Covers

So a controversial topic – covers. I really quite like Adele at the moment (a bit daggy to admit, I know, but ‘Rollin in the Deep’ is amazing) so saw that she did a cover of ‘Black and Gold’ by Sam Sparrow. I didn’t mind this song, so downloaded it, and was blown away. She has a great voice, the guitarist that is accompanying her is very good, it just works.

With this ringing in my ear, I saw on hype that one of the most popular downloads at the moment was in fact Kate Perry doing a version of Black and Gold as well. I thought, interesting comparison to play them back to back. I also decided to download the original version as well, just to listen to them all in sequence and have a Black and Gold overdose.

Well as you can guess, my favourite remained Adele. Kate Perry’s voice is very good and she really let’s go on this version, but it’s a bit too whinny and I didn’t really enjoy it as much. Sam is a little too understated in contrast, with obviously a lot more production than the other two, so I maintained my conviction towards Adele.

So I hate myself. Why? Well I always think that covers aren’t really as good as the original. Indeed, I often feel cheated by covers if I’ve not heard the original – I always like to get back to the base. That being said, there some amazing covers going around (like ‘What Goes On’ by Sufjan, or ‘All along the Watchtower’ by Jimmy), but I always like think the original has to be the best as it has created the interest for people to make their own interpretations of the song. Some people produce amazing interpretations of the song, but it is off a great base, so the original has to be the best. This argument is obviously flawed as in a lot of cases the artist who produced the original has not necessarily written it, or produced a version that reflects how the writer intended it, but that’s my argument and that’s what I’m going to stick with.

Small world!

The last two weeks I seem to run into people left, right and centre. Everybody knows everybody, but it seems like Sydney is just a small town.

Amazing

That is all really. Feel like I've changed a lot this week after a busy one at work - feels good though.

30 Day Song Challenge - minus 29 days...

We all know how much I love lists. I also love music, this is also fairly well known. Combinations are also an old favourite, so imagine my excitement when I saw the ’30 Day Song Challenge’, where you list 30 songs that fit certain criteria. So much love, so much excitement. I'd find it too painful to do over 30 days, so here they are, all at once:

1. My favourite song
Summer Wino – Dan Kelly & the Alpha Males.
I mean this is obviously a really hard question, and something that is hard to pin down, but last month I had this same question and decided with this song. Just love it, just has depth, character, groove, fun - everything really

2. My least favourite song
Fergielicious - Fergie.
I really don’t like her stuff, and I think this is perhaps the worse of a bad bunch

3. A song that makes me happy
You’ve changed – Sia.
I remember hearing this for the first time and just loving it, then realising that she was actually saying, ‘You’ve changed… FOR THE BETTER’. How can that not make you happy. Delightful song

4. A song that makes me sad
Never tear us apart – INXS.
I heard it at a funeral and it reminds me of how sad that was every time I hear it, which makes me sad.

5. A song that reminds you of someone
Toop Toop – Cassius.
Lots of songs remind me of people, but this one jumps to mind; it’s a fun song and reminds me of a fun kid. Plus I need other songs for other sections

6. A song that reminds me of somewhere
CC (You set the fire in me) – Tom Vek
Contender for favourite song, I remember the time and place that I feel in love with it.

7. A song that reminds me of an event
Young Bride - Midlake
I remember hearing this song at a party & really liking it, finding out who it was by then downloading it. I remember that party!

8. A song that I know all the words to
A Thing For Me – Metronomy
Another favourite song, I sing along with this one every time I hear it

9. A song I can dance to
Color Coordination – Magistrates
I think I only know this song of theirs, heard it as a demo but I just love it. Really catchy and great tempo.

10. A song I fall asleep to
Spend a lifetime – Jamiroquai
It’s pretty slow so it does tend to put you to sleep. Plus it’s the end of the album, so it’s the best point to fall asleep at

11. A song from my favourite band
Dropped – Phantom Planet
Another hard one, as you have to narrow down who your favourite band is. I love Phantom Planet, and think that each of their albums are wonderful, so they can be my favourite. I think their last album was pretty catchy, this is one of the wonderful songs of it!

