First Aid Kit- the band, not the obvious

If someone asks me what type of music I like, I will respond that I like a little bit of everything.

So when I heard that an obscure folk band from Sweden named First Aid Kit was playing at The Orange Peel in Asheville on November 19, 2011 as the opening act for Lykke Li, I kept an open mind.

These girls as cute as a button, but their demure presence reflects their modesty and leaves the listener to focus on their soulfully talented voices. There is a bit of haunted quality in their tone which pulls at your heartstrings. The lyrics are poetic and draw you into their songs.

They gave a great show performing some songs from their latest album at the time Big Black & the Blue.
Afterwards, they hung around to take pictures sign CD cases.

As you can tell, I have some lovely pictures of them after their performance. I think that they did better than Lyyke Li and that was who I originally went to see. I am glad I saw them before they got too famous. I am happy that they are doing well and are being recognized on a larger scale. Their new music shows that they have not sacrificed any quality but are content to do what they like musically.

Hopefully, I will get to see them again. Since they are more popular, the venue might be bigger but I hope the ticket prices stay reasonable and the show is as awesome as the last.

Other notes about First Aid Kit

In February 14, 2013, they were awarded the Nordic Music Prize for the best Nordic album in 2012.

In February 20, 2013, they were awarded four Swedish Grammy awards for 2012 Artist Of The Year, Songwriter Of The Year, Best Pop Of The Year and Album Of The Year.

Altogether in 2013 they performed in about 30 concerts and 10 festivals.

“Other notes” information obtained from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Aid_Kit_(band)

GoGlow 5K

Sep9

I have discovered a new passion: 5K races

I have decided that I like running 5K races because they allow me to exercise with a purpose. My efforts each race are directly correlated to that amount of training and exercise I did in preparation for the race. If I schedule a race every couple of months, I cannot stop training since that would negatively impact my race time.

As you can tell from reading this blog, I also like to have fun. I do not mind doing a 5K, but if there is a theme, I definitely want to sign up.

That is why I signed up for the GoGlow 5K in Greenville, SC. It was hosted by Half Moon Outfitters and the track was at Conestee park (on Mauldin Road).
My friend and I got there 6:45 because in the email instructions, it said to get there early to make sure we get a good parking space. We could have arrived at 7:55 and still got a good parking spot. They overstated that.

Registration was a breeze. No waiting at all. When we got our shirts, we changed into them since they glowed in the dark. Then we went to the paint station and finger-painted neon paint on our face, arms and legs. In the email, they said there would be a painting station. The way they said it, made it seem like it was going to be larger than it was. There was one table with 4 or 5 bottles of different colors of paint and some paper towel.

More than one person said, “Where is the painting station?” I responded, “It’s here. I thought it would be bigger too.”

The race was supposed to start at 8:00, but it was not dark enough so they delayed it until close to 9:00pm.

And we were off! The email said to have a flashlight or headlamp because the trail would be really dark. They did not overstate that. In any event, they might have understated it. They should have put that in big, bold letters. I thought “How dark could it be?” but brought my flashlight anyway. It was SUPER PITCH BLACK dark. Seriously dark and the little glow sticks did not help light the path. And since we were running through the forest, there were tree roots, mud puddles, and other sorts of nature things that would have annoyed me if I stepped in it. As it was, even with the flashlight, I almost tripped twice on tree roots. Some young girls that were ahead of us warned us about the puddles. I was wearing new running shoes and would have been quite put out if I had got them dirty in the mud! I forgot my bug spray, but thankfully, there were none biting that night.

We finished in 59 minutes and 30 seconds. Not my best time, but considering it was pitch black dark in a forest trail with roots and steep inclines, I think we did pretty well.

Overall, I had fun. I would do it again. The race event coordinators did a good job of keeping things organized. However, I would have liked more direction on the trail. There were times when we were not sure which way to go

Petit Le Mans

Jul1

I am not a person that craves speed. Give me my non-souped up Toyota Rav 4 and I am content. I saw the first Fast and Furious and wondered what all the hype was about. I critiqued the actor’s performance instead of drooling over their fast cars.

That being said, when Hubby (who loves Formula One racing) said he wanted to go to Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October last year, I made sure I had my Kindle charged. I was sure I would be bored.

What is the Petit Le Mans?
The Petit Le Mans (French for little Le Mans) is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), which are slightly modified if necessary, mainly to allow additional cars to compete.

The race was founded by Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz and first run on October 10, 1998 as part of the IMSA season. The 1999 edition was one of the original events of the American Le Mans Series. This year will mark the 2nd Annual Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, which connects the races in North America, Europe and Asia.

The Petit Le Mans covers a maximum of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) (which is approximately 394 laps) or a maximum of 10 hours, whichever comes first; only once, in the rain-stopped 2009 race, has the leading team failed to complete 1,000 miles (1,600 km). In addition to the overall race, teams of two or three drivers per car compete for class victories in four different classes of cars, two for Le Mans prototypes and two for grand tourer cars. Class winners of this event receive an automatic invitation to the following year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. (from http://www.roadatlanta.com/ev_petit.lasso)

This event starts on Thursday with speed trials on Friday and the official race on Saturday. We got there Friday for some of the speed trials for race position. I will not lie. During this time, I was a little bored. I did not understand what was going on. It did not seem as if there were that many cars on the track. After lunch, with the sun in my face, I got a little drowsy and nodded off a time or two. Hubby could not believe I went to sleep considering how loud the cars were. The noise was thunderous in the way I would imagine living next to an airport would be. I am not one to be deterred when I am sleepy.

Friday’s events might not have held my interest, however, Saturday was a different story. We got there early enough to get a good parking spot to see the action. Then we walked down into the pit area to look at the cars that were racing (see picture). It was at this time that I began to understand the hypnotizing power of muscle cars. When the engines were started, the low rumbling created a slight vibration through my body. It gave me chills. The good kind. I think it created an increase in adrenaline in my brain. I was hyper and excited all at once. In that second, my brain decided that I needed one of those cars. When we had to leave the pit for the race to begin, I started to crave the feeling that being next to a machine of that type of power gave me. It was difficult to break away and bring myself back to reality. That was the defining moment in my appreciation for sports cars.

Overall, Petit Le Mans is definitely an experience to be had. I do not have the funds to be able to travel to the Le Mans, but at least I can go to the miniature version in Georgia. I believe a lot of other people feel the same way. There were thousands of fans out there, many of whom were camped on site since Thursday. Everyone was gathered together for the love of racing, need for speed, and the appreciation of well-tuned, finely built, highly operating machines.