ÿþ<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?> <rss xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" version="2.0"> <channel> <description>Chanel Stasiuk</description> <item> <description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Alright! So I know that I haven't blogged for a few....ok quite a few.... months, but I'm back now. I'm so glad that it's January, because for me, that's when things get busy again (music wise). I'm hoping to be performing at a whole bunch of new festivals this year, and I'm REALLY hoping to perform again at some of my old favourites too. Next time you come to hear me sing I'll have some new originals in the set (my personal favourites are &amp;quot;Someone I Used To Know&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;Pickin Petals&amp;quot;) and some new covers too (I'm thinking about &amp;quot;Even If It Breaks Your Heart&amp;quot; by the Eli Young Band, it's AMAZING! Check it out!!!) I hope you guys can come see me sing this year!!! And I swear it won't be five months before you hear from me again.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; P.S. Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Halloween, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwananza, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!!&lt;/p&gt;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=62142</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>HEY EVERYONE!</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Hey Everyone! I hope you're all enjoying the summer sunshine (or lack there of in certain locations)! I know it's been a very long time since I last wrote but things have been so crazy with exams, working on new material and a bunch of other stuff. So I wanted to apologize for my absence. ANYWAYS, on to what I really want to talk about right now.....MOUNTAINFEST 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; This was my second time performing at Merritt this year, and it was even greater than the last time. I was&amp;nbsp;lucky enough to be&amp;nbsp;asked to perform twice this year; first at the Thursday's songwriters circle, and then later that night on the Little Big Stage. It was my first time ever doing a songwriters circle and it was so much fun! There were four of us songwriters in a row on stage and we each played three of our origional songs one at a time, telling why or who we wrote it about. I was pretty nervous but once I relaxed everything went pretty smoothly. Later on that evening was my turn on the Little Big Stage with March Hare playing for me (who are really great by the way). I sang &amp;quot;Romeo&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;Don't Look Back&amp;quot;. I had such a blast on stage, even if I was freezing my a** off and had to hold down my dress so the wind wouldn't blow it over my head.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Everyone, headliners and little big stage artists, were so great this year, it made Mountainfest even that much more amazing than the last time. My personal favourites were Deirks Bentley, Joe Nichols and Aaron Prichett, but everyone had something great going for them. I saw Emily Taylor Adams last night, and I LOVE her song &amp;quot;Keep Your Pants On&amp;quot;. It definitely should be the anthem for Campground C. Also Ridley Bent, he's like the country/rap artist of Canada. Oh and&amp;nbsp;also Damian Marshall...I had no idea but he plays one of my favourite country songs &amp;quot;Why Don't We&amp;quot;. Also on the little Big stage there were so many people other than myself who did their own songs like Shelby Noble, The Kennedys and Shylo; I just love hearing people do their own material. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; To me Merritt is all about watching and learning from other artists, as well as having a good time. And If it wouldn't take me a ridiculously long time, I would talk about everyone who performed. So instead I just say Kudos! great job! and I hope to see you all next year!!!!!!!&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; Oh! and a special thanks to Don Adams, all the Merritt sponsors and every single volunteer and person who made Merritt Mountain Music Festival possible! Two years was way to long of a wait.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; P.S. For those of you who don't know, Chad Kroeger made a guest appearance with Joe Nichols......WOW!!!!! &amp;quot;That just made my freaking life!&amp;quot;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=61925</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Merritt Mountain Music Festival!!!!!</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; That's right, I'm super excited right now because, as you may know if youve recently seen my performance page, I'M PERFORMING AT MERRITT MOUNTAIN MUSIC FEST!!!! I was so happy to hear that I was accepted into the festival this year, and especially after last year's break. We already have the RV booked for the weekend and I've already started making a list of things to pack....don't know what I'll be singing yet though....I guess I should probably figure that out...:) But I heard about the line up of acts I was ecstatic when I saw all the great artists who would be there. Dirks Bentley, Joe Nichols, Montgomery Gentry...wow this is gonna make waiting even harder. See you in Merritt!</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=60932</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>PSYCHED!!!!!