As an expat parent, I take on the mantle of all things American. Including music.

For a long time, this meant nursery rhymes (both straight and jazz versions) and christmas carols (I have sung the 12 Days of Christmas – all the way through – approximately 564 times in the past month).

To be honest, I never got much beyond that, into my own music, because I was just too tired. I wanted quiet when I could get quiet, and I also could not be bothered to even do a quick search through the computer (save for a brief re-infatuation with Purple Rain by Prince during my first parental leave. I played a mean guitar solo on a wriggling, laughing toddler).

But now I have gotten just a bit more sleep. The baby seems to like loud guitars. And, most importantly, we got Spotify.

Spotify is an ad-based internet music service that hasn’t quite come to the US yet. It is incredible. Almost any album you could want at a moment’s notice, with only a few commercials thrown in.

So I have been trying out my music on my kids at 5 in the morning.

And I have learned a hard lesson. You can’t dance to most of my favorite music. Sure, you can wave your head around to Pearl Jam, the White Stripes and the Delta blues, to name a few. But they are not toddler, head bopping dance worthy.

Really. You try dancing to Nirvana. Sort of works on the acoustic stuff, but you tell that to my 3-year-old. Same with Led Zeppelin or Jimi Hendrix playing “Red House.”

But I keep trying because the alternative is to get stuck listening to “girl music” over and over, and “girl music” has meant this month the Mariah Carey Christmas album. The horror of Spotify – that I have permanent access to the Mariah Carey Christmas album.

We are finding our way, though. The kids love Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones (and nothing else by the Rolling Stones). We found an incredible version of When the Saints Go Marching In. My daughter has discovered Madonna (as we searched for Celebration by Kool and the Gang, we got the Madonna greatest hits album), and, boy, she loved that.

But there is only one consistent winner, only one search that makes me and the girl and the baby happy. One that will make her grandparents even happier.

Motown. You can dance to almost every song – whether it be Smokey Robinson or the Supremes or the Jackson Five. The album covers that show up on screen are shiny and glittery and cool.

And I love it.

This is a great song. I really get into Ghostland Observatory. This performance was at the Triple Door in Seattle for KEXP. If you get a chance drop by their website. I think they are the best radio station on the planet. I spent some years in Seattle going to art school and have an obvious fondness for this unique radio station.

Ghostland also covers a Prince classic, Darling Nikki at this performance. It’s pretty great. When I was a kid, my brother got two Prince ‘Purple Rain’ albums for Christmas one year, and he gave me one. I had to promise my mom that I wouldn’t listen to this song. Mom, I know you read this, so heres my confession. When you tell your child, “don’t listen to this”, there’s a good chance they probably will, and I did.

Alright, I know that today is the 20th birthday of Taylor Swift, but I wanted to take time out of my day to give a BIG shout out to Mr. Jungle Love himself Morris Day. Purple Rain is an AMAZING film, but my favorite part of the film is when Morris Day shows Prince’s character how to get things done on the the stage. Morris day and the Time (I think) are the best part of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back! Posted above is their performance that is shown at the closing credits of the film.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORRIS DAY!!!!

Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
to get through this thing called life

And if the elevator tries to bring you down
Go crazy – punch a higher floor

One of my personal Top-10 Albums of all-time. Prince had a few hits (I Wanna be you lover, 1999, Little Red Corvette) before this album was released in the summer of 1984. This album, coupled with the movie of the same name, rocketed Prince to mega-stardom. This was one of the very few albums that I have ever owned in which I actually liked ALL the songs. From “Let’s Go Crazy” to “Purple Rain” to “When Dove’s Cry”, this album was packed with hits. My personal favorite song is “The Beautiful Ones”. Prince was probably the biggest star in the musical world during portions of 1984 and 1985 and then he just got plain mega-weird. I bought a few more of his later albums, but other than a few hits here and there, the albums were filled with strange songs far from the mold of Purple Rain. Even today, I can pop a CD of Purple Rain in and the album still holds up as a classic. Prince, he still releases CD’s every once in while, is much older, and is much weirder.

Prince (courtesy dailymail.co.uk)

There are moments in a person’s life that are historic, awe-inspiring, and magical—those “where were you when…” moments that stay with you into ripe old age and turn into nostalgic tales you tell to your grandchildren.

I experienced such a moment on the evening of October 24, when I attended the “Last Jam of 2009” in Chanhassen, Minnesota.  Paisley Park, the massive recording complex owned by Prince, welcomed the general public as well as fan club members to share in the thrill of a concert that none of us will ever forget.

At 11:10 p.m., the group took the stage, followed closely by Prince.  He grabbed his Hohner guitar, walked up to the mic and said “Thank U” to an eruption of screams.

