Lyrics of the day

HAPPINESS

Happiness so hard to come by
So good while it lasts
Some people say
That it ain't worth pursuing
Cos' it's always moving too fast
Still I wonder
What could it be
And I wonder
What does it mean

Cos' I'm so in love with you
If this ain't happiness baby it'll do
Let's call it happiness
Yes

Happiness so hard to deal with
When there is sadness in your eyes
As you come through the door
It may leap out of the darkness
It's always yelling "Surprise!"

So I wonder
What does it mean
And I wonder
Why me
Cos I'm so in love with you
If this ain't happiness baby it'll do
Let's call it happiness
Yes

Oh there's no denying
It's one of those things
That money can't buy
But still we try
May we all mop up
And our cup runneth over
May we all have
More than enough of
Happiness
Happiness

Cos I'm so in love with you
If this ain't happiness baby it'll do
Let's call it happiness
Yes

Just listening to one of my all time favorites

If I would have to name three records I could definitely not live without, this would be one of them...

Once I used to be that too-serious-about-music guy who never have fallen in love with a POP record like this... Who was so busy with buying all this credible music (that he still likes, by the way, at least most of it...)

Anyway, I don't care. I just absolutely LOVE this record! ;-)

I hadn't listened to it for some time, but I can hardly get it out of my cd-player for some days now...

*wave*

Romantic movies...

And another posting. You see, last week I bought some very cheap movies at my work. Among them Notting Hill. I thought it would make a nice present for someone, but since I had never seen it I decided to watch it this weekend. And guess what: I loved it! Just like I loved City of angels and You've got mail. I think I will just have to accept that I like romantic movies... ;-)

And I can tell you this: I really, really love Rachael Yamagata... What a beautiful cd!

Rachael Yamagata

And yet another cd arrived with the mail. I first heard this singer on the latest Jason Mraz cd and then read some reviews of this record. Since it was only $9 in my favorite internet store, I ordered it right away and on first listen it sounds even better than I had expected!
Lately I have been listening a lot to female singers and I have fallen deeply in love with Tristan Prettyman, Martha Wainwright and Emiliana Torrini... Looks like they are getting heavy competition. ;-)

And another picture of the Amazing Snowman!

The Amazing Snowman!

Yesterday me and some friends built this very nice snowman! I just got the pictures by mail. Doesn't he look happy with his cell phone and flower?

After that we threw snowballs, made a long walk through the snow, got lost in the forest and drank some very nice hot chocolat. Life is sweet.
Friday it took us 45 minutes to drive one mile to get out of the city! The whole country was one big traffic jam...
And it isn't December yet! Amazing! I wonder what this winter has got in store for us.

While walking through the snow we thought about what would be real 'winter' music. I was thinking about Emiliana Torrini, Lori Carson and Travis. Listening to Josh Kelley now also makes me think of winter, but I guess that's because I bought For the ride home in the winter of Wyoming.

Well, I want to write something useful now, so see you later!

Just a thought about something that once happened to me...

Today I realised that back then I lost something that had never been mine, but in return I found something I never knew I already had...

Charlie and the chocolate factory

Yesterday I finally saw Charlie and the chocolate factory and I really loved it! I love Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. That's probably because I'm also a big fan of fairytales.

And tonight I'm going to party! In fact, I'm almost leaving.

Outside it's snowing! It's really autumn now. Love it. Don't know if I will say that after I have walked to a friend's place in a few moments though. ;-)

Wish me luck!

Kate Earl and Tiger Lou

And yet another cd in the mail... I should really quit buying that much music... But more cd's are on their way. It's all the fault of this very cheap cd-store...

Right now I'm listening to the new cd of Tiger Lou that I have to review. If you like dark music, you should really check this out. He's a Swedish singer/songwriter and very good!

Autumn rhythm

Today just a picture of one of my most favorite paintings. The title, Autumn Rhythm, fits in perfectly with today's weather. It's by Jackson Pollock. I have seen this one in New York and it's really amazing.

Don't forget to have a look at my audioscrobbler. ;-)

Martha Wainwright

Today this amazingly beautiful cd arrived in the mail. What can I say? Just listen to it and you'll fall in love too...

Mad season

Made a very long, but fun day at work and rather tired now... But now I'm listening to one of my most favorite cd's ever and soon I will be reading this hilariously funny novel by Evelyn Waugh who is definitely one of the best writers I know!

Sorry, but again no updates on my exciting adventures... Too tired, too much other things to do. I hope you have some more patience... ;-)

Fell in love with a cd... Again...

Looking for inspiration

You know, I'm trying to write this story, but although it's all in my head, it's hard to get it on paper right. When that happens I usually search for inspiration in novels or short stories by great authors. One of my favorite is Daisy Miller by Henry James. Although it has a very tragic ending, it's one of the most beautiful stories I know.

Here's a part I like very much.

