A Spectacular Sunrise

I snapped this at about 6:30 this morning. I was quite surprised that it came out, because I always have trouble with these kind of pictures. There's another shot over at my flickr page.

I've yet to upload my shots from Phipps Conservatory from this past weekend, though you can see a few sunset pictures over on my photoblog. I figure it will take at least another month to get everything I want posted, and by then I'll have more pictures to post. It's a vicious circle.

Happy Halloween!

If all goes well tonight I'll be passing out candy to the kids in my Sally costume from Nightmare Before Christmas. Assuming my fat butt fits in it. I haven't had it on in ages.

Thankfully I still have my devil costume as well. I know that one fits, cos it's a one size deal. One year I'll have an excuse to buy a costume again. I can't imagine what could give me an excuse though. (Passing out candy to the neighborhood kids doesn't count, because we usually get less than 20 kids)

That actually makes me wonder why I bought the Sally costume, because it came from the Disney store and it cost a small fortune. I think it had to do with the job I had at the time.

::sigh::

I wouldn't go back to that job for all the money in the world though, and definitely not for an excuse to wear a costume to work on Halloween.

So until I can find a reason to shell out 70 dollars for a costume again, I'll just try to wear one of the cheap ones I have and hand out candy. No costume parties for this girl. :(

Happy Halloween!

Random 10 - Week 78

The ladies @ Music Memoirs want to know:

10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

It's all about the music that took me places.

Oingo Boingo - No Spill Blood
Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party
Oingo Boingo - Weird Science
Oingo Boingo - Stay
Oingo Boingo - Skin

Yesterday, as we traveled to and from Pittsburgh, home of the super dooper losing Steelers, I played my Best O'Boingo CD. It's almost Halloween after all.

Terami Hirsch - Little Light
George Harrison - Fish On The Sand
Paul McCartney - Tomorrow
Paul McCartney - No More Lonely Nights
Paul McCartney - Riding To Vanity Fair

Saturday was Paul McCartney appreciation day so 3 of my winamp songs were from my day of Macca music.

And now for the picture



Oddly all the fall foliage was in Pittsburgh. When we went to Mingo Saturday most of the leaves were already on the ground, along with several branches too, from the high winds.

Another Day In Pittsburgh

We're checking out the fall flower show a bit late this year. In fact, we've been very neglegent when it comes to getting to the city this year. It's kinda depressing, but then again we've done a lot more in the past months than we have in a long while. I've had trips to Uniontown for concerts, Hershey for the park and the Gary Puckett show there, I made a trip to Erie, 2 trips to Idlewild, 1 to Kennywood, and of course Atlantic City.

There was more I wanted to do. I totally ignored West Virginia, except on my b-day when we went to The Mountaineer and found The World's Largest Tea Pot. I still haven't made the trip to Zanesville, OH to see the "World Famous Y Bridge" or found the Critter Country Animal Farm that's practically in my backyard.

I guess there is always next year. When the weather turns cold, I like to stay close to home. There's always got to be something to plan for, right? And anyhow that allows me to give Pittsburgh some love for the holidays. I get to see my Christmas Tree in market square and the decorations downtown and in the South Side.

I can't wait.

But I did manage to get to Mingo to photograph some fall scenes by the covered bridges




More are being added here. Go take a look.

Paul McCartney Appreciation Day

Today is the day where we show our love and support for the "cute" yet too dumb to get a prenup, Beatle.

I for one cannot believe that Paul would lay a hand on anyone to do them harm, least of all his wife. I definitely don't believe Linda would have stayed married to him if he had laid a hand to her.

I know that I know nothing about what goes on behind the closed doors of the Macca clan, but the man is very loved by his family and I don't think that would be the case if he were abusive. Children know these things.

So my show of support includes forcing my family to listen to Macca all damn day and sharing some beautiful Paulie pictures with all my blog friends. After all, Paulie is the "cute" Beatle, so it won't hurt the eyes any.






Fans can only hope that he comes out of this with his sanity and most of his fortune intact, because that golddigging skank doesn't deserve a cent, and if she's spreading these kinds of lies, she doesn't deserve custody of their daughter Beatrice.

Ah, Paulie, what a muddle you are in, but I still love ya, even now that you're 64

Top Five On Friday - Week 95 Part 2

Top 5 musical bands/albums/songs that put you in a Halloween mood (you can pick one or all three or whatever makes you happy)

Bands first

Oingo Boingo: This is the band that did Weird Science and Dead Man's Party, they have to put you in the mood for Halloween. And Danny Elfman did score The Nightmare Before Christmas. Sing with me...This is Halloween!

Siouxsie and the Banshees: She did a song called Halloween and well, she's just the prototype goth girl!

Echo & The Bunnymen: Maybe it's the song The Killing Moon, or maybe it's just their sound, but Echo's good Halloweenie music.

Caroline Lavelle: Specifically the Spirit album. Something about ambient/celtic music that makes me think of Halloween and the fall harvest. Beautiful songs and beautiful vocals.

Arcadia: The Duran Duran offshoot band has found their way onto many of my Halloween mixes. The sound is darker than Duran Duran and well the guys looked pretty scary then too!

