Posts

#SongoftheDay Gently Johnny from The Wicker Man

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I finally watched the 1973 folk horror film The Wicker Man last week and it was not at all what I was expecting. I thought I was walking into a horror movie, and instead it felt like an episode of Heartbeat directed by David Lynch.  But I mean that as a compliment. I enjoyed the film and I will absolutely watch it again. The version I watched the director's cut, and I have subsequently discovered that this song, sung by Paul Giovanni who did the music for the film, did not appear in the original theatrical release. I'm glad it was shoved back in, because I love it. So atmospheric. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  See you soon! Giselle

#SongoftheDay Run With Us (Lisa Loughead)

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A couple weeks ago I thought I had the theme song from the 80s cartoon The Raccoons stuck in my head. I was kind of right and kind of wrong, because this was actually the outro music. But I think most of us would still consider it the theme song, right? And, let me say: this song is a banger. I didn't take it for granted, watching The Raccoons as a kid. I knew this song was amazing. Gave me goosebumps.     If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  See you soon! Giselle

#SongoftheDay Blue Skies (Ella Fitzgerald)

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My partner took me to see Death of a Salesman at Stratford for my birthday. I think it was one of those gifts that was actually for him, since I don't need any additional encouragement to feel massively depressed, but we'll set that aside because he bought me a delicious pizza afterwards. Anyway. The production used this tune throughout the performance. It was played on a trumpet, which happens to be the instrument I learned when I took band class in middle school. Have I ever told you that? I don't think I have. I was really good at it, too. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  See you soon! Giselle

#SongoftheDay I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine (Patti Page)

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Another tune that pops up in Priscilla. heh Vitamin D... If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  See you soon! Giselle

#SongoftheDay Take a Letter, Maria (R.B. Greaves)

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This song has been stuck in my head for two weeks. No idea how it got there. I probably heard it at the supermarket. That's usually how the songs creep in. Last night I rewatched The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert again. Lo and behold, this song popped up. I felt like an old friend had appeared on screen.  If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  See you soon! Giselle

#SongoftheDay Ten Again (Half Moon Run)

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 Before Christmas, I listened to a pay-to-play day on Toronto radio station Indie88. They were raising money for a charity that provides new socks to people experiencing homelessness. You could pay $25 to hear any song, and that money would go to the sock initiative.  Many of the requests seemed to be nostalgic garbage songs for 90s kids--like "Can we really get this indie station to play this trash?" sort of thing. But this song popped up too, and I like it. The first time I ever heard Half Moon Run, it was on The Signal, and those artists always hold a special place in my musical heart. I get an Eleanor Rigby vibe off the chorus. Hear what I mean?

#SongoftheDay Midsomer Murders Theme (Celia Sheen on Theremin)

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Considering I've been watching Midsomer Murders since it premiered in the late 90s, it's hard to believe this has never been our song of the day. Wow, I just realized this show has been on the air for nearly 30 years.  The new episodes I can take or leave, to be honest with you. The original (by which I mean the John Nettles) episodes are the ones I come back to again and again. There are episodes I've probably seen a dozen times. That is a lot of hours of my life.  I think Season 4 is the set I've seen the most, not because those episodes are necessarily my favourites, but because my local library has the box set on its shelves, so I've checked it out a million times. If there's nothing else that sparks my interest, I know I can't go wrong with old Midsomer. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library....

#SongoftheDay Lucille (Kenny Rogers)

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 While this music blog of mine was on hiatus, I thought about it every day. I missed telling you what was going on in my life. I missed telling you which song had just popped into my head. Like this one. It popped into my head while I was packing up the bathroom. My father was a big Kenny Rogers fan, so I remember hearing this song a lot as a kid.  I always liked it. I liked sad things when I was young. I guess I still do.

#SongoftheDay The Lovecats (Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain)

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Whenever I call my doctor's office, I spent a fair amount of time on hold. The hold music is always the same: a tune that sounds strikingly like The Lovecats. It's not, but it reminds me of this, and this is what I walk away singing.  If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  See you soon! Giselle

#SongoftheDay Let's Turkey Trot (Little Eva)

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I promised you a story about a frozen turkey, so here it is. If you've read my story about the watermelon, this is basically the same story. There are a few exceptions, the main one (in my mind) being that my partner wasn't there for the watermelon, but he was there for the turkey. My partner and I were shopping together when I noticed an elderly woman trying (unsuccessfully) to pick up a frozen turkey. So I went over to her and asked if I could help. She told me she'd tried to pick up a frozen turkey by its tag, but the tag had ripped off in her hand and she couldn't lift the bird. I told her I would do it for her and then, of course, I couldn't. Lifting a frozen turkey is something I could have done easily prior to living with chronic illness. I was very strong. I probably could have juggled them, if I knew how to juggle. But now I'm weak and I can't lift birds. My partner hadn't noticed that I'd veered off to help this woman, so he was halfwa...

