My sister came along with me to this show, and it was her first time visiting Koncerthuset. As she is an engineer and loves buildings, we spent some time taking a wee tour around the place and admiring it - it really is just a gorgeous place, perfectly suited for playing and experiencing music in.
We had seats on the front row right at center stage. The band came on and started with The Pilgrim's Song (as far as I remember, I am writing this a month after the fact and have been unable to find a setlist online).
Songs would mostly start slow and build to massive crescendos, and it was mesmerising watching these brilliant musicians fall into their music - Martin Hayes and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh on their fiddles - Caoimhín made noises come out of his instrument that I had thought were from a completely different instrument on the record, just unbelievable - Thomas Bartlett at the piano (made me think of Tori, watching him), and then of course singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, of whom I've been a fan since the second Afro Celts Sound System album.
Each of the members, except for Dennis Cahill, took turns talking to the audience, and Iarla thanked us in Danish. The three Irish guys mostly talked about inspirations and sources behind songs and stuff, but Thomas (American) talked about his favourite places to eat in Copenhagen and what lovely things he'd had for dinner the day before. I think both Iarla and Martin also commented on the wonderful space they were playing in, same as Tori had done a couple of years before. They were clearly enjoying themselves on stage, and I always love seeing that.
The whole show was just pure magic for me, from start to finish - I nearly made myself cry when I closed my eyes and thought 'that's Iarla Ó Lionáird there a couple of feet directly in front of me, singing so beautifully, and in Irish'. I also kept wondering how many of the Danish people in the audience were wannabe-Gaeilgeoirs like me :)
As I said, I can't remember all the songs played, but in addition to 'The Pilgrim's Song', there were also 'Oisín's Song', 'Fáinleog', 'Cucanandy' and 'Saoirse'. Probably all of the instrumentals from the second album were played as well, but I couldn't say for sure. I had hoped for 'Samhradh Samhradh', which is my favourite from the first album, but that was not played. Oh well, maybe next time :)
My sister enjoyed herself too, although this is not really her type of music, but I was so happy that we got to share the experience and had a bit of sister-time to boot.
Sunday, April 02, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Concert Report: Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds, Royal Arena, 29 Mar 2017
This was my first time seeing these guys live, let alone the fact that I still have my first DMB show proper ahead of me.
They both seemed to enjoy themselves immensely on stage, Dave making lots of jokes, and making a short but powerful political statement, saying in Danish 'Jeg vil gerne sige undskyld for ham vi har puttet i Det Hvide Hus'. I just read a review which called his Danish 'very broken' - I have to strongly disagree, I thought he did a great job :)
On the funnier side, the story about his very silly but very comfortable and very recently acquired underpants with skulls on them was hilarious, as was the story on why 'Samurai Cop' is called 'Samurai Cop'. The song is named after what he considered the worst movie ever, but the song itself has nothing to do with any type of police or martial arts at all - it just made a cool title, and I agree - he sorta made me want to check out that movie.
There were lots of foreign fans in the audience, and lots of requests were being shouted at the stage between songs (looking at you, 'Don't Drink The Water'), which led both Tim and Dave to pretend they were writing lists on their palms.
It really did feel very intimate, which was aided by the fact that the day before the show a lot of us had gotten emails saying we'd been issued new tickets - they pushed the stage up a bit towards the one end and eliminated gaps in the audience that way.
These guys sure know how to play guitar, and Tim's rendition of 'Kashmir' was nothing short of mesmerising. There were a few songs I didn't know on the set list, and a lot of songs that I really like (in particular 'Grey Street', 'Crush', 'When The World Ends' and 'Satellite').
Dave took to the piano a couple of times, and joked that he only used two fingers to play, 'because why crowd it'. I felt like shouting back, 'well, that's still one more finger than Bono uses!' based on the old joke about the tune 'Beach Sequence' from the Passengers album which was also known as 'One Finger Piano'. I didn't though, it was much too much of an inside joke to be funny to anyone other than me.
Setlist courtesy of DMB's website, with album and year added by me (thank you, Wikipedia):
1. Take Me To Tomorrow (Dave Solo) (The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver, 2013)
2. Crush (Before These Crowded Streets, 1998)
3. Bartender (Busted Stuff, 2002)
4. Stay Or Leave (Some Devil, 2003)
5. When The World Ends (Everyday, 2001)
6. Bismarck
7. Satellite (Under The Table And Dreaming, 1994)
8. #41 (Crash, 1996)
9. Grey Street (Busted Stuff, 2002)
10. Grab The Horns By The Bull (Tim Solo)
11. Death On The High Seas
12. Warehouse (Under The Table And Dreaming, 1994)
13. The Space Between (Everyday, 2001)
14. Fool To Think (Everyday, 2001)
15. Lie In Our Graves (Crash, 1996)
16. Samurai Cop
17. Loving Wings
18. You Might Die Trying (Stand Up, 2005)
19. Kashmir (Tim Solo, Led Zeppelin cover)
20. Virginia In The Rain
21. Gravedigger (Some Devil, 2003)
22. Tripping Billies (Crash, 1996)
23. Funny The Way It Is (Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King, 2009)
24. Two Step (Crash, 1996)
25. What Would You Say (Under The Table And Dreaming, 1994)
26. Ants Marching (Under The Table And Dreaming, 1994)
27. You & Me (Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King, 2009)
They both seemed to enjoy themselves immensely on stage, Dave making lots of jokes, and making a short but powerful political statement, saying in Danish 'Jeg vil gerne sige undskyld for ham vi har puttet i Det Hvide Hus'. I just read a review which called his Danish 'very broken' - I have to strongly disagree, I thought he did a great job :)
On the funnier side, the story about his very silly but very comfortable and very recently acquired underpants with skulls on them was hilarious, as was the story on why 'Samurai Cop' is called 'Samurai Cop'. The song is named after what he considered the worst movie ever, but the song itself has nothing to do with any type of police or martial arts at all - it just made a cool title, and I agree - he sorta made me want to check out that movie.
There were lots of foreign fans in the audience, and lots of requests were being shouted at the stage between songs (looking at you, 'Don't Drink The Water'), which led both Tim and Dave to pretend they were writing lists on their palms.
It really did feel very intimate, which was aided by the fact that the day before the show a lot of us had gotten emails saying we'd been issued new tickets - they pushed the stage up a bit towards the one end and eliminated gaps in the audience that way.
These guys sure know how to play guitar, and Tim's rendition of 'Kashmir' was nothing short of mesmerising. There were a few songs I didn't know on the set list, and a lot of songs that I really like (in particular 'Grey Street', 'Crush', 'When The World Ends' and 'Satellite').
Dave took to the piano a couple of times, and joked that he only used two fingers to play, 'because why crowd it'. I felt like shouting back, 'well, that's still one more finger than Bono uses!' based on the old joke about the tune 'Beach Sequence' from the Passengers album which was also known as 'One Finger Piano'. I didn't though, it was much too much of an inside joke to be funny to anyone other than me.
