another vinyl another artist-

Actually I wonder if his music ever was to find on a CD. Maybe when you look under Jazz in your store. 

He is not so well known, but was in his time one of the best singers in Jazz/ Swing and went on to populare Hollywood music. Very much alike Frank Sinatra. And most people who knew both would not have said that one has been better then the other. As far as I know.
He was inspiring, someone with a passion and who knew to entertain.

When he made this vinyl he was just 30 years old but already has been in the show business about 25 years. 

So, no wonder he sounds very good and smooth. His songs like cremé and chocolade are pure enjoyment, thought most of them ar slow songs on this album as it was quite popular to have music to just listen to at home. 

Mel Tormé and his -It's a blue world- album is worth listening and gets never boring. No it is not a sad love song album or just an album with songs of depression and -all is hopeless- feelings. Not at all. It's quite positive, romantic and he interprets the songs with such a warm voice and deep feeling, you can't deny it makes you dream. Although this music is not that popular anymore these days, I will say you should try it no matter what, and let those songs sink into you. 

Yes, most of the songs are called classic and some are maybe still known these days.

12 songs, that's not bad, isn't it? Perfect for an afternoon with tea or coffee or even a glass wine. And you will wonder why he is so unknown, but I guess it's the way it is. Some become the big stars, others are just good singers and artist and you know what.... no matter what.... enjoy them!

LOVE & LIGHT

Dealing with depression

Actually I wanted to write about this disease and some things around it, but as I just had another shocking experience, I decided to write about us, who have not to deal with this disease but with people who have depression. 

To make it clear, if you never had a depression you will never to the fully understand it. 

It's impossible, thought even the people who have it have hard to explain. 

You can read books about depression and talk to people who open up about living with it. You even find on the internet versions of expressions like a big shadow is over you or that depression is like a dog who follows you and gets bigger and bigger until he is much bigger than you and you can't handle the dog any longer. He even is that big that you can't see the door out. 

Yes, in the beginning most affected don't see the signs themself, later they try to deal with it all alone until they finally search for help and sadly as it is many have hard to find a good therapist and the doctor/ medicine. That means depression is getting bigger and heavier. 

So we who have not the problem have hard to understand how it is not to be able to get up, to see things positive, to have problems to achieve something, even the smallest things. Yes it is hard to understand how they feel and how their motion is. Words can't describe and mostly whatever we say to get them up can bring them down and also make them feel pressure. 

I have some friends with depression and it is part of my work to deal with this disease but even I am not fully prepared for what can come. 

You know the way we see the world is not how they see it, even thought we use the same words. I had the bad luck to use a sentence which hurt that friend. I never meant to and for most of us it would not be a problem but it was. That's what I know now. 

So... I can give as many apologies as I feel but will he understand and take it? 

Yes, missunderstanding can easely happen between all of us but with people who have depression the danger is higher. One reason is, they often don't talk about their disease. Another is they, like many other people, react not immediately. And one of the most important thing is the -I feel fine- game. 

They often don't tell you how they really feel. It's hard but you have no chance but to trust that their words are true. That makes of course things complicated. When do you know they don't act and tell how they feel? And they used to be very good actors. 

The reasons are many. 

But that means you can feel everything is fine when it is not, but how could you know? 

I'm sorry if I touch a wound of another person, and more I am sad, as I did not know that it was a problem. 

I do my conversation in good spirit and never liked to be nasty.  I do critises but try always to put myself into it too. Things are for me never black and white. 

The thing is, someone who has depression can take even the smallest thing hard if you have bad luck. 

I know that, but it is always a shock when they crash frontal into me and deliver the knife I have put in them, even I was totally unaware of it. All I can say is sorry and all we can do is to hope that the other person will accept it. If all goes fine you have a good finish, but the risk that the other person will break with you and stay mad at you is high. 

You can't do much about it. Take it as it is and hope the best. 

Now we could say handle with care and watch your words but how much may I ask. 

I won't take them as china as this will kill all possibilities of having fun and you will never have the chance to get to know each other more and better. 

Yes, I have to look over things they do, have to look over many times to reactions they have, or of the way they act as they don't see it themself, or they act a strange way because they feel high, or unsure. 

Serenity is important when you deal with those people who are struggling and fighting and also hope for a better future, who are having their ups and downs as all of us, just more extreme sometimes. 

Yes, we deal with depression, that's all we can do. 

We will never understand it 100%. 

Love & Light

discover old vinyl... today la Streisand

Yes,it is about Babs before she became really famous. 

Some of you may remember that she did TV shows in her beginning and showed how good she already has been then. 

And as it is those songs have been banned on vinyl. So we can hear them again and again and again. 

I was not exactly looking for that vinyl of hers but found it.

Since then I looked up the same vinyl to see what the prices are and interessting thing is, the prices differ quite a bit from very cheap to quite expencive. And also different countries made up different prices. And I am talking about the original vinyl. 

Anyway the album contains all the classic from that time and some are still famous today and well known like - Happy days are here again- or -cry me river-. 

The nice thing with this album is, it shows la Streisand as a young girl, with a young voice just before she got better and better and even that young lady was more then promising. 

What a wonderful sound, though it is a soft album and not a dance album but if you look at the most ablums from these days, they are made for chilling and listening to great music and enjoying a soul, an artist. This album is after all a quite perfect production and not a single song is making the enjoyment less. 

