I have this
bear. He was given to me by my Grandparents and is as old as I am. He doesn’t
look like much but is my most cherished possession.
His name is
Ted E Bear…creative for a….nothing year old. Grandma and Grandpa gave him to me
when I was born and I don’t remember a time without him and somehow his name
has always been Ted E Bear. You can figure that one out.
Ted is
white and well worn. He is not very big, which suits me because I am also
small. His nose has been so worn that it is no longer soft material but instead
plastic. His mouth is lopsided from years of love and he has a few sewn
together spots.
At 30 you
think that I would have given up snuggling with Ted but I have not. I read an article
that said that snuggling with a stuffed animal or pillow as you fell asleep
helped produced endorphins and reduced stress…so I have continued to keep Ted
tight.
Why share
this? Well, I don’t think that it is anything to be ashamed of. If something
brings you joy and reduces stress in your life I think that you should hold it
close and not be ashamed. Be proud. I love Ted E Bear and I appreciate what he
does for me.
If you have
something that brings you comfort I would love to hear about it.
Hunger
Makes Me a Modern Girl is a memoir written by Carrie Brownstein, but if you are
looking for details about her time in the band Wild Flag or her show Portlandia
you are going to be disappointed. This memoir is all about Carrie’s love of
music and her band Sleater-Kinney.
The book
starts with Carrie telling about her family, her upbringing and how her love of
music began. The way that she talks about being a fan is something that I have
tried to describe to others and until now have not heard a proper description
of outside of Almost Famous. Soon we transition into how Carrie became involved
in the Olympia scene and how she met Corin Tucker.
The rest of
the book documents Carrie’s time with Sleater-Kinney moving from the formation
into descriptions of each album and finally the ultimate demise and breakup of
the band. I love the chapters in which Carrie’s talks about how they wrote and
recorded the songs for each album. There are some really great insights into
what the songs are written about and also how they came to create the sound of
Sleater-Kinney. The chapters that talk about touring are also really
interesting…it is not as glamorous as people think. As a fan of Sleater-Kinney
I love getting an inside look of the creation of the songs that I love.
Carrie also
talks about the relationships she has with the other members of Sleater-Kinney.
Carrie has such an interesting connection with Corin Tucker, it has not been an
easy road for them but they have such an incredible respect and love for each
other. Sleater-Kinney, and also Carrie’s music career, could not have happened
without Corin. I think that this book made me love Janet Weiss more, if that is
possible. Carrie really only has good things to say about Janet and really
Janet is one of the best drummers ever.
Throughout
the book Carrie openly talks about her mental health and everything that she
says is completely relatable. It blows my mind that someone who is so confident
on stage can suffer from anxiety and depression…it made me feel a little bit
less alone. I believe that it is so important that people like Carrie talk
about metal health, you never know who it might affect.
The writing
is engaging, thoughtful, and poignant. I was never once bored while reading
this book…which is saying a lot for a memoir. I know that for years to come I
will reread Hunger and will find new things held within the pages. I believe
that this should be required reading for not only fans of Sleater-Kinney but
fans of music.
When I first heard that Superchunk’s new album was going to be called I
Hate Music I became very curious as to what the reason behind the line was
going to be. It is not a sentiment that
you would expect from a band that has been around for 24 years and who have
their own record label. However, I couldn’t wait to hear the new music that one
of my favourite bands
had to offer and let me tell you I was not disappointed.
The first time that I listened to Me & You & Jackie Mittoo,
which is the song where the album title comes from, I knew that this song was
something special. At the time I hadn’t even grasped what the song was truly about,
it just grabbed me in that way that all my favourite songs do.
As I continued to listen to the album I started to notice that quite a
few of the songs were about dealing with loosing someone close to you. I went
back and listened to the album while reading along with the lyrics and I
discovered some incredibly well written words. Which brings us back to Me &
You and Jack Mittoo and just why I Hate Music is such a great title for this
album.
“I hate music – what is it worth?