Daisy stood there smiling; she threw back her head and gave a little, light laugh. "I like a gentleman to be formal!" she declared.

"I assure you it's a formal offer."

"I was bound I would make you say something," Daisy went on.

"You see, it's not very difficult," said Winterbourne. "But I am afraid you are chaffing me."

"I think not, sir," remarked Mrs. Miller very gently.

"Do, then, let me give you a row," he said to the young girl.

"It's quite lovely, the way you say that!" cried Daisy.

"It will be still more lovely to do it."

Record fair...

Do you recognize this? You buy a cd you like very much and then some time later this cd is rereleased with some extra tracks... Do you buy this cd as well? Or do you just leave the extra tracks for what they are? A difficult question.... ;-)
Last year I was in America and I bought this wonderful cd by Josh Kelley at the local Walmart. Just one week later I saw that it was rereleased with four bonustracks... That was quite a pity. I had the same with the Maroon 5 cd... Both times I did not buy the new version, although I was able to download the Maroon 5 songs.
But today I went to a record fair and there I found the bonuscd that has an acoustic version of that great song Amazing (and also of Smalltown boy) and two new songs! So now I am very happy!!!

It was a great record fair by the way! I bought loads of very cheap cd's, records (though they were not all cheap) and cd-singles. Among others I bought:

Cd's:
Fisherman's woman - Emiliana Torrini
Bloodflowers & Desintegration - The Cure
Garbage - Garbage
Cracked rear view - Hootie & The Blowfish (it had to happen one day... ;-)
Zooropa - U2 (now my collection is complete)
Songs for silverman - Ben Folds
Road apples - The Tragically Hip
Emmerdale - The Cardigans

And also Satellites by Vega 4. I already have that one, but it was only 2 euro's so it will make a great present for someone. It's one of my favorite records...

Lp's:
Here my dear - Marvin Gaye (this one is sooo good!)
Poets heart - Kate Wolf (rather expensive, but amazing singer)
Kiss me kiss me kiss me - The Cure
Crowded House - Crowded House (with one of the most beautiful songs I know: Don't dream it's over)

Cd-singles:
Everything you want - Vertical Horizon (so beautiful)
She's so high - Tal Bachman (love that song!)
Hanging by a moment - Lifehouse
As - George Michael & Mary J Blige
Push - Matchbox Twenty
Bohemian like you - Dandy Warhols
Loser - 3 Doors Down
I'm still here - Johnny Rzeznik (the Goo Goo Dolls singer!)
Closing time - Semisonic (brings me back to Wyoming!)
Back to me - Kathleen Edwards (with a wonderful cover of Tom Petty's A face in the crowd)
Re-Offender - Travis (with 3 new songs!)

Most of these songs have something to do with a very special period in my life. That's why I like to have them as a single.

Well anyway, I will have a lot to listen to the next few months. I really musn't buy more cd's this year...

Books

Reading this collection of wonderful stories by one of my most favorite authors. And today I bought a novel by Daniel Woodrell. Look forward to reading it, since I really enjoyed his Woe to live on (aka Ride with the devil), that I've read years ago



















Gotta go again. See you next time!

Kill your darlings

So I write reviews for this Dutch music magazine and now I have to come up with a list of my favorite records of this year. Too bad, I can only choose 5... I have managed to limit my list of twenty great albums to only nine, but that is still four to much. :(

Mr. A-Z - Jason Mraz
Almost honest - Josh Kelley
Deadbeat sweetheartbeat - The Juliana Theory
Twentythree - Tristan Prettyman
Back to me - Kathleen Edwards
Nashville - Josh Rouse
Drunkard’s prayer - Over The Rhine
Nothing is sound - Switchfoot
Something to be - Rob Thomas

Who can help me decide?

Gavin DeGraw

Yesterday me and a friend went to this amazing concert by Gavin DeGraw in Amsterdam! It was soooo good! Before yesterday I would not have called myself a fan, but now I'm not so sure anymore. His cd is good, but not brilliant. Live, however, this guy is really great! You should really go see him when he plays in your neighbourhood!

I didn't bring a camera so I just picked a random picture from the web. ;-)

The Pianist

Yesterday I watched this very powerful and impressive movie on the Holocaust. Go and see for yourself if you haven't yet.

Literary quote of the day

Love this part from one of my favorite novels:

"What on EARTH are you so grave about?" she suddenly demanded, fixing her agreeable eyes upon Winterbourne's.
"Am I grave?" he asked. "I had an idea I was grinning from ear to ear."
"You look as if you were taking me to a funeral. If that's a grin, your ears are very near together."
"Should you like me to dance a hornpipe on the deck?"
"Pray do, and I'll carry round your hat. It will pay the expenses of our journey."
"I never was better pleased in my life," murmured Winterbourne.
She looked at him a moment and then burst into a little laugh. "I like to make you say those things! You're a queer mixture!"

Joe Firstman

Listening to Joe Firstman now.



