Setlist courtesy of DMB's website, with album and year added by me (thank you, Wikipedia):
1. Take Me To Tomorrow (Dave Solo) (The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver, 2013)
2. Crush (Before These Crowded Streets, 1998)
3. Bartender (Busted Stuff, 2002)
4. Stay Or Leave (Some Devil, 2003)
5. When The World Ends (Everyday, 2001)
6. Bismarck
7. Satellite (Under The Table And Dreaming, 1994)
8. #41 (Crash, 1996)
9. Grey Street (Busted Stuff, 2002)
10. Grab The Horns By The Bull (Tim Solo)
11. Death On The High Seas
12. Warehouse (Under The Table And Dreaming, 1994)
13. The Space Between (Everyday, 2001)
14. Fool To Think (Everyday, 2001)
15. Lie In Our Graves (Crash, 1996)
16. Samurai Cop
17. Loving Wings
18. You Might Die Trying (Stand Up, 2005)
19. Kashmir (Tim Solo, Led Zeppelin cover)
20. Virginia In The Rain
21. Gravedigger (Some Devil, 2003)
22. Tripping Billies (Crash, 1996)
23. Funny The Way It Is (Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King, 2009)
24. Two Step (Crash, 1996)
25. What Would You Say (Under The Table And Dreaming, 1994)
26. Ants Marching (Under The Table And Dreaming, 1994)
27. You & Me (Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King, 2009)
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Reflections on Galadriel's Mirror, as it were
I was watching "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" the other day, and it smote me how much those three movies have become a sort of visual summaries of the real story for me - I guess partly because I can fill in the gaps and partly how much more apparent those gaps have become to me over time. I have known this story since I was 14 and I really don't know how many times I've read it - and I have to say, the Danish translation is so good that sometimes I don't know if I remember a line in Danish or English. I don't even remember when I acquired the English version, and the English version with our Queen's illustrations is still on my wish list.
Oh, and please do not get me started on "The Hobbit" trilogy (but here I go): The first one was amazing, the second one quite full of gaps (even given the return of Legolas, the allover awesomeness that was Lee Pace as Thranduil, and Benedict Cumberbatch's fantastic Smaug), and the third one was abominable (even given Billy Connolly's memorable turn as Dain, however inappropriately comical). I had been soooo much looking forward to Peter Jackson's take on the whole White Council thing, but why why why was Gandalf's facial expressions in Rivendell (in "An Unexpected Journey") so irreverent to Saruman, because he sure wasn't,when he went to Orthanc in "The Fellowship Of The Ring", so why would he look like that nearly a century before we all discovered Saruman was a traitor?
Also, there are a couple of glaring misconceptions that I just could not ignore (but this was before I knew of how Mr. Jackson had not had enough time as could have been wished for during the whole filming process, as opposed to that of "Lord of the Rings").
Firstly - athelas means 'kingsfoil' and came with the Kings from Westernesse (ie. Númenor, the forebears of the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor, and hence Aragorn), and is therefore a Man thing and emphatically NOT an Elvish thing.
Secondly - The Earth Diggers....those awkward worm thingies. Oh, but this is not Frank Herbert, and this is not Dune....
Thirdly - the glass holding the light of the star Ëarendil (an ancestor of both Arwen and Aragorn) given to Frodo by Galadriel in "Fellowship of the Ring" was made especially for him and so did not exist during the time of "The Hobbit".
Fourthly - Never ever ever in a million years would Galadriel have brought her Ring of Power (visibly!) within striking distance of Dol Guldur, and nowhere is it said that the White Council went themselves against Dol Guldur, it is only said that they sent forces against it, and also that Sauron gave way fairly easily, because the Nazgûl had by then already made Barad Dûr ready for him. It is however specifically said time and again that Sauron never had any and always sought knowledge of the Three Elven Rings (of which Galadriel had one, Elrond had another, and Gandalf eventually had the third, given to him by Círdan the Shipwright in the Grey Havens who was an Elf of great age).
Oh, and please do not get me started on "The Hobbit" trilogy (but here I go): The first one was amazing, the second one quite full of gaps (even given the return of Legolas, the allover awesomeness that was Lee Pace as Thranduil, and Benedict Cumberbatch's fantastic Smaug), and the third one was abominable (even given Billy Connolly's memorable turn as Dain, however inappropriately comical). I had been soooo much looking forward to Peter Jackson's take on the whole White Council thing, but why why why was Gandalf's facial expressions in Rivendell (in "An Unexpected Journey") so irreverent to Saruman, because he sure wasn't,when he went to Orthanc in "The Fellowship Of The Ring", so why would he look like that nearly a century before we all discovered Saruman was a traitor?
Also, there are a couple of glaring misconceptions that I just could not ignore (but this was before I knew of how Mr. Jackson had not had enough time as could have been wished for during the whole filming process, as opposed to that of "Lord of the Rings").
Firstly - athelas means 'kingsfoil' and came with the Kings from Westernesse (ie. Númenor, the forebears of the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor, and hence Aragorn), and is therefore a Man thing and emphatically NOT an Elvish thing.
Secondly - The Earth Diggers....those awkward worm thingies. Oh, but this is not Frank Herbert, and this is not Dune....
Thirdly - the glass holding the light of the star Ëarendil (an ancestor of both Arwen and Aragorn) given to Frodo by Galadriel in "Fellowship of the Ring" was made especially for him and so did not exist during the time of "The Hobbit".
Fourthly - Never ever ever in a million years would Galadriel have brought her Ring of Power (visibly!) within striking distance of Dol Guldur, and nowhere is it said that the White Council went themselves against Dol Guldur, it is only said that they sent forces against it, and also that Sauron gave way fairly easily, because the Nazgûl had by then already made Barad Dûr ready for him. It is however specifically said time and again that Sauron never had any and always sought knowledge of the Three Elven Rings (of which Galadriel had one, Elrond had another, and Gandalf eventually had the third, given to him by Círdan the Shipwright in the Grey Havens who was an Elf of great age).
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
More selfies!! Run away, run away!
I am having soooo much fun with this. Today I went through Tivoli on my way home from work - what else is a year pass good for, eh? I can just go in whenever I want. Sweet!
Anyway, here are the best and the funniest of today's stint...
Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I get that these pictures aren't completely off kilter (this one is a tiny bit)....
Tickling the stone lion - he doesn't seem to be enjoying it.....
I really love this. So much so that after years and years, I finally replaced the Elf Maiden profile picture on FB with this one:
In this, I was sorta trying to get a picture of my head down to and including my eyes, with beautiful flowers and fountains behind me. First of all, I have a huge forehead that sorta gets in the way. Second, what kind of angle do you call this?
These are the flowers and fountains I was trying to include:
Tivoli have put up a row of mirrors up near the main entrance. Some of them are normal mirrors, some of them are not. Behold!
In this one I discovered the obvious difference between the angle my eyes are using to view things, and then what happens when I put my camera down at waist level. Argh, run away, run away! Incidentally that big black blob is my backpack.
Look at my fringe!
Look at my neck!
*End Of Shenanigans*
Anyway, here are the best and the funniest of today's stint...
Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I get that these pictures aren't completely off kilter (this one is a tiny bit)....
Tickling the stone lion - he doesn't seem to be enjoying it.....
I really love this. So much so that after years and years, I finally replaced the Elf Maiden profile picture on FB with this one:
In this, I was sorta trying to get a picture of my head down to and including my eyes, with beautiful flowers and fountains behind me. First of all, I have a huge forehead that sorta gets in the way. Second, what kind of angle do you call this?
These are the flowers and fountains I was trying to include:
Tivoli have put up a row of mirrors up near the main entrance. Some of them are normal mirrors, some of them are not. Behold!
In this one I discovered the obvious difference between the angle my eyes are using to view things, and then what happens when I put my camera down at waist level. Argh, run away, run away! Incidentally that big black blob is my backpack.
Look at my fringe!
Look at my neck!
