Do You Speak Your Truth?

Knock. Knock. Who's there? Me. Again.

Are you shocked?

I know. Me too.

Posting back to back is downright a-mazing.

Here's the deal, peeps. It just smacked me right upside the head that my long awaited concert is next Friday. As in less than a week away. Yes, Train is coming to Atlanta next Friday night. I am so totally and completely psyched. I got out my IPod this afternoon, put California 37 on shuffle, and soaked it in... again. Man, I love that album.

While I was listening, I said to myself, "Robin, you have seriously got to share the deliciousness that is this album with your blog friends. So many people are still in the dark about how awesome Train is. If you start today and post at least one song off the album every day, you can cover a good many songs before C-Day (Concert Day)." So, I decided to go for it.

Then, I had to decide what to choose and why. These are always the hardest choices. Every song on this album is so revealing about Train in different ways. Stylistically, they are all a bit different, which I totally love. Don't you hate listening to a singer or band and come away thinking that every song sounds exactly the same? No chance of that with this band. They really dug deep and found their sound, which is totally unique, but not remotely the same as any other song on the album. I love that.

The other thought that kept running through my head was how honest Pat was in so many of these songs. Pat is the lead singer and does a lot of the writing, for those of you not in the know. Some of that honesty was so raw that it reminded me of another favorite singer (can I bring up Marshall Mathers and not have this become an MM post????). When you live in the spotlight and decide to write about your life, it means writing about other people. Period. And the people who were crappy to you end up not looking so good. If those people are your exes and still wield some power over you because you share kids, you have to decide whether or not you or going to live in fear of them or not. Or are you going to tell your story with fearless truth and courage? And then let the chips fall as they may. I have to say that I respect someone who steps up and lets it fly.



Anyway, this is not the first cut off the album. It isn't even a particularly long song, but I feel taps the attitude of the album very well, so I think it is a good place to BEGIN.



Knock knock, who's there?
2012 is a brand new year
Cleaning house, singing songs
Shedding light and righting wrongs
Ding dong the witch ain't dead
She's still trying to take my bread
Four more years 'til my girls all grown
Then the b*tch gotta have to leave me alone
It's all good 'cause I'm as happy as a flea
On a mountain of dogs you see
A little music cured all the hurt and put hate in six feet of dirt

I was looking for some heaven
There's no need to look no more
California 37
Took me right to heaven's door
Knock knock, woah oh
Rock and Roll
California 37 took me right to heaven's door

Here's to those who didn't think Train could ever roll again
You were the fuel that I used when inspiration hit a dead end
San Francisco got it done 415 took the 911
Thank you all for believin' in
We won't let you down again
Truth is, it was attitude
Replaced greed with gratitude
Then replaced a pretty key dude
It's all truth not being rude
Making love now, not mistakes
Working hard instead of looking for breaks
Came all the way from the eighth Great Lake
And found 37 reasons to stay

I was looking for some heaven
There's no need to look no more
California 37
Took me right to heaven's door
Knock knock, woah oh
Rock and Roll
California 37 took me right to heaven's door

I was looking for some heaven
There's no need to look no more
California 37
Took me right to heaven's door


Okay, I just had me a time with the italics, large, larger, and largest functions. For those of you not in the know, Pat is divorced with two kids. He remarried in 2004 or 2005. And he had two kids with his new wife and they are very happy. Obviously, that first marriage not so much. And they are still not getting along. However, I have seen pics of him and his two oldest kids and they are great with their dad. He doesn't talk much about they whys and wherefores of it all, but clearly it is not good! See the italicized portions for clarification.

There was speculation that Train would not bounce back. Pat talks about this in a Studio Session that I will post in a later blog. When you have discord in a band about your "sound," you have discord. They needed unity about who they were. Apparently in order to get that unity they had to pare down the band. Well, core values and goals are a must. If your destination isn't the same you will always be tugging at each other and spinning your wheels. It is a strange sort of marriage. I love the part about how they turned it around: replaced greed with gratitude and then working hard instead of looking for breaks. They realized it wasn't working at the root, which explained the lack of success on their last two albums prior to Save Me, San Francisco, which had the hit Hey Soul Sister on it. However, something had to give. And that was it. They had to strive for gratitude and hard work. And when they did, it turned everything around. They made something incredible.

Let's look at one more song for fun. This is their current single. It even has a video. As you will soon see, it is stylistically very different from everything else on the album. I love the lyrics. I love the beat. Actually, I love everything about this song. Just LOVE it.



Isn't that hilarious? I freakin' love the video, too.

They just put this T-shirt up for sale on Train's Official Website, due to fan outcry, after Pat wore it on a morning talk show. It was previously only available at the concert. Now you can buy it on their website. I wish it came in purple...




Stay tuned for more Train and some cool 3-4 minute Studio Sessions with Train to see how the new record came together. I think you tend to like a band better when you feel like you have a better sense of who the people actually are. And they are always just people. It's when they let you in and get to know them a little bit, you can see that they are really COOL people.

Stay away from those crappy Purple Scions everyone. They can be killers... lol.


all images except the T-shirt found on facebook, of course
where the crazy people live

you can find the T-shirt on Train's official website

Once Upon A Time

I haven't posted one of these in a while. I figure I better get busy because the Fall season is upon us and I haven't done much recapping of what was good about last season. I hardly think one post qualifies! I am going to start limiting these posts to my TV blog, so if you like this sort of thing, you should start following that blog. If I think of it I will make a notation that I have posted on my regular blog and link it in. However, I wouldn't place any bets on my remembering to actually accomplish this feat.

