Saturday Songspiration

Behind every name, there lies a story.

Source:  Found on bloodynessi.deviantart.com  via Kate on Pinterest

So, for today's post, kick back and enjoy the story of how my blog got its name.

I may be more than stating the obvious for those of you who know me, but for those of you who do not, there is one thing you need to know about me:  I was once a Muse fanatic (and still am to some extent).  If you ask me who Muse are, I will most likely shoot you a look of shock that says, "I am so sorry your life has been so empty up until this point!"  And then, I will promptly go on to share with you more than you would ever like to know about the English band (like I am about to do).

I was introduced to the band Muse by my sister Carly.  When she made me listen to some samples of their musical genius, I swore I had heard the song ("Starlight") elsewhere and just could not place where or how, but regardless of whether or not I had heard of them up until that point in my life, this simple sentence spoken by my sister would change my life forever:  "Kate, you have to check out this band!  You'll like them!  And the lead singer is kind of scrawny, so you'll really like him!"

((Side note:  I have an inexplicably strange affinity for scrawny and/or nerdy men... muscular men have never been my type... strange, perhaps, but  you will learn sooner rather than later, if you haven't already, that I am anything but predictable!))

Here is the music video for the song "Starlight."  If you've never heard it, you should listen.  It's one of my favorites.

Copyright 2006 by Muse, "Starlight" from Black Holes & Revelations

I went on to see Muse in concert three times after this.  Once when they opened for U2, and twice when they were the headliners.  All three times were EPIC, an adjective that Muse fans use quite liberally.  They seriously put on some of the best shows I have ever seen (they have received 43 nominations and won 16 different honors from the NME Awards, including Best Live Band and Best Live Event).

These days, I'm still a huge Muse fan, but I have downgraded myself from utter fanatic to huge-time admirer.  I blame their newest album The Second Law (released October 2012).  This is going to make me sound like a huge music snob, but this album just sounds so commercialized and cheesy, and not at all like their old stuff.  Matthew Bellamy, the lead singer and primary writer of most of the lyrics and music, is an absolute musical genius.  Many of their songs feature classical instruments (violins, cellos, piano, etc. ) for which Bellamy composes all of the music, and their album The Resistance (2009) even features a three part symphony called "Exogenesis," which Bellamy composed in its entirety.  You can listen to this symphony below if you'd like.  It is 13 minutes from start to finish.  My favorite is Part III, "Redemption," if you're short for time and only want to listen to a sample.

Copyright 2009 by Muse, "Exogenesis Symphony" Parts I, II, & II from The Resistance

Bellamy is insane on the guitar and piano, and his voice is what I like to call Freddy-Mercurial (he can hit falsetto like it's his job... which I guess it kind of is).  Enough cannot be said of his musical genius, and the lyrics that he writes are pure poetry... or at least they were... till The Second Law was released and we went from this,

Source:  Found on weheartit.com via Kate on Pinterest

this,

(Even though it is kind of a Shakespeare rip-off--or homage, depending how you look at it)

Source:  Found on lyrics2liveby.com via Kate on Pinterest

and this

Source:  Found on Uploaded by user via Kate on Pinterest

to this

Copyright 2012 by Muse, "Survival" from The Second Law

WTH, Matthew?  Seriously... W... T... H...*

When I first heard that a Muse song would be the official song of the 2012 Olympics, I was so pumped thinking about how Muse would finally get the recognition they deserved.  The whole world would be watching.  Everybody would finally know who Muse were!  Then, I heard "Survival," and it... was... awful!

To make matters worse, stupid NBC cut Muse's performance from the televised broadcast of the closing ceremonies of the Olympics.  Let me repeat that... NBC CUT THE OFFICIAL SONG OF THE 2012 OLYMPICS FROM THE BROADCAST OF THE CLOSING CEREMONIES!

WTH, NBC?!  Seriously, W... T... H...

I'm not bitter or anything...

Currently Muse are working on a new album to be released sometime this year.  It appears to be called (at least tentatively) Drones.  Let's hope that it is a vast improvement and a return to their roots.  Okay... so maybe I am a bit of a music snob... sometimes...

So, anyway, at the time I began my blog, I was in the thick of my Muse obsession.  Plus, the idea of a writer and his/her muse goes together like peanut butter and chocolate, peas and carrots, wine and... well... everything.  So, I decided that titling my Blog "Musings of a Second Rate Poet" would not only accurately reflect upon the origin of my passion for writing [in my first blog post (found here), I kind of explained where the "Second-Rate Poet" part came from] and the general ramblings... er... musings that I planned to compose and share on the blog, but it would also give a slight nod to one of my favorite bands... who are still one of my favorites... despite their [hopefully] temporary hiatus from the number one spot on my list.  Who is my number one currently, you might ask... Let's save that for another blog post. ;-)  Bonus points to anyone who can guess correctly...

