Icelandic rambling

I discovered Sigur Ros because more than one person told me they sounded like another band I'm fond of, A Northern Chorus.  They are no longer with us.  I'm not sure why they broke up other than it's hard to have a band that has limited popularity in Canada.  I discovered them on Pandora years ago and bought up everything I could get.  So here is a good example of their work:

To be honest though, most of their work resembles this: 

Most of my friends like them.  But when one friend said, "They sound like a bland version of Sigur Ros," I had to check out Sigur Ros.  (Them's fightin' words...) I got my hands on their stuff and to be honest I hear a few similarities with some of their songs but they are two completely different bands.  Here is the song I think sounds most similar and it is also my favorite song of Sigur Ros'.

I heard Sigur Ros was going to be in town and I went on line and priced the tickets and was I said to myself, regrettably, no.  Then I swear the next day I was called to attend a focus group where I would be paid $175 cash to give my opinion about furniture stores.  That was dinner and a concert.


I told my friends I was going to see Sigur Ros and most of them gave me that look you give someone when they start speaking in tongues.  "Uh, they're an Icelandic band and I don't know what they're saying but they make a lot of pretty noises," was the best I could come up with.

If you've never heard them, they're hard to define in other terms. They have these beautiful songs that are equally powerful.  The song will be very complicated yet quiet and pretty and then all of a sudden they'll blow you away with this intense wall of sound.

Don't get them confused with shoegazers who were good for the wall of noise effect.  These guys know what they're doing.  They aren't accidentally using reverb to cover up their mistakes.

While only their drummer is classically trained they know how to play their instruments.  The guitarist and lead singer bows his guitar and the sound just rips through the room.  He sings in a falsetto so well that he was able to hit every single note for 2 hours.  I can't sing in a falsetto for half an hour at karaoke without cracking.  Of course I don't do it for a living either... and I maybe have more to drink before I go on stage than he does?  I don't know about that, but I know it usually takes a bit of alcohol to get me to sing in front of people.  Okay that's a lie.  I can do it sober too.

But I digress.


I saw Sigur Ros on Wednesday night with my boyfriend.  I've been to a lot of concerts and this one was easily the best.  At one point I turned to him and said, "That one song was worth the price of admission."

The price of admission was $96 for 2 people.  That does not include parking and snacks while at the Cedar Park Center.  I did not care for the venue.  The seats were terrible and they were uncomfortable at best.  In spite of that the show was phenomenal. I would even go back to that venue to see them play again.  My boyfriend's comment was that he was surprised by how much they could rock and well... yeah those guys can rock it pretty hard.

I think they're classified as post rock because they're Icelandic and there's a limited population of people who can understand what they're saying.  Literally... there are more people in Austin than there are in Iceland.

You know when you listen to classical music how it gives you a feel or imagery?  What this makes me feel is something akin to the more poetic elements of World War I which I know very little about.  But they use gas masks in more than one of their videos so perhaps that's where it comes from.  I just know if I did a little bit of research I could write a story about World War I and I'd have my sound track laid out.

I digress again.

Basically, if you have the opportunity to see these guys live they're worth it.  Their live show adds dimension and texture to their studio recordings.  I left wanting to hear more of their music.  I couldn't tell you the names of the songs they play because I don't speak Icelandic but I can tell you that I like almost all of their songs.  I love several of their songs and I walked out of that show feeling like staying out late and going to work tired would be worth it.

Team Effort

So we got my mom through a really intense surgery.  She's still recovering but after almost 4 weeks she's finally back home.  She's probably in better shape now than she was when she walked into the hospital the morning of her surgery. She's certainly excited that she's back in her unkempt home with her unkempt dogs and her television that I think she hugged.

I visited her twice a day while she was in skilled nursing.  The morning visit was just for a few minutes.  We'd discuss her activities for the day and then we'd see if we could negotiate her escape. There were a few days when we had to battle the stupidity of the staff but for the most part it was uneventful.

In the evenings I would visit with her for maybe an hour.  I realized that I needed something to do with my hands while I was there so I started to crochet.  I don't know what I'm crocheting beyond it will resemble a rectangle.  I can crochet straight lines. That can result in a scarf or a blanket or a pot holder, but that's pretty much it.

My boyfriend's mother teaches crochet. On Saturday I sat with her and we crocheted together.  It was really nice.  While he slept on her couch, she and I sat together and discussed my mom, ex-husbands and how wonderful my boyfriend really is to me.

When I saw Mom that evening I talked to her about it. She asked me if I would mind sitting with her for a few minutes each day like we did in the nursing home.  We could sit and discuss our day and life and love and new discoveries and the dogs.  I agreed to do it because I love my mom and I enjoy spending time with her.

I realized that dealing with my mom's mortality involves both of us.  It also involves my half-brother, who was very supportive of her especially. He offered to come and help and if it gets worse I may clean my carpets and take him up on it.  It also involved her best friend, her surly sister and what I like to refer to as "Team Austin."  They are a group of close friends who support both of us through this process.  You know who you are.  I appreciate everyone who has offered me words of comfort and encouragement while she has been handed this horrible illness to contend with.

She has to do the heavy lifting.  She is the one having the surgery and possibly the chemo therapy or the radiation, or not.  I am driving her to the appointments.  I visit with her daily to comfort not only her, but me too.

One day it felt like it was just me.  Then a friend showed up with fruit and flowers at the hospital.  I realized that every single bit of relief is priceless.  I will always remember the relief of seeing a caring face of a friend who took a few minutes out of her day to support me.  Those were 30 golden minutes.

I think going forward I want to offer that same relief to my friends.  I learned it's also my responsibility to be there for them when I can.  I commit to making a better effort in the future.  I promise to all my friends to actually show up or call or do whatever I can to give them a touch of the love they need to get through their tough times.

This process has involved a lot of stress.  I've lost a lot of sleep and used a lot of sick leave and through it all,  my friends have loved me.  Not all of them read my blog but to those who do, thank you for all you do.