Miscellany of a Cheshire Cat

I’m sure you probably have something like this… there’s an album, or a band, or a song or even a whole musical with which you cannot, even under threat of death, prevent yourself from singing along. Regardless of where you are, with whom you find yourself or what you’re actually doing, you find yourself humming or singling along quietly. Or, for the worse afflictions, you must sing full-voice, loudly too, along with your favorites.

This, dear Reader, is why I only allow myself to listen to The Complete Symphonic Recording of Les Miserables, featuring an all-star cast singing the entire operetta, within the confines of my home office or alone in my car.

Les Miserables is the first Broadway show I ever saw and I completely fell in love with it. Shortly after I saw it, this recording was released. I splurged the $30 for three cassette set instead of buying the $10 soundtrack that only included a handful of songs. In college, I wrote papers with Les Mis as my soundtrack - almost 3 hours of epic drama is definitely useful to keep my brain going. At my first couple of jobs, I would listen it to it in my cube on my little walkman tape player thing.

I sang along quietly at first.
By my second job I was getting looks from people over the cube walls.
That’s when I started limiting where I could listen to these tapes: home, car, or otherwise alone.
At some point, I misplaced the tapes with my other cassettes then sent them to be sold in a yard sale.

The time of cassettes has passed, and I never did get a converter to digitize my tapes anyway, so earlier this year I found and re-purchased the same recording from iTunes. Guess what? It’s cheaper now than it was 17 years ago! But it’s just as wonderful as I remember it. And this recording is still excellent when I need to get things done. Like today, or any other time things are particularly crazy. The intensity of the music keeps me from getting too distracted - I can either pay attention to what I’m working on or the music. There is little else.

And after singing to it all again this afternoon? I still think Marius and Cosette are spoiled children who need to get a clue and my love for Fantine’s and Javert’s songs persists.

Oh, and I’m totally pretending no one can hear me when I sing in my home office.

tags: les miserable, singing

I have survived my Month of Doom! I’m a little worse for wear, perhaps both mentally and physically, but I did indeed survive. The next time my boss says something to the effect of, “Oh good, I’m glad you’re taking a week off in April! That will make up for March…” I will run away. Possibly cackling insanely as I flee.

Donna Aldrich, my piano teacher growing up, passed away last week. The huge norfolk pine tree on our porch was rescued from her once upon a time when both myself and the tree were much smaller. She was my first music teacher, my first Spanish teacher and my piano teacher for years upon years. She taught me that it’s okay to mix your languages because it challenges people to keep up. She also taught me, accidentally, that I can often sight read a new piece of music better than I can play a practiced piece. I did not work hard enough for her and probably should have quit or swapped teachers sooner than I did, but I did learn a great deal from her. She is the reason I adore Chopin and why I enjoy piano solos so much. Mrs. Aldrich what quite a character in my childhood. She had an underground house, a daughter in Arizona, huge pine cones collected when she lived in California, all sorts of little things from South America, a husband (who passed away last year) who had Very Cool Toys, and a … gasp … little white dog. Goodness, the Little White Dog Mafia has been stalking me longer than I thought!

Mrs. Aldrich was 86 years old. That means she was about 58 when I started taking piano lessons from her. She retired from teaching in the school district at the end of my kindergarten year. She didn’t stop teaching piano until 2 years ago. She was amazing.

Chronology is such a funny thing.

tags: donna aldrich, little white dog mafia, month of doom, music, piano, piano lessons, work

Snagged from a friend on LJ and just too sweet and adorable not to share:

tags: impersonations, kermit, louis armstrong, terry fator, turtle, what a wonderful world, youtube

I saw all the bright people
In imposing flocks they landed
And they got what they demanded
And they scratched at the ground
—The Mercy of the Fallen, Dar Williams

Yes it’s random song lyrics night over here. There’s a Dar concert in May nearby I think… Sellersville Theater, anyone? I love songs with good lyrics, especially with a touch of random to them. The random puts me inside the writer’s head in a fun way. (There’s a good recording of the song I’m quoting here but if you prefer live, go here.)

