Crunchy ‘Nanas

Wa-hoo!

I am always faced with a mental challenge when I go to the gym: run for a couple miles on the treadmill liked I’ve set out to do before heading out to the pool. Usually, I get there and the pool looks so nice and inviting, beckoning me to skip the smelly ‘mill and just go for a swim. I can be easily tempted to divert all attention to its flowing waters. But, today I stayed strong and didn’t give in to temptation. I was good and did the two miles I bargained for. And yes, I am pleased with 2 miles because treadmilling is so-oh-oh snoozin’.

And can I say I am totally diggin’ this chick called Lykke Li? I’ve been intrigued these past few weeks since I read an article, but I didn’t rush to buy the cd. But, then we were at this independent shop in Brighton over the weekend and they were playing the album and the lady was nice enough to point it out when I asked what they were playing and really, if you are in an independent record store and you know you’ll probably buy it eventually anyway, you just do it, you know?

I’m not disappointed with my purchase. The album’s very catchy. You kind of have to get past her little girl-ish voice, but I think I’ve done it. It totally kept me going on the treadmill, all 17 minutes glorious minutes. “I’m Good, I’m Gone” kind makes me think of Feist’s “My Moon, My Man” and Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks” mixed together, kind of funky.

And she swallows her ts (”li’l bit”) like someone else I know.

I was never a cover girl, especially if it was of a song I liked. But then there was Luka Bloom’s cover of “Bad”. And I heard David Byrne sing Whitney Houston at the Warfield. And dear god, if anyone knows where I can find a recording of Tim Reynolds playing “In Your Eyes,” please email me.

So, I’m willing to admit– there are some good ones. And covers, or talk of covers, seem to be cropping up in lots of places lately. So, how about here? Why the heck not? Here’s a list of goodies. There’s even a couple I like better than the real thing. But, I’ll not say which.

1. Video Killed the Radio Star- The Feeling (But don’t even get me started on their cover of “Don’t Give Up”.)
2. California Stars- Billy Bragg and Wilco
3. In Your Eyes- Tim Reynolds
4. True Colors- Eva Cassidy
5. Sexual Healing- Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
6. Midnight Train to Georgia- Indigo Girls
7. Gloomy Sunday- Sarah McLachlan
8. Go Down Easy- David Gray
9. Bad- Luka Bloom
10. Human Behavior- The Decemberists
11. I Wanna Dance With Somebody- David Byrne

(Monday Mixtape? It’s either late or early. You choose.)

“7 Seconds” was my first experience of Youssou N’Dour*. Besides simply being a good song, I remember thinking how different it was– a song in a foreign language (at least partly) playing on the radio, the video airing on MTV and VH1. It wasn’t just the language, but the way those words sounded coming from his mouth. There’s something about his voice, the way the syllables roll, the way everything vibrates (”there’s a million voices”) that just got—and hooked—me.

Fourteen years later, I got to see him live. It was awesome. He was playing with his band le Super Etoile de Dakar last night at the indigO2 in London. He has such a personable, charismatic presence on stage, and really interacts with the audience. And the rhythms are great. I didn’t want to stop dancing. That’s 2+ hours of cross training in my book! (It was a wonderfully long set.)

Before the show, I was saying “you know, this concert’s a little different. I don’t have specific songs I want to hear, I just want to hear the music.” I lied. I just didn’t know it. I was such a happy bunny when they played C’est L’amour. It was great, all of it.

[*But wait, those of you who have read my blog for longer than a day, may say! What about the Peter Gabriel So tour? Shaking the Tree? I was 8 in 1986. The only music I was tuned into was Madonna, Michael Jackson, and the Beatles (because of my mom). I discovered Peter Gabriel much later. Though not, I have to point out to one loyal reader in particular, because of the movie “Say Anything.”]

While I was watching, you did a slow dissolve…

I am told that when I was a baby, I woke up singing. For whatever reason, I’ve lost much of my morning perk since I moved to England. But thanks to an excellent performance by David Gray and his band at the Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone last night, I woke this morning with Slow Motion humming around my head.

I’ve listened to David Gray for close to nine years now, and yet this was my first chance to see him perform live. For the last couple years, I’ve been in California when he was playing local England shows and in England when he was in California. But last night, I was there and I was not disappointed. It was great to see him in a venue so small. His voice reverberated around me and I could appreciate how much vocal control he really has. I loved hearing all his yips, na-nas and yee-hees so close and I was, at times, completely absorbed by Neill MacColl on the guitar.

