More Songs Rising

More chart climbers that I liked:

Too Close, by Alex Clare (#63 billboard)
Give Your Heart a Break, Demi Lovato (#74)
Little Talks, Of Monsters and Men (#82)

billboard
See Billboard Hot 100 videos at:
chartbrain

Song Rising

Some Nights, by fun.

I predict this song is going to rise to number 1 on the charts.
Has a good drum beat thing goin' on. Makes me crank up the sound.
Their song, We Are Young, is currently more popular (because of Glee Fox TV series, evidently).

Clean Version w Lyrics
billboard
songmeanings.net
wiki
amazon

fun.
An American indie pop band based in New York City.
Formed by Nate Ruess (b. 26 Feb 1982).
With Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff.
This is their 2nd album.
photos
(They need better publicity photos. ha)

Eared Grebe

Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)


Not that interesting of a photo, but a new one to add to my bird collection.

cornell
enature
npwrc

Marshbirds and Shorebirds of North Dakota

Other grebes I have:
western grebe
pied-billed grebe

Mylo Xyloto

Listening to Coldplay:

Major Minus


Charlie Brown


Good workout songs.

Some Data Points:
Mylo Xyloto
5th studio album.
Released worldwide on 24 Oct 2011.
Preceded by Singles:
"Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" (3 Jun 2011).
"Paradise" (Sep 2011).
"Charlie Brown" (3 Feb 2012).

Mylo Xyloto is a concept album, and its content follows a story throughout. According to Chris Martin, the album is "based on a love story with a happy ending," in which two protagonists living in an oppressive, dystopian, urban environment, meet one another through a gang and fall in love.

The Making Of 'Mylo Xyloto' (YouTube)

Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John Martin (b. 2 Mar 1977).
Lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist.
Married to Gwyneth Paltrow (b. 27 Sep 1972).
Met 2002 backstage.
Married 5 Dec 2003.
Apple Blythe Alison Martin (b. 14 May 2004).
Moses Bruce Anthony Martin (b. 8 Apr 2006).

Image Creation Notes:
VM Instant Art - Colorfield Generator, VM Distortion - Brightness By Brightness, Brushstrokes for texture, Bauhaus 93 font

Previously

What Is That?

Powered Parachute on the prairie. Now that's unusual. lol He landed in a field and his pickup was nearby. I liked catching the windmill in the scene.



wiki:
"A powered parachute (motorized parachute, PPC, paraplane) is a parachute with motor and wheels.
...
In the United States, most single place PPCs are flown under part 103 of the Federal Aviation Regulations and, therefore, may be flown without a license or flight instruction. Flight instruction is, however, highly recommended, and an average student can learn to fly a PPC safely with 5 to 10 hours of flight instruction.
...
Many pilots fly from back yard strips, small airports, and mown hay fields."

images

Forsynthias

Very pretty blazing mustard yellow that really pops in the landscape.
I took photos and tried to identify.
I think it's some kind of forsynthia.

Shrub view looks more mustardy toned yellow:


Than the closeups:


Possibilities for Zones 3&4:
Meadowlark forsythia, 8-10 feet height
Northern gold forsythia, 6-8 feet height
New Hampshire gold and sunrise varieties, 4 to 5 feet height
Gold tide or citrus swizzle, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 feet height, 4 feet wide

Ref:
ag.ndsu
jamestownsun

Digital Spring Flowers

A happy accident.
A fluke.



Image creation notes:
#bdd890 green
Harry's filters, Artistic Atmospherizer
Filter Factory Gallery A Pool Shadow
VM Extravaganza Biohazard
Tweak: Clone, Burn brushes

Moonlit Shadows

This was tall morning shadows on the lawn photo.

Paint Shop Pro Post-Processing note:
Black and White Points Moonlit preset to make it blue.
Screen 80, Brightness 20 Contrast 30
Pool Shadow

Ewww

Time Stands Still

Time stands still - Ellen Warshaw
(Ref: Lipstick Jungle Episode 207)

I searched and searched for this song and finally found it. Whew. I couldn't figure out why google was giving me gettyimages.com when I wanted a song, not an image. Dummy me, huh. I'll have to dig around that site more and see what else I can find there.

Lyrics:

My eyes see yours
and there's nothing else,
is this some trick of my heart?
No sound, no breath
the world stops moving,
that's how you can see me

Time stands still, when we're together
one kiss is like forever
Is this a dream? it feels so real
Time stands still

You're what I want
when I am thirsty
I drink you into my soul
You take away
fear and confusion,
I want to stay like this

Time stands still when, we're together
one kiss is like forever
Is this a dream? it feels so real
Time stands still

Life will take us from this moment
but baby I can't wait till the moment comes again

Time stands still, when we're together
one kiss is like forever
Is this a dream? it feels so real
Time stands still...

Sunbursts

Playing with Sunbursts in Paint Shop Pro and adding some different effects to them.
These are some of my favorites I created.

Spring Doodles

Just playing in Paint Shop Pro.





What got me going on that was the google doodle for spring on the 20th.