</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A couple of weeks ago, at 7:30 a.m., I sang outdoors in Whalley at a pancake breakfast to kick-off winter fest. And let me tell you, it felt like I was singing in the Arctic! And although it's great for winter fest, the cold and I have never really gotten along well together. I had a thirty minute set, most of which I only sang while Glen played guitar for me, and the entire time I kept on saying to myself, &amp;quot;Hawaii, Cuba, Mexico, Hawaii, Cuba, Mexico&amp;quot;, going with the whole theory of, if you think of somewhere warm, then you won't be cold. Well, just in case you were wondering, this technique DOESN'T WORK!!!!!! I was wearing at least 20 layers of clothing and I still felt like I was doing a polar&amp;nbsp;bear swim in&amp;nbsp;the&amp;nbsp;Atlantic Ocean, in the middle of january.&amp;nbsp;Within my 30 minutes I played one song by myself on the guitar and within those 3 minutes that it took for me to finish my song, my respect for Glen tripled. I realized that playing the guitar is hard, but playing when your fingers are so cold that you can't feel the strings is even harder. And then when you're wearing so many layers of clothing that your guitar is about two feet in front of you so you can't see the frets make it even harder! So i was out there freezing everything off, but as soon as it was done, I realized that I actually had a blast. I guess it's like my mom says, just getting the opportunity to play makes you better....and if that isn't true then it's like my dad says, if it doesn't give you good experience, then at least you can write a song about.</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=60380</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Coolest Experience Ever!.....Literally</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Well, the christmas season's over and to most people that would mean spring, but to me, it means singing, peformances, rehearsals and practice. Yes, it's that time of year when emails and phone calls are made in order to line up some gigs. For the past few weeks, I've been going through&amp;nbsp;a personal &amp;quot;bootcamp&amp;quot; to learn and write new material, as well as perfect it. I've really poured my heart and&amp;nbsp;soul into my new songs, and I can't wait to sing them for you all. Come check me out at the Cloverdale Wired Monk, February 26, and say hi. I'd love to get everyone's feedback on my songs!</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=59257</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Start Of Singing Season </title> </item> <item> <description>Now that Christmas is only 9 days away, I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited! Egg nog, christmas carols,&amp;nbsp;holly, christmas carols, christmas trees, christmas carols,&amp;nbsp;shortbread, chritmas carols, snow, CHRISTMAS CAROLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I think you can tell what I'm hinting at.) Yes, my favourite part about Christmas is listening to the special songs that we hear only once a year, but never seem to forget the words to. Now &lt;em&gt;most &lt;/em&gt;people have this rule called the &amp;quot;December Rule&amp;quot; (or as I like to call it, the &amp;quot;whatta a scrooge rule&amp;quot;) where they only listen to christmas music in December. But I on the other hand believe that people should start listening to Christmas Music as soon as possible...so I start the day after Halloween. There are just so many good songs, and so little time to listen to them all, especially if you only listen to it in December. In my opinion, the best songs of the season are White Christmas, Carol of the Bells, and What Child is This...but the best christmas singer (by far) is....drum roll please....none other than Bing Crosby. Oh! and another great song (that I've heard at least a thousand times) is Christmas Can Can. It's hilarious! So if you haven't heard it, I'd look it up. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp; Anyways, I guess the point I'm trying to make it, don't follow the &amp;quot;December Rule&amp;quot;, because Christmas doesn't last long. And besides, who cares if it's October? November, July, August... It's all just music isn't it? So go ahead and put in that christmas CD you've been dying to listen to since May! I would! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=57466</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Christmas Music</title> </item> <item> <description>I don't know if many of you know this about me, but the way that I actually started taking private music lessons (and therefore got interested in new country) was originally by singing.....musical theatre. Yeah, I know, it sounds pretty crazy, but show tunes were my first love...in music that is. I've been in several musicals (e.g. Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, Guys and Dolls, and Just So, to name a few) and I always loved, and still love, to go see musicals with my family. I think the reason why musical's are so great, is because of their outlook on life. Almost every single musical is about making the most of life, making the best out of a bad situation, and are just altogether happy. And honestly, my life is a musical. Say something to me and I swear, it plays through my head as a song. Anyways, listed below are my favourite musicals that you HAVE to go see...seriously.