amelia_petkova

It's been over a month since I posted? Crap!

Checking on the websites for some of my favorite musical performers was a mistake: Cecile Corbel is having a sale on a limited edition box set of four of her CDs for $40 with only about $5 to ship it from France to the U.S. I love her music but I never buy the CD formats because of import fees. Ugh.

I don't need it; I don't need it; I don't need it...

I've started building a playlist of all the classical music used in Princess Tutu. You guys, I've only made through the second episode and THIS PLAYLIST IS ALREADY AN HOUR LONG. I can't even guess how long it'll be by the time I get to the end of Season 2.

SO MANY damn reasons to love Princess Tutu.

ETA: My playlist of the classical music used in the show is featured below. I was able to assemble it thanks to the entries under the "spot the reference" at princesstutu. The entries in "spot the reference" also describe the scene when the song is featured, which I found helpful when I wanted to make sure the show was using the same song I was about to select from my music library. Fair warning, this list is REALLY LONG. I mention each song only under the episode in which it first appears, not in every episode where it's featured.

( playlist behind cut )

What it says in the subject line. I might add to this list in the future.

( since many of the songs tell stories I have put the list behind a cut for spoilers )

Let me know if you think of anything that I've left out! (Note: I have listened to most but not all of the Decemberists' albums.)

I just found out that Loreena McKennitt has a new album coming out! It's titled "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" and has a release date of November 16 for the U.S. You can listen to clips of the songs at her website. I can't wait!

I’m just going to mention at the start of this that I’m getting my Angry Feminist on. I’ve had these thoughts scattered about for a while but once I started writing, it all came pouring out. Most of these apply to country western songs by female artists related to bad relationships (“Because of You” is the genre exception). For the most part, this is just going to be laid out as notes on each song with themes mentioned.

“You Belong With Me” by Taylor Swift and “Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson
Vs.
“Cheater Cheater” by Joey & Rory; “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood; and “Gunpowder and Lead” by Miranda Lambert
( cut for length )

Ok, I did it. I joined help_haiti and posted a fan fiction offering. Offering reposted here for your convenience:

User Name: amelia_petkova
Email address: amelia[dot]petkova[at]gmail[dot]com
You can see things I've created at: amelia_petkova Click on the tag "fan fiction" on the right-hand side.
I am offering: A fan fic of at least 1,000 words in any of the following fandoms:

Fandoms (if appropriate):
Books:
--The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
--The Keeper Chronicles by Tanya Huff
--The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye
--The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
--The Tower at Stony Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
--Possession by A.S. Byatt
--The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
--Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
--Mortal Love by Elizabeth Hand
Music:
--The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists
Television:
--The Storyteller (Jim Henson series)

Additional Info (optional): Most of my writing tends to be genfic or humor, though I do enjoy writing in other genres (ex. AU or crossover). I don’t write lemons or noncom. As far as character relationships, I usually stick to what’s established in the canon, though I'm willing to be flexible.

Starting Bid: $5

ETA: You can find the bidding guidelines on the community's entries. I believe the auction ends on January 20.

I just got home from watching a performance of The Nutcracker with my parents. (To my surprise, Dad was the one who came up with the idea.) We had a great time. Tchaikovsky is my favorite classical composer and the last time I saw Nutcracker I was around 10 years old, just barely old enough to sit still through it and laugh at the boys in tights. (I still laugh at the boys in tights.)

If you ever do attend a performance of this ballet, it's important to keep in mind that this is a good show for people-watching in the audience. Due to the nature of the storyline, a good portion of the audience is made up of little girls in party dresses. Some of the other watchers annoyed me. I'm not sure if this is something to do mainly with American audiences but we have a tendency to start clapping and hollering at the slightest pause in the music. During this show, it was every time one of the dancers did something especially amazing. I'm all for applauding them, but it kills the mood! (I went into mental "Old Lady" mode: "Darn kids, shut up! I'm trying to listen to the music! And while you're at it, get off my lawn!")

