Season´s Greetings

Merry Christmas dear blog readers.



Hope you enjoy the season and that you get all that you wish for.

If You Like...Jason Segel

Long story short...he´s awesome.



Yup...another video...

Murmuration

I know, I know I said on the last post that a blog full of videos is rather dull...but...look at it...look!

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

New segment

Thought in introduce a new segment here on the blog. It will be something like "It´s Music To Your Ears", meaning a video will be the main point of the post, with just a short introduction or description of what it is about.

The idea vanished since the first time I had it because I think a blog full of videos, as sometimes happens when I embed music videos 3 or 4 posts in a row, are a bit...dull. The problem is that I don´t have ordinary [life] stories - as the blog title goes for - on a regular basis (at least blog worthy ones...and, also...I´m lazy) to keep the blog updated, which for me means write a few posts, at least, every month.

Thus, rather than only having a music segment the blog will now have an "interview" segment. The goal is, since I found a few Youtube channels who have quality interviews, bring it to the blog...so it can end up being not a music video but a video of a musician being interviewed...which will happen often I presume...and the first post will prove that. Other YT channel that might appear often is one that uploads episodes of the American talk-show Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson since I watch it every time it appears on my subscription box...which usually happens just one day after the episode originally aired on US tv and has a great host, great sidekick and great guests.

It will be called "If You Like..." Therefore, If you like...Feist:

37 minutes of Feist where she talks about radio (this is a radio interview...yes, you are watching a radio interview...so, like, futuristic right?...yeah...), about music, and on that subject, her brand new album "Metals" where she does a track-by-track analysis. It´s a great interview. Although I can´t help but feel...awkward at some parts. I know music moves people, and I´m one of them, but it´s always slightly weird for me see a journalist (which, and this is the case) also a fan, try to undress the songs and explain what do they mean in front of the artist...and sometimes I feel like the artist agrees just to be cool. A song can have different interpretations to each person and that comes from a different experience that usually people connect the song with. And sometimes I just imagine songwriters writing a song, or choosing a line or a certain word just because it sounds good...not everything needs to be metaphorical and/or literal. I think that, because if you wonder the blog you might find a few poems I wrote and despite I mean what I wrote it doesn´t mean I wrote it for a particularly someone or situation. If I meanwhile found someone to whom the poems apply? Yes. And she´s awesome!

It´s Music To Your Ears

I´ve found Lisa Hannigan probably more than a year ago via cover of one of her songs, beautifully done by this girl , which I already wrote about, here .

So, and without further ado to not lose myself in compliments, here´s Lisa.

It´s Music To Your Ears

It´s Laura Jansen and Cary Brothers singing Ryan Adams. Gotta love it!

Enjoy!

Cary Brothers & Laura Jansen » Ryan Adams from The Voice Project on Vimeo.

It´s a cover for this project >> Voice Project Check the other videos there...really cool stuff waiting for a listen.

And yes, those looks to each other during the performance are the most intimist looks you can get from someone. Specially someone you love.

Here´s some words from who recorded the performance that are on a little text besides the video on the site posted above:

"[...] the knowing looks of two people who share a life. Yeah, there's a lot of love in that room, I hope you watch this all the way through and see it/feel it for yourself. After I watched the footage for the first time I just walked outside, I guess to be with the good feeling it gave me, maybe thinking the night air would help it stay with me. It did.

— Hunter"

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On a life update: Second year of college started a few weeks ago. Everything going pretty great. Although won´t say the same in a couple of weeks as tests, paper works and presentations make their way through the awesome life of being with great people and attend a couple of classes each day. And afternoon schedules are not as bad as I thought...yes, you do get extremely sleepy in classes after lunch (a brilliant time of the day for a nap) but sleep all morning is quite pleasant too...and with the cold weather ahead nothing sounds better than a warm bed. And I can have my night owl life style.

Bed that I should have where [city] I study. It´s great be at our own bedroom at the end of each day but you miss a bit of the college atmosphere by staying at home and getting on a train every day...specially you miss those 1 or 2 hours that you could be still sleeping but you have to wake up a couple of hours before a class starts to be there on time. Yup, I love to sleep. But what I also mean is that you have to rush for buses and trains instead of just hanging out with your mates a bit more and then walk home and do something at night...

Anyway...I´m learning Italian!

Therefore, arrivederci bambini!

It´s Autumn already...

...and I wish it would thunder.

