One Half Buddhist, One Half Christian, One Half Pagan

I'm back to the usual routine after a wonderful mid-week road trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

My travelling companion, nounsandverbs, describes our adventures better than I can.

PRI's The World explores the phenomenon of earworms. No real explanations, but it's still an interesting look.

1 standard grocery sack of fabric (mostly quilting type cotton) and other random crafty stuff. Claimed by Sunny!

10 cassette tapes. Some copies of albums, some themed mixes. I'll give more details if folks want.

Anything that hasn't been claimed by Thursday night is getting thrown away.

100% free if you're local, pay me back for the shipping if you're not.

Who is the greatest singer American popular music has produced? That is, pretty much every musical style except opera and other classical forms.

I'll cast my vote for Ella Fitzgerald.

I own just enough recordings of Stephen Sondheim's work to know that I don't own nearly enough of it.

*wanders over to Amazon to add stuff to the never ending wishlist*

One of the music podcasts I listen too just played me "Summertime" by Kat Edmonson. A really beautiful version of the song, and I ended up putting the whole album on my Amazon wishlist.

Of course, the very next song is a New Agey, "my computer and synthesizer are babbling at each other"... thing (Crystal Under Brattleboro). Pretty, but as background noise, not music.

My iPod has been in a very Beatles mood for the last few days. Literally every third song has been either from their catalog or from one of their solo careers. This pleases me.

It also is refusing to load my "this hasn't played for a long time" playlist. This displeases me.

Body: Physically I feel pretty good today. At least, none of the aches and pains stand out as being particularly noteworthy.

Book Review: I finally finished The Golden Bough by James Frazer. It was quite interesting overall, but it's pretty dated. I think I need to find some more recent books on compartative religion, mythology, and folk traditions.

Reading: After I finished The Golden Bough I spent some time playing with the new features that Amazon has added to my Kindle instead of starting something new right away. Then I ran out of awake.

Hearing: More music. I think I'm actually going to go in and delete/unsubscribe some of my podcasts. I'm just not listening to them as much as I used to.

Tonight's Project: I have to hurry to pick up and put away the farm share tonight, and then get to a friend's birthday dinner.

Swiped from nounsandverbs

1. What are you listening to right now? Nothing right now.

2. What song makes you sad? "Amazing Grace", especially when it's an instrumental version.

3. What is the most annoying song in the world? "This is the song that never ends..." I have no idea if that's the actual name of the song, but if you've ever heard it, you know which one I'm talking about.

4. Your all time favorite band? The Beatles, without a question.

5. Your newly discovered band is? I can't really think of one. There are groups that I sorta vaguely knew existed for a while but hadn't really listened to much until recently, but there aren't any that I'd never heard at all until the last couple months.

6. Best female voice? How are we defining "best?" For purely pretty, Joan Baez is pretty high up there. For emotional impact Cass Elliot from The Mamas and the Papas, Aretha Franklin, and Mavis Staples are all amazing.

7. Best male voice? Again, what do we mean by "best?" Some of my favorites are Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, David Crosby, Robert Plant, Muddy Waters.

8. Music type you find yourself listening to most? Classic 1960's rock. Classic R&B, good blues, modern and traditional folk are all also high on the list.

9. What do you listen to to hype you up? Good Motown style R&B. I actually don't let myself listen to it when I'm behind the wheel. I'm sure you can guess why... Very upbeat Celtic has a similar but less pronounced affect.

10. What do you listen to when you want to calm down? Celtic and folk of the more ballady type.

11. Last gig/concert you went to? This is embarrassing, but I don't remember. It's been a while.

12. Band you find yourself listening to the most right now? Fairport Convention

13. Most hated band? I don't really have one. There are groups I don't care for, but I wouldn't say it rises to the level of hate.

14. Song that makes you think? The old Woody Guthrie song "Deportee"

15. Band that you think the world should love as much as you do? I think The Mamas and The Papas and The Lovin' Spoonful both deserve to be remembered for more than a couple songs each.

16. Coolest music video? I've never been that into music videos. I remember liking the one for Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start the Fire."

17. Music video with the most babe watch? This one is pretty irrelevant for me.

18. What do you play/would you play in the bedroom to spice things up? I've never really thought about it... I don't think I'd want anything with lyrics. Good ones would distract me, and bad ones would break the mood.

19. Can you play a musical instrument? Not really, no.

20. Ever been in a mosh pit? Nope

21. Are you in a band? Nope.

23. Ever dated a musician? Yup.

28. Do you wish yourself that you were a musician? I wish I knew how to use my voice better.

29. Best chick band you know of? This question doesn't make any sense. Band that is made up of chickens? Band that is marketed/appeals to chickens?

31. Last song that you heard on the radio/cd...etc...? I'm not sure what was the last song that played, but I've been listening to Fairport Convention's Liege and Leaf a lot lately.

32. What do you think of Classical music? Most of it is just pretty noise to me. I can't concentrate on it well enough to form a more nuanced opinion of most of it.

33. What do you think of Country music? The problem is that we have two different types of music being called by the same name. Real country, which is folk and bluegrass influenced, but with more rhythm and drive to it, is wonderful. And then there's the modern pop pap with a southern or western accent which is also labeled as country music...

34. What do you think of Death metal? I'm not sure this counts as music.

35. Last BIG band that you saw live? I went to see Rush with Tom a few years ago. It wasn't awful, but I was hoping I'd like them better live than I do on CD.

36. Are you a groupie? No. By the time I was old enough to be a groupie, all of my favorite bands had been broken up for longer than I'd been alive. Now, if anybody ever invents a time machine...

37. Do you listen to music in foreign languages? Sometimes.

38. What famous musician would you like to fuck? I think I'm going to plead the 5th on this one. :-)

39. Worst concert moment? Nothing that really stands out.

40. Funny concert moment? I had a giggle at the Rush concert: first time in my life where the line for the men's room was three times as long as the one for the women's room.

41. Sad concert moment? Nothing that's standing out in my mind.

42. Best local act you can think of? Hair of the Dog is local-ish to Albany. They're an amazing Celtic group.

43. If you were a musical instrument what would you be? I don't know... some sort of woodwind, maybe?

44. Do you listen to the radio? Does NPR count?

45. Do you watch music TV? I don't watch TV

46. Do you follow the music charts, like the top 40? Nope

47. Have you met any famous musicians? No

48. Are any of your friends/family/etc. musicians? My paternal grandmother and all three of my dad's sisters are amazing singers.

49. Song that best describes your feelings right now? "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong

50. Song that describes your life? I can't think of a good one right now.

51. Do you know the names of all the band members that you listen to? I try to, but I don't always.

52. Does a musician’s physical attractiveness play a role in the music that you listen to? No, and I wish it played less of a role in what's available.

What famous musician do you want to marry? None. My understanding is most of them are jerks or troubled or both.

53. Favourite movie sound track? Hard Day's Night is the best.

55. Any musician pet hates? Nothing I can think of right now.

56. What do your parents listen to? Mom likes opera and other classical music, Dad is into classic rock, blues, and jazz

57. What are you listening to right NOW? Nothing

58. Do you wear band etc T-shirts? Not usually. I would, but I have a hard time finding ones I like.

59. Do you cook to music? Once in a while, when I think to put some on.

60. Do you sing in the toilet? No.

Apparently my iPod is in a hedonistic mood today. It's played half the soundtrack from Hair, quite a few of the Beatles more psychedelic tracks, and most recently Alan Jackson's song "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere."

I think it's a sign.