music

Elvis has left the building

4 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Last weekend when we went to our usual Saturday Chinese, there were a lot of cars in the carpark. This was unexpected as school holidays had just ended. When we walked in to the club, we were surprised to find what seemed like a function going on. Loads of people eating prawns, and some bloke on the stage singing, he had a lovely sequinned red shirt on.

On closer inspection it seemed that this was actually Neil Diamond. Mother and I spent some time arguing as to whether it was the real Neil Diamond or some kind of tribute show. The guy was so Neil Diamond like, he really sounded like him. Lucky for us we had a table in the Chinese where we could watch the whole show – for free, but we had to pay for our own prawns. ;) Probably those people out there had paid bucketloads of money to see this show!

He played many Neil Diamond songs and we were much entertained, much swaying in the seat went on. I was mesmerized by the sequinned red shirt and suggested to Dad the next time they are looking for a new uniform at work that a sequinned shirt could be a brilliant idea – how can you miss the salespeople if they’re all sparkly?

After about half an hour and our entrees, Neil left the stage to much applause. Once the Entrees were gone, Dad went out to play the pokies and returned with the news that Tom Jones was also going to be putting in an appearance. This sounded quite nice, so we waited.. and waited.. and suddenly Elvis showed up instead!

This led to discussion of the Elvis festival in Parkes, NSW. For those who don’t know, there’s a large dish at Parkes, it’s one of the things the town is famous for.

Parkes

The dish featured in a movie called, surprisingly, The Dish. But Parkes wants to be famous for more than that, so they created the Parkes Elvis Festival. Looking at the program they have combined The Dish with Elvis very nicely. I had heard that in Parkes they had up to 1,000 Elvis’s all in the same place at once and while watching this Elvis mentioned to the other half that maybe more Elvises would show up in the building we were in now, and he said no, we don’t have the dish here, that is what attracts them. :) Or something along those lines but whatever he said was so funny I completely lost the plot. Lucky I wasn’t eating or drinking at the time!

Elvis actually seemed to be Neil Diamond only with a different wig. He sang only two Elvis songs, which seemed like a bit of a waste to do the whole Elvis wig thing just for that. Then he vanished again, much to my dismay. We thought maybe Elvis needed to take a leak and that he hadn’t actually left the building at all, so for some minutes were watching to see if he returned. The other half hates Elvis. I don’t know why. I have asked. He can’t come up with a good answer.

Some time later, our meal arrived, and not long after that Tom Jones arrived. All Tom Jones songs seem to have sexual overtones, which is slightly not great but seemed to drive the elderly women out in the function quite crazy. I’m surprised underwear was not thrown. This Tom Jones looked awfully wrong in his wig, it just wasn’t right. Maybe that’s why the underwear wasn’t thrown.

We exited the building to the sounds of Delilah, or something like that. A happy though somewhat strange evening was had by all.

However, there has been one side effect. A Tom Jones version of “You can leave your hat on” has been in my head ever since. I am hopeful it will go away soon but I’ve tried playing other music and it hasn’t worked. :( Any advice?

family, music

A Marilyn Moment..

3 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

It’s surprising to me that there’s a lot of people out there who have not seen Marilyn Monroe’s movies and many of those people are not aware that she *sang* and very well, too. Does this surprise you also? If you have not seen her movies, you should at the very minimum watch Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, that is my favourite one.

I was watching a doco on her last night which played Diamonds are a girls best friend in full, and this song has been stuck in my head all day, in particular the very ending of it. The clip might seen familiar as Madonna made her own version of it but is nowhere near as sexy in that as Marilyn was in this.

Unfortunately the clips of this on youtube get taken down regularly so there’s no point putting a video – you’ll have to seek out the original movie. :)

movies, music

Morning Surprise

3 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

This morning I arrived at my desk to find this..

deskdols1

A closer view for you.

dolls

What on earth is on my desk, I hear you asking. Well, that’s Robbie Williams and Mark Owen. Yes, I have two Take That dolls. They have been an object of hilarious fun around the various houses I have lived in for some years now. Anytime I would have a party, a good friend of mine would find where the dolls were, and re-arrange them, pants around ankles, in some compromising position. Often I would not spot it until days later but whenever I did see it the end result would be me laughing until I couldn’t stand up anymore.

I don’t know why they are on my desk this morning, perhaps the other half was going through boxes or something, because I had not seen them since we left Adelaide.. But I did happen to get a couple of DVD’s when we went shopping the other day, one is Robbie Williams And Through It All which I listened to on Friday when I was making a cheesecake and it was really wonderful, and Take That The Ultimate Tour Live In Manchester which is their comeback performance on DVD. This I have not watched yet but it’s only a matter of time..

