lullabies to Paralyze - Queens of the Stone Age, Late Registration - Kanye West, Get Behind Me Satan - The White Stripes...

So far in 2006, I... started this blog and found other people who amaze me with their words. Spent unsuccessful hours trying to negotiate with a toddler. Kissed my children a zillion times.

Yesterday I... surfed through blogs. Ran around the house trying to clean up little messes. My mother has returned to her own home and has left my house looking rather spiffy. I really want to maintain this state but it is way too much work. Wet Play-Doh is hard to clean up.

Today I... cut up an entire watermelon. Seriously, that is a huge job! Had a shower. (Wahoo another fine achievement!) Figured out how to create and upload video clips. Overall, it was a pretty successful day!



Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing
Tomorrow I will... make a doctor's appointment. For over a week, I have constantly had the spins. Every time my cheek hits the pillow the room begins rotating. It is also my last week of maternity leave. I hope to get the girls into an earlier routine.

In the next year I will... try to find myself. I will feel guilty that I'm feeling too guilty and realize that it was a complete waste of time. I will cheer on my girls in their every achievement!

Mrs. Chicky tagged me for this meme in a geographical fashion. In Sesame Street style, I tag all 28 year olds, as well as anyone whose name begins with the letter K.