When the band launched into “No More Candy 4 U,” my adrenaline shot up like a rocket.  Prince slyly cut off the band just before the first verse was to come in, uttering a terse “Thank U, goodnight” and feigning an exit from the stage, which prompted screams and laughter from the crowd.  Following a brief pause, the band resumed (and finished) the song.

Prince then teased us with a few opening bars from “Purple Rain” before beginning “Ol’ Skool Company.”  I couldn’t believe it: what a one-two punch with two of the best tracks from the latest album!

“Stand!”, a Sly and the Family Stone cover, kind of killed the vibe for me (at least temporarily).  It was quickly resurrected, however, with “Turn Me Loose,” an as-yet-unreleased gem that had made its live debut on the Tonight Show several months before the end of Leno’s reign as host. A spirited performance of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” followed, the first of three tributes to Michael on the night.

Then it happened.  I finally got to hear “Dance 4 Me” live.  As good as it is on record, it’s absolute aural sex in concert.  Prince & Co. just tore this mutha up.  Before I could catch my breath, we began to party like it was “1999,” with a version just as fresh and spunky as he had played a week prior in Paris on the T.V. show Le Grand Journal.

Next, Prince reclaimed the hit he had given to Chaka Khan, as “I Feel 4 U” brought back disco for a brief moment.  Cue the robotic funk of “Controversy,” complete with an extended bridge that meandered from classic Prince, to Chic, to the Jacksons before returning to its proper melody at the end.

From there, we stepped back in time to 1978 for one of the Purple One’s earliest hits, “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?”  The performance was great, although I would’ve preferred that the lyrics be sung in their original falsetto.  We were then bid to “Take Me With U,” an order we most willingly executed.

Larry Graham (courtesy musity.fr)

The uber-funky 1986 jam “Anotherloverholeinyohead” was started and quickly stopped, with Prince explaining, “I know I’m really gonna wanna get in2 this song and play a really long solo; lemme just switch guitars, real quick.” He left, and a few moments later he emerged from the stage with a crimson Fender Stratocaster, picking the song back up and even working in a bit of the B-52s’ “Rock Lobster” for good measure!

Suddenly, the band tore into “Guitar,” a rocker from the 2007 album Planet Earth, which seemed to bleed right into a fresh, punchy arrangement of the 1985 pop smash “Raspberry Beret,” at the close of which the crowd was urged to repeat a chant of the line, “I think I love her,” until Prince ultimately responded with a heartfelt “I love U, 2.”

It was at this point that the Minneapolis genius needed a break, so he handed the spotlight over to Shelby J., who emerged from the obscurity of the trio of backup singers to deliver the blistering lead vocal on a gospel-tinged Sarah McLachlan cover, “Angel.”  While the performance was fantastic, I felt that it slowed the momentum of the show, which until then had been rock steady.

Prince (and his Hohner) came back with a long version of “4ever in My Life,” a bluesy ballad complete with the same “all right” chant featured in the Sign ‘O’ the Times concert film 22 years ago. I nearly fainted in anticipation of “IT,” but sadly, the dark sex anthem never emerged out of the sweetness, as it had in the film.

Another fan favorite from the Parade album, “Mountains,” was next.  It was paired with the final M.J. tribute, “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground),” with backup singer Elisa delivering a passionate lead vocal.  After building up such funky momentum, Prince called legendary Sly and the Family Stone bassist Larry Graham up to the stage to join him on a six-song classic funk medley.  At 1:10 a.m. Prince threw his guitar into the audience before he and the band exited the stage.

With all the yelling for an encore, I could barely hear myself say, “It ain’t ovah!” At 1:15 a.m. the whole group shuffled back onstage and began the first verse of “Uptown,” with His Royal Badness quickly halting the band.  “I don’t wanna play this song,” he admitted, shifting gears into the deliciously thumping “Let’s Work.”  He followed with “Cool,” a strutting ditty he had originally given to Morris Day and the Time.

The best moment of the entire show happened when Prince launched into the funkiest live version of “Kiss” to ever be performed.  From the sustained chicken-scratch riff on his guitar to his subtle-but-provocative dance moves, the Purple One was in true “legend” mode.  Any doubts I’d had about his ability to still sing falsetto were quickly and permanently dispelled.  While I’m usually on Prince’s side when it comes to the issue of bootlegs, I hope that someone managed to capture this performance, which was magical, and which is truly deserving of repeated listens.