And yes, I know Take That are lame. I am well aware. But they were my Beatles, so shut the fuck up, all right? ;)

About Snoskred, funny, music, Take That

eek!

Leave a comment Posted on by Snoskred

The Other Half has been out fishing on a boat and he has brought home 3 fish which seemed to not be quite dead yet. And he doesn’t know how to filet them. I remembered watching a thing on sushi and how they kill the fish so at least they’re not alive now, but I couldn’t watch him do that.. ;(

So maybe there will be fish for dinner, or maybe not.. :(

The kitties have spent the day basking in the warmth of the bedroom, it gets the full afternoon sun at the moment. We slept with the air conditioner on *heat* last night, that’s how cold it’s been. It’s not normal. I wanted to take photos of how cutely they were sleeping but the camera went on a boat trip. I was going to go too but I felt like I was getting a cold. :(

Speaking of not normal, I have a little video clip from a-ha for you. In the tradition of them making excellent video clips, they made this one a while back. It’s a little morbid, and slightly wrong, but I like that they don’t take themselves too seriously.. ;) They look like they had a lot of fun making the clip, too.

a-ha, music

The Pirate Movie – a review.

4 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Before Pirates Of The Carribean, there was The Pirate Movie I love this movie, and here’s why.

1. The music –

the movie is loosely based on the Pirates of Penzance. I have never seen the actual original in full, so I wasn’t sure how much of it had been taken from there until I read the Wiki, but you can easily recognise the songs which are from Gilbert and Sullivan and which ones have been specifically written for this movie and are 80’s music. This was one of the first ever videos I saw in Stereo, how we actually found it was on a demo tape for stereo VCR’s – there was a clip of the final song, and we liked it, so we hired the tape.

2. The locations –

manor

For all you Melbournites, this movie was filmed entirely in Victoria. The movie brings together two beautiful locations in such a way that you believe they are actually together. This is done incredibly well and without any obvious computer assistance. The two locations are Werribee Park Mansion – which is now a hotel you can stay in – and Loch Ard Gorge.

cove1

The two should be named in the cast list because they really star in this movie, and they are nowhere near each other in reality – 160kms as the crow flies (thanks Sephy!). That’s movie magic for you. :)

3. The Pirate King

– knows where to put the sparkly stuff.

pk

Men, if you want women to pay attention to your *ahem* nether regions, here’s a thought. Codpiece. But not just any codpiece. Get out the bedazzler and make yourself one that is sparkly. Believe me, this is quite attractive. We ladies like sparkly things and this is an easy and simple way to brighten up an otherwise dull area. Much better than glitter, which can be a real bitch to get rid of once you put it everywhere. ;)

4. The costumes.

What is it about pirates that makes them so appealing? The puffy shirts? The tight pants? The velvet? The leather?

pyrates

The costumes for this movie have got everything you want to see pirates wearing but the real triumph is Frederic’s costume. It’s perfect for his character. Those cream leather thigh-high boots are just gorgeous.

costumefred

5. The cast.

While there are many great performances, the overall cast really makes this movie great. It seems like they’re all having an awfully good time.

6. Garry Mcdonald.

garry

A true Aussie genius of comedy. While his role in this movie is small, it is hilarious. By the time he did this movie of course he was known for Norman Gunston, and after the movie he went on to be a part of Mother and Son, a huge Australian hit which is still brilliant to watch today. I would say he is my favourite Australian actor, and coincidentally he lives quite near to where I do and he used to shop where I worked but never on days when I was there.

If I ever ran into him I do not know what I would say but there is so much I would want to say, in particular thanks for being so honest about your depression because that’s helped a lot of people, including me, but I also wouldn’t want to annoy him so I’d be a real mess. Seriously. Just the thought of it makes me nervous.

garry2

He looks like he’s having fun in this movie, which I love.

7. Maggie Kirkpatrick.

ruth

Otherwise known as “The Freak” from Prisoner, she plays Ruth the Nurse. Another Aussie Icon, and she’s brilliant in the role.

8. Kristy McNichol.

kristy

Quite well known for playing the tomboy in sitcoms at the time she was chosen for this role, this was really her first leading lady type of role, and she played it beautifully. She can also really sing. Nice eye candy for the men as well.

