Music Is My Life... Erm... Always

So this year has been hectic, and I haven't had anything interesting to blog about. Sitting down and writing something takes time and thought, and lately I've had neither.

But I have been adding playlists to my blog, thanks to Grooveshark.com.  The first playlist is for an awesome fic called Take This Heart. It's just an scintillating story that makes you think.  Well it made me think. In fact I still find myself pondering aspects of that story.  And I've made a great friend (I stalk her, she has no choice) in the author, BookwormBaby2580, who puts up with my relentless music tweeting. She is the also the reason for the numerous music additions to my iPod lately.

The second playlist is from another, ongoing fic called Prelude in C, which I've already blogged about. ATONAU kindly lets me play with her music and the result is that playlist.

And finally, the third playlist is my incomplete list of favourite music.  I was headed toward 300 songs and thought that may be a bit much, but honestly, I don't think such a list could ever be complete.

The end of the year is nigh (thank fuck) and before we know it Christmas will be upon us.  I hope December and the time off work that goes along with it come quickly.

You've left me NO CHOICE!

Thank you to thinkingofrob for this. No, really, THANK YOU!

How Harry Potter Should Have Ended

*snort*

Oh My!

Just felt like Sharing

FanFiction

A word on FanFiction: DON'T DO IT.  My world was fine until I discovered fanfiction. I read books, real books.  Now, I cannot stop with the fanfiction.  Its all Twilight's fault of course (most things are, I find).  I still don't understand the fascination with that saga, although I, myself, suffer from it.  And now... fanfiction.  I am managing to stay away from other themes and am sticking to the Twilight fic.  Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing I don't know, but I figure I don't need to get hooked on, say, The Sound of Music Fanfiction.  One theme is enough, thank you! 

So. Now that's off my chest I'm gonna do a rec.  I could recommend a lot. But I won't, I'll just rec one. This time. 

Some fanfic is not that great. With some, the story idea is great, but the writing crap.  With others, the writing is very good, and the idea, not so much.  With some, the silly grammatical errors annoy you so much YOU JUST WANNA SCREAM. Or maybe thats just me.  Sometimes, if you're lucky you'll get an excellent merging of idea and writing skill.  Ok, after writing that now I have to rec 2 stories:

The first is Within These Walls, by HeartofDarkness & Totteacher.  This story explores how Alice came to be in a mental asylum and consequently changed into a vampire.  Its not very long, and is complete.  For some reason this story has not got many reviews, and its well written and interesting to read.  Other fics have thousands of reviews and are badly written and rather boring (perhaps the reviews are flaming ones, but then that's just mean).  Anyway I really enjoyed this and feel it should be paid more attention.

The other story is Prelude in C, which is again a canon fic, focusing on how Carlisle and Edward came together.  This story is excellently written, and is only the second fic by the author, AllTheOtherNamesAreUsed.  It is not complete, but is updated regularly.  The following for this fic seems to be growing and it has been nominated for a few fic awards.  The Edward is REALLY well written and I find myself hardly ever wanting to slap him, so there's that.  The imagery is lovely and you really get caught up in the characters.

There are alot of other fics I could recommend.  Some are All Human stories with disturbing but compelling themes, some are just fluff.  Fluff has its place.  I've already mentioned MotU in a previous post.  My favorite All Human are Wide Awake by AngstGoddess003 and Emancipation Proclamation by kharizzmatik.  My favourite supernatural/alternate universe fic is Osa Bella by Myg. 

There's lots more but that's enough now.  Can I just say that the really good stories would be REALLY good even if the names Bella and Edward (or any of the others) were not used.  Sometimes its really the story that's interesting and gets you thinking, without the Twilight connection being necessary at all.

But enough about that now. Have a good July :)

The Job Interview from Hell

Long time no post. Ja, well I'm not the most prolific blogger. Whatevs.

