Nothing Like the Sun

I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to getting on Pandora. jmargethe introduced me to the site, ages ago, but because I didn't have high-speed access at the time it wasn't really an option. Then I kind of forgot about it for awhile. I ran across the site again the other day, though, and this Music Genome Project thing is really, really working for me. It seems like I've discovered more new music over the past week than during the preceding year.

Meme, per aztecson:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now, SHAPING YOUR SUMMER. Post these instructions in your LJ along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they're listening to.

( 7 Songs, 7 Tags )

I've been on one of my periodic flamenco kicks, lately. ( why everything sounds better with castanets )

A friend had the excellent taste to suggest going to see The Departed on Sunday, and, man, did I ever love that movie. By my lights, at least, The Departed is the most vivid, memorable, and rousing Scorsese film since Goodfellas.

Great music, too: I've had The Dropkick Murphy's "I'm Shipping Off To Boston" ringing in my ears, ever since walking out of the theater. As The Village Voice puts it: "The Departed, after all, is a movie about Irish people doing violent shit in Boston, and the Dropkick Murphys are a band that sing about Irish people doing violent shit in Boston; it's a match made in heaven." Or a match made in Southie, anyway.

The radio alarm woke me yesterday with a July Fourth music mix I might have programmed, myself: "One Time, One Night (in America)" by Los Lobos; "Fourth of July" by X; "American Girl" by Tom Petty; plus a number of other obvious but pretty cool choices by the likes of the Blasters and Dylan. Consequently, I spent the day with lines like "She couldn't help thinkin' there was/ Somethin' a little bit more/ To life somewhere else" and "On the stairs I smoke a cigarette alone/Mexican kids were shootin' fireworks below" ringing in my ears.

( Somewhere Else )

( Shootin' Fireworks )

I want to say "thanks" to sarrabellum  and sleepwhenimdead  for Saturday: after the latter helped me with my little book sale (which actually generated more cash than anticipated), I finally got to see their new house (which made me nostalgic for the days when I had a yard), and then the group of us all went down to the Seattle Center for Folklife.  We had a picnic lunch, they got their faces painted, we listened to various acts involving everything from bagpipes to dijeridoos, did a little shopping at the fair.  We even went up to the top of the Space Needle--something I haven't done in years, and never before without some guest to entertain.  It was a nearly-perfect day for it, with Seattle and its environs drenched in sunlight and the mountains at least mostly visible.  I'm really glad we made it out there, Saturday--especially given the gloomy skies we've had for the rest of the weekend ...

The other night, my friends Iain and Roxane and I went to see a Flamenco show at "La Porta," a Greek restaurant in Seattle's Eastlake neighborhood. The artists were the band "Carmona Flamenco," who accompanied la bailarína flamenca muy linda y talentosa, Ana Montés. (Roxane teased me that I'm un poco enamorado con Ana Montés. ..) This was my third Flamenco show. ¡Me gusta mucho! I'd love to learn to play the guitar or el cajón for Flamenco. Well, it looks really cool, anyway ... ;)

OK, it’s been 10 days: Click here to see my playlist answers.