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; (in no particular order) &lt;ul&gt; &lt;li&gt;Wicked (hilarious, unique and crazy! You're definitely going to leave your seat laughing)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The Lion King (a great classic that everyone has most likely heard of. listen to the reviews, it really is a must-see)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Fiddler On The Roof (a funny story following the lives of a poor jewish man, his wife, and his 5 daughters)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The Producers (a great twist on the crazy lives of two men trying to make it as big shot producers)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Beauty and the Beast (put on by the right cast and company, this show is hilarious, touching and magical)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;MaMaMia! (tribute to ABBA....enough said)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;RENT (ok...so remember when I said that all musicals were happy? well this is the one execption.. but it's got great music and is very touching)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Aladdin (sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo funny)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Hairspray (just like the movie, the on stage production is full of energy, dancing, and big, big dreams)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Annie Get Your Gun (all about a woman just trying to get her shot in show business....and in love...with a shotgun)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Cats (...ok now I've never really understood this show...but the music, dancing and costumes are worth going for)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Spamalot (probably one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, but parental guidance is strongly suggested)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ul&gt; Well there's a short list of the many musicals out there worth seeing, and if you go see any of these, I sincerely hope you like them, and if you don't well then...I have nothing I can say to that..... :D</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=55781</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>My other musical love...</title> </item> <item> <description>OMG! WHAT AN AMAZING WEEKEND! That is definitely the best way to sum up my weekend on sunny Vancouver island. I was performing with Brett at Sun Fest, on saturday and we both had so much fun. We went up on friday,&amp;nbsp;and got&amp;nbsp;there in time to see performers such as Jessie Farrell and Johnny Reid. Jessie was really good. I love her song &amp;quot;I Guess&amp;quot; and she has such energy on stage, which amazes me because I was exhausted from both the traveling and the heat. Johnny Reid....well Johnny Reid is Johnny Reid. He was just as incredible as last year when I saw him perform at Merrit, and even better. He has the most amazing stage presence and I just love how he dances with a lady in the audience during &amp;quot;Dance With Me&amp;quot; (Johnny if you ever read this for some reason, I have a request, dance with me next time :) ). And Brett really enjoyed himself too! Which I was highly grateful for because....well.... I'm still converting him to country music (he has twang issues)&amp;nbsp;but I think he's going to complain a LITTLE less now when we're listening to JRFM in the car.</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=53426</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Duncan Sun Fest</title> </item> <item> <description>&lt;span lang="EN"&gt; &lt;p&gt;Hey everyone!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;I've been so incredibly busy lately! But as usual, I love it. Within the past two weeks, I've had three gigs. The first was last..last saturday, in none other than beautiful White Rock for Spirit of The Sea, and last weekend was at Beez Country Barn and at the Steveston Cannery for the annual Salmon Stomp.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;1) Spirit Of The Sea&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This was my 3rd year performing at Spirit of The Sea but it never gets old. It's always so much fun to perform somewhere so close to home, and being right beside the ocean makes it even better. The crowds are always sooooooo supportive, friendly and familiar too! With such incredible people, and fabulous organizers and volunteers, it makes performing at this festival such a fun and exciting experience.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;2) Beez Country Barn&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;When I was little, I had 5 dreams&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;...1: Marry Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys&lt;br /&gt; ...2: Win American Idol (and then I realized I was Canadian) and become famous&lt;br /&gt; ...3: Be a princess&lt;br /&gt; ...4: Meet Mickey Mouse&lt;br /&gt; ...5: Get a horse and become a cow girl&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Well I'm still working on the second half of number 2, I'm pretty sure that numbers 1,3 and 4 aren't going to happen, and I live in south surrey so, let's face it, I'm most likely not gonna be a cowgirl... but I've always loved horses, and I was so happy to be able to perform at the Beez Country Barn to help raise money for horses. I'm really hoping to perform there again because I really had fun and love the cause.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;3) Salmon Stomp&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Well, I've performed in many different places, hospitals, fair grounds, churches....but I can honestly say that this was my first time ever performing in a cannery. I had a blast! The last time that I'd visited the cannery, was about 5 years ago, and it was great going back. The workers were so nice and helpful and the audience was really great. Also, it was one of the first times that I'd performed my newest song &amp;ldquo;Make Him Mine&amp;rdquo; with Glen and Brett, and guess what? I ACTUALLY PLAYED THE GUITAR WITH THEM!!!!!!!!!! OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;P.S. To all of you who are going to Duncan Fest this weekend, come and check me out! I'm on the saturday at 4 p.m.!