avanta7 | Entries tagged with music

Whitney Houston was part of the soundtrack of my 20s. I remember the first time I heard that gorgeous incredible voice. She knocked me flat out with those soaring, swooping, happy, bubbly-sweet pop confections that livened up the radio and filled the dance floor and my heart with sheer joy. And that incredible version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" -- someone I used to work with called that song "a one-note wonder", but dear God, that voice. That overwhelming, awe-inspiring voice.

And she was so beautiful. Graceful. Elegant. Tall! She had everything, and I admired her so much.

And then, naturally, she fell. Whether her marriage led her into chemical dependency, or simply exacerbated a problem that was already there, we may never know. Addiction is a difficult struggle, and she struggled. Mightily.

Breaking the cycle of addiction is hard enough on us ordinary folk. How much more difficult is it for someone whose every move is photographed, whose every foible is printed in the gossip rags, whose every misstep is broadcast in a hundred countries? She stepped out of the spotlight for years while she tried to put her life back together. And it looked like she had. An album, a tour, a scheduled appearance at the Grammys...

What happened in those last hours? I don't know. All I know is this. I'm sad. So incredibly sad. Good night, Whitney. Sleep well. I'll miss you.

Current Mood: crushed

I've been neglecting both of my blogs recently, and haven't kept up with you all either. *hangs head in shame* If I missed anything of particular importance in the last three or four weeks, please let me know...

So, the latest news and/or happenings and/or random thoughts:

Riverfest was at the beginning of June. BIL's employer is one of the corporate sponsors, so he got us tickets for Friday night. Spouse and I borrowed camp chairs from Sis and off we went to see Everclear and Night Ranger. First time I'd been to a rock concert in at least fifteen years. We found a good spot to park our chairs on the slope to the left of the stage, back about 100 yards or so from the apron. Close enough that we had a good view, distant enough that we didn't get our hair blown back by the sound system. Shortly after we got situated, we saw this guy; I was impressed by his sartorial daring:

It isn't everyone who has the cojones to wear a kilt. In Alabama.

( Riverfest )

( Encounter with the Coosa River )

( Spouse and home and life in general )

Our youngest nephew has been here for the past week visiting. He's stayed with Mom all week, but he came over Thursday on spouse's day off. They played Call of Duty and Halo most of the day, and had themselves a good old time. Bobby is 15 now, and getting so tall. But I look at him and still see the sweet five year old he once was (not that he's not a sweet kid now, mind you). I wonder if that's common to all parental-types -- no matter how old they get, they'll always be the babies they used to be.

As usual, I blame all voice quality issues on the inadequacies of telephone transmission. :-)

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you, and may you be blessed beyond measure in the New Year to come.

Current Mood: joyful

with all my heart,

Angela

Current Mood: festive

Pachelbel's Canon in D as you've NEVER heard it before:

Current Mood: awed

...Adeste Fideles.

Enjoy! And remember, all voice quality issues are the fault of telephone transmission. *grin*

Current Mood: merry

I get to go to England!

Next summer, my church (St. Mark's UMC) is sending a choral group to the UK on a 12-day Methodist Heritage Study Tour to sing at various locations: Bristol, Bath, Stratford, York, Lincoln, Cambridge, Oxford and London. I'm ordering my passport next week.

Look out, London Renegades, and shine up that tiara!! We arrive in England June 28, 2008, and I'll be in your town July 5-7, 2008. Surely I'll have some free time to schmooze and maybe sing karaoke with you all.

Woot woot woot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There just aren't enough exclamation points in the world to convey my excitement. Let the penny-pinching begin!

Current Mood: ecstatic

Meme-age! What's the most embarrassing piece of music you love? Post the video (if there is one) in your blog.

The most embarrassing piece of music I love. (Click the link if the embedded video doesn't show up.)

Your turn!

Current Mood: embarrassed
Current Location: 80s retro mode

Snatched from

shadiehawke

Here is how it works. Copy this list. Leave in the bands you've seen perform live. Delete the ones you haven't and add new ones that you have seen until you reach 25. An asterisk means the previous person had it on their list; two asterisks means the last two people who did this before you had that band on their list, etc. (note from avanta7: I'm putting in solo artists, too...)

Heart*
Triumph
Trans-Siberian Orchestra**
The Tubes
Dire Straits
John Mellencamp (back when he was still Johnny Cougar)
Eric Clapton*
Bruce Springsteen
Willie Nelson
Captain and Tennille
B.J. Thomas
Aerosmith**
Maria Muldaur
The "Ice Man" Albert Collins
Michael Hedges
Soft White Underbelly (AKA Blue Oyster Cult)
Buckwheat Zydeco
Lynyrd Skynyrd (ETA on 9/11/07)(a brain cell disgorged that memory; now if I can only remember who opened for them...Ah!)
38 Special (see #18)

Yep. I left the rest blank. Can't remember seeing any others. Perhaps reading someone else's list will prompt one or two of those long-dead brain cells back to life just enough to disgorge more concert info...

A most Merry Christmas to each of you.

If Trans Siberian Orchestra is playing in your vicinity, I have one word for you.

Go.

More tomorrow -- *checks time stamp* -- um, I mean, later today. I'm exhausted.

Current Mood: sleepy

( From the first album I ever bought )

[Error: unknown template video]

Current Mood: chipper

Courtesy of

marina_wolf

Name two songs that MAKE you start dancing the second you hear the opening bars. The ones you cannot resist. The ones that, even if you are all alone, or in the car, or standing on line at the bank, exert an inexorable pull on your body to start fully switching your tail, swaying your shoulders, and generally getting down all over, almost against your will. Post them in your journal.

"Suicide Blonde" by INXS.
"Gloria" by Laura Brannigan.

Yes, I dig the 80s. Rock on.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: "Let My Love Open The Door", Pete Townshend

George Michael. Oooooo, that man can sing! I don't care if he's gay. The voice alone knocks me out.

*swoon*

Current Mood: Cleaning the bathroom, ick
Current Music: George Michael, Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. I

Post this list of Blender Magazine's 50 Worst Songs of All Time in your journal and bold the songs that you actually like.

( The List )

So, if we exclude the 19 I don't know, I like just under 50%.

Current Mood: home, and that's good enough

Docked 30%? Being born before Woodstock makes me a yuppie? Here's the quote: "Your generation stuck mine with a motherload of cultural horrors (bradys! disco! plaid! roller skating!). -30% for being a yuppie." Which made my final score 65.2. BTW, it's a 80's music lyric quiz.

I rocked on this quiz! This is soooo unfair. (He took off for spelling Billie Jean and Jessie's girl wrong, too -- I'm writing my Congressman.)

Current Mood: irritated

Welcome to AvantaLand

In a big country, dreams stay with you.

Entries tagged with music

Sweet dreams, Whitney

General catching up...

A Christmas carol, just for you

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Oh. My. God.

And the winner of the Christmas Carol poll is....

runs screaming about the room

hangs head in shame

Maybe my youth wasn't so misspent after all....

Voice Post:

Back from the TSO concert

Yoko commands it

My favorite 80s video

The "Shake Your Booty" meme

Voice Post: The first thing I want to do is apologize for the sound quality.

Guilty pleasure

Stolen from, well, lots o'people

I am NOT a Yuppie.

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August 2013

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