Category Archives: The Fangirl

Ingrid Michaelson: Everybody

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EverybodyI’m such a music geek, and Ingrid fan, so I’ll admit that I’ve been waiting for this album to come out since December of last year, when it was still referred to as an untitled LP.

Ingrid did not disappoint. I loved the album upon the first listen (I initially download a low quality rip from Rapidshare), I ended up buying a 320kbps digital download from the shop. I ended up copying the files to mom’s laptop, since she’s also an Ingrid fan.

So far, my absolute favorite is Mountain And The Sea. But overall, the whole album is really really good.

I’ve asked a friend who’s coming home from the States to buy me a physical copy of the album. Hopefully, I’ll get my hands on it when she comes home. I’m looking forward to hearing A Fine Frenzy’s album too, which is coming out soon.

Fangirl

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I’ve finally found a torrent for a DVDRip of the PaleyFest 2008 Buffy Reunion. Yay. I’ve only seen bits of it in Youtube so I’m really looking forward to seeing the whole thing. I’ll probably watch it tonight.

I’ve also been doing a bit of Audrey Hepburn fangirling the past few days. I picked up Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn by Donald Spoto and re-read it again. I hope to get Barry Paris’ biography of Audrey Hepburn soon. I’ve had no luck finding it so far.

Wrapping this entry up now. I’ll blog again this week, just have to check out this barcode scanner that my brother brought home.

Also, if you haven’t yet, check out The Script. :) Nice band.

More music

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I always work well when there’s music playing in the background. If you’re a last.fm friend, you probably already know that. :P I keep meaning to change my last.fm username, but I just can’t bear to part with it because of my stats. 2,000+ The Hush Sound listens is going to be hard to redo. :P I would like to remove some of the artists in my Last.fm library, though. *embarrassed*

While I work, I usually have music downloads running (hey, it’s better than running an employee background check). I am always downloading music. To be honest, there are about 20+ albums here that I haven’t listened to yet. My friend Jem keeps telling me to start listening to them before I download any more music. Yesterday, I went on one of those download sprees, and I feel like sharing a few of the artists I searched for (because they’re awesome).

  • Florence and The Machine – Marit Larsen described Florence Welch as sounding like, "Feist’s rebellious, naughty, severely heartbroken sister." Being a Feist fan, I decided to check it out, and I have to agree.
  • Laura Marling – When I listen to her, I keep thinking, "she does not sound like a 19 year-old." I mean that as a compliment. Acoustic indie-folk at its best.
  • Emmy the Great – Nice voice, great lyrics. I wasn’t able to find any of her EPs, but her first LP, First Love, is lovely. Just lovely.
  • Slow Club – Very odd, in a good way. They sort of remind me of the band Tilly and the Wall, they’re just as quirky.
  • The Submarines – Cute, happy, indie pop! :) Honeysuckle Weeks is such a great album – it sort of reminds me of the 1990s – a little. I’ve been able to download Declare A New State! but I haven’t given it a listen yet. ‘"Say what you will; love finds you even when you’ve given it up." Teehee.
  • Jeremy Warmsley – I’m not a huge electrofolk fan, but this is pretty good. He plays electronica with a bit of pop, but still manages to sound raw.

Still downloading a few more albums, but I’ll probably blog about them if something sticks. I’ve already deleted 10 of the albums I downloaded. :P

Norwegian music

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A lot of my friends constantly remind me that Norway (and Sweden) are the metal meccas of the world, but I never knew that they had a decent collection of singer-songwriters as well. I’ve been downloading a lot of them lately, and they’re pretty good. Not spectacular, but still good to listen to.

First is Sondre Lerche. I haven’t had the chance to listen to Duper Sessions, but I have given his old albums a listen and they sound great.

I’ve also started listening to Maria Mena. Her albums have been collecting dust in my computer for about eight months now, and I regret to admit that I actually forgot about them when they finished downloading. I like her music so far, and I love her voice.