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/span&gt;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=53276</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Knocking Three Birds With One Stone</title> </item> <item> <description>&lt;p&gt;There's a reason why they call this province beautiful British Columbia y'know. Last Friday, my mom an I drove up to Kelowna for a 45-minute set, as part of the Kelowna Parks Alive program. I had sooooooo much fun! Everything was perfect. The venue was great, the weather was warm, the stage was huge, the co-ordinators and volunteers were fantastic, and the audience was so enthusiastic! Not only that, but I was really excited for this particular gig because it was my very first time playing the guitar by myself, and singing....sorry Glen, and Brett, you've been replaced :P All these factors, and the beautiful lake over to my right, made that the perfect gig/roadtrip, and I'm hoping that I'll be able to perform there again in the future.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; P.S. come check me out tomorrow at Spirit Of The Sea Festival, down in White Rock at 12:30 at the east beach stage!&lt;/p&gt;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=52727</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Kelowna Parks Alive</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; As a songwriter, I've often wondered what makes a good song great....or a bad song good. There are just so many factors of a song, that I can never be sure. Is it the beat, melody, lyrics, instruments or the arrangement, that makes a person want to listen to a certain song over, and over again? Well, I decided to stop wondering, and start knowing. After a long and intense fifteen minutes on google search, these are some of these were the top four&amp;nbsp;answers that people said they found most important.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Catchy Melody - If the melody is too weird, too unexpected, then how can it stay in your head? Most people want a melody that is unique, but is easy enough to remember. Many songs have commonly used melodies, but with&amp;nbsp;a few twists and turns.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;li&gt;Universal Lyrics - Sure a song is a personal thing. It can bare your soul to the whole world, but people usually need to be able to understand and relate. Ok, now I agree with this thought to an extent, but I think that this rule has 2 exceptions. 1) I think that for many upbeat songs, people just want to dance and 2) The Beatles (coo coo cachoo? enough said)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;li&gt;Arrangement (okay so this kinda links in with everything else, but still, it's important) - Now this one, when I'm listening to music, is key. You can have the simplest lyrics, but if you have&amp;nbsp;a good arrangement, then to me, you've got a good song. For example, one of my favourite songs right now is &amp;quot;Lover, Lover&amp;quot; in the style of Jerrod Niemann. If you look up the lyrics, you'll see that they are incredibly repetitive, but if you listen to the song...OMG! you'll love it. It doesn't sound repetitive at all.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;li&gt;Interesting Instrumentation - Ok, so now I have to admit, this is something I rarely pay attention to in a song, but since many people do, I guess I'll cover it. So I know many people who listen to the instruments, rather than the lyrics (and the other song factors I disscussed) and many of them say that what makes the song is how unique the guitar is (they're all guitar junkies). They like it when their are tons of new and interesting guitar solos, and the harder it is for them to imitate, the better. Well, this may be for them, but surveys have shown that the majority of people prefer simple instrumentation in a song, rather than in-your-face-HELLO! Instrumentation.&lt;br type="_moz" /&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=51955</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Bad song, Good song, or Great Song</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Youtube. Probably the greatest website ever made. It's always a fun site to go onto on a rainy day when you have nothing to do. There are so many video's and so many interesting people with video's up that you could&amp;nbsp;probably spend hours on end&amp;nbsp;on this site.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Comdey, tragedy, original plays, famous block busters, new up and coming artists, famous singers...you name it and there's probably a video for it on Youtube.My two&amp;nbsp;favourite parts about it is&amp;nbsp;that 1) you can look up a bunch of amazing singers that arencover't famous and listen to their originals, cover re-do's and just see their amazing talents and 2) the guitar tutorials. For example, awhile back, I was trying to figure out how to finger pick this songs and, at the time, I wasn't taking any lessons, so I just typed the song name into the youtube search engine and added on &amp;quot;guitar tutorial&amp;quot; after it and&amp;nbsp;then BAM!&amp;nbsp;there&amp;nbsp;was&amp;nbsp;about 100&amp;nbsp;different&amp;nbsp;videos on how to&amp;nbsp;play&amp;nbsp;it.&amp;nbsp;Along&amp;nbsp;with&amp;nbsp;being functional,&amp;nbsp;Youtube&amp;nbsp;has also aided&amp;nbsp;in the discovery of&amp;nbsp;artists such as Justin Beiber and Greyson Chance....so apparently it's not just to cure our rainy-day-boredom. I actually have a youtube channel too, although it is seriously lacking in both views and songs...so go check it out, comment, rate, and I'll upload a bunch of new songs. Oh! and feel free to email requests.</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=51742</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Youtube</title> </item> <item> <description>Whenever someone asks what my favourite music is, I always say new-country (emphasize the &amp;quot;new&amp;quot;), so, many people assume that new country is the only genre of music I like, which is sooooooo not true. I'm actually a big fan of pretty much any kind of music (well, majority of rap music I dislike, but some of it's okay). Well, I thought that I would share with you guys, some of my favourite non-country songs.