Try

(written by Nelly Furtado & Brian West)

All I know
Is everything is not as it's sold
but the more I grow the less I know
And I have so many lives
Though I'm not old
And the more I see, the less I grow
The fewer the seeds the more I sow

Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Try

I wish I hadn't seen all of the realness
And all the real people are really not real at all
The more I learn (the more I learn) the more I cry (the more I cry)
As I say goodbye to the way of life
I thought I had designed for me

Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Then I see you standing there
I'm all I'll ever be
But all I can do is try
Try
Try

All of the moments that already passed
We'll try to go back and make them last
All of the things we want each other to be
We never will be, we never will be
And that's wonderful, and that's life
And that's you, baby
This is me, baby
And we are, we are, we are, we are, we are, we are
Free
In our love
We are free in our love
Try

MP3: © 2004 "Try" performed by Chee (a.k.a. Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli), Dario Tinucci, and Marc Cros. This is a cover of Nelly Furtado's song.

Anakina · TRY

What do you think about the new singer of Linkin Park?

 Spoiler: I love her!

Linkin Park (©)

I can’t exactly call myself a fan of the band, because I’ve never followed them with particular attention, but I’ve been listening to their music since they’ve existed and I really like it. I even have their first album on CD. And in 2017 I was very saddened to hear the news about the death of Chester Bennington.
Beyond the tragedy of the event, which had a certain effect on me (Chester was a couple of years younger than me, he was only 41 when he took his own life), among other things, I remember thinking that I would never have the opportunity to see them play live.

Now Mike Shinoda and the others (except one) have decided to carry on with the band with a new voice, Emily Armstrong, and a new album, “From Zero”, which was released on November 15.
When I heard about it, I immediately thought it was a sensible idea to go with a female voice, so as not to give the impression of wanting to supplant Chester, but I wondered how it was possible for a woman to sing those songs.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I watched a recording of the first full concert in Los Angeles on YouTube and I had to think again.
It’s possible indeed, and she is very good at it!
Her technical skills and vocal range make her, in my opinion, a good heir to Chester.

It’s clear that this is something different, but I think it’s definitely better than nothing.

I’m curious to listen to the new album and, above all, I’m starting to entertain the idea of finally seeing them live.
The mere fact that this possibility exists is a really great thing!

If you haven’t had the chance to listen to Emily Armstrong’s voice yet, and you have a couple of hours of free time, you can do so below.
This is the video of the concert I watched.

If you only have an hour, you can watch a recording of a shorter concert available on the band’s YouTube channel (the quality is definitely better as it is a professional product).

Enjoy your listening!

Identikit of a character: Hassan Qabbani in “Red Desert”

Two years ago I participated in a kind of collective blog tour together with other Italian independent authors, entitled “Questions searching for an author”, where the host asked a question to his guests about their respective book.

Mine was: “What is, in your opinion, the most original character of your book (or series) that somehow enhances it? Describe it.”

Now that I am going to publish the final book of “Red Desert” in English, I propose to you my own answer to this question.

In fact, Anna Persson, the protagonist, is perhaps the most original character of “Red Desert” but one of the elements of the story that makes its peculiarities stand out even more is her conflict, for better or for worse, with the character of Hassan Qabbani. So, having to choose a character that enhances the story, he is undoubtedly the most appropriate. Also, I do not hide that he is also my favourite character, which is evident from the fact that he is without doubt the one who has the best lines of dialogue, most often used to interact with Anna.

Hassan is Canadian, but clearly of Middle Eastern origin, although it is more evident from his name than from his appearance.  It isn’t specified which country he comes from, it doesn’t matter, we only know that it is one where people speak Arabic. He is a former serviceperson and physician. He studied medicine during his period of service in the army. He also has a pilot’s license. After leaving the army he entered the Canadian Space Agency and through it he landed at NASA during the recruitment for the Isis space program, whose aim is the colonization of Mars.

After five years of training he was assigned to the Isis 2 mission, of which he would the commander, but was also included in the backup crew for the previous mission. Following the opting-out of the mission Isis surgeon, Dai Liang, at the last moment Hassan took his place. Therefore he found himself going to Mars with Anna Persson, Dennis and Michelle Francis, and Robert Green.

At the beginning of the story, in “Red Desert - Point of No return”, Hassan is presented exclusively from the point of view of Anna. But the first episode is not the real beginning of the story, it is instead located, by a chronological point of view, almost in the middle of it. We only know that Anna has a bad opinion of him, but also that she has an aversion to men of Middle Eastern origin. Clearly, there’s more that would explain the hatred that she claims to feel for Hassan.

What has really happened?

This is partly shown in “Red Desert - People of Mars”, but much more will come to light in the final book “Red Desert - Back Home”.

But already in “Red Desert - Invisible Enemy” we have got to understand a little more about this character.

Hassan is not an easy person to handle, he is one of those characters that you love or hate. He hardly inspires indifference. He is a proud man, very sensible and respectful of rules (as you would expect from a former serviceperson) and also very discreet, which makes him mysterious and potentially dangerous, since it is difficult to understand his intentions. Gifted with a certain irony and above all a natural sarcasm, he is a manipulator and uses this ability to get what he wants. But he doesn’t love to be manipulated and is very vindictive. He knows Anna is scared of him and in “People of Mars“ he doesn’t hesitate to use this power to carry out his revenge  against her.

What we do not know, however, is what happened in the past. What gave rise to the cold war between Anna and Hassan in the thousand-day stay on Mars?

In “Invisible Enemy“ Hassan finally shows us for what he is, but it is only in “Back Home” that we’ll learn all his secrets and discover his true weakness, the only one able to question all his beliefs and to spur him to unexpected actions.

But perhaps you already imagine what it is.