Tell me something, tell me something I don’t already know…

The only disappointment of the night was the rudeness from people who seemed to be there only to get wasted, talk, and start show-stopping fights. There are places in the material where you should be able to hear a pin drop, but last night that space was filled with the constant rumble of socializing at the bars. Not very respectful to the people on stage, nor the audience members who came to appreciate the music. The performance felt a bit stiff for a while after David Gray had to summon security during a very intense and jammin’ end to Lately to get the fighting punks out of there. I’m thinking he won’t play there again, which is too bad for us.

Feels like lightning running through my veins… 

Small pellets of ice fell as we drove home last night and snow flurries fell tonight. Perhaps this year, it will be a white Easter. I hope so. It might as well snow and be pretty if it’s going to be this cold.

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Now playing: David Gray - Slow Motion
via FoxyTunes

If you are usually one of the sweaty screaming fans, bouncing and dancing yourself into a frenzy, U2 3D is difficult to experience in a static theater environment. What was I supposed to do with my hands? I was conflicted, confused. The raving, energetic fan inside me wrestled with British cinema decorum. What was natural—hands waving above my head, palms clapping, wrists rolling and fingers snapping—was definitely not acceptable at the Waterloo IMAX. I glanced around. It quickly became clear that singing your heart out back to the band was not going to be well received. Even when you’re supposed to pump your fist in the air and belt “Pride,” I contented myself with a head bounce, toe tap, and thigh drum. (And yeah, there might have been some lip sync action going on.) When Bono yells “on the guitar- the Edge!,” I need to scream my approval back to the stage. Instead, I bit my tongue and sat quietly, pondering the wonderful existence that is David Evans, and watched him strum his sparkly guitar masterfully.

Despite the constrictive atmosphere and the fact that it was way too short (did they not have enough footage for at least an hour and a half? Come on!), holy moly, was it good. Not better than a live show, but different. You don’t get the intimate feeling at a live show (unless you’re really, really lucky) that Bono really can, and will, wipe your tears away during Sunday Bloody Sunday. You don’t get to fly over Larry Mullen, Jr. while he beats his drums or get up close and personal with Adam Clayton’s bass. Ticket prices are never £12. And even though it wasn’t live, the emotions, energy and power shone through just as well. I got the chills in all the usual spots and even in some new ones. But, I left thinking it would have been better if they had done more with the 3D (I think it would have been good if Bono had wacked me with that mic stand) and the wish that they had done this for one of their earlier tours that had more theatrics (hard to please, I know).

But, we got back to the car and I got to rock out the whole way home so everything was fine. I hope this is the beginning of a good year for the band, with the new album in the fall and hopefully a tour to follow. (I am sure that’s all part of the plan, as if these guys need to market themselves). Rock on!

So, I’ve been catching up on blogs lately. I just found a recent post on U2-3D on I Am Fuel, You Are Friends. Which I had to show Crunchy husband, even though it’s supposed to be off-line time…Because I’m so excited. And now, after reading this, bitter. Forget what I said earlier. I want to see it now. February 22nd? What the heck?

When I turned the screen his way, the first thing he says is “Who’s Captain E.O.?” What? Not only does he live for the shipping forecast (not kidding, that’s his favorite thing to listen for now that we have the DAB radio), he doesn’t know who Captain E.O. is. He actually had to click on the wikipedia link. Ah, he’s cute. Brits, eh?

He keeps walking around saying, well it didn’t come out in England.

Well, of course it didn’t! England doesn’t have a Disneyland!!

My gym stole my iPod. And I’m not sad.

I’ll spare you the skimpy details, but I was in the locker room, sitting on the bench, drying my feet and noticed the music was pretty chill, Finley Quaye’s “Even After All”. Not one I usually hear anywhere but my iPod, thanks to the Thicker Than Water soundtrack. I thought hey, that’s cool. It makes a nice change from the Rockwell “Somebody’s Watching Me” I used to get at the other gym. (Kind of funky in the locker room when it’s playing while you ARE in the shower.) Then I heard it. Comb stroke, part to shoulder. Hesitate. I wasn’t sure it could be possible, they keep the level pretty soft in the changing room, but yes indeed-y. The Thievery Corporation remix of Sarah McLachlan’s “Dirty Little Secret”. Yeah baby! It’s cool, seductive and lounge-y. I love it. Maybe somebody IS watching me and knows just what I want to hear. I combed and re-combed my hair, just so I could hear the drum beat drop toward the end. I’m fairly sure I was swaying, but no one was looking at me funny, so I must have contained myself pretty well. All right, I don’t have much shame, but I don’t tend to bust a move in the locker room. Usually.