*End Of Shenanigans*
Monday, July 25, 2016
Selfies - if ya hate 'em, skip this post
Okay, so I have embarked on this: http://www.viviennemcmasterphotography.com/beloved-beginnings/
I will probably take longer than ten days, but hey, I don't mind, I am going to have FUN with this.
Today I went to the park after dinner and played around with taking pictures in the late afternoon light. So here are the best and the funniest.
This one was a complete fluke, because I didn't realise that I hadn't zoomed back out after the previous shot - I am simply extending my arm and pointing it at my profile, and I'm focusing on keeping my eyes open into the sun. I couldn't have composed it better had I actually tried.
And, it's a little bit embarrassing (but very funny) - that orange dot on my cheek is not weird pigment, it's a tiny piece of chopped carrot from my dinner.
This one is completely out of focus, but I really really adore the light in it, and the composition. If only it didn't look so much like I'd photoshopped myself in, but then again, who would do that with a completely blurry image?
This one was taken by setting the camera on top of a handball goal - there are a couple of them scattered around the wider grassier areas of the park behind my house. I zoomed in a little bit, set it to take a picture after 10 seconds, and ran for it. The first time I stopped running too soon, and looked back at the camera just as it took the picture. Composition-wise it's not bad.....that's about it. Note to self: next time you do this, try and count to ten Mississippis before you turn.
In this one, same MO, I was going for the Luthien-dancing-in-the-grass vibe (and NOT, emphatically NOT Maria-on-the-hilltop-in-Sound-of-Music). Not sure I hit it, but I'm also pretty sure I could have been a lot further from it than this.
In this one I look positively eeeeevil - those staring eyes (I'm facing into the sun), and that insane little smile lurking at one corner of my mouth and that nasty raised eyebrow. Appearances deceive, I swear!
This last one is the best of the lot - there is nothing I don't love about this picture, even the slightly crooked horizon that I only noticed while I was adding the picture to this post.
I will probably take longer than ten days, but hey, I don't mind, I am going to have FUN with this.
Today I went to the park after dinner and played around with taking pictures in the late afternoon light. So here are the best and the funniest.
This one was a complete fluke, because I didn't realise that I hadn't zoomed back out after the previous shot - I am simply extending my arm and pointing it at my profile, and I'm focusing on keeping my eyes open into the sun. I couldn't have composed it better had I actually tried.
And, it's a little bit embarrassing (but very funny) - that orange dot on my cheek is not weird pigment, it's a tiny piece of chopped carrot from my dinner.
This one is completely out of focus, but I really really adore the light in it, and the composition. If only it didn't look so much like I'd photoshopped myself in, but then again, who would do that with a completely blurry image?
This one was taken by setting the camera on top of a handball goal - there are a couple of them scattered around the wider grassier areas of the park behind my house. I zoomed in a little bit, set it to take a picture after 10 seconds, and ran for it. The first time I stopped running too soon, and looked back at the camera just as it took the picture. Composition-wise it's not bad.....that's about it. Note to self: next time you do this, try and count to ten Mississippis before you turn.
In this one, same MO, I was going for the Luthien-dancing-in-the-grass vibe (and NOT, emphatically NOT Maria-on-the-hilltop-in-Sound-of-Music). Not sure I hit it, but I'm also pretty sure I could have been a lot further from it than this.
In this one I look positively eeeeevil - those staring eyes (I'm facing into the sun), and that insane little smile lurking at one corner of my mouth and that nasty raised eyebrow. Appearances deceive, I swear!
This last one is the best of the lot - there is nothing I don't love about this picture, even the slightly crooked horizon that I only noticed while I was adding the picture to this post.
Thursday, June 04, 2015
Buried Treasures....
For some years now, I've been collecting books I read and loved when I was a teen, and in their original English. It all started with me coming upon Meredith Ann Pierce's 'Darkangel' in Chapters in Dublin a couple years ago. Since then, I've managed to find Steve Senn's 'A Circle In The Sea', Judith Tarr's 'The Hound & The Falcon' trilogy and most recently John Tully's 'The White Cat'. It's a rediscovery of treasures :) (and thank you Abebooks)
I'm sure there are others that will turn up in my mind in time to come - I only found 'The White Cat' because I remembered parts of the story and in particular the style of the illustrator, Victor Ambrus, and as he was also one of the illustrators on my Danish version of David Day's 'A Tolkien Bestiary', it didn't take me long (thank you Google and Wikipedia) to find the book - I'd had this scene from it stuck in my head for months, and it was driving me bonkers not being able to remember title or author. I'm reading it now and loving every minute of it.
On my list, and never forgotten, are Laura Ingalls' series of books - I only have one in my possession, but have fond memories of the books, and of course also the TV-series, which deviates from the books quite substantially, but not in a bad way. I only want copies with Garth Williams' illustrations - much like Pauline Baynes and Narnia - to me getting any other versions would take away some of the magic. Oh and a note for the geeks among you, and I didn't know this until recently - it was actually Tolkien who introduced Pauline Baynes to C.S. Lewis. Go figure!
I'm sure there are others that will turn up in my mind in time to come - I only found 'The White Cat' because I remembered parts of the story and in particular the style of the illustrator, Victor Ambrus, and as he was also one of the illustrators on my Danish version of David Day's 'A Tolkien Bestiary', it didn't take me long (thank you Google and Wikipedia) to find the book - I'd had this scene from it stuck in my head for months, and it was driving me bonkers not being able to remember title or author. I'm reading it now and loving every minute of it.
On my list, and never forgotten, are Laura Ingalls' series of books - I only have one in my possession, but have fond memories of the books, and of course also the TV-series, which deviates from the books quite substantially, but not in a bad way. I only want copies with Garth Williams' illustrations - much like Pauline Baynes and Narnia - to me getting any other versions would take away some of the magic. Oh and a note for the geeks among you, and I didn't know this until recently - it was actually Tolkien who introduced Pauline Baynes to C.S. Lewis. Go figure!
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Concert Report: Tori Amos, Koncerthuset, 24 May 2014
There was a real sense in this show of picking up a gauntlet, and not being afraid ahead of the fight to come, without it being too harsh or confrontational. Hard to put my finger on, but a great show, and a lot of love in it too.
Also, after the two Scarlet's Walk songs, I realised there is something more to be said about that album and Neil Gaiman's American Gods than I had previously been aware of.
I don't have the new album yet, and only two things were performed from it, but I will definitely be acquiring it at some future point. 'Selkie' was a lovely and very warm story.
Setlist courtesy of Tori's Tumblr account, with added album info
Parasol (The Beekeeper, 2005)
Pancake (Scarlet's Walk, 2002)
Eyes improv
Crucify (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Apollo's Frock (Scarlet's Hidden Treasures, Welcome To Sunny Florida, 2004)
Silent All These Years (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
The Power Of Orange Knickers (The Beekeeper, 2005)
Selkie (Unrepentant Geraldines, 2014)
Lizard Lounge:
A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell cover)
Suzanne (Leonard Cohen cover)
China (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Oysters (Unrepentant Geraldines, 2014)
Siren (Great Expectations soundtrack, 1998)
Take To The Sky (Winter single, 1992, with parts of Datura thrown in, from To Venus And Back, 1999)
Scarlet's Walk (Scarlet's Walk, 2002)
Precious Things (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Mr. Zebra (Boys For Pele, 1996)
Cornflake Girl (Under The Pink, 1994)
General Joy (The Beekeeper, 2005)
Pretty Good Year (Under The Pink, 1994)
Tear In Your Hand (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Also, after the two Scarlet's Walk songs, I realised there is something more to be said about that album and Neil Gaiman's American Gods than I had previously been aware of.