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Livin On A Prayer - Bon Jovi&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Dream On - Aerosmith&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Highway To Hell - AC/DC&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Shelter - Hedley&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Bang Bang (She Shot Me) - K'naan ft. Adam Levine&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Stacy's Mom - Fountains of Wayne&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;I'll Stand By You - the Pretenders&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Come Together - the Beatles&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;If I Were A Boy - Beyonce&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Home - Daughtry&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;All Shook Up - Elvis Presley&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Mercy - Duffy&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;I'm Yours - Jason Mraz&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;C is For Cookie - Cookie Monster.........jk&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=50360</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>My Favourite Non-Country Songs</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Recently, I was talking to my friend about all the instruments he plays and he claimed to know everything about every instrument ever made. Although I seriously think he was joking, it got me thinking that there must be so&amp;nbsp; many things about all the instruments we play on a daily basis that we don't know. So here, you go, 15 facts about musical instruments.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;In 1950, Leo Fender devised a procedure to test for strength and durability in a guitar neck. Balance the neck between two chairs and stand on it.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Traditionally, guitar strings were made of animal gut.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The Fender Factory makes around 90,000 strings a day. (over 20,000 miles a year, enough to circle the globe.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The piano was invented in 1698 by Italian, Bartolomeo Cristofori.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The piano has over 12,000 parts, 10,000 of which move.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The term Grand (as in grand piano) was first used in 1777&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The worlds largest piano is 11 feet long, has a total string tension of over 30 tons and weighs more than one ton.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The earliest harps can be traced back to 3000 BC.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;A Conert Grand Harp stands over 6 feet tall, weighs 85-90 pounds and has 47 strings.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Elaborate golden harps were used in ensembles and worship in ancient Egypt and were placed in Pharaohs' tombs.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The Mandolin was a commonly used instrument during the Middle Ages&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The drums were once used as communication, to call battle and to keep rythm in ceremonial dances&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Drums are the oldest instrument known to man&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Some of the largest Pipe Organs have over 20,000 pipes and 7 keyoards&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;The pan flute was named after the greek god Pan due to&amp;nbsp;their association in greek mythology.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=49673</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.755Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Did you know....</title> </item> <item> <description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Well, after a very long and hard month of constant writing, scribbling, and ripping paper, I have finally finished my christmas song....not including a title (but that should come soon enough). I was having an extremely tough time on this song, more so than any other song I've ever written. like I've said before, it's just not easy writing a christmas song in the middle of spring (and then there's exams coming up, ugh!).&amp;nbsp;But I think that after this long and grueling process, I came up with something&amp;nbsp;good. It's&amp;nbsp;about&amp;nbsp;how christmas isn't really christmas unless your home,&amp;nbsp;and how it's those traditions, loved ones, and special decorations&amp;nbsp;that are&amp;nbsp;up and around&amp;nbsp;the house every year make&amp;nbsp;christmas perfect, and although every year you might do the same thing over and over and over.....and over, it's the only way&amp;nbsp;to really have it (or at least that's definitely how I&amp;nbsp;feek about it. So on that note.....&amp;nbsp;MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! (only 227 days left!)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=49672</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.7706Z</pubDateParsed> <title>FINALLY!!!!!</title> </item> <item> <description>&lt;p&gt;Hey Everybody!