It was like the time I popped into Somerfield and as soon as I stepped through the double doors “Solsbury Hill” started up. It was as if they saw me coming. Or, iris recognition lasers triggered the music. Hey, now there’s a thought. Big brother me any time if it means no more James Blunt. (Okay, Christa, I just threw that in there to rile you up so you’ll slam me some more country music dedications on Facebook. Yee-haw!*) I grabbed my milk, bounced a little in line (subtly restraining myself from initiating a dance party), and handed over my fiver. As I held myself back from saying as enthusiastically Californian as possible “I luuuuuuhhhhve this song”, Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime” kicked in to the Hill’s fade, and the lady shouted over her shoulder “Could you turn the music down, puh-lease?”. I checked my shimmy, picked my chin off the floor, and slunk out of the store. Don’t let the iPod hit you on the way out, ya know?

While we’re on the subject of music (yeah, yeah I swam and yoga-ed today, check the log if you’re really that interested), who’s excited? Who is EXCITED? U2-3D! I can’t hear you. Yeah okay, not quite as excited as if the boys were to play in my living room. Or, even Wembley Stadium for that matter. But, I’m pretty excited. (And not even too bitter that it’s already out in California.) I can’t wait to see my man up close and personal. Funk it up, dawg!

*For those who don’t know me, not a big fan of the country…

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Now playing: U2 - Mysterious Ways
via FoxyTunes

On our way back to San Jose from Monterey a few weeks ago (yes, I know the race report is still outstanding), the front seat, or more specifically, the driver requested my iPod. Now, I love, love, love having 30 GBs of storage. But, it makes it difficult to just press play, turn on shuffle and go. Not for me, necessarily (though I have to admit sometimes it’s hard to go from Vivaldi to Color Me Badd to Depeche Mode to George Winston to Jack Johnson to Usher to Buena Vista Social Club and back again). But, not everyone appreciates the range of music I have on this thing.

So, before handing it up, I slipped it onto my training mix, which I thought offered a better concentration of what the front seat might be looking for. Silly me.

“Don’t you like any women musicians?”

Um, yeah! And yet, no front women were popping up. iPod, why do you fail me now? (Note to self: training mix is in great need of an update.) Maddie stepped up at one point, but I got the impression she wasn’t really what they were looking for.

Slightly related to this incident, this weekend, while up at 2 am– too awake to sleep, not coherent enough to do anything useful– and scanning my music bookmarks websites, I caught this little tidbit on Tony Levin’s list of recent played on credits: “Paula Cole: Courage”.

Paula Cole, what?

Yippee! Paula Cole’s got a new album. I do like me some Paula Cole. How did I not know this? It might even be close enough to Christmas to put it on my list and wait. Maybe. I’m not sure. We’ll have to see if I can put up with just listening on MySpace until then.

Did I just say that?

Wow, in one post I’ve managed to divulge I have Color Me Badd on my iPod and a MySpace page. (No, Tom is NOT my friend.) World, I have nothing left to hide! In a quick attempt to salvage any faith you might have in my style and good taste, might I say that on the aforementioned MySpace page, I’ve posted a strange and quirky video to Andrew Bird’s “Imitosis”. (Hint to lurking Santas: another album on the Christmas list.) Not only does the song make me dance (another point the front seat would differ on), but someone in the video’s got stripey socks. Kind of makes me wish I hadn’t given up the violin in my pre-teen years. Except well, I wasn’t good.

But, back to the women!

1. Hooray for Love- Ella Fitzgerald
2. Peace Tonight- Indigo Girls
3. Hard to Make a Stand- Sheryl Crow
4. I Feel it All- Feist
5. Taxi Ride- Tori Amos
6. Kissing the Day- Mandalay
7. In Our Lifetime- Texas
8. Music (Groove Armada 12″ Mix)- Madonna
9. Dirty Little Secret (Thievery Corporation Mix)- Sarah McLachlan
10. Here with Me (Chillin’ with the Family Mix)- Dido
11. My Head is Only House Unless It Rains- Everything But The Girl
12. I Am So Ordinary- Paula Cole
13. Devotion- Tracy Chapman
14. The Song of Solomon- Kate Bush
15. The Magdalene Laundries- The Chieftains with Joni Mitchell
16. At This Point in My Life- Tracy Chapman
17. All That We Let In- Indigo Girls
18. True Colors- Eva Cassidy
19. Perfect Girl (Live)- Sarah McLachlan
20. Me- Paula Cole

“So am I. But, I can do the merengue.”

