If you have come to the conclusion that I have been a lazy blogger lately, you would be partially correct! The number of posts per week has gone waaaay down over the past few weeks. I apologize. Acclimating to my new position at work, myriad other little projects that need doing, and the desire to just sit and rest have taken up much of my time lately. Add to that the fact that our work computer and phone system is down (no blog visiting during work time! the horror!) and you’ll see why I have been absent. I’ll be back on track soon. Today’s post will be a bit schizophrenic, hence the title. Put your seat belts on, folks, and away we go.
Spring weather has arrived, and with it my desire for all the things I associate with this time of year. One of which is Celtic music. Months ago I was excited to see that Celtic Woman was releasing a new concert DVD. Though it has been out for awhile now, it wasn’t until this weekend that the mood struck and I rushed out to purchase it. You may recall that back in August of ’05, Mary and I traveled to St. Louis to see Celtic Woman perform (Mary reminded me the other day of the Story of An Ass incident which occurred just before the concert).
This DVD was filmed on location in Ireland at the beautiful Slane Castle. The aerial shots of Ireland in the ‘behind the scenes’ feature alone are worth the price of the DVD. This show includes some songs that are on the previous DVD but largely is made up of new songs. When Mary and I saw them in concert they sang a very fun song that I was hoping would be included on this disc. I was not disappointed. The song is ‘At the Ceili’ (pronounced like Kaylee on Firefly).
The lighting was wonderful, the dresses (and the women in them) gorgeous, the singing, magical. Hayley Westenra has joined the group and she is marvelous. Each of these women has such an amazing voice and Mairead’s violin playing is even more wonderful than on the first concert DVD. She is such an incredible violinist, and you know how much I adore female violin players.
This is an album/DVD that I highly recommend.
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It is no secret that I love Lisa Snellings-Clark. She was the inaugural artist in my Artisan Series, a precursor of sorts to the Friday Favorites. I look at Red fondly on my bookshelf every day. She has exciting news on the horizon that yours truly has the honor of being a part of. I will say no more so as not to spoil the news. Keep watching this site, and her site, for more details.
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For those of you, like me, who are book collectors and have become John Scalzi fanatics, Subterranean Press is releasing collectors editions of his books Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades with cover and interior art by Vincent Chong (example above).
I love the John Harris covers on my versions of the books, but this is very, very tempting.
They also have a collector’s edition of Neil Gaiman’s forthcoming book M is for Magic. It looks to be a collection of previously released stories with artwork by Gahan Wilson. Not being a Wilson fan, I am not as excited about this book. Sorry, GW. Interestingly this collection is being touted as ‘all ages’…there are some stories in here that I personally wouldn’t consider to fall in that category, but maybe that is just me.
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The inaugural issue of the re-tooled e-zine Estella’s Revenge is online. As previously mentioned, the magazines’ focus has shifted to the literary world, so all of you book lovers should check it out. I hope to participate in future issues and Andi is open to work from you for future issues. Go check it out!
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I, and many others, have posted about book cover art and its effect on the purchasing habits of the masses. Ken over at Neth Space has posted an interesting discussion about book cover art here. Ken and I have somewhat differing opinions which makes it very fun to argue with him. And by ‘argue’ I mean the equivalent of two old ladies sipping tea and exchanging polite remarks. 😉 Pop on over and weigh in on the subject. There is no right or wrong opinion on this one but it is fun to read people’s thoughts on the subject.
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And, to end up your Tuesday travels, Colleen Gleason has declared it Sean Bean Day on her site. Head on over there and celebrate.
Have a great day, everyone!
Ugh – I can’t stand the Celtic Women. I really enjoy tradition Celtic-folk music, so the most frustrating part of the Celtic Women is to see the potential they have and then have my ears bleed from the easy listening neo-pop crap they tend to sing. I’ve tried to like them, but I almost started throwing stuff at the TV the last time I tried to watch the PBS show of theirs. I’ll take the Chieftains or equivalent any time.
Careful with the ‘arguing’, I may just have to spill my tea in defiance.
You know Eminem is being called to testify on account of him not playing at Slane Castle.
You are your loose associations 🙂
No Neth, not more things we disagree on! I don’t even like tea! 😉 Sorry, love the ‘neo-pop crap’ as well as the more traditional stuff like Ave Maria, Scarborough Fair, etc. Good stuff!
I am indeed, Fence! 😉
Oh my…oh my Boromir, yum! His death scene made me boohoo big time.
Do you watch 24? If so, did you see Denethor in it last night?
Personally, I prefer Viggo.
Hmm. I didn’t know the Celtic Women…do you like the Mediaeval Baebes? I enjoy them.
Also, isn’t it funny how actors like Sean Bean will always sort of be Boromir now, no matter what other roles they do? 🙂
Exactly, RB. Viggo will always be Aragorn for me, no matter what roles he plays.
Haven’t heard of Mediaeval Baebes, but I’ll check them out.
Don’t watch 24, Janet, but always find it odd when I see actors that I wasn’t aware of before LOTR in other roles. It excites me for them simply because I have become a champion of each of the actors/actresses in LOTR because I love the films so much. I feel the same way about the cast of Firefly.
Oh I love the Celtic Woman music and performances and I saw that performance on PBS and now want the DVD and Music CD.
I just loved that performance! Although I did think the one previous was a bit better!
Good to hear from you again Carl!
I love Celtic Music. There is a great CD publisher by the name of Narada and they put out some amazing Celtic CD’s. My favorite is Celtic Odyssey and a close second is Celtic Legacy. My on again off again girlfriend introduced me to them as she has taken Irish Dance lessons for the past 8 years. Good stuff.
I can’t wait for Poppet Planet. It sounds great!
I picked up M is for Magic yesterday (or pre-ordered it at least). I’m not crazy about the artist either, but it’s a new Neil book and it’s signed and numbered by him, so I really can’t pass it up :p I did read on his blog that there is another version being released as a larger scale release with art by Teddy Kristiansen.
Happy Sean Bean day!
Watched Celtic Woman on PBS for the second time just last night. What lovely, clear voices! Meiread seems right out of a fairy tale, doesn’t she?
Mairead is very much like something out of a fairy tale, JenClair. Watching her play is breathtaking.
I’ll have to check out the TK version of that book Chris, although I cannot blame you for picking up the collectors version. I have many, many Gaiman books and understand the need, I really do! 😉
I caught the Celtic Women on PBS and loved it, though I agree it wasn’t quite as good as their first. On the first one I think there were more of my favorites. I loved Meirhead, she is, I agree, magical. I’d love to hear a whole cd of just her playing. I wonder if anything will ever compare to LOTR, I doubt it. Just seeing Boromir makes me want to go watch the whole thing all over again.
Never a worry about the pace of your posts (this coming after I took a five-week hiatus from writing!)….
Your words and thoughts are always enjoyed….Good luck in your new position!
Ah, Sean Bean… Funny Fence didn’t ooh and aah over that mention… 😉
Wow, that was a variety of topics.. heheh
I can totally relate – I’ve been slack in my reading and blogging lately!
I read your post on female violinists, and wow, those are some sexy musicians! If Celtic music is your thing, you should also pay a visit to Cape Breton in Nova Scotia – very strong Celtic ties there (in fact, Gaelic is still spoken in some parts). And they have a famous female violinist too – Natalie MacMaster: http://www.nataliemacmaster.com/
Thanks for the link, I’ll definitely check her out!
Love Estella’s zine and am hoping my self to contribute sometime soon.
now off to Sean Bean Day!