As I mentioned the last time I posted like this, picking one scene out of a season is extremely difficult. With this show, I could not do it. I thought I had it, but then I changed my mind. The show is JJ Abram's Once Upon A Time. The premise of that show is that the Evil Queen placed a curse on all of the storybook characters taking away their Happy Ever Afters. Instead, they no longer know who they are and live in our world in a town called Storybrook, Maine. They cannot leave the town. The only one who knows the truth of the matter is the Evil Queen (Regina) who is the Mayor of the town and Rumpelstiltskin (Mr. Gold). Regina's adopted son suspects the truth when he reads a book of Fairytales provided by his teacher (Snow White) and becomes determined to save the town.

JJ Abrams is also known for Felicity, Alias, Lost, and Alcatraz. I know that he has numerous movie projects to his credit. The only one immediately coming to mind is the newest Star Trek movie (the prequel). Whenever I see his name attached to something I am willing to give it a whirl. His imagination is fearless. I like that about him.

Anyway, Once Upon A Time embraced many of the style points that made Lost so much fun. It, too, rockets back and forth between past and present to tell the story. Even though the characters don't remember who they are, it doesn't change your choices so much. People don't change at the CORE. In other words, you are who you are. So, as they face challenges in this "foreign" world, the story often juxtaposes to their past when they faced a similar challenge. All of these characters are onions. I love that. Mostly because you don't really expect it in a fairy tale. In the fairy tale good is good and bad is bad. Black is black and white is white. There really was no grey. In Once Upon A Time you discover that the story has a lot more shading than you originally thought.

And people aren't just born evil. It was a JOURNEY. And it is walking that mile in their shoes that is always the most interesting part. So, you start out hating the Evil Queen because she is just so darn hateful and evil. And then at the end you find out how she got that way and it is like being turned on your head. Evil isn't born; it's made. And while you wish she had made different choices and could embrace things like forgiveness, those things, too, are taught. What happens when you are raised by evil?

So, I am going to show you two clips. The first one is a combo clip. I would have liked to show you a clip from episode 18 that really showed what happened to Regina to turn her evil, but Disney has pulled it off of youtube. This clip has pieces of it in there, along with other stuff, so it should give you a pretty good picture of what happened.



That episode changed everything we thought about Regina. She was a girl in love with a boy. She had a controlling mother who abused magic for her own ends. A little girl, Snow White, found out about this love that Regina had for the stable boy and encouraged Regina to marry him. Regina decided to leave home with her love, but told Snow that she must not tell anyone, especially her mother. However, Snow was grieving for her own mother, so when Regina's mother began to question Snow about Regina, Snow was an easy target. She easily gave up Regina's secrets, believing all that false concern Regina's mother expressed. And then Regina's mother found Regina and her love and killed him. She then forced Regina into a marriage with the king. When Regina found out what Snow had done, her heart hardened and she blamed her, her father, the whole world for her misery. They would all pay for Daniel's death. They would all be just as miserable as she was. The opposite of love isn't apathy. It is hate. And her hate just ate her alive.

Now, was it unrealistic to expect a little girl to keep a big secret like that? Of course. Did Snow reveal that secret to hurt Regina? Of course not. She thought that Regina's mother loved her in the same way that her own mother had loved her. She didn't know how wrong she was. She didn't know what kind of person Regina's mother was. She didn't understand these people at all. She was a child. However, Regina's pain over the loss of her love never allowed her to see Snow that way.

And that is what makes this scene the best of the season...



Ironically, they are both doing the things they are doing out of love. Regina is doing what she is doing out of a twisted love for Daniel. Snow is doing what she is doing out of a pure love for the man she has come to call Charming. Regina thinks that bringing a non-death to Snow White will bring her peace. It won't. She doesn't yet get that because what she really wants is Daniel back and nothing will give her that. However, Snow will have her peace because she is giving the man she loves safety, even it is at her own expense. They are living on the opposite sides of the emotional spectrum. Ironically, watching this scene I feel more sorry for Regina than I do Snow White. She has a long way to go before she will know any peace in her life.

Until you dig out all of the junk there is no room for any good stuff in your life.


image found here

How Can We Make This Fun?

We have been back home for a few days and I have been meaning to blog, but I have been busy catching up. Deep breath. Slow down. And here we are.

I had to look over my last blog to see where I ended. St. Augustine Monday morning. I was about to meet a fellow blogger.

Well, that was so much fun. My mom and I met JJ and his wife in downtown St. Augustine at a restaurant whose name I can no longer remember. However, it was lovely. And the company was great. Meeting fellow bloggers is truly a fantastic experience. You finally get to put a face and a voice to the words. And I loved JJ's wife. She is a gem of a person. Lunch went by very quickly, as it always seems to when you are having such an enjoyable time, and we promised to try and get together again.

Mom and I spent the rest of the week in the car traveling back and forth from St. Augustine to Jacksonville, Eulee (Fernandina), or South Georgia area (Kingsland, St. Mary's) to look at real estate. We left early and got home late each day. However, we did learn a lot about what was happening in the real estate market in general, what sort of house we wanted in specific, what area we preferred in each location, etc. The time was well spent, but we were both worn out by the end of the week.

It was hard to believe that when Saturday rolled around we still hadn't seen the beach. Gah.

I put another call into JJ and his wife and we met up again and we met at a restaurant on the beach and sat on the screened porch. Now, that was perfect. No sand. No actual water in my toes. But the view was amazing. And the breeze was fantastic. Of course, the company makes any situation delightful and this was no exception. We sipped on tea and then had an exceptional meal. They then came to our resort to do some more porch sitting so that we could finish out our visit. It was a lovely way to finish out our vacation.


image found on facebook, of course