12. A song from a band I hate
My Lumps – Black Eyed Peas
I liked their early stuff, then hated them so much. This for me is perhaps the worse song ever right along side ‘Fergilicious’. You make the link about the common thread between the two

13. A song that is a guilty pleasure
Crazy Chick – Charlotte Church
Look she has a great voice and it’s a really catchy song. I don’t feel that guilty because it’s so good, but it is a little embarrassing

14. A song that no one would expect me to like
Fire – Joe Budden
I love this song, but I don’t think people would realise that I like gangsta rap too

15. A song that describes me
Song for the Unemployed – Andy Clockwise
I loved this as soon as I heard it. I’m not really unemployed, but I think a lot of it relates to me. I particularly like, ‘I change my tape and I change my whole perspective’ – music has a huge bearing on how I feel

16. A song I use to like but hate now
Sleepy Head – Passionpit
Yeah probably over played it

17. A song that I always hear on the radio
Crave You – Flight Facilities
Great song, simple and catchy. Great song

18. A song you wish you would hear on the radio
Telantena Zare - Alèmayèhu Eshèté
I put this Ethiopian hits CD on my computer, and a couple of my favourite songs from last year are on there. Would love to hear more of this stuff on the radio, cause not only is it good but it’s different.

19. A song from my favourite album
Burned Out – Little Barrie
I saw Little Barrie at @Newtown. Best gig I’ve ever been to, think it’s probably my favourite album (again so hard. Maybe Grace is up there too?!?)

20. A song I listen to when I’m angry
Going through Hell – The Streets
Well I don’t really have to be angry to listen to it, but it does pump me up when I’m running. Keep going!!!

21. A song I listen to when I’m happy
Safronia B – Calvin Boze
Such a happy song, it makes you even happier!

22. A song I listen to when I’m sad
Come Pick Me Up – Ryan Adams
I think this is perhaps his most unhappy song. I love his stuff so much, but it does give you the slittys. I was going to say Nobody Girl but I listen to that when I’m cranky with girls too and it cheers me up, so had to go for this one

23. A song to play at my wedding
Come Rain or Come Shine – Dinah Washington
I remember thinking this was a Bette Midler song, as I first heard it in the film ‘For the Boys’. It’s an amazing song, but Dinah Washington takes it to a whole new place. There is a live version of it that you should listen to – she has one of the most amazing voices I think I’ve ever heard

24. A song to play at my funeral
You can’t always get what you want – The Rolling Stones
So hard to not make this a big cliché. Great song, I think I’m ripping it off a bit from ‘The Big Chill’ too. Still I think it would be a nice song to be sent off to

25. A song that makes me laugh
Another Puff – Jerry Reed
Jerry Reed is one of my favourite musicians, and I laugh every time I hear a few particular lines in this song

26. A song I can play on an instrument
Down by the River – Neil Young
Whenever I pick up the guitar I invariably play this song, so it’s only right to list it here

27. A song you wish you could play
Clair de Lune
I’ve always loved this song. I wish I could play the piano, would love to be able to play the organ as well. But this is such a beautiful song I wish I could play it

28. A song that makes me feel guilty
Money (That’s what I want) – Barrett Strong
I’ve never felt guilty listening to a song, but I feel guilty being over privileged, so this probably works the best

29. A song from my childhood
Lost – the Badloves
Without question my first favourite song, and the song I loved most of my childhood (till I was about 15 and started loving Jeff Buckley). Amazing song, great band – influenced a lot of my taste in music

30. My favourite song from last year
Tighten Up – Black Keys
Black Keys was probably my favourite album of last year, and this was probably the best song off that album.

Wow – 1300 odd words of selfindulgence. Lovely.