So, there you have it!  The origins of my blog's name... as well as more information than you probably ever hoped to learn about Muse... You're welcome...

Source:  Found on listal.com via Kate on Pinterest

*My dearest Matthew Bellamy, if you ever read this blog post, I still love you and think Muse is nothing short of epic.  I blame the awfulness of The Second Law on Kate Hudson.  Although your relationship produced a beautiful, beautiful child, it did not produce beautiful, beautiful music, and for that, I forgive you.

Marriage and Music on a Monday!

Can you tell I am fond of alliteration and literary references?  I guess it's the word nerd in me.

Source: etsy.com via Katharine on Pinterest

To start off with, today officially marks the first anniversary of my marriage!  And I finally got the "Thank You" notes mailed... last Wednesday!  That's right... 5 days ago!   Wedding etiquette says you have a year to mail out thank you notes, and we took that guideline VERY LITERALLY!  My husband and I tend to procrastinate, but that wasn't the only reason it took us so long to get those things mailed out!  We didn't end up getting our photos until 4-5 months after the wedding, so that kind of delayed things a bit.  The wait was TOTALLY worth it, though, because I was super happy with the results!  Anyone who can make me look pretty when I was 30 pounds overweight* and my skin had been breaking out just weeks before because of the stress is a-okay in my book!

Then, right after we got photos, the busiest time of the school year commenced (state testing), and time just got away from me.  It didn't help that I was taking (and still am) graduate credits for my permanent teaching certification either.  Summer flew by (as it always does), and the next thing I knew, the ol' one year was just around the corner.  Busy, busy, busy!  It ended up working out really nicely, though, because we came up with the idea to send the thank you notes like "Anniversary" cards, so that people would get them a few days before the wedding anniversary.  This way, they would be a nice little reminder of that day for the people receiving them!  Since they were photo thank you notes, too, it was like each person got their own wedding photos as a thank you/anniversary present!  I'm happy the way it all turned out!  Efficient I might not be, but clever I certainly can be! :)  I will not post the entire thank you note here, but here is a wedding photo for your enjoyment!

See!  Totally worth the wait, right?!  I could not even pick a favorite because I love so many!  Definitely, definitely, definitely will be recommending this photographer to anybody local who needs a reasonably-priced, fantastically-talented photographer for their wedding!

On a more random note, this past summer, I ambitiously claimed on a Facebook post (in a pseudo-blog form) that I would be posting a song daily while sharing with my Facebook audience the memory which that song evoked.  I cleverly called the post "Songs of Summer."  The only problem?  I was AWFUL at actually posting the songs (see "busy, busy, busy" above).  So, I thought, why not attempt to do here (on this blog) what I could not do there (on Facebook).  As a result, I have come up with my first posting theme:  Music Mondays.  Each Monday (that I remember to post), I would like to try to blog about a song which I find to be totally awesome, and then, I will share with you why it is so awesome!  If you like this idea, let me know.  If you do not, I will probably do it anyway... just because... it's my blog... DEAL WITH IT!

So, anyway, the song I have chosen to share with you today is actually one of my ALL-TIME favorite songs from one of my ALL-TIME favorite movies!  It is a song called "Only You" by the band Yazoo.  The song plays toward the end of the movie Can't Hardly Wait, a movie which my husband, Shawn, and I will watch pretty much any time we see that it's on.  As a result, we quote this movie ALL the time (well, we quote pretty much every movie all the time, but this is one of our favorites).

Source: conchella.tumblr.com via Katharine on Pinterest

The music in the song is also deliciously synthesized 80's gold!  Can't beat that!  I love me some cheesy 80's synthesizer!  And, as if we needed yet another reason to love this song, Yazoo was referenced/featured on the British (the original) version of The Office, which we also love!

Source: google.com via Katharine on Pinterest

For all of these reasons (and just the sheer fact that this song is AMAZING), we decided to make this song the last song played at our wedding reception! :)  We love the words, the music, and all of the memories associated with it!  Here's a very special song, from our very special day! :)  I hope you enjoy it!  HAPPY MUSIC MONDAY (and Happy Anniversary to me)! :)

I found a video which also incorporates clips from the television show Fringe, which I used to be OBSESSED WITH!   I wish I had kept up with watching it... perhaps I'll need to buy it on DVD someday... until then... enjoy the added bonus! :)

*My husband made me fat when we started dating 3 years ago.  At least, I like to blame him, but it probably had a lot more to do with buying my own house, cooking my own meals, going on dates with him to nice restaurants with fattening foods, and my age/slowing metabolism.  It was a fatal combination, and I have been trying to lose those 30 extra pounds ever since.