Angelique Kidjo sings with people in Tallinn

Jazzkaar 08 - Angelique Kidjo

Dancing on stage with Angelique Kidjo

Hi guys! So what did you do last night? I, for instance, danced on stage with the grammy-winning Angelique Kidjo. Mind you, I wasn’t alone, N was there, and her mum! and aunt and then a bunch of other people…but hey, I danced on stage with Angelique Kidjo!
Remember I mentioned in the last post that I might have already had the best Jazzkaar concert….well, forget all about it…Angelique Kidjo rocks your socks off! Her performance was magnificent. She’s got a great voice, she can shake her booty like no other and the energy on her concert…it’s something else. She’s one of those artists who’s ok on the CD but the main thing is still the live act. I suppose it must have been that good energy that made all the rest of the evening great too;)
Some Angelique performance videos will come later. I just couldn’t stop myself from sharing this experience with you for any longer.

Jazzkaar jammin - Roy Ayers, Torsten Goods et al

Yesterday I had an amazing start to my Jazzkaar weekend, though I really did not expect it. The only thing worrying me now is that I’m afraid I’ve already had the best concert I could wish for from Jazzkaar festival.
I went to see Tia Carroll in Clazz. I wished I’d gone to see Roy Ayers in Rock Café but the tickets were too expensive. However – I got my Tia AND I got my Roy, plus I got Torsten Goods and so much more – it was like a whole Jazzkaar on one tiny stage. After an enjoyable concert by Tia, the whole Roy Ayers crew turned up at Clazz for a couple of drinks and a bit of an afterparty. But you know how it is, when the vibe is good, the musicians just cannot stop themselves and all of them started jamming – guitars and drum sticks were changed from one pair of hands to others, whoever felt like it helped along with the vocal and at some point Ayers even brought out the sax. I have never witnessed anything like it. Do take a look at the video, even though it’s a bit shaky, as I was dancing at the same time as filming.

Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger

It all started, when Daft Punk recorded a song called Harder Better Faster Stronger back in 2001. (The one that Kanye did 6 years later was just a cover, with permisson of Daft Punk)

The fans loved the song and one of them decided to make a video to the song, with their own hands...watch it HERE...it's one fo the top 20 viral videos of the previous year.

The idea developed and 2 fans made a video, using their bodies...watch it HERE.

And it went as far as becoming a drunken pastime. Watch the video of 2 drunk girls trying to enact the video HERE. Hilarious.

Kenna - Daylight

I first heard Kenna "Daylight" a bit less than a year ago. I think it was on one of the compilation cd-s i got from Cannes. I loved the song but thought it was a "one off". However, by now i've found out he's been around for a while and there are songs like "Say Good-Bye to Love", "Out of Control" and several other. And what do i see, when i look at Kenna's Myspace page - he's touring together with Mark Ronson - one of my main men. Got to get him performing in Estonia or go and see him somewhere...

If you love me...

If you love me, you'll vote for me:) I take part of those competitions just to make my dull life a bit more interesting. Click on the colourful banner on the right to show me your love.

2 stupid txts later...

Alcohol is bad....it makes you send stupid txts to people you shouldn't be sending stupid txts to...on the other had, i had a very interesting evening last night. Saw many people i really wanted to see, danced with a swedishlooking Italian and got called the most enchanting woman, ever. That hasn't happened in a while:) And, for some unexplickable reason i walked home from the party, so there's was an unexpected 100 eek in my pocket, which was wisely spent today. PM dragged me out of my sickbed today - we went to see Orlan exhibition and to the movies to see old guys Nicholson and Freeman kick their bucket list.

You may call me a connoisseur

Bonjour mes amis! Je suis allé en France. C’etais tres bon. J’ai visité Bordeaux, Cognac et quelques endroits plus petits....Et actuellement, je moi considere etre une connaisseur de cognac.

