Let me know how you found me, where you're from, why you're here, a little about yourself, recommend a book, recommend a movie, tell me a secret, tell me something, ask me a question, etc. =)

Ad Astra,

The Bride of the First House.
bride (at) livejournal (dot) com

weather	:		clear
outside	:		11.8°C
mood	:		squeeful

I now tote along a Sony Ericsson W810i with a crystal case. My phone is white, but the crystal case shows up better on a black phone.

I got a Nokia 5300 for my Dad. He hates flip phones, but he also wants something small. That narrows down the choices considerably. The Nokia 5300 is a bit of a compromise — a slider. It's still a good size brick, but we'll see what he says. If he likes the Sony Ericsson better, I'll give him that and I'll take the Nokia. I like the sliding thing better, but the Sony Ericsson has better features.

In the meantime, I've discovered that I can't use MP3s for ring tones. That was supremely poopty for a while. So, I've finally gotten around to searching for good MIDIs of my favorite songs.

Thus far, I have:

• Congratulations, Ah My Goddess
• The Secret of Monkey Island Opening Theme
• Danny Boy
• Picard's Ressican Flute Piece, The Inner Light
• Star Trek: TNG Theme
• Star Trek: First Contact Theme
• Star Trek: Deep Space 9 Theme
• The Legend of Zelda Theme
• Kakariko Village, Zelda III

The first four made me very very squeeful. =) The Congratulations from Ah My Goddess was a particularly exciting find because it's the adagio arrangement and it's more rare than the regular upbeat allegro arrangement.

Not all of them are good for ring tones though. Some of them start off too mellow. Good ring tones really need to start with a burst of sound.

No one has a good conversion of the Ba'ku Village Theme from Star Trek: Insurection. The best one I've found still drops too many notes =P But I've tried converting MP3s to MIDI myself, so I can appreciate how difficult it is to compensate for the loss of data. Just doing "Congratulations" had me fuming so hard.

Anyway. Very. Squee. Yes. =D

[Update]

HOLY SHIT!!!! I just found the Moderato and Andante Semplice movements to the Danse Russe suite from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. WOW! Wowowowow!!! And it starts off really nicely for a ring tone too!!! =D =D =D

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		4.9°C
mood	:		...

Who was this extraordinarily cultivated figure who rose from humble beginnings to become the composer of nearly 400 songs, a colleague of the most illustrious names in singing, and a favorite of Queen Victoria?

The son of a cereal dealer, Tosti was born in 1846 in the coastal town of Ortona in the Abruzzo region, north of Naples. That city's San Pietro a Maiella conservatory accepted him as a twelve-year-old scholarship student. His instructors included the renowned opera composer Saverio Mercadante, whose encouragement proved invaluable. After completing his studies, Tosti returned to Ortona at the age of 20 as cathedral choirmaster, serving from 1866 to 1869. He suffered a serious breakdown, however, requiring a lengthy convalescence, during which he produced the first songs of his professional career.

Rome beckoned to Tosti as a far more exciting artistic milieu. Shortly after his arrival in 1870 he was presented in a début concert, exhibiting not only his pianistic talent but also a very pleasing lyric tenor voice. The event was so successful that Princess Margherita of Savoy named him as her singing teacher. In 1873, an even more important association for the composer was initiated with the house of Ricordi, which over the years would publish virtually the entire Tosti œuvre.

During his first trip to London in 1875 and annual visits there over the next four years Tosti felt totally at home; he established permanent residence in 1880. During his London years his excellence as a singing teacher benefited stars of Covent Garden (Melba for one), students of the Royal Academy and Royal College, and talented dilettantes who could meet Tosti's exacting standards. London society regarded him as an engaging personality and an essential presence at any musical soirée.

The ultimate stamp of approval came with his appointment as singing teacher to the younger children of Queen Victoria, herself a fervent devotee of vocal music. Her secret diaries reveal great admiration for Tosti, who proved himself indispensable as her music administrator. He arranged frequent performances at the royal residences, in which many prominent artists performed with him. Having become a British citizen in 1906, he was knighted two years later by Edward VII. The king's death proved a major factor in Tosti's decision to return to Rome for good, but he spent only four years there before his own death in 1916. The most courtly and gentlemanly of musicians, he exuded an unforced charm and graciousness. His best songs certainly do likewise.

