Thing I've learned: Metallica edition

• When going to a concert have a confirmed number of people you're meeting. Ours changed as people cancelled, appeared, resolved fights with significant others (and therefore un-split the group). 
• Keep this number below 10. Get to 12 and you'll be herding cats.
• DO introduce separate groups of friends together and watch them discover the awesomeness. Do not be confused when they are surprised that you pick good friends. 
• Wear flat shoes, it's quicker to get away when running into significant other's exes in the bathroom.
• Do not go to the bathroom after the start of the show. Besides the fields of passed out/tripping people on the access stairs, you may have to watch a random stranger pee in the sink (with several open bathroom stalls).
• If someone walks past, trips and pours a glass of... hang on that's warm... yip, a glass of pee down your front... I don't know. Enjoy the show. Then get the heck out of there and take a very hot shower. VERY hot (shudder).
• The guys in Metallica may be twice my age, but they're still cooler than I'll ever be!
• try not to lose friends, finding someone in a crowd of 60 000 people with blocked cellphone networks is tricky.

Good show! Now to de-angst in time for Bon Jovi next week!

Keeping busy

Went for a quick bite to eat and a drink with two friends at six last night (to celebrate one of them getting a shiny new car) and wound up getting home at midnight. It was really nice to spend some real quality time with one of them (I hadn’t seen her since I got back) and my worries about her not getting along with the other friend were unfounded – they got along like a house on fire which was awesome!

I’m going to see these guys this weekend:

I’m so excited! I used to be hectically into the local music scene but I’ve lost touch with it over the last few years and I can’t wait to get back out there.

I got a new CD by these guys:

And I’m off to the bush on Monday with ‘the girls’ which is horrible because I had to miss a 25th (that I RSVPed to months ago) and had to cancel on, plus i have HEAPS of work to get through which I’ll have to take with me. At the same time it’s awesome to get out of the city for a little bit.

Who knows, maybe there will be lizards?

Once again, I’ve been IPODed

Not really, but I I played the IPod game when i first started this bog (a good 3+ years ago) and I like to redo it every now and then to see how my musical tastes have changed and generally have a good self-centred giggle at the deeper meanings I can find in just about anything.

I’m not having a fantastic day, for some reason loneliness really set in and I’m not feeling well and it’s raining and I just want a hot batch except that all I have here are showers and and and…

So it felt appropriate. You know the rules (if you’ve been anywhere near email in the last half-decade). IPod on shuffle and write down the name of each song next to each question. no cheating and skipping!

• IF SOMEONE SAYS, “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY? Pressed in a Book (the Shins). I tend to say strange things, so I guess it’s not that out there! I like the line about the untied shoelaces of life…
• WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
  Ziwere (Oliver Mtukudzi). I like this kind of jazzish African music, although of course the no skipping rule left me scrambling for a translation… to find that apparently there are no English words to describe it. so I guess I’m… indescribable? Untranslate-able?
• WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
  Til Kingdom Come (Coldplay). So, commitment? I love this song, it was one of the few I could stand listening to when my proposal was due so I played it abouot a million times!
• WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
  Playing in the distance (Grand National). Fair enough!
• WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
  Bed of Lies (Matchbox 20). I guess ‘I’m marking it down to learning’ is a pretty good one!
• WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
  Just like you (three days grace) I could be mean and angry?
• WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THEM?
  Do What You Say (Benjamin Gate). Nice :)
• WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
  I will possess your heart (Death cab for Cutie). I’m kind of glad that I don’t really believe in the ‘best’ friend concept!
• WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
  We are all made of stars (Moby) “Can’t fight the future, can’t fight what I see”
• WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY? Vicarious (Tool). I guess up until recently I was living for the people around me, rather than me. Although until recently Tool scared me as well!
• WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
  Gone Crazy (Marcy Playground)
• WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE? I really eyes (Cranberries). Was this thing written by a teenager? The quiz, not the song.
• WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
  Bad weekend (Art Brut). Ouch.
• WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
  If it makes you happy (Sheryl Crow). I refuse to be a girl and start planning a wedding without being engaged first. But I quite like this song!
• WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
  Prism of Life (Engma).
• WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
  The Phantom of the Opera (Nightwish). Clearly all those discussions on the paranormal in the lab are coming back to haunt me…
• WHAT’S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
  Blister in the sun (Violent Femmes). But i’ve already GOT blisters from the sun…
• HOW WILL YOU DIE?
  Burnout (Sipho ‘hotstix’ Mabuse). No comment.
• WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
  I will not take these things for granted (Toad the wet Sprocket).
• WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
  The fix is in (OK Go) It’s all about getting lost and staying that way.
• WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
  Battery (Metallica)
• WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
  Suddenly everything has changed (Postal Service).
• WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
  Pain for Pleasure (SUM41) true…
• DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
  Sorrow (Gladiator soundtrack). Sad times.
• IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
  Rainy Day (Fools Garden). Apparently my IPod has more faith in my abilities than I do!
• WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW? Say Goodbye (Dave Matthews Band)
  