Because of the storyline, a good portion of the cast is made up of children and teenagers. They were terrific, even the smallest ones. How great must it be to perform in such a well-known ballet when you're so little! The adults were amazing, too. Looking through my booklet, I'd say about half the cast plays more than one role. The costumes are wonderful, especially once you get to the part where the characters are representing candies and other treats. (I ended up making hot chocolate soon after getting home.) The dancing rats do look silly, but what can you do? I adore the music; it's some of the only Christmas music that I can listen to at any time of the year. I can't even begin to pick out a favorite song.

I was reminded how important it is to pay attention to everything that's happening on the stage, not just the main dancers. One of my favorite parts is during the party scene in Act I, when the maid drags Uncle Drosselmeyer off behind the Christmas tree for kissing. He tries to escape several times but she just pulls him back.

Trying to find the names of specific dances, I found this website, that covers everything involved in Nutcracker. It looks like a good place to go if you don't know much about this ballet.

Gotten from starstruckduck.

Pick an artist, and using ONLY SONG TITLES from only that artist, cleverly (preferably) answer these questions. This is harder than it seems!

ADDITIONAL RULE: You cannot use the same artist I did, or duplicate song titles even if they were performed by another artist.

I chose to use the songs of Loreena McKennitt. The lyrics are more of an answer than the titles themselves. All lyrics can be found at her official website. Few of the answers are fully accurate; I fudged a bit to make my answers more interesting. So you get the fun of guessing which questions I'm truthful about!

1. Are you a male or female:
"Greensleeves"

2. Describe yourself:
"The Stolen Child"

3. How do you feel about yourself:
"The Two Trees"

4. Describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend:
"The Lady of Shalott"
(I couldn't resist.)

5. Describe your current boy/girl situation:
"The Highwayman"

6. Describe your current location:
"The Gates of Istanbul"

7. Describe where you want to be:
"Carrighfergus"

8. Your best friend is:
"Skellig"

9. Your favorite color is:
"All Souls Night"

10. You know that:
"Cymbeline"

11. What's the weather like:
"The Seasons"

12. If your life was a television show what would it be called:
"The Old Ways"

13. What is life to you:
"Never-Ending Road"

14. What is the best advice you have to give:
"The Bonny Swans"
(Always remember, don't drown your sister to get to her boyfriend!)

15. If you could change your name what would it be:
"Caravanserai"

Here in western New York, middle of the day, it's snowing again. (After it all melted yesterday because the temperature was 45 degrees Fahrenheit at 10 p.m., what the hell?!) Very pretty at this point, pretty flurries that aren't too windy, and it's even more enjoyable because I don't have to go anywhere. Looking out on it, I want to spend all afternoon writing next to a window with a view, or go roaming in woods (possibly feeding chickadees at the same time, as they're the world's cutest and cheekiest birds), or make snow angels. It reminds me of my current writing project, which is very much winter-oriented.

What are your favorite wintry books, movies, or music? There's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and "The Snow Queen" by Hans Christian Andersen, of course.

Good Christmas music can be found on the albums "Mistletoe and Wine" by the Mediaeval Babes; "To Drive the Cold Winter Away," "A Winter Garden," and "A Midwinter Night's Dream" by Loreena McKennitt (though I haven't listened to the last one yet).

On days like this, when there's just enough snow and still other colors in the world, I can love winter.

EDIT: Everyone's suggestions in the comments added. Also, the novel Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip. The book is both lovely and haunting.

I've been going through YouTube and bookmarking videos like it's nobody's business. Some of the goodies:

Baby Britain by Elliott Smith.
It's hard to find PotC music videos that I like, but I like this song.

Cowboy Bebop and The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything
What isn't good about this combination? The world needs more fun music.

And to feed my musicals fixation:

Totale Finsternis with the original Tanz der Vampire cast
Silly me, for not trying to see Tanz when I was in Europe. But I got to visit Wales so it's all good.

An Elisabeth music video with the song Dark Waltz by Hayley Westenra
I found this one today. Watched it several times and it still gives me chills.