Tag: Robbie Williams

A bit of this and that

MiaLeave a comment
surfer inside a wave
Photo by Kammeran Gonzalez-Keola on Pexels.com

Aquadynamic is a problematic word to make a post about. But I can describe my current emotions. If you haven’t noticed, it was a month ago that I posted on this blog. I don’t know, but somehow I haven’t had the right feeling to write anything. Let’s just say life has come before everything else. My filmmaking education started at Helsinki Design School last week. The first meeting was last Wednesday and Thursday. I think it went well. My schoolmates are OK, I guess. Getting to know people is difficult when you hardly have any breaks. Lunch break, perhaps, but we have different tastes. Since it’s in Helsinki, I like to walk in the city alone. I know the centre by heart since I’ve been there many times. I do some sightseeing and go to school. Two flies at one hit, so to speak. The education in itself is engaging. I already know something about filmmaking since I’ve studied screenplay writing, but a repeat doesn’t hurt. There will be something new too. We get assignments that we have to do to pass the course. The good thing about studying film is that you can watch movies or movie scenes. The problem is trying to analyse scenes. That’s what the assignments we have this time. We have two tasks since it was two days. The deadline is November 18. Our next meeting is on Nov. 17. Before that, I have no contact with my schoolmates. They all have WhatsApp, but I don’t. Maybe I should get it, too, so I don’t get left out. I don’t have any use for it, but perhaps I could make an exception this time.

Another thing I’ve done recently was going to an ice hockey game. The local team organisation turned 100 years old last Saturday. The organisation contain several different sports teams. One of them is an ice hockey team. It was an anniversary match, so there were celebrations before the game started. There were former players, including Saku Koivu. If you follow ice hockey or the news in general, you might know who it is. He used to play in NHL, in Montreal Canadiens, to be exact. Anyway, it was a beautiful ceremony. The match was won by our team in overtime, 1-0. I don’t go to games that often. Maybe once or twice a year. But when I do, I enjoy every moment.

100 in balloons
number 100 formed on ice rink
flag rising
Photos from the event. Photos by me

I’m going to see the movie ‘Amsterdam’ tomorrow afternoon (October 19). It features Christian Bale. I don’t know what it is about, though. I want to be surprised. I watch almost anything that Bale is in. There are only a few I haven’t seen, and one of them is ‘American psycho’ That movie is too creepy for my taste. It’s pretty expensive to go to the movies. I belong to a movie panel where they send surveys to take, and then you get small amounts of money. When you “collected” 10 euros, you get a free movie ticket. Sometimes you need to pay 3 euros, but that’s a small price to pay. I’ve already seen 4 movies this year. Tomorrow it’s the 5th time. I also went to the movies during covid, but not so often. I choose what movies to watch. Sometimes it’s not worth going to the movies because they will be shown on TV or streaming services anyway. Nothing beats a movie theatre, though. It’s for the big screen that makes a movie unique. Life without entertainment is no life at all.

I already have plans for next year. I’m going to see Robbie Williams again on March 5. The last time he was here was in 2017. I thought then that I wished I could see him live one day again, and the day did come. It will be the first time I’ve seen an artist twice. When opportunity knocks, take it, I would say. To think that I didn’t like big crowds when I was younger. I never thought I would, but I guess age makes you braver. You get used to it when you get out of your comfort zone more often. It’s pretty nice out there, after all.

My few concert experiences

MiaLeave a comment
concert
Photo by Sebastian Ervi on Pexels.com

I wanted to go to a concert when I was a teenager in the 1990s, but my mother didn’t let me. At the time, foreign bands didn’t come to Finland that often. You had to travel to Stockholm, Sweden. But sometimes, they did, which was great. The American boyband, New kids on the block, was the first band I wanted to see live in concert. Perhaps the tickets were expensive, so my mother didn’t want to pay for them. The same with the British boyband, Take That. They haven’t been here since then. I’ve only seen their concert on TV and once in a movie theatre. But it’s not the same. They’re still around, but they succeed more in their own country. I haven’t heard their songs on the radio anymore. But thanks to Spotify, I can listen to them.

I have never been into festivals. I think I have only been in one, but that was a free one. I have no memory of it, but I’m sure I have been into one. There are always some bands or artists I can’t stand at festivals. Concerts are more my kind of events. It took until 2017 that I got the courage to go to a concert. Before that, I didn’t like big crowds and didn’t have the money to go, either. The first concert was by Robbie Williams. That was the moment I got the going to concerts- bug. It was such a great experience. It’s the atmosphere and feeling of seeing your favourite artist in real life. You’re there with other people who have the same favourite as yours. The best part of a concert is when the audience sings along to the songs. The performer loves the feeling too.