thanks for bearing with me! I refuse to tag people when we’ve all done this before, but if you feel like revisiting a classic (no pun intended) then feel free and please let me know if you do!

No way!

So I didn’t do any exercise between Saturday and yesterday, and felt all icky as a result. To be fair I just haven’t had time – with all the stress lately I’ve been battling to focus and get my work done.

To add to that it seems that people realised that I was leaving soon and we’ve had a steady stream of people in the lab. I would be annoyed but they were all people I wanted to see. And as much as several hours discussing the biological and psychological implications of studying the paranormal/supernatural was probably a giant waste of time, I’m pretty sure that in some small way my life was enriched as a result! I guess it all falls into enjoying the university experience as a whole, rather than being too focussed.

Anyway back on topic, last night after dinner I decided to go off to the gym. It was awesome! I should stop going more often! Basically I cycled and almost died (it seems I can run OR cycle, but developing both sets of muscle just doesn’t happen) and then I figured I’d do a short run, just to give the other muscles a reminder as to their existence. I have also been having really nasty dreams (and insomnia) lately so I figured exhaustion could help my situation somewhat (It didn’t really as I wound up dreaming that I had to put on makeup in an abattoir before going goth clubbing in fieldwork clothes…).

So I ran a little bit and thought ‘hey! this is supposed to be a sprint, why is it so easy?'’ so I ran a little bit faster. And faster. and faster. I was tired, but I kept doing things like wondering if I could do one  more minute, or run at a steeper incline, or actually max out the treadmill speed-wise (almost! I think it maxes out at 15km/h and I was going at 14.2 but that involved sprinting and gasping and stitches after a very little while). and before I’d noticed it I had finished the 20 minute thing and I was all hyped up to run further.

So I did. Admittedly, I was listening to Trivium which is so energetic I had to keep going, but before I knew it I had run about 30 % further than normal!

I think that’s what I love the most about the whole gym thing. Those random moments when you realise that those scary things aren’t so bad after all! Like doing a shoulder-balancey thing in Pilates, or cycling an extra 10 km, or actually doing a pull-up (I almost did one the other day! the friendly body-builders were very supportive!).

And now I must go and pack the big scary 4x4 and get it home before tai chi!

Oh, and this is officially my favourite music video ever (right now!) the song is awesome too!

peace and quiet

Two things: I got a ticket to the Killers!!!! CG got tickets for a few of us and then was worried that I might be upset. Strange girl.. I think my jumping around squealing pretty much cleared er conscience on that one! Lets just hope I get back in time - although if not I have a plan B - a friend who also really wants to go and who can go in my place so it's not wasted.

The other thing? Well I had the quietest weekend in months and it was really nice (although I'm looking forward to getting back out there and wreaking havoc next weekend)! Laura was out from Oxford for a few weeks and so I was really happy to spend some time with her - we had dinner on Friday evening and i got home at the respectable hour of about 9:30 (getting old...).