I survived another really long day with some help. I continue to be frustrated, but at least I’m not alone. The cat continues to try to get in my lap whenever possible. He participated in 2 conference calls today. That’s right, Monster Cat does meetings. And the meetings he participates in tend to go pretty well - better than the others, in fact. Monster Cat Meeting Power. I should get that embossed on little leather portfolios and give them to MBA candidates. (Oh, it’s also random rambling night, did I mention that?) I think they’d be very stylish - all the rage next season and all that.

And that’s probably why I should go to sleep now.

And I hope some day
That the best of Falstaff’s planners
Give me seven half-built manors
Where half dreams may dream without end.

tags: dar williams, lyrics, meetings, mercy of the fallen, music, random, silly, tuesday, work

Today’s Random Free Music is Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I. Free download of the first of 4 CDs in the set. The download comes with some wallpaper graphics (even widescreen versions!) and even pre-made avatars/icons. I’ve only had time to listen to the first song so far but the name seems appropriate - the track was eerie. You do have to provide an e-mail address to get a one-time use download link but it’s probably worth it.

tags: free music, ghosts, music, nin, nine inch nails

Another fabulous Sinfest today.

The week is half over, more than that really. Thank goodness.

Random free music. (US iTunes required.) And by “random” I mean really really random. I haven’t heard of most of these bands but it looks like the kind of randomness that could result in a new favorite or two. There’s quite a spectrum in terms of genre so it will be an entertaining mix to try out if nothing else. So far it’s entertaining.

If anyone knows how to keep iCal from crashing (which it has been doing within 60 seconds of starting up since I upgraded to iLife ‘08 on Mac OS 10.4.11), please let me know. My Google-fu has provided no good leads. (But if you’re having this problem in 10.5, this seems to work for most people:
1. Open /user/Library/Caches/
2. Move /com.apple.iCal/ folder to your desktop
3. Launch iCal
Not that it works for me on Tiger… I’m not ready to move to Leopard on the desktop machine yet. That would mean giving up CivII forever!)

tags: , comics, ical crashes, mac, music, random

Fireworks are Fun.
It’s also quite fun to set your screen saver to pull images from the folder of fireworks photos. I get to have mini-fireworks displays on my computer now! Okay, so they’re rather static, but they’re fun! I think we have a plan for more fireworks tomorrow too. YAY!

Particular Politicians are pussies.
Paris Hilton apparently has more balls than George Bush and Scooter Libby because she can handle a few days in jail. Scooter Libby lies under oath and undermines the principals our justice system is based on, and his sentence gets commuted? Give me a break.

Somen Saha Sings
One of the crew from WebCT, one of the crazy crew, was a brilliantly smart and smart-assed DBA named Somen Saha. Somen was destined for bigger things than simply saving the world with Oracle databases. He headed back to India last year to become a star. That’s right, Somen now saves the world as a pop star. That’s one of his music videos below. Of course, his provile on LinkedIn still says he’s some sort of fluffy-techy thing. ;) Really, being a pop star suits him very well. The rest of the album, titled “One Way”, sounds entertaining too and I may have to buy it. I hope his career takes off and he comes here on a world tour!!!

tags: 4th of july, fireworks, fourth of july, music, paris hilton, photographs, photography, scooter libby, somen saha

I went up to NY last weekend to hang with lisaf and see Loreena McKennitt at Radio City Music Hall. We saw her there on her last tour 9 years ago so it seemed like a great idea to see her there again. For the record, it was an AWESOME idea. I don’t go to a lot of concerts and quite honestly live music isn’t my thing, but Loreena McKennitt and her ensemble live? It’s an amazing experience.

My favorite part of the concert remains the ensemble itself. There were 10 musicians on stage including herself. Most of them played more than one instrument through the course of the concert. Actually, many of them played more than two instruments or even switched between two in a given song. I love watching musicians play, I just can’t help myself. Every ensemble should have a hurdy gurdy player too, and hurdy gurdy solos for hurdy gurdy players to rock out on! The cellist was mesmerizing. Really, all the musicians were incredible. Every moment there was something interesting going on - someone switched instruments, a solo/duet, and the extended jamming sections of some of the songs…

I love my IS lens too. It really made it possible for me to get good photos. I’m just not cool enough yet to manipulate all my settings (mostly because I’m still figuring out what buttons do that on this camera). Since there were flashes going off unpunished, I threw on the IS lens so I could get some decent shots without being a jerk and using my flash. It’s kind of a big lens but I love it. I hadn’t even intended to take photos at the concert, honestly, but I had fun doing it!