So, 2 weeks ago I finally moved house.  This has pro's and cons, for eg: Pro - more space; Con - cockroaches.  In the midst of this moving mayhem, I get a phone call confirming that I have been invited to a job interview for a position I applied for a while back.  The position is in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), where it is my goal to live in the not too distant future.  So an interview for a job there should be a good thing.  But it wasn't.  I have got far too much going on in my life at the moment to worry about a new job in a different part of the country as well.

So after a small panic attack, I figured seeing as they were going to fly me down for the interview I would go and do my best.  Thats when things started going awry.  It was Wednesday when I confirmed that I would be attending. By the Monday I had still not heard anything about flight arrangements.  As I am most definatley NOT a frequent flyer, I wanted to make sure that everything was organised and arranged (I am slightly OCD that way).  So I phoned on Monday and got the assurance I would be sent everything that afternoon.  By Tuesday morning, there was still nothing.  Tuesday afternoon I phoned twice before I got through to the right person who again assured me they would fax the details to me immediately.  The fax came through just before the end of the day.  Then I found out that my flight to KZN would be leaving at 6am on Thursday.  Which meant I had to be at the airport at least an hour before.  Which meant I had to wake up at like 3am, as I live 45min to an hour away from the airport.

I resigned myself to that fact, and as the interview was scheduled for 9am I figured it would be over quickly and I could relax for the rest of the day.  My flight back home left KZN at 3pm so it was still gonna be a long day, but I could do it.  After making sure that someone would tranport me to and from the airport, I thought all the arrangements were fine and I could relax. HAHAHAHAH.

After waking up pre-sparrows fart on Thursday morning and driving the 45 min to the aiport, I get on the plane and take a deep breath.  Thanks to Lori Otto's Lost and Found, I had reading material on my iPod to keep me distracted for the hour long flight.  The plane landed at the local (and may I add weeny) airport at 07:10, and I confidently looked around expecting to see someone holding a sign with my name on or something. You know, like you see in the movies? And at airports? Regularly? No. Such. Luck.  'So they're a bit late', I thought to myself, 'I'll just wait around'.  By 8am I thought I better contact someone.  'Oh, have you landed already?' I was asked, [DUH!].  I was then told that someone was on their way, but could I please walk out of the airpot to a specific parking area so they could pick me up without having to actually enter the weeny airport.  Oh well, I aim to please.

I stood in that specific parking area for 1 hour. ONE FUCKING HOUR!  Nowhere to sit except on the pavement, and I didn't want to get my super snappy interview outfit dirty, so I stood.  And by this time I was late for my 9am interview.  I was finally hooted at, (HOOTED AT)!!! and driven to the place of the interview.  Then, wait for it.... I was told the interview had been moved to 12:00. 



I was getting a bit miffed.

So I had to sit in a tiny cramped reception, without even a water machine.  And the offer of a cup of tea or coffee was too much to dream.  Fortunately my friend, Jacqui, lives in the area and was at a meeting in the city so she came and rescued me and we went to a coffee shop.  I had a Spicy Chai Hot Chocolate and fresh scones.  That was the highlight of my day.  God Bless Jacqui and Spicy Chai Hot Chocolate.

Can fix alot. Unfortunately it didn't last.

So I arrived back at interview building (aka Hell) just after 11:00, and I sat down and waited. And waited and waited and waited and waited. 12:00 came and went and I was still waiting.  I asked the receptionist what was going on and she really did not have much of a clue.  Or a brain.  Which probably accounts for the cluelessness, shame poor thing.  Now, I had a 3pm flight to catch which meant I had to be back at the weeny airpot by 14:30 at the absolute latest.  14:00 came and went and so did my chance to catch my flight home.  Throughout all of this no-one felt it necessary to inform me of what was going on.  I ended up asking the receptionist to put me through to the lady I had previously spoken to, and she (once again) assured me that I would not be sleeping there. Well, thank fuck for that.  They were trying to get me a later flight...

Uh... Not so much..