Saturday was work at the vet - I may have got the vet's kids in trouble when I played along with their game of being a dog and a cat and zipped them up into pet carriers. I had to give them biscuits and they had a great time barking and meowing... until their mother walked in... In my defence it was their idea! after that we made paper-clip necklaces and they explored the possibilities of putting paperclips in my hair - I found another one this morning that had been washed twice but hadn't untangled itself enough to fall out!

After that I went to a music/jamming session at Duncan's house - he got a drum kit quite recently and I had a great time trying it out! I wish i knew how people do those amazing drum solos though, I could never just let loose and go nuts with the drums, I needed guidelines! The others had fun making weird noises with my viola (and chasing the cats with it) as well as trying to figure out the recorder again. I tried to play the piano for the first time in years which was fun, if a bit frustrating, and admired Duncan's amazing guitar playing! I've never been able to figure out the guitar (except for guitar-hero which doesn't count).

From there I went home and crashed, waking up in time for dinner and a run before bed.

And Sunday was quiet, I practiced tai ch (I've managed to write down all the steps I need to remember so I can practise without getting too stuck. I think my family is confused that there are little pieces of paper floating around with "stab behind, gouge eye" and that sort of thing written on them), washed my car, had a great cycle and run and went off to church which was... interesting!

remember when?

So I haven't been keeping up to date with my 90's music posts, simply because life kind of got in the way, and if you've ever read Children of the 90's you'll know how incredibly amazing their coverage of all thing's 90's is... makes it hard to keep up!

This song is a must for the list. Unfortunately embedding is disabled, but check it out if you want a music video that will certainly give me nightmares!



Collective soul was my favourite band for a long long time - I think I fed lizards with them playing on my mp3 player for about 6 months... And you have to give them extra points for the Dr Quinn-inspired hair!



And some Sheryl Crow just for the weekend! I love this song (and I think I can forgive that painful - no pun intended - First Cut is the Deepest song because of the other ones that were awesome!).

Happy Friday folks!

Shiny things, men in uniform AND fireworks!

So A couple off weeks ago I was invited by my fabulous cousins to attend the dress rehearsal of the South African tattoo. This is the advert:


Basically my cousin's fiancee was dancing in it and as he was helping around backstage the free tickets managed to get redistributed to his younger sister and she offered one to me! I was super-excited as I wanted to go last year but didn't get around to it until the tickets were sold out... Plus I had no idea that my soon-to-be cousin does Highland dancing! And the cousin who gave me the ticket (therough the other cousin of course) drove me there and home which was SO nice! We also got to catch up a bit which is nice as we were almost inseparable as young kids and then kind of took our own paths as we grew up.

The show was so much fun! There were fireworks, the lights were pointed at the sky (it was outdoors) which meant that we got to pretend that there was a UFO above our heads until the performance started (I am easily amused) and we got to sit in the second row from the front and see EVERYTHING!

As I can't write about everything without it taking until next week I will do a Things I Learned list:

• You can be an individual while wearing a kilt - one of the guys looked exactly like I'd imagine a goth-piper to be. He was dressed exactly like everyone else, but the long hair and earrings remained, and the attitude was still there!
• We have drum majorettes in this country. I had no idea. They were adorable, with their big smiles plastered on and so much enthusiasm.
• There are local groups suppteaching music and dance to kids here, and they were incredible! Watching a few hundred kids doing some really fast-paced gumboot dancing is not something I will forget in a hurry.
• Yellow kilts look suspiciously like skirts, particularly when the men choose to wear them short...
• Rifle drills are AMAZING!
• It's easy to see who is enjoying themselves and who isn't - and how easy it is to ignore the performers just going through the motions and watch the ones who are smiling and really getting into it.
• Flag-throwing people from Italy are very Italian. And very skilled considering they did all their flag-throwing stunts with the wind blowing rather harad!
• I'm not quite sure why there was a stunt-motorcyle exhibition, but it was unbelievable! There are very talented (and crazy) people out there!
• The marching band leader guys (I should know the name for them) take themselves very seriously. There was a world champion leading one section and he didn't even flinch or smile or blimk too much. We discussed his inner emotions in depth from the stands.
• The Highland Dancers were really good! Not that I can talk as I was *cough*forced*cough* into it when I was four and never made any progress at all besides deciding that the swords were fun to play with between lessons. And I think it's very cool that my soon-to-be cousin can do it!
• When the older men from the SA Navy went off to the side to play electric guitars and drums for us we realised that there's no age limit on playing what you want to!
• I want to go to Burundi and hear their drummers again. They had the most incredible energy (and giant smiles) and the vibrations from the drums kind of resonated in my collarbone and it was one of the most amazing experiences ever.