Well, that pretty much sums up my trip to France, i give all of you enough credit that you understood it, n’est pas? I was treated to the trip so i kind of had to take what i was offered and couldn’t make my own way around. Parts of it were really good and parts of it...not so much. Like for instance the very first day, of which most was spent on flying to Paris, plus a bus ride to Bordeaux, which was a torture, for i was still rather ill, did not feel like drinking and all the rest of the people in the group were as drunk as sailors. But, that meant that it could only get better and so it did. If it were for me, we would’ve spent a lot more time in Bordeaux, because from what i saw it’s a great city – big enough (1 million) but small enough (the old town); old enough (beautiful architecture) but new enough (the trendy bars, cafes and shopping places).

Cognac town was ok, but too small to be anything special – seen loads of cities like that. And the little town called Saint-Emilion was adorable but as it was not the tourist season, it was dead as disco.

I loved 2 things about the trip. First, the fact that i actually learned a lot of new stuff (there’s a little Karl Pilkington in all of us:) I now know about Armagnag, Pousse Rapiere, Cognac and Pineau....and yes, you are correct, if you guessed they’re all different types of alcohol. And second, i loved the way we were treated at the Maxime Trijol Cognac destillery. They’re the biggest destillery in Cognac region and still a family business. The current owner Jean-Jacques Trijol himself was filling our glasses with real champagne, his wife and daughters were serving us delicious hors d’oeuvres and 60, 70 and 80-year old cognacs were open for us on the bar. I’m not much of a cognac drinker but i must say even i can tell there’s a different kind of smoothness to the 80-year old cognac when compared to a 10-year old.

So, what did i learn. First, the drinks:
- Pousse Rapiere – a delicious cocktail of brut sparkling wine and a bit of Pousse Rapiere liqueur. Perfect as an appetizer. Take a look at how to prepare it here and here.
- Armagnac – a cognac-like drink but as the destillation process is different, it’s not as smooth, it’s a little more bitter and of course, as it’s produced in the Armagnac reagion, it can’t be called cognac...but armagnac.
- Pineau – a sweet drink of cognac and grape juice, quite tasty, i might add.
- Cognac – well, cognac gets a whole passage:)

What i learned about cognac:
- It’s made out of fresh wine, which is destilled and mixed 7 times, to get the 70% of alcohol concentration eau-de-vie, which then goes into the barrels to mature.
- The barrels are made only of oak trees, which mostly come from the Limousine woods.
- Each year 0,3% of the alcohol concentration vaporises through the oak (it’s called the “part for the angels”), which means the cognac has to be bottled at least after 100 years, since by the law it can’t be less than 40% of alcohol. After bottling, the drink’s characteristics do not change any more.
- The walls of the houses or the cellars where cognac is maturing, turn black from the alcohol vaporisation, making them easily spotted from afar.
- Cognac tasting for blending and for determining the state of it in tha barrels is done every day around 11 o’clock before eating, when the taste buds are the most alert.

-V.S. means Very Special and has to mature at least 2 years in a barrel; V.S.O.P. means Very Superior Old Pale and has to mature at least 4 years and X.O. means Extra Old and has to mature at least 7 years. However, these are just legal requirements – every respectable cognac maker has set their own rules and they are always by far higher than 2, 4 or 7 years and the connoissurs can tell it from the taste easily.

Musical orgasm

Someone out there - music conaisseurs, critics or behavioural therapists - can someone please explain me, how is music made...that it's so powerful? How can there be songs which make me cry, even if i'm not in a sad mood? It can be just one chord of guitar and there i go again, tears flowing.... Or some of them which never fail to make me smile and dance a little? How is it possible that i listen to a beautiful voice and get goose pumps? How can there be such a physical reaction? I've heard of people who've had an orgasm just listening to music. Can that be? I do believe it's not impossible....I'm not sure what i'm saying here...it's just...i'm truly in awe of the people with true musical talent!

Anouk - Losing my religion

I found this song today, when PM kindly advised me to listen to Anouk's Lost. and i think it's a brazilliant cover of Losing my religion. Take a listen!

