Well hello there! I did mention something about my blog's six-month anniversary coming up, didn't I? Actually, that day was yesterday – I didn't have time to blog then, but no worries, I have something special for today. If you read my Announcement post a few weeks ago, you'll know what it is: Yes, dear readers, I'm kindly asking you to consider all the (hopefully numerous) times you've visited my blog and to review Music & My Mind! It won't take you an awful lot of time because I've prepared some questions for you, and you can post your review whenever you like – if you're reading this a year from now, you're still welcome to participate! And it doesn't matter if you've been commenting regularly or if you've never said anything at all, everyone's reviews are welcome! I'm only asking you to do this because I want to improve as a blogger :)
So if you just answer these questions and drop in a comment, thank you very much!
How did you find out about this blog? (You don't have to answer if I asked you for a visit myself)
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best score), how would you rate this blog's language? (Additional comments would be nice)
On a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best score again), how would you rate this blog's content? (Same thing about additional comments as in the previous question)
What has been the most interesting post in your opinion?
Choose three words to describe my blog.
Any suggestions what I could write about next?
Anything else you want to say?
THANK YOU!
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
30 Days of Music (so that 30 days of October would be a bit less infuriating)
There's no other way to say it: I HATE Autumn from the bottom of my heart. I find absolutely nothing to celebrate about the fact that the days get shorter, everything outside is grey and ugly and the weather sucks. Probably the main reason to my passionate hate of this season is the fact that I'm one of those people whose energy level is immensely dependent on the amount of sunlight – in the summer, when the sun is up nearly all the time here in the North, I don't feel like sleeping at all, and now that it's getting darker and darker until there's just a couple of hours of daylight left in December, I feel like sleeping all the time! I found out that the only way to survive October and November was eating chocolate and getting into Christmas mode. Oh, and taking Vitamin D.
I also dug out this 30 Days of Music tag from Kristallikettu's blog to add some fun to this depressing month called October. What it means is that for each day this month I choose one song according to the directions of this tag. It would be pointless to create separate posts to all 30 song choices so I'll just edit them all into this same post.
Let's get started...
Day 1: My Favourite Song
It annoys me immensely when this question pops up... I mean, how is it possible for any person to have just ONE favourite song?! I know I have at least a hundred! Okay if I have to pick one... I guess it could be Stand By Me by Ben E. King. I adore the double bass intro and the video is somehow really cute. And, of course Mr King's voice, like no other on the planet. I even feel a tiny bit more positive about facing the horrors of October after listening through this song.
Day 2: My Least Favourite Song
This is a tricky one as well, because whenever I come across an atrocious song I like to avoid it, so it doesn't really stick in my mind. I'm going to go with Nicki Minaj's Stupid Hoe because no matter which way I try to listen to it, even given the option that Minaj isn't even taking herself seriously here, I can't think of it as anything else but an unbelievable waste of time, energy, vocal chords and Youtube space. Sorry Minaj fans...
Day 3: A Song That Makes Me Happy
There's something irresistibly positive about Ain't No Mountain High Enough, sung by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
Day 4: A Song That Makes Me Sad
Garou's Que l'Amour Est Violent was playing at our house after our family's first dog was put to sleep and even after five years I always remember that day when I listen to this. Hear it out even if you can't understand a word of French, it's really beautiful and that man has a voice like no one else.
Day 5: A Song That Reminds Me Of Someone
Ever since Midsummer celebrations of 2013, Psy's Gentleman reminds me of one of my lovely cousins who wore a hilarious costume. Oh my that was so much fun...
Day 6: A Song That Reminds Me Of Somewhere
We Are Young by fun. reminds me of the wonderful week I spent in Glasgow visiting a friend.
Day 7: A Song That Reminds Me Of An Event
This one reminds me of another cousin's wedding: Tapani Kansa's R-A-K-A-S which you hear all the time unless you know how to avoid certain radio stations and dance events. For those of you who don't know Finnish, it's basically about wanting to marry your L-O-V-E in the countryside.
Day 8: A Song That I Know All Of The Words To
Learning song lyrics has sort of become a new hobby of mine so Somewhere from the musical West Side Story is just one example.