Sometime after 14:00 I was finally called into the interview room.  There I was (again) assured (I wanted to vomit at that point, and was also suffering from dehydration delusions) that they would fly me home, and at worst, they would put me up for the night. Wait, WHAT?!?!?.  I have no idea how the interview went.  I told the panel that I was not at my best as I was suffering the effects of stress and exhaustion after being up since 3am and suffering through cock up after cock up (my wording may have been more polite).  The interview panel seemed to be under the impression that my interview was scheduled for 13:00 and they couldn't understand why it had been arranged that I fly back at a time that would barely have allowed me to be interviewed.  I told them as far as I knew, the interview was not supposed to take place as late as 13:00.

After like 11 hours, I doubt I could've spelled my name correctly.

So after a rather speedy interview, where I am sure I came across as narcolepsy sufferer, I was sent back down to the reception to wait. And wait.  I was told I would be flying out at 18:30, and someone would drive me the airport soon.  I waited and waited and waited.  Finally I was in a car on the way back to the airport, with no flight confirmation and a dejected outlook on my life, humanity and the world in general.  After a couple of sticky moments at the check in desk where they couldn't find my ticket number, I was finally given my boarding pass.  Another hours' wait in the weeny airport, and I was on a plane home.

I still had the 45min drive back to my house, in the dark, and as I had double vision by this time I probably should not have been on the road.  I received no apologies, no offers for refreshment, no explanation.  And with my luck this will be the job that I am offered.

If it wasn't for Lost and Found I may have lost my mind.  It would have been unfindable.

Lori Otto saved my life!!!!

April

Wow. So its April already. Huh.

The year is just draaaaaging by.  Still waiting to move into my new house. Still waiting to start new job.  Still waiting to move offices.  The one good thing that has happened to me in the last month (aside from not dying) is I discovered Florence + the Machine.


Florence + the Machine. BOOM!



Now, I knew about FATM thanks to the Twilight: Eclipse Soundtrack, and she was on my list of music to get.  And I finally did.  I have had it on repeat on my iPod for the last 10 days.  I am assured this only becomes a problem when its been on repeat for over 3 months.

Her voice is unexpected and wraps you up. The percussion and beats get all of you tapping.  The lyrics have you cocking your head to one side thinking of different interpretations.

This just good, and completely different from most of the music coming out these days.  A breath of fresh florentine air.

So I guess if one has good music to discover it can't be all bad. Right?

MotU Playlist

So I have been reading the fanfic Master of the Universe since last year.  How I got into this is a loong story.  I had just finished reading the Twilight Saga and was looking for info on the Quileute people (because being a historian with OCD I have to look up things like this).  So I googled quileute and like the first hit was something called Osa Bella, which peaked my interest.  Turns out it was a fan fiction.  I had not heard of fan fiction. 'What is this strange phenomenon?' I asked myself.  I started reading and became hooked.

On the Osa Bella website was a link to another blogsite called Twitarded.  Twitarded has since become a staple in my daily life, much like milo and pretzels (don't ask).  Its funny and sad and just a great group of women to hang out with.  Although I loved the Twilight series and couldnt put the book down, I am still not sure why.  And here I found some kindred spirits.

Also on the Twitarded site were a lot of recs for fanfic.  I was especially interested in anything that elaborated on the Breaking Dawn 'honeymoon night that never was'.  Just to fill in blanks you know.  But I found a lot of other stuff, including a great story called 15 Step written by one of the Twitarded hosts, which is not yet finished, but I keep waiting patiently.  But one that kept on being discussed was 'Master of the Universe'.  I was interested but it was described as BDSM and words like 'dominant' and 'submissive' were thrown about, and being a relative fanfic (and lemon) virgin I was unsure.  Did I want to expose myself to this darkness...?

HELL YES!!! Even the banner was yummylicious!