To a more literal song title one:

I´m out of luck though. Autumn here is looking like an out of place Spring after a not-that-hot Summer. Spring and Autumn are not that different here but clear skies and 30ºC are not exactly the best preparation for the cold rainy months ahead.

Cold rainy months ahead with exciting music coming up. I´m stuck at this for now:

Amazing second single of the album yet to be released. The first single is the demanding catchy one obviously.

But there´s a lot more new music this Autumn.

Besides Snow Patrol there will be new albums of Feist (already available on the internets, Diane Birch (I hope) and Marit Larsen whose last Tumblr post is the line-up of the third album. And I believe there is some more albums that might interest me coming out. Unfortunately I don´t remember any more for now but they might be mentioned here soon.

Enjoy the music while you admire the beautiful colours of the leaves falling from the trees leaving them naked. You pervs.

Review - Anna Calvi - Hard Club (Porto)

Doesn´t look like but Anna Calvi is almost 30 years old. She´s another musician showing there is no age restrictions when it comes to release your debut album. The reason, as she says, she never came up as the front girl of a band is...shyness.

Well, she now is the front girl of her own project and there´s no shyness at all when she´s holding her Fender Telecaster.

Compared by many, in barely every music magazine, to Brian Eno, Nick Cave, Jimi Hendrix and PJ Harvey she claims her influences come from all of those plus Nina Simone and David Bowie. She has, indeed, something playing on her behalf: she is unique. You won´t find anyone this days doing the music she does and if you find, please, do tell. She is a mix of all the ones mentioned already in a cocktail served shaken, not stirred.

After album promotion, a few concerts, tv appearances and a presence in many Summer festivals she is now on her first proper tour that will basically be all around Europe and also US and Canada. Not bad for a first album. A Mercury Prize Nominee album. Not bad indeed.

It´s easy to describe the audience that will receive her during this tour. They are all on their 30s - minus 10 plus 10 doesn´t make a big difference - which could all be close friends of her and who know exactly who she is and what to expect from her.

You can easily prove that knowledge when one of the singles is played as one of the first songs - which the very first is "Rider To The Sea" - which is "Blackout". Ovations echoed through the room as the first chords are beautifully played and a powerful voice fills the place. Although much, that probably never listen to her besides singing, won´t hide a certain surprise when a sweet-fragile "Thank You" comes out of her mouth at the end of every song as if it was not the same person that just sang her lungs in a flawless, effortless way.

Anna brings two companions to help her. By her left she has an incredibly talented lady who plays [approximately] 101 instruments. I can assure she plays them all, so no show-off-only, but I can almost guarantee you 99% of all the people that will watch her on this tour can correctly name them all. I can give a help and say that one is a triangle. I think.

On the back there´s the drummer. A simple guy...not more than, and I wish I could go for technical terms here, 6 pieces on his drum set. And a microphone for some back vocals. It´s a perfect fit...Anna´s guitar and his drum set.

Drum set in which my personal favourite - "Suzanne and I" - starts with a beautiful beat and goes on with the perfect guitar skills and powerful voice of the lady in charge. As Anna leads us to her album - "First We Kiss"; "Morning Light"; "The Devil" - you get the feeling that, at least live, there´s no weak songs on the recorded version of it. Which is quite right. She takes inspiration from flamenco for her style and also for her music. While to the visuals the connection is quite easy to make when it comes to the music you have to listen a few times to get there. But there´s some of it on a strong contender to "Suzanne and I" for my favourite one which is "I´ll Be Your Man".

Another single, "Desire", and "Love Won´t Be Leaving" (probably the song I would recommend for a first Anna Calvi listen) makes the crowd be sure their money was more than well spent. She comes back for the Encore after being acclaimed by an happy audience and ends the show with an Edith Piaf cover - "Jezebel". A suitable end for a great night where she can for one last time deliver that voice and [superb] guitar skills.

A shy Anna waives goodbye. You walk away commenting on how fantastic her voice is as you listen others say the same. Will always be like this at her concerts I´m afraid. Will be a night well spent.

Does not matter which Factor it is

She has it.

Can´t find a version of this that does not say "Embedding disabled by request" so click here please

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For more amazing talent >> www.youtube.com/user/janetdevlin

I´m like...whoa!