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Sorry I haven't been able to write this month, I've been so incredibly busy (especially with homework...hinthint teachers!) but now that I've found some free time, I thought I'd tell you about my newest, and most incredibly frusterating project. I have towrite a christmas song...and it's April, warm, sunny and exactly 254 days 'till christmas. I was asked to write and record a christmas song for the Raveon Studio Christmas CD (I'm really excited). Well anyways, I have to write and record it by September 1st and, although I'm really looking forward to the challenge, I'm having a very hard time trying to focus on Christmas ideas, thoughts, merry-making etc. when I've only just started counting down the days 'till summer vacation. So I've been brainstorming ideas about what I love about christmas and why it's so special, but everything I come up with doesn't feel like song material...at least not yet. I think this is one of my worst cases of writers block, but hopefully I'll pull through and come up with something slightly more original than &amp;quot;falalalala lalalala&amp;quot;....something tells me that's already been done :)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=48966</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.7706Z</pubDateParsed> <title>It's Christmas In July! (well technically April)</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I love all types of music. Country, jazz, classic rock, hip hop and...even a little rap now and then. But I never listen to all different music around the same time, I kind of go in phases. And lately, I know how weird this is going to sound considering I'm 14 (and a half), but I've really been into Disney and non-Disney cartoon/princess movie music. I don't know if you guys are fans of this movie genre but, ever since I was a little girl, I've been in love with musical cartoons, I even had all the princess costumes. Well for the past couple of weeks, I've travelled back in time to the days when&amp;nbsp;these songs were all I'd listen to and&amp;nbsp;it's all I listen to&amp;nbsp;on my ipod right now.&amp;nbsp;I dont know what it is, but something about these songs are just so optimistic. Below&amp;nbsp;is a list of some of&amp;nbsp;my favourites.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; Top 15&amp;nbsp;Disney/Non-Disney Songs:&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 1. I Won't Say I'm In Love (Hercules)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 2. Kiss The Girl (The Little Mermaid)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 3. Let Me Be Your Wings (Thumbelina)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 4. Far Longer Than Forever (The Swan Princess)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 5. Because I Love Her (The Swan Princess 3)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 6. I'll Make A Man Out Of You (Mulan)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 7. Reflection (Mulan)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 8. If I Never Knew You (Pocahontas)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 9. When You Believe (The Prince Of Egypt)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 10. Hakuna Matata (The Lion King)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 11. The Circle Of Life (The Lion King)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 12. Forget About Love (Aladdin 2)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 13. Once Upon A December (Anastasia)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 14.&amp;nbsp; Looking Through Your Eyes (Quest For Camelot)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; 15. Savages (Pocahontas)&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; P.S. Yes I know I'm mature... seriously though, if you're having a tough day at school, or work, these songs are amazingly calming and if you watch the movies, really funny too. You never notice it when you're a little kid, but adult humor is incorporated into the script (my mom says it's to amuse the parents). So sit back, and ENJOY!</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=47294</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.7706Z</pubDateParsed> <title>What I'm Really Loving Right Now</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Everyone has there awkward moments. You could fall down the stairs, slip and fall, run into someone, there are so many possibilities for potentially awkward moments. Well, I can guarentee that none of those experiences can compare to filming a music video...well, for me at least. I know I'm probably exaggerating, but seriously, trying to act out a song about a boy who you liked, is really uncomfortable, especially in front of your parents....&amp;nbsp; But besides that slightly haunting awkwardness, it was a really neat experience. We started filming at one location, doing several takes, trying different things each time, and then we changed locations to a nice outdoor location with a great view. Where once againe, we&amp;nbsp;got a bunch of different takes from many&amp;nbsp;different angles so that we could keep our options open and have many scenes to choose from, because although we're done filming, we are no where near done the video. We (and by we, I mean my dad, because my computor skills are seriously lacking. Writing a blog is even a stretch for me)still have to edit and add in everyhting that give videos that certain &amp;quot;x&amp;quot; factor. I don't know how long it will take, but as soon as it's done, I promise it will be put on both my site, and my youtube channel.