I love reading.  Its like air to me (or like milo and pretzels. Meh...).  But it is not often that I have physical reactions to what I read, like crying.  Very, very seldom do I cry in a book.  Or a movie. Whatevs.  But in MotU I found myself gasping for breath, my jaw would drop to the floor, I would involuntarily cover my eyes because I knew what was coming but couldn't bare to read it.  It's. That. Good.

It also introduced me to some great music. (which I have since found out, a lot of fanfic does) And as a music addict this worked for me.  I found many like-minded individuals were keen on the MotU playlist, but being slightly OCD as I am I had to go and re-read everything so I could get all the songs in the right order.

I found a facebook page dedicated to MotU, and mentioned I was working on the playlist, and one lovely lady asked me to post it when I was finished.  Which I did.  But I figured I may as well put it here too, seeing as I don't have much else to talk about at the moment.  Oh except

MOTU IS GETTING PUBLISHED!!!!!!! 

*does a little happy dance while co-workers look on with concerned expressions*

So here is what I posted on facebook for anyone who may be interested:

Ok, so here is the playlist as I can find it.  I have read & re-read MotU I & II, and this what I can find, in order of the chapters. There are some songs that are included in others' playlists, eg on Mixpod, but I just can't find these songs in the text! I have included these songs at the bottom, so if anyone knows where they fit in please let me know. I have used some of these playlists to idenitfy songs where only the artists are named in the text, again I may be missing something. Also I haven't included repeats of songs, although sometimes they are mentioned more than once in the text:

MotU I1. The Flower Duet - Delibes from the opera Lakme
2. Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire
3. Bach-Marcello Concerto in D Minor BVM (or BWV) 974 Adagio
4. Amy Studt – Misfit
5. I’m on Fire- Bruce Springsteen
6. Lightning Strike - Snow Patrol
7. Aria No 5 from Bachianas Brasileiras - Villa Lobos
8. Witchcraft - Frank Sinatra
9. Tell It Like It Is – Aaron Neville
10. Toxic – Britney Spears
11. Pachelbels Canon in D Minor
12. Spem in Alium – The 40 part Motet by Thomas Tallis
13. Opus 28, Prelude No 4 in E minor - Chopin
14. The Montagues and Capulets - Prokofiev
15. Pump It - The Black Eyed Peas
16. This thing called love - Ella Fitzgerald
17. Like A Star - Corinne Bailey Rae
18. Lover You Should’ve Come Over - Jeff Buckley
19. Set down your Glasses - Snow Patrol
20. Principles of Lust - Enigma.
21. Possession - Sarah McLachlan
22. Try – Nelly Furtado
23. The Scientist - Cold Play
24. Every Breath You Take - The Police
25. Heartbeats - Jose Gonzalez
26. Green Grass - Cibelle
27. The Blowers Daughter - Damien Rice
28. Homelands - Nitin Sawhney
29. Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis – Vaugh Willimas
30. Buena Vistra Social – Chan Chan by Club
31. Crazy in Love - Beyonce
32. Please Forgive Me - David Gray
33. Bailero – Canteloube, Songs of the Auvergne
34. I’ve Got You Under My Skin - Michael Buble/Frank Sinatra
35. Come Fly with Me - Michael Buble/Frank Sinatra
36. It Had to Be You - Frank Sinatra
37. Songbird - Eva Cassidy
38. Weather to Fly - Elbow
39. King of Pain – The Police
40. Someone Like You – Van Morrison
41. Moondance - Van Morrison
42. This City Never Sleeps - The Eurythmics
43. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack

MotU II44. You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine – Michael Buble
45. Your Love is King - Sadé
46. Great Gig in the Sky – Pink Floyd
47. Requiem Paradisium - Gabriel Faure
48. Wicked Game - Chris Isaak
49. Aretha Franklin -  Say A Little Prayer
50. Dionne Warwick - Walk On By
51. Sexy Bitch – David Guetta Featuring Akon
52. Touch Me – DJ Rui Da Silva
53. White Flag - Dido
54. Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi

Songs included in playlists but can't find in MotU text:Don’t let me be misunderstood - Nina Simone
In your eyes - Peter Gabriel?
Ani Di Franco - Grey
Secret - Maroon 5
You do something to Me - Paul Weller
Cello Concerto in E minor Op.85 - Edward Elgar
Stay with me till dawn - Judie Tzuke?