Late night session

Tonight´s session of this night owl already included:

Listening of my favourite radio show on a session where they talked about Summer music festivals;

Nerina Pallot´s home concert/answering questions stream sessions that she used to make at her own house for pleasing her fans - yes, she is that awesome;

Listening to late night BBC Radio 2 shows...Nerina led me there;

Taking a look at photos on devianART;

Late night snacks.

If I was rich and own a shinny-fancy DSLR camera I would let you call me an hipster. I don´t even have some skinny jeans so no hipster tag here. Shame.

Also, as I mentioned night owl...this is spot on:

Note: Red notes by me.

Around The Interwebz

And around the world:

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Amazing!
And take a look to the other two short films of the series!

No comments

Why would someone that works on the online department of a newspaper arrive to a conference room for some brainstorming and suggest something like: "What if. We. Let our online readers...comment the news we post on our website?" (there´s no typos, that´s how I actually picture the man/woman saying that to a group of people seated on executive office chairs around a big table).

But the problem here is not the guy who came with this brilliant idea on his head and spent all day excited to present it. We all have bad ideas. No. The problem is the group of people around that big table that went: "But. That´s a brilliant idea!!! How we didn´t think of this before?! Brilliant! Let´s do it."

And off they went apply it.

Now I wonder if those same people who thought this would be a good idea actually give a read to the comments on the news that they write. Well, watching how well written are some pieces of "journalism" I see in some online newspapers I believe that they don´t even read their own texts to see if there´s any mistakes.

I usually take a look to two [Portuguese] online newspapers. One because I bought it during a period of time due to the free offer of a photography course and liked their work and a economic one that is available free of charge at my college (an interesting surprise) and that after getting it every day I started to enjoy their work too and now, on holidays, like I´m not there to get it I take a look at the website. I also tend to miss the news on television hence this look around the papers.

If you´re looking for a despicable laugh look no further than an article at any of these, or any other, newspaper that let post comments. I could tell you I have a ton of adjectives to try to describe how they look like but let´s just say "ridiculous" is pretty high on that list of adjectives. If you´re feeling down and really dumb and wondering if there is someone dumber than you take a look at those comments and you are as good as new. Sure that the executives thought about not letting some [cussing/rude] words be posted but they weren´t counting with the smartasses they would have posting at their websites would use such options as including @, _, !, and other smartasses tools to get around that restriction.

You would think that the economic one being sort of elitist and directed to a specific group would have good and clear comments. Forget it. And then they let people reply to others people comments which, obviously, being this world The Internet World, a discussion will 99% of the times end with 1) insults or 2) who has the biggest weener.

You would in fact think that this kind of newspapers would look up to the likes of The New York Times or The Guardian as international references often cited in their articles and follow the example of non-available comments. Despite some of the long [opinion] articles. Why? Smartasses won´t read that long to make an easy joke. Too much of a trouble. And probably contains words they never heard of.

And nowadays with everyone [read: newspapers] having a Facebook page and posting links to their news over there you would think they could leave the comments only to that platform. But no. Why? Let´s just say that Anonymous or any sort of smartass pseudonym is a way easier way to get your smartass point across. Be a smartass and show your real name and face is not that fun.

Recent Illusion

Can please someone, preferably a female specimen, tell me that a couple of conversations with a girl does not make me, or even more important, that person like me in a, let´s say, very interesting way? I know that I´ve just found a singer called Nerina Pallot and that her, now husband, proposed to her after a 30 minutes talk when 31 minutes before they didn´t even know each other but let´s not be naive, that´s an one in a million movie-like event and that dude is a lucky mate. He is. She´s awesome.

Just because the conversations were actually interesting and lasted for some hours let´s not push things forward. I know that even the awkward silences were not that awkward...but that might had happened only on my side. Anyway after one month why do I keep thinking about it? What´s really fun and plain weird is that besides all this I still don´t have the best idea of that person´s personality and at the same time enjoyed her that much. I haven´t seen her after this period of time, we don´t live near each other and on a move that I´m usually awful at I got no reply to a text message I sent (better than receive this one though). Me and my head. I think too much.

And that´s why I think this song can be featured here:

Because that´s me.

The Trailer

Despite being watching a movie every night for the past weeks I´ve never considered myself a good cinema fan. That happens mostly because my cinema-memory is quite awful. Titles, Directors, even which actors were in a certain movie don´t really stick on my head. I have favourite actors but even following their work and go watch at the cinema their latest movie is many times a mission not accomplished. In fact I don´t even go to the cinema that often. Among other reasons my brilliant town has only 2 rooms...which nowadays doesn´t make any sense...and this is not a small town for Portuguese standards.