“Red Desert - Back Home” will be soon available for pre-order on Amazon, Kobo, Apple, and Barnes & Noble, and then on Google Play, Nook UK, Scribd, Oyster, and other retailers on 31 July 2015.

Queen Fever

A couple of weeks ago Queen and Adam Lambert ended their European tour which I had the great pleasure of attending in Assago (Milan). And since then my Queen fever rose again.

I have vague memories of a day in 1989, while I was wandering in the records department at UPIM (an Italian department store) in Carbonia (Italy) and I was about to buy my first CD. It was “The Miracle” by Queen. At that time I was fifteen and I had received as a birthday gift a stereo system complete with a CD player and turntable (and in fact, the same day I had also bought a vinyl). Although back then I didn’t know it, my passion for music at that time was about to take a crucial turning point.

In the years many CDs have been added to it: all studio albums by Queen, Greatest Hits albums and several other collections, live concerts (including several bootlegs), the albums by The Cross which was the side project of Roger Taylor (my favourite band member!), solo albums by Taylor, by Brian May (also the live one), those by Freddie Mercury (including the posthumous collection and the one with Monserrat Caballé), the album by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which performs the most famous songs of the band, and so on. Of course I also have lots of videotapes, but I cannot watch them, because I don’t have a VCR anymore, and now I have to migrate slowly to DVDs (I’m already starting). Not to mention the T-shirts, a jacket, which I don’t have anymore because I literally consumed it, posters of all kinds, even a buckle (never used), I also have some patches. Everything belonging to the official merchandising. Some of these things come from a mega box set bought in the 90s; I remember it had cost me a lot. I even own printed photos from some concerts in the 70s that I had purchased from one of the wonderful English catalogues (when there was no internet, you bought from catalogues!).

In short, a lot of stuff.

And with all this stuff, if my Queen fever comes back, I’m not lacking some material to treat myself.

Queen is part of the very few artists of whom at some point in my life I’ve had all original albums (not downloaded or, as you did in the past, copied) and of whom I knew all the songs by heart. Maybe I don’t remember all of them anymore now, but a good portion is carved in my mind and allowed me to sing out loud on 10 February at the Assago Forum.

The only other artist who is part of this small elite and that I continue to listen to even now is Elisa (an Italian artist), but it goes without saying that between her and Queen is an abyss, even in my liking.

But Queen is more than my favourite band. Their music has the ability to take me back in time, in the period of my happy teenage years and then when I studied and worked at the university. It’s a travel in my memories that puts me in touch with a part of me that still exists and that pushes me to face new challenges with enthusiasm, even if I’m no longer, alas, a twenty-year-old girl, let alone a teenager. That same part of me that was lost in the years when I had stopped listening to Queen, because it had disappeared from the scene, and that has awakened when they started to play live again ten years ago.

I would’ve never imagined in the past to have the opportunity to attend a concert by then, after the death of Freddie, and instead it has happened. Since 2005 I haven’t missed any of their three tours: the first and the second with Paul Rodgers (which I admit I prefer to Lambert), and this last one (picture on the left).

The one in 2008 at the Assago Forum was particularly beautiful, because I was in the parterre, close enough to the central runway, in the midst of a crowd that sang all the songs perfectly. At that very moment I knew I was attending the greatest concert of my life, but I also had the distinct perception of living a turning point in my life. I felt again like a young girl of fifteen with all the possibilities of this world ahead of me; I could take over my own life and do what I wanted of it. It was then that I decided that I would start to take care of a passion I had when I was a teenager and then I had left, a fire that seemed off but instead continued to burn under the ashes: writing.

And now it’s as if there was a link between the sense of accomplishment I had in those years of the past and what I am experiencing now that writing, in all its forms, has transformed from a simple passion to a job. This connection is represented by Queen, who now as then cheers and inspires my days with their beautiful songs.

The following videos were filmed by me at Queen + Adam Lambert concert in Assago (Milan) on 10 February 2015.

Tracy Woody: the sweet beat of music

Tracy Woody

Time ago I dedicated a post in my Italian blog to Tracy Woody, a great artist from USA and very good friend of mine here on the web.
I'd like to talk about her in this blog, too.

Tracy comes from North Carolina, but thanks to the web her music spread worldwide in a very short period. He is present in many music communities, such as Jango, Reverbnation and Uplaya. Her EP's "Your Love Remix", "Sweet Beat of Love" and "Light of Love" are characterised by powerful, emotional and vibrant tracks, which reflect the beauty of her unique voice. In particular "Your Love Remix" marries an almost religious style which arises from the vocal power and which can be found also on "Nothing Can Come Close To You".
Thanks to her music Tracy received several international acknowledgements (a nomination for a Hollywood Music in Media Association Award, a nomination at the House Of Blues, Best Artist of the Month January 2012 on De Starliner Radio in the Netherlands, UK Songwriting Contest 2011, Platinum and Silver Auddy Trophy Award, Artist on the Rise on Relix Magazine, MusicBoard Magazine). Casting Directors and Talent Agencies have expressed interest as well.

She is currently involved in Hollywood Music in Media Association Showcases in Raleigh, for scheduling shows in the next months.
Tracy is ecstatic, thankful, and grateful for all the opportunities and consideration of her artistry. The buzz around her is already there for all to see. With the release of the "Sweet Beat of Love" CD and "Light of Love" EP's as well as "Your Love Remix" single that buzz continues to grow.
Tracy Woody has also a focus on supporting organization that assist in relief opportunities that support families, women, children, and the community worldwide.

If you wanna know more about her, check her official website, www.tracywoody.com, or follow her on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
For information of Tracy Woody and possible collaborations, e-mail C. Harris at LTC Records.
Her EP "Sweet Beat of Love" is also available as CD on CD Baby.