Christmas is Right Around the Corner

It's ironically funny and works out perfectly that my color scheme pattern on my blog ended with a red font  since my last blog is about Christmas being right around the corner and all my thoughts and opinions about the holidays. 

I love Christmas! 

It is my first favorite holiday. (Halloween is my second favorite)

I have already finished shopping for five of the most important people in my life, only two more people to shop for.  The mall was a mad house.  I lack patience when it comes to waiting in lines or walking through mobs.  That was the only aggravating thing, but I found some great presents and can’t wait to see the looks on my family and friends’ faces when they open their gifts!

I love the beautifully decorated trees and the fresh smell of pine and the delicious ,warm, soft cookies when they come straight out of the oven.  My favorite cookies are chocolate chip cookies which my mom makes from scratch and these amazing nuts with jam cookies which are a family recipe.  I always tend to sneak in the kitchen and steal a couple extra cookies when my mom isn’t looking because she usually likes to save them for Christmas day. LOL

The houses look amazing and so lively with all the lights.  My favorite are the regular color lights because the colorful lights look really tacky and cheesy.  I also love when they are shaped like icycles because that’s really classy and elegant looking. I love the christmas carols as well.

It is also wonderful getting together with family and friends and seeing how happy, loving, and generous people get during the holidays. I am going to NYC with my family to see a show and walk around Rockefeller Center which is a tradition of ours every Christmas.

I am really looking forward to this month off because I am going insane with all the enormous amounts of homework I have been getting in every class.  It’s too much to handle and stressful.

I am also not going to lie when I say that I can’t wait to get the clothes I picked out with my mom, for Christmas!! Call me materialistic, but I love receiving presents just as much as I love giving people presents.

A Nightclub Classic

Limelight is an old nightclub that used to be in Manhattan, NY in The Village.  It was a popular dance club in the 80s that featured House Music.  The interesting history about it is that it used to be a church, but they converted it into a nightclub.  

The Limelight is the name of a chain of nightlclubs  that were owned and operated by Peter Gatien with locations in Atlanta, Hollywood, Florida, Chicago, New York City, and London. 

The Limelight in New York City, which was owned by Peter Gatien, opened in November 1983. It was housed in a former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, a Gothic Revival brownstone building which was built in 1844-1845, as designed by architect Richard Upjoin. 

In the early 1970s, when the parish merged with two others, the church was deconsecrated and sold to Odyssey House, a Drug rehab program. Amidst financial hardship, Odyssey House sold it to Gatien in 1982. 

 Located on Avenue of  the Americas, at West 20th Street, the New York Limelight originally started as a disco and rock club. In the 1990s, it became a prominent place to hear techno, goth, and industrial music, and to obtain recreational drugs. 

It earned the media's attention in 1996, when Club Kid and party promoter Michael Alig was arrested and later convicted for the killing and dismemberment of Angel Melendez, a drug dealer at the club.  The 2003 film Party Monster, starring Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green, was based on this event. The Limelight was closed by the police, and subsequently reopened several times during the 1990s.

Great NYC CLUBS

Here are some great clubs in NYC that feature House Music:

•  Pacha, 

• Kidd Pivot, 

• Space Invaders, 

• The Gatehouse, Village 

• Vanguard, 

• Boys Noise, 

• Webster Hall, 

• Tekserv, 

• Splash

• XL

Clubbing is so fun!!!  The music and the club atmosphere brings out the liveliness in people. You can meet a lot of new people.  Different dancers and performers are usually featured at the clubs.  At one club there was a fish tank in the bathrooms.  There was also a guy taking a shower in one of the clubs.  It was so funny and weird.

A List of Killer Songs!!!

Here are SONGS I have either recently discovered and ones that I already had on my iPod from awhile ago:

Flashback-Calvin Haris
Never Say Never-Armin Van Buren
Not Exactly-Deadmau5
In the Air-Morgan Page, Sultan, Ned Shepard & BT
Dynasty-Kaskade
Everything-Tiesto & Cosmic Gate
All You-Kaskade
Come Home-Ocean Lab
Lost-Sunlounger
Sirens of the Sea-Ocean Lab
Feel Alive-Benassi Bros
Open Your Heart-Cosmic Gate
Forgive Me, Forget You- Tritonal, Soto, Ashley Wallbridge Remix
Music Sounds Better With You-Stardust
Come Fly Away-Benny Benassi
Strobe-Deadmau5
As The Rush Comes-Motorcycle & Armin Van Buren

Discovering New Music

So I am recently discovering a lot more wonderful house songs and DJs.  There are two great ways to search and find new music:YouTube and Pandora

YouTube: You can search one particular song on YouTube and then it will suggest other related songs on the right side column.  
I usually end up spending an hour or so clicking through different videos and sampling songs to see which ones I like.  

