Song Of The Day: Tool – Aenema

I had hoped to have a few really awesome picture-overdose posts for you guys, but unfortunately the camera and I couldn’t really get along and I had to return it. There’s a replacement coming in soon, but until then I’m just gonna stick to “the usual” ;) So today it’s time for another Song Of The Day;

I only “discovered” Tool 3 or 4 years ago, but it’s been love at first… Ear, I guess. Hypnotizing music, wonderful voice, amazing lyrics… I guess there’s hardly anything not to love, although honestly, the videos tend to freak me out a little.

It’s been pretty hard to pick a song for today, but I decided on Aenema because of this small part of the lyrics in particular:

Fret for your figure and
Fret for your latte and
Fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your lawsuit and
Fret for your prozac and
Fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and
Fret for your car

It’s a
Bullshit
Three ring
Circus sideshow of
Freaks

We (as in, people in general) really tend to fret about bullshit. It’s ridiculous, don’t you think? I spent half of my day today being annoyed over a few freakin’ split ends! I mean… What the hell.

This song (and again, those lyrics in particular) has actually inspired me to write one of my first posts ever. Reading it back I find that it’s pretty silly how my self-consciousness has changed compared to when I wrote it. I guess it’s all those stick figures I’m working with these days! Damn.

Anyway… This isn’t supposed to turn into a rant about how fat I feel and what condition my hair is in, so let’s just get back to the subject. Right… Awesome song, awesome lyrics.

What do you think of the song and/or lyrics? And what are the silly things you fret about?

Thanks so much for reading and listening, I hope you’ve enjoyed!

Love,

ML-X

Holy Mother Of Covers: IV – Hurt

Usually, I really don’t like cover versions of songs that I love, but today’s post is a little different. In fact, I think it’s one of the very few cover versions around that didn’t mess up the song for me but just added another beautiful dimension to it, making the original song even more awesome. Of course, I’m talking about Nine Inch Nails’ song “Hurt”.

I don’t want to ruin anything for anybody here by blabbing too much, so let’s check out Johnny Cash’s version straight away:

Isn’t it amazing? So full of feeling, so deep and beautiful…

Now, the original version, recorded by Nine Inch Nails:

Isn’t it awesome how different both songs are, yet still the same? Both of the versions just “grab” me, and don’t let go until I’m on the verge of tears, if not actually crying. It’s impossible to tell you which one I prefer, because I really can’t say. I love them both.

What do you think of this song? And can you pick a favourite?

Thanks for stopping by!

Love,

ML-X

To Read Or Not To Read: The Twilight Saga

I know, I know, I’ve used a similar title for this post, but I figured “to read or not to read” would be a nice generic term for my reading-related posts. So far there haven’t been all that many, but I’ve got a few ideas so might as well categorize them, ML-X style :) It made total sense when I thought of it; if I don’t read, I don’t think I “am”.

Aaanyway… In the aforementioned post, way back when I started this blog, I was really wondering whether to start reading Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga or not. It’s been quite a dilemma, but with a little help from you guys in the comments, I decided to give it a go and bought these beauties:

In the wrong order, lol. 

And then some of the cover artwork:

I love these covers!

I actually wanted to go for the special edition, but decided not to because they were quite a bit pricier, and wouldn’t look all that awesome between my other books due to the colour difference. I know, my reasoning doesn’t make all that much sense, but just trust me on this one.

Bloody beautiful!

Either way, the “regular” black edition is gorgeous as well, and I’m happy I could find a set so they all match!

As you may or may not have noticed in the first picture, I’ve already started reading the first book. And… I love it. It’s such an adorable love story and I’m having such a hard time with putting it down, that even now while I’m writing, I want to finish off as soon as I can to go back to reading it. And just knowing that with every sequel the book is getting bigger makes me kind of happy inside!

The only downpart I can think of (of the first book) is that it’s quite similar to the movie. So there’s only very little room for surprise. But in all honesty, I can’t believe I still remember so much from the movie, what with my Alzheimer-ish memory and seeing the movie months ago! But it’s not all that disturbing; in fact I’m almost done with Twilight and I guess I’ll be moving on to New Moon very soon. I can hardly wait!

I owe a big thank-you to the ones who’ve convinced me to read it despite my scepticism, both on- and offline. You know who you are :)

Anyway, that’s all for today, I’m headed back to my book ;) But I’m curious; which books have you been reading lately? Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks for reading, commenting and just sticking around!

