Morning Martini Anyone?

Random Post

I don't know about you, but when I'm studying the absolute silence of the bedroom or kitchen is actually more distracting to me than the rustling papers and whispers of the library. That being said, the library can become distracting, what with opening and closing doors, sudden bursts of laughter, and the pitter-patter of footsteps. My remedy is to listen to music on my headphones.

Choose your music wisely or you'll get carried away by your favorite songs, tunes you haven't heard in ages send you spiraling down memory lane, and that catchy phrase sparks a mouth-a-long... all of which are not very conducive to good studying. Normally, I prefer the soundtracks station on iTunes. Lounge piano and jazz are good, basically any station where you can listen to music without breaking into a distracted sing-a-long.

(On that note, I have recently taken to playing the musicals station when cooking - hilarious selection of Broadway, Off-Broadway, Disney... But be warned. Side effects may include breaking into loud sing-a-long and impromptu dance routines.)

The other day at the library I stumbled upon www.martiniinthemorning.com, which plays a selection of crooner/rat-pack music by various artists. This station provided a great backdrop for studying despite the lyrical ability for reasons I have yet to fathom. It also provided me with about three hours of hilarious entertainment.

Martini in the Morning has a fairly small following. You can go on the website, sign in your name and location, enter a chat room, make requests, and leave comments. I signed in - it was SO worth it!! Not five minutes later the dude said, (I'm paraphrasing slightly):

   "Listening in Derry, Northern Ireland is Samantha Twietmeyer [he even pronounced it correctly!!]. Derry is 35 degrees [F] today and not getting much warmer. Tomorrow's forecast shows a bit of snow."

I was probably the most ecstatic person in the library at that moment!

  The gem that is Martini in the Morning did not stop there. The music was a wonderful selection of rat-pack tunes, from classic original to recent versions.  As the host noted:

   "Martini in the Morning. Where else will you hear Bing Crosby, Pussycat Dolls, and Dean Martin played in a row?"

Yes, he did play those three artists in a row. (The Pussycat Dolls song was a version of Feelin' Good which was surprisingly good and really catchy!)
The host himself spoke a fair bit but he was engaging, sort of conversational a la Vinyl Cafe.

To top it all off I had not only an enjoyable Tuesday afternoon but I also achieved quite a bit of work! 

Needless to say, this station gets my recommendation (I also recommend the Musicals iTunes channel). Martini can be streamed as video or radio or opened and streamed through iTunes. The host described the video feed (of the inside of the station) as: 

   "about as exciting as watching paint dry." (hehe)

But he still recommended you give it a look!

I just had to share my little discovery with the web - give it a listen!

Week 23 - Olympic Fever

February 21, 2010

Hello All,

Obviously it has been Olympics time which has meant for me a lot of envious watching of online stats and Canadian commentary from abroad when I want to be back in Carlyle, SK/Kimberly, BC cheering with the rest of my fellow Canucks.

As Sunday called me to the realm of the waking around noon-ish, and I was nursing a three-day hangover, I embarked on a viewing of the Opening Ceremonies. And I fell in Love.

Vancouver 2010 gets my vote for best Olympics ceremonies ever for several reasons:

1. It was Canadian culture to a tee. I absolutely related to every moment in an emotional way. I even nearly cried during the prairies depiction which I was expecting to fail miserably. The Aboriginal element was tasteful and respectful and our prairie brothers stole the show with their colours, costumes, and dances.
   
2. They didn’t try to ‘beat Beijing’ and yet they did that in many ways. Very much like Canada itself, the show utilized simplicity to create great beauty. The whales, I mean… the whales! And the prairies! And the Northern Lights with the moving ice flows… I could go on and on.
   
3. It was audience participation like I have never seen before. The fact that the athletes could be there to see it was great. The use of white blankets, torchlights, drums, and other goodies by the audience ensured participation and fun for all and made the scene spectacular. The way they printed digital imagery on to the people in the stands blew my mind.
   
4. The standing ovation for the Georgian luger by all the audience members, athletes, and officials.
   
5. The showcase of Canadian musical talent. Big props to the dueling fiddles sequence – way to make Canadians rock! (This was also a great way of showing our mixed ancestry). Of course my favorite was K.D. Lang. I take much of my own inspiration for that song (Hallelujah) from her version.
   