Day 9: A Song I Can Dance To
In Finnish high schools there's an optional dance course (mostly to get ready for the school dance called "Wanhojen tanssit") and we did salsa with Juanes' La Camisa Negra :D
Day 10: A Song I Fall Asleep To
I'm a really picky sleeper. One thing that I absolutely require in order to fall asleep is that everything must be QUIET. If there's a loud concert at the indoor ice rink some hundreds of meters away, my sleep is ruined. So yeah, I don't really play music when I want to sleep. But... there's one song that I play in my head when I feel too restless to sleep, and it always works! It's A Little Fall of Rain from, of course, Les Misérables. Is it weird that I use a death song as a lullaby?
Day 11: A Song From My Favourite Band
Just like I don't have one favourite song, I don't have one favourite band. But I have been a tiny bit obsessed with Fleetwood Mac for quite a long time now. Here's some Second Hand News for ya.
Day 12: A Song From A Band I Hate
What's with all the "hate" questions here? I don't want to share things I dislike to my readers! Not to mention I have to rummage my head for all my worst music-related memories which I've been doing my best to forget. Alright, here's a song that was constantly playing in the radio for a while and it drove me insane: Suudellaan (= Let's kiss) by the Finnish band Lauri Tähkä & Elonkerjuu (nowadays just Elonkerjuu). I don't know exactly what annoys me so much about this band!
Day 13: A Song That Is A Guilty Pleasure
As I explained in this post, I don't really have any "guilty pleasures" in music because I don't have a problem telling people what I like. But if I did believe in the idea, I think this recent find would fit the description. Some weeks ago I listened to One Night In Bangkok from the musical Chess (composed, by the way, by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus aka the ABBA guys) and now I can't stop... It's so ridiculous and SO AWESOME.
Day 14: A Song That No-one Would Expect Me To Like
What an interesting question. I actually have no idea what other people think about my taste in music! I like so many different types of music that I don't know if I could really surprise people with anything. I guess, maybe those people who know I'm not religious at all could be surprised to know that I adore Amazing Grace. This version is by Celtic Woman.
Day 15: A Song That Describes Me
That would have to be Paloma Faith's Upside Down, there is no other option!
Day 16: A Song I Used To Like But Now Hate
I generally don't change my opinions about music. If I start to like a song, I'll like it forever, no matter how much other people think it's "overplayed"! But if I think really hard, there's this one song that I, for some mysterious reason, listened to a lot when I was smaller (like ten, maybe) – Try To Say I'm Sorry by Princessa. WHY? That voice is terribly annoying and the singer looks like an emaciated Kristen Stewart.
Day 17: A Song I Always Hear On The Radio
I never listen to the radio at home, but it's nice to put it on in the car. My mum and I usually choose Groove FM, and that channel likes to play Adele's Set Fire To The Rain
Day 18: A Song I Wish I Heard On The Radio
As I'm usually in the car when I listen to the radio, I would love to hear Michael Jackson's Speed Demon! Isn't that just a perfect car driving song?
Day 19: A Song From My Favourite Album
The Dreamgirls film soundtrack is definitely one of my favourite albums. It's the perfect mix of great, groovy tunes and character-building ballads bursting with soul and emotion. Steppin' To The Bad Side is on the groovy side, I simply can't stay still when they get the saxophones going there.
Day 20: A Song I Listen To When I'm Angry
I do realize I already featured Michael Jackson a short while ago, but there just isn't a more ideal anger song for me than They Don't Care About Us.
Day 21: A Song I Listen To When I'm Happy
Today 4 U from the musical RENT, because Angel is awesome.
Day 22: A Song I Listen To When I'm Sad
There's a LOT of songs I could choose from, but I'll pick Madonna's The Power Of Good-Bye.
Day 23: A Song To Play At My Wedding
Seasons of Love, a.k.a the most moving anthem about life, from the wonderful musical RENT!
Day 24: A Song To Play At My Funeral
Wow, I haven't really thought about this... Seasons of Love would suit this occasion perfectly as well, but it would be lame to use the same song twice. Madonna's I'll Remember would be a possibility. Glee's Chris Colfer introduced me to this song and I've loved loved loved it ever since – specifically, his version of it.