The band exited the stage, leaving their leader alone to strum a particularly touching rendition of  “Sometimes It Snows in April.”  In the wake of the somber vibe the song had created, Prince informed us that he was “gonna do another ballad.  This one’s 4 the ladies.  It’s called…‘The Bird.’”  Doing the Time proud, the band played both of Morris’ Purple Rain hits—this one and “Jungle Love.”  The backup singers then took over on a cover of Sheila E’s “The Glamorous Life,” and Prince once again bid the crowd “goodnight.”

Shelby J. (courtesy MySpace)

After the group walked off, the atmosphere became palpably tense.  Was this the end?

An eternity seemed to pass before the first reverberating chord of “Purple Rain” struck us all like a thunderbolt.  I sat transfixed for several minutes.  As Prince confidently proclaimed “Yes…there is a God!” at the close of the spine-tingling guitar solo, I was reminded of just how blessed I was to have this musician be such a quintessential part of my life for all these years.  Indeed, hearing and watching him perform is proof enough (for me) that God exists.

I left Paisley Park with joy and awe in my heart.  The experience I’d had was truly once-in-a-lifetime.  I’ll still be talking about it when I’m old and gray.

This week the train stops at Prince’s diamond album Purple Rain.  The first album where Prince officially listed his backing band The Revolution, it was rereleased this year to mark it’s 25th anniversary. The album was also the sound track to the film “Purple Rain” which came out the same year.

Definitely one of Prince’s most stellar work, I would definitely say this is the LP that solidified me as a fan of his, I love the amazing detail thats gone into the arrangements and the riffs of the songs. My favorites would have to be “Darling Nikki”, “When Doves Cry”, “Die 4 You”, “The Beautiful Ones” and “Computer Blue”. I love love loooove those tracks so much, listening to them lets me know how much of a great artist Prince is and clearly shows the reasons why he inspires me; not only the music but the imagery and videos that come along with the songs are all part of one big masterpiece. Prince.

Track List

1.Let s Go Crazy

2.Take Me With U

3.The Beautiful Ones

4.Computer Blue

5.Darling Nikki

6.When Doves Cry

7.I Would Die 4 U

8.Baby I m A Star

9.Purple Rain

   Bold = Single

I was at Vamoose on monday, and as always on these jam nights in Bergen something legendary is bound to happen. Our own Feddi joined Kim Åge from Alexandria Quartet and Erlend Øye from Whitest Boy Alive and Kings of Convenience in a version of “Purple Rain”. Featuring a surprising ending as a guy suddenly and surprisingly joined in with a stadium rock worthy guitar solo. We could not stop laughing!! Oh my.

Luckily, Mikal Telle from House of Telle filmed the whole thing.

(Above: Morris Day and Jerome riff on Abbott and Costello in this scene from the 1984 film “Purple Rain.”)

By Joel Francis
The Kansas City Star

The original members of the ‘80s funk band the Time, including Morris Day, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Jesse Johnson, will have an album of new material out within the next year if Day has his way.

“The original members get together when we can,” Day said. “It’s getting to the point where we can put something new out within the next year.”

After dropping three classic albums in the early ‘80s, the band briefly reunited in 1990. A group appearance at the 2008 Grammys kicked off the latest reconvening, Day said.

“What happened was we’ve been getting together and doing tracks for fun,” Day said. “It so happens Jimmy Jam is chairman of NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences), the company that does the Grammys. They found out he was an original member of the Time and thought we needed to come out together. So we did that, which lead to a string (of shows) in Vegas at the Flamingo, then we decided to keep on going.”

Just don’t expect Jam, Lewis, Johnson or any new cuts on Morris Day and the Time’s current tour.

“We’re holding up on that (playing new cuts). We’re going to launch it in a way that makes sense at the time,” Day said. “I do know we sound even better than the old records. You’ll be surprised how good everybody looks and sounds. There are still a few original members. We still have Jellybean (Johnson) on drums and Monte (Moir) on keyboards. “

In 1980, Prince culled the best musicians from local Minneapolis bands Flyte Time, the Family and Grand Central to be in his pet side project, the Time. Although the Time’s 1981 debut album featured Prince on most of the instruments, the other musicians gradually had more input.

“On the first record, Prince played a lot of the instruments, but I played drums,” Day said. “Every time he was in the studio, I was down there with him working just as much. We cut the tracks together. With each album, the musicians played larger roles. You can see it from all the spin-off careers. Everyone became very efficient in the studio.”

Jam and Lewis made their name as producers working with Janet Jackson. The pair brought in Jellybean Johnson to help produce Jackson’s 1989 hit “Black Cat.” Jesse Johnson also worked with Jackson and has written music for several movies, including “The Breakfast Club,” in addition to recording as a solo artist.

“I knew we had something special right away from the first song the band had to learn,” Day said. “When we played our first big show at the 20 Grand in

Day performs onstage in Ft. Worth, Texas in August, 2009.

