Close to my Heart

You Tube Weekend

I received some very exciting news a few days ago, something that you will already know about if you follow me on plurk, twitter, or facebook (or were at knitting group on Wednesday for that matter).  My sister and I entered into a lottery a month or so ago to try to score tickets to the 2010 Winter Olympics, which are in Vancouver.  They started notifiying people this past week as to whether or not they were successful or not.  I don't know what the odds were, but for some high demand events, the odds were very low of receiving tickets, so there are lots of disappointed people around.  I am however happy to report that I am NOT one of them, becase we scored tickets to the Opening Ceremonies and the Figure Skating Free Dance, which is my very favourite skating event and one in which medals will be rewarded.  I think a sqee is in order here, so SQUEEEE!!!!!!!!  Oh, and given this good luck, I have a Lotto ticket for tonight's draw.  I'll keep you posted.

Today's You Tube Weekend video is from a previous Olympic Free Dance, perhaps my favourite Free Dance performance to date.  Sadly, this was also the event that brought with it lots of judging controversy.  Although these Canadian skaters did not win the gold medal, they certainly deserved to win.  Nonetheless, I hope you will enjoy this performance.  Oh, and once again, SQUEE!!!!!!!!!

You Tube Weekend

With this being Thanksgiving weekend in the States, I think it is safe to say that the holiday season is here.  One of my favourite parts of the holidays is the music.  While many people groan when holiday music is played soon after Halloween, I welcome it.  To me, the season is too short and I think we should play the music as much as possible.  To that end, this edition of You Tube Weekend features one of my favourites, this wonderful rendition of The Little Drummer Boy, sung by David Bowie and Bing Crosby.  Now I know it is common knowledge that the latter singer turned out to be an awful person who was very abusive towards his children (and if you know what I do for a living you know that I would never condone child abuse), however I do love the way these two voices go so well together.  Enjoy!

You Tube Weekend

As part of the Aboriginal Cultural conference I mentioned yesterday, we were privileged to enter the Big House and watch some dance.  While watching, I started thinking about how dance is a big part of a lot of cultures, and then that got me thinking about the dance associated with one of my own cultures, Ukrainian.  I have blogged about my Ukrainian heritage previously.

I love Ukrainian dance.  I love the vibrant colourful costumes, and the athleticism of the dancers.  I also love the energetic music.  Unfortunately, I have never done any of this dance myself, there was no opportunity for this in the community I grew up in.

So, today's You Tube Weekend is a video of Ukrainian Dancing.  Enjoy!

You Tube Weekend

I've been back skating for a couple months now, but have yet to post an update.  Quite honestly, I'm not feeling the love on the ice this year, and its an effort to drag my sorry butt out the door every Thursday.  Were I not committed to my lesson each week, I probably would have missed a few sessions.  I'm just not having as much fun as I was a year or two ago, nor do I fell that I am making much (or any, really) progress.

The last few weeks though, we have been attempting to learn our very first ice dance.  FINALLY, we are doing something enjoyable, and I'm determined now to master this dance.  Sometimes though, it is difficult to follow the coach's instruction, so I went looking on You Tube to see what I could find.  I found lots of examples of the Dutch Waltz, and hopefully I will one day be able to skate this myself.  Here's what it is supposed to look like, however when I skate it, I don't have a partner, I'm fumbling to remember the steps, and I'm not nearly as smooth. At least I'm having fun again though!

You Tube Weekend

Often, during our Virtual Knit and Spin In each Saturday, we wind up sharing You Tube links and dancing along to the music (we are great chair dancers, LOL!).  Last night was no exception. Some of the sharing included songs that were popular in people's youth.   I never did get around to sharing "my" music, and will also admit to being one of the older members of the group that was not completely familiar with all the tunes shared by my younger cyber friends.

Following our get together, I found myself browsing around You Tube for some of the music that was popular during the Fabulous Seventies.  I admit to being a big Osmond fan, and I still get a little thrill when I see them to this day. 

Check out the pantsuits here:

And some cheesy Donny and Marie together, I had this record and loved to sing along with Donny.

I admit that to this day, I am still a big Donny fan.  Here he is in more recent times, I think he still has it!

Did you have a celebrity childhood crush?  Who was he or she?  I'd love to hear!

I think I'm going to start a new feature on my blog, You Tube Weekend, in which I share various videos I come across.  There will be a range from music, skating, comedy, fiber related, whatever I come across. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I know I will!