Vesper Travels

The painting below is a paid commission for one of my co-teacher’s mother, who is celebrating her birthday this next month. Guess which fairy tale this one came from.

Cynthia’s card. 9″x12″. Mixed media.

The next one is a painting I did for Sandra. She left for France yesterday after school and so I thought a Cinderella theme was suitable for her — she’s been doing all the dirty work for us the entire school year, and now she deserves a pair of good shoes for a nice walk in Paris, France (where she probably is right now).

Sandra’s card. 9″x11″. Mixed media.

My boss had once again commissioned me to paint farewell cards for the teachers who are leaving us. Of course, my work is apparently pro bono yet again. Below are the cards I’ve made for the first time in 6 months, I think.

Katrina’s Card. 9″ x 12″. Watercolor.

Adam’s Card. 9″ x 12″. Watercolors.

Nils’ Card. 9″ x 12″. Watercolors.

Don’t worry, I’m not the sort who sets their MP3 players full blast. But my earphones do roar when I listen to… ROCK MUUUSSSSIIIIC!!!

• RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
• Genre: Alternative Rock, Funk Rock

They sound pretty cool, somewhat mellow to my ears, and at times 80’s-90’s hip. I have a particulary liking for the song, “Under the Bridge” which was revised by an all-girl group in the 90’s called All Saints. Some of the other songs I liked are Californication, Otherside, Scar Tissue, and By The Way.

• PLAIN WHITE T’s
• Genre: Pop punk, Pop Rock, Indie Rock

It’s not easy for me to describe Plain White T’s music. It’s somewhat pop-rock, somewhat pop-punk and then folk rock… a bit of this and that, really. Listen to their songs Big Bad World, Natural Disaster, That Girl, I Really Want You, Last Call, and of course, 1,2,3,4 which I first saw on Channel V. It is my favorite song in their album, and the video, I thought, was really heart-warming. It’s a really good song.

• THE FRAY
• Genre: Alternative Rock?

We are all probably familiar with their hit, “How to Save a Life” which had been featured in Grey’s Anatomy. If not, then you’re probably more familiar with “Over My Head (Cable Car).” Well, they do have a few other interesting songs such as, Absolute and Never Say Never. Honestly, I find them quite EMO for my tastes so, I can’t really stand to listen to them for long.

• SMASHING PUMPKINS
• Genre: Alternative Rock

Another band of a vegetable (next to Red Hot Chili Peppers, I mean). This band sounds a bit like MUSE slash something else except, I didn’t quite like the voice of the vocalist. He sounded like Alice Cooper. Not that I don’t like Alice Cooper, because I do, but… well… I just found it weird that here’s a MUSE-sounding band with Alice Cooper as vocalist. Sorry, it just really sounded weird to me. So far, I have only like one song of theirs, which is called The Rose March.

• NIRVANA
• Genre: Grunge, Alternative Rock

I am quite familiar with Kurt Cobain. I was still in my early teens when I’ve read about his death on Newsweek or Time magazine. Everybody seemed to be mourning for this unheard of guy, a rockstar, who committed suicide at the age I’m now. Well, a decade and a half later, here I am listening to his music for the first time. Now I know the song, Smells Like Teen Spirit. I really am well behind the times in the rockin’ world. Anyway, so I find myself listening to Nirvana’s music now and then, especially when I’m on my way to school on a Moto.

• THE CALLING
• Genre: Post grunge, Alternative Rock

I miss them. I miss pretty blonde boy Alex. Where are they? Alex Band, the vocalist, has the most prominent rocker voice evah! I love to hear him sing! Their songs Wherever You Will Go and Could It Be Any Harder are the popular ones. One by One, Our Lives, Chasing the Sun, and Surrender are also a few of their pretty good songs.

• METALLICA
• Genre: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock

Who would’ve thought that after a decade of so, I would be listening to Metallica?? Marichu, a friend and classmate of mine in college introduced them to me. Well, technically it was Sam R. who did when he recommended the song Unforgiven to me (or was it Nothing Else Matters, I forgot), giving me piano sheet of the song back in High School. Anyway, when I listened to the tape Marichu lent me, they literally gave me a headache. I wasn’t ready for hard rock then. I was very much a Classical girl at that time. So right then and there I decided that I didn’t like heavy metal. But now… lookie here! I actually like The Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters.

• GARBAGE
• Genre: Post Grunge, Alternative Rock

I’ve been a Garbage fan since last year I really like their sound. I can listen to any of their songs for a long time without tiring. Only Happy When it Rains, I Think I’m Paranoid, When I Grow Up, Bleed Like Me, and Why Do You Love Me. They’re a pretty rockin’ smokin’ band!