Can’t bring anyone back to this earth
Or fill in the space between all of the notes
But I got nothing else so I guess here we go…”
I think
that this one verse really explains it all. The singer is talking about someone
that he lost and how he feels like nothing, not even music, can fix it. Then
the singer says that music is all that he has left so might as well. The next
bit of the song is a memory, one that the singer shared with the person who had
passed. Music was an important part of the time that he spent with the two
other people mentioned in the song and while listening to music and making
music is cathartic to him it is also very difficult because it brings up all
these memories that make him miss his friend. In the end the singer continues
to struggle and states “I hate music –
what is worth, it can’t bring you back to this earth”.
The music
might not be what you would expect at first from such an introspective song,
but I feel like it conveys the sentiment so well. It starts off with just the
guitar riff, which is super catchy, and then the drums and bass come in to fill
out the sound. This song makes me want to get up and rock out, which I sort of
think is the point. The music is making you love the song, which in turns makes
you love music, while you are hearing the words “I hate music”. It brings such
an interesting level to the song that blows my mind.
The entire
I Hate Music album is full of songs that are just as great as Me & You
& Jackie Mittoo and I strongly recommend that you take some time to listen
to it.
Tonight was
shaping up to be a pretty good night. I bought some new Converse, and was going
to watch the last episode of season 5 of The West Wing and then…something upset
me. This summer was good in some respects but it was mostly crap. The thing that
upset me was something connected to situations from the summer and it was not
something that I expected or really wanted to think about. Some people don’t
really think about how other people feel about certain situations and this was
what put me into my upset feelings tonight.
After I had
called and talked to my Dad, who understands my feeling very well, I sat back and
turned on my TV. As I watched TV I noticed my new converse that I was wearing
to break in, I started to think about Eddie Vedder who was the person who made
me want to wear converse in the first place. Then I remembered this song that
Pearl Jam tagged this one time called “It’s O.K.” and I put the song on and listened.
I felt better instantly.
It’s OK was
tagged onto the song Daughter on the Touring Band 2000 DVD or I guess it was
first released on to VHS but I have it on DVD. For many years now Eddie Vedder
has been one of two people whose voice has been able to calm me…I suppose. When
I am feeling stressed I put on Pearl Jam and I start to feel alright. The other
voice being that of Roger Daltrey but I am sure that is a whole other blog altogether.
Daughter is
an incredibly important song and if you don’t know it you should take some time
to really listen to it. Then the tag of It’s OK is probably one of the best
tags that I have ever heard in my life. It speaks to me on so many levels…I
want to write out the lyrics for you.
It’s OK
It’s OK
You don’t have to run
and hide away
It’s OK I’m going to
love you anyway
This is my chance, this is my life
And my opening hour
This is my choice, this is my voice
There may be no tomorrow
This is my plea, this is my need
This is my time for standing free
This is my step, this is my depth
In a world demanding of me
But it's okay.......
It’s Ok
It’s OK you know I love you away
It’s OK
It’s OK you don’t have to run and hide away
It’s Ok There have been times when songs have spoken to me for
different reasons and I guess that at this moment I needed Eddie to say “I’m going to stand up here with you”
and then sing about how It’s OK.
“There's so much that we miss
trying so hard to be rich and famous,
pretty and thin, to win
It's a shame that youth is wasted on the young
So forget everything and just be with me here and now
for as long as we can, and whoever goes first save a spot”
So, I watch
this show that you might have heard of called Grey’s Anatomy. I have been
watching it since the second season, back when it was sort of good, and I have
always loved the relationship between Meredith and Christina. Instead of
calling each other “best friends” they refer to each other as ‘their person”
and I have always loved that sentiment of someone always being there for you
and loving you no matter what.
One of the
things that I have always taken away from the Meredith-Christina relationship
is the dancing. When things get bad they dance. It seems like a simple solution
but some of the most memorable moments from the show are the ones when they are
dancing. Those couple of minutes convey so much emotion that it captivates me
in way that nothing else quite can. This weekend
I received some bad news, that I won’t divulge here because it is very
personal, and tonight I was feeling pretty down in the dumps. I thought about
Meredith and Christina and decided that what I needed was a dance party. So, I
poured myself a glass of wine and put on some danceable music. As I started to
dance I began to understand just how great the two actresses who play Meredith
and Christina really are; they are able to truly convey emotion during a truly difficult
time.
