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Topics Blog questions!!

What are 5 bands that you'd recommend, that you don't think most of your readers have heard of?

Kila - Nua-traditional Irish band. Pipes, fiddle, bodhran, but also guitar, saxophone, and djembe!! Like Afro Celt Sound System without the electronics. And their songs are really well written and catchy too!

Lunasa - a more traditional Irish group, very catchy and involved tunes, subtle interplay among the instruments. Very good stuff.

Alabina - Middle Eastern female singer, she sings in Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, French, and English, with a very haunting voice. She's backed by a flamenco group, and they sing Spanish vocals and play guitars. Also various percussion instruments in the background. VERY addictive music.

Vasen - A swedish quartet with Nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle), Viola, guitar and percussion. Very catchy, fun tunes. Some original, some from the Swedish music tradition. I saw these guys live once!!

Groupa - Another Swedish group. Led by Mats Eden on Fiddles, and also with various brass instruments, percussion, flutes - everything!! Very danceable, addictive, beautiful, interesting Swedish tunes. Just amazing stuff, it will transport you right to Sweden.

What is the last book you read? Did you like it?

The last book I read for class was "Wuthering Heights," and yes I enjoyed it!! It's a wild, violent, passionate novel. Very different from what you'd expect a Victorian novel to be. At least from what I expected a Victorian novel to be.

Write a post about why you write. In other words, what motivates you to keep a journal anyway? Is it to relieve stress? Or to preserve some history? Or maybe something else or both of these?

Well, I originally blogged because it sounded like a fun thing to do. Have people read my stuff, maybe comment on it, and just generally be entertained. I think I started out with more of a journal format, and now it's mostly little tidbits of information, random thoughts, links, and quiz answers. I should really update it more often, more than just twice a week. Anyway, I mostly do it now just to bring a bit of ME out to the world, and hopefully make people laugh. It's also kind of egotistical to keep a blog. You kind of take some pride in creating something. So yeah, that's why I blog - just to have fun.

Does you link to others' weblogs? Describe why you have linked to them. Okay, maybe not all of them, if you have a large list. But select some of your favorites and indicate the reasons why you link to them.

Does you? lol. Well yes I do link to other weblogs. Maybe too many. Maybe too few. I link to other weblogs because I sense that they are unique and worth reading. I can't really explain it, but some blogs just stick out to me. Usually it's in the writing style. So I guess that any blog that gets my attention from what the person has to say, or who they are or the way they've designed their site, is a candidate for me linking them. I'm not gonna write about any particular ones right now, though.