So I I'll definitely try and go again next year! Failing that... anyone keen for a trip to Burundi?

Don't hate me...

You know when you get a song stuck in your head and you can't remember enough of the lyrics to google it, so you kind of have to live with it for WEEKS. The only thing that will get it out of your head is to hear the whole song for some obscure reason...

Well anyway, I had this problem the other day, and so of course I whined about it on Facebook (as you do) and Sarah suggested a different song. You know those songs that are insanely catchy but awful at the same time -like 'it's a small world' or 'I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts' or the Macarena or something like that.

And so she suggested this song instead. I've been torturing poor Luke and Leia with it for a wile now because I find it hilarious. To be fair, Leia was whining about having a different song stuck in her head earlier, and I DID solve that problem for her... Plus it's just too easy to say "hey look at this!" and then pull my headphones out of my laptop... yes, I'm a bad person.

So don't hate me for this, but I officially name this the catchiest song of all time (not in a good way)... it also gets bonus points for the high-waisted leather pants and the rest of the band dressing as fruit (I can't decide which is better - the trumpeter-banana or the drummer. Thoughts?)

If I was green I would die

I had an epic trip to Pretoria this morning to meet a chemist person about some of the work I need to do (of course he was an hour late because he was at the dentist...) and then back to the lab to meet my sister-in-law for coffee. Fortunately she was late too!

And I was diced this morning in my neighbourhod by some idiot who had baby-on-board stickers on their car. I mean REALLY!

Anyway being Thursday means that we have to reminisce about some of the musical classics from the 90s. Of couse this wont let me embed, but it made me dance around in my chair, so check it out! Of course this lead me to reading a lovely series of comments in youtube arguing about the lyrics. Someone is totally convinced it says "I'm blue if I was green I would die" and now that I listen for it I can see their point! Of course the homophobes jump in with "I need a guy" instead. Anyone hear anything different?

Of course when I was a little teenager it was cool to go and listen to bands on weekends, my particular favourites (among others) being Tweak, Sarongas (which became Seether) and of course these guys:



The drive out to Pretoria today also brought back a lot of memories from my first job when I was 15, my boss would pick me up in the morning and we'd drive out to Pretoria for the day. One of the songs I remember lsitening to on the way in to work was this:



And because I actually still kind of love those songs, I thought I'd have to put in one that makes me cringe. A lot.

And I thought it was just me?

If these don't have you giggling (or blushing) over the momories, and/or bouncing in your chair then you're too old or you spent the 1990's living under a rock. Yip, it's Thursday and so we have to remember those songs that influenced our childhood and teenage years as well as maintaining their ability to get well and truly stuck in our heads!

As I didn't manage last Thursday (I was too busy being gosh-darned miserable) I'll put up two songs today!




This one was one of those songs that I heard a million times sing by a million people (notably my counsin who I know reads this. HI!!!) and yet it was years before I heard the original. I kind of suspected it was one of those songs that people now by magic or osmosis, like school bus songs!

And this one, well, I like the violin part! And it's cool. And it made me feel all rebellious while longing for a leather jacket...



Ok fine, I'll give you three, just because I suddenly remembered this being my favourite music video at the time! Except or that one where everyone is lying on the street and someone is trying to figure out why. I get hte feeling it was Radiohead, but I'm not sure. Anyone got any ideas? I'll give five points to whoever figures it out!



