Muse-ic

So, most of my life I've listened to classical music. Had to learn it for grade piano, and listened to it mostly because of the parents. Weird way to start a post? Yes, I know, but keep reading, and it shall become more clear (hopefully).

When I started reading 'Twilight' I read the acknowledgements and thanks (yes, I'm one of those people who actually reads those pages - anyone else do that, too?) and kept noticing the band Muse being mentioned over and over again as a thanks for inspiring the writer. As I had only noticed in passing that this band had one song in the 'Twilight' movie (which I thought was great until I read the book) I didn't really know much about them. I was like "What is with this band? What is so good about them that she keeps thanking them? Puh-lease?!" That has changed quite a bit...

I started checking them out on YouTube (thank you, you wonderful site!) - finding the songs that Stephenie Meyer put up as her songlists to go with the books. I found 'Starlight' first of their songs, and have loved it as one of my two favourites since. 'Invincible' and 'United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage' are two others that I can easily listen to over and over again for an hour each.

One reason why I love their music so much is because of the piano work, and how well it fits in nicely with the bass and drums - as well as any other instruments they have in that piece. The 'Exogenesis' pieces are terrific for listening to for the piano in them and 'United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage' has a rendition of Chopin's Nocturne in Eb within it - one of my favourite pieces to play on the piano (and one that I can play really badly at times). Listening to their music seems to relax me more than my usual favourites of MatchBox20 and U2. Maybe because they seem to include a lot of classical structures into their songs, especially in their latest album 'The Resistance'. It isn't obviously classical if you didn't know the composers, but there are instances where Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Gershwin are very prominent in Muse's music, and they are just the ones that I can recognise easily.

That is one reason why I now own five of their albums (none of the live show ones), and am impatiently waiting for them to come to Australia in December when I can finally see them live.

Well, if you hadn't guessed, since first checking them out back in late May (though I had the books of the 'Twilight' series since early-mid April, I thought that I wouldn't get sucked into the blackhole of 'Twilight' insania) I have become quite a big Muse fan. Hence this blog. I am wishing the wait was over already. Oh well - only another three and a bit months until the concert. Woohoo....kind of...

Okay, before I freak you people out anymore, I'll quit there.

I have a new computer...

My goodness, isn't it grand when you get something like a new computer, and it's so much faster than your old one?!

Of course, what I have bought it nothing like the top of the range things you can get for a couple of thou. Considering what I want to do on my computer - download songs/vids from the net, listen to music, use Office docs, etc - I really don't need anything superdooper.

Hence, I have myself a lovely 1TB thing, that plays my music and videos very well, without the constant stop/start movement that was starting to occur on my old one. Well, my old one was roughly 9 years old! It had done a good stint. I really don't think that I could ask for more out of it. Well, maybe a bit more, but I was going to be pushing my luck if I did.

Oh, and I can now play games on the net faster! Bonus!

Funny little 'Twilight' comic

Killers...And there is more than one...

You know you've seen a good movie when you actually come out of the cinema and go "Gee, that wasn't too bad..." That was my impression of 'Killers', starring Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher. I went in there thinking that all the funny bits were probably in the ads, but they weren't! Surprise, surprise.

I've seen a couple of movies with Katherine Heigl in them, including '27 Dresses' (which I loved so much, I actually saw it a couple of times at the movies, and got the DVD as soon as I could) and 'Knocked Up' - which was better than I thought it would be. Ashton Kutcher I'm not so big a fan of. I think the only movie I've seen him in was 'A Lot Like Love'. Really like that movie, too.

So, what made me choose 'Killers', then, if I didn't have that high an expectation of it?

Well, I was kind of bored. It was a Friday night, and I just didn't want to stay at home, with the family, again! On top of that, I actually was interested in seeing the movie.

The movie has the usual romantic comedy one-liners, to keep the audience laughing, but it also had the action, to keep the boyfriends amused, too. Probably the reason why this film appeals to both sexes more than the normal rom-com.
It starts off with Katherine Heigl joining her parents on a plane, heading (who knows where at that point) on holidays. Then it goes to Ashton Kutcher in a BEAUTIFUL red Ferrari. *sigh* (My dream car is a silver Porsche 911 - not a soft top, but I can truely appreciate a Ferrari.) The audience knows from the moment that the two leads meet in an elevator at their hotel that it's going to be good, but you don't know how good. Skip to the '3 Years Later' part, and you have the fun and games of AK's character's past catching up with him. There are funny situations (including a pregnancy test....) that make you just chuckle continuously at points throughout the movie. The whole 'Is there nobody trying to not kill me?' kind of situation that occurs often is funny, as well, with the audience actually wondering if everyone really IS trying to kill our hero and heroine.

I'm not saying that this is a great movie, but if you want a laugh for the evening, then you should go and see it. It's a good veg, and nothing strenuous on the brain.

The other killer I'm thinking about at the moment is my computer. I really am getting sick and tired of the slowness of this thing. Yes, admittedly, it is about 6 or 7 years old, but still! I know...it's probably a de-frag/delete old things/clear up all files/stop downloading things kind of problem, but still! Think it is probably time I replace it. Oh well...

Oh...and saw 'Twilight: Eclipse', again, today. Enjoyed it, again, as well.

Ciao!