Good Charlotte - I Just Wanna Live live in Tallinn

I went to Good Charlotte concert on..what was it..Wednesday. And it mad me sick! No i'm just kidding. It was a good concert. All the fans were small enough so i could actually see the stage. Joel has a very good voice and they were excellent in communicating with the crowd. Even if they do the same at every concert, they did it so naturally that it was really believable. And they requested Tallinn to be added on their tour list specifically, so, i give them credit for that.
Now, about the sick part. I'm ill:( I've got this really bad cold and i am not showing my face in public, but you can send all the good wishes to me through various modern communication channels:)

I'm a lecturer now

You know how people tend to make all kinds of lists. Like for instance: Things to do before i turn 30 or 40 or 50. Or things to do before i die. Well, i took a test of my predicted life expectancy and it turns out i'll live to be 89 years old. I always thought i won't make it past 88 but who knows:) So, as there's still a long way to go i decided i'll make a different kind of list, something like: Thing's i've already done before i turn 30, 40 ...or dead. That means, i should start noting down the "big things", that make it to the list, like for instance ...

...Give a lecture on media to 15 various marketing people. Check.

...Did this one today. In the morning i checked myself from the mirror and though if there's any way they'd take me seriously. But they listened and asked lots of questions, so i take it, it was interesting enough. I wasn't even nervous, which was strange.

Esimene lumi:)

This is what my town looks like this morning. And let me just remind you, it's 26th of March, the spring has officially started and it's supposed to be plus 10C degrees this upcoming weekend. But today..today's the day when all the snow which stayed in heaven for the whole winter long, has suddenly started falling down. It's very romantic and all but as you see, the cars are trapped in and it's cold and windy. Just give me a day off, a fireplace, a glass of wine and a good book!

Perfectly lazy Sunday

Oh, the bliss of lazy Sundays, spent in the company of friends, chilling, laughing and eating. The last Sunday was one of them. My little flat was almost covered by my dear friends as most of them were sitting/half-lying on all possible surfaces from floor to couch. We started the brunch at 1 and ended at 7, in the 6-hour time slot, we ate all i had prepared, plus all the leftovers i had in the fridge, we laughed like crazy and watched some mindless TV programs. A fair share of sarcasm was flying around, as always, and we decided that the only bad thing about those brunches is that there’s too few of them. Point taken!

Late night encounters

I am standing at the bus station, waiting for my last bus home when suddenly a fancy car stops - some kind of an expensive mercedes, to be more precise. A middle aged man inside asks me if i speak English. The whole situation resembles the scene from Pretty Woman, except for the fact that he isn't as handsome as Richard Gere and i am not a hooker. Anyway, he then asks me if i know any good saschlik restaurant around...!?! While he's conversating with me he pulls out...no, not what you think...he pulls out a nail file and starts polishing his nails!?! Ehm...okay...I can't help the well-groomed man, though, and at this very moment my bus arrives so i can't explore the situation any further.

Rihanna - Please Don't Stop the Music (Live in Tallinn)

And then there was Rihanna. This was on Sunday. She was ok, i mean, the concert was good, but not amazing. But she looked gorgeous.
...and this is turning into a videoblog...a vlog...

Koop - Forces (live in Tallinn)

Another short Koop performance video. Since this is the one i wanted to post originally, here it is for you.

Koop - I See a Different You (live in Tallinn)

I guess i've mentioned that it's concert season for me. On Friday i had the chance to listen to the Swedish band Koop. I've liked their music for a while now and as expected, loved their performance as well. Mind you, i would have prefered the song "Let's Elope" to be sung by male voice, like it is on the record but all-in-all, it was a really good concert. And kudos to Rock Cafe - they still are my favourite concert venue in Tallinn and Koop fit in there ideally.

Roisin Murphy - You Know me better

Finally, the magnificent Roisin strikes again! Love the look she's sporting at breakfast table:)