Day 25: A Song That Makes Me Laugh
I'm glad there's something cheerful here after those funeral contemplations! I know I shared this song in my Mary Poppins post already, but there is no other song in the world that makes me laugh out loud like I Love To Laugh from Mary Poppins! I've never managed to listen through it silently!
Day 26: A Song I Can Play On An Instrument
I played the flute for seven years so I can play a fair amount of stuff on it, but my favourite song to play is Danny Boy. (Actually, the melody is called Londonderry Air in my music books, the Danny Boy lyrics were made later.) I want to present this version sung by the wonderful Celtic Thunder.
PS there's an other video in Youtube where these same guys sing this same song in the open air wearing kilts and it's even more awesome, but Blogger won't let me add it here for some reason...
Day 27: A Song I Wish I Could Play
One of these days I'm seriously going to dig out the sheet music for I'm A Doun For Lack O'Johnnie (there's about 11 different ways to spell the song title and none of them seems to be the official, "right" one...). It's a part of the Scottish Fantasy composition by Max Bruch, made famous by the violinist Vanessa Mae. This melody is usually played with the violin, but no doubt it would sound great with the flute as well!
Day 28: A Song That Makes Me Feel Guilty
I don't exactly know what this question is about because songs rarely make me feel guilty, but I guess the nearest hit would be Whistle While You Work from Disney's Snow White. It might disturb me a little when it happens to pop into my head and my apartment is looking like a hurricane went through... I'm going to present the Finnish version Ain laulain työtäs tee, because of course I watched all the Disney films dubbed in Finnish when I was a kid (and even as a grown-up I swear the Finnish voices suit the characters much better than the original ones). And it will be a fun listen to all the non-Finns.
Day 29: A Song From My Childhood
Yep, Disney films belonged to my childhood as they do to practically everyone's, but I bet not everyone can say they knew the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein songs in The Sound Of Music at age five. My absolute favourite scene in the film was Liesl and Rolf's duet Sixteen Going On Seventeen. Liesl was my number one childhood heroine – she had such a pretty pink dress and a boy who sang with her. Plus, when my sister and I were smaller our mum would always stop the film right after Maria and Georg got married, and it came as a complete surprise to me later that the film actually continued from there. So for many years I didn't know that Rolf would become a bad guy!
Day 30: My Favourite Song Last Year
Okay this is hard, because like I said on Day 1 I have tons of favourite songs and I can't possibly keep track exactly when I started liking all of them. I recall listening to Lady Gaga's Born This Way a lot, and I still do – especially on the rare occasion when I make myself do work-out at home. I need a good beat for that, and Gaga has it.
BONUS Day 31: A Song That Is Really Insane
The original tag only covers 30 days but I made up this tiny addition myself because, as we all know, there are 31 days in October. There's always some sort of a "crazy, funny song" phenomenon going on in the wide world of the Internet. Stuff like Gangnam Style, Harlem Shake or... What Does The Fox Say by Ylvis! My apologies if you're already sick of this insanity... And this is officially the end of the 30 Days of Music challenge! Feel free to take up this tag on your blog!
I also dug out this 30 Days of Music tag from Kristallikettu's blog to add some fun to this depressing month called October. What it means is that for each day this month I choose one song according to the directions of this tag. It would be pointless to create separate posts to all 30 song choices so I'll just edit them all into this same post.
Let's get started...
Day 1: My Favourite Song
It annoys me immensely when this question pops up... I mean, how is it possible for any person to have just ONE favourite song?! I know I have at least a hundred! Okay if I have to pick one... I guess it could be Stand By Me by Ben E. King. I adore the double bass intro and the video is somehow really cute. And, of course Mr King's voice, like no other on the planet. I even feel a tiny bit more positive about facing the horrors of October after listening through this song.
Day 2: My Least Favourite Song
This is a tricky one as well, because whenever I come across an atrocious song I like to avoid it, so it doesn't really stick in my mind. I'm going to go with Nicki Minaj's Stupid Hoe because no matter which way I try to listen to it, even given the option that Minaj isn't even taking herself seriously here, I can't think of it as anything else but an unbelievable waste of time, energy, vocal chords and Youtube space. Sorry Minaj fans...