Happy Thursday everyone!

We aren't really that crazy...

So last night I had a HORRIBLE dream and once I woke up I sent messages off to two people outlining the awfulness to them. They replied with their dreams, which made me realise just how often I swap dream stories with people.

Luke and Leia and I had planned on having a discussion on music in order to show all you people out there that we aren't all that crazy, but after about half an hour of trying to get Luke to stop working and come and talk to us (he kept saying "I'll be right there... " and then he'd start something new... it was lunchtime! You're not supposed to work during lunch!) so that we could record something before our labmate comes back. So of course half a minute into it the labmate appeared so you can hear him wandering around.

I hope you can understand us, I tend to talk pretty fast and the others don't sit still very often so it can distort... The picture isn't really significant, it just wouldn't load without an image so I put one in...

Oh, and besides the fact that I speakk faaster than I should, what it the general verdict on our accents? Luke and I have both been told that we don't sound very South African, so do we all sound like we've spent most of our lives in Joburg? Or has the accent been educated out of us?

Anyway if you're brave enough you can hear about:

1. each of us has a weird dream story from last night, and Leia added one in from last week where her tooth looked lie a carrot inside (?).
2. The aftermath of our first ever experience with doctor pepper.
3. The return of stationary to the rightful owners.
4. The horror of Lady Gaga songs being stuck in your head.
5. My realisation that I can smell and taste in dreams!
6. The evilness of our security gate.
7.The awesomeness of 2-ply lab paper!

In other news I had an amazing meeting with a collaborator/mentor this morning and I was so excited! I should be getting a huge load of lab work done really soon!
And, being a Thursday I thought I would mention some of the fabulous 90's songs that shaped out childhoods (is that a real word?

Do you remember:
The Chemical Brothers: hey boy, hey girl!
I hated this song SO much! This lead to a big debate in the lab about whether the songs on the list had to be things we had enjoyed, or just songs that were influential. The jury is still out on it.

And based on our discussion last time, bearing in mind that my labmates have yet to see Centre Stage (which was a bit part of my teenager-dom), I feel that I must mention:

The Red Hot Chili Peppers: Under the bridge.

This was one of my favourite songs when I was younger, it made me feel all rebellious and cool. The fact that I had a mega crush on the lead singer didn't hurt either.

And, for the purposes of being stuck in your head for the next few days... do you remember this one? I had completely forgotten about it until we stumbled across it the other day:

Blogger just ate my last post, which was almost finished and had pictures and everything! Rather than rethink it all I'm going to leave you with this quote from a friend of mine who was giving me advice over herbal tea last night (thanks EEbEE!). Basically I explained that being dumped really sucks and he replied with (paraphrased with my random comments removed):

"Wait. You think the dumping thing is bad!!! It's the BEST thing EVER. you are getting away from someone who doesn't like you instead of having one of those fake relationships. Look just stay away from anyone who thinks less of you. best recipe for a good future. So there."

Not bad for someone who claims he's useless at relationship advice!

Also I thought having made a giant list of songs form the 90's that shaped our childhoods, I wouldn't want to waste all that reminiscing. So I think in future I will post something on that on a Thursday. So basically the list of songs is about 3 pages long, but if there's anything that you remember that you really loved let me know and I'll add it onto the list if it isn't already there!

This week we have:

This was used in a play at my school and I was on backstage duty, I had to wait for the"He drinks the whiskey drink, he drinks the vodka drink" line to know when to start moving things around!

And of course we can never forget the way that only cool people listened to Fatboy Slim (and I absolutely adored this music video and spent an afternoon glued to MTV so I could see it once!)



And of course there is Radiohead. Maybe this was the start of the emo-mindset? All I know is that I spent several of my teenage years (when I wasn't pretending to like boybands or listening to angry music on the Night Zoo while hiding under the covers to muffle the sound from my headphones) identifying very strongly with this song!



Anyone got any particualr memories of these three?

Happy Thursday!