Love,

ML-X

Holy Mother Of Covers: III – Like A G6

I’m still in my computer-related cleanup mode, and I found more awesomeness! Perfect timing, because it’s been a while since I shared an insanely cool cover version with you all.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you one of the sexiest things I’ve ever heard:

I can rant about how much I love this version for hours, but I won’t. I love the “dark” way it sounds, and Major’s deep voice, and just the way he “simplified” the song. And of course, I love the “old-school” vibe it has to it now.

Now, let’s compare Major’s cover with the original version by Far East Movement:

I have to admit that I never disliked Far East Movement’s original version. In fact, I can honestly say that I like it. The beat is great, and it’s very dance-able, which is very important to me – an enjoyable song either has to have great lyrics, or make me cry, sing or dance.

The original also brings back some fond memories, one of which is when at a party at my former job, one of my old colleagues sincerely stated that she wasn’t drunk, but kept yelling “actin’ like they drunk!” whenever she thought it fit. This lasted for several days after said party, so I guess you can imagine how hilarious it is when you’re working and somebody goes “actin’ like they drunk!” all of a sudden. I believe that was on the last weekend me and le man went on a little trip together, which makes for the rest of the good memories. Damn, I miss those times.

So… Enough ranting. I’m not sure if I can pick a favourite here! Which one do you prefer? And why?

Thanks for reading, hope you’ve enjoyed, and I’m looking forward to your comments!

Love,

ML-X

Guilty Pleasures: Eurovision Song Contest

When I was a little girl, there were two nights a year I could stay up late. One was of course New Year’s Eve, and the other was… Eurovision Song Contest night. And twenty-something years later, it’s still a bit of a mother-daughter thing for me and my mom. Traditionally, we criticize and rate every song, trying to guess who’s going to win this year’s contest. Despite having extremely different musical preferences, we still both manage to guess pretty well.

Here in The Netherlands, the ESC is seen as a “gay thing” mostly and in a way interest in it will be frowned upon. I’m not sure what sexual preferences have anything to do with a music contest, so my best guess is that the Dutch aren’t into the contest any more because they haven’t made the finals in quite a while. I’m just perplexed that they think they even stand a chance, with the absolute crap they send in. Now I do have to admit, there’s a lot of strange entires, like Russia’s this year. But they came in second! And despite not being all too pleased with that, I can understand why that happened. Russia’s entry was funny. Holland’s wasn’t (and it was off-key as f*ck, while we’re at it). They just take themselves too damn seriously, but they don’t even consider sending in any of the actually talented artists we have here. Hell, they might even be better off sending me in! ;)

All in all, I have to say this year’s ESC was pretty okay. I’ve seen quite some things that I did like, and among my personal favourites were Sweden, Serbia and Slovakia. The latter unfortunately didn’t make it into the final, which was to be expected, but I still thought it was very awesome. Sweden won this year, and Serbia took third place, thanks to the grannies from Russia! So I guess now y’all know why I wasn’t too pleased with their coming in second ;) The only thing that really bothered me this year, is the fact that the counting of the votes was boring. Sweden took the first place all the time, there was no doubt she’d win, so the counting part was quite a waste of time.

So, my European readers, have you been watching the ESC this year? Who were your favourites? Of course, the rest of you are free to comment on our silliness too ;)

Thanks for reading!

Love,

ML-X

Holy Mother Of Covers: II – Sexy And I Know It

I’m sorry if I’m overdosing a little on the music-related posts, but I couldn’t not share this cover, because it’s way too awesome. Check it out:

My boyfriend introduced me to this song last Friday. Now I have to admit that at first I was sceptical, I just couldn’t see what could possibly make this kid and his guitar so special. But after listening… Sold! I love love love his voice, and I adore the way he makes the song sound… Well, less silly. I’ve heard some more of his songs and he’s amazingly talented, so if you like this one, you should definitely check out the rest of his covers!

And of course, just for the sake of it, the original, which in fact did make me laugh my ass off (and still does): Small warning – if you’re unfamiliar with this video, and easily offended, I suggest you don’t click the “play” button ;)

What are your thoughts on Noah’s version of the song? Like?

Thanks for reading!

Love,

ML-X

Holy Mother Of Covers: I – Man Down

I happened to stumble upon this cover version of Rihanna’s Man Down, and thought it would be fun to make another post series where we can discuss really awesome (or maybe even really awful) song covers. And honestly, I couldn’t think of a better one to start with than this one.

The cover version:

And, for the ones of you who aren’t sick of the original yet, or lucky enough not to know it:

I obviously love prefer Triggerfinger’s version, not only because Rihanna annoys the living daylight out of me (no offence, Rihanna fans), but also because of the brilliant incorporation of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir!