Day 3: A Song That Makes Me Happy
There's something irresistibly positive about Ain't No Mountain High Enough, sung by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
Day 4: A Song That Makes Me Sad
Garou's Que l'Amour Est Violent was playing at our house after our family's first dog was put to sleep and even after five years I always remember that day when I listen to this. Hear it out even if you can't understand a word of French, it's really beautiful and that man has a voice like no one else.
Day 5: A Song That Reminds Me Of Someone
Ever since Midsummer celebrations of 2013, Psy's Gentleman reminds me of one of my lovely cousins who wore a hilarious costume. Oh my that was so much fun...
Day 6: A Song That Reminds Me Of Somewhere
We Are Young by fun. reminds me of the wonderful week I spent in Glasgow visiting a friend.
Day 7: A Song That Reminds Me Of An Event
This one reminds me of another cousin's wedding: Tapani Kansa's R-A-K-A-S which you hear all the time unless you know how to avoid certain radio stations and dance events. For those of you who don't know Finnish, it's basically about wanting to marry your L-O-V-E in the countryside.
Day 8: A Song That I Know All Of The Words To
Learning song lyrics has sort of become a new hobby of mine so Somewhere from the musical West Side Story is just one example.
Day 9: A Song I Can Dance To
In Finnish high schools there's an optional dance course (mostly to get ready for the school dance called "Wanhojen tanssit") and we did salsa with Juanes' La Camisa Negra :D
Day 10: A Song I Fall Asleep To
I'm a really picky sleeper. One thing that I absolutely require in order to fall asleep is that everything must be QUIET. If there's a loud concert at the indoor ice rink some hundreds of meters away, my sleep is ruined. So yeah, I don't really play music when I want to sleep. But... there's one song that I play in my head when I feel too restless to sleep, and it always works! It's A Little Fall of Rain from, of course, Les Misérables. Is it weird that I use a death song as a lullaby?
Day 11: A Song From My Favourite Band
Just like I don't have one favourite song, I don't have one favourite band. But I have been a tiny bit obsessed with Fleetwood Mac for quite a long time now. Here's some Second Hand News for ya.
Day 12: A Song From A Band I Hate
What's with all the "hate" questions here? I don't want to share things I dislike to my readers! Not to mention I have to rummage my head for all my worst music-related memories which I've been doing my best to forget. Alright, here's a song that was constantly playing in the radio for a while and it drove me insane: Suudellaan (= Let's kiss) by the Finnish band Lauri Tähkä & Elonkerjuu (nowadays just Elonkerjuu). I don't know exactly what annoys me so much about this band!
Day 13: A Song That Is A Guilty Pleasure
As I explained in this post, I don't really have any "guilty pleasures" in music because I don't have a problem telling people what I like. But if I did believe in the idea, I think this recent find would fit the description. Some weeks ago I listened to One Night In Bangkok from the musical Chess (composed, by the way, by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus aka the ABBA guys) and now I can't stop... It's so ridiculous and SO AWESOME.
Day 14: A Song That No-one Would Expect Me To Like
What an interesting question. I actually have no idea what other people think about my taste in music! I like so many different types of music that I don't know if I could really surprise people with anything. I guess, maybe those people who know I'm not religious at all could be surprised to know that I adore Amazing Grace. This version is by Celtic Woman.
Day 15: A Song That Describes Me
That would have to be Paloma Faith's Upside Down, there is no other option!
Day 16: A Song I Used To Like But Now Hate
I generally don't change my opinions about music. If I start to like a song, I'll like it forever, no matter how much other people think it's "overplayed"! But if I think really hard, there's this one song that I, for some mysterious reason, listened to a lot when I was smaller (like ten, maybe) – Try To Say I'm Sorry by Princessa. WHY? That voice is terribly annoying and the singer looks like an emaciated Kristen Stewart.
Day 17: A Song I Always Hear On The Radio
I never listen to the radio at home, but it's nice to put it on in the car. My mum and I usually choose Groove FM, and that channel likes to play Adele's Set Fire To The Rain
Day 18: A Song I Wish I Heard On The Radio
As I'm usually in the car when I listen to the radio, I would love to hear Michael Jackson's Speed Demon! Isn't that just a perfect car driving song?
