This & That

Three short bits for today:

1) You so silly.......
Every year MIT students pull pranks and cart up something spectacular to land on top of the famous Great Dome. This year it's.....a Tardis!! Yes, Dr. Who finally recognized for saving the world many times over as well as his brilliant scientific mind. Mind you I've yet to watch one episode featuring newbie (well he's really #11) Matt Smith. I now have 15 episodes DVR'd but I just can't bring myself to watch. I will continue to miss David Tennant for a bit more-then go for it on some type of weekend marathon viewing.

2) Acting Schmacting!!!
For some time Law and Order and all its spin offs have offered tv viewers the chance to see some wonderful Broadway actors strut their stuff as guest stars including John Cullum, Raul Esperanza and Patti LuPone (and who can forget the wonderful Jerry Orbach as regular Lennie Briscoe?) Well a few Cable shows seem to have joined in the fun, particularly those produced by Alan Ball: Six Feet Under & True Blood. Now I never watched Six Feet Under, but it made Michael C. Hall a star (MC in Sam Mendes Cabaret (after the wonderful Alan Cumming). Now True Blood is sporting two wonderful performers Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte) and Dennis O'Hare (Russell Edgington). Being a regular we've seen Sam in action before, but this year's story line (ooh I hate his brother) has allowed him to really shine. Sam was a best featured actor nominee for his performance in the 1998 revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Ah Wilderness" (and kudos for casting another Broadway actor J. Smith-Cameron as his Mom). As to Dennis O'Hare, good lord, is anyone chewing up scenery with more relish than Mr. Vampire King of Mississippi? I had the good fortune of seeing Dennis O'Hare in "Take Me Out". Now I love baseball, but his wonderful performance of someone who slowly learns to love the game made me fall in love with baseball all over again. The next year I saw him w/ Charlotte D'Amboise in "Sweet Charity" (Ms. Christina Appelgate was in the midst of anklegate at that point). He was simply a joy to watch with all his geeky awkwardness, which makes his "over the top" performance in TB even more of a delight to watch. So yay to Alan Ball...and yay to Broadway!!

3. Crazy Good!
I'm thinking of checking out the french film Mesrine: Killer Instinct. based on real french criminal Jacques Mesrine. Folks who know me may wonder why since I hide my face under my shirt during any type of violent scene in movies. Well I'll tell you why-Vincent Cassel. This french actor is plain crazy ass (in a good way!)...check out Brotherhood of the Wolf (a most amazing movie-great B horror film); Eastern Promises as the not so smart & crazy arse son of a Russian mob leader. Cassel has a pretty amazing physicality and is very charismatic. He's married to Monica Bellucci, who along with Isabelle Adjani I consider the two most beautiful women in the world. Seriously-they should bottle their genes..enough of my aside...Cassel is always fascinating to watch, and I hear that he gave an amazing performance in this film and its part 2 coming out in another week or so (I think).

Hair today...gone tomorrow.....

Hm, blogging's a lot harder than I thought. Sometimes it's time issues (okay it's mostly time issues), sometimes it's "what to write about issues", and sometimes it's a combination of both. And if I'm to be honest, lastly it's "lazy arse" issues. So for today I'm submitting something of no worth, but what has fostered a number of heated arguments with friends,family,even strangers over the past few weeks:

Tom Brady's Hair:

Wow how can anybody hate Tom Brady with long hair. I mean, really? Does anybody recall his season two picture? Geek to the max, short and parted in the middle. I think they've band it from the web because it was so horrible!

