It's Been A Long Time

I have been meaning to get back to posting on Always Standing for a while now. And I have known that I wanted my first post after this break to link to the Aaliyah (featuring Timbaland) song from 2000, Try Again. This is for the beginning section that says... It's been a long time, we shouldn't have left you (without a dope beat to step to, step to.) Well, maybe I shouldn't compare the writing on this blog to a 'dope beat' but the phrase 'it's been a long time' always brings to mind that song.

Also, it really has been a long time! My last post was at the end of May and I am now returning after four months. I looked through the archive and I have never even missed one month, let alone a streak. But I am back! Do I bother promising that I plan to post more or even try for everyday?

And I Miss You

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A Sunday post about my Dad, named after a song that he loved.

MISSING

rings true

a song from my childhood

that reminds me of Dad

Everything But The Girl (1994)

sounds like Sade but isn't

I wonder if he knew

and

Dad 

I miss you

MORE 

than the deserts 

miss the rain

Indie Band Name

I read somewhere online that the name of your 'indie' band should be the colour of the underwear you are wearing today and the last thing you ate. Therefore mine is:

BLACK CHEESE

I think that sounds pretty moody and appropriate as a band name. Technically it was cottage cheese but that doesn't sound quite as good. I will never be in a band though, since I lack all musical abilities. Feel free to steal the name though. Tell me yours in the comments.

Not A Cash Bar

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

I heard a song at spinning a while ago that reminded me of my dad, Rock the Casbah by The Clash, they were actually showing the music video. It wasn't part of the collection of music videos that Dad had on tape, so seeing that was new and had I seen the video when I was younger I wouldn't have made the mistake of thinking they were saying "Rock the cash bar" - I only recently learned that wasn't the case. Dad played the song a lot - it was a good summer party tune.

This Is My Fight Song

Weekend trip to Niagara Falls and I returned with the following:

- Shin pain from dancing
- Promises of Journey Behind The Falls and Wizard Golf next year
- A bottle of wine with my art on the label
- Chocolate covered beer nuts
- A losing mini putt score but joy about a hole-in-one
- Rachel Platten in my head, still with incorrect lyrics
- New definition for Liquid Gold (breast milk)
- A killer hangover that lasted for 3 days

Hornblower Again - I take a good selfie

Me, Tessa, Kiyomi, Taylor, and Kristen in front

We are making it an annual thing, this is the second year in a row.

Travel Diary - Tuesday July 28, 2015

Date: Tuesday July 28, 2015
Theme/Title: Impressed with Oregon
Overview: A run and walking tour started off our day in Portland. Got some donuts at Voodoo Doughnuts and picked up our rental car. Quick lunch before a long drive south, crossing over to the coast and stopping around midnight just inside the California border.
Woke-up: 7:00am for a run on the trails along the Williamette River, Portland
Transportation/Distance: 3km run, 2km walking, 580km driving.

Driving Through Beautiful Oregon Forests

Backstreet Boys playing. We do road trips right!

Meals: Egg sandwich and coffee at a cafe after our run. Salad at Just Bob on Alberta Street, Portland. Healthy snacks in the car. Burger at King Neptune's Drive-In in Winchester Bay.
Highlight of the Day: The moonlit ocean.
Lesson Learnt: Gas stations don't seem to be 24hrs. Fill up before 10pm.
Song of the Day: Anything from The Backstreet Boys!
Quote of the Day: "Good job Oregon." Me, after Teri and I were discussing how much we had liked Portland and how beautiful the Oregon scenery was on our drive.
Night's Accommodation: America's Value Inn Crescent City - sketchy and overpriced

For The Moms

Sometimes Your Mom Is Your Valentine

Avery and Aimee

Photo and Edits by ME

Note: Yes, I asked them to pose like this and it has already been called corny multiple times on Facebook. I am not big on the whole Heart Motif, but it is Valentine's and this is much better than the 'Beiber Hand Heart' thing. It is cute. (I really wish I had brought my better camera, but I didn't really feel like we had room when packing.)

Music Detective

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

I have heard this song played at spinning a few times, often accompanied by the music video during a class that features those (most classes either show nothing on the TV at the front of the room, or have bike races playing.) Every time I hear it I am reminded of two things: 1. my dad 2. some another song that I struggle to place.

The song at spinning is:

Are You Going To Be My Girl

The song is by an Australian rock band called Jet. I only know this because I looked it up. In fact, I didn't even know the title - though I should have been able to guess it. The part that sticks with me is the line, "Oh, 4,5,6, - c'mon and get your kicks - now you don't need that money when you look like that, do ya honey." I am surprised that it reminds me of my dad so much since it was it was recorded and released in 2003, which is the year that I graduated from high school and moved away to go to university. I guess Dad had added it to his regular playlist of songs and I heard it enough in the car or when visiting home that it stays with me as part of my memories of him.

