April 20th, 2010, posted in 365 Challenge, Entertainment, Photography
120/365 (April 20, 2010) – Vinyl still embodies the warmth I love in recorded music. CD’s were just too crisp and cold sounding. I’ve digitized all of my old records, but am still working my way through a pile of vinyl from a friend. I’m going to try and clear these out and return them in the next month or so. That’s the goal anyway.
Curiously, vinyl seems to be making a small comeback. Several music bands recently recorded their albums onto good old vinyl medium. Blur, Hot Hot Heat, and Apollo Ghosts are three that have released vinyl records this past year. And there are more and more USB turntables popping up. We saw them in Costco a few months ago.
Vinyl isn’t quite dead, certainly not forgotten. I doubt we will see a big resurgence, might just be a few last gasps. But film hasn’t disappeared yet either….
April 14th, 2009, posted in Entertainment, Photography
So I have been on Flickr a little over a year now. Love it. Can’t believe how it has wiggled into my daily life. Not being an overly social person when it comes to new people, I thought it a bit unnerving when strangers added me as a contact and commented on my photos. I was used to Facebook where the only people who can see what is on your page are those you have specifically let in. This ‘open access’ was a little weird for me. But I got used to it…slowly.
And then something strange happened. Some of those distant strangers (mostly in the UK) started chatting in a group page. And since I was traveling lots at the time, and staying up late, I began to chat a bit too. And slowly, somehow, I actually started to make friends with strangers. How very strange (for me anyway).
Now I am excited, because our upcoming trip to Greece will end with three and a half days in England where we plan to rent a car and zip down to Cornwall and then back along the Southern Coast before heading back inland to fly home. It will be a whirlwind trip, but the most exciting part is that we will meet some of those cyber-friends in person! About a half a dozen or so in three or four different locations! Very cool!
So Flickr is photography, but Flickr is people too! But I recently started visiting one fellow’s photostream and I can’t seem to stop visiting it. He’s a good photographer, but more than that, he’s a very interesting writer… in a really weird way…. it’s really quite fascinating to read this guys thoughts…. bored? Really, check out his writing, luckily he only posts a photo or so a day otherwise I’d never get anything done! Curious Spider
November 8th, 2008, posted in Entertainment
A year or so ago someone sent me an email with the most insane Christmas light display on a house and it was set to an amazing piece of music. After digging around a bit I finally found who it was and got the album. Trans Siberian Orchestra. I’d never heard of them before but what a great ….band?? I’m not sure what to call them. They are a rock orchestra, sort of hard rock music, sort of classical, and oddly they seem to appeal to a rather broad spectrum of listeners.
Jump forward a year and they announce a show in Vancouver. We picked up tickets and went to the show this evening, not totally sure what we were in for.
We should have brought sunglasses and suntan lotion! The music was amazing and the show was divided into what amounted to two shows in one. The first half was a narrated Christmas story…with rock Christmas music and an amazing light show. Absolutely fantastic.
The second half just got more insane. It started off with a piece of music, that after a few moments we realized was the theme for Inspector Gadget. Then came….Batman?? In the same set was Oh Fortuna! And the lights! There were fountains of fireworks, flames shooting up everywhere, snow falling inside GM Place….it was crazy and blinding! My eyes were actually starting to water at one point and I had to shade my eyes…many people were, at another. I have a bit of a headache behind my eyes from it all!
Two and a half hours of music and lights and I could do it all over again. What a show! Definitely buying tickets next year! I’d recommend it to anyone! There was the most amazing cross section of people. Kids as young as two or three, and as old as 70+. Tons of kids in the 18-25 range…really in every age range you could imagine.
If you haven’t seen them and you have the opportunity..don’t think twice, just buy the tickets! You won’t be sorry you did.
July 9th, 2008, posted in Entertainment
I just finished reading Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals and what a wonderful ride it was! Poor Kirk heard a lot of it too since it just begged to be read aloud.
Gerald Durrell moved, as a child, to the Island of Corfu in Greece where he became fascinated by the wonders of the natural world around him.
If you have even a smidgen of a naturalist inside of you, grab this book and read about the beginning of a lifelong naturalist who went on to become the namesake for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
July 9th, 2008, posted in Entertainment
I love language, particularly when I can interpret it. What fascinates me the most is how so many of us around the world speak such different versions of the same language….namely English. There are such striking similarities and differences between British English, Canadian English and America English that I picked up a few books last week to delve into them.
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The first is a great little book called “Only in Canada, You Say” by Catherine Barber. What a great little read this is. You’ll find yourself thinking “Really? That’s a Canadianism?” It’s a humourous ride through our language and how we use similar words for very different purposes. Well worth a read. |
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Knickers in a Twist – A Dictionary of British Slang by Jonathan Bernstein is another great read. Have you ever had a conversation with a Brit and felt like you are two individuals ostensibly speaking the same language…but you can’t understand half of what the other is saying?
Well here you go then, a great little guide on what those odd euphemisms mean. |