I've always adored long hair on guys anyway (no not to the "glam hair band" level please!). I mean, Jack Wild in HR Pufnstuf (or was that the beginning of my obsession with English men?); Michael Praed as "Robin-the Hooded man" back in the 80's. Barry Gibb (good lord that's sad isn't it). Caveat: There is a point when the long hair needs to be cut, I'm talking to you Barry. Um let's see John Taylor-but I always liked Simon better, and he had kinda short hair, but looks better with longer short hair..etc. Oooh and Eduardo Palomo (Juan Diablo in Corazon Salvaje)....sigh....poor Eduardo (totally ready to become a cross over hit in US before he sadly died). Anyway you get my point, long hair in, crew cuts need not apply. Yup that's it. How much more can I discuss long hair? But I mean if the bible has an entire story about long hair vs. short hair Mr. Samson and Ms. Delilah, there's gotta be something to keeping the locks long, no?

Waffle King is back...ahhhhhhhhhhh

I was going to continue writing about songs and how they define moments and relationships in one's life, but at 11:23pm I can honestly say I don't have much life left in my brain for tonight, and what's left of it has been thrown for a loop because as I sit here watching the NFL channel yup....wait for it...Brett Favre is dominating the news (and he hasn't even reported to training camp nor played one f'in pre-season game.) For the love of God, Brett Favre is the Anti-Christ, shave his head closer than usual, check his butt cheek under his Wrangler jeans and you will find 666 stamped both places. This man has ruined so many football season for me, and I'm not even talking about his play, I mean the media coverage that follows this man who outside of being the anti-Christ defines "Waffler" the best. MAKE UP YOUR FREAKIN' MIND you ass....I don't CARE I JUST DON"T AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..it drives me crazy.

I could be more coherent about my reasons why I dislike him so much (Screw the loss by the Pats to Green Bay I blame that one on Parcells for throwing his team under the bus!!) but I really can't. I mean I think I'm a rational person, but when it comes to Brett Favre I lose it. This guy is heralded by some as the best QB ever...WHAT???!?!? Well if you consider the # of interceptions as defining the best. Clutch player, clutch interception thrower..ahhh and for those records he's broken, well if you played fball for as long as "Methuselah" Favre has, you'd break some too. Considering this is a team sport why oh why does Favre get a pass for hanging at this point-what-three teams out to dry? And if I were a Green Bay fan I would spit at Favre if I ever saw him. Hell I'm not a Green Bay fan but I'll spit at him for y'all! Retire already..oh my god, they're showing him landing in Minnesota,and getting into a red Bronco, where the hell is OJ when you need him!!! Ahhhhh.....I can't take this, I'm going in my room to watch my dvr'd SNL with Muse.....sometime soon I promise I'll get back to my dissertation on songs etc. but for now really I just need to go find a happy place

The Song Remains the Same....or Does it?

I've just finished reading "Love is a mix tape; Life and Loss, One Song at a Time" by Rob Sheffield. I highly recommend it. It's a wonderful (and sad yes) exploration of the power of Music and how it can define/earmark important times in your life. It was great to read the list of mix tapes at the beginning of each chapter, and how can you not love a book that includes The Blow Monkey's "Diggin Your Scene" in one of the mixes?

After finishing the book, I began to think about some of the mix tapes I've had in my life, and a lot of what I remembered were "sleep tapes" featuring songs from The Blue Nile, Japan, The Lover Speaks, Marillion, good lord stop me or I'll start listing every single British Band I listened to in the 80's. And by the way, no sleep tape would ever be complete w/out The Who's "Love Reign O'er Me". In thinking about this, I have to say, I've realized I'm not so much a mix tape but an "in for the penny, in for the pound" gal. What exactly does this mean? Well, once I find a song I like-I play it to death, what do I mean by death? A few month's ago, in a matter of days, after I bought Muse's incredibly campy, kitchy, wonderfully bombastic "Neutron Star Collision" on Itunes, I had listened to it 1,567 times (this of course included nights that I put the Ipod on repeat and let it run all night). Songs by Keane, Sissel and Espen Lind (don't even ask about that one right now) and The Killers have suffered the same fate. I could listen to '39 by Queen gadzillions of times. My former work colleague Scott was a good sport always, he put up with lots of song "overkills".