Detroit, I started out with my back to the crowd and I could hear the people going nuts. Then after the show I saw the response from the musicians and people into music and knew we had something special.”

The Time found their biggest success after appearing in “Purple Rain,” which celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year.

“When we made ‘Purple Rain’ we weren’t thinking the movie would be a blockbuster, we were just having fun,” Day said. “I’ve only seen once in its entirety and that was at the premier. That said, I think it’s held up well because I always end up running into people who can quote my lines like they wrote the script.”

Unfortunately, the band was no longer intact to enjoy the results.

“What happened was Jimmy and Terry missed a show in Atlanta. They were somewhere producing for S.O.S. Band, missed their flight and because of bad weather couldn’t get out,” Day said. “Because we were signed to Prince’s production company, he fired them. The band never felt the same to me after that. I wasn’t feeling it any more so I decided to start a solo career.”

Day continued to work with Prince, though, appearing in the film “Graffiti Bridge.” Eventually Day realized he liked music more than movies.

“Acting is not an easy gig. It takes a special talent that not just anyone can do it,” Day said. “It takes a lot of memory and concentration, things that don’t come easy to me. I like to work an hour, hour and a half, and be able to go into the studio at my leisure.  The musician has more control over life than an actor.”

After a lengthy absence, Day returned to the big screen for the “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” in 2001.

“That’s an interesting scenario, because apparently (director) Kevin (Smith) wrote the script with us in mind before he contacted us,” Day said. “It was a good experience. I had teenage kids at the time, and they just thought of me as the guy who dropped them off at school. But after ‘Jay and Silent Bob’ so many kids were coming up to me. It set young eyes hip to what I do.”

(Note: This article was written in advance of a scheduled concert by Morris Day and the Time on Nov. 6, 2009, at the Midland Theater in Kansas City, Mo. Unfortunately, Day cancelled the concert hours after the piece was submitted. It is published on The Daily Record for the first time.)

Interior, Dingy Office of a Psychiatric Facility where two harried therapists are doing about a million things at once.

The scene:   About five residents are milling around the office with our heroine, chatting and laughing and asking for money.  Our heroine has been slowly realizing that most of the residents here have not been fully functioning members of society since Reagan was president, so most of their cultural touchstones are in the 80s.  One resident, Luke, is obsessed with Prince and Morris Day, and has recently discovered that our heroine is as well.  He has memorized all of Purple Rain.

Grab hold of your popcorn and strap yourselves into your seats because this week’s X Factor was like a real life horror film.

Stacey Solomon was up first, singing ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ from the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction, and I thought that she really came into her own this week.  Simon compared Stacey’s performance to ‘eating Chinese food’ and still being hungry afterwards, to this she replied: “I felt good.”  Chinese food?  What’s that all about?!  You tell him Stacey!

Olly Murs was next, singing ‘Twist and Shout’ from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  I also thought that Olly did well this week, although a small part of me would like to see him do something different from a jazzy number at some point.  Louis enjoyed the majority of Olly’s performance but added: “I wasn’t crazy about the silly dancing”.  Me neither, but apparently it’s in the film.

After being in the bottom two last week, Lloyd Daniels came back singing ‘Stand By Me’ from the film of the same name.  Despite the fact that he sang Sean Kingston’s version, I thought Lloyd did pretty well.  Dannii noticed that he had a tuning problem during his performance, but on the whole thought it was ‘nice’.

Jamie Archer was next and I was worried for him once more this week because Simon had changed his song again.  He was originally going to sing ‘Unchained Melody’ by U2, but thankfully his song was changed to ‘Crying’ by Roy Orbison, which was in a film called Gummo.  It was nice to see Jamie sing a ballad and put a rock slant on it, rather than sing a pure rock song.  Cheryl said: “Simon did you well changing the song because I think ‘Unchained Melody’ would have been absolutely disastrous for you”.  I agree!

Next was Lucie Jones, singing a song from Camp Rock called ‘This is Me’.  I’ve never seen this film, but thought the song sounded very autobiographical for Lucie.  Louis and Simon thought that this performance made her a strong competitor in the competition.

Then it was the turn of Danyl Johnson, who sang ‘Purple Rain’ from the film of the same name.  Danyl was back on form  this week and had a new haircut to match.  Dannii enjoyed the performance, but admitted she doesn’t like it when Danyl screams.  No – screaming is never good!

John and Edward were next up with the theme to the film ‘Ghostbusters’.  It sure was a visual spectacle and something you  would expect to see on a kids’ TV show.  Simon described their performance as ’sort of good’.  Yeah – I’d go with that.

