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).
                              

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...

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)

Tour Report: U2 360°, 2009-2010

Yes, I haven't reported on any of these concerts (8 in total), so I will now simply put them into one big Tour Report post instead.  First off, here is the show listing, complete with info on where I was in the venue:

2009:
24 July, Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland - GA, inside inner circle, backs to catwalk rail, Edge's side
25 July, Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland - GA, on the rail outside catwalk, Adam's side
27 July, Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland - Seat, Hogan Stand upper level, opposite the Claw and backstage
3 August, Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany - GA, steps at the back of the arena

2010:
6 August, Olympic Stadium, Torino, Italy - Seat, behind stage to the right, on lower level
15 August, Casa Arena, Horsens, Denmark - GA, on the rail outside catwalk, center section
16 August, Casa Arena, Horsens, Denmark - Seat, at the very back of the venue
22 September, Roi Baudouin Stadium, Bruxelles, Belgium - GA, in the middle of the crowd, center section

First off, as you can see, I've had a lot of different vantage points on this show. And I've gone with lots of different people, family and friends, and I've gone alone. A U2 tour is always a great excuse to go visit someone or to meet up with people in Dublin (because ultimately that's where everyone wants to see them play, and Croke Park is one of the best places to do that).

The show did change a lot between 2009 and 2010 - some of the songs from the new album were no longer played quite so much, but it left room for older favorites and for completely new songs to be added. In Torino, Bono asked for all lights to be turned off for the first-ever performance of a brand-new song called 'North Star', which has yet to see official release. It was an amazing experience to sit in a stadium lit only by the audience's mobile phones, hearing U2 play a song none of us had ever heard before.

But I have to say, I did miss 'Unknown Caller' in 2010 - it was very clear from the 2009 shows that they were having a ton of fun playing it live - Bono enjoyed himself immensely telling Croke Park over and over 'you know your name, so punch it in' all the while stabbing the air with his forefinger as if he were typing something. The whole karaoke aspect to the visuals employed for 'Unknown Caller' probably helped too.

The Claw had to be seen to be believed - I know I've said it before on this blog, but there really were no bad spots to be anywhere on this tour. Upfront you could see the band well, but you could only really see the Claw from below, so there were a lot of 'fireworks' that you simply were unable to see properly. That was certainly not the case if you had a seat, but then the band of course were far away. Even at the back of the venue, the view of the full spectacle of the Claw could only ever be described as awesome.

Then there was the powerhouse triad of 'Ultraviolet', 'With Or Without You' and the show-closer 'Moment Of Surrender'. I have never experienced a sequence so powerful as those 3 put together. The sometime replacing of 'Ultraviolet' with 'Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me' just didn't pack the same collective punch, although 'Hold Me' is fantastic live (and it had been missing from the Elevation and Vertigo tours, so it had sure been a while since I'd heard it). It made sense on its own, also given the setup with the circle mike that Bono had to play with, and the laser jacket and everything - but after I'd gotten used to 'Ultraviolet' I just found myself missing it more than I was enjoyed being held and thrilled etc. Here's a picture from that part of the show, so you can see what I mean.

And one of the songs from 'No Line On The Horizon' did become a permanent fixture on setlists throughout the tour - the remixed version of 'I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight', which is very different from the recorded version, and infectious as hell. It also saw Larry take his turn on the catwalk with his drum, joined by Adam and Edge, while Bono stayed on the main stage.No 'Mysterious Ways', 'Elevation', 'City Of Blinding Lights', nor even 'Where The Streets Have No Name' can compete with this one for party mood! I get all jumpy just thinking about it :)

Of course, there were lots more memorable moments. On 27 July 2009, I was walking towards Croke Park from city centre, and I could hear U2 soundchecking from far away, and once I got up to the stadium, they launched into full versions of first 'Drowning Man' and then 'Electrical Storm' (none of which made the show, unfortunately).

I had never really imagined that they would play 'The Unforgettable Fire' (it's from their 1984 album of the same name), but that also became a setlist mainstay, and always followed by 'City Of Blinding Lights' (another great combo).