I'm in the midst of watching the Patriot's first pre-season game against the Saints. The second quarter is about to start and they're already on the second stringers. Even so, I'm about to head back in to watch, so I will continue my dissertation on types of songs another day. But I'll give you a preview, next up "the couple song", and for me it features a heterosexual life partner and a 70's story song.....start guessing (no it's not Wildfire for the love of god.)

So, child, make the choice. which movie shall it be???

Hard to believe that it's August 10th (Duran Duran Appreciation day-What?!?!?! I know that's a whole entire blog topic on it's own-but I digress). So as the summer continues to roll by at an amazing pace, I wanted to pay homage to something that has come up in a number of conversations recently; the "Go to Movie". What am I talking about? Well, you all know it, that one movie that you can watch constantly- no matter how many times it's on, what scene you come in on, etc. Most importantly, it's the one that when you're up at 2 in the morning you're praying to see as you flip through the on screen guide, cause you know if you'll find it it's even better than having a warm glass of milk. A few minutes of your "go to" and you'll be ready for sleep soon. It's comforting to know that it's out there; something you can always go back to in times of stress (yes- I mean watching YOU Red Sox!). For the summer, the go to movie for my best friend Gina has always been Jaws. And that's one I really can't agree with more. It's classic, still one of the best "scary" movies around (note scary, not gory). With great performances by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss (before he became a self parody) and especially Robert Shaw (who should have won best supporting actor if you ask me!).

While I'll always love Jaws (forget "Shark Week" really), my current favorite "go to" movie this summer has been Hellboy II: The Golden Army . Trust me, I've seen this sucker about 50+ times since it's been on cable. Guillermo Del Toro's visuals can't be beat, and it's a great story. I mean humans vs. mythical forces (or in this case elves who live in the Forrest-no Not not LOTR elves-but really kinda similar)... Love vs. Hate, acceptance vs. rejection, living alone or living with someone (seriously Liz and Hellboy's relationship is key here)! One of my favorite reasons to watch this is for the scene featuring the stunning image created to represent the Angel of Death... If I could get this as a Halloween costume trust me I would...Its sheer awesomeness is amazing. Oh, and how can you not love a movie that features Barry Manilow's "Can't Smile without You" as a central soundtrack piece, and includes these awesome lines?

Hellboy: You're in love. Have a beer.
Abe Sapien: Oh, my body's a temple.
Hellboy: Well, now it's an amusement park.
Abe Sapien: No, no, no. The glandular balance of...
Hellboy: Just shut up and drink it, would you?

So folks, what are your "go to" movies?

¡feliz cumpleaños!

Okay short and sweet today. Happy Birthday to Raul Malo, former lead singer of The Mavericks, a totally misunderstood band that was categorized as "Country" but so much more. Mr. Malo has one of the most beautiful tenor voices in the business. He is comfortable singing ballads, swing, rock w/ a bit o' country, as well as Latin influenced music, plus he has a great Christmas CD out! His control, timbre and pitch are amazing. He loves playing and plays most anywhere, which is great and a curse, because most of the time now it's small places where the crowd can sometimes drown out the wonder of his vocals. A good friend and I saw him at the Paradise in Boston a few years back and wondered why he wasn't playing to a bigger audience, and really why he's still not necessarily well know. It's a shame because his talent is amazing.

Because he sings such a variety of styles I bet you can find a song of his you'll enjoy (he's even sung Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual"). There are plenty of clips out there of him. I'll leave you with one of my favorite.

It's written in the Stars........

I was pleasantly surprised when I got a call today by one of my favorite work colleagues who chastised me (but really only in the most lovely way) about not having blogged since Tuesday. Good lord, I'm already a slacker and I haven't even blogged for a full week! I apologize. So here I sit, thinking what shall I blog about, because honestly, the ole' blog muse is not sitting on my shoulder. I thought, well I can review the Keane show I went to on Tuesday, then I thought, naw, I already talked a bit about them. And really all I can say is they're great, love them, and why does Tom Chaplin have the most god awful hair cut, really. Then I thought, I'll write about Tom Colichhio, he of "Top Chef" fame who has ruined me for any other steakhouse once I visited his Craftsteak in CT. Or I could write about how much I am going to miss a former work colleague of mine who's moving out to the West Coast, but I'm really not up to any of that which requires some modicum of brain function which I'm sadly lacking today, and the last subject will just make me plain sad.