Remember when? - aka watch Helen try and break the record for the most embeds in a sngle post...

So anyway yesterday was one of those awful write-off days (I'm in a bit of a slump and need to get my act together!). I've become used to working while at work and getting a lot done in the mornings and now that I'm back to full-time studying I'm missing the structure (if not the early mornings).

Anyway to cut a long story short we were kicked out of the lab so that the cleaning staff could turn everything upside down, flood the place and then polish the floor, leaving everything sparkling clean! And so we did what any self-respecting postgrads would do when confronted witha barrier to work: we went and got coffee while grumbling about having to pay for it, when we usually spend all our money on coffee grounds and milk (which doesn't count!).

And so we got chatting and it left us in a not-working frame of mind and so when we were finally allowed back into the lab I mentioned to Luke that I remembered this song from back in the day:


Catchy, no?

And so it degenerated into a long nostalgia session, which I felt that I must share with the world in general. I'm working on a playlist at the moment but it's taking a lot of sifting through the giant pile of cassette tapes I found in my cupboard recently. These are some of the songs I've come across that have given me flashbacks (and byt that I mean some, not all as the ist is very very long!):

Don't judge me (and if you weren't a teenager in the late 90's then don't watch this one, it's AWFUL!) - sadly enough I saw them live and thought they were fantastic!



I struggled as a kid because I had so many very different musical influences. On the one side I had my brother who educated me about grunge and gentle alternative rock (I have memories of listening to Green Day with the volume turned as low as we could so that our parents wouldn't hear the lyrics to 'Brat' Or giggling whenever someone in The Offspring swore. I was also trained to play classical music from before I could even read and I still listen to that from time to time.

I also had the world's most awesome radio show to educate me: The Night Zoo of which I was an avid listener from when I was 12 and got my first radio ("If it's too loud... you're TOO OLD!"). It was always fun to try and hde my headphones from my parents when they came to say goodnight and I often taped the show in case I fell asleep (I think it started at 9 or 10 pm?).

From there, most importantly Thursday night's modern rock chart where I learned to love gems like this:


not to mention going through the obligatory Nirvana, Metallica and Smashing Pumpkins phases. I must admit, I never did the whole Pearl Jam thing, and I still can't bring myself to listen to them much, although their lead singer has a song out that is AMAZING and I had it on repeat for days.Check it out:



Eventually I moved on to The Prodigy and vaguely dancy music as well - to tell the truth as long as it was loud and had a beat I would listen to it.

At the same time I was a teenage girl, and so I had to go through the requisite stages of listening to these guys:



Scarily enough as much as I cring now, I quite liked them then and had many many posters on my walls which had to be burned as soon as I passed that stage. I was also about 13 when Britney Spears released her first album and I was a participant in many Britney vs Christina arguments (I think I switched sides often just to annoy people).

Which leaves me with one last memory (for now). How is it that whenever this song came on people would start line-dancing? I mena I get it that the music is right for line-dancing but how did everyone always know what to do? I always felt like I'd skipped out on a special class or something...



Of course there are so many other songs and so many other memories!

Anyone keen to share the soundtrack to their childhood? Particularly if it was the 90's!

Not a lot to say...

So yes, I go running with giraffe, spend my days running around after reptiles and live in a haunted farmhouse in the middle of nowhere for months at a time while doing it (my record is 13 weeks I think). So it's safe to say that I lead a slightly different life. And that's awesome sometimes.

Unfortunately, as with most things, people are amazingly resilient and the weirdest stuff becomes routine. I do the same stuff every day as much as someone in a cubicle. And so there's very little to say.

I took my Ipod out on the rocks with me today. It wasn't my best move- it never is. I tend to trap better without music, but some days I just need a bit of a morale boost and then I find humming along helps. Heaven only knows what the wildlife thinks, but I figured I'm giving them a free education.