Who do you think has done it better? Triggerfinger or Rihanna? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section!

Thanks for reading, listening and commenting!

Love,

ML-X

Song Of The Day: Muse – Feeling Good

Today… Is D-Day! And what better song to “celebrate” it with, than this one?

To be honest, I’m not feeling all that good at the moment… My stomach is pretending to be a rollercoaster! But that should be okay after the surgery :)

This song has an awful lot of (cover)versions, but I decided to stick with Muse this time, because it’s one of my favourites. Although nobody can really beat Nina Simone ;)

So what’s your favourite version of Feeling Good?

Thanks for reading/listening!

Love,

ML-X

The Hunger Games Dilemma: Final

Like I’ve already mentioned in Part II of the great Hunger Games dilemma, I went to see the movie. And oh boy… I don’t remember the last time I left a movie with such mixed feelings!

Let’s start with something positive! There were some things I really liked about the movie; the casting was pretty well done! There was one exception, but you’ll have to read on to find that one ;) My favourite “side” character in the books was Cinna, who’s portrayed in the movie by the amazing Lenny Kravitz! So that was very pleasing. Another thing that I liked, were the special effects. They were done very well, and I loved the “extra” peek in the Game Maker’s office; this wasn’t really mentioned in the book as such.

The movie was quite like the book, meaning that they didn’t screw up the storyline or whatever to make it more appropriate for a movie. They did a pretty good job on that, especially considering that quite a large portion of the book is basically Katniss’ thinking.

And now… What I didn’t like. The last thing I stated as positive, works against the movie as well, at least in my opinion. For anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet; I must warn you, this might be a bit of a spoiler! At a certain point, there’s Rue, and Katniss has a great fondness of her. However, if you haven’t read the book (like for example my best friend, who came along to the movie), it’s a bit of a “what the fuck-moment”; aren’t they supposed to kill each other off? What’s so special about that kid? Of course, if you’ve read the book you’ll know that Katniss has a weak spot for Rue because she’s the same age as her sister Primrose, but the thing is, a lot of people haven’t.

There were a lot more things that were hard to understand if you didn’t read the book; at one point, my best friend asked me why the people looked so weird. After the movie, I had to explain him the whole background story on the different districts and the Capitol. Another thing I was missing, was the story of the Mockingjay Pin. Why the fuck was that changed up in the first place? Katniss didn’t get it off the market, for crying out loud. I really dislike the way they’ve made it into something that’s pretty much meaningless!

Another disappointment, which is a bit more personal I think, was President Snow. When I read the books, I imagined him to be a bald, creepy looking motherfucker. A little like Baraka from Mortal Kombat (google it!). In the movie though, he reminded me of Santa Claus. And we all know Santa Claus isn’t really evil! So this was a bad casting, if you ask me.

Considering that the movie was over two hours long, I think there might have been room for some more “depth” in the story. For example, another one of the things I liked in the book, was the way it fucked my mind the whole time because I was wondering if Peeta was for real or not. In the movie, this isn’t shown at all, and I’m really wondering how they’ll explain this (and the earlier mentioned Mockinjay thing) in the sequel (which I’m guessing will come) because it’s been a very important storyline in the books.

All in all, I was really disappointed. Maybe I had set the bar too high, I don’t know, but at one point I was glancing at my watch to see if it was almost done. I used to check the time when I was reading the books too, but only to see how much more I could read and still manage to get a bit of sleep because I had to work the next day. I know it’s really hard to make a screen adaptation worth seeing, but I believe they could’ve done a lot better.

I’ve already made up my mind; I’m not going to see any sequel. What did you think of the movie? Am I completely wrong here? Or did it really suck?

Thanks for reading!

Love,

ML-X

Song Of The Day: Kanye West & Jay-Z Ft. Frank Ocean – No Church In The Wild

I know I might be overdoing it on the Kanye West/Jay-Z worship, but I really had to share this song! And since it’s been a while since the last “Song of the Day”, the time was just about right. This one here is one of my absolute favourites from Watch The Throne;

I’m not entirely sure what it is that attracts me to this song; it’s quite unlike anything else I’ve heard from Kanye. I don’t know, there’s just something hypnotizing about that beat. And the lyrics… Are sort of brilliant but weird as well. What do you think of it?

As I’ve mentioned in yesterdays post, I was wrong a few times during the “guessing game”, and this song was one of my wrongs. I’d expected it to be total crap. Oh boy, how wrong could I have been? Maybe I should just lay off the guessing.

So, what do you think of this one?

I hope you’ve enjoyed, thanks for reading!

Love,

ML-X