“They’re not playing the merengue.”

“They will.”

I wasn’t allowed to watch “Dirty Dancing” when it was first released. And when I finally remembered to watch it when I was an adult, I was kind of like, um yeah, okay whatever. I haven’t seen it since. However, I’ve probably seen “My Blue Heaven” 1,564 times. Just a guess. It was on the other night, and I am proud to say I’ve still got it. All the lines. Memorized. Right here. I can’t remember my age half the time. But, yes. I’ve still got “I don’t know, the pressure of Halloween. You never know what to go as!” all right here. Hot!

Tonight was taco salad night. We love taco salad night. And burrito night. We have a lot of those too. We buy Corona that was brewed in Belgium, probably (better than food miles from Mexico, right?) and avocados. I love avocados. And then we turn up the music really loud. Probably none of which is technically merengue, but well, we do it anyway. (And truth be told, what we do is not strictly merengue, but a mish-mash of latin freestyling with some shimmies, kicks, and a few strums on the air guitar thrown in because they’re fun. We feel it works. But, we don’t do it in public either. And when I say we, I actually think it’s just me.)

And then I yell at Crunchy husband for the thousandth time, “Ozomatli might very well shop at Safeway, but that’s NOT WHAT THEY’RE SAYING!!”

1. Chango- Ozomatli
2. La Sonidera- Los de Abajo
3. Lola, Lola- Ricky Martin (oh come on, when you’re getting down in the kitchen, everyone loves Ricky)
4. Tímido- Ozomatli
5. Oye Mamacita- Los Lonely Boys
6. Mi Candela- Los de Abajo
7. Miss America- David Byrne
8. 3 Cool Cats- Ry Cooder
9. I Will Be Free- Nil Lara
10. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For- Coco Freeman featuring U2

Yeah, I know it’s not Monday here yet. But it’s Monday in Australia. So that’s my story.

And I promise the next post I submit will not start with a quote. Or a series of quotes.

I’ve always harbored a secret desire to be one of the screamers on a live album. And now, I believe, my wish has come true. I got my recording from Peter Gabriel at Hyde Park, and I swear to you, I hear me. For real. The one yelling “Steeeaaaaammmm!” a fraction of a second before everyone else? That’s totally me. (I’m fast, really fast! And loud, really loud!) And during the pause in Family Snapshot? Me too. I swear to you. I know my concert scream. And I hear it. You’re skeptical, I can tell. But, it’s not hard to believe. Did I mention we were standing second row? BA-BY! (The proof is on Tony Levin’s website. You can see us best in the eleventh picture down, just behind the girl playing with her camera near the yellow rain jacket on the rail.) So, I think it’s very possible I hear me. And yeah, I’ll admit it, I sound good.

Rock and roll! Ah, another one of life’s goals ticked off the list.

In other exciting news, I officially registered myself and Crunchy husband for the Paris-Versailles 2007. So we are finally in training for something, as opposed to in training for something obscure and undetermined. We’ve been warned about the hill to Versailles, but how can you pass up the opportunity to start a run under the Eiffel Tower? Freddy the French Cat’s owner nearly joined Team Crunchy ‘Nanas in this 10 mile endeavor, but dodged this year’s run right before registrations went in by conveniently remembering he has tickets to go watch his Welshmen group hug and bite each other’s ears off in Nantes. Lucky escape, if you ask me.

There was way less trash on the path than I expected on my run today from Minnis Bay to Reculver. (I kept to the path. There is no way I could collect all the trash washed up on the beach.) Most people just kind of stared at me as I ran by, but one man yelled “hey, what about all this over here?” as he rode past me on his bike. He seemed jovial and friendly, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt and take that as thanks rather than him “taking the piss”. The run felt really good, which is to be expected since it is flat and I’ve been running hills mostly and today is a beautiful day. I ran regular tempo on the way out and eco-run tempo on the way back. I’m getting slightly better at grabbing trash without breaking my running motion, but I still need to slow/stop sometimes.

And then there’s the fact that summer has decided to grace England with its presence. There are many who still do not have clean water supplies to their homes, but at least (for now) the rains seem to have eased. I hope it gives it a chance for things to dry out a bit and allows people to go back to their homes.

And in final news that may be good or may be not so good, I will know by tomorrow I think, I’ve taken a bold step and submitted some coastal photography into a local art exhibition. Please keep your fingers crossed on something making the cut. It could go either way.