So while I was trapping (I got two lizards today before it got boiling hot, there was a freak windstorm and my traps all miraculously stopped being sticky at the same time) I listened to my "Top Rated" play-list. This is basically where all the songs that I really like or listen to a lot until I play them to death, at which time they are removed and I forget about them. so I decided, as so many of my friends are blogging about music lately, that it was my turn!

Anyway I realised that I can remember why I picked each song. For example I have some Pearl Jam, Muse, Nightwish, Rob Zombie, Billy Talent and Breaking Benjamin on it because I find them easy to run or cycle to (on days when I'm tired and need something loud and energetic while still angry). These songs get skipped over when I'm driving because I already have a few minor road rage issues and they don't help.

On days that I'm exercising but I'm in a good mood and full of energy I have the Kill Bil soundtrack (amazingly upbeat!), the Unicorns, the Islands, the Fiery Furnaces, the Killers and so on.

On days when I'm depressed or tired or just want something soothing I have Watershed (there are memories attached there so I can't just remove it), Ben Lee, Neko Case, Feist, goldfish, Midnight Oil, Architecture in Helsinki, Wild Light, Lifehouse, The Boy Least Likely to and that sort of thing.

The trouble is that it takes me months to actually remove a song once I've started skipping it regularly. Like now, I'll decide to skip a song for the millionth time and think of taking it off, but then I'll remember why I liked it, what I was doing when I first heard it and when I do enjoy it and so it stays.

The play-list I used to have that I have since lost or deleted or maybe it was all on my top rated list and ebbed away over time, was a play-list of those songs that you can't help dancing to. I tried to make it again the other day and failed miserably. so far I have:

the Killers - All these things that I've done
Camera Obscura - if looks could kill
The Unicorns- I was born (a unicorn)
Fiery Furnaces- Tropical Iceland
Prodigy - Voodoo people

And now I'm stuck. Does anyone have any suggestions? And what's on your play-lists at the moment?

Rejected...

So I was youtubing the Flight of the Conchords and I saw the song ‘Rejected’ and laughed like I haven’t in years. As it’s stuck in my head at the moment I figured I’d use it as a title.

Random stuff aside, the reason I’ve been so quiet lately is that, besides the usual insane load of labs I have to teach in at the beginning of each year, I decided that I need the experience and agreed to do some lecturing for one of the courses. The scary part is that it’s tomorrow and it’s on a topic that I’m not particularly clued-up on!

On the plus side I got the materials over a month ago and I’ve had plenty of time to prepare, and I have actually been preparing, albeit slowly. It’s just scary because I’ve never done it before! I’m not afraid of the kids- I’ve failed enough of them over the last few weeks that I don’t really have to worry about my authority being in question, and the field trip is only next weekend so they haven’t yet seen me half asleep, cranky and clutching at my coffee-cup as if it’s the only thing keeping me alive (I love camping, really, but teaching and camping at the same time is exhausting, particularly when it includes trying desperately to avoid seeing the lecturer in charge in his underwear… true story!)

The lecturer who traditionally runs this section has also been amazingly supportive, he’s talked me through lecturing styles, points to focus on, ways to avoid being boring (lets hope!) pacing… and we went to one of his lectures last week to get an idea of how to approach talking to 70-odd rather stupid children. So I was feeling fine!

To tell the truth by Friday the people around me were displaying several signs of nerves and freaking out on my behalf, and I was feeling calm and confident and generally ok. Then last night I went over the plans one more time and then did a trial lecture to Lara.

For the record, Lara is the most awesome friend in the world*! She is now a lawyer who is totally clued up on rodent diversity, and she listened and participated and asked questions (including sticking her hand up and going “Ooh! Ooh!” in a way that was creepily reminiscent of my students) and she pointed out things that I would have forgotten.

1.This is something I know, but most of my friends are used to me and don’t notice anymore: I speak fast. Really, I watch movies at double speed because I understand what they’re saying because I tend to talk that fast. I also write super-quickly. When I’m nervous I speed up even more. I’ve been known to give a 15 minute presentation in under 8 minutes without leaving anything out. As La said “You’re an awesome teacher, just try… keep it below the speed of light?” So I’m stressing that they won’t be able to keep up with me because they are undergrads, and if I’m anything to go by, they’ll want to write down every word.