6. The choices of flag-bearers (and loved the use of Donald Sutherland during the performances) were excellent – showcasing our other various talents.
   
7. The choices of final torch-bearers. I liked them all. I also liked the few leading up to them like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rt. Hon. Seb Coe, who were not Canadian but included anyway because that’s what Canadians are like right?
   
8. The torch failure?! I was a little confused at first but I didn’t even know it was a mistake! I thought it was planned haha. And the announcers pointed out that it occurred on the side opposite the athletes so they didn’t see or know about it till after the ceremonies. Afterward, one reporter noted that it seemed poetic on such a tragic day that there was a fallen ‘comrade.’

Vancouver 2010 gets my vote for most memorable Olympics ever because:

1. We won the first Canadian Gold on Canadian soil on Sunday!! My national pride is swelling.
2. I have been sporting my Red Mittens religiously and making many people here jealous! (Thanks Tina!!)
3. We have many more medals to win!

Of course it hasn't been all snow and sunshine. The Brits have a legacy of negative coverage - but some of the things they are saying over here are really vexing. Thus follows the things that are bugging me about the criticisms of the Olympics:

1. I don't care about torch failure - and neither do the majority of the people actually present at the Olympics right now. Give it a rest. And since when does being able to walk up and touch the torch become a big deal?! This is the first time it's even possible to do so - normally the torch is metres high in the air!
   
2. The press seem to be on a mission to place the blame for the Georgian luger's death on VANOC and the "money hungry" Canadian government. I think that this is unjust and unfair and they should stop making uninformed accusations. - The fastest and most technical track in the world was not built out of arrogance but out of years of planning and organisation to deliver a great Olympics experience for the athletes. Turin's held the title before this.
   - The slogan "Own the Podium" was a marketing ploy to garner financial support for our athletes. Support that has been missing for years and the results (no Gold on home soil etc.) are fairly obvious. It has nothing to do with VANOC's allotment of practice runs.
   - The practice runs were not only within regulation, they were challengeable if nations chose to do so. Every Winter Olympics host has only ever given the minimum requirements, that would be one of the reasons nations want to host the games! (You should know this Britain since you're hosting in two years)
   
3. VANOC, the Canadian government, and the Canadian people have been accused of being insensitive to the death of the luger and have been reported as blaming the young Georgian for his inexperience. This is unfortunate because I feel the Canadians (and this is coming from someone viewing the whole situation through a foreign news perspective) handled the tragedy with all the sincerity and the best class they could. Yes the Georgian was young, but he'd had practice and experience on the track before. Also, Canada has taken responsibility for the poorly placed beams outside the track.
   
4. Foreigners have no right as non-Canadian citizens to accuse us of being un-Canadian in our decision to market the "Own the Podium" slogan or to only allow minimum practice times or to many more medals to win!
   
5. Finally, what can we do about the weather?! How could we have predicted this four years ago, or even eight when the IOC granted Vancouver the games? To say the games should never have been given to Vancouver because of the weather is a stupid and ignorant statement.

It is unfortunate that the writers getting all the attention over here are missing the key facts. I have actually quite enjoyed a lot of the BBC coverage here and I don't think these negative reports are the sentiments of the majority of Brits. I also know that these same reports are coming from other news agents as well throughout the USA and other nations as well as from within Canada itself.

My heart broke for Canada last night. The Men's hockey was our great Achilles - the unbeatable leader behind which we rally as a nation. To see them fall was to see the confidence shake from beneath all our athletes. Today we pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and keep going for Gold. The men's curling has a chance to win our pride back. And Achilles isn't down yet, Team Canada still have medals to win and I'm sure they'll come back stronger than ever.

From Derry, UK

GO CANADA!!!! █ ♥ █

Hello All,

I've decided to try and set up an actual blogging page and see how it goes. If you're coming from my old facebook group "Sam in the UK," or if you're stumbling upon this through a web search, then welcome.

I'm not going to backdate the blog. If you would like to read my posts since September, 2009 then you can follow this link:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=164040214828&ref=ts

That site also has many photos from my trip.

This is a travel blog but also a location for my general musings, often inspired by my travelling or school adventures.

First post should be up tomorrow!

Thx

Sam