Monday, February 26, 2007

Interestings

Sometimes interesting things happen when you bother to help along a little and push good ideas. And sometimes interesting meetings take place in the most unlikely places and situations when you least expect them. Friday was a day for both kind of “interestings”. In best case scenario I will have something to write about in future in regards of both of them. But right now, let’s just say that, firstly, reading Oscar gossip is not only for pleasure any more and, secondly, that my Saturday afternoon offered me a lot more interesting entertainment than tidying up my home.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

DJ Shadow - This time

This song has been one of my favourites for a couple of weeks now. It’s a great song with great lyrics and even more ingenious is that the video was chosen from the competition entries.
There must have been hundreds of entries. Here’s just a few for you to look at. I think the first one is the official chosen one. My favourite, however, is the second one – genial…and hilarious:)



This Time (I’m Gonna Try It My Way)

In the beginning, well, I didn’t know
As time passed on still didn’t know
I didn’t know

But this time, this time
I’m gonna try it my way
I’m gonna live life my way
This time, this time
I’m gonna try it my way
I’m gonna live life my way

Well, I didn’t know, just couldn’t see
The memories of past failures
Like a shadow haunting me

But this time, this time
I’m gonna try it my way
I’m gonna try it my way
Yeah this time, this time
I’m gonna try it my way
I’m gonna live life my way

There was a dream
I wanted to come true
But dreams
You know they need to be followed through

That’s why this time, this time
I’m gonna try it my way
I’m gonna try it my way
Yeah this time, Oh, this time
I’m gonna try it my way
I’m gonna live life my way

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Tallinn-Tartu express

Last weekend I tried a new way of passing the irritably long distance between Tallinn and Tartu. I tookthe train! First class, of course. I never fly first class, so I thought at least I can afford first class in train. And, well, second class was all sold out already. Now, the pros compared to the bus.
First, more room – more leg room as well as the possibility of standing up and walking around. Even if I didn’t use the possibility I felt very content of knowing I could do so anytime:)
Second, internet access – for some reason it wasn’t working that time, but again, in theory, there’s the possibility:)
Third, power outlet for charging my laptop. Its battery is getting empty so fast these days, so in train I can just plug it in and watch movies.
Fourth, for some strange reason I can’t read in the bus but can do so in train.
Fifth, free tea or coffee. Yippii!
Sixth, you can buy food if you’re hungry. You can actually stand up, go to the “bar” and buy a sandwich. And, you can buy drinks as well, even alcohol is on the menu, which is not allowed in the bus.
Seventh, the train station is way closer to my home and this is definitely a winning reason, considering the taxi fares these days.

I think I’m gonna give the train thing another try the next time I go to Tartu.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Mika – Life in cartoon motion


Saturday was a happy day for me. There was a little package in my post box. Only 5 days after its release date, HMV managed to deliver MIKA’s debut album “Life in cartoon motion”. I suspect some of you do not know Mika, some of you know him from my previous introductory post and some of you are fans like me.

Mika must really be getting tired of all the comparisons to Scissor Sisters and Freddie Mercury but what can we do if it’s true. It must be his vocal range from low to extremely high, which prompts those comparisons. There’s a bit of Freddie in all of the songs and the most Scissors-like are probably “Love Today” and “Stuck in the middle”. By now I’m already done listening to the previously released “Grace Kelly” and “Relax”, so my 2 new favourites from the album are firstly, the ballad-like “Happy ending” which ends with an opera-like section where you can hear that he’s had classical voice schooling; and secondly the disco-dance-pop-like “Ring, ring” (hidden bonus track), which must be using a sample of an old eighties or nineties song, I just can’t figure out, which one.

I’ve bought records because of only one song and I usually feel I’ve done a good deal when I can love 3 songs on an album. In case of “Life in cartoon motion” I could love at least 5 to 6 songs. 5 out of 11 is undoubtedly a good deal.

You may or may not like Mika’s music but you should at least give it a try or you may be missing out on witnessing a star being born. He has written all the songs on the album, including the lyrics, he plays piano or percussion on many of the tracks and he’s done the artwork of the album book. Talent really transfers to different areas.

Here's for you to listen: Mika "Ring Ring"

Change is good

I had to change the looks of my blog. This one is rather boring and not exactly as i like it but the previous one was melting together and several of its functions stopped working. Before i come up with a new one, we're all stuck with this one. Stick with me!

Friday, February 09, 2007

Smell of scent

Have you noticed that with really cold weather, like we’re having currently, your scent smell gets fainter. Why is that? Or, why does smokers’ scent smell weaken? How come some people don’t realize they have a very strong body odor? Why is dogs’ sense of smell so much better? Why is it possible to eat or drink something disgusting with your nostrils closed? Some of those questions have been answered here. Like for instance I found out that dogs in general have a nose approximately a hundred thousand to a million times more sensitive than a human's, because humans have about 2*4 cm² of olfactory epithelium, whereas some dogs have 150 cm². I also found that not all humans can smell andostenone, a component of male sweat (and minor component of female one). And so on.

Smells play an important role in my life, I think my scent memory is the strongest and most lasting one all senses. Just one whiff of aroma can bring back memories and trigger emotions. I was once sniffing a friend of mine the whole evening long because he smelled like someone important from my past. I have followed a man on the street because he was smoking a pipe. I think my olfactory sensory neurons are more sensitive than several other people’s. That gives me the beautiful world of smells but also makes me more sensitive to the smells that do not suit me.

However, there are loads of scents I absolutely adore, like:

freshly sliced cucumber
cherry tobacco pipe
sautéing onion for cooking
freshly washed bed linen
roses
freshly washed hair
bread
fresh coffee
oranges
man
forest in autumn
coco
wild strawberries
nail polish remover
fresh wood
chokecherry tree
lilac
freshly cut lawn
christmas tree
baking apple cake
basil

Add your favs.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Feelin better

Photo: N
Being sick sucks. Sucks sick. Anyhow, I’m almost well now. But meanwhile I did not have any inspiration to write here. Yesterday night I couldn’t sleep so I wrote sth but it’s not for public display. So I still got zero material:)

I could write about the last trip to London, of course. However, since it was more than a week ago, it now seems I could just jot it down in couple of sentences. Seeing S and J again was great, shopping was satisfactory and Portobello lovely, again. Ooh, Lovely London! Oh, and stand-up comedy was way better than I expected. Must see again.

I could also write about the Estonian Eurovision entry but this year I really cared so little I almost passed out. In the words of a 13-year old: Waddeva!

However, there is one topic I could write about that I thought of this weekend but I’m not sure how to make it presentable here. I’m workin on it.