Whether in English, French, "pure" Italian or Neapolitan dialect, the effectiveness of Tosti songs stems in large part from an unfettered legato style (albeit one allowing ample scope for the singer's interpretive imagination). His profound understanding of the voice is apparent in consistently grateful lines that promote relaxation and freedom in the vocalism. Generally he concentrates on the middle voice, only occasionally exploiting extremes of range; "In the hush of the night," for example, spans from low D sharp to high B. Many of the top notes one expects in certain songs are interpolations not written by Tosti, the close of "L'alba separa" being an obvious example. Those climactic high phrases that he did compose are beautifully prepared and yet always comparatively "contained." Tosti included Puccini and Mascagni among his dearest friends, though their feverish verismo expansiveness was hardly his stock in trade, and indeed, would have seriously undermined his basic expressive approach.

Tosti committed himself almost exclusively to contemporary texts, although not necessarily by the greatest writers. London's salons gladly accepted his choice of English poetry - sometimes endearing, more often unabashedly sentimental. In his French settings significantly more distinguished literature comes to the fore, including Hugo, Musset, and Verlaine, whereas in Italian he invariably chose poems that get to the heart of the matter through a disarming emotional directness. Among Tosti's Italian writers, the only truly consequential figure was his lifelong friend, poet-dramatist Gabriele D'Annunzio. Perhaps most noteworthy among their collaborations are the superb Quattro canzoni d'Amaranta, three of which are included on this disc.

The majority of Tosti's texts deal with some aspect of love (it is perhaps worth noting that Ben Heppner has characterized himself as "the romantic type"). Of the 19 songs recorded here, it is the idea of suffering in love that dominates in "Goodbye," "Lasciami! Lascia ch'io respiri," "Plaintes d'amour," "Pierrot's Lament," "Non t'amo più," "Chitarrata abruzzese," and "Penso". Tosti is also a master at portraying lovesick longing, whether in passionate outpourings ("In the hush of the night," "Entra"), stark simplicity ("Lasciali dir") or tender intimacy (the exquisite, justly celebrated "Ideale"). He also captures the lover's unbridled joy ("Io ti sento"), impatience ("Seconda mattinata"), sweetness ("'A vucchella"), and defiance ("I dare to love thee"). Heppner's program moves beyond love to encompass both life's optimism ("Demain") and its misery ("Invan preghi"), as well as two views of death: "Vorrei morire" expresses a willingness to die if nature proves calm and welcoming, while in "L'alba separa" the singer asserts that death and heaven are preferable to a dream unfulfilled.

Tosti's original piano accompaniments are well matched to melody and mood, but are often excessively spare in texture and, frankly, seldom inspired. Rather than rely solely on the piano, this recital opts for the captivating sound of a "salon orchestra." With no selection involving more than eleven instruments, the arrangers avoid the unnecessary lushness to which many of these songs have previously been subjected. This accompaniment may not have been in the composer's "mind's ear," but he would surely have applauded the elegant manner in which it enhances Ben Heppner's heartfelt performances.

Roger Pines
The author acknowledges the cooperation of Prof. Francesco Sanvitale, director of the Istituto Nazionale Tostiano in Ortona, which since 1983 has promoted Tosti's works internationally through publications and concerts.

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		18.6°C
mood	:		pukie

Husband Guy

Good Authority™

Aigh. Golf balls through a garden hose. That's how badly they sucked. Il Divo is an embarrassment. The name is an embarrassment. Their voices are embarrassing for the genre of songs they're trying to sing.

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		13.7°C
mood	:		...

Husband Guy

At each step in the process, both the Sender and the Recipient get e-mail notification about what's going on. That might sound like a bit much, but each e-mail also came with a Scratch-&-Win Prezzle that gave us a one-in-three chance at getting a USD$10 gift certificate for Amazon.com or iTunes.

We kept winning.

