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I was going to write a review of the Beekeeper but I just can't! I got my studio copy today (signed by Tori herself!) and I'm all squee. It's a really good album!

As always, my modifications (there's 19 tracks, there's got to be some iffy ones):
-Ireland. "Shananana, shananana, driving in my Saab to Ireland, shananana!" WHAT THE FUCK? It sounds like Atomic Kitten! It's so cheesy, I just can't take this song seriously. Tori's music is not supposed to make me go into hysterics. Get rid of it! arg! I honestly can't believe this is her! It really sounds nothing like her.
-Cars and Guitars. Again, what's this about? It honestly sounds like cheesy elevator music. "Chachachachachaa" wtf?! And Tori's voice sounds odd. Are you sure this is her? I can't think what song this reminds me of, but it's BAD. I like the lyrics, but it needs a makeover. Seriously. Um, I like the drive through bit. But it can be cut too, just for the awful way it starts and the "chahachacha"s. At least I don't skip Ireland everytime.
-Hoochie Woman. I don't mind this song, it's funky, but still very cheesy. It sounds like the next 'Leather.' But lol! "Hoohoohoo! You can keep your hoochie. Hoohoohoo! You can keep the house. Hoohoohoo! And the bank accounts because (ahhhh) boys, I bring home the bacon, I bring home the bacon NAOW!" (yes she does pronounce the a). Again, cut because Tori really shouldn't make me go into fits of giggles.

I'm pretty sure that the record company is going to release those as singles. It just figures, with how out of touch with the public record companies are these days.

That is actually it. The rest I'm still too busy being excited over, but they're the only changes I'd make - none to the track listing. I'm not too fond of The Beekeeper (the title track) or Ribbons Undone, but they can stay. I'm not feeling that mean at the moment to get rid of anything else.

The only other thing I'm disappointed with is the backseat that the organ takes. I was hoping for it to be really outspoken and noticeable, but it's barely heard, it's almost drowned out by the other instruments (piano, drums and bass mostly). But I do love the touch of the gospel choir - they really give the album an individual feel, I wish they were used more on other tracks, rather than just Witness and Sweet the Sting.

Barons of Suburbia sounds a lot like Precious Things, but in a good way. And Goodbye Pisces has a real 'oriental' feel to it (the verses, anyway). I think it's just the combination of the piano and the way she sings. The Damien Rice duet is good, he's a nice touch to the song (like Past the Mission and Trent Reznor), but I think it'd be just as good without (as on the DVD). Though I do think Tori is losing it, PIECE BY PIECE LOL: "I have my little pleasures, this wall being one of these." Um, I'm glad to see motherhood and marriage haven't changed her craziness. :) The fact that in the first track (Parasol) she says "since the call came I haven't moved," and "the call came" sounds like "the cocaine," doesn't help, either. :D crazy lady.

Photo of the CD here: http://pictures.greatestjournal.com/userimg/3367001/22156 :D

I want to write to her and say thank you, because I hadn't expected it to be signed to me and it was a really nice thing for her to do, but I don't have an address to write to and I don't want to sound creepy. Hmm.

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AMAZON HASN'T SENT MY COPY OF THE BEEKEEPER! STILL. *twitch* IT CAME OUT YESTERDAY! I tried going into town to look for it, but the only shops that sold it (WHSmiths and Woolworths) didn't have the special edition, just the regular CD. Dammit! And I can't even find it anywhere to download. :( Tori hates me.

I had a really odd dream last night. I was in a school, but it wasn't one I've ever been to (although they had Herts and Essex uniforms on), and it was more like a maze. Suddenly someone started shooting people, and it ended up being a bit frantic. I with someone (I'm not sure who) and we got split up, but agreed to meet up later outside, but he never got there, and I waited and waited but nothing. So I went back inside, as things seemed to be calming down, and I couldn't find him anywhere. And later when they had a trial of the man who did it, all I could think about was that he'd killed the person I loved. Then I woke up, wondering where I was. I guess that's what I get for eating chocolate before I go to bed.

I have my stats exam at 2. Not sure if I should phone up the Doctors and ask for a note or not, because I've done no revision all weekend as I've felt so ill, and I don't really feel up to going. Nic, who's friends with people on my floor, also has mumps, so maybe I do have it. I don't think it's worth taking the risk. But I've never had to ask for a Doctor's note before, so I'm not quite sure what I should do/say. Um. I've never actually skipped school/lectures/exams before with a legimiate reason.

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Not only am I easy, I also apparently have a fat and ugly face.

Gee, thanks :P

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So maybe I'm not dying, but it certainly feels like it :( I look like a hamster, dammit!