Anyway I try to pay attention to movie releases and this days with social networking is quite easy to be well informed.

While consulting an online newspaper I saw a reference to the following movie due to the existence of 2 different trailers and 2 different promotion posters because apparently (well...nothing we didn´t know already...) Americans despite throwing liberalism at your face they are the biggest prudes of the modern world and they can´t have a poster with a girl showing her boobs. On a side note here´s another proof of USA´s liberalism

And here´s the trailer: (press 720p for a better experience...and raise the volume)

Now if this isn´t the most badass trailer of a movie you ever saw...

I´ve never heard of this movie before (and there´s already a Swedish version of it...because it´s based on a Swedish trilogy by Stieg Larsson) and also never heard about the books but I wanted to read them as soon as I discovered the movie only comes out later this year thus giving me time to read all three of them.

And meanwhile I´ll try watch the Swedish version too. Just like a new fanboy that hipsters are going to hate. Hipsters...they are awesome. Easy hipsters...I might add that now that I checked the book covers I remember come across this books every time I entered a book store...and that happens quite often. Take that hipsters!

Never thought it was a best seller (there´s where hipsters get mad if you didn´t know) and now sales will go up even more with this movie coming out and having David Fincher directing, Daniel Craig on it and Trent Reznor as soundtrack author of which you can have a taste on this trailer with the collaboration of Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs).

In conclusion looking forward for some good reading and that excitement of knowing that the book that you read will end up on a cinema screen. After all Atonement was great wasn´t it?

This is, yet again, a musical post

Remember my last post? It was not that long ago. And a bit of scroll down can be a good help for a reminder. Just saying.

I will try fight my usual inclusion of a Youtube video or any sort of links in a word.

This just started and I digress already. Digress is my new favourite word.

It is because 1) I just learnt it 2) was the word I was looking forward to describe my habit of going around in circles before getting to the main point and 3) Nerina Pallot (last post...have you read the first sentence of this post or not?) digresses a lot too as you can see on her blog on Myspace - yes, such thing still exists - and on her homemade videos on nerinapallottv (Youtube channel).

Fourth paragraph is the main point. I´m in absolute awe with Nerina Pallot´s (read "Pallow") music and personality. She´s amazing. If there´s one thing [digress alert] I´ve learnt with "Rage Comics" (no link...Google it) is that I´m not the only person in the world to whom happens or do awkward and strange things. So I´m probably not the only one jumping from passion to passion when it comes to music singers. I´m sorry dear Norge Marit, dear Dutchie Laura, dear Yank Diane but Nerina owns the stage by now. And I just found she used to write some big blog entries on Myspace as mentioned before...and while I´m reading she just keeps growing on me. Even if it was written way back - I usually found this musicians blogs when they stopped writing them long ago...

Her first two albums are on their way. I believe the other two will be soon. They aren´t yet because no Summer job means no money and this way I can also appreciate and give the necessary amounts of play to "Dear Frustrated Superstar" (bold name for a first album) and "Fires" (a masterpiece to who likes this kind of music as told by some [biased] people - Nerina´s fans).

On another note besides naming her son Wolfgang Amadeus (I will totally propose this name to my future wife) - and besides, for what I could gather until now, a proper Arsenal fan - she also has quite a story on how she met her husband. It wouldn´t give such a long story as the show How I Met Your Mother, that´s going up to 8 seasons, but it would sure be quite a fantastic story too. Wouldn´t go much further than a pilot episode when it comes to show duration but would be worth make it. As I found on a comment on a picture with the magazine article about it on her Facebook page "That´s all I ever wanted. That´s all I fear I´ll never get". I can only second that. Yup, is that lame and worth take a look. As told here already and me being such a Ted Mosby (Google it...) I wouldn´t mind at all have such lame moment.

Think this is enough promotion already or I would proceed the digress (overuse of word already?) and rambling on this musical passion until sleep kicks in. And it´s late already. But I believe those records soon on my mail box will be played to [perhaps non-existing] exhaustion because I believe I can listen to "Sophia" on repeat to the rest of my life. It also can be the heat of the moment...

P.S. I feel like I should present you another artist I finally decided to give some attention but I´m not whiling to steal Nerina´s spotlight with a post of her full of videos and complimenting words about her but you really should check Laura Marling. Unbelievable talented! She sure deserves a post with all of that I mentioned. Some other day...some other day.