Joe McElderry closed the show with the song ‘Circle of Life’ from The Lion King.  I thought Joe’s performance was a tad on the theatrical side, but good at the same time.  Dannii thought along the same lines and described his performance as ‘Les Mis mixed with Lion King’.

Blimey – don’t think I’ve ever seen so many films in such a short space of time!

The Results

On Sunday, after great performances from The Black Eyed Peas…

…and Leona Lewis…

…it was time for the most shocking bottom two result yet.  Lucie ended up in the danger zone along with John and Edward.  Simon had the deciding vote amongst the judges and he sent the vote to deadlock.  It seemed that he had changed his tune about the twins and shockingly, Lucie received less votes than them from the public.

What did you think about this week’s result?  It’s going to take me a few days to come to terms with it all!

Ciao for now!

You’ll do *extremely* well if you can sing “Purple Rain” to me:

Movie night this week, and most contestants handed in an at-the-very-least-acceptable performance. Again, there was one obvious stand-out, a lot of ‘good’, and some not so good. Dannii’s back in her old position (beside Louis, not Simon), Cheryl’s a cow, Simon’s patronising and Louis is funny. He also namedrops Kelly Clarkson and Taylor Swift, so go Louis.

The performances…

Stacey opened the show with a decent version of Dusty Springfield’s ‘Son of a Preacher Man’. She sang it quite well, performed it quite well and looked hot, and it’s a great song, but there’s a problem. This song has never been one that’s translated well on these kind of shows, IMO. It lacks the punch required to make a real impact, and it’s a hard song to – I’m stealing an X Factor cliche here – make your own. Add that to the fact that she opened the show, and Stacey could be in trouble this week.

Olly sang ‘Twist and Shout’, and it’s typical Olly. Goofy dancing, screwed up face, okay-ish vocals, a big production…you get the point. Louis criticises the song-choice, and Dannii doesn’t think he (Olly) was fussed on the song himself. I agree…there was a bigger disconnection than ever this week. You can barely hear the other two over the audience. Well, at least some people get him.

Lloyd was out to redeem himself, and he was certainly better than last week, but that’s not saying much. He sang ‘Stand By Me’, and his voice sounded pretty enough. He fell flat quite a lot though, and he completely lost the melody at one point. Oh, and there was this one really cringy moment where he went down to Chezza, held onto her hand and pleading with her to stand by him. Gosh, he’s totally infatuated, and she’s loving every moment of it. Ethan should do something.

Jamie sang ‘Crying’ pretty badly. He was flat to begin with, and kept switching between keys. Still, he’s a ‘rocker’, so he’s allowed to go off-key, obviously. He just wasn’t very good. Story of Jamie’s X Factor run thus far. I hope he finally goes this week.

Lucie sang ‘This Is Me’ from Camp Rock. It’s an awful, bland nu-Disney song, but still, she managed to make it sound good, which says a lot about this girl’s talent. It wasn’t as good as the last two weeks, but that’s understandable. I sort of wish she’d sung a proper Disney song, like ‘Colors of the Wind’ or ‘I Won’t Say I’m In Love’ or something like that. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been as contemporary, but she would’ve sounded great. Oh well.

Danyl won the night with his version of ‘Purple Rain’. No questions asked, really. The song absolutely complimented his tone, and he didn’t overdo it or try too hard. It just worked. Was it as good as Ruth’s? Maybe not, but the situation’s different, and it was a different take on the song. Cheryl compliments him for toning down the cockiness, but he was never cocky to begin with, so she really needs to drop it. And Cheryl’s the last person to criticise anyone’s personality, to be honest. Punched out any toilet attendants recently, Chezza? One other thing: Danyl cut his hair! He still looks sexy as hell, but I liked the old hair. :/ Oh well. Great performance.

John&Edward sing Ghostbusters. Ha. Dannii’s not even humouring them anymore. Go Dannii. I’ve been over these two since the Britney song. Whatever.

Joe closes the show with ‘Circle of Life’, and sounds great (as usual), but is brought down by the weird production, and he chose to modulate the pitch and arrangement in some weird places. Good though. And reliable. Joe’s very reliable. And I don’t his musical theatre-ish-ness much, because he’d do great in that area, and X Factor doesn’t necessarily have to lead to a major recording career.

My ranking:

1) Danyl

2) Lucie

3) Joe

4) Stacey

5) Olly

6) Lloyd

7) Olly

I won’t bother including the twins. They’re like an interval at this point.

Bottom 2: Stacey and either Olly or Jamie. Most likely Jamie.

