Yumuşak versiyonlar nedir? Müzik defterinin gelenekselleşmeye başlamış olan bu dosya konusu; orijinali bazen sert bazen değil, klasik parçaların kadın vokallerle yumuşamış versiyonlarını toparlıyor. Yumuşak versiyonların birinci, ikinci ve üçüncü versiyonları için rakamların üstlerini tıklayın. Dördüncüsü için de aşağıya buyurun…

FLUNK – True Faith (New Order)

80’lerin en karakteristik parçalarından biri; New Order’dan True Faith. Orijinal havayı tamamen değiştiren cover’lar arasında başı çekmeye aday Flunk cover’ı ise parçayı önce 80’ler pistinden alıp çıkarıyor, sonra sakinleştiriyor. Hissedilir şekilde True Faith anavatanı Manchester’dan uzaklaşıp bir Kuzeyli oluyor. Norveçli kadının muhteşem sesinde ayrı bir güzelliğe bürünüyor.

BAT FOR LASHES – A Forest (The Cure)

The Cure’ın en depresif, gözlerimi kapayınca gerçekten de karanlık bir ormanın ortasında beni  yalnız başınıza bırakan bir parçası ‘A Forest’… Bat For Lashes ise karanlık bir ormanın içinden yanında tavşanlar ve bisikletiyle beliren korkusuz ve etkileyici bir kadın vokal (tıklayın, izleyin). Şahsen kinci albümü asla birincisi kadar tatmin etmese de Natasha Khan’ın ilk göz ağrılarından bu parça unutulmaz; karanlık bir ormana çok yakışmış…

CHROMATICS – I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen)

Bruce Springsteen parçalarından I’m On Fire, hatta ‘Ooo ooo ooo I’m On Fire’… Johnny Cash, Tori Amos tarafından da yorumlanan parçanın burada yer vereceğimiz güzel yumuşak versiyonu ise Chromatics’in sesinden olanı… Kate Bush cover’ları Running Up That Hill ile bilinen topluluğun I’m On Fire cover’ı da kendini ardarda dinlettiren parçalardan…

GOD HELP THE GIRL – Funny Little Frog (Belle and Sebastian)

Belle and Sebastian’ın 2006 yılında çıkardığı The Life Pursuit albümünden içimi açan parça Funny Little Frog’u, geçtiğimiz ayların oldukça konuşulan yazılan çizilen yükselişlerinden God Help The Girl yorumunda aslında çok da yabancı bir durum yok. Çünkü projenin sahibi zaten Belle and Sebastian’dan Stuart Murdoch. Bu versiyondaki vokal ise Catherine Ireton…

MASHA QRELLA – Talk To The Trees (Clint Eastwood)

Masha Qrella’nın Morr Music’ten geçtiğimiz aylarda çıkardığı albümü ‘Speak Low – Loewe and Weill In Exile’, Broadway klasiklerinin Masha yorumlarını içeriyor. Tamamı yumuşak versiyonlar olan albümün buraya uygun gördüğümüz parçası ise ‘Talk To The Trees’; Clint Eastwood’un Paint Your Wagon’da ormanın içinde seslendirdiği parça… Albümle ilgili detaylar için tıklayın..

NOUVELLE VAGUE – God Save The Queen (Sex Pistols)

Yumuşak versiyonlar yazılır da Nouvelle Vague konu edilmez mi… Geçtiğimiz aylarda çıkardıkları yeni albümde yine farklı yorumları yer alıyor. Burada adı geçen –başlığa niye onu seçtiğimi bilmiyorum- Sex Pistols klasiğinin yanı sıra albümde; All My Colours (Echo & the Bunnymen) –birinci favorim-, The American (Simple Minds) -ikinci favorim-, Master & Servant (Depeche Mode) –üçüncü favorim-, Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes) gibi cover’lar da var.

TAKEN BY TREES – Sweet Child Of Mine (Guns N’Roses)

Yine kadın vokal, yine Kuzey’den naif sesler… Taken by Trees’in Guns N’Roses klasiği Sweet Child Of Mine yorumu yumuşak versiyonlarda yer almazsa tabiri caizse ‘ayıp’ olurdu. Hem The Concretes’in, hem Taken by Trees’in kadını Victoria Bergsman aynı zamanda Young Folks’tan da hatırlayabileceğimiz bir vokal…

ANNA TERNHEIM – China Girl (David Bowie)