*update* P.S.1 One of many interesting quotes of Nerina that I found in an old interview but still rather up to date:

"It takes courage to like anything just because you like it, in a world where we’re being told what we ought to like because a majority does, and when being ‘different’ is now much like being the same as everyone else."

*update2* Just read on a blog entry where she digresses on a nomination to an award that her favourite songs of 2007 were Chasing Cars [Snow Patrol] and...(not the very best of them but still!) Supermassive Black Hole by Muse. And some nice words about Arctic Monkeys too. Oh Nerina.

It´s just this. No idea if any more updates will appear here but stay tuned.

It´s Music To Your Ears

I like to have a story for this musical part of the blog in order to don´t turn it rather blank and with only a YT video on the post. So here we go:

Studying on a city that is not the one where you live you need to have lunch in that city every other day. There´s an whole lot of choices where I study. Canteen, college bars and tons of restaurants/bars/coffee places around it that serve cheap meals to attract students. While growing up I was always lucky enough to not need to eat at the canteen and have grandma´s recipes. Literally.
Despite the nice meals available on my canteen, I decided to go for the shopping mall 5/10 minutes away in a walking distance from my incredibly ugly college campus. It´s probably my favourite one in this land full of them and it´s a nice place to be in. There´s also cheap meals there plus every once in a while I get to have lunch with a friend that works there.

On one of many lunches there I´ve noticed the music played on the sound speakers was rather cool (meaning: stuff that I like). Snow Patrol, Keane, Joss Stone, Paloma Faith(!) among others. But, and after listening to an unknown one several times - yes, they play on repeat - I found myself wondering "Who the hell sounds this very nice Italian song?!" but with a ceiling 15 meters away from my head, where the sound columns are on, it wasn´t easy get the lyrics to google them later.

Thus I decided to arrive home and go search on the Italians charts if the music was there. An Italian song in Portugal is not that usual so this one must be very well known over there to get airplay here. That or you are Laura Pausini or Eros Ramazzotti (our radios loved them back in the day...). But nothing.

Until one day when I was getting out of the mall by the exit college students like me must use - underground parking lot...with a steep exit - and there (yes there´s sound speakers there too...fancy.) I´ve noticed the song was not Italian...but English. *Pokerface followed by facepalm*

Stopped a bit to quickly put some of the lyrics on the phone in time to no one see me staring at nothing in an underground parking because that´s a weird thing to do. I think.

Arrived home just to find out the great singer that is Nerina Pallot. And she´s on that cliché group of singers that for some strange reason don´t get the credit and attention they deserve.

The song:
I know..."how the fuck he thought this was Italian?!"...

She´s also the author of one of the best covers I´ve ever listened to:



Plus she seems a great person. To start she´s an Arsenal fan...with a great sense of humour as you can see in the end of this .

You can also follow her on twitter here for musical info and here to know what´s the latest Ebay item she´s into.

Summer on the grass

Or not so much.



Sabine is adorable. Always smiling. A sympathy that hides her threatening serve and forehand!
Semi finals for her next Thursday!

Oh yeah...tennis fan over here!

It´s Music To Your Ears

Oh...Hey there! You are perhaps thinking this blog is not being updated as it was a couple of months ago because the owner is now very worried with his final exams of the first year of the degree is engaged in and he is also probably looking for a Summer job to get some money...and something to do instead just good life. You might be also thinking "WTF am I doing in this blog?!", which is clearly a valid piece of thinking too.

Truth is that I´m not only procrastinating the exams + search of a Summer job but also procrastinating when it comes to this blog. Do I have random ideas/thoughts to post here? Yes. Those ideas appear late at night when I´m not really thinking in seat down and write them here? Most of the times. Do I remember what I was thinking to post here when I´m actually on the mood to seat down and write? Most of the times, no.

So to cover up here´s another music video to make this blog look like a really interesting one and that the owner makes all the efforts to keep it slightly updated.

One of the first female singers which work I started to follow with more attention. And there´s no Like button for this girl with a charismatic British accent. Either you love her or hate her. And despite the, now weird haircut, I love her. She can write the most shallow lyrics (and that´s her speciality) but she makes them sounds fantastic in a non-awkward way that a first attentive listen to the lyrics would suggest. She´s in fact the creator of the only song I can play in a guitar. Last but not least she looks like a great person and we can note that in the shallow/awesome lyrics. Enjoy!