Pandora: It's an awesome app that can be downloaded on pretty much any smartphone or even on a regular computer or iPad.  You just have to create an account.  It is FREE.  Then you just create a music station by typing an artist or music genre into the search box and then Pandora comes up with results of stations related to what you typed in.  If you put in the artist name then it will set up a station that plays a lot of songs by that artist as well as other songs by artists who sound similar.  You can even type in Christmas and you will get a station with all Christmas music.

ATB, One of My Top 3 Favorite House Djs

André Tanneberger is a German DJ, musician, and producer 
of trance music.  His stage name is ATB.  

He is super hot and a wonderful DJ.  I love his music.  His 
music is fun to dance to or just  and sit back and relax and 
listen to.

According to the official world DJ rankings governed by DJ Magazine, ATB was ranked #11 in 2009. 

He was born February 26, 1973 in Freiberg, Germany.

In the late 80s on the weekend Andre would always go to club Tarm Center in Bochum, to listen to the music of DJ Thomas Kukula aka General Base.  In 1992, he decided to do his own music composition.  He used equipment such as an Amiga computer and a small synthesizer. 

DJ Thomas Kukula offered to work in his recording studio to finish the song.

André Tanneberger started his music career at the dance music group Sequential One. 

                               

In February 1993, under the name of Andre Sequential One, they released their debut single "Dance" and "Let Me Hear You". These singles earned Tanneberger enough money to organize a mini-studio. 

In 1994 the band increased by 3 members: Ulrich Poppelbaum, Woody van Eyden and vocalist Morfa.  

After the great success in his native Germany, Sequential One gradually became known in other countries of Europe. The second album, "Energy" was released in Germany and in the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary. 

Even after all the success and growing popularity of two members of the project: Woody van Eyden and Morpha still left him in 1998.  Then Andre and Ullrich were the only two left in the group. In 1999 Sequential One collapsed. 

Andre was still later able to release the last single "Angels".

In 1998, Tanneberger also started a solo project named ATB.  His first track under this name was "9pm (Till I Come)," included in the "Movin' Melodies" album, which topped the United Kingdom music charts in 1999 and is widely regarded as the UK's first trance number one. 

The track features a guitar riff that became hugely popular. This guitar sound became the trademark of his early hits.  ATB continues to evolve and change with every album. His current style involves more vocals and varied sounds, with frequent pianos.

I am totally guessing that the name ATB came from his real name. Andre TanneBerger

Here's a song by him, "Ecstasy"!!

Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

        I want to dedicate this blog entry to anyone who suffered because of Hurricane Sandy.  This was a very powerful storm with a horrific aftermath.  It really sucked having no power for awhile: No light, limited ways to entertain myself, PB and Jelly sandwiches everyday, no variety of food or warm meals.  There was no way to even do my hair so I felt like I looked like a neanderthal.  The long 4 hour gas lines were so chaotic and frustrating especially when I did not get gas after waiting that long on more than one attempts. So many fallen trees that blocked roads and damaged houses.  I felt terrible.  I was not able to get in touch with loved ones or see many people I care about at all.  I was going insane without power, but realized I was so lucky compared to so many other people.
       
        I felt horrible for all the people that lost their homes or for the people who's houses flooded.  There are also so many people with homes who still don't have power.   There were and still are so many power lines down.  So many towns that have been practically wiped out! It's a shame and it makes me cry to see how much damage, frustration, pain, and sadness this storm has caused so many people.

         I am hosting some friends at my house who don't have any power and giving them a warm place to sleep.  My family has been treating them to home cooked meals and dinner out to restaurants.  I am also going down to Point Pleasant to see how my beach condo is because it's across the street from the beach.  I am also going to Bay Head to visit close family friends to bring them food, etc. and to try to help them in any way that I can.  I was thinking of volunteering to help families who lost their homes.  I realize that I have been very blessed and fortunate to have good health and still have my home.  This is why I would like to give back to others and do what ever I can for people.  It is a very sensitive time, but hopefully things will get better day by day.  We all just need to stick together.
       
My heart and prayers go out to everyone who is still suffering from the aftermath of the storm!!!

A few inspirational quotes:

“Where hope grows, miracles blossom."- Elna Rae

“Hope is always available to us. When we feel defeated, 
we need only take a deep breath and say, "Yes," and hope will reappear."-Monroe Forester

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.”-Eleanor Roosevelt