9. Christopher Atkins.

chris

Already a legend for his role in Blue Lagoon just two years earlier, this curly haired guy works very hard in this movie. There was a lot of work involved in the sword fighting. He does a great job in my opinion. Plus, he’s not bad to look at. That’s always nice. But his *hair* is so curly and blonde, you just can’t look away, you want to know what it’s going to do next.

10. Cheese overdose.

pmovie

Yes, this movie is somewhat lame and full of cheese but I still love it anyway. I really only liked two musicals, this and Grease.

Next time you are dvd shopping, if you spot this movie pick it up and buy it for your collection. This is a cult classic masterpiece. I hope that you love it as much as I do.. ;) And I won’t be surprised to find many people reading this are already fans of it – comment here, let the world know! ;)

The entire movie is also available on youtube.

If you enjoyed this review, you might also enjoy these other reviews.

Shakespeare In Love
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Chocolat
Pump Up The Volume
Dead Poets Society

Movie Reviews, music

Rockstar Supernova – A Review

4 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Just when you thought there was enough (too many?) mentions of Lukas Rossi on this blog, I bring you this review of the new album by Rockstar Supernova. I’ve been meaning to do it for a few days now. People argue about whether it is an album or cd or whatever – it is an album of songs put on a cd, in my opinion. It’s kind of like a snapshot in time of where a band is at.

1. It’s On – The drumming is purely wicked. I’ve seen video of Lukas singing this live and the track just doesn’t quite get to the same place as he does live, but it’s close.

2. Leave The Lights On – The first time I heard this I was reminded of Dilana’s disaster version (take a trip down memory lane here, rock star fans, complete with dancing girls rofl but beware you may need acid to scrub your brain of it after) and in fact could hear her version instead of the one I was listening to, and I thought this song was Doomed with a Capital D. However, more listening and a determined effort to block that nightmare out has resulted in me liking this track. It’ll make you move, make your foot tap. It really belongs in a biker bar. I could see strippers using this track.

3. Be Yourself – I remember reading around the message boards and blog reviews when this song was first sung on the show by Toby Rand. Everyone was going on about the hey hey hey ho ho ho bit. I was quite horrified and not really sure what this band was going to turn out like. Though I adore Toby also, Lukas’s version is MUCH better, especially as he doesn’t try to sing the verses. I love this song now, especially the bits where Lukas just rips up the “Keep it on the level” bit after speaking the verses. Hearing it as it is now, it is easy to see where the *band* was going with this song.

4. It’s All Love – I have grown to love this song in the months since the show because it was one of the two we could listen to. But compared to some of the other songs on the cd, it kind of fades into the background a little. I’m not sure if this is because I’m used to it and I’m really enjoying the newer tracks, or why it is. But I love the progression to the growly Lukas by the end of the track (that’s the clip I used in the mp3).

5. Can’t Bring Myself To Light This Fuse – Considering this appears on the little sticker on the front of the album, I’m thinking they’re going to release this as a single. I can see why, it is easily the most mainstream of the tracks, it is a ballad, and it is also fantastic. It’s a little strange placing the two ballads next to each other and it makes me wonder who decided what order these should go on the CD. The only thing missing from this track is the big evil T.Lee drumming – seems like that’s not even his drum kit, his has quite a recognisable sound. They’ve put some of those big (Timpani?) drums in, which is all well and good but I think T.Lee’s dark drumming would have taken this track to a whole new (not quite so mainstream) level.

6. Underdog – All fans of the Rockstar Supernova tv show will instantly recognise this because in most places, the start was played at the start and end of many ad breaks in the show (all of them in Australia, if I remember correctly). So I guess we all had our ideas of what the actual song would sound like, but what it turned out to be was nothing like my ideas.. how about yours? I love the end product – to me it combines darkness with an insatiable need to move to the beat. This song is full of great lyrics – welcome to the revolution, we are the army of underdogs – light the bomb and say you never did it anyway – but can anyone make out whether he is saying bad dog, lap dog, rag doll in the line “I aint a cheap trick (something dog or doll) you can drag along”. I’ve listened to it heaps of time and can’t work it out.

7. Make No Mistake – This Is The Take – Great drums, especially the start. It’s probably my least favourite track on the album but considering I love all the others and just like this one, that’s not saying anything bad really. I am sure people out there will love it and probably not love my favourite tracks as much. That’s ok. :)

8. Headspin – I loved the original by Rise Electric and I’ve probably listened to it a million times, so it’s no surprise to anyone that I hated what they’d done with this track at the start. It’s growing on me. Slowly. I mean the music is fine, I have no problem with it, I don’t like that bits were taken out of the original that I felt were somewhat important to the song. The original went for 5:12, this version goes for just over 4, so there’s quite a bit missing. I knew it would happen because it happened on the show, clearly they had a time limit, and I didn’t think they would go back to the original once people got used to the show version. If I’d never heard the original I would be ok with it. ;) I still love the original better. :) So sue me. ;) On the other hand, I like the addition of a swear word, and the excellent drums.