So, Tori has a new album out on Monday - the Beekeeper. I hope everyone is planning on going out and buying a copy! I've pre-ordered mine from Amazon, because there's nowhere in Bangor to get new CDs from (WHSmiths and Woolworths are the only places that might sell it, but not on the day it came out). Some people who pre-ordered theirs from Amazon have received their copies already, but apparently Tori doesn't love me enough :(

I would love to make a harpsichord record. But sometimes I make certain decisions because I go, "You know, if I do this, then I might be touring tiny little 50-seaters in Germany." And to be quite honest, I don't really like the food in Germany. So the harpsichord has to be just a fragment of the next record. You have to make your choices knowing that there are going to be consequences. Just say, "I can't get fucked off if KROQ doesn't want to play my harpsichord record." If you want to do that 12-tone album, then do it. but take responsibility for it.

I wish she had. Boys for Pele is my favourite Tori album, it's amazing - and moreso because of the harpsichord, which is sexy and deep and spooky, all at the same time. It blows me away every time. It's an even better album with my slight modifications:
Deleting of the Professional Widow remix - putting it in the middle of the album was such a stupid idea. Whoever thought of that should be shot, or at least lose their job. It completely ruins the flow of the album. If you must keep it, it can go at the end as a bonus track (which would make much more sense, to be honest).
Addition of In the Springtime of His Voodoo, inbetween Doughnut Song and Putting the Damage on. I don't know why they decided to take this off the newer copies (I know mine doesn't have it), as it fits really well. Doughnut and Damage are both quite depressing, slow break-up songs, putting Voodoo inbetween them stops you from wanting to slit your wrists at the end.
and keeping the Talula Tornado mix inbetween Little Amsterdam and Agent Orange - the original just isn't as good. And putting it as track 12 (between Way Down and Amsterdam) just didn't work.

You can also get rid of Horses/Beauty Queen, and have Blood Roses as the beginning track - which to me makes much more sense. They're good songs, but they just have too much silence at the beginning to make them good start tracks. You need to start an album with a strong, catchy song, which is what Blood Roses is. It works with all her other albums - you don't mess with a winning formula. I tend to skip Horses everytime I listen to it.

Stand out tracks? Well. it's better to ask what ones I don't like. Not the Red Baron (the beginning bit bugs me), Agent Orange (it just seems pointless), Twinkle (far too slow) and Marianne (it bores me). I would get rid of Twinkle as the last track, but it seems depressing to end the album on "you're just so pretty, when you're putting the damage on." Somehow, ending it with some strange crap about watching stars (no, I don't actually have a clue what it's about, which is another reason why I don't like it so much :P) is just a lot better - more positive. It makes it seem like there is hope out there, it's not the end of the world type of thing. I love the way the CD just builds up the anger. Doughnut Song is so powerful. She doesn't sound angry or shout (like Blood Roses), but you can tell she's angry all the same ("Happy for you, and I am sure that I hate you"), leading to sadness - "I guess I'm way beyond the pale" - which makes sense to me, whenever I get angry I end up crying afterwards.

This album is what inspired me to learn piano in the first place (so I could learn harpsichord). I really cannot wait for Monday to arrive :D Her book has really built up my anticipation of it, she talks about it a lot and it sounds really good. Organs! I've read so many positive reviews of it, too, which is always good. I don't like the single, Sleeps with Butterflies, much, but it does actually sound better when performed live, and apparently it's not a very good representation of the whole album anyway. You can download a copy of Garlands here, one of the bonus tracks from the new album. 8.20 long! It's okay, it's good to hear Tori alone with her piano again, but it's not my favourite song of hers.

I'm going to stop there, before I sound like I'm really obsessed. :p
lol, I do actually think about other things that don't involve pianos or Tori! Honest.

In other news, it's exactly one month til I come home! woot. I've got to get another driving test booked today, too (although I also need money to cover driving lessons, since I can actually barely afford the test). I have to revise for my tests this week too. No mumps means I actually have to do them. Crap.

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I don't have mumps. I just have a throat infection. If it gets worse after the weekend, I have to go back. I'm so sore, I'm in so much pain. He can't give me anything as it's a virus, but says to just take lots of paracetemol and drink fluids. Arg.

I guess not having mumps is a good thing, but so much pain. It's gotten worse even while I was just sitting in the waiting room, and the Doctor poking me did not help. Ow.

I have a sign on my door of a picture of a hamster now. :(

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I think I've got mumps :'(

Last night my right gland on my throat started really hurting, I took some tablets but it wouldn't go away. Everyone kept telling me to calm down, Darren couldn't have given me mumps - if it was mumps, both sides would be sore and swollen. So, just to increase my paranoia, this morning the other one was sore too (although not as sore as the other side). Instead of doing the logical thing and going to the Doctors to find out one way or the other, I chickened out and came home again. I'll go Monday, if it's got worse.

I'm really low on energy, I didn't sleep much last night as it hurt to lean on my side, I've got no appeitite as it hurts when I do eat.

On the bright side, if I do have mumps, it's an excuse to stay in bed, read, listen to Tori, finish Doom 3, miss the exam Tuesday and not do any coursework (and get an extension). I might even go home, if my Dad will come get me, and that'd be nice. I hate being at Uni when I'm not feeling well, I miss being looked after and fussed over like I am at home.