¡¡¡¡¡Temazo!!!!
El hombre y la mujer se ha manifestado a través de las artes desde su aparición en la Tierra. Así nos llegan desde tiempos inmemoriales sus artes, y de su mano, sus costumbres, su vida toda, y hasta parte de su historia. La danza no es ajena a este fenómeno, y es posiblemente de las primeras artes a través de la cuál se comunica, y es importante destacar que tal vez sea la más simbólica de las artes ya que se acentúa la necesidad de una buena transmisión gestual.

La danza pues, es movimiento. Y un movimiento muy especial ya que requiere de cinco elementos fundamentales, los cuales se interrelacionan para transmitir un mensaje artístico:

Ritmo, Expresión corporal, Movimiento, Espacio y Color

(el libro de Petetewikipedia)

So, I’ve had some Great News under my hat for a little while because I wasn’t sure it was going to come together. But it has, and now I can announce that TB and me are going to hang out LIVE AND IN PERSON around Thanksgiving time. He lives somewhat near my father’s new house, so I’m making a detour to go meet and spend a couple of days with him and Dyskinesia. BF is coming along too. How cool is that? I know it’s not as cool as the MotoGP extravaganza that Laura’s put together for next year, but I’m pretty darn excited about it. Problem is that we won’t be able to post any pictures of us hanging out together since we all have anonymous blogs. Ain’t that a hoot?

I went to yoga class with Paul last night and was totally disappointed. I think I may have grown out of him, as arrogant as that sounds. He just talked a lot, a lot, a lot, and the kind of yoga he teaches is really not the kind I like to do, and he kept saying things that made me wince, and there was just SO much upper body stuff and I wasn’t digging it at all. I’m not sure I’ll go back. I feel really bad, I’ve been going to his classes for over a year and I’ve learned so much from him, and there were all those one-on-ones that he did with me by accident when I was the only person who showed up at his 5:00 class for like a month and a half, but I think I’ve gotten everything I can from him and it’s time to move on. I don’t think he likes me much so it’s probably for the best.

I also nudged my business card into the hands of one of the other students. She was very uncomfortable in the class and had lots of injury issues, and I told her I knew it was hard to find a class that was right for you and told her I’d do a one-on-one with her anytime she wanted. She asked me how much I charged and I told her a first session would be $20. This is obscenely cheap for a one-on-one, but my plan was to do half-off the first session and then go up to $40 for an hour or an hour and a half. (Which is still pretty damn cheap.) Plus I’m so new that I don’t think it’d be right to charge a full going rate, you know.

This whole interaction felt weird and sleazy to me, selling my services to someone who might or might not care at all, but I told myself I had to get used to it and soldiered ahead with the nudging. I’m sort of proud of myself, it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever done something like that.

In the last week or so I’ve watched Purple Rain and The Notorious Bettie Page. I thought the first was unbelievably weird, yet with toe-tappin’ stuff (although Prince’s music has somehow dated itself a lot more cringingly than MJ’s has). Hard to believe it was such a big hit, what with the puppet ventriloquism and the how-did-they-even-DO-that-and-why-God-why hairstyles. The second was pretty good; more of a biosketch than a biopic, enjoyably, and as this review promised, Gretchen Mol is so lovely and comfortable and full of sunshine that it’s a real pleasure to watch her. There were a couple of tidy intelligent jabs here and there but mostly just a good movie about a terrific woman.

So what are YOU doing for Thanksgiving?

Avand in vedere ca am descoperit acest post superb de muzica, post pe care il am deschis oriunde as fi si am internet. Si acasa, si la munca, si in vizita pe la prieteni, intr-un cuvant mai peste tot .  Din acest motiv o sa apara o noua rubrica la CATEGORII numita chiar ROCK SOFT TV, rubrica care va cuprinde toate piesele pe care le prind acolo si consioder ca merita le asculte toata lumea. Cea care este chiar acum este una a lui PRINCE si se numeste PURPLE RAIN! Iat-o!

si la putin timp dupa a aparut o alta piesa care merita sa fie aici. Totusi aceasta mi se pare ca am mai postat-o pe blog ca doar este aici “o adunare de muzica de calitate” Este vorba de Eric Clapton cu Wish You Were Here

si la alte cateva minute diferenta:

Avand in vedere ca am descoperit acest post superb de muzica, post pe care il am deschis oriunde as fi si am internet. Si acasa, si la munca, si in vizita pe la prieteni, intr-un cuvant mai peste tot .  Din acest motiv o sa apara o noua rubrica la CATEGORII numita chiar ROCK SOFT TV, rubrica care va cuprinde toate piesele pe care le prind acolo si consioder ca merita le asculte toata lumea. Cea care este chiar acum este una a lui PRINCE si se numeste PURPLE RAIN! Iat-o!