#SongoftheDay You Don't Mess Around with Jim (Jim Croce)

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All  I wrote for this post was: Spit. I... don't know what that means.  If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  See you soon! Giselle

#SongoftheDay I Can't Stand The Rain (Eruption ft. Precious Wilson)

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I'm back in disco mode these days. That tends to happen when I'm well enough to exercise, because I exercise by doing disco dancing workouts. After being so sick to my stomach that I spent nearly a week in bed, I am ready to move my body, baby! And I move my body to disco music. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  See you soon! Giselle

#SongoftheDay Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac)

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One big lesson I learned from all these Dutch decluttering videos I've been watching on YouTube is not to keep stuff that makes me feel bad. That's why I've been getting rid of all (most) of my books from university. They were super-expensive and I didn't always manage to do all my readings because I was simultaneously working full-time to put myself through school. So every time I looked at all these books on my bookshelf, I felt guilty for spending so much money on books I never read, guilty for not getting all my readings done, irritated that I had to put myself through school in the first place, and ashamed for having been such a lousy student. Every time I looked at my bookshelf, that same wash of emotions came over me.  Who would choose to live that way? Well, I did for more than twenty years. But not no more! Once I recognized that those books were making me feel that way, and that--realistically--I was never going to read decades-old textbooks, I felt free to ge...

#SongoftheDay The Shape of Water (Alexandre Desplat)

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My partner brought The Shape of Water home from the library the other day. Neither of us had seen it. He'd never even heard of it. I said, "Isn't that the movie about a woman having sex with some kind of sea creature?" His eyes sort of widened, like he didn't realize what he'd gotten us into. Anyway, we watched it and it was surprisingly lovely. All I'd heard about it was the sex with a sea creature bit, but gosh it had a lot (more) going for it. I never would have picked up that DVD, but I'm glad my partner did. The film really surprised me. It's dreamy and fairy-tale-ish but also suspenseful and gruesome (I had to close my eyes a lot toward the end). If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  See you soon! Giselle

#SongoftheDay Can't Get You Out of My Head (Kylie Minogue)

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Hello, my friends. This blog stopped rather abruptly, didn't it? I always thought I had signed off, but it turns out I didn't. I just left you hanging. For two years. That's shameful. But my partner moved, and that move was... big. He returned to his hometown, and he has regretted it ever since. I sort of like it. I sort of hate it, too, but that's pretty much life: I sort of like it and I sort of hate it. I'm still sick, but now I'm sick in new and exciting ways in addition to the old and exciting ways. Wait, did I say exciting? I meant excruciating. I'm in pain pretty much every day. At last count, I had 9 chronic illnesses. That's ridiculous. I'm willing to share, if anybody wants to take a few off my hands. Last month I had to shut down my Patreon because I'm just not capable of recording audio anymore. I enjoyed it. I'm sorry to have to give it up. But here we are. All this time that the blog's been on hiatus, I've thought about ...

#SongoftheDay The Middle (Jimmy Eat World)

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We're moving next week. We're not happy about the move, but it's happening nonetheless. I'm going to miss this little house. I know how fortunate I am to live indoors at all, but the past three years have been the only time in my entire adult life when I've been able to live in a house, and going back to living in a high rise isn't something I'm enthusiastic about. The house and town (despite being very small--both the house and the town) are way too expensive to live in. Plus, there's the lack of access to medical care and public transportation.  So we're moving. I'm really sad. And stressed. And busy with all the packing. And my health is poor, as usual. Ill health makes sadness and stress even harder to cope with. That's the big reason I haven't been around. It occurs to me that the last time this blog went on a big hiatus was the last time we moved. It really does consume your life and energy. This song has been in my head every day f...

#SongoftheDay I've Tried Everything (Eurythmics)

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I have been incredibly ill. Emergency room, IV fluids, diagnostic equipment, more meds.  I'm so sorry for taking off without letting you know what was going on, but there are times when it can't be helped. I've missed sharing music with you. I think in terms of posts I want to write, but for a while I couldn't come near my computer. Now I don't remember what I wanted to say. Figures, eh? This song came into my mind at a time when I truly believed I would never get better. Time and treatment didn't seem to make any difference. I was just so sick all the time. At this point, I don't know whether I'm "better" or whether the new medication I'm on is just keeping me stable. More medical appointments to come.  Meanwhile, various other portions of my life are falling apart. Not my relationship. That's strong. My partner has been taking good care of me physically, and I'm trying to take good care of him emotionally, but now is not a happy t...

#SongoftheDay Back to the Future Theme (The Outatime Orchestra)

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My partner and I watched Back to the Future recently. He'd never seen it before. We got a DVD box set out from the library and I said to him, "Oh, this set has all three movies in it." He came home from the library the day after we'd watched the first one and told me, "I was about to return this when I realized all three movies are in here." I was so proud of myself for not saying, "Yeah, I told you that! Don't you ever listen to me?" heh. Life goes more smoothly when I don't lash out about things that really do not matter. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely. I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate link...

#SongoftheDay Day After Day (Badfinger)

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I'll be honest with you: I didn't know Badfinger was a band until I googled musicians from Wales. I was familiar with this song, but I never knew who it was by. Now I actually understand the joke that mentions them in the Rifftrax riff of Psycho II (yes, that's an actual movie).  (edit: the riff I was thinking of is actually from Amityville 4, which is another lousy sequel.)   If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely. I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . I also recommend subscribing to my newsletter. I generally e-mail subscribers with a weekly update, and I would LOVE to have you on the list.  C...

#SongoftheDay Another Day in Paradise (Phil Collins)

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Woke up with this song in my head. That's all there is to say on the matter. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely. I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . I also recommend subscribing to my newsletter. I generally e-mail subscribers with a weekly update, and I would LOVE to have you on the list.  Click here to sign up:  http://eepurl.com/R4b11 See you soon! Giselle