Such a beautiful, wonderful record! Why does hardly anybody know it?

Update on my bike

Tomorrow my bike will be fixed, so then I will be able to continue my Magical Quest!

Right now, I'm just listening to music. Copperopolis by Grant Lee Buffalo.

This week I talked to this guy who had made a documentary on elderly drug addicts.

Well, right now I feel like reading The known world, which really is a very good book.

Talk to you later!

My bike broke down...

Yesterday my bike broke down so I have walked a lot since. Yesterday, somewhere around 14 kilometers, today 8 or 9. My muscles ache and my Quest slowed down considerably. But no worries, all is well. :-) Hopefully I can get it repaired soon, but whatever happens, I will continue my Magical Journey and once I have time I will tell you all about it.

Listening to The Byrds now, by the way.

Is happiness better than art?

Yesterday I watched this movie called Gaslight (starring the more than lovely Ingrid Bergman) and one of the main characters said: "Hapiness is better than art." There's a lot in that small sentence to think about. I don't have an answer yet. ;-)

Magical experiences

Good afternoon all you good people! Let me tell you some things that happened to me on my Magical Quest. Sorry that I didn't have time to give you an update earlier. You remember that I left my home and set out on my Quest and met some interesting people and saw some beautiful things? Well, since then I have met more interesting people and seen more beautiful things. However, before I continue I want to show you this beautiful picture I made somewhere on the road. (If you know where I took it, feel free to post it below this entry. ;-) Isn't it wonderful and magical?

I don't think I already told you about my magical experience of last week? You know, I was walking through a lovely neighbourhood with a lot of trees in this town called Hilversum with the Idlewild-cd The remote part on my headphones. The sky was dark grey, leaves were falling and this song called In remote part/Scottish fiction started playing... And then everything fell into place and I felt so happy! It's really hard to explain what exactly it was what I felt, but it was definitively something magic. Have you ever experienced anything like that? A few moments ago I was listening to the same song and it all came back to me.

Right now I'm hearing New Adventures in Hi-Fi by REM. By the way, seeing REM live on a festival in Belgium was another magical experience for me. That was two years ago. One of the best concerts I ever saw. The best is still that by Train, my favorite band, followed by Starsailor, Counting Crows and Natalie Merchant.

But let me tell you about my Magical Quest to make this weblog the most interesting and most fun on the internet. Well, I already found out three things about how to make a weblog a success: 1. you have to have something interesting and fun to say. 2. You have to update it very regularly, like at least once a day. 3. You need a lot of returning visitors.

So far I haven't written many interesting or fun things here. Mostly is just about the things that I do, which are fun to me, but I don't think many people will be interested in it. I know that I have a lot of interesting things to say, but so far I haven't really figured out what it is that I want to say and moreover, I can't seem to find the time to write them down here. And then there's the problem of having no returning visitors. It even seems that I don't have any visitors at all, which is kind of sad if you think about it. (Hey, if you are reading this, please reply to this post, just to let me know you're out there! ;-)

So, I have a lot to work on.

Did I meet interesting people lately? Yes. But I will tell you about them some other time, because I feel hungry now. And of course, there's other things to do. ;-)

By the way, I thought Gangs of New York was rather impressive. Tonight I want to watch another movie, probably Citizen Kane.

Bye.

Tristan Prettyman

It seems kinda strange to have a weblog when no one is reading it. Maybe I should notify my friends that I have one, but somehow I think it's more interesting when people who don't know me are reading it. Maybe I should spam the address on some sites.

Well nevermind. I had planned to buy less cd's, but today I couldn't stop myself listening to Twentythree by Tristan Prettyman when I was in my favorite recordstore. And listening to a beautiful record like this, means buying it immediately. At least, that's the way it works for me. ;-) Twentythree is a lovely cd by a lovely singer/songwriter and it has also a duet with Jason Mraz!








Right now I'm listening to Jason Mraz Live. One of the best records I bougt this year! And after listening to this one, I'm going to watch Gangs of New York. It's a very long movie, so, again, no time to tell you about my adventures.
Which makes me wonder why I have a weblog in the first place. What's the use if you don't have time to write something substantial?????

Let's think about that.

Good news, bad news

Hello there! Yes, it's me again, listening to the new Kate Bush record that I may write a review of! I can tell you, it's good!
The sad thing is that two days ago I heard that I will most likely be out of my job - that I like very much - at the end of this year, because of some stupid legislation. The company would like to keep hiring me and I would like to stay with them, but that does not seem possible. So now I will have to find a new job! I hope it won't be too difficult. Well, otherwise it would mean that I will finally have enough time to tell you all about my ongoing Magical Quest! ;-) Right now, I don't have time for that... Sorry! I hope you can be patient...

See ya!

Sometimes you got to take risks

There's so much going on in my mind right now that I don't really know what to write today. So no update today either. Sorry! :-)