This year, as you might know, I went to two other concerts. The one I really looked forward to seeing was Duran Duran. (FYI, today it’s Duran Duran Appreciation Day) You can read about the concert from the link to the band’s name in this paragraph, so I don’t need to repeat it. It was worth waiting for. Who knows if they will come back to Finland again. I can’t afford to travel aboard to see concerts, so they better get here instead.

I don’t usually do things without thinking, but when the American band Toto would come to my city, I didn’t think twice about it to go. I’m not that familiar with their music, but I know their hits. They’ve been around since 1977, with different line-ups since then. I listened to their other songs before I went to the concert. They composed most of the soundtrack to the original movie, Dune, in 1984, so they’ve also done songs without words. In the concert, there were awesome different instrument solos. I’ve always been fascinated by how some people can play instruments so well. I can hardly play easy songs.

In concerts, the volume is so loud, so sometimes you don’t hear what a band is playing or saying between songs. No wonder they have earplugs in their ears when they perform. Loud noises are not suitable for your hearing in the long run. I haven’t used earplugs. It’s a bit scary to put them inside my ears. My hearing is still great, anyway. The concerts should be heard as intended, loud and live. It’s only for a short period anyway. It can take years before I go to concerts again. If only that Elton John concert wouldn’t have been cancelled. It would have been next year. Oh, well that’s how it goes sometimes. You can’t always get what you want. Not even in concerts.

Music makes my heart flutter

Mia3 Comments
illustrated sheet music notes
Made in Canva

There are a lot of ways to add the word ‘music‘ to sentences. Thank you for the music. Music for my ears. Music makes the people come together. We all have our favourites when it comes to music taste. You don’t need to listen to what others are listening to. It doesn’t matter what age you are. You can still listen to classical music even if you’re a teen. For me, music is a part of life. It’s an escape or it can be something that inspired you. It helps you through your sorrow. It makes your heart flutter with joy. I don’t what I would do without music. It would be very silent for sure.

I’ve written about music on this blog before. Here are a couple. I don’t want to repeat things so you have to read it yourself if you want.

Music is my life
Symphony for my ears

I’ve only been once in a live concert and that was Robbie Williams in 2017. I don’t know how that Elton John concert in September will go so I’m not gonna add that yet. That would be my second. I’ve been to performances but I think they were playbacks. Live music is totally different. It should because if it isn’t live, it’s better to stay home and listen to a record instead. Or places like Spotify. I loved the Robbie Williams concert and I wish I could experience the live concert feeling again. Fingers crossed for the Elton John concert that it won’t be cancelled because of this coronavirus thing.

I always have the radio on or listening to lists I created on Spotify. I have the paid version since last December because I couldn’t stand the ads. I listen to all kinds but pop and rock are the best. I especially love 80’s music. On Spotify, you can find songs you haven’t heard for years. I mostly listen to classics but sometimes I like new songs too. A lot of bands and artists I like are still active. I still buy CD’s so not all music is online. I love singing to tunes I really love. When I’m alone though. There is no place for a live audience. Even if I haven’t listened to a song for years, I still remember the lyrics. The songs still flutter my heart years later. I think I never get tired of them.

You hear the names of new artists and bands but you don’t listen to their music. But I’m not that interested to follow the music industry the way I did when I was a teenager. There are so many older bands and artists to care about so there is no time for anything new. Unless it’s a new song for a movie. Like the new James Bond song sang by Billie Eilish. ‘No time to die‘ A lot of people complained about it before it was even released. Then when they heard it, they got on the bandwagon and saying it’s the best Bond tune ever. I don’t get how people judge music before they even heard it. I don’t usually find new songs I like by new artists but this one I liked it from the start. It really got that Bond feels to it. Her voice suits it very well too.

So music flutters my heart when it’s something I like. If I didn’t have Spotify on my mobile, I would probably only listen at home. Trips without music would be a very boring one. Then you would have to listen to other people chatting about things you don’t want to hear about. Sometimes when I’ve travelled by bus, the internet connection has failed so I couldn’t listen to music but at least my mobile (old and newer) has a radio. Once I forgot the headphones at home so I couldn’t listen to anything and it was hell. The trip felt forever. Music does make time go faster. I can even concentrate better if there is music in the background. It’s talking that disturbs me the most. Hearing neighbours talking or the noise outside, makes me lose focus. Music is better than having to listen to things that make you upset. Music will always be a part of me and that’s how I keep going.