So look up your parents vinyl collection and listen to it again..... Have fun. 

Love & Light

Shizmo on journey

The secret brother of Gizmo is again on a journey. Taking the flight over the clouds. 

Spring is already in Berlin, will this be the same in Stockholm?

Now back to Stockholm another time- Shizmo felt happy and did not waste any minute. 

Visiting friends and being in the Globe to see a concert. 

He visited the Gamla Stan and eat in exelent coffees the Gladkaka and enjoyed the view over town, the Vasa Museum and the park Skansen. It is always nice to walk through Gamla Stan and being in the clubs at the evening to drink a beer with friends. 

Of course you must be also on the other side of the river and therefore from Gamla Stan.  

Shizmo could shop and look for vinyls there and end up near the Theater. 

But again he went to the Gamla Stan as there is also the castle, the parliament and the wonderful views in the afternoon.

click on the pics!

click on the pics- this is Parliament house

click on the pics! and there getting big!

Later it was taking a walk around one of the Islands where the salt water meets the sweet water. Where modern houses meet the old typical swedish Sommarstuga. Where the train is next to you when you take the brigde.

Underground driving next to you- same with cars and behind us is Gulmarsplan station

So yes, spring has arrived in Stockholm like you can see on the pics and there is wood to in town. The air is therefore better then in many big towns. By the way Shizmo felt that it is true, that Stockholm is expencive. But always worth a try. Like London. Thought those towns are different and better not to compare.

After all this he went on with the train over the whole south of Sweden to see that it is in fact true what you read about Sweden. All those typical houses. Well, gets a bit boring after a while. Nice but not much differnece between the towns, villages and so it is to enjouy the nature, the fact that the train drives next to lakes. In fact sometimes just two steps away. And he has the luck that nothing went wrong with taking the train as there is the warning that each second time you'll have to expect something going wrong or similiar.

Gothenburg/ Göteborg Central Station

Gothenburg it was then and here spring had arrived a bit earlier and anoter view and wonderful days have been to catch. All is smaller, but cheaper and more calm. 

Well Shizmo was at friends and brought them also flowers of spring, which cost three times more the in Berlin. Beauty can cost money, but are we lucky to have friends, so we don't care about prices. By the way one or better two of the best vinyl stores is near the Järntorget Place.  Now the last pics and we wish you a wonderful spring and week.

Love and Light

A Divas Dance

Mariah Carey is in Europe with her Sweet sweet fantasy tour. 

As fate wants to I was able to get a ticket for the concert in the Globe in Stockholm. 

I am not a big fan of her, but I like many of her songs and acually had no big expectations. 

I knew as I saw it in the past and heard about it too, she is capable of doing great shows and also had her lows when she did not catch the notes. 

Well, the show startet with a big bang and went right throug your body with the first song, while she had been carried on the sofa to meet the fans. Thought the music was so loud that you had hard to hear her voice. Luckily the next songs like -Emotion- and -My All- have been in good quality and music and voice have been in balance. 

So Mariah Carey started with a mix of her hits and it soon was clear that she is having a more or lesseon -Best of Tour-. Mariah Carey also had a small talk between her songs - nice, harmless, bit funny and took also a fan on stage for a half song, like many artist used to do these days, thought she better had not done it as she is a Diva and she did not really come near the fan. That she is in fact a Diva, she let no doupt in that while doing the show- in a funny way. 

Of course Madame did change her clothes a several times and thanks to her very good background singers, it did not went to be boring while she was away. Her dancers on the other side have been lame. Not much dance anyway but the choreo was all but hard and in no way special and they danced it bad. 

Another thing was actually a nice idea. Mariah sang -I'll be there- and made a respectful bow to Michael Jackson and sooner to Whitney Houston with their duet -When you believe-.

But it took about an hour before Mariah really got the audience. It started when she hade her Medley Part with dance and hip hop songs. Many of those already forgotten, so it was a reminder how many songs she had in her baggage. 

But the thing is, Mariah did her show in a way like- I sing my songs and that's all. No emotion, nothing special, no surprises and it felt much like a -I just do my work- thing. No wonder that some people left the concert. 

But let's be honest, Mariah Carey can sing. Technically she is great if she wants and cares, but she is commercial and nothing more. 

The concert was kept simple which is not a bad thing itself, but then I expect that you give your songs something which let the people feel you are for real, you touch them. 

She did not. 

Then came the ballads session. It started with -Against all odds-. 

Here you had the first time the feeling this song means something to her. She told exactly this to the audience and it felt true. 

This ballads session showed her talent in singing and that she is a ballad women. It's her thing but after some ballads, when her last came, her voice let her down a bit. So when the break came before she did her extra song, it was a good thing. 

The the last song was apart from -Against all odds- her best one. Strong and it was a classic. Thought the rage of different ballads is not big. The structures are very similiar and this makes it a challange to sing them as good as possible as it otherwise will be soon boring. 

She managed to keep us awake and touched us with her technical standard. 

All in all it was a Best of, a simple concert, but sadly without much more. I had more fun on other - simple- concerts and have been touched more and deeper by others. For Swedish people is has been for sure not much of a delight as she has not been there for 13 years. 

I would give her 3 of 4 stars as she has done a good job but there was more then one thing missing. 

But don't worry, when I saw Whitney with her Bodyguard Tour it was worse. I nearly slept in. 

But now some pics and a clip.

and now the clip... her extra song:

Love and light.