It´s Music To Your Ears

My latest discovery:

And after seeing some videos and photos of her performing live I´ve placed her on the top of my must see concerts list.

And it´s funny how her speaking voice sounds lovely. And how she looks utterly lovely too.

*UPDATE* Well, well, well

Sounds like a nice way to end Summer holidays. On a venue that couldn´t be more perfect for her in my opinion and that I´m looking forward to visit for the first time. Hope this one would not be, yet again, one of those I eager to go and fail.

I´m in fact saving money for this kind of events but always saving it to artists that might even not come to Portugal let alone the city Porto and ending in not going to any at all. So from now on let´s take one at a time and if for some awesome reason the other I eager to watch visit this sunny place I´ll make the possible [and impossible] to attend.

*Le Website*

Some say I like Marit Larsen.

Thus when invited to be partner on a fan website regarding her work I couldn´t say no.

Here it is:

m-larsen.net

And in a couple of months we had more than 1500 visits already! This when Marit is taking a quite long break from the success of her last album! So we´re glad we are doing a great job [apparently].

Olá Finlândia!

It´s not the post I´ve promised with the best princess but it´s a good one. Well...depends a bit of how you approach the scenario...

You´re probably not aware if you aren´t in Portugal, not paying attention to global economic markets or...in Finland specifically.

The story goes like this...I´m going to make this quite short for a better understanding:

Portugal is [almost] broke. Therefore we asked for international help mainly from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But also from European Union and the European Central Bank. To this institutions lend us money (a mere 78 billion Euros...) all the countries must agree because they all contribute with an amount of that mere figure.

Finland had elections a few weeks ago. A party that does not particularly like countries that are irresponsible on how they handle money (can we blame them?) got a fancy amount of votes so they think they shouldn´t lend us money. So dear members of that party included in a country on a thing called European Union. Here´s a video for you.

You´re welcome for 1940.

And you will get your money back.

No hard feelings. We apologize for our governments decisions. And there´s no pun intended on the video. It´s worth for mostly for the humour. Even if you don´t get it. And lift our moral up.

gyraemopfarcb aiosab oirshusdw

I tried to type a title. Unfortunately I did that while watching the following videos.





We already knew Santa Claus was from Finland but nobody told us princesses come from there too. Holy beauty!!

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On the princesses subject: katemiddletonforthewin.tumblr.com

Meanwhile I call dibs on Princess Beatrice on the right.


My next post will also feature a princess. The best one. True story.

It´s Music To Your Ears

I thought you´d like a new version
She did it while in a festival
It has a pretty edition
and a gigantic microphone



Found here

In an ideal world

Zooey Deschanel knows best.

It´s Music To Your Ears - Stop Motion style

I´m sure you have came across this (pretty awesome) animation technique before but here´s two of my favourite musical Stop Motion videos.



Found somewhere on this wonderfully written blog.

And this one starring, the more than lovely, Alison Sudol. Who? Oh...sorry, A Fine Frenzy. She might respond more often to that name.



Enjoy! And if you have some video of this kind to share be my guest!

It´s Music To Your Ears

Hup Holland Hup!

Laura Jansen - Bells, EPK from Dri Riser on Vimeo.

For even more info...the look-alike-with-half-duration video:

I wrote "boobs". Three times. Therefore...über interesting post!

If you follow me on Twitter you might have noticed I´ve mentioned a Dutch name a few times over the last weeks. Probably way too many times. I´m one of those persons with crushes on another people and Laura Jansen is the latest one. Not that I have many. It´s just her and another singer I also might have mentioned a lot on that same Twitter account.

Now to the statement any British tabloid would love to have on their front pages and that - perhaps - explains the crushes thingy: I´ve never had a girlfriend. I guess. I´m sure I´ve been in love before though. I´m pretty sure I let her know about that. And I´m definitely sure I got a negative reply. Life goes on.

Not that I blame her. I blame myself. Being shy, not being a jerk (Hey...have you learned your lesson?) and not being handsome (just a little bit) helps to put me on the just friends list. So, and being a perfectionist bastard - not self-destruction...I just use sarcasm for comedy effects. Did it work?...Nevermind then - I chose utterly cute/beautiful girls to have a crush on. Wouldn´t make sense the other way around right?