Day 19: A Song From My Favourite Album
The Dreamgirls film soundtrack is definitely one of my favourite albums. It's the perfect mix of great, groovy tunes and character-building ballads bursting with soul and emotion. Steppin' To The Bad Side is on the groovy side, I simply can't stay still when they get the saxophones going there.
Day 20: A Song I Listen To When I'm Angry
I do realize I already featured Michael Jackson a short while ago, but there just isn't a more ideal anger song for me than They Don't Care About Us.
Day 21: A Song I Listen To When I'm Happy
Today 4 U from the musical RENT, because Angel is awesome.
Day 22: A Song I Listen To When I'm Sad
There's a LOT of songs I could choose from, but I'll pick Madonna's The Power Of Good-Bye.
Day 23: A Song To Play At My Wedding
Seasons of Love, a.k.a the most moving anthem about life, from the wonderful musical RENT!
Day 24: A Song To Play At My Funeral
Wow, I haven't really thought about this... Seasons of Love would suit this occasion perfectly as well, but it would be lame to use the same song twice. Madonna's I'll Remember would be a possibility. Glee's Chris Colfer introduced me to this song and I've loved loved loved it ever since – specifically, his version of it.
Day 25: A Song That Makes Me Laugh
I'm glad there's something cheerful here after those funeral contemplations! I know I shared this song in my Mary Poppins post already, but there is no other song in the world that makes me laugh out loud like I Love To Laugh from Mary Poppins! I've never managed to listen through it silently!
Day 26: A Song I Can Play On An Instrument
I played the flute for seven years so I can play a fair amount of stuff on it, but my favourite song to play is Danny Boy. (Actually, the melody is called Londonderry Air in my music books, the Danny Boy lyrics were made later.) I want to present this version sung by the wonderful Celtic Thunder.
PS there's an other video in Youtube where these same guys sing this same song in the open air wearing kilts and it's even more awesome, but Blogger won't let me add it here for some reason...
Day 27: A Song I Wish I Could Play
One of these days I'm seriously going to dig out the sheet music for I'm A Doun For Lack O'Johnnie (there's about 11 different ways to spell the song title and none of them seems to be the official, "right" one...). It's a part of the Scottish Fantasy composition by Max Bruch, made famous by the violinist Vanessa Mae. This melody is usually played with the violin, but no doubt it would sound great with the flute as well!
Day 28: A Song That Makes Me Feel Guilty
I don't exactly know what this question is about because songs rarely make me feel guilty, but I guess the nearest hit would be Whistle While You Work from Disney's Snow White. It might disturb me a little when it happens to pop into my head and my apartment is looking like a hurricane went through... I'm going to present the Finnish version Ain laulain työtäs tee, because of course I watched all the Disney films dubbed in Finnish when I was a kid (and even as a grown-up I swear the Finnish voices suit the characters much better than the original ones). And it will be a fun listen to all the non-Finns.
Day 29: A Song From My Childhood
Yep, Disney films belonged to my childhood as they do to practically everyone's, but I bet not everyone can say they knew the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein songs in The Sound Of Music at age five. My absolute favourite scene in the film was Liesl and Rolf's duet Sixteen Going On Seventeen. Liesl was my number one childhood heroine – she had such a pretty pink dress and a boy who sang with her. Plus, when my sister and I were smaller our mum would always stop the film right after Maria and Georg got married, and it came as a complete surprise to me later that the film actually continued from there. So for many years I didn't know that Rolf would become a bad guy!
Day 30: My Favourite Song Last Year
Okay this is hard, because like I said on Day 1 I have tons of favourite songs and I can't possibly keep track exactly when I started liking all of them. I recall listening to Lady Gaga's Born This Way a lot, and I still do – especially on the rare occasion when I make myself do work-out at home. I need a good beat for that, and Gaga has it.
BONUS Day 31: A Song That Is Really Insane
The original tag only covers 30 days but I made up this tiny addition myself because, as we all know, there are 31 days in October. There's always some sort of a "crazy, funny song" phenomenon going on in the wide world of the Internet. Stuff like Gangnam Style, Harlem Shake or... What Does The Fox Say by Ylvis! My apologies if you're already sick of this insanity... And this is officially the end of the 30 Days of Music challenge! Feel free to take up this tag on your blog!
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