9. Valentine – Today’s favourite track, Each day it changes. :) I love the lyrics, I’m fairly sure most of them came from Lukas, he has a way with lyrics.. ;) and he does have writing credits on this track as well as The Dead Parade, Underdog, Social Disgrace and Headspin, though there’s other names along with his on all the tracks, even Headspin.

10. Social Disgrace – Yesterday’s favourite. I still like it today. Again great lyrics, quite dark.

11. The Dead Parade – First of all, let me say that any track which starts with female backing singers singing in a “gospel”-ish sounding way tends to put me right off the first time I listen to it. I’d rather they just start the track without that. I don’t mind backing singers in the chorus. Now that I have that off my chest, I love this track, it is VERY Lukas having heard a lot of his previous work with other bands. Some fantastic lyrics, including “My life is a rollercoaster, bonfires in my head” At 5:28, it’s the longest track on the cd, beating all the other songs by a full minute (the next closest is Valentine at 4:27) and the last minute involves some lovely guitar work (hopefully by Gilby but who knows?) which seems like it might belong on an old school type of rock record – the whole track has brilliant guitar work to be honest. This was the hardest to choose a clip from because I like all of it so much.

Overall, this is a good cd even if you weren’t a fan of the TV show. I have become quite the Tommy fan now. Is it wrong for me to be attracted to him? :) I think they chose the right person to front the band and the performances I have seen really show that. Lukas is having a ball there on stage and I think fans going to the concerts are going to have as good a time as he is.

The only downsides –

– You can’t seem to hear too much of Jason Newsted’s bass most of the time. There’s one track where I really heard it clearly and now I can’t remember which one it was (edited 25-11 to add, it’s actually Headspin). I don’t know if this is because I’m not musically gifted and can’t pick it, or if it’s something else.

– I don’t hear enough of Lukas’s little growly grr rwoars. Lukatics and Rossi Posse people will know what I mean by that. The reason I noticed is because I was going to make a little audio file with them, just for fun. I only found them in Headspin so far – can you guys pick any others?

There were no lyrics in the sleeve here in Australia. I don’t know if they were present in the US or Canada but if so I’d love to have them. *very* occasionally it is hard to be 100% sure what Lukas is singing. I’m ok with it, I even like it, it just makes it hard to sing along.. ;)

So let me know what you thought of my review, and also if I have inspired you to pull the cash out of your pocket or bank account and purchase this CD to add to your collection. I really hope so. :)

music, reviews

Aussie Music 101

7 Comments Posted on by Snoskred

Today we’re going to talk about travel, and music.. ;) This one is for all the non-Aussies reading this blog.

If you intend to visit Australia, you may find yourself in a “pub” (place where one drinks alcohol) at some point. In that pub, there may be a live band (a group of people with instruments attempting to burst your eardrums by the power of sound and they might succeed!) and if there is, they possibly won’t be playing their own music.

At this pub, they will be playing all kinds of music, and some of it might be from Aussie bands (the greatest music of all time) so it might be helpful to you to be familiar with the bands and perhaps even learn some of the lyrics ahead of time. So let us take a look at the top 5 Aussie bands you may hear music from.

5. AC/DC (Or, Acca Dacca)

The band has a long and interesting history which you can read about on Wikipedia. But for the purposes of today’s post, what you need to know is – they have a guitarist who does this bizzare hopping around on stage thing (look at the you tube clip. Seriously, do it!) and the singer is not the most easy to understand.

You probably don’t need to know any of the lyrics, just growling along with the music will be fine and if you take a look at how the guitarist does his thing you can choose to copy that, or just headbang (ie bounce your head in time to the beat of the music in an angry looking way) and you can pass yourself off as a real Aussie with little effort on this occasion.

4. Midnight Oil. (Or, The Oils)

The oils (read their wikipedia here) have a lot of lyrics. There’s no way you can learn all of them while not in Australia. While here you will pick a fair few of them up, most likely the musical question “How can we sleep while our beds are burning” and “If the sugar refining company won’t save me, who’s going to save me”.