I don't have the new album yet, and only two things were performed from it, but I will definitely be acquiring it at some future point. 'Selkie' was a lovely and very warm story.
Setlist courtesy of Tori's Tumblr account, with added album info
Parasol (The Beekeeper, 2005)
Pancake (Scarlet's Walk, 2002)
Eyes improv
Crucify (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Apollo's Frock (Scarlet's Hidden Treasures, Welcome To Sunny Florida, 2004)
Silent All These Years (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
The Power Of Orange Knickers (The Beekeeper, 2005)
Selkie (Unrepentant Geraldines, 2014)
Lizard Lounge:
A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell cover)
Suzanne (Leonard Cohen cover)
China (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Oysters (Unrepentant Geraldines, 2014)
Siren (Great Expectations soundtrack, 1998)
Take To The Sky (Winter single, 1992, with parts of Datura thrown in, from To Venus And Back, 1999)
Scarlet's Walk (Scarlet's Walk, 2002)
Precious Things (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Mr. Zebra (Boys For Pele, 1996)
Cornflake Girl (Under The Pink, 1994)
General Joy (The Beekeeper, 2005)
Pretty Good Year (Under The Pink, 1994)
Tear In Your Hand (Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Friday, November 08, 2013
Concert Report: Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra, Pumpehuset, 31 October 2013
I didn't quite know what to expect, except maybe to expect the unexpected. And boy, was I in for a treat. This was unlike anything I'd ever seen in a concert setting - a very close relationship between stage and performer. Amanda and her band were even seen in the wings during the support acts' sets, enjoying themselves immensely. And there was stagediving, with Amanda wearing a cutaway coat with an impossibly long, wide and thin train that we the audience got to spread out in its entirety. That must've looked amazing from the stage.
There were three support acts: Jherek Bischoff, who played bass (and some ukulele), a band which I think was called Simple Pleasures, the lead singer reminded me a bit of what Bono must've been like in the Dandelion Market days, and then Danish singer Lydmor, who blew me away. She seemed so fragile at first, but she delivered an amazing set, and later came back to duet with Amanda.
On to the main act - everyone in the band came onstage wearing awesome skull makeup in honour of Halloween, except Amanda, who turned up at the other end of the hall, with her ukulele, and started off with 'Creep'. Okay then!
As the evening progressed I heard a lot of songs that I didn't know, seeing as I only really know the Radiohead stuff and 'Theatre Is Evil', but I'll be sure to check out her back catalogue now.
Pictures below are courtesy of the lovely Ida Salomäki that I met outside the venue when it started raining, and she extended her umbrella to me, and we ended up hanging out together all evening in the front row :)
After the show Amanda signed autographs, and Ida and I tried to calm down a bit from an absolutely mindblowing evening. This was NOT my last Amanda Palmer show for sure :)
Set list below is courtesy of http://www.setlist.fm/:
Acoustic from upstairs: Creep (Radiohead cover) (ukulele)
Grand Theft Orchestra Intermission
Do It With a Rockstar
The Killing Type
Missed Me (Dresden Dolls cover)
Want It Back
Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed cover)
Half Jack (Dresden Dolls cover) (very long instrumental intro)
Lost
Solo piano set (crowd requests)
Ampersand (Amanda Palmer cover)
The Bed Song
Delilah (Dresden Dolls cover) (duet with Lydmor)
Bottomfeeder (incl. Walk On The Wild Side)
Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana cover)
Oasis (Amanda Palmer cover) (incl. Shake It Up, Baby)
"Vi skåler med vore venner" (Danish drinking song, all stars)
Leeds United (Amanda Palmer cover) (all stars)
Encore: Girl Anachronism (Dresden Dolls cover)
Encore 2: Ukulele Anthem
There were three support acts: Jherek Bischoff, who played bass (and some ukulele), a band which I think was called Simple Pleasures, the lead singer reminded me a bit of what Bono must've been like in the Dandelion Market days, and then Danish singer Lydmor, who blew me away. She seemed so fragile at first, but she delivered an amazing set, and later came back to duet with Amanda.
On to the main act - everyone in the band came onstage wearing awesome skull makeup in honour of Halloween, except Amanda, who turned up at the other end of the hall, with her ukulele, and started off with 'Creep'. Okay then!
As the evening progressed I heard a lot of songs that I didn't know, seeing as I only really know the Radiohead stuff and 'Theatre Is Evil', but I'll be sure to check out her back catalogue now.
Pictures below are courtesy of the lovely Ida Salomäki that I met outside the venue when it started raining, and she extended her umbrella to me, and we ended up hanging out together all evening in the front row :)
After the show Amanda signed autographs, and Ida and I tried to calm down a bit from an absolutely mindblowing evening. This was NOT my last Amanda Palmer show for sure :)
Set list below is courtesy of http://www.setlist.fm/:
Acoustic from upstairs: Creep (Radiohead cover) (ukulele)
Grand Theft Orchestra Intermission
Do It With a Rockstar
The Killing Type
Missed Me (Dresden Dolls cover)
Want It Back
Walk On The Wild Side (Lou Reed cover)
Half Jack (Dresden Dolls cover) (very long instrumental intro)
Lost
Solo piano set (crowd requests)
Ampersand (Amanda Palmer cover)
The Bed Song
Delilah (Dresden Dolls cover) (duet with Lydmor)
Bottomfeeder (incl. Walk On The Wild Side)
Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana cover)
Oasis (Amanda Palmer cover) (incl. Shake It Up, Baby)
"Vi skåler med vore venner" (Danish drinking song, all stars)
Leeds United (Amanda Palmer cover) (all stars)
Encore: Girl Anachronism (Dresden Dolls cover)
Encore 2: Ukulele Anthem
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Elfia
Yvonne and I had been talking about this Fantasy Fair for a few years, and this year we managed to get to go to the one in Haarzuilen, near Utrecht. It was fantastic! So many people dressed up and totally got into the spirit of the thing - very inspiring!
There were lots of Elves (and here I mean Tolkien's kind), steampunks, zombies, maidens fair (but I don't remember seeing any bears), warriors, pirates, vampires, orcs, various types of outfit involving hooped skirts, a good few Meridas and Jack Sparrows, a couple of Mr. Tumnus's, Snow Whites, Pikachu's and Storm Troopers, an awesome Witch King of Angmar, and some fantastic cat warriors, whom we only saw in the line for tickets, and not again, unfortunately. And of course there were loads of fairies, of all types.The surroundings were breathtaking and the whole thing was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, which was only a good thing!
Here's me in front of the castle - Yvonne had done a brilliant job painting my face :) I am of course wearing my blue Elf dress, with the In Dreams shawl.
This is the spiderwoman-fairy. There were many professional photographers taking pictures, presumably of the people who'd signed up for the contests. Many of them clearly had characters to go along with their costume and had spent considerable time and effort on it.
We walked around looking at the many stalls offering an abundance of cool stuff - corsets, swords, dresses, teeth, ears, tiaras, you name it. There was music, LARP workshops, and an area dedicated to The Hobbit, with various small sets and people dressed up as characters from the story, obviously taking their cue from the movie.
This woman was probably my favourite of all - we stood in line behind her at the loo at one point, so got a good look at her outfit. Really really lovely.