Asla David Bowie ve orijinali gibi olamaz tabii… Ama yine Kuzey’in yine naif seslerinden Anna Ternheim’ın China Girl yorumu fena değil. Pek yorum diyesim gelmiyor aslında, çünkü orijinaliyle gerçekten bağımsız sayılabilir. O yüzden bunu bir versiyonmuş gibi değil de bambaşka bir Anna Ternheim parçasıymış gibi dinleyince güzel oluyor…

CAT POWER – I Found A Reason (Velvet Underground)

Velvet Underground parçası I Found A Reason’ın sert bir parça olduğu zaten söylenemez. O yüzden yumuşak versiyonu demiyelim de, kadın vokal versiyonu diyelim ve cover kraliçelerinden Cat Power’dan dinleyelim: “Oh i do believe, in all the things you say, what comes is better than what came before…” Güzel, derin sesli kadın…

IMOGEN HEAP – Hallelujah

Bu da ninni kıvamında bir klasik zaten. Özellikle bir Jeff Buckley’den, bir Rufus Wainrightan dinleyince… Her birinde tadı ayrı güzel parçayı bir de boğuk sesli İngiliz kadın Imogen Heap’ten dinlemek lazım. Bu versiyon sanırım OC’nin 3. sezon finalinde duyulmuş…

At 21 months, Skylar has finally experienced the sun, sand and sea!

15th November

Skylar and I left Dallas to make the long journey back to Singapore. Some pictures of our adventure:-

                   our last family picture at DFW airport

The parting scene was a sad one—Skylar cried so loudly when I had him wave goodbye to Yifan.

The three-hour flight from DFW to LAX went a lot smoother than I expected. All thanks to my new Ipod Touch.

That night in LAX, Skylar was so tired, he knocked out before I could properly tuck him in bed.

He was an angel at breakfast the next morning before we left for the airport.

View from our room in LAX:-

Onboard SQ11 from LAX to SIN

His inflight entertainment:-

In a semi-regular feature Duck & Cover, When The Gramophone Rings will be introducing you to an array of cover versions from around this hear globe.

First up is Mumford & Sons tackling one of the greatest movie songs of all time. Not only is 1973’s  Robin Hood a much underated arrow in Disney’s quiver, but in Not In Nottingham they penned a genuine folk classic. Don’t believe me? Just listen to Marcus Mumford et al below.

Mumford & Sons – Not In Nottingham (Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios)

Secondly we have Taken By Trees‘ rather beautiful rendition of Sweet Child of Mine.  It’s a tune that has been covered many, many times before but if there is a version quite as stop-you-in-your-tracks as this one, then I certainly haven’t heard it.  It’s also currently the soundtrack to John Lewis’s festive ads.

Taken By Trees – Sweet Child of Mine (Clip)

He rode on the MRT for the very first time!

And posed among the Christmas decorations in Tampines Mall.

Then he lost himself in the mesmerizing world of the colorful sea creatures.

With woolies gone, M&S Christmas ads have been the ‘benchmark’ for retailers over the past few years. This years effort looks as though it was shot on a camcorder in Canary Wharf.

Whilst I appreciate times are tough, never before has the nation needed a little ‘Magic and sparkle’ at Christmas time (seems there’s more than me that hates them, have a chuckle at this write up).

In my humble opinion, that crown will go to John Lewis this year. Not a celeb in sight. Just a beautifully crafted ad that tugs ever so gently on the heart-strings.

The cover of Guns n’Roses ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ would surely bring a tear to even Slashs’ eye with those happy Christmas kiddies. Well done John Lewis.

Shifting the account to Adam and Eve looks like a wise move (even if the outdoor work could do with some revisions).

Iain Morrison is a senior marketer in the British Tourism Industry. And is starting to think about christmas shopping…

Sadly, Skylar has never had the opportunity to dress up for Halloween.

But we did have some pre-Halloween fun at Katherine’s.

What would usually take me under 5 minutes to do, took over an hour this time around!

Two Saturdays ago, we attended Chloe’s Big 3 birthday party in Lucas.

And lastly, attempts at capturing the perfect group photo. Notice there was only one uncooperative person.

Things haven’t been going well for us lately.

I am sad, and wish I was the one hurting instead.

There is only one thing I want for Christmas.

Nøøøj mere til samvittigheden og til Glorias værelse, LOVE IT.

Hængestol og blomsterkasse til Glorias værelse.

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Arbejderne hos HEEDs Handicrafts udgøres blandt andre af flygtninge, enlige, minoriteter og udsatte grupper. Produktionen foregår hjemme hos den enkelte arbejder, dernæst tilbyder HEED at sælge varerne gennem deres butikker i Bangladesh eller gennem eksport. Organisationen kan endvidere tilbyde nye designs til produkter og støtte til produktudvikling samt forudbetaling ved eksport.

