Pipes, Drums, and Bands Oh My!

I think the music is one of the things I miss most about not going to the Portland Highland Games for so many years. My CD's from previous years only take me so far.

Mark thinks I'm crazy. Maybe it's just my Scottish blood. But whatever it is, there is nothing like the sound of bagpipes to me. I get chills, in a good way, my blood starts pumping, and sitting still is impossible. I want to dance a Highland Fling -- of course, I'd need to learn how first -- or at the very least tap my foot.

I love the music. Not just the pipes and marching bands people associate with the Highland Games but the traditional Celtic sound.

One of the specialized music acts was Men of Worth. Below is a sample of their sound. I'm kinda kicking myself now that I didn't pick up one of their CDs at the Games.

H is for Hookie...as in I'm playing Hookie Today!

Thoughtless Thursday

A Li'l Christmas Cheer

Wow...what a voice!

See the article here

Thoughtless Tuesday

WiP Wednesday

HowlWriMo's June writing goal is to re-work the characters from Novembers' NaNoWriMo story. Still not sure how to track this. flesh out Andrea and Colin from Myra's story into main characters and come up with a plot.  Plus apparently, I have the Shiny New Idea to come up with a plot and figure out the characters of Reese and Jace.

• 6/23 = 602 words...mostly edits of previous scenes
• 6/24 = 1558 words
• 6/25 = AND THERE IS A PLOT! I spent almost three hours knocking it out, axed 746 words, but it's there and it works! Snoopy Dancing!
• 6/26 = 342 words
• 6/27 = brainstormed with BFF
• 6/28 = 374 words
• 6/29 = 347 words

Jace and Reese have taken over -- seriously, look at that progress meter in the sidebar -- and I'm enjoying the ride *g*

And I think I found Jace and Reese's theme song --

Ode to a Phantom

One night during high school, I believe it was, I stayed up way past my bedtime...shh, don't tell!...and watched The Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney. 



I fell in love.  The Phantom will always be the ultimate tragic hero to me.  (The closest I've come to a similar reaction to a character would be Joely Sue Burkhart's Gregar.) 

The fact that a movie -- and a silent one at that -- made almost half a century before my presence turned a stick blue, almost a decade before either of my parents were glimmers in my grandparents' eyes, and spoke to my teenage self on such an elemental level, still resonates with me. Lon Chaney also had to have been one hell of an actor to convey all the layers of the Phantom without saying a word!

Thus started a love affair that's been going on nearly thirty years.  (Wow, I feel old now!) 

I think I've seen every movie incarnation out there, including a bunch of foreign ones complete with subtitles.  Of course, I've seen the Andrew Lloyd Webber version.  The Broadway incarnation once or twice in Portland, the Vegas version once, and The Phantom of the Opera movie too many times to count.  (If I was Christine, I'd have no problem being locked up with Gerard Butler's Phantom for the rest of my life *g*) 



I listen to The Phantom Of The Opera CD a lot, too.

And what good reader, in the middle of a love affair, would miss reading The Phantom of the Opera?  Not I.  Sadly, I speak not a word of French, so have to rely on the translated version of Leroux's work.  *le sigh*  I remember falling in love all over again the first time I read the book.

I've not got into all the reincarnations of the book -- a little too fan-fic for my tastes -- but do plan on reading Phantom by Susan Kay once I can lay hands on a copy. I've heard nothing but good things about her take on the original story. I'm on the fence about Love Never Dies. Though the music I've heard sounds amazing, sequels rarely live up to the hype.

What story captured you body and soul?

And There is Music Too

If all the gushing I've done on this blog isn't enough. If the widget for Darkfever in my sidebar isn't enough. I've got to say Karen Marie Moning is one of my favorite authors. I love the books but I really love how devoted to her fans she is. (That's not to say I don't love a ton of other authors who do the same thing.) One of the things that makes her special to me is the forum on her website. I've meet some wonderful ladies there and it's kinda like a home on the web. I follow a lot of authors, am beginning to post on their sites more as well, and I'm sure I'll find more 'homes' among them...

but for now...

I am utterly and completely caught up in the Fever world by Karen Marie Moning and now there is the Bloodrush CD! Books with a soundtrack...gotta love it.

The Scotsman