Tonight, I cranked some guilty pleasure dance
music and jumped around my apartment. At first it felt so great. It was a
release, my emotion was being released and I felt better. Then after a few
songs I started to feel like dancing was an empty expression, it held no real
meaning. I started to feel all those emotions that I was trying to escape from
in first place. This is when I started to listen to songs that hit my current
emotion.
Sometimes
it is therapeutic to just get your emotions out there not matter if they are
expressed by dancing or by listening sad songs. Tonight I experienced both
through a slow progression from dancing to sad songs. I certainly learned
something about myself tonight; that I can change my mood very quickly through
whatever type of music that I listen too, but that my true emotion will always
catch up with me at some point.
I have been a fan of Brandi Carlile since I saw her open for
Train in 2006. Carlile was able to grab my attention and keep it. She has
amazing songs, an amazing voice, and amazing stage presence. In 2006 she only
had one album out and I bought it and listened to it like crazy. Last year
Carlile released her fourth album, Bear Creek, and I love it just as much as he
first album.
Bear Creek has more of a country feel to it, but more of nod
to classic country rather then what passes for country nowadays. It also sound
a bit more reminiscent to her first album with flecks of the second and third
thrown in. Bear Creek is pretty stripped down and more raw and it feels like
Carlile is rediscovering her roots and I love every second of it.
I have always been a fan of Brandi Carlile’s vocal style,
she has a strong voice and she really knows how to utilize in terms of her
music. Knowing when to sing full out and when to be more on the quiet side is
something that Carlile nails repeatedly and it never fails to enhance the
emotion that she is trying to convey in her songs. Bear Creek also has some
really great harmonizing and vocal layering that adds depth to the vocals and
the song.
Brandi Carlile has always been able to write great lyrics
and she does not disappoint on Bear Creek. The lyrics are some of Carlile’s
best and they don’t fail to make you think and feel the way that well-written
lyrics should. I love the way that
Carlile’s lyrics compliment the music and vise versa. There aren’t many
songwriters that are able to write music and lyrics that are so well suited for
each other, but Carlile is consistently good at doing just that.
So, check out Brandi Carlile and see what I am talking
about! Here is favourite song off of Bear Creek Hard Way Home.
After having a box set of the first four books in the Song
of Ice and Fire series for a few months I finally picked up Game of Thrones. I
have mixed emotions about this book. I enjoyed reading it and at the same time
I didn’t really love it. I think that I thought that it would be more exciting
then it turned out to be, not to say that it was interesting, it was just very
different.
First off I want to say that I really like George R.R.
Martin’s writing style, he is very clear, concise, and I never once was
confused as to what was happening. Each chapter is told by a different
character and I like that you get to see so many different points of view. I
think that one of the best parts of Game of Thrones is by far the world
building. The characters tend to be in different parts of the world and this
really helps to create scope and make the reader realise just how big this
world is. Even when the characters are in the place you get different perspectives
of what a place is actually like and it interesting to see what different
people notice about a certain location. I
really love how this world, which by the way is called Westeros, feels so real
while you are reading the book, and I can’t say that I have read anything that
has world building of this scale.
I found the
characters to be very interesting in Game of Thrones. While for me I felt there
was a clear good guy versus bad guy in this book I could also see where a
reader could see it a differently from me. Each character has both strong good
and bad qualities and displayed both good and bad judgment throughout the
story. I really like the notion that all the characters can have both sides of
the coin and it makes for interesting character development.
The story
really caught my attention when I first started to read Game of Thrones, but it
never really picked up later in the book and instead stayed at the same pace of
the remainder of the book. This makes the story feel more like a history
instead of fantasy or adventure for me. I think that it is an interesting idea
to have a fiction novel that reads like a history because it helps with the
world building and makes it feel more realistic. However, it did make this
already very long book feel like it was longer then it really was.