The albums:

Oingo Boingo - Dark At The End Of The Tunnel



Siousxie and the Banshees - Peepshow



Midnight Syndicate - Born Of The Night


Danny Elfman - Sleepy Hollow Score



Oingo Boingo - Dead Man's Party (Hey, they deserve the extra recognition)



The songs

1.Siouxsie and the Banshees - Fall From Grace

2.Oingo Boingo - Don't Go In The Basement

3.Midnight Syndicate - Winged Fury (This is a gorgeous, spooky soundscape)

4. Annie Halsam - Moonlight Shadow (I love her version of Mike Oldfield's beautiful tune)

5.The Moody Blues - The Other Side Of Life

Top 5 On Friday - Week 95

This week, I submitted the topics for the Music Memoirs meme. Hey! I'm allowed to, it's my meme.

2 topics this week, both Halloween related.

Top 5 songs that scare you

Ohio Express - Yummy Yummy Yummy
ARGH! I heard this one on the radio yesterday and I'm still feeling the effects of it. Yummy yummy yummy I've got love in my tummy? Yikes!

Commander Cody - Hot Rod Lincoln
When Robert "Fish" Herring @ Pickle wants to torture me, this song will be played. Lordy but its awfully frightening

Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On
Everytime I hear this song I get goose bumps and not in a good way. It also makes me want to lose my lunch. I hope I never hear this one after a good meal at the Islander Buffet in Wheeling.

Justin Hayward - Marie
Something about this song makes me want to run screaming from the room. I think it's the subject matter of the song and visual that comes to mind when I hear it.

Suzanne Vega - Luka
Just thinking about this song scares me! My name is Luka, I live on the second floor. ARGH!

Part two of this meme will come after work.

NaBloPoMo

Ok everyone is participating in Nanwrimo, which is something I object to. So thanks to Valbee, I'm going to participate in NaBloPoMo. What is NaBloPoMo, well unlike churning out a bad 50,000 word novella (that's what that Nanowrimo amounts to people), I vow to make a coherent, possibly even interesting post every day in the month of November!

Isn't that exciting?

Aren't you thrilled?

At least act like you are to humor me!

In fact I think I'm going to do something useful with those posts. In addition to my rambling, I'm going to review one album from my vast CD collection each day in the month of November. Oh and so as not to scare you, I'll make sure that all 30 albums I review will be by different artists/bands.

There, now you should be excited and thrilled, right?

Thursday Thirteen

This was the idea that got gobbled by blogger last week.

13 albums that I own that you most likely haven't heard of but should.

01. The Moody Blues - Strange Times



Only true Moody Blues fans will know of this album. Most casual fans seem to stop at Long Distance Voyager. Shame on them! This is a wonderful album. Justin Hayward and John Lodge have some wonderful songs on this one. I think of all their albums since Long Distance Voyager that this one is the finest.

02. The Moody Blues - December



I blame Universal for this album being so underappreciated. There was no promotion for it. Universal just shipped some out to the stores and told them to hide it in a corner somewhere. Half the fans didn't even know it existed and its really a beautiful collection of holiday tunes. Your life isn't complete until you hear Don't Need A Reindeer. And if you want to, just ask and I'll see to it that you get to hear it.

03. Bernie Barlow - Golden



Bernie is the backup singer for Moody Blues when she isn't on maternity leave. Golden is her first album and it's one of my favorites. Her disc can be purchased on the evil i(f-ing)tunes and on her site.

04. Tremblers - Twice Nightly


Anything Peter Noone did after the Hermits disbanded is pretty much unheard of unless you are a fan. This disc was done in the early 80's and it's done in a punky new wavey kinda way. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, Peter covers Elvis Costello's Green Shirt in a most amusing way.

05. Alison Moyet - Voice



This is Alison's most recent album of standards and covers. She's done two Elvis Costello tracks on this one and both God Give Me Strength and Almost Blue are glorious.

06. Nick Lowe - Party Of One



I should face facts that very few people know who Nick Lowe is and those that do only know a handful of songs he's recorded. This is one of his 90's albums and it's wonderful. The beauty of Nick is his ability to sing country pop while hailing from the UK.

07. Bridin Brennan - Eyes Of Innocence



Bridin is the sister of Enya and Moya Brennan. The odd thing about Bridin is that while her album is absolutely beautiful she chooses not to follow the steps of her sisters. Her album is more new age/adult contemporary rather than celtic. She has a soft lilting voice that's just as beautiful as her two famous sisters, one can only hope she'll be able to forge ahead in the industry on her own merits.

08. Cliff Richard - Something's Goin'On



Brits will groan and say, not him, but if you are in the US, Cliff Richard is all but unknown, except for the song Devil Woman. I'm all for good pop music and for me Cliff always delivers. This album is more than cheesy pop music though. There are some really lovely heartfelt numbers on this one and it's countrypop feel is something that I wouldn't expect from Sir Cliff.

09. Julia Fordham - Falling Forward



Here's another uniquely beautiful voice. I picked up one of her CDs on a whim after hearing a song on a listening post at Borders, back when Borders was a cool and reasonable place to buy music. I was soon addicted. This CD has one of my favorite Julia songs on it, Hope Prayer and Time. It's such a gorgeous song. If any song has really left an impression on me, this song is it.