****

I’m now somewhat alone in this bar, except for a couple or so guys behind me (one of whom is probably the owner of this bar) and they are talking about rock music (or, I now realize, organizing their playlist). How nice is that? They were exchanging names of great bands, a bunch of which are unfamiliar to me, and then I caught one of them saying something about Journey — and he said it’s “cheesy.” I stifled a laugh after hearing that. Wow. Journey? Cheesy? Okaaayyyy… . Dunno how Journey fans feel about that. haha!

More sound reviews:

• FRANZ FERDINAND
• Genre: Dance punk, alternative rock, experimental rock

There’s nothing about them to catch my interest except their band name. I’ve ignored them for a long time not until I heard them on Channel V and thought they sounded pretty cool. So grabbed a copy of their album Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, and I’ve been digging their songs “Katherine Kiss Me,” “Turn it On,” “Lucid Dreams,” “Dream Again,” and “Ulysses.” They sound like Muse, but not quite. Like Oasis, but not really. Like something familiar, but not that much. Har har.

• OASIS
• Genre: Rock, Britpop

I have heard of Oasis ever since their popularity in the late 90’s. However, I have never been familiar with any of their songs. So I finally convinced myself to grab hold of a copy of their latest album, “Dig Out Your Soul” and found to my dismay that I don’t dig them at all. I was only indifferent to their songs and found my fingers pressing the next button everytime. No wonder at the peak of their popularity I still didn’t manage to remember any of their songs, or receive any lasting impact from them. Sorry, guys. They’re just not my type of group.

• ELLA FITZGERALD & LOUIS ARMSTRONG
• Genre: Jazz, Standards

Doesn’t this just prove to you I am not all rock and rolla? I looooove Jazz and I loooooove Ella Fitzgerald, queen of scat, first lady of Jazz! Hers is probably the most beautiful of voices ever heard on Earth. Anyway, I just love her duets with Louis Armstrong and I couldn’t resist not to buy a copy. “Dream a Little Dream (of Me)” will always be my favorite of their duets, but to add to my new favorites I like the following: “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love),” “Stompin’ the Savoy,” “Don’t Be That Way,” “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “These Foolish Things,” I’m Putting All My Eggs in the Basket,” and more actually. Anyway,…

• BILLIE HOLIDAY
• Genre: Jazz, Standards

Of course, I can’t just stick to Ella forever. I had to check out Billie Holiday too, another great female Jazz vocalist. Her voice isn’t as sweet as Ella’s, but there’s a quality to it that suggest sorrow, anguish, sadness, and just the stuff that could make you relate to the song. Her voice is truly unique. She’s made famous the songs, “God Bless the Child,” and “The Strange Fruit.”

• PINK FLOYD
• Genre: Progressive Rock, Psychedelic Rock

I’m not through evaluating their songs yet, but one thing I can say about them — they are VERY musical. It’s all about the accompaniments, and less on the lyrics. I kinda like that. More about them later.

• P.O.D. (Payable On Death)
• Genre: Alternative Metal, NU Metal, Rap Core, Christian Metal

Interesting group. Considered “Christian Metal,” although I find it difficult reconciling the idea of Christian music with Heavy Metal. That’s just… hmmmm… not coventional. Anyway, I like their hearing-impairing songs, angst-sounding music, and overall approach to, er, Christian music. Don’t get me wrong, I do like them. In fact, I like the songs which were previously popular “Youth of the Nation” and “Alive,” as well as “Boom,” and another which had a Jamaican feel to it. I can’t remember the song. It’s not on my playlist right now. Anyway, I just thought that for a Christian metal group, their songs weren’t “gospelly,” in the sense that the lyrics were mostly ambiguous up to some degree, and did not really deliver ‘the good news.’ Maybe I just had certain expectations they weren’t able to live up to.

• ADELE
• Genre: Soul, Alternative Pop Rock

She’s a Grammy Award winner and her album “Adele: 19″ is in every CD store in the city. After hearing one of her songs on Channel V, I’ve decided to listen to her album. Actually, it’s pretty good! Award-deserving. I haven’t formed a favorite yet. Each of her songs have something endearing about it. They are soulful, something in line with Duffy’s style, and they were pretty deep, in the emotional sense. She’s worth checking out.

• ASTRUD GILBERTO
• Genre: Bossa Nova, Latin Jazz, Brazilian Jazz

My mum just loooooves Astrud! And listening to her makes me feel as if my mum’s just nearby. Actually, listening to Jazz music  or the Beatles makes me feel as if my parents are just around, regardless of where I may be on the planet. So apparently I miss my folks, and listening to their favorite songs/music bring the illusion that I never left home.