There were lots of Elves (and here I mean Tolkien's kind), steampunks, zombies, maidens fair (but I don't remember seeing any bears), warriors, pirates, vampires, orcs, various types of outfit involving hooped skirts, a good few Meridas and Jack Sparrows, a couple of Mr. Tumnus's, Snow Whites, Pikachu's and Storm Troopers, an awesome Witch King of Angmar, and some fantastic cat warriors, whom we only saw in the line for tickets, and not again, unfortunately. And of course there were loads of fairies, of all types.The surroundings were breathtaking and the whole thing was a lot bigger than I thought it would be, which was only a good thing!
Here's me in front of the castle - Yvonne had done a brilliant job painting my face :) I am of course wearing my blue Elf dress, with the In Dreams shawl.
This is the spiderwoman-fairy. There were many professional photographers taking pictures, presumably of the people who'd signed up for the contests. Many of them clearly had characters to go along with their costume and had spent considerable time and effort on it.
We walked around looking at the many stalls offering an abundance of cool stuff - corsets, swords, dresses, teeth, ears, tiaras, you name it. There was music, LARP workshops, and an area dedicated to The Hobbit, with various small sets and people dressed up as characters from the story, obviously taking their cue from the movie.
This woman was probably my favourite of all - we stood in line behind her at the loo at one point, so got a good look at her outfit. Really really lovely.
Sunday, February 03, 2013
2012 - The Year In Knitting
Tally: 54 projects finished in 2012 + one or two that didn't make it to Ravelry. Out of those 34 ended up in someone else's closet, whether or not that was the intention from the outset. A lot of those projects were really small and quick, like the crochet necklaces I made for Christmas gifts, and there weren't as many big lace shawls on the menu this year compared to last year.
Speaking of shawls, I've made 18, large and small, and 6 of those were for me - that's down from 2011, where I ended up with 8 new shawls out of 27 made, but instead last year I made cowls - 13 cowls in total, 4 of which are mine today. I've done well using up stash, and judging from my WIPs right now, I'm going to do better on that score in 2013. Yay! Yarn diet has not held up so well, but mostly I've only bought stuff needed for presents - although I didn't really need a 1000g cone to do one single Evenstar shawl... *cough cough* It could've been worse - resisting temptation builds character, right?
I've made more sweaters than the previous year, which is closely connected to the knitting-from-stash thing - because sweater projects are what my stash mostly consists of - 3 pullovers and 2 cardigans, where in 2011 it was only the one cardigan. I've had a good mix of simple and complex projects, and I've tried a few new things, and am now totally in love with garter stitch and shortrows....
In keeping with the theme from last year, here are pictures of my 6 lovely new shawls, clockwise from top right (pattern + designer):
Line Break by Veera Välimäki, Color Affection by Veera Välimäki, Diantha by Susanna IC, Stonecrop by Jared Flood, Rockefeller by Stephen West and Hitchhiker by Martina Behm.
Speaking of shawls, I've made 18, large and small, and 6 of those were for me - that's down from 2011, where I ended up with 8 new shawls out of 27 made, but instead last year I made cowls - 13 cowls in total, 4 of which are mine today. I've done well using up stash, and judging from my WIPs right now, I'm going to do better on that score in 2013. Yay! Yarn diet has not held up so well, but mostly I've only bought stuff needed for presents - although I didn't really need a 1000g cone to do one single Evenstar shawl... *cough cough* It could've been worse - resisting temptation builds character, right?
I've made more sweaters than the previous year, which is closely connected to the knitting-from-stash thing - because sweater projects are what my stash mostly consists of - 3 pullovers and 2 cardigans, where in 2011 it was only the one cardigan. I've had a good mix of simple and complex projects, and I've tried a few new things, and am now totally in love with garter stitch and shortrows....
In keeping with the theme from last year, here are pictures of my 6 lovely new shawls, clockwise from top right (pattern + designer):
Line Break by Veera Välimäki, Color Affection by Veera Välimäki, Diantha by Susanna IC, Stonecrop by Jared Flood, Rockefeller by Stephen West and Hitchhiker by Martina Behm.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
If you haven't read the book or seen the movie yet, and intend to do one or both, skip this post. There will be spoilers :)
Anyway, went to see the first installment in the The Hobbit trilogy on 16 December. When I got home, I had to check up on parts of the LOTR appendices, and the Tale Of Years, to try and get a handle on the changes in timeline. There are a lot of changes in the movie compared to the book. Some were plainly necessary, given the evolvement of certain characters between The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings (that would be Gandalf).
First off, I have to say that casting was spot-on. I loooooved Martin Freeman as Bilbo, and Richard Armitage as Thorin. The dwarves were pretty well cast as well. Purely for his looks, I adored whoever played Thranduil - I so want a copy of that crown, one of the most Elvish things I've ever seen. I don't really understand why the enmity between Thorin and the Elves had to be underscored, because the only reason I can think of has to do with the massive difficulty you'd have explaining the whole business of the Nauglamir in this context. I loved seeing more of Rivendell, and being back at Back End, this time knowing that if I do go back to New Zealand, I can go to Matamata and see the hobbit houses there for real.
Most of the changes I get, and most of them don't have massive impact on the main story as I see it. For example, Gandalf calling the eagles through a bug when caught in the trees, the same way he did when imprisoned on the roof of Orthanc, where in the book, the Lord of Eagles hears the noise of Wargs and Orcs and heads off with his posse to explore, thus discovering the party in distress and carrying them all off.
Two changes continue to annoy me. One is that we see Gollum losing the Ring. This contradicts the scene shown in ROTK where we see Bilbo finding the Ring while alone, which is as written - he puts his hand on it by chance in the dark. That point is entirely lost in this new movie. It annoys me just as much as Aragorn chopping off the head of Sauron's Mouth in ROTK, which is also in direct opposition to what is written, because it is specifically said by Aragorn that Sauron's Mouth cannot be harmed due to his status as emissary.
The second thing comes at the very end, where the party has come to the Carrock and are looking across Mirkwood and seeing a very near-seeming Erebor. That scene is for me too much of an echo of the last scene of FOTR, where Sam and Frodo look across Emyn Muil towards Mordor. It made sense then - it does not now, and I thought it was a very cheap shot.
But, I am looking forward to the next movie, and to more background stuff - White Council and Dol Guldur and all that - but not the journey through Mirkwood, for obvious reasons......
Anyway, went to see the first installment in the The Hobbit trilogy on 16 December. When I got home, I had to check up on parts of the LOTR appendices, and the Tale Of Years, to try and get a handle on the changes in timeline. There are a lot of changes in the movie compared to the book. Some were plainly necessary, given the evolvement of certain characters between The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings (that would be Gandalf).
First off, I have to say that casting was spot-on. I loooooved Martin Freeman as Bilbo, and Richard Armitage as Thorin. The dwarves were pretty well cast as well. Purely for his looks, I adored whoever played Thranduil - I so want a copy of that crown, one of the most Elvish things I've ever seen. I don't really understand why the enmity between Thorin and the Elves had to be underscored, because the only reason I can think of has to do with the massive difficulty you'd have explaining the whole business of the Nauglamir in this context. I loved seeing more of Rivendell, and being back at Back End, this time knowing that if I do go back to New Zealand, I can go to Matamata and see the hobbit houses there for real.
Most of the changes I get, and most of them don't have massive impact on the main story as I see it. For example, Gandalf calling the eagles through a bug when caught in the trees, the same way he did when imprisoned on the roof of Orthanc, where in the book, the Lord of Eagles hears the noise of Wargs and Orcs and heads off with his posse to explore, thus discovering the party in distress and carrying them all off.