10. Caroline Lavelle - Spirit



Another album discovered at Borders. The cover alone is gorgeous. The music within is better. Caroline covers Joni Mitchell's A Case Of You beautifully. Caroline has worked with Loreena McKennitt, touring with her on many occassions, so there's a celtic feel to this disc, but with William Orbit producing, it's also has a bit of an ambient feel as well.

11. Annie Haslam - Annie Haslam



This is the Rennaisance's lead singer's first solo offering. Annie sings Justin Hayward's lovely The Angel's Cry beautifully, with a little help from Mr. Hayward himself. She also does a haunting version of Mike Oldfield's Moonlight Shadow. This disc isn't easy to find but it's worth every wonderful minute of listening pleasure if you can find it.

12. Gary Puckett - Europa (or In Europe)



Gary does a collection of new songs as well as reworking a few old classics. The new version of Lady Willpower is stunning though a bit slow for my liking. Gary has one of those voices. Ok, Gary sings in a key in which I am not familiar and likely no one else is either. The man should have made it on Broadway. The man boggles why that never happened.

13. Keri Noble - Lullaby



I am lucky enough to own a copy of Keri's first album. There are still a few copies to be had on her site. $20 is a bit pricey for an indie disc, but Keri is so wonderful that it's worth the cost. This disc is so rare these days that I'm kind of scared to rip it to my hard drive for fear of something happening to it.

Hump Day Goodness

Hump day is here already? How did that happen? Why wasn't I informed?

Ah well, at least the hunk train is coming by. Today it's bringing some hauntingly beautiful hunks for the coming holiday.


Danny Elfman



Simon Le Bon aka sighmoan.


Erasure



Those Moody guys.

Ah, I always feel better after the hunk train arrives with some prettyness.

Finally, some snow!

The only thing I hate about snow is driving in it. So yesterday when I was getting ready to leave work and saw the first little flakes of snow that looked more like ashes from a bonfire, I was really excited.

Snow brings to my mind images of hot cocoa and hot cider, baking cookies and warm soups. It means that my tree will be back in Market Square soon. I can't wait to see that.

I imagine the Christmas windows in Downtown will change this year. Will Macy's do the same sort of thing as Kaufmann's or will they become even more boring then they already are.

I haven't been to town since Macy's completed the buyout of May Department Stores and I'm afraid for the beautiful and old store in Pittsburgh that's been there over 100 years.

Everything looks better with a little coating of snow, even sterile, overpriced stores. Our area isn't supposed to get more than a dusting but it helps me get in the mood for all the holidays that are creeping into each month.

Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow.

Random 10 - Week 77

From Music Memoirs

10 songs that sum up your weekend...or were on your weekend playlist...and one picture that relates back. (oh, and if you feel like it, tell us why you picked the songs you did)

Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind
This song is so gorgeous. I finally got a copy of the original. The only version I had before this was by the Broadway/West End actor, Michael Ball, who's version is lovely as well.

Three Dog Night - Shambala
Will someone please get this song out of my head please? PLEASE!

Tremblers - Green Shirt
Peter Noone singing "worange" makes me a happy girl.

Mike D'Abo - Handbags & Gladrags
(The original version of this song is awesome)

Manfred Mann - Ha Ha Says The Clown
Brilliant 60's weirdness

The Moody Blues - The One
I want to ask John Lodge who this song was about. It's one of my favorites from Strange Times

Brigid Boden - As Tears Go By
I was uploading covers songs for some people this weekend this was one of them

Solar Twins - Rock The Casbah
This was another one, a more strange one.

Elvis Costello - Running Out Of Fools
Someone made the comment that Neko Case did a better version of this song then Elvis Costello. I've bitten a hole in my tongue on that one. He may annoy me, but his music up to 2003 is flawless and even afterwards there have been some redeeming songs, especially on The Delivery Man.

Peter Cetera - It's Only Love
An excellent Beatles cover.

Now for the picture...another something that I found while googling this weekend, but not as scary as that last photo.



Young and pretty Justin Hayward, oh and did I mention squirrelly?

I Miss A Day Of Blogging

Because blogger was deader than spam. Oddly I snuck in a post over at my photoblog before the whole thing collapsed.

I basically managed to post a few more pictures from last week's concert. After that, blogger took a short weekend vacation to somewhere more fun than my computer.

Which is probably ok, since it kept me from rambling incoherently about absolutely nothing.

The only thing that was worth posting about yesterday was my finding of a Justin Hayward pic that really scared me. It was from backstage at The War Of The Worlds shows from this past spring, in the UK.

He looked horrid. Beyond horrid, actually. He looked like a grandpa and at just turning 60 he should not look that way.

That was the highlight or rather lowlight of my day yesterday.

Now aren't you glad blogger was down? Because if it had been up, you would have had to have seen this:



yesterday instead of right now.

I'll hand out rusty melon ballers and tissues to those who need them, after viewing this horrible picture of Mr. Hayward.

edit: Justin Hayward is the lead singer for the band The Moody Blues