Once again if anyone knows where these fit, please let me know.

I will try to update when there are new chapters with music.

So there you have it. MotU music in all its glory.  I didn't even know there were such great artists as Elbow and Ani Di Franco and Paul Weller, and really didn't think much of Snow Patrol or Coldplay.  Little did I know.  So thanks to Snowqueens Icedragon, the genius behind MotU, I have now broadened my musical horizons.

I don't know if I mentioned that I am slightly OCD, and those songs that are in other playlists but I can't find in the MotU text are  driving me crazy slightly annoying.  Especially as most of them are really great songs.  Like In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel.  I love this song and its really fitting for the story so I would love to know that it fits in somewhere. Specific. But I will read through the story again, especially when it's published and maybe I will find them then.  I remain hopeful.

The Bucket List - as in the list that will cause me to kick said bucket....

So, I think I've mentioned that so far 2011 has not been that great.  I was asked the other day what was wrong and I was suprised when I spouted off the following list:

• In January my flat was flooded. For the 3rd time.  Enough is enough already and I'm moving to a bigger flat 3 doors down, which has never flooded. Yet.  Problem is the current, non-paying tenants are refusing to move, and the landlords are too soft hearted.  I say call the police and physically remove their sponging arses, but apparently being 'diplomatic' is the in thing.  So I am currently camped out in my living room, as the bedroom is growing mould, with half my belongings in the garage.  I am tired of the lounge...
• As a result of the current living conditions something gets broken weekly cause nothing is in its place & the cats believe EVERY surface is actually a place where they must lie & stretch out...& knock things off. I am sure its on purpose.  

...Or else there is something else going on that I don't know about...

• About 2 weeks ago lightning struck my house leaving a scorch mark inside, and me with a headache & a blown laptop cord.
• An lare amount of money got teaken off my credit card from May 2010! I mean, WTF? And I can't argue cause that amount was never payed so I did actually owe the money.  The monthly budget is now a clusterfuck.
• A week ago I was booked off work for the week with 'atypical pneumonia'. Atypical apparetnly meaning the type of pneumonia that hangs around for ages leaving you feeling like crap for weeks.
• I have been landed with a rescue doggie who has serious confidence issues and so pee's ALL OVER MY CHAOTIC HOUSE!

Thing is it seems that 2011 is not going so good for many other people either.  Money is scarce, hospital visits are many, children have measels, depression is at an all time high (there is a jooke in there somewhere, I just know it, but I'm too tired to scrummage in my brain for it).

So what is going on?  Either the world is going to end in the next 3 months or 2011 is gonna end on such a good note that we'll all like win the loterry or something.  Currently I am voting for the former....

Thank God THAT'S Over With

So. The 31st of January.  Really I'm relieved.



No. Really...

So far 2011 has not been that great.  January started with a flood and ended with a mild case of institutionalization. I'm just sayin' it coulda gone better.  But lets be optimistic and look at this as a time of new beginnings.  Things can only get better right?  And as one door closes a window opens.

Or some such shit.

I am ever the optimist...



Optimist. Thats me.

So to everyone out there who has had a shitty 2011 so far.... HAVE A FANF*@#INGSTASTIC FEBRUARY! And don't worry, Valentines Day has never actually killed anyone... as far as I know...

Who Knew

So who knew I was a sexy young guy with a penchant for old rock music?  Ok well I knew about the rock music....

Courtesy of the Supernatural Personality Quizz.

Hip Hop Killed Me

So in a fit of ... being fit... I decided to start Hip Hop dancing.  After more than 10 years since my last dance class I thought this would be the least difficult option to 'ease' into things. It was not.  I died.  Who knew any form of dancing would use muscles in your arms you never even knew you had?