And I only sent ONE $20 Amazon gift certificate to the Husband through Prezzle... mostly because we both found the "punching" sound effect the funniest thing on the planet. We sat there for what must have been 15 minutes laughing and playing with the punching sound... because we're just dorky like that XD

But it got to the point where we were starting to feel bad about winning all these $10 things. I know they have their budget already allotted and they expect to be paying it out and everything, but we still felt bad and stopped playing. =P

At least now, other people can have a chance at it. =P

The loot that the Husband got out of it:

• NBA Furious Finishes
• And 1 Mixtape, Vol. 7 (Street Basketball)
• NBA - 100 Greatest Plays

He was quite chuffed. And I'm sure our Hate Points with VISA went down by a few since we did put part of our purchase on the credit card too. =D

I got my long coveted Water's Edge CD by Tim Janis, the composer of Beautiful America. The short exerpts of Beautiful America that I did hear, I really liked. It's very much my kind of music. But even so, the reviews seem to indicate that they're all "the same-old-same-old" and "repetitive", so I may not get myself more than one Tim Janis CD. I picked the one that got the best reviews all around. But we'll see... it looks like Beautiful America is his centerpiece album. I might give in one day and get it. =}

Speaking of music, while I was in Taiwan last year, I got 綠度母心咒 (Mantra of the Green Tara) — composed, arranged, sung and produced by 黃慧音 (Imee Ooi). If you have Flash installed, you can listen to the tracks. There's a blue "試聽" (Listen) button with an earmuff icon at the bottom of the widest content panel on the right of the product page.

There are only two tracks, one with vocal and one instrumental only. They're both just under half an hour, so I find they're REALLY good for timing meditation or yoga practice.

I saw it on one of those specialty box displays in a gift shop on the upper floor of the Taipei CKS airport as we were leaving Taiwan for Singapore/South Africa. I had resolved to buy them on my way back to YVR from TPE. I was originally going to get the GuanYin Sutra, Heart Sutra or the Om Mani Padme Hum one. But on the way home, they were sold out of everything except the Green Tara chant. Disappointing to say the least, but I'd been thinking about it since I saw them and got what they had left anyway, just to satisfy the want.

And now that I listen to the samples of the other CDs online, I like mine best out of the entire series. Funny how things work out. =)

weather	:		mostly cloudy
outside	:		11.2°C
mood	:		entertained

It was a small private function so we got to chat with him a little. He doesn't speak a lot of English, but even so, you can hear his very fun, light-hearted nature coming through in everything he says and does.

But.

Oh.

My.

God.

Is this guy EVER TALENTED. He's a classically trained percussionist from the Leningrad Academy of Music and worked with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra for a while. He plays all kinds of ethnic percussion instruments from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania and many aboriginal cultures everywhere. Balalaikas, dumbeks, didgeridoos, gongs, drums of all types, xylophones, a string of bells on a rope, conch shells, a plastic pipe from Canadian Tire.

Boris sounds a little like Hank Azaria doing Chief Wiggum or Moe, but a bit deeper and with a strong accent. It'll take everything in you to keep from peeing yourself laughing when he holds up a bit of black plastic plumbing pipe and says, "this... uh... didgeridoo... from Canadian Tire... low budget." XD

He plays the ceiling... well, the real tree trunk didgeridoo against the ceiling. I have never heard anyone make the ceiling sound so good =)

Y'know that boingy instrument in the title theme of Survivor: The Australian Outback? This thing. I don't remember what it's called (a bullroarer?). He can play that and sing and dance around at the same time. It sounds positively electric to hear it in person.

I missed the Chutzpah Festival this February where he was performing. Ah well, he lives in the Lower Mainland now, so I hope to be able to go see him perform again sometime. And maybe buy his CD "Around the World with Boris Sichon" and get it autographed =) But he's such a leaf in the wind if you look at his life. There's no telling how long he'll stay here. =\

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		12.8°C
mood	:		...
music	:	Lee Bartel/Daniel May - Easing into Alpha

I got Tao (Ron Allen et al.). It has less of a Chinese sound to it due to the guitar, the fretless bass, the hi hat, the keyboard and Shannon Kingsley's voice. She only ever does background vocals and only "ah". Before I looked at the credits, I could hear from the phonation that she had a very Caucasian voice.

I definitely prefer Feng Shui, but Tao is very nice as well.