Two changes continue to annoy me. One is that we see Gollum losing the Ring. This contradicts the scene shown in ROTK where we see Bilbo finding the Ring while alone, which is as written - he puts his hand on it by chance in the dark. That point is entirely lost in this new movie. It annoys me just as much as Aragorn chopping off the head of Sauron's Mouth in ROTK, which is also in direct opposition to what is written, because it is specifically said by Aragorn that Sauron's Mouth cannot be harmed due to his status as emissary.
The second thing comes at the very end, where the party has come to the Carrock and are looking across Mirkwood and seeing a very near-seeming Erebor. That scene is for me too much of an echo of the last scene of FOTR, where Sam and Frodo look across Emyn Muil towards Mordor. It made sense then - it does not now, and I thought it was a very cheap shot.
But, I am looking forward to the next movie, and to more background stuff - White Council and Dol Guldur and all that - but not the journey through Mirkwood, for obvious reasons......
Thursday, October 04, 2012
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Omani Adventures
Such an amazing place.... A week was far too short to spend in Oman, next time I'll stay for longer. The occasion to go was the fact that one of my friends and her family had moved there last year.
My first impression of Muscat was elegance and luminosity. The sultan has decreed a particular colour palette for all buildings in the city, and so everywhere is white or cream or peach or sand. It was very hot and humid which I had to get used to as well as the air-conditioning when inside.
The trip down was fairly uneventful. I got a good laugh, when what I thought were my flight socks (to prevent deep vein thrombosis on long-haul flights) turned out to be my Marlies Dekkers knee-highs. Oh well. So great to see Viki again - 3 years since last time, but that ceases to matter when we get together.
Next morning we went for a looong brunch with lots of food and talking, at a very nice hotel complex near Muscat called Shangri-La. The afternoon was spent in the pool with the rest of the family (she has a boy 2 years and a girl 4 years, the latter came very sweetly to wake me up on Friday morning, because she just couldn't wait anymore for me to get up). They live in a compound with a residents' pool, which was great, given the heat. The Saturday was spent relaxing, doing a bit of shopping and just hanging out - I was enjoying getting to spend some time with the wee ones as well.
On Sunday, which counts as Tuesday in Oman, we went first to visit the Grand Mosque, which was a truly great experience. I could've happily spent a few hours just absorbing all the colours and patterns and carvings and mosaics, but we had to leave to pick up kids. We had to cover up with headscarves, long sleeves and long trousers, and were invited to join a group of women on their guided tour - otherwise we would've just wandered about on our own. They were lovely and asked us back to the visitor's center after the tour for coffee and dates.
The mens' hall has the second-largest chandelier in the world, meant to resemble a gathering of minarets. It reminded me of a city in the clouds alright and the dome surrounding it was just mesmerising. There are pictures on Facebook, but here is a close-up of the dome and part of the chandelier.
In the afternoon we went off again, to go see Nakhal Fort, which is about an hour from Muscat. There are forts like this all over Oman, but the location for Nakhal Fort is just stunning, right by the Hajar Mountains, and with palm plantations all around. Most of the rooms are left as they would've been when the fort was in active use - the kitchen, the jail, the womens', mens' and children's rooms. There were no other visitors but us, so we were really enjoying having the whole place to ourselves - the advantage to going on a weekday, I guess. Afterwards we went to see a nearby hot spring, taking small windy roads through village and palm plantations, sometimes passing ruins old and new by the side of the road. By the river, where the spring joins it, you could sit down and let little fishies get at the dead skin on your feet. I didn't do that, because I was jittery about creepy-crawlies, and didn't want to get caught with my feet in water and so not be able to make a quick getaway. Viki did soak her feet for a while though (I later submitted to the same type of fish at the Sink Hole, but I didn't like them nibbling at me). We had a lovely dinner on our return to Muscat - walking around in a zillion degrees heat and seeing impressive stuff does take it out of you.
The next day, Viki was working in the morning, and I spent a very leisurely morning by the pool with a stack of magazines. I had never really spent that much time just laying by a pool before, so it felt like a very luxurious thing to do. On Tuesday we had appointments at Viki's favourite spa for massages, which I had been looking forward to nearly from the time I booked my flights. Afterwards I felt like cooked spaghetti - just pour me into bed now please.....
On Wednesday we went to have a look at the old part of Muscat, which includes the city landmark at the mouth a the harbour, a giant white incense burner. We saw the sultan's wee yacht. And a heron. Love herons :) Then we went to the souk (local market) for some shopping - pashminas and lanterns for my balcony. They had so many pretty ones with coloured glass and stuff, and thankfully they all made it home in one piece.
On Thursday Viki, her husband Rune and me went to Wadi Shab, which is about an-hour-and-a-half from Muscat. A wadi is a riverbed, which is dry some of the time, but which is prone to sudden flooding, when rain water comes down from the mountains. There are a great many wadis in Oman, and we'd crossed a good few in all sizes on our travels up until that point. But none as beautiful as Wadi Shab, I am so happy I got to see it :)
As luck would have it, Wadi Shab on this day was playing host to the Red Bull World Championships in cliff-diving, where brave men were plunging 27m to a deep turquoise pool. There were a lot of people, who found places to sit both high and low. It was very hot, and soon moved from our first location to somewhere on the other side of the water, so that we'd get more shade later on. Turned out to be a good move. You really get to appreciate shade and water in this place, and respect the heat. The diving itself was interesting, the amount of control and courage it must've taken. We left before it was finished - we'd spent at least 2 hours there, before it even got started, and we were getting enough of the heat. On our way back we stopped at the Sink Hole for a quick swim, which was just divine after getting so hot and sticky in Wadi Shab. The lake is said to be bottomless, and the water is the most divine jewel-like green colour. We had a change of clothes in the car (we went into the water fully dressed), and then made our way back to Muscat for my last dinner. I was leaving at 4.30 in the morning, so said goodbye to everyone before heading to bed - Viki had sorted out transportation for me.
The week had it all - I got to see some amazing things, I got to spend lots of time with Viki, and have fun with her and her family and then there were times when we just chilled out watching movies or something. Perfect :) I'll be back!
My first impression of Muscat was elegance and luminosity. The sultan has decreed a particular colour palette for all buildings in the city, and so everywhere is white or cream or peach or sand. It was very hot and humid which I had to get used to as well as the air-conditioning when inside.
The trip down was fairly uneventful. I got a good laugh, when what I thought were my flight socks (to prevent deep vein thrombosis on long-haul flights) turned out to be my Marlies Dekkers knee-highs. Oh well. So great to see Viki again - 3 years since last time, but that ceases to matter when we get together.
Next morning we went for a looong brunch with lots of food and talking, at a very nice hotel complex near Muscat called Shangri-La. The afternoon was spent in the pool with the rest of the family (she has a boy 2 years and a girl 4 years, the latter came very sweetly to wake me up on Friday morning, because she just couldn't wait anymore for me to get up). They live in a compound with a residents' pool, which was great, given the heat. The Saturday was spent relaxing, doing a bit of shopping and just hanging out - I was enjoying getting to spend some time with the wee ones as well.
On Sunday, which counts as Tuesday in Oman, we went first to visit the Grand Mosque, which was a truly great experience. I could've happily spent a few hours just absorbing all the colours and patterns and carvings and mosaics, but we had to leave to pick up kids. We had to cover up with headscarves, long sleeves and long trousers, and were invited to join a group of women on their guided tour - otherwise we would've just wandered about on our own. They were lovely and asked us back to the visitor's center after the tour for coffee and dates.
