Saturday Sounds 18 or This Song Gives Me Chills and Also Makes Me Laugh

Some songs I like for the music, some for the lyrics. The music made me like this song, the lyrics made me love it.

The band is Bell X1, an Irish Alternative Rock band, the song is The Ribs of A Broken Umbrella. Bell X1 has been compared to the band The Talking Heads.While I do see the likeness in some of their songs, I don't see it here. Although, there is an obvious '80's new wave, punk, pop, influence to it.

Because I like the story told in the song, I wish the video had even just a little bit to do with the lyrics.

Lyrics...

She was only just a girl in a picture,

But he thought if I could only make her smile

Then she'd be mine

He'd folded it,

re-folded it so many times,

He'd already lost some of her to the creases

Precious pieces

He wondered how close he's ever been to her,

In this ebb and flow of the distance between us

Maybe she got the same bus

And he left a trail of string wherever he went

When he was sleepin', he tied it to his toe

If she crossed it, then he'd know

But he knew

That all was unravelling

And he was bare

Stripped of his skin

Like the ribs of a broken umbrella

Sticking out of a bin

He'd pull his collar up against the wind,

Against those who said that trying was the first step to failing

Oh he was railing

And filled with new found purpose and pride,

He'd make something of this heady glow

Now where would she go?

But what do I know

Cos all is unravelling

And he was bare

Stripped of his skin

Like the ribs of a broken umbrella

Sticking out of a bin

But he knew how to fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza

With time's great elixir, dear Liza, dear Liza

She was only just a girl in a picture,

But he thought if I could only make her smile

Then she'd be mine

Oh the thought of being faced with her

Gave him the fear and sometimes in the morning a tent

Oh lord give him strength

Cos he knew That all was unravelling

And he was bare

Stripped of his skin

Like the ribs of a broken umbrella

Sticking out of a bin

So the band has a sense of humor, for example the reference to having a tent in the morning. Did anyone else get that or am I the only perv here?

They also seem to have a fondness for children's songs "dear Liza, dear Liza"

Dana Nobis Pacem

Grant Us Peace

Trick or Treat, Dry My Feet

Trick or Treat was a huge amount of fun if you forget that it was raining, down pouring at times, and you were soaked through and through. 40 of us started out together, 10 turned back half way through.

Fortunately my costume adapted well to the changing weather.

Just drizzling...

Madame Hydra would love to do a Tarot card reading for you.

(Look Darsden, the hair straightening shampoo you recommended works really great!)(and no people, I don't wear my hair that big every day!, I do like the pink spray in it though)

Steady rain...

"I adore that pink, it's the navy blue of India!" (quote Diana Vreeland)

Down pour...

Donde esta mi Tequila?

(T took his Indiana Jones hat off for a bit, preferring to soak his head. I didn't let that last for long.)

I hope your Halloween was fun and dry.

Saturday Sounds 17 or Goo Goo Muck

Happy Halloween!

Blood and Gore

I've been a bad blog friend lately. For the past couple of weeks I just wasn't able to find the time to blog. It wasn't like I didn't think about it everyday, I did. But between work, sleeping till noon, (I do stay up to 3am work night) and trying to be the best mother in the world by planning a much begged for Halloween party, I just didn't have it in me. I also stopped following my own advice, you know, like taking vitamins and exercising, going to bed slightly earlier bla bla bla. All that did was make me feel more tired and anti-social.

Well, I'm back and I took all my vitamins today.

We had our first kid Halloween party on Sunday. It was supposed to be on Saturday but because the road was washed away, we had to change it.

The kids and I spent a lot of time, and Hus spent a lot of money, preparing for this party. There were 8, 11-14 year old girls and 6, 6-8 year old kids.

I had activities planned for the young ones, painting pumpkins, ring toss and a walk through a haunted path in the woods. Mostly they just wanted to run around in the dark screaming.

The older girls decorated cupcakes, tried to play the Ouija Board and Bloody Mary. They also ran around in the dark screaming a lot. E has the best scream ever.