Every time I hear it I am also reminded of some other song and I keep thinking, "Man, they are so similar, what is that other song?" It always takes me a while to figure out what song something reminds me of. So today I decided to try to figure it out. All that was in my head was "dun dun dun revolution, talking bout a revolution" or something like that. I had to go through three songs before I figured it out. (Interestingly, the first two - incorrect - songs, also reminded me of my father.)

So, the song Talkin' bout a Revolution, is by Tracy Chapman. My dad liked her, or my mom liked her and my dad played her a lot. I remember this song, as well as Give Me One Reason, being played. But this wasn't the right song, too slow and soulful. Also, I was pretty sure that the song I was looking for wasn't sung by a woman.

The only other song that came to mind that it could be was Revolution by The Beatles. I knew that there was a part that went, "You say you want a revolution." However, I knew that how they sung that part was also too slow to be the song I was thinking of. I listened to it anyway, thinking that maybe I was forgetting about some faster chorus part or something. Nope, not the song.

Then somehow I figured it out - it wasn't "revolution" it was "generation" that I was looking for! Then it was really easy to find - My Generation by The Who. The line, "Talkin' bout my generation," was what was stuck in my head, and Jet was definitely inspired by this song/band for Are You Goin Be My Girl. The sound is very similar.

My Dad Rocked

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

At spinning recently I was reminded of my dad when the following song came on:

Raise Your Glass (2010)

by P!nk

I don't know why it always seems to be P!nk songs that remind me but they are really connected to time I spent with Dad recently. The main thing that got my dad active on the internet, in general he could be a bit of a technophobe with some times, was music. He was on Napster and other downloading sites and quickly replaced most of his mixed tapes with CD compilations and most recently iTunes playlists.

He found out that the local library allowed a few downloaded songs a week for free and Dad become very disciplined in researching and getting new music. (He also used mine and Mike's cards to get music for himself - Mike shouldn't have even had a card seeming that he lives in Edmonton.) With the library program, Dad downloaded a lot of P!nk. Thinking about it now, I realize that my dad has always like 'Rock' music and a lot of recent stuff is pop or folk or a softer type of rock. P!nk isn't, her sound is a good throw back to the real rock sound of the 1970s. (I also really enjoy that so many of her songs have really positive messages in the lyrics.)

I'm Just Gonna Shake

I returned from Niagara Falls with the following:

- A bib-like sunburn
- Cramps in my leg
- A video of my rapping up on Facebook
- Great Christmas presents from 2 Wineries
- Alcohol soaked bra
- Unexplained bruises
- Taylor Swift stuck it my head
- Great pictures!

On The Hornblower - No Longer The Maid Of The Mist

Tiff, Tessa, Me, and Kristen

My Dad's Songs, P!nk

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

My dad likes all types of music. So tons of songs remind me of him. Including this one:

P!nk - Perfect

He had a lot of P!nk's songs, but I always liked hearing that this one was on his playlist.

NOTE: After publishing this post, I noticed that I started it in the present tense again. However, it appears that I switched it for the past in the short second section of text. Normally I would correct spelling/grammar upon noticing errors after posting - but I am not going to with this one.

Dad Was Shazam

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

There is a smart-phone application called Shazam. "Shazam is a mobile app that recognizes music and TV around you." You just click a button on your phone and then it uses the microphone to gather a brief sample of the music being played. It creates an 'acoustic fingerprint' based on the sample, and compares it against a huge database for a match. Then it sends information such as the artist, song title, and album back to you. This is super helpful! Firstly, no one ever knows who sings a song or what the song is called and this tells you. Secondly, I have seen people use the app when they hear a song they like (and know its name and artist) but click Shazam so that it records it - then they use it as a list of songs they want to download when they are next at their computer.

My dad was the original Shazam. He loved to ask "Do you know who sings this?" whenever a song came on. I never knew, I never know. Sometimes I would guess but 98% of the time I was wrong. However, Dad always knew - this may have been in part because we mainly listened to songs that were on his mixed tapes/cds. In general though, he loved music and knew a solid amount of information about it - you could count on him to know who sang something. Unfortunately the person I drive with most at the moment is Jason, and he does not tend to know. (He also hates radio commercials so often changes the channel before the radio announcer gets a chance to tell me about the song.) I don't have Shazam but am planning on downloading it whenever I get my next smart phone. I miss having a person who could serve the same function - and serve it with so much joy, Dad loved music and sharing it and knowing about it.

Post inspiration: Hearing the song with the chorus that starts, "Superman never made any money..." and being able to sing all the lyrics but have no idea the actual title or singer/band. Turns out it is from the Canadian band Crash Test Dummies from the early 1990's and it is called 'Superman's Song.' My dad would have known most of that right away - he also liked that song, it was on at least one of his mixed tapes.