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lol.

From my conversation with Jack, who's coming back from his gap year in Austrailia next week:

L€çÅ®i: kangaroos!
L€çÅ®i: have you seen any real ones?
Jack: not around
Jack: i thought they were gonna be roaming the streets when i got here, but noooooooo
L€çÅ®i: koalas?
L€çÅ®i: coyotes?
L€çÅ®i: roadrunners?
Jack: they dont roam the street either
L€çÅ®i: (are they even in Austrailia?)
L€çÅ®i: damn.
Jack: nor do they
L€çÅ®i: bears?
Jack: lol
L€çÅ®i: do they raid your bins?
Jack: bears, lol
L€çÅ®i: um. racoons?
Jack: thats america claire
Jack: wrong country
L€çÅ®i: I don't know what animals you get in Austrailia.
L€çÅ®i: how about a platypus?
L€çÅ®i: they're in Austrailia aren't they?
Jack: yeah
Jack: you get them
L€çÅ®i: OMG
L€çÅ®i: I WANT A PET ONE
Jack: lol
L€çÅ®i: have you seen one?
Jack: get one then
L€çÅ®i: they're so funny! what mutants!
Jack: HAHA!
L€çÅ®i: apparently they're 'poisonous' or something.
L€çÅ®i: I want to poke them with sticks. and laugh.
L€çÅ®i: "haha you're a freak! GUTTED! YOU LOOK LIKE A DUCK. BUT YOU'RE AN OTTER! HAHAHA!"
Jack: LOL!
Jack: yeah, they are poisenous and freaks
L€çÅ®i: Do you get armadillos?
Jack: i actually dont know
L€çÅ®i: oh
L€çÅ®i: how about turtles?
Jack: but i hear you can get roasted armadillo in some country
Jack: yeah, you get turtles
Jack: they're so weird
L€çÅ®i: I know!
L€çÅ®i: haha
L€çÅ®i: you'd take one look at it and feel so much better about your day.
L€çÅ®i: at least 50% of the world's population knows you exist.
Jack: lol
Jack: you meaning me or you meaning the platypus?
L€çÅ®i: lol you
L€çÅ®i: no one believes they're real!
L€çÅ®i: it's like an international conspiracy
Jack: lol
Jack: how can people not belive they exist, they DO exist!
L€çÅ®i: when they were invented everyone thought it was a joke.
Jack: invented, lol
L€çÅ®i: and how do you know, have you seen one?
L€çÅ®i: well. discovered then.
Jack: you make it sound like they were made in a factory lol
L€çÅ®i: they were made in a lab when someone thought it would be amusing to combine duck and otter DNA. it was an accident!
Jack: lol
L€çÅ®i: then they escaped and ran away to Austrailia, just like all the other freaks.
Jack: lol freaky aussies
L€çÅ®i: and bred.
L€çÅ®i: it's like Lilo and Stitch!
L€çÅ®i: except they (probably) aren't aliens.
L€çÅ®i: then someone like Bill Oddie found them, and they were screwed.
L€çÅ®i: the Government couldn't cover it up again :(

Hahaha.

You know I'm right. Yes, this was chocolate induced.

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I was going to write an entry about Valentine's Day and how it sucks, is over commercialised, and how it's just empty and hollow, and people should appreciate you all year round and not just on one day. Then I got two Valentine's Day cards, and it doesn't seem quite right.

To be fair, I do buy my friends/boyfriends presents all year round, just because I feel like it and have the money to, not for any special occasion. And if I do get people presents on Valentine's Day it's never the conventional chocolates and flowers (or at least not just that), because that wouldn't really mean anything to most people, it'd just make it seem more fake - if they love/know you that well, they'd get you a real present. Like American McGee's Alice (last year) or Watership Down on DVD (the year before), that you'd mentioned the once and they rememebered. Um. Even though I don't really agree with it, I don't think you're really bowing down to commercialism if you buy someone a computer game or DVD or something that they've wanted for a long time, or if you make a card/write a letter - it's not like companies count those towards Valentine's Day sales. And it's nice just to have something to keep and to look at, to remind yourself that people do care when you're feeling a bit lonely (and that goes for things given to you on any day, not just Valentine's).

My card from James said I was easy, but it's sweet and I love it all the same. No, he's not going to live that down. Ever! :p Even if it wasn't meant that way, it's still funny. And Dann's was a bit of a half-assed effort. "Insert message here." I'm sure you can do better than that! No excuses.

/start obligatory introduction post.

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Okay. Second time running.

I bowed into peer pressure and got a blog. Then found out I already had one, so didn't really need to anyway. I started the trend! I'm the coolest of you all.

Now, if only my PC would stop giving me "page cannot be found" errors, or displaying the "please re-enter your username and password" page constantly, I'm sure I'd use this site much more.

Hi. I'm Claire.

/end obligatory introduction post.