I dressed up as Madame Hydra, a Gypsy, and read Tarot cards for the older girls and did palm readings for a few of the little ones. For example "Your lifeline is very interesting, ooh, I see something very spectacular in your future and I think it has to do with you owning a lot of...monkeys!"

We had a lot of lovely bouquets around for decorations.

Of course we decorated our Fairy Garden.

My favorite witch. I made it a few years ago, while on a sewing binge.

We made shrunken apple heads. Really a pain in the ass to make and after 7 hours in the oven and three days drying they were still wet.

Hus got a little angry with me the night before the party because he is not a fan of Halloween. Don't worry, it looks like more blood than it really was.

What are you doing for Halloween?

Saturday Sounds 16 or 45's Were the Best

Since as early as I can ever remembering listening to music, my taste has always been eclectic. Of course my all time favorite music will always be Alternative/Punk rock, but I also enjoy some Classic Rock, Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, New Wave, Disco, Techno, Electronica, Reggae, Hip Hop, Top 40, Oldies, Torch Songs from the '20's, classical and Big Band music. Phew! I'm sure at this late hour (1am), I am forgetting some. The only music I really can't seem to ever like is Country, Folk, Jazz or Blues, except for the Nick Cave type Alternative Blues. There are so many labels now for music, I can't keep up.

I remember when I was about 7 or 8 years old my parents gave me my own record player and radio. I listened to all kinds of music. Sappy love songs by Bread and Nilson, sweet soft rock melodies by Shawn Cassidy, classic rock songs by Blue Oyster Colt, anything I liked. Do you remember when radio stations would play the same song everyday at the same time? I would turn the radio on everyday at 7pm to listen to BOC's Don't Fear the Reaper. I think I was nine.

My best friends older sister always had the best records. She had hundreds of 45's with the best and most popular songs of the day. Songs like Seasons in the Sun, Billy Don't be a Hero, The Night Chicago Died, All by Myself, Angie Baby and on and on. I used to beg my friend to ask her sister if we could listen to her records. I liked the 45's the best. What's more perfect than being able to just buy the one song you like? Now you have to spend $20 for a CD that might only have one good song on it. I listened to Don't Give Up On Us by David Soul over and over even after it was all scratched up.

In second grade I remember (don't know why I remember this), arguing with my friend Billy over which was a better band Queen or Kiss. I thought Queen. Still do.

The song in this vid was one of my very favorite songs. I thought it was about a girl who drowned and it made me sad to listen to it. It was years later I found out it was about a dog. Hey, I was only 8!

More Life in Vermont

1. Lainey-Paney mentioned in her comment on my first "Life in Vermont" post, that people in Texas have guns. This is true in Vermont too. Mostly people just have rifles or shotguns for hunting, but I do know some people who have handguns. I even know a woman who carries a handgun with her when she goes on a walk with her kids through the woods near her house. Ya, I think she is crazy, I only carry my pepper spray.


2. People out in the Boonies of Vermont can still be robbed. The house in the following photos was just burglarized last week. It happened during the day while the woman who lives in this house was away. Allegedly the thieves stole guns and prescription medications.I took these photos from my porch.


Six months ago another woman, who lives on this same road, was robbed. That time the thieves took a coin collection and prescription medications.
I now take my "good" meds with me when I leave home.

3. Some roads in Vermont change the speed limit willy-nilly every mile or so. The speed limit can be 50mph then 35mph, back up to 50mph, down to 25mph then up to 40mph,all within a few miles. Of course there are police who know this.

4. I can drive 36 miles home from work at midnight and only see one other car on the road. However, while speeding seems like the thing to do at that time, there are occasionally cops waiting to catch me or the other car!

5. Dirt roads are not just for poor people. This house is my favorite house in our town and it is located on a dirt road. New houses are also being built on dirt roads. This house is on the market for just under 2million. I think it's a bargain because it comes with a huge barn, garage with apartment, over 100 acres of land and a beautiful view. There was a new house for sale for over 2 million in my town, but it burned down in a fire.

If I win the lottery, I'm definitely going to buy this house.

6. People in Vermont can get really really, kick your ass colds, like I have had for the last 16 days! I didn't even get out of bed until 1PM a few days and even then, I didn't want to.

Poor me.