I don’t usually go to concerts so describing concerts isn’t something I’m good at. Instead, I give you a selection of the photos. The glory of concert photos is that they can be a little blurry… in fact, they’re not blurry, they’re artistic! Right! Click here for the handful of photos I uploaded.

But back to the concert… because even a week later I’m not done gushing about it apparently.

They performed many of my favorite songs. I got goosebumps, as usual, during “The Highwayan.” I spent the whole concert just surrounded by the rich tapestry of their music. In some small part, it could be the venue since I’ve never seen Loreena McKennitt anywhere else. But I suspect it’s mostly that this group has a lot of fun playing together and being on stage is secondary to the music. The audience ends up experiencing the music of the hearts of these musicians rather than a rehearsed set list. Perhaps I’m too much of a romantic but Loreena McKennitt is a concert experience like no other I’ve had. (Feel free to chime in with other groups you think I might enjoy who provide similar concert experiences.)

The rest of the weekend up with Lisa was fun too - we shopped, dined, imbibed, wandered and generally had a lovely time.

tags: concerts, loreena mckennitt, music, radio city music hall, weekend

Apple announced the new, more colorful iPod shuffle yesterday. Yes, they look like tictacs or chicklets or some other colorful candy. And I don’t just want one! I want one of each color! The clip design is pretty impressive to being with - sturdy, utilitarian, stylish as all get out. Add color and you have an even bigger hit. (And, apparently, take a picture of 5 across some female model’s chest and you have your front page ad. I guess that’s not really out of the ordinary.)

Since it’s Apple, the only thing they have to change is the color to make a big splash. Same price: $79. Same size: 1GB. Same battery life: 12 hours. Same incredibly low weight: 0.55 ounce. But now, Apple’s product is even more prominent when you clip it to your coat, bag or shirt. As an added bonus, it’s now easier to find your shuffle in among a bag of cables and accessories too!

Now you can accessorize with your Shuffle in Silver, Pink, Green, Blue and Orange. The colors almost match the iPod middle child’s colors too. (The Nano comes in Silver, Green, Blue, Pink and Black as well as a special edition candy-apple red.) $79 is way cheaper than most high fashion accessories and the Shuffle is far more useful.

I have a Shuffle actually, one of the original pack-of-gum sized white plastic ones. I love it - it’s light, indestructible and feels like a Lego. I don’t use it nearly as much as I could but I love it on trips because it’s small, light and doesn’t need recharging all that often. I have utterly no need for any of these cute little colored clips that happen to also play music. None. But I still want them. All of them.

Think about it… I could pre-load each of them by mood.

• Green: Bouncy, work-out music
• Blue: Mellow, morning music
• Pink: Fast, intense music that makes me drive too fast
• Orange: Truly random music
• Silver: Romantic, sappy music

Luckily I really don’t need another iPod and I won’t be able to justify one and especially not 5! But wouldn’t it be fun? (And really, if I were going to do the above, wouldn’t it make way more sense to get a bigger iPod and make playlists? Hush! That is not the point!)

$79 seems a deal for a trendy and cute little 1GB music player. But then you see the iPod nano - still cute, but for a little over twice the price ($199) you can get 8x the storage! As you keep looking you discover that for a mere $50 more than that ($249) you can get almost 4x the storage of the nano and video capabilities by purchasing the full sized iPod. There’s definitely an opportunity to upsell yourself here. Depending on your needs, wants, wishes and desires, you may end up back at the Shuffle - it’s darned cute and 240 songs is enough for your commute all week. Or the Shuffle is a 2nd iPod, or the “go to the gym” iPod or the like. The iPod shuffle definitely has its niche, appeal and irresistibility combined with a sweet price point.

tags: apple, ipod, ipod shuffle, music