The mens' hall has the second-largest chandelier in the world, meant to resemble a gathering of minarets. It reminded me of a city in the clouds alright and the dome surrounding it was just mesmerising. There are pictures on Facebook, but here is a close-up of the dome and part of the chandelier.
In the afternoon we went off again, to go see Nakhal Fort, which is about an hour from Muscat. There are forts like this all over Oman, but the location for Nakhal Fort is just stunning, right by the Hajar Mountains, and with palm plantations all around. Most of the rooms are left as they would've been when the fort was in active use - the kitchen, the jail, the womens', mens' and children's rooms. There were no other visitors but us, so we were really enjoying having the whole place to ourselves - the advantage to going on a weekday, I guess. Afterwards we went to see a nearby hot spring, taking small windy roads through village and palm plantations, sometimes passing ruins old and new by the side of the road. By the river, where the spring joins it, you could sit down and let little fishies get at the dead skin on your feet. I didn't do that, because I was jittery about creepy-crawlies, and didn't want to get caught with my feet in water and so not be able to make a quick getaway. Viki did soak her feet for a while though (I later submitted to the same type of fish at the Sink Hole, but I didn't like them nibbling at me). We had a lovely dinner on our return to Muscat - walking around in a zillion degrees heat and seeing impressive stuff does take it out of you.
The next day, Viki was working in the morning, and I spent a very leisurely morning by the pool with a stack of magazines. I had never really spent that much time just laying by a pool before, so it felt like a very luxurious thing to do. On Tuesday we had appointments at Viki's favourite spa for massages, which I had been looking forward to nearly from the time I booked my flights. Afterwards I felt like cooked spaghetti - just pour me into bed now please.....
On Wednesday we went to have a look at the old part of Muscat, which includes the city landmark at the mouth a the harbour, a giant white incense burner. We saw the sultan's wee yacht. And a heron. Love herons :) Then we went to the souk (local market) for some shopping - pashminas and lanterns for my balcony. They had so many pretty ones with coloured glass and stuff, and thankfully they all made it home in one piece.
On Thursday Viki, her husband Rune and me went to Wadi Shab, which is about an-hour-and-a-half from Muscat. A wadi is a riverbed, which is dry some of the time, but which is prone to sudden flooding, when rain water comes down from the mountains. There are a great many wadis in Oman, and we'd crossed a good few in all sizes on our travels up until that point. But none as beautiful as Wadi Shab, I am so happy I got to see it :)
As luck would have it, Wadi Shab on this day was playing host to the Red Bull World Championships in cliff-diving, where brave men were plunging 27m to a deep turquoise pool. There were a lot of people, who found places to sit both high and low. It was very hot, and soon moved from our first location to somewhere on the other side of the water, so that we'd get more shade later on. Turned out to be a good move. You really get to appreciate shade and water in this place, and respect the heat. The diving itself was interesting, the amount of control and courage it must've taken. We left before it was finished - we'd spent at least 2 hours there, before it even got started, and we were getting enough of the heat. On our way back we stopped at the Sink Hole for a quick swim, which was just divine after getting so hot and sticky in Wadi Shab. The lake is said to be bottomless, and the water is the most divine jewel-like green colour. We had a change of clothes in the car (we went into the water fully dressed), and then made our way back to Muscat for my last dinner. I was leaving at 4.30 in the morning, so said goodbye to everyone before heading to bed - Viki had sorted out transportation for me.
The week had it all - I got to see some amazing things, I got to spend lots of time with Viki, and have fun with her and her family and then there were times when we just chilled out watching movies or something. Perfect :) I'll be back!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
New Craft
This is what I'll be doing this winter - learning how to spin with a top-whorl spindle. I have the spindle, (hand-made, from Etsy), a how-to guide on the way in the post, and so all I need is some fiber. I'm in no hurry to get started, but I am really looking forward to it - I think I will like it a lot.
Friday, June 01, 2012
Concert Report: Bruce Springsteen, Olympiastadion, Berlin, 30 May 2012
Oh man.... I say this about Bruce a lot, but he IS a party! And this has to be the liveliest show I've ever seen. His presence is impossibly commanding without any preening, and he's in so much control of what is going on without seeming to be. The way he picks requests from the crowd and show them to the band and then launch into the song is nothing short of awesome, and I don't care if they're on some pre-arranged set list or not.
I was in fits of giggles for much of this show, especially during the whole 'Berlin, we're gonna rock your pants off' speech, and at the end of the show, one spectator actually did hand up his trousers to Little Steven. Bruce got goofier and goofier as the night went on, which is by no means a bad thing. I got a lot of my favourites played (Thunder Road, The Rising, The River, Dancing In The Dark, which I'd never heard live before), and a lot of other really great songs. I liked the stuff off the new album a lot - except for 'We Are Alive' - I don't know exactly what it is about that song, but it ticks me off. I do not like it at all.
There was a quite beautiful tribute to Clarence Clemons during Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out - after the line 'and the Big Man joined the show', the music stopped, and a montage of photos and footage of Clarence and Bruce was shown on the screens. Poignant without being too sad - more celebration of his life and his talent than anything else. A fitting end to a three-hour non-stop party :) Bruuuuuce!
The stadium was gorgeous - next time I'm in Berlin, I want some more time to explore it properly. We drove down, a colleague, his brother and me, on the day of the gig, spent the night in a nearby hostel and drove back to Cph the next morning - which was fine, seeing as the concert was happening mid-week. It was a fun road trip and a great, great concert - I'm so happy I got to go!
Set list, with respective album and year:
When I Leave Berlin (Wizz Jones cover)
We Take Care Of Our Own (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Wrecking Ball (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Badlands (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978)
Death To My Hometown (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
My City Of Ruins (The Rising, 2002)
Spirit In The Night (Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1973)
Hungry Heart (The River, 1980)
Trapped (The Essential Bruce Springsteen, 2003)
Jack Of All Trades (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Youngstown (The Ghost Of Tom Joad, 1995)
Johnny 99 (Nebraska, 1982)
Working On The Highway (Born In The U.S.A., 1984)
Shackled And Drawn (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Waitin' On A Sunny Day (The Rising, 2002)
Save My Love (The Promise, 2010)
The River (The River, 1980)
The Rising (The Rising, 2002)
Lonesome Day (The Rising, 2002)
We Are Alive (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Thunder Road (Born To Run, 1975)
Rocky Ground (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Born In The U.S.A. (Born In The U.S.A., 1984)
Born To Run (Born To Run, 1975)
Glory Days (Born In The U.S.A., 1984)
Seven Nights To Rock
Dancing In The Dark (Born In The U.S.A., 1984)
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (Born To Run, 1975)
I was in fits of giggles for much of this show, especially during the whole 'Berlin, we're gonna rock your pants off' speech, and at the end of the show, one spectator actually did hand up his trousers to Little Steven. Bruce got goofier and goofier as the night went on, which is by no means a bad thing. I got a lot of my favourites played (Thunder Road, The Rising, The River, Dancing In The Dark, which I'd never heard live before), and a lot of other really great songs. I liked the stuff off the new album a lot - except for 'We Are Alive' - I don't know exactly what it is about that song, but it ticks me off. I do not like it at all.