"And sometimes I despair 

the world will never see another man 

like him."

Oh Mariah

Working on finishing up some assignments from the Photoshop course that I am taking with Kristen. This is a CD/DVD Mini Jacket Sleeve that I designed:

The First Croissant

Greg said, "Make sure to eat lots of croissants."

A Successful Morning Walk

To The Local Boulangerie And Cafe

(They are across the street from one another.)

My plan to just have one croissant at the start and another at the end of the trip is not going to work out. I had forgotten just how good they are here! Mom and I have decided to split one each morning, Jason says he will need a whole one. I messed up ordering the Cafe au Lait for Jason and Mom; I forgot what 'to go' was in French and had to switch to English. Now was are off for the day, Jason and my plans are; a bus ride around the major sites (the guidebook suggested just taking the #69 city bus as it is much cheaper than a tour one); then a walk around Pere Lachaise Cemetery; a stop to see inside Notre-Dame; meet up with Mom and her friend Christine from England to see a free concert at Shakespeare and Co bookstore on the Left Bank; the four of us are going to have dinner out; and then Jason and I hope to go up the Eiffel Tower at night.

Evening Update
Instead of stopping in to see inside Notre-Dame, we went to Sacre-Coeur. We walked up the steps, enjoyed the view and visited the inside of the church. There was a mass on (in French) which was nice to listen to as we walked around. After dinner we decided to head home and we will have to do the Eiffel Tower another day. Jason has a sore throat and cold so it is best that he not over do it. We have to be up early tomorrow to go to Versailles too. Also, the stairs close at 6pm and we would prefer to walk up, mainly because it is cheaper.

My Dad's Songs, Down In New Orleans

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

Last night on Bourbon Street, in New Orleans, was amazing. There was a lot of drinking, as you may have gathered from my previous late-night drunk post. But what is more awesome about Bourbon Street is all the music, this whole city is filled with people making music, all different types: in bars, on the street, in the squares, and everywhere. My dad would love it, and so often I hear songs that remind me of him.

The most important song of our trip has been House of the Rising Sun by The Animals. K arranged the entire Bachalorette to revolve around the lyrics to the song, it was so cool (and all the activities were a lot of fun, we had a great day.)

There is a house in New Orleans 

They call the Rising Sun 

And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy 

And God I know I'm one

But we have heard so many other songs that remind me of my dad too. It is nice that he introduced me to so much great music but also that the music ends up being connected to such a wide range of memories and situations.

The Beatles

------ image found on Facebook

In 2010, I mentioned that "Come Together" was one of my favorite pieces of music. I wanted to go into more detail about that. In order, these are my top three favorite songs by The Beatles:
1. "Yesterday" - 1965 - Album: Help! - Song
2. "Come Together" - 1969 - Album: Abby Road - Song
3. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" - 1963 - Single - Song
(All three were written by Lennon and McCartney, though I always thought that "Come Together" hadn't been and was different in some way, but I guess I was confused.)

What are your top three songs from The Beatles?

Another Skype Date With The Ladies

The GeoConnections Girls catching up again, and imitating some famous celebrities again. (We have our patterns.): 

Anne - Shakira (Her hips don't lie)

ERin - Taylor Swift (After a break-up with John Mayer or One Direction)

Me - Natalie Portman (Not as much as usual)

Sir-Reads-A-Lot

"I like big books and I cannot lie."

"You other brothas can't deny..."

The True Story of Rudolph

-------- from Facebook

A man name Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night. His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bob's wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer. Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life.

Life always had to be different for Bob. Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.

Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift.But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined to make one - a storybook! Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling. Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day.

But the story doesn't end there…

The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book. In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter.

But the story doesn't end there either…

Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore , it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."

The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing. MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas Song Showdown

Every year, the WOTS office plays a game with Christmas songs - they listen to CHFI (an easy listening station in Toronto that plays exclusively Christmas songs around the holidays) and keep track of the number of times certain songs are played. If the song picked gets played the most over the duration of the season then that person is the winner; each empolyee has a dedicated song.

Last year was even more intense with a 'special work-out song' that when played the first person to jump up and start working out (lunges, squats, jumping jacks, etc.) got an extra point put on their song tally. Also the whole office would then work-out for the duration of that song. This year that isn't happening since the players are too scattered and some of us are in offices where jumping up randomly would not be as appropriate.

Other specific rules include a two person verification and a specific version of the song declared. Kristen, from her office downtown at her new job, and I are playing by proxy and just hoping that those in the WOTS office a properly keeping track.

Here are this year's songs:
Nicola - "Do They Know It's Christmas" by Band Aid
Cailin - "Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms
Kristen - "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey
Me - "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" by Bruce Springteen

Happy Holidays!

I hope you have started to listen to Christmas songs too...