Segue

For those of you keen for an update on the outcome of my personal challenge yesterday (the only person to most likely read this, i.e. me, will be), I did succeed. What a hero!!! So that was that.

But to another point, and that point is how to chill out. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? No. As mentioned yesterday, I think that I worry too much. I need just to chill out and enjoy life as it rolls. I think that yesterday provided a slight insight into how to do that – you can only really control what is in your direct sphere of influence, other than that it’s near on impossible to do anything about it. I was on FB too much looking at people, stopped doing it and was fine about life. Tick.

I know that this is a bit of a weird segue but that’s also one of the beauties of triathlon. You’re in control, it’s you competing against yourself really, which is really good for us non-competitive types. Tick

One more tick and then it’s tick tick tick BOOM.

OCD

I think I’m in a bit of a rut. I really don’t have a decent reason to be in one, but I’m in one none the less.

So in order to get out, it’s always good to set little ‘challenges’. Today’s challenge is to not go onto FB (on the computer, I wrote happy birthday to people to people from the iPhone). Now surely this seem simple, and in essence it should be. I didn’t go onto FB on my work machine for the first 5 or so months whilst I was here, but after that I feel into old habits and checked it a few times throughout the day. It’s all about habits, and checking in on everyone is just too compelling to stop doing all the time. Whilst the habit is to log in, it is motivated by a intrinsic desire to know what people are up to – a voyeuristic desire to keep tabs on everything.

There in-lies the real difficulty. It’s hard to let go of that knowledge after making it a part of your day-to-day rituals, but really, it’s not vital to my survival to check in on what people are up to all the time. You can check in from time to time and pick up the information, it’s about being less obsessed by it all. I need to chill out.

I’ve wanted to go on a few times today, but I won’t as it’s a challenge. That and I keep telling myself to chill out. So CHILL OUT. And don’t log onto FB. And chill out.

Time's a wasting...

See this is why I’m a bad blogger. I really didn’t have much on yesterday, was feeling sorry myself after the ITU triathlon on Sunday (which, by the way, I did in PB time, which made me very proud of myself…), but didn’t blog at all. Today I’ve been super busy and haven’t put anything up. Except this, which isn’t that much. Bit of a poor excuse really.

Da L BOMB

I was just thinking the other day about why I was hung up on a girl and I realised that it was all to do with dropping the ‘l’ bomb. It’s a funny word, people are so scared of it and don’t use it; some people use it all the time. I had a look at the definition, to try and understand why it was so problematic, and I think I realised what it is. I’ll try and explain, as this heightened knowledge has helped me understand why I’m so ‘CAUGHT UP’ all the time too.

The first half of the definition talks about strong affection. I often though this was the be all and end all, so naturally assumed that people were shy of showing this strong conviction. This is understandable, as you need to stand by what you’ve said, but really it shouldn’t be that problematic to highlight strong emotions. So perhaps for some this is the root of the problem, but I think it’s actually in the second half of the definition….

The second half of the definition states that love is about personal attachment. I think this is the problem. Attachment implies some degree of ownership and the need for something in return. I think it also implies a certain responsibility to the other party. I think this is the reason why people are so scared of it – people hate owning thing. Before I go off track and rant on about why I think this, I have to say that this makes me feel a lot better about being all hung up. It’s really about being overly responsible, and at times you really need to let that go, as your responsibility ceases. That or it morphs into a different type of responsibility, which probably is still love but in a different manner. So that made me feel a lot better.

I’m not sure that my heightened understanding is the true story in this post. I think what this story really shows is that I go and over-analyses things to the bullshit. Here I was still thinking about a girl and brining in definitional debates into the equation, when it was probably more sensible just to head up to the Grose or the Marly and have a party pash to move on. See the L bomb isn’t that bad at all, it’s just that you have to stop thinking everything all the bloody time!