There was a quite beautiful tribute to Clarence Clemons during Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out - after the line 'and the Big Man joined the show', the music stopped, and a montage of photos and footage of Clarence and Bruce was shown on the screens. Poignant without being too sad - more celebration of his life and his talent than anything else. A fitting end to a three-hour non-stop party :) Bruuuuuce!
Set list, with respective album and year:
When I Leave Berlin (Wizz Jones cover)
We Take Care Of Our Own (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Wrecking Ball (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Badlands (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978)
Death To My Hometown (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
My City Of Ruins (The Rising, 2002)
Spirit In The Night (Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1973)
Hungry Heart (The River, 1980)
Trapped (The Essential Bruce Springsteen, 2003)
Jack Of All Trades (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Youngstown (The Ghost Of Tom Joad, 1995)
Johnny 99 (Nebraska, 1982)
Working On The Highway (Born In The U.S.A., 1984)
Shackled And Drawn (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Waitin' On A Sunny Day (The Rising, 2002)
Save My Love (The Promise, 2010)
The River (The River, 1980)
The Rising (The Rising, 2002)
Lonesome Day (The Rising, 2002)
We Are Alive (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Thunder Road (Born To Run, 1975)
Rocky Ground (Wrecking Ball, 2012)
Born In The U.S.A. (Born In The U.S.A., 1984)
Born To Run (Born To Run, 1975)
Glory Days (Born In The U.S.A., 1984)
Seven Nights To Rock
Dancing In The Dark (Born In The U.S.A., 1984)
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (Born To Run, 1975)
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Proudly presenting....
...the finished Secret Kitchen Project, now to be known as the Toscana Dreamscape :)
I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at this, being mesmerised by all those gorgeous colours. This is so much better than I had imagined it would be - grazie grazie mille, Chiara!
I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at this, being mesmerised by all those gorgeous colours. This is so much better than I had imagined it would be - grazie grazie mille, Chiara!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Knitting In 2011.....
I've been gathering some stats from Ravelry on the year that was 2011, because I wanted to see how productive I had actually been during my time of unemployment, so I counted up how many projects were begun and completed in 2011, and the total comes in at 43.
27 were shawls, where 19 went to someone else (whether intended for that person from the beginning or not). Most of those were small shawlette-type thingies, because they make such fantastic gifts: they're easy to wear and don't take forever to knit.
So that leaves 8 for me - clockwise from top right (pattern + designer): Buttonwillow by Rosemary (Romi) Hill, Polaris by Susanna IC, In Dreams by Susan Pandorf, Little Leaves by Susanna IC, Ishbel by Ysolda Teague, Hawthorne by Susanna IC, Galadriel's Mirror by Susan Pandorf, and finally Barad Dûr by Susan Pandorf.
Other than that there were 15 projects which were not shawls. Can you tell I've become enamored of making shawls? And I'm really happy to say that I've worn all 8 at least once! Next year I'm only knitting from stash (unless it's for presents). So there - yarn diet is back on! (Hahaaahaahaaa. Right).
27 were shawls, where 19 went to someone else (whether intended for that person from the beginning or not). Most of those were small shawlette-type thingies, because they make such fantastic gifts: they're easy to wear and don't take forever to knit.
So that leaves 8 for me - clockwise from top right (pattern + designer): Buttonwillow by Rosemary (Romi) Hill, Polaris by Susanna IC, In Dreams by Susan Pandorf, Little Leaves by Susanna IC, Ishbel by Ysolda Teague, Hawthorne by Susanna IC, Galadriel's Mirror by Susan Pandorf, and finally Barad Dûr by Susan Pandorf.
Other than that there were 15 projects which were not shawls. Can you tell I've become enamored of making shawls? And I'm really happy to say that I've worn all 8 at least once! Next year I'm only knitting from stash (unless it's for presents). So there - yarn diet is back on! (Hahaaahaahaaa. Right).
Saturday, December 10, 2011
This Is My December
Long time, no blog, but what else is new? Anyway, work has been eating up a lot of time and most of my energy lately - I've actually spent whole evenings just vegging and not knitting a single stitch! *Gasp* And I'm soooo behind on Christmas knitting, even though I'm only making stuff for one person. My Dad would like a knitted vest, but he's getting a 'voucher' for one with a scrap of the yarn in it, I'm not even contemplating casting on this side of New Year's. He won't mind, I know :)
Hmmm.. I wanted to say something else here, but I've forgotten what it was...oh well....
So, the original plan today was to go Christmas shopping, but I think that instead I will put on a movie (I'm thinking The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, latest version, seeing as it was on telly last night and I missed it), and then I will knit! Shops will be open tomorrow as well anyway...
Hmmm.. I wanted to say something else here, but I've forgotten what it was...oh well....
So, the original plan today was to go Christmas shopping, but I think that instead I will put on a movie (I'm thinking The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, latest version, seeing as it was on telly last night and I missed it), and then I will knit! Shops will be open tomorrow as well anyway...
Monday, November 14, 2011
Concert Report: Rasmus Seebach, Koncerthuset, 13 Nov 2011
I thought this was going to be a fairly mellow gig. I thought he'd be playing with a big orchestra. But not really. So for the first set, he did have a string quartet on stage, and a piano, and the songs were slow and gentle and beautiful. He has a great voice, a lot of energy on stage (running laps around both stage and audience, but not during this first set), and great humility as well - he reminded me very much of a certain Irishman when he was a bit younger.... That whole wanting to connect and singing-your-heart-out thing.... Extremely captivating.
To be fair, at first I thought he seemed a bit uncomfortable on stage (we were 4 rows from the top, behind the main stage area), but I was quickly proven wrong, and most thoroughly in the second set, when the strings were gone, the piano was gone, and the party got started for real. Oh-My-God. He had every single person in the place eating out of his hand - it was amazing. He's got it all - the power, the energy, the heart, the soul - and the willingness to reveal rather than conceal.
The venue itself was pretty awesome too - and sound was fantastic (as you'd expect), I'll definitely go see a concert here again. And I am now very happy that I got a ticket to see yer man once more in February.....
Set list:
Mer’ end kærlighed (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
En skygge af dig selv (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Gi’ slip (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Glad igen (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Den jeg er (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Igen i dag (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Nangijala (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Engel (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Intermission
Lidt i fem (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Vover på at gå (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Lys i din lejlighed (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Natten falder på (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Falder (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Den anden side (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Millionær (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Natteravn (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Sirenerne (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Encores:
I mine øjne (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Under stjernerne på himlen (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
To be fair, at first I thought he seemed a bit uncomfortable on stage (we were 4 rows from the top, behind the main stage area), but I was quickly proven wrong, and most thoroughly in the second set, when the strings were gone, the piano was gone, and the party got started for real. Oh-My-God. He had every single person in the place eating out of his hand - it was amazing. He's got it all - the power, the energy, the heart, the soul - and the willingness to reveal rather than conceal.
The venue itself was pretty awesome too - and sound was fantastic (as you'd expect), I'll definitely go see a concert here again. And I am now very happy that I got a ticket to see yer man once more in February.....
Set list:
Mer’ end kærlighed (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
En skygge af dig selv (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Gi’ slip (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Glad igen (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Den jeg er (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Igen i dag (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Nangijala (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Engel (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Intermission
Lidt i fem (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Vover på at gå (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Lys i din lejlighed (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Natten falder på (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Falder (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Den anden side (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Millionær (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Natteravn (Rasmus Seebach, 2009)
Sirenerne (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Encores:
I mine øjne (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
Under stjernerne på himlen (Mer' End Kærlighed, 2011)
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