You can think I like Marit Larsen´s music because of her looks and the same goes for Laura. It just happens that I enjoy listen to female voices and happens that those two check for "utterly cute/beautiful girls". And as an avid fan I try to know of them besides looks and cool music. Fans try in someway "humanize" artists they like. And nowadays that´s rather easy in this social networking World we live on. Therefore when on a live stream of a concert you hear Laura say that if she could she would have seven or eight disabled/rejected dogs you know she´s a cool girl. Me being a dog-person also helps.

With this I see myself getting married (Damn. I´m such a Ted Mosby - yay for HIMYM reference!) with such a good person. I don´t care about boobs. Or asses. See? We are not all the same. Well...I do notice that from time to time but when I see a face like Laura or Marit I can´t help it...I melt a tiny bit. It´s lame but I don´t *words*. I prefer any of them over Katy Perry and her boobs. Call it what you want. I call it preferences. And yes *more words* .

P.S. With this post the owner of the blog do not aim to make that any girl that does not look like Marit or Laura to not get even near him or show any interest. Like that would ever happen. The owner of this blog does not like to think he gives a wrong idea about his...well...ideas...and personality. Feel free to meet the owner of this awesome blog. You too girls with big boobs!

It´s Music To Your Ears

Found this yesterday.

Basically was looping in my head all day.

Great song and pretty awesome video by Sara Bareilles!

And, to help the song´s loop, the images of the video also were present in my mind...

Ben Folds saying that uncharted rhymes with farted, Pharrel Williams just doesn´t get old, Josh Groban and his banana (wait...), Ryan Tedder (who knows how to choose girls to his videos , Vanessa Carlton (long time no see) and last but not least the annoyingly beautiful Laura Jansen . And yes. I do sing the "la la la" part with her at the end. I do not waive though. Once I did it. Okay, a few times. It´s rude not waive back at someone who´s waiving at you.

It´s Music To Your Ears

Hello Spring!!

How are you and yours 25ºC?! Pretty warm han? Let´s keep it that way!

------

Latest addiction:

The lyrics. Great!

"I want dimples, and simple symbols that she's sweet"

Have a nice Spring!

And a nice Autumn if you´re down a certain line...don´t get jealous. Autumn is cool!

Review - Katie Melua - Coliseu do Porto

Worth the wait. Katie Melua was due to start her European Tour to promote her new album "The House" last October. Unfortunately an health problem made her postpone not a couple of concerts but all the already scheduled tour. This way my ticket, which was bought right away the announcement of the tour to guarantee a great and not crazy expensive seat, had to wait a few more months.

March arrived and we had the third concert of this tour. The first chords and lyrics were made behind the curtains that when opened resulted in a big reaction of the crowd during "The Closest Thing To Crazy" performed by an alone and intimist Katie on stage.

By the end of the first song I could tell everyone wouldn´t have any regrets of the money and time spent on this show. The official greetings and compliments to the gorgeous city were made right after.

Before the concert I wondered how Katie would build a setlist that at the same time should contain all the (already) classics with the new album which was the purpose of this tour if we can say so. Katie did it well. Probably postponing all the concerts made the new album reach the perfect maturation among all the fans because I could listen people around me humming the lyrics of "I´d Love To Kill You", "Moment of Madness" and "Tiny Alien".

The singles got a great response too. "The Flood" is quite a masterpiece live. "A Happy Place" kept the upbeat.

The mix of the new songs with the ones already well known by the fans made the concert pleasant and without any awkward moments of any unknown song played to pass time. In fact, "No Fear of Heights" - played for the first time live and again in another intimate moment where only Katie and her guitar player were on stage - and "Red Balloons" had the best feedback from the sold out Coliseu.

Back to the curtains they revealed what I think it was a gigantic screen...but after a couple of songs without nothing on it I lost my hopes and thought Katie would only rely the show on her great voice and flawless band. I was actually right in the first place because when Katie left the center of the stage and seated on her piano she told us she had some cool graphics to show us but the computer wasn´t working properly (it end up working though)...this way she also told us she feels like she should compensate that fact singing more songs. Complimenting laughs echoed on the room. That´s Katie. A shy talented Georgian-British young girl - Yes, she´s just 26 - that delivers song after song without saying much in between them. Some like it, others not so much. Some interaction wouldn´t hurt. Although it´s understandable due to the shyness not only of Katie by also from the crowd at her concerts.

Also to note in the middle of all this...a song to Japan. Despite the angelic look and unreal voice Katie is indeed human and made that moment one of the most touching ones of the night. She cares. Not a coincidence that a sponsor of her tour is Opel and she´s the face of their electric car - Ampera.