I am therefore resorting to discussing my current obsession right now, which is Matt Bellamy of Muse. Well not so much talk about him, but explain why he must be brought to understand how perfect I am for him (screw the Kate Hudson episode-really). Do you know why I'm perfect for you Matt Bellamy? Well, because our zodiac signs-Gemini & Libra-(I'm Libra!) match, that's why you crazy hoot. Since you're always writing about the stars, and looking to the sky and all that's such a blatant reference to finding love blah blah, bleck, I figure well, if our horoscope signs match it's meant to be!!! Therefore, I present my case to the world and Mr. Bellamy-listen well:

Fact #1: "As air signs, both are optimistic, cultured and have a wide range of interests. They’ll have plenty of shared adventures as they explore the world and open each other up to new interests and points of view. In fact, one of the greatest strengths of this relationship is how each sign can help the other grow."

I want to grow Matt, truly I do!!

Fact #2: "Gemini and Libra both love to entertain, which means they can share their happiness with the people they care about. They make a beautiful pair, and with their grace and elegance they bring with them sophistication and style wherever they go. Their optimism and enthusiasm bring life to any situation, and they shine when in public together."

Grace and Elegance (my god those are my middle names!) Shine in Public!!! Indeed, and I'll take you to someone who knows how to cut your freakin' hair right!!!

Fact #3: "Gemini and Libra are kindred spirits, sharing a bond so strong that they are inseparable. They are equal partners in love, work and play, and they understand and complement each other in everything they do. They also have a great admiration for each other, which fuels both their passion and their respect for each other. And because they connect both intellectually and emotionally, they are one of the strongest and most compatible teams in all of the zodiac."

Oh my god, Jerry Maguire was right "You Complete Me!"

I rest my case. Wow, that was exhausting. All of this so makes sense. Especially when I explain why I fell in love with him in the first place. Visual representation of the moment, please refer to video below: 06-10 seconds in. Keytarcaster folks, that's what it comes down to. Totally rational-no????

Across the Pond...........

Tonight I'm going to see Keane at Bank of America Pavilion. I was lucky enough to catch this band on SNL a few years back (at least SNL is still good for something considering their skits continue to be way hit or miss extravaganzas, and can someone please pull Seth Meyers out of the News-god awful-never found him funny, never will). If you don't know Keane they're a Brit band whose first album here Hopes & Fears rose up the charts on the strength of great melodies, piano as the featured instrument on its tunes, and the wondrous pure vocals of Tom Chaplin. Three recordings later, the band is experimenting a bit more with their sound, and while to me the results have been mixed, they put on a great show, (I've never seen someone work the piano as hard as Tim Rice-Oxley, primary composer for the band). How can you not like a band who sites Depeche Mode, a-ha, The Beatles, U2, R.E.M., Radiohead, Simple Minds, Queen, and the Pet Shop Boys as major influences. Incidentally, Tom Chaplin has always reminded me of a Hobbit, which has stuck with me as his nickname. I honestly have no idea why I call him that since he's actually a tall Brit, but I've been told, indeed from the side, and with his older, longer hair cut he does indeed bear a passing resemblance to Billy Boyd (Pippin). Right now he's sporting a rather too short, unattractive hair cut. Only Matt Bellamy of Muse beats him for bad hair right now (Bells- stop getting hair cut with a Flowbie will ya!) As far as I know there are some tkts left for tonight's show ($10 I think), so give yourself a treat and check them out.

PS, I can't resist, Happy B-Day to Tom Brady. Kraft, sign him already will ya!!!!