Some important tips gathered from local news for DC-ers inexperienced with big snow. We are number 1, but apparently we don't have a clue.
- Don't drive around with a ton of snow on your car roof. It'll slide off and really bug the people in the cars behind you.
- If you are worried about your house roof collapsing from the weight of all that snow, don't get all your friends together and walk around up there with brooms and shovels.
- If your windshield is covered with snow, don't just roll down the driver's side window and take off with your head sticking out.
- When having a great big snow ball fight in Dupont Circle, it's bad form to throw snowballs at cars, passersby, newscasters or police.
And during my hibernation I discovered more good news...
Cherish the day there's a new Sade album. I instantly bought it from itunes and it is great. It was released on the 9th, called Soldier of Love and you can read all about it here. I liked the "making of the album" video. It confirmed some of the things I read in reviews. Sade has made six albums in 26 years. It's been ten years since her last album. The other three members of her quartet now have careers on different continents and get together only to make music as Sade (that's also the name of their band). When they start making a new album, they don't have written music or lyrics. They just work out each song together for as long as it takes.
In 1979, Sade was a student of fashion design when she agreed to sing back up vocals with some friends. In 1981, she started writing songs and performing with a band, Pride. She was singing Smooth Operator. Soon she was offered a recording contract, but the offer did not include the rest of the band. She declined. Eventually she agreed if the contract would include three of her band mates, the three who still play with her today. Sade hit the charts with Your Love Is King in 1984. She made plenty of money from early albums, so she's not struggling. But she could have just kept pumping out the hits. Instead she waits until she thinks she has music worth giving to people. Her songs are always about the different stages and kinds of love. In the "making of" video she says making an album "is like a mission. You have certain rules, limitations and a terrain that you can operate within." After lots of stories about the struggle to get it right, she says, "it's fun, you know, because we love each other."
You can see the video for Soldier of Love on her website, but smoke-and-fire concept videos don't do much for me. I just want to listen to her voice, appreciate her band, and in a video I just want to watch her sing. Here's a live performance of Cherish the Day.