Sara Bareilles

I don't think I've ever posted anything about Sara Bareilles music before.

YouTube:
Let The Rain (Fav)
lyrics


Breathe Again (Most Familiar)
The Light
Gonna Get Over You (I like how she dances around.)

grooveshark

Interesting Patterns

(Orange surprise is a flower tube script on a vector letter.)



Paint Shop Pro Tut:
Lacy Brocade Flower
via

The script only works with the Preset Shape category of shapes.
Vector text has to be converted to path (Objects, Convert to Path) for the script to work on text.

VectorPaint Script
VectorTube Script

More Scripts
The scripts here were for PSP8. The VectorPaint and VectorTube scripts worked in my PSPPX3.

Santa Monica Dream

Santa Monica Dream
Angus & Julia Stone

Image Creation Notes: Gradient, Lightsplash, Smudge, Color Shift, SwapShop

To Build A Home

To Build a Home
by The Cinematic Orchestra

Image Creation Notes: Gradient, Lightsplash, Smudge, Color Repeat, Colorize, Speed on text

Fireflies In The Garden

Fireflies In The Garden
I think it had the potential for being a very good movie, but it just didn't feel finished to me.
Good actors.
Worth a watch.

1. Julia Robert's part is very small. Her character bugged me because she allowed the abuse of her son, but would tell him that she loved him so much. Yuk.
2. The ending is abrupt, unrealistic, unsatisfying, didn't fit the character development. (No transformation of the father, Charles Taylor.)
3. Unresolved, unexplained, unfinished stuff. (What was the deal with the young Jane Lawrence.)
4. Supposed to be based on the director's (Dennis Lee) life? It was mentioned but not really explained on the DVD feature. He emphatically states that his father was nothing like the movie character. That didn't make a whole lot of sense to me because the abusive father is such a dominant part of the movie. He was evidently talking about the mother aspect of the movie. Julia Robert's does not participate in the feature, which is weird.

trailer
Large high quality pictures
wiki
Written and directed by Dennis Lee, the film premiered at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival, but did not get released in the United States until October 14, 2011.



"Fireflies In The Garden" References:
1. Robert Frost poem.
2. Name of Michael's book.
3. Memory of batting fireflies in the dark.

Music

I liked the music in this movie so I did some digging on that.

imdb was pretty much worthless for info.
There is a soundtrack, but several show up at Amazon with different artists, so not sure about that. More specifics below.

I looked at the DVD end credits.

The opening song is
Over The Moon (grooveshark) 2nd FAV
by The Innocence Mission

The last song during the movie is
Happy Birthday (youtube)
(also)
by The Innocence Mission

The song that plays during end credits:
Don't Hold Me Back (youtube)1st FAV
Alex Cornish (grooveshark)

More:
Follow Me (myspace)
by Makepeace Brothers (also bandcamp)

Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly) (youtube)
by Icicle Works (grooveshark)

No One Moves, No One Gets Hurt (youtube)
by Bedoin Soundclash

Amazon soundtrack related details:
Jane Antonio Cornish
Listed as Orchestrator and Producer in movie end credits.

Alexander Malter
Listed as Pianist and part of the Vincent Trio in movie end credits.

Multiple Artists
No track list at amazon.
Alexander Malter is already mentioned above.

Javier Navarrete (Amazon says Composer, but I did not find this name in the movie end credits.)
Shows up at Youtube and here. Just a few examples.

Jonathan Stockhammer (Listed as Conductor in movie end credits.)

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (Composer)
Vincent Trio [End credits listed as Alexander Malter (Piano), Christian Stadelmann (Violin), Dietmar Schwalke (Cello).]
Movie end credits says the Vincent Trio performs
Piano Trio in A Minor (op. 50) which was composed by Tchaikovsky.

Dresdner Sinfoniker (Listed as Orchestra in movie end credits.)

There were more artist names along with instrument played listed in the credits. I'm not sure where they all fit in.

Beautiful

I like the lyrics to these India Arie songs.
b. 3 Oct 1975 in Denver, Colorado
Not my usual genre (R&B) so she is unfamiliar to me.



A Beautiful Day
Lyrics
...Early in the morning
It's the dawn of a new day
New hopes new dreams new ways
I open up my eyes and
I open up my mind and
I wonder how life will surprise me today...



Beautiful
Make me want to take a road trip.
Lyrics
The time is right
I'm gonna pack my bags
And take that journey down the road
Cause over the mountain I see the bright sun shinning
And I want to live inside the glow
Yeah...

myspace
grooveshark

Image1 creation notes: Gradient from scratch, VM Natural Lightsplash, Glow on Heart Preset Shape
Image2 creation notes: Gradient, Feedback, Layer Blends

Everlong And Nature Sounds

Some interesting versions of this song:
piano cover
slow it down
acoustic

Via
reddit

There's also:
naturesoundsfor.me in that above reddit link.
Here's a screenshot of the one I made and exported to OGG:


music reddits

Everlong image creation notes: Gradients, VM Shoutin' w VM Origami, Layer Blends

New Story

Image creation notes: Gradient and radial blur.