Spinning around in circles

I’m super nostalgic (if you hadn’t already picked that from this third incarnation of the old blog thang), so I always love to delve back to things I had back in the past. I think the key things that trigger nostalgic moments for me are:
- Cars: I can always associated major events in my life to cars that were around at the time (mainly what my parents were driving)
- Photos: Going back and looking at old photos is always a good trip down memory lane
- Crushes: I seem to think of old crushes then fall back into them. Then realise that is perhaps the most daft thing ever, then fall out of the, but they’re a good insight back into that time!
- Books: I remember events by what I was reading

The major one though has and always will be music. I can go back to really obscure moments by listening to music. That’s not the reason I thought about writing this though. I thought about writing this because lately I’ve made a point going through my old CDs and listening to them, and I’d forgotten how much I loved so many of the albums. Then I started to wonder why I stopped listening to all these great records, and I realised that it is mainly because of a few factors:

1. I’m always keen to hear the next new thing. I guess everyone likes what’s new, so there’s not much harm in that, but you need to be content with what you’ve got, and Ben Kweller is pretty great
2. People ruined their reputation, in my eyes, with poor follow up albums, so I stopped listening to their good stuff. It’s sort of a case of cutting off my nose to spite my face.
3. MP3’s have sort of killed off the CD star (BAD pun)
4. You do need a change sometimes, but given the number of CDs I have, there is more than enough to change things up!

So the answer, really, is just to take stock of what you’ve got more often, yeah? Yeah!

MX litter bugs

As usual I’ve started back blogging with a flurry of ideas for posts. So here is one, not so much a story, but a thought… okay it’s a story that turns into a gripe, so off we go…

When I was on the train on the way home this evening, the guy in front of me was reading the paper. We both got off at Redfern, and as so many other people do, he got up and left the paper on the seat. This train was going through to the North Shore, so it would have picked up a lot of commuters, and it made me think that lots of people leave their papers on the train after they’ve finished, I suspect under the guise that someone might pick it up and read it later. Or perhaps they’re just littering.

I’m not sure how many people leave it there for others, and if they do this under that belief, surely there are some issues with their plan. Those people who get on at Wynyard or in town have the opportunity to pick up an MX or the paper, so leaving one there is not of much use is it? I think it’s pretty poor form – people are pretty lazy so most likely do just leave it there as litter. I don’t know how people can knowingly litter; I would feel really guilty and self-conscious if I left something behind.

Moral of the story – don’t litter! I think next time I might say something, see what happens. Now that would be a story. Then I found $50…

Round Three

Back when I first started full time work, one of my good friends (SNR) started writing a blog. I thought that this was the best thing since sliced bread; he wrote about adventures he had, things he'd read, stuff he liked - I loved it. Soon enough I copied him. Mine was not nearly as good, but I enjoyed writing on it. I wrote about things I'd done, things that I'd read (TV week), stuff I liked etc, it was pretty much a straight rip off without his brilliant literary ability.

But then it died... or was killed, should I say, by Facebook. FB took over everything, mainly because you could look at photos of ex-girlfriends and stalk future girlfriends whilst writing about adventures, things you'd read and things you liked in bite sized grabs in the status bar. So I deleted it because of Facebook. Well that and I put up a photo from a site, didn't credit it and the owner wrote me a nasty email, so it was sent packing.

After a while I realised that this was quite a silly thing to do, as it was a great window back into my past - like an online diary. Thus, I started up a new one, which was plain to say the least. I've gone back to it from time to time, but I really didn't stick to it.

Which brings me to here. I was just thinking as I was talking to a friend last night that I forget what I've been up to all the time, but I'd like not to. I also thought that I miss writing and would like to get better at it. I thought I should blog again, as it really kills two birds with one stone. Instead of going back to the old site, I thought it was time for a new beginning (and a new name). So here it is. I can't really say now for certain that I'll be 100% committed to it; I'd like to be, but we all know about famously laid plans. I think I will, but only time will tell.

So here we go. Blogger 3.0 - perhaps a little improved, but still just a bit of a rip of the original.