si la putin timp dupa a aparut o alta piesa care merita sa fie aici. Totusi aceasta mi se pare ca am mai postat-o pe blog ca doar este aici “o adunare de muzica de calitate” Este vorba de Eric Clapton cu Wish You Were Here

si la alte cateva minute diferenta:

Well, as promised I am writing my entry since my exams are doneee! Whooo Hoooo! I never knew how stressing mid-terms were. But I have concluded (as many more before me have) if I studied AT LEAST a week before my mark would be significantly higher. I don’t know my marks yet, but I definitely don’t expect high-school level marks. I will cry if I failed any of my mid-terms because although I hardly studied, I also have a deep longing to pass so I can keep up my average (I don’t want to do summer school if it’s to repeat a course). P.S. Thanks Lorraine for letting me use your calculator for my astronomy mid-term even though I didn’t need it. -_-;

Well, over the time I’ve been studying, I occasionally was stumbling through the internet and doing some random prastinatory actions. It’s kind of sad really. Here’s what I’ve got (click the sexy button that says”more” to continue):

1) I’ve been listening to 8tracks for the past month and I’ve become addicted. Follow me and I’ll follow you if your an 8tracks person [summer_stars_]. I’ve created my first play list the other day and it was inspired by Jessica’s photograph. Here’s the link

Purple Rain
I hope you like it!

2) There was a random site that I was looking at which gives you tips on how to save money. I learned this from the website:

“Refuel your car either early in the mornings or late in the evening. Early as in before 9am and late as in after 9pm. The reason lies in petrol becoming denser at lower temperatures. The pumps measure the volume of fuel that you pump, not the actual density and as a result you get better petrol price economy.”

Here’s the website if you want to know a little bit more on how to keep your wallet heavy (not full of receipts but of money! Maybe even both…)

http://losu.org/management/frugal-habits-save-money-spend-wisely-recession-proof

3) While talking to Mohamed the awesome msn entity that shows up at random times (who i don’t even have a picture with. OMG! Now I need to see him and take a picture with him!), we ended up talking about how we met and that stumped me. How did we meet? He says it was in the hallway at good old T.C.I. but I think it was different. How did I even meet most of my friends? Not how did we become friends, but how did we first meet? Interesting…

4) Since I’m helping out with WLU’s Habitat for Humanity, I was looking at recipes to try for the bake sale and I found among my bookmarks these cute owl cupcakes! How could you not love them and not eat them?

Here’s the link if you’d like to drool over them as much as I did:
I might make them over the weekend…Maybe.

5) FINALLY…I just thought this was kind of humorous. On my daily visit to lookbook.nu one of the hyped styles was this:

Lol, the funny thing is I’m pretty sure our own lovable Slav would hit that if he had the chance.

Soo that’s it for today. I hope I can update you this weekend, but I want to do some readings while I’m home so we will see. Thanks for visiting!

On the other hand, this is “good and lovely and great”, so at least I got the order right. Maybe starting school has turned Junior all militant, because – on learning the Bangles were an all-girl group – she announced, “I only want to listen to music by girls now.”

So of course I told her this was written by a boy. Well, Prince anyway. Along with his ‘Take Me With U’, this was meant for the debut album by Apollonia 6, but the sly old dog kept the former for his own Purple Rain and used this as leverage for a go at Susanna Hoffs. Who can blame him? She was cute; even more so when perched all petite in front of her somewhat butch bandmates. Come on, one of them was called Michael.

‘Manic Monday’ is a pretty ditty, buoyed by rolling piano fills and the other girls’ Byrdsian harmonies. It broke the Bangles over here, but they could never consistently capitalise, only ‘Walk Like An Egyptian’ and ‘Eternal Flame’ providing sporadic highs while the rest of their output took the middle ground. Still, ‘Manic Monday’ was a No.2 hit in the UK, and runner-up in the US too, losing out Stateside to a certain purple pompatus and a certain record which we may or may not return to in a bit.

Wish it was Sunday (there’s football on):

What are the answers? At this new website we believe we have most of the answers from people who were there and saw what was going on first hand. A lot of people say if Prince’s music was so good and all that, why don’t we hear him on the radio like Beyonce, Snoop Dog, Kanya West and J- Z? That’s because most people don’t know how radio air play works. If Prince wanted a good song from a cd to be played in regular rotation he could get it done. All of the above mentioned artists paid anywhere from $200,000 to $1,000,000 million dollars to an Independent Promoter to be placed in regular rotation nationally. It’s got nothing to do with how popular you are (e.g. Beyonce). With their connections with the radio stations they get the job done. The music industry is another subject matter that must be discussed to educate the uninformed public of the inner workings of this vast empire and how Prince and Michael were both ripped off by the major labels, along with a long line of other entertainers.