This was our 2nd visit to the annual Texas State Fair since we moving here.

In the month that my parents were here, we checked out several schools in the area, went shopping, attended story-time at the library, and did more shopping!

shopping for mooncakes

lunch at the outlet mall

a very happy Skylar

fun at Celebration Park

just like the good ol’ days

sorry ma, i dun have time to stop for a photo!

okay, maybe just one…

Uh!

walking with dinosaurs!

grocery-shopping already?!?!

at Rudy’s

we are FAMILY!

Some pictures from the party:-

armageddon

I had a dream this morning about revealing something that I had found.

I can’t tell you about it just yet, but when I find out that I’m right I’ll let you all know what it’s about.

I spent yesterday relaxing and watching movies – Independence Day, War of the Worlds, Deep Impact.

I’d have to say they are all great movies, but I was feeling scared and a little depressed last night.

I had trouble falling asleep, kept having nightmares about meteors falling down on me.

This theory of 2012, is about a large meteorite hitting earth and causing mass destruction even extinctions?

Is this why the government keeps telling us to prepare for a major disaster?

Stock up on 3 days worth of water, dry goods, a change of clothes, be ready for the inevitable.

Is this their way of telling us to move our butts and find higher ground.

Then I’m thinking about deep impact.

What if you DON’T have a car?

How do you rely on the government to get you out of a pickle?

I don’t think they will, honestly, according to the movie only doctors, scientists and gifted individuals will be protected first.

The rest of us can go to hell. LOL

Oh well, so C’est la Vie!

Life life to the fullest, have no regrets and if we all die from a meteor hitting earth, then we can say we lived life as best as we could for as long as we could.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the movie 2012 and Paranormal Activity.

I can see both movies will cause me to suffer from a lack of sleep.

Now that doesn’t happen too often so when I’m really scared of something, a movie sticks in my mind and I think it’s cool.

Great job to the producers, writers and directors of these films, you affected my brain.

And I’d have to say I’m a movie buff and nothing fizzes me, but last night the combination of these 3 movies, kept the mental wheels turning to the early hours of the morning.

I actually had a panic attack, then I told myself, meditate and enjoy what you have now.

Do the best that you can and if the world ends, then I’ll have lived as humanly possible, doing what I can to help others, showing lots of love and care for my fellow human beings.

To make an impact on other people’s lives is a gift.

So anyone in Hollywood that is famous, has the papparazzi hounding them day and night, take note, use that to your advantage.

Stop, say something cool about world peace , get involved in a charity and do something good for the world.

You’ve been chosen by the Universe to make a difference here on earth, while your here.

Don’t waste the opportunity to do something good for the world.

I hope that Perez Hilton who has over 2 million views a day on the website, will take note and do something with all that popularity!

Here I am posting away and a freaky thing happened – Bon Jovi – It’s My Life starts playing!

The universe has a message for you today… listen to this song, let it touch your heart.

A month has gone by in a flash—parents have come and left ( in fact, right now, they are on the plane heading home).

The house suddenly seems so quiet. Yifan is busier than ever with work, so for the most part, it’s just Skylar and I. I sometimes wish Skylar would grow up faster just so I can have a ‘real’ conversation instead of the current one-sided one we have right now ( toddler-babbling not counted). It is tough not having anyone to talk to.

On a brighter note, here’s a funny picture taken on one of our numerous trips to Target. I see a superstar in the making.

I should have more time to blog now that my parents are here, but I still feel very busy…

These pictures were taken *gasp* almost 4 weeks ago!!

This is not homemade or handicrafts, but it’s WOOD….LOVE IT.

http://olisan.dk/index.php

Maybe only for girls

Miniaturehuset.dk has everything for your little girl’s first house. You can buy piece by piece and collect whatever you want for the little house, everything from the kitchen sink to wallpaper and children’s furniture.

Begin to build your own little house now, we surely will…..

http://miniaturehuset.dk/index.html

Most of the things that I show on this blog are things that most people know how to do themselves, but sometimes its better to let the pros to it

Another creative person

http://www.lillefe.dk/info.asp?text=2

I didn’t think it would be difficult to make this blog, but it is because there are many cool/great/creative unique products out there what we never really hear about. The difficult part is of course that I want to buy it all for my little baby girl.

http://www.troldenogfeen.dk/Forside.html