I
found this gem in the local newspaper this morning -
WHERE'S GORDON?
Royal aides shouldered the blame after Gordon Brown was left embarrassingly out
of place during the state banquet for President Nicolas Sarkozy. The Queen was
heard to ask "Has the Prime Minister got lost?" after Mr. Brown failed to appear
alongside the two heads of state.
Fancy place marker - 56 pence.
Banquet for heads of state - £56 per head.
A Queen who retains her sense of humour after 56 years on the throne -
priceless.
♥
<3 French & Saunders Wednesday 20th March, 2008
Just
a short entry today... I just wanted to shout out that I'm going to see
England's best ever comedy duo live tomorrow night! So, here's a fab clip of
them! (Blimey, my blog is turning into a video blog of late...)
♥
Because girls rock! Tuesday 11th March, 2008
Long
time no see! Yes, sorry. No blog updates in two months... *sigh* I guess I don't
really want to talk about myself on here anymore, it's that depressing. So
instead, I thought I'd talk about something else.
Favourite female solo singers! Yay! I'm a huge fan of them. Though as of late my
taste has dwindled to mostly folk and acoustic music, I'm still a huge fan
of the female voice in all genres. There are some amazing female artists out there who are
totally underrated. I thought I'd talk about some of my favourites from recent
months.
From America -
Bethany Dillon. I've liked this young lady's music for over a year now.
Essentially an acoustic Christian artist, Bethany released her first mainstream
album in 2004, when she was just 16. I've always been completely in awe of
Bethany's raw musical talent. At such a young age, she writes her own songs,
plays guitar and sings, all in an extremely genuine and heartfelt way. The above
song, 'Beautiful', was both a track from the album and her second single, and
it's especially dear to me as I've been able to relate to it so many times over
the last few months. I especially love this video as well, as she keeps her eyes
closed for the entire song... I do that myself. It's a sign that the singer is throwing
their heart and soul into a song, and I find that truly inspiring.
From Japan - Yui Makino. Another singer who's younger than me! :) I discovered
Makino-san's music through my favourite anime, ARIA, to which she contributed
both opening themes and several others to the soundtrack. The thing that
impresses me most about Makino-san is her incredibly sweet voice - she could
easily pass for a teenager. She is a reasonably new artist (with only one
album). Though she doesn't write the majority of her own songs, the ones she
releases are beautiful in their own way. This one, 'Jasmin' (apologies for the
Final Fantasy video, videos of Makino-san are difficult to find), was featured
in the highly popular anime series Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, for which she is
also a voice-over actress. This song is my favourite of hers. I find it
reassuring that she is proud of her heritage, when so many Japanese artists seem
to emulate Western acts.
And finally, from
France - Émilie Simon. A very new discovery of mine. I'm admittedly not a fan of
European music (what I've heard of German popular music scares me!), and what I
know of European music stretches only as far as a vague liking for The
Cardigans. Émilie impresses me utterly. The first thing that struck me about her
is her gorgeously inventive videos. Her musical style is a breath of fresh air
in comparison to the majority of the market at the moment. Émilie is
sweet-voiced and melodic, and her style encompasses this with electronica and
experimentalism. The result is an acquired taste, admittedly, but after
listening to a few of her songs I'm hooked. I picked this song, 'Fleur de
Saison', mostly for the video, I must admit, which is graphically a masterpiece,
but I also really love the song. Even before I know the meaning of the lyrics!
Check out her other songs, especially the more recent 'Dame de Lotus' and 'Flowers',
in English.
I
found this gem in the local newspaper this morning -
Long
time no see! Yes, sorry. No blog updates in two months... *sigh* I guess I don't
really want to talk about myself on here anymore, it's that depressing. So
instead, I thought I'd talk about something else.