2. I go off on tangents. I have the attention span of a two-year old, which can make me super effective as a sequential-multi-tasker but awful to follow in a conversation. I generally have at least three or four conversations running at a time and I switch between them – once again I don’t notice and a lot of my friends don’t either, but Lara, in her pretending to take notes eventually gave me a blank stare and said “You just harped on about flower structure for five minutes, I’m assuming that’ll be in the exam?”

Anyway I’m stressing out now! I asked my mom if she’d do a run-through with me, but she’s swinging between being way too keen and not caring, so I think I’m actually going to gym to work out the stress a bit and then I’ll come back and go over my notes one more time. Wish me luck!

And if the worst comes to the worst, I have Lara on standby for drinks and sympathy on Monday night!

*This isn’t necessarily true as I have a really awesome bunch of friends, but in this case I think she deserves a special mention as most lawyers would not agree to spend a Saturday night being told about rodents by someone who can’t even stay on topic!

I'm alive

This is just a little note to say that I have every intention of carrying on with this blog, but the last few weeks have been insanely busy - if all goes well I'll probably have something up in a few days.

So, just to keep the ball rolling: if you were to pick a theme song to play whenever you walked into the room, what would it be? I gave into my non-goth goth side and picked Nightwish: Chest of Wonders. I know it's a bit hectic but I figured it's adventurous (total going on a quest music), dramatic and totally written for guitar hero!

So what would yours be?

Music!

Once again, a music themed post! To tell the truth I've been playing with some data that I want to present soon, only to find that the results were exactly opposite to what I expected. So I went online looking for the lyrics to a song I was listening to, and I came across this (here) and decided to give it a try:

Music game (A to Z)

ok, look at your Music and write down for each Letter (A to Z)- the first Artist in your list- the last Artist in your list- the artist you like most

#
1-ski
9 Lazy 9
3 Doors Down (don't judge me!)

A
A.C. Newman
Azure Ray
Architecture in Helsinki (going through a bit of a phase...)

B
B(If)Tek
Bush
Bonobo

C
Cafe del Mar
Crystal Method
Calexico (I had 'Cruel' on repeat for a day or two...)

D
The Darkness
Dynamic Shadows
Deep Forest

E
Eagle-Eye Cherry
Excuses for Skipping
Everclear

F
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Future Loop Foundation
Funeral for a Friend

G
Garbage
Gwen Stefani
Goldfish

H
Half-handed cloud
Hugh Masekela
Hayden

I
Ian Pooley
Issa Bagayogo
Indigo girls

J
Jack's Mannequin
Just Jinger
Just Jinger

K
K.D. Lang
Korn
The Killers

L
La Pieta
Luther Vandross
Lemon Jelly

M
Machine Head
My Morning Jacket
The Mountain Goats

N
Nail
Norah Jones
Neko Case/ New Pornographers

O
Oasis
The Owls
Of Montreal (I think, I have a short O-list, and couldn't really pick anything...)

P
Panda & Angel
Puddle of Mudd
Parlotones

Q
Queen (that's the only Q that I have...)

R
R.E.M.
Royksopp
Radiohead

S
Sacred Spirit
System of a Down
She & Him

T
Taking Back Sunday
Tree63
Travis

U
U2
The Used
The Unicorns (added points for the name...)

V
Van Morrison
Vusi Khumalo
Violent Femmes (more for associated memories than anything else. V is also a short list!)

W
The Wallflowers
Wonderboom
Wilco

X
I don't have anything :(

Y
Yello
Yvonne Fair
Yellowcard

Z
Zero 7
ZUCO 103
Zero 7

That was amazingly quick! I was also amazed by how much random music I seem to have collected over the years! My inner hoarder just can't take anything off my Ipod, just like I can't seem to clear the CDs out of my room when I'm far more likely to plug my Ipod into speakers than ever use a CD player again!