Anyhoo, being a glutton for punishement, I will definately go back for more torture. And possibly buy a book on hip hop dancing cause moves like the 'fishy' are just way too complicated without written instructions. Well for me anyway.

On a better note I discovered new music. And as that is my goal in life and my obsession over the last year... YAY ME!




Problem is these guys are in Chicago. And I'm in SA. And apparently SA doesn't know about them yet. Sucks.

Another Friday another balls to the wall...slack off.

And for all the Twitarded ladies out there...

Thanks to breakingdawnmovie.org

Irritableness. I haz It.

Ok, so I don't even know if 'irritableness' is a word, but regardless, I seriously haz it.  Considering I got almost no sleep last night the irritability factor is at an all time high.  And let me just say so far 2011 sucks.  It all started back in 2 weeks ago, when my house was flooded.  Straight through.  I'm talking The River Wild right through my place of safety, just without a buff Meryl Streep and a freaky Kevin Bacon (well at least there's that).  And this was the second time its happened in 2 years.  So come Feb I'm outta here.  Hopefully.  The landlords are like Landlords of Procrastination so who knows.  I am currently living with half my possessions in my garage, which stays dryer than my house, and the rest  in my lounge.  I have relocated the 'bedroom' to the lounge as the actual bedroom is soggy and STINKS.  And I am just OCD enough that I do not like everything out of place like this. Ergo I am irritable.  Permanently.

And in the wee hours of this morning my lovely doggy came in with some sticky shit ALL OVER HIM.  He'd managed to get himself stuck to one of those flytraps covered in the non-toxic albeit terminally stick stuff.  Its supposed to catch fly's people not Jack Russell's!! How he even got it I dunno, but I had to spend who knows how long getting it off.  Just so you know, if you ever find yourself in this situation, use dishwashing liquid.  Not dog shampoo, not acetone, not soap, and not olive oil (I was getting desperate).  Dishwashing liquid.  Now you know.

Ergo much muchness of irritability.

And on top it all off, thanks to my lack of sleep headache, my head throbs when I try to chew toast.  That's just about all I can take right there.

A small bright light in this desolation of irritability came with the latest post of Kristen Stewart wants IT.  I was thankful to see the update in my Inbox, cause I always get a few chuckles.  I got a bit nervous when I saw references to Justin Bieber, cause that ain't good for my irritationometer,

See what I mean?  I.R.R.I.T.A.T.I.O.N.

but then I read "I re-watched the VMAs the other day and I stand by my assessment of Justin Bieber: Michael Jackson would have molested the shit out of that kid." 

My day has just improved slightly.  Thank you kristenstewartwantsit!

I am now about to move on to my daily dose of Twitarded.  The day can only improve from there....

Annnnnd... I am clairvoyant.

Just heard on the radio that the Hobbit movie is imminent and it WILL be in two parts.  That was just wishful thinking on my part, but news does get to deepest darkest Africa rather slowly.  Yay Me!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Trailer Official HD

Finally. I can't wait for this movie to come out, not least becasue I have refrained from buying any of the dvd's so I can get the 7 (8) part box set. Although been wating for a Star Wars 6 part box set and so far the only one I've found is coming out this year sometime on Blu-Ray. Why do I always need to upgrade my technology?

Busy reading the Deathly Hallows...again. In between Twilight fanfic (shh I didnt say that). And then I'll probably start with book 1 again and read through the lot. Harry Potter not Twilight. Wish Daniel Radcliffe would do more comedy. I really enjoy the few funnies he puts out in HP. Don't spose there's too much chance of that on this last film.

OMG! Now there are no-more Harry Potter films to wait for. And Twilight is in its death throws too (although I am not so into the movies as the books {{ssh I didn;t say that}}). What next? Somehow Percy Jackson, while fun, is not quite the same. Bring on the Hobbit. In two parts...