Concert Report: Tori Amos, Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, 21 October 2011

So, we were going to the Tori Amos show here in Copenhagen. I had been trying to gather a bit of info on the Meet & Greets that I knew Tori does, so when we decided to head into town, I suggested we swing by the venue, just to see if something was going on or not. There were a few people hanging around - all Toriphiles - who said that nothing had been announced yet. I had packed for all eventualities, so we had Sharpies and I had something for Tori to sign, just in case. Giorgia did not though, so we went to get her the new album, and went back to the theater to hang out for a bit. I get so hyper on occasions like this, and I didn't really think anything would happen, but about 45 mins later, we all get let into the foyer and the two of us end up at the top of the queue, in 4th or 5th position. And those 45 mins didn't even feel that long, because we were having so much fun outside with Pingufo. The atmosphere was so relaxed and calm - most of the people we'd seen before were behind us in the queue, but they didn't seem to care at all. The whole thing was so different from the U2 experiences I've had - first of all of course, way less people here, and way way less screaming and pushing and shoving, which I just don't do, and which is also the reason I never got close to any of the guys, but that's okay. Back to Tori :)

So, we're standing there, with Sharpies at the ready, and my hands are shaking, because I can't really believe we're about to say 'hello' to Tori Amos. She comes out, and the first in line go up to talk to her, and we stay back, so the whole thing becomes very private, which is just amazing. Everyone is just chatting quietly among themselves, while the people with Tori get to talk to her for a bit, get their stuff signed, and a picture taken too. There was no rush at all. And then it was our turn, and I think we walked up to her with these ridiculously big grins on our faces. Thankfully, Tori sort of took charge of any conversation once past the hello's and how-are-you's, and asked us where we were from and stuff like that - about 5 mins, then we got our autographs, and our picture taken, and we said goodbye. The doors had been locked to the outside, to keep control of the situation, so we hung around the foyer together with the other people for another hour, while Tori met with all the other fans. Towards the end they let in a few stragglers, but by then time was running short, so those could either have an autograph or photo, but not both. Boy, did we feel lucky! It was such a lovely experience, she was so sweet to us, and I would definitely do this again, next time I'm going to a Tori Amos concert.

After that we went to the Cornish Pasty House for some food, and then home to get ready for the concert - we were dressing up a bit, seeing as we'd be going to the Royal Theatre, so it was black dresses, heels and nice shawls. (For those Ravelers among you, I wore my In Dreams, for the first time ever). We started off taking our seats on the wrong floor (we were first floor, not balcony, but not too much of a difference to matter), but we were second row in the center, and the view of the stage was perfect.

It was just Tori and a string quartet playing and she started off with 'Shattering Sea' from the new album, which is the first track also on the record. The setlist had a good few surprises - the highlights for me were 'I Can't See New York', followed by 'China', 'Cloud On My Tongue' and 'Sister Janet', which is one of my fave B-sides. But, it was quite fun hearing the string quartet play their instruments like percussion for 'Suede' and 'Cruel'. I really enjoyed 'Edge Of The Moon' live, and it's one of my favourites from the new album. 'Snow Cherries From France' and 'Siren' were expected, as they'd been on plenty of the previous set lists, and I very much enjoyed them - the former is just so lovely to sing, and it's one of the sweetest songs I know, and 'Siren' - well, I love that song in all the guises I've heard it in. Set list below is courtesy of www.undented.com, and I have given the respective albums and years as well.

Shattering Sea	(Night Of Hunters, 2011)
Scarborough Fair (solo) (Trad.)
Suede	(The Choirgirl Hotel, 1998)
Way Down (solo)	(Boys For Pele, 1996)
Snow Cherries From France	(Tales Of A Librarian, 2003)
Fearlessness	(Night Of Hunters, 2011)
I Can’t See New York (solo)	(Scarlet's Walk, 2002)
China (solo)	(Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Mr. Zebra (solo)	(Boys For Pele, 1996)
Girl Disappearing	(American Doll Posse, 2007)
Cloud On My Tongue	(Under The Pink, 1994)
Star Whisperer	(Night Of Hunters, 2011)
Cool On Your Island (solo)	(Y Kant Tori Read, 1988)
Edge Of The Moon (solo)	(Night Of Hunters, 2011)
Sister Janet (solo)	(Cornflake Girl, Single 1994)
Nautical Twilight	(Night Of Hunters, 2011)
Siren	(Great Expectations, Soundtrack)
Winter	(Little Earthquakes, 1992)
Cruel	(The Choirgirl Hotel, 1998)
A Multitude Of Shades (String Quartet without Tori)
Baker Baker	(Under The Pink, 1994)
Time (solo)	(Strange Little Girls, 2001)
Waltzing Matilda (solo) (Trad.)
Carry	(Night Of Hunters, 2011)
Big Wheel	(American Doll Posse, 2007)