What if Prince had stood next to and sang with Michael Jackson? What was their relationship like? How did they feel about each other personally and musically? What was it like to hear them on the radio like Beyonce? Michael Jackson VS Prince is a new website developed to further explore these mega superstars’ careers and musical contributions to the world. At one point Quincy Jones tried to bring the two of them together. What most people don’t know is that Prince was asked to appear on the Michael Jackson ‘Bad’ album of 1987. The new Michael Jackson VS Prince website has some of the answers to these questions regarding the two largest icons of the 21st century and how they felt about each other, these two of the largest egos in music. Michael was a star before anyone new who Prince was, so how did Prince feel about the Jackson 5 performing their music during his Minneapolis days? The big fallout between Prince and the music industry came about for him not appearing on the ‘We are the world’ video, when he would have stood next to and sang with Michael Jackson. What was the hold up which could have seen the pairing of two of the biggest superstars of the music world? At this new website we will explore these questions. How does Prince feel that his biggest rival is no longer with us? In 1984 James Brown performed at the Beverly Theater in LA and he invited MJ and Prince on stage, this being the only time both stars have been known to appear on stage together. With Michael no longer with us we wonder how Prince is feeling now that his biggest and only rival is no longer here. These and other questions we will answer on this website. key2kholorz.fatcow.com/

There’s a good vibe in The Fashion Office today, the sun is shining, it’s Friday and we’re feeling inspired by Colours this week.  By chance, it’d appear there’s a lot of gold going on too, and from a collective of sensationally-stylish ladies with naturally expensive taste, who’d expect anything less?

Sostylistic recommends: Jill Scott – Golden.

Sartoriology picks: Spandau Ballet – Gold.

New Favourite Thing elects: Chris De Burgh – Lady In Red.

A Work In Progress suggests: the late King Of Pop, Michael Jackson and Black Or White.

Ellie opts for: Counting Crows – Colourblind.

Emily selects: Madonna – True Blue.

Frankie chooses: Prince – Purple Rain.

Soldiersailor nominates double whammy: The Golden Filter, Solid Gold.

Last week, the girls switched on their boxes and chose their favourites from Songs Featured In Adverts. Find out which ads we loved and the tracks that were top of our list.

Très beau concert de Prince, hier soir 11 octobre 2009, dans le cadre majestueux du Grand Palais de Paris, superbement éclairé pour la circonstance.

De Bruce Springsteen à Prince, il n’y a qu’un pas, que ce blog franchit pour un soir…

Accompagné d’excellents musiciens (hélas non présentés par la star), Prince a livré un show très funk, avec entre autres des reprises de Sly & the Family Stone, mais aussi bien sûr certains de ses tubes comme 1999, Kiss ou (sommet de ce concert de 22 h qui a duré près de 2 heures) un magnifique Purple Rain.

Alors, on oubliera le son approximatif (mais monter un concert sous la coupole du Grand Palais relève du tour de force) et la rythmique parfois un peu lourde. Et on se réjouira d’avoir vu de près (à quelques mètres de la scène) un spectacle hors-pair d’un artiste qui, malgré des disques médiocres ces dernières années, reste un fabuleux showman !

Setlist (source prince.org)
1999
I Feel For You
Controversy
Sexy Dancer – Le Freak ( Chic )
Y U Wanna Treat Me So Bad ?
Take Me With U
Anotherloverholenyohead
Guitar
Raspberry Beret
Girl (*acoustic)
All Day, All Night *
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man *
The 1 U Wanna C *
Sometimes It Snows In April *
Mountains
Everyday People ( Sly & family stone )
I Want To Take U Higher ( Sly … )
Without Love ( Doobie Brothers )
Play That Funky Music
Partyman
Shake your body to the ground
What have you done for me lately

Uptown
Let’s Work
Kiss
Cool

All The Critics Love U In Paris
All Day, All Night

Cream
U Got the look

…because Prince would have wanted us to.

Love Symbol #2...not even trying to be funny, that's what it's called. You can't make this ish up.

And your reward for reading this far down:  Follow the link and purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.

Ruth Lorenzo es una cantante murciana y una auténtica diva, conocida como Spanish señorita ó Spanish rockerita en el Reino Unido tras su paso por el concurso televisivo Británico X Factor 2008. Su versión de “Purple Rain” hizo que las líneas del programa se colapsaran para salvarla y sus videos con miles de visitas en youtube fueron borrados a petición de los abogados de Prince dos días después.

Ruth Lorenzo cantando “Purple Rain”

Ruth Lorenzo cantando “I love Rock&Roll”

Ruth Lorenzo cantando “Love aint here anymore”

Ruth Llorenzo cantando “No more tears (enough is enough)”