However, you can get away with not knowing the lyrics if you try to dance like Peter Garrett. This is best done when you’ve had a fair bit to drink. Again the you tube video will give you some excellent insight on how to do this, but if you don’t have the time –

In order to dance like Peter Garret – imagine your feet are glued to the floor, and you really want to unglue them. Then imagine you have ingested two entire bottles of Coca Cola and you have an enormous gas bubble in your stomach, and you’re trying to expel it by burping yourself, like you would a baby.. Wave your arms in the air. Move the top half of your body somewhat wildly. Imagine you managed to step on a foot sized piece of bubblegum, pick one leg up off the floor but imagine long trails of gum stuck to your foot and you’re trying to get them off.

3. The Angels

The most likely Angels song you will hear is “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again” – not surprisingly, this is the lyric you will need to know in order to bluff like you know this band and their music. But if you want to really make people think you are an Aussie, when that lyric is sung, you can then sing in reply to that lyric “No way get f*cked f*ck off” and people will assume you have been here since the late 80’s, even if you have an accent which says otherwise. ;)

2. INXS

Wiki here. It is really difficult to guess what INXS song you might hear. There are so many of them. Here is an official VEVO account where you can immerse yourself in the INXS.

Michael Hutchence, is pure sex on legs. See for yourself, watch the you tube clips. I believe he was the Aussie Jim Morrison. Unfortunately, he also died in a Jim Morrison type way.

Watch for the girls reaction when INXS is played. Depending on how much they’ve had to drink and which pub you’re in, there may be one or who who uncontrollably sob. This is totally normal and ok. Just act like you didn’t see that.

1. Cold Chisel (known as Chisel)

Wiki here. The ultimate Aussie band. You will likely hear several of their songs while here. However my personal favourite of all the Chisel songs is Cheap Wine. You will hear this a fair bit too. “Cheap wine and a three day growth” is the needful on this occasion – again, sing it loud.. As a tribute to this band, I put both Khe Sahn and Cheap Wine here. ;) And OMG real Aussies, check out the Khe Sahn video below- Jimmy Barnes hair! I didn’t know he had a poodle do.. there is so much about Aussie History I missed out on.. :)

Khe Sahn is very popular. In order to act like you know this song, you need the lyric “The last plane out of Sydney’s almost gone” – you need to sing this at the TOP of your lungs. You need to sing this like it is the last thing you will ever sing. You need to sing this like you want the people back where you are from to hear you. There are long patches of unintelligible lyrics to get through before you get to that bit – it’s the best bit, and they always save the best till last.. My advice, drink more beer while this is going on.

You may actually be lucky enough to see the Jimmy Barnes in person at some point. My Mom ran into him at the airport. He was in town here a couple of weeks ago.

So there you go. You learnt something new today. ;) Hopefully you listened to at least one of these songs. And if you do make it here to visit us and drink cold beer while cover bands murder the Aussie greats, let me know!

Now, the other half just brought home a new stereo, so I’m gonna go enjoy that and play some pool. I’ll be playing some of these Aussie songs and thinking of ya’all. :)

Aussie Culture, music

Another Lukas Post.

Leave a comment Posted on by Snoskred

The song in my head today is “It’s On” by Rockstar Supernova. You can hear a rocking acoustic version of it here and this is why I love Lukas Rossi. The chorus is the best bit. I can’t wait to get this on the album. My advice, don’t watch the video, just listen. I’m getting really excited about this cd. w00t!

music

How can I sleep with your voice in my head?

Leave a comment Posted on by Snoskred

Woke up to hear Lukas Rossi singing this morning in my head. And the alarm didn’t even go off. I said to the other half just yesterday that we are so buying the Rockstar Supernova album when it is released, and according to Google I have only 6 days to wait. Excellent!

I can’t think of any song I wouldn’t be happy to hear Lukas’s interpretation of, but the other day when we were out driving, God Gave Rock And Roll To You was playing. I reckon he would do a great version of that.

Well, I have a post about Romeo + Juliet on the way, so I’ll get on with it. It took me longer than I expected cos I am making my own screenshots. :)

music

I’m sorry Watershed!

Leave a comment Posted on by Snoskred

I somehow missed this post of yours where you did the 10 things.. ;( But I’ve now added you to my blogs I read list because of it, so it might have been meant to be.. ;)

Lukas Rossi. I wake up to this man every single morning – in reality before I wake up to the other half, because Lukas sings for a good minute or so before the other half even starts to wake up. If you don’t have a cd alarm clock, I recommend you get one, just so you can choose which song you wake up to. For years, it was Placebo’s version of Running up that hill by Kate Bush. If you play that song while I am awake it’s like my eyes open wider or something.

music