</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=47293</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.7706Z</pubDateParsed> <title>A Very New Experience</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The Grammys. One of the biggest, if not &lt;em&gt;the &lt;/em&gt;biggest, award shows that the music industry has to offer. So many people were very suprised when Taylor Swift didn't give the most....amazing performance of her life. Taylor has been getting very harsh criticism from many internet blogs and sites, and I think that people need to take a moment and think. First, think about what it would be like for you to be performing on a stage in front of thousands of people and knowing that there's also millions more, watching you on there T.V.'s at home. Did you know that there was a T.V. audience of&amp;nbsp;25.8 million people watching the Grammys&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;just&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;in America? Sure she's a professional, but that doesn't mean she's not human and doesn't get nervous once in a while. Seoncondly, even if she wasn't nervous and maybe she just had an off&amp;nbsp;performance, so what? We always try to do our best for our audience, but giving one not so great performance out of a thousand good ones isn't too bad. Think about all the other times she's performed and brought smiles to her fans faces.&amp;nbsp;People are just focusing on the one time Taylor Swift messed up instead of all the amazing accomplishments she has made and&amp;nbsp;all the other positive things she is and has done. I, along with other supporters, acknowledged that it could have been better, but we're not dwelling on it. If we all focused on the negatives in performances instead of the positive, I can gaurentee that no one would enjoy music anymore. Besides, isn't that what music is about? Focusing on the positive? Making you feel something? Being able to just escape the world?</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=45007</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.7706Z</pubDateParsed> <title>Taylor Swift At The Grammys</title> </item> <item> <description>&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Nobody enjoys being sick. All those aching pains, sore throats, runny noses....ugh it just gives me the chills, literally. That's why I was so ticked off on Monday morning with a really bad cold. Unfortunately, I had my exams on Monday, but I am now thankfully on my semester break, so I can relax. Usually I'd be over joyed with the thought of relaxing, but not this time, because I am stuck inside the house all day, unable so sing or do pretty much anything that's related to music (don't want to get germs all over my guitar). But in my boredom I&amp;nbsp;then got to&amp;nbsp;thinking, what if I had to perform in an hour and I had&amp;nbsp;this sore throat? What would I do? And since we don't always have time to run to the pharmacy, I decided to&amp;nbsp;google homemade sore throat remedies...and I was pretty suprised at a few of the things I read. How the world lived without google,&amp;nbsp;I will never know.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;ol&gt; &lt;li&gt;Cayenne Powder - some people say to gargle with water, others say to take with food, but one thing they all agree with= it works&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Lemon, olive oil and honey - poke lemon with a fork and bake (350F) until juice bubles out. Let cool. Squeeze the juice into a jar, add equal amount of olive oil and some honey for taste. SHAKE!!!! Take a spoonful every 90-120 mins.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Gargle with salt water (this works, but it makes you gag...a lot)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;&amp;nbsp;Mixture of hot water, whiskey, and lemon, a.k.a. a Hot Toddy. Alcohol has an anti-inflammatory effect on mucous membranes and hot fluids&amp;nbsp;are very soothing, especially&amp;nbsp;with bitter flavors&amp;nbsp;(lemon).&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;ICE CREAM - the cold freezes the mucus preventing it from growing and allowing the cells to fight it more easily....okay I came up with&amp;nbsp;this one, it's&amp;nbsp;fake....but it does taste good and it does make you feel better for a breif period of time. (I reccomend mint chocolate chip)&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;LOTS AND LOTS of green tea&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Apple Cider Vinagear. Gargle every hour. I kills bacteria at contact.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Ginger - contains natural inflammitory agents that can speed the healing of a sore throat.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Honey - contains antiseptic properties&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Lemon/Lime - the juice destroys bacteria but be careful, the high acidic content can add irritation.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;1 Tsp cinnamon, boiled water, pinch of pepper powder, 2 Tsp honey =&amp;nbsp;great all natural remedy&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Echinacea - antiviral and antibacterial herb, speeds healing, and boosts the immune system.&amp;nbsp;In 1800's was used for snakebites and anthrax.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;li&gt;Horseradish-contains vitamin c&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;and volatile oils.,Also reduces fever and&amp;nbsp;eliminates mucus.&lt;/li&gt; &lt;/ol&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Well, these are just a few of the many homemade remedies for a sore throat that I found today. If you want a suggestion, my top three are ice cream, lemon and green tea (salt water works great, but I can't get past the taste).&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br type="_moz" /&gt;</description> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/Chanels-Blog.page?ArticleID=44177</link> <pubDateParsed>2012-02-06T14:01:08.7706Z</pubDateParsed> <title> Homemade Remedies for a Sore Throat</title> </item> <lastBuildDate>2/6/2012 9:01:08 AM</lastBuildDate> <link>http://www.chanelstasiuk.com/</link> <title>Chanel Stasiuk</title> <pubDate>2/6/2012 9:01:08 AM</pubDate> <webMaster>info@chanelstasiuk.ca</webMaster> </channel> </rss>