When I was in my early teens, I was a huge M2M fan. I wasn’t heartbroken when they disbanded (because I was a bit turned off when they recorded a Mandarin version of some of their songs). When Marion Raven came back on the scene, I wasn’t really impressed with her music. But recently, I found out that Marit Larsen has been back for about four years – although she’s with a Norwegian label instead of an international one unlike Marion Raven. I really like her music now, since she seems to know how to use her voice properly. And she performed at the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. How cool is that?

I remember listening to Lene Marlin’s song Sitting Down Here, some years ago. I didn’t know it was her, then. I’ve listened to her new album, Twist the Truth, and it’s really nice.

There are a few others such as Ingrid Olava, Thom Hell (really good), Elvira Nikolaisen, and Thomas Dybdahl. I haven’t listened to them much, except for probably one song each.

Going to look at outdoor dining sets now.

The Oscars.

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I spent most of yesterday watching the Oscars.

Kate Winslet finally won her long overdue Oscar! :) I was so happy when I heard her name being called out as the winner of the Oscar for Best Actress. To be honest, I thought Meryl Streep was going to win the award. But I’m so happy she got it.

I was also a little preoccupied looking at everyone’s clothes and accessories. Everyone had such pretty gowns on. So it was interesting to see what bags, jewelry, or shoes they paired their gowns off with. Or if they wear IWC watches.

Anyway, yay for Kate and Slumdog Millionaire! :D

I miss Buffy

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I’ve been watching the Buffy Reunion panel videos at Youtube. It only occurred to me today that videos of the event could have been posted in Youtube (ah, yes It only occurred to me to search for videos a few months too late). So I did a search, and, sure enough, there were a few. My initial reaction was to turn into a total fangirl over James Marsters (who still looks okay, I squealed a little; my brother thought I was insane – although I think he looked better during his Spike days). I’m sort of not looking forward to his Dragonball movie, though. :|

Check out those videos. They’re rather funny. Although they did make me miss Buffy, somewhat. They don’t show reruns here anymore… I think.

October

It’s October! I changed my desktop wallpaper this morning, thanks to Smashing Magazine. You should check out the selection, there are a lot of excellent wallpapers.

Now, I have to start working on my photoblog which I plan to plug on the next entry.

My Favorite Hitchcock Movies

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It’s no secret that I consider the 30s-60s the golden era of film making. I’m a rather huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock and have a DVD box set of all his successful suspense flicks. For the past few days, I’ve gone on a Hitch marathon. Here are my recommendations:

  • Rear Window (1954)
    I’m sure some of you have seen Disturbia, the 2007 thriller starring Shia LaBeouf. Rear Window is much, much, much better than Disturbia.
  • Dial M For Murder (1954)

    I’m a Grace Kelly fan, so it’s only natural that I’d love her performance here. This film is about a man who marries a woman for her money. When he gets named as a beneficiary in her will, he plots her death.

  • The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
    This is one of Hitch’s successful films. It is about a couple who witnesses the assassination of a spy while on vacation.
  • Vertigo (1958)
    Vertigo is a psychological thriller about a a policeman who is forced to retire after developing acrophobia. It’s a very good movie. It did receive mixed reviews when it was released, but has been named one of the greatest films ever made.
  • Psycho (1960)
    I think it would be a crime not to include this movie in this list. This movie is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. Psycho has also spawned a lot of remakes – but nothing beats the original.
  • The Birds (1963)
    This film is based on the short story by Daphne Du Maurier (which I have not yet read).
  • Rebecca (1940)
    Although it’s very different from the book, I still loved Rebecca. However, I still wish they hadn’t changed the turning point. That was disappointing.

I still have around 5 other favorites, but I think the ones mentioned above are enough for this entry. I really need to refresh my memory, though, since it’s been a few years since I’ve seen Hitch’s other works.

If you do check out those movies, be sure to keep your eyes open for Alfred Hitchcock’s signature cameo appearances!

What is digital signage?