Flying To The Stars

Day 19 - A song that makes you think about life:


Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection Symphony, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony was Mahler's most popular and successful work during his lifetime. It was his first major work that established his lifelong view of the beauty of afterlife and resurrection

Day 17 - A song that you would sing as a duet on karaoke:
There's a very easy answer to this question and that is n/a - I don't sing, I don't karaoke.
Samantha and Lucy, on the other hand, have been known to do a very loud and out of key rendition of Eurythmics & Aretha Franklin - Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves


Day 18 - A song from the year you were born:

I had to have a quick google to answer this and the answer is Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson "Pops" Concert Orchestra which I have vague memories of hearing as a small child.

1) Do you want to get married? I already am married, very happily for the last 13 years to the beautiful Samantha.
If the laws ever changed, we would also get married to Lucy
2) Where would you like to get married? We got married in a registry office, nothing fancy, just the two of us. Me in a suit, her in a beautiful dress
3) If you were getting married in a week, who would be in your wedding party? God now there's a question. We'd keep it small and intimate again; my son, Lucy, Samantha's father and brother.
4) What would your wedding colours be? I have no idea. Pale blues, greens and pinks? Our favourite colours.
5) Does marriage mean to you 'til death do us part?' This time around it does.

Day 15 - A song that is a cover by another artist:



2Cellos's arrangement of Thunderstruck by AC/DC
Lucy introduced me to 2Cellos earlier this year and their 'duelling cellos' are nearly as much fun to listen to as they are to watch.

This was a hard one to pick a song for. Technically, the majority of classical music are cover versions since we're not sitting listening to the original composer, but other (usually)incredibly skilled musicians playing their pieces.

Hello Jack's friends page, lucymorningstar (his girlfriend) here.

Jack has gone off on a spontaneous trip with a couple of his old air force buddies for a few days, they've all hopped on their motorbikes with their fishing gear whch really is a hilarious site and they've gone over to France. He thinks he'll be back by the begnning of next week and says he'l catch up on spamming you all with classical music when he gets back!

Bye for now!

Day 13 - One of your favourite 70's songs:

(yes, that's the full ballet. No, I don't expect anyone will watch it.)

Continuing on the theme of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and ballet we have Swan Lake. (Hey, it never specified a century and Swan Lake had it's premier in '77's... 1877!)

Day 11 - A song that you never get tired of:

Georg Friedrich Händel - Messiah: Part II: Hallelujah

One of my favourite pieces of choral music. I adore all of Handel's Messiah but I would think it safe to say the Hallelujah Chorus that closes part II is the most well-known section of it. I always end up stopping wht I'm doing to listen and pretend I'm conducting!
I love how it has this deceptively light orchestral opening before rising and swelling with almost contagious enthusiam, then closing on a final solemn note. Truly remarkable.

I like to think of myself as being a fairly open-minded guy. I try not to be to judgemental of other lifestyles, considering mine is doubly alternative but I have to admit that every so often I come across something that I simply don't get.

On the internet, recently, I have discovered one of those things.

Fan fiction.

From what I can gather, it appears to be imagining characters from a tv show or movie or even the actors playing them are gay and writing porn about it.

Lucy is quite taken with it at the moment. She assures me it's 'hot'.

On one hand, anything that can get Lucy reading is a great tool. She wants to read and gets very frustrated with herself when her attention span doesn't allow her to.
I also keep meaning to speak to Samantha about reading books vs reading on the screen if it's the format that's helping her concentrate, and would be worth getting Lucy a Kindle?

On the other hand, however, I... don't get it.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, my May the Fourth Star Wars marathon would take up an afternoon. I could start at lunchtime and be done in time for a late evening meal. It was a trilogy - not a whole lot of film watching, maybe just over 7 hours.

Then the prequels happened and so the time taken doubled. That's more of a movie marathon. Now we start to weed out the weak. And of course the last couple of years there's been more increases which is even better.

This year. This year, we actually managed to do the majority of the watching ON the day. I don't work anymore, Samantha doesn't have classes on a Thursday. The rewatch often happens the weekend after the 4th, because of work etc

We started bright and early, 8am with The Phantom Menace. We finished up at 11pm at the end of Empire Strikes Back. We were all tired, and Samantha had class again today.

This evening we finished off with Return Of The Jedi and The Force Awakens.

If there's a better way to spend one day and one evening, I don't know what it is!

Never let it be said that I do not look after my girls, or that I cannot cook. I admit I'm not the best cook in the world, much prefer to just cook meat on the bbq but this is Wales and I don't get the opportunity to do that as often as I like.

Samantha & Lucy spent the day out at Penrhyn Castle & Parc with the dogs. (I spent the day watching NCIS and Bones, my backs and knees weren't up for a day on my feet and they could do with some time together, they don't get enough) They came back all cold and wet and exhausted - but happy, which is the important thing. The dogs fast asleep in front the shower, the girls have showered and are flopped down on the couch under warm blankets. Aching feet have been rubbed and dinner has been served. I made sweet and sour pork stir-fry which was a hit all round and Lucy suggested I share the recipe.

I don't have a recipe, per se.
I mixed together pineaple juice, cornflour, tomato sauce, soy, sugar and vinegar. I threw some diced pork into a hot wok, cooked it through then set it aside. Fried the red pepper, chopped pineapple and onion, stirred in the sauce, warmed it through, added the pork back in. Served it with rice noodles. I even did the dishes!

I'm about the join them - and the cats - under the blankets and we're going to watch the 2008 Incredible Hulk. I'm not crazy about this version of Hulk, I definitely prefer Ruffalo as Banner but we're doing an MCU rewatch.