Around here in the Grand Forks and Boundary area we are experiencing four seasons sometimes all in one day. We’ve had much more snow this year, which is great for the ski hills and for the river levels but for those of us who have to spend 10 minutes in the early morning plowing the driveway and wiping the snow of the car, the sunshine is welcome.
What a busy week last week after the usual post-Christmas slow down. Christina Lake had their well attended Winter Festival, MLA Linda Larson had a luncheon with guest speakers, Rotary had their Scotch Tasting, out in the West Boundary, Midway had their snowmobile races.
There were lots of great chances to get out of the house and try different things. Next week is the big family day weekend celebration in Grand Forks and the Ice Fishing Derby out at Wilgress Lake.
Now let’s talk about good ol’ 2015. Despite being a month ago here are a few of my highlights of last year. I’m going to start with music. It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about the music industry so I figured it’s time.
So without further adieu here are my top 10 songs of 2015. Years past I’ve analyzed each song and maybe talked about the artists. But let’s face it, music is subjective and I’m no music critic so I won’t tell you whether the chorus is lacking something or other. The truth is these are the songs I like because they appeal to me—they song good. Lyrics are important but really, if the music isn’t good who really cares.
Okay #10 was Shawn Mendes’ Stitches, #9 was Hotline Bling by Drake, a couple of catchy diddies by a pair of Canadian singers. Walk the Moon was #8 with the ultra-catchy Shut up and Dance; while coming in at #7 is the soul meets rap hit Locked Away by R. City with Adam Levine of Maroon 6. The #6 song according to me was OMI’s ear worm epic Cheerleader. Hitting #5 on my own chart was Honey I’m Good by Andy Grammar, a clever song about remaining faithful among temptation. At #4 was Taylor Swift’s Wildest Dreams, while #3 is Ex’s and Oh’s by Elle King, a pair of dreamy, catchy jams by a couple of talented women. #2 was the DNCE hit Cake by the Ocean because hey who doesn’t like cake by the ocean, while #1 is the insanely catchy Downtown by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis with a even crazier video featuring the rappers on mopeds.
My least favourite song of the year was Adele’s Hello. No doubt she is successful but I find her voice annoyingly grating and her songs over played and repetitive.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that rock legend David Bowie passed away. He was one of my favourite rock stars. He was well known for changing his look up and his music as well. My favourite Bowie songs are the older ones like Life on Mars, Starman and Heroes. Of the newer ones Modern Love was catchy and is rightly regarded as one of the top songs of the ’80s.
I saw Bowie live in Vancouver at B.C. Place Stadium during his Glass Spider tour in 1987. Performing all his hits on an elaborate stage with an actual giant glass spider figure, Bowie none-the-less stood out with his larger than life presence.
A final musical shout out to Fall Out Boy who although short of my top 10 put out a couple of killer tracks Uma Thurman and Centuries. Interesting side note—Fall Out Boy was named after Radioactive Man’s sidekick from The Simpsons.