"My Aphrodisiac Is You" - yup, you should check the lyrics for this one - came with ice soap bubbles (such awesome thing indeed exists!!) from the ceiling. A fun Melua wonder around the stage kicking them with a large smile on her face.

We demanded an encore. "Nine Million Bicycles" beautifully opened it. "I Cried For You", again in a solo intimist performance, ended the perfect night making some of the presents take the lyrics quite literally. A lonely girl by my side was quite moved. It´s how good this concert was.

P.S. I have no idea what was the health problem that made Katie cancel the tour back in October but I can´t go past saying this. She is one fit girl!

It´s Music To Your Ears - LIVE and kicking

I am going to use one of this tickets today!

Hint: It´s not the fancy one that says "Maio 2010"...but that was good too.

Wish I could go to concerts more often.

See you tonight Katie!!

Late at night...it´s when I write.

I have a thing for beautiful girls. It´s a curse. I could have been one of those teenagers which the most important thing to do is focus on how to get to the next level of my strategy video game or how to win the next game on Football Manager (which...I actually won. Take that Leeds United!!). But no, I rather spend some of my time on a computer searching pictures of girls. Not in a perv way. I guess. And hope.

I mostly take a look at sets of pictures of singers and actresses (call me selective) which I liked to see/listen to. Or perfect strangers on fashion blogs (the most recent strange addiction for a 20 years old boy) like this one . I think it´s not the fashion per se but the mix of it (great looks/styles/clothes/accessories) with beautiful girls (of course...but I also like to see men´s fashion on it) and finally photography.

I´ve developed a musical taste which I´ve learned to sum up, among obviously, things outside that, in "British bands and female voices". The thing is there is a strange relation between beauty and my preference for female voices because all of them look gorgeous. That´s what "scientists" should study...this strange correlations! I won´t write names because I don´t want this post to end on the bottom of the page or forget any name.

With this and through time I´ve started to require that the girls I would be interested in would have a certain personality (well...I´m afraid I´m not alone here...). Call me weird (and taking this to the point that lead to this post) but I´d like (prefer?) to meet a girl who reads a magazine which tell her the trends for next Summer rather than gossip or what will happen next week on her favorite soap opera... She can watch soap operas though. See? I´m not that demanding.

So for the last few days I´ve become a fancy (I just use this word because I like how it sounds) boy and start to visit pages such as Vanity Fair or Esquire .

Also, and all this post could really start just on this paragraph instead of revealing the strange myself, I also started to visit The New York Times (NYT) page because let´s be honest...I don´t watch Portuguese newspapers/tv´s talking crap all the time (uuhh look to the fancy boy!)

So, and (finally) for the real purpose of this entry, yesterday I was wondering through the music section of NYT and I found this:

0:42 to 0:55...I fell for her there. It´s a curse.

And you should take a look at NYT article because she is in one of those strange and mysterious stories involving labels and artists.

In fact my next post may involve another interesting music story. Now I´ll only have to wait for the next late night where at 4am I´ll get myself a pen and a piece of paper and write it down. And on the following day I´ll wonder, like I wondered for this entry, if I should post it or keep it to myself...

The Bookstore

"When I sit here alone and so full of weary sadness and I think about myself with plaintive yearnings my heart is heavy and all I can do is sit on the hard chair and look out of the window up at the sky. And I can sit here forever and feel so miserably at ease, thinking, making up things and making everything go on so wonderfully for myself, and all along I know it’s only make-believe. But I don’t care. I like to do it so much.

And when I’m not making things up I think about real things and then I almost kill myself with the saddest joy when I think how nice this was and how nice that was and how homely and familiar and peaceful that was and how the day was cloudy and later it began to rain while we were inside in the darkened room where the girl I made up said you’re such a dope but I don’t care. I just want to sit here by the window with my cold hand against my face and just let me alone a little while so I can think awhile. And if no one will bother me I’ll have such a lovely time. There’s so much I want to think about and lay out nicely so I can refer to it again and again and again. Because that’s the way it is with me. I can have such a good time and it would be so unfair and stupid to deprive me of it all for really no reason at all."

from "Love Is Like Park Avenue" by Alvin Levin

Picture for words

And someone recommend me this...so I´ll do the same for you in this It´s Music To Your Hears inside a post. Just like the dream within a dream...yeah.

And yes, I also feel like the highest rated comment on the video...