The Sonicaid CDs looked very interesting on the shelf. What can I say? I'm a sucker for surface plots of various objects — teapots in particular, but any complex object will do. =) Anyway, I pressed the buttons to hear the samples. I liked Relaxation the best. Daniel May is a very talented composer. I'm pretty sure this is the same person who wrote the music for the Feng Shui CD.

I wonder if this is the same Daniel May that did the music for Everest with Liam Neeson...

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		5.4°C
mood	:		tired

chenpion

Some previous music posts.

• Friday Five - Music
• Friday Five - Songs
• Vocal Selections
• Wedding Music (recommendations and such)
• Classical and Opera

Okay, on with it then. =)

1. Total volume of music on my computer: 6G. I know. That's teeny. I mean, it'll all fit onto an iSnod Mini. And that 6G includes some duplicate and partial duplicate copies that were saved from me editing the files. It also includes plain text files with lyrics as well as a few minor music tweaking utilities. The big audio editors are over on my Apps drive.

2. The last CD I bought: Feng Shui by Daniel May. It's not Chinese music. It's music inspired by Chinese instruments and melodies, but it's very very very close. I got it from one of those relaxation music displays in gift shops, but these are also available online (Avalon Music or Island Flower out of Prince Edward Island).

3. 1. Song I was listening to just before I started this: I wasn't listening to anything, but recently, I've had Winamp randoming around the Love to Infinity compilation (Mandarin love songs from the 90s).

   2. Song playing right now (4.3M; right-click→Save Target As...):

      哭砂 (kū shā)

      歌手: 黃鶯鶯 (artist: Tracy Wong)
      詞: 林秋离 (lyricist)
      曲: 熊美玲 (composer)

      你是我最苦澀的等待
      讓我歡喜又害怕未來
      你最愛說你是一顆塵埃
      偶而會惡作劇的飄進我眼里
      宁愿我哭泣不讓我愛你
      你就真的像塵埃消失在風里

      你是我最痛苦的抉擇
      為何你從不放棄飄泊
      海對你是那么難分難舍
      你總是帶回滿口袋的砂給我
      難得來看我卻又离開我
      讓那手中瀉落的砂像淚水流

      風吹來的砂落在悲傷的眼里
      誰都看出我在等你
      風吹來的砂堆積在心理
      是誰也擦不去的痕跡

      風吹來的砂穿過所有的記憶
      誰都知道我在想你
      風吹來的砂冥冥在哭泣
      難道早就預言了分离

4. 5 songs I listen to a lot that mean a lot to me: Hmm... many different songs have meant a lot to me at different times. Some that come to mind:
   • 情義兩心堅 - 張德蘭 (Stella Chang). From the Return of the Condor Heroes.
   • Butterfly - Smile DK. From the Dance Dance Revolution 2nd Mix. I never played, but this song was especially cute.
   • When You Love Someone - Bryan Adams
   • The Inner Light Suite, Star Trek: TNG - Jerry Goldsmith.
   • Ohtorimasho ("Let's dance") and Yamerarenai ("Don't stop, Can't stop") both from Tenshi Muyo.     Way.     Too.     Much.     Fun.     =D Especially Yamerarenai, which sounds something like Cotton-Eye Joe in Japanese XD

   I can send these on request if anyone's interested. Also, if you can get me songs from the soundtrack to ATV's 少女慈僖 (The Young Dowager) starring Leanne Lau, I will establish a new religion in your name... Note that I didn't say I'd join it or convert to it XD =D

5. Which 5 people are you passing this baton to and why?

   There are people that I hope to hear from, but I don't want to name anyone... especially since I've been bad at updating myself =)

weather	:		sunny
outside	:		7°C
mood	:		cheerful

Oy-aye-aaaaaaaaaye, oh-aye-AYE-aaaaaaaaaaye,
OoOh-ah-ng-OH-oh-ah-ang, oh-ah-ee-aye!

I love that song by Enigma. I don't remember what it's actually called. I know the yodelling part better than the English lyrics part.

Just a random thing about me that I'm posting here to get some me-too!s so I don't feel like such a weirdo. =)

weather	:		cloudy
outside	:		15°C
mood	:		happy

groomzilla asked me for some vocal selections that he and his fiancée could audition for an intermission piece or the Signing of the Register for his wedding. I promised to think on it and get back to him. Well, this is too big for a comment, so I'll put it here instead =D

M, this post and this comment of mine have a few instrumental-only recommendations =)

Here are a few of my favorite vocal pieces. Keep in mind that I listen to these with no regard for occasion. I said in a comment that some of the most beautiful love arias are from the most tragic operas. I love listening to these even though some of them are not in English and I don't understand a thing they're saying. =) Some people like the songs in and of themselves and don't care about the rest of the story. Some people don't like their music to come from a story with a tragic or non-ideal ending. For some, the information surrounding the aria (say, the history of the time period that the story occurs or even the composer's life and works) significantly impact what they will and will not use.

( I'll spare the rest of you... )

Let me know if you have trouble finding these =)

weather	:		mostly cloudy
outside	:		14°C
mood	:		relaxed
music	:	Feng Shui - Yin and Yang

Miscellaneous Artifacts

• Picard's tea set & the Kurlan Naiskos
• Puzz 3-D Jigsaw Puzzles

Cockatiels

• A recessive silver, whiteface cockatiel.
• A single factor, dominant silver, whiteface cockatiel.

These rare mutations cost upwards of (USD)$150-200 and are only attempted by serious breeders. It can take quite a few generations and a fair investment upfront to find appropriate cocks and hens before you'll get a chick with the colouring you want. Especially, if you breed humanely and allow for a natural, healthy offspring.

Music not available at Amazon.com

Avalon Music has a lot of Contemporary Classical/Meditative music that I like.

I had my eye on Zen Garden for a long time, but the little gift shop that I usually go to, didn't have it anymore. They get new ones every once in a while. I got Feng Shui instead. It isn't authentic Chinese music, it's contemporary, Chinese-inspired. Nonetheless, it's quite well done. If you're not used to listening to traditional Chinese music to begin with, you couldn't tell.

CDs that I still want:

• Zen Garden - Kokin Gumi (under "World Music")
• The Science of Sleep - Steve Wingfield (under "Lifestyle")
• Indulge: A Day at the Spa - Various Artists (under "Lifestyle")
• Yoga: Music for Mind, Body & Soul (under "Lifestyle")
• Sanctuary - Ceòl Mór (under "Celtic")

VCDs/DVDs

Old drama series that I grew up with and would like to own:

• 少女慈僖 (The Young Dowager)
• 射鵰英雄傳 (The Legend of the Condor Heroes):
  1. 鐵血丹心
  2. 東邪西毒
  3. 華山論劍
• 神鵰俠侶 (The Return of the Condor Heroes)
• 楊家將 (The Yang Family Saga)
• 楊門女將 (The Yang Family Female Warriors)
• 鹿薡記 (The Duke of Mount Deer)
• 楚留香之蝙蝠傳奇 (Chor Lau Heung)
• 觀世音 (The Reincarnated Princess)
• 真命天子 (Heir to the Throne)

weather	:		sunny/cloudy
outside	:		12°C
mood	:		amused

( 1. Name a song you hate to admit you like. )

( 2. Name a song that always make you cry. )

( 3. Name a song that turns you on. )

( 4. Name a song that always makes you feel good. )

( 5. Name a song you couldn't ever do without. )

weather	:		partially sunny
outside	:		15°C
mood	:		musical

( 1. What was the first band you saw in concert? )

( 2. Who is your favorite artist/band now? )

( 3. What's your favorite song? )

( 4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be? )

( 5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why? )

weather	:		sunny
mood	:		impressed

I love listening to foreign languages in song. Even if I don't understand, I love just sitting there and appreciating the sounds. It's the music that makes all the difference - I usually don't like the sound of spoken Spanish, it just bugs me like nothing else. But Placido Domingo doing El Condor Pasa is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.

Anyway, I don't know how I got the urge to hear the Russian National Anthem, but I got the Soviet Red Army Choir version one day, just for kicks. Wow, was I ever impressed! It just blew me away. I have never heard pride and enthusiasm like that before. It was incredible. Now, there's a national anthem that I would love to hear every morning.

I grabbed ( the lyrics ).

I may not totally agree with what the lyrics are saying, but it's a great song all the same.